Chapter 1333

'So she really hadn’t calculated it after all.'

Lee Han was merely reminded once again of the principle that great mages were not to be trusted.

“Lady Ragesa. There’s magic ahead.”

“Brat. I have ears, a staff, and a head too. Can’t you keep quiet?”

Ragesa grumbled, but fell into thought.

Experts who had plundered many ruins like these had developed several rules based on experience.

One of them was, 'Do not fight the magic left behind in ruins head-on.'

Unlike living sentries, magic was a dead set of rules. With enough wisdom, it could be circumvented.

“I see. How are you going to circumvent it?”

“The ruins were destroyed more than I expected, so there must be a way around.”

“......”

-......

Lee Han and the Death Knight had many things they wanted to say, but held them back and nodded.

On expeditions into ruins like these, the leader’s words had to be respected.

The pirates, of course, were another matter. The moment they turned the corner of the corridor and Ragesa disappeared from sight, they immediately began whispering.

“Didn’t the Admiral say earlier that she had calculated everything?”

“She was bluffing! Remember when we crashed in the Cloud Airspace last time? That was because the Admiral miscalculated too! She really needs to admit she’s starting to make more calculation mistakes!”

“Maybe the Admiral needs an outstanding mage to assist her.”

The moment the pirates said that, they looked at Lee Han with eyes full of expectation.

The Valdrogard students had given him similar looks, but the difference was that the pirates of this privateer fleet looked considerably fiercer and more savage.

'I want to beat them up.'

The Death Knight thought inwardly.

Perhaps it should rough these people up a little, if only to protect the Successor?

“...I’m a Valdrogard professor, so I can’t exactly become a first mate.”

“Ah!”

“I forgot. But isn’t being first mate of the southern fleet better than being a professor at some stuffy magic academy like Valdrogard?”

While the pirates argued over 'which position is better, professor or first mate,' Lee Han and the Death Knight explored the new paths.

-This way is blocked, Successor. There are remnants of a powerful curse ahead, so be careful.

“This side is blocked too. Ah. So this was a remnant of the curse.”

-......

They investigated the passages of the ruins with magic, but found no route they could use to bypass the defense.

Lee Han brushed the curse remnants from his shoulder, then noticed some pirates who had discovered gold beneath a wall and offered them advice.

“That’s fake.”

“...No way! We even checked it for suspicious magic!”

Instead of giving them a lengthy explanation, Lee Han returned to where Ragesa was.

Ragesa was forcing her voice into a growl as she threatened the magic ahead.

“That is right. I am a descendant of the giants.”

No matter how I look at you, I sense no giant blood within you.

“...Are you refusing to open the path right now? I’ll destroy the rest of the ruins too! Open it, quickly!”

If the destruction of these ruins was the work of intruders, then I have even more reason not to open it.

The old great pirate sensed someone approaching from behind and immediately shut her mouth, acting as though nothing had happened.

“You’re back?”

“......”

“Brat. You may not know this yet, but deceiving magic is an excellent method...”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Lee Han did not consider Ragesa pretending to be a giant something to be ashamed of.

Magic was full of embarrassing moments to begin with.

'The Principal’s duplicate was able to sell me off precisely because he wasn’t afraid of being caught.'

If that duplicate had been afraid of eventually running into the Skull Principal, it would never have been able to make such a profit.

“I even answered with the distinctive intonation of the ancient giant language, and it still suspected me. That suspicious bastard of a spell! It must have some ability to detect bloodlines.”

“There was no detour. I think you’re going to have to break through somehow.”

Ragesa nodded.

“Can’t be helped. I didn’t want to destroy anything else, but we’ll have to force our way through from the front. Fortunately, the ruins are already so badly damaged that I won’t feel too bad about it.”

“...No matter how I think about it, I feel like there must have been a better way to enter...”

“Quiet, brat. Let’s go!”

If you approach any farther, I will collapse the entire ruin. All who do not carry the bloodline of giants, leave.

“It’s bluffing! A mere spell couldn’t possibly possess that kind of authority! Don’t let it fool you!”

The pirates shouted in agreement.

However, their cheers were slightly weaker than they had been before entering the ruins.

A ten-percent dose of reasonable doubt had appeared.

After shouting, the pirates hurriedly whispered to Lee Han.

“Professor. Is what she said true?”

“I can hear you, you little rats!”

“Aaagh!”

Ragesa bound one of the pirates in chains. The pirate, wrapped tightly from head to toe, shouted desperately.

“Admiral! I never doubted you!”

“Quiet. Everyone, advance...”

Rrrrrumble-

A tremendous roar came from ahead.

It was not merely sound. It was accompanied by an enormous movement of mana.

Lee Han’s and Ragesa’s expressions changed instantly. As mages, both of them realized what had just happened.

'A movement of mana on this scale is passing through the entire ruin!'

'That spell really does have the authority to destroy the entire ruin!?'

Ragesa groaned.

As expected, expensive ruins came with thorns to match. She had assumed the magic was bluffing, but it genuinely possessed that level of authority.

“What do we do?”

“...There is one last method. We bring a giant here.”

“A giant? There are a few at Einroguard, but...”

“How long do you expect us to sit around in these half-destroyed ruins while you go and bring them here? Obviously, we summon one!”

“Oh. Do you have a contracted giant?”

Lee Han was impressed by Ragesa’s words.

As expected, a great pirate really was different.

She had a giant she could summon.

That would mean she had formed some degree of contract with a giant from another dimension. Otherwise, summoning one would be impossible.

However, Ragesa shook her head.

“No. Those huge bastards have filthy, nasty tempers, so I’ve never contracted with one. More importantly, if something like that boarded my ship, it would smash the entire deck.”

“Then has one of the pirates contracted with one?”

The pirates shook their heads.

And thought inwardly.

'What kind of lunatic would contract with a giant?'

'A water spirit or wind spirit, maybe...'

Sailors preferred to contract with beings such as other-dimensional spirits or merfolk.

Never giants.

“Then do you at least have an item capable of summoning a giant?”

A contract did not necessarily have to be made directly with a mage.

Some contracts resided within objects, allowing whoever possessed the object to demand fulfillment of the oath.

“No. And I’m not sure there are many mages who would go out of their way to spend a fortune on magic just to make a contract with a giant.”

“Then how are we supposed to summon one?”

“Fortunately, I know an expert on giants!”

“There’s someone like that?”

“I’m counting on you, brat.”

“......”

Lee Han’s expression immediately became as cold as the Frost Giant ruins.

* * *

Ragesa and the other pirates tried every possible way to persuade him, but Lee Han refused to fall for it.

After all the trouble he had gone through trying to shake off the Frost Giant King, now they wanted him to summon a giant?

“There’s no guarantee the King will be the one summoned! Brat. Think carefully. It’s far more likely that he won’t be!”

“I think the moment a Frost Giant gets summoned, word will spread and eventually reach the Frost Giant King’s ears.”

'This brat is sharp.'

Ragesa was impressed.

In truth, Ragesa herself thought there was a fairly high chance of that happening.

Frost Giants were surprisingly loose-lipped, and rumors spread quickly among them.

Besides, the Frost Giant King and his challenger were a popular topic even among ordinary Frost Giants...

“I have a good idea. Summon giants that have nothing to do with the Frost Giants. Fire Giants, for example.”

“I see! That method certainly sounds fine!”

The pirates agreed that this was a good idea.

They belonged to the same giant bloodline, but they were different from Frost Giants, so it was certainly worth trying.

“I met Fire Giants last time, and the rumor had already spread to them. They asked when I was going to challenge their king.”

“......”

“......”

The atmosphere suddenly became solemn.

The pirates blamed Ragesa inwardly.

'As expected, we shouldn’t have trusted the Admiral.'

'We should’ve waited a little before agreeing with her!'

However, Ragesa was slightly more shameless and composed than the other pirates.

She spoke confidently.

“I didn’t anticipate that. But there are other giants too. Dark Giants, for example. These giants have extremely little contact with other giants and inhabit remote territories, so there’s a high chance they won’t know who you are!”

“...Do you have a way to summon them? I don’t know any magic for summoning Dark Giants.”

Lee Han’s attitude softened slightly.

The expedition had come all the way out here, and if they returned without obtaining anything at all, even Lee Han would feel somewhat guilty.

Ragesa pulled a massive grimoire from inside her clothes.

It looked several hundred years old. The cover was decorated with all sorts of pirate odds and ends embedded into it like ornaments.

“Of course I do. You don’t think I would have brought this up without even having that much prepared, do you?”

Magic that involved contracting with and summoning beings from other dimensions required a considerable amount of preparation.

First, one had to locate the dimension.

Then one had to find a being within that dimension that could be contacted.

Finally, one had to persuade that being.

Lee Han could handle the final condition, but the first two were difficult.

“Wait. Come to think of it, are you sure I can persuade a Dark Giant? Unlike Frost Giants and Fire Giants, I’ve never met one.”

“You’ll be able to persuade one well enough. Brat, you’ve already spent a great deal of time around giants. Dark Giants share the bloodline of giants too, so they’ll recognize that familiarity in your soul.”

Ragesa certainly had a point.

Just as dark mages who contracted with many undead and maintained those contracts for long periods gradually gained more loyalty from undead, contracts and contact like these left subtle traces upon the soul.

Since Lee Han had known so many giants, the Dark Giants would also...

'...Come to think of it, wouldn’t getting friendly with more and more kinds of giants make spirits even more afraid of me?'

The thought suddenly occurred to him, but Lee Han shook his head.

It was too late to back out now, and he had already half given up on spirits anyway.

'It’s not like spirits are suddenly going to become less afraid of me if I stop being friendly with giants now.'

“What kind of grimoire is this?”

“It’s a grimoire passed down through my family for generations.”

“...Like pirate magic?”

Lee Han’s voice was full of wariness.

He still had not gotten over the fact that entering these ruins had involved smashing the entire surrounding area to pieces.

'What a petty brat.'

Ragesa grumbled inwardly.

No one had died and the ship was still mostly intact, so she could not understand what his problem was.

But right now, she desperately needed an expert on giants.

Ragesa placated Lee Han.

“There’s nothing dangerous like that in here! Don’t worry. It’s a book containing information on beings that can be summoned or contracted with at sea. Each time it was passed from captain to captain, they recorded their own experiences in it.”

“I see.”

Lee Han lowered his suspicions slightly and looked through the book.

Because the book contained powerful magic, it could not simply be opened like an ordinary book.

One had to recite an incantation and read only the relevant pages.

Kraken(strong poison)

Scylla(monster but also a spirit, probably best summoned only by people who are friendly with spirits)

Flood Dragon(do not summon)

...

“......”

“Brat, since you’ve made such a contribution, shall I let you read a few other pages as your reward?”

“I’m fine.”

“So modest. You really can read a few more pages if you want?”