episode_0255

“Wow, this is crazy. For some reason, I couldn’t figure out where the smell was coming from, so they spread the flammables all over the building.”

Asha stuck out her tongue at the admirable means of destroying evidence. Adele, who had not yet grasped the situation, shouted urgently.

“What is it? What? Why is there a fire all of a sudden!?”

“That grave robber… It must have been a device set up by a necromancer. It is a very efficient method that is perfect for cleaning up the intruder along with the evidence when discovered.”

As soon as traces of necromancy are seen, the death penalty is confirmed. The fire cleared away all evidence. Ingredients and traces of various magic and techniques, and even corpses collected illegally.

So it wasn’t a method that was used often. Regardless of other things, corpses are a necromancer’s most precious asset.

“You seem to have a very cautious personality.”

“Careful? Burning down your own house isn’t prudent; it’s radical!”

“Usually necromancers don’t think about losing their corpses. Of course, it means nothing if I get caught, so I work hard to protect myself.”

In Asha’s eyes, assuming that all of the draugrs would be neutralized and setting up the possibility of burning everything seemed to be a cautious enough character.

“Cough! Cough! This is not the time to be appreciative! Let’s get out quickly!”

Although their bodies were not weak enough to burn to death, the smoke was enough to pose a threat to both of them. I had to get out before it reached a point of no return.

“Yes, yes.”

As the necromancer had assumed, if the intruder had been human, this would have been the end. However, no matter how cautious I was, I never would have thought that a dragon pretending to be a human would invade.

Without any additional threats, Asha and Adele jumped up and escaped the burning house.

“Cough! Ah, the smoke is acrid. Surely fire is a bit of a threat?”

choke. This is virtually the only way for Asha and Adel, dragons that have not yet reached adulthood, to be killed by humans.

Of course, Eugene, who was watching this scene through a mirror, was the flagship.

“That damn bastard!”

“Hang in there, Eugene. You know you shouldn’t interfere.”

“…I know. I also woke up just to get angry.”

“I don’t think so.”

If Wayne hadn’t stopped him next to him, he would have been ready to go. Although Eugene himself did not admit it until the end.

“I can’t do it. No looking in the mirror today.”

“What?”

“Spend some quality time with Arjen today. Otherwise, I’ll tell you how to look in the mirror.”

“No… Wow, that’s how it comes out, right? Do you think I will follow suit?”

“What are you going to do if you don’t follow?”

“I can’t do anything. There’s nothing I can do.”

It is the dragon’s custom to trust children and not get involved in their travels in the first place. If Arjen found out that Eugene watched the children through the mirror every day, it was clear that it would not end in just one or two incidents.

Eugene, well aware of that fact, calmly lowered his tail. In the mirror I was looking at with a lot of regret, Asha was using the tracking technique she learned from Eugene.

“What are you doing?”

Adele looked at Asha, who was lying flat on the floor, with strange eyes. Anyway, Asha analyzed and classified all the traces on the ground.

Considering the natural errors, it was not that difficult to discern the traces left artificially. That’s just the dragon’s senses.

“Adele. You ran around the middle of nowhere looking for a piece of iron.”

“Well, it was an urgent situation so there was nothing I could do!”

Adele glances at Asha, who is talking as if she just saw her wandering around in a daze. Asha looked like she was about to swear at any moment, but instead of swearing, she told the good news.

“Found it.”

Traces of the same person are especially visible. There were other traces mixed in due to kidnapping, transportation of corpses, etc., but clearly distinguishable features remained.

Asha, who caught the faint energy of necromancy clinging to the traces of how many corpses had been accumulated, immediately sprinted as fast as she could.

“Oh! Asha!”

Adele, who hurriedly followed, shouted.

“Why, why are you going in such a hurry? Really!”

“A surprise attack is usually done in a hurry.”

There was a reason why Asha ran so quickly. This is because I felt that the traces went farther than I thought.

And Asha, who believed that preparations for the next attack would be inadequate as she had already burned down the base once, decided to subdue them before preparations were made.

A new building appeared in front of Asha, who was running at a speed close to the speed of sound. It was a hut that looked even more shabby than the shelter that had burned down earlier.

“Gotcha, you guy.”

Asha didn’t bother to stop her accelerated body.

***

“Damn it… I wish it had been just a little longer…”

Loreius, the necromancer who caused the uproar in Harpen, expressed his nervousness by biting his long fingernails.

For a necromancer obsessed with necromancy, he was cautious. He never once thought that the Immortal Army was invincible, and took utmost care of security even while secretly making efforts to increase its power.

There was no need to explain his thoroughness, just looking at the fact that until today, all the disturbances he caused within Harpen were all believed to be the work of different people.

If Asha was a little surprised by his caution, Loreius was feeling afraid of Asha who had subdued all of his draugrs.

It would have been better if they had just defeated the draugr. However, the dispel spell performed by Asha was an unknown territory that even Loreius, who had studied magic for a long time, could not understand.

To the necromancer, the feeling of being disconnected from the immortal forces who are like a part of his body. It was a fear that was slowly tightening, as if my body was falling into a swamp.

That’s why he boldly decided to burn down his hideout. There was a difference as big as heaven and earth between preparing for an unexpected event and actually carrying it out, but Loreius had no time to worry about that.

‘…it’s okay. You can rebuild the draugr later. I happened to have some ‘resources’ moved here… and there was a rumor that he would be coming soon, so for now, let’s just stay as if we are dead.’

Those who broke into the hideout were said to have burned them to death, but it was unknown whether a chase team would come later. Loreius was planning to use magic to create an awareness-reducing barrier to his current location.

However, it was just a thought. This is because the wall of the house that was supposed to be the barrier collapsed in an instant with a loud noise.

Kwaaang!

“What, what!?”

“Hello? Ugh… I’m vibrating like a rotting corpse… The smell of toluene was better than before.”

Loreius realized that Asha was the one who had attacked his hideout thanks to Asha’s short monologue.

“Huh, how did you come right here…!?”

The two hideouts are at least 5km away. Nevertheless, from Loreius’s point of view, less than five minutes after detecting the dispel spell and igniting it, an attacker was standing in front of him.

“Why did I run out of control.”

It could only be heard as a vicious joke, but Loreius did not ignore it. He is a person who has already accomplished things he could not have imagined. Adding one thing like that didn’t change anything.

“Inhale!”

A situation in which conversation itself is meaningless. From the moment Loreius had already lost sight of the enemy approaching his hideout, he had no choice but to respond with deadly force.

With a single movement of his spirit, the magic circle in the hiding place was activated. Then, various swords, spears, and axes decorated on the wall began to rattle and move.

“What is it? Why is that thing moving again?”

“Poltergeist. He’s a very talented necromancer. On the topic of grave robbers.”

Asha and Adele did not blink even in the face of the numerous weapons rushing towards them. No, to be precise, I only protected my eyes with my hands.

“Ouch! It hurts…!”

Sharply forged weapons could not pierce the dragon’s skin. However, the shock was still conveyed and Adele frowned.

“AC.”

No matter how little Adele paid attention to other things, she knew that the problem would be solved if the cause of the problem was removed.

Here, in Adele’s view, the cause of the problem is Loreius.

So get rid of Loreius.

“Parakela!”

A spell that Adele does not understand. However, with Loreius’ cry, Adele’s body was thrown far away. Instead of an object, the poltergeist pushed Adele directly.

“Ugh!”

Adele falls down because of something she has never experienced before. As she stood up again, she reprimanded Asha, who had been standing leisurely without any damage just now.

“What! Why is Asha fine!”

“Huh? Because… I’d rather ask, didn’t you do this?”

What Asha was shaking in her hand with an expressionless expression was the necklace that their mother, Arjen, had given them before the trip.

“There is a very high level of defensive magic inherent in it.”

“Ah… I left it at the dorm.”

Adele couldn’t blame anyone and just blushed.