Evan D. Sherden, Added Sub Party (7)

Raihan, who was unseen during the battle, joined the group shortly after Evan struck Matthew.

“Sorry, Master. I’ve felt the terrible waves of the castle, but I’ve been trying to resolve the chaos. It has been happening all over the land…….”

“You trusted me, and you moved to protect others, didn’t you? Good job, Hyeong. We’re fine, and it’s more important that we don’t harm the public.”

Thanks to Christina’s sabotage, Matthew forcibly sacrificed the Black Wizards’ lives to complete the ritual, and it was clear that it was not pleasant for the Black Wizards.

Most Black Wizards tended to take care of their lives, even though they considered others’ lives like bugs.

Therefore, when the crisis came to their lives, they carried around one or two magic tools and magic spells. And the items that they summoned after being killed were released to the land at once, confusing everyone.

If it weren’t for Raihan, the people’s damage and confusion would have been worse than now. In that sense, whatever the purpose was, it was an excellent choice to send him out in advance.

“But fortunately, the witches who sensed the Black magic came to help us, and we were able to recover.”

“Menaton is a long way off, but you must have had a hard time getting here. I’ll compliment you later.”

Although Raihan could stop the Black magic or summoners from attacking him, he would not have had the means to kill all of them himself.

Raihan was tilting his head when he was told that he had ‘resolved’ the confusion, but there was such a background for that. Evan nodded…… He suddenly remembered something.

“But where’s Maybell?”

“Miss Maybell…… I was in the middle of the battle, so I let her hide nearby. I’m sure she is safe because she had the shield production item you gave her…….”

“Master!”

Evan realized that Maybell was not by Raihan’s side, but as soon as he asked about her, she showed up. Fortunately, she looked fine, except her clothes were a little dirty.

“I’m touched that you worried about me when you were busy! But it would have been better if you came to protect me, Master!”

“I wanted to, but I’m sorry. I’ve been busy dealing with monsters.”

“I saw you, so I know that. It was like a firecracker going off.”

“Firecrackers……. Hyeong?”

When Evan turned to Raihan at Maybell’s words, he nodded as if he had seen it.

“Maybe everyone saw it. It was a monster with terrifying energy. The sight of the Monster bursting out of the sky was intense.”

“What? Everyone…… Oh, my God, we need to hurry.”

Evan, who was absentmindedly listening to Raihan’s story, stiffened his body because he remembered something at that moment.

Why did he come to Leonine in the first place? To end Matthew? Or maybe it was to clean up the Black Wizard forces disguised as pseudo-religion and to secure the talent they were holding onto!

“Now that we’ve made such a fuss, I’m sure all the men who are guarding the hideout noticed.”

“Oh, they did. We have to take care of the work in the estate to find those hideouts……. Do you happen to know the location of the hideouts?”

“Of course. Uh, yeah. I know, I know it.”

Evan looked around. The destroyed Grand Hall, half-collapsed walls, and scattered bodies all over the place felt like ruins of a battle with the final boss.

The problem was that it was originally a clean fortress, and Evan and his party turned it into ruins.

“But there’s nothing I can do…… Anastasia?”

“……Yes, yes.”

Anastasia, who watched her brother summon the devil, change his body, and then disappear, was half out of her mind.

It doesn’t matter if he was trying to kill her; he was her family. Evan was worried that Anastasia might have a little bit of resentment against him, but he was glad that it didn’t seem like it.

“Maybe the Duke has heard about this commotion……. He’ll be back soon. Honestly, we should wait for him, but we’d better go to their hideouts first.”

“Yes…….”

“So, I want Anastasia to stay here with Shine to help the surviving knights, soldiers, and servants. Please explain everything to the Duke. I’ll report directly to His Majesty after I clear the hideouts.”

“Oh, Master…….”

Evan was trying to find the Black Wizards’ hideouts from now on. Shine, who was naturally determined to accompany him, opened his mouth reflexively at Evan’s words. But soon after, he realized that Anastasia was by his side, so he shut up.

Now Shine seemed to have realized that he had to be by her side.

“……I can’t do anything about that. See you, Master. Belois, please take care of him.”

“Yes. ……take care of the Princess, Shine.”

Belois, who would normally have answered bluntly, only nodded softly to see if Anastasia showed any signs.

Belois had tried to crush Matthew earlier, but in retrospect, Matthew was Anastasia’s blood.

‘But when I saw him dead, I thought I was naive to be happy because he was angry because of me. It’s my mistake.’

Since Evan and Belois had been connected, she had felt that she had become a little loose in expressing her feelings. But she never thought she would be this stupid. Belois slightly bowed to Anastasia and followed Evan.

“Then I’ll leave this place to you two, and we’ll get going. Maybell, you’ll be safe here.”

“No, I think I’m going to have to deal with the employees of the Brotherhood Corporation. Of course, no one is seriously injured because of Lord Raihan, but I shouldn’t just hide in times like this.”

“You are so cool. Okay, then do it. And…… Ray?”

“Yes, Oppa?”

Serena left Maybell with one of her slimes (which was Lucy), who had returned at a similar time to Raihan’s after completing her mission.

“Thank you, Master and Princess. I’ll head out first.”

Maybell smiled with her eyes shining like a crescent moon and went out of the castle with slimes in her arms. Well, as expected, the recent Maybell was acting strange. Was it possible to have such a natural momentum just by becoming a representative of the company?

“Master…… don’t you think she has gotten prettier these days?”

“Shine, you need to know when to speak.”

Evan thought the same thing, but Evan answered back with a sneaky voice. Behind him, Anastasia pulled Shine’s arm without saying a word. Realizing his mistake, Shine tapped his mouth.

When Evan saw Christina still floating behind Shine’s back with a mysterious expression, Shine also thought that the way forward would be quite rough.

* * *

Evan had been deeply involved as an information trader on pseudo-religious outreach operations across the Silk Line a few years ago. However, he deliberately did not inform the Duke and the royal family of a single hideout near Leonine.

Naturally, the party’s remnants were supposed to gather around it, so Evan was a little responsible for this series of events…….

‘I wish I had given them all the hideouts’ locations. Then, the Black Wizards would have lost their gathering place and hid somewhere deeper. It was inevitably necessary to drive the target together and kill them.’

Black Wizards were like cockroaches, so if people found one wizard, there were 30 more. To kill them all, they should not stick to the human way.

This time again, Matthew, who Evan had never thought of, popped out! To clean up the Black Wizards top to bottom, he had to devise such a bright idea.

“This is the place.”

Evan found the hideout with his party. The traces that had been used until recently were also found nearby, so it was clear. However, there was one problem.

“Well, it smells too much like blood.”

“Are the magic circles activated by Matthew included here, too? That can’t be true.”

“If the magic circle had such great power, we couldn’t have destroyed it with our power.”

Then, did the Black Wizards kill all the civilians they held and run away? There was a small possibility about that too. But they shouldn’t let that happen. Evan’s search for the most talented person would be among the civilians……!

Evan rushed to the entrance of the hideout. What he found there was a human figure lying on his seat with his head missing.

“He is a Black Wizard…….”

“A Black Wizard?”

Judging from the equipment on the corpse and the location where he was, he must have been the guardian of the hideout.

Then it was weird. Indeed, the body would not have remained in this form if the Magic Circle influenced it, and it was even more strange to be found in this place if it had caused internal strife now.

“One possible cause is…….”

It was just an external raid.

Then, it was even more strange. Evan and his companions came to Leonine, and there was a third force that attacked the Black Wizards in time for Matthew to invoke the Magic Circle. It would have been impossible if they had not been aware of Evan’s movements and his companions in advance.

“Let’s get in there. I’ll take the lead, Master.”

“……. Yes, please.”

Raihan, who saw Evan in confusion, walked forward bravely, speaking in a stiff voice.

However, there was nothing for him to do. Because all the Black Wizards in the hideout were dead, with their necks pulled out, too.

“One attacker.”

Evan concluded easily. Looking at the atmosphere or traces of the scene, such a conclusion was easily made.

“The Black Wizards might have wrapped up the scene when they saw the magic circles activated and the devil landing in Leonine. However, exactly at that time, the only one who attacked the hideout killed them all by slitting their necks.”

“…….”

Unlike Evan, who used alchemy to estimate an attacker’s presence, Belois looked for traces of mana left in the space by activating her own mana. The conclusion was quickly made.

“I think he’s a Demon tribe, Master. I feel mana faintly.”

“Demon tribe? Demons came here and killed the Black Wizards? The Demon tribe and the Black Wizards have plenty of room for a union, so why would he do that……?”

No, some people sided with humans and some sided with the Demon tribes. Some people didn’t like the Black Wizards, even though they followed the Demon King. However, even so, there was no reason for the Demon tribe to deliberately visit the Black Wizards’ hideout at this time and slaughter them.

“Wow, this is driving me crazy. No matter how wrong the scenario maybe, I can’t believe something happened that I can’t understand perfectly…….”

“Oppa.”

Serena, who used the slime to search every corner of the hideout, suddenly called him after making a grim expression, as if she were not interested in the Demon tribe who had attacked the site.

“I think I’ve found some people alive. I don’t think they are Black Wizards.”

“Really?”

[Cuuue!]

Ruby, who answered bravely on Serena’s behalf, rushed to the hideout wall and smashed it. Beyond that, a large space was revealed.

“Huuuuk!”

“Monster! ……No, slime?”

“The wall is destroyed!”

Inside the space, which black grates blocked and looked like a prison. Some people looked only like civilians.

“Save us! Save us!”

“We are not Black Wizards! Save us!”

“But maybe they’re testing us now.”

They were wearing a piece of rag, and they were all skinny. They seemed long famished. Everything was like a sacrificial scene, including the feeble spirit. On one side of the wall, there was a pseudo-religious law engraved with blood.

Evan reached out lightly and erased it. In the process, the iron grates that had kept humans naturally disappeared.

“Look, I’m not a dark wizard!”

“I don’t know about that, but I don’t think he follows the pseudo-religion!”

“What the hell did he just do……?”

“By the way, he’s very handsome. Maybe he’s a prince?”

Evan gave a deep sigh as he watched people murmuring.

He thought about why the Demon tribe who killed the Black Wizards did not kill these people. But this was not the time to think about such things.

Most of all, he could find the talent he had been looking for.

“We’re here to save you. All the Black Wizards are dead, so relax. ……Can you stand there?”

A boy was sitting still in the middle of people who were making a fuss. He stood up, surprised when Evan pinpointed him.

“Oh, why do you call me……?”

“Oh my! Lucid, you were there!”

“Huh, that kid was there?”

Lucid was the strongest human bandit called the Invisible Thief.

He was a prospective member of the Astray Knights that Evan had been looking for. He was a talented man who would become a new member of Lousie’s party that needed strategic replenishment.