Episode 1150
Episode 1150
"......"
"......"
The guild members who arrived at the site fell silent.
As if they had all made a pact, they kept their mouths shut.
After a while, one guild member who regained his composure first muttered:
"A Giant... I see."
"...And a Siren too..."
The guild members who had received the letter and wondered what on earth it was talking about now realized that Lee Han hadn't omitted a single detail from his letter.
There really was a Giant and a Siren at the site!
Lee Han, who had been diligently playing among them, paused when he noticed the guild members.
"Oh? What brings you here?"
-Ooooh! He stopped playing! We're losing strength!
-We'll sing instead!
At the Giants' shouts, the Sirens desperately flapped their fins. As water splashed up to his face, Lee Han quickly dodged and said:
"I'll continue playing, so neither of you need to worry! I apologize, but please wait just a moment. I'll finish this task and be right with you."
"T-take your time. We'll just look around."
The guild members felt too guilty to interrupt since he was working so hard.
Instead of speaking to Lee Han, the stonemason guild members decided to inspect the completed parts of the lighthouse themselves.
"Hello there."
"...Hey! Enchantment Magic department! The client's here!"
As they approached the lighthouse, the Einrogard students shouted in surprise.
Sigunting, who had been doing plasterwork inside, urgently called for his senior.
"Senior. It seems the stonemason guild members have arrived. What should we do? Should we deploy smoke screens first?"
"Sigunting. This isn't one of Professor Verdus's commissions. There's absolutely no need to hide anything."
Einrogard students had a basic habit of immediately concealing or hiding things whenever clients approached.
Not because they'd necessarily done anything wrong, but because it never hurt to cover things up first.
Especially when they had actually messed up, this habit proved even more useful.
For commissions handled by the Enchantment Magic department—particularly those overseen by Professor Verdus—where the professor typically ignored client requests and did whatever he wanted, it was only natural for Sigunting to consider smoke screens first.
"R-really?"
"Yes. They're earlier than expected, but not late."
"What if there are durability issues or parts we accidentally missed?"
"We cross-checked everything at dawn. Nothing's missing."
At Anpagon's decisive answer, Sigunting let out a sigh of relief.
This senior who was also part of the Stonemason Club could be trusted when it came to such matters.
"Wait, so you stayed up all night checking?"
"No. Wardanaz did it. He went out at dawn to check and came back."
"......"
'This guy... is he even human?'
Sigunting couldn't help but wonder internally.
Of course, the fact that he was taking courses from every department already meant he was far more physically resilient than an ordinary mage, but even considering that, this guy was really...
"Is nobody here?"
"I'm coming down now!"
While they were talking, the Capital Stonemason Guild members had already arrived at the base of the lighthouse.
Sigunting hurriedly climbed down the rope. He noticed another department member gesturing as if to ask, 'Should I bring knockout or hallucination potions?'
Sigunting signaled back that it was still fine for now.
"What brings you here? The work is progressing well. There's still plenty of time before the deadline..."
Nobody liked clients who visited too frequently. Sigunting was subtly pointing this out.
Not that the guild members were unaware of this fact, but...
"We heard a Giant and Siren were helping with the work, so we came to see."
"...Ah!"
Sigunting couldn't help but understand.
Honestly, even he would have forced his way here for that reason.
'Well, if that's the reason, I can't blame them.'
"Wardanaz is naturally quite sociable for our standards. He's unusual even for our department. He's on friendly terms with Giants, Sirens, Professor Verdus, Senior Yukveltire, and even Dragons."
'Is that something achievable by just being "quite sociable"?'
'And wasn't there an even stranger example than those?'
The stonemason guild members exchanged bewildered glances. There were too many questionable points to count.
"I-I see... Well, that's quite astonishing."
"Since you're here, would you mind taking a look?"
Sigunting pointed to the lighthouse building behind them as he asked. Having already received confirmation from Anpagon, his attitude overflowed with confidence.
The stonemasons seemed to sense that confidence too, as they grinned widely.
"Seems like the work is progressing quite well."
"Hehe. Indeed."
"Only a confident mage would invite us to inspect things this early. Unlike that Professor Verdus—"
"Let's not bring that up now."
The other colleagues quickly stopped the stonemason.
There was no need to mention past incidents when the mood was so pleasant.
"Right. You're correct. Let's take a look... Hmm, it seems magic has already been applied to the outer walls near the entrance. They don't budge even when pushed."
The stonemasons marveled at the Einrogard students' swift progress. The outer walls near the lighthouse entrance required numerous spells and reagents, making it one of the most time-consuming sections to complete.
Yet, it was already finished.
"?"
Sigunting froze.
Huh?
"...What? Did we work on this part?"
"We agreed to do it all at the end, didn't we?"
He grabbed a passing friend to ask, but only got a confused response in return. Flustered, Sigunting called over a senior to inquire again.
"Senior Anpagon! Did you work on this part?"
"Can't you see I'm working on the ceiling right now? When would I have had time to do that?"
"...Could you have snuck out at dawn like Wardanaz to do it?"
The moment he asked, Sigunting regretted it. Anpagon wasn't foolish—what reason would he have to pull such a stunt?
Anpagon seemed to think the same, as a sharp retort came from above.
"Am I Wardanaz?"
"Right... Sorry. Then... could it have been Wardanaz who did it at dawn?"
"Unlikely. Considering the other tasks he did at dawn, it's impossible."
The Capital Stonemason Guild members listening in grew slightly bewildered.
Why was no one even questioning the idea of Wardanaz sneaking out at dawn to work?
Sigunting stopped other seniors to ask, but none of them claimed responsibility for the work.
"Pfft. The work's done, but no one admits to doing it?"
Eventually, the questioning reached Falkrius and Zarun, who were working in the basement.
Falkrius immediately asked in return,
"Wasn't it Wardanaz at dawn?"
"No, it wasn't."
"Too bad. I thought it was him!"
"......"
The stonemasons' expressions grew increasingly baffled, but the students didn't notice.
"Pfft. Could it have been Senior Yukveltire?"
"Excuse me?"
At Falkrius' words, not only Sigunting but even Zarun looked stunned.
What kind of nonsense was that?
"Bwahaha! Just kidding! There's no way, right?"
Sigunting burst out laughing at Falkrius' joke. Even Zarun's lips twitched slightly upward.
Of course, the stonemasons didn't find it funny at all.
'What in the world are they talking about?'
Zarun, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
"Could it be a Primitive Magic phenomenon?"
"Primitive Magic?"
Magic cast in ways outside the Empire's current magical system—ranging from Ancient Magic to various other forms. These magics each had distinct characteristics, but most shared the common trait of being difficult to measure or theorize.
"Giants roamed here, Sirens roamed here, Dragons roamed here, and also..."
"Hmm. Originally, this place was also occupied by the Mad Forest, wasn't it?"
Zarun nodded at Falkrius' words. With so many rare species gathered and clashing, it wouldn't be strange for an unidentified Primitive Magic phenomenon to occur.
"Junior Wardanaz even subdued a giant with Music Magic once."
The possible causes for the Primitive Magic phenomenon were quite varied—Giants, Sirens, an angry Professor Verdus, a reluctant Senior Yukveltire, Dragons, a junior's performance...
Zarun nodded thoughtfully before speaking.
"There's only one way to confirm this. Falkrius."
"Pfft. I thought the same thing. We'll break through the entrance wall and precisely recreate what happened before."
"Right. Then we'll know exactly what the cause was."
"...Student Wardanaz! Student Wardanaz! You'd better come here for a moment!"
The stonemason guild members were deeply grateful they'd visited today.
Otherwise, these insane Einrogard students would have disrupted their work just to satisfy some pointless verification!
The remaining work was completed before the weekend ended.
With all obstacles removed and different races working together, the pace accelerated even further.
Lee Han, who had constructed a perfect building at a speed worthy of Einrogard's history, expressed his gratitude to the seniors.
"Thank you all."
"We enjoyed it too, Wardanaz. Though if we ever get another request demanding such rushed work, we're absolutely not taking it."
"Huh?"
"Ah. My true feelings slipped out. Sorry. It was too exhausting."
"......"
Some seniors voiced complaints about the grueling schedule, but more than expected didn't seem to mind.
At Einrogard, if you nitpick every quality-of-life issue, you'd never get anything done.
A well-compensated request that could be finished quickly was something to be grateful for.
"That guy's a third-year but has less sense than a second-year."
"Leave him be. Pfft. He'll realize by fourth year."
-We enjoyed it too!
The giants cheered brightly.
Having eaten their fill and sung joyfully, the giants had absolutely nothing to complain about.
As even the giants shared their thoughts, everyone's gaze turned toward the riverbank.
Only the sirens remained now.
-......
Parthenope truly didn't want to, but she wrote on the stone tablet that they'd enjoyed it too.
Some sirens behind her couldn't hold back their resentment and sniffled.
"The sirens are crying?"
"Must be sad about parting! Never seen sirens like this. Just how close did you get...?"
At the seniors' whispers, the sirens gritted their teeth.
Only by leaving quickly could they escape these mages' wicked chirping.
Seeing the teary-eyed sirens, Lee Han felt guilty and spoke up.
"Next time there's a request like this, I'll definitely call you—"
Splash!
The sirens vanished swiftly. The seniors advised Lee Han:
"Seeing how reluctant they are, you really should invite them next time, Wardanaz."
"Right. Sirens are naturally eccentric and ill-tempered. If you let resentment build, who knows what they might do."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Indeed, sirens were as finicky a race as giants.
Even with current goodwill, taking them for granted could sour relations later.
Seniors who'd finished the work exchanged cheerful farewells and returned to the main building—some via the river, others transforming into giant birds to fly back.
Meanwhile, Zarun dug through the ground, searching for soft terrain. Solid bedrock would hinder his plan to break through to the underground in one go.
"Senior."
"!"
Zarun jumped at the eerie voice of his junior.
Already a dangerously unpredictable guy, after the paper bird swarm attack, his wariness had tripled.
"W-what! What is it?"
"Ah, nothing. Just wanted to thank you for helping. Please accept this."
Lee Han spoke sincerely.
Zarun, an exceptional transmutation mage and stonemason club member, had contributed greatly.
And this senior's greatest advantage was having no friends.
With no time wasted socializing like other seniors, his productivity was nearly double.
Still wary, Zarun accepted the gift. Unwrapping it revealed an astonishingly elongated dimensional astrolabe—an exceptionally crafted artifact, impressive even to Zarun.
"Since your research is on Dimensional Transformation Gold Observation and Collection, I thought this might help."
"...Where'd you get this? They hardly ever sell things like this."
"I took it from Professor Verdus's storage, but that's not really important."
The astonished Zarun nodded. Indeed, that part wasn't important at all.