Entering Lukphelton
I had forgotten. It was a bit difficult to remember, but I managed to recall it somehow.
Was it when I went on an adventure a while back?
I encountered a bandit wearing a Gold Plate Rank badge around his neck. I subdued him and brought him to the lord.
I thought the matter was settled then, but to think they would ambush me like this.
Strangely, a large group of people were involved in the attack. It seemed they all had a reason.
With that thought, I spoke.
"Ah, the one-eyed fellow?"
"Ptooey-!"
Suddenly, the bandit spat.
However, I had anticipated this to some extent.
So, I used the magic I had been preparing.
"[Gravity]"
In an instant, the gravity of the incoming saliva reversed, and the spittle fell back onto the bandit's face.
The bandit's face turned red.
He must be angry.
Anyway-
"Ugh, it's hard to look at."
He was already ugly, but it was even harder to look at him with his face turning red.
So, I turned my face away and continued.
"So, there's no other reason for the ambush?"
I was really curious.
I wondered if he had really ambushed me to save his brother.
When I asked that-
"You think it's fake, you crazy bastard!!"
"Ah, okay."
In that case, there was no need to forgive this man.
He attacked me first, after all.
But I couldn't bring myself to kill him.
Of course, that didn't mean I had to spare the other bandits.
So, I deployed my technique.
[Slash]
Slice-
I cut down all the other bandits I had captured at once.
The bandits were split in half.
The coachman was trembling, perhaps having never seen such a sight before.
So, I asked him for his understanding.
"Ah, could you please look away for a moment?"
"H-huh..! Y-yes..!"
I used the last bandit's brother for magic research... I thought I could use this one for healing research.
With that thought, I used healing magic on the spot and finished my research.
*
Clack- Clack-
As I rode in the carriage, I thought about what had just happened.
I had destroyed the mana core of the bandit from earlier and cut his tendons, leaving him by the side of the road.
It felt like killing him would only dirty my hands.
And it felt a bit wrong to let him die too easily.
If I left him on the side of the road, adventurers passing by would take him and receive a reward.
It was easy for me to subdue him, but he would have been a tough opponent for anyone else.
With that thought, I checked the forum.
[Author: ReallyDirtPoor]
[Title: Saw a legendary face on my way here lol]
[Content: (Photo) Wow, you guys have to see this]
L: Dude, that's messed up, NSFW
L: It looks like something weird hit his face
ㄴ: Right? No way he's that ugly naturally
ㄴ: You guys are so mean lol
L: Mods!!!!!!
ㄴ: Is there even a mod on this forum?
ㄴ: Yeah, there's a mod. Not sure who it is, but someone manages the forum
ㄴ: I'm curious who it is
L: Whatever, you're blocked first, asshole
ㄴ: Lol
ㄴ: Definitely ban-worthy
ㄴ: Where does he get off posting NSFW content?
ㄴ: Seriously, I'm getting angry..
L CocoNenne: Yeah, that's messed up, NSFW
ㄴ: This guy, as if she doesn't upload NSFW content himself lol
ㄴ: ㄹㅇ
ㄴ: So ridiculous lol
ㄴ: Did you find Andromalius?
ㄴ CocoNenne: Found him and split it
ㄴ CocoNenne: Still pissed thinking about it
'...Split it?'
That meant CocoNenne had found the necromancer.
I didn't think CocoNenne was that nice of a person.
But he didn't take all of Andromalius's body?
That meant even with CocoNenne's skills, it was difficult to subdue the necromancer by force.
He was a little weak when he faced me because he didn't have any sacrifices, but it would be a different story if he went to the necromancer's base where there were sacrifices.
Considering the circumstances, it seemed that CocoNenne had been to the necromancer's base.
'...Was it that good?'
I knew it was worth a platinum coin, but...
I decided to ask the coachman.
Well, I didn't think he would know much.
With that thought, I asked.
"Coachman, do you happen to know anything about the Legion Commander?"
When I asked, the coachman trembled for a moment before carefully speaking.
He seemed to be terrified after seeing what I did earlier.
It was understandable.
He probably didn't know that people could die so easily.
He might have even thought he could be next.
Well, I had no intention of attacking the coachman.
He didn't attack me in the first place, so why would I attack him?
And then.
"W-well... There's been a lot of talk about the Legion Commander's body lately. They say it's very helpful in alchemy."
"Ah... Is that so?"
"Yes, yes. Since it's a valuable body, they say there are many byproducts that can be used."
He didn't seem like an ordinary old man.
I knew this information, but I felt like he was hiding something.
It seemed like he knew something useful.
So I asked again.
"Besides that, is there anything people don't know?"
"Haha... How would an old man like me know such things?"
"Hey, stop messing around."
I said, taking off the robe that was covering me, and faced the coachman.
And then-
"...I'll tell you."
The coachman opened his mouth.
*
How long had I been listening to the coachman's story?
What he told me was more shocking than I expected.
'...The bounty shouldn't be that low.'
He said that the byproducts from the Legion Commander's body were worth at least ten platinum coins.
That's ten times the bounty.
Of course, the bounty goes up when the Legion Commander is active, but...
"Hmm."
I felt a bit angry when I thought about how CocoNenne had taken it.
If I had taken that body and sold it, I could have bought a good wand.
Expensive wands were really expensive, so they were one of the things that drained my money.
I decided to search for information about wands while I was at it.
Because I didn't know much about wands.
With that thought, I started searching.
And then I saw a post.
'Huh?'
[Author: DieIllegally]
[Title: Tips on getting a wand...txt]
A familiar nickname was giving out tips.
I guessed it was one of the Archmages.
There was a high probability that he was Silvia's colleague.
So I trusted him.
With that thought, I started reading the post.
[Author: DieIllegally]
[Title: Tips on getting a wand...txt]
[Content: First of all, if you're trying to get a wand, you're probably a wizard, and you can cast magic without a wand, right? Then it's even better if you have one.
It makes your power much stronger.
So, if you want to get a wand, you have to go to a blacksmith, but a good wand isn't something you can get right away just because you have money.
That's why it's best to make a reservation in advance, or get it from a black market merchant.
If all of that is impossible, there is one way...
Actually, it's almost impossible.
There's a magic tournament held in Lukhpelton from time to time, and the prize is a wand.
If you're confident, you can win the tournament and take the wand.
If you're really confident, give it a try.
Anyway, I'm outta here lol]
"...Oh."
After reading the information post, I knew what I wanted to do.
So I memorized it.
It was a good thing there were a lot of informative posts on the forum.
In the very beginning, there was no atmosphere of sharing information, but at some point, people started sharing information.
It was beneficial to me.
Clack- Clack-
And so, I headed to Lukhpelton.
A few days must have passed.
"...I'm back here again."
I never thought I'd be back here again.
It was a strange feeling to be back in Lukhpelton.
The academy was located in Lukhpelton's District 2.
It wasn't the district I lived in, so there was no chance of running into anyone I knew.
It would be hard to recognize me with my robe on anyway.
With that thought, I waited at the gate.
How long had I been waiting?
"Next."
It was finally our turn.
So I got off the carriage.
If I were a noble, I would have been able to pass through immediately, but I wasn't a noble.
I had to go through the inspection properly.
And so, the inspection began.
But-
"Pass."
I passed the inspection faster than I thought.
I don't know why I passed so quickly.
They just looked at my robe and let me pass.
What was that?
I had no reason to refuse, so I quickly passed through the gate.
After Eugene passed through.
The knight guarding the gate muttered to himself.
"...It's been a while since I've seen anyone wearing that robe."
And so, I returned to Lukhpelton.
A little stronger than before.
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