Episode 1172

Episode 1172

The Most Cantankerous Hag, now curious, decided to investigate personally rather than sit idle.

And as it happened, there was a mortal she had met recently.

Let this old woman ask you a few things.

“!”

Lee Han, who was looking through architectural blueprints he brought along with Catten in their lodgings, was startled.

Of course, anyone would be surprised if a powerful being from another dimension suddenly stuck their head in.

“Is that the one you mentioned last time?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“P-pleased to meet you. I am Catten from the Jahan family.”

Good, what a promising warrior. You seem talented with a sword—perhaps someday you could hunt a gargoyle raised by this old woman?

“A, actually! I’m a magician.”

?

The Most Cantankerous Hag was bemused.

A warrior, are you not?

“One can be both a warrior and a magician.”

Already used to his senior’s eccentricities, Lee Han replied naturally. Catten exclaimed in a tense voice.

“I’ve heard tales of the great and wise Hag. It would truly be an honor to receive instruction in magic from you!”

Normally, an upstart daring to butt in and ask to be taught like that would’ve ended up in her cauldron…

The Hag was cantankerous, but not without a sense of propriety.

This time, after all, the Hag was here to ask a question.

What are you curious about? Let me hear it.

Catten offered a copy of -Basic Introduction to Summoning Magic That Even First Years Can Understand-.

A hand materialized out of thin air and snatched the book with a fierce grip.

‘How difficult a book could it be…’

????

“Senior. If there’s something you don’t know, you can just ask me.”

“I can’t keep bothering you, Junior, over and over…”

The Hag wondered for a moment if this mortal was mocking her.

But Catten’s gaze was purely unwavering without a speck of guile.

What’s with this brat…?

“Senior is excellent with the sword, but a bit lacking in magic.”

A bit?

The Hag, finding this absurd, handed the book back.

She had received all kinds of evil requests from countless magicians, but such a stupid request was a first.

Don’t go bothering this granny with something like that. I’m not your nanny, you know. Instead, I have a question to ask…

“Yes?”

Lee Han responded curiously.

“Did your negotiations fail after all?”

The Hag nearly struck him with her staff but held back.

What failure? If I wanted, I could boil that fool until nothing but bones was left. But that tentacled one said something strange. That someone had stolen their power.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.”

?

“?”

The Hag and Lee Han both paused.

Wait a minute?

What was that supposed to mean?

“And what do you mean, Most Cantankerous Hag?”

From what I heard… It sounded like you stole the tentacled one’s power, didn’t it? That must be a misunderstanding, right?

Just as the little warrior mistook himself for a magician, clearly this little magician was misunderstanding something as well.

Given all the confusion in today’s conversation, perhaps evil magic was playing tricks with fate.

“I did steal it, though?”

…What?

“I told you before, didn’t I… that there was a conflict with the Prahgal Cult…”

Lee Han said, wondering what the fuss was about.

He had mentioned it when worrying over the clash with the Prahgal Cult.

Of course, from the Hag’s perspective, she wanted to wring his neck for being so shameless.

…If you fought to the point of stealing their power, you should’ve said so too, you little scoundrel!

“It wasn’t the first time I learned divine magic, so I didn’t think it was that important. I thought Sanguiros was more important.”

Not the first time?!

The Hag, even more flabbergasted, lost her composure.

What on earth is this?!

“Well. If it would make negotiations difficult, we could just not go ahead. I’ll apologize and we can forget about it.”

Just so you know, brat! This granny never goes back on her word!

The Hag scolded in a voice full of ire. Lee Han felt awkward.

So what was he supposed to do?

“I was only going to cancel since you called me a scoundrel. Then what should I have done?”

You should have said things properly from the start instead of deceiving me, you little rascal!

“…Ah… Yes…”

For the first time in a while, the Hag felt like she’d been bested by a mortal.

And the most infuriating part was that Lee Han didn’t actually intend to trick her much. That stung her pride even more.

Dimensional beings who deceived the Hag to get what they wanted always did so brimming with spirit and pride, but this kid just lethargically…

How did you steal the power?

“I’m not exactly sure, but I think it was by trading mana for it in equivalence.”

For that to work, the mana would need to be… Hmm. It is possible.

Thinking back on the staff strike and the time she sent the insect, she concluded it was feasible.

‘If such a thing is possible, the cult fanatics would be weeping tears of blood!’

Once evil god worshipers reached a certain level, they were no longer innocent worshippers with pure devotion.

Regular believers might mindlessly fall into fanaticism, but once they reached a certain stage, the thoughts of evil god worshipers converged on one thing.

Grow stronger and stronger until you yourself ascend as an evil god!

From a faith perspective, it was blasphemous. The gods are to be worshipped and served, not goals to be attained.

But the Hag thought this crazy aspiration made a kind of sense.

Why bother with such evil gods unless you had a goal like that?

In that light, this mortal who siphoned off power freely was an extremely threatening existence.

Even more than he realized.

They needed to conserve even a shred of power for their own ascension, so if an outsider, whom they didn’t even believe in, just snatched it away, there would be a leakage of power…

It was understandable that the bishop seeking to become an evil god was gnashing his teeth. In a way, losing stolen power probably hurt worse than a lost scheme.

…Do you understand? This isn’t something you can just brush off lightly, you know?

“!”

After the explanation, Lee Han was greatly surprised. The Hag nodded in satisfaction at that reaction.

“I… I had no idea…”

Sure. You kids can’t be expected to know what goes on inside the minds of madmen.

“In that case… From now on, I should steal the Sanguiros Cult’s power and sabotage them!”

……

The Hag was appalled.

When the average mortal heard about some crackpot plan to ascend as an evil god, they’d be frightened or awed…

…But this mortal wasn’t fazed and just wanted to hit his enemy where it hurt first.

Truly bold—worthy of a -Wandering Star Arna- Contractor.

Aren’t you scared at all?

“Hmm? Oh, you mean about them becoming evil gods? They’ve failed so far, so why wouldn’t they keep failing?”

The Hag decided never to underestimate this mortal again.

He might look like a trifling rat, but he was a rat who could bite even the strong of other dimensions at any time.

Nothing wrong with boldness. Such a brave little fellow. The problem is, the tentacled ones are now all sulky because of this incident.

“How narrow-minded of them. Other continental cults praise you if you learn divine magic.”

That would have made evil god worshipers rage if they’d heard it.

Naturally, the two cults’ aims were different, so their responses were too.

One sought ascension, the other practiced sincere faith—of course they wouldn’t react the same!

That’s just how madmen are. But this old granny is wiser. I even have a method for times like these.

“What is it?”

Lee Han looked at her with a hint of awe.

To have a method under such circumstances—

Powerful entities from other dimensions always seemed to have something extra.

You just blame it on someone else.

“…Excuse me? Will that work?”

Even though the Einrogard insignia was hidden in the city, the incident was so big that rumors were bound to spread.

Could he really just blame it on someone else?

Why not? The tentacled one is holed up in some little corner of a dimension and never comes out. Even if the prince decided to revive the kingdom, it’d take days for him to realize it. Besides, I’m respected and revered. My word carries much more weight than some half-baked mortals’ testimonies.

The higher you go, the more picky you become about the truth.

Dozens of witnesses can have their stories twisted or fabricated as needed.

But pronouncements from powerful dimensional beings bore a different weight altogether.

“So then… could I say the Sanguiros guys did it?”

…I said the tentacled one was holed up, not a complete idiot.

The Hag looked at Lee Han pitifully.

Being easy to deceive didn’t mean you shouldn’t make at least a minimal effort.

Even a fool wouldn’t buy a lie that poor.

“Then what should I do?”

Wait a moment. Let this granny show you a bit of magic.

A hand suddenly appeared in the air and began tracing a bizarre symbol. It was nothing like those from the imperial magic system.

Lee Han sensed the flow of mana and memorized the changes instinctively—an occupational hazard of trained magicians.

Catten watched the unfamiliar magic with rapt attention. That was as far as he got.

‘Hmm. The mana is moving.’

With a bubbling sound like a cauldron and the smell of burning, the Hag let out a satisfied exclamation.

Done! I’ve got just the name. With this name, the tentacled fellow will surely be deceived.

“What name is it?”

The name this granny picked is Stedal Nago.

“……”

Do you know that name by chance?

---

This granny got a name just for you.

The Hag returned and wrote on the broad back of the toad once more.

The other party was silent for a moment. Even in that pause, the Hag could tell her counterpart was surprised.

Truly worthy of the Most Wise Hag. Who is it?

Stedal Nago!

I suspected as much—so it was that bastard! That damn son of a—

Amazingly, the opponent accepted it without suspicion.

Stedal Nago already had a record, so he was one of the main suspects.

There had been rampant rumors of the Imperial Knights or Einrogard magicians having dealt with it, but the bishop didn’t believe them.

There was little reason for them to have come into direct conflict.

So it was the work of that cunning one behind all those untrustworthy rumors. I’ll pluck out his heart and use it as soil for the Regenerator.

‘Those tentacled freaks don’t have much time left either.’

The Hag thought to herself at how easily the immortal was fooled.

If even a bishop is that gullible, the cult’s future…

As for how the power was stolen, you’ll have to find out for yourself. That much I don’t know.

No problem. I’ll ask him directly to his face. …What payment do you want?

The bishop, though easily deceived, was no fool. He didn’t believe the Hag would offer this information for nothing.

If he took the name with no price, he would regret it for centuries.

There are some I’ve been wanting to rough up lately. I wonder if you know them. They call themselves Sanguiros…

Ha! Those idiots nearly went extinct not long ago and still haven’t come to their senses. Are they also giving you trouble?

‘Worry about yourself for once, will you.’

The Hag’s lips itched with a desire to ridicule him.

How delightful it would be to tell him the truth and mock him later!