Episode 1056
Episode 1056
Despite Professor Garcia's protest, the Skeleton Principal shamelessly replied.
If that brat puts his mind to it, he could easily persuade even someone like Professor Voladi to return. The fact that he isn't doing so means he's enjoying wandering around with him.
"......"
Though it was an absurd excuse, Professor Garcia couldn't immediately refute it.
Given the student's silver tongue, he could indeed have persuaded him with room to spare.
Professor Voladi was strict and blunt, but he was relatively lenient toward his students. If Lee Han had whined enough, there was a high chance he would have listened.
'...Wait a minute. Am I being fooled by the Headmaster again?'
While Professor Garcia was lost in confusion, there were people watching this scene from the second-floor balcony of the mansion.
Namely, Jowurin and Eandurde.
The golden-haired girl, licking the ice cream in her hand while observing everything, asked Eandurde.
"Does Gonadaltes always treat Lee Han like that?"
"Huh? Yeah."
"That's really too much!"
Jowrin angrily tapped the tile floor with the heel of her red shoes as if it were her own problem.
She had no idea the outside world was like this when she was confined to the mansion.
"I've decided. When Jowurin goes to Einrogard, I won't let such things happen!"
"...Uh... really...?"
Eandurde suddenly felt uneasy.
If Jowurin had been a fully grown, formidable dragon, Eandurde might have been tempted to think, 'Wow, is the Dragon going to overturn Einrogard for us?'
But from what Eandurde had seen so far, Jowurin still had many clumsy aspects.
Even if she claimed she would change Einrogard, it seemed more likely she'd be tricked by the Skeleton Principal and end up in trouble instead...
"What were you two talking about?"
While they were chatting, other second-year students heard Jowurin's voice and approached.
Seeing familiar students she had met last semester, Jowurin thought it was perfect timing and called out to them.
"Ah! You're all here! Listen well to Jowurin's resolution!"
"Huh? What resolution?"
"When Jowurin goes to Einrogard...!"
Jowurin, in human form, passionately delivered her speech.
Though she lacked the intimidation she had in dragon form (in fact, she looked as cute as a biscuit doll with zero intimidation), her fiery sincerity resonated with the second-year students.
By the time her speech ended, the number of students listening had multiplied several times.
Clap clap clap clap clap—!
"Long live Her Highness! Long live Her Highness!!"
"The Empire's future lies here!"
Eandurde, the only sane one left, frantically looked around.
She thought the Senior needed to return quickly before this dragon caused any more trouble.
"Wardanaz."
"Yeah?"
"Be honest."
Giselle spoke in a cold voice.
Lee Han, who had been gagging the third bounty target in front of them, flinched slightly.
"...I-I don't know what you're talking about."
"What are you hiding?!"
What had happened during the capture of the second bounty target was as follows:
-Is it here?
-It's an unlicensed gambling den in the underground tavern, judging by the noise. A place mercenaries frequent. Listen up, both of you. When we cause a magical disturbance at the entrance, Professor Bagrak will be waiting on the opposite side to round them all up. Got it, Wardanaz?
-Indeed. Understood. Moradi. ...
-"Everyone, drop your weapons and get down!"
-"Hey! Wardanaz! Why are you charging in on your own?! Are you crazy?!"
-"You bastard. Are you an Evil God Worshipper? Tell me now! If it turns out you're hiding something later, the retaliation from a great noble family will come for you!"
-"P-please spare me! No! I have nothing to do with any Evil God!"
The students were supposed to cause a disturbance while Professor Voladi ambushed from the other side—a well-laid plan. But Wardanaz had acted recklessly on his own.
From Giselle's perspective, it made no sense.
She could understand if it were Angrago, but someone like Wardanaz wouldn't just charge in with a rush of blood to his head.
The third bounty target was similar...
"He's hiding in the workshop basement. Wardanaz, if you act recklessly again this time... Wait. Where's Wardanaz?"
"Lee Han? He cast Invisibility Magic and went in earlier."
"...This is really happening!"
Giselle, who had foolishly believed her friend's excuse about going to buy snacks from a street vendor (the freshly baked waffles were tempting), felt ashamed of herself and quickly dashed into the workshop.
Inside, what Giselle witnessed was Lee Han beating up all the bounty target's accomplices before interrogating the target himself, shouting, "Are you an Evil God Worshipper? If you are, confess now!"
No matter how she looked at it, this was undeniably strange.
"...Sigh. There's no helping it. I thought Gainando would be fine since he wasn't suspicious, but I guess that was too optimistic."
Giselle's fingertips trembled slightly with anger at her friend's rude response.
'Who does this bastard think he's comparing to whom?' At the very least, if it had been any other friend...!
Giselle closed her eyes and quickly meditated.
The experience she had gained at Einrogard wasn't limited to just magic. It applied to swordsmanship as well.
Had it not been for those experiences, calming her mind this quickly would have been impossible.
"Right. You acted carelessly. Should I take a guess? You must have heard something. Probably information about a bounty target even the professors don't know about. And you're trying to monopolize it alone."
Giselle, well-versed in the habits of bounty hunters, made a sharp deduction.
Lee Han readily admitted to her speculation.
"More or less."
"Yeah. You're originally crazy about danger—"
"Professor Bagrak mustn't find out."
Lee Han also told Giselle what he had heard from the Skeleton Principal.
While ignorance might be bliss for Gainando, there was no point in deceiving Giselle, who was already suspicious.
The elf's face stiffened upon hearing about the connection between the newly resurgent Evil God Worshipper cult and Professor Bagrak.
This was far from what she had expected.
"But what were you about to say earlier? What did I do regarding danger?"
"Wardanaz, I was just saying you always take risks. Even as a member of the Blue Dragon Tower, that's something to respect."
Giselle hastily changed her words.
She never would have guessed this was the reason he had been following Professor Voladi around.
She had assumed it was to hunt bounty targets together...!
"That didn't sound like what you were going to say..."
Lee Han looked slightly suspicious, but given the circumstances, he didn't press further.
"Anyway, Moradi. Since one has already appeared, we need to be more careful from now on. It mustn't reach Professor Bagrak's ears."
"Were there any Evil God Worshippers after that?"
"No. There weren't."
Giselle silently mourned for the second and third criminals on the list.
They were just ordinary criminals who would have been caught normally, but due to sheer bad luck, they were subjected to all sorts of magic and threats.
'There'll be even more terrifying rumors about the Wardanaz Family... Then again, Wardanaz doesn't really care.'
The Wardanaz Family already had several ominous rumors circulating, and Wardanaz himself wasn't the type to pay them much mind.
Giselle brushed off her thoughts.
For Lee Han, who secretly cared a great deal about such rumors, this was truly lamentable.
"So what should we do when capturing the remaining bounty targets? Do we absolutely have to catch them before Professor Bagrak does?"
"Yeah. Catch them first, confirm whether they're Worshippers or not, and if they are, threaten them into silence."
"And if they're not?"
"Threaten them into silence anyway. We can't let them say anything strange to Professor Bagrak and raise suspicions."
'You're already suspicious enough as it is...'
Though Giselle thought this, she simply shook her head and left it at that.
Still, she felt a little sorry for Wardanaz, who was willingly enduring hardship for Professor Bagrak's sake.
'...'
"Wait. But why is Wardanaz, a second-year student... Ah. Professor Bagrak doesn't have any disciples."
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing. By the way, what's this about retaliation from a great noble family? You kept mentioning that earlier."
"I don't know. I was just saying whatever came to mind."
"......"
Giselle was dumbfounded.
What kind of guy is this?
But it was undeniably effective. Even she had flinched upon hearing it.
"Aren't you going to tell the Crown Prince? He must be getting suspicious by now."
"Ah. Right."
When Lee Han reacted as if he had just remembered, Giselle nodded with an expression that said she had expected as much.
"I should bring him some waffles. Then he'll forget about being suspicious."
"...It's not really my place to say, but aren't you underestimating the Crown Prince too much?"
The magic criminal Kitarenanum poured a viscous black liquid onto the empty upper half of his left torso.
With a sizzling sound, his shattered flesh slowly regenerated, only to be destroyed again in a repeating cycle.
"Ugh. Damn spider bastards!"
The infamous rumors about them originating from the void beyond dimensions were certainly not baseless.
The poison they emitted was on an entirely different level compared to that of spider-type monsters on the continent. It burrowed into one's very existence, leaving behind excruciating aftereffects.
Though Kitarenanum had barely managed to escape with his life, he had lost a significant portion of his stored magic and part of his physical body. It was a truly devastating blow.
Screech
—"Mage. The boss says to bring the lodging fee."
"...Here."
Kitarenanum tossed a handful of gems to the mercenary who had opened the door and entered.
A magic criminal who had barely survived had no choice but to seek refuge among fellow criminals.
The place where Kitarenanum currently resided was known among mercenaries as the <Capital Underground Fortress>.
Of course, it wasn't an actual fortress.
Originally, it was an abandoned village located a short distance from the capital's walls.
Mercenaries who discovered this ruined village, now only a remnant of its former self, had transformed its underground into something resembling a fortress.
As time passed, history accumulated, and rumors spread, the underground of this village had developed defensive capabilities rivaling those of a proper fortress.
The Empire's territory was vast, and there were countless places beyond the reach of the knights, making hidden bandit hideouts like this one innumerable.
However...
Kitarenanum held this underground village in fairly high regard.
It was all thanks to its leader.
'Iron Cloak Ibinta. Just you wait. Once I recover from my injuries, I'll take back everything.'
Iron Cloak Ibinta.
A former member of the notorious adventurer group <Shadows of Kangla>, he was now the leader of a bandit group that had settled in this underground village.
What set him apart was his extreme caution.
Typically, bandits who established such hideouts would grow greedy and bold, eventually venturing out to plunder nearby merchants or carriages.
But Ibinta was unbelievably cautious for a bandit. No matter how far he went to conduct his operations, he never caused any incidents near the hideout.
Thanks to this, the underground village remained undiscovered. It was precisely why Kitarenanum had been able to barely make it here and take refuge.
"By the way, mage. Don't go outside for a while. There are people lurking around the village."
"Did you identify who they are?"
"No idea. How should I know? Maybe they're looking for runaway slaves or something."
The bandit showed no sign of fear.
Not only was he confident that no one would discover this underground hideout, but even if they did, he believed it wouldn't matter.
Even if a punitive force were organized and descended from above, considering this fortress's defensive capabilities, they could easily escape through the tunnels.
"......"
Kitarenanum somewhat agreed with the bandit's words. This underground fortress was indeed sturdy.
But strangely, his heart felt uneasy and ominous.
Why was that?
'Let me check.'
Kitarenanum activated the vision magic he had set up outside. It was a precautionary measure he had placed on the surface.
"...!!!!"
Upon spotting the mage loitering around the village, Kitarenanum abruptly stood up and began packing his belongings.
He needed to get as far away from here as possible—and fast!