Chapter 1155
“Are you perhaps acquainted with the mages of Einroguard?”
“Did the bandits perhaps plot some kind of rebellion in the west...?”
Apparently unable to bring themselves to ask Lee Han, who was concentrating on healing with blood at the corner of his mouth, the people directed their questions at Giselle beside him.
Giselle answered with an artificial smile.
“The only mages I know are the mages of Valdrogard. I do not know anything about a rebellion plot either.”
“......”
“......”
The White Tiger Tower students stationed throughout the area unconsciously marveled.
Moradi truly was different.
Even if it meant biting their tongues, they would never have been able to bring up Valdrogard.
'Claiming not to know anything sounds surprisingly plausible after saying the only mages you know are from Valdrogard.'
“Cough!”
Lee Han coughed again. His friends were startled.
Surely not again?
However, Giselle remained calm. There was no way this friend from House Wardanaz would make the same mistake twice.
“You swallowed water the wrong way, right?”
“No. There was a slight injury to the lungs, but the person’s stamina was so weak that it was difficult to heal from the outside. I did not want to waste time, so I transferred it into my own body and cast healing magic.”
“...Are you out of your mind, you bastard?!”
“?!”
When the betrayed friend became angry, Lee Han was bewildered.
Why?!
***
Only a small number of people in the Empire knew this, but the anti-magic faction was originally a venerable group whose traditions stretched all the way back to ancient times.
They possessed the grand objective of blocking magic and every supernatural phenomenon, then making the material world, including the continent, completely independent from the dimensions.
However, compared to the momentum they had possessed in ancient times, when they had occupied several kingdoms, the current anti-magic faction amounted to nothing more than a handful of extremist organizations.
Those who drifted into the faction merely bore grudges against magic or had been blinded by the wealth they could gain by killing mages.
With the exception of the leadership, most were nothing more than puppets moving without even understanding the meaning behind their actions.
The remnants currently in the city of Marheim were the same.
No matter how much combat experience and skill one possessed, those who lacked a grand objective and merely indulged their greed wherever the current carried them could only be played with in the palms of others.
Hallenken, a swordsman sipping northern spirits in the lodging, muttered,
“My body has felt strange lately. Are we certain the plague that priest bastard is spreading truly has no effect on us?”
“You feel strange? I feel perfectly fine. If the plague could affect us, we would have collapsed long ago.”
“It still feels odd. Something... Something is wrong.”
Hallenken, the swordsman known by the alias , was the most skilled among them.
Only a small number of former mercenaries knew how to draw out aura, and only a small number had killed three or more knights.
Hallenken belonged to both groups.
For that reason, the others did not dismiss Hallenken’s words entirely. Madmen like evil-god worshipers were also people against whom one could never lower one’s guard.
“I heard some highly skilled healing mages have come to the city. Should we ask them to examine us?”
“Healing mages?”
Although receiving an examination from a mage when they were former anti-magic faction members sounded ridiculous, none of them cared about such a thing.
“How skilled are they? I do not want to waste time if they are quacks who only take money.”
There were far more incompetent fraudulent mages in the Empire than there were outstanding ones.
Healing mages in particular often wandered from place to place boasting, and such people were little different from fraudulent medicine peddlers.
At best, being able to heal a shallow cut was considered impressive. In that case, it was better to trust the excellent recovery and senses of a warrior capable of using aura.
“I heard they are quite good. They say the plague disappears with a single touch, and sometimes the mage absorbs the illness and takes it into their own body.”
“......”
The anti-magic faction remnants fell silent for a moment at the rumor, which sounded far too much like the claims of a fraud.
“You expect us to believe that? Someone capable of that would be a bishop of an order.”
“There may be a little exaggeration, but it is true. We have nothing to lose.”
“What do you mean, nothing to lose? Nothing good will come from drawing attention to ourselves right now.”
The vicious rumors concerning the mages of Einroguard had reached the ears of the remnants here as well.
Apparently, some bandit or wandering mercenary had caused some kind of incident, and the mages of Einroguard had gone mad and were sweeping through every corner of the west.
The remnants could not even imagine that a single mage had caused all that chaos for personal reasons.
Some bandit or wandering mercenary must have committed an extraordinarily shameless and insulting crime, causing the lunatics of Einroguard to rampage like that!
In any case, this place was not very far from the west, so they did need to remain cautious.
“Come on. If the mages of Einroguard were nearby, there would already be an uproar.”
“Hmm...”
Hallenken wavered under the companion’s repeated persuasion.
There truly was nothing to lose by meeting them once.
“Fine. If the bastard is pretending to be such a saint, there is no way they can make a scene even if we do not pay. Let us ask. Can you call the mage here?”
“They will come inside if we say you are too sick to stand.”
The remnants quickly devised a plan.
Having done all manner of work, pretending to be sick in order to summon someone was child’s play to them.
***
One hour later.
Lee Han visited the lodging where the remnants were staying together with Giselle.
The low-ceilinged building was dark and cramped, but neither of them paid much attention. There were many such buildings in the city of Marheim.
“Do you not think almost all the patients are gone now?”
“It seems that way. We will probably be able to finish everything by the end of today.”
“What about the suspicious priest?”
“Hmm. I thought the priest would approach us, but that has not happened.”
“Perhaps we look even more suspicious? They may have realized we came from Einroguard.”
“That is... possible. Honestly, highly skilled healing mages are not that common. Earlier, I casually mentioned that I was from Valdrogard, but no one believed me.”
“...Then what are you planning to do?”
“Once the plague subsides, we will do what we usually do.”
The reason Lee Han was not currently choosing his usual method was that a plague was spreading through the city.
Forcibly dragging out a priest who was normally trusted by the people while a plague was spreading?
No matter how he thought about it, there was a high chance it would produce the opposite effect. Lee Han was not stupid enough to fail to anticipate even that.
In the worst case, the citizens who followed the priest might become shields and block their path...
“Once the plague subsides, there will be fewer people around the priest as well, so we can take the priest away in a surprise attack.”
“...Taking the priest away is one thing, but if you do that without persuading anyone, people will still complain afterward.”
“That is why I brought up Valdrogard in advance.”
'As though anyone would fall for that.'
Giselle was dumbfounded.
People were uncertain only because they had not revealed their true identities yet. If they suddenly rushed in and dragged the priest away, everyone would immediately think they were from Einroguard!
Even so, Giselle said nothing more.
That was because Giselle had calculated that even if they used force, the repercussions would not be as great as expected.
Wardanaz had gone around without resting for even a moment and continued suppressing the plague. Even if they suddenly took the priest away...
'Combined with Einroguard’s reputation, the citizens are more likely to trust us.'
“Cough, cough. This way.”
“!”
When the door opened and they discovered Hallenken lying down, Lee Han and Giselle were greatly surprised.
Of course, their reasons were different.
Giselle was surprised because a powerful presence could be felt from the other person. Although Hallenken was lying there pretending to be sick, it was difficult to conceal the flawless posture unique to the strong.
In comparison, Lee Han was surprised because of the other person’s soul.
He still had his soul sight open from tending to the sick, and a strange insect was slowly writhing in the deepest corner of the other person’s soul.
Even the others nearby had them!
Even Lee Han found it difficult to make an immediate judgment in a situation like this.
'What is this? An enemy?'
However, he could sense no hostility from the other person.
Instead, he could only faintly sense curiosity about Hallenken’s own condition.
'Victims attacked by the enemy? No, even then, this is strange. They seem strong, yet every single one of them was affected like this...'
Lee Han organized his thoughts first.
The important thing now was to identify the insect.
The faint ripple of energy emanating from it.
This was...
'There is a high chance it is the Authority of an evil god!'
Lee Han’s eyes flashed deeply.
After all the searching he had done, the Sanguros Order had finally approached him again.
His mindset was entirely different from last time.
Back then, he had intended to handle everything as carefully and secretly as possible. Now, his hands were itching to launch a preemptive attack.
If they wanted a fight, then let them fight!
“There is an insect parasitizing your soul.”
“?!!”
“What kind of ridiculous nonsense... Do not speak such garbage!”
The remnants flared up.
Neither they nor Hallenken were insensitive enough to fail to notice an insect parasitizing their own souls.
“I believe it is probably an insect created by evil-god worshipers.”
“......”
The remnants suddenly froze.
For a quack healing mage, this one had said something far too perceptive.
The thought Surely not flashed through the minds of everyone, including Hallenken.
Could that son of a bitch have...?
“Can you remove it?”
Hallenken cleared the throat and asked.
Revenge against that mad priest bastard could come later. What mattered now was removing the insect from the soul.
Lee Han nodded. He had already wanted to remove it with and examine it properly.
“Then I will heal you.”
The anti-magic faction remnants swallowed as they stared at Lee Han.
According to the rumors, this healing mage could eliminate the plague with only a touch, and would personally take illnesses that were difficult to cure into the mage’s own body.
If that were true, it would not be strange at all for rumors to call the mage a saint.
They had not believed the rumors, but hearing the mage mention the insect just now changed their minds.
Perhaps this person truly possessed some kind of ability...
Crack!
Unlike lightly transferring a curse, the insect existed on an entirely different level of power. The sound of something being torn away from the soul could be heard.
However, even if it had been created through the Authority of an evil god, the power of a mere insect could not overcome the secret wish of an ancient archmage.
The insect created through the evil god’s Authority was swiftly dragged out toward Lee Han’s soul. Then it was repelled without daring to enter.
'Got it.'
Lee Han stared at the insect caught in his grasp, intending to seal it.
At that moment, Hallenken’s face suddenly changed drastically. It looked as though Hallenken had been struck by dozens of terrible curses.
“...!!!”
As an outstanding swordsman, Hallenken immediately realized what was happening.
The pitch-black curses that had pooled inside the soul were flowing out!
“The insect...! If you remove the insect...!”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“If you remove the insect... I will die...!”
With those final words, Hallenken’s eyes turned black. Hallenken had completely lost all reason.
At the same time, the head of the nearest anti-magic faction remnant flew off. By the time screams and shouts erupted, Lee Han and Giselle had already widened the distance.
Whoosh!
A savage chill poured from the twin swords Giselle had drawn.
“Wardanaz! Get ready!”
However, instead of chanting a spell, Lee Han merely stared blankly at the insect resting on his palm.
At that sight, Giselle felt the heart drop. There was clearly some aftereffect from transferring the evil-god worshiper’s insect into himself.
It was even more chilling after seeing Wardanaz make mistake after mistake this time.
'...I should have stopped him!'
However, what happened next once again surpassed Giselle’s expectations.
“Obey my command!”
Lee Han clenched the insect tightly and gave an order. The other remnants screamed in pain. The other insects inside their souls had reacted.
“...What are you, seriously?!”
He had stolen the power of an evil god and was using it in the middle of all this?!