Became a Medieval Fantasy Wizard

TL/Editor: raei

Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: none

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Though Ian's feet had moved instinctively, Baron Mud's decision hadn't really surprised him.

'Well... he was never the type to desperately chase success.'

It would be a lie to say he held no grudge against the family.

But neither did he harbor an obsessive desire for revenge.

'Too much time has passed anyway.'

This time too, they'd only gotten tangled up by chance.

Baron Mud had chosen to continue his familiar life rather than start anew.

"I was born a bastard to Count Dufel, the son of a slave," Baron Mud told Bjorn.

"The family treated me as nothing more than an exotic jester. When my father's interest in me faded as I grew up, I was naturally forgotten by the world."

"That's how I became a thief."

"I made my living stealing valuables and robbing graves of the dead's treasures."

"That's who'Baron Mud' is."

Bjorn asked, still seeming confused:

"You're giving up the family's glory just to continue petty thievery?"

Baron Mud replied with a grin:

"Yes. Petty thievery indeed. But it's thievery I accomplished with my own hands. My nickname as Baron Mud, my reputation as the master grave robber! All of it is the result of my own efforts!" �

"You're saying a life built by your own hands is more precious?"

At that, Bjorn let out a hearty laugh.

"Hahaha! I get it! Who gives a damn about the family's approval!"

The reason Bjorn could understand Baron Mud was because he was exactly the same kind of person.

A man with enough guts to just grab a treasure and run away!

Bjorn really liked his attitude of just going for what he wanted without hesitation.

"What a strange feeling. While I want to see a worthy heir inherit the family line, I also want you to live freely in this world."

Ian, who had been listening, whispered:

"Isn't that just what parents feel?"

"...You're not entirely wrong."

Though not his biological child, they still shared blood.

Bjorn felt an odd familial affection for Baron Mud.

"Very well! Descendant! You are truly worthy of possessing the [Holy Painting]!"

"Ah...!"

"Take the treasure and do with it as you please! Let's end everything here! Hahaha!"

With that, Bjorn's possession ended.

[Now, Wizard Ian! Take the painting and leave with him!]

"[Thank you, Bjorn.]"

Ian approached the worn-out box.

Inside lay the Dufel family treasure he'd been searching for all this time...!

Ian calmly opened the box.

"Oh."

At first glance, it looked incredibly ordinary.

It appeared to be an early medieval bound book with a vellum cover.

However, it was quite thin, with only about 20-30 pages.

[Ian! Don't show the book's contents to that woman!]

"[Understood.]"

The Holy Painting was said to bring courage to men but death to women.

'What kind of content could it be?'

The wizard's curiosity stirred.

Ian quickly opened the book and speed-read through it.

"T-This...!"

And Ian was shocked.

"What's in it, Ian?"

"Stay back!"

"???"

Ian stood frozen, then read through to the last page in an instant.

Only then did he let out his held breath.

"So that's why women couldn't read it..."

"Come on, what's in it..."

"Sorry, Belenka. No matter how close we are, I can't show you this."

Belenka pouted slightly, feeling unfairly left out.

She loved adventure as much as Ian, if not quite to his degree. If she hadn't, she would have parted ways with him long ago.

After all their effort to get the treasure... and she couldn't even look at it because she was a woman!

This was too much! Curse Hrundal!

"What's in it?"

"Here, read it. Ah - turn around and face the wall while reading."

Baron Mud opened the [Holy Painting] puzzledly.

"Oh!"

After turning just a few pages, he gasped in shock, his hands trembling.

Baron Mud immediately pressed his head against the wall to read.

"Ian, really, just one page..."

"Absolutely not!"

"..."

"I'm saying this for your own good! Belenka! I don't want to lose you senselessly!"

Belenka felt briefly touched by Ian's passionate voice.

'Wait...'

But something felt off.

Ian's voice sounded... like when he was doing wizard-things?!

"Ian, your voice just now sounded a bit unnatural..."

"Holy shit! Heavens above! No, Ice God above!"

Baron Mud suddenly shouted, his face bright red.

"I can't believe something like this exists in the world!"

"Oh, finished reading?"

"Yes! Wow! This... this is a real treasure! I can't believe I only discovered this now! I've wasted half my life!!!"

"Come on, just tell me a little bit about what's in..."

"Absolutely not!!! I can't tell you anything, Sir Knight!"

When Belenka strode toward Baron Mud, Ian blocked her path...!

"Ian?!"

"I'm sorry, Belenka. I can't let our ancestors' efforts to protect the [Holy Painting] go to waste."

In that moment, Ian and Baron Mud exchanged intense looks.

And the men nodded simultaneously!

By this point, Belenka was about to go crazy with curiosity.

Seriously, what kind of painting was it?!

[How was it seeing it in person? Quite the treasure, isn't it?]

"[Yes... I understand now why it's called a treasure.]"

[But not worth risking your life to recover, right?]

"[Depending on perspective, but yes. If it were me, I think I'd just live with having lost it.]"

Ian opened the Holy Painting once more.

The breathtakingly beautiful woman visible as soon as the book opened.

'This is Hrundal.'

That woman joyfully dancing in a luxurious banquet hall was indeed Hrundal herself, who Ian had met.

As expected of the goddess of art, the painting was enchantingly beautiful.

And when you turned the page...

The goddess undressed.

It was even a vivid color nude.

'Holy shit.'

Ian stared again at the shockingly beautiful painting in amazement.

Since she'd used herself as the model, the detail was incredible.

The breasts, and the breasts, and the breasts...

'Damn, this is intense.'

Ian turned the pages like one possessed.

The goddess held a feast with the Valkyries to raise the warriors' morale.

The insane artistic style showed the goddess and Valkyries filling the pages and...

They did it with the warriors.

They did it incredibly, chaotically, enough to melt the ice castle!

Thanks to Hrundal's amazing artistic skill, the vividly bouncing breasts seemed to come alive right before his eyes...

"!"

Ian closed the book with ragged breaths.

The medieval fantasy people of this world didn't know what to call this, so they just called it a 'painting book', but...

As a modern person, Ian knew exactly what to call this.

'This is basically Toptoon!'

No, not Toptoon...

It was an erotic 18+ manga.

'Hrundal, are you a genius?!'

This wasn't some isekai author's work.

To think she'd draw erotic manga and have it called a treasure!

"Ian, really just one page..."

"No way! It's dangerous! Belenka! Stay back!"

Ian understood why the ancestors had spread rumors that 'women who look at it will die.'

It was truly profound wisdom...!

"That's right! Sir Knight absolutely must not look!"

"Haa fine. I can probably handle even the most horrible images, but... seeing how adamantly you're refusing, there must be a reason."

Ian nodded vigorously. That was an absolutely terrifying image. This was proven by content rating laws.

While dismemberment and organ removal were rated 15+, scenes of baby-making were 19+!

How scary must the act of X be for it to be more strictly controlled than dismemberment!

"Well, let's wrap up and head out."

Having failed to see the painting book, Belenka rapidly lost interest.

Ian also agreed it was time to leave the dungeon.

"Right. Let's get some fresh air outside."

#

Once they retrieved the painting book, the undead in the dungeon rapidly crumbled away.

"Ugh... where am I?"

"Oh! You're back to your senses!"

The thieves who had lost their minds to the ghost's tricks also gradually came to.

Without the skeletons and ghosts, the underground dungeon was just an old underground structure.

"[Bjorn. This painting book - it's not just erotic pictures, is it?]"

[Of course not. It contains powerful mystical powers capable of binding human souls.]

While it appeared to be an absolutely devastating fap material on the surface...

It still contained powerful divine magic, being made by a goddess.

'...But why did Hrundal draw this?'

Ian was dumbfounded all over again.

Setting aside the fact that it was lewder than most manga, why had a goddess spent her time drawing erotic manga in the first place?

The nature of the mystical powers contained within needed to be thoroughly investigated later.

"Wizard! We have trouble!"

A thief came running in panic.

"Outside... soldiers!"

Ian followed the thief to check outside the fortress.

Indeed, armed soldiers were waiting across the valley.

Their leader in the most ornate armor was someone Ian recognized.

"It's Fin."

"Pretty impressive. How did he track us here?"

Ian and Belenka genuinely admired Fin's tracking abilities.

In the medieval era without proper maps, the skill to track a small group of fugitives this accurately was no ordinary feat.

Moreover, Fin wasn't alone.

Local nobles who had heard rumors of Fin's passage had come out to see what was happening.

It was natural for them to come check when a noble passed by their territory with knights and soldiers in tow.

Fin also spotted Ian's group and shouted:

"Thief leader, Wizard Ian, hear me!"

"Belenka, was I a thief boss?"

"Well, you kind of are right now. Not exactly wrong."

Other nobles were watching.

While Fin had called Ian a thief leader to disparage him, ironically Ian really was leading thieves at the moment.

To the nobles' eyes, Ian must look like an evil wizard playing at being a thief boss.

"I, Fin of Dufel! Shall punish you villains who covet the family treasure and restore order!"

"Waaaaaaah!"

Thunderous cheers filled the valley.

Faced with the overwhelming volume (though most was actually echo), the thieves trembled in fear.

"W-we're done for...! We're all going to die!"

"Damn it! Why'd we have to run into nobles!"

To thieves who represented the lowest fantasy combat power, nobles were like the grim reaper incarnate.

One wrong look could get their heads chopped off!

"Don't be too afraid."

"W-Wizard?"

Ian stepped forward before the thieves' morale could drop further.

If Fin launched an attack now, Ian would need to use the thieves at full strength.

"Listen up, Fin Dufel! For someone who didn't care about the treasure, you sure talk big! Why don't you go back and study how to become a baron with Father Berum!"

"Huh? Lord Fin didn't care about the treasure?"

"What does that mean..."

The other nobles muttered amongst themselves.

Outsiders couldn't know the internal succession politics of House Dufel.

They truly believed he had purely come searching for the family treasure.

'As expected of the cunning wizard. His tongue drips with poison!'

Fin glared at Ian.

But this was expected.

A wizard's specialty was just their crafty words.

Anticipating this, Fin had prepared his own speech.

"My beloved father always wanted for our ancestors' lost treasure!"

When Fin shouted, the nobles' attention focused on him.

"But he passed away without finding it! I know well my father's lingering regret!"

"Ohhh!"

"In the name of our family! I shall sweep away you thieving rats and display the [Holy Painting] before my father's grave!"

At those incredible words, Ian's jaw dropped and...

"...Pfft!"

Baron Mud failed to hold back his laughter.

The Holy Painting... in front of his father's grave...

When Baron Mud laughed, Fin bristled with anger.

How dare that lowborn bastard laugh at me!

"Impudent fool! You think I won't do it?! Then I promise! Additionally, I shall gather all the nobles here and their families! Each and every one shall appreciate the [Holy Painting]!"

"Oh! How generous, Lord Fin!"

"The lost treasure of House Dufel... I'm truly looking forward to it!"

The nobles chatted cheerfully amongst themselves.

Ian was stunned.

Had Fin truly gone mad?

Unable to watch any longer, Ian spoke up:

"Hey, Mr. Fin Dufel. Is your career goal to become Count Pervert Public Indecency?"

"...Are you mocking me!"