Episode 640

Tombs and ruins in the Empire were not to be underestimated. Especially the older they were, the truer this became.

Tombs and ruins built during the days of ancient kingdoms were equipped with all sorts of powerful means to block intruders, and these measures were more than enough to tear unfortunate intruders to shreds if they entered carelessly.

Breaking through such tombs required more than just brute strength. You had to be well-versed in all manner of academic fields, particularly archaeology, as well as possess wisdom and composure in the face of unexpected developments.

At the same time, you also needed the intuition and luck to run away immediately if things went wrong.

For this reason, when wizards discovered such tombs or ruins, they would hire adventurers to enter them instead of going in themselves.

It wasn’t because they recognized adventurers as talented people with those abilities, but because, if something went wrong, they themselves wouldn’t get hurt.

Gainando, without realizing it, hid behind Lee Han and asked Arsil,

“Is this…is this place safe?”

“For this kind of place, it’s fine.”

Lee Han let out a sigh of relief.

It looked much safer than he’d feared.

“……”

“……”

While Nillia and Gainando stared at Lee Han in shock, Yoner carefully asked,

“Lee Han. What do you mean it’s fine…?”

“It’s not too hot, not too cold, right?”

To Lee Han, Arsil was a kind and gentle elder brother, but his senses had been dulled after spending so much time only with spirits.

If you went to a place where lava was boiling or your breath turned to ice, it could actually be dangerous for human beings.

Compared to that, this ancient tomb was relatively pleasant. Aside from the chilly air, there wasn’t any particular sense of danger.

Gainando muttered miserably,

“I shouldn’t have come.”

“What did you say, Gainando?”

“N-nothing. Nothing at all.”

Nillia, still not fully understanding, asked,

“Wardanaz. I have a question.”

“Ask away, Nillia.”

“This is your family’s territory, right?”

“That’s right. It’s on the outskirts, but still part of the territory.”

“…If a tomb like this is discovered in the domain, shouldn’t you call more people?”

Even for a noble’s domain, it was rare for a tomb or ruin to be discovered there.

The more people had worked the land, the more quickly tombs or ruins were usually found.

Of course, among nobles with large and remote domains, there were still some who occasionally found tombs or ruins on their land, but when they did, they usually…

‘Wouldn’t they call for more people?’

They would send knights or wizards of their house, hire adventurers or mercenaries, or at least call nearby experts from the mountains, like the Shadow Patrol…

Nillia also remembered the time, as a child, when someone came from a northern baron’s family and begged for help.

A labyrinth had appeared in their territory and monsters kept crawling up, making retainers go missing.

“That’s normally what you do.”

Lee Han nodded calmly.

“But our family’s domain is so huge and there are so many secluded places that this sort of thing happens more often than you’d think. So we don’t call people out for every case.”

Arsil nodded as if agreeing with his younger brother.

Any wizard knew that in places with a lot of magical power, bizarre things happened more frequently.

When magical energy accumulated in one place, it could cause all sorts of changes, leading to cracks with other dimensions, the twisting of reality’s rules, and unending transformation.

A house like the Wardanaz family—one of the top in the Empire, conducting magical experiments in real time—couldn’t help but have an impact on its surroundings.

Having heard the explanation, Yoner seemed to finally get it.

“Ah, so that’s why there were so few people near the mansion?”

“No, that’s just because my parents find having people around bothersome.”

“……”

Arsil made excuses like, ‘That’s also part of it,’ but it didn’t reach his friends.

“Anyway, things like this happen so often that unless it’s a really big deal, we usually just leave it. If we responded to each and every one, the knights wouldn’t have a hand left to spare.”

“What counts as a big deal?”

“Something like a golem revolt?”

Nillia was at a loss for words and couldn’t ask further.

Seeing her friend respond so matter-of-factly, she had no idea where to even begin.

Gainando whispered to Yoner and Nillia.

“Stop them! Please! I don’t want to go in there! This isn’t Einrogard!”

“Don’t necromancers like going into tombs?”

“What are you talking about! Then do all alchemists like being shut up in workshops handling ingredients?!”

‘They do like that…’

Yoner just thought it to herself.

But unlike Gainando’s gloom, Lee Han was quite enthusiastic.

Seeing a tomb in relatively good shape, he became greedy.

“Brother. How many ornaments are in there? Are there old gold or silver coins? There are? Wow. That’s great.”

Having heard Arsil’s explanation, Lee Han’s face brightened as he turned to his friends.

“This is great. You all get to have a tour of the domain and get some extra loot too?”

He felt a little sorry that his friends who came to visit the mansion had been bored for so long, but now, with both a tour and valuable spoils, he couldn’t help but feel pleased as their host.

“L-Lee Han.”

Gainando called out in a thin voice.

The moment he entered this deep, gaping ancient underground tomb, he knew he wouldn’t be able to tell if this was Wardanaz territory or Einrogard.

“What?”

“……”

But Gainando just couldn’t bring himself to say ‘I don’t want to go in.’

He could feel how excited Lee Han was about showing his friends a good experience.

How could he just say, “I can’t go in there!”

“…Yo-Yoner has something to say!”

“T-that piece of trash?”

Nillia muttered in shock.

Earlier, when the ink marked Gainando as Yoner’s enemy, she’d thought it was a bit much, but now it seemed perfectly fitting.

“Yoner? Why?”

Despite having just betrayed his cousin, Gainando stared at her desperately.

Please!

‘Please stop them!’

Yoner replied with a laugh.

“Gainando says he’s really looking forward to the tomb. Said this is exactly what he learned necromancy for.”

“You!”

Lee Han patted Gainando’s shoulder like he was so proud.

When Arsil asked what was going on, Lee Han was filled with pride as he explained and boasted about his friend.

“This friend here, Gainando, specializes in necromancy… Yes, he’s outstanding. Among the students taking necromancy, he’s in the top five.”

“But aren’t there fewer than five students taking necromancy…?”

“Shh.”

Yoner blocked Nillia’s mouth.

Arsil praised Gainando like he was proud.

Gainando didn’t know exactly what was being said, but since he could tell it was praise, he nodded, even with a miserable face.

“Tha…thank you…”

“So Gainando, you’ve finally started taking an interest in magic. I’m happy.”

Arsil asked curiously. Lee Han answered, straight-faced.

“No, brother.”

“What did he say?”

“He asked if you were his nephew.”

“……”

• * *

Though they made a fuss at the entrance, the inside of the tomb was unexpectedly not dangerous.

Not only were there no traps by the entrance, but above all, Arsil’s abilities were broken-level.

Click!

With every step Arsil took, new spirits appeared to manage the path.

Spirits of stone repaired floors on the verge of collapse and fixed cracked ceilings, and spirits of sand and earth appeared to fill up any cracks just in case.

Spirits of light lit the way so Arsil wouldn’t trip, and flew ahead to check for traps. If there was a trap, the spirits would rush ahead and nullify it.

Seeing this from the back, Lee Han and his friends couldn’t help but be shocked.

“Unbelievable…!”

Even Nillia, who had one of the highest levels of spirit affinity among them, saw what Arsil could do and found it beyond imagination.

How could one person receive such blind love from such a wide variety of spirits?

“How can something like this even be possible?!”

“My brother’s always been like that.”

Lee Han grumbled back.

It was just an innate affinity, not something any theory or magic could explain.

Shocked, Nillia muttered under her breath.

“But Wardanaz, you used to say you were scared of spirits and avoided them…”

“……”

“A-ah. Sorry. S-sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s true, after all.”

“I’m really sorry…! Sorry!”

“It’s fine.”

“But you’re not really okay! Just get mad!

“Why should I get mad when I’m really fine?”

Nillia was desperate not to end up on the letter blacklist again.

“Is that really that amazing?”

“You just don’t know because you spend so much time with undead doing your necromancy. That’s incredible.”

“I-it has nothing to do with necromancy!”

Gainando, who got scolded for asking for no reason, protested.

It really did seem convenient.

If undead beings had been that polite, being a necromancer would have been much more rewarding.

“Lee Han. Lee Han. Is stuff like that possible with undead?”

“…Gainando. Are you crazy?”

“N-no… I just thought if anyone could, it’d be you, Lee Han.”

Of course, Gainando knew it was impossible with undead.

Undead were basically savage and violent, and it was impossible for them to provide that kind of detailed support.

If you ordered undead, ‘I’m trying to break through this tomb, so check the floor, inspect the ceiling, check the traps ahead,’ they’d actually go out of their way to set off every trap.

But with Lee Han…

“I can’t do everything, Gainando.”

“But Lee Han, you scare the undead. That’s why I thought maybe.”

“……”

Lee Han kicked Gainando, who was walking ahead.

“Why?!”

“You tripped on a stone.”

Knock, knock knock, knock knock—

Arsil stopped and knocked on the wall of the tomb. Yoner asked, puzzled,

“How did you know there was a path in here?”

“The spirit told him.”

‘That’s just broken…!’

Lee Han tried not to be envious, but as a magic school student, there was simply no way not to envy Arsil’s abilities.

If you had that talent, even in alchemy you could just summon an experienced and talented spirit and listen closely.

When reading old tomes, you could just summon a spirit fluent in that language…

“This area was the living quarters for the tomb’s guardian knights, and inside there are silver burial items and a few books… Oh. The books have already been taken by my brother? What kind of books were they?”

Arsil was excited by his younger brother’s interest and started to explain what kind of books they were.

It turned out they were silly novels written long ago about knights and court ladies…

“They were useless romance novels, apparently. Let’s go in.”

“……”

Arsil looked a bit down but didn’t show it and went inside.

Inside the room sat a massive stone Hecatoncheires. Seeing such a monster, which even a mighty giant would have trouble overpowering, Lee Han’s group was astonished.

“…Brother. Isn’t that a Hecatoncheires? You didn’t tell me because I didn’t seem interested? …Of course I like treasure more than monsters, but still, shouldn’t you tell me what’s in the room before we go in?”

While Lee Han gnashed his teeth, Arsil shrugged and apologized, then spoke to the Hecatoncheires.

The Hecatoncheires, who had been glaring fiercely at Lee Han’s group, turned its head away after hearing Arsil’s request. Lee Han said to his friends,

“He said don’t make too much noise and play quietly before you leave.”

“……”