But one should learn even from enemies.

A proper Einroguard student learned even from vicious enemies. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Lee Han firmly resolved that the next time he encountered wicked people, he would try sowing discord first.

“I’ll try deceiving them.”

“Understood.”

Huh?

Lee Han was slightly flustered when the other members of the exploration team agreed so readily.

He had expected them to say it was too early, or to try stopping him.

“Will that really be all right? If I make a mistake, everyone could be put in danger...”

“How would that happen?”

“We trust you, mage.”

The exploration team members answered immediately, as if they had no idea what he was talking about. Alshicle, who was being carried on Lee Han’s back, muttered in a pitiful voice.

“After seeing Wardanaz’s performance on the way up here, anyone who still doubted him would have been removed from the exploration team for intelligence issues in the first place...”

“...Be quiet.”

***

“Something is strange.”

Kitarenannum looked around. The giant-blooded warrior asked in a fed-up tone.

“Are those monsters coming up again?”

“No. Something else... ominous.”

“Try divination.”

At the warrior’s words, Kitarenannum’s face filled with irritation.

“I’m not that kind of mage. How many times do I have to say that mages can’t do everything?”

Mages proficient in every school of magic were extremely rare. Every mage had weak areas, and for Kitarenannum, that was divination magic.

Rather than attempt low-accuracy divination, Kitarenannum chose to recover.

Whoosh!

The mage took out a small, living, human-shaped doll and burned it.

It was a simple human sacrifice, but it was enough to restore mana and replenish magic.

The remaining magic... I should fill it with something more powerful. Just in case.

Kitarenannum replaced the magic forming one arm with something stronger.

This secret technique, condensing magic itself into the shape of a body part, was Kitarenannum’s proud specialty. It had the advantage of allowing powerful magic to be cast instantly and precisely, but it also had the disadvantage of requiring preparation in advance.

Preparing for possible danger, Kitarenannum readied additional human sacrifices. If combat broke out, the remaining sacrifices would be offered to amplify the power of the magic.

“Enemies.”

“!”

Startled by the warrior’s words, Kitarenannum asked.

“How close are they?”

“About fifty steps above the small stairs. The vibrations are different from the monsters.”

“Do they seem like they’ll attack?”

“Hard to say. I don’t sense hostility, but those Imperial lapdogs are stupid...”

“We request negotiation!”

The two exchanged glances. Kitarenannum immediately tried to cast the human sacrifice already prepared.

At that moment, interference struck.

Counter-magic—the technique mages used to identify and check another mage’s spell.

Crackle!

“???!!!”

Kitarenannum was shocked when the human sacrifice was blocked by a mage who had not even shown a face above the stairs yet.

What?!?!?

It was absolutely unbelievable.

Counter-magic was never easy, even when facing an opponent directly and watching the spell being cast.

To accurately interfere with and disrupt someone else’s magic before it was even cast required, in a sense, an even deeper understanding than the caster possessed.

And yet, right now, someone had successfully cast counter-magic based only on mana traces, from a distance so great that faces were not even visible. A chill ran down Kitarenannum’s spine.

“What? What’s wrong with you?”

“Was there... an archmage among the exploration team?”

“There wasn’t.”

Kitarenannum searched his memory.

Surely there were no names that required caution. There was the mage from House Pengerine, and the mage from <Green Pyroxene Mage Tower>...

But was there a mage among them capable of toying with Kitarenannum’s magic like this?

The magical criminal felt humiliation and fear rather than anger.

It was like when Kitarenannum had once faced Antagondals, another magical criminal and archmage, directly.

“Get a grip, mage.”

“Shut up, demon! You don’t even know how incredible this is.”

At this level, the difference was almost great enough to say the opponent was playing with Kitarenannum.

For Kitarenannum, who had been somewhat confident that none of the Empire’s relatively young mages, aside from archmages, could match his skill, it was a terrible shock.

Kitarenannum never imagined that the opponent had already met several magical criminals and had thoroughly practiced the secrets of breaking human sacrifice techniques in advance.

***

“...Uh, did I choose wrong?”

“No. You did well.”

When Lee Han looked confused, Alshicle shook his head.

They did not know what the opponent might do, so they could not simply leave human sacrifice magic alone. If it could be stopped, stopping it was absolutely the right decision.

“More importantly, how did you manage counter-magic at this distance?”

“The Skull Principal tormented me into learning it.”

“I can understand that. This semester must have been very hard.”

“I learned it last year, though.”

“...”

Alshicle closed his beak. Meanwhile, the enemy shouted first.

“What is your purpose?! Dimensional erosion is happening here right now, and monsters are swarming in. Are you trying to die together? Huh?”

That must be the warrior mixed with giant blood.

Thinking that to himself, Alshicle revealed his name.

“I am Alshicle Pengerine. Is there another mage beside you?”

“Alshicle Pengerine... I’ll remember that.”

Kitarenannum gritted his teeth.

Kitarenannum would definitely get revenge for the frustration and humiliation felt today.

“I’ll admit it honestly. I didn’t know you were such an outstanding mage.”

“What? ...No. I wasn’t the one who blocked your human sacrifice magic. My junior here did.”

At Alshicle’s words, the giant-blooded warrior and the magical criminal exchanged glances.

The warrior immediately said,

“Bullshit. He’s trying to shake you.”

“Don’t fall for a trick like that.”

“I know that too.”

Kitarenannum raised the evaluation of Alshicle even higher. To try shaking an opponent in this situation—this was no ordinary man.

In the tense standoff, Basirmac began to feel impatient. There was no telling when the monsters might swarm in.

“Hey! Aren’t you spell-casters friendly with each other? Instead of fighting in a situation like this, why don’t you cooperate for a while? This mage here is also from an Imperial magic school! He might even be your senior!”

“Useless talk...”

Kitarenannum frowned at the giant-blooded warrior’s attitude, babbling without knowing much, but the effect was intense.

Lee Han made a face as if the sky had collapsed.

“W-Wardanaz. Calm down. It’s not confirmed that he’s from Einroguard.”

Alshicle whispered in panic, trying to calm Lee Han down. However, it had the opposite effect.

“Alshicle, you know it too. That’s why you said he wasn’t from Einroguard even though Einroguard’s name never came up!”

“...That is true, but it still isn’t confirmed!”

Lee Han let out a deep sigh.

As a fellow magic school graduate, he felt ashamed and distressed, but now was not the time to be swayed by such emotions.

Right. Whether the opponent is from Einroguard or not, what does it matter?

In the life ahead of him, Lee Han would encounter Einroguard-born magical criminals as often as eggs in a basket, so he could not afford to waver.

“Even if he is a fellow Einroguard graduate, there will be no mercy in this situation!”

“Valdrogard.”

“What?”

“Not Einroguard. Valdrogard. I’m from Valdrogard, you brats.”

“...”

“...”

An awkward, subtle silence lingered between the three mages. Only Basirmac, who did not understand the delicate culture unique to spellcasters, looked puzzled.

“What? What is it?”

“Shut up, you stupid bastard. This is why I didn’t want to say it.”

When dealing with Imperial mages, the most irritating reaction was not hostility, contempt, or condemnation.

It was that awkward, subtle reaction that appeared when Kitarenannum revealed being from Valdrogard.

And that reaction was especially severe from mages who had come from Einroguard.

“What? From Valdrogard? But how did you become a magical criminal?”

“Gasp! You’re quite strong...! How can someone from Valdrogard use such magic?”

The sight of mages bleeding profusely after losing in battle, yet still asking with pure curiosity, “How can someone from Valdrogard use such magic?” had left deep scars on Kitarenannum’s pride.

Of course, pride was not something only Kitarenannum possessed.

“...You spell-caster bastard. Do you want to die? At this distance, which do you think will be faster—your magic, or my fist ripping out your tongue?”

While those two argued pointlessly, Lee Han and Alshicle were also having a pointless conversation.

“There are criminals from Valdrogard too???”

“Of course there are... How is that even a question?”

“Ah, no. That’s true, but... I see. But... right.”

He seems more shocked than when the worshiper of evil gods attacked the palace.

Lee Han shook his head to escape the shock.

In fact, it was only natural that there were criminals from Valdrogard as well, and it was also natural that there were magical criminals among them.

...It was just too hard to accept.

“Think positively, Wardanaz. If he were from Einroguard, he would have been an opponent several times more troublesome. We can face him like this precisely because he is from Valdrogard.”

“I’m not sure whether that is comforting or not.”

Fortunately, thanks to the soundproofing magic Alshicle had cast, their conversation did not carry to the enemy.

If Kitarenannum had heard it, monsters or not, a fight to the death would have been attempted.

“I am willing to agree to temporary cooperation!”

At Lee Han’s shout, the two who had been arguing paused as well.

“Really?”

“Yes. You know the monster is stronger than expected too.”

“That’s true...”

Kitarenannum was about to agree, but then a thought flashed through the mage’s mind, and a question was thrown out instead.

“Wait. What did you people touch? Did you perhaps steal something precious from the monster...”

At first, Kitarenannum had thought the monsters had suddenly changed priorities because they had found newer, more appetizing prey.

But no matter how much Kitarenannum thought about it, that did not seem enough to make them change.

Kitarenannum and Basirmac were also sufficiently tempting prey.

“What are you talking about?”

When Alshicle asked in confusion, Kitarenannum explained the phenomenon that had occurred earlier.

I’m testing them.

If the exploration team had stolen and secured something like monster eggs, that was something Kitarenannum absolutely had to steal back.

“???”

“There was nothing like that, was there?”

Since there truly had been nothing of the sort, both Lee Han and Alshicle were confused.

“Hmm.”

Alshicle, being the excellent mage he was, began reasoning with only the clues given.

Seeing the always reliable senior mage do so, Lee Han looked at him with slight expectation.

“One possibility comes to mind.”

“What possibility?”

“You know the moment when those monsters experienced that phenomenon. If we think about it, it was when we encountered the monsters.”

“Are you saying someone in our party secretly stole monster eggs!?”

“...We moved together. How would that even be possible? And if that were the case, they would have come much faster.”

“Then what is it?”

Alshicle stared intently at Lee Han.

If what that magical criminal said was true, there was only one possibility that seemed most likely right now.

The monster was coveting Lee Han.

Alshicle could not completely guess the thought process of something from the Void, but considering Lee Han’s magical power, it was not particularly surprising.

“Me? They did attack me a lot, but I thought that was because I acted so annoyingly...”

At the suggestion that a monster he had never met was coveting him, Lee Han showed a skeptical reaction.

Then Basil, who had been listening with bated breath, opened its mouth with a resolute attitude.

“Master.”

“Yeah?”

“I think what he said is right too...!”

“...May I ask what made you think that and why it feels right to you?”