Episode 1197
Episode 1197
-Is the chair old?
The Death Knights looked at their junior with puzzlement.
For a fairly competent junior to suddenly fall backward like that...
"A-ah, no... Did you hear that correctly just now?? Did he say other Evil God Worshippers...?"
-Yes. Prahgal's scum.
"???"
As the Death Knights reacted far too calmly, Amrek grew even more bewildered.
'Am I the weird one here?!'
Evil God Worshippers weren't the type to respond to persuasion or commands.
Mercenaries who joined without faith for personal gain would be better—proper fanatics were fundamentally impossible to reason with.
Yet they could issue limited commands to them.
How?!
"C-can I ask how?"
"There's someone called The Crone. She has a method to deceive the high priests of other Evil God Worshipper sects. Using that, we can now issue indirect commands."
"As I said, it's a dangerous contract."
Professor Voladi spoke again.
Being a professor at Einrogard, even if he wasn't a Black Mage, he at least knew of The Crone's name.
Such a cranky multi-dimensional being often led contracted mages to ruin.
"We were sufficiently careful with the contract."
"That's true. And you weren't even there."
Professor Kirmin took Lee Han's side. The Death Knights joined in.
-He probably handled it well. It's not like this is his first time making suspicious and dangerous contracts.
-You get along fine with the Principal, don't you? No need to worry.
"But that's—"
When Professor Voladi pointed out the differences between the Skeleton Principal and The Crone, the gathering suddenly turned into a debate hall.
The topics shifted wildly.
'How dangerous is The Crone?' 'Can someone who gets along with the Skeleton Principal also get along with The Crone?' 'Why does Wardanaz keep making contracts with dangerous beings?' 'Professor, you're the one who went AWOL, and now you're making a fuss over my little contract?' and so on.
Amrek could only watch the conversation unfold in a daze.
No...
'Wait, is the Evil God Worshipper command thing just... over like this?'
He had naturally assumed there would be more discussion and explanation, but the mages acted as though the matter was already settled and paid it no further attention.
Ibinta felt an odd sense of satisfaction seeing the Moonless Night Knights' knight looking just as stunned.
'Heh. Can't blame him for being shocked. I get it.'
He had always felt the sorrow of being the only sane person stuck among lunatics, so having one more person join him gave him a sense of camaraderie.
"Ahem, ahem. Everyone? Weren't we supposed to... catch that mage named Enster?"
When Amrek cleared his throat and spoke, the mages snapped back to reality.
-That's right. What do you suggest, Professor Bagrak? We'll respect the professor's choice.
"Let's postpone mobilizing the Evil God Worshippers."
Jeers immediately poured out in response to Professor Voladi's answer.
-Ignoring the method your student worked so hard to prepare! I knew you'd do this!
-You overprotective fool! Think back to your school days! Aren't you ashamed?!
"That guy would've rejected any method Wardanaz suggested anyway!"
"E-everyone, calm down."
Still, as his teacher, Lee Han stepped in to mediate.
The Death Knights and Professor Kirmin, who had been enthusiastically jeering, finally quieted down a little.
"The professor must have his reasons for that. Maybe there's another strategy... Surely you're not postponing it just because The Crone is dangerous, right? Isn't that so?"
Lee Han turned to Professor Voladi and asked. The professor answered calmly.
"No. That's part of it too."
"Can I go join them now?"
Lee Han asked, looking at the group that had just been jeering.
Why did he defend this person when he could've just jeered from the start like everyone else?
-It's a relief you've opened your eyes now. Please come quickly.
"Besides, the magic you've been teaching us wasn't exactly safe to begin with."
Come to think of it, this was even more absurd.
He packed his own lectures with lethally dangerous magic, yet now he was making such a fuss just because they'd made a contract with the Crone while he was away.
"What are you talking about?"
Professor Voladi looked puzzled.
His expression suggested he genuinely didn't understand what his student meant.
"...It's nothing! Haha. Anyway, there is another method, right?"
Lee Han changed the subject.
Because continuing this conversation would only torment his soul further.
Enster was a textbook magic criminal. Though not yet wanted, his modus operandi was identical.
A mage so enthralled by magic's mysteries that he would stop at nothing to reach deeper, darker realms.
Like all magic criminals who evaded capture, Enster had built his nest with considerable caution and cunning.
First was the location of his workshop.
While hotheaded criminals sometimes foolishly set up workshops in secluded areas, the textbook approach was to establish them in crowded places.
The flow of people served as both shield and curtain. Research and experiments could always be conducted underground.
Next was workshop defense.
These human-sized combat dolls were quite expensive - with enough determination, they could be traded for gold, jewels, or reagents. Yet Enster refrained.
The more one takes from others, the more one must prepare to have things taken in turn.
It wasn't just the Empire's knights or mages he feared. Other magic criminals or remnants of evil god worshippers were actually more dangerous to Enster.
They wouldn't report him anywhere, making his workshop seem like an ideal vault to plunder. The only thing he could truly rely on was his own power.
Thus, instead of selling his golems, Enster deployed them densely to bolster his workshop's defenses.
Any intruder would face a devastating barrage of firepower.
Creak-
Enster checked the core of his workshop, located in the deepest underground level.
The most crucial elements - the magic circle supplying power to the workshop and his escape route.
The mid-range teleportation scroll obtained from ancient ruins remained intact.
Judging by its weathering rate, the scroll would likely deteriorate in about ten years...
'This is why scrolls containing powerful magic are problematic.'
Even after spending exorbitant sums to acquire ancient scrolls from ruins, such scrolls never lasted long once exposed to the outside.
But there was no alternative. This was a matter of life and death.
After checking the scroll, Enster inspected the basement wall - his secondary escape route. This wall connected to another dimension, serving as backup if teleportation failed.
<<...Master. A new invitation has arrived...>>
Suddenly, Enster felt a strange sensation in his eyes and ears.
The publicly accessible first floor of his workshop.
Here, a small golem disguised as Enster stood guard. This mage frequently employed such stand-ins.
Enster closed his eyes and shifted his vision. A hired worker was bowing respectfully.
"What invitation?"
"The summoning mages in the city are holding a small gathering. They wish to receive your guidance..."
"Ah! What an honor."
Yet contempt flickered through Enster's eyes.
Countless such gatherings existed across the Empire - mediocre mages exchanging worthless information among themselves.
A magic criminal like Enster couldn't help but despise such meetings.
Those incompetent fools, drunk on nothing but their pride in being called mages...
Unless he attended to kill the mages and loot their possessions, there was truly no point in going.
"But what a shame. The golems I'm currently working on are running a bit behind schedule..."
"Oh dear! In that case, I'll convey that message."
"You'll have to bear with the inconvenience."
As the worker left, Enster came upstairs and switched places with the golem.
Then he unfolded the city newspaper. It was common for cities of considerable size in the Empire to have at least one local newspaper covering regional affairs.
As Enster impassively scanned through the information, his eyes suddenly widened.
'Lord Langbern has suddenly disappeared?!'
...The knight order suspects wandering mercenaries of involvement in Lord Langbern's abrupt disappearance... The mercenaries are protesting that the lord must have gone hunting or something...
Of course, it could have genuinely been an ambush by mercenaries, or perhaps just one of his capricious hunting trips or travels.
But Enster felt an inexplicable chill. Because they knew each other's former affiliations.
They weren't close, of course. If anything, they were closer to being wary adversaries.
There was no guarantee that one wouldn't strike first to keep their secrets hidden.
Thus, Langbern had remained in his domain, and Enster in his, each keeping a wary eye on the other...
...And now this disappearance.
'Something's off. Who could it be?'
The list of suspects was too long.
From wandering mercenaries to other magic criminals, but right now, the most suspicious were the remnants of the old cult.
Enster had also heard recent rumors about the Sanguiros Cult's resurgence.
What if these defeated fools, drunk on absurd delusions, were tracking down their former followers to coerce them?
"Damn bastards. If you overstepped and fell from grace, that should've been the end of it. What kind of lingering obsession is this?!"
With a loud crash, Enster kicked his chair away.
Back when the Sanguiros Cult's faith was spreading across the western regions, even this mage had groveled for power, but that was only when the cult's influence was at its peak and the power of their faith was strong.
How much time and resources would these thoroughly fallen figures need to stage a comeback?
And would the Empire really stand idly by during such a process?
A mage like Enster had absolutely no intention of joining such an uncertain gamble. That was the kind of thing only those driven to fanaticism would do.
'If those bastards are tracking down former followers to force cooperation, I need to prepare. Should I expose them?'
Lost in thought, Enster considered summoning the demon he had recently contracted.
Given the expensive sacrifices he'd barely managed to offer for the contract, it was highly likely to be useful in times like these.
Fizz—
"???"
Enster stared in disbelief at the smoke rising from the magic circle.
As a powerful summoning mage, this had never happened before.
It wasn't that the magic had failed—it had succeeded, yet the contracted demon hadn't appeared?
"What the...!"
Even bad luck shouldn't be this extreme.
Either the demon had fled, accepting the penalty for breaking the contract, or it had been attacked—and the latter seemed far more likely.
With the recent unrest, even this misfortune felt like an ominous sign.
"Master, I've brought your letters."
"...Ah! Bring them here."
He wanted to throw the chair and tell them to get lost, but Enster remembered his reputation and restrained himself.
He couldn't afford to draw attention.
'<Western Summoning Mages Gathering>... Tempting, but I should postpone. Going out right now feels oddly dangerous. <Request for Donations>? Trash! Do they think I'm their keeper? <Inquiry About Golem Purchase>? ...No. I can't reduce the number of golems in the workshop right now. <Antagondals>. What kind of lunatic wrote this?'
Enster froze when he saw the last letter.
A letter with nothing but 'Antagondals' written on it—no context, no explanation.
What was he supposed to do with this? What in the world...
"!!!!"
At that moment, Enster's memory flashed.
The magic criminal Antagondals!
He'd thought the man had either left the continent or died, given the recent lack of contact...?!