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TL/Editor: raei

Proofreader: Pickhead7

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None.

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Ian's plan was simple.

Seeing a gap between Ragnar and the shaman, he intended to exploit it and expand his influence.

After all, the tribe's people didn't know what mystery or magic was.

When Ian spoke, they could only respond with, "Ah, I see~," and move on.

In modern society, where smartphones are widespread and the internet is universal, it's difficult for information to be biased.

But the world has always been a place where information is uneven and biased.

Deceiving people's eyes and ears to turn situations to his advantage—that was the power a wizard possessed.

“I-Ian?!”

Takarian, who had been locked up in the cage, was shocked to see Ian.

The barbarians hadn't locked up Takarian in a beast's cage because they were cruel and brutal.

There simply wasn't any other place to confine him.

The Northerners didn't build prisons and would either exile or execute those who committed crimes.

But even putting aside such trivial facts, Takarian truly looked pitiful and miserable.

Seeing a person locked up in a beast's cage was enough to stir anyone's compassion.

“Hey, Takarian. You're alive.”

“By the heavens! Why, why are you here...?!”

“For now, I've come to rescue you.”

When Ian smiled broadly, Takarian covered his face with his palm, as big as a pot lid, and sobbed.

“Huh, huuhuhuhuhuh!”

Ian chuckled at the sight of Takarian.

Though his face had become gaunt from the hardships, his body was so stout that even in this state, he was still the size of an average person.

But losing weight had indeed made him look different.

“You look good after losing weight.”

Takarian, who had been crying for a long time, spoke in a trembling voice.

“S-So, when can I return to the Empire?”

It was a roundabout way of saying, “Why didn't you come with the key?”

If Ian was going to rescue him, why couldn't he just dramatically appear with the key in hand?

Knowing how desperate and earnest Takarian was, Ian took it easy on him.

“Well, we'll have to see how things go...”

“See how things go...? You mean you can't just get me out of here?!”

“Don't worry. I'll do my best.”

Ian smiled at Takarian.

“But, Takarian, you'll need to put in some effort too.”

“E-Effort...?”

“You're a renowned monk. Honestly, I loved reading the Gospel of Saint Marcus. It's my number one pick in life. Congratulations, Takarian.”

“What are you talking about...?”

Takarian was half-dazed, captivated by Ian's eloquence.

But even if he didn't understand what was happening, it was clear Ian was going to try to help him.

“For now, let's deal with that guy first.”

A man with a menacing aura was approaching.

Ian took a deep breath.

Despite being a wizard by trade, Ian had become adept at incitement, fraud, pyramid schemes, and other minor crimes, and now he had to act like a wizard again.

However, Ian didn't entirely dislike these moments.

If he acted fairly and honestly, would anyone call him a wizard?

A wizard was a changeable and unpredictable being.

At some point, Ian had come to enjoy showing new sides of himself.

It was proof he was becoming a formidable wizard.

“Ragnarrr! What on earth is going on here!!!”

The man shouted at the top of his lungs.

Just by his voice, you'd believe he was once a traditional theater actor.

“Oh, Pyra. You've come?”

Ragnar half-heartedly raised his hand and immediately spoke to Ian.

"That's him, the shaman Pyra."

Ragnar's demeanor suggested he wanted something from Ian.

It wasn't hard to figure out.

The shaman Pyra.

As a shaman, he held a unique position in the tribe, so much so that even the tribe's leaders couldn't punish him easily.

Ragnar couldn't attack Pyra.

But... if it were Ian?

If it were another "shaman" (or not), there would be no issue in pointing out Pyra's incompetence.

Ultimately, Ragnar wanted to use Ian to undermine Pyra's authority.

An opportunity had practically fallen into Ian's lap.

If Pyra fell, Takarian's fate would be entirely in Ian's hands.

“I warned you! That Imperial will bring disaster! We must drive him out immediately!”

“Hmm, you've said that already.”

Ragnar blatantly ignored Pyra's words.

Pyra was dumbfounded.

Was this man, who was supposed to be the next chieftain, really siding with a nobody from outside the tribe over their own shaman?!

In his previous life, Ian had been a typical science student and had the nasty habit of wanting to refute illogical and unscientific facts whenever he saw them.

Ian wasn’t a medical student but one of those math geeks aiming for a degree in mathematics.

Like other science students, he had an obsessive tendency to fixate on the word "scientific."

Ugh... electromagnetic wave-blocking stickers... are useless...

But after becoming a wizard in another world, he had let go of much of that obsession.

The fact that he didn’t argue against the statement that [blood is made in the heart] was proof of that.

“You said eating the heart makes you healthier, right?”

“Correct!”

“Then eating eyes will improve your eyesight?”

“...?”

Pyra's mouth hung open.

Ian's logic was utterly childish!

“If you eat an arm, your arm gets stronger; if you eat a leg, your leg gets stronger...”

“What nonsense are you spouting now?”

Pyra dismissed Ian's logic as nonsense.

Eating eyes will improve eyesight.

This was pseudo-science in Korea too, known through the saying, “Fish eyes are good for eye health~.”

Surprisingly, this originated from traditional Korean medicine, a principle called “like cures like.”

Of course, the Northerners weren't familiar with Eastern medicine, so they approached it from the perspective of souls and mystery.

Scientifically, though, it's baseless nonsense.

No matter how many fish eyes you eat, it won't significantly improve your eyesight.

“You know it well. It's nonsense. Eating a heart makes your body healthier? If that's true, then why do we have hospitals and doctors? If you're sick, just open up the chest of the person next to you and have a piping hot bowl of heart.”

“...”

“In the Empire, we call what you're doing a 'barbarian act.' Recklessly practicing unproven medicine and producing innocent victims!”

Oberon flew and perched on Ian's shoulder.

The Northerners were startled at the sight.

“A raven!”

“It’s Hrundal's messenger!”

Ian didn't know this, but the Northerners considered ravens sacred birds.

Of course, it was just a belief, and they didn't actually have any divine powers. A fact easily proven by Oberon himself.

But ravens are intelligent and useful.

Even more so if they can speak human language.

“Caw! Nonsense! Nonsense!”

When Oberon cried out “nonsense” in human speech, the Northerners were even more startled.

Teaching a raven to speak human words...

This shaman must be skilled indeed!

Ian shouted.

“Look! Even a passing Imperial raven knows this is nonsense!”

“Caw! Nonsense!”

“... If a raven says so...”

“Is it possible that the heart has no effect?”

The Northerners began to take Ian's claims seriously.

At the same time, Pyra was thrown into a panic.

He was a shaman who communed with the mysteries through intuition and suggestion.

In this situation, the appearance of a raven, which symbolized Hrundal, seemed like a warning from the deity to stop fighting and retreat.

‘...No. That can't be right.’

Pyra unconsciously ground his teeth.

There was no way that the northern gods would side with a young Imperial.

Pyra ignored his instincts as a shaman.

He had broken a taboo that those who handle the mysteries must never violate.

The mysteries always send signals to humans.

It's just that humans often fail to recognize them.

“A clueless Imperial dares to lecture me, Pyra, on the rights and wrongs of shamanism?!”

With a thunderous shout, Pyra drew an Arcana card.

It was the [Tower] card.

"Behold! You whelp! Hrundal desires your downfall!"

An indescribable mystery swirled around Pyra.

The Northerners instinctively knelt and looked up in awe as the shaman wielded a magical force.

“Ooooh!”

“Hrundal!”

At that very moment, Ian heard a bizarre and terrifying voice through the swirling mystery.

It was a cacophonous noise like a thousand hammers and anvils clashing.

[Who dares... summon me...?]

‘Damn.’

A drop of blood trickled from Ian's nose.

He didn't know the exact nature of the entity Pyra had summoned with the Arcana card.

But one thing was certain...

It was definitely not a mystery friendly to humans!

“Shaman, send back the mystery you're summoning right now.”

“What?”

Ian wiped the blood from his nose and spoke.

“We can't handle this mystery... Send it back immediately.”