Episode 1046
Episode 1046
Lee Han, who had been laughing heartily, belatedly recalled the sinister scheme Jowurin was plotting.
A wicked plan to thoroughly restrain a mage.
Come to think of it, the target of that plan might not have been the Skeleton Principal but Eandurde.
"Right. Eandurde. There's something you should know before meeting Jowurin."
Lee Han carefully explained what he'd heard with a cautious demeanor.
Upon hearing the explanation, Eandurde made an expression Lee Han had never seen before.
It was an expression as if she didn't know where or how to even begin speaking.
"Th-thank... you for telling me..."
"If it bothers you, should I go alone? Even if Jowurin invited us, wasting our vacation would be troublesome."
Eandurde shook her head again.
Her demeanor radiated strong trust in her friend. 'Eandurde is better than me.' Lee Han felt his eyes inexplicably stinging.
Who would've thought Eandurde—who'd been worried about making friends—would show such a reaction.
"Do you need help choosing a gift?"
"I think... I'll be alright."
Eandurde stared straight at Lee Han as she spoke.
Nodding at the firm confidence in her attitude, Lee Han replied,
"As expected. You've already thought of a gift in advance?"
"Yes..."
Clank!
Lee Han blinked at the manacle now clamped around his wrist.
He was freshly reminded that when something was too absurd, words failed to come out.
Jowurin's scheme had succeeded!
Regardless, Jowurin stood proudly in the center of the cave, pounding the ground with her front claws and shouting triumphantly.
"......"
Who could've imagined that visiting Jowurin's mansion would result in such an ambush.
Even if magic criminals or Anti-Magic Zealots had raided Einrogard, he doubted he'd have been this shocked.
"...Wait... I was the target?!"
Only then realizing, Lee Han shouted in a voice filled with horror. Beside him, Eandurde cautiously nodded.
Looking back, there had been signs from the very invitation.
Eandurde, you must visit during vacation! I'll invite Lee Han too, then lock him up in the mansion so we can keep playing together!
—Jowurin
"Why didn't you tell me?!"
"...You told me to choose my friends..."
'Ah.'
Seeing his junior stammering in excuse, Lee Han had no choice but to accept it.
I was the one who told her to do that!
"Who knew this would be the result of friendship?"
Even upon reflection, it was absurd.
After arriving at the mansion, passing through the main gate, then opening the mansion's unique door—the moment he stepped into the vast cavernous interior...
Jowurin, who had been crouching in the darkness, instantly sprang out and clamped the manacle around Lee Han's wrist. It was an unbelievable speed for a Dragon's size.
'Truly the Dragon race!'
Even in this situation, Lee Han found himself newly impressed by the sheer power of the Dragon race as he examined the manacle.
If he overloaded it by pouring an insane amount of mana into it and then made it explode...
"!"
Surprisingly, this ordinary-looking manacle perfectly dispersed the mana. Pure mana shockwaves couldn't damage it at all.
"How?!"
I had help from my sibling! Other Dragons assisted in making it!
"......"
Lee Han recalled the advice he'd given to Jowurin's sibling, Uman, and was overcome with self-loathing.
Have you prepared defenses against pure mana shockwaves? Normally, no one does, but very rarely, there are mages who...
Even if he'd tried to dig his own grave on purpose, he couldn't have done it this perfectly.
Seizing the moment while his contractor was wallowing in self-loathing, Jowurin quickly crawled over and snatched his sword. She then tried to take his staff too, but this time Lee Han snapped out of it and blocked her.
"Tsk. Your Highness."
You can keep the staff here for now.
Thinking that Jowurin seemed to have grown even more shameless since he last saw her, Lee Han spoke firmly.
"Release these handcuffs, Your Highness."
"Your Highness?"
Jowurin pretended not to hear again.
She had resolved to ignore anything that put her at a disadvantage.
'No, why has she become so much like Einrogard? Could it be because of her visit to Einrogard?'
Lee Han decided to leave Jowurin, who was acting like a bratty seven-year-old, for the moment and focused on removing the shackles.
It seemed better to break the chains first rather than try to undo the handcuffs made by a dragon.
'...Did a dragon really make these? They look like they're made of feathers or something.'
As Lee Han cast a detection spell and scattered his mana to examine the handcuffs and chains, he was surprised anew.
Despite wearing them, the handcuffs and chains were so light and smooth that he couldn't even feel their weight. Yet, when he tried to channel his mana into them, they repelled the intrusion like a sturdy fortress wall.
They didn't seem to be made of any special metal, yet they were such a powerful and bizarre artifact.
He wondered if Word Magic had been used. For a dragon, that was entirely possible.
'Wait. Now's not the time to be impressed.'
This wasn't the moment to marvel at a dragon's magical prowess. He needed to break the chains connected to the handcuffs first.
Lee Han strengthened his detection spell and expanded its range.
No matter how perfect an artifact was, once created, it was bound to have points of decay and weakness.
He planned to bombard the weakest spot with spells until it gave way.
Even if they were fortified against internal mana shocks, they couldn't possibly be invincible against all external attacks.
'Given that she took my sword earlier, it's highly likely they have limitations against physical attacks.'
As Lee Han's mana stirred, Jowurin quickly crawled up the chain.
She positioned herself to block any attempts to attack the chain with her own body. Lee Han was speechless at the absurdity.
"...Your Highness. Move aside."
Jowurin pretended not to hear, covering her head with her wings. Eandurde, though her friend, was too embarrassed to even lift her head.
-Isn't this going too far?
The Baby Basilisk spoke up, looking at Jowurin. In response, Jowurin pouted and retorted.
You're supposed to be my friend!
-W-Well... I am, but that doesn't mean...!
After all, I even prepared gifts!
Jowurin flicked her tail toward the cave wall. Lined up on the shelves were various monster meats, frozen with ice magic and neatly packaged—prepared as a gift for when she reunited with the Baby Basilisk.
Seeing the gifts, the Baby Basilisk floundered, unsure how to react. Lee Han sighed.
If you were going to be swayed by food, you shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place!
"Your Highness. Even if you hadn't tricked me like this, I would've stayed at the mansion anyway."
Really?
Jowurin's ears perked up. The fact that her hearing only returned when it was to her advantage confirmed that her visit to Einrogard had definitely left its mark.
"Yes."
How long? 100?
"...100 hours, you mean? That much is..."
Jowurin had meant 100 years.
"......"
"......"
The sheer audacity left Lee Han, Eandurde, and even the Baby Basilisk utterly speechless.
At the very least, they'd expected her to say 100 days...
"...Isn't this too much?"
Eandurde whispered, and Jowurin fidgeted.
Negotiations are supposed to go like this...
-It seems a bit unfair, though.
Why are you saying that when you're on my side?!
-Hic... Fine, I get it...
The Baby Basilisk, not as strong-willed as Eandurde, lowered its tail in defeat.
Meanwhile, Lee Han moved around, testing the limits of the chains.
'Is it just that I can't leave the mansion?'
The chains lengthened as Lee Han moved, but the moment he approached the mansion's door, they stopped extending any further.
Jowurin trailed after him, worried he might secretly break the chains.
"But Lee Han. That bundle you brought... is it perhaps a gift?"
Lee Han didn't answer, instead checking the windows. It seemed escaping through them wouldn't be easy either...!!!
Jowurin's eyes widened in shock at being ignored. She hadn't imagined she'd actually be disregarded like this.
'Hmm. Should I break the chains while Jowurin is asleep? But she seems sensitive enough to wake up immediately.'
Lee Han pondered how much stamina Jowurin actually had.
Back at Einrogard's dormitory, she had slept a lot, but that was just her normal routine.
If she decided not to sleep at all, she could probably outlast Lee Han easily. After all, her species was Dragon, wasn't it?
'Perhaps persuasion is better than forcing it.'
Jowurin sniffled and called for her contractor. Lee Han sighed and responded.
"Your Highness. No matter what, you can't just act this arbitrarily."
But this was what he had learned at Einrogard.
"......"
Lee Han internally cursed the Skeleton Principal.
Pushing mages to seize what they wanted through their own power had probably twisted Jowurin's mindset too!
"That's a misunderstanding of your education. Einrogard's true teachings are harmony, cooperation, and camaraderie."
"?"
Eandurde gave the senior a look as if to say, 'What nonsense is this?'
Though she had only attended for a semester, she hadn't seen even a trace of those three values.
"It's the unyielding spirit that clings to those values even in the harshest conditions—that is Einrogard's true teaching."
-Is that really true?
It doesn't seem like it...
Even the Baby Basilisk and Jowurin looked skeptical. After visiting Einrogard, they had grown sharper, making them harder to fool than usual.
"If you don't believe me, ask the Headmaster. He'll agree immediately."
The Skeleton Principal would probably stop Jowurin from practicing Einrogard's teachings too—if he wanted to live, that is.
Confident in this, Lee Han spoke boldly.
"Now, Your Highness, trust your contractor and release me. This is the same contractor who will accompany you to the Court of Dragons if you ever smash a castle later."
...Jowurin would never do such a thing!
Jowurin grumbled at the absurd slander.
Why would she ever do something like that?
Then, Lee Han. How long will you stay?
"Ah, right. Your Highness. I brought a gift."
Lee Han swiftly changed the subject when the conversation turned unfavorable.
This was just a hunch, but if he said anything less than a hundred years, Jowurin would probably stubbornly refuse to release him.
At the mention of a gift, Jowurin's attention shifted. Lee Han jangled the chains and pulled out a toy.
"...Uh... that... is that really okay???"
Eandurde asked in bewilderment.
What Lee Han had taken out was a very large, bone-shaped toy—like a dog chew toy, but massively scaled up.
"These shackles? They're fine. Much lighter than you'd think."
"...No, no. That's not what I meant..."
While Eandurde was still flustered, Lee Han activated the magic in the dog bone—no, dragon bone.
This toy, which he had admired at an auction, was something even its creator, the Enchantment Mage Gashupa, thought would never sell.
Originally made to train wyverns, it turned out wyverns had zero interest in it.
Wyverns, being wild and temperamental, preferred more destructive and blood-soaked rewards.
But Lee Han had seen a different value in this toy.
-Did you make this? It's a truly excellent item!
-R-Really? I thought it was a failure...
-Not at all! This is a masterpiece. I'll buy everything you have!
When the Einrogard student praised it so highly before leaving, Gashupa was stunned.
An Einrogard mage had actually complimented his work like that?
Could there be some hidden value in his creation that he hadn't realized?
"Here, Your Highness. Go fetch!"
Whoosh!
As Lee Han threw the bone, Jowurin excitedly chased after it. Watching this, Eandurde and the Baby Basilisk wore deeply complicated expressions...
Is this really okay?!