Episode 1081
Episode 1081
Since enrolling at Einrogard, Lee Han had experienced all sorts of things, but he never imagined he'd encounter a demon asking for help.
'Is it because of its menacing appearance?'
-I am not insane. Are you not of the Wardanaz bloodline?
"Shh. What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
Lee Han quickly silenced the demon, worried someone might overhear.
As beings from another dimension, demons possessed senses fundamentally different from mortals. That was how it had seen through Lee Han's disguised lineage despite his altered appearance.
Despite being threatened, the demon pleaded desperately, clearly in dire straits.
-Please, help me. I am Orlach, the former flag bearer of His Highness the Pride Duke and a jester of the frontlines.
Normally, demons didn't reveal their titles so readily.
The most powerful weapon mortals had against demons was information.
Simply knowing what kind of demon they were dealing with allowed mages to exploit their weaknesses. This one was clearly desperate.
'How peculiar.'
"The Black Magic practitioners here aren't that threatening, though."
-The Black Magic practitioners? That's not what I'm afraid of right now!
Orlach exclaimed as if Lee Han had said something absurd.
He wasn't a weak demon who'd be intimidated by a few mages like that—he was the honorable flag bearer of the Pride Duke, after all.
"That? You bastard, are you looking down on the Einrogard Black Magic School?"
-N-No, that's not it!
As Lee Han flared up, the demon quickly apologized.
Right now, there weren't many places he could turn to for help.
-What I fear... is an angel.
"!"
At the mention of such an unexpected being, Lee Han was utterly stunned.
An angel?
Truthfully, angels were rare in the Empire. They were the complete opposite of demons, which were relatively common (to the point of being as plentiful as pebbles on the road in certain families).
The reason lay in the nature of the two dimensional races.
Demons, deeply interested in mortal souls, were always seeking opportunities to descend upon the Empire.
In contrast, angels had no interest in other dimensional races, focusing solely on the rules and laws they set for themselves.
This reclusive celestial race rarely interacted with others.
Not only was it difficult for mages to form contracts with them, but even visiting them was a challenge. How could one approach beings who desired nothing?
Thus, Empire mages wisely targeted demons. No matter how much they suffered, the desire-driven demons couldn't avoid making contracts with mages.
Yet here he was, hearing the name of such a race.
"Angels usually avoid clashing with other races. What the hell did you do?"
Had he invaded their sacred grounds and committed a massacre or something?
But Orlach denied it.
-They wouldn't leave their dimension and chase me over something so trivial.
"...R-Right."
Lee Han shuddered at the unexpectedly astonishing nature of angelic behavior.
Even if someone invaded their sacred grounds and slaughtered their kind, they wouldn't bother pursuing them as long as they fled their territory.
Orlach hastily explained what had happened.
-Under His Highness's orders, I was wandering this mortal realm in search of the most beautiful silk. But at some point, I realized someone was chasing me. It was an angel.
Though Orlach was a fairly powerful demon, he wasn't particularly confident in combat.
In contrast, the angel seemed specialized in battle, giving him no opening as it pursued him relentlessly.
Cornered, Orlach eventually fled into an underground ruin and hid within an ancient artifact.
Fortunately, the angel couldn't track him that far and stopped pursuing him, but...
"Aha. So that's how you ended up being sold off."
-That doesn't matter! If the Black Magic practitioners take me out, that damn angel will start tracking me again!
The demon trembled uncontrollably.
He had planned to coax the owner of this mansion into letting him hide for a while, but if the black mages forcibly extracted him, the situation would change entirely.
If the angel were to find him during that process...
"I'll serve faithfully for the customary period if you help me. Please, I beg you!"
'Huh?'
Listening to the story, Lee Han felt puzzled.
Come to think of it, wasn't this negotiation something the demon could have done with the black mages instead of him?
If he promised to serve faithfully as a slave, the black mages would have likely agreed to negotiate...
"Then why approach me? There were other black mages present."
"Aren't you of the Wardanaz bloodline?"
Orlach looked puzzled that a mage inheriting the Wardanaz lineage would ask such a question.
There were mages skilled at handling demons, and countless mages who had met their ruin trying clumsily to control them.
In that regard, the Wardanaz family was one of the Empire's foremost experts in demon handling, with unparalleled experience and expertise.
Even Orlach himself had once served under the family in the distant past.
Naturally, from a demon's perspective, entrusting one's life to a reliable demon expert was far better than revealing one's weaknesses to unknown black mages.
If he had to serve as a servant anyway, wouldn't a trustworthy master be preferable to some random black mage he'd just met?
"...You've worked for our family before?"
"Haven't you seen my true name in the family's ancient demon registry?"
"How am I supposed to remember every single name in that thick registry!"
Lee Han found himself inexplicably angry at the demon. Orlach quickly bowed his head, intimidated.
After urgently halting the seniors' work, Lee Han called Diret to explain the situation.
"Senior... Diret. An unexpected situation has arisen."
"??"
When Lee Han quickly recounted the demon's story, Diret's expression turned grave.
An unforeseen angel had become involved in this affair.
"But that's strange."
"About the angel?"
"No. I mean, it's unusual for a demon to explain his circumstances in such detail. That's not common."
Since information could become a weakness, demons typically hid such situations.
Even if an angel were chasing him, he'd usually keep his mouth shut rather than unnecessarily reveal his weaknesses to unfamiliar mages.
Unless he trusted his counterpart or acknowledged them to some extent...
"Right. He said he served under the Pride Duke, didn't he? Since you've faced the Pride Duke before, maybe he acknowledges you?"
Diret made a plausible guess.
Though he had borrowed the Spirit King's power, Lee Han had once stood against the Pride Duke when he descended.
Since the Duke himself had been impressed by his strength, it wouldn't be strange if his subordinates had heard of Lee Han.
"Indeed. A remarkably sharp deduction."
Lee Han answered shamelessly.
He really didn't want to admit that the demon had sought him out because he had once been employed by the Wardanaz family.
"But hasn't quite some time passed? Would the angel still be tracking him?"
"If the angel was tracking him before he was sealed in the artifact, there's a high chance he still is."
Diret answered decisively.
For beings like angels, a century or two wasn't a particularly long time. The likelihood that the angel was still pursuing the demon was very high.
"......"
Lee Han was taken aback by the unexpected answer. Meanwhile, Diret gathered the students and explained the situation.
"It seems this demon has been branded with a tracking mark by an angel. If we carelessly extract him, we might have to face an angel."
"An angel?!"
Coholti was startled. The other students were equally shocked.
A completely unexpected name had suddenly popped up.
"Should we search the area to see if it's nearby?"
"It'd be hard to detect. Besides, specialized magic for that is rare."
While the Empire had many anti-demon spells, magic for dealing with angels was scarce.
Diret had never learned any magic for tracking angels either. What use would there be in learning such a thing?
"But it's really unexpected for a demon to spill its secrets in such detail."
"It must have quickly surrendered upon witnessing Lord Nago's power."
Coholti proudly explained on their behalf.
Had they come alone, the demon might have resisted instead of surrendering, escalating the situation.
If an angel detected the conflict and came to the mansion, things would have gotten much worse.
Thanks to Stedal Nago's mere presence subduing the demon and forcing it to reveal its hidden secrets, the matter was resolved easily.
"Right, Lord Nago?"
"You talk too much."
"Y-yes, understood!"
Though Coholti shut his mouth, the other students weren't thinking much differently.
Diret at least knew the circumstances (though he was mistaken), but for students unaware of the situation, it was utterly astonishing.
Without any clash or confrontation, his mere presence had subdued the demon and forced it to divulge its secrets.
They'd never even heard of such a thing. He truly didn't seem like an ordinary combat mage.
"Hmm. Yukveltire does have related magic, but sending a letter to summon her would take too long..."
"She's in the capital."
"...Why is she in the capital?!"
At the junior—no, Stedal's words, Diret exclaimed in shock.
The other students were startled.
Was it really okay to address such a fearsome combat mage so casually?
"A-ah. Ahem. Why is she in the capital?"
Realizing his mistake, Diret cleared his throat. Coholti stepped in to apologize on behalf of his rude friend.
"I'll apologize for him. Diret isn't usually like this."
"...It doesn't matter. Be quiet."
Annoyed, Diret smacked the combat mage on the back and signaled for him to follow.
Once they were alone, Diret asked in a serious voice,
"Why is Yukveltire in the capital?"
"That's what I'd like to know."
Lee Han spoke while gauging Diret's reaction.
Snitching would have been easy, but he was worried the backlash might reach him too.
He could have just handled it moderately, but seeing Professor Verdus walking on all fours had made him get too involved.
"What do you mean, 'That's what I'd like to know'? She must have followed you here!"
"!"
Lee Han was startled to realize his inner thoughts had been exposed.
"How did you—?"
"What do you mean, how?! With her personality, if she's in the capital, it's obvious."
Diret was truly an outstanding detective.
Just knowing his friend was in the capital was enough for him to deduce her purpose and actions.
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing? The one who stubbornly followed you here should be sorry. I thought she'd reflected a little..."
Sigh.
Lee Han let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed Diret hadn't noticed that he'd volunteered because of Professor Verdus's quadrupedal walking.
If that had come out, he might have been treated the same way as Senior Yukveltire.
"...If she's in the capital, summoning her will be easy."
Grumbling repeatedly, Diret barely regained his composure and muttered.
He wanted to smack his friend on the back of the head, but for now, he had to prioritize the matter at hand.
"Should we call her here?"
"No. Send a paper bird and just borrow the artifact. If we meet face-to-face, we'll probably end up fighting."
Yukveltire packed a celestial detection artifact and a grimoire into her bag and set off.
Diret had asked her to just send the artifact, respecting her busy schedule, but Yukveltire showed the rare generosity she reserved only for those she acknowledged.
She had decided to go in person and cast the spell herself.
This consideration—accounting even for the possibility of Diret making a mistake—was surely among the finest in Einrogard.
Yukveltire thought so to herself.
"What's this? Did you come in person?"
"!"
When an unfamiliar mage standing at the front gate addressed her, Yukveltire froze.
This mage, exuding a fierce aura, seemed to specialize in magical combat—there wasn't a single gap in his defenses. Yukveltire shrank back slightly.
"Who are you?"
"You wouldn't know. Get inside."
"...!"
What a rude mage!