Episode 951

Episode 951

“Wardanaz!”

“That crazy Senior finally showed his true colors!”

The friends, who had been pressing their ears to the door outside, kicked it open and barged in as soon as they heard the scream.

They had stepped up to help Lee Han out of pure intentions, but if it was about that crazy Senior, the story was different.

One should never let their guard down, no matter when or where.

‘As expected!’

The friends who rushed in stopped when they saw Ellendil collapsed backwards. Angrago discreetly sheathed his sword. Nillia also hid her short bow under her cloak.

“What. So it wasn’t Wardanaz who shouted.”

“If the opponent is knocked out, that’s fine. Haha.”

‘Is it really?’

Adenart tilted his head inwardly.

No matter how much of a Senior they were, it didn’t seem fine…

“The Senior collapsed.”

“Why? Did he try to summon a dark spirit again?”

‘There seems to be a barb hidden in the friends’ words.’

Lee Han was a bit flustered by his friends’ cold reactions.

He’d dealt with so many crazy Seniors that someone like Ellendil just seemed average.

“Yoner. Could you give me a potion?”

“Here. But Lee Han, waking up a knocked-out Senior might not be the best choice.”

“…I didn’t knock him out though.”

Did I?

Lee Han felt a twinge of guilt inwardly.

Ellendil probably fainted because he didn’t like dealing with people much and was frail from lack of training, but there was a small chance it was because he was shocked by Lee Han’s true identity.

At the very least, Lee Han had acted quite politely in front of Ellendil.

Maybe Ellendil was shocked by the identity so different from what he saw at the Watchman Club…

‘But in order to hide one’s true identity, you have to wear a mask.’

Originally, Ellendil also didn’t like dealing with people and was the type to lazily take care of plants and spirits in a corner of the forest.

Even someone like that showed a sharp and aggressive side inside the Watchman Club.

Especially toward Lee Han, he used to pick on him constantly because of a certain nickname.

“Senior. Are you all right?”

“I… I think I had a nonsensical… dream…”

“Did you dream that the Headmaster was being replaced or something?”

“…No. It wasn’t a dream.”

Ellendil looked at Lee Han with a face full of shock, horror, confusion, and disgust.

That such a good Junior was Gonadaltes!

“How come… not different at all…?”

“It’s a disguise.”

“S-so that’s it?”

Ellendil was slightly convinced by the Junior’s words.

Indeed, thinking about it, if it was a disguise, it made some sense.

The gentle Junior who loved spirits had behaved like a madman to hide his true identity.

In fact, Ellendil himself had never suspected a thing, so it was a pretty good disguise.

“I look forward to working with you in the future, Senior.”

“Y-yeah.”

Ellendil nodded slowly.

“Don’t forget that you have to agree with me when I speak at the Watchman Club.”

“O… kay…”

While agreeing, Ellendil felt as if he was falling into some kind of trap.

A weird sensation was creeping up on him, like when you step wrong in a swamp.

Huh…?

“So, what do we need to do to retrieve that artifact?”

“Ah.”

Ellendil, who had been confused by the wicked Junior, finally came to his senses.

“First, I’ve informed the knights and… the wizards of Granden City.”

Ellendil slowly counted on his fingers as he explained what he’d done before coming here.

He first contacted the knights and wizards of Granden City and, just in case, also informed the Death Knights.

At the same time, he communicated the current situation to the socially connected Einrogard students to prevent accidents when they went out.

“How did you do that so quickly?”

“Huh? I asked the spirits.”

“……”

Lee Han swallowed down his annoyance.

He felt the same ridiculous sense of deprivation he’d experienced when talking with Arsil.

“But can the spirits summoned by mercenaries secretly give information? Are spirits capable of betraying like that?”

Lee Han asked, just in case.

He thought he would feel very bitter if the spirits he’d contracted later took Ellendil’s side.

“N-no. Spirits don’t betray.”

‘Then what did they tell you, Senior?’

Sensing his Junior’s suspicious gaze, Ellendil quickly made an excuse.

Of course, he thought he was hurrying, but his voice was still slow.

“T-the thing is… The mercenaries didn’t contract the spirits formally… They forced them, so that’s why. Spirits don’t betray the person they contracted with…”

“…By the way, to what extent is ‘forced’ here, exactly?”

“??”

“Nevermind. Let’s continue with the story about the artifact.”

The exact name of the ancient artifact the mercenaries currently had was -Echo of the Demigod-.

Surprisingly, it was originally an artifact made to communicate with divine beings.

“That’s possible!?”

“Right?”

Ellendil shrugged his shoulders as if proud when his Junior showed surprise.

Of the mages, many denied the omnipotence of divine beings, but none denied their existence itself.

There were many disagreements about how it worked, but the power itself did exist.

And if power existed, mages would try to use it. Of course, there were mages who wanted to use the power of the divine.

‘Well, in the old days, they even created artificial demigods and summoned them.’

Even black emperor spells involved summoning and imprisoning demigods and extracting their power.

Compared to that, -Echo of the Demigod- seemed like an artifact that drew out the power of existing divine beings.

“The evil god worshippers… are polluting this and using it.”

The evil god religion, persecuted by the Empire, was not easy to spread, but with this artifact, it was a whole different story.

Even unreliable mercenaries quickly began following the will of the gods, didn’t they?

“Still, it seems like a useful artifact—you’re just handing it over to mercenaries so easily. That’s surprising.”

“The minds of evil god worshippers are extremely twisted…”

Their behavior was not predictable by normal logic.

They were fundamentally twisted and filled with madness.

Ellendil guessed that perhaps they trusted the commands of the god too blindly.

If they were carrying out the god’s orders, they would never lose the artifact!

“And the mercenaries are all experienced…”

“But the mercenary who got caught looked pretty clumsy.”

“Maybe he got weird because he was corrupted by the evil god?”

“Indeed.”

Lee Han more or less accepted the Senior’s reasoning.

It was true that being tainted by an evil god might dull a person’s intellect or judgment.

“So, what do you plan to do?”

“The friends… we’re all helping together?”

“Yes. Is that uncomfortable for you?”

Ellendil shook his head side to side.

They weren’t packed into a small space, and since they were moving about for work, he had no complaints.

What Ellendil was actually curious about was something else.

“How do you plan to split the rights to the artifact?”

It would be fine for two to split it, but with so many people, things could get tricky.

Wouldn’t there be problems later about the rewards?

“Ah. We just came to help.”

“……”

Ellendil was shocked by the Junior’s overwhelming social circles.

Who knew the Junior who called himself Gonadaltes at the Watchman Club would have so many friends?

Suddenly, a sense of distance welled up inside him.

“O-oh… well, that’s good…”

“Did I do something wrong? Why so suddenly?”

“It’s nothing.”

• * *

Granden City was a vast city with countless places to hide.

Finding a seasoned mercenary in such a place wasn’t easy, even for the greatest trackers.

“Hehe. But we have a member of the Shadow Patrol on our side.”

Angrago said in a voice brimming with pride.

At those words, Nillia freaked out and looked at her friend.

But really, how could they hope to find a mercenary here?

‘This… Damn kid from the White Tiger Tower!’

“No need. We have spirits.”

Ellendil said slowly.

The spirit who had given Ellendil information at first was still staying near the mercenaries.

The mercenaries weren’t fools, so they didn’t act conspicuously, but they could be tracked in a general direction.

“Anyway… we’ll need more guards.”

“Guards? Do you mean adventurers? Or knights?”

Ellendil shook his head again. Then he took a glass bottle from his pocket and smashed it on the floor.

With the sound of glass breaking, the liquid inside began to bubble, then took the form of a person.

“!”

“This is…!”

Everyone was surprised, especially those studying alchemy.

There were potions that could imprint forms or remember certain commands, but to create a human shape so precisely…

“Is it a spirit?”

“It looks like he contracted a spirit to be the soul, and used various alchemy reagents to compose the body.”

“Is that possible? How do you carry that around?”

The students poked the alchemy solider with fascination.

At their cute behavior, Ellendil smiled and joked.

“I used a shape-shifting potion… melted an adventurer into it to make it remember.”

“……”

“……”

The faces of the 2nd-years, curious until a moment ago, turned cold.

Ellendil, who had thought it was a good joke, panicked and glanced at Lee Han.

“W-why? It’s a joke. Not funny…?”

“I laughed. But Senior, it might be better if you stop joking from now on.”

The group followed after Ellendil, who looked even more crestfallen (with the other friends trailing farther back).

“Oh.”

“What is it?”

“The spirit says it’s hiding in here…”

Seeing Ellendil hesitate, Lee Han realized why.

Granden City Guard’s Second Barracks.

It was a place outsiders couldn’t just enter at will.

“Let’s get permission quietly. Should I call the knights or the wizards?”

“No. If it’s people from Granden City, the artifact’s ownership gets complicated. Same with the Death Knights. The Headmaster could take it.”

Ellendil replied the quickest and most clearly he had ever spoken.

He was a true Einrogard mage—giving up when desire was involved was not an option.

“Then?”

“No other way.”

Ellendil nodded with a determined face. Lee Han, wondering if the 4th-year Senior had any good ideas, asked.

“Do you have a good plan?”

“We can set a fire in the empty lot to drive people out… then forcibly break in…”

“…I’ll just try to persuade them.”

Aghast, Lee Han restrained his Senior.

After hanging out with Direte and then meeting Yukveltire, he’d thought, ‘Wow, there are Seniors like this too,’ but meeting Ellendil led him to, ‘Wow, there REALLY are Seniors like this.’

Even Yukveltire wouldn’t suggest arson and break-in in this situation.

“I-I mean, is there any other way?”

“I can think of hundreds. Ah, Dalkard family’s Daihal works here as a special administrator, so I’ll ask for a favor.”

At Lee Han’s words, Ellendil spoke with a realization.

“The Dalkard family is here?”

Ahsan raised his hand. Only then did Ellendil nod, as if he understood.

“I see. That makes sense. If it’s someone from the same family, persuasion would…”

“Ah. Wardanaz will go, not me. Daihal likes Wardanaz more than me.”

Ahsan said as if it were obvious.

“Ahsan, it’s not that Lord Daihal doesn’t care about you. He even complimented you during the last chess meeting.”

“What?! There was a chess meeting?!”

“…Anyway, I’ll go and come back.”

Lee Han left to ask Ahsan’s older brother.

Ellendil, who stared blankly after him, quietly asked,

“Is it just me who thinks this is weird…?”