Chapter 558

"..."

Hodlong silently wiped the coffee from his face with a handkerchief.

Eunrad Lee, who had spat the coffee he was drinking on his superior's face, had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!"

"It's fine. It's fine."

Hodlong, who had wiped off all the coffee, spoke with eyes full of suspicion.

"Did Lord Gonadaltes order you to do this?"

"...No!!"

Eunrad Lee, who had suddenly been misunderstood as being strangled by the skull principal, was terrified and denied it.

"Why would he do such a thing?!"

"There are many reasons. To confuse me by spitting coffee and then steal my bag. Or to attack me while I'm away for a moment."

Hodlong was a person who had a deep-rooted distrust of the mages of Einroguard.

In fact, not only Hodlong but most of the imperial bureaucrats didn't trust the mages of Einroguard very much.

There had been a few people who had visited Einroguard before and got caught up in unfortunate magic accidents.

Lord Gonadaltes had appealed with tears, saying it was really a coincidence, but the bureaucrats didn't believe him.

"Or it could be emotional retaliation."

"No! It's really not!"

"Alright. I'll believe you for now. But stay away from me."

Hodlong gestured to his subordinate, openly suspicious. Eunrad Lee stepped back, expressing his resentment with his whole body.

"Now. Let's go."

"Huh? Where are you talking about?"

"You must have heard it just now? They said an Einroguard student caught a wanted criminal."

"Oh."

Only then did Eunrad Lee recall why he had spat out the coffee.

It was because he had heard something so absurd.

'This is bad!'

Although the people of the city shouted, "An Einroguard student caught a wanted criminal!" Eunrad Lee didn't believe it.

After all, wasn't Eunrad Lee also from Einroguard?

The people must have been mistaken.

At first, it must have been a shout of "An Einroguard student is a wanted criminal!" but as it spread from person to person, it changed to "What? An Einroguard student caught a wanted criminal?"

"Lo-Lord Hodlong. It's probably just a false rumor, right? The city is always full of false rumors. There's no need to waste time on this kind of thing!"

Eunrad Lee tried to dissuade his superior while lamenting inwardly why he had to go this far.

In fact, if the juniors handled it well on their own, there would be no problem!

"What are you saying now? Follow me. We need to see what's going on."

"Ah, no... There are a lot of people and there might be pickpockets..."

Hodlong seemed to have gained more conviction after seeing Eunrad Lee's hesitant attitude.

Go and see with your own eyes what the Einroguard student is doing and stop them!

***

"This bastard who deserves to have his skin peeled off and salted, hung on a mountain peak pole to have his flesh torn by crows, worse than a broken and rusted piece of sword!"

"This bastard who will rot forever in the deepest underground of the punishment room, turn to stone and unable to even blink, with Professor Verduus in the cell in front!"

The captured Gardam shed tears and flailed his hands. It was a struggle to somehow escape even by crawling on the ground.

He had experienced many battles and survived the fierce Incartan Rebellion, but all those experiences became useless in front of the terrifying existence called real mages.

The two mages cursed at the fallen Gardam and dragged him.

"If you try to escape one more time, I'll pierce a few more air holes in you."

"You should have surrendered and ended it, but you had to escalate it like this. Are you even human? Do you know how many students are being harmed because of you?!"

'I don't know, you bastards!'

Gardam let out a silent scream at the mages who were babbling incomprehensible things.

When he had broken through the main gate and consumed all the magic items to block the path, he thought he had succeeded in escaping.

-Get out of the way! Move!-

Gardam ran, pushing and kicking the citizens filling the main street.

This wall of people would prevent the pursuing mages from recklessly using magic.

-A basilisk has appeared, citizens of Granden City! Please make way so we can capture it and move it outside!-

However, the mages chased after him, brushing people aside just like Gardam.

Moreover, they didn't hesitate to use magic. Fierce magic flew in.

-Wardanaz, what if you miss?-

-I won't miss! Moradi. I'll cast a strengthening spell on you, so get ready!-

-Got it, wait, the side effects...-

Although Gardam prided himself on not being inferior in tenacity, the two mages chased and chased and chased after him persistently.

When he knocked over stacked fruit crates to block the path, they smashed the crates, when he slipped into an alley, they summoned familiars to chase, when he jumped into a canal, they cast cold magic until he froze to death...

Even Gardam himself didn't think he could run away this much. It was the power of fear.

However, there was a limit to willpower alone.

As his strength drained and his mana dispersed, the fatigue accumulated in his muscles rushed in.

Crunch!

Gardam's ankle was bitten by a leopard familiar that had leaped out from the side.

At the same time, Jijel cut off both of Gardam's arms. The weapons he was holding flew away.

Yi-Han, who was behind, fired a water bullet and precisely fractured both of Gardam's legs.

"Sur-surren..."

"This bastard who deserves to have his skin peeled off and salted, hung on a mountain peak pole to have his flesh torn by crows, worse than a broken and rusted piece of sword!"

"This bastard who will rot forever in the deepest underground of the punishment room, turn to stone and unable to even blink, with Professor Verduus in the cell in front!"

Realizing there was nowhere else to run, he tried to declare surrender, but the mages who had run all the way here were not just ordinarily angry.

Gardam shouted to the citizens.

"Save me! Save me! The mages are..."

Bam!

Yi-Han fired a silence spell at Gardam's solar plexus and quickly explained to the people who had come to watch.

"No, citizens! This person is a wanted criminal with a bounty on his head!"

"Ah, that guy!! Isn't he Gardam, the 'Bleeding Hand'?!"

"That's right, that's right!"

'Phew.'

Yi-Han and Jijel exchanged glances and let out a sigh of relief.

They could have been arrested by the city guard and faced an uncomfortable situation, but it was well resolved because someone recognized Gardam's face.

"But who are you?"

"Uh... We're adventurers belonging to the Granden City Adventurers' Guild. Right? Gubon?"

"...Th-that's right."

'Who's Gubon?'

Jijel had no idea what was going on, but she played along for now.

There was nothing good about being exposed as students here.

"Huh? Aren't you mages from Einroguard?"

"That's right, that's right! Those shabby and plain modest clothes. And even the staff! They're mages from Einroguard!"

"How could a wandering mage use such magic?"

"..."

"..."

Yi-Han and Jijel exchanged glances in shock.

They had covered all the Einroguard emblems with an outer garment, but to be suspected just based on the shabby and plain characteristics.

'What do we do?'

'Deny it. Wardanaz. I said deny it!'

"...What are you saying that could cause big trouble? Einroguard mages! No, we're not!"

Yi-Han shouted loudly.

"We're adventurers who earn a day's living and eat a day's meal, using the dirt floor as our bed and the sky as our blanket..."

"Uh, you look like a noble?"

"Aren't you a noble?"

The city people who saw Yi-Han's face asked with eyes full of suspicion.

Yi-Han got angry.

"No, I'm not! Don't say things that could cause big trouble!"

"B-but your face..."

"Don't judge people by their faces, everyone! Here, Mo... Gubon may look pretty on the outside, but on the inside, she's a sinister and evil swordswoman who cuts down anyone who doesn't listen to her with a single stroke!"

Yi-Han pointed at Jijel.

'This bastard...'

Jijel was furious but couldn't ruin the atmosphere. She silently closed her mouth and nodded while glaring at the people.

"Ah. Mage!"

The adventurer Gubon (the real Gubon) greeted happily when he noticed a familiar face while passing by with his comrades.

"What are you doing? Nice to see you!"

"Do you know each other?"

"Yes. That person is Wardanaz, a mage from Einroguard."

"..."

"..."

Jijel glared at Yi-Han as if she would kill him.

***

"...Anyway, we're not."

"Yes... Well."

"I understand."

The gathered people hesitated and nodded their heads.

Their expressions roughly said, 'They seem to be mages from Einroguard, but they don't want to reveal it for some reason, so let's respect that.'

Yi-Han and Jijel became gloomy.

'We're doomed.'

'We're doomed.'

It felt like the time remaining until the punishment room was rapidly decreasing.

Yi-Han glared at the fallen Gardam as if he would kill him. Gardam was terrified and buried his head in the ground.

"Will you hand this person over to the city guard?"

"If it's a request from a mage, we must do it as much as possible. But are you sure you'll be okay? It's something you did, mage..."

"...Forget it."

Yi-Han waved his hand and smiled wistfully.

That smile seemed to say that worldly fame or wealth was trivial on the path of a mage.

The people present felt a deep emotion as if it were their own matter.

"Moradi. Let's go buy some items."

"...Let's do that. There's no other way."

Jijel let out a faint sigh and accepted reality.

Now that things had turned out this way, it wouldn't change anything to curse at Wardanaz.

They had no choice but to buy items as quickly as possible and return, prepared to be caught.

"Wait. Wardanaz. We didn't stop by the mansion, so what about money?"

"Can I get back the silver coins I entrusted last time? Thank you."

Yi-Han retrieved the silver coins he had entrusted to Gubon last time.

"I left the next silver coins at the staff crafting shop, so let's use them while going there."

"Are you crazy?"

"Why are you cursing?"

***

Hodlong, who arrived late, ordered Eunrad Lee to stay still and grasped the situation.

The dignified citizens of Granden provided highly credible testimonies to Hodlong, who worked for the empire.

"So when the mercenary bastard threatened to release a basilisk, the mage grabbed it tightly with his hand while being bitten, you know?"

"Oh!"

"He chased so persistently, even a family's mortal enemy wouldn't have been chased like that."

"Why do you think he chased like that?"

"There can only be one reason! He saw that evil-filled mercenary bastard destroying and knocking over citizens' belongings and got enraged!"

"Oh!"

Hodlong exclaimed in disbelief and confirmed the testimonies several times, but similar stories came out.

"So he's a 1st-year student?"

"That's right."

Gubon answered with a sincere attitude.

Then the dignified citizens of Granden next to him looked at Gubon with disapproval.

"Aren't you mistaken?"

"Adventurers are known for their exaggeration."

"From what I saw, he didn't look like a 1st-year. I know a bit about magic, and he seemed like a 3rd-year."

"Ah, no... He's definitely a 1st-year! I even worked with him!"

Gubon shouted angrily, but it had the opposite effect on the Granden citizens.

"Ha!"

"If you say so."

"Have I ever told you that I had an audience with His Majesty the Emperor when I was young? That large and beautiful..."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm actually the illegitimate child of a count's family."

"..."

Gubon trembled with humiliation.

What was even more unfair was that if another adventurer had said such things, he would have treated them as 'What kind of crazy nonsense are you spouting?'

Regardless of what the city people said, Hodlong recorded all the testimonies and turned his gaze to his subordinate with admiration.

"Perhaps, there might be hope for Einroguard too."

"Ha! How could that be possible!"

"..."

"I-I'm sorry. It was a reflex... I'm really sorry."