Episode 1021
Episode 1021
While students in each carriage were writing anonymous letters (using Transmutation Magic and Fire Element magic) that couldn't be traced by handwriting, Gainando also witnessed a strange sight outside the carriage.
Several groups of people had gathered in a secluded area on the outskirts of the capital.
And among them was the familiar face of a friend...!?
"Huh?!"
"Lord Gainando. Stop playing around and keep writing."
"You need to finish writing quickly."
The two priests scolded him simultaneously.
The Phoenix Tower students usually refrained from harsh words toward other students, but Gainando was an exception.
Gainando's numerous escape attempts had made even the Phoenix Tower priests lose faith in him.
"N-no, but there was someone who looked exactly like Lee Han over there..."
"Gainando... the priests are getting angry."
"Stop making such ridiculous lies. You're embarrassing us all."
The Blue Dragon Tower friends spoke as if they were all feeling ashamed.
It was fortunate that the priests were inside the carriage—if it had been the White Tiger Tower or Black Turtle Tower, the entire tower would have been disgraced.
"I'm telling the truth! Just look!"
As Gainando jumped up and down excitedly, his friends reluctantly stuck their heads out of the carriage.
Then they called out to a passerby.
"Excuse me, could you tell us what's happening over there?"
"It seems extra-dimensional monsters have contaminated the underground. The mages are gathering to purify it, I hear."
"Thank you. See?"
The friends who returned with the answer looked at Gainando triumphantly.
There was no way Lee Han would be in a place like that.
"Uh..."
Siana hesitated. A sudden thought had crossed her mind. 'Couldn't he actually be there?' Hesitating, Siana glanced at Dijiling, who was writing her anonymous letter beside her.
Dijiling was boldly scribbling with her quill, writing 'The Lord of Einrogard sends his students to fight monsters!' before turning her head.
"Is something wrong?"
"Ah, it's nothing."
Siana quietly gave up on asking.
The atmosphere didn't seem right for questions.
"Wait! If it's Lee Han, he could actually be there!"
Belatedly realizing the possibility, Gainando spoke up, but his friends scolded him again.
"Say something that makes sense."
"Did you forget why Wardanaz is in the capital right now? Even if it's Wardanaz, do you really think he'd finish helping the Headmaster and go straight to working over there?"
"Wardanaz? He's probably outside helping wrap up that dimensional erosion incident."
"......"
"......"
The Einrogard students, who had encountered the Skeleton Principal in front of the royal palace, were left speechless by the unexpected answer.
"...Don't lie to us!"
Hah. Getting bold just because we're outside the school, are we? But it's the truth.
"Didn't Wardanaz come to the capital to assist the Headmaster with his work?"
Exactly. So he finished all that and went there.
"......"
"......"
The friends were even more shocked than when they'd heard Lee Han had left early for the capital to help the Skeleton Principal.
He already finished everything??
"Did you just rob someone with Wardanaz?"
"There was no report of robbery in the Imperial Newspaper..."
"Did you just hide it well?"
We can hear you.
The Skeleton Principal replied in a dry tone.
The speculation that he'd funded the budget through robbery was amusing, but far from the truth.
And he really had convinced everyone. If they didn't believe it, they could go check for themselves.
"That's impossible!"
"Did you perhaps sell Wardanaz off, promising to send him to their side after graduation, and took the gold coins in advance?"
"Surely... even the Headmaster wouldn't go that far."
While the students unknowingly stumbled upon part of the truth, Gainando, recovering from his shock, asked:
"Uh, did you convince my mother too? She swore she'd cut off her own fingers if she had to donate more to Einrogard??"
"Did she really say that?"
The Skeleton Principal felt slightly wounded.
Who would have thought that a generous patron like Lady Kraha would say such a thing?
'Do you remember when she said that? Was it during the Western Jewel Palace theft incident two months ago? Or the Eternal Ice supply ship disappearance five months ago? Or perhaps...'
One by one, the Skeleton Principal listed the accidents caused by Einrogard graduates that had been recorded in the Imperial Newspaper.
However, Gainando shook his head.
"I-I don't know about those. But really, how did you convince her?"
He was thinking of learning from the Skeleton Principal to use the method himself later.
'She just agreed because Wardanaz asked her to.'
"...Wait, that's all it took?"
Gainando looked at his friends, his expression silently pleading for them to join him in shouting, "Don't lie to us!"
But his friends immediately accepted it.
"That actually makes sense."
"I'd have agreed too if it were me."
"!?"
See? Anyway, if you want to hang out with Wardanaz, go to the dimensional erosion site outside the city. Practice some magic while you're at it. Your headmaster is swamped with work.
"But if the Einrogard donation issue is already resolved, do you still have other matters to attend to?"
Yoner asked with slight concern. First-years might not have cared, but now that they were second-years, the students knew all too well.
If Einrogard's coffers shrink, the students will be the first to suffer!
No need to worry. What's left is just some trivial paperwork.
"Ah. So that's why you came to the royal palace."
No. I'm at the royal palace right now because of Professor Voladi. I have to stop him in case he sneaks in and files a complaint.
"????"
'What is he talking about?'
The students, of course, didn't understand. The Skeleton Principal shook his jawbone as if he couldn't be bothered to explain.
When you see Professor Voladi, try not to hold too much of a grudge, alright? Teaching students is inherently a profession filled with wounds...
"We do get hurt a lot, though."
Not you. You shameless brat.
After hanging Gainando upside down, the Skeleton Principal prepared to float away again.
As the students buzzed with chatter and prepared to head to the outskirts to find Lee Han, the Skeleton Principal casually spoke up.
Oh, by the way.
"Huh?"
What are those bundles of paper you're carrying?
"......"
"Lord Alsicle. Why are you looking around so nervously?"
Lee Han found it odd how Alsicle would chant a spell once and then glance around twice.
Currently, all nearby mages were participating in the cleanup of the dimensional erosion phenomenon.
Though the foreign entities inside had all been reduced to ashes, that wasn't the end of it.
When dimensions overlap and erode, instability naturally follows.
They had to inspect and stabilize the area to prevent another catastrophe.
"Professor Voladi Bagrak isn't here, right?"
"No. Why would Professor Bagrak be here?"
"That's because you don't know him."
Alsicle chanted another spell and checked his surroundings three more times.
The fact that Professor Voladi specialized in Combat Magic made him even more terrifying. For Alsicle, whose expertise wasn't combat, the matchup was particularly unfavorable.
"If you're that scared, why not just return to the mansion and rest? The remaining work isn't very dangerous—I can handle it alone."
As he spoke, Lee Han swung his staff.
This kind of dimensional stabilization work only required sensitivity and mana, making it a perfect fit for Lee Han.
He would walk around, intuitively sensing distorted areas, and if any appeared, he would call another mage to...
"Space, solidify."
...Actually, he didn't even need to call anyone.
Thanks to learning basic spacetime magic from Professor Garcia, Lee Han could handle four or five times the workload of an average mage on his own.
"The mansion is even more dangerous! Staying together is definitely better."
Alsicle trembled his beak as if to say, 'Don't spout nonsense.'
The only person Alsicle trusted even slightly was the disciple of Professor Voladi.
"Surely she wouldn't conduct a bloody interrogation in front of her disciple, would she?"
"Ah, you're worrying too much."
"Hmph. You're just a disciple, so you'd think that way."
"I've been attacked plenty of times too, you know?"
Lee Han pushed aside the grumbling penguin beastman mage and approached the spatial rift.
"Space, solidify."
"Um, excuse me..."
Archmage Erindarbel approached with the most apologetic expression one could muster in the Empire.
"...Would it be alright for a moment?"
"Ah, yes. What is it?"
"I sincerely apologize for this mistake..."
The two exchanged glances. Lee Han whispered in a voice too low for the other to hear:
"But Archmage Erindarbel is a grand mage—why is she so kind?"
"Not all grand mages are evil... no, wait, they are evil... but she's somewhat special, I suppose."
As they whispered, Erindarbel rummaged through space, pulling out an item.
It was a gift she had brought to compensate, even slightly, for the damage caused this time.
"This artifact is <Asen's Staff>. It has a spell that rapidly restores light-element mana. I'd like to offer this as a gift—"
"Uh, Archmage Erindarbel. But Wardanaz has so much mana that it's practically useless—"
"!"
At Alsicle's remark, Erindarbel froze in realization.
Come to think of it, this boy from the Wardanaz family possessed an endless reserve of mana. No matter how good an artifact that only restored light-element mana was, it would be meaningless to him. 'Another mistake like this!'
As Erindarbel hung her head again, Lee Han sharply jabbed Alsicle's fluffy side.
"What are you doing right now?!"
"Ah, no. Sorry..."
Alsicle apologized.
As a mage, he couldn't help it—his beak automatically opened when knowledge came to mind.
"But even if you receive it, you can't accept something useless. It's from a grand mage, after all."
"I can just sell it. Please consider the other person's feelings too."
"?"
Alsicle tilted his head, sensing something odd.
"...Wait, then you shouldn't sell—"
"Anyway, you must say the next gift is good no matter what. Understood?"
"Y-yes, got it."
Erindarbel put the staff away and rummaged through space again.
After a long deliberation, she pulled out a round egg.
"This is a hippogriff egg."
"That won't do!"
Lee Han urgently shouted. Erindarbel, who had been about to introduce the egg, paused.
Why?
As he soothed the baby basilisk tightly wrapping around his arm inside his sleeve—as if pleading not to abandon it—Lee Han quickly explained.
"I actually already have a griffin. It'll get extremely jealous."
"I, I see... If that's the case, then there's nothing to be done."
Erindarbel hung her head again. This time, it was Alsicle's turn to jab Lee Han's side.
"Just take it, you fool!"
"I-I'm sorry. My griffin gets sulky often..."
"Really? I've never heard of griffins being particularly jealous."
"Perhaps mine is just a bit special."
-......
The baby basilisk wriggled in sympathy for Ponlig, who wasn't present.
How wronged would he feel if he heard this conversation?
Seemingly pitying the grand mage still rummaging through space, Alsicle offered advice.
"Um, Archmage Erindarbel. Wardanaz would be happy even if you just gave him gold coins."
"Don't speak nonsense, Pengerin."
"......"
At Erindarbel's firm refusal, Alsicle pouted his beak.
But it's true!
As the deliberation dragged on, Erindarbel simply dumped the contents of her spatial storage onto the floor. Muttering to herself, she began sorting through them.
"A solid gold angel statue... too plain. That three-story monastery mage villa I acquired last time... this also seems rather useless..."
"Alsicle. Please, advise me to pick one of these."
Lee Han pleaded with a voice full of sincerity.
If he ended up skipping over these gifts and receiving some strange staff or hippogriff egg instead, he felt like he might actually cry.