Direth whispered in a startled voice, "Junior, how did you convince them??"

"I have a friend from the Black Tortoise Tower who gave permission."

"Oh. Really? ...Wait, aren't you from the Blue Dragon Tower?"

"Senior! That mana, isn't it from the undead?"

Direth, who had been puzzled by Yi-Han's suspiciously wide connections, came to her senses at those words.

Now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Good find. Let's go!"

Bang!

A wooden crate flew in from the back of the warehouse, accompanied by the sound of something breaking. Yi-Han immediately swung his staff. A thick water shield enveloped the flying wooden crate, making a dull sound.

"...!"

Direth gritted her teeth.

Whether it knew what it was doing or not, the actions of that undead chimera were striking at the party's weakness.

If it tried to destroy all the items in the warehouse like that, it would be quite troublesome for the mages.

They had barely gotten permission to enter, so if the items in the warehouse were broken, the guild members wouldn't just sit still.

"Salko! Understand if we smash a few things!"

"I got it, so just catch the undead!! You're good at beating up the White Tiger Tower guys, so why can't you catch an undead?!"

"!?"

While Direth was surprised, Yi-Han began firing lightning magic.

Crackle!

The undead chimera, sensing the ominous air, leaped behind a crate to avoid it.

However, Yi-Han didn't care whether it hid behind or inside the crate.

He would smash it with force!

"Flash forth, flash forth, flash forth, flash forth!"

A storm of magic.

Direth could only describe the current scene that way.

To think he could create such a deadly density of barrage with low circle magic.

'This is really...'

As the inside of the warehouse was turned upside down, smashed, and there was nowhere left to hide, the undead chimera seemed to realize it wouldn't work and ran out of the compound altogether.

Salko and the guild members, who had been stealthily approaching outside the warehouse, were dismayed at the sight.

"You should have snuck up quietly, not come with such blatant killing intent!"

"The guild members here aren't mages or knights, so what do you expect? This is good enough! Hurry and chase the undead!"

"Anyway, thanks!"

Yi-Han thanked them first, leaving his anger for later.

Thanks to Salko's cooperation, they were able to chase the creature.

"Let's go, senior!"

As Yi-Han's party rushed out, the guild members finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They had been tense when they heard that an undead had run into the guild warehouse.

"Will it be okay? Chasing and catching something fleeing through the city isn't an easy task. Moreover, the opponent isn't even human."

"It'll probably be fine. The one chasing is even more of a monster."

Salko said as he walked to the warehouse.

And he was shocked to see the completely wrecked interior.

'Wardanaz...!! Even with permission, isn't this a bit much!!'

* * *

At first, the undead chimera fled upon seeing the mana, and then it fled upon seeing the lightning magic. Now it completely changed its movement. It moved through complex and tricky routes, trying to tire out the pursuers first.

"It seems the creature is waiting for us to get tired."

"Hmph. Even if we're mages, it's a misconception to think we'll get tired from this much. We're all from Einroguard, aren't we?"

"That's right."

Yi-Han and Direth nodded, and so did Ymirg.

"Huff... Hah, hah."

Gainando was panting, out of breath. Yi-Han cast a spell on him.

"Feet, grasp the earth."

"Strength...! Thanks! Yi-Han!"

Although it was obvious that he would suffer from muscle pain when the enhancement magic ended, Yi-Han cheered Gainando on.

"It's nothing. Gainando, hang in there!"

"Yeah!!"

"We're in trouble, juniors."

Direth spoke in a perplexed voice.

"Why is that?"

"Of all places, it had to be the Greenbel family's mansion again..."

The Greenbel family, a city noble family deeply rooted in Granden City, was not an easy family to deal with.

They were quite closed off, and even more so in a situation like this.

'Even if an undead went in, they probably won't cooperate...'

"Junior, do you happen to know someone in the Greenbel family too?"

Direth asked without much expectation.

No matter how much he was from the Wardanaz family in the Blue Dragon Tower, he couldn't possibly have connections with every noble family in the empire.

If he didn't have a connection, they couldn't just knock on the door and ask to be treated as guests in this situation. That would be rude.

"One moment."

'No way...'

As Yi-Han walked over like before, Direth was perplexed.

Could it really be?

"It's okay. Let's go in."

"You had a connection?!"

"Not close, but I met them before... Anyway, it's a long story, so let's go in first! Let's catch the undead."

"R-Right."

Direth entered the mansion with her junior, whose connections were suspiciously wide.

Even after being told that an undead had infiltrated, the chief steward of the mansion had a calm face.

"There's no need to worry. Actually, even if you mages hadn't come to help, we probably could have caught it."

At those words, Gainando got needlessly fired up.

"You don't know how strong and clever this undead is!"

"No matter how strong and clever it is, I don't think it can beat the people currently in the mansion."

"...Tsk! You don't seem to know, but Yi-Han here is from the Wardanaz family, and recently, he killed a basilisk in one blow..."

"Shut up."

'?????'

Feeling Direth's shocked gaze, Yi-Han shut Gainando up.

Why were they competing when they had visited thanks to the other party's goodwill?

"From the looks of it, there seem to be quite remarkable people here... May I ask who they are?"

The chief steward smiled and answered.

"There are knights from the White Wood Knight Order."

Bikelintz, a knight of the White Wood Knight Order, felt a bit sorry seeing the squires wolfing down food as if possessed.

"I apologize. Madam Greenbel."

"Not at all. Why mention such a thing? It's the age when they should eat a lot, right?"

As Aladne said, the squires were at an age when they sought a lot of food.

Growing up while living the life of a knight order, they were always hungry.

...But even considering that, the sight of them sticking their noses in the soup bowl held in one hand while grabbing chunks of meat with the other was a bit embarrassing.

'I'll have to lecture them when we return.'

"I've heard a lot about how the White Wood Knight Order squires have been training around the city these days. Is the training going well? Do you need any assistance?"

"Just treating us like this is more than enough to be grateful for."

Bikelintz replied with courtesy.

His answer just now was sincere, but there was also a slight hidden meaning.

Although Aladne looked like a kind grandmother on the outside, she was by no means an easy person. It wouldn't be good to needlessly owe her a debt.

"Moreover, thanks to the students from knight families at Einroguard coming out for their break, they're having a good influence on each other. To the point where there's nothing for me to do."

As always, competition raises each other's skills.

The students from knight families at Einroguard and the squires of the knight order had a sense of rivalry with each other.

The White Wood Knight Order squires had even directly competed with them during the semester…

"Madam Greenbel. There's an intruder in the mansion..."

At the report from a servant who hurriedly ran over, Aladne's expression slightly hardened.

What gutsy thief would dare infiltrate this mansion?

"Did you identify them?"

"The dark mages confirmed it. They say it's the undead chimera that escaped from near the public cemetery."

"It's hard to trust the words of dark mages..."

"They're students from Einroguard."

"Ah. In that case."

Aladne immediately changed her attitude.

If they were students from Einroguard, they had the qualifications to say such things.

"And one of them is the student from the Wardanaz family that Madam Greenbel mentioned before."

"Oh? That's unexpected."

Aladne was surprised.

She hadn't expected Yi-Han to be learning dark magic.

Well, what magic one learned was a personal freedom…

"Allow them entry and treat them well. Leave the undead chimera to the students."

"Will it be alright?"

"It should be enough. Not only is he from the Wardanaz family, I've directly seen his skills. Plus, think about the reason he chased it here."

"The reason he chased it here?"

Instead of answering, Aladne just smiled.

Yi-Han from the Wardanaz family was a student with genius-level talent and ambition to match.

The incident where he trampled the mage from Baldurguard who had impudently crawled up, the incident where he defeated a basilisk in front of the royals, and even the incident where he tracked down and defeated an evil being from another world.

Even if a mage had outstanding abilities, it was meaningless if people didn't acknowledge it.

To fully utilize one's talent, a reputation to match was necessary.

In Aladne's view, Yi-Han from the Wardanaz family was very coldly building up his reputation.

After a few years passed, it wouldn't be surprising if Yi-Han's name was at the very top when discussing the empire's top up-and-coming mages.

As such, it was best to let Yi-Han catch the undead chimera now.

If she showed consideration to someone of his caliber, he would remember that consideration.

Moreover, if she snatched the prey Yi-Han had chased all the way here, it would be akin to picking a fight. There was no need to needlessly make such a formidable enemy.

"It's a monster!!!"

"Don't worry! Madam Greenbel! We'll take care of it!"

"Wai..."

The White Wood Knight Order squires put down their bowls and drew their swords at the sight of the monster outside the mansion window.

And before Aladne could stop them, they hurriedly rushed out.

Left alone with Aladne, Bikelintz wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and gauged her reaction.

"I... I apologize. They're not usually so rude as to act on their own, but with a monster appearing..."

"..."

Aladne threw a cold gaze without heeding Bikelintz's words.

Bang!

One of the squires charged in with a hearty tackle. The undead chimera lost its balance from the mana-infused body slam and fell to the side.

"The creature has fallen!"

"Cut off its legs so it can't run away!"

The squires cheered and quickly surrounded the undead chimera. Having coordinated more than a few times, their movements were swift and precise.

Yi-Han and Direth admired them.

"They're good?"

"They're good."

"Ah... No! No way! Those jerks stole our prey!!"

Gainando shouted in dismay.

He couldn't understand how the two could be so calm in this absurd situation.

"Gainando. Think carefully."

"That's right. Junior. What's important isn't who caught it, but how well we prevented the damage the undead could have caused. Even if no one knows, thanks to the juniors here, no one got hurt. We know that, don't we?"

Yi-Han, who had been nodding beside Direth at his heartwarming words, flinched and looked puzzled.

"That's not what I meant."

"Huh? Then?"

"Since they arbitrarily messed with what we were chasing, after they finish hunting, we can get angry and they'll have no choice but to apologize due to the justification. Then we'll have succeeded in the hunt without lifting a finger. So it's fine to leave them be."

"...Junior?!"

Direth was shocked at her junior's political prowess.

She had thought Yi-Han was extraordinary, but she couldn't believe Yi-Han had finished all those calculations in this short time.