Episode 322

Mages, as a rule, were always in high demand and in short supply, treated as a valued elite wherever they went…

But even here, there were sometimes exceptions.

Actually, you might as well not call them exceptions and just say “black mages.” Usually, it was black mages.

Black magic was fundamentally unpopular.

‘If it were me, I wouldn’t go out of my way to call for a black mage either.’

With so many talented mages from other schools, why specifically call those from the school of black magic?

But here was something only a black mage could do.

It was highly suspicious.

“Where did you hear about this?”

“Ratford told me!”

“Oh. Well, if that’s the case.”

“…Wait. Something’s off.”

Gainando sensed a strange vibe in Lee Han’s reaction when he heard Ratford’s name.

“What’s so strange? Let’s just go quickly.”

“Yeah. Whatever it is, it has to be better than studying… Oh, wait.”

“Isn’t it your studying, not mine…?”

• * *

Ratford wasn’t a black mage himself, but he had a friend who studied black magic.

It was Imirg from the same tower—the Black Turtle Tower.

The Black Turtle Tower kids were tightly connected, and whenever a decent job opportunity came up, they shared it promptly, so it got to Ratford quickly.

‘Now, that’s real friendship.’

Lee Han couldn’t help but envy the Black Turtle Tower kids’ close bond.

Blue Dragon Tower kids only bothered to throw parties and invite people over to their mansions…

“Long time no see, Imirg.”

“Long time!”

“Ni-nice to see you.”

There weren’t many first-year students learning black magic, so they had no choice but to be close.

“Did you call Raphadael too?”

“Why call that jerk!? He’s not needed!”

…Some of the students were close.

“I even told White Tiger Tower… but they said they needed rest from fatigue.”

“I see.”

“What kind of knight can’t even take care of himself? Hmph.”

As usual, Gainando kept grumbling about Raphadael, whom he often clashed with.

“But it’s not serious, right?”

“Probably not.”

Knowing what was really up, Lee Han muttered.

It was probably because he hadn’t recovered from the previous King of Ghouls subjugation.

‘But he’s less hardened than I thought.’

If Raphadael had heard, he’d be ready to go for Lee Han’s throat, so Lee Han turned his gaze.

“We can’t help Raphadael, so we’ll just have to work even harder. So, Imirg. This way?”

“Yeah.”

Imirg led them toward the city’s southern district, the general district.

This southern district felt different from the central ward where nobles lived or the west side filled with guilds. There was an energy that could only arise from a mix of people from everywhere.

A suspicious traveler covered in cloaks, a merchant selling a dubious potion called -Gonadaltes’ Elixir-, a mercenary with five swords and a spear at their side—none of them looked out of place here.

“You! Walking around the city with a spear. Do you take Granden City lightly? Come with me!”

“I-I’m sorry!”

“……”

Of course, it wasn’t a total lawless area.

As they walked further toward the outskirts, people grew sparse. Lee Han, curious, asked,

“So, what kind of job is this?”

“Gu-guard work.”

“Guard duty?”

The unexpected answer made Lee Han ponder.

‘Why would anyone hire a mage, especially a black mage, for guard work?’

Mages were expensive. If you needed guards, it was usually better to hire a few more seasoned adventurers or mercenaries.

Even if you paid the high rates, most mages weren’t actually that used to combat.

If anything went down, they might not have been worth the cost.

You could maybe use them for barriers or detection spells but…

‘A black mage, specifically?’

“Do you know what you’ll be guarding?”

“Yeah. The cemetery.”

“…Ah.”

Lee Han understood at once.

That was one place where you might need a black mage…

“A, a cemetery? Are we going to a cemetery right now???”

Gainando, of course, was a different case.

He stared at Imirg with a betrayed look, and Imirg flinched.

“W-why? Is there a problem?”

“Cemeteries are scary!”

“……”

“……”

Lee Han and Imirg were so dumbfounded for a moment, they couldn’t speak.

Did a black mage just say that?

“Weren’t there cemeteries around Professor Mortum’s Hall of Dark Shadows?”

“Exactly! That was scary enough! And now we have to go somewhere where they’re all gathered?!”

Gainando protested desperately.

“You’ve summoned skeletons, and you’ll be summoning more undead from now on—you might as well get used to it.”

“I’ll just meet undead individually! Why do I have to go to a cemetery!”

“Gainando.”

“?”

“To live is to do what you don’t want and get paid for it. Shut up and follow.”

“……”

Gainando meekly followed. Imirg looked over, worried.

“I-is that okay?”

“It’s fine. Give him some cotton candy afterward and he’ll be fine.”

• * *

The caretaker guarding the Granden City outskirts cemetery was overjoyed to see the three arrive.

“Oh! Welcome, mages! I’m truly glad you’re here. I’ve been so worried.”

“Worried about what?”

“I was worried there wouldn’t be any Einrogard students learning black magic this year. There are already so few black mages in the city.”

“……”

The three students made sour faces.

There weren’t many students in Einrogard who studied black magic either.

The easiest way for Granden City to get hold of a competent, fundamental mage was to hire Einrogard students who came home for vacation.

But if there weren’t any black magic students this year, that would be a serious issue.

“But to have three of you—I’m truly grateful!”

“Ah… yes.”

“But are there so few black mages?”

Gainando found it hard to accept.

Even if there weren’t many from Einrogard, couldn’t they summon black mages from elsewhere…?

“Oh, what risky talk. Black mages have to be far more trustworthy and reputable than other mages.”

“Why?”

“Well…”

When the caretaker hesitated, Lee Han answered instead.

“Worried they’ll steal corpses from the cemetery?”

“K–khehm. I don’t think of it that way myself. The prejudice against black mages saddens me.”

“For all that, doesn’t the Imperial newspaper have… a few too many incidents…”

“Now! Let me show you around the cemetery.”

The caretaker quickly changed the subject.

He didn’t want to start reciting a list of black mage crimes before the black magic students themselves.

“Every so often, there’s a time when the imperial yin energy grows strong. When yin energy swells, the power of the dead grows, too. Then…”

“Something strange might happen at places like cemeteries.”

“Exactly. You’re truly an Einrogard student.”

Natural mana could cause all kinds of unpredictable things.

Maybe not to the degree of a phoenix being summoned out of nowhere at Einrogard, but thanks to the swelling of yin energy, dead rising, or beings from other dimensions breaching the rift over, was not uncommon.

Black mages were certainly best equipped to deal with these incidents. No matter how poor their reputation, black magic was an essential art for the Empire.

“But we haven’t learned any of the really complicated black magic secrets yet.”

“It’s fine. Of course, we wouldn’t push everything onto students just here for the first time. There’s a senior black mage here to help guide you—Direte!”

“!”

Lee Han started at the familiar name.

If it was Direte, then surely…

“I figured juniors would come… There are more of you than I thought?”

A crow-beast student, fluttering black wings, waved as he walked out from the cemetery tower.

It was Direte, a fourth-year at Einrogard, majoring in the school of black magic.

“Senior! …Are you all right?”

Lee Han instinctively scanned the area; Direte nodded, understanding.

“Don’t worry, just talking here won’t land you in the punishment room.”

“That’s good to know.”

“And you don’t die just because you go to the punishment room. You’ll both be staying at Einrogard, so you’d better learn to get comfortable with it.”

Gainando was displeased at the idea, but Lee Han took it seriously.

‘It’s definitely smart to prepare for the punishment room in advance.’

How to escape if you get locked up, and a plan B to rest comfortably if escape wasn’t possible.

At least he was friends with one of the wardens, Perkuntra, but he couldn’t rely on Perkuntra alone.

And in Lee Han’s eyes, Perkuntra was a bit…

‘…Tends to make mistakes at important moments.’

“Anyway, why are you two here? Aren’t you from the Blue Dragon Tower?”

Direte looked at Lee Han and Gainando in confusion.

Normally, Blue Dragon Tower students didn’t do this kind of work.

Gainando answered immediately.

“I earn my own spending money!”

“What? Why would you do that? If you can take it, take it!”

“……”

Gainando, expecting praise, deflated.

Lee Han did not admit to “I’m obsessed with coins.”

From the look of things, he’d just come off as a weirdo.

“I thought it’d be an opportunity to train my black magic.”

“……”

Direte looked at Lee Han in disbelief.

Come to think of it, this junior was the crazy genius who took every magic school class there was.

“R-right. I see.”

‘Huh?’

Lee Han noticed something odd.

Compared to Gainando, the reaction was even more…

“Still, it’s good that there are three. Sometimes there’s even less. Usually, a third-year would do the explanation, but they left for the east to find a suitable corpse.”

“I-I see.”

Now Lee Han and his friends were the ones stammering.

“The caretakers begged so desperately, I couldn’t refuse.”

When the caretakers begged in tears, as a black mage it was hard to turn them down.

So Direte ended up explaining.

“You’re very admirable. Well, if they offered multiple times the standard pay, who could refuse…”

“What? No, the pay is normal.”

Lee Han was taken aback by Direte’s words.

“The pay is the same?”

“Huh? Uh…”

Flustered by his junior’s pressure, Direte faltered.

“The caretakers tricked you, Senior. I’ll go and protest on your behalf.”

“No, no… We’ve known each other a while, it’s…”

“No way. When money is involved, you have to be even stricter with friends!”

Direte was momentarily put off by his junior’s suspiciously coin-obsessed attitude.

‘No way… did this junior come here just for the coin?’

• * *

“Basically, this job is more about prevention than countermeasures.”

Direte tapped the ground with his staff as he spoke.

“That means you need to pay attention to the flow of magic power. You juniors, since you’ve learned black magic, should be able to sense the yin-energy magic a bit better.”

As Direte explained, far up the cemetery path, some passing adventurers frowned as they walked by.

“Tch, grave robbers.”

“Aren’t they just here to steal more corpses?”

“Ignore them. These guys wouldn’t even talk like that to our faces. Anyway… wait. Where’s one of the juniors?”

Direte was taken aback by the missing Lee Han.

Turning his head, he saw Lee Han running up the road above.