Chapter 120 – Cruel Earth Mage (9)
I don’t have a good image for the word ‘laboratory’.
If you dig a little deeper and substitute the word ‘lab room’ for a research lab, it will be similar to the impression that people who have experienced field battles have when they hear the word tent.
To explain it so that ordinary people could understand it, to Nord, a master in another world, a laboratory was a place that was almost similar to the words ‘quarter’ or ‘dormitory’.
I don’t have good memories, but I have more bad ones.
‘Oops.’
That’s why when I entered the black magician’s lab with the guild leaders, I was able to stay more calm and calm than anyone else.
The reason I didn’t mind seeing the table with skulls or the wooden barrel smelling of rotting corpses was because I didn’t have the slightest hope for the word “Laboratory.”
“It is beyond my imagination.”
Said Cromwell, covering his mouth with a handkerchief. It was a very gentle gesture. She was a little sorry, thinking that it didn’t suit her appearance.
─Swipe.
After looking around the lab, Nefertiti went inside.
“There is no sign of mana.”
“Since the warlock is also dead, he won’t trigger the magic trap he set.”
Edlin, the guild leader of the Gylfi Guild, said that while spraying shield magic with a shadowless window. A translucent shield covered the people present.
─Shwaaaaagh!
I also turned on Beast Return and joined the search.
The young warlock’s lab was full of disgusting things. Let us omit the description of what was.
To put it bluntly——the bastard’s method of enclosing the soul in a golem was merely a shamanic method of placing a human head in soil, rotting it, and transferring it to a stone.
“… The disassembly of the box has a professional team. Wouldn’t we postpone dismantling here until later?”
“Yes. Let’s do it.”
All of Carlyle’s comments were accepted.
Splitting that wooden barrel can be done later. It’s not like you can’t predict what’s inside.
─Charleureuk! After looking through the book, Cromwell clicked his tongue.
“The books are nothing special. 80% of them are forbidden books, but they are all managed by the wizard guild.”
“Is it a religious book?”
I asked. Was that unicorn baby a pagan?
“No. It is a black magic spell and introductory method. Other than that, it’s just a normal earth golem spell book.”
“The important research papers must have been hidden somewhere. Could it be a magic item or a physical safe designed to hide mana?”
Edlyn said, staring at the magically dug dirt cave-like laboratory. It’s like if you stare at it, you can tell where it’s hidden.
─Tuck!
Cromwell closed the book aloud and sighed.
“I will retrieve the forbidden book here. It’s not good to pass through the hands of the people retrieving the luggage. If even one volume is leaked, we can abet the birth of a new warlock.”
“You know what to do. Banned books aren’t even money, right?”
“If you can sell it, it will be money. If you have connections in the back world.”
After hearing that, there was no idiot who wanted to use that network. I listened to their conversation and roughly understood it.
‘These people don’t know the relationship between Nefertiti and the warlock.’
Actually I don’t know either.
Still, I know that something is related.
However, the other guild leaders didn’t seem to know at all whether it was a bad relationship or a resentful relationship. It seemed that Nefertiti joined the black magician countermeasures coalition without telling her circumstances.
‘Should I ask later?’
I thought about it and decided to do it.
I wanted to ask if old Tabula had anything to do with these bastards, but the circumstances weren’t right. There will be a chance to ask later.
‘It probably doesn’t have anything to do with it, but.’
Tabula was a macho villain who openly hated wizards.
Nefertiti, her warrior, or the father who treated me like a barbarian.
The two cubs were too different in personality and genre.
They may be factions confronting each other in the same organization, but their atmospheres and behaviors are completely opposite!
Rather, it would make more sense that they were biting each other like the yakuza or the mafia fighting over me and Bari.
─Less.
So we looked for a small laboratory for nearly 30 minutes, but there was no research result in a conspicuous place.
A pile of silver coins, a magic book, and magic item materials were all there was.
“Whoa. If this is the case, the golem’s core will be all of the loot.”
Cromwell wiped his sweat with a handkerchief. Golem’s core. Do you think I have a stake in the core of the giant golem I threw?
When I think about it, I suddenly feel that my suffering here is meaningless.
Why do I have to struggle to find something that won’t help me even though I’ve got epic items?
“Should research results be recalled?”
“If there is a connection between warlocks, one day their apprentice or colleague will come to retrieve them. It’s important because it prevents the skills of the wicked from being passed down from generation to generation.”
“Okay.”
It sounds like it’s not something a bitch would do. I wanted to go home.
I think it would be better for the guild leaders and other talented people to solve the problem, as Carlyle said.
I was attacked by a string hit and fell back. I searched all over the lab, including the bed, with the mindset of finding my girlfriend’s dildo, but nothing came out.
‘… Sleep. Am I an idiot?’
The rune of ᚨ (Ansuz) was engraved on the floor. Then the spirits trapped in the wooden barrels appeared before my eyes.
‘It was an idiot.’
It’s been like this since the beginning.
Confirming the existence of the souls, I glanced at them slightly. Fortunately, it seemed that I was the only one who could see those spirits here.
It was helpful that the warlock had tied the soul to this world. Sneaking Nords approaching guild leaders secretly.
“Whoa. The Warlock must have built a secret vault or something here somewhere. You just need to know where it is hidden, but it is not easy.”
I said it on purpose so that the guild leaders would think they were talking to themselves even if they heard it.
─The Warlock’s Vault… ?
Then the souls who had been lost began to come to their senses. It responded to my voice, which was clearly audible with the power of rune magic.
‘The reaction is quicker than I thought.’
The opposite reaction from the golem souls, who were almost at the specter level!
Could it be that the wooden barrel is a ritual that damages the self-consciousness of the soul with soil that has undergone shamanistic processing?
Judging by the smell of rotting corpses still emanating from the barrels, it seems that those spirits have not completely lost their sense of self yet.
“If we find that safe, we will be relieved and honor the souls of the victims.”
─Requiem… ? Will you set us free… ?
The owners of the corpses in the barrel realized that they were talking to them and responded.
─That guy… I used to hide something there…
A spirit that looked like a grown man pointed to the wall above the table. Perhaps because the corpse was still there, the shape of the soul was clear and it seemed that the hatred for the black magician remained.
Ok thanks. I moved while taking off my pretense.
“Hmm… For example, wouldn’t the safe be hidden in a wall like this?”
─Tok tok. Patter.
I knock on the location the soul has told me. The guild leaders stopped searching at my words.
“Miss Cromwell? It won’t break even if I touch it, right?”
“Haha. Cromwell would do. It’s a space that’s been hardened by magic, so there’s no need to worry about it collapsing.”
“Okay. Isn’t this place suspicious somehow?”
Possessing Sherlock Holmes, I casually recited information I had read in a mystery novel.
“The soil knows the answer. Where should we take a reasonable approach?”
“What do you mean by reasonable?”
“Let’s go back to the conclusion. If you made a safe and hid it, the warlock would often dig it up, right? Even if it is hardened again with magic, the moisture content of the soil will be different.”
Scratched the wall with a nearby pen. Then he picked up the spilled dirt and grabbed Gao like a fucking professional CIA.
“This is a wilderness, but the soil inside the pit is sticky. Moisture in soil dries out when exposed to air for a long time. But only this wall is damp compared to the other walls.”
Don’t know if it’s a fact It’s because it’s a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of
Still, it’s just a little bit plausible.
The soil doesn’t know the answer, but the spirits know the answer.
“The warlock attacked us and said. He wants to test the performance of the new golem. If the production results were recorded and hidden before the operation was carried out——”
Having become a green juice salesman in a different world and a pseudo-scientific multi-level employee, I made a statement like a famous detective.
“The new covering around the vault must be the wet soil from the inside of the stratum, right?”
After he finished speaking, he hit the wall hard with his fist that activated Beast Regression.
─Quaang!!
─Degur! Thud!!
Then a large boulder rolled out of the wall.
It is as if it was artificially hardened. As an archaeologist, I also know about strata to some extent. It was not the size of a rock that would come out of the ground several tens of meters deep in this wilderness.
– Tuk-tuk. As if checking the inside of a watermelon, he tapped the inside. The guild leaders opened their eyes wide at the sound that seemed to be empty.
“It was plaster, not a safe. I don’t think I can break it without damaging the contents, can you help me?”
“I will.”
Edlyn got up and used her magic. Sparks like welding cutters erupted from the gloves. Like the leader of an adventurer’s guild, all magic is unchanging.
Chii-i-i-i-!
It was not just a flame, but a magic containing physical energy. The stone fell into pieces in front of the flame torch.
The contents were a large wooden box. When I opened the box, there was a thick book almost the size of an encyclopedia.
“Oh my gosh…”
Edlin’s eyes widened in astonishment, and he was at a loss for words as he looked at me to see if my reasoning was more surprising than the contents. ─Meadak! Cromwell rushed over and flipped through the book.
“Let’s see! ‘After carrying out the experiment of trapping the soul inside the golem, I knew that the process of enclosing the human soul in the skull was a prerequisite.’—That’s right! This must be the outcome of the warlock’s research!”
Great. Officially certified by experts.
I brushed the dirt off my hands and touched the wooden barrel containing the souls. Thank you Berry Much, everyone.
-Oh oh oh oh… Purified…
─Ah, thank you. Thank you… !
The souls that touched my hand attained Buddhahood and left for the underworld. About 5 souls broke through the ceiling of the laboratory and disappeared into the sky.
“Why is that? Everyone. Let’s go back.”
Then, I smiled awkwardly at the guild leaders who were still staring blankly at me.
“We have to make graves for these people, right?”
“Ah, ah, yes!”
Three guild leaders in a rural corner who move after being stupid.
It was strangely funny that only Nefertiti was the only one nodding his head as if he did a good job bringing him.
***
The sun was setting when I came out of the lab.
Unable to return home, the adventurers who had been lying down or waiting stood up when the guild leaders (+ me) appeared. The boneheads kept standing guard in front of the lab, but they were good guys.
“ZZZ… ♡”
No, the best kid to fuck is our party.
“Write. I would die of envy.”
I burned with jealousy at Lari Lura, who was sleeping on her Franc’s lap. It’s unfair that my fucking special seat was taken away, but are you sleeping while I’m working?
“However, since you have the loyalty to go along with this subjugation team, look after it.”
I am a man with inward arms. Fran was amused by seeing me like that.
“Whoops. He fell asleep, so I laid him on my lap. I thought my neck would be sore if I slept without a pillow.”
“As expected, my girlfriend is kind to the world. But what about Tyrsi?”
“To help with work. He must be busy because he is a member of the wizard guild.”
“Yes? I haven’t even properly thanked you yet.”
I’m going to go to the wizard guild to see you later. I also got a license to purchase advanced magic from Cromwell, so I guess I can’t learn special moves besides guns.
But what is a druid’s special move?
I think you know what Vectorman’s special move is.
“Nor? What do you have in your hand?”
“Yes? Oh, this? Half of the loot.”
In response to Frank’s question, I held out my leather pouch and book. This was the spoils of a young warlock ripped off after seeing the shobu at the guild leaders who were impressed by my crazy reasoning (scam show).
Materials that can be used as materials for enchantment magic. Silver coin pouch.
And it was a Narmer-Nile type of earth golem spellbook.
“Is this half?”
Fran was surprised to see the expensive-looking magic ingredients and silver coin pouches.
However, this may not be half, but maybe 30%. Because the real big game is still being harvested.
“Half. I decided to share the fragmented core of the huge golem over there with half and half between me and Nefertiti.”
It was the core that activated such a super-large golem. It would have been quite useful. Still, if the core is contaminated with black magic, the purification cost is separate.
“Really? That’s great! Lol. Somehow I am proud of myself.”
Fran smiled brightly at my words. It was worth the effort because they made me happy like that. Long live our magic.
“Ah, but why the magic book? You want me to learn golem magic too?”
“I thought so, but I didn’t have the aptitude for it.”
I roughly learned how to use it from Aunt Edlin, but I didn’t seem to have any talent for earth magic despite being a druid.
‘For me, I mean.’
I laughed as I saw Fran looking at the magic book curiously.
It would only hurt to say that the dwarf’s magical aptitude was fire and earth.
Although it would be a little later for Fran to learn magic.
