Episode 1079

‘That’s a bit much.’

The heart of a ruthless battle mage was a little hurt.

Sure, people were buying poisons and curses they wouldn’t normally bother with because of Lee Han, but that was the nature of business.

If they weren’t buying poison and curses here, they’d just be frittering away money on something else.

“By the way, Senior, who is that dwarf over there?”

“Dirimpa? Ah, I guess you wouldn’t have met. She spends most of her time underground.”

“Ah.”

Lee Han understood right away.

Some dwarves (mainly the eastern dwarfs like Professor Lightningstep) loved parties and exploration, while others, mostly the western dwarves like Senior Jarun of the Ironboot family, were obsessed with mining and minerals, spending all their time underground.

Dirimpa was surely a western dwarf.

“But Black Magic doesn’t need that many minerals or gems. What does she major in to spend so much time below ground?”

“What are you talking about?”

Direte looked puzzled.

Minerals and gems?

“Uh… Spending all her time below ground… isn’t she hoarding minerals and gems?”

“No. She’s looking for buried bones.”

“……”

Stedal Nago—no, Lee Han—reacted with a slightly odd expression, so Direte hastened to explain.

She couldn’t stand to let her junior’s reputation be tainted.

“Junior. For your information, searching for ancient bones underground in Einrogard for Black Magic use isn’t illegal at all.”

“I think it’s not about Empire law…”

A mage who spent all their time mining minerals sounded okay, but someone burrowing underground for bones came off…

No wonder Black Magic wasn’t popular.

“Dirimpa does it purely for academic reasons.”

Direte, worried her little-sisterlike junior might be mistaken for some evil necromancer, kept going.

“And do you realize how many rare, ancient creature bones are layered underground in Einrogard? Leaving them unused is magically wasteful.”

Lee Han still found it a little horrifying, but for his senior’s sake, he pretended to accept it.

“It’s fine. I’m ashamed of my prejudice.”

“Good. You should talk with Dirimpa sometime. Sometimes she just hands out nice gems she finds.”

“!”

Is she actually a good person?

Lee Han couldn’t believe it. Did such people exist in the world?

“She just gives them away? That can’t be right?”

“Well, uh…”

Direte hesitated.

She could already see her junior’s reaction.

“…Dirimpa isn’t interested in gems, only bones. Sometimes if she finds gems and it’s too much trouble to keep, she just tosses them. So if you’re lucky, you can get them before she does…”

‘She must be nuts. I’ll have to avoid her.’

Lee Han made a cold judgment.

A person who should be in Enchantment, why is she in Black Magic?

• * *

The commissions ended.

The Black Magic students, checking their deposits, were in tears.

“Sniff, now we can buy a new chimera corpse for second semester.”

“Shouldn’t we patch the leak on the second floor of the Black Dark Hall first?”

“……”

Direte felt a knot in her chest.

‘I’m so sorry…!’

Her juniors were scraping by, while their senior just did research all day.

Even Professor Verdus wouldn’t do this.

“Senior. In Einrogard, everyone’s responsible for themself, remember? You’re not seriously thinking ‘I’m worse than Professor Verdus’ or something?”

“…Are you reading my mind?”

Direte was startled by her junior’s sharp observation.

Come to think of it, wasn’t this junior top of the Illusion School, too?

“Not quite at that level yet.”

‘Yet?’

“And I heard Dirimpa spits on gems she finds and dumps them. Technically, that’s her fault. Hmph.”

“I never said I spit on them…!”

Direte shuddered at her junior’s nasty depiction.

‘Shouldn’t have mentioned it…’

With her personality, a gem-dumping Black Mage would sound more like a criminal.

But she’d learn eventually, so best to break it in now…

“Oh. Senior, what were you talking about earlier?”

As luck would have it, Dirimpa herself appeared. Direte shot her a look—“don’t you dare say useless stuff”—and explained.

“We were discussing commissions.”

“We were talking curses to take down an evil dark mage.”

“……”

Direte stared, exasperated, at her junior—‘Didn’t I just tell you not to say unnecessary things?’

Lee Han felt wronged.

Wasn’t that a proper thing to say?

“I see. But wouldn’t it be hard to take down even a criminal with curses alone? Unless…Senior, you have a way.”

Usually, curses weren’t very effective against other mages. Too easy to block and too many counters.

But Dirimpa believed in Direte.

Surely their genius senior would have a workaround.

‘She’s overestimating me…’

Direte was flustered.

She wasn’t even a combat mage—coming up with something like that was unthinkable.

The red-bobbed dwarf mage looked around, as if she had something more to say.

“Dirimpa. If you want to say something, go ahead. St-Stedal here is trustworthy.”

“All right. Actually, I heard a story about a demon. There’s one on the surface with no contract.”

“!”

Direte’s eyes lit up, as did Lee Han’s.

A demon?

It was easy to forget, seeing them as pathetic slaves in Einrogard or some other family’s estate, but demons were among the Empire’s greatest dangers.

They came from other dimensions, seeking to corrupt and torment mortal souls.

No matter how well they wore their false skins, they were ultimately closer to natural disasters.

But for mages, their usefulness was undeniable.

Secrets from beyond worlds, endless high magic and mysteries—the demons held all sorts of knowledge.

And aside from that, demons were simply excellent labor. As summoned creatures, there were none more useful.

“A demon, huh…”

“As Black Magic School mages, we can’t let this pass. We must capture and enslave it.”

“??”

Dirimpa was taken aback by the gruff mage’s response.

Brutal manner aside, he seemed deeply knowledgeable about Black Magic.

“Are you a friend of the professor?”

“No, no, don’t mind him.”

Direte gave her junior a subtle heel kick out of sight.

Cut it out!

‘Oof.’

“Stedal’s right, though. Having a usable demon would be great. The one I summoned last time is gone—the contract expired.”

There were two main ways to command demons.

One: Call them in directly from another dimension through an ironclad contract.

Veteran and cunning mages could still trick and use demons, but it wasn’t easy.

Two: Subdue and dominate a demon that had descended onto the continent.

Unlike the first method, this was far more loose and flexible.

“But if it’s only a lesser demon, it’s not really worth it. Too little to offer…”

“They said it’s higher than that.”

“What?”

Direte’s eyes widened.

The demon in question sounded stronger than expected.

“If something that strong is loose, shouldn’t it be reported to the knights?”

“Technically, it isn’t loose.”

Dirimpa explained what she’d heard from a noble at the hall.

-Excuse me, Black Magic students—could I consult you about a demon…?

-??

-See, I… may have bought an expensive antique at a secret auction…

It was common for demons to hide inside ancient relics.

Nothing attracted demons like a foolish person blinded by dreams of wealth.

But demons sometimes underestimated human progress.

Over time, humans had increased their defenses: magical wards and protective fields were standard in noble houses.

Especially those who bought lots of old artifacts tended to be careful against demons.

That precaution had saved the family. The demon was released from the relic but got trapped in the house mirrors by the protective spells, unable to escape.

Boxed in, the demon tried to tempt its owner by jumping from mirror to mirror.

-Don’t you want power? Hmm?

-No! I’m a bureaucrat—what do I need power for!

-Don’t you want authority? Hmm?

-I retire next year!

-How about wealth? Don’t you want to expand your mansion a hundredfold? Or youth? Or revenge? Just release me and make a contract!

“Wow. That’s actually… smart.”

Direte was honestly amazed.

Maybe it was because she was a bureaucrat, but the woman had been thorough.

Of course, ideally, she never should have bought a suspicious artifact from a secret auction…

But after that, refusing to even answer the demon at all was the right move.

“If they didn’t call the knights, they must not want to make it public.”

Lee Han nodded.

Since the demon was released by a shady relic, the owner wouldn’t want to draw attention to it.

If trustworthy Einrogard black mages took care of it—and even took the demon away—everyone would be happy.

The noble’s worries would disappear, the black magicians would get a demon, the demon would get a master…

“Hmm. Getting a demon would be nice. Want to check it out? See if it’s something we can actually subdue?”

“That’s best, right?”

Dirimpa nodded to her senior’s agreement.

Such a demon could actually be useful. Especially having popped out of an old artifact—a tempting curiosity.

If lucky, it could even turn out to be a powerful upper demon!

“Probably not that, or it would have escaped before the protections were triggered.”

“True.”

“…?”

Dirimpa stared at the hulking battle mage.

Huh?

“…Are you coming with us?”

This was a commission for the Black Magic School.

Even if Stedal came, there was no fee—and no demon to share…

Stedal nodded.

He wasn’t after money or a demon.

A much purer motivation moved him.

“Of course. I’d never pass up a fight with a demon. Just thinking about it gets my blood pumping.”

The fierce attitude was in line with his reputation; Dirimpa whispered to Direte, flustered.

“Are you sure it’s safe, senior? When fighting demons, brute force just makes it more dangerous.”

“…He’s not the type to just rush in and cause trouble…”