Chapter 1173
That is true. They did not fall for no reason.
Hoping that such an opportunity would come someday, the Devil Hag gave an evasive answer.
If you want their heads, I will cut them off and bring them to you. It is not particularly difficult.
How nice it would be if the others were as spirited as you. This old woman's contractor will be pleased.
Contractor?
The bishop of the evil-god order was greatly surprised.
That Devil Hag was lending power to a mortal?
Either she had taken quite a liking to that mortal, or the Sanguros bastards had seriously insulted her.
'It must be the latter.'
The Devil Hag was a powerful being, but her personality was far too eccentric for her to take a liking to a mortal.
She must have chosen the mortal as a chess piece for attacking the Sanguros bastards.
The bishop guessed that the contractor's fate would end tragically. It was truly an insignificant fate.
Why, is this old woman not allowed to make a contract?
No.
The more kindly the Devil Hag spoke, the more dangerous she was.
Now that the Immortal had heard the enemy's name, the Immortal decided not to provoke her any further.
You may tell your contractor. When it is time to cut off their heads, I can cooperate.
The Immortal did not even imagine that the contractor was a student at a magic school.
Since the contractor had made a contract with the Devil Hag, the Immortal assumed that the contractor would at least be a magical criminal or a doomsday cultist.
Having obtained what she wanted, the Devil Hag smiled slyly.
'What an easy fellow.'
How refreshingly decisive. Yes, understood!
What kind of being is the contractor? A doomsday cultist, as expected?
Pretending not to see the final question, the Devil Hag burst the toad.
***
"But Junior."
"Yes."
After the Devil Hag left, Lee Han had returned his attention to the blueprints as though nothing had happened.
Feeling renewed awe at his junior's concentration, Caten continued speaking.
"I heard that you intend to continue stealing the Authorities of evil-god orders. Is that true?"
"What? Yes. In particular, I intend to steal about ten Authorities from the Sanguros Order."
"...I-Is that so?"
Caten shuddered at the meticulousness of already having decided on a number.
"Mm, Junior. You probably know more about magic than I do. Since the Authorities of the orders are divine magic, the same should apply to them. However, I am somewhat concerned about you stealing Authorities."
"Concerned? In what way?"
Lee Han turned his gaze toward Caten in puzzlement.
In theory, as long as Lee Han could steal an evil-god order's Authority, it was not particularly different from ordinary magic.
Mana was required as the price, and that was something Lee Han possessed in overwhelming abundance.
"When wielding a sword, there are times when one becomes obsessed with secret techniques that cannot be handled with one's current ability."
Caten told him a story from °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the time when he had first awakened aura.
Awakening aura meant that a warrior had become capable of handling their own mana as naturally as their own hands and feet.
Naturally, Caten had become excited and tested, one by one, several secret sword techniques that he had never used before.
However, that had been far too hasty.
Just as possessing hands and feet did not mean one could naturally perform every movement, awakening aura did not mean one could perfectly handle every secret sword technique.
His greed immediately returned with tragic consequences. Caten wore an expression filled with deep regret.
"I still regret it even now. Unable to control the power contained in my sword, I struck a passing..."
"D-Did you cut another student?"
"...I destroyed a ranch that the giants were looking after. The sheep inside ran away as well."
"......"
Lee Han, who had been tense, glared slightly at his senior.
You startled me!
Of course, making those enormous sheep run away was still quite a serious matter. The giants would become furiously angry if anyone told them it was nothing important.
"Does not everyone make mistakes while living?"
"The story does not end there."
"What?"
"No matter how much I thought about it, I could not get the secret technique out of my mind, so I returned the next day and tried it once more. But I failed to control it again..."
"......"
"I destroyed the ranch that had just been repaired. The sheep they had brought back ran away again."
Caten repeated that for about a week.
It reached the point where the giants abandoned the ranch and moved elsewhere.
"Was there a reason you absolutely had to do it there?"
"To verify the power of the secret technique, there had to be at least two large cliffs nearby, and finding such a place was not easy."
Caten spoke in a voice filled with regret.
Lee Han wanted to ask what kind of swordsmanship required two enormous cliffs, but held himself back.
"In any case, Junior. I learned a lesson from what happened that day."
"Not to practice great magic near a ranch?"
"That as well, but also that when a person becomes too obsessed with power, they instead become weaker."
Caten was serious.
Training in magic was one thing, but continually stealing the Authorities of evil-god orders was a different matter.
The power one built up and obtained personally and the power granted by an evil god clearly followed different paths.
Even if there was no price, was there truly no influence?
Caten was skeptical about that part. In particular, he was worried because his junior had recently been focusing even more heavily on power.
"...I see."
Lee Han took his senior's words seriously. Hearing the concern reminded him of one point.
'The structure of an Authority from faith magic certainly is foreign.'
Others offered faith and borrowed that power, but Lee Han interpreted what he himself did as offering mana instead and borrowing it.
If the former was worship, the latter was equivalent exchange.
Even Lee Han could not explain exactly why this was possible.
Whether it was because of the amount of his mana, because he was skeptical about faith and approached it pragmatically, or because of an innate sense...
But one thing was certain. He was using mana as the price.
Even if an evil god was a being without a self, something like a mass of unconsciousness, was it wise to pour mana into one?
In terms of the overall scale, it might be no more than adding a drop of water to the sea, but it was still unsettling.
'And separate from that, what Senior Caten said is fundamentally correct as well...'
Power itself was not sinful, but blindly pursuing power inevitably narrowed one's vision.
Thinking back, Lee Han had nearly fallen into corruption several times.
Mostly when trying to torment Professor Verdus or torment Professor Verdus's prized disciple...
"I understand what you mean, Senior."
"Then I am relieved."
Caten spoke in a slightly relieved voice.
He had been worried that his junior might reject his advice.
Mages normally did not listen well to others. The more skilled the mage, the more true that became.
"I should be careful not to use them unless they are truly necessary."
"You have thought well, Junior."
"And I will reinterpret the stolen Authorities as magic and launder them as well."
"I-I had not considered that..."
Caten nearly recoiled.
Caten considered himself quite serious about magic, but while talking with his junior, there were many times when he felt, 'I still have a long way to go.'
Did one have to go this far to be a true mage?
Lee Han asked in puzzlement.
"Is it not better to bring them over as my own magic rather than seal them away forever?"
"...That is right! Junior, you are correct. Ha ha."
Caten was about to say, 'Ordinary people would simply think of sealing them away. Only someone mad about magic would think of recreating them as magic,' but stopped.
He should encourage his junior. There was no need to discourage him for no reason.
-Are you inside?
"Come in."
Hearing the familiar voice from outside, Lee Han personally opened the door. Professor Taswan of Kalarogard entered with a grateful expression.
"Thank you very much for welcoming me."
"What are you saying? Are Kalarogard and Einroguard not comrades among the Empire's magic schools?"
Professor Taswan smiled faintly at the warm words of encouragement.
"Have you brought what you wish to ask the Devil Hag? I should tell you in advance that there is no guarantee she will answer."
"That alone is enough."
As a gesture of welcome, Lee Han placed warm honey tea in front of him. After drinking it, Professor Taswan exclaimed in admiration.
"I believe this is the first time I have ever drunk tea this delicious!"
"The first time?"
Professor Taswan nodded while sipping it. Lee Han glanced at Caten for a moment, then shouted fiercely.
"Senior, attack!"
As expected of a fifth-year senior, Caten did not ask for a reason. He immediately charged at the other person and beat him viciously.
To seal the movements needed for magic, the first attacks struck the throat, wrists, and staff. Professor Taswan collapsed with a scream and returned to the original appearance.
"Wait, stop! Stop! I am not a suspicious person!"
"......"
"......"
The one shouting while blood streamed from the nose was, surprisingly, a Descendant of Ahrak.
The dark mage had brazenly come disguised as Professor Taswan.
"If you move, I will cut you down. Assassin."
As expected of someone from a knightly house, Caten did not bother with courtesy in a situation like this. His ears and whiskers stood stiffly as he radiated killing intent.
Before his senior reduced the number of Imperial dark mages by one, Lee Han hurriedly intervened.
"Senior. Calm down. The dark mage probably did not come to assassinate me, but to ask a question about the Devil Hag."
"T-That is right! Why would I assassinate you, you little brat!"
The dark mage of the Descendants protested against the truly absurd misunderstanding.
However, Caten did not even pretend to listen.
"Junior has many enemies, so it would not be strange for someone to be bribed and come here."
"...I do not want to admit it, but thank you for worrying about me."
While the two spoke, the dark mage sniffed and wiped away the nosebleed.
At this age, to think the dark mage would be ambushed and beaten like this by a young brat.
"How? How did you see through the transformation?"
This had not been an ordinary disguise. The Descendant of Ahrak did not use the obvious disguises employed by ordinary mages.
Because the Descendants themselves were excellent mages, they knew well the reasons disguises were easily exposed.
One of the most common reasons was the mana pattern emitted by a living being, and the next was the shape of the soul.
Ordinary mages often stopped after changing only the outer dough and imitating the appearance, but excellent mages knew how to look inside.
That was why this Descendant had prepared with extraordinary care.
The Descendant had forged the mana to match Professor Taswan's reagent pouch and artifacts, and had altered the shape of the soul so that there appeared to be no difference when viewed from the outside.
If someone investigated deeply or the Descendant lost composure, a sense of incongruity would appear, but in an ordinary situation, there was little reason for matters to go that far.
It was truly a subtlety that could be called the essence of more than a hundred years of dark-magic experience.
'Then how was I discovered?'
"Professor Taswan has drunk honey tea before."
Lee Han explained calmly.
When the professor and the Kalarogard students had visited the school in the past, Professor Mortum had arbitrarily served them the honey tea Lee Han had prepared.
That tea had been made for the other seniors, including Senior Diret.
"Even thinking about it now... To freely show generosity to someone else with what I made, it truly is absurd."
'...H-How petty!'
Caten shouted inwardly.
To think he still remembered such a trivial event from the beginning of the year so vividly...!
It was an unbelievably petty side for a mage who possessed the magical ability he had displayed only moments ago.
The dark mage seemed to think the same thing and stared at him in disbelief.
"Y-You mean I was discovered for no more than that reason?! Then... Wait, if you are dissatisfied with Einroguard's dark magic school, come to the Descendants of Ahrak! I will gift you enough ingredients to fill a bath with that honey tea!"
If Lee Han accepted, it would become a transaction absurd enough to remain forever in the history of dark mages.
A dark mage destined to go down in history changing affiliations over a single cup of honey tea.
A nervous Caten watched with an anxious heart. At last, Lee Han answered.
"No."
"Why?!"
"A group that disguises itself as other dark mages to extort questions is a little..."
"......"
Unable to refute such a sound argument, the dark mage was left speechless.