Chapter 1170
“Ah. About that...”
Lee Han told them about the stone tablet and the Devil Hag.
On the way here, he and his friends had excavated Baquantalana’s ruins...
“That is correct. We went together.”
“As you know, mages must be protected by knights.”
Not missing their chance, the White Tiger Tower students spoke up.
They had been feeling self-conscious after it was revealed earlier that they had done absolutely nothing to prepare for the commission.
“I understand. Please be quiet.”
Unable to maintain his usual polite façade, Jiderf waved a hand as though they were irritating him.
No matter how iron-blooded the head of a house might be, it was not easy to remain composed after hearing such a shocking declaration.
The Empire’s most influential dark mages were insisting that the north had to be sealed off and searched in its entirety to resolve the situation, yet it had already been solved?
“It seems the stone tablet was a token from another dimension.”
“Ah. Then could the opening of the ruin’s entrance have been the cause of the strange phenomena in the north?”
Anglago asked with his eyes wide.
Powerful objects from other dimensions disrupted order merely by existing.
Everything had been fine when Baquantalana’s ruins completely sealed the token’s power, but if the ruins had suffered enough damage for the entrance to open, it would not have been strange for that power to leak out.
Lee Han’s eyes widened even further in surprise.
“Anglago...!”
“W-Why? Was I wrong?”
“How did you figure this out on your own?”
“......”
“Mages of Einroguard. Could we return to the main subject?”
“My apologies.”
At the head of the house’s rebuke, Lee Han returned to the point.
In any case, while analyzing the stone tablet, he had met its original owner, returned the token, and resolved the matter through conversation, so the strange phenomena should soon subside...
“Bring the dark mages here.”
Jiderf barely managed to maintain his expression as he gave the order to the attendant beside him.
When their eyes met, Giselle spoke, apparently feeling awkward.
“...Wardanaz is always surprising, isn’t he?”
“......”
***
The dark mages who had been staying in the lower part of the fortress came rushing over after receiving the summons.
Among them, the dark mages belonging to the Descendants of Ahrak wore expressions filled with anticipation.
“To summon us again this quickly... There can only be one reason, can there not?”
“What?”
“Do not pretend you do not know. The blockade. I mean the blockade.”
Expectation gleamed in the spiteful dark mage’s eyes like phosphorescence.
“As I said before, sealing off the north is impossible.”
“Can we not send this brat back to Kalarogard already? You there. What do you think?”
“Grrrk. (I am not sure)...”
“?”
The Descendants of Ahrak found the strange behavior of the Legion of Oondorgu’s undead suspicious.
They avoided eye contact and hesitated as though they had done something wrong.
'What is this?'
“What is wrong with you?”
“Grrrk. (Nothing).”
“It does not seem like nothing. ...You did not tell the northern knights any nonsense about how I apologized before Gonadaltes, did you? I told you I did not cry.”
“Grrrk. (I did not mention that).”
When they reached the top of the fortress, they saw other mages walking up from the opposite side.
They were Einroguard professors.
“...Oh.”
Having something to feel guilty about, the Descendants of Ahrak hesitated.
Fortunately, it was not Mortum of the dark magic school, but there was no reason they would be pleased to encounter Einroguard professors here.
“W-What? Why are they here?”
“You were told that Einroguard students came out for a commission. It is only natural that professors accompanied them.”
Taswan said that and greeted the two professors politely.
“Greetings.”
“Professor Taswan! It has been a long time!”
“It is good to see you. I am glad that your condition appears to have improved.”
Professor Garcia and Professor Kirmin greeted him warmly as well.
Taswan might be treated like a child among these monstrous dark mages, but to the two young professors, he was unquestionably their senior.
After being berated by old monsters nonstop, hearing such respect suddenly made Taswan’s eyes grow hot.
As expected, the only people one could rely on within the Empire were those from another magic school.
Professor Garcia glanced at the Descendants of Ahrak.
At that faint trace of murderous intent, the Descendants of Ahrak flinched.
'What was that? I just felt murderous intent.'
“Did you not feel murderous intent just now?”
The mages of the Obsidian Magic Tower merely stared back blankly when asked.
The Descendants of Ahrak clicked their tongues at their indifferent attitude.
“It was my mistake to ask you. Forget it.”
The mages of the Obsidian Magic Tower belonged to a rare dark-mage Magic Tower that was run properly within the Empire.
In other words, the dark mages here were somewhat...
...unusual, even among the Empire’s dark mages.
Cold, composed, calculating people who were closer to the enchantment magic school, if anything!
“Stop talking nonsense about murderous intent and cooperate in persuading the head of the house.”
“About the blockade?”
“Did we not say that we agreed with the Kalarogard dark mages? Stop obsessing over a blockade and compromise by merely increasing the number of people involved in the search.”
“Why did you people even enter the dark magic school? If you love compromise so much, why not get lost and study enchantment magic?”
The dark mages continued arguing until the very end as they entered the audience chamber.
'What is this?'
The atmosphere inside the audience chamber was strange.
Considering the chaotic situation in the north, it was only natural for the atmosphere to be unusual, but what they felt now was closer to awkwardness than urgency or desperation.
Why was the atmosphere awkward?
“Now that everyone has gathered, let us move directly to the main subject. Dark mages. Is the powerful other-dimensional being believed to be responsible for the strange phenomena in the north perhaps the Devil Hag?”
“!!!”
The dark mages were startled.
They had spoken about another dimension, but they had never mentioned the Devil Hag’s name to the head of the house.
The reason was simple.
If they carelessly spread speculation about an unconfirmed being, all they would accomplish was increasing the number of rival mages.
'How did he know? Did the Einroguard professors advise him? But even Einroguard professors should not have been able to identify the existence of the Devil Hag.'
There were more than one or two other-dimensional beings that might interest dark mages.
Even those present had only hypothesized the existence of the Devil Hag after coming to the north, gathering clues, and working through the process of deduction. How could Einroguard professors who had only just arrived know?
“That... That is correct.”
After hesitating, the dark mages finally admitted it obediently.
No matter how greedy they were for magic, lying inside a northern knightly house was practically an act of suicide.
The dark mages were not that foolish.
“Hmm.”
“?”
When Jiderf hesitated slightly, the dark mages found it strange.
Why was that bloodless, tearless knight acting like that?
'Is it really the blockade? The blockade?'
“They say the Devil Hag’s token has already been found and recovered.”
“......”
“......”
A chilling silence settled over the room.
Not only the dark mages, but even the Einroguard professors were too stunned to speak.
Who had done that, when, and how?
“W-What... What... What kind of absurd nonsense is that?! My lord, some worthless bastard has deceived you! Who said such a thing?”
Lee Han cautiously raised a hand.
There were several dark mages he had never seen before, so he could not help feeling somewhat wary.
“You! How dare you lie! Reveal the traces of great wisdom!”
The Third Descendant of Ahrak cast a spell.
The magic of the Wisest and Most Eccentric Devil Hag was infamous even across countless dimensions for being alien and bizarre.
The Descendants of Ahrak had once developed a separate spell specifically to track that magic.
An advanced spell capable of finding even the faintest trace!
Flash!
A faint white light sparkled above Lee Han’s hair.
It was a trace left behind from being struck several times with the staff.
Thud!
Shocked, the Descendants of Ahrak collapsed where they stood.
They had no choice but to be several times more shocked than the other dark mages.
To make contact with the Devil Hag, they had gathered the hearts and fresh blood of all kinds of monsters and offered them as bribes, while flattering her without rest every single day, yet they had continued to be ignored.
And now this young brat had met her directly and spoken with her.
The other dark mages seemed to be thinking something similar, as murmurs spread among them.
“Grrrk. (How did he speak with her)?”
“Is it a secret art of Einroguard’s dark magic school?”
“I-I have never heard of such a thing...”
The Third Descendant finally regained composure and staggered to their feet.
Then, in a hoarse voice, the dark mage asked Lee Han,
“You m-met her and spoke with her?”
“Yes. She asked me to return the stone tablet, so I gave it back.”
“...How could you return it on your own, you insane little bastard!!”
The Descendants of Ahrak jumped up and down, screaming in shrill voices.
Of course, it was an unfair accusation.
They had naturally intended to return it as well.
To resolve the situation, the token had to be returned to its owner.
What mattered was whether the dark mages received advice of wisdom during the process. The stone tablet itself ultimately did have to be returned.
Crash!
The magically reinforced stone floor of the audience chamber shattered with a deafening noise.
It was the sound produced by an enraged Professor Garcia.
“What did you just say? Say that to my student again. Was that an official statement from the Descendants of Ahrak?”
“N-No. That was...”
Only then remembering that professors were present as well, the Descendants rapidly shrank back.
The famous law of Einroguard was that if one touched a student, a professor would come, and if one touched a professor, the principal would come.
“What do you mean, no? It was not enough for you to exclude Einroguard’s dark magic school by refusing to invite them, and now you even hurl such an insult?”
“Grrrk. (They truly are terrible people)!”
The undead immediately sided with the professors.
At the sight of them behaving as though they had discarded their consciences along with their human flesh, the Descendants of Ahrak were appalled.
'Th-These bastards. So this was it!'
No wonder they had been hesitating and watching everyone’s reactions earlier!
“We... We apologize, Professor Garcia. We are sincerely sorry. We were so shocked that we misspoke.”
“You seem to misspeak quite often. Before Lord Gonadaltes as well.”
When the mages of the Obsidian Magic Tower muttered that, the Descendants glared at them as though they wanted to kill them.
They could not even help...
“Then was it truly all right to return the stone tablet?”
“It was... It was all right...”
The Descendants answered while swallowing tears of blood internally.
In truth, it was not all right at all.
When they thought about the sacrifices they had offered, the praise, the development of a dedicated tracking spell, and the time and effort spent analyzing clues, they felt as though tears might simply stream down their faces.
No matter how old a mage became, this was not the kind of grief one could endure.
“Did you perhaps... have something you wanted to ask the Devil Hag?”
Seeing the elderly dark mages he had only just met looking as though they were about to cry, Lee Han felt slightly sorry for them.
As a fellow mage, he could sympathize with their feelings to some extent.
How crushing would it be if someone else found the thing they had searched for so desperately and brought the entire matter to an end first?
“We did...”
“I-I am supposed to meet her again soon. Would you like me to ask on your behalf?”
“!!!”
The Descendants of Ahrak were shocked once again.
That eccentric being had arranged another meeting!!
The fact itself was far too astonishing, but the Descendants were so delighted by the possibility of asking a question that they did not even think to question it.
“I-If you do that, we will accept you as a new Descendant of Ahrak!”
There had already been occasional discussions among the Descendants about needing a new mage.
Since they were all dark mages over a hundred years old, there were many times when they grew sick of one another.
“That will not be necessary. More importantly, there is something I would like to ask.”
“What is it?! Ask anything!”
The Descendants of Ahrak suddenly became as kind as grandfathers speaking to their grandson.
“What did Professor Garcia mean when she said you excluded Einroguard’s dark magic school by refusing to invite them?”
“......”
“......”