Chapter 1111
“No matter how I think about it, this is suspicious...”
“I-I’m telling you, it is not like that.”
Professor Garcia explained with all possible effort.
Still, because of the disciple, all the Magic Tower mages had been mobilized and were going through such hardship, so Professor Garcia could not let them be misunderstood as evil-god worshipers.
“So you are saying that the Magic Tower... prepared all of this to welcome a single guest?”
“That is right!”
“......”
The adventurer companions behind could not hold back and whispered to Jute.
“Isn’t this a trick?”
“It is too strange for a trick. Are there tricks that tell such nonsensical lies?”
Just as the companions were confused, Jute was also confused.
Even after hearing the explanation from the mages in front, it did not feel real.
The mages of a Magic Tower, who should have been busy working, were making this whole commotion over just one guest???
'Does that make sense?'
Jute knew that Magic Towers were greedy for talent, but this was too far beyond imagination.
Even so, this was just...
“...Understood.”
For now, Jute nodded.
It was truly confusing, but what the other side said was more persuasive than the entire Magic Tower having fallen into evil-god worship.
“Then... we will go look for the knights.”
“Ah. Yes.”
Professor Garcia and the rest of the group greeted them politely.
In truth, it was also because there was nothing more to say.
What could one say to people who were casting subtle suspicious gazes that said, 'Perhaps these people are also in league with the Magic Tower mages?'
And since the adventurers also had nothing particular to say, they greeted them politely.
It was not that they did not think, 'Perhaps these people are also in league with the Magic Tower mages?' but the adventurers were not so naive as to forcefully dig into that.
If suspicion arose, one should investigate secretly. If one asked openly, who would answer?
“First... first, let us find the knights.”
Jute shook the head left and right. Since things were so confusing, concentration was needed.
The companions seemed to agree and nodded.
“That’s right. The important thing is the relic, isn’t it? Let’s find the knights first.”
“Even if this Magic Tower is a little... strange, that is something for the mages here to handle themselves.”
“...But it really is all right, right?”
“I did not feel any evil energy... though I cannot be certain.”
Normally, Jute would have spoken confidently, but this time, the voice shook slightly.
The sight witnessed had been that shocking, so certainty had disappeared.
'Is it time for the Daylily Magic Tower to collapse...?'
***
And the two groups met again.
In front of the guest room where the knights of the White Poplar Knight Order were staying.
“......”
“...Uh, what brings you here?”
Professor Garcia, who did not yet know that the knights were inside the guest room, asked in puzzlement.
“We came looking for the knights.”
“The knights?”
Professor Garcia paused, then lowered the voice and whispered to Lee Han and Professor Voladi.
“Everyone. It seems the place where that dangerous spirit is hiding is among the knights.”
“Ah. It seems the knights of the White Poplar Knight Order brought a relic where the spirit is hiding.”
Lee Han immediately grasped the situation.
Indeed, if the spirit had originally been trapped in the Magic Tower, there was a high chance Saratan would have noticed as soon as they came here.
Rather than the seal weakening after that because of some coincidence, it made more sense that knights from outside had brought the seal in order to receive help from the Magic Tower...
“This has become a little troublesome.”
“Why is that?”
“From the looks of it, those adventurers over there also seem to have tracked that dangerous spirit.”
Professor Garcia guessed even those circumstances from the other party’s reaction.
The most irritating moment for a mage was when an object tracked for a long time was taken by someone else.
After diligently interpreting an old book and finding out its whereabouts, how enraging was it when, just as one was about to purchase it personally at an auction house, a nouveau-riche noble who did not even know the value of the item crudely swept it away with money?
“Professor. I am fine with yielding. As long as we can stop the danger, that is enough.”
“Student Lee Han!”
At the thought that the disciple was truly admirable, Professor Garcia’s chest swelled with emotion.
There were many students at Einroguard who were good at magic, but students who yielded so readily without any compensation like this were rare.
How could he be so kind?
“So if it is all right, Professor, please forgive those adventurers as well.”
“...W-wait. I am not angry. Student Lee Han. Did you perhaps think I was angry because there was competition?”
Professor Garcia was dumbfounded by the disciple’s words.
Listening to the disciple speak, it sounded as if he were trying to stop an angry Professor Garcia.
'It must be my imagination, right?'
If Professor Garcia met a mage who had been tracking first in this sort of situation, the professor could yield as much as necessary.
As a fellow mage, Professor Garcia could show at least that much generosity...
“...Of course not! Would I ever do that?”
“......”
At the suspicious appearance of the disciple, Professor Garcia looked at Professor Voladi.
'Am I receiving this kind of misunderstanding because I have been acting together with Professor Bagreg lately???!'
If not, there seemed to be no reason for the disciple to have such suspicion.
No matter how Professor Garcia thought about it, the professor had always lived diligently so as to be a model for students.
“...For now, I understand. Still, just in case, we should watch how those people handle it.”
Apart from yielding, Professor Garcia intended to watch from the side how the adventurers handled it.
No matter how they had tracked it first, Professor Garcia could not entrust a dangerous object to people without ability.
When the professor explained the conversation they had just had, Jute flinched.
'An Einroguard mage!'
Somehow, Jute had thought they did not seem like Magic Tower mages, but to think they were mages from another magic school.
Moreover, judging by their appearance, one was clearly a professor. Jute felt intimidated for no reason.
Being a professor at a magic school, and Einroguard at that, was not something just anyone could do.
Only honorable mages renowned throughout the Empire could do it.
That was exactly what an Einroguard professor was.
'Wait. If this is an Einroguard professor, did the Daylily Magic Tower do that whole thing earlier to invite the professor?'
Jute felt that was quite plausible.
If they could pull an Einroguard professor into the Magic Tower, even an event like earlier felt sufficiently worth doing.
Of course, how effective it would be was questionable.
Surely an Einroguard professor would not be stupid enough to be tempted just because there were comfortable rests and events.
'It feels like a low-year student would be fooled, not a professor...'
“Thank you for yielding. Hm. I feel cautious, since I may end up showing you my insufficient skill.”
“What are you saying? I will be looking forward to it.”
With that conversation over, the mages knocked on the guest room door. The knights, who had been waiting anxiously inside, rejoiced and rose from their seats.
“Is it finally over... no, where did all the Magic Tower mages go?”
The knights were flustered when guests who were clearly not Magic Tower mages came flooding in.
“You do not need to worry, Sir. We have come to solve the problem.”
Jute spoke while observing etiquette, yet without hiding confidence in skill.
In truth, among the people in this room right now, the one who knew the most about that relic sealed with chains was Jute.
Jute had continuously gathered and interpreted materials while preparing to face it.
“Who are you? You do not seem like a mage of the Magic Tower.”
“I am Jute, who leads the adventurer party <Guardians of Shadow Valley>.”
“Ah! That party, you say. I have heard the name.”
As people who often wandered, the knights of the White Poplar Knight Order had broad knowledge of the world.
To the point that they had even heard the name of the <Guardians of Shadow Valley> party, which had recently been quite active.
“We moved for a very long time in search of that relic. Because an existence that is dangerous beyond measure is sealed inside it.”
“I see. Is that so!”
Even though a mage of the Daylily Magic Tower had not come personally, the old knight showed quite a favorable reaction.
That was because it could be felt how thoroughly the dark mage before him had prepared.
Professor Garcia, watching from behind, also nodded.
“It certainly is well prepared. The investigation was done properly too.”
“Indeed.”
“But the literature referenced seems to need a little improvement. Among the old books just mentioned, there are many forgeries among Almergeng’s works. If you trust them completely, you could get badly burned.”
'How strange. The other person is clearly a graduate.'
Lee Han revealed puzzlement inwardly.
The other person was clearly not an Einroguard student, and was even a graduate, but Professor Garcia was grading.
It was fortunate the other person could not hear it. If Jute had heard, it would have been extremely bothersome.
“I understand well. How thoroughly you have prepared as well. Then may this old knight ask one thing?”
When Bamandam, who had heard the explanation, opened his mouth, Jute nodded readily.
“Yes. Please ask anything.”
“You said you would repel this spirit, but by what method do you intend to reverse-summon it?”
Spirits had considerable resistance to ordinary attacks, and if it was a high-ranking spirit, that was even more so.
If there was no method to properly reverse-summon the spirit trapped inside this relic, the seal could not be carelessly undone. If they did that, an unexpected disaster could occur.
“Would you please look at this?”
“!”
Not only the knights, but also Professor Garcia and Lee Han were surprised by the item Jute took out.
It was not an ordinary item.
“That is... it seems like a sword from another dimension?”
Of course Professor Garcia, who was originally well versed in this kind of magical knowledge, could recognize it easily, and Lee Han, who had recently encountered several spells using other dimensions, could as well.
The aura emitted by an object from another dimension was definitely different in texture, even if it was the same mana.
“This is a sword made by an angel. According to the documents, this spirit’s weakness is precisely a sword made by an angel.”
“Oh...!”
The knights exclaimed in admiration. Lee Han was the same.
A sword made by an angel.
The resourcefulness of renowned adventurers definitely exceeded expectations.
“How did you obtain something like that?”
At the sight of Lee Han asking in a surprised voice, Jute grinned.
When even the mages from Einroguard admired it like this, pride as a mage swelled up.
“I explained the circumstances to a noble house indebted to me and borrowed it.”
“That truly is astonishing. No house would lend out a sword like this easily. Just how active must you have been as an Imperial adventurer...”
“Hahaha. You flatter me.”
When the dark mage looked happy at the shower of praise received after such a long time, the companions looked at Jute with pity.
'Perhaps it would have been better to go to Einroguard instead of Kalarogard.'
At that moment, Lee Han suddenly felt his vision shake.
To be precise, it was not that his vision had shaken. It was closer to a sense of incongruity felt because a strong change had occurred in the area of the spirit world that existed overlapping reality.
In a colorless world, a familiar angel appeared.
It was the angel he had met last time, Apazragon.
Professor Garcia and Professor Voladi noticed and reacted to the outsider who had suddenly appeared from the spirit-world dimension, but the others seemed not to have noticed yet. Lee Han asked in confusion.
-What is it? What is going on?
-I have something to tell you.
-???
-That is not an angel’s sword. It seems the mage is mistaken. Then I shall go.
-...W-wait!
At the back of the angel, who tried to leave after coolly giving advice, Lee Han suddenly got chills.
To appear exactly as if having been watching.
This angel...
Where and what had the angel been doing until just now??