Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.25)

Sanson grasped Aphnaidel's head easily who had his eyes covered. Sanson folded his arms, and mounted the dagger on his neck.

"How are you! The very weak archmage."

That guy only opened his eyes and saw us then. His face suddenly turned shock.

"What is it.. Isn't there a fire? Who you are!"

"We are the people who shouted fire. Well, let's go inside, shall we?"

Sanson pushed that guy, then we entered into the room.

The light inside is on, what we can see is a mess. We can smell weird flavor everywhere,  rotten taste, oil, sulfur and so on, we almost needed to cover our noses. And there's a lot of clutter, such as fine iron powder, gold powder, crystal ball, sulfur, animal offal, animal hair etc., and there is even animal urine. The walls are covered a lot of weird stuffs like iron wire, rope, every shelf is filled with all kinds of bottles. Iruril frowned, then sent away Wisp.

After kneeling Aphnaidel on the ground, Sanson pulled off the cloth covering his face.

"You, it's you!"

Aphnaidel turned to a pale look. After we pulled off all our face covers, Aphnaidel made some breathless cough. Sanson said with a cunning smile:

"Do you want me to kill you first then torture you, or torture you first then kill you?"

Aphnaidel's face looks like a dead person now. I decided to get my things back first.

"Hey, give me back my OPG first. Where is it?"

"That thing. In the pot over there ......"

"What! In the pot?"

I panic and went over to see the stove. There is really a pot filled with water, and it is boiling (lot of things I've never seen are inside, the color and taste is simply awful), My OPG is floating in it. Oh my goodness! I used the iron clamps nearby to clip it up. Loads of dirty things are being brought up with it, around the fingers part of the glove, there is even a animal eyeball sticking on it. I have to curse!

"What the hell are you doing!"

"Doing, doing research ......"

"Do you want cook it and eat it? You are crazy!"

I put them in a bucket placed next to the pot, washed them roughly and shook a few times, after wiping them with a towel, I put them on my hands. Although there is no feeling, this thing originally feels like this. If I need to test i.... I picked up an iron bar on the wall and waved. As before, I can do it easily.

"Good, it's still working. But what did you want with it?" 

"I, I wanted to summon Orc as my Wizard Follower......" 

Wizard Follower? This time Iruril laughed. 

"Tha's ridiculous! Why would you want a Orc be your Wizard Follower? Actually where did you learn your magics?" 

Aphnaidel looked surprised. 

"You, you know how to look for a Wizard Follower?" 

"Didn't I cast 'Ice Wall' in front of you?I know that series of magic." 

"Can... Can you teach me ......" 

"Sure, according to the different types of followers you want to summon, there is different time constrain, so first you have to pick the creature's active period. Fill a brass stove with charcoal, then put some incense in, the incense must completely cover the charcoal's surface. While finishing the spell, you have to add incense several times. After that, put aloe and.... "

Sanson, Karl and I are all tongue-tied! We are watching Iruril saying these words calmly,  while Aphnaidel is carefully listening and writing notes. It feels like a really joyful lesson! During the lesson, we picked up the strange things of  Aphnaidel, played around while waiting. After Iruril finished her tutorial, she even helped him to write something on the note. 

After Aphnaidel finished, he looked at the piece of paper, made ​​a satisfied expression. 

"That sentence is right! Elves are different from humans, elves are really at teaching magic!" 

Iruril also smiled slightly. 

"Learning a new magic is very precious. But the cost is your life." 

After Aphnaidel heard this, the piece of paper in his hands fell to the ground. His scared face makes us very happy. Iruril is really a very calm person. She said coldly: 

"You have accepted the things I just taught, so now I have accept the cost. You should not have any objection, right?" 

Iruril pulled out her piercing sword. Aphnaidel moved back a few steps, stumbled and fell to the ground. He is like a poplar leaf in the wind, constantly trembling, he said: 

"Please, please don't kill me....." 

"You used your childish magics, helped the baron to oppress the citizens of this city. And this way it also had your own desires satisfied. You felt quite happy right? Uphinel gives a rule to this world, no matter what you do, you must pay the price, how can you not know? Uphinel made ​​the balance, and Helkanes made ​​the mass. Your balance is too tilted. now we should make it balanced. Your live would be the mass! "

Iruril's voice was calm, as if she was talking about the weather tomorrow. However, in the ears of Aphnaidel, it could be the world's most horrible voice. Aphnaidel continued to retreat, until he hit the wall. Iruril then slowly moved forward. 

Suddenly Aphnaidel growled loudly: 

"You said I had my desires satisfied!" 

Iruril looked surprised. Aphnaidel is crying and shouting: 

"Damn! Human wizards are not like you elves, they don't just teach magics so generously! I learned a decade and I am only level two!I have paid tons of time to serve them! "

"You should understand the magic is not easy to learn and use." 

"But I still can't bear! I can't bear to dedicate all my young time to that decrepit old man, so I ran! But with my level two magics, all I can do is to serve these filthy profiteers! "

Iruril is quietly watching him, she said: 

"For humans, in order to learn magics, the time needs to spend is too long." 

"Yes! We're not elves! The desires of young men, we have to give them all up, we can only dedeicate to magic. When we become a useful wizard, we will almost be in the age of stroke! I don't want that, so I ran away! Desire? Oh! Is that desire? Yes, indeed, life has became very easy.I just had to moderately tortured those who the Baron specified. Yeah, kid! As you said, I throw them ropes, throw them bones, but, but I always feel uncomfortable. I don't know when would I encounter a better wizard. I am afraid that people would eventually find out I am very good wizard. so I claimed myself a Archmage, and even wearing those ugly robes! However I couldn't stand this too. After all, I am a wizard! I miss those magical research. So I started doing research every day, I tried to creat magics I have never heard of, I tried to experiment..... "

So that's why Aphnaidel took my OPG, to create magics. Karl tried to ask him: 

"Did you go back and find your teacher?" 

"I am too ashamed.. I can't go back. Whenever I think of my dissolute life, I know I can't go back." 

Aphnaidel bowed his head, he is crying. Iruril looked at him, and put away the piercing sword. Aphnaidel heard the sound of the scabbard, he quickly looked up. 

"Uphinel and Helkanes created time." 

Aphnaidel wiped his tear, looked at Iruril. Iruril said to him: 

"Time is absolute, and it can't be changed. But we can utilize time." 

Iruril smiled slightly.

"I will leave your time to you. Please take advantage of it. Balance your tilted balance by yourself. Please look back, and change your days ahead." 

Aphnaidel's face finally appeared hope. He kept bowing to the ground, and said: 

"Thank you! Thank you!" 

Sanson and I looked at each other, then shrugged. 

"Really, Iruril solved everything. We don't have to do anything anymore." 

"Yes, if it were me, I would relentlessly beat his ass. When I quietly waited half a day there, I wasn't expecting this!" 

Iruril heard me and said with a smile: 

"Huchi, I'm sorry." 

"No, you don't have to say sorry to me, I am very happy with this. But you must leave us the baron. Hey! Aphnaidel?" 

Aphnaidel is still bowing. Until I urged  him once again, he stood up. I said to him: 

"Well, Iruril handled you. But it will be a little different for the Baron. Come with us."

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.18)

Sylph began dancing around in the air. This scene will absolutely move an emotional person, But the sudden wild wind will absolutely take us back to the rational world right after.

Iruril's black hair is fluttering in the wind, as if the wind moving across a cornfield.  The haird is fluttering hair, but it doesn't make people dizzy. It looks like softly rippling waves. I move away the hair stabbing in my eyes, and I am carefully watching the situation at hand.

Other people's clothes are also fluttering. But those soldiers who got hit by "Feather Fall", are now like bits of paper, swirling along the wind. While the soldiers are constantly shouting, a strange laughter by Sylph can still be heard.

"Uh ah uh ah ...... ...... ...... Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

All the citizens look haggard. Cherine, the hotel boss, catches his servant's shoulder tightly, as if he is going to fall on the ground. But that servant also seems to be losing his balance.

Aphnaidel now looks totally hopeless, he is watching Sylph while grinding his teeth. Iruril let Sylph to handle the soldiers, then she quietly looks Aphnaidel. She looks very calm, I can't feel a little uneasy on her. So I am just waiting quietly at the side. But then, I noticed Baron Siliken had fled away some-when, leaving Aphnaidel in the courtyard alone . Where did the Baron go? Aphnaidel shouted:

"You despicable elf! Magic belongs to mankind! How dare you steal it from human?"

"Magic belongs to dragon originally."

"Shut up! Take this! Archmage Aphnaidel's wand!"

The soldiers in the air are still floating like leaves, and the broad courtyard are covered by the whirlwind. In the wind, an angry archmage waving the wand and clam elf are face to face, counting down for the showdown. The scene makes me excited again.

"Summon swarm!" 

Aphnaidel said. He raised a red cloth and waved it like a flag. Then all of a sudden some black creatures appeared behind the cloth.

"Zzzzzzzzzz! ZZzz!" 

Oh my god. Bats! Dozens of bats! I am afraid so I ran back. Those bats immediately flew towards Iruril. It should be very scary, but Iruril still stands there quietly. 

I desperately shouted: 

"Iruril-!" 

"Why?" 

Her answer is really boring. I am shocked when I am looking at Iruril, while Iruril is just looking at me quietly. Taking a closer look, though it looked like the bats have wrapped up Iruril , but the truth is they are just hanging on her head and shoulders. Iruril even lifted both her arms forward, so that these bats can easily hang on them.

 "Are... are you alright?" 

"In the middle of the day.... Their eyes must hurt. These bats are probably not alright?" 

"No, I'm asking you!" 

"Ah? Me.... My arms are a little bit tired. And a bit smelly." 

I am very nervous and heavily breath. I usually do not think I am a weird person. But now what surrounding Iruril are not pigeons or any kind of beautiful birds, but with bats with black dense hair. But why Iruril still looks beautiful at this moment? One of these bats is even drilling among Iruril's black hair. Gran Elver who blesses elves and innocent girls! Haven't talked to you for a long while. Why is you blessing always like this? The elf is surrounded by bats, why she still looks so beautiful? 

Iruril is playing with a bat on her arm and said: 

"Really poor... Coming out in daylight, you must be very uncomfortable under this sunshine. Poor. Feel free to go back to your cave." 

Then all those bats are all beginning to fly, making a crunching sound. Soon, the bats covered the courtyard, and their shadows began to move, the place became dark all a sudden. Although some of the citizens cried and made a little bit of noise,all the bat flew away soon. Iruril tidied up her clothes after the bats disappeared, and then said to Aphnaidel:

"I thought you were going to attack me, but why did you call the bats out to bully them?" 

I am a bit fed up, so I laid on Sanson's body, while Sanson shrugged. 

"Hee hee hee, Ha ha ha haaa!"

We fell on each other and started laughing. Poor Aphnaidel is trembling with anger. 

"No! Wrong! It shouldn't be like this. You didn't use any defensive spell, or confuse spell! Why did my bats...." 

"Wait, wait a second!" 

Iruril interrupted Aphnaidel, she looked at the soldiers who are still floating around in the air. She points her hand to the soliders, and then said: 

"Happy dancing with them? Now please place them down." 

The soldiers begin to fall down slowly like a leaf. But the soldiers seem to think that slowly falling down is such a horrible thing, So all of them are struggling hard, so the scene looks very messy. Why is that scary? Isn't the falling really slow? 

"Heads up!" 

Sanson shouted, What? This damn bastard! While Iruril was looking at the soldiers, Aphnaidel quickly read some spells. But this time was different from other spells, it took longer. Iruril heard Sanson and then immediately turned to Aphnaidel. At that moment, her eyes showed uneasy for the first time. She quickly looked back, then ran forward. I often see that look and the action in my hometown. She is standing in front of us in order to protect us ...

"Iruril!" 

Iruril facing Aphnaidel also began to read a spell. Aphnaidel is sweating hard,  We can almost see the blood vessels on his forehead, and his two arms are shaking. Anyway, this is definitely not another little magic trick. 

Sanson and I started to run forward. But Aphnaidel has already finished the spell, and came up with  a little black ball. He then threw it to us. 

"Eat this! Fireball!"

Holy mother of god.

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.17)

However Aphnaidel could not finish his words. Cause I've already cut off that rope by my 'Unaware Slash'.

Hanster fell, I quickly went to check his breath. Fortunately, he is still wheezing. I put my sword down, and then said:

"Hey, what the hell did you do?"

Silikian surprisedly looked at Aphnaidel. Aphnaidel's face burst red and green. Suddenly he shouted:

"Bastard! How dare you destroy Aphnaidel the Archmage's stuff, absolutely unforgivable!"

His face suddenly turned angry and he began to search in his pocket again. Really, what is he doing?

Tyburn doesn't even need any tools or powder, why is this guy so troublesome? Is it because he is an Archmage?

I didn't have time to sort out these ideas, Aphnaidel had already taken something out. It's a small, white, strange looking .... bone? He threw the bone towards me. Hum! Want to mess with me? By that? What can that do to me? Aphnaidel quickly shouted:

"Scare!"

Sounds like something scary will happen...... But nothing really happened. I nervously looked at Aphnaidel , and then looked at that bone on the ground. Am I hit? How come I don't feel anything? But Hanster lying on the ground suddenly screamed wildly :

"Uh ah! Uh ah! Go, go away! Uh ah ah!"

Hanster began to run, and then rolled over, and fell to the ground again. He then started crying. His face is covered by tears, saliva and sweat, everything that can come out from his face came out, completely messed up. The soldiers standing there tried to catch Hanster, but Hanster crazily pushed them away.

Aphnaidel's eyes are widen, and stammered:

"Lad, you, can't you feel anything?"

"Well, I can feel that my mood is not good. I was hit by a piece of bone, how could I feel good? What kind of bone is this? Chicken bones from your breakfast?"

Aphnaidel looked at me, then at Iruril, his face looks like he saw something unbelievable.

"Why, although elves can't feel the terror of dead, you, you are a human!"

At this time Karl and Sanson came forward. Karl calmly explained it, I finally got to know what was going on.

"You actually use that evil magic. Casting with dead man's bones. Such evil magic will bring people a terrible fear, and even to a level that drives man crazy. But this boy in front of you, he has no fear to dead. Because he has seen a lot of dead, and so has most of people from our village. "

Aphnaidel startled eyes and said weakly:

"You, are you a wizard?"

"No, I'm just a scholar."

This is a dead man's bone? Huh? Really strange. I kicked the bone away, Aphnaidel was amazed and looking at me. However, if you want to find these bones, you got to dig a grave, right? I glared at Aphnaidel and said:

"Ha, you ghoul. Did you dig your own grave to get this stuff?"

Karl corrected me. He said:

"No, it should not be, Nedval. It should be obtained from the undead."

"Really? Ah, anyway, still something terrible. But is he really an Archmage? I thought wizard can reverse gravity to invert heaven and earth, and summon Balrog by teleportation. But why is this Archmage playing rope tricks, sprinkling powder and bones?"

Aphnaidel immediately said:

"You, you bastard! Are you trying to insult me!"

"I'm sorry, but the wizard I know is really like that. You seem to suck a little bit?"

Aphnaidel looks pissed off, and he quickly put his hand into his pocket again. Another rope! Aphnaidel threw that over to us immediately, and shouted:

"Succinct!"

"Ah, watch out!"

I quickly pushed Iruril and Karl away. As a result the rope is only tied on me. Aphnaidel frowned. He wanted to catch all four of us together. Now he glared at Sanson and Karl.

"I decided to take my time to deal with this dirty-mouthed kid. Now it's your turn, what should I do?"

Sanson's face looked at Aphnaidel kindly, and then said to me:

"How long do you want to be tied?"

"Not long."

I pushed with my arms, the rope immediately got broken into many parts, falling to the ground. Both citizens and soldiers watching are amazed, while Aphnaidel is shocked. This time he finally carefully looked around me, and then he noticed my gloves.

"That's OPG (Ogre Gauntlets)! Who the hell are you, how come you would have such a treasure?"

"This is my gift for behaving good."

Baron Silikan began to roar:

"Aphnaidel! What is happening? Aren't you very proficient in magic?"

"These are not normal persons! Hey, soldiers! Arrest them right now! No! Kill them all!"

Aphnaidel stepped back, Baron Silikan also stood up from his chair and fell back hurriedly. Then more than thirty soldiers started moving towards us, their halberds looks terrible. Seems more terrible than the Orcs' machetes! Karl shouted:

"This is how you treat your guests? Baron! Did we do something wrong? We just tried to stop those trolls from making trouble, so we helped to kill them, is there anything wrong?"

Baron also shouted:

"Shut up! How dare you kill my trolls and being so shameless!"

Karl is very angry and speechless. And then Aphnaidel shouted at me:

"That naive kid actually has such a rare treasure. That thing should belong to me, used in my research. Soldiers! Kill them all, now!"

What? Are those words from a human's mouth? I stood out and was going to yell. But Iruril stood in front of me first.

"Iruril? Please stay away!"

Iruril turned and looked at me.

"Huchi, we're friends, right?"

"The answer is the same! No matter how many times you ask."

"Then I should help to stop them, but not letting you to face 32 soldiers!"

Oh, are there 32? Well, that is not very important.

"That's true, but for me too!... If you are in danger."

"I'm not in danger."

Iruril turned back again, then put her hands together. With such a beautiful elf standing in front, the soldiers looked around each other nervously. Iruril began to murmur some strange words. Huh? Is that a spell?

"Grease!"

"Uh ah!"

All the soldiers are slipping and falling down suddenly. At that moment, Iruril casted another spell quickly.

"Feather Fall!"

Then, the soldiers became very strange. They are now all floating in the air. Although they should have fallen after losing their balance, they are falling down slowly, just like in the water. The soldiers are cursing, trying to move their body straight and stand, but they seem to not able to control their own bodies. The so-called 'Feather Fall' magic, shouldn't be a magic that makes body light like a feather? So is Iruril a wizard? But thinking of the look she fights with her daggers, she doesn't look like a wizard at all. Also, if she knows magic, why didn't she use that when she was fighting the Urcs? Ah! 'Memorization'.

Certainly. That day Iruril was night-guarding for us, so she couldn't perform 'Memorization'. I recalled Karl's words:

"When wizards are using magic, they don't do the same like works of carpenters or lumberjack. Those use their own strength, but wizards use the power of the nature. However, we should be clear where the difference is. Truly skilled carpenter utilizes gravity to nail, and he can handle the bounce force naturally. Most people get tired after a few nails, but carpenter can do hundreds. This is because they use the forces of nature. Eventually, people who use their own strength, when they master their skills, they involve the forces of nature. So it's even more true for wizards who are already relying on the power of natures, they combine themselves with nature every single day, and they even practice for that. That is the purpose of Memorization. Nedval. Of course, in a short sentence, it is just to memorize the magic you have to use on that day, but there is a complex meaning in it. "

When I was thinking of these words, Iruril continued to cast her magics. But the strange thing is, I can now understand what she is saying.

"In the Atmosphere, Carrying the Lives, Monitoring the Things, Who Do Not Belong to Anything. Dance, Right Here, Right Now. I Pray!"

Shoop -! Shua -!

Wind and laughter started coming from the sky. I'm amazed by what I am seeing.

There is something in the sky moving forward, I can't see it clearly. It's just like a flickering figure. Seems to be a very small man, but I really can't see clearly. Except those soldiers who lost their balance, everyone is looking at the sky. Karl with a remarkable voice said:

"Never thought that I'd have the chance to see it! Sylph!"

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.16)

We have just discussed how to go, and we decided to ride. I don't know why we have to ride, but Sanson insisted to do so.

So now Karl and I are riding along the main road of Renus City, between us are the eight soldiers walking in two columns. Ah, we are on the horses and the soldiers are walking on foot, although we didn't lock these soldiers up, it looks exactly like what captives transfer looks. The could be what Sanson tried to achieve.

I glimpsed that the soldiers' faces all turned red, and they are walking with their heads down, not looking up nor looking around. However, the citizens in Renus City can see us clearly. People are whispering.

"Hey, aren't those Baron Silikian's guards?"

"Really, why are they like this?"

"The lad riding on the horse is that kid this morning! He cut the troll's neck...."

Karl looked around and unwittingly blushed, he murmured:

"Ah, we are really like going to a exchange of prisoners."

"Huh? You're right! Karl! Good analogy!"

I tried hard to make an awesome expression. Although I hope Jamini can walk elegantly, but Jamini is just like walking in the fields, more like shuffling, which makes me really unhappy. Ah, forget about it.

Jamini is Jamini. Regardless it's the horse or the human.

And Sanson is at the back of the soldiers. He let Iruril to ride his horse "Meteor", and he is grabbing the reins and walking on the ground. Iruril with a very worried tone asked him to ride together, but Sanson firmly refused.

And further behind are Cherine and the servants of the hostel. We asked them not to come, but Cherine said we are their guests, so he has to be responsible in the end.

"Perhaps when that Baron saw your number, he'd do it hard. Once you enter the house, it could be difficult to come out again. Though we are unable protect you, at least when the Baron see we have so many people, he would probably not imprison you deliberately. "

Cherine said those words, and led the people to follow us. One of the few passers watching us shouted:

"You see! What've they done?"

That leader Hanster immediately shouted back:

"You stupid pig! These people killed the trolls, of course they will need to pay compensation. Now we are escorting them to the Baron."

I almost fell from my horse, Karl, Sanson and Iruil are also laughing. The passer spitted and scratched his head:

"Bah! What, you said who is escorting who?"

People began to laugh. Ah, riding a horse does have many benefits. Hanster viciously clenched his fists, but because he is empty-handed, he can't do anything. All their halberds have been broken by me.

By the way, I really feel very uncomfortable. I constantly think of that Archmage Aphnaidel. What kind of person is he? Tyburn can summon Balrog, then this Archmage might be able to summon a dragon?

"Hanster, excuse me, what kind of person is this Aphnaidel?"

Hanster looked up at me unhappily, then winced and said.

"He's not human being. He is very frightening."

"He's that scary?"

"If I were you, I would only go to deal with him when I want to die...."

Hanster hasn't finished his words yet, his body began to tremble incessantly, my whole mood turned worse. We punched the men of the horrible Archmage, and now we are bringing them back like this, uh, this isn't good.

※ ※ ※

We finally arrived Baron Silikian's mansion. It's a very majestic mansion, but there is no time to look at it. As compared to the mansion, I found a more attractive picture which drew my attention.

On the courtyard in front of the mansion, there is a shed, under the shed there is a red carpet. A very ornate chair is placed on the carpet, and someone is sitting on it, I don't know whether he's the Baron or not, but he seems to know we are coming, and is waiting here. Although he is wearing gorgeous clothes, those clothes look too expensive that make people afraid to eat as if they would dirty the clothes. A servant is kneeling and holding a bowl, something like biscuits is in it. He has been constantly eating. Really terrible!

Beside him there is a man in robe, holding a wooden stick, impatiently looking at the sky. When I saw this robe on this man, I thought of Tyburn's. Tyburn's robe is kind of a functional clothing that you can even sleep in it. But now looking at this robe, it's completely like shouting at people: "I am an Archmage!" If not, why it's all painted with stars and sparks patterns? Maybe this man is the Archmage Aphnaidel. I would like to look at this man's face, but he has been looking at the sky, so I can't have a clear look. However, he is unexpectedly young. I thought grand mages should all be elderly. On their left and right sides, they are lined with soldiers wearing chainmail and halberd, about thirty or so.

Because the main gate is opened, we can walk directly into the courtyard. Behind us are Cherine and his servants, as well as curious citizens. Once the citizens noticed that the Baron and the Archmage are there, they began to get excited. The crowd is getting louder and louder.

I sighed and talked to the soldiers:

"Well, your men are there, do you want to stand next to them?"

But those soldiers' faces are covered with fear, they hesitated to go back. What? How could this be? The leader Hanster stammered:

"We... We are dead! Aphnaidel the Archmage is there......"

At this time, the Baron sitting on the chair made a gesture to retreat the servants, he began:

"Welcome to my house, my guests!"

Karl looked at me and got down from the horse, Iruril behind also dismounted. Then Sanson and Iruruil walked over. The baron nodded.

"Three men, one elf. Right!"

"So you're the Baron Silikian, owner of the arena?"

I asked. The baron's temple twitched, he said:

"Owner of the arena? Yes, I am Baron Silikian."

"I heard that you are a fake baron?"

The baron seems to explode soon. My mouth can just tell truth, so I can't help even if it makes him unhappy. Baron Silikian didn't shout at me, but looked at someone behind me.

"Hanster!"

Hanster with a desperate look came forward, suddenly knelt down. Baron Silikian said:

"How come I can't see the compensation? What is it? Why does this guy dare to be so presumptuous here?"

"We were ambushed! Once we arrived at the hostel, they set things up with Cherine, the owner of the hostel, and ambushed us! So they got our equipment...."

I couldn't hold my laughter. So stupid! Please think about the situation before you lie, how could he be so stupid? Baron Silikian's face is twitching, looking angrily at Hanster, until Hanster couldn't stand anymore. He began desperately kowtowing.

"Are you trying to fool me?"

"I deserve death, please forgive..."

"You really deserve death."

Hanster raised his head desperately. But the baron'eyes have turned to the Archmage. I stepped back a little.

Aphnaidel's eyes which have been looking at the sky, are now looking down at Hanster. Hanster's face is already half-dead. He fell and sat on the ground and kept crawling back.

"Help ...... Please forgive me!"

Aphnaidel put his hand into his robe, and then took something out carefully. He is now holding a black rope.

"Scream. Let's see if you still have any living value, Hanster!"

Aphnaidel's voice is cold. He threw the rope to Hanster.

"Uh ah!!!"

As if seeing a snake flying over, Hanster is screaming in horror, and began waving his arms. What? He is afraid of rope? Aphnaidel began muttering. Just like those random unknown words from Tyburn, and then said quickly:

"Bind! Tie & Knot!"

The rope flying over seems to come alive, it's now crawling around Hanster's body and wrapping his neck. Hanster in order to prevent the rope from tightening around his neck, is desperately clutching both ends of it, but he can only try his best to stop it, but there is no way to rip it off.

Hanster has flushed.

Aphnaidel again took out something like powder from his robe. He sprayed it over to Hanster, and cast another  spell.

"Rope Trick!"

At that moment, one end of the rope wrapped Hanster's neck began going up towards the sky, the other end stood stiffly on the ground. Then, Hanster because of his body weight, got the rope tighten on his neck.

"Uh, uh ahhhhh!"

God, so he is going to die! Whether that guy is a scary Archmage or not, I can't stand it anymore.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

Before I yelled, Iruril had already taken action. I saw Iruril's brunette. She ran towards Hanster, and then raised her left hand dagger and cut rope. A crash.

Huh? Isn't that a rope? Iruril embarrassingly looked at Aphnaidel, she wanted to help Hanster. However the upper end and the lower end of the rope are like tightly pulled, so Hanster's body is lifted naturally, his neck is hence tightened. Aphnaidel mockied:

"That is not a normal rope, silly elf...."

Chapter Two: The Difference Between a Kettle And a Brain (Pt.15)

Sanson didn't draw his sword. He said to the soldiers:

"You insulted my lord, so I have to duel with you. Do you want to come one by one, or once together?"

The soldiers looked at each other. Anyway, if they so many people are going to fight against a person, it would hurt their dignity. One of them, that soldier who got his halberd broken by me, took over another soldier's halberd, then took a step forward. This man seems to be their leader. He looked at me standing on the stairs above, said:

"Hey, do you want to come down?"

"Why should I go down? Ah, are you begging me to fight with you?"

Thay guy grunted, and then suddenly stabbed with his halberd towards Sanson who hasn't drawn his sword. But Sanson has been monitoring his footsteps, so before he could move his arms, Sanson had already read his intentions. Sanson gently stepped back, and then kicked the ground with the same foot, then charged towards the soldier who lost his balance. Sanson sent a heavy punch. Bang!

"Ah!"

That guy was hit right in his face, he looks like that he is going to faint, and began to retreat. Sanson said:

"Did you really close your eyes? This guy's foundation is too bad."

Sanson then drew out his sword. That is the sword our thane spent almost all his money to purchase, in order to deal with Lycanthropes, it's coated with a layer of silver, so it's a very beautiful sword. The soldier also waved his halberd nervously, Sanson held his sword horizontally, and then parried the halberd. The halberd hit the sword, emitting scrubbing noise, and then bounced away. It takes time to lift the heavy Halberd again, Sanson took a step forward and gently stabbed. The soldier's hand immediately stopped moving. Sanson pointed his sword at the guy's throat. Simply, the duel ended.

"Ah, ah -"

That guy emerged bloodshot in his eyes, watching the sword pointing at his throat. Sanson shaked his sword around a few times and said:

"I will not kill you if you apologize. But if you want to die, you should know what to do."

"Damn you!"

Another soldier waved his halberd suddenly, and Sanson took a step back swiftly. Then, the soldier who lost raised his halberd again.

"You son of a bitch! Do you know who we are!"

All the rest of the soldiers swarmed over. I have never seen such despicable persons. I raised my bastard sword and the then jumped forward. Because I was standing on the stairs, so I can jump quite high. I pulled out my sword in the air, and then held the blade and scabbard with my hands.

"Ah ah!"

Using the power of jumping off, I destroyed two halberds with this strike. I cut one with my sword, and broke another one with the scabbard. Then, after I was standing on the ground again, I immediately performed 'Unaware Slash', because both of my hands are raised, so it's easy to follow the center force, I again destroyed two other halberds. Although they don't act like human, I wouldn't have a single thought of stabbing their bodies with my sword. This is not for these guys, but for myself. So I swing my scabbard.

"Uh ah!"

The soldier who got hit in the cheek by me, even had his teeth popped out, and he fell to the ground. I put my sword back into the scabbard, and then started waving. I hit two other soldier's arms, they are scared and retreated. I hit their arms like chopping with an ax, they should be very painful  right? Are their arms broken? They should be able to live in this lesson in a month.

Sanson looked at me and seemed to understand my intention. Similarly, he withdrew his sword back into the scabbard, and then waved it. Before that, I hadn't felt that Sanson even tried, but once the sword was back into the scabbard, Sanson's moves became very cruel. Because there is no further consideration, he started hitting neck or chest or other important parts. So even it's a scabbard, among the soldiers who got hit, no one didn't faint after screaming. Sanson thinks those fallen soldiers are clumsy, so he kicks them away, or simply steps on them, and then continues to attack the others.

So the two of us are crazily beating them with our scabbards. After a while, on the road in front of the hostel, there is no healthy soldier left. The eight soldiers are all lying on the ground together and groaning.

I kicked the guy who tried to ambush Sanson and said:

"You bastard, I'm an ogre killer. How dare you!"

Come on, I've dueled with Ogre, Gargoyle and Gorgon, those monsters illusion, and even fought with real Orcs, Urcs and Trolls. Although my foundation is poor, in fact these soldiers are in similar level as me. But compared to them, I have those horrible experience. So probably because of those experiences, I am able to  defeat them so easily. I aggressively scared them, Sanson stopped me.

"Stop, Huchi. If they are as capable as us, then it doesn't matter. But their foundation is really poor, I start to feel sorry doing this."

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Cherine standing on the stairs is looking at us blankly. Soon Jusina called some servants to help the soldiers. But Jusina seems to don't know what to do, Sanson as well. Sanson frowned at the achievement me and hims have just done, he said:

"If we leave, it creates no problem to us. But Cherine and Jusina have to do business here, things must end satisfactorily. Let's move them to the lobby."

Jusina gratefully looked at Sanson. The following servants helped to move the soldiers into the hall.

Once we entered the hall, Sanson asked the guy who looks like the leader to sit down, together with Karl and Cherine at the same table, while the other soldiers are taken to other few tables, sat by me and Iruril. Jusina brought mugs of beer to us and the soldiers. She seems to want to treat this as a simple matter like a fight between energetic teenagers in a village, and now it should end with a smile. In fact, no one suffered from serious fatal injuries, so Jusina's action received very good results. What a calm girl, she can catch the essentials! Soldiers don't seem very happy, but they didn't refuse the beer.

Karl and Sanson are talking with the leader(his name seems to be Hanster?). Hanster although looks miserable, I can still feel his anger. Sanson also looks angry but  is suppressing himself. Karl and Cherine are trying to coordinate between the two of them.

I took the beer mug and stand against the wall, monitoring the soldiers sitting there and drinking the beer. Iruril is standing beside me, against the same wall. The soldiers have been staring at me, whether they are enemies or not, I really don't want that kind of expressions while enjoying beer.

"As long as you keep your hands on the table, plus, do not stand up, I will not interfere you." The soldiers heard me and smiled a little. Some soldiers are touching their abdomen, some stroking their cheeks, and sipping beer.

One of them said to me:

"Hey, lad."

"Why, please call me Huchi."

"So your name is Huchi? What a funny name, I am called Kelly. Why do you have such a big strength? Also, you mentioned that you are an ogre killer? You mean you've killed an ogre?"

"I have fought against ogres, gargoyles , gorgons, hobgoblins, minotaurs, also nine Urcs at once, and trolls this morning. Trolls are the most annoying, they just keep regenerating. "

The soldiers are all surprised. Kelly said:

"Kid ....Are you bragging?"

"You should have seen the trolls we killed. The others are also true. Why would I lie to you?"

Kelly didn't reply. I stated a long list of monsters, looks like they haven't even seen them. I am surprised to say:

"Aren't you mercenaries? You got to be useful so that you were selected, right? Why are you so surprised?"

Kelly unhappily smiled, and then replied:

"Lad, if it's not redneck like you, no one dares to touch us. We have never thought that someone would really mess with us, so we just relaxed our guard."

"Really? Sanson and I had sufficiently warned you, and you were still relaxed?"

"...... Although I don't know whether you can keep this arrogant attitude, if our troops are all deployed, you'll be finished in a minute. So stay happy when you still can."

I am not very happy about those words. But this time Iruril spoke first.

"Then I would like to ask a question, why weren't you deployed when the trolls were breaking out?"

"We were sleeping! It's early in the morning!"

The soldier replied unhappily. But I am very angry. That was already long after dawn. I recalled our hometown guards, who wake up for training before the sun rises in order to protect us. I said:

"What? Don't you have sentry? And before we started stopping the trolls, they had already come out for a while. And then we fought for a long while. In such a long period, you should have had some men here! "

Kelly hesitated to answer:

"Where we live is far away from the market place."

Heard these words, Jusina laughed. The soldiers looked at Jusina ferociously, but Jusina came closer to me without looking at them and said to me.

"Silikan's mansion is just next to the market. Oh! It's so far away! About one minute away."

I'm really speechless. I finished my beer.

"Well, thank you, Miss Jusina, please give me one more."

Jusina smiled and picked up the mug. However, Iruril said:

"Please don't drink anymore. You have been drinking since you sat down, totally six pints."

I didn't have time to reply before Jusina's words, she said:

"Ah, he can drink whenever he wants to. That's none of your business right?"

Huh? Wow, really powerful businessman spirit. Do you want to make money so much?

"No, it does not matter, Jusina. I shouldn't drink anymore indeed. And well, do you have to be so blatant of your business mind?"

Jusina looked shocked and looked at me. Why are you so surprised? Then Jusina suddenly changed her face and shouted at me:

"You Retard! Do you think that I want money from you?"

Jusina ran away. I am tongue-tied. Huh? When your mind is exposed you should escape quietly, why the hell she shouted retarded at me so loud? Really sinister girl. The soldiers are tittering. What are you laughing at?

I leaned against the wall, and then pulled out my sword and checked the blade carefully. This sword has slayed trolls, crashing with halberds. After the few battles, I want to see if there are damaged areas. Fortunately, the blade is still intact. Ah, thinking carefully, this sword hadn't crashed with metal before. However, when the soldiers saw me looking at the sword, all of them became tensed. So I put my sword back into the scabbard. Kelly again said to me with an unhappy voice:

"You lad, you may be able to gloat around with your strange strength, but if you meet magic, can you still be so easy?"

"Do you know magic?"

"Ha! Mr Baron employed Aphnaidel the Archmage! Aphnaidel will be dealing with you people, and maybe he will suck your soul out before killing you. If we let Aphnaidel know what you've done on us, he will! "

"Ah, an Archmage...... Not a good news."

Really bothering. I think of Tyburn, he can make the trolls flying to heaven, summon Balrog to kill Taurens, and also make a lot of horrible monster illusions. But now this is not even an ordinary wizard, but an Archmage!

Sanson shouted to me:

"Oi, Huchi! Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"We should go to visit the Baron. Talking to his men is not enough."

"Ah? We are walking into the enemy's camp?"

Sanson heard what I said, and immediately smiled.

"Come on man. Of course we have go to make this clear. We helped to handle the trolls, but he sent the soldiers to seek compensation, sure, we don't feel good. Although we won't ask for rewards, we should make our reasons clear, and we should send these soldiers back nicely, so that they won't say anything. "

"Wait a minute, wait a minute! I just heard that there is a wizard! No, a nArchmage!"

Sanson although looked lost, he turned calm shortly.

"So?"

He asked me, I have nothing to say.

"Then let's go. The Archmage is waiting for us!"

Cherine nervously held Sanson's shoulder, said.

"Are you really going there? Do you think if you go there, he would apologize and repent their faults? Don't you think you are silly doing that? Just leave this town. You don't have to do it for us... And the Archmage, Aphnaidel is a very cruel man. It's because of this Aphnaidel, the Baron gained such a power in this city."

"We certainly know it could be dangerous, but if we go with his soldiers, try to talk with him, he shouldn't be severe on us."

Cherine shook his head.

"Is it that simple?"


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