Yi-Han nodded his head in understanding after hearing the explanation.

"The repulsive force of the negative mana absorbed the vitality from the hand... Why did you swing it so recklessly?"

"We couldn't help it. We were so focused on the thought that we had to break it," Dolgyu said.

The other two friends nodded their heads, unable to do anything else.

There was much to say, but now was not the mood for it.

"Still, it's fortunate that it's not a major injury. Let's just treat what can be treated."

Yi-Han cast the <Lesser Laceration Healing> magic on Anglago's hand.

Then he hesitated.

'Oops.'

Come to think of it, it wouldn't be good for Yi-Han to use it arbitrarily when there was no trustworthy professor around.

If the healing magic failed, it could result in a more miserable state than if it had not been attempted at all.

"Thank you, Wardanaz."

Not knowing Yi-Han's inner thoughts, Anglago thanked him as the torn wound healed. Yi-Han slightly averted his gaze.

"Raphael, you... um... do you really need to use healing magic?"

"..."

Although Raphael didn't say it out loud due to his pride, he made the same expression as Gainando when he lost in a card game.

A look of sudden resentment and sorrow!

Yi-Han inwardly sighed.

"Don't regret it."

"????"

When the magic ended, Raphael tilted his head as he looked at his cleanly healed hand.

What was there to not regret?

"Dolgyu."

"I'm fine, Yi-Han. Stop using magic, it must be tiring for you."

"No. It's not about the magic..."

Yi-Han whispered softly so only Dolgyu could hear.

"...It's incomplete."

"What did you say?"

"I said the magic is incomplete. I was also distracted and realized it belatedly."

"..."

Dolgyu looked at Yi-Han with a shocked expression, then glanced at his friends' hands.

If they had been unlucky, wouldn't the skin on their hands have stuck to the bandages?

"So just endure it for a bit and treat it with a potion."

"...No... Our friends did it, so I alone..."

"Those guys were lucky and healed, so it doesn't matter. Just treat it safely with a potion."

"What are you two talking about?"

Raphael asked, puzzled.

He wondered if there was some remaining evil in this cave.

"It's nothing. Ah, right. Raphael. I almost forgot, but thanks for reminding me."

"What is it?"

Smack!

"Who said you could run out on your own?"

"Ack... That... Ugh..."

Gubon, who had been waiting where the flames had swept through, sighed in relief when Yi-Han returned with his friends.

It seemed to have ended well.

"You've worked hard! It's truly fortunate."

"We all worked hard together, didn't we?"

At Yi-Han's words, Gubon and Bijidek couldn't help but be moved.

What adventurer's heart wouldn't race after receiving respect from a mage who had shown such incredible magic?

The mercenaries must have felt that excitement too, as they came over to express their gratitude.

"Thank you, Mage!"

"We survived thanks to you!! If we had followed that bastard Buldahak, we would have been dead!"

"I really thought I was going to die..."

The attacks of the lump of flesh ghouls and the ghoul army, the descent of the King of Ghouls, the raging flames that seemed to burn everything inside the cave…

If it had been any other mission, even one of those would have been life-threatening, but they had experienced them all at once.

It couldn't help but feel like a miracle to have made it out alive.

"Thank you, Mage!"

"We sincerely thank you. Please accept our gratitude!"

Gubon and Bijidek were newly surprised by the heartfelt loyalty of the mercenaries they had only met recently.

Of course, it wasn't that they didn't understand. Even Gubon and Bijidek felt a sense of loyalty towards that young mage.

But to think that even those greedy mercenaries, who were practically criminals, would be moved.

Perhaps this was true magic.

"Yes. Thank you. I will also express my respect and accept it. Could you lend me your hand for a moment?"

At Yi-Han's words, a nearby mercenary quickly held out his hand.

He was ready to carry out any errand without complaint.

Clank!

"...???"

The mercenary blinked as bone restraints were locked onto his wrists like handcuffs. Yi-Han summoned more and locked them around his ankles, and summoned a bony hand around his neck.

During the battle earlier, he had unsummoned them all due to the situation, but now that it was over, it was time to put them back on.

"There. Next."

"Uh... No... Mage..."

"Quiet. Next."

Yi-Han tightly bound the mercenaries and formed a formation like when they had come.

Gubon cautiously asked.

"Did the mercenaries do something unpleasant?"

"Pardon?"

"If not, why are you suddenly..."

"Ah. We need to take them and collect the bounty."

"..."

Gubon was at a loss for words.

Aside from someone like Buldahak, the rest of the mercenaries here were essentially petty criminals.

They would probably only receive a few coins, yet he was going to such lengths to capture them thoroughly just to collect that.

What in the world...!

'Is he really an adventurer? Have I been too lax and careless in my work until now?'

Gubon suddenly felt remorseful at the madness-driven thoroughness shown by an adventurer on his first mission.

"Outside!!"

Although they were tied up and dragged out, the mercenaries rejoiced and took deep breaths of the outside air.

No matter how much light there was, the damp and eerie air inside the cave had made them weary.

Yi-Han also stretched and said to Gubon.

"Could you please watch over these mercenaries for a moment?"

"Pardon? That's not difficult, but is something..."

Gubon was worried about Yi-Han.

No matter how great a mage he was, there was no way he could be unscathed after such an intense battle.

His outer robe was already in a mess, making him even more concerned.

Could it be that he was heading to a secluded place without people due to the side effects of evil magic?

"Ah. I'm going to capture some Rapella squirrels."

"...I... I see."

Yi-Han took Sharakan and headed towards the forest.

Gubon blankly watched his retreating figure, and Bijidek spoke with a startled voice.

"Wait. I told you! That mage is from the Wardanaz family! That famous mage family!"

"What did you... No. Wait. Wait, what did you say???"

He had missed it earlier due to the chaos, but what Bijidek had just said was more surprising than the King of Ghouls appearing inside the cave.

Who was from where??

Blanche, the elf receptionist at the Adventurers' Guild in Granden City, was first surprised by the sight of the mercenaries walking in line with sorrowful expressions.

And she was secondly surprised by the sight of the Einroguard students reporting with very tired faces.

"What... What did you say?"

"There was an evil being from another realm in the cave at Burnt Hill. It called itself the King of Ghouls and seemed to be a being that had been sealed quite some time ago."

Blanche quickly wrote it down and immediately opened a drawer to take out an urgent contact paper bird.

The paper birds that flew out through the guild window quickly soared away. They carried the contents that would make the imperial officials working in Granden City rush over in a hurry.

"I'm truly sorry. A subjugation team will be formed and head there right away."

Blanche spoke with sincerity.

They had failed to identify such a dangerous being and sent Einroguard students on their first mission there.

Even if it wasn't intentional, they couldn't be free from responsibility.

If an accident had occurred, how much would Einroguard have protested?

It was a great relief that they had escaped safely like this.

'It might be fortunate that they were Einroguard students.'

The clever Einroguard students had sensed the presence of that evil being and escaped. Otherwise, they might have been annihilated along with their clumsy mistakes.

"You mean the subjugation team?"

"Yes. An evil being that has crossed over from another realm can never be left alone, no matter how weak it may seem."

"Ah... About that. We exterminated it ourselves."

"Pardon?"

"For now, we exterminated it ourselves. We had no choice due to the urgent situation..."

"What do you..."

Bang!

Daihal, the eldest son of the Dargard family whom Yi-Han had seen before, burst through the door.

Then, trying his best to suppress his excitement and worry, he spoke.

"I am Daihal, a special administrative officer from the Dargard family. I rushed here after hearing the news that a being from another realm had been discovered. Could you explain it accurately once more... Wait, what are you doing here?"

Daihal was startled to see Yi-Han.

The friend of his younger brother, who was from the Wardanaz family, was sitting with adventurers.

"I discovered it."

"Is that so? It's a misfortune turned into a blessing that an expert discovered it."

Daihal sat in front of Yi-Han. Then, he calmly took out a quill.

"What did the opponent call itself?"

"It called itself the King of Ghouls."

"The King of Ghouls... About three beings with that title come to mind, but I haven't heard any information that all three of them are currently active."

"That's possible. The one I encountered seemed to be a very ancient being. It wouldn't be strange if the Empire had no information on it."

"Indeed."

As Daihal conversed with Yi-Han, he regained his composure.

Unlike other adventurers who ramble on, his younger sibling's friend from the Wardanaz family was truly a comfortable counterpart to converse with.

An adventurer who explains the situation in detail, following the 5W1H principle without omitting anything.

'It's certain that Asan has made a really good friend in Einroguard.'

Daihal resolved that once he returned to the mansion, he would grab Asan and advise him to take his friend as a role model.

Asan would surely appreciate such meaningful advice.

"Are you saying there was an attempt at possession? Oh dear..."

"Yes. And he kept summoning ghouls consistently."

"We must assemble a punitive force as soon as possible..."

"Excuse me, Mr. Special Administrator?"

Clerk Blanche tried to interject.

It seemed to her that Special Administrator Daihal was missing something important.

"Could you please wait a moment? We're in a hurry right now, so I'll gather the information as quickly as possible and then give you a chance to speak."

"That's..."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's..."

"So, what abilities did this self-proclaimed 'King of Ghouls' exhibit?"

"Dispersing its form, emitting dark energy, and possibly connecting to another realm, though I'm not certain about the last part."

"That's sufficient. We'll send a specialized expert right away..."

Bang!

"They've already dealt with it!!!"

Unable to hold back, Blanche kicked her chair away and shouted.

Daihal, taken aback, asked, "What are you talking about?"

"They've dealt with it, I tell you! They've taken care of it!"

"What on earth..."

"We did handle it."

Yi-Han pulled out a shattered crystal skull.

The chilling aura emanating from it made Blanche and Daihal instinctively realize that some entity had been inhabiting this crystal skull.

"It was a being sealed in ancient times, but it seems to have escaped through a crack in the seal."

"So... you've really taken care of it?"

"Yes."

"..."

Daihal was at a loss for words.

The tip of the quill that had been writing eloquently stopped.

Bang!

The guild door opened forcefully again, and a knight belonging to the Granden City Knights entered.

"Sir Daihal! I have summoned the available knights upon hearing the news. I have also contacted the temples, so the priests will join us. We will depart immediately, so I will receive the information on the way."

"Ah, no. It has been exterminated."

"Pardon?"

"It has been exterminated...?"

The knight saw Special Administrative Officer Daihal losing confidence and hesitating for the first time.

It was a truly shocking sight.

And the shocking sights didn't end there.

"Wait. You guys..."

The knight noticed familiar faces among the adventurers sitting in front of Daihal.

They were young students from other knight families.

"...Why are you wearing something like that around your necks?"

They had signs hanging around their necks that read, "I will never disobey orders again."