Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 54 (Part 2)
The two commissioners belatedly found the burnt corpse. They nudged the face with their foot to turn it, and it was Commissioner Elrov.
The two did not make a sound. There could still be a perpetrator inside.
Commissioner Kser cast a spell. It was the most powerful fifth-circle spell he could cast, Hell Laser. He prepared it to activate instantly and cautiously moved forward.
Commissioner Habinon reflexively blocked in front of Commissioner Kser and slowly descended the stairs.
With each step that echoed, their bodies flinched.
“There’s no one.”
“It’s empty. Sigh.”
“Who could have done this?”
“I don’t know. Commissioner Elrov was hit by magic. But I can’t tell what kind of magic. To burn a body to this extent, it would take prolonged exposure to fire magic or a sixth-circle spell or higher.”
Rodin had modified the existing fourth-circle spell Thunder Bolt.
Instead of the spell traveling from the magician, it fell from above the target, greatly increasing the power of the lightning.
As a result, the Thunder Bolt turned black and was upgraded to a fifth-circle spell.
“Commissioner Elrov wouldn’t have just stood there, so it means a sixth-circle magician?”
“No. It’s possible to burn the body after death. From this alone, we can’t guess who did it.”
“Magicians can detect the magical residue, can’t they? They say they can identify the opponent from it.”
“How can a mere fifth-circle magician like me detect magical residue? Only archmages can do that.”
In the end, they learned nothing except that Commissioner Elrov was killed by someone.
“It seems something was here.”
“Yes. Someone stole it.”
“Was it someone after treasure?”
“That’s likely, but it could be something else. Let’s get out. If we delay here, we’ll end up killed by the Imperial Army, not some fiend.”
Commissioner Kser felt uncomfortable staying here. The smell of the burning corpse was nauseating, and it felt unsettling to stay near the charred body.
“Let’s leave and depart immediately. I have a bad feeling.”
“Me too.”
* * *
Rodin confirmed through Jito that the two commissioners were fleeing hurriedly and turned his steps.
“They took everyone.”
He had wondered if they would leave behind Lant and the other trainees assigned to Commissioner Elrov, but that didn’t happen.
The two commissioners were running south with all the trainees.
“Of course.”
Someone had killed Commissioner Elrov. They could suffer the same fate, so they wouldn’t want to reduce their guards.
“They can handle the rest.”
Commissioner Elrov was taken care of. The remaining commissioners were two. Dealing with them was now the trainees’ job.
Objectively, the trainees’ forces were still lacking. A fifth-circle magician and a fifth-class knight were stronger than 45 trainees.
However, the enemies relied heavily on the slave rods.
If they could exploit that gap, they could gain a significant advantage at the start of the battle, and if they fought well after that, they had a good chance of winning.
“Huuh.”
Rodin exhaled deeply, gazing endlessly in the direction Lant had disappeared.
In fact, Rodin had considered moving with Hedler and Lant. If he took on Commissioner Kser, and the other trainees handled Commissioner Habinon, their chances would be more certain.
However, since he had left the special forces training center, there was a place he absolutely had to visit. It might simply be a lingering attachment, but he felt he needed to go there once to let go of that attachment.
“Now they’re coming.”
Rodin shifted Jito’s gaze north.
The Ingram Empire’s strike force was just entering the special forces training center. He also saw thousands of troops moving slowly in the distance.
“Commissioner Kser’s judgment was accurate. The Kingdom of Riyaz doesn’t intend to fight immediately.”
The slow-moving troops were from the Kingdom of Riyaz, prepared to capture Duke Bernstein and the strike force. Judging by their numbers and location, it was clear they didn’t plan to let them go.
But they weren’t moving fast. They were deliberately keeping their distance and moving slowly, intending to intervene slowly even in the fight between the special forces training center and the imperial forces.
“They’ll be in for a surprise.”
As expected, the imperial forces realized something was wrong as soon as they entered the special forces training center.
The guards who should have been at the main gate, the trainees who should have been sweating through training, and the instructors who should have been teaching them were nowhere to be seen.
“What decision will they make?”
The imperial forces were a problem, but so was the Riyaz Kingdom’s troops sent to capture Duke Bernstein.
They weren’t ready to attack Duke Bernstein yet. Naturally, the encirclement wasn’t complete either.
They intended to engage in the special forces training center fight for at least one or two hours before entering, so it was natural that their preparations were inadequate.
“Ah! As expected.”
As soon as the imperial forces checked the inside of the special forces training center, they turned their bodies. The direction was, of course, north.
The imperial forces running at full speed and the Riyaz Kingdom’s forces, whose formation wasn’t ready yet. It would be interesting to see how the two would fight.
“It’s going to be an interesting situation.”
Rodin stopped looking north. Knowing the imperial forces had turned north, he also needed to start moving.
“Should I check on the kids before leaving?”
There was a place he had to go, but it wasn’t urgent. It had already been over nine years. A few more days wouldn’t change anything.
“Where are they going?”
Through Jito’s eyes, he saw quite a few trainees fleeing east and south.
Drock was also limping along. But he was alone without any companions.
“Come to think of it, I also need to solve my status problem.”
The trainees who followed the two commissioners didn’t need to worry about their status. In the Kingdom of Riyaz, they had the status of slaves, and once they crossed over to the central continent, the two commissioners would somehow solve it for them.
But others had to find their status on their own.