‘That’s too harsh.’
The cruel battle mage’s heart was slightly wounded.
Of course, people were buying poisons and curses they normally would never have purchased because of Lee Han, but wasn’t that just how business worked?
If they had not bought poisons and curses here, they would have bought useless things somewhere else.
“But Senior. Who is that dwarf senior?”
“Dirimpa? Ah. You wouldn’t have had a chance to meet Dirimpa. Most of the time is spent underground.”
“I see.”
Lee Han understood what that meant.
There were active dwarves who enjoyed drinking, dancing, and adventures outside, mainly eastern dwarves like Professor Thunderstep. On the other hand, there were also dwarves who stayed inside, absorbed in mining and obsessed with minerals. Senior Jarun of House Gangsulgudu, a western dwarf, was a good example.
Dirimpa was definitely a dwarf from the western region.
“The dark magic school shouldn’t need that many minerals or gemstones, so what is Dirimpa’s main major? Why stay underground so much?”
“What are you talking about?”
Diret tilted the head.
Minerals or gemstones?
“Uh... Staying underground... Isn’t it to save time going in and out while looking for minerals or gemstones?”
“No. Dirimpa is looking for buried bones.”
“...”
When Stedal Nago—or rather, Lee Han—made a slightly subtle expression, Diret hurriedly explained.
Diret could not stand to see a junior’s honor tarnished.
“Junior. For reference, finding bones buried underground at Einroguard and using them for dark magic is completely legal.”
“I don’t think this is a matter of Imperial law...”
A mage who constantly searched underground for gemstones still had a relatively decent image, but a mage who constantly wandered underground looking for usable bones was a bit...
Was this why the dark magic school was unpopular?
“Dirimpa does it for purely academic reasons.”
Worried that the junior, who was like a younger sibling, might be misunderstood as an evil necromancer, Diret’s explanation grew longer.
“And there are so many rare ancient-creature bones deposited underground at Einroguard. Leaving them alone would be a magical loss too.”
Though it was still terrifying even after the explanation, Lee Han decided to pretend he understood.
He felt bad watching a respected senior try so hard to explain.
“I understand. Indeed. I’m ashamed of having such prejudice.”
“That’s a relief. Talk to Dirimpa sometime later. Sometimes good gemstones are given away for free.”
“!”
Could Dirimpa be a good person?
Lee Han could not believe it. To think such a person existed in the world.
“Just given away? Even so, why?”
“Well, um, you see.”
Diret hesitated.
Diret could clearly predict how the junior would react if this was said.
“...Dirimpa is very interested in bones and not interested in gemstones, so when gemstones are found underground, sometimes they’re just thrown away because there isn’t enough space. If you’re lucky, you can get them before they’re thrown away...”
‘That one is insane. I should avoid getting involved.’
Lee Han made a cold assessment.
Why was someone who should have been in the enchantment magic school in the dark magic school instead?
***
The commission work was finished.
The dark magic school students checked the reserved amounts and teared up.
“Sob, sob. I can buy a new chimera corpse in the second semester.”
“The second floor of the Dark Tower is leaking water. Shouldn’t we repair that first?”
“...”
Diret felt the heart break at the sight.
‘I’m sorry...!’
While the juniors were living like this, Diret, as a senior, had only been researching personal magic.
Even Professor Verdus would not do that.
“Senior. At Einroguard, everyone takes care of their own business. You’re not thinking something strange like, ‘I’m worse than Professor Verdus,’ are you?”
“...Do you use mind reading?”
Diret was slightly surprised by the junior’s sharp observation.
Come to think of it, wasn’t this junior also the top student in the illusion magic school?
“I’m not at that level yet.”
‘Yet?’
“And from what I heard earlier, when Senior Dirimpa finds gemstones, Dirimpa spits on them and throws them on the ground. Strictly speaking, that makes it Senior Dirimpa’s fault. Hmph.”
“...I never said anything about spitting on them...!”
Diret shuddered at the malicious description.
‘Should I not have told him?’
Given the junior’s personality, a mage who threw away gemstones for lack of space would likely seem more heinous than a magical criminal.
Diret had said it in advance because Lee Han would find out eventually anyway...
“Ah. Senior. What were you talking about?”
Dirimpa happened to come looking for them. Diret sent the junior a look that said, “Don’t say anything unnecessary,” and explained.
“We were talking about the commission.”
“I was asking about curses to defeat an evil magical criminal.”
“...”
Diret looked back with eyes that said, “I just told you not to say anything unnecessary.”
Lee Han felt slightly wronged.
Wasn’t this much necessary?
“I see. But wouldn’t it be difficult to subdue a magical criminal with curses? No, wait. If it’s you, Senior, you must have a method.”
Originally, when dealing with fellow mages, curses were difficult to use as a main offensive method.
Since they were among the easiest attacks to block with magic resistance, there were many countermeasures.
But Dirimpa trusted Diret.
Surely this genius of the dark magic school must have found some secret method to bypass that conventional wisdom.
‘There’s no such thing...’
Diret was flustered.
Diret was not even a battle mage to begin with, so how could such methods have been devised?
The dwarven mage with shoulder-length red bobbed hair looked around slightly.
Dirimpa seemed to have something to say.
“Dirimpa. If you have something to say, go ahead. Ste... Mr. Stedal here is tight-lipped.”
“Yes. Understood. Actually, I heard a story about a demon. Supposedly, there is one demon summoned to the surface without a contract.”
“!”
Not only Diret’s eyes, but even Lee Han’s, lit up.
A demon?
It was easy to forget since they often appeared as worthless slaves at Einroguard or certain family territories, but demons were fundamentally one of the Empire’s greatest threats.
They were beings that crossed over from other dimensions to corrupt and torment the souls of mortals.
No matter how plausible a shell they used, they were ultimately existences close to natural disasters.
Separate from that, however, it was hard for mages to deny the usefulness of demons.
Secrets from other dimensions that had continued since ancient times.
Demons possessed knowledge of countless high magics and mysteries.
And aside from that, demons were excellent summoned creatures as a source of labor. Among the summoned creatures that could be contracted from other dimensions, few races were as capable as demons.
“If it’s a demon...”
“As the Einroguard dark magic school, this is an opportunity we cannot miss. We must capture the demon and put it to work.”
“??”
Dirimpa was flustered by the other person’s rough way of speaking.
Apart from the fierce attitude, just judging from what was being said, he seemed like someone who simply knew a great deal about the dark magic school.
“Are you perhaps a friend of the professor?”
“No. No. Don’t worry about it.”
Diret gave the junior’s heel a light kick with an invisible motion.
Cut it out!
‘Ugh.’
“It is certainly as Nago says. It would be nice to have a useful demon. The demon I summoned last time returned after the contract ended.”
There were two main ways to control demons.
One was to summon them directly from another dimension through a strict magical contract.
Experienced and evil mages could easily trick and exploit demons in this process, but not just anyone could do it.
The other was to subdue and bind demons that had descended to the continent.
Unlike the former method, this one had far fewer restrictions and allowed for more convenient exploitation.
“But if it’s a mid-level demon or lower, it’s not really necessary. They can’t do much...”
“They said it’s higher than that.”
“What?”
Diret’s eyes widened slightly.
The demon this junior was talking about was more powerful than expected.
“If such a demon is wandering around, shouldn’t we report it to the knight order?”
“It’s not exactly wandering around, they said.”
Dirimpa explained the story heard from the noble met in the hall.
“D-dark magic school students. Could I perhaps consult with you about a demon for a moment...?”
“??”
“You see, I... bought an expensive ancient artifact... at a secret auction...”
It was common for demons to hide in ancient artifacts.
There were few prey demons liked more than people blinded by the prospect of striking it rich.
But there was one thing the demon had not anticipated. As time passed, people’s response levels had also improved.
The noble mansions of the Empire were filled with protective magic and barrier spells cast by mages.
Especially nobles who frequently bought ancient artifacts would steadily install anti-demon magic.
That preparation saved the noble. Instead of the demon released from the artifact escaping outside the manor, it became trapped in the mirrors inside the manor.
Though the demon had taken a hit, it did not give up. It continued to appear from mirror to mirror, trying to persuade the target.
“Don’t you want power? Hm?”
“I said I don’t want it! What kind of power would someone working as an Imperial administrator need?”
“Don’t you want authority? Hm?”
“I’m retiring next year!”
“Wealth? Don’t you want to expand this manor dozens of times over? Youth? Revenge? Release me and make a formal contract!”
“Wow. That was handled better than expected...”
Diret was slightly surprised.
Perhaps because the noble worked as an administrator, the response had been more thorough than expected.
Of course, it would have been best not to buy ancient artifacts from suspicious places like secret auctions...
But after that, completely ignoring the demon without saying a word to it was definitely a good response.
“The noble isn’t calling the knight order because this shouldn’t become a big deal.”
Lee Han spoke as if he understood.
Since a demon had been summoned because of an artifact bought from a suspicious place, the noble would not want that to become publicly known.
If trustworthy Einroguard dark mages handled it and even took the demon away, would that not make everyone happy?
The noble would be happy because the worry disappeared, the Einroguard dark magic school students would be happy because they gained a demon, and the demon would be happy because it gained a master...
“Hmm. It would be nice to get a demon. Should we go check it out? Whether it’s a demon we can subdue on our own or not.”
“That would be best, right?”
Dirimpa nodded at the senior’s response.
A demon like that might be more useful than expected. Especially the fact that it had come from an ancient artifact sparked curiosity.
If they were really lucky, they might catch a powerful high-ranking demon!
“That’s probably not the case. If it were such a demon, it likely would have escaped before getting caught in the restrictions.”
“That’s certainly true.”
“...?”
Dirimpa stared intently at the large combat mage.
Huh?
“...Are you perhaps coming with us?”
This was a request received by the Einroguard dark magic school.
Even if Stedal came along, there would be no money to give and no demon to share...
Stedal nodded.
It was not because of money or the demon.
A much purer reason motivated Stedal.
“Yes. A fight with a demon. I absolutely cannot pass this up. I can already feel my blood boiling.”
At the other person’s attitude, which revealed belligerence worthy of the rumors, Dirimpa whispered to Diret in confusion.
“Is this really all right, Senior? You know it’s more dangerous if someone relies only on strength and causes trouble while subduing a demon.”
“...He’s not someone who would act recklessly...”
