Episode 1054

Of course, Gainando didn’t notice a thing. He was too busy whimpering.

“Sniff, sniff, sniff.”

“Stop whining, Prince. You came willingly, so why act like this now?”

Giselle scolded her Blue Dragon Tower friend from behind.

He just tagged along on his own, now suddenly acting like this. That prince was way too timid.

“…No one came willingly…! Sob. I did come willingly.”

Gainando was about to defend himself but clamped his mouth shut under Lee Han’s silent glare.

“I know, so just stop whining already.”

“……”

Gainando thought to himself.

Was laughing along with the Skull Headmaster really something worth being punished this much for?

‘…No. It IS a crime…’

Thinking it over, it was indeed a truly unpleasant crime. Gainando silently reflected on himself.

The only unfair thing was that the Skull Headmaster himself received no punishment.

“It would have been better if the Headmaster came along too.”

‘Is he mad?’

Giselle looked at murmuring Gainando with eyes full of shock.

What on earth is he thinking?

“So, who are you going after?”

Lee Han asked Professor Voladi.

Since he was following anyway, it was only natural to be curious about who the target was.

And—

‘Also need to check if they’re related to the Evil God cult.’

The professor didn’t seem to have noticed yet, but you could never be too certain.

He had to keep monitoring discretely and skillfully.

“A magician.”

“!”

Lee Han and Giselle exchanged surprised glances.

And spoke at the same time.

“He must be from Einrogard.”

“No.”

“……”

“……”

Lee Han and Giselle exchanged glances that said, ‘I got tricked because of you!’ Gainando, still not following, asked in confusion.

“He just said a magician. Why would it have to be someone from Einrogard?”

“…Good question.”

“Don’t ask, Prince.”

“???”

While Gainando blinked, Professor Voladi explained about the wanted criminal with a bounty.

The dwarven mage Toman was showing the typical route taken by non-institutional magicians in the Empire.

Living as an adventurer, one day coming across a magical artifact, becoming drunk on magic power, engaging in all sorts of experiments, and descending into corruption…

‘Hmm. That’s not so different from magicians from Einrogard, though?’

Lee Han secretly thought.

Magicians trained by the Empire’s magic schools always said, “Untrained, self-taught magicians are dangerous,” but in truth, formal education didn’t seem to make them any less dangerous.

In fact, it might make them even more systematically dangerous.

And that Toman wasn’t even called a magic criminal. Magicians of that level were simply considered petty criminals in the Empire.

“Why did you pick this magician, out of all the wanted criminals?”

Lee Han asked casually.

Glancing at the bounty poster. Maybe there was an evil god cultist record?

‘It seems too ordinary for something the professor picked?’

The reward was under a few dozen coins, and he wasn’t particularly dangerous (his entire crimes were: stealing corpses from a noble family’s graveyard and stealing 14 horses from a western ranch), so it was surprising to see Professor Voladi pick him.

Was there some underlying reason Lee Han hadn’t noticed?

“He’s currently in the capital.”

“?!”

Not just Lee Han—Giselle was shocked too.

Even if Professor Voladi was an exceptional magic-user, could he really know the whereabouts of a wanted criminal?

“What? Do bounty hunters have tricks like that?”

“No, no. I’ve never heard of anything like that. Maybe Professor Baegrek trades info with other bounty hunters?”

Giselle guessed at Lee Han’s question.

Up north, every kind of bounty hunter passed through, but no one could guess locations without seeing them.

“No, Moradi. That’s impossible.”

“Why not?”

“There’s no way Professor Baegrek would have that kind of social network.”

“……”

Giselle stared, unsure if Lee Han was joking.

But the Wardanaz family boy looked completely serious. No hint of joking at all.

“My guess is: divination magic.”

“Nonsense. You can’t find that with divination magic…”

Divination magic was not almighty.

If you wanted to find someone, you needed sufficient clues and leads. If you had none, the difficulty shot through the roof.

If you gathered enough clues?

Then it was easier to just pursue them directly, not rely on high-difficulty divination magic.

Even Einrogard didn’t use domain-sized great magic to divine suitable students.

The reputation that exceptional diviners don’t rely on magic didn’t come from nowhere.

“Professor must’ve figured out a way to circumvent those limitations. Right, professor? Did you use divination magic to find him?”

To his student’s trustful question, Professor Voladi replied curtly.

“No. I just got info from other hunters.”

“……”

“Hey.”

• * *

Toman, a dwarven mage and a wanted criminal, was staying at a shabby inn just outside the capital’s southern gate.

The southern gate was a busy area with many traveling adventurers and mercenaries, so a wanted criminal could blend in easily.

Knock, knock, knock—

“Who is it?”

“Brought you your meal.”

“Leave it at the door and get lost!”

Toman’s voice was sharp.

It sounded suspicious, but the employee didn’t care much.

At this inn, customers like that were a dime a dozen.

As long as you paid in advance for room and meals, nobody cared if you rotted away in a corner.

“Damn cheapskates. Just because I stole some corpses, sending a pursuit squad after me…”

Toman grumbled the classic complaint of wanted necromancer criminals.

To practice necromancy, you needed corpses—or more precisely, high-quality corpses.

The power the corpse had in life impacted the resulting undead.

But such corpses were, of course, expensive, and often impossible to purchase even for money. What crazy knight family would sell a family corpse for gold?

For the sake of dark magic research, Toman had no choice.

…That was: sneaking into a knight family’s graveyard at midnight to dig up corpses.

Sadly, no knight family had ever understood souls like Toman’s. Not only did they report him, they even organized their own hunter squads.

Being caught by imperial soldiers was lucky—being caught by the knight family’s hunt squad usually meant a beheading and being dumped in the woods. Toman grumbled and opened the window with a wooden spear, looking down over the street.

‘No knight-looking bastards around, I hope?’

Knock, knock, knock—

“…Who is it?!”

Even though an employee had just delivered food, someone knocked on his door again, putting Toman on edge.

He gripped his staff in one hand and a crossbow in the other, ready to cast.

If a fight broke out, Toman planned to unleash his most wicked spell, -Bone Arrow Volley-.

He’d added a personally-brewed poison to the bone, making it all the more deadly.

‘Just try coming through that door.’

“I’m the guy staying next door.”

“…So?”

“Just open up and talk. Toman, if I report you to the empire, you know you’ll be in even bigger trouble?”

“!!!”

The dwarf mage’s eyes were wide with shock.

He hadn’t done anything suspicious at this inn, so how did this guy even know his name?

‘This bastard…!’

The man, having seized the initiative, now continued in a coaxing tone.

“Toman. I’m not here to report you. I’m making a proposal as a fellow empire fugitive.”

“A proposal?”

“Yeah. Open up. Put down your weapons. If you shoot by accident, I can’t guarantee your life either.”

“……”

After hesitating, Toman carefully unlocked the door.

To his surprise, the person outside was the old, scruffy stablehand from the inn.

A worn-out man laboring with guests’ mounts—that guy could say such threatening things?

Toman asked in confusion.

“You—you. I remember seeing you when I checked in. What was your name? Aren’t you an inn employee?”

“Names don’t matter. Jobs don’t matter either. All that matters is true faith.”

‘Evil god cultist!’

The word flashed through Toman’s mind.

Only evil god cultists in the Empire would try something this weird.

“…What? Which cult are you from?”

“That, I can’t tell you. Toman, you’re not qualified yet.”

The old man spoke with burning eyes.

“Talking about qualifications… who wants in, anyway?”

“Really? Be honest, Toman. Aren’t you tired of being on the run? Sick of searching alone for reagents without a guild, workshop, or mage tower to protect you?”

“……”

Toman wavered a little.

It was true. A runaway mage in the Empire had no room to focus on magic.

Evil god cultists were nasty, but on the other hand, maybe he could use them, too.

Take their help and disappear while they’re distracted—wasn’t that enough?

“So what’s your point?”

“Here, Toman. Take this.”

The old man threw a small, oddly carved wooden idol. So grotesque and ugly, it looked more like a monster than a god.

“Offer a sacrifice and pray to it. Then you’ll get what you wish for.”

“Hah! I thought you’d say something…”

Toman snorted.

There were few in the Empire who hadn’t prayed at a temple as a child.

Even fewer had ever seen those prayers answered.

Gold was tight as it was, now you want him to offer sacrifices to an evil god?

“No time to waste on prayers. If that’s all, get lost!”

“Toman. The god I serve is called the Fair Steward. Do you know what that means? He never ignores a sacrifice. Try it just once. You won’t regret it. And if you change your mind, find me.”

The old worker said no more and gently closed the door.

Normally, Toman would have ignored it, but the nonchalant attitude oddly disturbed him.

You couldn’t act that way unless you had real certainty.

“……”

Toman rifled through his reagent pouch for a big monster liver. Gripping the idol, he prayed seriously.

“!!!”

Suddenly, Toman felt mana surging inside him and flinched. When he opened his eyes, it was as if the idol was grinning ominously.

Mesmerized, Toman stared. The idol seemed to whisper, ‘Bring more.’

More.

And even more bloody…

Knock, knock, knock—

“What now?!”

For the third time that day, someone knocked and Toman exploded in frustration.

Why keep knocking?

“Sir! There’s a fire in the kitchen hearth downstairs!”

Normally, Toman would have been suspicious on hearing this and slipped out the window.

But now, with his judgment dulled from his first deal with the evil god—

Toman opened the door without thinking.

“What sort of stew did you—urk!”

“!”

Just as Toman was startled, Lee Han and his friends were also surprised.

Professor Voladi had predicted the target would try to escape out the window.

‘Wait, huh?’

Thud!

A strike hit Toman’s head and chest—Lee Han with his staff, Giselle with her sheathed sword.

The fragile dwarf mage collapsed forward without even a scream.

“G-gave me a fright…!”

Lee Han only cried out after the enemy fell. Gainando thought to himself.

‘He seemed awfully calm for someone who was surprised.’

If that was scared, what would it be like if he wasn’t?

“W-wait! L-let’s talk this out.”

“If you have more reagents hidden, tell us. If you try to cast magic later, a much stronger and scarier mage will hurt you even worse.”

Ignoring him, Lee Han tied Toman up. The first thing to do when subduing a mage was always to confiscate their staff and reagents and gag their mouth.

“Th-there’s an evil god cultist! Isn’t that a better prey than me?”

“Don’t be fooled, Wardanaz. He’s just trying to worm his way out.”

Giselle didn’t buy it.

Wanted criminals would say any lie when cornered.

“I know. Don’t worry.”

“It’s true! Look at this idol! It’s the evil god known as the Fair Steward…!”

“…You bastard! Quit your nonsense!”

Lee Han, aghast, tightened his grip in a panic.

At that, his magical pressure burst out, sending waves of intimidation through the room. The terrified dwarf mage, as well as Giselle and Gainando, were all startled.

“W-why are you so angry, Lee Han?”

“Because this brazen criminal, who’s broken the Empire’s law, is trying to mock me!”

“D-do you really have to be this mad…? No, nevermind!”

Gainando quickly shut his mouth in fear of catching fire.