Chapter 139

Chapter 139

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None

Join the discord! Here

Accidents are called accidents because they happen unexpectedly.

Neither Walter nor Ian imagined they would encounter a hostile wizard in such a manner.

After all, Walter was just collecting amber, and Ian was merely passing by.

If Ian had been an ordinary noble or a common priest, nothing would have happened.

They wouldn’t have obtained any information from seeing Walter.

Walter was the kind of guy who, if labeled a ‘wicked wizard’ by the Empire’s people, wouldn’t feel any injustice; he was genuinely evil.

But do bad guys walk around with ‘I’m a villain’ written on their foreheads?

Walter, being of noble birth, had a neat appearance.

If you didn’t know he practiced demon magic, most would just exchange pleasantries and part peacefully.

But Ian was different.

With his keen wizard senses, he detected the malevolent aura surrounding Walter.

Walter immediately noticed Ian’s suspicious gaze.

And he attacked without hesitation.

Naturally, it was to kill Ian and keep him silent.

For Walter, killing was a routine matter, so he felt no guilt.

“Heh... Ice magic, huh? Interesting choice.”

Walter openly mocked Ian.

In the Empire, ice wizards were treated like circus performers.

Wow! Look over there! It’s a ice wizard!

In summer, they’re useless; in winter, they’re the ones freezing ice on the streets!

But what do they do with ice in winter? (Seriously, no one knows.)

Even when treated like this, ice wizards couldn’t say a word in their defense.

They were just considered unfortunate souls who made a brief mistake in life...

While Walter belittled Ian, Ian looked at Walter with contempt.

“That monster... Did you create it with transmutation?”

“Oh ho. You know your stuff?”

For a rookie wizard, Ian had a good eye.

Walter slightly raised his evaluation of Ian.

Conversely, Ian thought of Walter as an even more dreadful wizard.

Transmutation.

Literally, magic that alters and distorts forms.

It’s extremely dangerous and requires exceptional knowledge to handle.

But Walter had mastered transmutation.

How did he learn it?

A great mentor? Insights from the ever-changing forms of nature?

Neither.

That bastard was a demon wizard who must have harmed countless people.

So the answer was simple.

Human experimentation.

The experience required to create a chimera through transmutation must have all come from live humans.

“Heh heh. I don’t know where you’ve come from, but give up on leaving here alive!”

Walter shouted, waving his hand.

“Crossbows! Fire the crossbows!”

“...”

Ian, tense, prepared a defensive spell immediately.

But Belenka quickly whispered.

“They won’t be able to fire.”

“... Why?”

“Because it’s raining.”

Belenka’s judgment was precise.

The Empire's crossbows often used glue made from fish, which dissolved in rain or heat.

A slight mishap could just snap the bowstring.

Indeed, the mercenaries couldn’t fire their crossbows.

Walter shouted in frustration.

“Can’t you hear my orders?! You idiots!!!”

“But, wizard! The weather...!”

‘He doesn’t seem to care about his subordinates.’

Ian sharply observed Walter and the mercenaries.

The mercenaries didn’t appear particularly loyal to Walter. Their relationship seemed contractual, or even less than that.

Ian decided to sow discord between Walter and the mercenaries.

“Who dares to cooperate with an evil demon wizard?!”

As Ian leveled up as a wizard, his voice projection had definitely improved.

It might seem funny, but wizards here thrived on their ability to speak forcefully...

Walter couldn’t finish his demon summoning.

Ian’s magic had completed and flown too swiftly and perfectly.

Boom!

“A-Aaaaah...!”

With a blinding flash of flame, Walter’s body ignited like a torch.

For a few seconds, Walter writhed as a living flame.

His scream lasted only a moment.

The fierce flames quickly incinerated his lungs and muscles.

“Wow...”

“What... is that...”

A man burned to death before their eyes.

None of the mercenaries could speak, staring at Walter’s charred corpse.

A person burned to death in the pouring rain...

Gulp.

Someone swallowed dryly.

So this is... the magic they had only heard of!

‘I’d better be damn careful...!’

The sensible mercenaries vowed never to approach Ian.

They didn’t want to mess with someone who could freeze monsters with his bare hands and throw spears of flame!

The sensible ones, that is.

But among them...

There were also not-so-sensible mercenaries.

“W-Wizard!”

‘Oh, sh*t.’

‘I’m screwed...!’

The leader of the Jubal mercenary band, Jubal.

Traits: Became mentally impaired after a childhood fever.

“You, what have you done to our wizard?!”

Jubal stammered, rushing toward Ian.

The other mercenaries nearly lost their minds...

Ian spoke in a low voice.

“Are you a demon worshiper?”

Ian was merely weary, but his cold, steely gaze made the mercenaries tremble with fear.

They felt another person might burn to death!

The atmosphere was tense, but Jubal, being simple-minded, didn’t notice.

He shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“Demon worship...? I don’t know about that... But you shouldn’t kill our wizard...”

“What do you mean by ‘shouldn’t kill’?”

Jubal started to sniffle, his nose running.

Seeing a man nearly two meters tall crying made Ian feel awkward too.

Wait, why is he crying?

“Excuse me...”

One of the mercenaries approached and spoke.

“Our leader... well, he’s not all there.”

“Did he fall from an apple tree as a child?”

“What? No. He got sick, and that’s how he ended up.”

Ian nodded.

Many modern people forget, but childhood illnesses were very common before modern medicine.

Diseases that could be cured with common antibiotics or antipyretics often resulted in permanent disabilities.

Ian looked up at Jubal for a moment.

Given his large frame, if his mind had been intact, he might have been a renowned warrior.

“Even so, he’s the leader?”

The mercenary answered with a grin.

“Well, if you’re strong, you’re the boss.”

“...”

Hmm. Strangely, that’s hard to argue with...

"Actually, we’re quite uneasy ourselves."

The mercenary spoke submissively.

Commoners had no choice but to be deferential when dealing with a wizard.

Ian briefly thought of the Rabbit Foot Company people he had traveled with before.

Having dealt mostly with nobility, the reactions of commoners felt strangely unfamiliar to him now.

“What makes you uneasy?”

“That wicked wizard showed us a demon. He said, ‘Your souls are in my hands, so if you try anything funny, you’ll fall into hell.’”

“Hmm...?”

Ian now understood why the giant was crying.

He's worried about going to hell...?