Chapter 142

Chapter 142

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None

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The poor Jubal mercenary band was scammed by Walter, the demon wizard.

Wizard Ian immediately understood Walter's method of deception.

After all, Ian was a fellow practitioner in this industry.

Well, it was inevitable.

How could uneducated mercenaries who had never set foot in a school escape the deliberate illusions of a determined wizard?

Especially since Walter was a genuine demon wizard who communed with demons.

From the mercenaries' perspective, it was impossible to distinguish where the deception ended.

Fortunately, this logic applied equally to Ian.

Just as the mercenaries failed to notice Walter's scam...

They would be equally oblivious to Ian's deception!

After the rain stopped.

Evening.

Ian had boxes gathered to form a platform, then climbed atop it and shouted:

"Mercenaries, listen up!"

Every single member of the Jubal mercenary band assembled before Ian.

They had heard he would restore their lost souls.

"After surveying this area today, I've detected evil energies lurking everywhere!"

"Ooooh...!"

"As expected of the wizard!"

"No wonder my sleep was so restless!"

The mercenaries were instantly captivated by Ian's speech.

Ian Eredith Raven.

Now a professional agitator, this wizard had become adept at mesmerizing the masses with his speeches.

Enthralling these naive mercenaries was now as easy as eating cold porridge.

"He certainly has a way with words."

Belenka and Kira watched Ian's speech from behind the platform.

Belenka praised Ian's ever-improving oratory skills.

A wizard needs precise pronunciation and a powerful voice, as the language of magic forms the basis of communication with the mystical.

And with good pronunciation and impressive volume, one naturally becomes persuasive even when addressing ordinary people.

"He looks really cool like that."

The problem is when he spouts nonsense in everyday life.

Even to Belenka, Ian delivering a speech... no, performing wizard-actions on the platform was quite charming.

"... Ian does look good."

Belenka glanced at Kira's reddened ears.

"Kira. Did something happen in the tent earlier..."

"N-No!? Nothing happened! We just did some investigating and came out?!"

"...?"

Belenka tilted her head.

Though she typically went around slicing people with her longsword, Belenka possessed the delicate sensibilities of a high school girl.

Something seems... a bit suspicious?

Belenka thought so but didn't press the issue.

Ian and Kira were wizards, often dealing with realms beyond her understanding.

There must be some reason she's unaware of.

As the two chatted, Ian shouted with an even more impassioned voice.

"I have discovered the evil demon that was roaming this area! And now! I shall vanquish that demon!"

"Ooooooh!"

The mercenaries gazed at Ian with eyes about to burst from anticipation.

To them, Ian was truly an extraordinary wizard.

A wizard who incinerated a demon wizard with a spear of flame on a rainy day!

A wizard who could casually burn people alive now declared he would strike down a demon!

'Perhaps...!'

'He'll restore our souls!'

For the mercenaries who had (supposedly) lost their souls to the wicked demon wizard, Ian was now their only hope.

"This task is extremely dangerous. However..."

"However?"

"If you sincerely wish for it, we can reclaim your souls from the evil demon!"

At Ian's gesture, Jubal brought over a box.

Inside were Walter the demon wizard's personal effects.

Items Ian had pre-sorted, all suspected of demonic contamination.

Leaving such things around risked enthralling magically sensitive individuals like Kira.

"Light the fire!"

"Yes sir!"

Jubal grasped a torch. Burning a demon wizard's possessions was a terrifying act for medieval people.

Even in modern times, if you asked, "Who wants to burn a shaman's belongings?", some would slink away.

Let alone burning the possessions of a wizard who dealt with real demons!

But Jubal bravely took up the torch.

Because Ian had reassured him beforehand that it would be fine.

Jubal trusted the young wizard's words like a fool.

The mercenaries shuddered at Ian's arcane incantation.

As Ian chanted the spell, the demon's massive body began to melt away and disappear!

"The, the wizard...!"

"Defeated the demon!"

The mercenaries couldn't believe what had transpired before their eyes.

'When the wizard shouted, the hidden demon jumped out!'

'When he scolded the demon harshly, it threw a tantrum!'

'But the wizard didn't back down, and chased it back to the depths of hell!'

Some mercenaries fell to their knees.

It was as if a halo shone behind Ian's head.

"Aah...! Heavens! How regrettable that it's night!"

"The radiant sun should have witnessed this sight!"

Ian put away his staff and said solemnly.

"Fortunately, the demon retreated obediently."

"...!"

The mercenaries rushed to prostrate themselves at Ian's feet.

Full body kowtow. Or dogeza.

There was no particular need to bang their heads, but the atmosphere seemed to demand it.

After all, Ian now embodied a saint straight out of scripture...!

"I have reclaimed your souls."

Ian said with a knowing smile.

"You'll be fine now."

"Wi-Wizard, hurrah! Hurrah!"

The mercenaries were completely enthralled by Ian's performance.

No wonder! After demonstrating his insane ability to burn people alive!

He even drove away a demon with mere words!

"Thank you... truly thank you...!"

Jubal, having regained his soul, repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Ian.

Of course, he didn't know exactly what a 'soul' was...

But he felt good about getting it back anyway!

The only person uncomfortable with this atmosphere was Kira.

"Um, Ian."

Kira secretly called Ian over to ask a question.

"From what I saw... you just summoned darkness and made it disappear..."

"Hm?"

"Those people. Did you really return their souls?"

"No?"

For a moment, Kira almost felt disappointed in Ian.

She thought he might be scamming them by claiming to have driven out a demon without actually returning their souls.

"They never lost their souls in the first place. How could I return them?"

"...?"

"The demon wizard scammed them first."

Ian explained.

The demon wizard had deceived and threatened the mercenaries, and Ian had similarly deceived (...) them to relieve their anxiety.

After hearing the explanation, Kira's expression became extremely ambiguous.

What Ian did was good, but...

'Isn't this just like what I used to do...?'

The former con artist tilted her head.

Ian said shamelessly:

"As long as the result is good, it's fine."

It wasn't exactly wrong.

---

---

The next day.

As the sun rose high, the mercenaries' morale rose with it.

Being somewhat followers of Heaven's Faith, they became unnecessarily brave under the sun.

"I, I have soul. Not going to hell..."

Jubal grinned as soon as he saw Ian and said.

Ian patted Jubal's shoulder without much thought.

Yeah. I'm glad to see you're happy.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Ian had completely taken over the Jubal mercenary band.

The key figures who previously led the mercenary band had all been eliminated by Walter the demon wizard.

All that remained were Jubal and the low-ranking members who worked like dogs under him.

"Hehe. Wizard..."

Some of the more influential mercenaries sought out Ian from early morning.

"About those gems the demon wizard was mining..."

"Ah. The gems."

The reason the mercenaries approached Ian was to search for the dead demon wizard's legacy.

"We roughly know the way... would you like to go together?"

It was an offer with absolutely no downsides for Ian.

"Hmm. Someone explain in detail."