Became a Medieval Fantasy Wizard

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: none

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Seeing the mountain of loot, Ian immediately understood the suspicious men's identity.

'They must have robbed some merchants and hidden here.'

They were thieves, having robbed passing merchants and taken shelter here.

This abandoned fortress would be hard for pursuers to track them to.

They wouldn't even think to scout the underground dungeon, so the thieves had made it their hideout.

"Wow~! Takarion's Gospel, how lucky~!"

The thieves grinned ear to ear at their unexpected jackpot.

Among items medieval merchants carried, valuable ones were limited.

Food and clothing were average finds. Industrial goods made from forged iron were good finds.

Precious metals including gold and silver, and books were excellent finds.

Especially books!

Medieval books were all handmade, carefully crafted one by one by master bookmakers.

Some small country in the East had developed printing technology like metal type and woodblock printing long ago...

But in this desolate post-apocalyptic era, only the raw manual labor of bookmaking existed.

Anyone who's tried handwriting a book knows it takes an enormous amount of work to produce just one.

And in this medieval fantasy world, it was more profitable to plant one more grain of wheat than spend time making books.

Making books was madness that would get you starved to death.

So... who made medieval books?

The answer: monks.

Monks with time to spare made both wine and books to sell to nobles for profit.

Spreading good teachings while making money! How perfect?

"Hehehe! If it's a gospel written by Takarion, those noble lords will love it!"

"Right! Remember that noble we met before? He promised gold coins if we could get him volume three of the [Gospel of Marcus]!"

"C-Could this be volume three?!"

"Correct! Hahaha!"

Watching the thieves burst into delighted laughter, Ian couldn't believe it.

These ignorant thieves discovering Takarion's light novel(?) and being overjoyed...

This was... the medieval era?

To a modern person used to abundant books thanks to printing technology, it was quite an absurd sight.

Though this era lacked everything.

Anyway, they seemed excited about finding expensive books.

'They don't seem to be treasure hunters.'

Ian felt relieved.

Since he was here looking for treasure himself, he'd been viewing everyone as potential competition.

'Hm?'

But his relief was short-lived.

Ian frowned as he spotted something writhing in the darkness beyond.

"Hahaha! Once we sell this, we'll be rich... Ugh!"

"Eek!"

The thieves screamed.

A rusty blade had pierced straight through one thief's chest!

In the dim torchlight, a pale skeleton emerged.

"S-S-S-S..."

One thief stammered badly as he shouted.

"Skeleton!"

Armed with sword, shield, and helmet, they were undead monsters called skeletons.

Literally, moving bones.

Click! Clack!

Along with the eerie sound of bones clicking, rusty blades flew at the thieves.

"Holy shit!"

"Grab weapons! Quick!"

The thieves hurriedly grabbed weapons and fought back against the skeletons.

Though their equipment was pathetic - leather armor and flails - they managed to hold their ground.

Ian moved too.

'I should help the thieves.'

Actually, he wouldn't have cared if the skeletons finished off the thieves.

But Ian had been influenced by Heaven's Faith too.

The mystery of heaven was already showing interest, and it felt wrong to abandon humans being attacked by monsters.

Even if these thieves deserved death for their crimes, dying to monsters was another matter.

'This is what Sir Leshach would do.'

Ian threw Anor-lsil at the skeletons without hesitation.

"[Arno! Isil!]"

[Leave it to us!]

The magic sword imbued with lightning struck the skeleton.

Made of nothing but bones, the skeleton shattered surprisingly easily from even light impacts.

"Huh... what?!"

"Don't just stand there! Move, you thieves!"

Ian swung his sword at the skeletons.

Lightning sparks shining bright even in darkness!

"W-What is that?!"

"Magic? Is that magic?"

Each time Anor-lsil flew, another skeleton shattered.

The thieves gaped at Ian's mysterious swordsmanship(?).

Actually, Ian was just repeatedly throwing and catching the sword...

But to the thieves, it looked like amazing swordsmanship!

"[Stone, rise up!]"

Pop!

A thief who'd been blankly watching Ian jumped in surprise.

Rock shards flew like arrows and pierced a skeleton that had been quietly approaching.

"Stop spacing out!"

"Y-Yes sir!"

While calming their racing hearts, the thieves moved diligently following Ian's directions.

Though they didn't understand what was happening, following the wizard's orders was their only chance of survival!

"Everyone! Follow the wizard!"

"Woohoo~!"

"..."

Seriously, what kind of battle cry was that?

True to being post-apocalyptic thieves, they fought well despite their weird battle cries.

Crack!

Ian cleanly shattered the last skeleton.

The thieves approached, dripping with sweat.

The stuffy underground filled with dust had left them breathless from the intense movement.

"Th-Thank you for helping us!"

Meanwhile, Ian hadn't broken a sweat.

He'd just thrown and caught his sword from the back, not moving himself at all...

Not knowing this, the thieves were greatly impressed by Ian's composed face.

To destroy so many skeletons without breaking a sweat!

Truly an amazing master!(Not really)

"Excuse me, but who might you be..."

"Ian Eredith Raven. A wandering wizard."

"!"

The thieves instantly understood Ian's amazing performance.

They'd thought he was extraordinary, and sure enough, he was a wizard!

"B-But what brings a wizard here..."

"?"

Ian tilted his head wondering why they asked, then realized.

These bastards... they're worried I'm here to catch them.

The saying about thieves being the first to flinch really fit.

"I'm looking for something."

"What? What could there be to find in these ruins..."

"You idiot! The wizard says he's looking for something! He must have his reasons!"

"Right! Idiot!"

"What a fool!"

"..."

The objection was instantly suppressed.

Ian felt like he'd become a dictator ruling the Kremlin...

"Master Wizard! Thank you so much for helping us! Though this is all we have to offer..."

One thief held out their most valuable item to Ian.

"..."

It was Takarion's Gospel...

I don't need that crap, you thieves!

"I didn't want payment, keep it."

"!"

"I simply couldn't ignore fellow followers of Heaven's Faith being attacked by monsters."

"Ah, aah...!"

The thieves hurriedly clasped their hands and knelt.

Such a devout servant of heaven!

Ian, are you a fallen angel?!

Ian's words about helping them purely out of faith without wanting material reward deeply moved the thieves.

In truth, he just didn't think the thieves had anything worth taking...

Either way, the fact that Ian helped for free remained unchanged.

One thief trembled as they handled Takarion's Gospel.

"C-Could it be...!"

"?"

"Oh great heavenly lord! Did you send this wizard to guide us back to the right path!"

"???"

What nonsense.

I just came to find treasure.

Ian was confused, but the other thieves were already convinced.

No wonder there was a gospel mixed in with their loot...

It must be heaven's guidance to lead them back to the right path!

The thieves pressed their heads to Ian's feet and shouted.

"We'll return everything to their original owners!"

"? Is that possible?"

It would be right to return things if possible.

But the robbed merchants had probably fled far away by now?

"And to atone, we'll follow you, Master Ian!"

"Please forgive our sins!"

Watching the thieves compete to kneel before him, Ian felt somewhat awkward.

Honestly, he didn't need followers...

He planned to leave as soon as he found the treasure. That's why he hadn't hired workers.

Baron Mud would probably be the only one happy about the thieves joining.

'Well. Better than nothing?'

"Come along for now. Let's hear what you have to say."

"Yes sir!"

The thieves lined up behind Ian.

But there was one awkward issue.

"Um... Master Wizard. The torches went out..."

During the chaos of battle, all the flames including the bonfire had gone out.

As deathly darkness approached, some thieves hurriedly made the sign of the cross.

Not praying for heaven to send more light...

"Please heaven, please heaven, please heaven, please heaven..."

They were praying to go to heaven when they died.

Their complete lack of conscience proved they were true thieves.

"Sorry to interrupt your nonsense, but everyone line up and hold the shoulders of the person in front."

"...? But Master Wizard, what are you..."

"You fool! The wizard has a plan!"

"Right! Idiot!"

"What a fool!"

"..."

The resistance vanished instantly.

Ian strode down the dark corridor.

Though everyone trembled in fear in the pitch darkness, only Ian walked calmly forward.

The exit was visible.

"Oh, ohhh...!"

"We escaped underground without a single torch!"

To the thieves, Ian's dark magic was pure mystery.

They became even more convinced that Ian was a savior sent by heaven...!

"What, Ian?!"

Baron Mud was shocked to find Ian.

When had he recruited people?

"Ah. Baron Mud. Come feed these friends and let them rest."

"Ah... yes."

Ian used the thieves to build tents and set up temporary lodging.

The treasure excavation headquarters was established.

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