I Became a Dark Fantasy Villain

Chapter 55

The party spent the night in front of the spider queen’s cave.

Ian and Miguel both knew that after defeating a monster, its lair ironically becomes the safest shelter.

The next morning.

While Miguel was getting ready, Ian headed back to the spider cave.

He said he wanted to look for loot since they had time.

Luci briskly followed behind him.

Ian discouraged her, saying it would be better if she didn’t see, but he couldn’t dissuade the stubbornness of this small, expressionless apprentice mage.

When the two of them entered the cave and came back out, Miguel had finished preparing to move and was getting breakfast ready.

“Did you find anything good?” Miguel asked casually as Ian chewed on jerky.

Luci came out pale as a sheet but still had an impassive face. She couldn’t even touch her food.

Miguel asked worriedly.

“What was so bad you can’t eat?”

The reply was simple.

“It was a sight I couldn’t bear with a sober mind.”

Only then did Miguel stop urging her.

There was also a stream on the other side of the valley.

Very clean, icy cold water.

Thanks to it, the party was able to wash up and continue their journey.

They were all ragged so just that was greatly appreciated.

“We bought at least two days,” Miguel added, taking the reins.

“Plus about half a day more and we’ll be in another lord’s territory. Maybe word of us hasn’t reached there yet.”

“If we’re lucky,” Ian muttered, shaking the water out of his hair.

Fortunately, no pursuers tailed them after they left the valley.

The party’s tension eased.

Luci suddenly spoke up.

“Will they teach magic at the Temple of Furnace too?”

Ian shrugged his shoulders. “I doubt it, at least not right away.”

Priests generally didn’t care much for mages.

Not only because of the prejudice of considering them potential heretics, but also because they saw magic as mimicking the miracles of God.

If the power of mages hadn’t become so great, they might have been purged along with the declining era of magic.

Especially the fanatics of Lou Sola, most of whom believed the miracles of the world were sufficiently provided by the power of God alone.

Of course that was just the general sentiment.

There were mage towers that maintained friendly relations with certain denominations, some even continuing exchanges beyond that.

“But as you study, sooner or later, opportunities will arise one way or another. You have that much talent.”

Luci nodded her head.

“I read that a mage’s ability can be measured by the number of spells they’ve learned. When that time comes, I’ll be able to learn various spells too.”

“…Where did you read that?”

“In a book.”

“That book is nonsense.” Ian asserted.

If a mage’s ability was determined by the number of spells, he would already be called an archmage.

“What’s important is how high level the spells you’ve mastered are, and to what extent you’ve learned them.”

“I see….”

“In that sense, I’m especially lacking.”

A bitter smile crossed Ian’s lips.

Being a specialized archmage was already an impossible future for him.

“It didn’t look like that at all.”

“You’ll find out when you grow up a little as a mage.”

Come to think of it, it’s about time to spend some skill points.

While thinking, Luci added.

“Then will you be my master? I heard that spells are handed down under strict discipline.”

“Did you read that in that book too?”

“… Yes.”

“You read that right. So, just in case, don’t ask me to teach you a spell. I have absolutely no intention of taking in disciples.”

I can’t teach you anyway.

Ian opened the skill window.

A huge skill tree unfolded before my eyes.

“Your talent is so outstanding that you don’t have to be limited to fixed ideas. If you study, you might be able to create your own spell.”

“Can’t you at least teach me about magic, if not spells?”

“…I don’t know much either.”

“Even just basic knowledge.”

…This is still better than her asking me to teach her swordsmanship.

As the skill tree of red magic filled his vision, Ian opened his mouth.

“As you know, red magic is intuitive and destructive. But it’s equally dangerous and hard to control.”

The higher the magic, the more amplified both pros and cons became.

It’s said you have to reach the transcendent realm to finally offset the cons but…

Ian could never reach that level.

That was also why he decided he needed to evenly learn magic of various attributes to the necessary level.

Even if he went all in on one attribute, he could never become an archmage anyway.

It was realistic to maximize learning and utilizing spells that could produce synergy when used together, in order to find a breakthrough.

Even if that might make him an even more tremendous failure….

“What about blue?”

“I don’t think you need to know anything other than red for now.”

“It’s interesting. I’m curious. …No good?”

“…Blue is solid and sharp. Many variations are possible. But it requires that much more delicacy. It’s also not that strong until mastered.”

Questions and answers bounced back and forth.

Things like grey magic are fast or lethal but rarely both.

Or brown magic is irregular and destructive but has many constraints so it’s not great.

Luci listened with twinkling eyes as Ian told her these things.

Ian was secretly surprised at himself.

He didn’t know he would be able to explain so fluently without any hesitation.

Perhaps the information from the guidebook and the knowledge he had learned from directly using it had fused within him unconsciously.

…I should have known this when it was just a game.

“Listening and watching, I definitely understand now,” Luci finally nodded her head.

“Even if I had no options, I would have learned red magic.”

Ian chuckled and nodded his head.

“It is a blessing when what you want to do and what you are good at match.”

“But it’s not that I don’t want to learn other magics. It is just not possible though. Unlike that ancient white mage.”

“White mage…?”

“You don’t know? A long time ago, when magic first came into being, magicians were not divided like they are now. They shared knowledge with each other, learned and researched magics of various attributes.”

Luci’s eyes lit up.

“Then finally, a grand magician appeared who was proficient in all magics. Everyone revered him and called him the white mage, so the white magician. When all lights mix, it turns white.”

His mouth has opened.

Looking at Ian nodding absent-mindedly, Luci added.

“The white mage taught the magic he had learned to other magicians. But when he ascended, his disciples were divided into different colors and split apart. Of course the white mage’s legacy was also fragmented and lost, so now it remains nowhere in its entirety.”

“…Did you read that in a book too?”

“In a history book.”

“Ah, I see.”

“That wasn’t just a legend?” Miguel cut in abruptly.

I thought he was thinking about something else quietly.

Apparently he had been listening carefully to Ian and Luci’s conversation.

“Do you know the story too?”

“It’s quite a famous legend. You didn’t know even though you are a mage?”

That stuff isn’t in the guidebook.

Ian just shrugged his shoulders.

He didn’t have to specifically find and read books on history or legends, or talk to NPCs while piecing together puzzles.

Unless he was an important figure, Ian was too busy following the main storyline scenarios to care about those kinds of areas.

“The legend says that the knowledge and spells of magicians today were all inherited from a single ancient grand magician. Cool, isn’t it. That there is a progenitor and a human who got closest to god for magicians. I thought it was an unrealistic story, but since it’s recorded in history books too, it doesn’t seem to be completely made up.”

“The white mage…”

Muttering, Ian looked at the skill tree in front of him.

The old man who had tried to pry open his brain suddenly came to mind.

Perhaps it was because of that legend that he wanted Ian’s knowledge.

‘If I actually see this, my thoughts might change.’

In Ian’s view, mastering all these skills was impossible.

It was then that Miguel subtly asked.

“Um, don’t you still have things left to tell us?”

“What’s left?”

“You said before that there are various kinds of black magic too.”

Geez, so annoying.

Clicking his tongue, Ian said,

“What are you going to do knowing that?”

“I’m just curious. If not you Sir, who else would I ask about things like this?”

“A guy who’s not even a mage…”

“You got to know everything to live long. Just now I got a feel for what to do if I meet a sorcerer, I mean, a mage.”

“You got a feel for how to kill them.”

“Well, I didn’t have that thought but….” Miguel mumbled awkwardly.

Ian’s voice followed.

“Later. Today’s not the day.

“……! Got it. I should wait for when Sir’s in a good mood.”

“Yeah. Shut up for now.”

Miguel promptly closed his mouth.

Finally able to concentrate quietly, Ian calmly took in the skills.

It was a few hours later that he invested some skill points.

‘With this, it’s like I’m an average white mage…’

Chuckling, Ian closed the skill window without hesitation and closed his eyes.

Time would tell whether his judgment was right.

***

Ippotranslation

***

“Phew…”

With a long breath, Ian woke up from his meditation.

The sun was tilting westward.

A gentle, barren uphill road.

The wind blowing up the hill was cool.

Evidence that the north was getting near.

“You’re awake?”

Miguel spoke in a sleepy voice.

After checking the sleeping Luci, Ian opened his mouth.

“How far are we now?”

“Today, or overall?”

“Both.”

“First, after we cross this hill, there will soon be a fork in the road. If we turn north there, it will be land ruled by the new lord. Just getting that far is today’s goal. Overall…”

As he scratched his bearded chin, he soon added.

“I think we’ve passed the halfway point. If we keep going like this, we’ll probably arrive earlier than expected.”

Halfway, even after traveling this long.

Ian leaned back in his chair and wet his appetite.

It was a damn long journey.

It’d be nice if there was some magic that allowed you to travel long distances in one breath.

But there was nothing like that in this goddamn world.

The carriage crested the hilltop.

“Uh… Sir, you should take a look.”

Miguel’s voice followed.

As Ian looked towards the front of the carriage, his eyes soon narrowed.

Beyond the gentle downhill slope.

At the spot where the path forked into two, two riders were standing.

Black armored warhorses.

“So we really were on the right path.”

“See? What’d I tell you? We didn’t take the wrong path, we went ahead of them.”

And the moment he confirmed the black armored men casually conversing while leaning on their horses, Ian’s eyes cooled.

‘They’re here.’

“Are they… Who I think they are?” Miguel asked, unable to take his eyes off them.

Ian spat out. “When I get off, pull the carriage back. Far enough that I’m out of sight. Got it?”

As Miguel nodded,

“Anyway, I win this bet. Stay back.”

The blonde who threw the reins to the brown haired man next to him lazily walked forward.

Putting on the helmet he held in his hand, he waved both arms towards the carriage.

“Greetings! We finally meet!”

“Oh boy….” Miguel’s expression turned uneasy.

When an unfriendly foe acted friendly, it meant they were confident there was something to believe in.

The blonde’s voice continued.

“So which of you two is the swordmaster? I have some business to settle with him first.”

“…..”

Ian’s brow furrowed.

I have to hear this nonsense again here?

The thought that this was rather fortunate followed.

“It’s me. I’m no swordmaster though.”

I can match his pace and extract the information I need.

Judging by his arrogant attitude, he would surely readily spill.

Having draped a robe over Luci who had woken up and was now watching, Ian slightly nodded and got up.

“Oh… confident, aren’t we?”

The blonde let out an exaggerated exclamation.

Looking back, he added.

“You’re not quite what I imagined. I expected someone more shabby-looking. What do you think, Kenneth?”

“Well, you can’t judge someone solely based on appearance.”

Sitting tall on his horse holding the reins, Kenneth shrugged.

Quite at ease.

As Ian leapt lightly down from the carriage, he opened his mouth towards the blonde.

“Since you answered, let me ask one too.”

“By all means.”

“How did you get ahead of us?”

“Surprised? We can cover in a day distances that would take others three.”

Pointing back at the warhorses, the blonde looked at the baggage carriage that was now rolling back the way it came.

“So there’s no use in trying to run away.”

The nonchalance they were showing now also stemmed from the confidence that they would absolutely not let Ian’s group slip away once they had encountered each other.

To Ian, that confidence was warranted.

They were from the empire.

Foes you would meet around chapter 3 in the game.

While they were not the absolute top dogs of the empire, being hired hands of the upper echelons, they would certainly be well above the country bumpkins Ian had faced so far.

Of course, that didn’t mean he thought he would lose.

“We’re not trying to run away. Just getting the carriage out of harm’s way.” Ian spat out as he came to a stop at an appropriate distance.

“It’ll make the rest of the journey tiring if the carriage gets damaged.”

“No need to worry about that. Your journey ends here.”

The blonde pulled out a sword from his waist as he smiled.

It was a sword that looked as if scales were joined together.

Ian added.

“What’s your name?”

“Kyle.”

“Right, Kyle. If you really mean that, you should charge together with your friend back there.”

“….?”

“We’re about to fight. I don’t think you alone can match me.”

“Ha!”

Kyle, who had frozen for a moment, burst out laughing.

He looked back at Kenneth.

“He must be the master of his mouth rather than-“

Crack!

Before he could even finish his sentence, his head jerked to the side as if it had been smashed.

His helmet flew off from the impact and the dagger that had flown in spun round and round before digging into the ground.

Kyle slowly raised his head.

“You… bastard….!”

Looking into his bloodshot eyes, Ian calmly smiled.

“One last chance. Come at me together, if you want to win.”