Episode 322
Episode 322
Mages were fundamentally high-value professionals—always in demand and treated well wherever they went—but...
Even among them, there were occasional exceptions.
In fact, they didn't even need to be called exceptions; they could just be called black mages. Ordinary black mages.
Black magic was inherently unpopular.
'Even I wouldn't go out of my way to hire a black mage.'
With so many outstanding mages from other schools available, there was no reason to specifically seek out those from the black magic faction.
Yet, a job only a black mage could do?
That was highly suspicious.
"Where did you hear about this?"
"Ratford told me!"
"Oh. Well, in that case."
"...Wait. Something feels off."
Gainando seemed to sense something strange in Lee Han's reaction upon hearing Ratford's name.
"What's so off about it? Let's just hurry up and go."
"Right. I don't know what we'll be doing, but it's better than studying... Oops."
"Your studying, not mine..."
Ratford wasn't a black mage, but he had a friend who studied black magic.
Imirg, from the same tower.
Friends in the Black Turtle Tower closely shared any decent job opportunities that came up, which was how Ratford had heard about it.
'Now that's true friendship.'
Lee Han couldn't help but envy the camaraderie among the Black Turtle Tower students.
The best his friends in the Blue Dragon Tower did was throw mansion parties and invite each other...
"Long time no see, Imirg."
"Long time no see!"
"N-nice to see you."
Since there weren't many first-year students studying black magic, they naturally grew close.
"Did you call Lafadell too?"
"Why would we call him!? No need!"
...Some of them grew close, at least.
"I-I told the White Tiger Tower too... but they said they needed rest because of fatigue."
"Tch."
"What kind of knight can't even manage their own stamina? Pathetic."
Gainando grumbled, as usual, given his frequent clashes with Lafadell.
"But it's nothing serious, right?"
"Probably not."
Lee Han muttered, knowing the truth.
It was clear Lafadell hadn't fully recovered from the fatigue of the previous Ghoul King subjugation.
'Huh. Guess he's not as tough as I thought.'
Lee Han averted his gaze, imagining how Lafadell would react if he heard that—probably by grabbing him by the collar.
"Well, since Lafadell's out, we'll just have to work harder in his place. So, Imirg. This way?"
"Mm-hmm."
Imirg was leading them to the southern district of the city—the general district.
Unlike the central district where nobles resided or the western district dominated by guilds, this area had a different kind of liveliness. The kind that only emerged when people from all walks of life mingled together.
A cloaked traveler shrouded in mystery, a merchant peddling dubious potions labeled Elixir of Duke Gonadaltes, a mercenary carrying five swords and a spear—none of them stood out here.
"You fool! Wandering the city with a spear? You making Granden City look like a joke!? Come with me!"
"S-sorry, my mistake!"
"......"
Of course, it wasn't a complete lawless zone.
As they moved toward the city's outskirts, the crowd gradually thinned. Lee Han, suddenly curious, asked:
"So, what kind of job is this?"
"A-a security job."
"Security?"
Lee Han fell into thought at the unexpected answer.
'Why would they hire a mage—let alone a black mage—for security?'
Mages were expensive. If security was needed, it'd be better to hire a few seasoned adventurers or mercenaries instead.
Even if someone was willing to pay the high price, many mages weren't actually battle-hardened.
If an attack or combat situation broke out, there was a good chance they wouldn't be worth their pay.
If he had to guess, maybe it was for barriers or detection magic... but still.
'Why specifically a black mage?'
"Do you know where the security job is?"
"Uh-huh. The public cemetery."
"...Ah."
Lee Han immediately understood.
For a place like that, they might indeed need a black mage...
"P-public cemetery? We're going to the public cemetery right now???"
Of course, Gainando reacted differently.
When he glared at Imirg with a betrayed look, even Imirg seemed flustered.
"Why... why? Is there a problem?"
"Cemeteries are scary!"
"......"
"......"
Lee Han and Imirg were momentarily speechless, utterly baffled.
Since when did black mages say things like that?
"Didn't Professor Mortum's Black Rock Hall have a few cemeteries around it too?"
"That's exactly why it was terrifying! Why do we have to go to a place where they're all gathered?!"
Gainando resisted, looking horrified.
"You've summoned skeletons before, and you'll probably summon more undead in the future. Might as well get used to them now."
"I can meet undead separately! Why do I have to go to a public cemetery?!"
"Gainando."
"?"
"Life is about doing things you don't want to do and getting paid for it. Shut up and follow us."
"......"
Gainando slumped in defeat and followed. Imirg asked hesitantly, as if concerned.
"Will... will he be okay like that?"
"It's fine. Just buy him some cotton candy after the job's done."
The cemetery keeper guarding the outskirts of Granden City's public cemetery was overjoyed at their arrival.
"Oh my! Mages, welcome! I'm so glad you're here. I was really worried, you know."
"What were you worried about?"
"I was afraid there wouldn't be any Einrogard students learning black magic this year. There aren't many black mages in the city as it is."
"......"
The three students exchanged awkward glances.
Even in Einrogard, there weren't many students studying black magic.
The easiest way to find skilled, well-trained mages in Granden City was to hire Einrogard students during their breaks.
But if there were no Einrogard students studying black magic this year, it would've been a serious problem.
"Still, having three of you here is such a relief!"
"Ah... yes."
"But are black mages really that scarce?"
Gainando couldn't understand and asked.
Even if Einrogard graduates were rare, couldn't they just call black mages from elsewhere...?
"Oh dear. That's a dangerous thing to say. Black mages need to be far more trustworthy and of verified background than other mages."
"Why?"
"Well..."
As the cemetery keeper hesitated, Lee Han answered instead.
"Afraid they'll steal corpses from the cemetery?"
"Kuh... ahem. I wouldn't think that way. It's just saddening to see such prejudice against black mages."
"Yet the imperial newspapers seem to report black mage incidents a little too consistently—"
"Right! Let me show you around the cemetery."
The keeper hurriedly changed the subject.
He had no desire to list the accidents caused by black mages in front of students learning black magic.
"The Empire periodically experiences surges of negative energy. When dark energy fills the surroundings, the power of the dead grows stronger. And then..."
"Places like cemeteries could experience anomalies."
"Exactly. Truly worthy of Einrogard graduates."
Natural mana often caused all sorts of unpredictable phenomena.
Though not as random as the sudden summoning of a phoenix at Einrogard, it wasn't uncommon for the dead to rise or beings from other dimensions to slip through rifts when dark mana grew stronger.
The best at handling such problems were, without a doubt, black mages. No matter how bad their reputation, black magic was one of the Empire's essential arts.
"But we haven't learned the more complex mysteries of black magic yet."
"That's fine. Even so, we wouldn't leave everything to new students. There's a senior black mage here to assist you. Master Diret!"
"!"
Lee Han was startled by the familiar name.
Diret... Surely it couldn't be...
"I knew some juniors would come, but... there's more of you than I expected?"
A crow beastman student with black wings fluttering behind his back waved his hand as he walked out from the tower in the communal cemetery.
It was Diret, a fourth-year at Einrogard who specialized in the Black Magic curriculum.
"Senior! ...Are you alright?"
Lee Han instinctively scanned their surroundings. Diret nodded as if understanding his concern.
"Don't worry about that here. We won't get sent to the Punishment Room just for having a little chat."
"I see. That's a relief."
"And you won't die from going to the Punishment Room. Since you'll be attending Einrogard for a while yet, it'd do you good to get used to the idea."
Gainando looked disgusted at the suggestion, but Lee Han took it seriously.
'It's true that preparing for the Punishment Room in advance would be wise.'
From planning escape methods if confined to having a comfortable Plan B for resting when escape proved difficult.
The one saving grace was being on good terms with Perkuntra, one of the head jailers, but he couldn't rely solely on Perkuntra.
And from Lee Han's perspective, Perkuntra was somewhat...
'...prone to making mistakes at crucial moments.'
"Anyway, why are you two here? Aren't you from the Blue Dragon Tower?"
Diret looked puzzled at Lee Han and Gainando's presence.
Students from the Blue Dragon Tower didn't usually take on such tasks.
Gainando answered immediately.
"I'm earning my own spending money!"
"Huh? Why would you do that? If you can get money, you should just go take it."
"......"
Gainando, who'd expected praise, looked crestfallen.
Lee Han didn't say 'I'm obsessed with silver coins.'
Judging by the situation, there was a high chance he'd just be considered strange if he mentioned it.
"I saw it as an opportunity to train in Black Magic."
"......"
Diret stared at Lee Han with astonished eyes.
Now that he thought about it, this junior was that insane genius who studied magic from all schools.
"Uh, uh-huh. I see."
'Huh?'
Lee Han sensed something odd.
The reaction was even more... than with Gainando.
"Well, it's good that three of you came. There've been times with even fewer. Normally, a third-year should be explaining this, but that guy went east to find usable corpses."
"I-I see."
This time it was Lee Han and his friends' turn to stammer.
"They begged so desperately I couldn't refuse."
It was true that as a black mage, it was hard to turn down the cemetery keepers when they pleaded with tears in their eyes.
That's how Diret ended up coming to give this explanation.
"How admirable. Though if they'd offered several times the payment, refusing would've been a bit..."
"Huh? No. The pay's the same."
Lee Han was shocked by Diret's words.
"The pay hasn't increased?"
"Eh? Uh..."
Under his junior's intense pressure, Diret floundered.
"The cemetery keepers deceived you, Senior. I'll go protest on your behalf."
"No, no... We've known each other for a while, so this much is..."
"Absolutely not! If anything, you should be even more thorough with money matters between acquaintances!"
Seeing his junior's suspiciously intense focus on silver coins, Diret had a sudden strange thought.
'This junior... surely he didn't come just for the silver coins, did he?'
"Fundamentally, this job is more about prevention than dealing with aftermath."
Diret tapped the ground with his staff as he spoke.
"That's why you need to pay close attention to the flow of mana. As juniors who've studied Black Magic, you should be more sensitive to negative energy-type mana."
As Diret explained, some adventurers passing by on the road above the cemetery scowled as they walked past.
"Ugh, grave robbers?"
"Are they here to steal corpses again?"
"Don't mind them. They're too cowardly to say anything to our faces. Now, about... wait. Where'd one of the juniors go?"
Diret was startled to find Lee Han missing.
Turning his head, he saw Lee Han running up toward the road above.