Episode 1146
Episode 1146
"There must have been some circumstances with Senior Anpagon last year."
"What could be more important than participating in something like this?"
"Maybe his arm was cut off, or his leg was cut off, or his head was cut off. That's not important right now."
Growing annoyed, Lee Han began carelessly spouting nonsense without even trying to sound sincere. Naturally, Yukveltire was flabbergasted by this remark.
"If his head had been cut off, there's no way I wouldn't have known—"
"Senior. I'll take up the challenge of realizing the dream you couldn't achieve. Please help me."
The current magical architectural design was practically blank, and to properly complete it, they needed help from at least either Professor Verdus or Yukveltire.
Even for someone like Lee Han, attempting to design this entirely alone from start to finish would be far too reckless.
Moreover, since Yukveltire had attempted such a request before, she was an even better candidate for assistance.
Of course, Yukveltire wasn't fooled by Lee Han's words.
"If it's a dream I couldn't achieve, then I should be the one to challenge it. I don't see what business the Wardanaz family's junior has taking up my challenge."
'Tsk.'
Lee Han clicked his tongue inwardly.
If it had been a senior from another school, they would have gone along with the flow!
No wonder no other seniors were gathering here. Her lack of popularity was truly on another level.
"If you help me, I'll engrave your name on it and prioritize that request you mentioned last time."
"Then I shall help."
Yukveltire immediately accepted.
She often thought this, but this junior from the Wardanaz family was definitely unusually sharp.
And it wasn't just about magical ability. While his magical skills were outstanding, it was how he knew exactly how to persuade Yukveltire that impressed her.
If it had been other juniors from the school, they would have stubbornly argued emotionally a few times before running out of things to say and self-destructing.
"But Senior, what kind of structure were you trying to build last year in Einrogard's territory?"
"It was a structure meant to materialize the Small World magic Pentagrammaton."
The Small World magic of the Black Magic school, Pentagrammaton.
While it might sound strange to materialize such magic as architecture, this was precisely the specialty of Enchantment Magic school mages.
Just take Professor Verdus—didn't he carry around clothes and accessories embedded with Small Worlds?
Yukveltire might not have been able to miniaturize it to that extent, but for something the size of a building, it was entirely possible. And even this much was an incredibly advanced level of magic.
"Oh... Wait, Pentagrammaton is Black Magic, isn't it? Why would you—"
"It was necessary for Diret's graduation preparations."
"Ah. I see."
Lee Han scoffed.
Last year, Yukveltire herself was a fourth-year who should have been preparing for graduation, and yet she was trying to build a structure to help Diret?
He'd sooner believe Gainando would build a structure to help Lee Han during his graduation year than buy that nonsense.
What kind of bullshit was that...?
Einrogard's fourth-year student, Zarun of the Steel Shoe Family, opened his eyes.
The cool, musty darkness of the underground, where no sunlight reached, greeted this socially inept dwarf.
Scratch!
A match struck, catching fire. Zarun carefully brought the flame to the lanterns hanging from the ceiling and walls.
For a mage, this was quite unusual behavior. With just a wave of his staff, he could summon light or fire, yet here he was doing this.
But any mage familiar with Einrogard's underground would understand why Zarun acted this way.
This underground was home to monsters sensitive to magic and mana. There was no need to provoke them by using magic unnecessarily.
Bubble, bubble—
As light filled the small chamber carved between rock formations, Zarun began boiling tea.
The tea leaves, which had been steeped about thirty times, no longer yielded any flavor, but Zarun paid no mind as he sipped and unfolded his map.
'Hmm. There must be a gold vein around here somewhere.'
This map, a treasure Zarun had crafted himself, was filled with details—areas he had confirmed, those yet to be explored, newly dug tunnels and sealed-off shafts, traps he had set to block other students, and traps laid by others before him.
As a fourth-year, he should have been starting to worry about graduation by now.
Especially for someone like Zarun, whose ongoing research—<Gold, Come Out, Tink Tink>, or as his junior had more formally named it, <Dimensional Transformation Gold Observation and Collection>—wasn't progressing smoothly at all.
The magic involved was incredibly complex: creating a magic circle where connected dimensions endlessly shifted and flickered in and out of existence, then securing any gold that was observed.
Yet, Zarun's mind remained as calm as a lake. The reason was simple.
'If I don't graduate, so be it.'
He had already made up his mind.
Many Einrogard students failed to realize it, but fourth-years weren't limited to just two choices—graduation or the Punishment Room.
Surprisingly, there was a third option: disappearance.
Zarun had made his decision cleanly.
If he failed to graduate, he wouldn't bother giving the Skeleton Principal the satisfaction. Instead, he'd settle underground and finish what he wanted to do.
In a way, he was following the path chosen by a few wise Einrogard seniors before him. Zarun wasn't afraid in the slightest.
Thud!
A sound came from the roughly hewn rock that served as the door to his small chamber. A paper bird must have arrived.
Zarun trudged out with an annoyed expression.
These paper birds, periodically sent by professors or juniors, were quite the nuisance.
He still needed supplies, so he maintained contact with the surface for now. But once everything was fully prepared, Zarun planned to hide his location entirely.
Until he had mined every last speck of gold underground... forever.
To the moldy senior underground,
Senior. The surface is currently under the tyrannical rule of a mad royal. If you're considering setting Einrogard on fire, please reply.
—Master of Cerberus
Whoosh—
Zarun casually tossed the paper bird into the fire. Thanks to the special oil he used, the flames cleanly devoured the magic within the paper.
The other paper birds didn't contain anything particularly useful either.
A letter asking him to assist in a new lecture, another stating that surface prices had risen due to a new inspector and demanding more ore, yet another asking what his graduation plans were...
'Nothing but trash letters.'
Annoyed, Zarun was about to toss the remaining paper birds into the fire without even unfolding them.
At that moment, the flames suddenly surged wildly. Startled, Zarun hastily extinguished them.
"Wh-what the—?!"
At first, he thought some lunatic had tampered with the paper bird.
Making flames erupt in reverse when thrown into fire wasn't particularly difficult—a simple spell or reagent would suffice.
But then he wondered why he hadn't noticed it earlier.
'There definitely wasn't a paper bird like that, was there?'
After putting out the fire, Zarun checked each paper bird one by one. The reason quickly became clear—one of them was overflowing with an excessive amount of mana.
Grumbling about who the lunatic was, Zarun unfolded the paper bird and froze in shock upon realizing the culprit's identity.
To Senior Zarun of the Steel Shoe Family,
Greetings, Senior. This is your junior, Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family, whom you met during the orichalcum incident. Now that I think about it, I suddenly remembered helping you when you were trapped inside the crystal vein.
Ah! Please don't misunderstand. I'm absolutely not trying to show off. It just came to mind suddenly.
Actually, I've taken on a request this time. A lighthouse is to be constructed within Einrogard's grounds, and it would be a great reassurance if you, as a member of the Stonemason Club, could lend your assistance.
"Actually, now that I think about it, rescuing you from inside the crystal vein was quite a difficult task. There must have been a reason why none of the other Enchantment Magic seniors stepped forward—the difficulty level was certainly a factor."
"Ah! Please don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to boast..."
"......"
Zarun was utterly speechless.
What kind of guy was this?
'Once he got the orichalcum map, that should've been the end of it!'
It was true that this junior had saved Zarun when he was sealed inside the crystal vein.
Considering how the students from other schools had just walked past without helping, it was indeed an impressive feat. That was why Zarun had reluctantly handed over the location of the orichalcum he had investigated.
So that should've been the end of it! What more did he want?
Reading this letter made him regret ever giving it in the first place. Already, just thinking about the orichalcum made his heart ache...
Just as Zarun was grumbling and about to burn the paper bird, another one flew in.
To Senior Zarun of the Steel Shoe Family,
Greetings, Senior. Since there's been no reply, I assume you must be very busy. Now that I think about it, even in the midst of my own busy schedule, I recall helping you when you were trapped inside the crystal vein...
"......"
A sudden chill ran down Zarun's spine.
Was this junior seriously planning to keep sending paper birds until he agreed?!
Catten, the proud fifth-year senior of the White Tiger Tower and a member of the Jahan family, had recently been feeling his heart flutter a little.
The rumors he'd been hearing lately had unsettled him.
-A junior from the Wardanaz family is handling a commission, right? Something about construction, inside Einrogard?
-Really? Not Senior Yukveltire?
-No, apparently not. I checked multiple times.
-Since they're from the same tower, maybe it's just a front with only her name attached?
-Checked that too. It's not.
-Whew. What a relief. I thought it was a commission led by Senior Yukveltire.
-Somehow, he even got Zarun involved.
-The Steel Shoe?! That's really impressive.
A commission being handled by a sharp and outstanding junior whom Catten was also acquainted with.
And the fact that the commission required quite a number of mages.
There was only one conclusion to be drawn from this.
Soon, Catten would also receive a request for help!
'How exciting.'
With his heart pounding, Catten gazed at the cliff.
Even though he had swung his sword to calm his nerves, he still felt restless. As a result, the poor cliff was being shredded to pieces.
"Senior!"
"!"
Catten's ears perked up, and he leaped down in a flash. The sight of the senior descending like a falling meteor made Lee Han jump in shock.
BOOM!
With a loud crash, Catten landed lightly on his feet.
"Welcome, Junior! I've been waiting for you! Really, you could've just sent a paper bird!"
"Huh? Ah. Well..."
Lee Han was slightly taken aback by the senior's overly enthusiastic reaction. It was completely unexpected.
And the reason he hadn't sent a paper bird and had come in person was simple.
Catten might have failed to reply.
Of course, he couldn't say that outright, so Lee Han straightened his posture and rephrased it.
"If not for an opportunity like this, when else would I get to see you in person, Senior?"
"Junior...!"
Catten was so moved that his long, thin feline whiskers trembled violently.
To think there was a junior who cared for him this much.
Even though they were from different towers, Catten felt he had truly found a good junior.
"Actually, I've made significant progress in magic recently."
"Oh. Is that so?"
"I dare say, at this level, I can pull my weight in any commission. My friends would be shocked if they knew!"
As he spoke, Catten subtly glanced at his junior.
He was silently urging him to invite him to join the commission.
"That's amazing, Senior. Actually, the reason I came here today was to ask for your help..."
"Anything! Speak freely!"
"Th-thank you. Actually..."
"Mhm!"
"I'm planning to subjugate some Evil God Worshippers..."
"...?"
Catten felt something was off.
Huh?