Episode 1076
Episode 1076
'These Rude People'
No matter how impossible it was to contact him, why torment Alsicle like this?
"So what did you do?"
Alsicle was already certain that Lee Han had done something under the name of Stedal Nago.
"I might not have done anything, you know."
"As if that's possible."
Firm conviction.
Of course, considering the timeline, Lee Han hadn't had much free time lately.
During the break, he had been either hunting monsters from the void beyond dimensions, visiting other magic schools to solve problems, getting kidnapped by an evil dragon, or exterminating Evil God Worshippers.
'Wait. Now that I think about it, why is this guy doing all this during his break?'
Alsicle suddenly fell into a fundamental question.
Shouldn't a student be enjoying a fresher, more carefree vacation?
Of course, being an Einrogard student meant there were limits, but even considering that, Wardanaz's vacation was far too packed with professors.
"Actually, I did do something."
Lee Han gave up and confessed.
"When? What did you do?"
"Last night, I went around under the identity of Stedal Nago."
"...What?! When?!"
Alsicle was shocked.
He had suspected Lee Han had done something recently, but he never imagined it was just last night.
Weren't you supposed to be modifying a small sailing ship on the second floor?!
"I just took it out briefly for a test... But didn't Professor Verdus feel something was off when we all disappeared?"
"Would he have noticed?"
'Well, that makes sense.'
While Lee Han and his group were working on the second floor and even flying through the air, Professor Verdus had been completely absorbed in what he considered the most fascinating project in the world.
Even when told the other mages had left, he had just said, "Oh? Then I should finish this and head back."
Of course, the knights were more level-headed. They immediately grabbed Verdus by the scruff of his neck, threw him into a carriage, and sent him off to Einrogard.
"More importantly, you're saying it's a shame Professor Verdus had to leave?"
"Huh?!"
Lee Han was startled by Alsicle's words.
Had some kind of magical contamination occurred?
"But if Professor Verdus were still here, Voladi Bagrak would attack him first instead of me."
"Indeed."
Lee Han was impressed.
The title of genius mage wasn't just for show.
To come up with such a calculation in such a short time?
"So while flying the airship, people swarmed you, and you introduced yourself as Stedal Nago?"
"Yes. Don't you think they were a bit excessive?"
"If I heard there was a mage who stole Professor Verdus's belongings, I'd be curious enough to go look for them too..."
"......"
Alsicle was dead serious.
Between a mage who had perfected the magic of the Eternal Snow and one who had stolen Professor Verdus's belongings, he'd want to meet the latter first.
"Replying to all of them is impossible, but you can't just ignore everything either. How about accepting one or two decent invitations out of these?"
"I was planning to ignore all of them."
At Lee Han's answer, Alsicle shook his head and explained.
"If you plan to keep using this half-hearted alias in the future, ignoring all invitations won't do you any good. It'll just make you seem suspicious."
"Half-hearted alias?"
The protest was lightly dismissed as Alsicle continued.
"And when inviting a mage who's accomplished great feats, people always prepare proposals and gifts worthy of them. Even if you reject the proposals, wouldn't you be tempted by the gifts?"
It was a bit embarrassing to call stealing a professor's treasure a "great feat," but Alsicle's words made sense.
Just attending an event would earn him gifts.
'That does align with my tendencies.'
"One last thing."
"What is it?"
"Please tell them we're not that close..."
Alsicle's voice was pitiful, as he had nearly been buried alive by letters overnight.
Lee Han had no choice but to nod.
"Diret. Are you sure about this?"
Coholti asked cautiously.
Unlike the Einrogard Black Magic School students present, Coholti was a graduate.
"Come to think of it, I'm oddly more worried about a friend from the same year."
"About what?"
"Well, I was just wondering if it's okay to keep looking after the juniors here and not meet up with that friend."
The moment he finished speaking, the Black Magic juniors immediately protested.
"What's wrong with us that you'd say something like that?!"
"Now that I think about it, you're not even our senior anymore, are you? Mr. Coholti. Why are you even here? Go back to wherever you work!"
'These ungrateful brats.'
Coholti seethed inwardly.
To be fair, even during his time as a student, Coholti hadn't exactly been the most dependable senior.
Still, he had helped the juniors as Diret instructed, and this was how they repaid his kindness?
"Who's this friend?"
Diret looked puzzled, unable to guess who Coholti was referring to.
"Are you talking about the Princess?"
"It must be Senior Yukveltire."
The juniors blurted out the answer immediately, and when Coholti nodded, Diret responded in shock.
"Why would she come up in this conversation?!"
"Huh? But... aren't you two super close...? Oh, wait, no?"
The Black Magic students hesitated.
"We're not super close... ugh... not even close... Well, okay, we are close, but it's not like I've been wanting to meet her until the break or anything! In fact, I feel relieved not seeing her!"
"But you take really good care of her, don't you?"
"Well, Senior is just naturally kind-hearted. Last time, he even made a contract with that ugly undead out of pity."
As the juniors whispered among themselves, Diret snapped.
"He's not ugly. Keep it down."
"Sorry..."
"And Yukveltire must be busy with her own work. Got it? I'm perfectly fine not seeing her, so stop with the ominous talk. I have zero complaints about spending time with the juniors."
At Diret's words, the juniors all turned on Coholti.
"Exactly! Seni—no, Mr. Coholti, why would you say something like that?!"
"Senior Diret has no complaints about making time for us. Stop trying to stir up trouble."
Faced with their merciless attitude, Coholti made a firm decision.
Even if these juniors came to his workplace later, he would never acknowledge them.
'Just you wait, you little brats.'
Still, seeing Coholti getting attacked too harshly even for a friend, Diret deliberately changed the subject.
"Coholti. Why don't you tell us about where you work? The juniors might learn something useful."
"Hmph. Just go to fifth year already."
"......"
"......"
The atmosphere instantly turned icy. Coholti immediately realized his mistake.
It was the worst possible thing to say—something that angered not just the juniors but even Diret.
"...I messed up. I'm sorry."
In the end, Coholti had to treat the Black Magic students to generous servings of peach-and-plum mixed ice cream.
Even as they licked the ice cream off their waffles, the students didn't stop glaring at him.
"I said I was sorry..."
"Hmph."
"Work's been tough lately."
Coholti finally opened up about his recent job.
Even if the Black Magic department wasn't popular, a graduate from Einrogard still received offers. Naturally, Coholti had several options.
A mage for the Imperial Army in the polluted northern regions, a research mage at the Black Magic Spire, a guest mage for the knight order formed to track down magic criminals, a Black Mage overseeing and managing local graveyard keepers...
And among these, Coholti had chosen to become an overseer for the Wasteland Star-Catchers in the west.
The Wasteland Star-Catchers, renowned hunters and patrolmen, also kept watch for demons and magic criminals—which was why they needed skilled Black Mages.
"Now that I think about it, Senior Coholti, why did you join the Wasteland Star-Catchers?"
"Huh? Because the pay was the best."
'Shouldn't have asked.'
The juniors collectively regretted their question.
It was honestly impressive how someone in the same year as Senior Diret could inspire zero respect.
Should they just drop the "senior" and go back to calling him "Mr."?
"Anyway, working for the Wasteland Star-Catchers turned out to be tougher than I expected."
"Ah. The travel distances must've been..."
The western wilderness was among the Empire's most vast territories. For the Star-Catchers, spending three sleepless nights patrolling the land was routine.
"No. That wasn't the hard part. Honestly, it was easier on my body than Einrogard days."
"Really? That's odd. Did they go easy on you because you're a mage?"
"......"
Diret fell silent internally.
It pained him to see how warped his juniors' perceptions were.
It wasn't that the Star-Catchers went easy—it was just that life at Einrogard was that brutal...!
"Then what was difficult? Were the enemies too strong?"
"Nah. Never even encountered strong foes. Powerful demons or Magic Criminals don't appear that often anyway. The real headache was the people."
"People? But you just said Magic Criminals rarely showed up."
"Not Magic Criminals—ordinary people."
Truthfully, a patrol's priority wasn't chasing down crimes after they happened but preventing them beforehand.
If someone obtained a cursed Black Magic artifact, you had to intercept them before they caused trouble. If someone poisoned themselves brewing faulty potions, you had to administer the antidote...
And through this, Coholti realized Imperial citizens were far less cooperative than he'd imagined.
-You must discard that amulet!
-What nonsense! Do you have any idea what I paid for this?
-That mirror is cursed! Let me inside to dispel it!
-You think I'd let some outsider waltz into my estate? Don't even dream of it!
"...Even when warned of danger, they refused to listen."
"Yikes."
"If they don't understand magic, what can you do? Try persuading them like we learned at Einrogard."
'Did we ever learn that?' Some exchanged puzzled glances.
They couldn't recall any persuasion training...
Coholti's expression darkened further at his juniors' suggestion.
"Like we learned at Einrogard? I tried... but it... backfired spectacularly."
"Backfired?"
"I tried sneaking in to destroy it secretly, but got caught."
The Black Magic students couldn't hide their dismay.
"What a waste! Getting caught like that!"
"If only you hadn't been spotted...!"
"Right? That's what I thought too."
Diret suppressed another sigh.
He wanted to explain that the issue wasn't getting caught—it was the attempted sabotage itself—but knew it'd be pointless.
"So you got fired? Are you... reapplying to Einrogard?"
"Don't even joke about something that horrific."
Coholti glared sternly before locking eyes with Diret.
"...Ah, no—I didn't mean fifth year is horrific—"
"Just keep talking."
"That's why I came to the capital. To apologize."
Diret and the juniors had visited the capital during break for commissions, research, and visits.
They'd heard Coholti was also in town and arranged this meeting...
"The owner of what you broke—are they capital nobility?"
"Technically the family patriarch. Count Jau. Famous for his generosity."
Arriving at the Count's estate, Coholti gave the prepared gift a little shake.
He'd explain his role as a Star-Catcher mage and present this. Surely the magnanimous Count would personally resolve things.
"Isn't that... overly optimistic? Can we really count on His Lordship to fix everything?"
"I told you—he's renowned for generosity. Just watch."
Diret felt uneasy.
While the Count's reputation wasn't unfounded, generosity didn't guarantee blanket forgiveness.
The juniors seemed to share his doubts, whispering:
"Senior Diret... should we ditch 'Mr. Coholti' and act separately?"
"...Let's not go that far..."
As they whispered, an unfamiliar carriage halted before them.
A rough, sinister-looking man leaped out. Diret stepped aside, assuming he was the Count's guest—
Until the stranger whispered in a familiar voice:
"Senior Diret. It's me."
"...?!!"