A Deal With The Frigid Wizard

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Chapter 22

“No, not bad. The shortcomings can be supplemented. I think they’ll move in the hit-and-run way. The problem is that we don’t know how many wizards Zephiroth will send. If there are about twenty people, we can form a separate group, but it seems a bit difficult if it’s less than that. I think we will have to remove four or five people as a separate group.”

“And, in the worst case, wouldn’t the warlock give up on this place and instead aim for a nearby estate?”

“….!”

At that, Viscount Koufen and Hisran’s faces hardened. He then asked the Viscount.

“Who owns the nearby estate?”

“Baron Marves and Count Silkian.”

“Marvez and Silkian… Since the Silkians are from the Margrave family, they’ll probably have a certain number of troops, so it’s okay if we give them information in advance, although Marvez is the problem. It would be really tight to send a wizard to secure coordinates and contact Marves as well.”

As Hisran sighed and muttered, a telecommunication bead alarm sounded from his arms. Zephiroth had contacted him.

“Zeppy, how is it?”

[ “…You should really consider having a deputy master like me a once-in-a-lifetime luck.” ]

The handsome man was smiling and talking, but somehow it felt a chill.

Jaeha and Viscount Koupen seemed to be able to stake half of their fortune on the idea that he would grab Hisran by the collar on the day he left the Magic Tower.

“Yes, I think I’m lucky, so please keep the talk short.”

[ “Fifteen flame-specialized wizards, four tracking and concealment-specialized wizards, one person in charge, so a total of twenty people are expected to arrive there around noon. Are there no changes to the coordinates you mentioned?” ]

Surprisingly, the number and composition of the wizards sent to the Viscount matched the minimum number of wizards Hisran had in mind.

Jaeha and Viscount Koufen stared at Zephiroth on the screen of the communication marble with admiring faces, and only Hisran raised his thumb with an expressionless expression.

“Because Zephiroth is also good at understanding the situation. The best.”

[ “It must be difficult to praise what you take for granted in front of others. Then I’ll just leave. I have a lot to prepare.” ]

Zephiroth, who smiled until the end and replied back, quickly ended his communication as if he didn’t want to see Hisran anymore. Jaeha couldn’t help but ask.

“How did you make a request for support that made him so upset?”

“Huh? That’s a red tower secret.”

“….”

“Just kidding, Zephiroth is like that. I’m sure he must have been scratching those wizards here and there. Since each of us has a job, he must have been overworked all day yesterday due to staff changes. He’s just letting that anger go to me.”

Hisran replied without omitting the fact that if Zephiroth did not send support in time, he threatened to move him to the Imperial Palace, Red Tower, Blue Tower, Black Tower, and White Tower of the Kainus Empire, where he found the Chinese Zombie.

After spending a few days with Jaeha, he noticed that she considered him a good person. He didn’t want to break that illusion.

While they were refining the bait strategy, Viscount Koufen contacted Baron Marves and Count Silkian.

Perhaps, due to the difference in position, Baron Marves immediately agreed to what the Viscount had said, while Count Silkian snorted and had a brief interview with Hisran. During that time, Jaeha and Viscount Koufen had to leave the parlor.

After the brief interview, the count’s attitude changed 180 degrees.

[ “…I will pay close attention to the boundaries of County Silkian as well as Barony Marves so that Tower Master and Viscount Koufen are not worried!” ]

“Can I believe that and focus on the work of Viscount Koupen?”

[ “Of, of course!” ]

She couldn’t tell how the Count, who had been snorting, had changed as quietly as the rabbit in front of a tiger. The light of doubt deepened in the eyes of Jaeha and Viscount Koupen looking at Hisran.

‘Indeed, if he was a half-hearted person, he wouldn’t have been able to serve as a Tower Master.’

At noon, the wizards of the red tower arrived at the empty lot of their own houses.

Except for three or four, most were young wizards, and Zephiroth was in charge. So, that was why his face reflected in the communication beads was worse.

“Greetings, Tower Master!”

When the voices of the twenty wizards were combined, it was quite loud.

“Diana, Noel is here too. Huh? I thought it was Zey who will be in charge. Zey is better than Zeppy on the flame side. Wouldn’t it be better to send him?

“I was originally going to let him go, though as soon as he saw it, he said he was going to throw the Tower Master on the ground. There was nothing I could do.”

“Hey, that’s mutiny!”

Hisran grunted.

The wizards, who briefly exchanged greetings with Viscount Koufen, the owner of this estate, showed interest in Jaeha and offered advice and encouragement.

“I heard that you are the assistant of the Tower Master. I don’t know what kind of conciliation or intimidation you fell for, but be strong!”

“Our Tower Master’s nature isn’t that bad, but he has a tendency to get angry because he resembles his specialty skill, fire magic… In that case, it would be beneficial to escape and see him after a few hours.”

Huh..? Tendency to be angry?

Hearing a word that didn’t match Hisran, she tilted her head for a moment. The man she knew is a sly and relaxed man in everything he does…

“If you can be okay in front of the Tower Master’s silliness, you will be able to do anything well later.”

“You just need to listen to the Tower Master’s pretense with one ear and let it out through the other, and give it a proper response.”

“Oh. These guys, really!”

A blazing flame erupted from Hisran’s right hand, who frowned. Only Viscount Koufen shrugged his shoulders, and the wizards weren’t too surprised.

“This is not the red tower.”

“If you’re a wizard like us who has been acclimatized to the Tower Master, do you know that civilians are seriously injured even with a small fire?”

“I think you have a much more amazing personality than I thought?”

Jaeha, who was having fun watching the exchange of the wizards and Hisran, spat out words. Hearing that, he shook his head.

“It’s a trap. I have a good personality.”

As soon as the words were finished, protests erupted from all over the place.

“Wow, what a shameless thing to say!”

“If the Tower Master has a good personality, I would be an angel. Oh my, where are my wings?”

Jaeha shrugged his shoulders at that.

“So, all the many wizards had agreed and lied?”

“Because a wizard is by nature a person who intervenes in interesting things.”

While Hisran was busy giving explanations, the wizards were shocked to see Jaeha casually speaking to him.

Even knowing Hisran’s identity and status, there were only a few people in this vast empire who could speak so casually. Even though they had heard from Zephiroth before, it seemed like she was his real secret lover.

The commotion didn’t last long.

Zephiroth quickly organized the atmosphere as he was the deputy master of the red tower and the person in charge of the dispatched wizards.

After a quick lunch, some wizards joined the search. Hisran, Zephiroth, and the rest of the wizards cast cloaking magic on the civilians’ homes, and the others within the estate helped collect and distribute chicken blood.

“Oh, I’m going to die. Concealment magic itself is not difficult, but it is difficult to use several.”

“I don’t know how much magic power I will be able to recover by the evening.”

The wizards who finished their work made a sound of pain. Hisran and Zephiroth seemed relatively healthy, but their faces showed vivid signs of exhaustion.

Jaeha asked in a cautious voice.

“There were more houses than expected. it’s okay?”

“This is nothing? I think I’m a little more thirsty than that.”

“Here, water.”

“Thanks.”

Soldiers, knights, and wizards tried to search until an hour before sunset, but to no avail.

The coffins of the victims who were searched first were empty. They searched hard for the shady places of the estate, as well as the mountains, but could not find even the shadow of the Chinese Zombie.

It may have been a limitation of manpower and time.

They couldn’t get rid of Chinese Zombie while the sun was rising, so they had to prepare for the night operation without a hitch.

Zephiroth and the wizards specialized in tracking, and concealment-type magic took on the role of the separate group. Some civilians living in the key point were evacuated to another place, and wizards and knights disguised as a couple or brothers were waiting there.

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