Episode 417

‘Could it be that Wardanaz’s magic isn’t satisfactory? No matter what, that’s too harsh.’

Angrago thought to himself.

No matter what, even Einrogard professors would have to acknowledge Wardanaz’s accomplishments right now.

Yet to be so disappointed—this was too strict.

“Would you like to take a short break, Mage?”

“Pardon?”

Baldororn, who had been sighing, was flustered by the adventurers’ suggestion.

A break, when he hadn’t even done anything.

With everyone watching, how could he relax?

“I-I’m fine.”

“Gasp… Really? Understood.”

The adventurers took it in, looking surprised. Baldororn wondered if he’d made some mistake.

‘Wait…!’

On second thought, the adventurers hadn’t suggested a break for Baldororn’s sake, but for Lee Han’s.

A mage’s mana wasn’t infinite, and using spells consecutively like that, taking a break would be proper.

“N-no, that’s not it!”

“This mage is more strict than I thought. Seriously…”

“Shh. Don’t offend him. Quiet.”

Baldororn realized too late and tried to fix things, but the adventurers were already whispering, “My goodness! He’s unbelievably strict.”

Suddenly, Baldororn found himself cast as a strict and severe mage of old, and made a miserable face.

“Um… let’s rest a bit before we go further.”

“Pardon? I’m fine, though.”

“I’m not.”

“Haha. Baldororn, if you’re worried about me, I really am okay. I have plenty of mana.”

“……”

• * *

The summoners and black mages who had participated in -Boltzmann’s Summoning- festival stood with their arms crossed, staring at the black rock.

“Hmm.”

“Huuuuuummm.”

“Hmm.”

“Kehmm.”

“…Shouldn’t we just admit it already? That we don’t know…”

“Quiet! Be quiet!”

“Who says I admitted not knowing! It’s not over yet!”

Wizards after an intense academic society or festival tend to have some free time.

Few people are as bored as these types of mages.

After the festival ended, the mages who gathered at a village nearby to chat got excited when a local rumor reached their ears.

–Something’s happening with magical power in the Black Basalt Stone Forest?

–Then why don’t we see who solves it first?

Curiosity is a virtue for any mage.

Hearing such an interesting rumor, the magicians flocked to the forest.

Illusions blocked their entry, but they were no match for seasoned magicians.

After scouring the area, the mages discovered that magical power was concentrating at a spot in the woods.

–Magical power is converging here at the black rock… Strange. I can’t tell why it’s concentrating.

–Besides that, isn’t it weird that such a regular stone can withstand so much power? I think something’s up.

–They say this stone was here even before the forest was named. If magic kept accumulating here, that could explain its durability.

–Even if that explains it, why is the forest’s magic converging here now?

–Hmmm.

–Huuuummmm…

Though they thought they’d be able to resolve any phenomena, the mages found themselves stuck without answers, sweat forming on their brows.

Normally, they’d brainstorm and share thoughts, but these mages weren’t from the same school or guild.

They’d competed fiercely at the festival just days ago.

Because of their pride, nobody wanted to be the first to admit ignorance.

‘I won’t admit it first. If those guys admit it…’

‘I’ll never admit it first! If those bastards do it first…’

While the magicians brooded over the black rock, Lee Han’s party appeared from afar, having cleared a path.

“!”

Lee Han was startled to see the black rock, where the forest’s magical power was thickest, surrounded by mages.

“Someone’s here ahead of us.”

“W-what!”

The adventurers’ faces changed.

They were even more surprised than when the forest’s mist was worst.

“This is bad, mage.”

“It’s… not that big a deal, is it?”

Lee Han was flustered at their overreaction.

If those mages had devoted themselves to evil spells, maybe it would have made sense.

But they weren’t like that, and from afar, their faces were familiar.

They were clearly the mages who had participated in the recent Einrogard festival.

‘They must have come after hearing the rumors.’

With rumors traveling through the villages nearby, it was only natural for mages to flock here.

“Is it because there are black mages? Contrary to rumor, black mages don’t always raise undead and ruin the surroundings.”

“No? That’s not it. It’s because of the commission.”

People usually imagine the hard part of a quest comes from its own subject matter.

But a lot of difficulties actually come from unrelated external factors.

Like now.

They needed to approach the black rock at the center of the woods and investigate, but there were already mages there.

Of course, the mages had no reason to yield or make way.

Especially with anomalies concerning magical power, mages simply never yielded.

Gugbon and his party already felt a headache about how to convince the mages.

“Can’t you just ask?”

“Ha. It won’t be easy. Mages don’t back down in situations like this until they’re satisfied.”

Baldororn, listening nearby, chimed in in agreement.

“That’s true. In such situations, mages never yield.”

“As expected! Baldororn, you really see through things.”

‘Cut it out, you idiots.’

Baldororn cursed inside, looking away.

Considering he’d accomplished nothing so far, he wanted desperately to try persuading the mages somehow…

But no ideas came to him.

‘If I tried, they’d just tell me to get lost.’

Mages in the Empire weren’t so generous as to listen to pleas from some unknown mediocre mage.

‘Potions… What do I have? Yellow ironstone powder is too cheap… Would they get mad if I tried to bribe them with this?’

As Baldororn wondered, he sensed movement ahead and looked up.

Lee Han was approaching the mages.

“!”

Baldororn was startled.

Even if he was an Einrogard student, would those mages really let it go…

“I got their permission. It seems you can proceed with your investigation.”

“……”

“……”

Baldororn and the adventurers stared blankly at each other.

• * *

“Wow, I heard it’d be hard for you to come out, so I didn’t expect much!”

A summoner shoved a black mage aside to approach Lee Han.

“Ha. Of course it’s possible! No matter how strict Einrogard’s rules are, they wouldn’t be that unreasonable. Students are people, too.”

The black mage responded, trying to step on the summoner’s foot.

As the mages awkwardly squeezed in to approach Lee Han, he was caught in the middle and squeezed.

“…Everyone. Have I done something wrong?”

“Oh, no. Those black mages were just too rude and pushy!”

“You shouldn’t listen to the summoners! Those sly devils!”

Lee Han gently pushed the mages aside. Strengthened by Einrogard and sword training, he was more than a match for the mages.

“I’m glad to meet you all, too. But if my rare escape time is wasted pointlessly, I’ll be quite disappointed.”

‘This isn’t an outing…’

Angrago thought to himself.

How could he be so brazen having escaped together!

Angrago was anxious just thinking about when they might get caught…

“…You’re right.”

“We made fools of ourselves.”

The mages reflected and reconciled, making Lee Han smile with satisfaction.

“Well then, could you share your investigation findings on that black rock?”

‘Got lucky.’

He was thinking of profiting off their goodwill, but the situation was different from what Lee Han had expected.

“Still…”

“Pardon?”

“We’re still investigating.”

“…All of you here??”

The mages suddenly coughed, looking away awkwardly.

Focusing on their rivalry, they were now embarrassed they hadn’t actually shared any ideas.

“T-that can happen. It might be a really tough investigation…”

Lee Han’s consolation only made it more painful. The mages scrambled to share their information.

–The magical power in this forest is all converging here, but not all magic flowing here is the same level. Remember, I summoned sound spirits to find a path? There are strong and weak illusions on different routes. The eastern path is so strong nobody can pass, but the southern path, which we came by, is much easier.

–…Wait. Wardanaz came through the eastern path?

–With Baldororn’s help.

–Oh. How did you manage that? I’m curious…

–P-please. Can we just continue analyzing? We can talk later…

–Er, sure. In any case, seeing this asymmetry, maybe the black rock isn’t the cause.

–What? The source is somewhere outside, and the black rock just happens to be where the magic converges?

–Exactly.

–That sounds absurd… but right now, it does seem the most plausible! Let’s calculate it.

The mages scribbled calculations, then looked shocked.

The numbers really suggested the cause could be somewhere outside the forest.

“Let’s go check!”

“Once Wardanaz arrived, the bottleneck melted away. You’re truly a prodigy of the black magic school!”

“Why are you bringing up black magic here?”

“If you don’t like it, go ahead and praise summoning magic instead.”

As the mages, who solved the problem themselves, praised him, Lee Han muttered to Baldororn in exasperation.

“How can they praise me after figuring it out themselves… I appreciate the thought, but it’s kind of ridiculous, don’t you think? It’s embarrassing.”

“…I know exactly how you feel!!!!!!!”

Baldororn replied with genuine feeling.

Few people could understand like Baldororn did.

• * *

“Knights?”

Having exited the woods together, the mages frowned at the distant sight of a campsite.

Even if it’s a campsite, you could usually guess someone’s identity from its look.

If it was simple, it was travelers. If surrounded by traps and fences, it was mercenaries. If it looked shabby and dangerous, it was bandits…

And a simple camp with plank walls built like a fortress could only mean a company of knights—orderly and with plenty of resources.

Just as the adventurers had hated approaching the mages, now the mages scowled at the thought of approaching the knights.

“Of all things, it’s those bastards who use heads as helmet crests.”

“We’ve got to ask permission to check their camp, but will they even understand what we mean?”

“……”

At the mages’ sharp words, Angrago was suddenly indignant.

That’s too much!

‘They’re not that stupid!’

“Is there any reason for knights to be around here?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, is there any reason for knights to be around? There haven’t been any monster sightings.”

“Huh? Good point. Maybe… hunting?”

Lee Han looked at Angrago as if he were hopeless. Angrago felt like he’d become one of those helmet-crest idiots.

“Given the state of the woods, there wasn’t anything to hunt.”

“R-right. What could it be?”

The answer appeared at once.

As they got closer, they saw the order’s flag flying over the camp.

It was the Beechwood Knights.

“……”

Lee Han glared in shock at the flag.

Could it be they really came all the way to Einrogard to invite Lee Han to the knights’ gathering?!