52 – Episode 52
# 52
“Lucky, aren’t we?”
Ian muttered, and Belenka nodded.
Thanks to their perfect coordination, they were able to chase away the enemies without a drop of blood staining their swords.
“Viscount, it’s a gift.”
Belenka handed the captured tomb raider over to Lucy.
It was a kind of gesture of reconciliation.
In the past, Belenka and Lucy had a brief argument. It wasn’t a serious dispute, but it wasn’t something they could just ignore.
However, it was not good for a wandering knight like Belenka to have conflicts with nobles.
No matter how average a noble Lucy was, he was still the landowner. There was no reason for Belenka to growl at him.
Lucy had similar thoughts as Belenka.
“Thank you. I’ll make good use of it.”
Belenka was the one who first extended the gesture of reconciliation. If Lucy didn’t accept it, he would be considered unworthy of being a noble.
There was nothing left for a skilled wandering knight like Belenka after having a falling out.
Lucy was fine, and so was Belenka.
“Ugh…”
He just didn’t like tomb raiders.
According to the laws of the nobility, he had to pay a substantial compensation to Lucy. In fact, he could have executed him without receiving any compensation, but it was more advantageous to spare him and put him to work.
Those who became indebted servants like this had to be treated as the lowest class in the territory and had to do all sorts of dirty work.
Since he was caught stealing from the viscount’s tomb, he would never be able to repay his debt no matter how hard he worked.
“The guy said that other tomb raiders had already entered the cemetery.”
Upon hearing this, the priest bowed his head and spoke.
He was a priest working in the territory, and he had followed along upon hearing the news that Lucy was trying to sell the household property.
If the ghost of the viscount were to appear, he had to calm it down, and he had to witness Lucy’s handling of the property.
“It won’t be easy.”
“What does that mean?”
“The tomb of the Talian Viscount is protected by a barrier set by the Fairy Queen.”
Ian reacted to the sudden appearance of a fantastic word.
“A barrier?”
“Yes, my mage. The treacherous race must have done something… The queen of this race must have used some cunning trick, so it’s clear that ordinary people won’t be able to break through.”
The priest said, bowing his head.
“Unless the Talian Viscount himself is present, the entrance to the mausoleum will not open.”
Upon hearing this, Belenka smirked.
“I heard from the looters that a wizard went down with them. Does that matter?”
“Well… It would depend on the ability of the wizard…”
Among those who went down to the Talian graveyard, there were indeed wizards mixed in.
“What kind of wizard would go grave robbing…”
Ian was astonished, but upon reflection, it wasn’t such a strange situation.
Wizards were seekers of the mysterious.
If they could experience the mystical, they wouldn’t hesitate to do anything.
They were originally reckless individuals, and socially, being reckless was easily accepted, so wizards didn’t have a typical concept.
They moved as they pleased.
“The leader of the grave robbers is said to be someone called the ‘Mud Viscount.'”
“Mud? I’ve never heard of such a territory.”
When Lucy tilted her head, Belenka explained.
“Don’t take it seriously. It’s just a nickname given by thieves.”
The Mud Count.
Because Ophert often engaged in muddy behavior, he frequently ended up covered in mud, and that’s how the nickname stuck.
People who liked to tease him would shout, “The entire mud pit is the territory of the Mud Count!”
Medieval folks, full of empty words.
“But he really claims to be a noble.”
“I didn’t say I was a noble, I said I am a noble. Sir.”
“I never told you to open your mouth.”
Belenka dismissed the grave robber.
No one said anything about her actions, but it was a fresh shock to Ian.
No one even blinked when she openly hit someone like that? Aren’t they pitiful?
Wow… These people are all f*cking T.
… It’s not like that, it was just because they were potential slaves.
What’s wrong with slaves getting whipped? It didn’t bother him.
“No. Go on.”
Belenka wasn’t curious about the Mud Count, but Ian was.
“I’m sorry. S-Sir Ian told me to stop talking…”
“Don’t you have any sense? Speak up.”
Belenka dismissed the grave robber once again. The grave robber had no sense of the inappropriate topic.
“The Mud Marquis…is, they say, an illegitimate child of the Viscount Dufel.”
The tomb raider spoke cautiously, observing the priest’s reaction.
“An illegitimate child?”
Illegitimate children were quite common in the Empire.
Not only in the Empire, but also among almost all the nobles on the continent.
In fact, followers of the Celestial Church could avoid having illegitimate children if they wished. Since the Celestial Church was a religion that originated in ancient times, it had no taboo against polygamy.
However, as time went on, the Celestial Church gradually developed a negative view of polygamy.
There was a highly moral argument that having many concubines would lead to social disorder. But the decisive reason was that having multiple wives would exacerbate the issue of succession among their children due to conflicts.
However, since the roots of the Sacred Empire were in the northern barbarians, there was no one to criticize those who established harems with three or four concubines.
There were people who lamented the fact that the land would be fragmented among the descendants.
Knowing such practical issues, most noble families of the Empire did not take more than one wife, except for the main wife.
Many women who were impregnated by dissolute nobles hoped to become their second or third wife…
But what was the reality? Yes, an illegitimate child.
The child called the Mud Marquis was probably born under such circumstances.
“Belanka, that guy called the Mud Marquis. Even so, he’s a noble, so wouldn’t he be useful if we capture him?”
In response to Ian’s question, Belanka shook her head.
“No chance. I don’t know who this Viscount Dufel is, but I doubt the illegitimate child is a lord worth catching. Isn’t it obvious just by seeing him wandering around other people’s tombs?”
“Well, yeah.”
Ian understood what Belanka meant.
An illegitimate child is a discarded child.
In some cases, there are nobles who secretly cherish and take care of illegitimate children as if they were their own. But that was definitely not the case for Lord Jinhuk.
You could say he just presented his child as is.
If the author, Duyup Bakjang, had raised Lord Jinhuk, he wouldn’t have raised him as a grave robber.
“But I don’t like the sight of nobles gathering people with their appearances.”
Belanka was more bothered by the magician that the Lord had summoned than the Lord himself.
A magician is an unpredictable being.
Just because someone came to plunder someone else’s grave, it didn’t mean they were necessarily weak. Who would know if an unbelievably powerful magician came to plunder graves just for fun?
Ian also agreed with Belanka’s thoughts.
“Let’s go down as carefully as possible.”
I have never fought a magician before.
But if the situation worsens, I will have to engage in battle with the magician.
Ian gathered his thoughts and stepped forward.
#
Magician Inrian is a magician who graduated from the Imperial Magic University.
No, he is not just a graduate of the Magic University, but a well-known magician who holds a professorship at the Magic University.
For the past few years, he has been teaching his disciples at the Dranheim Magic University.
But suddenly, the time of enlightenment came to him.
“Oh! I want to learn magic!”
Every magician is an explorer of mysteries. Inrian himself was no exception.
You may have noticed, but magicians of this era are not like the monks who are holed up in their rooms reading books.
Facing mystery directly on the scene, communicating with them, and glimpsing a world beyond cognition!
Real magic comes from experience.
To experience more mystery, a magician jumps in without hesitation.
Ingrian wanted to do the same.
“Ahem. I’m thinking of leaving university too…”
“No, Professor! Where do you plan on going?”
When they heard that Ingrian was going on a journey, all the assistant teachers grabbed onto his coattails.
“If you leave, who are we supposed to learn magic from?”
Ingrian was tired of the petty reactions of those around him.
No, he should have said he was tired of their selfish reactions.
“You all learn magic from me! Then where do you think I learned magic?”
“If you’re at the level of a professor, you don’t need to learn more magic…”
“What?! Are you telling me to stop learning right now?”
Although he hadn’t learned martial arts, Ingrian, being an old man who had experienced countless battles, knew how to scold, a special skill of the elderly.
A great magician can’t distinguish themselves from a master of the martial arts world.
“Just let it go.”
“But…”
“You need money for a journey, don’t you? You’ll have to dip into the university funds and come back later to give lectures.”
“…!”
That’s right.
The reason Ingrian was clinging to a university lecture he didn’t want to do was because of the research grant that came out of the university.
Ingrian had no interest in teaching others and disliked sticking to one place, but it was just the grant. He had to teach a lecture that felt like counseling while carrying the title of a university professor just because of that.
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By the way, Ingrian’s lecture was so miserable that it would be better to count its popularity from the back. It was because he couldn’t teach well. Considering that a professor is a research position, not an instructor, it couldn’t be helped.
“Anyway, college students these days are so tiresome! Professors talk nonsense about topics they don’t even study, and they spend expensive tuition fees to drink alcohol during the day and fight with citizens!”
Ingrian, who had also suffered from college students, inwardly cursed them.
Ah! How corrupted the young people are! It wasn’t like this about ten years ago!
Isn’t the empire going to collapse in a hundred years anyway?
Anyway, Ingrian, who succeeded in escaping from the imperial university, embarked on a blind journey to find the mystery, just like any other magician.
One day, an opportunity came to Ingrian.
Like the beginning of a clichéd fantasy novel, Ingrian, who was having a beer at a bar, heard the sound of drunks talking.
“The Mud Count is going to do something again?”
“Where is it this time?”
“They say it’s Talian Marchioness. Probably aiming for the treasure left by Talian Marchioness.”
Ingrian didn’t know, but the story of Talian Marchioness’s treasure was quite famous in this area.
Curious, Ingrian did some more research on the Marchioness’s treasure.
The magical sword left by the Marchioness, who was said to have been in a relationship with the Fairy Queen…
“Oh.”
This was… a very intriguing story. Enough to make even an old man react.
The magical sword that the Fairy Queen gave as a gift! Ingrian really wanted to see it!
Ingrian immediately went to find the person called the Mud Count. As the owner of a decent personality, he liked the attitude of knowing and serving magicians.
And so, a professor from the Imperial University followed the tomb raider to someone else’s graveyard.
If you think it sounds absurd, look up and gaze at the Hollywood Theater.
There, you will see a archaeologist wearing an explorer’s hat and holding a whip, with a bright mischievous smile on their face.
Yes.
Ingrid was… the unlucky Indiana Jones…!
Even though they were robbing someone else’s tomb, it was for academic purposes, so it was okay! (Or not)
“This is… quite something.”
For several days now, Ingrid had been engrossed in their research, smelling the musty scent of the burning torches in the dusty pit of the underground graveyard.
To make it sound more impressive, let’s just say they were fervently engaged in tomb raiding.
Ingrid’s tomb raiding was blocked by a dead end.
And it wasn’t a metaphorical expression, but a physical wall.
It was because of the wall built by the Fairy Queen.
The thick wall, so thick that one couldn’t even guess how thick it was, radiated an overwhelming presence as it shattered all the various hole-digging tools boasted by the Mud Count.
The Mud Count had already given up and started looking for a detour…
But Ingrid’s thoughts were different.
They believed that this wall was a kind of magical door, a structure that would open in response to a magical spell.
“It’s not the mystery of the earth… or the mystery of the wind…”
Ingrid tried to open the door by using every spell they knew, but frustratingly, nothing worked.
Every attempt was blocked, but their pride as a magician wouldn’t allow them to say, “I don’t know anymore.”
And so, for several days now, Ingrid had been eating and sleeping inside someone else’s tomb, repeating the cycle.
“…!”
Inrian detected a strong signal.
Startled, Inrian ran towards the Mud Marquis.
“Marquis! Marquis!”
“Oh! Sir! Have you finally succeeded?”
The Marquis, who was enjoying a late-night snack, interpreted Inrian’s excitement as a positive sign.
After all the effort and hard work from that old man, they have finally managed to open the door!
But then, unexpected words came out of Inrian’s mouth.
“No! We haven’t opened the door yet! But that’s not important!”
“What could be more important than the door…”
“There’s an intruder! We have an intruder!”
Ah, they’re introducing themselves.
The Mud Marquis almost said that neither Inrian nor himself were intruders, but he erased the thought.
The situation is more serious than he thought.
Someone has come to this hidden cemetery in the rugged wilderness. They are not the local residents who eat and hike.
They must have come with a definite purpose…
No, there are so many subordinates stationed outside?
They’re coming down, breaking through all those subordinates?
“…This doesn’t make sense.”
“What do you mean it doesn’t make sense!”
“No matter how much I think about it, there shouldn’t be any army coming. Talian is currently ownerless, and it doesn’t seem like any other nobles have sent plunderers.”
Lord Mud couldn’t guess the identity of the “intruder” no matter how much he thought about it.
“Is that really important right now?”
Unlike Lord Mud, who maintained a calm demeanor, Inrian was restless.
What’s the point of trying to figure out the enemy’s identity when our lives are hanging by a thread?
Even if we guess it right, will they spare us as a reward?
“This is not the time for that!”
Inrian shouted.
“Lord Mud! I’ll prepare the magic, so you get ready to fight!”
“Understood. Let’s first hold them off and think.”
Thinking that it was a good idea to have set up a preemptive strike prevention magic, Inrian prepared to face the intruders.
However, Inrian soon realized a fatal fact.
Just as he had detected the presence of enemies in advance with his preemptive strike prevention magic…
The enemies also saw Inrian’s magic and were aware that they had been discovered.
“…What is this?”
Inrian’s familiar, a beetle, was eaten by a crow.
Inrian had a hunch.
That crow was not just a simple pet, but a servant of a magician.
And what it meant was simple.
In addition to having to deal with an unknown number of enemies, they also had to defeat a magician.
Inrian was tense, almost on edge, after a long time.
It was a confrontation between wizards.