Episode 1081

Episode 1081

After entering Einrogard, I had various experiences, but I never imagined I would have the experience of a demon I’d never seen before asking me for help.

‘Is it because I look so fierce?’

-I am not crazy. Aren’t you a descendant of the Wardanaz family?

“Shh. What nonsense are you spouting?”

Lee Han shut the demon’s mouth, worried that someone else might overhear.

As beings from another dimension, demons possessed a sense of smell different from mortals. Thanks to this, the demon saw right through Lee Han’s heritage, which he had only changed in appearance.

Despite being intimidated, the demon must have been in a hurry, as he pleaded earnestly.

-Please help me. I am Orlach, the Duel Flagbearer and Jester of His Highness the Duke of Pride.

Normally, demons did not reveal their ranks like that.

That was because the most powerful weapon of mortals against demons was information.

Just knowing what kind of demon they were dealing with allowed a wizard to target their weaknesses. Orlach must have been truly desperate.

‘That’s unusual.’

“The black magicians here aren’t that threatening.”

-You mean the black magicians? I’m not afraid of them!

Orlach shouted as if Lee Han was speaking nonsense.

Orlach was not the sort of demon to be frightened by a handful of magicians. After all, he was the honorable Duel Flagbearer of the Duke of Pride.

“That? You bastard. Are you looking down on the Einrogard School of Black Magic?”

-It’s not like that!

When Lee Han shot back, the demon hurriedly apologized.

There weren’t many places where he could get help right now.

-What I’m afraid of is that angel.

“!”

Lee Han was greatly surprised to hear the name of such an unexpected being.

An angel?

In truth, angels were not common in the Empire. They were the exact opposite of demons, who were relatively easy to find (some families saw them as common as stones on the street).

The reason lay in the nature of the two dimensional races.

Demons, who were deeply interested in the souls of mortals, were always looking for a chance to descend into the Empire.

Angels, on the other hand, held no interest in other dimensional races and were solely focused on their own self-imposed rules and laws.

These ascetic Celestial Beings led such reclusive lives that meetings with them were truly rare.

It was not easy even to visit, let alone form a contract with such beings. If they didn’t want anything, how could you approach them in any way?

Thus, imperial wizards wisely targeted demons. However much demons were deceived, their overflowing desire inevitably led them into contracts with wizards.

But to hear the name of such a race here.

“Angels generally shouldn’t have any reason to clash with other species, right? What exactly did you do?”

Was he perhaps thinking Orlach had invaded and committed a massacre in an angel’s stronghold?

But Orlach denied it.

-Angels won’t chase after someone outside of their dimension over something like that.

“…I-I see.”

Lee Han shuddered at the even more surprising nature of angels.

Even if you invaded their stronghold and committed a massacre, as long as you fled their domain, they wouldn’t bother chasing you.

Orlach hurriedly explained what had happened.

-I was wandering these mortal lands searching for the most beautiful fabric under His Highness’s order. Then, at some point, I realized someone was chasing me. It was the angel.

Though a fairly powerful demon, Orlach was not one who excelled in combat.

In contrast, the angel seemed specialized for battle, never allowing Orlach even a moment’s respite before pursuing him.

Cornered, Orlach eventually entered an underground ruin and hid himself in an ancient artifact.

Luckily, the angel seemed unable to track him beyond that, and the chase ended…

“Ah, so that’s how you ended up being sold like this.”

-That doesn’t matter. If the black magicians pull me out, that angel will start tracking me again!

The demon was trembling with fear.

He had planned to convince the owner of this mansion to let him hide for a while, but if the black magicians forcibly took him out, it was a different story.

If the angel were to find him in the process…

-If you help me, I will faithfully work for you in accordance with tradition for the required period. Please, help me!

‘Huh?’

Hearing the story, Lee Han felt doubt.

Thinking about it, shouldn’t he be negotiating with the black magicians instead of Lee Han?

If he offered to work faithfully as a slave, surely the black magicians would have agreed…

“But why did you talk to me? The other black magicians were here too?”

-Because you’re of the Wardanaz bloodline, aren’t you?

Orlach was puzzled why a wizard from the Wardanaz family would ask such a question.

There were always wizards skilled at commanding demons. There were countless who tried clumsily and perished.

In that respect, the Wardanaz family was renowned in the Empire for their experience and expertise in handling demons.

Even Orlach himself had served under the family long ago.

Of course, from the demon’s perspective, it was far safer to entrust his life to a trustworthy demon expert master, even at the risk of revealing his weakness, than to unknown black magicians.

If he had to be a servant anyway, wouldn’t it be better to have a reliable master? How could he trust some random black magicians he just met?

“…Did you work for the family before?”

-Haven’t you seen my true name in the family’s old demon registry?

“How could anyone remember all the names in a registry that thick?!”

Lee Han lashed out at the demon for no reason. Orlach shrank his head in embarrassment.

• * *

After quickly interrupting the seniors’ work, Lee Han called Direte and explained the situation.

“Direte sen… Mr. Direte. Something unexpected has happened.”

“??”

Upon quickly explaining what he’d heard from the demon, Direte’s face grew serious.

To think an angel was caught up in this story.

“But that’s strange.”

“You mean the angel?”

“Yes. The angel, but also, it’s rare for a demon to talk about their circumstances in such detail. It’s not a common thing.”

Since information could be a weakness, demons tended to hide such situations as well.

Even if an angel was pursuing them, they would rather stay silent than unnecessarily reveal more weaknesses to an unfamiliar magician.

Unless they had faith in the other party, or at least acknowledged them to a certain degree…

“Right. He said he serves the Duke of Pride, right? Since you fought the Duke of Pride, maybe he acknowledged you?”

Direte offered a plausible guess.

Though Lee Han had borrowed the Spirit King’s power, he had once stopped the Duke of Pride’s descent.

Since the Duke himself admired Lee Han’s ability, it wasn’t surprising if the subordinates had also heard about him.

“Indeed. That’s a sharp deduction.”

Lee Han answered shamelessly.

He really didn’t want to admit that the demon sought him out because he had once been subjugated by the Wardanaz family.

“But hasn’t quite some time passed? You think the angel is still chasing?”

“If the angel was tracking before the demon got trapped, it’s very likely they still are.”

Direte answered firmly.

For a race like angels, a century or two was not a long time. The odds were high that the angel was still in pursuit.

“……”

The unexpected answer made Lee Han nervous. Meanwhile, Direte gathered the students and explained the situation.

“This demon seems to have been marked by an angel’s pursuit. If we carelessly pull him out, we might have to face the angel.”

“An angel?!”

Koholti was shocked. The other students were just as surprised.

An entirely unexpected name had suddenly appeared.

“Should we search the area?”

“It will be hard to detect. Plus, spells for that are rare.”

There were many anti-demon spells in the Empire, but spells to deal with angels were rare.

Direte had never learned any tracking magic for angels. What would you even do with such a spell?

“But it is odd for the demon to explain so much about its circumstances.”

“They must have quickly submitted after seeing Nago’s strength.”

Koholti explained, almost proudly.

If they had come alone, the demon might have resisted, making matters worse.

If the angel sensed the conflict and came to this mansion, things would have escalated from there.

It was thanks to Stedal Nago’s overpowering presence that the demon submitted and confessed its hidden secret, making matters easier to handle.

“Right, Nago?”

“You talk too much.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Koholti closed his mouth, but the other students’ thoughts weren’t much different.

Direte understood somewhat (or so he thought), but for the students who didn’t know the situation, it was astonishing.

There had been neither conflict nor confrontation, yet his mere presence made the demon surrender and confess its hidden secret.

They had never heard of anything like it. He really wasn’t an ordinary combat magician.

“Hmmm. Yukveltire does have the relevant magic, but calling her by letter would take too long…”

“She’s in the capital.”

“…Why is she in the capital?!”

At Stedal’s words (no, the junior’s words), Direte cried out in shock.

The other students were startled.

Could they really talk to this fearsome combat magician so bluntly?

“Uh, I mean. Ahem. Why is she in the capital?”

Realizing his mistake, Direte cleared his throat. Koholti apologized on his rude friend’s behalf.

“Let me apologize. Direte isn’t usually like this.”

“…It doesn’t matter, just be quiet.”

Annoyed, Direte slapped the combat magician on the back and signaled for him to follow.

When it was just the two of them, Direte asked in a serious voice.

“Why is Yukveltire in the capital?”

“Good question.”

Lee Han replied cautiously, gauging Direte’s reaction.

It would have been easy to tattle, but he was worried it might backfire on him.

Actually, it would have been fine to do just enough, but he’d gotten too involved because he wanted to see Professor Verdus walk on all fours.

“What do you mean, good question? She probably followed you!”

“!”

Lee Han was startled to realize his thoughts had been seen through.

“How did you know?”

“What do you mean, how? With her personality, it’s obvious why she’d go to the capital.”

Direte was a truly outstanding detective.

Just knowing that his friend was in the capital, he’d deduced her motives and movements.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? The one who should be sorry is the one who insisted on following and leaving it to you. I hoped she’d reflect just a little…”

‘Whew.’

Lee Han let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed Direte hadn’t realized he had volunteered because he wanted to see Professor Verdus walk on all fours.

If he’d mentioned that, he might have been treated like Senior Yukveltire.

“…If she’s in the capital, it’ll be easy to call her.”

Still muttering, Direte barely regained his composure.

He wanted to smack his friend on the back of the head, but had to prioritize the task at hand.

“Should I call her?”

“No. Just send a paper bird for the artifact. I’ll probably argue if I see her face.”

• * *

Yukveltire packed the Celestial Detection Artifact and magic books into her bag and set off.

Although Direte only asked her to send the artifact out of respect for her busy schedule, Yukveltire showed rare generosity by performing the magic herself for someone she acknowledged.

Her consideration, in case Direte made a mistake, was truly exemplary among Einrogard students.

So Yukveltire thought to herself.

“What? She came here herself?”

“!”

Hearing the unfamiliar magician in front of the main gate speak, Yukveltire hesitated.

This magician exuded a menacing aura, as if specialized in magical combat. There didn’t seem to be a single opening in his whole body. Yukveltire felt slightly intimidated.

“Who are you?”

“That doesn’t matter. Get inside.”

“…!”

How rude, this magician!