Episode 1116

Of course, there was no way such a persistent spirit would give up so easily just because Lee Han blocked his contact.

The heat on the back of Lee Han’s hand returned. The General of Fire Heaven did not give up, bombarding him with messages, again and again, until he got a response.

From inside Lee Han’s sleeve, the young basilisk asked, confused.

-Master, can’t you feel a spirit’s energy?

Even she could sense it at this close range, so how could the mage himself not notice…

“…Be quiet.”

-!

The young basilisk felt very wronged.

What did she do wrong!

‘Did I drool poison a moment ago?’

She squirmed around to check if she’d burned a hole in the sleeve.

Meanwhile, Lee Han let out a sigh.

He felt deeply disillusioned because of the General of Fire Heaven.

Why did only this kind of spirit flock to him?

‘Nillia got a kind and diligent spirit who just showed up…’

But for Lee Han, only crazy, violent, or criminally notorious spirits ever turned up.

Though very depressed, Lee Han opened his mind and responded. He knew this spirit would never stop unless he replied.

-General of Fire Heaven. I know you’re a powerful spirit. But don’t forget, you are seriously wounded right now. I could easily cross into the spirit realm and hunt you down.

Of course, there was a certain bluff to this threat. Lee Han had absolutely no intention of entering the spirit realm to hunt down the General of Fire Heaven.

Starting from gathering his forces to actually locating where the General of Fire Heaven was hiding—

He couldn’t begin to estimate the time and cost it would take.

Lee Han wasn’t cold-hearted enough to go through all that just to finish off a spirit that had already left the material world.

You’d come to the spirit realm? That’s perfect!

Contrary to his threat, the General of Fire Heaven was delighted.

He wanted to fight again anyway, and here his opponent offers to come to him.

So, when are you coming?

“……”

Lee Han realized he had misjudged.

This was not a spirit you could treat like the others.

If he wasn’t even afraid of being erased, ordinary threats would never work.

‘Guess I’ll just have to ignore him.’

Please don’t ignore me. Hm?

The General of Fire Heaven sensed Lee Han’s intention and clung desperately.

Even contacting a mage from the spirit realm wasn’t easy.

Just as mages paid a price to cross into the spirit world, so too did spirits have to pay a price to contact and communicate.

But the General of Fire Heaven paid no attention to such costs and was determined to keep reaching out.

A spirit who didn’t care about wounds certainly wouldn’t care about minor costs…

-Keep ranting, you Bible Verdus-like bastard.

Of course, Lee Han didn’t care.

Time to really ignore him!

Wait, wait! Aren’t you interested in a contract? Hm?

The General of Fire Heaven shouted desperately.

He didn’t know who “Bible Verdus” was, but it didn’t matter. He just wanted to keep the conversation going with this “beloved one.”

Contracts with spirits took various forms, but for a mage to contract with a spirit of the General of Fire Heaven’s level was an extraordinary piece of luck.

He was not someone a mage could contract with just because they wanted to.

And he wasn’t even asking for some difficult price or tribute like most spirits—he was completely willing to contract.

-No. Get lost.

For once, Lee Han refused directly.

Generally, he was weak to spirits, and when there was benefit, he’d at least consider it; but, even taking that into account, this spirit was just too much trouble.

After dealing with him once, Lee Han found himself newly grateful for Perkuntra.

Given his titles of King of Thunder and Lord of Lightning, that spirit was truly humble and generous in comparison.

---

…What was that?

Inside the punishment room, Perkuntra spat out a reluctant current of thunder.

Something had felt off to him.

“Is there something wrong, sir?”

I don’t know. Did my contractor curse me or something?

“Did you contract? Who’s the lucky person…”

Stop messing around.

The lightning spirit clicked his tongue. A huge clap of thunder inside the punishment room startled the student in front of him.

He hadn’t expected his intentions to be so exposed.

Hurry up. Eat.

“…Eat it yourself!”

The third-year student grabbed a dish and threw it at Perkuntra. He lightly morphed form and dodged.

When the student tried to pull out a hidden staff and cast a spell, Perkuntra activated the magic of the punishment room. Chains rose and tied the student’s arm, taking away the staff.

Don’t you feel pathetic, wasting your time here on things like this?

“Well, isn’t it pathetic for a great spirit like you to play lunch nanny here?!”

……

It was a careless retort, but it hit Perkuntra right where it hurt.

Ever since the new dragon began acting as lord of Einrogard, Perkuntra’s role had shifted a bit.

He was still in charge of the punishment room, but his duties were different.

He used to be on the lookout for escaping students…

…But now his job was to forcibly feed students healthy meals when they tried to eat something greasy and unhealthy.

Sometimes he even made them sleep on a regular schedule.

Perkuntra realized he liked being the old warden more than he thought.

When he’d first gotten this role, he’d thought it humiliating, thanks to some crazy archmage. But after years of shoving food into students’ mouths, he started to miss the old days.

Can’t you shut up and eat?

“Just keep talking. I’ve taken Professor Verdus’s class twice—I won’t be shaken by your threats!”

---

Well, if you’re loved by all spirits, you might not care about a contract with a spirit like me.

-……

Lee Han had to clench his fists to stop himself from arguing back.

He really wanted to object!

But these other spirits could do things, and there were things only a spirit like me could do. Maybe you’ll regret it someday.

-Sure, whatever.

Lee Han snorted at the nonsense.

What could the General of Fire Heaven do, really?

Maybe he’d get you hated by other spirits, or burn up everything—but Lee Han could manage both those on his own.

Don’t believe me? How about this?

The General of Fire Heaven used his authority to ignite a fire.

A spirit who’d made so many enemies, he excelled at detecting those who targeted him.

From the flames of hostility, the General of Fire Heaven read the forms of those who bore enmity toward Lee Han.

King of Ghouls! The King of Ghouls… hates you!

-Of course he does.

Lee Han wasn’t surprised.

After what happened, it would be more surprising if the King of Ghouls didn’t hate him.

Besides, that being was seriously wounded and couldn’t easily appear in the mortal world now, so he had no reason to fear.

Seeing his composure, the General of Fire Heaven faltered a little.

Then… O… This undead… Is he the Blasphemer! Do you know this powerful undead hates you?!

-I do.

……???

The General of Fire Heaven was baffled.

Mortals who are loved by spirits were supposed to be gentle and kind and have few enemies.

But this mortal already had hostile enemies from other realms.

What was going on?

‘Are my eyes deceiving me?’

Do you know about Phraggal or Sengvilos?

-Of course I know—wait, do you know anything about the Sengvilos order?

Lee Han asked quickly.

It was the order of the evil god, destroyed once but recently reappearing, and the enemy Lee Han was most concerned with.

At any time, Professor Voladi could storm out with a sword drawn—especially for that.

Of course! Ha ha! You must not know who this spirit has fought. I’ve burned lots of those fanatics!

He wasn’t lying.

Fire does not distinguish between good and evil when it burns.

And evil god worshipers were relatively easier to burn, since they always came looking for trouble first.

At first, he got by just devouring those who entered the spirit realm to enslave spirits.

But eventually, he felt unsatisfied.

After burning so many for fun, their numbers had dwindled…

…In the end, the General of Fire Heaven began descending directly into the material realm to hunt them. It was truly a bizarre misfortune for the evil god worshipers: some crazy spirit kept chasing them for kicks!

-You were locked away for so long—do you know anything up-to-date?

What! You underestimate me. This spirit never forgets an enemy he’s fought.

It was a remarkably creepy thing to say, stated so naturally.

Most of those he fought back then might be long dead. But do you know? Do you know what evil god worshippers and rabbits have in common?

-Uh… They multiply a lot?

That’s a good answer. But what I thought is, ‘They go back where they came from.’

Like rabbits, evil god worshipers obsess over certain sites.

They could abandon any secret base, but those sites, for religious reasons, couldn’t be thrown away.

Places where the evil god’s power had appeared or idols carved—those became underground temples, and if you targeted them, you could always find fresh cultists.

He’d once used this knowledge and burned many of them.

-I see. So you know those locations.

You catch on quickly!

-Then tell me where they are.

Lee Han pulled out paper and a quill and wrote down the conditions as the General of Fire Heaven gave them.

When he finished, he sent a paper bird to the Skull Headmaster. The General of Fire Heaven asked in an expectant voice:

So, are we making a contract now?

-No. Get lost.

Lee Han truly intended to block contact after getting what he needed.

The General of Fire Heaven yelled in panic.

Wait, wait, wait! Hold on! You seem to be really interested in the Sengvilos order, but will you be satisfied with just the old locations?

-…What do you mean?

This is a secret, but not only do I never forget an enemy I’ve fought, I can track down their successors as well.

-……

Lee Han recoiled. He had never met a spirit whose powers were so thoroughly unsettling.

If you give me some time, I could find heirs related to those I’ve burned…

-Then go find them.

But I’m really badly hurt now. Wait! I have a great idea. A contract!

-Of course you do.

With a contract, our souls would resonate, and it’d be easier to spy on the material world, and…

-Got it. Find another contractor, sign a contract, and go fetch them. Until then, don’t call me for no reason.

And the mortal truly refused to answer any more of the spirit’s calls. The General of Fire Heaven was left pouting.