Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1127

He was, without a doubt, a spirit extortionist.

Taking things from normal spirits was already impressive. But taking things from a spirit like General Hwacheon was even more amazing.

“What is it?”

Lee Han asked the hamster, his voice a little uneasy.

The hamster’s gaze made Lee Han uncomfortable.

“Ah, no. I was just admiring how great you are,” the hamster said.

“Hmm…”

The hamster was sweating nervously.

He had been so impressed by Lee Han’s skill in taking things from spirits that he forgot himself, but Lee Han’s senses were getting sharper all the time.

‘How can he improve so fast?’

Luckily, Lee Han seemed more interested in his deal with General Hwacheon and didn’t suspect him further.

“So, he’s leaving? When is he leaving?”

It couldn’t be that simple.

General Hwacheon spoke as if Lee Han’s words were nonsense.

Once a dimension stretched across a continent, its owner usually didn’t leave willingly.

It was like the students at Einroguard.

If a warehouse of unknown origin suddenly appeared in your room, would you try to find its owner?

They remembered how much trouble it was to deal with the Frost Giant dimension that had invaded the school before. It took a lot of convincing to get rid of it.

Their condition was revenge.

“Revenge?”

Lee Han and the hamster were confused by this strange condition.

“Yes, revenge. The foul-smelling ones attacked their people,” he said.

Lee Han understood right away.

When dimensions overlapped, it meant you could cross from one side to the other.

Someone nearby must have crossed over to the other dimension and attacked.

‘…Ack, I hope it’s not Professor Baegreg.’

Lee Han suddenly felt worried.

Even though they hadn’t been in the village long, he wondered if Professor Baegreg had already tried to solve the problem by attacking.

“Foul-smelling? Are you talking about the evil god worshippers?” the hamster asked.

“Probably?”

The hamster understood General Hwacheon’s meaning easily. He knew that beings from other dimensions didn’t like evil god worshippers.

Feeling awkward, Lee Han nodded.

“Indeed. It could only be the evil god worshippers.”

-?

The hamster was confused. Why was Lee Han saying things that seemed to have nothing to do with the conversation?

“…Wait, there were evil god worshippers around here?”

Lee Han realized with surprise.

Of course, the Empire was huge, and with the heatwave in the west, it would be strange if there were no evil god worshippers.

But he had been in so many incidents lately that he was nervous just hearing the name.

Could they be hiding, waiting to attack Lee Han?

“Evil god worshippers always show up when things like this happen, so it’s not surprising,” the hamster said casually.

Confused people, unstable dimensions—evil god worshippers loved these things.

‘I didn’t want to get involved.’

He was already getting unwanted attention from the other side.

Lee Han decided to report it quickly instead of getting involved himself.

“Hehe. Wizard… you have to admit I helped a lot, right?”

General Hwacheon asked hopefully.

Even if the wizard was rude, he couldn’t ignore a spirit who offered his treasure for a deal.

If he had any conscience…

“…Alright. I admit it…”

“Lord Wodanaz?”

“!”

As soon as he heard Nigisor’s voice behind him, Lee Han quickly ended the connection with General Hwacheon and sent him back to the spirit realm.

He thought he heard faint curses, but Lee Han didn’t care.

“Who were you talking to?”

“Ah… just this hamster.”

“……”

“No, I mean the *magic* hamster! Wait, say something.”

Lee Han shook him, but the hamster stubbornly refused. It was the last bit of pride he had left. Lee Han tried to shake him harder but gave up.

“What is it?”

“Um… I wanted to say sorry for doubting you, Lord Wodanaz,” Nigisor said, watching Lee Han carefully.

He felt guilty for not trusting his friend, especially after all the help Lee Han had given him.

He should have believed him, no matter how strange it sounded.

Looking behind him, Siana was also watching them carefully. Lee Han waved to show it was okay.

“I’m not angry at all, so don’t worry. It was a strange story anyway.”

“…Behind you! Behind you!!”

“I just hope you’re not playing some childish prank.”

Siana stamped her feet, annoyed at her friend’s reaction.

She never thought their friendship would be tested like this.

Tizilling, who arrived late, screamed in surprise.

“Look behind you!”

“?”

Lee Han turned around quickly. The dead end wall was rippling, like water disturbed by a stone. Colors swirled within it – blues, greens, and purples – like paint mixing together. A strange, cold air drifted from the changing space.

A group of people walked out from there. They wore clothes that didn’t match at all.

“……”

“……”

Vampire Juzen’s greatest pride was his family, which had a long history in the western part of the Empire.

Among the races of the Empire, vampire families often had long histories because they were very exclusive and stayed together.

However, most of the old vampire families in the west were gone.

A disaster in the past had destroyed many families, and their members had scattered.

From then on, Juzen only had his second greatest pride: his belief that he faithfully served the fair Regent.

“Sanguiros is…”

“Watch your mouth, you wretch.”

Juzen glared at the crazy man from the Cult of Ksaksarigol next to him.

These guys were sloppy madmen, and they were extremely rude.

Even if they didn’t respect him, who came from a Duke’s family, how dare they say Sanguiros’s name so carelessly?

But this crazy prophet didn’t care about Juzen’s threat and replied.

“I apologize. Does the fair Regent want a heart here in the land of the fire giants?”

“!”

Juzen’s expression changed.

As expected, these madmen of Ksaksarigol were dangerous, even if they were fellow evil god worshippers.

Those with great precognitive abilities were this troublesome.

To think they already knew Juzen’s purpose.

The Cult of Sanguiros had suffered a lot of damage in the past. Not only the cult but also Sanguiros himself had been hurt badly.

They needed to rebuild the cult and get more followers, and they also had to offer sacrifices to the god. One of the best sacrifices was strong races from other dimensions.

Collecting the hearts of fire giants would be a good sacrifice.

“…Yes. That’s right.”

The mercenaries Juzen had brought chuckled as they collected loot from the fire giants’ bodies.

Since Juzen only wanted the hearts, he was giving the rest to the mercenaries. They were lowly, but they were useful as shields.

“Then we should leave. The fire giants are angry.”

“……”

Juzen was lost in thought.

It was annoying to be given orders, but it made sense. They had caught a lot of fire giants, so it was likely they were angry.

They had been making a good profit by taking advantage of the heatwave in the west and the unstable rifts, so it might be time to leave.

If the fire giants were angry and attacked, that would be good in a way. The Empire would have to deal with the damage.

“Fair Regent! I offer this sacrifice, so please look kindly upon your followers!”

Juzen raised the fire giant’s heart, dripping with blood and fire.

Then, Sanguiros swallowed the sacrifice and gave power in return.

It was a dimensional gate that even the giants couldn’t track.

The mercenaries flinched, scared by the strange sight.

Many of the mercenaries were with the evil god worshippers for money, but only a few truly believed in the evil god. It wasn’t easy to believe in an evil god unless you were born twisted.

“Let’s go!”

Juzen, the prophet, and the mercenaries slowly walked out.

And they met the wizards they had never seen before.

“……”

“……”

Cold sweat ran down Juzen’s back. The mercenaries looked terrified.

Killing a few wizards was nothing, but those wizards couldn’t have come alone to such a small village.

There were probably other wizards, knights, or priests nearby.

“I… I thought I was going to die!”

One of the mercenaries shouted.

“I thought we were going to become dimensional wanderers!”

“Y-Yeah. Where are we?”

‘Impressive.’

Juzen was slightly impressed.

The commoners were talented. The mercenaries were good at making up excuses.

While traveling through the Empire, it was common to be caught in rifts and become a dimensional wanderer. This was especially true in areas where the gaps between dimensions were narrow, like now.

Most could return, but some wandered forever.

The mercenaries were pretending to have narrowly escaped death so they wouldn’t be questioned.

“This is the village of Frez.”

“Frez Village! That’s in the western part of the Empire, right?! Thank goodness. We’re alive!”

-…Suspicious…

The hamster squeaked, only Lee Han could hear.

The mercenaries were acting too much.

But what was it?

Mercenaries usually did suspicious things while taking on jobs, so it could be something small.

Like raising the price or stealing things…

“M-M-M-M-M-M-Monster.”

“?????”

Suddenly, the prophet repeated ‘monster’ like a broken record, startling the mercenaries and Juzen.

“W-Why, what’s wrong, Wizard!”

“MeetingmonstersisbadMeetingmonstersisbad…”

“There are no giants! You must be like this because of the giants. This is terrible.”

The mercenaries thought the prophet was shocked because of the giants. It was hard to think of any other reason.

“……”

Lee Han thought quietly. Then, where the others couldn’t see, he took out the crystal spinning top, added mana, and cast a divination.

The top stopped right away. It was a warning of danger.

-Damn it. I don’t know if they’re evil god worshippers or just mercenaries with nasty tempers.

The hamster said, frowning.

He had seen Lee Han’s divination, but it didn’t give him the answer. Mercenaries were dangerous enough.

Considering the situation, they were probably evil god worshippers, but if he was wrong…

Whoosh!

A curtain of fire spread in the air. With Nigisor’s help, Lee Han waved his staff and fired a barrage of water bullets.

Juzen and the Ksaksarigol evil god worshipper were caught by surprise and suffered injuries.

“It’s an ambush! Damn it, we’ve been found out!”

“This is why I said not to work with crazy bastards!”

‘They’re definitely evil god worshippers!’

The hamster was sure because of the mercenaries’ words. Crazy bastards was a term usually used for evil god worshippers.

-How did you figure it out?!

“Rend, Perkuntras…”

-…You don’t mean…

This guy just attacked them whether they were mercenaries or evil god worshippers?!