Episode 493

“Mage.”

“……”

“Mage?”

Even after the sailor left, when Ianop remained silent, the mercenaries timidly asked with worried expressions.

There was no more ominous sign than a mage remaining silent and still.

‘I’ll draw him in no matter what!’

Beneath the hood, Ianop’s eyes blazed like torches.

Until now, his actions were motivated merely by Antagondals’s orders and the promise of reward.

But as soon as he saw a glimpse of that magic, Ianop was struck and his thinking changed.

‘That’s… without doubt the makings of a Great Mage.’

Imperial magic criminals were wicked and corrupt, but their greed for magic was no different from any other mage.

Ianop was the same.

Why else had he kept his head down for so long under someone as dangerous and capricious as Antagondals?

Because of his greed for magic.

But what if that boy fell into the path of evil sorcery and became a Great Mage?

And in that time, what if Ianop served faithfully as his right hand?

He would be able to savor the secret knowledge of magic pouring from beside him to his heart’s content.

That was a reward he could never expect from a miser like Antagondals.

So certain that the boy was destined to be a Great Mage, Ianop could stake even his own life on it.

‘Instead of reporting to Antagondals…’

Ianop decided to secretly monopolize the boy himself instead of offering him up to Antagondals.

It was a far more attractive path to bring the boy to his side and become his confidant.

I offer myself to the mage of the illustrious Wardanaz family, possessed of great talent…

Ianop began to write a letter with utmost care.

Whereas until now he’d tried to get closer by showing little bits of Antagondals’s magic, he was completely done with that approach.

In hindsight, it was idiotic.

How ludicrous to approach someone with the makings of a Great Mage—who could even look down on Antagondals—in such a roundabout way.

He would need an even more direct, even more tempting approach.

…Though I am old, I am an experienced mage. I know some magics banned in the Empire for their danger, and I have even set foot in forbidden places of the Empire. But I have never seen a talent so great as yours. Please, permit me to serve you! That I might offer unto you my meager knowledge and wisdom, and become a cornerstone for greater magic…

Ianop wrote a letter so humble that the mercenaries would have been horrified if they’d known.

It was rare for one mage to send a letter pledging to act as a slave for another.

But Ianop felt no shame.

As long as he could make contact, he intended to corrupt the boy from the Wardanaz family with the evil secrets he knew.

In that process, even kneeling and rubbing his forehead on the floor was nothing.

“Deliver this!”

“Y-yes!”

Frightened by Ianop’s ghastly voice, the mercenaries made no objection and dashed off into the night.

• * *

The next day.

Ianop waited, holed up in a corner of a harbor inn, for the mercenaries to return.

‘I’m sure this will work.’

If you bow this low, what mage can resist being intrigued?

Ianop was certain the boy from the Wardanaz family would at least try to talk to him.

“Mage!”

‘They’re here!’

As the mercenary’s voice was heard and the inn door opened, Ianop’s heart pounded.

But the mercenary’s expression was odd.

As if hiding something, as if guilty about something…

It was an awkward and uncomfortable look.

Ianop’s instincts began to ring alarm bells.

“Is th—…”

“This him?”

“Yes!”

At Lee Han’s question, the mercenary nodded frantically. In that moment, all unease forgotten, Ianop’s face brightened.

“Wardanaz…”

“Professor! This is the guy!”

“?!”

The moment Lee Han pointed, the inn’s rear wall exploded and a shadow lunged aggressively.

Crash!

Ianop wasn’t without experience in magic combat in rough back alleys.

Sensing something off behind, he panicked and activated his artifact.

With powerful enhancement magic, Ianop’s thoughts raced and his vision widened.

At the same time, a transparent barrier sprang up before him for defense.

Sssss—

Finally, his ring spun around once and colored his hands purple.

It was a powerful endowment magic that would, on contact, reverse the opponent’s regenerative powers.

For most mediocre battle mages, that would have been fatal. Unfortunately, his opponent was far too formidable.

Professor Voladi accelerated and moved even faster than Ianop. By the time the barrier took shape in front of Ianop, Voladi was already overhead.

As Ianop’s ring activated and magic gathered in his hand, Voladi did not hesitate to sever both the criminal’s arms. A scarf, reinforced with transformation and endowment magic, cut through the criminal’s arms like a master sword.

Ianop screamed in agony, making a last, desperate attempt. He triggered a scroll tied to his ankle to release sulfur mist and attempt escape.

But Professor Voladi had already skewered Ianop with a blade.

Thunk!

As the petrification potion—made by Professor Thunderstep himself—spread through his body from the blade, Ianop was instantly turned to stone.

“Did you secure him?!”

“He’s secure.”

“Well d—… Well done!”

Professor Thunderstep’s voice, full of unease, came from the wrecked rear inn wall.

He was so nervous he even forgot the formal speech usually shared between professors.

“You alright, Wardanaz!?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Just my luck! What’s with all these lunatics showing up?”

Thunderstep examined the petrified Ianop in disbelief.

From his artifacts to his attempted spells, he was by no means a typical magical criminal. He was definitely someone with a notable reputation.

It was surprising enough that such a person targeted Wardanaz, but what was even more surprising…

“…Aren’t you even curious about this?”

He held up the letter Lee Han had given him and asked.

Honestly, when Thunderstep was younger, if he’d received such a letter, he probably would’ve met the sender at least once.

How could a mage—prideful and curious—not be intrigued by such a submissive, wisdom-offering proposal?

No matter what happened afterward, he’d probably have met.

But the moment Wardanaz received the letter, he immediately ran up, shouting, “Professor! Professor! Some weird criminal sent me a letter!”—which wrapped things up easily before anything could go wrong, but still left Thunderstep a little startled.

…Was this kid without any ambition?

“What’s there to be curious about?”

Lee Han looked puzzled.

If some suspicious mage says ‘I’ll offer my wisdom and become your slave,’ shouldn’t you be suspicious, or assume it’s a scam? Why would you meet them?

Especially since he was out together with the Einrogard professors, the right thing to do was to call them to deal with it.

They picked on him so much on a daily basis, he might as well get his money’s worth when it mattered.

“No… I mean… There could be some unknown magic or forbidden knowledge from the Empire or something.”

“Nothing good comes from learning that sort of thing recklessly. There’s plenty to learn just from well-verified spells.”

“……”

Are you even really a mage?

• * *

Leaving the petrified magical criminal among the luggage, the students got ready to return.

Thanks to finishing the commission as originally scheduled, not only Professor Thunderstep but also the students looked delighted.

“Wardanaz. You weren’t around this morning; what happened?”

“Some magical criminal sent me a weird letter, so I went with the professor to catch him.”

“…Just say if you don’t want to tell us, you bastard.”

Bartrek grumbled.

He was sure Wardanaz must have gone to a secret shop in the city only he knew about.

A shop that sold treasure artifacts like or .

For such a place, he could understand Wardanaz not sharing it.

Instead of hitting Bartrek, Lee Han kindly posed a question.

“Bartrek. If you got a letter from an unknown mage who praised your talents and offered to serve you as a slave, what would you do?”

“What?”

Bartrek acted like it was nonsense, but soon became engrossed.

“I get that letter? Me? Hmm… Seems a bit far-fetched. Isn’t it too early for that? But let’s say I do…”

‘He’s really into it.’

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

Saying ‘that’s not realistic’ while rolling his eyes and seriously pondering was just laughable.

It was like Gainando worrying, ‘What if I fell into the Toberiz series universe and became an assistant’ or ‘If I became the Magic Card Champion, what would I do?’

“I’d probably meet once and give a little lesson, right? They’re so eager to see me, after all.”

“…Let’s say the other party is known to be shady and has a criminal record. Still?”

“A criminal? Ummm.”

Bartrek fell into thought again.

“Even so… If someone came wanting to be my slave…”

“Come on.”

Whack!

Lee Han smacked Bartrek on the back of the head.

Maybe when they returned to Einrogard, he’d have to tell the skeletal headmaster to use this incident as an extra case in the character education curriculum.

‘Are Einrogard students too vulnerable to scams?’

Anyone getting such a letter should be suspicious…

“What!? What did I say wrong…!?”

Bartrek was upset, not understanding why he’d been hit.

Meanwhile, the city guild members and Meikin family came to see them off.

“Thank you so much for everything. You could rest here a bit longer if you’d like…”

At that, the students looked tempted and glanced at Professor Thunderstep.

With the people of the city trying to detain and welcome them, could they not stay an extra day or two?

‘I haven’t even seen the water statue festival yet.’

‘There are still so many streets I haven’t seen.’

“No, it’s fine. Since we’re out here in the middle of our studies, I’m sure the students want to head back and focus on their research.”

Professor Thunderstep responded with a fake laugh.

The people gathered let out exclamations.

“Indeed…!”

“It was thoughtless of us to make such a request! Forgive us.”

The Shadow Patrol hunters cocked their heads as if it still made no sense.

“Seriously? Once I went down to the village in the middle of training, I never wanted to return.”

“Mages must have a different kind of brain.”

The students glared at Professor Thunderstep as if praying a hole would burn into the back of his head.

But the professor was completely indifferent to the heat of those stares.

“We will never forget your hospitality and kindness. Thank you once again for the consideration and generous reward from the Meikin family. It will be of great help to the students’ training.”

The Meikin family responded humbly.

“We’re just sorry we couldn’t provide more. It’s not cheap for students to buy research materials.”

“Haha… It’s fine.”

“Oh, professor. Last time, the 3rd-year student Valpatan pawned a sword to buy some reagents, and I said it was fine to pay back slowly, but could you please tell him so? He keeps sending letters of apology…”

As one of the Meikin family spoke carefully, Professor Thunderstep’s face flushed.

Einrogard students somehow always managed to embarrass professors no matter where they went.

“…I’ll let him know.”

The first-years gossiped upon hearing of their upperclassman’s desperate groveling.

“What’s with that senior? Is he from the Thieves’ Guild or something?”

“The Thieves’ Guild would just outright steal; they wouldn’t pull something that pathetic.”

“Quiet! Quiet! You think you’ll all be any different!?”

Professor Thunderstep scolded the students harshly.

That could be their own fate someday—how could they sit there just mocking!