13. Vampiric Iron and Relial who doesn’t know how to give up (1)
Gustel, a small town located not far from Innocence Academy.
If you go deeper into the forest where there are fewer people than Gustel, which is not so peaceful and not many people come and go, you will find a small house left alone.
Suspiciously enough, so many people came and went frequently that this small house looked too cramped for them to be living together.
From the outside, it was just a small cabin, but when you open the door and go down the stairs to the basement, a fishy smell and a long passage leading somewhere come out.
A bleak wind always lingered in the dark passageway.
If you lean on a torch and look towards the end of the darkness, a bright light will come in at some point.
At the end of the passage was a huge cave that could be called a hideout for criminals.
This cave was the hiding place of ‘Michels bandits’.
In this hideout where criminals, or thieves, gathered, there was one room that could be described as the most luxurious.
Inside the room, a man was sitting with his chin resting on a chair that was quite old-fashioned for a thief.
It was Michels, the leader of the Michels bandits.
He had a secret.
His real name is not actually Michels.
His true identity was Lelial, a blood mage who, for some reason, was now active under the name of Michels.
‘The time was ripe. Why?’
Lelial was in a strange mood today.
As he intended, the preparation was perfect.
It was a thorough plan that lasted for five years.
Five years ago, he cut off his long hair and started growing a wild beard.
Having completed his disguise with scars like burns in several places, he naturally infiltrated among the menacing thieves.
And it took less than two years for him to become a leader after being recognized by the thieves.
It took three years to build a solid trust with them.
It was not an easy task to win infinite trust from the thieves who betrayed every day.
This secret hiding place was also devised by him in the process.
And a while ago, finally, the most important material in his plan, a metal with a special property of holding blood.
He was about to rescue ‘Vampiric Iron’ with his subordinates.
Thanks to Lelial’s ability to reduce the size of the thieves, several of his subordinates were sacrificed in the process of stealing, but so far it was okay.
It was because vampiric iron was more valuable to him than the cost of the lives of several of his subordinates.
For Michels, who was already making a name for himself among thieves, finding thieves who would easily follow him was as easy as eating porridge.
Now it was only necessary to fill in the number of vicious thieves again and gain their trust.
The process will take several more months, but so far it has gone smoothly.
The last step of the plan was to gather all the subordinates who believed in him in one place and perform a ceremony.
All of this was the process he made to create ‘the wrath of the wicked’.
The vengeance of the wicked.
This is the name of the ‘bloodstone’ he wanted to create.
Bloodstone is completed only when the blood of 20 vicious and cunning people who fully trust themselves is slowly fed to the Vampiric Iron.
The power of blood magic could be greatly amplified even if the finished bloodstone was ground into powder and poured into the mouth a little bit.
Since it wasn’t even bloodstone made by several blood mages, he was able to monopolize all of the bloodstone.
This blood stone, which was made through various and inhuman ways, was an indispensable elixir for blood wizards who dealt with blood.
Among many magics, Lelial was born with a talent for cursed blood magic, but his only talent was pathetic compared to the others.
Because he could only use ‘Blood Strength’, a continuous blood magic that has the effect of simply strengthening muscles.
However, the recipe for ‘The Resentment of the Wicked’ that Lelial had found in an old temple by accident one day was like a ray of light that fell upon him.
‘It took at least five years.’
Thanks to Blood Strength, he was able to show off his mighty power among thieves who had no talent except for the evil mindset.
However, all he wanted was not to become king among these stupid thieves.
Lelial had lived her entire life in a low position, so the psychology of compensation for him was strong.
He was looking much higher.
He wanted a dragon’s head, not a snake’s head.
‘If only there was a bloodstone…’
As long as he ate only bloodstone, Relial’s reign in a high place with only one blood magic wasn’t such a dream for Lelial.
Lelial, an ordinary blood mage who had lived his life listening to the story of a legendary blood mage who had the power to shake the heavens and earth after eating a single powerful blood stone, had such a romance.
‘But why… do I keep getting bad feelings…?’
All in all, because one of the rats he hates the most is crawling on the floor of his room?
Because the owl brought in to catch the mouse isn’t doing its job?
If not, where did the men who went out on patrol goofing around, and they didn’t come back even though it was time to return?
“Whoa…”
Lelial’s thoughts became a bit complicated as she was getting irritated for various reasons, but she just hoped that this was her anxiety.
All human beings become more and more anxious as the long-awaited dream comes true.
It’s enough to make your dream come true
Let’s not be anxious.
Let’s not be in a hurry at times like this.
Lelial was sitting in a chair, watching her owl while repeating those thoughts.
His owl, in a corner of the lair, was only looking for a chance to snatch the mouse with its sharp claws.
It was then.
The owl, feeling the presence approaching the door of the room, stops concentrating and flies somewhere in the room.
“Damn it. I thought I’d catch it now…”
Lelial felt that there was nothing going on today.
He got annoyed at Mont when he returned from patrol.
“Hey! Mont! Why did you come back so late? Did you go down to the village and meet a girl… I’m not sure. There’s no way a girl would get kicked out of her own feet if it wasn’t for your face being kidnapped.”
Although Lelial was annoyed, he made a trivial joke to Mont.
It was easy to get stabbed while sleeping on the floor like a boss who pours out only irritation and anger at his subordinates every day.
Huigos of the Huigos Bandits was just such a guy before the name of the current bandits became Michels Bandits.
“…”
But despite Lelial’s joke, Mont did not respond.
“Hey. Mont.”
Lelial finally sensed something strange and stood up from her seat.
His subordinates were not so disloyal as to say no to him.
Even though they had a bad temper, they were the ones who showed their trust in Lelial through years of hard work.
ㅡ Kiki profit.
Soon the door opens.
Even before the door was completely opened, Lelial sincerely hoped for the absurd thought that Mont would have played a joke for the first time out of harmony with her.
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Unfortunately, Lelial’s ominous premonition came true.
“who are you…”
The guy who opened the door and came in wasn’t Mont, let alone his subordinates.
The fact that he wasn’t his subordinate was immediately apparent as soon as he entered.
Among his dozens of subordinates, at least not one was blind.
A white bandage was wrapped around the eyes of the guy who opened the door and entered.
“…”
As soon as Lellial’s full stranger was revealed, he raised his bloodstrength-enhanced, muscular, veined arms and straight into battle.
I couldn’t know
Especially if it’s a blood mage.
The large black robe he was wearing, enough to cover his figure, was thickly saturated with the acrid smell of blood.
“Who are you… First of all, it’s not the Mont you were looking for.”
Those were the first words he uttered as he walked slowly into the room.
Lelial never wondered how a blind man could walk from place to place so naturally.
There were many rooms from the entrance to the hideout to Lelial’s room.
And there must have been Lelial’s loyal subordinates as well.
A blind man who came into his room smelling blood.
It only meant that the blind man had destroyed all of his men, the precious ‘sacrifices’ he had been preparing for over five years.
“Stop! If you come a little closer, I’ll break your face at a speed that you can’t even escape.”
Did Lelial’s shallow threats work?
The blind man hastily stopped.
Rather, it was Lelial who was surprised by his actions.
In fact, Lellial was in a state of fear right now.
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Until he ate the bloodstone, no, until he ate the bloodstone, he decided to avoid the strong like he always did.
It was Lelial who lived hidden in the shadows, thinking only of the sweet fruit she would obtain after hard work, even if she was servile for the moment.
However, for Lelial, who was only the leader of a gang of bandits and a blood mage of lowly talent, it was impossible to kill dozens of bandits without ‘making a fuss’.
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Until he gets here.
Lellial had no recollection of hearing any commotion or loud noise.
That inconvenient truth meant that the blind man was a strong man who could easily do impossible things.
“…What do you want? There must be a reason you came all the way here.”
“If you tell me what you want… will you give it to me? I have a different opinion.”
“Since your efforts to come this far are imaginary, I’ll listen to you if you can…! Stupid people who would have died outside anyway have no value to me!”
Lelial used a lot of bravado that he had learned from years of being a boss.
However, the name of the object that came out of the unknown blind man’s mouth was something that could not be exchanged for anything to Lelial, and it was something that could never be yielded.
“You’ve said that much, so it wouldn’t be polite to decline. Okay.”
The blind man nodded at Lelial’s suggestion and then replied.
“…Then I’ll go with ‘Vampiric Iron’.”
“Huh, vampire iron? That, what is that?”
As if ordering food in a store, the blind man easily brought out the word vampiric iron.
‘Why did that come out of his mouth?’
Lelial hurriedly tried to pretend, but the blind man’s small smile on his lips was not disturbed at all despite his desperate lies.
Lellial couldn’t let go of the tension in the unexpected situation that he couldn’t understand.
Sweat soon began to form on his forehead.
‘Dead men? Just do it for 5 more years. no? It’s already been through, so it might be faster. But bloodsucking iron doesn’t. Absolutely not. For me, it’s something that’s hard to find again.’
Lelial’s eyes roll quickly.
“Why are you looking for that ‘vampiric iron’ from me that I don’t even know about… Did I take the wrong path because I was blind?”
After Lelial’s perseverance and great luck, he stole the vampiric iron.
And the blind man who came to rob it in less than a few days.
The innumerable unrealistic things that happened in an instant made Lelial’s mind extremely confused.
Soon, the mouth of the blind man who had been standing silently in front of Lelial opened.
“As expected… it’s like ‘Relial who doesn’t give up’.”