Episode 1199
Episode 1199
"That kid may act smart, but he's still full of holes."
Hamster squeaked his evaluation.
On average, most magic criminals either died, went missing, or were dragged into the Empire's underground prisons before becoming great archmages.
That's how perilous the path of unauthorized magic was. Not only the Empire's knight orders but even other magic criminals were all potential enemies.
That mage Enster was being quite cautious, but seeing him now, Hamster thought he'd disappear within a decade or two even without his interference.
To witness such immense mana moving right before his eyes yet fail to consider that artifacts might not work—what a blunder.
Of course, it wasn't easy for an average mage to think of that, but it remained a foolish mistake regardless.
'By the way, do we really just need to go down there?'
"Yes. Once we descend, we can handle it as easily as twisting a child's wrist."
The hard part was dealing with someone on guard, but if they went down and accessed this workshop's mana core, they could employ all sorts of tricks.
They could calculate the reverse magic before the guy even reacted, after verifying multiple escape routes.
Enster was overconfident, assuming that even a magic criminal like Antagondals couldn't fully grasp and reverse-engineer the complex internal magic structure from just one visit.
But that was the kind of thinking you'd expect from a frog in a well.
Hamster was confident he could disable all escape routes with just one visit.
"His level is predictable anyway."
'Wait. But you can't use magic right now, can you?'
Lee Han felt puzzled.
Even if Hamster did the calculations, he wouldn't be able to cast the spells, right?
"What nonsense? You're the one who has to cast it. I'll instruct, and you'll solve it."
"......"
Lee Han was so startled he stared at the hamster on his shoulder.
He'd been relying entirely on Hamster, and now this?!
'Can I really do it?'
"Here we go again."
'Huh?'
"That tedious... 'I can't do it' act to make others lower their guard."
"......"
Lee Han was dumbfounded by Hamster's words.
When had he ever done that?
'When have I ever done that? I said I lacked confidence because I genuinely lacked confidence.'
"Has there ever been a single time you failed when you said you lacked confidence?"
'...Even if there hasn't, that doesn't prove I was exaggerating.'
Lee Han felt deeply wronged.
Every time he had to succeed at difficult magic, he felt tremendous pressure, yet Hamster was framing it as false modesty.
As if he'd ever done that!
'Wait. Thinking about it, why didn't the professors point it out?'
"Those mages probably thought someone of your level could handle it easily enough."
"......"
Lee Han was reminded once again that there wasn't a single trustworthy soul in this world.
To think they'd hidden such a sinister intention while discussing plans so seriously.
Not that it was the professors' fault. They'd just taken Lee Han's nods and "I understand" as "He must be capable."
"I'm curious what you're discussing at such length with Hamster."
Enster asked in a voice tinged with curiosity.
Normally, magic criminals shouldn't interfere with each other unnecessarily.
But even a mage of Enster's caliber couldn't resist his curiosity when witnessing a powerful magic criminal conversing with Hamster.
Just what kind of being was that Hamster to keep holding conversations?
Was it some powerful entity from another dimension?
"I just enjoy talking to Hamster. It's my only hobby."
"...Ah! I-is that so?"
So flustered was Enster that he forgot his pride and used honorifics.
A sinister magic criminal whose hobby was talking to Hamster. Then again, long-lived mages tended to be eccentric by default.
Hamster shouted in fury.
"You damn brat! What kind of absurd rumor are you spreading?!"
'Ah, no. The guy's getting suspicious, isn't he...'
-■■■■! ■■■■■!
'Please refrain from swearing in that incomprehensible ancient language.'
Enster introduced the golem he would include in the expedition.
Einrogard's golems typically didn't pay much attention to appearances. There was no one to see them anyway, and any available funds were better spent on performance.
But Enster's golem was, as expected from a summoning mage who did business outside, remarkably neat.
Precisely interlocking bronze and brass components. Small summoning magic circles and ancient runes engraved upon them.
It looked like something that would fetch a high price at an auction—save for one detail.
If you excluded the actual heart pulsating violently in its chest cavity, that is.
"This golem remains a masterpiece with an elven heart still beating inside it. And... I've incorporated some secret magic as well."
Enster hesitated slightly as he spoke. Lee Han sensed a familiar energy from the golem.
'Isn't this the Authority of the Sanguiros Cult?'
-Disgusting. You're right. Seems he stole one of their relics and brought it here.
'It's definitely revolting.'
To think they'd use human body parts in magic.
Lee Han shuddered as he watched the powerful, twisted mana energizing the combat puppet's entire frame.
-What I find disgusting is how you recognized the Sanguiros Cult's Authority just by sensing the nature of the mana, without even understanding the magic or structure. Are you some kind of mage-hunting hound?
"......"
Hamster had noticed because among the inscriptions on the elven heart was a phrase used by the Sanguiros Cult.
When using Authority, traces and evidence like that were bound to remain.
In contrast, Lee Han had recognized the origin of the magic purely through mana sensitivity, without even knowing those inscriptions.
It was truly a spine-chilling level of perception.
'Stop with the pointless remarks and analyze the magic instead. Should we go further down?'
-No. We've found everything.
"!!!"
Lee Han was stunned.
Currently, the two weren't at the deeply buried mana core underground but in a corridor displaying golems above it.
Though the golems were faintly visible in the dim light of this chilly corridor, there was no visible means of escape...
-They're not fools enough to let us go further down. You think they'd kindly dismantle the mana core to show us? And mages all think alike anyway.
Hamster explained his findings as if they were nothing special.
First, it seemed a teleportation scroll had been prepared.
While walking through the corridor, there were sections where sound echoed differently—this was because a separate space had been created below.
For mid-range teleportation, it was standard practice to clear the surroundings of unnecessary objects to avoid interference.
The second was a portal.
There were traces of the solid wall bending strangely, suggesting a dimensional connection had been established with the inner wall.
This was common evidence of dimensional magic cast over physical matter.
'That's incredible!'
-Getting praised for something like this just makes me feel pathetic, so stop it.
Hamster clicked his tongue irritably, though he didn't seem displeased.
-They've prepared a non-magical means too. There seems to be an underground passage, but we can just collapse that.
'How do we block the other two?'
-For the scroll, first pinpoint its exact location, then cast a spatial spell targeting it.
Hamster said this outrageous suggestion as if it were nothing.
He was essentially telling Lee Han to fire spatial magic at a scroll whose location he couldn't even see.
Lee Han frowned.
'I'm not exaggerating—I don't have the confidence to cast spatial magic at that level. There needs to be at least something detectable.'
Even with Spatial Perception magic enhancing his senses, there were limits.
Finding an unseen scroll at such a distance, with so many magical obstacles in the way, was impossible.
-Hmm. If that's too difficult, there is another way.
'What is it?'
-At that mage's level, crafting a mid-range teleportation scroll would be impossible. Even if he's a summoning mage. The scroll was probably looted from ancient ruins.
'What does that mean?'
-You idiot... Those things are usually on the verge of breaking. They're only preserved while inside the ruins.
Hamster's instructions were simple.
He told Lee Han to repeatedly teleport massive amounts of mana downward.
It was so simple that Lee Han was baffled.
'Will that break the scroll? Objects don't usually break just because mana density increases.'
If objects broke easily from high mana density, there wouldn't be any furniture left in Lee Han's personal room or the Blue Dragon Tower lounge.
-It's not about breaking the object by increasing density, but about overloading the internal magic by raising the mana concentration.
'That still doesn't seem easy either.'
If magic malfunctioned just from a slight increase in mana density, the Empire's various artifacts and magical structures would have collapsed long ago.
When casting or installing magic in specific areas in the first place, they prepare for all sorts of situations...
-Then break it by teleporting it.
'Understood. Why are you getting annoyed?'
As Hamster grew irritated, Lee Han acquiesced and sent mana downward.
The task was so quiet and simple that even as he repeated it, he wondered if this was really the right approach.
How many times had he sent it down?
Lee Han and Hamster sensed a powerful mana surge erupting from the underground beneath the corridor.
-Got it! Something must have malfunctioned. At this point, the scroll should be broken.
Despite Hamster's confident declaration, Lee Han began giving him a skeptical look.
Come to think of it, Hamster had been wrong quite often even within Einrogard...
'...What next? How do we disable the portal?'
-Normally, sniping the portal with teleportation would be ideal, but since that didn't work earlier, it probably won't now either. So do the same thing again.
'Again?'
-If mana density becomes excessively high, the coordinates of the connected dimension will distort. The escape route will effectively be blocked.
"......"
Feeling increasingly foolish, Lee Han once again sent mana downward through teleportation.
Enster, who had been explaining the golem's specifications one by one, watched Lee Han continuously conversing with Hamster and thought to himself:
'I didn't realize Antagondals was that insane. His condition seems worse than I thought. Once this deal is over, I might need to keep my distance.'
Though many were often called "mad mages," the truly insane ones were fewer than expected.
A genuinely mad mage was a threat to both enemies and allies alike.
Seeing him keep talking to Hamster like that, it seemed like madness had seeped into his very bones.
"Are you satisfied with the golem?"
"Ah. Quite decent. Can I buy it?"
"You already know the answer to that."
Enster spoke warily. Lee Han smoothly waved his hand dismissively.
"I was just asking. No need to be so guarded."
"...Right. Well, if you had any ulterior motives, the brazier would have alerted..."
Before he could finish speaking, the dim corridor suddenly brightened, and the golems' eyes flared red and blue.
Lee Han tensed, thinking his continuous mana infusion had been discovered.
'If I need to subdue him now...!'
"I-Intruders!"
A startled Enster glared at Lee Han. Lee Han responded calmly.
"The brazier."
"...R-right. Could it be... no. Probably not."
Enster didn't believe a magic criminal like Antagondals would have been tailed.
It was more likely that one of Enster's enemies had infiltrated.
-Hey. Maybe the Einrogard folks got worried and came looking for you?
'There's no way the professors would come down here so impatiently... Well, they might, but probably not.'
-......
Ignoring Hamster's gaze, Lee Han anxiously scrutinized Enster.
Should he strike first or not?
"Sanguiros! Sanguiros assassins!"
As Enster shrieked upon realizing the enemy's identity, Lee Han let out a delighted exclamation.
"What a relief!"
"...W-what?"
"I happen to enjoy eliminating evil god worshippers."
"......"
Enster shuddered, newly reminded of this magic criminal's madness.