Chapter 611

"Mages are attacking!!"

"What!?"

The mercenaries upstairs were startled by the sound coming from below.

Ugda quickly took out and drank a regeneration enhancement potion, then grabbed a shield and mace. It was a reaction befitting an experienced mercenary.

"Who dares!?"

"Isn't it commissioned by those thief guild bastards? Those arrogant bastards. We should have finished them off!"

"Everyone, stay calm. Just because they're mages doesn't mean they're invincible!"

Ugda shouted strongly to his subordinates.

The most important thing now was to prevent his subordinates from running away.

Any mercenary who had participated in a battlefield would fear mages. It was common for dozens of people standing next to you to be shattered when eerie incantations were chanted and magic was completed, so it was impossible not to feel fear.

"Their magic is powerful because the preparation process is long. On a battlefield, it might be different, but since they came in first like this, they can't use such strong magic!"

"Indeed...!"

"Follow me. I'll cut off that mage bastard's neck!"

Ugda took the lead, raising his shield and moving forward.

To control these stray dogs and wolf-like guys, he couldn't show any weakness.

With a magic-treated shield and having drunk a regeneration enhancement potion, he should be able to withstand at least one decent magic attack!

Gulp-

Someone among the mercenaries waiting in front of the stairs swallowed.

Judging by the screams coming from downstairs getting closer, it seemed the mage was coming this way.

"You mercenary bastards. I can see you all standing there. Why don't you just come down?"

A mocking voice was heard from below. The mercenaries were startled and looked at each other.

"Don't be fooled. The mage bastard is provoking us. Once they shoot magic, they can't shoot again right away!"

"That's only for street trash who haven't learned properly."

As soon as he finished speaking, a sword came up through the floor. The sword, emitting a cold blue aura, instantly drew a straight line and pierced through the mercenaries.

"Aaaagh!"

"Gaaaah!"

"Wh-why are you doing this! Who sent you!"

Ugda shouted in shock.

The mage's skill was several times higher than expected.

To think this many people would be subdued in one strike.

It seemed that even if they robbed all the wealth of the thief guild bastards, they couldn't hire such a mage.

"You should have received a letter."

"L-letter?"

"Yes. A letter from Einroguard. Don't tell me you didn't receive it? Even if you didn't, don't feel wronged. It's your fault for not receiving it."

"Ah... No. I received it! I received it! But I didn't know it was a serious letter!"

"Are you saying you didn't know it was serious even after reading the letter I wrote sincerely? How insulting."

Ugda broke out in a cold sweat at the mage's response.

Ugda had heard about the eccentric temperament of mages a few times. Judging by this mage's skill, his personality was surely proportionally eccentric.

"I didn't know anything about magic, so that's why."

"Of course, you ignored it because you didn't know anything. If someone who knew had ignored it, they'd be crazy."

"...Let's resolve this with words. With words!"

"With words? Aren't we resolving it with words right now?"

The skull principal sneered as he climbed the stairs.

"If I hadn't been resolving it with words, everyone here would already be dead."

"..."

"And if you were going to say such things, you should have put down the mace. Your intentions are transparent, trash."

"!"

Ugda flinched when his true intentions were exposed.

He had been planning to try close combat after distracting the mage through conversation when the mage came up.

To think he was being played in the palm of the mage's hand.

Ugda tightly gripped his mace and was about to charge out with a shout.

At that moment, the sword embedded in the wall returned like lightning and pierced through Ugda's body.

Zzzap!

"Ugh... Urgh."

Looking at Ugda, who had turned completely into an ice statue except for his face, the skull principal advised.

"Don't ignore letters in the future."

"Wh-why... the slave I bought with my money...! Such a guy can't even be used in a magic tower! At best, he'd only be used as an experimental subject, so why go this far..."

Pop!

Yi-Han, who had been listening from behind, got slightly angry and blew away Ugda's chin with a water bead.

Wasn't that going too far!

"Isn't that too harsh?"

"You mean your water bead? It was a bit harsh, but there's no need to feel guilty about killing one such piece of trash."

"No... I meant what that person just blabbered about. ...Uh, did he actually die?"

"He might be dead or he might not be. If he's unlucky, he's dead, and if he's lucky, he's alive. What does it matter? It's this way."

The skull principal treated the sprawled mercenaries like crumpled paper balls thrown away.

He roughly kicked them out of the building and ordered the death knights to take them to prison.

Creak-

Yi-Han frowned at the musty smell of mold inside the door.

He knew that the mercenary bastards had bought and imprisoned a slave, but the environment was worse than he had thought.

There were no other slaves, and a cage covered with cloth was visible deep inside the room. It was a metal cage that would be used to confine a wild beast.

"Is it a race with strong physical strength?"

"Well. Remove the cloth."

At the skull principal's words, Yi-Han approached and removed the cloth.

And then he was startled.

Surprisingly, the slave sleeping in the cage was a gorgon mixed-blood.

"...Uh..."

Is it okay for a gorgon mixed-blood to enroll in Einroguard?

Yi-Han was momentarily flustered.

If nothing else, gorgons were monsters born with the petrification curse. They were monsters that turned enemies to stone when their eyes met.

Naturally, gorgon mixed-bloods would have inherited that ability to some extent...

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

"That's a shame. If you had asked whether a gorgon mixed-blood could enroll, I was going to relay it directly to Professor Garcia."

"..."

Yi-Han shuddered at the skull principal's malicious intent.

"Wake her up. We need to take her out."

"Wait. Principal. Won't the petrification curse activate when she opens her eyes?"

"There's no one here who would be affected by the petrification curse?"

'Does this person only think about himself?'

Yi-Han grumbled and said.

"You might be fine, Principal, but I..."

"It won't work on you either."

"...Oh, is that so?"

"You've even faced a basilisk, have you already forgotten? Why are you acting surprised now?"

When the skull principal looked at him pitifully, Yi-Han felt slightly embarrassed.

It felt like he had become a fool who was insensitive about himself.

"I asked because I might be able to withstand a basilisk's gaze but not a gorgon's."

"Stop talking nonsense and just wake her up."

Yi-Han opened the cage door, went in, and grabbed the gorgon mixed-blood junior's shoulder and shook it.

Snore!

"How can she sleep so well in this situation?"

"Those with monster bloodlines tend to be mentally tough. Seeing her sleep so well, it's almost a shame to wake her."

The skull principal used magic to make the gorgon mixed-blood junior move.

The sight of her moving forcibly while deeply asleep was like a bizarre jointed doll.

"Won't she spread the petrification curse around if she wakes up halfway?"

"That's right."

The skull principal covered the junior's face entirely with bandages, leaving only the nose and mouth exposed.

"There, done? Let's go."

"Principal. When we return, it might not be bad to go separately..."

Of course, the skull principal didn't let Yi-Han go.

***

When Eandurde opened her eyes, the first thing she felt was that the air had changed.

It felt much fresher than the usual damp and musty air.

Sniff!

Eandurde took a long breath and closed her eyes to check her body's condition in preparation for the next battle.

It wasn't bad. She felt like she could turn any enemy to stone and inject poison into them.

As she was sold from one place to another, meeting various slaves, Eandurde's way of thinking remained simple.

If an enemy appears, fight.

If you win, eat your fill, and if you lose, starve.

She wasn't interested in anything else. Eandurde counted when the next fight might be held.

Seeing that the surrounding environment had changed, she might be able to fight soon. Eandurde nodded with satisfaction at the excitement of battle and the feast before and after.

'Who covered my face?'

As she nodded, Eandurde finally realized that someone had tightly wrapped her face with bandages.

It must have been done by those who ran the arena.

Eandurde didn't understand well, but those who prepared fights often babbled incomprehensible things like "to adjust the odds" or "for the audience's interest."

This must be one of those things too.

"Principal. She's awake?"

"Remove the bandages and tell her to eat."

"There's only sardines on the table right now."

"Then go hit Pengerin's beak a bit."

"...I'll just prepare it myself."

Hearing voices from afar, Eandurde took a battle stance.

The fight might start as soon as the bandages were removed.

Sniff!

Eandurde took another breath, preparing for battle.

"I'll remove the bandages. Don't be surprised."

The moment the bandages were removed, Eandurde took action.

She glared at the opponent with all her might and simultaneously moved her snake hair to bite the opponent.

"...Uh, what are you doing?"

Yi-Han looked at his junior with a disgruntled expression.

Using her evil eye and snake hair to bite as soon as the bandages were removed.

The basilisk in his sleeve hissed as if it found it extremely annoying. It seemed ready to bite if given the order.

"Junior. I think there's a misunderstanding, I'm..."

Eandurde grabbed both of Yi-Han's shoulders, jumped up, and tried to strangle his neck.

Yi-Han reacted reflexively to that movement. He kneed his junior in the solar plexus, created distance, and then kicked her sideways, sending her flying.

"...Gasp! What have I done...!"

Yi-Han apologized, shocked by his own actions.

Due to the harsh time spent at Einroguard, he had reacted reflexively when attacked.

Sniff!

Eandurde charged in as if she hadn't lost yet. Yi-Han immediately grabbed Eandurde's head with one hand and pressed it firmly to the floor.

When all the snake hair tried to bite at once, the basilisk in his sleeve immediately jumped out and threw a fierce gaze. At that, the snake hair became intimidated and lowered their heads.

Eandurde, who had been struggling to get up with all her might, exhausted her strength and made a surrender declaration dejectedly.

"I lost..."

"O-okay. I'm sorry. Are you not hurt too much?"

"I'm fine..."

"I'm going to let go now, but you won't attack again, right?"

Eandurde nodded. Yi-Han let go of his hand and helped his junior up.

"Principal. Please explain about Einroguard."

"I'm busy, so you do it. Don't beat your junior too much."

"..."

Yi-Han cursed the skull principal and began explaining to Eandurde.

So, there's a really terrible place in the empire...

"...But there's no better place to learn magic and build connections. Your magic talent is very outstanding. I'd like you to learn magic here. It will be a good opportunity."

"Will there be meals?"

"There are, but you have to struggle inside to eat plenty, how should I put it..."

Eandurde's eyes sparkled at Yi-Han's words.

"I'll go!"

"...Wait. I think you've made a decision too hastily. Let me explain again. So, Einroguard is a really terrible..."

"That's enough! Why are you doing this when the kid says she likes it!"

The skull principal, who was in the study, scolded Yi-Han for adding unnecessary words.