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Chapter 135: Where Did the Crazy Mage Squad Go?

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Truly?"

"...It\'s true."

"He really threw Magic Stones?"

"Apparently so."

"Like this?"

As I mimicked throwing a weapon, the elders gathered in the cave nodded.

"Huh."

I looked at Elder Isaac, who was seated in the highest seat.

Elder Isaac was glaring at Elder Norman, who was lying unconscious beside him, looking as good as dead.

"Oh, you scoundrel. That wretched elder. Sigh..."

A drop of sweat trickled down Elder Isaac\'s forehead, who had been checking on Elder Norman\'s condition since dawn.

Elder Isaac asked,

"Where did you find him?"

"I found him by a deep mountain spring."

"There\'s a place like that?"

"It\'s a mystical place. I don\'t really know where it is. I wouldn\'t be able to find it again. I just returned to Mt Khaoto after a long time and went deep into the mountains to meditate when I heard an explosion."

I observed Elder Isaac\'s expression as I delivered my prepared answer.

Fortunately, Elder Isaac didn\'t seem to have any suspicions.

Rather, he said he should have expected it and glared at Elder Norman even more intensely.

"That senile elder. I knew it when he started wandering around at night. He should age gracefully, gracefully. I knew he would cause an accident."

Despite his words, Elder Isaac\'s complexion was also somewhat dark.

His eyes looked hollow, as if he hadn\'t slept in days.

Looking around, I saw that the other elders were in a similar state.

"...Are you competing for Magic Stones or something?"

The elders exchanged glances, then coughed awkwardly and turned their heads with embarrassed faces.

Just then...

Elder Norman, who had been lying in bed, suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.

"Where am I?"

Elder Isaac, uncharacteristically, yelled at Elder Norman.

"Elder!"

"Oh my, you surprised me."

Elder Norman looked around with a bewildered expression.

"Why am I here...?"

"This elder must have gone truly senile. This is what happens when you wander around alone at night. A Magic Stone exploded, you know!"

"Why is this guy suddenly yelling without any respect..."

Just as Elder Norman was about to retort angrily, he suddenly frowned and tilted his head.

"Wait. An explosion?"

"You almost went to the underworld, but Ruin barely managed to find you and bring you back."

"Ruin came? Our Ruin?"

I greeted him brightly, pretending to be nonchalant.

"Elder, hello."

Elder Norman, finally noticing me, smiled brightly.

"Oh, Ruin. You\'ve returned? I\'ve heard a lot. By the way, it\'s strange. The Magic Stone couldn\'t have exploded. I didn\'t engrave the spell so carelessly."

I felt a strange sensation.

To think Elder Norman would smile so brightly at me...

Didn\'t he despise me?

"Ahem!"

Suddenly, Norman coughed and yelled,

"An intruder! There was an intruder. Yes, someone attacked me!"

The elders reacted simultaneously, their eyes widening.

"An intruder?"

"I threw the Magic Stone at him. That\'s why the explosion happened."

Elder Isaac let out a hollow laugh and said,

"Where was this intruder?"

"Well, that\'s..."

Elder Norman started to speak but then shook his head as if hiding something.

"I can\'t say...that..."

"Why not?"

"Anyway, I can\'t tell you the location!"

Elder Isaac retorted,

"Elder, are you truly senile? Or are you doing this on purpose? What intruder?"

"It\'s not a lie!"

"The alarm didn\'t even go off, so where would an intruder come from? Tell us what happened."

"...It didn\'t go off?"

Elder Norman, lost in thought, looked at me.

"Ah, Ruin would know. Ruin, didn\'t you notice anything strange?"

"No. You were collapsed there alone, Elder. There was no trace of anyone else."

Elder Norman dejectedly shook his head.

"Really not...? My Magic Stone exploded?"

This was, so to speak, brainwashing.

It\'s like if everyone says you\'re strange, you start to feel strange yourself.

Suddenly, Elder Norman looked at me.

I looked back at Elder Norman...and we exchanged glances for a moment.

Did he suddenly sense something?

Elder Norman\'s pupils dilated widely.

"Gah!"

With a short scream, the elder fainted.

[TL/N: I genuinely feel bad for the elder, bro has been torturing him from the start ]

***

"There shouldn\'t be any major problems."

The physician said after examining Elder Norman.

Having climbed all the way to the deep cave where the elders were gathered without rest, the physician also looked tired.

"It seems to have been a temporary shock. He\'s sleeping now. He should be fine soon."

"That\'s a relief. Thank you for your efforts."

Elder Isaac clicked his tongue while looking at Elder Norman.

"Why does he become more childish with age? Honestly."

While the physician was checking on Elder Norman, I had a long conversation with Elder Isaac.

Throwing Magic Stones...

It was a surprising idea.

The principle, as I understand it, was this:

It\'s a simple structure: imbue a magic stone with a spell, throw the magic stone, and the spell activates when it shatters.

It requires a high level of concentration, but it\'s not impossible.

Essentially, the simpler the structure, the more effective it is.

Perhaps high-level spells would be difficult, but even this much can be quite effective in battle.

It made me realize anew how amazing the elders of our Samael are to have come up with such an idea.

Perhaps they devised this escape route because they don\'t have the physical strength to train like young mages.

Even 300 years ago, no one in Samael had this kind of idea.

Only then did I understand why Elder Norman was wandering around such a remote place late at night.

I put my hand in my pocket and felt the cold touch of the magic stone.

The A-grade magic stone that Elder Norman tried to throw at me at the last moment.

…No wonder there were so many magic stones around there.

Perhaps that place was Elder Norman\'s hidden treasure trove.

I said to Elder Isaac,

"I roughly understand the situation. Still, please don\'t compete too much, Elders."

Elder Isaac nodded.

"Don\'t worry too much. We\'re doing our best."

"I understand."

Suddenly, Elder Isaac took my hand and mumbled something for a long time.

"What\'s wrong, Elder?"

The elder looked at me without saying a word.

His expression was so profound that I, too, remained silent.

After a moment, Elder Isaac said,

"I heard you\'ve been through a lot."

"...."

"Rumors are spreading. That Urgon has fallen. That things would turn out this way."

"Word about me has already reached here?"

"I heard that even the noble clans joined the battle. And that you, Ruin, played the biggest role."

"Ah."

It seems Loren worked quickly.

Perhaps the rumors were likely spread directly from Ardehain.

Elder Isaac, looking at the lying Elder Norman, said,

"The childish Elder liked you the most. You fulfilled his long-cherished wish, Ruin."

Suddenly, the memory of Elder Norman welcoming me a while ago came to mind.

No wonder he was smiling so brightly.

"He also worried about you a lot."

"Is that so?"

"It must have been very dangerous. If such a thing happened, why didn\'t you ask for help?"

"Things happened so suddenly that it wasn\'t the right situation."

"Do you not trust us?"

"That\'s not it."

Elder Isaac looked straight at me and said,

"Don\'t try to carry all the burdens alone. You are not Samael alone."

I was speechless for a moment.

Because I felt his sincerity.

This kind of emotion is unfamiliar. It\'s not an emotion I like either.

I felt it in my past life too, but this is a damn feeling.

"It\'s okay. You don\'t have to worry about me too much."

Surprisingly, upon hearing my words, Elder Isaac gave an enigmatic smile.

"You sound just like the clan head."

Just as I was about to ask what he meant, a strange groaning sound suddenly came from the side.

“Ugh! Ugh! How dare… Samael!”

Elder Norman was talking in his sleep.

As he showed signs of slowly opening his eyes, I hurriedly bid farewell to Elder Isaac.

"I\'ll head down first. Then please rest, Elder."

"Go and rest, Ruin. Let\'s talk again later."

* * *

Receiving the dawn sunlight rising along the ridgeline, I headed towards the clan estate.

In the distance, I could see the form of Ifrit being built.

They had already secured the land and were erecting the temple, and it was enormous at a glance.

“Haaaaaaaaap!”

A moment later, shouts were heard.

Following the sound, I arrived at the central training ground. At a glance, there were at least a hundred apprentices doing physical training with shouts from the crack of dawn.

I sat down on the ridge for a moment and watched them.

The morning sunlight illuminated the training ground.

"This is it."

On one side of the training ground, I saw a small mana refinery, built sometime recently.

With that, they could quickly recover their stamina even when exhausted.

I reminisced about the past for a moment.

The dawn of Samael, filled with the shouts of hundreds of apprentice mages.

I suppose this means we\'re somewhat properly equipped now.

At that moment, a familiar young elder leading the chants at the front caught my eye.

"Elder Falcon is working hard."

At some point, Elder Falcon seemed to have noticed me too, as he widened his eyes in my direction.

I bowed my head, and Elder Falcon waved.

No words were needed.

We simply exchanged greetings with smiles and went about our own business.

After watching the training from the ridge for a while, I returned to the manor.

As always, Lihan, who was wandering around the manor, was the first to spot me and came running over.

“Young Master!”

“Have you been well?”

“Young Master, you\'re safe!”

“What\'s with that expression?”

Lihan\'s expression was quite peculiar.

His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were tearing up.

“I\'ve been waiting for you, Young Master!”

“Wow, your expression right now is like… Never mind.”

I\'ve seen this expression before.

A long time ago, that is, when I was young and acting like a hoodlum.

It was quite similar to the expression of the dog owned by the wife, commonly known as \'Madam\', of the boss of my second gang, when it greeted its owner.

But I didn\'t say anything because I couldn\'t say that to Lihan.

"Wow."

I marveled at the procession pouring in through the main gate and the manor.

Boxes full of goods were flooding in on carriages.

“What are all those?”

"Many clans from the Quebek region are sending gifts now. Yesterday, it was the Heintz clan and... where else was it? Lord Garheim came in person. And today, we\'ve already received gifts from two places."

"Excellent."

"I told you, didn\'t I? Our clan is an excellent one."

"Make a list ranking who sent how much. After all, these things need to be done with certainty."

"I\'m already doing that."

"You\'re excellent too."

At that moment, a few servants I had never seen before approached and said,

"A box of gold bullion has arrived. Where should we put it?"

Lihan said,

"Have them wait in front of the gold bullion warehouse."

"Understood."

Lihan suddenly shouted in an uncharacteristic manner,

"You fools! Why haven\'t you greeted the Young Master! This is the eldest son of our Samael, Ruin Samael!"

The servants were startled and bowed their heads to me at a 90-degree angle.

"Ah, greetings, Young Master."

"That\'s right. Greet him like that from now on."

I shook my head.

"Take it easy, take it easy."

Lihan relayed it to the servants as it was.

"Did you hear? Take it easy, take it easy."

"Yes!"

"Go and wait then."

The servants withdrew, and I stared at Lihan for a moment, dumbfounded.

"What was that?"

"They\'re newly hired servants. We\'re short-staffed now."

"No, I mean what\'s with you?"

"I\'m the Assistant-Butler."

"You got promoted?"

"Yes."

"Congratulations."

I laughed out loud because Lihan\'s proud look as he puffed out his chest was funny.

When I laughed, Lihan laughed along.

After laughing for a while, we stopped at the same time.

I said to Lihan,

"Let\'s go see the clan head first."

"Ah."

Lihan replied,

"The patriarch is away."

"Since when?"

"It\'s been a while. It\'s about time for him to return. He\'ll probably be back within three days."

"Hmm."

As I looked around the estate, I suddenly felt strange and asked,

"By the way, where are all the Crazy mage squad?"

No matter how much I looked around, I couldn\'t see a single one of them.

"They\'ve been doing individual training lately, so they\'re not easily seen. They sometimes appear suddenly after being in the mountains."

"The Commander, but they\'re nowhere to be seen. Those crazy guys."

"They might not know you\'re here."

"This won\'t do."

I\'ll have to find them myself.

After giving Lihan various instructions, I headed back to the mountain ridge.

As I went deeper into the mountains, I started to hear the sound of running.

“One! Two! Three! Four!”

Some of the apprentices I had seen at the training ground at dawn were jogging in formation.

I joined the back of the line and started running with them.

The strong smell of sweat made me feel good.

“Number off!”

“One! Two! Three! Four!”

How long did we run?

From an unknown cliff, with a whooshing sound, a pebble flew over.

“Ugh!”

One of the apprentices who was hit by the pebble staggered.

The squad leader, who was running in the first row, turned around and warned,

“The devil\'s attack has begun. Everyone, stay alert!”

Hmm?

Then, a series of pebble attacks followed.

As dozens of pebbles flew in succession, the apprentices who were jogging started to collapse one by one.

Finally, the attack stopped when the squad leader collapsed.

“Keke!”

With a familiar laugh, someone jumped down from the cliff.

The man, looking over the collapsed apprentices, said menacingly,

“This is all you\'ve got? You weaklings. In my day, I was fine even after being hit by a slingshot. I think I\'ll give you all a slap on the butt.”

The man, who was casually spitting out gruff words, was wearing something like a hat pulled down low.

His eyes were not visible.

The apprentices all looked at the devilish man with fearful eyes.

Suddenly, the man looked at me, standing perfectly fine, and said,

“Oh. There was someone who dodged?”

I didn\'t say anything and slowly approached the man.

“Well, well?”

I lightly dodged the man\'s fist with a nod and then snatched his hat.

Only then did the man see my face.

“...The fuck?”

“Ha—ah.”

I shot my forehead slingshot at the dumbfounded man\'s forehead.

Whack—

With a tremendous impact, the man sprawled backward, and for a moment, it seemed like he had fainted. But surprisingly, he quickly recovered with a breakfall.

“What\'s our business manager doing here?”

The man, his forehead red, looked around for a moment.

The apprentices were all staring at him with blank expressions.

Zion, staggering to his feet, looked at the apprentices again with a menacing gaze.

“Did you all see that? I wasn\'t kidding. I can withstand a slingshot.”