Episode 1026
Episode 1026
'No!' Professor Garcia inwardly screamed as she watched her naive student approaching the situation completely unaware.
Seeing the student who recognized her face and was happily greeting her, the professor quickly made a hand gesture.
This motion, which mimicked a skull with her hands, was a universal sign among Einrogard students meaning 'Do not approach - Danger.' 'Wait a moment, Lee Han!' "Hello, Professor."
"No!"
Professor Garcia unconsciously let out a sigh when she realized her hand signal wasn't working.
"Why did you come here?!"
"Huh? You told me to come to this cafe..."
"That's not what I meant! My hand gesture just now..."
"Hand gesture? What does that mean?"
Lee Han looked puzzled, as if he didn't understand what Professor Garcia was talking about.
The professor was shocked by his reaction. '...They don't use this anymore these days!' The realization that the hand signals from her own student days no longer worked was a significant blow even to a mage like Professor Garcia.
Meanwhile, the Petrogard mages were scrutinizing Lee Han up and down.
"Greetings. You appear to be an Einrogard student."
"Yes, that's correct. I'm Lee Han of the Wardanaz family."
"!"
The pupils of the two mages dilated dramatically.
That name carried numerous rumors with it.
That he had faced the Ghoul King and the King of Frost Giants in battle, that he had fought bloody battles against magic criminals and anti-magic zealots...
But to these two mages, one particular rumor stood out above all others.
The new student currently favored by the Skeleton Principal!
"Are you perhaps the one who's being personally taught by Gonadaltes...?"
"Huh? Yes."
"The student who's definitely going to join the Daylily Magic Tower after graduation?"
"That's not true though?"
"Right? I didn't think that would be the case either."
The Petrogard mage quickly nodded in understanding.
To be honest, the words of Daylily Magic Tower mages weren't particularly trustworthy. Hadn't they similarly boasted that Professor Garcia would join their tower back in the day?
"Anyway, you are currently Gonadaltes' only disciple, correct?"
"Why are you using such unpleasant phrasing?"
Lee Han felt slightly irritated by the unfamiliar mages' disagreeable manner of speaking.
For mages dressed like Einrogard students, they were speaking just as rudely as Einrogard professors.
"There are many others besides me. There's Professor Kim, Professor Bagrak, Professor Mortum..."
"Ah, of course those individuals did receive instruction, but they've since become independent as professors, haven't they?" 'Do they stop counting you as a disciple when you become a professor?' Lee Han found this thought slightly intriguing.
So becoming a professor meant you'd no longer be referred to as the Skeleton Principal's only disciple.
"We have a request for you, Wardanaz student - the only one who currently maintains pure disciple status!"
"...If this is about handing over Professor Verdus, then no."
Lee Han responded with a guarded tone to the mages' earnest request.
"Lee Han! Why did you do that?!"
Professor Garcia whispered urgently so the two mages wouldn't hear.
To her astonishment, this kind-hearted student had actually accepted the request from the Petrogard mages!
For Professor Garcia, who had done her utmost to prevent him from getting involved, this was truly a bewildering outcome.
"Well, they said they'd only agree to your request if I did this."
"You mean you did it because of me?!"
Professor Garcia was even more horrified.
While it was true she wanted to strengthen ties between magic schools, that didn't mean they needed to sacrifice a poor student to achieve it.
Hadn't Einrogard been perfectly self-sufficient until now?
"No, it's not just because of that."
"Then...?"
"Well...you mentioned the reason for all this commotion is one of the Headmaster's former disciples, right?"
"It's not confirmed yet. With some luck, it might just be a magic criminal."
Lee Han pretended not to hear Professor Garcia's muttered words.
"If that's the case, I feel somewhat obligated... so I wanted to help as much as possible."
"...!!!"
Ever since inheriting so much from the Avatar of Desire for Honor, Lee Han had developed a strong sense of duty toward promises.
In the past, he would've just said, 'If the headmaster's former student caused trouble, shouldn't we just report it?'...
But now he was willing to step forward personally and help with persuasion.
"And I can't just leave you alone to deal with someone like that, Professor."
"...Lee Han!"
Professor Garcia was deeply moved.
If not for a few bone-breaking incidents during her school days, she might have hugged him on the spot.
"But about that letter earlier—you said there's magic even you can't solve? What kind of magic is it?"
Instead of heading straight to Petrogard, the mages were currently visiting the capital villa first.
Since Lee Han had mentioned there was a magical issue at the estate, they wanted to help with that first.
"Well... there's a crazy wizard's ghost in the basement..."
At first, Professor Garcia listened with mild interest, but her expression gradually hardened.
An infinite spatial labyrinth, of all things.
No way...
"Isn't that the crazy wizard Noenchenf???"
"Who?"
Lee Han was puzzled.
A crazy wizard? 'Aren't there too many of those?' Frankly, that title could apply to most mages.
"The crazy wizard Noenchenf—there was a notorious mage back in the day."
Professor Garcia began, recalling old memories.
The crazy wizard Noenchenf was a case that had made headlines in the Imperial Newspaper when she was still a student at Einrogard.
"Strange structure discovered near the western gate of Isran! A mage's curse?"
An anonymous local mage testified it seemed like the work of an Einrogard graduate...
"Also found in Plaha City! An alchemy shop with suspicious magic installed underground!"
"Is this truly the work of an Einrogard graduate?"
Some deranged wizard had been planting impossible spatial labyrinths beneath mansions and shops all across the Empire.
Naturally, the most likely culprit was an Einrogard graduate, and even the Skeleton Principal had quickly dispatched mages, assuming it was an alumnus' doing (while also sternly warning current students not to follow their example).
But shockingly, the perpetrator wasn't an Einrogard graduate—just an independently insane mage.
A wizard who'd spent his life researching spacetime magic and buried his unsolved experiments all over the Empire!
'What a nuisance.' Lee Han firmly resolved that even if he ever encountered unsolvable magic, he would never scatter it across the land like that.
Just how much of a public menace was that?
"Was it resolved?"
"No. If it had been, your villa's basement wouldn't have any issues either. Those underground spatial labyrinths are all connected—one single spell. If it had been resolved, all the labyrinth mansions across the Empire would've returned to normal."
Faced with a difficult problem created by a non-Einrogard mage, the solution was simple for the wizards.
Just destroy the underground magic and exorcise the ghost.
Since the magic installed underground was merely the entrance to the spatial labyrinth, destroying it wasn't particularly hard.
The root issue remained unsolved, but at least the mansion was peaceful again.
"!"
Lee Han brightened at the straightforward solution, like cutting through a tangled knot with one stroke.
Come to think of it, if he couldn't solve the problem, this was another way. 'If that's all it takes, I could probably do it too.' The ghost's combat ability wasn't even that strong...
"However, Lee Han, if we use this method, the mansion will collapse."
"......What???"
"Destroying the magic will inevitably cause shockwaves to the surroundings. Typically, the foundation and first floor will shake."
"......"
Lee Han was so shocked he couldn't speak.
Professor Garcia thought to herself, 'He seems more shocked by this than by the Headmaster's story about his former student...' Surely not?
"T-then, Professor. What if we just leave it be?"
"Huh?"
"Leave the mage ghost alone and coexist with it?"
"...If it's not threatening, that's fine, but... are you really sure about this, Lee Han?"
Professor Garcia was taken aback by her student's insane resolve.
No matter how you looked at it, willingly choosing to live with that deranged mage ghost from now on was...
"I'm fine with it. If past mages could do it, why can't I?"
"???"
Unaware of the heated conversation between Professor Garcia and her student behind them, Dalser, the mage from Petrogard, knocked on the mansion door.
"Wow, this is quite neat, isn't it?"
"The Wardanaz Family is a great noble house, after all. It's only natural their villa would be this dignified."
Sir Benjamin of the Garnok Family, also from Petrogard, nodded as if this were no surprise.
"Let's resolve the issue quickly and head back to Petrogard."
"Agreed. Oh—there are other students here too."
The two mages spotted students wandering inside the mansion.
—Hey, you brat, don't just stand there!
—W-what? You princeling! Just because I snatched one meat pie, you're making a scene? Unlike Wardanaz, you're way too petty!
—Shut up! Touching food before it's ready is unacceptable!
"...Uh, aren't those Einrogard students?"
Dalser was slightly flustered.
If he was seeing correctly, students from different towers had gathered here in one place.
That shouldn't happen at Einrogard... right?
"What brings you here?"
"Ah, we came with Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family... He's right behind us."
"Come in."
Salko opened the door without a second thought.
Whether the prince or the White Tiger Tower brats lost face in front of outsiders was none of his concern.
"But why did you come with Wardanaz?"
"We heard there was an unresolved magic issue in the basement, so we came to help."
"...Just the two of you?"
Salko looked them up and down.
"Even Wardanaz failed, and you two..."
"...We're from Petrogard. Understand?"
"Yes. But even Wardanaz failed, and you two..."
"......"
Dalser was speechless.
Of course, he knew Einrogard mages were exceptionally skilled at dismantling other mages' pride, but for a mere second-year to display this level of audacity...
"We're... well, in a way, serving as Einrogard professors. At Petrogard."
"Yes, I know, but you two..."
"Just show us the way!"
As his voice rose, the other students turned their heads. Siana asked curiously,
"Oh? We have guests?"
"Greetings. We are—"
"They say they're here to resolve the basement magic."
"Just the two of you?"
"......"
The two Petrogard mages began feeling dizzy and lightheaded...
Had Professor Garcia invited them here for revenge?
'No, no... It can't be. Not even Gonadaltes or Professor Kim would do something like this...'
"You two! Wait a moment!"
Professor Garcia, arriving late, called out to them.
"Actually, the basement magic is—"
"Don't worry, Professor Kim. We'll resolve it right away."
Dalser, unusually fired up, brushed her off. Professor Garcia fidgeted, trying to stop them.
"That's not what I—"
"Just wait for us!"
The two Petrogard mages dramatically swished their cloaks and marched toward the basement.
Professor Garcia watched them go with a grimace and muttered,
"What if they end up hating Einrogard too..."
"...I'll do my best when I go to Petrogard."