Chapter 1158
This was not the time to worry about such things. The Immortal Regenerator waited for the report.
Soon, the priest of the order would finish the work and come to report on it.
......
However, even after the appointed time had passed, no report came.
The dimensional space where the Immortal Regenerator resided twisted, and tentacles made of flesh and muscle spread outward as though swelling.
It was intense rage directed at the defeated remnants of Sanguros.
***
Ibinta kept glancing around nervously.
Even after they had left the city, that insane mage had remained lost in thought without saying a word.
'Could he be angry with me because we failed to find the Sanguros bastards?'
It was entirely possible.
Of course, the people of Marheim had expressed their gratitude with all manner of praise.
Even for renowned mages of the Empire, it was no easy task to resolve matters before a plague began spreading and capture the evil-god worshipers involved as well.
By now, the city’s officials and various administrators were probably breathing sighs of relief.
But an insane person could not be judged by ordinary standards. If someone could be judged by ordinary standards, that person would not be called insane.
If that boy from House Wardanaz began moving with the same madness as his older brother...
“Hmm.”
“Eek!”
Ibinta was so startled that he nearly tumbled off the side of his horse. The horse pulling the carriage kicked at the piled snow beside it and snorted irritably.
“D-Did something happen?”
“Ah. It is nothing. I was thinking that I should alter the strategy somewhat.”
Lee Han told the other person what he had just been thinking.
There had been a flaw in the existing strategy of arriving in a region, grabbing and beating anyone they encountered until someone suspicious appeared.
“If the other side has already prepared or is on guard, the situation could instead grow more serious.”
“You only realized that n— N-No. That is a good decision!”
Ibinta cursed his own tongue and hurriedly flattered him.
The other person was saying that he would choose a slightly more moderate method now, so what kind of nonsense had Ibinta nearly said?
If the mage became angry again because of him and chose a hard-line approach, Ibinta’s name would remain forever among criminals as that of an eternal traitor.
“I should only do that when I am certain, and generally change to a method of approaching more quietly.”
“That is a good decision! ...Wait, you mean you will still do it when you are certain?”
Ibinta flinched.
So he was not going to stop?
“Is there some problem?”
“None at all! Hehe, I rather regret it, since there was joy in helping you sweep away wicked criminals, Mage.”
Ibinta began flattering him again.
His own life was more important than a group of thieves whose faces he did not even know being swept away.
“Is that so? Hmm. If you regret it that much, then perhaps a few more times in the future, we could continue as before...”
“I will go check the road ahead!”
As the conversation took a chilling turn, the former bandit leader hurriedly dashed forward.
The northern part of the Empire had many mountain roads, and even on level ground, roads that had been cut off or collapsed could often be seen.
A harsh climate meant frequent contact not only with spirits and monsters, but also with other dimensions.
Naturally, there could only be that many incidents, accidents, and disturbances.
“There is no problem. You may continue as you are!”
-We already checked it earlier, so I do not know why you are checking it again, but understood!
The Death Knights near the carriage answered.
Inside the carriage, the White Tiger Tower students flipped through wanted posters and wrote down the bandits they had dealt with in a notebook.
They had done so many things after coming out this time that they needed time to organize them.
“Ironhead Vag? Was this the bastard who was at the fortress last time?”
“I think so. I am sure that was the name.”
“Wow! I caught someone like this!”
“Huh? No. This is not Ironhead Vag. It is just Bald Vag.”
“...Why does this bastard have the same name and get my hopes up?”
The students thoroughly searched among the bandits they had each captured for anyone worthwhile.
If there was even one famous person among them, it would give them something to boast about for roughly a year.
Giselle watched them and coughed quietly.
However, her friends remained absorbed in the wanted posters with a powerful concentration they never ordinarily displayed.
“Why did this one receive the nickname ‘Steel Teeth’?”
“It seems he replaced all his teeth with iron.”
“Then did Senior Ironshoe’s ancestor walk around wearing shoes made of iron?”
“Who knows. I doubt Professor Thunderwalk’s ancestor made thunderous sounds every time he walked...”
“Hey.”
“!”
At Giselle’s voice, the White Tiger Tower students jumped in surprise.
“Wh-What is it, Moradi? Did we do something wrong?”
“Has anyone secretly gone out? No, right? If someone went to buy a jousting magazine, come forward quickly. Making other people suffer as well is not something a knight should do.”
“......”
Dergeu thought that discovering the culprit among themselves was not particularly something a knight should do either.
To think they were displaying such disgraceful behavior even with a person like Senior Caten beside them.
“My apologies, Senior.”
“Hmm?”
Caten raised his head.
Because he had been completely absorbed in the book he was reading, he had not heard the juniors’ conversation at all.
“Were you reading a book?”
“That is correct, Junior.”
“If it is a book you are reading, Senior, then surely it must be remarkable...”
Dergeu checked the book. Strangely, the handwriting looked familiar.
'What is the title?'
An Introduction to Basic Summoning Magic That Even First-Years Can Understand
“Junior of House Wardanaz wrote this book for me. Is it not truly touching, Junior?”
Caten smiled warmly. Dergeu quickly took out a book cover. It was the book cover Dergeu usually used to conceal the romance novels being read.
“Senior, put this over it. The book’s outer cover will not be damaged.”
“Oh. Thank you! Since you possess something like this, it seems you also read many books, Junior.”
“Uh... Hmm... S-Since Lee Han studies so diligently, I also found myself studying.”
Dergeu spoke while feeling the pain of a guilty conscience.
Meanwhile, Giselle looked at her friends with contempt and spoke.
“You have not forgotten why you came out here, have you?”
“To subjugate the bandits...”
“...Did we not come out to capture the evil-god worshipers?”
“......”
When Giselle’s gaze became as cold as the frozen peaks of the snowy mountains visible in the distance, her friends finally regained their intelligence.
“That is right! We were going to carry out a commission from House Moradi!”
“Tell me what the commission was.”
Silence fell. Anglago somehow tried to throw a paper bird out the window and summon Lee Han.
“It is a commission to assess the condition and problems of the territory and submit measures for improvement.”
“Th-That was it.”
“I had actually been thinking about it this entire time.”
The other friends jabbed the side of the White Tiger Tower student making excuses.
What would that fool do if Giselle actually asked about it after telling such a {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} lie!
Click—
The window at the front opened, and Lee Han abruptly stuck his head inside. He was holding the paper bird Anglago had sent.
“For reference, I newly designed the district so that the knights residing in House Moradi’s territory cannot sneak out at night. I was inspired by the routes the seniors use when wandering around at night.”
“...Do you perhaps not sleep??”
The indignant White Tiger Tower students criticized Lee Han.
When had he prepared and brought something like that as well?
At his friends’ criticism, Lee Han shrugged and closed the carriage window again.
Then he said to Ibinta,
“I do not know what everyone is doing when they have not even prepared things like this in advance.”
“......”
Ibinta thought inwardly.
There really did seem to be a similar strain of madness running through House Wardanaz!
***
Jiklin, Giselle’s older sister and the genius knight in whom House Moradi took pride, was patrolling the district together with the knights of the north.
The difference from usual was that this time, they were going to welcome the guests arriving from Einroguard.
“Magnificent, Lady Moradi! Seeing such beautiful sword energy makes me think that I, too, must devote myself even more diligently to training.”
A knight of House Dulak exclaimed in admiration.
Jiklin had just split apart a gigantic grendel charging down the slope of the snowy mountain with a single strike.
This enormous man-eating monster, said to have giant blood mixed within it, was threatening enough that even knights did not dare fight it one-on-one.
Yet she had killed the enemy instantly through the pure power of the sword, without any support from a mage or the use of an item.
“Is that so?”
Unlike her younger sister, the elven knight wore her long hair tied back. Jiklin looked seriously at the knight of House Dulak and asked,
“Yes!”
“From when?”
“What?”
The knight of House Dulak was flustered, but Jiklin did not stop staring.
From when would the knight devote himself diligently to training?
“F-From now?”
“I see. Begin.”
“What??”
The knight looked at the others in bewilderment, wondering whether Jiklin was teasing him.
However, the other knights shook their heads in pity.
'That is why you should not have spoken lightly in front of Lady Moradi.'
'She is someone who absolutely does not understand jokes.'
In front of Jiklin, one had to be careful with every single word.
Suppose someone became thoughtlessly intoxicated by the beautiful snowy mountain scenery and said that they would like to climb it once.
Then they absolutely had to climb it.
Suppose someone became angry after reading the crimes listed on a wanted poster and declared that they would capture the culprit without fail.
Then they absolutely had to bring the culprit back.
Otherwise, every time they met Jiklin, they would hear the questions, “Did you climb it?” and “Did you capture the culprit?”
Unfortunately, the knight from House Dulak seemed either not to have heard the rumors or to have taken them lightly.
“...Hup! Hah! Ha! Hngh...”
As the price for that, the knight of House Dulak suddenly found himself following behind his companions while practicing sword strikes.
Fortunately, there was no one around the desolate snowy mountains to see it.
“Ahem, ahem. Lady Moradi.”
Perhaps finding the swishing sounds of the sword being swung behind them awkward, the other knights cleared their throats and changed the subject.
“More importantly, we were surprised when we heard the news about the mages from Einroguard. As expected, the Family Head had considered everything.”
When the current head of House Moradi, Jiderf Moradi, invited the Einroguard students under the pretext of a commission, the knights of the territory had been confused.
To think he would go so far as to issue a commission and summon magic-school students merely to hear an investigation of the territory and proposals for improvement. They were even only second-year students.
Because the Family Head was renowned as an efficiency-minded rationalist, gossipers offered various speculations.
It was because of the relationship with House Wardanaz, because of threats from Lord Gonadaltes, and so on.
Amid that situation, news arrived that the Einroguard students were wiping out multiple bandit groups as they made their way north.
Only then did the knights understand.
This was precisely what the Family Head had been aiming for!
Ordinarily, the mages would not have come to the territory. Were they not extremely difficult people?
And what about Lord Gonadaltes? Lord Gonadaltes would have made all sorts of complaints and placed obstacles in their way.
However, thanks to the Family Head’s appropriate commission, the students had been able to come here without any interference, and thanks to that, House Moradi would be able to receive the mages’ help and resolve the recent disorder...
“No. The Family Head genuinely wishes to hear Wardanaz’s advice.”
Jiklin cut them off decisively.
Her father genuinely wished to receive advice from her younger sister’s friend.
How could he train the knights even more brutally?
“......”
“......”