Episode 310

While the two adventurers were confused—‘Isn’t Einrogard a magic school? What on earth do they teach these scions of knight families?’—Lee Han approached the fallen mercenaries.

Buldahak, who had regained consciousness, flinched at the sight of Lee Han.

He realized who had caused the magical storm just now.

“You bastard…”

“Sharkan.”

Lee Han called Sharkan to watch over the mercenaries.

They were tightly restrained, but no one could know what someone might try.

However, Buldahak seemed to misunderstand the appearance of Sharkan, taking it in a different sense, and turned his gaze away with fear.

“Name.”

“B… Buldahak.”

“Murder, coach robbery, blackmail… Anyway, are you really the one with the imperial bounty?”

Buldahak nodded. Lee Han spoke to Gubon, pleased.

“He says he is.”

“…E-excuse me, but you sound happy…”

“We’ve earned extra silver, haven’t we?”

“……”

Gubon and Vizidek were appalled at Lee Han’s reasoning.

“Well… yes, but…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll divide according to the original contract.”

“That wasn’t the concern. It’s strange that Buldahak came here.”

As a seasoned adventurer, Gubon noticed something strange.

Lee Han and the students only picked jobs that were close to Granden City and not too dangerous.

Reasonably safe, yet requiring professional skills (like a mage’s magic)—the kind of lucrative jobs.

These jobs were worthwhile, but they weren’t the kind of jobs where a bounty mercenary like Buldahak would show up.

Why would someone aiming for a big score appear here?

“I see.”

“We need to interrogate him.”

“Understood. But do you think he’ll tell the truth?”

Lee Han sounded concerned.

“He looks pretty terrified right now. Your magic shocked him greatly. If you question him now, he might blurt out the truth.”

For Einrogard students, magic was something you could get hit with in your sleep, but to imperial citizens, magic was still a fearful mystery.

Moreover, Lee Han’s methods, even by mage standards, were far from conventional.

He had lulled the enemy with invisibility magic, flanked them, then, using the cover of darkness, blasted them with lightning, and then, when they tried to counterattack, he struck with unpredictable pincer attacks.

Even just one of these would have traumatized anyone. To layer them on like that, it was no wonder the mercenaries’ spirits were half gone.

These mercenaries, not knowing what kind of combat mage Lee Han was, were trembling with fear.

“Buldahak. State your reason for coming here.”

“…Because of the treasure in the cave.”

Buldahak gritted his teeth and answered.

Being an experienced mercenary, he knew it was pointless to lie in front of a mage of that caliber.

The moment he tried to be stubborn or prideful, not only would his skin be torn and bones broken, but even his soul might get shredded.

“Hmm. I see.”

Lee Han nodded as if listening.

Then he whispered to Gubon.

“That one’s very cunning. He prepared a lie in case he got caught.”

“Huh?”

Gubon and Vizidek, who’d been thinking about what the cave’s treasure could be, were confused.

“That’s a lie?”

“Obviously. You think a bounty-head like that would spill the truth just because we asked?”

“M-maybe he’s just scared of you, Mage…”

Vizidek said cautiously.

After what had just happened, plus the ferocious emerald beast summoned and growling at his side, even mercenaries with much higher bounties than Buldahak would probably just give up and tell the truth.

“Magic isn’t that omnipotent. Please help me.”

“How?”

“Interrogate him with your adventurer’s skills.”

“Oh!”

The White Tiger Tower students looked at Gubon and Vizidek with filled with expectation.

They had trained as knights, but this was their first time seeing an adventurer’s interrogation.

Just what methods would they use?

“……”

“……”

Gubon and Vizidek glanced at each other. Beads of cold sweat formed on their backs.

‘Let’s do our best. Got it?’

‘Of course.’

• * *

“Kyaaaaaagh! My father consorted with a demon, my mother slept with a monster—bastard child… Kyaaaagh! Kyaaaagh!”

“Speak the truth now!”

“You can’t fool the mages’ eyes!”

Gubon and Vizidek used all their experience as veteran adventurers to interrogate Buldahak.

Under painful torture, Buldahak writhed in agony.

“I told you! I told you! Ask the others too!!!”

“Shut up! Tell us the truth!”

Crack, crack!

Lee Han and the White Tiger Tower students watched the interrogation seriously.

Angrago whispered,

“So you put a stick between the legs and twist. That must really hurt.”

Raphadael replied,

“I have to admit, it’s an effective method. There’s a lot to learn from veteran adventurers, just like our seniors said.”

Once Buldahak fainted, Gubon and Vizidek wiped the sweat from their brows and took a deep breath.

Lee Han offered them cold water he’d summoned in a pewter mug.

“Don’t overdo it.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Encouraged by Lee Han, the two adventurers turned their gaze to Buldahak’s underlings.

The underlings trembled pitifully.

And after thirty minutes.

The two adventurers, visibly apologetic, spoke.

“We’re sorry. With our skills, this is as far as we can go…”

“Sir Mage. Forgive us for asking, but is there any way you could get the truth from him with magic?”

“Hmm. Unfortunately, I don’t know such magic either. I did sense his emotions, though…”

“Is that so. …Excuse me?”

The two adventurers paused.

If he sensed the emotions, shouldn’t he be able to tell if it was the truth or a lie?

“Was he lying the whole time?”

“No. The emotions were close to sincerity.”

“…Uh… M-mage, I don’t know much about magic, but then didn’t Buldahak tell the truth?”

Lee Han shook his head and smiled as if to say, ‘What are you talking about?’

“You can control your emotions and lie, too, can’t you?”

“……”

“…Sir Mage, Buldahak is absolutely not that skilled…”

Even if they didn’t know much about magic, the two adventurers could be sure of that much.

If Buldahak were at that level, it wouldn’t be bounty hunters after him—it would be the Emperor’s Royal Guard Knights!

• * *

“You bastards, you’ll be cursed forever.”

Furious, Buldahak sobbed and shouted.

He had suffered through the torture and told the truth, so he was genuinely aggrieved to have been interrogated anyway.

“Hey. I said sorry. Shut up, already.”

“……”

Buldahak immediately closed his mouth.

Lee Han had just meant what he said, but to Buldahak, it sounded like, ‘If you keep talking, I’ll rip your tongue out.’

“So, there’s a treasure in this cave…”

The original request was to subjugate ghouls coming from the cave near Fireburn Hill.

These ghouls had been coming out not only from the cave but also haunting nearby roads and menacing innocent travelers.

It wasn’t just about defeating ghouls, but also tracking down and resolving the cause of their appearance, which made it an annoying request for any adventurer without skills or knowledge…

…which is why it was a good fit for Einrogard students, with mages in the party.

But Buldahak’s story differed a bit.

According to the thief guild and some who’d ventured into the cave and returned, there was definitely an undiscovered ancient relic inside.

“What are you waiting for, Wardanaz? Let’s go in!”

The White Tiger Tower friends were all excited. Even the usually calm Deorgyu’s eyes sparkled.

There are few professions as fanatical about ancient ruins, ancient dungeons, and ancient relics as mages.

Ancient magic and lost knowledge were worth more than gold.

But Lee Han was skeptical.

“Isn’t this guy just an idiot?”

The so-called testimony was like this:

—I got lost inside the cave and saw black light coming out of one side! It has to be an artifact’s light!

—There’s no way such light could appear naturally.

—When I tried to approach, the ghouls suddenly got more violent and attacked! It must be an artifact!

Lee Han sighed as he looked at his friends.

“That’s why you always fall for the headmaster’s traps. You gullible types latch on to rumors with no real basis.”

“Ugh…”

“N-no need to bring that up now.”

‘Headmaster?’

‘Trap?’

The two adventurers were puzzled.

Gubon, gauging the atmosphere, voiced his opinion.

“But Sir Mage, among adventurers, that’s already valuable testimony.”

There were plenty of people who’d go after even hazier, more nonsensical rumors.

Even with just this rumor, if Gubon had heard, he’d have rounded up a party and gone for it.

The fact that a mercenary like Buldahak came this prepared already proved the worth of the rumor.

“This isn’t the edge of the empire or anything, so it’s hard to believe there’d be relics left here…”

“No. Dungeons or relics often appear nearer cities than expected.”

Sometimes, various natural phenomena, or the mana of the dungeon or ruins themselves, distort the environment and bring things to the surface.

If discovered, an adventurer could hit the jackpot.

“Alright. Either way, we need to clear out the ghouls.”

“Then we’re going in?!”

Angrago shouted excitedly.

“No. The sun isn’t fully up yet.”

It was dawn, but still too early to enter now.

“…R-right.”

Even now, Angrago was speechless at Lee Han’s cool-headed logic.

‘Is this guy not excited at all?’

“There’s something to do in the meantime.”

“What is it, Wardanaz?”

Raphadael listened closely.

If nothing else, Wardanaz never joked when it came to magic.

He must have something necessary to say before facing the ghouls.

“Since we’re up, let’s do the collection requests as well. Raphadael, you—Seollak herb. Angrago, you—Geranium flower. Deorgyu, you—Sleepwort. I’ll look for signs of the Lapella field rat.”

“……”

“……”

As Lee Han and his resigned friends left, Buldahak turned to Gubon and asked,

“What’s with these crazy mages?”

• * *

Thanks to Lee Han’s help, his friends were able to wrap up the collection requests easily.

—Is that Seollak herb? What do you even use your eyes for? Can you tell the difference between a skeleton and a ghoul?

—Is that how you pick flowers? Do they look like monsters to you? Or do you want to go back and say you caught monsters, the way you’re picking them?

“Good work, everyone.”

“……”

By the time they finished gathering, the sun was fully up.

Finally, it was time to enter the cave.

“By the way, Sir Mage.”

Vizidek whispered so the mercenaries wouldn’t overhear.

“What will you do with those guys? If we leave them here, they might escape, or follow and ambush us.”

The best thing would be to take them to the nearest town, but everyone except Lee Han had treasure on the brain.

“Take them with us.”

“Pardon?”

Vizidek froze.

Taking them with them?

It couldn’t be that he meant to cooperate with them like another party…

“They could run away or cause trouble inside. It won’t be easy to keep them under control.”

“I’ve thought of that too.”

Saying that, Lee Han took out some bone fragments.

Raphadael guessed what was coming.

“Bone, seize the enemy. Bone, seize the enemy. Bone, seize the enemy…”

Clack, clack, clack, clack!

Bony restraints locked onto the mercenaries’ ankles and wrists.

That wasn’t the end.

Bony hands appeared, clinging tightly to the mercenaries’ necks. At a gesture from Lee Han, he could instantly choke them.

“Good. That should do.”

“You’re… really… unbelievable…”

Raphadael said in a shaken voice.

A powerful necromancer straight out of a fairy tale was standing before his eyes.