Episode 931
Episode 931
'With this, I should be able to check in advance and escape if needed.' Lee Han calmly assessed the energy outside the window, down the stairs, and from the café patrons around him.
There didn't seem to be any spies sent by Einrogard lurking about.
Ting
—With a clear sound, Lee Han spun a small crystal top. As his mana was consumed, the top whirled rapidly.
This was one of the new divination spells he had learned upon entering his second year—Crystal Top Divination.
If the top continued spinning, it meant the situation was relatively safe. If it stopped, danger was approaching.
Though the results were ambiguous and its applications limited—hardly justifying the steep cost—the seniors in the Divination Magic school didn't think highly of this spell. Still, Lee Han had memorized it, thinking it might come in handy later.
Above all, the fact that it required no special reagents—just mana—made it extremely appealing.
'Safe... for now.' Inside Einrogard, there were so many mages far more skilled than Lee Han that he rarely had a chance to use it, but outside was a different story.
If spies hired by Einrogard approached, there was a high chance Lee Han could detect them with this divination.
"Young Master of the Wardanaz Family. Which club business brought you out today?"
"Well, first, it's related to the Theater Club..."
"Ah, the Theater Club. That suits you."
"...followed by the Kitchen Club, the Stonemason Club, the Polo Club, the Library Club..."
"......"
Arian nearly spat out his coffee but maintained his composure with a merchant's practiced calm.
Come to think of it, this young master of the Wardanaz Family did live up to his family's reputation—eccentric and peculiar in his own way.
For someone like him, joining so many clubs and enjoying social activities wasn't all that strange.
'The Wardanaz Family isn't particularly sociable, so he really is unusual.' Unaware that he was being unfairly judged, Lee Han cautiously broached the subject.
He needed to ask an outsider for help, but at the same time, he had to conceal his true purpose.
He had to choose his words carefully.
'Hmm. The first item to retrieve is...'
Asen's Polarizer, currently in the possession of the mage Uap, must be retrieved and delivered to Professor Verdus.
Uap was confirmed to be at the Oath of the Dwarves workshop in the western district of the city.
'This already makes me not want to do it.'
Lee Han frowned as he read the note.
Having to steal from an upstanding citizen of the Empire—all for Professor Verdus's sake.
Even if it was a professor's request, he had no desire to go through with it.
"Do you happen to know anything about the mage Uap?"
"Ah, yes. Young Master, are you perhaps... retrieving an item for Einrogard?"
This time, it was Lee Han who nearly spat out his coffee.
How could someone he'd just met today know about Einrogard's deepest, most guarded secret?
"...I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Ah. My apologies—that was thoughtless of me."
Arian apologized sincerely.
Asking an Einrogard student about this so bluntly had been tactless.
"...Still, I'd like to know why you asked that."
"Well... Young Master of the Wardanaz Family, the thing is... Einrogard's item retrievals are more well-known than you might think."
Arian spoke carefully, unsure where to begin.
He was worried about wounding the pride of a dignified Einrogard student.
"...What?"
"Think about it. Precious magical artifacts vanish without a trace, yet the victims stay silent. How many places could pull that off?"
"......"
Lee Han felt a deep sense of shame.
'Did I really make a mistake coming to Einrogard?'
He'd thought they'd been discreet, but if even an outsider merchant knew about it...
Who knows? If he went to the capital, he might overhear whispers like, "That mage's from Einrogard, right?" "Shh, everyone hide your pockets."
"...No. Even if Einrogard mages live outside imperial law, does that make any sense? Victims of theft staying silent?!"
"Huh? I think you've misunderstood. Are you suggesting that Einrogard mages are forcibly taking items from perfectly innocent citizens of the Empire?"
"Huh? Yes."
"...Ahahaha! What an excellent joke!"
Not only Arian, but even Amur burst into loud laughter.
The statue-like boy's joke had landed perfectly in this situation.
Who would've thought he'd crack such a joke at a time like this!
"...Eh, isn't that the case?"
"Hahahaha! You can stop joking now. Of course that's not the case."
Arian was laughing so hard tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. Wiping them away, the merchant continued his explanation.
Due to how often Einrogard mages were mentioned in the Imperial Newspaper and rumors, people often mistakenly thought they were particularly evil—but that wasn't true.
Einrogard mages simply caused larger-scale accidents because they were more capable, not because they were especially wicked among mages.
Imperial mages were, by nature, all pretty evil to begin with.
A bunch who cared for nothing but themselves and their magic!
"Many magical items are dangerous, contaminated, or obtained through illegal means. Einrogard mages retrieve such items. Naturally, the mages who lose them can't complain anywhere since they were in the wrong to begin with."
Arian was an experienced merchant well-versed in rumors from across the Empire.
Thus, he could sometimes connect cases where particularly wicked and ill-reputed mages lost or had artifacts stolen to Einrogard.
If only those who interfered with items Einrogard mages were trying to retrieve or purchase got robbed...
"When you mentioned the mage Uap from the <Oath of the Dwarves> workshop earlier, that's why I asked. Uap is a mage with many bad rumors. Recently, I heard he stole an artifact from an Einrogard professor—that's why I brought up retrieval."
"...Would that professor happen to be Professor Verdus?"
"Most likely."
'Good grief.'
Lee Han was genuinely shocked.
An outside mage had stolen Professor Verdus's artifact?
If Einrogard students found out, they'd probably not only award him a medal but erect a statue of him within the Magic Academy's grounds.
'Honestly, I'd want to build one too.'
Lee Han felt a pang of conscience—different from before.
To think he'd have to punish with his own hands the righteous thief who had punished Professor Verdus on behalf of the students.
'But... this is a commission.'
Now he understood what his seniors meant about not letting personal feelings interfere with work.
Lee Han suppressed his sympathy and resolved to retrieve the item.
"Your anger is understandable, young master. That bastard Uap is an insatiably greedy mage! I hope he learns his lesson from this."
"Huh? Ah. Yes."
Arian mistakenly thought Lee Han was furious as a disciple.
Who could have imagined he was actually thinking about erecting a statue of gratitude?
The western guild district of Granden City was filled with noises qualitatively different from ordinary street clamor.
The sound of failed potions exploding and spewing smoke, failed medicinal herbs escaping their plots while shrieking loudly, the sound of rogue magic needles from the Tailors' Guild collapsing walls...
And now, rhythmic hammering echoed noisily from the <Oath of the Dwarves> workshop.
"Don't stop, you idiots! This is why Eastern dwarves are—!"
The dwarf mage Uap swung his hammer while roaring.
Unlike the Eastern dwarves of the Empire, who loved alcohol, food, and feasts, there was a prejudice that Western dwarves loved only solitude and gold.
Uap was a Western dwarf who seemed to embody every negative stereotype.
The dwarf workers muttered curses under their breath as they swung their hammers.
'Damn mage bastard.'
'Shh. He's as cranky as they come.'
"If you don't finish the ingots by evening, I'm docking all your pay—remember that!"
Uap shouted his orders before heading down to the basement. While the spacious first floor had been converted into a workshop with facilities and equipment arranged for multiple workers, the basement was the mage's private workshop where outsiders were strictly forbidden.
After undoing three layers of seals and opening the door, a strange and complex surge of magical energy rushed outward. Uap hurriedly slammed the door shut.
'Damn it! What a waste of mana.' Maintaining the workshop with high-density magical energy required considerable expense.
For the miserly Uap, such expenditures were always like a thorn in his side.
'But what choice do I have?'
Though the dimly lit underground workshop was empty, Uap glanced around needlessly before slowly walking toward the center.
On the silver worktable lay a dazzling box inscribed with ancient runes.
It was none other than Asen's Polarizer.
"Beautiful... Absolutely beautiful. Asen was truly a genius."
Uap marveled once more at the ancient mage's brilliance, but then his expression suddenly darkened.
The word "genius" had brought an unwelcome face to mind.
"That bastard Verdus! Just you wait. I will crush your reputation!"
Though many disliked Professor Verdus, Uap's hatred stemmed from a slightly unusual reason—he despised the man out of sheer jealousy for his genius.
Had any Einrogard students heard him, they might have asked, "Out of 99 possible reasons to hate him, why pick that one?" But Uap didn't care in the slightest about Verdus' personality or character.
"Once my magic is complete, his reputation, his disciples, even the mages who aid him—they'll all flock to me!"
Uap shouted as if making a declaration to the void.
Of course, there was some delusion in that too.
Even if Verdus' reputation was one thing, his disciples and the mages who assisted him weren't there because they particularly liked him.
Even if Uap completed his magic and achieved something extraordinary, neither the professor's disciples nor the nearby mages would ever gather around him.
Frankly, it was hard to say they even gathered around Verdus in the first place. His disciples and neighboring mages all had their own work to do—they didn't follow him.
"...Ugh. Dizzy."
Peering into the Polarizer, Uap suddenly staggered.
Lately, every time he looked into it, he was hit by inexplicable headaches and dizziness.
Thinking rationally, he should have stopped immediately and investigated the anomaly—but Uap, blinded by jealousy, couldn't bring himself to consider it.
'I should head back up.'
After a brief rest to collect himself, Uap prepared to return upstairs.
His workers slacked off at every opportunity, so he had to keep cracking the whip—
Thud!
Uap collapsed sideways. A perfect ambush.
Even as his consciousness faded, he was stunned.
'Impossible! The defensive spells—!'
The underground workshop was protected by layers of magic starting from the entrance.
The door was enchanted with Asen's Soul Scream, a spell that would separate an intruder's soul from their body the moment they touched it. Beneath that, a magic circle was primed with a powerful illusion curse.
And that wasn't all—the other spells were more than enough to shred any intruder. So how had this ambush happened?
Clutching his fading consciousness, Uap stretched out his senses.
To his shock, every single spell—from the door all the way to where he stood—had been completely destroyed.
Uap had meticulously prepared countermeasures against other mages' intrusions, but he had never once imagined such a brutal breach.
'A m-monster? A demon?'
He couldn't even begin to guess what terrifying being could attack like this.
"Phew. Good thing I'm an illusion mage."