Chapter 1177
However, not one of the Descendants of Ahrak could step forward and say, 'I am the right person for this!'
They all knew that they were poor at the art of persuasion.
This was the problem when a group had no new members.
Only the same tiresome people kept rotting together, so when something like this happened, there was no one suitable to send.
"I will go and persuade him."
"Do not talk nonsense, Ninth."
"Do not go outside. Just stay here in the catacombs."
"If you go out, I will kill you."
At the reactions of his comrades, as sharp as blades, the Ninth Descendant of Ahrak was dumbfounded.
"...W-Why! I am the only one here who can at least persuade another young brat!"
"You call that persuasion? If what you did was persuasion, then what I did was not grave robbing but a purchase on deferred payment."
"No matter how many privileges the Emperor has granted us, I think it would be best for the Ninth to restrain himself. Unless you want those privileges taken away."
"Understood."
Silence lingered for a moment.
Then the other Descendants spoke.
"Did that bastard just go outside?"
"He definitely did."
"...Contact the Second and Third and tell them to stop him. Just make sure he cannot cause an incident."
***
"Cough, cough."
When the cold wind blew, Professor Mortum coughed repeatedly. At that, the students of the dark magic school gave him suspicious looks.
"Is he pretending to be sick again?"
"It is entirely possible. Last time, he definitely..."
"What...! Cough, you wicked disciples."
When his disciples grew suspicious, Professor Mortum put on an aggrieved expression.
Of course, Professor Mortum had used all sorts of tricks to push troublesome work onto others.
-Cough, the old wound from Ahrak's Red Poison is suddenly...
-Oh no. We will take care of sorting the corpses!
-Cough, this time it is the curse I suffered during the mold plague...
-...Oh no. Then we will inspect the expiration dates of the poisons in the warehouse.
-Cough, cough.
-Sigh. We will do it. What else is there? Grading?
-This time I was just coughing!
But after one or two years in the dark magic school, tricks like these stopped working.
Unless they had a personality like Diret's, even if he was their teacher, everyone could not help but look at him coldly.
Ogoldos was the same.
"Professor. I am saying this because I truly care about the school. Please keep the feigned illnesses within reason..."
"Cough, I told you that is not it! Stop suspecting me. Last time, I took responsibility for the work and handled it, so why can you not remember that?"
"His Highness forced you to do that."
"I said that is not true. I had originally intended to take care of it myself. Cough. A letter has arrived over there."
Professor Mortum quickly changed the subject when his disciples' gazes grew increasingly fierce and the atmosphere began to shift toward airing all their accumulated grievances.
He was not a professor for nothing.
"Did you prepare the letter in advance too?"
"Professor Garcia sent it!"
Professor Mortum shouted loudly enough for all his disciples to hear, then quickly unfolded the letter.
To avoid the misunderstandings of these wicked disciples, it seemed best to read the contents aloud as quickly as possible.
To Professor Mortum
Dark mages from the 'Descendants of Ahrak,' the 'Legion of Oondorgu,' and the 'Obsidian Magic Tower' have come to House Moradi's fortress and are trying to invite Student Lee Han. I thought you should know.
Garcia Kim
"!??"
For a moment, the strength left Professor Mortum's legs and he staggered. At that sight, his disciples scolded him again.
"Professor. If you are going to act like that, just go inside and rest."
"What is really wrong with you?"
"Y-You foolish brats..."
Another letter flew toward the staggering Professor Mortum.
To Professor Mortum
I am sending another message because I left something out. I think it would be better for Student Diret to come rather than you, Professor. The dark mages seemed to bear a great deal of resentment toward you.
Garcia Kim
"???"
Professor Mortum was bewildered once again by the contents of the letter.
A moment ago, he had been bewildered by the betrayal of the evil and despicable dark mages, but this time he was bewildered because he truly had no idea why.
Meanwhile, his disciples, filled with curiosity, came over and read the letter.
"Wardanaz received recruitment offers!?"
"Honestly, it would be stranger if he did not. If the professor had only pretended to be sick a little less..."
"...Cough, that is not what matters. The fact that these dark mages bear a grudge. That is what matters."
Professor Mortum could not understand.
Why in the world did those old dark mages bear resentment toward him?
"Professor. Perhaps..."
"Cough. If you bring up feigned illness, I will turn you into a ghoul."
"...No. Haha."
The student of the dark magic school who had been about to mention feigned illness again awkwardly withdrew.
Ogoldos asked in puzzlement.
"Could it be because we have become a little wealthier recently?"
"......"
"......"
"...Ogoldos. I do not think that is it."
The students were horrified by the absurd remark.
Of course, the financial situation of Einroguard's dark magic school had improved somewhat, but it was nowhere near enough to inspire jealousy.
Pity, perhaps...
"Was it because we presented dark magic too well? But the Descendants of Ahrak also present good dark magic..."
"Are they jealous that we live outside a cemetery?"
"That is not it. They prefer living inside cemeteries. I do not understand."
Professor Mortum thought for a moment, then shrugged.
Dark mages were naturally eccentric.
Moreover, these dark mages usually lived in seclusion among themselves, so their eccentricity was even worse.
"Cough, there must be some misunderstanding. I have done nothing wrong."
"That certainly seems to be the case."
This time, even the disciples defended Professor Mortum.
Of course, the professor of Einroguard's dark magic school often pretended to be sick and deceived his disciples, but he was not the sort of person who went around rudely picking fights.
At most, he would cough and try to win sympathy!
"For now, I think you should go quickly and stop them."
"Cough. There is no need to rush so much. Surely Wardanaz would not go to another dark-mage guild."
"For now, I think you should go quickly and stop them."
"......"
Professor Mortum felt slightly hurt by the disciples' cold reaction.
Would it have hurt them to say, even as an empty courtesy, 'No, Wardanaz respects you, Professor, so he will not go anywhere else'?
"Fine. Fine. I suppose I must go call Diret."
"I will bring her. She should be in the dormitory tower..."
"Cough. No. She is in the library."
"Yes? Why?"
"...There is a newly discovered dark spell, and she is comparing how similar the structure of that spell is to the structures of existing magic."
"Senior Diret increased the number of research topics again?!"
The students were startled.
Even if Senior Diret was a madman who had chosen the path of a fifth-year, to add yet another research topic on top of that.
Professor Mortum suppressed his embarrassment and answered.
"Cough. That is a dark spell I discovered."
"......"
"......"
For a moment, the students present thought the same thing.
Wardanaz really might go to another dark-mage faction!
***
What are all of you doing?
The Devil Hag asked in disbelief.
A crowd of unpleasant dark mages reeking of corpses(some of them were actually corpses) had gathered in Lee Han's lodging and were so absorbed in magic that they looked ready to bury their noses in the table.
"Ah. My apologies. We were discussing magic just now."
Lee Han apologized politely.
After had been taken from them almost by force, the Descendants of Ahrak had become thoroughly enraged.
Of course, it was closer to them giving it away on their own than having it taken, but the truth did not matter to eccentric dark mages.
-You lot take out one of your spells too!
-Grrrrrk. (Why should we)?
-Ha. Could it be that you are frightened? Because he might learn it faster than ? Well, your magic is rather simple.
-Grrrk. (How dare you say that)?!
The other dark mages immediately fell for the provocation. They began selecting the most difficult and troublesome spells among those they had put into the masterpiece.
-I am not interested in that spell...
-Grrrrrk. (Learn it)!
-You are not interested? Even better! Hurry up and learn it!
-I said I am not interested...
The dark mages, their eyes turned wild, ignored Lee Han's words and made a commotion, demanding that he learn the magic quickly.
In the end, Lee Han gave up and began practicing , dark magic developed by the Legion of Oondorgu.
And he succeeded in learning it.
-...Hahaha! Hahahahahah! Look! He learned it faster than !
-Grrrk. (This one's structure itself is simple, and the magic of Gonadaltes that he learned)...
-Silence! In any case, he learned it faster than , so your magic is simpler! Now. You are next!
-What nonsense are you talking about? I agreed to contribute my own money, but I will not use the Obsidian Magic Tower's magic as a stake in this sort of wager.
-Grrrk. (Are you frightened)?
-Hmph. Even if you say that, I will not do it.
-Enough. That sort of persuasion will not work on someone like that. Listen carefully. Young brat. If you do not participate properly, the Legion of Oondorgu and we will join forces and travel around telling every mage that the Obsidian Magic Tower's magic is terrible. We will also have to report it to His Majesty the Emperor. We will ask whether people like you can truly be trusted with the authority of a Magic Tower.
-...Do not lie.
The mage of the Obsidian Magic Tower ignored the threat.
No matter what, there was no way they would actually do something like that.
For such a trivial reason, those lazy people would travel all over the Empire proclaiming 'why the Obsidian Magic Tower's magic is terrible'?
Even before the Emperor and the officials?
-Look into my eyes. Do I appear to be bluffing?
-Grrrrrk. (I will definitely do it).
-...You damned old bastards!
In the end, even the mage of the Obsidian Magic Tower was forced to participate in the wager.
After hearing the explanation, the Devil Hag sent them a gaze filled with contempt.
'I already thought they were fools, but I did not expect them to be even more foolish than that.'
"By the way. The reason this person is crawling around on all fours..."
There must have been a wager. I am not curious.
The Devil Hag answered coldly.
Mages occasionally crawled around on all fours.
Sometimes it was because their backs had degenerated from long years of magical research, and sometimes it was because they had lost a wager, but neither reason interested her very much.
"H-How did the negotiations go?"
Yes, that is what I came to tell you. It went well! Congratulations. Little one. You are fortunate.
The Devil Hag chuckled and congratulated Lee Han.
The mage before her certainly seemed to be accompanied by powerful good fortune.
Something that could be called heavenly luck, or perhaps destiny.
Otherwise, there was no reason that evil-god worshiper would have lost an Authority merely because of becoming entangled with him and now be made to dance upon his palm like this.
"It went well?!"
Yes. Once you find the Sanguros bastards, you will be able to make the two sides clash. Does imagining them fighting and tearing one another apart not already make you happy?
"Not to that extent."
What a dull fellow. Now that you have obtained what you wanted, you have already grown cold toward this old woman.
"That is not true. Shall I make you some tea?"
...That is a novel suggestion. More importantly, call those dark mages over here. For mere youngsters, their insolence reaches the heavens.
The Devil Hag was someone who valued manners.
She could never tolerate the dark mages ignoring her when she appeared before them.
"My apologies. They are not usually like this, but right now they are searching for difficult dark magic because they want to win a wager... Come to think of it, they are also people who normally hold you in great respect."
As though there is anything one cannot say with one's mouth.
"I am not merely flattering you. They truly came here because they have questions to ask you. They were searching for that stone tablet..."
!
At those words, the Devil Hag made a spiteful expression.
A very wicked revenge had occurred to her.
Then there is no need to call them. Tell them after this old woman has returned.