< 17 : Black Mage (3) >
Roan Hebris.
He was a black mage who had reached his mid-forties this year.
He realized early on that he had no talent for magic and switched to black magic, but that did not mean he had outstanding achievements in black magic.
To succeed in black magic, one needed effort above all.
The effort to capture innocent people and use them as sacrifices for magic.
That was the nature of black magic.
And Roan was not the kind of person who could execute such effort aggressively.
He ended up being trapped in mediocre skills, and kept spinning in the same place.
He occasionally joined a band of thieves to get prisoners for his sacrifices, but that was the only thing that changed.
Roan’s own skills were always stuck in the past glory.
“It would be nice if I could offer all these guys as sacrifices.”
Roan muttered as he put the prepared ingredients into the boiling cauldron.
Roan’s eyes were filled with boredom as he looked at the cauldron.
He was getting tired of making potions.
He knew that without even the minimum research, he would regress, but he wanted to give up what he was doing now.
But the thieves who were with him would not let him go.
The potions that Roan produced were one of the main sources of income for the band of thieves, along with the slaves.
Living a life of being praised was not bad, but sometimes he wanted to escape.
That was human nature.
Tsk tsk.
Roan clicked his tongue and dropped a clump of hair cut from the slaves into the cauldron.
“If I had continued to learn magic, I might have been teaching magic in some rural village.”
Although his achievements would be less than black magic, being a mage was still a respectable profession.
Especially if it was a rural area that seemed to have nothing to do with magic.
He might have missed the opportunity to be regarded as a quirky mage in some rural village, and be called a sage.
As Roan thought so, he heard a voice ringing outside his tent.
It was a familiar voice to Roan’s ears.
It was none other than the voice of the thief who was guarding his tent.
“Master!”
“What is it? I told you not to bother me when I’m making potions.”
Roan said with an annoyed expression as he heard the thief’s voice.
If any impurities got in, the effect of the potion would go wrong.
That’s why Roan had told him several times not to bother him when he was making potions.
But the thief ignored his voice and flapped the entrance of the tent and rushed in.
The thief breathed heavily and looked at Roan.
At the same time, a leaf carried by the wind gently landed on top of the cauldron.
An impurity got mixed into the potion he was making.
Roan frowned as he watched it all.
“Master! You’re here!”
“Didn’t I tell you not to come in! You’ve contaminated the potion!”
Roan yelled at the thief who came in abruptly.
There was an order to everything, no matter how urgent it was.
The thief shook his head with a desperate expression, ignoring Roan’s scream.
Huff.
He took a breath and said in a trembling voice to him.
“It’s a big trouble!”
“What kind of trouble is it that you did this? Did the band of thieves get wiped out or something?”
“The boss has been taken hostage.”
“Wha, what…?”
Roan opened his mouth wide at the thief’s words.
It was definitely a big trouble indeed.
The leader of the band of thieves had been taken hostage.
Where in the world was such an absurd story?
Moreover, if someone could take hostage of the thieves, it meant that some kind of expedition force had come.
If he was caught by an expedition force, Roan, who was a black mage, would surely be executed.
He felt nervous about the situation that was going wrong and asked the thief.
“How many people came for the expedition?”
“Expedition force, you say?”
“Yes! Expedition force!”
“I didn’t see any expedition force, only two people came.”
“…?”
Roan looked at the thief with an incomprehensible expression.
But the thief’s face looked more serious than ever.
Two people.
Only two people had defeated and captured the band of thieves and taken their leader hostage.
That was even more serious than an expedition force coming in.
“Who are they? Did they look like knights or something?”
“A man wearing shabby clothes and a woman holding a book!”
“A book…?”
“It seems like a mage has come! Please defeat the enemy mage with your powerful black magic, Master!”
The more Roan heard from the thief, the more perplexed he became.
A mage who had wiped out a band of thieves in an instant.
And there were only two of them.
Could Roan win against such beings?
Roan thought not.
He had devoted decades to magic, but he was not much stronger than others.
The best option was to run away if possible.
“A mage…”
“We don’t have time! Master! Master, use your strong black magic to punish the enemy!”
“No, I…”
“Master! Hurry!”
But he had no courage to run away, leaving behind the thief who looked at him with a fervent expression.
A mage’s assets were his magic books and research materials.
Even if he was a black mage, his essence did not change.
If he left everything here and ran away, everything that Roan had built up for decades would be gone.
Hoo.
Roan sighed and passed by the thief.
As he walked out of the tent, he saw the leader who was being held hostage as he had been told.
“Oh, Roan…! Save me!”
The leader called out Roan’s name and asked for his salvation as soon as he faced him.
Roan looked at the leader who was captured, and the unwelcome guests standing behind him.
A young man with a naive impression.
And behind him, a girl holding a thick book.
A deep magic was swirling from the book that the girl was holding.
It was a priceless treasure that he could guess its value just by looking at it.
“Are you the mage who lives here?”
Roan and the girl’s eyes met in the air.
The girl asked Roan about his identity with an innocent expression.
But Roan was not swayed by the girl’s innocent expression.
The person in front of him was a mage.
And not just any mage, but a mage with a tremendous power that he could not even guess.
He could not take her lightly.
“Yes. I am Roan Hebris, the black mage. And who are you?”
“My identity, you say?”
“Isn’t it fair to answer one question if you asked one?”
“I guess so.”
“Then tell me who you are.”
Gulp. Roan swallowed his saliva and watched the opponent’s movements with a wary eye.
At Roan’s request, Eutenia walked forward with light steps.
Eutenia stopped right next to the leader who was tied up.
She stopped at a slight distance from Roan and opened her mouth in a gentle voice.
“I am Eutenia Hyrost, an apostle of the great one. An apostle who serves him.”
“Apostle…”
“Was it a strange story for you?”
“No. I feel like I understand a little bit now.”
An apostle of God.
He did not know exactly what kind of god he was, but he knew that facing an apostle of God was not a good thing.
A person who walks the path of black magic must understand all kinds of rituals.
Offering to an evil god was no exception.
He offered sacrifices and received power worthy of them.
That was the basic content of black magic.
Seeing Eutenia, who called herself an apostle, Roan realized that he had to make a quick decision.
“I see. I’m glad it helped.”
“This is all I have to do.”
“You’re going to use magic, aren’t you?”
Crackle.
Sparks flew from Roan’s hand as he pulled up his magic.
He made an arrow of lightning and shot it at the target.
The arrow flew like a ray of light and collided with the target in an instant.
“Lightning Arrow!”
“Craaack…!”
The arrow that Roan threw pierced through the leader of the band of thieves who was next to Eutenia.
The leader’s body flashed and he started to foam at the mouth and convulse.
Roan attacked not Eutenia but the leader of the band of thieves.
The leader who was hit by the unexpected attack screamed and fainted.
Eutenia watched him and stroked the cover of her book. She said to Roan:
“That’s interesting.”
“I knew it from the moment I saw you.”
“Is that so?”
“Please take me as your disciple.”
Plop.
Roan knelt down and buried his head on the ground.
This was the only conclusion he could make.
The enormous aura that moved from behind Eutenia in the shadows.
Roan knew from the moment he faced it that he could not beat her.
He had no outstanding talent for magic, but he had a natural eye for judging the level of others.
She was an apostle of an evil god.
She was connected to the being she served by some kind of bond, and used a near-infinite amount of magic.
She was literally an ideal being that mages dreamed of.
How dare he fight against such a being?
It was no different from a foolish moth jumping into a fire.
Eutenia tilted her head at Roan’s request.
“That’s too bad. I can’t take you as a disciple.”
“…Yes?”
“I recruit believers, but I don’t accept disciples.”
“Then please take me as a believer! I will serve the great one!”
Eutenia smiled at Roan’s repeated bowing.
A hand stretched out from the shadows and stroked Roan’s head, who was lying down.
“Shall we? I’m sure he will be pleased.”
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