Episode 1028
Episode 1028
"What? Really?? Where???"
At Gainando's immediate reaction of sticking his head out, Siana whispered with slight admiration.
"Lord Gainando, you're really good at helping your friends."
Who would've thought he'd fall for such an obvious lie.
Normally, even if you wanted to help, it was hard to be that shameless. In fact, Dijiling beside them was hesitating, unsure whether to say there was a cloud or not.
But Gainando responded as if he didn't understand what they were talking about.
"What are you talking about? Where's the wyvern-shaped cloud?"
"...Ah! Look, there's a griffin-shaped rock over there!"
Siana quickly changed the subject. Gainando believed it again and turned his gaze.
"Wow! Look over there!"
"???"
When the prince pointed outside with a very surprised voice, Siana was startled. 'Huh? Was it really there?' It was just something she made up on the spot—was there actually a griffin-shaped rock outside by coincidence?
But Gainando wasn't surprised because of the griffin-shaped rock.
He was startled because there was what looked like a corpse lying on the grassy slope of the hill.
"Isn't that a corpse???"
The Petrogard mages smiled.
Guests from outside often misunderstood the free-spirited ways of Petrogard mages. That "corpse" was just another example...
"That's not a corpse. Corpses aren't that color."
"Right. Prince, you're from the Black Magic faction—how can you not even recognize a corpse?"
"Ah, oops. Keep this a secret from Lee Han."
"...That's not a corpse. It's a Petrogard student."
"Huh? No, why is a student lying on a hillside like this outside of school at this hour?"
"Haha. Shall we ask them directly? Bunarjo!"
Dalser, the mage who insisted he wasn't a professor despite taking on the role, called out to the student.
The student lying corpse-like on the hill opened their eyes lazily at the call.
"What?"
"Come here for a moment. Our guests have some questions for you."
"No."
Bunarjo closed his eyes and lay back down.
Clapclapclapclapclap—
The Einrogard students, without realizing it, gave a standing ovation at the sight.
"......"
"S-sorry. My hands just moved on their own..."
At the students' excuses, Professor Garcia covered her face as if dying of embarrassment.
Dalser, unfazed, simply said:
"Well, that can't be helped. Let's go over there."
As the carriage drew closer, Bunarjo got up with an annoyed expression.
"Bunarjo. If you don't answer, it'll just get more troublesome."
"...Fine, I'll do it. Professor. What do you want to know?"
Then Benjamin, who had been listening nearby, sternly reprimanded him.
"Bunarjo! Watch your tone!"
"...Fine, fine! I won't call you Professor! What do you want to know!"
Lee Han, who had been listening to the exchange, didn't understand and quietly asked Professor Garcia:
"Uh, why is he getting angry now?"
"Because he called him 'Professor,' Lee Han. That title goes against Petrogard's principles of freedom."
"......"
Isn't forcing someone not to say "Professor" just as restrictive?
Lee Han thought that but didn't say anything.
After all, they weren't visiting to provoke Petrogard students but to help them.
"What were you doing here?"
"I was making a piece."
"????"
At that answer, the Einrogard students murmured among themselves.
Adenart, looking confused, asked:
"But I don't see any equipment, workbench, or materials..."
Creating magical items required a lot of time, effort, and equipment.
Even the students of Einrogard's Enchantment Magic faction couldn't escape that.
It wasn't for nothing that seniors disliked Professor Verdus but still worked in his magic tower.
Yet this student was working without any of that.
Could it be that Petrogard students had a new method of crafting?
"Are you sending your soul to another dimension to work on it?"
"Who would do such a crazy thing... Unless it's Wardanaz."
"Hey."
While the visiting students whispered among themselves, Bunarjo tapped the side of his head with a finger and said,
"I was searching for the most important thing."
"Materials? Reagents?"
"Required arcane spells? Blueprints?"
"No. Artistic inspiration."
"......"
"......"
The Einrogard students reacted as if battle-hardened savages hearing the word 'art' for the first time in their lives.
"Art..."
"Enemy... inspiration...?"
"Uh, is that a spell name?"
"No. I think he means actual art. Like the kind covered in liberal arts—music, painting, poetry, and such in the Empire."
"O-oh, I see... But why would that be needed for magic items?"
"Maybe he's making artwork, not magic items?"
Bunarjo looked at the outsiders with undisguised disgust.
"I am making a magic item, you uncultured brutes. Do you even know what art is?"
At that, the Einrogard students bristled.
"How dare you! We know what art is too!"
"We even go out to watch plays, and some of us compose songs! Dalkard! Show them!"
When Ashan tried to start singing "Einrogard Einrogard, I Love You So Much," Lee Han quickly stopped him.
If sung, Einrogard's social dignity would shatter, and Professor Garcia might have to hide her origins for a while.
Fortunately, Bunarjo, who didn't hear the song, softened slightly.
"You compose songs too? That's impressive. But then why are you asking such stupid questions? You should know what's most important in magic items."
"Magic... isn't it?"
At Lee Han's words, everyone nodded. But Bunarjo sighed deeply.
"No."
"Is it the deadline, then?"
"That's the least of your concerns. The most important thing is beauty. Look at this."
Bunarjo pulled out a small necklace from his pocket.
Inside the dodecahedron-shaped sapphire, a rather complex and refined magic swirled. 'A cold-control type spell?' Lee Han recognized it at a glance.
But something was odd. The artifact had many unnecessary parts.
For example, the pure gold ornament surrounding the sapphire.
The angel-shaped gold decoration initially seemed added to enhance cold control, elemental amplification, or spirit resonance.
But there was no need for it to be angel-shaped. If it were Lee Han, he would have wrapped it in gold, engraved the minimal magic circle, and forcefully channeled mana. 'Why carve it like that?' "Can you feel it?"
"I... don't really get it."
At Lee Han's question, Bunarjo sighed deeply.
"This necklace can block nearby cold and summon a blizzard if desired."
"No, I get that. The gold must be for enhancing cold control and resonance with nearby spirits."
"!!"
Bunarjo was startled.
He hadn't expected anyone to discern the decorative function beyond the artifact's magic.
"But I don't understand why it's carved... Wouldn't just wrapping it in gold and engraving a magic circle be more efficient?"
Bunarjo's expression, which had softened in surprise, twisted again.
He looked as if he'd heard something vile.
"That hideous method... It's not beautiful at all!"
"S-so, this carving is purely for aesthetics?"
Adenart asked, sounding incredulous.
"It has magical effects too."
"But as Wardanaz just said, his way would be far more efficient..."
"But I told you it's not beautiful!"
The Einrogard students immediately began murmuring among themselves.
Naturally, the whispers weren't flattering. Words like 'idiot,' 'fool,' and 'dumber than Verdus' could be heard.
Yet Lee Han found himself slightly impressed. 'I've been so corrupted by Einrogard that I forgot my original intentions.' He used to only worry about how to sell artifacts at higher prices, but at some point, he'd started focusing solely on how to make better artifacts.
Perhaps the constant threat to his survival had made him lose sight of what truly mattered, causing him to focus only on immediate problems. 'He's right. Regardless of performance, making things aesthetically pleasing helps them sell better. I can't believe I forgot that.' "I understand. Beauty is important too."
"See? I knew someone with your discerning eye would have an aesthetic sense. Now go away. Don't disturb my contemplation."
The Petrogard student closed his eyes and lay back down.
He seemed intent on lying there like a corpse on the hillside until the form of his desired creation came to him.
Gainando couldn't hold back his frustration at the sight.
"That lazy bastard! With all the time we don't have enough to swing staves and hammer away, he's just lounging around like that?!"
"For once, the imperial prince speaks sense. That's no proper attitude for a mage."
"Even Professor Verdus wouldn't stoop that low!"
As the students' outrage grew, Professor Garcia hastily stepped in to mediate.
"Everyone, calm down! Of course, Petrogard's methods might seem... unusual to us."
"Unusual? More like outright wrong!"
The Einrogard students' eyes burned with hostility.
-Such mages shouldn't even exist!...
Their gazes seemed to scream.
"...But if there are ten thousand mages, there are ten thousand ways to practice magic. That's Petrogard's academic tradition, and we must respect it. Understood?"
"......"
"......"
"Understood???"
The sound of space compressing and crumpling within Professor Garcia's empty fist made the students quickly shout in response.
"Yes!"
"We honorable Einrogard students always respect other magic academies!"
"Thank you, everyone. Petrogard students are often free-spirited artists, so don't judge them by Einrogard's standards."
"I'd rather we visited Kallarogard instead..." one second-year student muttered.
Though the school of black magic was unpopular in the Empire for being located in the most remote, gloomy, and foul-smelling land, to Einrogard students, it still seemed the least objectionable.
As the carriage began moving, Dalser chuckled cheerfully at the students' shocked expressions.
"Einrogard students always react the same way whenever they visit."
"I have a question. Does work actually get done like that?"
Lee Han asked curiously, his Einrogard upbringing making it hard for him to imagine such a method being effective.
"Of course it's slow, and some students make no progress at all."
"Then isn't that problematic for Petrogard?"
"What do you mean? It's the student's own choice."
"!"
Petrogard wasn't like Einrogard, which molded students through intense heat and pressure.
As long as students reached a certain level of skill, they were free to come and go as they pleased.
Even if a student starved to death because they couldn't produce any work, that was their own choice.
Naturally, this meant the quantity of artifacts produced was erratic, and their quality varied wildly—but the occasional masterpieces that emerged were enough to uphold Petrogard's reputation.
"Lee Han. Lee Han."
"Why are you calling me?"
"Let's use music magic to crush their arrogance. Play 'Einrogard Is Just Too Good'..."
"...At least let me perform something like <Escape to the Shadow Fortress> instead."
Lee Han brushed it off half-heartedly.
But Professor Garcia, standing nearby, suddenly paused. 'Huh?' Come to think of it, Petrogard was the school most interested in the music magic Einrogard was currently researching.