Episode 1043
Episode 1043
"You Mean Hell???"
"What? No!"
Lee Han was greatly flustered by his junior's question.
Why on earth was 'hell' suddenly being brought up?
"What do you mean by hell?"
"You said the Senior left something behind there..."
Alhidel demonstrated reasoning befitting the top student of the tower.
1. Senior Wardanaz is an incredibly remarkable person.
2. His relative, Alsicle, is also quite remarkable.
3. But if even Senior Wardanaz was shocked enough to say he'd left something behind...
4. It must be the Hell Dimension!
'Is this kid really the top student?'
Lee Han began to slightly doubt the abilities of his fellow tower juniors.
"If not the Hell Dimension, then is it the Frost Spirit's realm or the Frost Giants' dimension?"
"No... I meant we left it at Petrogard. The other magic academy."
"..."
"Is that really something to be so surprised about?"
Alhidel tilted his head in confusion.
Alsicle wasn't some five-year-old child, and it wasn't like he'd been left behind in the Hell Dimension—just another magic academy. There was no need for such shock.
"Well, that's true. But... it's still disappointing."
"It's fine. I'm sure he'll understand."
Alhidel trusted his fellow family mage.
Surely, like himself, Alsicle wouldn't hold onto petty emotions or grudges on the grand path of magic!
"VOLADI BAGRAK!!!"
Once he realized the truth, Alsicle roared.
Several Petrogard students were deeply impressed by his adorable roar. They were so charmed that they wished he'd stay longer as their model.
"You mean they really left without me?!"
"I-I'm sorry."
Dalser, the mage acting as Petrogard's professor, apologized.
Technically, it wasn't Dalser's fault that the Einrogard students had left in a hurry...
But Alsicle looked so furious that it didn't matter.
"No. Sniff. It's not your fault."
Alsicle seethed with frustration.
Honestly, he could understand the other Einrogard students.
Lee Han and Professor Garcia were probably preoccupied with dealing with the Skeleton Principal's former disciple, so it made sense they might forget.
But Professor Voladi was a different story.
As a combat mage, there was no way he wouldn't have noticed such an obvious change.
He 100% knew and chose not to say anything!
'That despicable, underhanded...'
Alsicle felt genuinely wronged.
Was it really such a great crime to take his disciple along on a dangerous dimension monster hunt?...
Come to think of it, it kind of was.
Alsicle let out a deep sigh.
"Sigh. Getting angry will only hurt me. I should get going now."
"You're leaving already?"
The Petrogard students, who had grown fond of him, were visibly disappointed.
Even if not as a model, this Pengerin family mage was an outstanding senior with exceptional abilities.
Especially when it came to frost and ice-related magic—his knowledge was unmatched even within Petrogard.
"I have to go. It was fun, everyone."
"U-Um, by any chance..."
"What? If you have questions about magic, ask quickly."
"Could you... maybe... pluck out just one feather for us?"
"..."
"If you don't all take five steps back immediately, I'm freezing every last one of you."
"Hmm. Now that I think about it, Lord Alsicle is surprisingly lenient."
Though not as much as Alhidel, Lee Han also quickly recovered from the shock.
It wasn't like the Skeleton Principal had abandoned him—just Petrogard. Alsicle wouldn't get that angry over it.
"You might be right. By the way, where's Eandurde?"
Lee Han wasn't just looking for his junior because of the vacation.
There was also the matter of Jowurin.
—Oh! By the way, do you have any recommendations for restraining mages? My older sister actually asked me for help with that!
Uman, Jowurin's younger brother, had once asked Lee Han for advice on how to tightly bind a mage.
"At the time, I thought it was the Skeleton Principal, but as time passed, I realized it might not be him."
'Come to think of it, they might be targeting Eandurde.'
Capturing the Skeleton Principal by force was a bit far-fetched, even for Jowurin.
In comparison, Eandurde made more sense.
She was Jowurin's friend and a suitable target to be tightly bound...
If that were the case, he needed to find and warn her first. If Eandurde let her guard down, she might end up spending the entire vacation trapped inside Jowurin's cave.
"Are you asking about Eandurde? She got off the carriage as soon as we arrived in the capital."
"Ah. That makes sense."
She had been coerced into coming along, so there was no way she'd leisurely follow them to an auction house.
"Though she did ask me a few things before leaving. It seemed like she was looking for a gift for a friend."
"Exactly! I knew from the moment I first saw you, Alhidel, that you were sharp."
Alhidel flushed at the senior's flattery.
It seemed Eandurde had received an invitation from a friend and planned to bring a gift before visiting.
And to buy a gift, she'd need gold coins, so she must have gone to the Underground Arena...
"EANDURDE!!!"
Lee Han shouted his junior's name aloud for the first time. Alhidel looked puzzled.
"But Eandurde isn't here?"
"Forget it. Anyway, she said she was going to the Underground Arena? I should go see Professor Bagrak."
As the senior of their faction, Lee Han had to go find his junior alongside their faction's professor. He sprinted toward where the two professors were waiting.
"Alhidel. You come too. Since we're meeting anyway, take some gifts."
Since they were juniors from the same tower, Lee Han wanted to pick out a few useful things from his gift stash for him.
"But I have something I need to buy."
"What is it?"
"Bagni's Red Diamond. I wanted to study the magic imbued inside—"
"...Some nouveau riche already bought that earlier. Let's go! Follow me!"
After dumping out his pile of gifts, Lee Han explained the situation to Professor Voladi.
Professor Voladi barely blinked at the mountain of gifts and answered immediately.
"Follow me."
"What about you?"
When Lee Han asked if Professor Garcia would be joining them, Professor Voladi shook his head.
"It's too dangerous."
For a mage untrained in magical combat, the narrow, winding back alleys of the capital's slums—perfect for ambushes—were not a good place to be.
Enemies could suddenly leap out from behind walls you thought were blocked.
"Right, the professor could get hurt—"
"The surroundings could get destroyed."
'Ah. It was the opposite.'
Lee Han realized he'd misunderstood. He'd judged the ambush part correctly, but the aftermath was different.
A mage of Professor Garcia's caliber could still cast spells even if ambushed. The problem was controlling the destructive power of those spells.
Unless they wanted to obliterate the entire slums on the outskirts of the capital, it was better to leave Professor Garcia behind.
"...Huh? Then what about me—"
"?"
"Never mind."
Lee Han had been about to ask, "Then am I not in danger?" but decided to drop it.
In Professor Voladi's mind, the top senior mage student of their faction was more than capable of keeping up!
'And if last year's level was anything to go by, it might be worth a shot.'
Lee Han recited an incantation, cast Enhancement Magic on himself, stored the remaining spells, and then took out the necessary reagents from his pouch, transferring them separately.
It was preparation in case a fight broke out—so he could unleash five or six spells at once.
Last year, Lee Han had come to these slums on the outskirts of the capital with the Skeleton Principal to scout Eandurde for Einrogard.
In those gloomy alleys where a person could disappear without anyone noticing, mercenaries wielding daggers and clubs would leap out after just a few steps.
'Back then, some of them recognized the Headmaster's face and backed off, but this time...?'
Stepping onto the filthy streets of the slums, Lee Han glanced at Professor Voladi's back and wondered.
"Will the mercenaries or crime syndicate members here recognize Professor Voladi just like they did with the Skeleton Principal?"
-"We've got visitors."
-"You idiot! Do you know who that is?!"
Someone tried to dart out from the alley between the half-dried plaster buildings but was yanked back by another.
Lee Han nodded. 'They recognize him.'
-"That's the guy who came with the Magic Tower last year! Does he plan to kill us all?!"
"......"
Lee Han was shocked.
They recognized him, not Professor Voladi?
"That's absurd!"
"?"
Professor Voladi, who was walking ahead, turned to look at Lee Han with a puzzled expression.
"...It's nothing. More importantly, do you think these guys will recognize you, Professor?"
"Hard to say."
The turnover in this slum was rapid. Though they called themselves guilds, most were just gatherings of fugitive mercenaries and criminals, unlike the Empire's officially licensed guilds.
So it wouldn't be strange if no one recognized Professor Voladi. 'I see. So I was just unlucky.' Lee Han let out a sigh of relief.
The one who recognized him earlier must have been involved in an incident less than a year ago...
-"Aaaah! It's that crazy hunter!!"
-"The Butcher is here! The Butcher has appeared! You morons! Move!"
-"All the bounty targets, scatter!"
Shouts echoed from every corner of the alley, followed by the clamor of frantic footsteps.
The rickety wooden building on the left side of the street suddenly collapsed with a crash.
It was a hidden tavern where bounty targets gathered, and upon hearing the commotion, they all tried to flee through the back door, only for the dilapidated building to collapse.
Lee Han used Psychokinesis to block the debris and keep the exit clear. The criminal mercenaries scrambling out expressed their gratitude.
"Th-thank y—"
Thud!
Before they could finish their thanks, they collapsed. Professor Voladi had made his move.
The professor took out a scrap of paper, wrote that the bounties should be sent to Einrogard, and tossed it onto the fallen men.
The scrap then split in two, with one piece transforming into a Paper Bird and flying toward the capital's guards.
"Good baiting."
The professor praised his student. Lee Han felt slightly wronged.
He hadn't intended to bait them at all!
It was a bit unfair, imagining the captured mercenaries muttering, 'Grr, that mage was in cahoots with Professor Bagrak after all.' 'I really was trying to save them...' Grumbling inwardly, Lee Han noticed people hiding behind round fish barrels in the stinking alley next to them, watching.
-"Isn't that the mage who came with the Magic Tower last time?"
-"Right! And this time, he's with the hunter!"
"......"
"This way."
While Lee Han worried about how far the rumors would spread, Professor Voladi found the entrance to the Underground Arena.
Every city in the Empire had its shadowy corners, and entering required meeting certain conditions—knowing the entrance, having a guild introduction, and so on.
The entrance to the Underground Arena Professor Voladi was about to enter appeared to be a shabby leather goods shop.
But beyond it lay a magically concealed passage to the Underground Arena.
"Aaah!"
As Professor Voladi entered, the merchant tanning some unidentified monster hide screamed.
"Why?! Why are you here?! Why are you back again?!"
"For the passage."
"What? Passage? Oh, the arena? ...You insane mage! After the stunt you pulled last time, you think it's still running? It went under ages ago!"
The leather merchant, belatedly realizing what was happening, spat out an angry retort.
Professor Voladi turned to Lee Han and said,
"Let's head to the next arena."
"......"