Joffrey couldn’t help but stare at the man in front of him.
“What did you just say?”
“I said I want to move on my own.”
Was this man crazy? No, maybe he meant something else.
Joffrey couldn’t help but massage his temples as he asked.
“Do you mean you want to move around Zinga on your own?”
“Yes.”
“You can’t.”
He didn’t even have to think too deeply about it.
Joffrey’s expression became cold as he said this. Then, he continued before Lukas could argue.
“You know the location of this hideout. What if the enemy captures you and the information is leaked? Can you bear the burden and responsibility for that?”
“This is just a temporary hideout that can be discarded at any moment. Is it necessary to take it so far?”
“…”
Joffrey’s pupils shook slightly.
“…what are you talking about?”
“You don’t have to pretend.”
There wasn’t even the slightest quiver in the voice that rang in his ear. This wasn’t just the sound of confidence. It was one of absolute certainty.
Joffrey sighed.
“…how did you know?”
“It was Lee Jong-hak, not a member of the Gray Sun, who brought us here. In the end, an outsider is still an outsider. There is no way that Lee Jong-hak would be introduced to the group’s main hideout, one that probably contains many secrets.”
Kaisa had not shown any disapproval at Lee Jong-hak’s act of bringing strangers into their hideout unannounced. This proved that this hideout wasn’t very important.
There was also another reason.
Since the very first day, they had not seen Elijah again. And Lukas had sensed him leave the hideout before the first day had even ended.
Zinga was a relatively large city. So it was almost guaranteed that the Gray Sun had numerous hideouts hidden throughout the city. And Elijah was likely wandering from hideout to hideout while relaying his commands.
“…you’re right. This hideout is temporary at best, so it wouldn’t be much of a loss if it was discovered or destroyed. However, it still isn’t a good idea for a Wizard to go out alone. I can’t allow you to. Even if you were an Archmage, it would be dangerous to move around this city on your own.”
Lukas looked at Joffrey for a moment before opening his mouth.
“Did Elijah Kipatosh say anything about me?”
“…!”
Joffrey couldn’t hide his shock.
Things about him.
…He did.
Elijah had said that whatever Lukas said, he should respect his opinion and listen to him as much as possible.
“…hoo.”
Joffrey sighed heavily.
His boss had given him orders that he hadn’t been able to understand at the time. Of course, regardless of whether he could understand or not, there had never been a time when Joffrey had disobeyed his orders.
And this time was no exception.
* * *
Lukas had earned the right to move on his own.
But he couldn’t leave immediately. This was because there was the condition that he should match the time when Lee Jong-hak and the others left to carry out their operation.
They had already finished searching for the best spot to carry out their attack, and they were likely to move at sunset.
Fighting when the sun was up was incredibly advantageous when fighting against Demons, but the Vampire Duke’s double only moved after the sun had set.
This was obviously to avoid the sun. In fact, it was possible that the double was also a fairly high-ranked Demon.
At first, Lukas hadn’t intended to go out on his own. He’d thought it would be better to travel through the city using Ghost as he had in the previous city.
But Sedi had come to this city all of a sudden. And there was a high chance that it was because she wanted to meet him.
‘Why did she come here?’
He hadn’t killed any Demons. Lukas had thoroughly kept his word to Sedi.
Or… had she noticed that he’d destroyed the minds of the two Demons in the previous city?
The chances were low, but he decided to be prepared if it was true.
“Ugh…”
Then Lukas heard a soft groan.
He turned to the side and saw Joanna. She was looking at a notebook while pulling at her hair. Her fair forehead was also wrinkled.
It was the same notebook that she took out whenever she had the time.
Of course, Lukas still wasn’t sure exactly what was written in it.
Then their eyes met.
Joanna instantly got rid of her agitated expression and instead replaced it with her usual, nonchalant look. It was as though she was managing her image.
“What is it?”
“I’d like to see it.”
“…”
He didn’t know why, but the answer didn’t come for a while.
Joanna was silent for a long time before she finally answered in a slightly snappy manner.
“It’s just some spells and magical formulas.”
“Formulas?”
“Wanna see it?”
After saying that, she threw the book without warning.
Lukas easily plucked it out of the air and skimmed through it. The entire book was tattered and stained from how many times it had been read.
Compared to the shabby exterior, however, the contents were still legible.
It was obvious that Joanna had read this book countless times. But it didn’t appear to be something she cherished.
This could be seen from her act of throwing it just a moment ago or the fact that the cover of the book was in such poor condition.
Lukas looked at the first page.
Then the interest on his face became more and more prominent the more pages he turned.
“It gets progressively harder.”
“Yes.”
Lukas looked through the notebook, unable to hide his admiration. The spells and magic formulas in it were quite sophisticated.
Many of them were things that were difficult to calculate when considering the current level of magical science in this universe.
“Where did you get this book?”
“…I got it from somebody I know.”
These words were said in a very hesitant voice. So Lukas didn’t press her any further as he could tell that she didn’t want to talk about it.
Lukas looked through the entire book to the end before nodding once with a pleased expression on his face.
Then he turned to a page that he’d noticed before handing the book back to Joanna.
“This spell, if you use it, I’m sure it would be of great help during your mission.”
Joanna smiled bitterly.
“Well, I guess so.”
“Can’t you use it?”
“Of course I can.”
At Joanna’s level, she would be able to use any of the spells in the book. This particular spell didn’t require much mana either.
Lukas looked down at the book for a moment before realising the problem.
“You can’t read the magic formula.”
“Yeah.”
Joanna nodded without being embarrassed. She spoke as if it was natural and instead looked at Lukas strangely.
Lukas kept looking at the book, seemingly lost in thought.
“Do you have a pen?”
“I do. Why?”
“I was thinking of giving you some advice.”
“Ahahaha.”
Joanna let out a rare laugh, but she still handed her pen to him without hesitation.
“There are empty pages in the book, so feel free to use those.”
Lukas nodded before he began to move the pen with ease.
His eyes and hands were focused on the book while his thoughts bounced around.
Lukas then asked.
“What type of magic do you mainly use?”
“Fire magic.”
“Then what? Tell me your proficiencies in order.”
“Healing, Wind, and Water.”
This was clear proof of some form of development.
He was sure that Joanna would not have answered this question when they first met. In fact, he couldn’t help but feel that she was a little obedient now.
Lukas occasionally asked Joanna more questions, but throughout this time, the pen never stopped moving.
He asked things like the number of spells she could cast at once and how many she could have active at the same time.
They were key questions that could allow someone to accurately pinpoint just what level a Wizard was at, so Joanna was a little surprised.
‘He’s pretty meticulous.’
While she had this thought, Lukas handed the book back to her.
“I’ve written down some interpretations and comments. Read it first and tell me if there’s anything you don’t understand. There’s still some time before the mission.”
“…hey. This book is about…”
“…?”
When she saw Lukas’ puzzled expression, she didn’t have the heart to mock him. So she simply shook her head with a sigh.
“Hoo. No, it’s nothing.”
After saying that, she looked down at the notebook.
Then she read through it slowly.
At first, there was nothing but indifference and annoyance on her face, but after a while, curiosity and interest blossomed in her eyes.
“…huh?”
Then came the surprise.
Joanna’s eyes shook slightly and appeared shocked.
But soon, she fell completely silent.
“…ah.”
Joanna muttered dumbly.
She looked up at Lukas for a moment before burying her nose in the notebook once again. Her expression was strange.
Joanna started reading the notebook with a much more serious attitude than before. Her expression also changed constantly.
At first, she had an expression of doubt and suspicion, which then switched to one of denial before finally settling on disbelief.
“This, this, this…”
“…this?”
“This isn’t possible!!”
Joanna let out a scream. She leaped up from out of her seat and pointed a trembling finger at Lukas.
“Wh-, wha-, what the hell are you?! Who the hell are you?!”
“Why are you asking that so suddenly?”
He’d never seen Joanna so shocked.
She usually tried to maintain a dignified image with everything she did. But now, it seemed like she’d forgotten all about that.
“What the hell do you mean so suddenly?! You, do you know what the magical formulas written in this book are?!”
“No. What are they?”
Joanna swayed slightly and stumbled, looking as if her soul had been sucked out. It took her a few moments before she could regain her balance.
Then she walked over to Lukas and tapped him on the chest with the notebook.
“The biggest conundrums in Magical Science…!”
“Huh?”
Joanna shouted with a voice filled with frustration.
“All of the spells and formulas in this book are the biggest conundrums of modern magical science that no Wizard has been able to decipher!!”
“…ah.”
No wonder she was so shocked…