Chapter 1340

“...Wasn’t this supposed to be something needed for magic?”

“This is magic too.”

Unlike Professor Marhajin, Paridim looked slightly uncertain.

‘This is magic too...?’

Come to think of it, removing an interfering factor did count as magic.

Sending a threatening letter to an evil-god order felt a little strange, but a mage was supposed to look at the essence of things.

Having recovered from the shock, Lee Han nodded for the time being.

“Hmm. A threatening letter... All right. If that’s what’s needed.”

“We will prepare immediately.”

Apparently, Oculoguard already had everything ready.

Seeing the professor immediately bring out an artifact made Lee Han feel troubled all over again.

‘I thought they needed my magical ability.’

Of course, Lee Han had only just finished his second year, but even so, he was a mage who had accumulated quite a few achievements lately.

Even if he could not assist with high-level magic, he had thought he would at least be given a role somewhat related to magic!

“*Opens. Observes.*”

When Professor Marhajin recited the spell, the surface of the enormous mirror installed on the wall began to change.

The vast scenery of the Mulma Mountain Range appeared and vanished repeatedly, creating noise.

‘So this is the interference.’

Watching the scenery continually cut out, Lee Han realized that this was the factor interfering with the foresight magic.

There would have been no problem if only the mages of Oculoguard were observing this mountain range, but because there were several groups of mages interested in the range, they were creating interference with one another.

“What magic do I need to cast? Do I perhaps need to learn it now?”

At a glance, that enormous mirror was clearly no ordinary piece of magic.

It merely looked like a mirror on the outside. Powerful high-level magic from Oculoguard must have been condensed within it.

If he was going to use a mirror like this, Lee Han might have to learn some special magic himself.

“There is no need. You will simply use the mirror to observe. The order will flee.”

“...It feels a little strange for me to be the one saying this, but aren’t you underestimating them too much? They’re evil-god worshipers.”

* * *

A dwarf evil-god worshiper of the Ksaksarigol Order was digging deep beneath the Mulma Mountain Range.

The mercenaries and miners hired for a high price wiped the soot and dust from their faces as they talked.

“This is damned hard work. How much longer do we have to dig?”

“About another week. We still have a long way to go before we reach the vein we want.”

“Damn it. Never thought I’d end up doing a miner’s job when I’ve never been one.”

“Still, aren’t you getting paid more than you would as a mercenary?”

The mercenaries could not argue with the chief miner. The chief was right.

In the Empire, the more suspicious a job was, the higher the compensation always tended to be. That went doubly so for work offered by an evil-god worshiper whose face was wrapped from top to bottom in bandages.

Digging deep into the ground somewhere like the Mulma Mountain Range without obtaining proper permission was suspicious no matter how one looked at it, but the mercenaries asked no questions.

They were being paid enough to make it worth their while, and the money arrived without fail.

One of the more cautious-looking mercenaries, an orc with a short spear strapped to his back, probed casually.

“Do you know anything about our employer?”

“No. We’re about the same as you lot. We came here to work for money.”

“You seem awfully calm about it, though. Aren’t you worried?”

The mercenaries looked at the chief miner as if they agreed. The chief miner rolled up the parchment map they were holding and grinned.

“I don’t think there’s much reason to worry. I don’t know anything about our employer, but I do have a guess.”

“What?”

“My guess is that person is an evil-god worshiper of the Ksaksarigol Order!”

“!”

The mercenaries felt their hearts sink at the words evil-god worshiper.

Even though they had already suspected as much, actually hearing it still sent a chill down their spines.

Evil-god worshipers were like blazing fire. They were useful if handled properly, but plenty of mercenaries had ended up getting burned themselves while trying to make use of them.

“An evil-god worshiper...!”

“Wait. Why does that mean we don’t have to worry? Doesn’t that make this more dangerous?”

“Haha. You call yourselves mercenaries, but your knowledge is even narrower than mine. Of course evil-god worshipers are dangerous. But the Ksaksarigol Order isn’t known for withholding payment or betraying people. That’s what matters.”

Evil-god worshipers were all mad, but the exact way in which they were mad turned out to matter more than one might expect.

With violent, blood-soaked orders, one had to worry about a knife flying into one’s back, but the Ksaksarigol Order was not that kind of order.

“That’s true... I haven’t heard any rumors like that.”

“I knew you’d agree.”

“But if it’s the Ksaksarigol Order, aren’t they still a pretty serious bunch of lunatics? I heard they once burned an entire perfectly normal city to the ground for no reason.”

The chief miner’s expression stiffened at the mercenary’s words.

“That must be a false rumor. And if you’re going to say things like that, go somewhere else. I don’t want to get caught up in some pointless misunderstanding and be treated as one of your lot.”

“H-Hey. What’s with you? I only asked because I heard it somewhere. Well, I suppose if they’re all madmen anyway, a madman who pays well is better.”

“They’ve paid our daily wages on time so far too.”

If they thought about it carefully, the situation was still just as dangerous as before, but instead of thinking too deeply, the mercenaries decided to trust the chief miner.

They had already come this far. What good would suspicion do them now?

Clack-

The hourglass announced the end of the day. The chief miner shouted.

“Work’s over! Let’s head back up!”

“Come to think of it, where’s the employer? Usually they come by at the end to check.”

“They’ll be waiting above.”

The miners and mercenaries climbed the ladders back up. Beside the mine shaft stood a temporary shelter that served as their quarters.

And inside that shelter were supposed to be their belongings and the chest of gold coins that opened whenever their wages were paid...

“...It’s gone?! What the hell!!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me...! Did goblins come through here or something?! Which bastard did this!”

The completely empty shelter contained nothing.

Everything was gone, from the payment they had already received to the chest itself!

Even their employer was nowhere to be seen. The furious mercenaries hurled curses as they searched the surrounding area.

“Where did that damned dwarf bastard go! Come out!”

“You’ll be cursed! How dare you trick us!”

“Everyone, calm down! There is still a long way to go before the work is finished. There is no reason to simply abandon us and run away. They’ll be back soon!”

The chief miner said this, but this time no one agreed.

“If the bastard was planning to come back, why steal all our belongings too! Do you even hear the nonsense coming out of your mouth?!”

“M-Maybe they were worried we might run away.”

“You call that an explanation?!”

The furious mercenaries argued with the miners several times.

After exhausting themselves in a fight that accomplished absolutely nothing, they could only stare at one another with hollow expressions.

“...Let’s wait a little longer. They might come back.”

“Could an Imperial knight order or a patrol have found this place?”

“What kind of lunatic would come all the way into a place this deep in the Mulma Mountain Range?”

Though trembling with unease, the mercenaries and miners waited several more days.

But the vanished dwarf evil-god worshiper never returned.

In the end, they had no choice but to leave while spitting curses.

“Fucking evil-god worshiper bastards. Insane evil-god worshiper bastards...!”

“I will never deal with these lunatics again! Not even if they offered me all the gold in the Empire!”

There really was nothing good about getting involved with evil-god worshipers.

* * *

There were several magic towers scattered throughout the rugged Mulma Mountain Range. Where mana was plentiful, strange phenomena were plentiful as well, but naturally, that also drew mages.

The mages of the Drizzle Magic Tower, dressed in blue robes, exchanged telepathic speech with cautious expressions.

-We seem to have found it.

-Everyone, be careful. This will not be an easy fight. Evil-god worshipers are never weak opponents.

These lunatics, who charged in without fear, were always dangerous enemies.

The mages of the Drizzle Magic Tower did not particularly want to create a grudge with evil-god worshipers either, but now that they had appeared in the Mulma Mountain Range, there was no choice.

They were opponents with whom compromise of any kind was impossible, so force was the only thing left.

-Is this cabin the temple of foresight? It was concealed well, but they could not completely hide the traces of magic. A vast flow of foresight magic extends from here.

-The worshipers will never abandon this temple. We must destroy it before reinforcements arrive.

-Prepare yourselves!

Rain began to fall from the sky, and every single droplet transformed into a destructive bullet carrying heavy mass.

Instead of the light pattering sound raindrops should normally have made, only vicious impacts rang across the roof of the cabin.

“*Spirit, answer my call.*”

A powerful water spirit drew in the surrounding water, swelled into the form of a giant, and smashed into the side of the cabin.

The remaining magic-tower mages prepared their spells while waiting for enemies to emerge from inside.

Spells that evaporated or coagulated the moisture within a target’s body possessed tremendous power in combat against people.

“...There’s no one here?!”

“What?!”

The mages of the Drizzle Magic Tower were startled.

Thinking it might be a trap, they checked again and again, but saw nothing.

“It looks like they ran away!”

“That makes no sense. Evil-god worshipers wouldn’t abandon their objective and flee.”

“There’s something written on the wall! Could it be some kind of code?”

The mages stared intently at the wall. Letters had been written there in blood-red dye.

*The monster is coming!*

“Could they have succeeded in summoning their target?”

“But... the Ksaksarigol Order has little to do with summoning magic, doesn’t it?”

“Even foresight magic can be used for summoning! We need to be careful!”

“Were they trembling while they wrote this? Why are the letters so crooked?”

“Then it must be an extraordinarily powerful being. Contact the other mages in the mountain range. Contact Oculoguard as well! The Ksaksarigol Order must have accomplished something!”

The mages of the Drizzle Magic Tower were talking so excitedly that they failed to notice the paper bird flying in through the window.

A mage belatedly noticed the paper bird and took it with a puzzled expression.

“What letter is that?”

“We’ve received word from Oculoguard.”

“Perfect timing. We were about to contact them ourselves. What does it say?”

“...It says that Oculoguard is carrying out the current subjugation of the Ksaksarigol Order in the mountain range? They say they’re doing it with the help of an outside mage.”

“????”

The mages doubted their ears.

“Did they bring out some hidden grand magic? How is that even possible?”

“To drive them away without even coming to the mountain range themselves... What in the world...”

“Could they have made a new contract with some powerful being from outside the dimension? Who could possibly make the Ksaksarigol Order run aw—”

* * *

Lee Han was beginning to feel slightly doubtful about the tedious repetitive work.

First, he would use the mirror to observe the mountain range, and whenever it seemed like the Ksaksarigol Order was observing somewhere, he would deliberately move his observation there too...

At first, it had actually been fun. The moment their foresight magic collided, the Ksaksarigol Order’s magic had recoiled in alarm and hurriedly fled.

Even though they could not see one another’s faces and were competing entirely through magic, Lee Han could somehow sense the other side’s emotions.

But the initial amusement did not last long. After repeatedly driving the other side away with observation, he gradually began to have doubts.

...Was this actually working?

“Couldn’t they just be avoiding the magical collisions while continuing to hold out somewhere in the mountain range?”

When Lee Han asked in a suspicious voice, Paridim answered quietly.

“Lord Wardanaz. We just received word that all the evil-god worshipers who were in the mountain range have disappeared.”

“...Foresight magic has a large margin of error to begin with. Are you sure? It could be wrong.”