Episode 1106
Episode 1106
"Eh? Isn't this the magic you mentioned?"
Lee Han grew even more bewildered by his senior's words.
It clearly felt like shadows were veiling him to prevent his future from being read—so why was the senior saying otherwise?
"It's... supposed to be a bit more subtle... and a weaker kind of magic..."
Golem Senior stammered as he tried to explain.
The original <Escape to the Shadow Fortress>, when cast as conventional magic, was a far quieter and calmer spell.
To put it metaphorically, it was like a lake—one would throw themselves into its depths to evade an enemy's foresight.
But the Music Magic his junior was casting now was violent and overflowing with power.
Like a storm, it seemed to violently coil around and scatter all the enemy's foresight spread across the surroundings.
While the end result—avoiding detection by piercing through the enemy's foresight—was the same...
Could these two really be called the same spell?
"Isn't the principle the same?"
"Well, technically, yes, but strictly speaking..."
"If there's no problem, I'll proceed as is. Honestly, Senior, isn't it already an unreasonable demand for me to perfectly replicate such a difficult spell? Even if it's a slightly degraded version, I'd be grateful just to be able to cast it at all."
"I told you, it's not degraded! Hey!"
Golem Senior tried to correct his junior's misconception, but Lee Han had already refocused on his performance.
Since the magic was still unfolding, he couldn't afford to get distracted for too long.
KWA-RRUNG!
Had another mage been present, they too would have heard the surging mana roaring like thunder, just as Golem Senior did.
A storm violently crashing against the shadow fortress concealing the caster's fate.
And the deafening noise that storm produced!
With the mana condensing like sharply jagged cliffs, the spell was completed. Lee Han exhaled deeply and lowered his instrument.
"How was it?"
"What do you mean, 'how was it'? I already told you."
Golem Senior replied curtly.
"Come on, I already said—even if it's a slightly degraded version..."
"It's NOT degraded!"
"Is that so? Then there's no issue with the spell as it is now, right?"
"Well, yes, but... aren't you even curious?"
Any mage would naturally be intrigued by such a phenomenon.
Especially a mage like his junior, who, despite only being a second-year, had already achieved tremendous magical feats.
Why was there such a stark difference between the Music Magic cast from sheet music and the original spell?
Could it be that Music Magic was the original form, and the current <Escape to the Shadow Fortress> was a simplified refinement based on it?
"Not really."
"...Don't lie."
"It's the truth. More importantly, if there's no issue with the spell, I have something to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."
"What are you going to do?"
"Break through the inspectors' surveillance and go meet His Highness Jowurin."
"Ah! Right. Go on, then!"
Golem Senior decided to investigate the magical mystery on his own.
After practically shoving his junior out the door, he began frantically scattering salt, holy water, and all sorts of reagents useful for warding off misfortune across the threshold.
And in his heart, he prayed to fate:
'Please, make it so that from now on, this junior goes to the professors instead.'
'Move before the magic's duration runs out.'
Lee Han acted immediately.
Under normal circumstances, he might have taken his time to verify things further.
He could have repeated the spell a few more times, recorded its range and duration, checked for variables...
But right now, he had no such luxury. If he tried recasting the spell and it failed, it would be disastrous...
Jowurin's patience definitely wouldn't hold out that long!
'Honestly, Jowurin's patience is on par with 0.8 Gainandos. And unlike Gainando, who was trained at Einrogard, Jowurin's is even worse.'
PAT
As he ran, he cast Invisibility Magic, and his figure vanished completely from the air.
After loading the two spells he deemed most essential into his Quick-Cast Magic, Lee Han took a deep breath.
The main building of Einrogard looked the same as usual, but the atmosphere surrounding it was thick with unease.
The magic that had accumulated over an unimaginably long period of time was already dizzying enough to behold, but now...
'There's unfamiliar magic flowing through the air.'
This was undoubtedly the dragon magic that Uman had cast.
A divination magic to catch students sneaking around at night!
-Tsk, tsk. He really tripled the patrols.
"!"
At the distant sound of familiar knights' voices, Lee Han lowered his stance.
Even though he was currently under both invisibility magic and shadow fortress magic, careless complacency would only bring ruin.
-Wasn't it you who kept insisting we should increase patrols? You kept complaining about students raiding the warehouses.
-That's right. But that was a fair contest between me and the students. A test of my knightly insight versus the mages' ingenious ideas—a battle to see which was superior. But now, without any of that, he's just thrown up a magical barrier over everything...
'What kind of insane nonsense are they spouting so seriously?'
Lee Han nearly burst out to argue. If this was a trap, it was an incredibly cunning and wicked one.
What kind of "fair contest" was this?
The students were risking their lives sneaking around at night because they were starving...!
But despite his indignation, the knights' conversation provided valuable information.
'So His Highness really did add new magic.'
If the knights had been patrolling fairly—or rather, just wandering around—then it seemed Uman had now blanketed the entire Main Building with surveillance magic.
Compared to the old method, which at least left some breathing room, this was on a whole different level of strictness.
'Not sure how effective the fortress magic is. Should I just push straight into the Main Building?'
Lee Han took out the book to check in with Jowurin.
He'd heard the location before, but it wouldn't hurt to confirm again.
Whoosh!
"...?!!!"
Lee Han was startled by the sudden burst of flames erupting from a distant ridge.
'What the—?'
The flames didn't just appear in one place. They erupted near the lakeside forest, the southern field of the Main Building, even near the main gate.
At first, Lee Han thought Evil God Worshippers, Anti-Magic Zealots, or Magic Criminals had attacked Einrogard.
Given how much they'd suffered before, it wouldn't be strange if they'd come for revenge.
But the culprits were nothing like he expected.
"You damn inspector!! Try inspecting this!!"
"Get lost back to the capital, inspector!! Einrogard belongs to the students!!"
From all directions, declarations amplified by magic rang out.
Students resting in the tower crowded to the lounge windows, clapping in unison.
"The spirit of Einrogard isn't dead yet!"
"That's right! Burn it all down!"
"......"
Lee Han was at a loss for words at the far more extreme reaction than he'd anticipated.
'So this is why the Skeleton Principal keeps them somewhat loose...!'
Einrogard students weren't the type to be suppressed just because you tightened the reins. If anything, they'd flare up and riot.
Strictly speaking, this temperament had been forged since their enrollment by the Skeleton Principal's torment, but that wasn't the point right now.
-I knew this would happen!
-This is why inspectors don't understand education! Always ordering this and that without a clue!
-To your positions! Contain the damage before it spreads!
The knights moved without much surprise.
After seeing the menus the new inspector had been forcing on them at every meal, they'd thought, 'Ah, the students are going to revolt soon.'
Starving students couldn't revolt, but force them to eat terrible food, and they'd riot without fail.
'...'
Well, this works out. Surveillance around the Main Building should ease up.'
Lee Han flipped open the book. With flames erupting everywhere, even the Watcher Club was in an uproar.
Iactus: Hahaha!! How does that taste?!
Beaver
-Penguin
-Fox: 'Did you do this? I don't say this easily, but I truly admire you.'
-Iactus: 'Hmph. The rebels will only grow in number. Let's see them try to stop all the sabotage happening everywhere.'
-Beaver
-Penguin
-Fox: 'But how do you plan to handle the search later?'
-Iactus: 'There's always a way. Just remember three words: "Memory Confusion Potion."'
'What?!' Lee Han was inwardly shocked.
He knew Iactus was an extreme member, but to think he was the mastermind behind this chaos! 'He's much crazier than I thought. I should stay far away from this.'
Of course, in the current situation, it wasn't exactly the right time for someone who was sneaking into the main building alone while casting spells to say such things.
But Lee Han shamelessly justified himself. 'Compared to that senior, I'm practically a model rule-follower. Honestly, this level of infiltration should be considered cute in comparison.'
-Jowurin: "Lee Han!!!"
-Gonadaltes: "Ah, yes, Your Highness. Are you still on the 5th floor?"
-Jowurin: "Did Lee Han set the fires outside?!?! Because of Jowurin?!"
"......"
Currently, only Jowurin and Uman were staying in the 5th-floor Visitor Lodging village.
In truth, Uman had been running around the Einrogard territory nonstop, lecturing everyone (thanks to which, 17 holes in the walls and 53 leaks were immediately repaired), so effectively, Jowurin was the only one actually staying in the village.
And the only person who could entertain this unfortunate princess was an equally unfortunate archmage.
"Checkmate! Jowurin wins!!"
"Your Highness, just so you know, the queen doesn't teleport—she moves in straight and diagonal lines."
"She does?"
Grumbling, Jowurin reset the pieces.
Unlike chess with a Gold Dragon piece that could move freely in any direction and even use breath attacks, regular chess was still difficult for her.
"But why did you suddenly suggest playing regular chess?"
"Well... um..."
Jowurin hesitated before finally speaking.
"That... um... student said something like, 'Using special pieces is proof that you're still inexperienced'... Jowurin doesn't really agree, but..."
As she spoke, she kept glancing at the Skeleton Principal, silently urging him to agree.
"Actually, it is a sign of inexperience. I'm glad you're growing."
"...That's what it meant?!?!?!"
Jowurin was stunned.
Then why had no one told her?!
"J-Jowurin thought this was all a symbol of her majesty and virtue... Wait, that's what Gonadaltes told Jowurin, wasn't it?"
Her eyes sharpened dangerously.
Had Gonadaltes been deceiving her all along?
"Your Highness! Look over there! A wildfire!"
"If Gonadaltes really lied to Jowurin, I'll never forgive—W-wait, it really is a wildfire!"
"Your Highness, why would I ever lie to you? This mage is deeply saddened."
"S-sorry. Jowurin shouldn't have doubted Gonadaltes..."
Jowurin reflected deeply.
Suspecting the innocent Gonadaltes out of emotion was shameful behavior for a dragon.
A knight standing guard nearby thought to himself, 'This is how they end up twisted later, isn't it?' Young dragons who once followed their masters adoringly would later bare their fangs upon maturing—wasn't the master partly to blame?
"B-but shouldn't we do something about the fire?"
"Eh, Uman will handle it. And don't worry—it's probably the students who started it."
"Lee Han?!"
The knight on guard thought again, 'Why does the heir come to mind first?' There were plenty of students who could've started fires. This was an unfair accusation.
The Skeleton Principal nodded upon hearing the false accusation against his student.
"Most likely."
"That's not—!"
The knight blurted out without thinking.