Episode 370
People who suffer losses like Delet always say it’s just this one time and then become weak-hearted.
Lee Han looked pitifully at his senior.
“I brought snacks, so let me know whenever you need them.”
“Chocolate tart? “Where did you get it?”
“I made it myself.”
“…Uh, uhm.”
* * *
The warlocks who gathered at the city gate boarded a previously rented carriage and departed.
It felt like going on a picnic.
Creak-squeak-squeak-
If it weren’t for the creaky old carriage that looked like it was about to fall apart.
“Cough. “I guess I’ll have to cast some magic again.”
“Stop for a moment!”
The seniors stopped the carriage, ran outside, and cast magic on the wheels, axles, and doors one by one.
Lee Han, who saw this, became ominous, as if he had glimpsed an unfortunate future using precognitive magic.
‘I heard that black magic doesn’t receive support, but I can’t believe I got to see it firsthand like this.’
“I think this is enough.”
“Is it still creaking?”
“If you cast enough magic to completely capture it, you will waste too much mana. “I have no choice but to endure this much.”
“Hehe. If you dig up good mushrooms in the undead world this time, you can change the carriage. “Are you excited?”
“…yes!”
Lee Han decided that in the second semester, he would first learn magic to eliminate squeaks.
As we drove further away from the city along the Imperial Road, the number of people gradually decreased and only forests and fields began to increase.
Gainando looked outside the carriage while munching on a tart. Rafael, who was sitting by the window, pushed Gainando’s head away as if he was annoyed.
“stop!”
Armed soldiers and knights were seen at the end of a quiet street. They stopped the carriage on guard.
“For what purpose have you come?”
“Cough. “We are wizards who came to study this phenomenon.”
Professor Mortum took out a permit and handed it to the soldiers.
The driver’s face softened when he saw the stamped document.
“You were a wizard.”
As the empire’s landmass was so large, controlling strange phenomena that occurred in various places was not an ordinary task.
If the phenomenon of overlapping undead worlds was not properly controlled, a situation could occur where undead waves would occur everywhere.
Even if we managed to find it first and control it, we couldn’t be completely reassured.
Because the empire was so vast, there were many crazy people who tried to take advantage of the phenomenon.
It was natural that the nerves of the knights and soldiers in control in such a sparsely populated and quiet place were sharp.
“Cough. “Everyone is having a hard time.”
“Really… I don’t know why the undead dimension overlaps. “It’s really unlucky… It would have been better if it were at the level of the plant spirit.”
“The damage to the plant spirit dimension must have been significant.”
“But wouldn’t it be better than the undead dimension?”
“well…”
“really. “Which school do you belong to…”
“Chokkolokkolok.”
Professor Mortum suddenly coughed as if he had heard something.
The disciples next to him patted their teacher on the back and said,
“professor. Here’s the water!”
“Your health is very poor…”
“Well. sorry. I held on to a sick person for too long. hey. “Let me pass.”
As the soldiers got out of the way, the carriage sped away.
Professor Mortum stopped coughing and looked up.
“Cough. “Did you go?”
“Went.”
“……”
The first-year students who were watching from inside the carriage looked at Delet with eyes of astonishment.
“…You really got permission properly, right?”
“I received it!? Junior! Of course, it looked a little ugly just now, but we’re not reckless enough to treat something like this as unauthorized or counterfeit!”
Delet went into explanation.
When a strange phenomenon like this occurs, the nearby passageways are placed under control with troops deployed to block the approaching madmen.
There was a high possibility that they were using several nearby military camps or small villages to form a siege network to prevent access.
“What does that have to do with what you just did…?”
“Listen to the end.”
In other words, there are quite a few people staying around here, not just the soldiers we just saw!
There are not only soldiers standing guard, but also people who help them stay in the village, people who bring them food and drinks, people who buy them wizard cards to use while they are still, etc. An ecosystem has formed around this area.
“??”
Of course, Lee Han didn’t understand.
What does that have to do with ‘I ’m a warlock ’?
“In a situation like this, if it is known that you are a warlock, we will be the first to be suspected when an incident occurs. “That’s why I avoided answering a bit.”
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“……”
“……”
When the first-year students did not respond, the seniors asked in anxious voices.
“We didn’t cheat. “He just had a little cough.”
“that’s right. “I received the proper permit.”
“You juniors, aren’t you going to change schools because of something like this??”
‘I guess I should call myself a plant element wizard.’
Lee Han glanced at the cane.
I never thought the Tree Spirit’s Staff would be helpful in times like this!
* * *
The students of the Black Magic School got off the carriage and went into the inn they had rented in advance.
As Direth said, the villagers were not surprised when travelers flocked to visit. From what I could see, several people were already wandering around the village.
A nobleman who heard a rumor and came to check the truth, a mercenary who seemed to have received a suspicious request and came to solve it, a wizard who was clearly dressed like a fire elemental wizard, etc.
“Cough. Everyone had a hard time. Let’s take a good rest today and go back to work tomorrow. I wander around the village in moderation. “Please give me some hot green tea.”
“yes. “Mr. Wizard.”
Because the entire inn was rented, there were only students on the first floor. The owner offered the boiling green tea to Professor Mortum.
From that appearance, one could see the respect that the people of the empire usually show to wizards.
“How does it taste?”
“It’s okay.”
“Fortunately, the. I used pretty good green tea leaves. I’m glad the wizard drank it and not another guest. Anyway, the people who came to the village because of this incident are all suspicious and unpleasant… After it’s over, the empire will provide compensation, but how bad will the atmosphere in the village become in the meantime? “It would be great if only people like wizards would come.”
“…cough.”
When Professor Mortum coughed, the students quickly threw down their luggage and rushed out of the inn.
If we stayed behind for no reason and were asked what kind of magic we were doing, we got into trouble.
“There may not be much to see in a town like this, but don’t wander around too much.”
“Don’t drink alcohol. “It will be affected when I use magic tomorrow.”
“Don’t talk too long with suspicious people.”
“Actually, the problem is that we look the most suspicious. Avoid magic as much as possible. “The town is small, so rumors spread quickly.”
The seniors asked how many times they had experienced it.
Even though he was dressed like a farmer, as long as he was holding a wand, people couldn’t help but wonder what kind of wizard he was.
“Where are you going, senior?”
“I need to meet with merchants and check what materials are needed and what the market price is.”
“I’m going to meet the knights. “If you ask the knights, they can chase away suspicious people.”
Lee Han was impressed by the appearance of his seniors who were more capable than expected.
“You can go and have a look.”
“no. “I will help too.”
Gai Nando was disgusted by Lee Han’s words and pulled the end of his clothes.
I wanted to walk around and play.
“It’s really good…”
“You said you’re okay. “Lee Han.”
“I don’t have anything to do anyway.”
“There is nothing. “Lee Han.”
“You go over there and watch.”
Lee Han, who chased out Gainando, followed Direth and approached the merchants nearby.
“It’s not that difficult. “There are merchants who come here to sell goods, but there are also merchants who come to get ingredients.”
Merchants also knew that when overlap occurs, materials come out from within.
As such, quick-moving merchants would quickly run over and wait in front.
Because the tired adventurers did not carry all the materials with them.
“It would be good to know in advance which materials are currently priced high or have a bounty on them.”
“Do the merchants speak docilely?”
“I usually speak kindly to wizards. “There are times when I need help.”
One of the empire’s proverbs was, ‘Never make enemies with a wizard unless you’re a fool.’
This meant that there was a lot to be indebted to the wizard.
Since merchants came here to do business, there was no reason to fight wizards…
“sorry. “I can’t tell you.”
“…uh?”
Delet was embarrassed.
Could it be that they found out that you were a warlock?
“What is the reason?”
“Uhm. Mr. Wizard. I am telling you this out of respect for the wizard. Well… there is an adventurer who signed a contract first. “Other merchants are probably like me.”
‘this.’
Delet clicked his tongue inwardly.
The story was different if there was an adventurer who received a request from a merchant.
If I tell you about expensive ingredients and someone else takes them, you’ll be in trouble…
“Does this happen often?”
“no. They don’t usually hire people. “There’s a higher chance that you won’t be able to find them by sending them to one or two parties.”
From a merchant’s point of view, it was convenient to just buy what anyone brought, but hiring a party to bring it in was risky in many ways.
If the party returns empty-handed, the silver coins will be spent and there will be nothing gained.
“I don’t know what kind of material it is, but I guess there was competition. “I didn’t know you would invest that much.”
“Hmm.”
Lee Han was lost in thought because he wanted to help his senior who was having a hard time, but he couldn’t think of a way.
It was possible to deceive knights with a single word, but it was not so easy for merchants.
‘for a moment. That pattern…’
Lee Han realized that the carriage pattern the merchant brought was familiar.
That was the Richmond family crest.
The Shiles Richmond family of Black Turtle Tower, which runs one of the empire’s leading transport guilds.
“Are you from the Richmond family?”
“ah. yes.”
“I’m really close to Shiles.”
“…Oh, is that so? “Do you know Shiles?”
“yes. “You could say they are my best friends.”
The merchant was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the family master’s best friend and hesitated.
Meanwhile, Lee Han talked about how close he was to Shiles and what happened during the lecture.
“We were all stranded because of the sudden heavy snowfall. Shiles shouted at me to leave him alone. I couldn’t leave Shiles alone, so I threw down my coat. He got a silver coin, but it didn’t matter, Shiles was in tears and thanked me.”
“I… I see.”
The merchant who was listening felt something strange.
Why is there heavy snow at school?
“Just as I helped Shiles, Shiles wanted to help me with anything.”
“……”
“He’s such a good friend.”
“……”
“When I go back, I’ll tell Shiles that I happened to meet the family’s merchant here…”
“…I’ll just tell you two. “You really shouldn’t go anywhere and talk about it.”
“Thank you.”
Direth, seeing this, put his hand on his forehead and shook his head.
Other juniors should have seen this in person…
* * *
“Why are mountain ring mushrooms so popular?”
After hearing the list, Delet tilted his head.
In fact, mountain hwan mushrooms were not a very popular ingredient.
Popular ingredients were usually those that were good for health or were highly versatile, suitable for use by all wizards.
In contrast, mountain ring mushrooms were an ingredient mainly used by warlocks.
A curse that reduces or consumes the opponent’s magical power, or an ingredient often used as a reagent when making poison.
“Isn’t it important that it’s expensive?”
“…you’re a first year, right?”
While I was talking, I saw students from other schools of black magic talking with knights in front of me.
The students kept making requests with a troubled expression, as if it wasn’t going well, but the drivers stubbornly shook their heads.
“I guess they weren’t so lucky there either.”
“senior.”
“huh?”
“Among the knights over there, is there even one knight who is related to the Choi, Moradi, Alpha, Gral, and Bark families, or to the Beech Knights and the White Tree Knights?”
“……”
