Chapter. 11. Wizard of Wizards (27)
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Finding the temple was not that difficult.
In fact, with the exception of the personnel who were purifying the people affected by the infectious agent, everyone was mobilized in the eyes of Haram through that ‘divine ultra-long-distance message magic.’
The place where a pillar of light flashes up from a ruined city is a temple.
This place was just like other destroyed parts of the city, so completely collapsed that it could be seen as a heap of white marble, but the large icon of Ro Haram, which the bishops and priests desperately guarded, had no visible damage other than a few cracks.
Perhaps that’s why it was able to serve as a relay station to amplify divine power even after such a catastrophe.
Among the collapsed rubble and the praying priests, there were familiar faces.
“He is the leader.”
“You must be a professor.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Since he is a very clever person, there is a high possibility that he will do something even after he is encroached upon.”
“Gwook. “It’s the big red man.”
“They say that changes in humans cannot be traced with the eyes of an elf…. This is indeed true.”
My companions greet me in a strange atmosphere. I’m so happy that everyone is alive and well without any major injuries, but their reaction is so ambiguous…
‘Oh, that’s right. ‘I tried to kill all those people, right?’
[Otman. [I just remembered something that my normal self would never do.]
At that moment, it hit my mind like a sharp piece of glass! I burst out in shame at the vivid memories that were stuck in my head.
Whoa!
My face heated up with shame. oh my god. There is no dark history like this. At the age of 24, I had a relapse in my second year of middle school, and I was spreading it around to people around me!
I wanted to run right away and hit my head and apologize, but…
“The state of the temple is ridiculous.”
“No, saint! Isn’t it possible that we were able to maintain this level thanks to the saint who stopped the people who were rushing towards the temple out of fear that they might be the vassals of an evil spirit? If there is light, images, and people praying, it is a temple. Hehehehe!”
I couldn’t show my usual self because of this old priest who was hanging around like a leech while attending to subjects as big as bishops.
“I heard, brothers, that I had many hardships while I was away.”
“professor? Is that you? Could it be that his head turned in another way….”
“Because we were all able to come together again in such a healthy state. “We can truly say that the light took care of us.”
Fortunately, my group followed me around and became a bit of a mess of Professor Park’s antics.
Unlike Idrasil, who had no idea what was going on behind him, Ottman, who nudged Aldrich next to him with his elbow, made a secret sign.
Snap!
[iced coffee. Can you hear me? It’s Otman.]
[It’s water message magic… It’s very different from soul magic. This is Aldrich. You’re the professor there, right?]
[Yes! Sounds great! You… you know? Now, back then, I was a bit…]
Aldrich, who was praying face to face with me with a seemingly benevolent face amidst the chaotic mixing of message magic, grumbled.
[What was it like back then? You were out of your mind? Was he crazy?]
[Well… as you know, my body is a bit special, right? Originally, I was filling it up all the way to the bottom of my throat. I’ve been in a bad mood lately, so I can’t control it…]
[Yeah, yeah. Well, there are times in people’s lives when they can’t control themselves and sometimes they do things that they don’t even know why they are doing. huh? Then, he started calling his colleague and teacher, who taught him magic and crossed the line of fire with him several times, by the name of ‘Hey Otman’. He even aimed that terrifying blood-killing magic at his head. huh? yes? Something like that can happen in life!]
[Ugh! Sorry!]
[Okay, you guy! Whatever the situation, the first thing you should have said when you met Ottman was an apology, not a fucking saint! If it weren’t for Idrasil, Otman would have greeted you as a headless corpse right now! This can’t just be passed off as an apology…!]
[Stop. I’m fine.]
[It’s not you, it’s me! This is something that can just be overlooked-]
[Stop! It was just a disease. As a teacher and water magician, I looked into it myself! The turbid flow at that time was an act of my own will! You’re trying to cut off the wrists of a child who tripped and fell because he dropped a loaf of bread, accusing the child of being a thief!]
[Hey… they’re like pure blobs of water!]
Snap!
Aldrich shook the water droplets from his ears as if he didn’t want to talk anymore and then strode into the corner of the temple.
While Lucilla was confused when she suddenly saw Aldrich huffing and walking away, Ottman’s calm voice pierced her ears.
[I apologize on my behalf. Professor, I don’t know about you, but… Actually, it was Aldrich who tried the hardest to bring you back. Just think of it as the complaining of an old man who can’t express his feelings well.]
[…. This is absurd. In the end, it happened because I was overconfident in my own abilities, so even if I apologize a hundred times, it wouldn’t be enough. Aldrich is right. I’m sorry, Otman.]
[Well, various things happen when you’re around people like you.] I
don’t think anyone would say he’s a water magician, but he has a very cool personality.
[Okay… I see you are playing differently on the outside and the inside, so it seems like you are right this time. But suddenly you’re a saint? What else are you doing walking around? At the very least, you’re fooling people again, right? Well, we know you now, so we’ll do that, but… hasn’t the saint gone a bit too far? If we get discovered, the church will be very angry and try to catch us.]
[Uh… well…]
Well, let’s come. Of course, it is true that when they first invaded the lord’s castle, they tricked him into pretending to be a faithful warrior of the church.
Chuck, chuck, chuck, clap,
clap, clap!
Even at this very moment, the church’s acolyte priests are collecting my blood, which they have collected by going around the city, labeling it as [Holy Blood] in large letters, and the priests who are unable to use purification spells because their sacred power has run out are suffering from erosion. The situation is that people are pouring the contents of the bottle onto the infected area or even feeding it to them. I don’t know why, but it’s surprisingly effective, so to say that I’m faking it as a saint seems a little…
[I… I think I might be a saint?]
[You idiot! That’s impossible even if the sea dries up, so don’t even think about it. People like you are called saints… There are degrees of lack of conscience.]
[Ugh.]
Otman’s answer was firm.
[Holy power and mana aurors are things that do not mix like water and oil. A swordsman who imprints himself on the world through truth cannot use magic and divine power. The world that is already fixed in your head refuses change, so you can’t use magic, and you can’t believe in God because you already believe in yourself more than anyone else. The same goes for wizards and clerics. Just from my quick look, I can see that the flow within you has become much stronger and clearer. It is absolutely impossible for someone to be a saint.]
[Then… what is that?]
The [Holy Blood] storage box the professor pointed to with a subtle gesture of his chin. Before we knew it, alchemists carrying what looked like large boxes were flocking in, praying for the stolen blood to be returned, and the priests of the church were standing in a protest, saying that they would not dare to allow ‘experiments’ with the blood to be blasphemous. Lucilla stood up suddenly. The people around me were raising their voices saying that I own the blood that I had collected, so I should not rashly peg it as an object of the religious order.
[I don’t know about that. Looking at the flow of your mana, it looks like you’re near the 4th level… Have you realized a very deep level of ‘purification’?] [
No.]
[Then, do you have any clues?]
I’m just guessing… ..it
was there.
Knock knock!
A body that freely changes into the shape you want just by concentrating for a moment. Just as Hyde used this body a long time ago to create a giant spear made of flesh and bone, I can now control my body in the same way.
‘It probably means that I can now control the infectious agent that has completely taken over my body.’
It’s definitely a good thing. Now, there is no more pain from the erosion that is squeezing my entire body, no more infectious agents ravaging my body like today, and it means that I have become stronger in battle than before.
‘Is it an antigen-antibody reaction? I don’t think medicine in this town works that way…’
For now, I can infer that the blood that comes out after I absorb it, whether it’s spilled from a wound or spread by the radiation effect of Blood Armor, has the effect of suppressing infectious agents. That was all.
[Maybe it has something to do with your imagery. Now, you only use blood-related magic, to the point where you are better suited to be called a blood wizard rather than a water wizard.]
[Is that so? This might be worth researching.]
After that, Otman and I had a long ‘Wizard Talk’ for the first time in a while.
The topic was, of course, about my body and blood and blood magic.
****
Whoosh!
“What are you two talking about for so long!”
Around sunset. I was talking about Otman and magic in my head for about two hours when Lucilla, who had been yelling at me for a while, ran up to me and grabbed my arm.
“It’s bloody.”
“It’s a red dress, so it’s okay!”
Ugh. What kind of girl is this legendary girl from Teldrat?
[Well, let’s talk about the rest when we have more time.]
[Yes. Thank you once again for saving my life.]
[Be sure to say that to Aldrich later.]
Snap!
After finishing the message with Ottoman, he turned to Lucilla, who was whining, to pull my arm, which was heavier than her body. It was after sufficiently confirming that there were no priests or listening ears around.
“what. “Is there any problem?”
“yes! That priest… even if you die, he insists that the professor’s blood is his! According to the body trade treaty for people of different races or with special constitutions, if the original owner can be clearly identified even for a part of the body that is lost due to an unexpected accident or unintentional incident, the ownership is recognized as the original owner! Don’t stay here like this, go quickly and try to convince me! “He’s a high-ranking person in the church!”
I am indeed. After doing something, it seems like that merchant spirit came into play again. He remains the same even in this situation.
“Just give it to me. “There is nothing good about being looked down on by the church.”
“No! I’ve used up almost all of my spare money to rent a boat! “How can you just hand over such a large amount of money when you need to keep an eye out for even small amounts of money?”
“….ship? big money?”
I tried to brush it off by comforting him, but two words that I couldn’t ignore came out.
“What kind of boat is this all of a sudden? “This is the eastern part, so the sea is quite far away, right?”
“Oh my! They want me to help them with a church mission or something! The road to Wuthering Heights from here takes two months by horseback, even if you can’t prove your identity in each territory, entertain nobles, bandits, and magic monsters, but if you take a boat down the Raian River, which is just a short distance from the city of Sigfield, it takes just one week. “If you do this, you’ll get there!”
“It only takes a week?”
“Is there a big river?”
While I was shocked at the drastically reduced schedule, I seemed to be intrigued by the story that Otman is a river.
“yes! “It can take a week, with plenty of time to spare, but if you’re lucky, it might take less than four days!”
Ahhh. What did I say earlier? What kind of legendary girl is she?
Correct. This guy is an incredibly capable person who will raise the family up from its roots, no matter who took him away.
I just recruited him and left him alone without doing much, and before I knew it, I had reduced the schedule by half.
“So… what are you talking about big money? My blood is effective against infectious agents and has the merit of being part of a saint, so it may be worth a certain price. In fact, it is not much different from holy oil, but I would go so far as to say that it is an item that will make a lot of money…”
“I can’t. “I wouldn’t have said that if those people weren’t there.”
Where Lucilla’s slender finger pointed, there were people carrying boxes full of drawers.
“Alchemist, alchemist! People who go around scavenging grass and mineral soil to make things that don’t exist in the world! Right now, a ‘substance that was never before seen in the world’ has literally fallen right in front of their eyes! So, it’s clear that he must have had enough, but he came all the way to the temple and laid there begging for more! Originally, there were only two alchemists in Siegfilund City, but as word had already spread, two alchemists who were wandering around nearby came running here in a hurry. Professor, do you have any idea how valuable it is to them?”
“Uh… roughly?”
surely. I saw someone playing alchemist to make his own drugs, and he always went out to find rare materials.
When I listened to it carefully, it clearly had marketability. I am the only producer, and it has proven to have quite surprising effects. It’s a hot new material that may yet have other effects…
“How much do you think you can get? Just by looking at them, they look like beggars?”
Lucilla laughed as if she was dumbfounded by my question.
“The price? “These people extract gold from one sitting?”
Jump up!
At that moment, the scales on which the reputation and heavy purses of the church were measured were completely tilted to one side.
After seeing what happens when you give Lucilla enough money 10 seconds ago, you can’t hesitate at this opportunity.
‘But it would be a waste to attach a strange label like [blood-purchasing saint] to the image of a saint that we worked so hard to create.’
As I passed over the pile of rubble piled up in the temple, I saw five bottles containing my blood that had accumulated throughout the city, and the alchemists lying down on their seats in front of them.
“This doesn’t work! “What are you doing in the Hall of Holy Light?”
“What country’s law is it that claims ownership of an object that suddenly fell from the sky and was not made by a religious sect? I don’t know! Give me two bottles! “Or I won’t go out!”
“If you come out like this, your name may end up in the church’s records! You can receive healing and blessings by visiting the temple of any denomination…”
“Ha! The potion I made is better for healing, and I spend my days searching for mushrooms and moss caves on the road, so I don’t have any chance of encountering light! Oh, give me two bottles! If you don’t give it to me, I won’t leave! My stomach hurts right now, so I’m just sitting here…”
“Oh.”
“Ah? Why all of a sudden, hero?”
“No, because a good idea occurred to me.”
The professor said they were alchemists, so I imagined them as scholars, but seeing their behavior as if they were beggars or highwaymen, something came to mind.
If I did well, I felt like I could gain both fame and profit.
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