Chapter 63 - Volume 4 (2/2)

Reisha and Kunette rushed over like lightning and pulled Isaac back by grabbing at his neck and waist.

Slam!

While Isaac was busy falling on the floor pathetically, Reisha and Kunette deftly deflected the rain of black light with their hands.

“s.h.i.+t, what was that?”

Isaac got on his feet, ma.s.saging his back. He saw Reisha standing, her hands firmly grasping at arrows that were exuding black smoke.

“Uck! H, he’s dead!”

Isaac turned to see where the scream came from. An arrow struck the head of the syndicate member that had been waiting at the door, who was unable to avoid the trap.

“Ah, s.h.i.+t… we’ve done it now.”

Isaac muttered to himself in distress as he looked down at the dead syndicate member. A single arrow the size of a chopstick had found its mark on his forehead. It was an instant death; there was no need for any emergency care. It was obvious the situation was going to get more complicated, now that a syndicate member had died.

Seeing a dead body and watching someone die in front of them was a similar shock, but on a different scale. It seemed the sight of someone dying in front of them was quite a shock for the brats who just graduated Campus, who simply rustled about in confusion.

That wasn’t the case for Isaac, however. He had seen this sight too many times to care.

“… Isaac, this is bad.”

“Sunbaenim, this is black magic.”

“Black magic?”

Reisha and Kunette showed the arrows to Isaac with great concern, which was very unlike their usual selves. Isaac’s concern grew with them.

The users of black magic were the Empire’s greatest enemy. The prime example of such users were warlocks. In a world where wizards could receive the t.i.tle of knights through the practice of magic, those who formed a contract with the demons and borrowed their power were called warlocks. They possessed great power that was only rivaled by their own twisted nature. Every appearance of a warlock was followed by a ma.s.sacre of grand scale. But now, through the great efforts of the Empire, the warlocks had been reduced to a name in history books and fairy tales as Central was relentless in their attempts to exterminate them.

“Are you saying the victim was a warlock?”

“I don’t think so. A warlock wouldn’t make such a flimsy trap. Or die so pathetically outside his own house.”

“… He’s not a warlock.”

Perhaps the greatest victims of warlocks were the other races. So the other races were taught thoroughly regarding warlocks and how to deal with them from a young age. Hearing Reisha and Kunette, who could be considered somewhat of experts in this area, speak against the idea of the victim being a warlock rea.s.sured everyone.

“Krent.”

“Yes?”

“Get in.”

“…”

Isaac pointed his finger in the dark room, were only a s.h.i.+mmer of red light was seeping out. Krent retaliated against isaac’s order with silence.

“What are you just standing around for? Get it.”

“Am I going in alone?”

“Why would I send more in when there could be more traps inside? Don’t you know the basics of scouting?”

“… Why don’t you lead us through example?”

“Rejected. Why would I go in when I have such a fine subordinate such as yourself? And I am literally the Administrator and the Lord’s Representative of this city. My job is to give out orders, and it’s your job to follow those orders.”

“Why does it have to be me?”

“Don’t you know that nothing’s free? You have to make up for all the food you shoved down your throat.”

Krent looked for a.s.sistance from his colleagues, but all of them avoided eye contact. Even if Reisha said that it wasn’t a warlock, it still gave off a bad vibe. Krent reluctantly drew his sword and made his way carefully into the room, all the while grumbling.

The room was so small that it was easy to identify how Krent was doing while looking from the outside. Krent looked around the room and then spoke out.

“There’s nothing suspicious.”

Isaac began to order the police force into the room, one by one.

“Sunbaenim, why aren’t you letting Kunette or I into the room?”

“You two need to protect me.”

Reisha’s eyes opened wide at Isaac’s answer, while Kunette seemed encouraged by it; her eyes shone brightly, determined to protect Isaac. Reisha smirked, finding Isaac’s att.i.tude to be quite funny. His manly pride be d.a.m.ned, to be able to ask for a woman’s protection without a moment’s hesitation.

“You are probably the only knight who would ask someone else to protect you, Sunbaenim.”

“What can I do? It’s the disgrace of being weak.”

Even after all of the police force had moved into the room, nothing happened for quite some time. Only then did Isaac move in with them. Death wasn’t something he feared, but he wasn’t going to run into danger head first without taking precautions.

“Why is it so dark?”

Isaac could only see up to the door thanks to the light from the corridor, but the inside of the room was pitch black to him.

“All of us can see fine here.”

“Don’t put me on the same level as you lot.”

“It’s a typical apprentice warlock’s room from the looks of it.”

“Yeah. With all the artefacts he has inside. Look over here, he even drew a magic circle on the floor.”

“Huh? That magic circle design is really ancient. n.o.body uses that anymore.”

Isaac’s frustration mounted, as he felt excluded by the fact that he was the only person who couldn’t see what they were talking about.

“Huh? What are you doing, sunbaenim?”

“There should be a b.u.t.ton around here. Ah! There it is!”

Isaac felt around the walls with his hands and pressed the b.u.t.ton for the magic light in the room. With a click, everything in the room lit up clearly. The knights, on the other hand, frowned for a moment, blinded by the sudden influx of light.

“Man, was he really trying to become a warlock?’

One of the walls were covered with flags each depicting a symbol of a different demon. In the cabinets were a mummified head of a goat, incense, a mirror, and a dagger – all tools used for a ritual. On the floor, two magic circles were drawn on top of one another – a pentagram and an inverted cross. The circle was dark red, as if it were drawn with blood.

“Does anyone know what this means?”

Isaac pointed at the magic circle and asked, but Reisha shook her head.

“No. A pentagram and cross are basic magic circles, but it’s a design that n.o.body uses anymore. And this is the first time we’ve seen a magic circle where they are drawn on top of one another.”

“… Strange, I can feel mana from it.”

“Then let’s… huh?”

Isaac tried to give out his order in accordance to Kunette’s comment, when suddenly the magic circle started producing red smoke. Isaac looked at the sight in wonder, while the police members quickly backed off from it with a shout.

“The magic circle has activated!”

“Everyone, watch out!”

The smoke began to gather on a single spot and form the shape of a creature.

“W, wyvern?”

“How could a monster from a demonic world appear!”

The knights drew their swords when they confirmed that it was a wyvern, while Reisha complained to Isaac for his mistake.

“Why did you have to touch the crime scene so carelessly!”

“Hnng…”

It almost seemed like complete coincidence that the two events happened at the same time, but when looking at the chain of events, it was true that the magic circle activated when Isaac turned the lights on. He had no excuse to give.

Screech!

The wyvern let loose a deafening scream into the air and began to attack the knights, its wings fully extended.

“Kuack!”

Krent, who happened to be misfortunate enough to lock eyes with the wyvern, received its tackle. He blocked it with his sword, but the momentum of the charge threw his body out of the building, shattering the house’s wall.

“S, stop it! Our lives will be over if we let that thing go!”

The wyvern seemed rather unintelligent in its single-minded pursuit for Krent, and it jumped out of the house. Screams echoed from the streets, and the police force quickly jumped out of the building to catch the wyvern. Isaac’s hubaes were trained well enough to jump off from the 2nd floor without any problem, but Isaac was sure to break his legs if he tried it. He quickly placed Kunette on his shoulders and ran down the stairs.

Some brave souls were peaking their heads out the door in response to the sudden noise as Isaac pa.s.sed.

“All of you get back in the house and don’t come out!”

The heads quickly shrivelled back into the houses.

By the time Isaac came out, the situation was already over. Perhaps it was expected of the first-rate knights from Campus. The knights’ focused their mana-imbued attacks on the wyvern, and it was subdued before it could mount a proper resistance. Black blood oozed out of its wounds, and the head was cut off from its body, its tongue fully extended.

“Huff, huff! At least you guys managed to solve the initial problem. Krent, get out there and cordon off the area. One of you is to go to the City Hall and report to Rivelia and ask for reinforcements. The rest of you except Reisha and Kunette are to get back in that room and watch if another one sp.a.w.ns again!”

The group of police, who seemed clueless about their next action, quickly set themselves into motion with Isaac’s orders. Isaac tried to catch his breath and smoke when Reisha approached him.

“It’s a good thing we entered that room first.”

“It could have turned into a disaster.”

“… Isaac, it hurts.”

It seemed that when Isaac rushed down the stairs, Kunette ended up banging her head on the ceiling. She squirmed in pain, ma.s.saging her head.

“Ah, sorry. I was in a rush. But good job protecting me. I’ll give you all the elven honey you want.”

“… It doesn’t hurt.”

The sight of Kunette trying to act brave and fib about her pain made Isaac pat her out of cuteness. But his act caused even more pain for Kunette, so he ended up having to comfort her again.

“Did Rivelia sunbaenim send us expecting something like this to happen?”

Isaac looked Reisha in the eyes and spoke back with his voice full of conviction.

“I swear on my entire fortune and one of my arms that is not the case.”

“…”

Those who are destined to succeed do so no matter what it is. All that happened was a crime that justified police intervention, and the incident happened to include traces of black magic and the casualty-free extermination of a monster that sp.a.w.ned in the middle of the city. Rivelia was sure to receive a reward for this unprecedented success. When Isaac’s thoughts reached that conclusion, he couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

“Kuk! Kukukuku.”

“Sunbaenim?”

Reisha looked with worry, but Isaac continued laughing. This was perhaps the most successful extermination of a warlock and demonic monster, so she would need to report to the Emperor personally. That would mean that Isaac wouldn’t need to see Rivelia for some time, and with any luck, Rivelia might even get promoted and transferred out of the city.

<script>