Episode 1037
Episode 1037
What Do You Mean, Basement?
"What do you mean by basement?"
Professor Garcia asked in puzzlement.
'Did he already connect the basement using spatial magic?'
Though it was a spell beyond Lee Han's current level, this particular student had an exceptional talent for lulling professors into complacency before recklessly advancing beyond the curriculum.
It wouldn't have been strange at all if he had secretly linked the subspace to the basement behind Professor Garcia's back.
"Ah. About that..."
Lee Han responded in a voice brimming with resentment as he denounced the mad wizard Noenchenf.
Wasn't it because of that lunatic's obsession with bizarre magic that completely unrelated junior mages like himself were suffering like this?
Upon hearing the explanation, Professor Garcia was astonished.
"So it wasn't Lee Han's intention after all!"
"...Huh?"
"Ah, never mind!"
As her student stared at her with suspicious eyes, Professor Garcia hastily changed the subject.
"Then, Lee Han. Wouldn't it be better to just destroy the basement of the villa..."
"!"
Lee Han shot Professor Garcia a look of disbelief.
How could Professor Garcia—not even Professor Voladi—suggest such a violent solution?
"Hmm. Young Master. From what I can see, that ghost seems to be lingering in the rift between dimensions."
The Young Prince in the painting expressed disapproval toward Professor Garcia's solution.
Given Lee Han's current condition, it wouldn't be easy for the ghost to latch onto his soul or harass him through curses.
The most plausible explanation was that the ghost drifted in the dimensional rift and seeped out whenever Lee Han cast spatial magic.
Since spatial magic was fundamentally deeply connected to multiple dimensions, a ghost wandering between dimensions could easily cause such phenomena.
"B-but, Headmaster. In other villas, destroying the basement solved all the problems!"
"However, the owners of those villas didn't face the same issue as our disciple here, did they?"
The Young Prince calmly persuaded Professor Garcia.
The other villa owners hadn't been chosen by the ghost, so destroying the basement resolved everything.
But in Lee Han's case, the ghost was wandering in the dimensional rift before being forcibly pulled out.
Even if they destroyed the basement, it likely wouldn't solve the problem.
"But... Lee Han didn't do anything. Could he really have been chosen by the ghost...? Actually, now that I think about it, he could."
"......"
Lee Han stared at Professor Garcia as if she had lost her mind.
What?!
"Ah, no. Weren't you supposed to deny it? Why are you suddenly convinced on your own...?"
"He could be chosen."
"That's possible."
With even Professor Voladi and the Young Prince chiming in, Lee Han suddenly felt isolated.
Being the only ordinary mage among great wizards made it hard to keep up.
"Then, Headmaster. What would be the best solution?"
"I think the basement is fine. Just hang me there."
"Huh? Wait, shouldn't we solve the problem?"
"Since it's not something we can resolve immediately, there's no harm in making use of an unavoidable disaster. Come on, hurry up."
The Young Prince urged Lee Han.
Feeling awkward, Lee Han stretched out his arm and hung the painting on the basement wall. A bewildered voice echoed from inside his backpack.
"Wh-what... A painting...?"
"Ah. So you're the ghost. Pleasure to meet you. Would you mind if I borrowed this place for a while?"
The ghost's answer didn't really matter.
The Prince in the painting moved on his own. After assessing the spatial distortion in the basement, he seized control with his own power.
"Young disciple. Can you hear me?"
"Ah. Yes. I haven't closed it yet."
"You won't need to worry too much while I'm here."
Originally, this mage ghost's plan had been to create a space of infinite possibilities in the basement.
But when the plan failed and the space spiraled out of control, it ended up manifesting like this across the entire Empire.
The Spatial Labyrinth was currently beyond Lee Han's ability to resolve, but the phenomenon of being transported to the original basement within the labyrinth due to the ghost could still be utilized separately.
Though it was called the Curse of Uncontrollability, if one could just control it, wouldn't it essentially become a sort of subspace storage?
-There. Now you can visit whenever you wish, Disciple.
-But... then what about... the magic... When...?
Even in his deranged state, the ghost seemed to realize something was off.
They weren't going to solve the magic he'd asked for and were just planning to use his basement as storage?
-Be quiet.
The Young Prince folded the ghost away and locked him inside a basement crate.
Witnessing such ruthlessness, Lee Han was once again reminded of whose younger self he was dealing with.
After the knight disappeared, Bunarjo and the Einrogard students resumed their work elsewhere.
Once the work was roughly completed, Bunarjo praised them with genuine delight.
These Einrogard students were far more talented than he'd expected.
-Hmm. Not bad at all.
-Thank you.
-Priest. If you don't mind, how about selling this painting? Nobles will be visiting this weekend—I'd like to propose it to them then.
Seeing Bunarjo suggest this to Dijiling, Gainando's eyes sparkled as he eagerly asked,
-What about me? How's mine?
-Ah. Gainando, yours...
Gainando's heart raced.
His mind was already conjuring the scene of an imperial noble auctioneer announcing, 'The noble Prince Gainando's masterpiece, <My Magnificent Undead Summon Emerging from the Poison Marsh>, sold for 1,800 imperial gold coins!'
'If it sells, I'll spend a third on Wizard Cards, a third on snacks, and a third on a gift for Lee Han. The rest will go to gifts for friends.'
As Gainando was making these very Einrogard-style calculations, Bunarjo's voice cut in.
-...
I don't think it'll sell.
-WHAT!? WHY!?! HOW COME!??!
For the first time that day, Bunarjo wore an uncomfortable expression.
He didn't want to crush a young artist's budding spirit.
-Well, you see... The nobles who come to buy art tend to be conservative and old-fashioned...
Most of those who purchased works from Petrogard preferred conventionally good pieces.
While the Petrogard mages might exclaim, 'At last, they've glimpsed a new artistic frontier!' over wildly inventive works, ordinary people would react more like, 'You expect me to hang this in my mansion? I wouldn't even put it in the stables!'
-The Priest's painting here naturally appeals to the Prisinga Order, but even outsiders would feel a sense of reverence.
True to his priestly background, Dijiling's painting exuded solemnity and piety.
Of course, being an Einrogard student, the depictions of starving people bore a slight resemblance to his peers—but no one would ever notice.
-Isn't my painting cool too!?
-It's... cool, sure, but I doubt anyone would want to hang an evil-looking undead summon on their wall... Unless they were a Black Mage, and even then...
Lafadell, listening nearby, looked horrified.
-Even Black Mages wouldn't hang something like that. What do you take them for, lunatics?
Black Mages still drank warm black tea and appreciated beautiful paintings in their homes—it wasn't like they guzzled poison and blood.
Yoner cautiously suggested,
-What if you changed the title? Like... ...
-How could you say that!? You—you call yourself an artist!?
-I'm not an artist.
Yoner barely restrained herself from smacking her cousin, remembering they were from different schools.
The way he was acting like some grandmaster, despite having just picked up a brush today, was infuriating.
-Gainando. I understand how you feel.
Bunarjo gripped Gainando's shoulder consolingly.
-Even if the empire's fools fail to recognize you, don't waver. Alright—I'll recommend your painting to visitors here.
"B... Bunarjo!"
"It's nothing. I'm sure there's at least one person who'll recognize the value of this painting."
'Doubt it.' 'What kind of lunatic would buy that?' 'Professor Mortum probably wouldn't either.' The Einrogard students all had similar thoughts but kept them to themselves.
Meanwhile, from the opposite side, Lee Han, the professors, and the red-haired knight emerged.
Bunarjo startled and nearly fled, but the first-year Einrogard students gestured that it was fine.
"No, it's okay."
"What do you mean okay?! That's the knight who was rampaging earlier!"
"The professors are with him."
"Ah."
Bunarjo let out a sigh of relief. Seeing Professor Garcia standing behind the knight was genuinely reassuring.
"Truly dependable. Wasn't her name Professor Garcia Kim?"
"Huh? No, I meant the one next to her—Professor Bagrak. Professor Garcia couldn't even kill a bug."
"...Are you mocking me?!"
Amid the chatter, Lee Han's group arrived. The knight from the Garhi family, Ram, offered a straightforward apology.
"My apologies. I lost my composure and caused a disturbance."
"!"
The Einrogard students whispered among themselves, surprised by the knight's drastically changed demeanor.
"Did Professor Garcia throw punches too?"
"Maybe..."
They had expected Professor Voladi to subdue him, but for the knight's attitude to shift so drastically, they wondered if Professor Garcia had also stepped in.
"Hmph. Even so, to cause such a ruckus in the sacred grounds of the Magic Academy. And you call yourself a knight?"
Bunarjo wasn't about to let it slide. An outsider—a knight, no less—coming here to make trouble wasn't something a Petrogard student could overlook so easily. Meanwhile, the Einrogard students, who had grown somewhat closer, voiced their agreement.
"He's right. For a knight, not even a mage, to cause trouble here..."
"This knight came to request a portrait of the deceased, but the Petrogard mage broke their promise and fled, so he came looking for them."
Lee Han quickly explained before his friends could escalate things beyond repair. His friends immediately changed their tune.
"How could someone do that?"
"Bunarjo! I'm disappointed in you!"
"Professor Verdus might pull something like that... but are you saying you're on his level?!"
"N-no... Strictly speaking, he wasn't a Petrogard mage..."
Cornered, Bunarjo floundered for excuses. He hadn't expected the Great Artist to have such circumstances.
"...My apologies. I didn't know and acted rudely..."
"No, the fault is mine. To act out against the mages who must bear the Empire's future... Was the artwork damaged? If so, I'll compensate."
"It's fine! Perfectly intact! Would you like to take one?"
Ram smiled brightly.
"I'll pay the proper price once it's finished."
With that, the knight studied Gainando's painting once more.
"Even upon a second look, it's a striking piece."
"...Huh? Are you... interested? Seriously?"
Gainando was ready to sell it for even a single gold coin—the market value had plummeted by now.
"No, I'm fine. My servants would be terrified."
"...You could hang it in the stables..."
"They'd be scared of the words too."
"The front gate—"
"Stop it, you idiot."
Unable to bear it any longer, his friends dragged Gainando away. Lee Han briefly regretted not just insisting he was a Baldrogard student to the end.
"Still, it's a relief the knight seems to have calmed down. I had more questions for the Great Artist."
"...Huh?"
Lee Han froze at Bunarjo's words. Did he not know the Great Artist had fled yet?
Flustered, Lee Han whispered to Professor Garcia.
"Do you think he'll come back?"
"Ah, no... He probably left after getting all the inspiration he needed from you, Lee Han..."
Right, that was it!
Lee Han nodded in understanding. 'I must keep the reason for his disappearance an absolute secret.' He had no desire to end up on Petrogard students' list of hated mages alongside Professor Verdus.