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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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‘In reality, they can’t touch it.’
Not only was it far away, but above all, the middle part was entirely plains.
Since the possibility of being spotted by humans was too high, they couldn’t help but be reluctant, and they also lacked the manpower to move enough stones to build stone walls.
That’s why Rithild was just lamenting with regret like that.
After exchanging some small talk and recent news, Rithild finally asked about the main point.
“So, you didn’t come all this way with your busy schedule just to chat…”
“I’m planning to leave the underground dungeon for an extended period.”
“The underground dungeon?”
“How long is an extended period?”
“At shortest, one year; at longest, two years.”
“…Are you planning to visit human territory?”
“Yes. I recently crossed the wall.”
“The wall? Congratulations. I thought you weren’t an ordinary warlock, but in that time…”
“I said I didn’t plan to abandon that place completely, didn’t I?”
“Right. You’re planning to leave Thea behind.”
“I’ve strengthened the defenses. The Land of Death is stronger than when you first saw it, and I’ve assigned guards to Thea.”
“…That’s surprising. To handle 4th class magic right after crossing the wall… Well, you did have a record of it before.”
Rithild casually brushed off what I had done.
“You’re telling me this to prepare for any contingencies, I assume?”
“That’s right. Even if you face a crisis, I’m sorry but it will be difficult to provide support. If enemies you absolutely can’t handle attack… just move entirely to the underground dungeon.”
I informed him that the underground dungeon was being expanded.
“It won’t be as cramped as before. There’s enough stored food too.”
“You mean you’ll provide limited help. Don’t worry. Even if you’re not here, the alliance will be maintained.”
I nodded with a smile at his firm answer.
“Hahaha. I didn’t expect you to trust us this much. To the extent of entrusting your base…”
I was doing this because I had prepared a way to escape even if they stabbed me in the back.
If anything happened to Thea, a signal would come to me through the Living Armor.
More precisely, I had instructed her to destroy one Living Armor.
Since they were under my control, I could detect the situation if an undead was destroyed.
‘Restoration would just require using a few black bones.’
Then I would just need to return immediately.
‘Using the secret passage, now an emergency escape route, at least Thea should be able to escape, if no one else.’
It was an unfortunate thing to say, but in terms of priority, Thea came before the people of Evergreen Forest Village or the servants and maids of slave origin.
Even if everyone else died, I intended to save at least Thea.
After receiving Rithild’s firm answer, I accepted his hospitality, toured the changed village, and even received a meal before returning to the underground dungeon.
I declined his offer to stay the night, saying I still had things to do before leaving.
After returning to the underground dungeon, I immediately sought out Kayla.
“You called for me.”
As soon as she entered, she spoke to me.
“I’m using the gift you gave me well. It’s certainly useful. If it was this good, I should have used it in the past.”
“Hmm? You didn’t use it before?”
“It was expensive, and because of the guy targeting me, I tried to pay as little attention to my appearance as possible.”
She said that as a knight, she had to maintain a certain level of dignity, so she didn’t completely neglect it, but it was at a bare minimum level.
“If I had paid attention to my appearance there, it was obvious that guy would say I was dolling up for him, so there was no need for that.”
She meant why should she do something that would please that guy’s eyes.
“But using it now, it feels good. It’s different.”
“…It sounds like you’re asking for more when this runs out.”
Kayla just smiled sweetly instead of answering.
“So, what’s the reason you called me?”
“I think it’s about time.”
“…You mean Athena.”
“Hmm… It would be fine to give it to her now…”
I wasn’t certain.
“But we can’t keep postponing it forever. You said she’s close to intermediate level, right?”
It was an unbelievable speed.
Expert intermediate meant she was at a level beyond Rankbink, who had trained his entire life.
“Her swordsmanship is lacking, but her footwork and body techniques are at a sufficient level. Knowledge can be accumulated continuously, and she definitely has a natural talent for mana control and aura generation and control. Although her total mana is lacking…”
That would be resolved if I gave her the spirit medicine.
However, Kayla wanted to not only increase her mana quantity but also create a mana heart, which was why she was trying to postpone it.
“If her mana quantity can’t keep up with her level, we need to fill it.”
“Even if her mana quantity increases at the current rate, it will barely be enough for intermediate level. Advanced level is completely impossible.”
“…I’m not expecting that much.”
Advanced level wasn’t something to be taken lightly.
Even Kayla had only recently reached advanced level.
Although warriors and magicians couldn’t be simply compared, expert intermediate was comparable to 4th class, and advanced was comparable to 5th class.
Of course, it was not a simple comparison of power.
To be honest, crossing the wall was several times harder for magicians, and even after crossing the wall, warriors had a much greater advantage in one-on-one combat.
To be blunt, even a 5th class magician could lose to an intermediate expert in one-on-one combat.
No, honestly, they would lose in most cases.
Of course, a prepared magician was a different story.
If a 5th class magician prepared a dungeon with intent, depending on their capabilities, even ten advanced experts of the same level might all be killed.
‘Necromancers are a bit different depending on the person.’
Around 7th class, called high-level magicians, they became powerful in one-on-one combat too, but likewise, when warriors became masters, the miracle of warriors becoming tactical weapons occurred.
‘Well, it’s really rare for knights to become masters.’
They say it’s harder for a top-level expert to cross the wall and become a master than for a 6th class magician to become a 7th class high-level magician.
The number of masters was extremely small compared to the number of top-level experts.
7th class magicians were rare too, but if you compared the numbers of 6th class magicians and top-level experts, there was almost a 10-fold difference, while the number of 7th class magicians was only about half that of masters.
The proportional difference was enormous.
“We’re leaving soon anyway, so we should do everything we can.”
“…It’s a bit regrettable. If we had given it to her at intermediate, no, advanced level…”
“…You were planning to wait until advanced?”
“Athena could reach that level in 5 years, no, less than 3 years even without the spirit medicine.”
“That’s impressive, but…”
“…It can’t be helped. You’re the owner of the spirit medicine, and I’m not unaware of the image of warlocks outside. But still, we could have gone a bit slower…”
“There’s a reason we need to leave quickly.”
“May I ask why?”
I hesitated for a moment.
It wasn’t because I didn’t trust Kayla.
It was because it was such significant information.
Suddenly, I remembered Kayla and Athena’s words asking me to trust them a bit more.
‘Tsk, what’s the point of hiding it.’
“Don’t ask about the source of the information. It’s difficult to explain.”
A smile appeared on Kayla’s face at my words.
Unlike before, she seemed pleased that I was properly explaining the reason, seeing it as a sign of trust.
“I know where there’s a dragon’s corpse.”
At my words, the smile on Kayla’s face froze.
“Did you just say dragon?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“The dragon that the hornorcs consider their ancestor?”
“The one called the progenitor of magic, that flies in the sky, with an estimated lifespan of at least several thousand years, that dragon?”
“Is there another dragon?”
“The dragon whose whereabouts are now unknown, whose every body part is a treasure, are you certain about that dragon?”
I didn’t answer any further.
“…We shouldn’t take that. No, we can’t handle it. Just possessing such a treasure is a crime. The spirit medicine we have can be consumed and eliminated, and Athena’s dagger can be tainted and disguised. As long as we don’t use Wind Cutter, we can easily hide the body-lightening effect and wind blade.”
That was correct.
We actually planned to do that.
“But a dragon, a dragon’s corpse is different. There’s no way to hide it, and if we’re discovered, it’s over. With our current strength, we can’t handle even a single noble family. Don’t think we can hide that too. If we’ve discovered it, no, if you’ve come to know about it, it will eventually become known to the world.”
That’s true.
Its discovery was not far in the future.
‘About a year from now?’
It should be around that time based on the current point.
Although it was discovered by chance, it was discovered.
Kayla earnestly said to me,
“If we have that, it will certainly be a great help. But even without it, we will eventually rise to the top. I believe in your and Athena’s potential. Rather, look to the distant future. If we become capable of handling it in the future, we can claim it then, and if it’s discovered before that, it’s better to just give up.”
It was certainly a reasonable argument.
No, it should be said it was the right thing to say.
“I have a way to avoid being discovered.”
“But…!”
“The place where it is located is within a count’s territory.”
“Could it be Siglen…”
“No, not here. It’s within the Kingdom of Shufet, but it’s a different count’s territory. It’s the Lineta County.”
“…Lineta County?”
Kayla tilted her head as if she had never heard of it.
“It’s understandable that you don’t know. It’s not the capital, and although the title is of a count, it’s not a great lord. It’s an almost fallen territory.”
Long ago, it was once one of the most prosperous territories, to the extent of being a founding contributor…
‘It gradually declined, they said.’
It was not that the royal family didn’t give them opportunities.
They squandered all those opportunities and ended up in this state.
“The dragon’s corpse is there. That’s why we can avoid being discovered.”
“…What are you planning to do…”
“I’m going to become a certified warlock with that family’s endorsement. Even though the family is on the verge of disappearing, it’s still a count’s family. They can still designate one certified warlock. It’s a kind of authority. Coincidentally, there are no other warlocks trying to go there, so I can take that position.”
Certified warlock.
At my words, Kayla seemed to have guessed what I was planning to do.
“…Are you thinking of building a tower?”
Tower.
It was indeed the tower that came to mind when thinking of magicians.
Magic tower.
It was both a living space for magicians and a kind of giant laboratory.
It was said to have originated as a prison to confine magicians, but I was not sure if that was true.
‘Was it said that the confined magicians developed by exchanging knowledge, turning it into a giant laboratory?’
Also, one tower can represent one school of magic.
Currently, mainstream schools had multiple towers, but in the past, one tower represented one school.
Therefore, in the past, a giant tower was also an indirect expression of the power and authority of that school.
Although it had changed a lot now.
“I plan to become a certified warlock, receive part of the territory, and build a tower.”
I didn’t intend to build a massive tower.
I didn’t have that kind of power anyway, and my skills weren’t at that level either.
It was just a pretext.
“So the dragon’s corpse is where you plan to build the tower.”
“Yes. The research of a certified warlock can be checked at any time by the endorsing noble, but… that place is in a very bad situation. Some negotiation should be possible.”
It wouldn’t be as easy as it sounded.
Even though they were on the verge of collapse, they were still a county.
We couldn’t obtain all those things for an ordinary price.
However, Kayla seemed to have noticed that the fact that I was saying this meant I already had some kind of plan.
“…It’s still dangerous.”
“That’s right. But it’s worth taking the risk.”
We could make equipment, and we could create undead.
My staff and Athena’s Wind Dragon’s Fang were equipment made from dragon bodies, and their performance was all at an incredible level.
What about undead?
‘The most representative ones are dragon zombies and bone dragons.’
Dragon zombies were a bit ambiguous to call undead.
They were more like magical life forms.
Although dragon corpses couldn’t be handled by ordinary means, if one could handle them, they were worth it.
‘Especially when I rise to 7th class, it might become absolutely necessary.’
I didn’t reach 7th class in my previous life.
Or rather, I should say I didn’t attempt it.
Even though I had the opportunity, I deliberately avoided it.
‘Why should I become a high-level warlock for someone else’s benefit?’
Even if I grew, I was destined to become an avatar of the Demon King.
It could be called a natural rebellious feeling.
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