Episode 1162
by CristaeEpisode 1162
Lee Han did not lower his guard, but at the same time, he tried not to do anything that could cause misunderstanding with the other party.
They were not near the entrance of the ruins, but rather in an area that required finding a secret passage to get down.
In other words, the adventurer party visible over there wasn’t just a random group, but people who knew or believed in something to have come down here.
Indeed, looking around, he could feel the magical residue of a fierce magical battle.
‘There’s no reason to approach people on edge and risk causing misunderstandings.’
Either way, Lee Han had Saratan. There was no need to stealthily follow other adventurers.
But surprisingly, the other party called out to Lee Han’s group first.
“Wa… wait! Please wait a moment!”
“?”
“Are you also magicians? If so, could you perhaps reveal your identity? I am Garco of the Arzo family.”
The Arzo family was a magician family that Lee Han had also heard of a few times.
Even Giselle nodded, having heard of them as well.
‘Elven race. If he’s a transformation magician, then it must be the Arzo family.’
A sharp-eyed Einrogard magician could easily distinguish a transformation magic school background.
If one’s clothes had various animal hairs attached, there was a high chance they belonged to the transformation school.
“Indeed. …Should we use the name Stedal Nago?”
“…Didn’t you just agree that he was from the Arzo family?”
“I think he is from the Arzo family. But he could also be an evil god worshipper from the Arzo family.”
“……”
Giselle realized, in horror, that her imperial noble friend was many times more suspicious than usual.
He was always suspicious, but now it was truly frightening.
“Perhaps you all are magicians from Einrogard?”
“!”
Lee Han was greatly surprised.
With a serious expression, he whispered to his friends.
“There’s a possibility that one of us is a spy.”
“I, it’s not me! Wardanaz! If you’re suspecting me because I told you earlier to practice your magic more—”
“Don’t worry. The one I’m suspecting is Ibinta.”
Ibinta, who was quietly waiting outside, was now suspected of being a spy.
Fortunately, she would not know about this, and that was for the best.
Unable to ignore him any longer, Giselle asked instead.
“Why do you think we’re from Einrogard?”
“Aren’t you Lee Han of the Wardanaz family? Alsicle of the Pengerine family praised you many times at the conference, so I remembered.”
“……”
“……”
“…So Sir Alsicle was the spy.”
“N-no. I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose!”
The White Tiger Tower students hurriedly comforted their friend.
Alsicle bragged needlessly, but they couldn’t blame him entirely.
Even they, when rumors about Wardanaz came up in their families, shamelessly said, ‘Actually, I’m also close with Wardanaz.’
And the magician societies were places where everyone liked to brag (at least in the White Tiger Tower students’ opinion), and there wasn’t a better junior to boast about than Wardanaz.
“Even so, it’s strange you recognized me just from stories.”
“Alsicle of the Pengerine family even praised your appearance in detail.”
“……”
None of the other magicians doubted the story, but it seemed Alsicle wanted to prove how close he was and even produced a magical portrait no one had asked him for.
Lee Han complained about Alsicle inwardly.
What an embarrassing Senior magician!
“…What did you want to say? We’re busy with the ruins investigation ourselves.”
“Would you like to exchange information?”
-You can just ignore that sort of talk.
Saratan sneered.
When it came to the ruins of Baquantalana, there was no greater expert than himself.
There was no need to exchange information with such a magician.
You might even lose useful items from the ruins.
-Look at that magician’s outfit. He’s somehow managed to find the passage, but he clearly doesn’t know how to avoid a fight. That’s why he fought so fiercely.
Saratan’s point was quite valid. Lee Han nodded subtly.
Garco’s posture was stiff and flawless so it wasn’t obvious, but if you looked at the adventurers behind him, it was blatant.
Fatigue, fear, despair, their mouths opening and closing as if pleading, ‘Please, help us’…
‘Isn’t that last part a bit much?’
Lee Han was a bit embarrassed.
Adventurers hired by a magician from the Arzo family should have some degree of trust and experience, yet they looked so weak.
“We could even tell you about the guardian of the ruins we just fought!”
-So persistent. Tell them clearly and get it over with.
Saratan spoke boastfully.
Now that there was a chance to shine after a long time, the spirit was unstoppable.
He would overwhelm the other’s meager knowledge with his own.
-That guardian definitely had six legs.
“Did the guardian have six legs?”
“!”
Garco’s face faltered for the first time today. He didn’t show it outwardly due to his dignified gentlemanly demeanor, but inside he was deeply shaken.
Transactions among magicians only occurred when they were on equal footing. If your information was worthless, you couldn’t ask for the other’s.
“…Yes.”
“Did it use its tail as a weapon?”
“That’s also correct.”
“Did it keep screeching loudly until the intruders retreated?”
“If you mean the ultrasonic waves, yes.”
“No. Not ultrasonic waves, just loud screams.”
“…?”
Garco tilted his head. The adventurers also reacted as if something was odd.
“It definitely shot ultrasonic waves though?”
-…That’s a lie! Where did you learn to lie like that! This is why contemptible and greedy mortals are—!
Saratan shouted furiously.
But Lee Han was already giving him a questioning look.
“Are you sure you’re not wrong?”
-…H-how could you say that! Have I ever been wrong up to this point?
Saratan was genuinely aggrieved.
Who was it that told them the location of the passage below after passing the ruins’ entrance?
Saratan.
Who was it that, after they came down, advised, ‘That room is where spirits trying to escape are sealed, so you don’t have to enter by force’?
Saratan.
Who, when the guardian appeared, told them the code prepared by Baquantalana, just in case?
Saratan.
And yet, after hearing all that, he was being treated so poorly.
‘Mortals truly can’t be trusted. To think I considered this guy a friend!’
“No… Sorry. I do trust you.”
Perhaps sensing Saratan’s earnest remorse from inside the staff, Lee Han apologized, a rare occurrence.
And Lee Han muttered,
“I thought that while machinery might keep functioning over time, things like chimeras inside could get contaminated or mutate, and you’d have thought of that too, Saratan. Sorry for not trusting you. I apologize formally.”
-……
“Saratan? Did it hurt you so much you don’t want to answer? All right. Speak when you feel like it.”
-Well… The thing is…
Saratan mumbled hesitantly.
-Actually… I hadn’t thought of contamination or mutation… Thinking about it, the guardian could have changed like that…
“……”
-Aaaaagh!
Saratan screamed in pain as Lee Han’s staff pulsed with powerful magic for the first time in ages.
To be tormented again here, in the ruins of Baquantalana!
What an unpleasant coincidence.
“I see. Thank you for the information.”
Lee Han looked at Garco with renewed eyes.
Behind the gentlemanly, fashionable appearance typical of the Empire’s clubs, he had truly extraordinary magical skill.
A chimera mutated by contamination was several times more difficult to handle.
Even a magician-created guardian was a tricky opponent—in addition to that, the unpredictable temperament made it hell itself for intruders.
But Garco had managed to deal with it by sheer magical strength without any particular information.
At least Lee Han had Saratan to advise him; the other magician was truly impressive.
‘Right. A sociable personality doesn’t mean you’re bad at magic. That’s just prejudice.’
Lee Han reflected.
Just because students from… no, a certain magic school were sociable didn’t mean all sociable magicians were worthless.
“Um, respected magicians from Einrogard. If this ruin was contaminated by the blasphemous rituals of evil god worshippers… shouldn’t we seal it off and purify it before proceeding?”
The adventurers proposed a proper, textbook opinion.
In ruins exploration, only somewhat crazy magicians tried to settle everything at once.
The common method was to first approach and inspect, keep going if it wasn’t as dangerous as expected, or retreat and make a plan if it was too dangerous.
They couldn’t pressure Garco, so they hoped these Einrogard magicians would support their view.
But unfortunately for them—
It was Lee Han, burning with revenge, who was leading the Einrogard magicians.
“If it’s been tainted by evil god worshippers, all the more reason to go in quickly and check the situation. If by chance it was all an intentional plot, don’t we have to root them out?”
‘…All magicians are crazy!’
The adventurers screamed inwardly.
Did magicians just have no sense of fear?
Saying they’d boldly go in without knowing what contamination or mutation might have occurred…
Maybe such boldness was exactly what mattered to walk the path of magic.
“If you’re Lee Han of the Wardanaz family, I naturally expected you’d say that.”
Garco nodded as if completely unsurprised.
If what Alsicle said was true, today’s dangers wouldn’t stop this daring genius magician.
If anything, it might become a mere amusing diversion for him.
“…?”
Lee Han sensed there was some misunderstanding in Garco’s reaction, but his head was so full of thoughts about the evil god worshippers that he didn’t pursue it.
“In return for the information, I’ll also share a piece of knowledge I know. Please don’t blame me if it’s wrong.”
“Of course.”
“The way to go further down from here is to find the emblem of Baquantalana. In front of the emblem, you must recite the password, ‘Great Devotion to Magic.’”
“!”
“!!”
“!!!”
Garco, as well as Giselle and Catten, were all greatly surprised.
They hadn’t expected it, but it was actually the ruins of Baquantalana!
The White Tiger Tower students, who had been standing idly as if disinterested, finally shouted once Lee Han and Giselle glared fiercely at them.
“Ba, Batalquanana! It was actually the ruins of Batalquanana!”
“I never would have imagined! We’re really lucky!”
“…At least memorize the name properly.”
“Whimper.”
After being scolded from both sides, the White Tiger Tower students roamed around looking for Batalquanana—no, Baquantalana’s emblem with forlorn expressions.
Lee Han said in a disappointed voice,
“If you’d spent the time you use caring about Imperial politics on magic, you’d get half as much scolding from Moradi.”
“But then it’d be half as fun… I mean, it’s good advice, Wardanaz.”
The White Tiger Tower students quickly changed their tune.
‘There aren’t any more guardians around.’
-That’s natural. Baquantalana disliked inefficiency, so she placed only the exact number required in each section. Contaminated guardians wouldn’t follow those rules and would wander all over, so the other guardians must have been destroyed.
‘That’s at least fortunate.’
Honestly, Lee Han didn’t want to fight the guardian that Garco described.
No matter how strong Catten was, it was a tougher opponent than expected.
Once they found the way down, he wanted to confirm the contamination and focus only on their objective.
“Oh. Lord Arzo.”
“Please call me Garco, Student Lee Han.”
“Thank you, Garco.”
Lee Han quite liked this transformation magic school magician.
His magic was superb, he handled things well, and most of all, he was sociable.
Such magicians always did the work of several people.
“How much do you know about Baquantalana?”
“I’ve heard about it a few times while learning Enchantment magic.”
Lee Han answered modestly.
There was no need to say he had helped perform Baquantalana’s magic.
Garco spoke seriously.
“To tell the truth—Baquantalana was a transformation magician.”
“Excuse me?”
“Enchantment school magicians of later generations manipulated the records for their own benefit.”
‘Ah. Right, this guy was friends with Sir Alsicle.’