Episode 325

Direte whispered in a flustered voice.

“Junior, how did you persuade them??”

“I had a friend from the Black Turtle Tower, so they let us in.”

“Oh, really? …Wait? Aren’t you from the Blue Dragon Tower?”

“Senior! That mana, isn’t it the mana left behind by the undead?”

Direte, who had been puzzled by Han’s suspiciously wide network, snapped back to his senses at those words.

That wasn’t what mattered right now.

“Good find. Let’s go!”

Bang!

With a crashing sound from deeper inside the warehouse, a wooden box flew at them. Han immediately swung his staff. A thick shield of water wrapped around the flying box, making a dull sound.

“…!”

Direte gnashed his teeth.

Whether it was intentional or not, that undead chimera was targeting the party’s weak points.

If it kept destroying the warehouse’s goods like that, it would be quite troubling for the magicians.

They had barely gotten permission to enter, and if the warehouse’s goods got destroyed, there was no way the guild members would just let it go.

“Salko! Please understand if we smash a few things!”

“Just catch the undead! How come you guys are good at pummeling the White Tiger Tower folks but can’t catch an undead so easily?!”

“!?”

While Direte was marveling, Han began firing off lightning spells.

Bzzzzzzzt!

The undead chimera, sensing the dangerous atmosphere, dove behind a box to dodge.

But Han didn’t care if it hid behind a box or inside one.

He would just smash everything with brute force!

“Flash, Flash, Flash, Flash!”

A storm of magic.

Direte could only describe the current scene that way.

Who would have thought you could make such a savage, dense bullet hell with low circle magic.

‘This is really…’

The inside of the warehouse was overturned and wrecked, and with nowhere left to hide, the undead chimera must have decided it couldn’t hang on and sprinted straight out of the compound.

Salko and the guild members, who had been sneaking up on the warehouse from outside, were left speechless by the scene.

“If you’re going to approach sneakily, obviously it’ll notice if you openly exude killing intent like that!”

“None of the guild members here are magicians or knights, what do you expect? This is plenty! Just hurry and chase the undead!”

“Anyway, thanks!”

Han decided to get mad later and offered thanks for now.

It was thanks to Salko’s cooperation that they could continue the chase.

“Let’s go, senior!”

As Han’s group rushed out, the guild members finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Despite everything, they had all been tense at word of an undead crashing into the guild warehouse.

“Will they be okay? It’s not easy to catch something when you’re having to chase after it in the city. And it’s not even human.”

“They’ll be fine. The ones doing the chasing are bigger monsters.”

So saying, Salko walked back into the warehouse.

And he was horrified at the wreckage inside.

‘Wardanaz…!! Even with permission, isn’t this a bit much!!’

• * *

At first, the undead chimera fled at the sight of mana, then at the lightning magic, but now it changed tactics completely. It began to move in a complicated, tricky path, trying to tire out its pursuers first.

“It looks like it’s waiting for us to get tired.”

“Hmph. Even for magicians, thinking we’d get tired at this level is naive. We’re all from Einrogard, aren’t we?”

“That’s right.”

Han and Direte nodded, and even Imirg nodded as well.

“Ha… huff, huff.”

Gainando was so out of breath he was panting heavily. Han cast a spell on him.

“Feet, command the ground.”

“Strength…! Thanks, Han!”

Han could see a future where Gainando would be in agony from sore muscles once the enhancement wore off, but for now, he cheered him on.

“It’s nothing, Gainando. Hang in there!”

“Yeah!!”

“We’re in trouble, juniors.”

Direte spoke in a troubled voice.

“What’s wrong?”

“This time it ran into the Greenbell Family’s mansion…”

The Greenbell Family, an entrenched urban noble house in Granden City, was not one to be trifled with.

Being rather closed-off, they were even less likely to cooperate in situations like this.

‘Even if an undead got inside, I doubt they’d help us…’

“Junior. By any chance, do you know anyone in the Greenbell Family?”

Direte asked, though he didn’t expect much.

No matter if Han was from the Blue Dragon Tower and the Wardanaz Family, it wasn’t possible to be acquainted with every noble family in the Empire.

If he wasn’t, it would be rude to just knock on their door and ask for hospitality in a situation like this.

“One moment, please.”

‘No way…’

As Han walked off like he had before, Direte felt flustered.

Could it really be?

“They said we can go in. Let’s go.”

“You had a connection?!”

“Not close, just met before… Anyway, it’s a long story, so let’s go in first! We need to catch the undead.”

“R-right.”

With his suspiciously wide-networked junior, Direte entered the mansion.

Even though they said an undead had infiltrated, the head steward of the mansion looked unperturbed.

“There’s no need to worry. Honestly, even if the magicians hadn’t come to help, we could have handled it.”

Gainando bristled at those words.

“You must not understand how strong and cunning this undead is!”

“No matter how strong or clever, I don’t think it can defeat those currently inside the mansion.”

“…Kuh! You must not know, but Han here is from the Wardanaz Family—he recently one-shotted a basilisk and…”

“Shut up.”

‘?????’

Feeling Direte’s aghast stare, Han shut Gainando up.

They were being greeted out of goodwill, why try to compete now?

“It seems you have quite formidable people here… May I ask who?”

The steward smiled and answered at those words.

“There are knights of the White Oak Knights here.”

• * *

Sir Bikelinz of the White Oak Knights felt a little sorry as he watched the apprentice knights devouring food like they were starved.

“My apologies, Greenbell.”

“Not at all. No need to fret over such a thing. They’re at the age to eat a lot.”

As Alardne said, apprentice knights were at an age where they needed a lot to eat.

They trained while still growing, so they were always hungry.

…But even so, burying their faces in a bowl of soup with one hand while grabbing chunks of meat with the other was a bit shameful.

‘I’ll have to give them a talking-to when we get back.’

“I’ve heard much about the White Oak Knights’ apprentices training around the city lately. Has training been going well? Is there anything you need?”

“Just this hospitality is thanks enough.”

Bikelinz answered with proper etiquette.

He meant it sincerely, but there was also another reason.

Though Alardne appeared kindly like a grandmother, she was not someone to be taken lightly. Incurring unnecessary debt was not wise.

“Plus, because students from knightly families in Einrogard are home for vacation, they’re beneficial influences on each other. There’s hardly anything for me to do.”

Competition always raised everyone’s skills.

Students from knightly families in Einrogard and apprentice knights from the order felt a sense of rivalry with each other.

Some White Oak apprentice knights had even challenged them directly during the semester…

“Greenbell. There’s an intruder in the house…”

At the butler’s hasty report, Alardne’s expression hardened slightly.

What kind of bold thief would dare break into this mansion?

“Have you confirmed who it is?”

“The black mages checked. They say it’s an undead chimera that fled from near the cemetery.”

“It’s hard to trust the black mages…”

“They’re students from Einrogard.”

“Oh, if that’s the case.”

Alardne changed her attitude immediately.

Students from Einrogard had the right to speak of such matters.

“And one of them, in fact, is the Wardanaz student you mentioned previously.”

“Is that so? Surprising.”

Alardne was surprised.

She hadn’t expected Han to be learning black magic.

Well, what kind of magic a person learned was their own business…

“Let them in and treat them well. Leave the undead chimera to the students.”

“Will that be okay?”

“They’ll be more than enough. Not only is he from the Wardanaz family, but you’ve seen his abilities yourself. And think about why the creature ran here.”

“What do you mean, ran here?”

Alardne only smiled in reply instead of answering.

Han of the Wardanaz family was a student with genius talent and the ambition to match.

From crushing the magician of Baldororn who dared act up, to felling a basilisk before royalty, even tracking down and destroying a wicked otherworldly being.

No matter how talented a magician was, it meant nothing if people didn’t recognize it.

To make full use of one’s talents, appropriate renown was needed.

In Alardne’s eyes, Han of the Wardanaz family was building his reputation with cold precision.

In a few years, when the Empire’s rising magicians were discussed, it would be no surprise for Han’s name to be at the very top.

Therefore, she thought it best to let Han take down the undead chimera.

Given the formidable foe, any grace shown would be remembered.

And if they stole away the prey he’d chased all the way here, it would be like picking a fight. There was no need to make such strong enemies for no reason.

“It’s a monster!!!”

“Don’t worry, Greenbell! We’ll take care of it!”

“Wa—”

The White Oak Knight apprentices set their bowls down and drew their swords upon seeing the monster outside the mansion window.

And before Alardne could stop them, they rushed out in a hurry.

Left alone with just Bikelinz, Alardne silently gave him a cold glare as he wiped cold sweat from his brow.

“I’m… I’m sorry. They’re not normally this rude; it’s just, well, with a monster showing up…”

“……”

Alardne threw a frosty gaze, not the least moved by Bikelinz’s words.

• * *

Bang!

One of the apprentice knights charged with gusto. The body check, laced with mana, knocked the undead chimera off balance and toppled it.

“It’s down!”

“Sever its legs so it can’t escape!”

The apprentice knights shouted and quickly surrounded the undead chimera. Having practiced together, their movements were swift and precise.

Han and Direte were impressed.

“They’re good.”

“They are.”

“N-no! No way! They just stole our prey!!”

Gainando shouted in disbelief.

He couldn’t understand how they could stay calm in such a ridiculous situation.

“Gainando. Think about it.”

“He’s right, junior. What’s important isn’t who caught it, but how well the potential damage from the undead was prevented. Even if no one else notices, we know no one got hurt thanks to you juniors.”

Han, who was nodding along at Direte’s warm words, suddenly stopped and looked puzzled.

“That’s not what I meant, though?”

“Huh? Then what?”

“Since they interrupted and took over our prey anyway, once they’re done, if we get angry, they’ll have no choice but to apologize for the sake of appearances. That way, we succeed in the hunt without lifting a finger. So there’s no problem leaving it alone.”

“…Junior?!”

Direte was shocked by his junior’s political acumen.

He’d thought Han was out of the ordinary, but to make such calculations in such a short time was hard to believe.