Chapter Twenty-Four: Evil Spirits

When Lando entered the town, wrapped in a cloak he had already scouted out as inconspicuous, he was indeed not harassed in the slightest.
"The Arcane Empire, truly unimaginable in its greatness," he murmured.
The reason for this sudden sentiment was language. He could easily understand everything spoken around him—not because he had studied the language of this world or used any arcane means, but because, thousands of years ago, an Arcane Emperor had, in order to enhance the Arcane Empire's soft power, used the power of the World Laboratory to broadcast the Empire’s common tongue outward, causing the languages of all territories bordering the Arcane Empire to gradually evolve into this tongue over time.
Lando only realized this after some time at the Academy, and when he finally learned the reason, he was stunned into silence, much to Alice’s amusement and mockery.
Exhausted in both body and mind, Lando didn’t even bother with food; he found an inn, rented a room, and collapsed into bed, though not before activating his alarm device.
When he awoke, the sky was just beginning to lighten. After a luxurious stretch, he decided to find something to eat. Each of the five of them had been issued some currency from this world; as long as they didn’t spend recklessly, it would be more than enough for a month.
He found a bustling breakfast stall, drank a bowl of wheat porridge, and ate a few fried cakes. The taste was actually acceptable, but Lando, whose palate had been spoiled, found it unsatisfying.
"Since I have no particular objective, I might as well head toward the Kingdom of Flames," he thought.
He now knew his exact location: a remote border town in the Kingdom of Azure Waters, utterly unremarkable.
Lando’s plan was to go to the capital of the Azure Waters Kingdom first, see if there was a grand library or the like, and consult some records before setting out for the Kingdom of Flames. Of course, along the way, he would search for Soul Essence—though he couldn’t just kill indiscriminately, otherwise…
Lando drew in a sharp breath, startled by how he could entertain such dangerous thoughts out of nowhere. He quickly banished the strange ideas from his mind—he still wished to maintain his persona as a good man.
Later, while “touring” the city lord’s collection, Lando extracted a green soul and broke it down into 200 units of Soul Essence, which lifted his spirits to an unprecedented high.
"At last, my Soul Essence has once again crossed into triple digits—what a joy, what a joy indeed!"
......
Three days after the five of them arrived in the new world, in a fortress city of the Kingdom of Flames, Capak—the arcanist whom Lando had wanted to greet, only to find he had already left—stepped out from a guesthouse.
"Just my luck—what a disaster, having the teleportation go wrong and wasting three whole days," Capak grumbled, frustrated.
"Well then, as planned, I’ll check with the government offices about the distribution of mineral resources in this world—let’s see if they have any of the rare minerals I need."
As soon as he set out, Capak suddenly sensed danger. His expression darkened, and in an instant, he summoned a full suit of armor around himself, leaped aside to evade a volley of arrows, and, while airborne, dodged two crossbow bolts through mid-air maneuvering and caught the third with a shielded hand.
Hovering in mid-air, Capak’s face grew grim, for he saw hundreds of elite soldiers had already encircled him, with even more arriving by the moment.
Confronted by this scene, he gave up any thought of standing and fighting. Guided by his intelligent core, he swiftly broke toward the perimeter.
Capak’s decisiveness and speed caught the soldiers off guard, and even the three general-ranked warriors who hurried to intercept him were each left behind. Just as he was about to break free, a fierce light flashed in Capak’s eyes. Whatever the reason, this grudge he would remember. He’d originally hoped to develop quietly and live in peace with the locals, taking only some resources at most. But now, that idea was gone—once he got out, he would certainly…
Boom!
A sudden attack blasted him away, shattering his plans.
From the smoke strode a man radiant as the sun god. A shaft of sunlight pierced the clouds to illuminate him, and the soldiers, witnessing the sight, could not help but cheer, "Prince Sandy! Prince Sandy! Prince Sandy!"
Prince Sandy gazed calmly at Capak. "Greetings, demon from beyond the heavens. I am Sandy Blaze, descendant of the King of Flames. I once swore, in the name of my ancestors, to prevent your kind from destroying this world. Now, are you ready to accept the judgment of justice?"
Capak, enraged by Sandy’s words, burst into bitter laughter. "Foolish native, what nonsense are you spouting? No matter what you do, you cannot quell my fury now!"
Several floating cannons appeared around Capak, and in his hands materialized two longswords—one of ice, one of fire. He resolved to teach this arrogant native a harsh lesson. Even though the expenditure of energy would slow his construction of the Arcane Furnace, restoring the dignity of an Arcanist was clearly more important. Of course, Capak would never admit to envying this perfect prince—if he did, it would only be the tiniest bit, truly insignificant.
Prince Sandy regarded the furious Capak with cool disappointment. "So it’s true, demons are beyond reason. Why do you refuse to accept the judgment of justice?"
Capak, too weary to even sneer, charged straight at him.
......
The dust gradually settled, revealing Prince Sandy’s figure, still dazzling, spotless, not a hair out of place.
He looked at the massive crater before him, puzzled. He was certain he’d already beaten the demon into unconsciousness; if he hadn’t wanted to take a captive, he would have finished him off. Yet at the very moment he was about to claim his prize, the demon vanished in a flash of light.
At this point, Dreamseer approached, first praising, "Sandy, you grow ever closer to the ancient kings’ brilliance."
Prince Sandy replied serenely, "Teacher, one day I will surpass my ancestors and become the one true king!"
Dreamseer’s eyes lit up with joy. "Good, good! Excellent! Hahaha! Cough, cough..."
"Teacher, let me help you back to rest," Prince Sandy said, stepping forward in concern.
"No matter. Hahaha. I believe you will achieve your dream," Dreamseer answered, gently pushing Sandy aside and walking alone to the crater’s edge. From his pocket, he retrieved a pouch of thumb-sized, transparent crystal spheres and scattered them into the pit.
After a moment, the spheres began to glow with strange light. At the same time, Dreamseer swayed as if drained and nearly collapsed, but Prince Sandy was quick to support him.
"These crystals will react whenever they draw near an otherworldly demon..."
Prince Sandy watched his teacher sink into unconsciousness, then turned his gaze back to the scattered spheres in the crater, his expression growing ever more resolute.