Chapter 114

Chapter 114

Episode 114: Black Street The tentacles the old man used were black and quite thick. Moreover, judging from how he had slammed Caldin away, his strength seemed considerable. …It wouldn’t be strange to have strange fantasies in a corner of my mind. But it wasn’t time to be possessed by lewd thoughts yet. I shook my head once to scatter my distractions, then looked at Caldin and the old man. “Damn it, this monstrous old man!”It’s not right for a demon to say that.” You’re the monster.” Caldin screamed and rushed at the old man, but the old man calmly retorted and stretched out one arm towards Caldin.

-Whoosh!

Then, the tentacle extending from the old man’s arm twisted like a snake, wrapping around Caldin’s body. “Ugh!”?” Instantly bound, Caldin struggled to break free from the tentacle’s restraints, but no matter how hard he tried, the old man’s tentacles would not loosen. “You should cool your head for a while.” After confirming that Caldin was restrained, the old man swung one arm and lifted Caldin. Then, he swung the lifted Caldin down towards the floor of the hall.

-Kwoong!!

A rough tearing sound rang out, and the werewolf wrapped in tentacles crashed to the floor with a dull thud. Cracks appeared in the stone floor, and scattered stone fragments flew in all directions. “Gah?”!” Caldin let out a groan mixed with embarrassment and pain, but the old man didn’t care and continued to lift Caldin and slam him down repeatedly.

-Bang!! Bang!! Kuwung!!

The cracks carved into the hall’s stone floor deepened, and blood began to flow from Caldin’s mouth along with his groans. When I was slammed by the troll, were the spectators watching such a sight? …Surely that old man isn’t copying that, is he? “Gasp.”…- Swoosh. After slamming Caldin for a while, the old man stopped slamming him only after Caldin stopped struggling. The old man stared at Caldin bound in tentacles for a moment, then suddenly shook his head and grumbled. “He’s tough, as expected.- Whoosh. He spat out briefly and then threw Caldin to one side of the hall. The sight of the werewolf’s body flying like a light ball looked quite strange. Judging from the slight twitching of his body after rolling on the ground, he seemed to be alive. After easily subduing Caldin, the old man tilted his head, looking at the remaining young man. “Who are you?” Perhaps because he didn’t seem hostile, the young man, as if he couldn’t judge whether the old man was an enemy or an ally, answered the old man’s words with a clumsy posture, holding his sword. “I, I am Tarlin Levote.” Judging from his stuttering, was he perhaps frightened? If he had witnessed the scene from earlier, it would be understandable to be frightened. I was a little happy when I was attacked, but seeing it directly, I thought it was a bit much. …What kind of tastes do the club members who enjoyed that scene have? However, the old man shook his head as if he didn’t want that answer. “No, I’m not asking for your name, I’m asking what you do.” At those words, the young man seemed to hesitate for a moment, then corrected his answer again. “…I am a vassal of the Taibon family.” “Ah, that guy…” I didn’t know the name even after hearing it, but the old man nodded as if he understood after hearing those words. “Yes, then it makes sense.” The old man nodded and continued speaking to the young man. “It’s unfortunate for you, but you’ve made a futile effort. I’ve bought that girl. You can find out later by asking the count.” “…Is that true?”When the word count came out of the old man’s mouth, the young man showed a hesitant attitude.” Then the old man took out a small scroll from his pocket and threw it towards the young man. “If you don’t believe me, ask the count later, and I’ll pay the price for holding onto my thing, so come find me there when you have time.”” The young man received the scroll thrown by the old man, unfolded it, and nodded as if he couldn’t help it. “…I understand.” // After that, I was led out of the stage by the old man. In this case, would the winner ultimately be this old man? Although I calmly accepted reality, I wasn’t without worries. I found out that the old man who bought me wasn’t an ordinary person, but a skilled person who handled unheard-of monsters. The tentacles the old man showed were clearly summoned beasts. The problem was, could I really escape from someone who handled the servant demon so naturally…? …Come to think of it, there’s no reason why I can’t. I’m not going to formally challenge the old man to a duel and leave, I’m going to sneak out, and as long as he’s human, there will be moments of carelessness. Besides, right now I look like a girl who doesn’t have any strength. The old man doesn’t know anything about me, so it wouldn’t be difficult to escape… “Are you Laila?”” “….Huh?” I was momentarily flustered by the old man’s sudden words. My name wasn’t revealed at the auction, so how did he know? Considering the common sense that the owner gives the slave’s name, it was a bit unusual for the old man to know my name. …Still, if he had asked Muren or Sartun in advance, he might have known. I nodded, trying to convince myself. “Yes, that’s right.”Hmm, so you’re Mien’s disciple.” “….Pardon?” This time I couldn’t help but be really flustered. How did he know that…? Could it be that that was the purpose from the beginning? “Did you come at my teacher’s request?” She said that she was no longer a teacher, but that’s just what she said, and in her heart she still thought of her as a teacher. The fact that the old man knew the relationship between Mi-en and me meant that it was likely to be her connection. I told Mien that I was going to the underground plaza, so she would have taken some measures through her connections. …Then there was no need to go out with Caldin in the first place. What a wild goose chase I went on. “….” When I nodded, the old man made a complicated expression. It was an expression that seemed like he wanted to say something but had a hard time saying it. The old man, who had been looking at me for a while, sighed softly and said to me in a slightly weakened tone. “Yes, I came at your teacher’s request. And I’ll tell you the details when we get to the workshop, so keep your mouth shut in the meantime.” …I didn’t even talk much. Is he the type of person who hates talking so much that he makes a preemptive strike like that? Perhaps it’s more likely that he has an awkward relationship with Mien. Or maybe he’s someone who hates girls my age. I couldn’t believe the old man’s words as they were. I had never heard of the name Seimar from Mien, and it was the first time I had heard that she had an acquaintance who used tentacles. But in the current situation, I couldn’t help but believe it. Besides, even if I didn’t believe it now, there was no other way to solve it. My ankle wasn’t normal, my body was tired, and the magical power I had absorbed from the troll was eating away at my body like poison. I sighed inwardly and followed the old man with staggering steps. // The old man’s workshop was located at the end of the underground plaza, that is, near the waterway of the exit. So it was isolated from the streets of the underground plaza, which had the form of a giant community. However, just because the workshop was stuck in a strange place didn’t mean I could ignore the old man in front of me. Originally, a wizard’s workshop was something that only those with considerable wealth or skill could have. So just the fact that he had a workshop proved that he was an excellent wizard.

-Whoosh…

Was it because he was a wizard who handled tentacles? The road to the workshop was damp and dark. The fact that the workshop was located in a particularly deep and secret place in Karaldin’s waterway made it feel even more so. If he was an acquaintance of Mien, he was likely to be a Necromancer, but was the Necromancer really such a gloomy image? Even the officially recognized faction dealt with the undead, so perhaps the school itself was inevitably gloomy. I walked through the underground waterway with such pointless thoughts, but that gloomy evaluation was soon bound to change.

-Squeak.

The old man opened a door that looked like an old wall, standing alone in a certain spot in the waterway, and walked down a dark corridor. Is there such a space in the underground waterway? I followed him, scanning the doors on both sides of the corridor. But the old man didn’t even glance at the doors on either side, and headed for the door located at the very end of the hallway. And when he opened the doorknob of that door, surprisingly, a neat room appeared.

-Whoosh.

The firewood burning in the fireplace was coloring the room with a lyrical, crimson atmosphere, and notebooks and books were piled up on the bookshelves placed everywhere. Looking at the atmosphere, it was similar to the room in the inn where Mien stayed. Of course, a wizard’s workshop couldn’t be this small, so perhaps this was where he organized his research, and other magical research was being conducted in the other rooms in the hallway. Even so, overall it had a small and quiet impression. “….It’s neat.” I wondered if it was okay to speak now that I had arrived at the workshop, and opened my mouth to the old man. At my words, the old man seemed to think for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, it’s neat.” It was obvious that it was a soulless answer. He seemed to be distracted by something, thinking about something intently on his own. Was that why he told me not to talk? The old man looked around his room for a moment, then pointed to a chair in the center and said to me. “Sit down for now.” “Yes.” The atmosphere was awkward. From my point of view, the atmosphere couldn’t help but feel awkward. For now, I was nominally a slave sold to him, but if he was an acquaintance of Mien, he might not think of me as a slave. It was highly likely that he bought me with the purpose of saving me rather than making me a real slave. But if that were the case, the story would be a bit difficult, meaning that he had simply blown away a huge sum of 200,000 to save me. If he was a stranger, I could run away, but if he was an acquaintance of Mien, I couldn’t do that either. …Should I repay him with my body? But while I was worrying about that, the old man opened his mouth in a rather serious tone. “….How much did you hear from Mien?” The subject was omitted, but it wasn’t difficult to infer. There wouldn’t be that many stories that Mi-en could tell. “Uh… about the Necromancer school?” “Yes. The Necromancer school and the five factions that make it up.” I had never heard of that. That’s because she didn’t teach me for very long. “I haven’t heard of that. I’ve only learned the basics of magic.” “….What?” At my words, the old man retorted as if he couldn’t believe it. “Don’t say such nonsense. How can you use Drain if you’ve only learned the basics of magic?” Drain. Could that mean sucking? I don’t know how the old man knew that, but it wasn’t that surprising. He might have found out after examining the troll after extracting the magical power, or he might have simply heard it from Mien. “Well, it’s a bit complicated to explain that. It’s also a personal matter.” That’s a way of saying I don’t want to talk about it. I deliberately said it indirectly, but fortunately the old man didn’t ask me to tell him in detail. Instead, he looked at me and asked another question. “….Does Mien know that fact?” “Yes, she knows.” “Then that’s fine. That girl wouldn’t have taken in the wrong person as a disciple.” The old man nodded briefly and buried himself in the chair.

Unlike when he had subdued them with ease, Caldin’s expression was troubled and looked a little tired. He leaned back in his chair and slowly opened his mouth. “…The Necromancer school was divided into a total of five factions.”