Episode 915

Professor Garcia was so indignant he nearly cursed, but barely restrained himself, remembering his student was right there.

“Slaves? We are not slaves. Look, magic!”

“That’s a strange magic. Are you magical slaves?”

“……”

Lee Han watched Professor Garcia’s fists clench tightly.

‘Are ancient people fearless or what?’

Whatever else, just looking at Professor Garcia’s size, a normal person should have immediately piped up with “Oh, you’re clearly not slaves!”

Even if Professor Garcia was in handcuffs and chains, common sense should be to just say, “Clearly not a slave,” and let it go—what kind of confidence did they have to act like this?

-Don’t try to think of them rationally.

The hamster, hanging in his cage on Lee Han’s backpack, squeaked.

“What do you mean?”

-Just because they’re wearing the uniform of soldiers or patrolmen, don’t assume they’re like imperial soldiers or patrolmen. They’re completely different creatures.

To the hamster, these patrolmen were more like magic criminals or bandits.

After a lifetime of attacking and stealing from others, their eyes gleamed with bloodlust and their fingers twitched as if ready to attack at any moment.

“You mean the patrolmen are criminals? Then their reason for being here…”

As Lee Han was talking, the patrolmen spoke again.

“No matter if you’re magic slaves or what, drop your gear and surrender.”

“No! I told you, we’re not slaves. Look. And we’re not from this kingdom. We came from outside.”

With effort, Professor Garcia swallowed his anger and again tried to negotiate logically.

The patrolmen hesitated at that.

“Not a citizen of Margada kingdom, but an outsider?”

“Yes!”

“Even better. Then we don’t have to return you to a master. We can sell you for a good price. Surrender before we… kill—”

The blustering patrolmen suddenly collapsed.

Professor Voladi, who had vanished, now stood behind the fallen patrolmen, speaking stonily.

“Getting in won’t be easy.”

“…It seems so.”

• * *

The group dragged the fallen patrolmen away and quickly changed locations.

Spotting a suitable cave nearby, Professor Garcia camouflaged and secured the entrance, then made a makeshift camp.

“I’ll help, Professor.”

“It’s fine, Lee Han. Just get some rest.”

Professor Garcia waved Lee Han away with a look that said he didn’t expect a student to help here.

So dismissed, Lee Han went over to Professor Voladi, who was binding the captured patrolmen and setting up a makeshift interrogation area.

“I’ll help, Professor.”

“Rest.”

“……”

Lee Han, who was used to doing the work of a dozen with his friends, found he had nothing to do around professors.

He could have just relaxed, but he felt strangely uncomfortable.

‘Would it be so bad if they gave me a job?’

Sitting quietly while professors worked somehow made it harder.

Lee Han spoke to the hamster.

“These kingdom patrolmen pretty much grab anyone they want and make them slaves, right?”

-Not that surprising.

The hamster squeaked nonchalantly.

The empire was peaceful now, but on the fringes or farther out, such things were common.

Society was strictly stratified, with lower ranks brutally oppressed and unlucky outsiders worked as slaves.

Clearly, this kingdom was one of those places.

Lee Han also noticed how strict and severe the reinforcements called in against the demon horde had looked.

The moment any of the slave assistants among the golems so much as stepped out of line, a vicious whip lashed down, drawing blood and flesh.

With a criminal’s sensitivity for dark atmospheres, the hamster felt out how things were here.

A powerful magic kingdom ruled by force and terror!

“Let’s begin.”

With preparations finished, Professor Voladi called the group and woke the prisoners.

The stunned patrolmen glared fiercely, threatening them.

“How dare slaves do such a thing? Aren’t you afraid of punishment!”

“If you apologize now, we might only make you slaves!”

Professor Voladi skillfully cast spells.

After a few magics were cast, the patrolmen became very docile.

“What… do you want to know…”

“Stop… We’ll talk…”

-Impressive technique.

Even the hamster had to admit the Einrogard professor’s skills were formidable.

Lee Han nodded as if in full agreement.

“That’s right. Professor Baegrek really knows how to make people listen.”

‘What is this brat bragging about?’

The hamster was baffled.

He himself, as a magic criminal, could appreciate such interrogation, but the boy of the Wardanaz family was another story.

“Affiliation.”

“M-Margada Kingdom… patrol of Isran City…”

“How do you get into the kingdom?”

“If you’re an outsider… normally, you can’t get in… If discovered… enslaved for sure…”

Professor Garcia was shocked as he listened.

“To think access for outsiders is completely forbidden… is that possible?”

The Three Kingdoms Era was often understood as a time when just three kingdoms existed, but in truth, it was more complex.

There were countless lesser kingdoms, but only three major powers worth recording history after.

And the Kingdom of Margada was one of those—one name even Garcia recognized, one of the Big Three.

Hard to believe such a huge kingdom would enslave every outsider, not just as a closed city-state, but on a vast scale.

“If they’re so strict, all merchants would just go to the Kingdom of Carsala or the Kingdom of Arbanti. And the travelers from minor states, too.”

Professor Garcia named two of the other big three.

The Three Kingdoms Era—a time of fallen kings and melted crowns.

Any such closed-mindedness was a fatal flaw for the others to exploit.

But the patrolman dismissed this:

“The Carsala Kingdom, Arbanti Kingdom, they’re all the same… Where are you from that you don’t know… Oof!”

“Be polite.”

Professor Voladi applied more effective magic when the patrolman was rude.

After a few more spells, the patrolman realized proper etiquette was more important than origins.

“…The Three Kingdoms Era was harsher than I thought.”

“No kidding.”

Lee Han agreed with Professor Garcia’s comment.

In history books, only the great mages, secret arts, and cultural moments were remembered, but actually seeing it—it was far more brutal.

The three great kingdoms not only used outsiders but even their own people as slaves, focusing only on developing powerful secret arts, while outside there were demon armies from the outer world roving for a chance.

And they’d learned all this in less than a day. One could only wonder how much more grim it was beneath the surface.

“To get in… you need a disguise… or help from smugglers… or wear a citizen’s clothes…”

“What are the chances of getting found?”

“Chimeras… patrol regularly… outsiders have no mark… easily caught…”

‘More thorough than Einrogard.’

Lee Han was floored.

Chimeras that sniffed out magic marks?

This wasn’t the royal palace, just some city—and even there, surveillance was this tight.

“Do you know anything about the Gonadaltes family?”

“Gonadaltes? Gonadaltes… sounds familiar… not sure though…”

The patrolman wavered and denied it.

No matter if the Skull Headmaster had been a prince, it was just a prince of a small kingdom.

No patrolman would know such a minor family in detail.

Having gotten all they could, Professor Voladi nodded and reversed the patrolman’s magic mark.

“Professor Garcia.”

“Yes.”

Without being prompted, Garcia used magic to mark the group’s clothes.

Now, even if they went into the city, they wouldn’t be so easy to spot.

-Wait. Allow me a suggestion.

“?”

When the hamster squeaked, everyone looked over—so did even the battered, bound patrolmen.

“Lee Han, I’m curious.”

-I am Antagondals. You wizards surely know me. For now, I am trapped in this body…

“Yes, I know you’re Antagondals. Lee Han told me.”

-……

The hamster felt a bit awkward.

Then he felt an even deeper sense of absurdity.

Usually, if someone was carrying around a notorious magic criminal in a cage, that was something to be kept secret, wasn’t it?

-You told everyone that?

“Of course? Who knows what sort of shenanigans you might pull with evil sorcery? I had to warn them.”

-……

Logically, that checked out. Even if it was annoying.

Professor Garcia, unable to take it, butted in.

“I was actually wondering why you keep carrying this hamster around.”

“Oh. Because he’s the eldest here, so I thought he might be helpful. Knows a lot about the old days.”

That, too, was logically indisputable, if one left out any emotional misgivings.

Professor Garcia mused:

‘I’ve thought this before—Lee Han just isn’t afraid of dangerous people at all.’

To be fair, Einrogard had thrown dangerous types at Lee Han before, but Lee Han seemed to adapt a little too easily.

-Discuss after you hear my suggestion. These patrolmen must be killed.

The hamster spoke forcefully, considering his own safety.

The other mages were powered up and, even if killed, could probably recover in the past—or restore their souls. But as a present-day hamster, he was the most vulnerable if the group was wiped out.

“What?!”

“You can’t! You’d dare to kill the Margada patrol?!”

The patrolmen roared in outrage.

For unknown outsiders to dare capture, much less contemplate killing them—

-See? If you let them go, there’s no telling what they’ll do. We don’t know all their spells. Too many unknowns—don’t add variables.

The Three Kingdoms Era was full of magic the hamster didn’t know.

If there was a spell to locate missing patrolmen, it would mean endless hassle.

-I know you Einrogard mages are soft, but now…

“Uh, actually, Mage, I didn’t plan on leaving them behind.”

Lee Han carefully spoke up.

Given the situation, he had no intention of leaving them here either.

-Then?

“We’ll have to go into the city once anyway, so I was planning to use them as guides.”

-Haven’t you heard not to add variables?

“Yes, I considered that. But if they get turned into hamsters and locked in a cage, isn’t that much safer?”

Professor Voladi nodded approvingly at the solid judgment of his disciple.

The hamster, speechless, eventually managed,

-…I really don’t understand why you Einrogard types aren’t called magic criminals.