Chapter 8
Chapter 008
Originally, people in the family couldn’t know the rumors or image of the family.
When it came to the Wardanaj family, the family mansion was bigger than most castles and the family land was as wide as a city.
The people who live and work there couldn’t say anything about the Woudanaj family…
“Is there anything wrong with the Woudanaj family?”
“Ah… nothing. Absolutely no problem.”
Nilia took another step back.
“I don’t know what rumors you’ve heard, but they’re all nonsense.”
Even at Lee Han’s words, Nilia did not let go of her guard. Yoner said consolingly.
“Originally, there are absurd rumors about the aristocratic families of the empire. Nothing to worry too much about.”
“is it?”
“Of course, the Wardanaj family is a bit harsh, but…”
“……”
It wasn’t much of a consolation.
While the two were talking, Nylia spoke in a firm voice, as if she had made up her mind.
“okay. The Wardanaj family has no reason to scare me.”
“What rumors did you hear?”
“……”
Nilia was a bit worried about whether or not she could tell me.
It’s a little hard to tell the person in question…
-The head of the Wardanaz family is actually a dragon. It flew in during the undead madness incident in the western part of the continent and burned all the undead with its breath.
-The bloodlines of the Wardanaz family received enormous magical abilities in exchange for a contract with a powerful ancient spirit, but lost their emotions.
– Wizards from the Wardanaz family have no blood or tears. A city was wiped out by the Wordanaz mages who appeared during the Imperial Separatists’ uprising.
…and so on.
The image of the Wodanaz family was far more formidable than Lee Han had imagined.
In the eyes of the common people of the empire, it feels like ‘ruthless magical monsters that don’t normally appear, but suddenly appear and wipe out when something happens’.
“If a big incident breaks out in the empire, of course the archmages have no choice but to come, right?”
“Because it is. Don’t worry too much.”
Lee Han felt unfair and Yoner was reading aloud. Nilia thought to herself about that reaction.
‘The rumor that he lost his emotions certainly seems like a false rumor…?’
* * *
“Wait.”
“?”
“Something is strange. Look here.”
Nilia pointed to the ground with her finger.
It was almost invisible because it was a hill covered with grass, but Nylia had caught the traces with her Dark Elves’ unique senses and experiences in < Shadow Watch >.
“See? A pretty big guy stepped on this place.”
“Isn’t that shallow for something like that?”
“Good catch. Pretty smart guy for sure. It moved without leaving a trace while controlling its power, and it made a mistake eating this fruit here.”
Yoner didn’t show much interest.
In the first place, Yoner’s field of interest was alchemy.
It was only natural that he wasn’t interested in the hunter’s tracking technique. Yoner was looking around, making sure there were no herbs.
‘Chit.’
Nilia was a little annoyed inside.
When I was in < Shadow Patrol >, everyone agreed.
Everyone was a hunter and a ranger, and most of the villagers had hunters or rangers in their families, so no matter what they said, they talked and communicated.
– I almost got scolded. The fur is beautiful, so I tried to catch it somehow…
-Hahaha! This can be happen. When I was younger too…
People who could talk for an hour just by taking out the prey they saw while hunting.
In contrast, there were too many different people here.
-That’s what happened to me in the mountains…
-Mountains?
-uh. To hunt…
-To hunt?? why?
-That’s right, I’m a member of the patrol…
-Can’t I just buy it with money?
-…Si ■Sae ■, do you really want to search?
– Hee!
…For Nilia, who had been through the same conversation, Yoner’s reaction was a bit annoying.
But what can I do?
‘okay. Not everyone is a hunter, so I have to adapt.’
“oh. That’s funny. Anything else?”
“…!”
In the meantime, Lee Han’s reaction was unexpected from Nilia.
Lee Han listens seriously with a very interesting expression.
Nilia asked in bewilderment.
“Is it fun?”
“Was it something that shouldn’t have been fun?”
“…no. It’s not something that shouldn’t be funny, but I didn’t necessarily mean to be funny, but of course…” ”
???”
When the opponent spoke gibberish, Lee Han was taken aback.
‘Have you been drinking?’
Nilia herself hurriedly returned to the main topic, perhaps realizing that she was saying something strange.
“good! In any case, you’d better be careful when you spot the signs of such a large game. See the grass cut here? It has pretty big claws.”
“Right.”
Lee Han was basically curious and liked to learn.
Otherwise, no matter how much I was scammed by a professor, I would not have gone to graduate school.
Even if it wasn’t just magic, this kind of hunter’s wisdom was quite interesting.
“Can you find out the identity of the opponent?”
“This is not enough.”
Nilia crossed her arms and said as if she was sorry.
There was a saying that a seasoned hunter could guess the identity just by looking at the footprints, but that was an illusion.
The reason the hunter could guess the identity just by looking at the footprints was because he had lived in the area for a long time and knew all the monsters in the area.
I don’t even know what’s around here, but I can’t figure it out right away.
“Besides, I heard that there are many strange monsters around the magic school.”
“ah. I heard about that too.”
Yoner nodded.
Since Einrogard itself was located in a land rich in magical power, many monsters had no choice but to appear due to the influence of that magical power.
And apart from that…
“They say monsters created during experiments are roaming around the school. They say that rare slimes often appear because of discarded magic potions.”
“……”
Lee Han was dumbfounded.
‘Aren’t there wizards here like safety rules for experiments?’
From potions to artificial creatures made with magic.
Shouldn’t these things be thoroughly managed?
But it was only natural that such a problem would arise if you just threw it away.
“I should be more careful.”
“Well said! I’m going to move while basically chasing this trail. There will be fewer surprise attacks.”
“Can I learn to read traces too?”
Nilia blinked at Lee Han’s words.
Lee Han spoke again, wondering if he was being rude.
“If it’s hard to teach you, it doesn’t matter if you just ignore it…” “
…It’s never going to be easy. Do you know how difficult this is?”
“If you teach me, I will try hard not to do that.”
“…joy. I’ll teach you, so where can you try it!”
Yoner asked in a low voice so Nilia couldn’t hear.
“Do I really need to learn something like that?”
“why. It looks fun.”
“???”
* * *
“I found it. Poison five seconds.”
While Nilia and Yihan were on guard, Yoner found the herb.
Seeing the medicinal herbs hidden among the overgrown bushes, Lee Han was amazed.
‘I managed to find it.’
“There are only two.”
“……”
“……”
“I just need to find one more… Why is everyone silent?”
Yoner turned his head.
And I realized why the two of them were speechless.
-■■…
A huge pig was glaring at me very intensely.
“Seeing that you can feel the magic, you must have eaten something wrong.”
Lee Han said calmly at the magic he felt from the pig.
Whether you ate reagents that spilled out around you, ate potions, or underwent special experiments…
“Now is not the time to talk like that! be careful!”
Nilia whispered urgently.
Pigs were never weak animals.
Pretty nimble body movements with a heavy body. The one with fangs was even more dangerous.
Moreover, the opponent now was more like a beast that had completely regained its wildness, rather than a calmly raised livestock.
Even more so, if you ate strange things and even got magical powers, it would be better to see them as monsters.
“Think of it as a wild boar! Never provoke! Everyone, step back slowly!”
Nilia said to them both.
Yoner strained his wobbly legs. Lee Han supported Yoner and took a step back.
-■■■!
But the pig made a noise and strode towards us.
He was very angry, and he was puffing steam.
“It’ll be dangerous if you step back any further.”
Lee Han raised his staff and stopped.
It was quite plausible to stand forward, holding the staff firmly with both hands like a spear.
‘that’s right…! You were from the Wardanaz family, right?’
It was only then that Nilia remembered which family Lee Han was from.
A descendant of the Wardanaz family, the imperial archmage family.
As such, he might have learned some magic before coming here.
‘Didn’t he say that he had the role of chasing wild beasts and monsters around?’
Nilia asked Lee Han in a small voice.
“Are you confident?”
“I’m not sure, but maybe?”
“If you fail, put that red hair on your back and run! I will lure you in!”
Of all the people here, Nylia herself was the one who could navigate the mountains and hills the fastest.
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Lee Han’s magic, but a skilled hunter always had to be prepared for the contingency.
If things went wrong, Nylia thought she would lure the pigs away.
Lee Han made a slightly moved expression at Nilia’s words. Same with Yoner.
“We went that far…”
“Isn’t it like that!? Is it because it’s something only I can do?!”
“okay. Anyway, thank you. Please take good care of me in case of an emergency.”
Lee Han stopped talking and focused.
The pigs were getting closer and closer.
‘three. two. one.’
Lee Han calmly counted and measured the distance from his opponent.
Nilia, who was watching from behind, swallowed with a nervous expression.
What kind of magic are you trying to deal with that pig?
Pak!!!
“……”
A clear sound echoed from the pig’s head.
What Lee Han chose was swinging his cane.
* * *
-The sword is the king of weapons, but you can’t handle only the sword. Swordsmanship should be prepared even in situations where there is no sword. Swords spears clubs daggers bare hands all.
-Right.
-…That’s not what I’m talking about, but don’t you complain?
-why?
– Oh no.
Allarron was not the kind of person who would teach me easily just because he was a direct descendant of the family.
He taught Lee Han as sternly and harshly as he had learned.
And Lee Han learned really well.
Any other aristocrat would have said, ‘Why do I have to do such hard work!’, but Lee Han was the exact opposite.
‘I work out even if I pay money, isn’t this enough?’
When I was in graduate school, I couldn’t exercise even if I wanted to, but I couldn’t be dissatisfied with the current situation where Allarron taught me in detail from one to ten.
Besides, when the body is tired, the servants come running and offer food, drink, and magic potion…
-Lee Han. You might be wondering by now. Why didn’t he teach me how to put an aura on his weapon like the other knights did?
-I didn’t even think of that? Can someone who learns like me reach such a great level?
-…If it’s not because of the aura, why the hell did you want to learn swordsmanship??
Allarron stopped teaching and looked at Lee Han as if he was absurd.