The Immortal Genius Spear Knight (28)
Basel, the captain of the Erkal guards, turned his gaze to Damian walking beside him.
‘…This rookie.’
He recalled the first time Taron came to report about Magi.
Taron had been quite angry.
―How long will the scouting team continue to waste their salary?
The tone was severe.
The atmosphere had turned hostile because of Taron’s sudden visit and threats.
Then came the evidence he presented.
The baseless suspicion of “magi”.
At first, it was dismissed as nonsense.
In fact, Taron’s rude behavior was pointed out.
But after the temple’s testimony that the evidence Taron brought had an evil aura, the mood changed inevitably.
As Taron said, the scouting team had become a group that wasted its salary.
‘How does he know about the magi?’
He had a decent physique but a youthful face.
No older than fifteen?
Yet this young rookie had raised doubts about magi being involved.
“Your name is Damian, right?”
“…?”
Damian looked at Basel, who had suddenly spoken.
A slightly furrowed brow.
His pale blonde hair and similarly colored front teeth stood out.
Damian nodded.
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
Basel was so surprised by the short response from the young man that he nearly stopped walking.
“…Is there a problem? You’re from the Erkal guards, and I’m from the Neo-Calitz unit.”
Different units meant different ranks and all that.
Damian looked at Basel as if the question was strange.
Basel’s voice trembled slightly.
“B-but I’m an officer.”
“Oh, well. Whether you’re an officer or not, let’s not be too strict with each other. I’ll cooperate as much as possible, so don’t worry.”
Damian waved his hand dismissively and strode ahead.
Basel ground his teeth in frustration.
“Have you ever seen such a crazy guy…!”
He vowed to protest to Taron when he returned. But then.
“Who is that person?”
Claire, who had been quietly following behind, asked Basel.
Basel looked at Claire.
In a white priest’s robe.
Wearing a robe pulled down and with a white mask covering the area below the nose, her face was not clearly visible.
But the long eyelashes glimpsing inside the robe.
However, long eyelashes could be glimpsed from within the robe.
Her sparkling eyes were enough to stimulate Basel’s imagination.
Basel quickly scanned Claire up and down and then spoke in a respectful tone.
“This is Damian, a new recruit from the Neo-Calitz unit. He is the one who first raised suspicions about the magi.”
“I see.”
Claire looked at Damian, who was walking ahead.
The mention of the first person to raise suspicion about magi caught her interest.
However.
“…”
Claire’s gaze was not entirely friendly.
Noticing demons could mean,
Recognizing demonic energy could mean many things.
‘He might already be familiar with magi…’
All possibilities should be considered.
Claire’s gaze was fixed on Damian for a long time.
* * *
Crunch, crunch.
With the sound of dry leaves being stepped on, Damian remained still and surveyed his surroundings.
No particular danger was sensed.
‘The feeling becomes denser as we go deeper.’
He couldn’t precisely define it as “magi”.
Because Damian could not feel demonic energy.
Just a heavy weight pressing down on his shoulders.
The heavy air entering through his nose.
The sharp feeling that was intensifying, as if he was in the heart of a battlefield.
“Are you sensing something?”
At that moment, someone approached Damian.
Damian turned his head.
“It’s the priest.”
“I’m Claire. I heard you were the first to raise suspicion about the magi. May I ask you a few questions?”
“Of course.”
“How did you know it was demonic energy?”
Claire’s eyes changed.
Damian chuckled at her direct approach without any small talk.
‘That look…’
He was being suspected.
Indeed, demons were a very important matter for priests.
“I learned from my late father.”
“About Magi?”
“No, about suspicious circumstances. My father had similar experiences in the past and taught me about them.”
“…Can you tell me a bit more?”
At her request, Damian nodded.
“Did you see the corpse?”
“Yes.”
“From there, we could infer something from the black spots. It wasn’t due to a common disease. But more importantly, what was suspicious was its extreme ferocity and strength.”
Damian looked around.
“I know a bit about the monsters in the Bronzerian Forest.”
But the black bear he encountered was a type he had never seen before.
Both in its size and strength.
“Moreover, it seemed to have lost some of its reason, which led me to suspect it might be infected with demonic energy.”
“Did that knowledge come from your late father as well?”
“Yes.”
An answer without any hesitation.
Unwavering eyes.
Claire, who had been observing Damian, nodded.
“I see, thank you for your answers.”
Claire bowed politely and turned away.
What he said was quite convincing. However…
‘Perhaps too convincing…’
That could be a problem.
Moreover, there was no way to verify the person who provided this knowledge.
How could one find someone who is deceased?
Despite still having some doubts.
“We should move further in.”
For now, it seemed things would only become clear after meeting another monster infected with demonic energy.
At Claire’s request, Basel turned to the search team members and said.
“Move out.”
From now on, they were in an area where it wouldn’t be surprising if monsters appeared at any moment. The search team members moved with tense expressions.
‘Hmm… Not yet.’
But Damian wasn’t interested in searching for magi.
His sole concern was:
‘Herbs! Herbs! Herbs!’
Herbs that help with mana enhancement!
Of course, he also planned to gather herbs to treat the team members with.
That’s why he brought two large sacks.
When the search team entered the deeper part of the forest.
“Oh!”
“Did you find something?!”
“A monster?!”
With a small exclamation, the search team members around them were startled and became alert.
However:
“Wow… Just as I thought.”
My expectations were correct.
Damian’s eyes sparkled as he saw an herb growing next to a small rock.
‘White Lotte, huh…’
White Lotte is an herb with white-spotted flowers.
Its stem and roots are rich in ingredients that help enhance mana, and its leaves are effective for quick mana recovery.
However, the flower itself is highly poisonous, so it’s necessary to cut at least 3 cm of the stem before harvesting.
‘I didn’t expect what I studied long ago to be this useful.’
In the past, Damian couldn’t use magic.
Because of that, he became even more obsessed with mana and studied a lot of related information.
That’s why he knew about the Delft Mana Training Method and had considerable knowledge about mana-related herbs and artifacts.
But…
“What’s this guy doing!”
“Is he treating this like a vacation?!”
The search team members, shocked by Damian’s actions, began to scowl and curse.
“Does this punk think we’re here just to leisurely pick herbs?”
“…Huh?”
Are these guys crazy?
Damian stood up and looked at the soldier in front of him.
With a fiery gaze.
Still an immature guy who couldn’t control his temper.
Damian said:
“If you keep speaking like that, you’ll end up dying early.”
“What did you say?”
“The search is your mission. I’m here ‘cooperating’, as a request, for that search. Is there a problem with my actions?”
“Yes, everyone here was surprised because of you!”
The soldier shouted.
Damian scoffed and said:
“Oh! If a short exclamation makes you tremble, then I can gauge the level of your team. Don’t you know that the more you speak, the further you’ll drag the name of the Erkal Defense Corps through the mud.”
Damian gestured toward the back.
The soldier frowned and glanced back.
“Eek!”
Basel was glaring at him with a fierce killing intent.
“That’s enough. And…”
Basel approached Damian.
“Such impulsive behavior is not permitted. It could harm the search.”
“I’m staying within the bounds.”
Damian wasn’t doing anything wrong.
He wasn’t straying away from the search party and instead stayed within their range.
However, Damian took a step back.
There was no need to confront those leading the operation.
Basel frowned at Damian’s words but turned his head without speaking.
“…Sigh.”
Damian sighed softly and began to carefully harvest the White Lotte.
Conflicts are conflicts, but he needed to get what he came for.
After that, Damian continued to focus as much as possible on herb gathering rather than the search.
There were monsters appearing intermittently, but none were infected with demonic energy.
They were just steel wolves or groups of orcs.
And such enemies were easily dealt with by the search team.
Therefore, Damian was able to focus even more on herb gathering.
disapproving looks he received from the defense team, if he was going to be swayed by such things, then he wouldn’t have come along.
“Wow… A big catch.”
He gathered a lot of mana-enhancing herbs. Additionally, he collected a significant amount of herbs for treating the team members.
He reached a level where it was hard to distinguish if he was a professional herb collector or a soldier.
Damian’s lips curved into a smile.
But then.
“Krrr!”
“A monster!”
“Prepare for battle!”
Following the same pattern as before.
Perhaps because they had easily won several battles, the search team members readied themselves with somewhat relaxed expressions.
“Hehe, it’s a group of orcs, isn’t it?”
“Looks like there’s only one squad?”
The search team members smiled.
A squad was less than half of their own number. It would be no trouble at all.
But…
“…These orcs look different.”
“Huh?”
With someone’s comment, the search team members saw the orcs that had appeared.
Unlike the brown-skinned orcs they had seen before, these had dark skin and spots on their bodies.
In particular, their eyes were red and gleaming with madness.
“They’re orcs infected with demonic energy!”
“Everyone, be careful!”
Basel shouted loudly.
But at that moment, one of the orcs charged at a soldier in the front and swung its axe.
Slash!
“…!”
The spear the soldier was holding broke, and the soldier’s head flew into the air.
The soldier’s head and body were separated in an instant, causing the search team members’ eyes to widen in shock.
“Formeeee!”
The soldier who cried out the name of the deceased comrade immediately faced the orc.
His mad eyes showed no fear.
“You bastard! For my brother!”
It seemed the deceased comrade was his brother.
In a state of partially lost sanity, he hurled his spear at the orc.
Thud!
The soldier’s spear pierced the orc’s shoulder.
He aimed for the chest, but his aim suddenly faltered.
“Kraah!”
Smash!
The orc grabbed the spear stuck in its shoulder and shattered its shaft.
The soldier’s eyes widened as his spear broke.
Furthermore, his body froze in the heat of the moment.
“Ughhh!”
He could only watch helplessly as the axe fell towards his head.
“What are you doing, move!”
His comrades shouted loudly, but no one could save him.
But at that moment.
Clang!
“…!”
“Wake up, you stupid bastard!”
Damian, who had picked up a spear, deflected the orc’s axe and said.
