Published at 18th of December 2024 9:46 am

Chapter 629

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

"If he weren't an Einroguard student, I would have made him my aide."

"Yeah, yeah. I once wanted to use a dragon as a mount too. But the dragon didn't like it."

The skull principal responded indifferently.

If Wardanaz were made an aide to the Moradi family, the emperor would surely contact him immediately.

Asking if he was rebelling against him now...

"I know."

"Still, it must be nice."

"?"

The family head turned his gaze as if to ask what the skull principal meant.

The skull principal pointed at Yi-Han and Jijel and said,

"They're getting along well, aren't they? It's rare to see students from different towers getting along outside too."

From the perspective of the efficiency-oriented family head, it could only be joyful for his children to maintain a friendship with Wardanaz.

First of all, it wasn't easy to interact with the Wardanaz family, yet their children were maintaining such a friendship.

By now, the family head might be excitedly making plans in his head for 'Achieving Northern Hegemony with the Wardanaz Family'.

"It's not good."

"??"

However, the answer that came back was unexpected. The family head coldly denied it.

The skull principal was puzzled.

"Why isn't it good?"

"It's a foolish action. To waste what little time is left on a swordsmanship match. They should have been discussing the territory..."

"..."

The skull principal was shocked.

So now...

Was he regretting his child playing with a friend??

'What a crazy bastard.'

"You're joking, right?"

"I'm not? They can build friendships when they go to Einroguard, can't they?"

"..."

Of course, from the family head's perspective, he might want to talk more about the future of the territory with the talented individual he had just found.

But usually, when a child is playing with a friend, wouldn't one say, "Haha, that's fine, we can talk about the territory later, go build friendships with your friend"?

Moreover, saying "My business comes first, so you can play when you go to Einroguard" wasn't something that could be said with a normal mindset.

"...Next time he visits, just set all your schedules in advance."

"That's what I was planning to do."

The family head looked at the skull principal as if he was stating the obvious.

He was planning to set all the schedules in advance next visit so that Jicklin or Jijel couldn't interfere.

Seeing this unyielding appearance that didn't understand jokes, the skull principal felt like his non-existent head was aching.

"Hey. Bring some alcohol."

"Your Excellency, you drink alcohol too?"

"What, is it a waste to give alcohol to an undead?"

"Not at all."

The servant brought alcohol in a panic. The skull principal poured the clear liquid into his mouth with disgust.

"Family Head."

Yi-Han approached while Jijel was taking a break.

Then he asked the skull principal.

"Principal, you drink alcohol to... No, what are you doing!"

"What, can't an undead drink alcohol?"

The skull principal splashed the alcohol in the glass at Yi-Han. Yi-Han dodged the alcohol by moving left and right. Thanks to being hit once by Jicklin, his reaction was fast.

"What brings you here, young Wardanaz?"

"I've brought a gift to commemorate this visit."

Yi-Han fumbled to take out the gift.

It was the 40-year-old wine he had received from the Chestnut Tree Knight Order last time.

He wanted to sell it, but it felt a bit wrong to sell such a gift. It would be very troublesome if the knight order saw it circulating in the imperial market.

It was better to use it as a bribe, no, a gift, looking at the bigger picture.

"I present this gift to the Family Head who leads the shield of the north."

"...Thank you."

Although the family head received it without much reaction, the skull principal could tell that he was deeply impressed.

'He's really digging his own grave deep.'

The skull principal clicked his tongue and looked at Yi-Han.

Probably the next time he visits here, it would be more comfortable to enter the underground prison.

At least there wouldn't be a family head constantly talking to him from the side!

***

"Ugh, urgh. Uuurgh."

On the day of leaving the territory.

Alcicle was lying down in the carriage's bedroom, suffering.

People popular among knights needed to have strong livers.

With everyone they met offering drinks, it was impossible not to get drunk.

"Can't you cure the hangover with magic?"

"Too hard... because of the drunkenness and hangover..."

Magic wasn't omnipotent.

Especially for drunk mages, it was even more so.

No matter how good the magic was, it was useless to a drunk mage.

"Can't we ask the principal?"

"Haha. Do you think I would do it?"

The skull principal answered with an expression of extreme joy.

Yi-Han shook his head.

"I'm not doing this to be spiteful. There's no need to forcibly pull with magic what can heal naturally. You should have learned that too, right?"

"Ah. I did learn that."

It was easy to misunderstand that magic was basically overturning the principles of the world with a mage's will, but the first thing mages learned was how to restrain magic.

It was a famous saying that the more a mage relied on magic, the easier they were to be consumed by magic.

'But it seems like the principal just wants to see Mr. Alcicle suffering.'

"Did things in the north end well?"

"Yes. Thanks to you, some things ended more comfortably. I've never seen Jiderpra so happy."

"He didn't seem particularly happy though?"

"That level is him being happy. Trust me."

The skull principal spoke while looking at the receding northern mountains.

"The danger of the empire's remote areas isn't simply because of their harsh natural environment. It's because we don't know what changes the mana accumulated in such places might cause."

The harsher the natural environment, the more concentrated the mana that accumulated there tended to be.

It was truly a terrible thing from the perspective of protecting the empire.

Who knew when realm gates might open in various parts of the vast empire and beings from other realms might come through and rampage?

The northern mountains were one of such notorious places. There was a reason why rangers like the Shadow Patrol were formed.

"Therefore, we need to constantly pay attention and look for changes."

"...?"

Yi-Han was puzzled by the skull principal's sudden shift from talking about the Moradi family head to the northern mountains and the safety of our empire.

Why was he telling this to him?

"Uh, yes. I understand."

"Right. Monsters from other realms are troublesome enough, but with evil god worshippers running amok too... Troublesome things always come together."

The skull principal sighed and took out a letter.

It was something he didn't want to do but had to.

Looking at the current situation in the north, there was a need to send in mages to check.

Whoosh!

The letter, written in one swift stroke, immediately flew out of the carriage like a bird.

"Having to waste resources looking for evil god worshippers when there's not even gold for research... I want to grind their bones."

The skull principal's last words carried an ominous killing intent. Yi-Han quickly agreed.

"Let's lock them up in the underground punishment room forever!"

"Isn't that a bit cruel?"

"..."

A new letter flew into the flying carriage.

The skull principal frowned as he tore open the envelope and read the contents.

"What's the matter?"

"I thought everything was over, but a request came in. The bishop of the Bildochkal Order says he has something to consult about."

"The Bildochkal Order is..."

Yi-Han fell into thought.

"The Order of Night, right?"

"The Order of Thieves."

"...I was deliberately saying it indirectly."

Bildochkal, the god of night and thieves.

Someone who didn't know well might react, "Isn't that an evil god? Has the empire fallen so low to worship such a god?", but in fact, the priests of Bildochkal weren't thieves.

The priests who served Bildochkal merely believed in Bildochkal as the symbol and incarnation of night.

...The problem was that thieves also believed very strongly in Bildochkal.

Its history was so deep that now no one remembered Bildochkal as the 'God of Night'. He was only remembered as the 'God of Night and Thieves'.

'I think Ratford believed in Bildochkal too.'

Although Ratford didn't have a devout faith, he did have enough faith to occasionally throw imperial coins and pray "Please make something good come out".

In fact, this level of faith was much deeper than Yi-Han's.

"Why is the Bildochkal Order calling for you, Principal? Gasp. Did you attack the priests?"

"It's because there's a guy who's supposed to enroll from there. They don't call me for attacking priests."

'Shouldn't you deny that you attacked them?'

The skull principal had an unusually hesitant expression.

"Is there some problem with that junior?"

"No. I just don't like mixing words with those priest bastards. It makes me feel like I'm getting stupid too."

"...Let's finish this quickly. This is the last thing, right?"

Yi-Han pushed the skull principal's back, thinking they should quickly finish the overtime work and wrap things up.

***

Sometimes thieves would have illusions and visit the temple thinking 'I should enter the Bildochkal Order and learn the true techniques of the night', but such thieves would retreat at the entrance.

The pitch-black darkness that greeted them from the moment they opened the door.

This was a unique characteristic of the Bildochkal Order's temple.

Yi-Han and the skull principal cast dark vision magic and entered.

Surprisingly, the order's priests moved around well in the darkness as if it was nothing.

"Where's the thief boss?"

"...Lord Gonadaltes. We are not thieves. The god of night..."

"Yeah, yeah. Thief boss."

It was clearly visible that the priests were looking at the skull principal with resentful expressions even in the darkness.

Yi-Han was so embarrassed that he pretended not to be part of the group and stood looking at the wall. However, the skull principal mercilessly grabbed Yi-Han's arm and dragged him along.

"Lord Gonadaltes. You've come."

"?"

Yi-Han, who opened the door to the bishop's room, opened his eyes wide.

A voice was heard even though there was no one there.

The skull principal spoke to Yi-Han.

"You're still inexperienced. Don't be complacent just because you've pierced through the darkness."

"!"

At those words, Yi-Han realized he had been relying too much on the dark vision magic.

Magic always had countermeasures that followed like a tail.

'Holy magic!'

The bishop of the Bildochkal Order might be able to summon darkness that couldn't be pierced even with dark vision.

Yi-Han withdrew his vision and focused on his mana sense. Then he felt a unique mana flowing out in front.

Slowly, as if his eyes were adapting to the dark, he captured the bishop's figure.

The bishop was an old lady with a kind impression.

"Greet her, Wardanaz. This is Ines of the Gre family. This is Yi-Han of the Wardanaz family."

"Lord Gonadaltes. It's good to see you. You're still in good health, I see."

"You must be having a hard time feeding the thieves too."

Yi-Han quickly spoke, fearing the atmosphere might turn cold.

"You mean the priests, right? Haha."

"No. I'm talking about thieves. Ines here literally serves meals to the thieves around."

"...?"

"Charity. Charity. What you do for those guys from other towers. Serving meals to the pitiful ones."

'I do that for money though.'

Yi-Han missed the timing to explain due to the admiring gaze sent by the bishop in front of him.

"I think the punishment room would be better."

"There are thieves who need punishment rooms and thieves who need meals."

The bishop responded without losing her dignity even to the skull principal's indifferent words.

"So, why did you call me? If the new student doesn't want to go to Einroguard because of prayers, persuade him yourself. How hard can that be?"

"That's not why I called you, Lord Gonadaltes. There's a very small problem with the new student, so I called to consult about it."

"Holy magic awakening? Supernatural powers? Magic rejection? Nobility phobia? The last one doesn't matter. It's rather good. When they come to Einroguard, they can beat up nobles under the permission of imperial law."

"Actually, the priest who received the enrollment offer this time is a thief."

"...This is quite admirable. Is the Bildochkal Order finally trying to act according to its reputation?"

"Please stop. Come on."

Yi-Han pulled on the skull principal's sleeve and tried to stop him.

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