'Could it be that Wardanaz's magic is unsatisfactory? Even so, this is too much.'

Anglago thought inwardly.

Even so, if the Einroguard professors saw Wardanaz now, they would have no choice but to acknowledge that he did well.

But to show such dissatisfaction.

It was too strict, even for being strict.

"Mage. Would you like to take a short break?"

"Pardon?"

Baldoorn, who was sighing, was startled by the adventurers' question.

A break when she hadn't even done anything.

How could she rest when she had to be mindful?

"It, it's fine."

"Gasp... Is that so? Alright."

The adventurers accepted it with a surprised look. Baldoorn wondered if she had made some mistake.

'Oops...!'

Come to think of it, the adventurers suggested taking a break not because of Baldoorn, but because of Yi-Han.

A mage's mana wasn't infinite, and if he kept using magic consecutively like that, it would be right to take a break.

"Th, that's not it!"

"The mage is stricter than I thought. Even so..."

"Shh. Don't upset him. Be quiet."

Baldoorn, who realized it belatedly, tried to quickly resolve the situation, but the adventurers were already murmuring, 'Heavens! She's so strict it's terrible.'

Baldoorn, who had suddenly become a strict and terrible person like the mages of old, made a tearful face.

"Excuse me... Let's rest for a bit before going."

"Huh? I'm fine though."

"I'm not fine."

"Haha. Ms. Baldoorn. If you're saying that out of concern for me, I'm really fine. I have plenty of mana."

"..."

The summoning mages and dark mages who had participated in the <Boltzmann's Call> festival folded their arms and glared at the black rock.

"Hmm."

"Hmmmmm."

"Hmph."

"Hmmmph."

"Can we not just stop this and acknowledge each other? It's hard to say..."

"Quiet! Be quiet!"

"Who admitted to not knowing? It's not over yet!"

Mages who had put their heart and soul into an academic society or festival tended to temporarily become idle once it ended.

Few were as bored as these mages.

The mages who gathered in a nearby town after the festival to chat excitedly heard the rumors circulating around and became intrigued.

-I heard unusual phenomena are occurring in the Black Boulder Forest due to mana?-

-Then, shall we compete to see who solves it first?-

Curiosity was a virtue that mages naturally had to possess.

The mages who heard the interesting rumor flocked to the forest in droves.

There were illusions blocking the entrance, but they were no match for the experienced mages.

After thoroughly searching the surroundings, what the mages discovered was that the mana in the forest was concentrating on one spot.

-The mana is concentrating on this black rock... It's strange. I can't figure out why it's concentrating.-

-Not only that, but isn't it also strange for such an ordinary rock to continuously withstand this much mana? There seems to be something, but-

-I heard from the villagers that this rock has been here long before the forest was named. If the forest's mana has been continuously accumulating, it explains why it's so sturdy.-

-Even if that's explained, what's the reason for the forest's mana flow to gather here?-

-Hmm.-

-Hmmmmm-

Even if a peculiar phenomenon occurred, the mages gathered here thought they could sufficiently solve it, so they rushed over, but unexpectedly, it wasn't being solved and they were stuck, so beads of sweat started to flow on the mages' faces.

Originally, they should have put their heads together, exchanged opinions, and solved it, but the mages gathered here weren't from the same school or guild.

Until a few days ago, they were in a relationship where they competed against each other at the festival.

It was difficult to readily acknowledge it, if only for the sake of pride.

'I can't be the first to acknowledge it. If those guys acknowledge it first...'

'I absolutely won't acknowledge it first! If those bastards acknowledge it first...'

While the mages were groaning and pondering around the black rock, Yi-Han's group appeared from afar, opening a path.

"!"

Yi-Han was surprised to see the black rock where the forest's mana was thickest and the mages surrounding that rock.

"There are people who arrived first."

"Oh, no!"

The adventurers exclaimed with a change in complexion.

They looked more surprised than when the forest's fog intensified.

"This is bad, Mage."

"It doesn't seem... that serious?"

Yi-Han was startled because the adventurers seemed too surprised.

Of course, if the mages there now were those who had sold their souls to evil magic, it would be understandable to be surprised.

However, the mages there weren't that kind. Moreover, seeing from afar, they looked familiar.

They were definitely the mages who had participated in the Einroguard festival not long ago.

'They must have come after hearing the rumors.'

It was natural for mages to gather like this when they heard a strange rumor while staying in a nearby town.

"Is it perhaps because there are dark mages? Contrary to rumors, dark mages don't necessarily raise undead and ruin the surroundings."

"Huh? No. It's not because of that, but because of the mission."

People commonly thought that most of the difficulties adventurers faced while completing missions were related to the mission's content.

But unexpectedly, there were also many external difficulties unrelated to the mission.

The current situation was like that too.

They had to approach the black rock in the middle of the forest and investigate the surroundings, but there were mages who had already taken the spot.

Naturally, there was no need or reason for the mages to yield.

Moreover, in such situations related to mana, mages never yielded.

Gubon and his colleagues already felt a headache coming on, thinking about how to persuade the mages.

"Can't we just ask?"

"Hah. That won't be easy. Mages don't readily yield in situations like this, right? They won't yield until they're satisfied themselves."

Baldoorn, who was listening from the side, also opened her mouth as if she sympathized.

"That's right. Mages are a race that absolutely won't yield in a situation they're so interested in."

"Indeed! Ms. Baldoorn sees through everything."

'Stop it, you bastards.'

Baldoorn cursed inwardly and turned her gaze.

Considering that she hadn't been able to do anything so far, she wanted to somehow persuade those mages well, but...

No method came to mind at all.

'If I talk to them, they'll probably tell me to get lost right away.'

The mages of the empire weren't so generous that they would listen to a mission from a lowly mage they had never seen before.

'Reagents... What reagents do I have? Sulfur powder is too cheap... Will they get angry if I give this as a bribe?'

Baldoorn, who was pondering, raised her head at the movement she felt in front of her.

Yi-Han was walking towards the mages.

"!"

Baldoorn was startled.

Even if he was an Einroguard student, it was unknown whether those mages would tolerate it...

"I got permission. I think you can investigate."

"..."

"..."

Baldoorn and the adventurers looked at each other with blank gazes.

"Wow, there was a lot of talk that it would be difficult for you to come out, so I didn't have high expectations!"

A summoning mage pushed a dark mage aside with his shoulder and approached Yi-Han.

"Ha. Of course he can come out! No matter how strict Einroguard's rules are, they can't be that unreasonable. Students are human too."

The dark mage retorted like that and tried to step on the summoning mage's foot.

As the mages approached Yi-Han while clumsily pushing each other aside, pressure fell on Yi-Han, who was trapped between them.

"...Everyone. Did I do something wrong?"

"Ah, no. It's because those dark mages are pushing so rudely!"

"You shouldn't listen to the summoning mages! Those cunning fellows!"

Yi-Han slowly pushed the mages aside to the left and right. Yi-Han's strength, trained at Einroguard and in swordsmanship, was not something the mages could handle.

"I'm also glad to meet you all. But if I waste my short outing time on unnecessary things, it would be too regrettable."

'It's not an outing.'

Anglago thought inwardly.

He escaped together, yet he had such a confident attitude!

Right now, Anglago was anxious to death, not knowing when they might get caught...

"...You're right."

"We showed an unseemly side of ourselves."

As the mages reflected on themselves and reconciled, Yi-Han had a pleased expression.

"Now then, could you perhaps tell me about your investigation of that black rock over there?"

'I'm lucky.'

He had the ulterior motive of taking advantage of the friendship while he was here, but unfortunately, the situation was different from Yi-Han's expectations.

"Not yet..."

"Pardon?"

"We were still investigating."

"...All of you gathered here??"

The mages suddenly coughed and avoided his gaze.

They now felt embarrassed that they hadn't properly exchanged opinions because they were competing with each other.

"Th, that can happen. The investigation could be very difficult..."

Yi-Han's consolation felt even more painful. The mages hurriedly started sharing information.

-The mana flowing through the forest is all gathering here, but the flowing mana isn't all at the same level. I summoned a sound spirit earlier to find the path, remember? There were paths where the illusions were relatively weak and paths where they were strong. The eastern path over there has very powerful illusions, making it impossible to pass through, but the southern path we passed through is much easier.-

-...Wait. Mr. Wardanaz here came from the east?-

-I had Ms. Baldoorn's help.-

-Oh. Is that so? How did you break through? I'm curious-

-Ple, please. Please just proceed with the analysis? Let's talk later-

-Huh? Alright. Anyway, seeing this asymmetry, I thought the black rock might not be the cause of the situation.-

-What? Could it be that the cause is outside, and the black rock just happened to be where the flow was most concentrated?-

-That's right.-

-It sounds absurd... but for now, it sounds the most plausible! Let's calculate it.-

The mages did some quick calculations and showed surprised expressions.

The calculation really showed that the cause could be separately outside the forest.

"Let's go and check it out!"

"Stuck problems get solved so easily when Mr. Wardanaz comes. As expected, you're a talent who will shine in the dark magic school."

"Why are you mentioning dark magic here?"

"If you're dissatisfied, you guys mention summoning magic too."

When the mages solved it among themselves and praised him, Yi-Han spoke to Baldoorn as if dumbfounded.

"They solved it all by themselves and praise me... I'm grateful for the sentiment, but isn't it too absurd? It's embarrassing."

"...Exactly!!!!!!!"

Baldoorn answered with a voice full of sincerity.

Few people understood that feeling as well as Baldoorn.

"A knight order?"

The mages who came out of the forest in droves frowned at the campsite visible in the distance.

Even if it was the same campsite, its outward appearance allowed them to guess its identity.

If it was simple, it was travelers; if there were traps and fences set up around it, it was mercenaries; if it was somewhat shabby and had a murderous aura, it was bandits...

And the only ones who would build wooden walls and finish it like a fortress even for a simple campsite like that were knight orders with strict discipline and the capacity to do so.

Just as the adventurers made a tearful face earlier, not wanting to approach the mages, the mages also grimaced, not wanting to approach the knights.

"Of all things, it had to be those guys who use their heads as helmet decorations."

"I'm worried about having to ask them to let us check inside the campsite for a moment. They probably won't even understand what we're trying to say."

"..."

At the mages' sharp words, Anglago felt a surge of emotion for some reason.

That's too much!

'They're not that stupid!'

"Is there a reason for knights to be in this area?"

"Huh?"

"I asked if there's a reason for knights to be in this area. There was no news of monsters appearing either."

"...Huh? That's true. Just... hunting?"

Yi-Han looked at Anglago as if he was pathetic. Anglago felt like he had become one of those guys who used their heads as helmet decorations.

"You saw the forest earlier, there was nothing to hunt."

"Ri, right. What is it?"

The answer came out right away.

As they got closer, the flag of the knight order hanging over the campsite became visible.

It was the Chestnut Tree Knight Order.

"..."

Yi-Han stared at the flag in shock.

Could it be that they really came all the way to Einroguard to invite Yi-Han to the knights' gathering?!