Hermit Wizard

Hunting Time (1)

In the deep night, the apprentices infiltrated the base with darkness. The little figure who was watching the scene from behind said.

“Then I will go straight to the dorm. All the wizards will be there at this time. I have memorized the map.”

Listening to her, a tall man looked up in the direction the voice came from. The woman, who had just spoken, was sitting on a branch. To be more precise, she was riding behind the neck of a scarlet parrot sitting on a branch.

It didn’t even look right in that darkness. The man, Hessler, spoke in a thin voice.

“Are you going to ride that bird?? Now that center is a bloody battleground where bullets come and go. What if you took such a cute kid and got shot? How can you be insensitive? I’d rather lend you this one I’m riding now, so why don’t you take it?”

Hessler, who couldn’t see her face well, muttered in his heart and put magic in his eyes. Through the darkness, he could see a parrot sitting on a branch, and there was a small entity on top of it, a person smaller than his thumbnail.

With blonde hair hanging down, Alice was sitting on the neck of a bird and looking down. With a distorted look.

The object of that unpleasant gaze was Hessler himself.

Ah, that kid, she really hated me like I was a bug, Hessler mumbled into his heart.

Alice, looking at Hessler, subsided her anger, which had risen in a moment. What was he laughing at? She wanted to shoot, but she barely endured. There was nothing to gain from arguing here.

However, Hessler’s last words made her emotions even more intense.

‘How about riding this one?’ he said. He’s such a lunatic.

She looked down at Hessler, frowning heavily.

The white dress shirt shone in strange colors under the moonlight. The buttons weren’t fastened properly; Alice could see the unruly chest hair underneath. He had a tall, muscular frame that was over 190cm.

Besides that, his face was covered with thick makeup that would be considered excessive even for a woman. A purple eyeshadow, a touch of a shocking pink cheek that was toned with magic, and a bright red lipstick looked like a cat biting off after eating a few mice.

His appearance was bizarre even during the day and at night.

But no matter how he dressed or put on his makeup, Alice was ready to tolerate it. What made her angry was the ‘ride’ he was riding.

“Ouuuuuh…”

Hessler’s ride was a human carriage in which two men, who were ordinary humans, crossed their arms and forcibly sutured the other’s shoulders.

What was even more upsetting was that the two apprentices were in good shape up to ten minutes ago. However, as soon as he saw the mountain’s foot, Hessler said it was troublesome to walk up, and he randomly selected two apprentices, twisting the two bodies with magic and fusing them.

Then he got on the human carriage made of their arms and shoulders and rode his way above.

“Huuuugh…”

They were striving to hold on somehow, but their legs were already shaking. Looking at it, Alice said coldly.

“When this operation is over, I’m going to be hard on Eugene. Doesn’t that mean you use apprentices like this on every mission? This kind of ‘usage’ can create unnecessary fear among apprentices. In the long run, it will degrade its function.”

Hessler replied with a shrug.

“Well, today alone, we brought over a hundred people. Of those, I only use two of them, but by the way, Alice, you don’t seem to know because it’s been a while since you joined us, but these kids are just consumables. It doesn’t matter how we use them.”

Then there was a voice in the air where no one was there.

“But it is an old story that we used them as we please regardless of the quantity. It’s not easy to increase apprentices since the Great One has been away because there are no executives who can make a contract of the authority. And so, does the boss.”

“Hmm… yeah. Okay, Noel. In today’s holy mission, I’m not going to touch other kids other than these ones. If possible.”

Noel couldn’t trust him at all when he heard that. How did that guy got stuck in the Korean team? Noel complained inside. He thought it would be convenient to move with Alice, and a bomb was attached.

Some of the executives who had unstable evolution under the Great One’s guidance had occasional side effects. Hessler was also one of them, and his mental state wasn’t normal. He was a person to whom Noel was reluctant to get close in one way or another.

Besides consuming apprentices carelessly, the rumors heard were very ugly. Did it say that he was a dangerous person with both autophilia and necrophiliac tendencies?

The tendency to feel sexual desire toward himself and the tendency to feel sexual desire from dead bodies were very disgusting due to meeting high-level bio-magic. Even executives who had lost interest in general ethics and morals over the years frowned upon listening to Hessler’s leisure activities.

The act of creating a lifeless pile (a piece of meat) that duplicated his own body in the first place and then releasing his sexual desire with it was a crazy thing that Noel didn’t even want to imagine.

Noel spoke to the two as if to draw attention.

“Then, let’s go. Let me know by telecommunication immediately. I don’t think so, but if a dangerous situation arises, use the teleport ring. Again, because the boss made a new request this time.”

Hessler responded dryly with a sigh.

“Okay… I got it.”

“In the current situation, it is almost impossible to increase the number of executives. Unless it’s a special case like Alice, it’s a big deal if one of the executives goes down in an unexpected situation.”

The answer came back from the tree.

“Okay, Noel. Then I’ll go first.”

The scarlet parrot carrying Alice flew up in the sky. The sound of the wings gradually faded away.

Hessler, looking into the air, hummed like he was singing.

“Huh… Let’s see. Alice captures the wizard. Noel, you take care of the Kaifu Instructors. And you said I was the external perimeter? Half the apprentices are on guard with me, and the other half will wipe out the soldiers around?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, we have to hit the barrier first.”

Six spheres the size of bowling balls floated around Hessler, and then, drawing a breathtaking orbit, they began to circle him.

Knowing what was inside each of the pink crystal spheres, Noel observed it carefully. After a while, the Mana resonated between the spheres, and Hessler completed the spell.

And at the same time, an intangible barrier was completed that enclosed the entire base of Hun-neung.

“Shazam… Look at this. I put all this base in range in no time. Can anyone make such a detection-type barrier? And also, this quickly? Well, anyway, I completely covered the driveway. Whether they’re curious kids passing by, or the soldiers coming for support, I can notice as soon as they get close. Go inside and work with confidence.”

Noel kept silent for a while and asked.

“Isn’t it better to just build a physical barrier so that they can’t get inside?”

“Baby, I have to blow up half my Mana to build this kind of barrier. Do not worry. If they get any closer, I will go after them and turn them into the blood. Whether it’s building barriers to block entry, or I’m going to kill the coming guys, the results are the same, right?”

Noel thought it wasn’t just because of Mana’s consumption that the detection-type barrier was created instead of the physical defense barrier. But he decided to focus on the mission first. Leaving Hessler behind his back, he headed for the place where Kaifu instructors’ private residence was gathered.

Two executives left, and Hessler, who was left to guard, scratched his chin and muttered.

“Hmm… Is it going to be fun today? Wouldn’t it be fun? Right, it won’t be fun. Alice is a newcomer, so she always puts the principal first… because Noel has no interest other than completing his mission in the first place. Ah… it’s not fun. Would someone please touch my barrier? Then I would run there right away. I’ll be very glad… to meet you.”

Hessler hoped Alice and Noel’s mission would not end too soon. At least, he hoped that it would take some time until the reinforcements from the government came in.

-Tremble!

“Huh?”

Hessler tilted his head and looked down. The bodies of two apprentices who supported him were shaking and trembling. A disgusting smell came up from below. It was too much to bear Hessler’s weight, which was much heavier than the average human being.

“Hmm… what is it? Why are you so bloody?”

Hessler sat tight and bounced into the air. Two apprentices, shocked by a sudden drop, entangled with each other and collapsed. Their upper bodies were sealed together, so they rolled on the floor without balance.

Looking at the apprentices rolling around on the ground, Hessler said, flicking his fingers lightly.

“Necrosis Breath.”

The apprentices couldn’t even scream and melted like meat porridge on the spot. Hessler hummed as he looked at the trail.

“Sigh~ Is there anyone here? Anyone who can play with me?”

At the same time, he felt envious of Noel and Alice, who jumped into the scene. In the dark, he heard gunshots of the apprentices engaged in a battle.

Hessler, who couldn’t be part of the group, muttered in regret.

“Well… it’s time for hunting.”

***

“It’s here.”

Alice flew to the dorm window and opened the window using magic. Her scarlet parrot flew into it.

Alice came down to the floor and took out a small glass bottle from her arms, and she inhaled its contents. Gulp, she grew by a span every time her uvula moved.

As she grew bigger and bigger, her height, which was smaller than a human’s nails, grew to a typical girl’s height.

“Well, yes. This size is perfect.”

As she looked at her limbs, a sharp siren echoed.

-Wheeing! Wheeing!

-Emergency! Emergency!

She heard humans rushing from afar. It was just after Alice grew up to the size of a human being.

“What? That’s pretty fast? Well, we’ll have to bump into each other anyway.”

Soldiers and agents flocked around her in an instant. Alice greeted them with an expressionless face.

“Hello?”

The answer that came back was sharp.

“Raise your hands and get down on the floor!”

The soldier in the lead shouted, aiming his rifle at the girl’s forehead. But Alice, with the guns in front of her, responded calmly, without any hesitation.

“I can’t speak this country’s language. But I know what you’re trying to say by the mood. Kids, let’s not live meaninglessly in this world. Can’t you guess at a glance?”

In English, with a rhythmic British accent, she continued her words.

“By your standards, it’s sure enough for a child came in here without interruption. I blink calmly even though the soldiers are aiming for a siege, trying to shoot me right now. By the way, this place is a wizard training center that is operated in this country as a secret. So, what do you think?”

Among those confronting her were not only soldiers but also special personnel, and one of them was Instructor Yoon.

She understood all Alice’s words, and she had no choice but to fall into confusion.

“If I knew this would happen, I would have returned to work a little late… Damn it!”

She was a female agent who had just returned to work without taking her maternity leave properly. She applied for work at the magic training center since the additional allowance was several times the original salary in exchange for limited freedom. She had been separated from her baby for several months, but she thought of applying for a transition after a few more years.

But, why… on the same day she was on duty today, things like that happened…

She clenched her teeth and looked at the blonde girl in front of her eyes. No matter how much she said, she was suspicious. Was she a wizard from another country? Or was she an unknown alien race?

Instructor Yoon shouted in English while aiming her pistol.

“Raise your hands and get down! If you refuse, we’ll shoot!”

The girl’s eyes stayed with a woman agent with her short hair tied back.

“Yes, Darling, you speak English. Tell these kids.”

Although she had a child’s voice, her speech was like an elder teasing her granddaughter.