Episode 1178
Episode 1178
"Ack..."
Lee Han tried to stop them in a fluster, but the Crone had already turned away.
"Keep it down, you brat!"
"Krrrk (How rude to make noise while discussing magic)!"
"......"
Watching the black mages who had naturally commandeered someone else's desk as their own and were now throwing tantrums, Lee Han wondered why he had even tried to stop them.
'I should definitely tell them off once this is all over.'
Though Lee Han's schemes were wicked, the black mages were no less so.
While Lee Han was plotting something sneaky behind their backs, the black mages were also scheming just as deviously in response.
"Fine. Then I'll remove <Ahrag's Eye> and replace it with <Howl of Ovinnik>."
"Krrrk (That's a complete overhaul)!"
"Magic can be modified as you go. Do you always complete spells exactly as you first designed them?"
"Raising the difficulty by altering an already completed spell is cheating, isn't it?"
"Quit whining about cheating. If you're upset, do the same! I guarantee that brat will never master <Howl of Ovinnik>!"
"Krrk (Bragging while already admitting defeat)."
'Wait. Wasn't the original goal to explain magic in a simple way?'
The mage from the Obsidian Magic Tower suddenly grew doubtful.
The whole point of this lesson was to teach Wardanaz so they could proceed with this commission as their own masterpiece...
...When did it turn into a competition of who could bring out the most difficult spells?
"Kid, why are you so quiet? Aha. I see. You don't plan to change anything! Look. The kid agrees!"
"Krrrk (Is that really the case)?!"
While he was still thinking, sparks flew immediately. The Obsidian Magic Tower mage shouted without a moment to reconsider.
"We'll make changes too. Don't talk nonsense."
"Hmph. Fine, good. Let's see who comes out on top!"
Catten, who had been listening to the mages' conversation with interest, spotted his junior slipping out through the window and waved goodbye.
'Living as an exceptional mage is no ordinary feat!'
"Hey. If the black mages come looking for me, tell them I'm not here."
Having taken refuge in the White Tiger Tower students' quarters, Lee Han borrowed an unused desk.
Angrago quickly tossed a magazine titled <This Year's Polo Tactics Trend? Ranking the Empire's Top Polo Clubs!> out the window.
Lee Han used spatial magic to retrieve the thrown magazine and flung it back at Angrago.
"I saw everything. You should've hidden it before I got here."
"...Don't waste difficult magic on something like that!"
Durgyu, being a good friend, tried to steer the conversation away.
"Lee Han. Why should we tell the black mages you're not here?"
"Because they keep harassing me, trying to teach me spells that are too hard to learn."
"?"
"?"
Angrago and Durgyu exchanged glances.
Durgyu shot Angrago a look that said, 'Don't go there,' but Angrago couldn't hold back and spoke up.
"But isn't that what you wanted, Wardanaz?"
"...Angrago. Have you been holding a grudge against me lately?"
"N-no! I was genuinely asking!"
As Lee Han stood up, Angrago panicked.
He had asked out of pure curiosity!
"...You White Tiger Tower guys often have weird misconceptions about me. I don't deliberately seek out difficult spells for fun."
'And this was something the Blue Dragon Tower guys said too...'
Angrago felt wronged.
He distinctly remembered students like A and B, as well as the royal-born student, giving similar testimonies.
"Somehow it just turned out that way. Right, Durgyu?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah. Of course I think so. Haha."
The muscular orc friend quickly replied while feeling a pang of guilt. Sometimes friendship was more important than conscience.
"See? Durgyu doesn't have that kind of misunderstanding. I don't get why White Tiger Tower students are so susceptible to false rumors."
"......"
"...Is the request all finished?!"
Durgyu swiftly changed the subject again.
Judging by Angrago's expression, it seemed highly likely he'd latch onto him and drag things out.
"Request? Ah. It's mostly done, but the black mages kept insisting it wasn't good enough and made a fuss about making it more complicated... Want to take a look?"
At Lee Han's words, the two nodded and accepted.
The arrangement of the complex magic circles and incantations was indeed fiendishly difficult.
"The black mages are going too far. If there's an easy path, we should take it—why insist on such a difficult one? They should consider the people actually building it too."
"It's way too hard. Lee Han, I can understand why you'd refuse to accept it."
"...Actually, that wasn't made by the black mages. I was the one who wrote it. Is it really that difficult?"
Lee Han's expression darkened slightly.
He thought he had made it sufficiently intuitive and efficient—he hadn't expected this kind of reaction.
"N-no! It's not that bad!"
"Angrago's right, Lee Han! This is more than enough!"
The friends hurriedly tried to console him, but it was already too late. Lee Han muttered with a sullen expression.
"Maybe I should refine it to be simpler. Honestly, making it any more straightforward from here won't be easy... It might be faster to just start over."
Angrago shot Durgyu a desperate look, as if urging him to do something. Of course, there wasn't much Durgyu could do in this situation.
"Do something, Choy! Wardanaz is about to redo the whole thing!"
"Uh... is there really a way to redo or improve it from here?"
"How should I know?! I barely understood 30% of that thing! All I know is that if knights try to escape, they'll get trapped in the Spatial Labyrinth!"
Angrago and Durgyu whispered anxiously.
Though they hadn't understood most of the blueprint they'd just received, they could at least guess that an extraordinary amount of effort had gone into it.
And now he wanted to refine it?
Even make it simpler?
Creak—
"Hey. Stop messing around and come out—"
Giselle, who had come to call out her undoubtedly slacking friends, froze mid-sentence.
One friend, who had no business being there, was sullenly scanning through the blueprint.
"...Guess you weren't slacking after all. Fine. Keep working."
Giselle tried to back away, but the two didn't let her go.
"Moradi! Do something! Wardanaz is about to redo everything!"
"Do what? Teach you guys?"
"The request! The request!"
"Redo it? Did you even finish it in the first place? There's no way—"
"We did, but now he wants to start over."
At Lee Han's words, Giselle's head whipped around.
It was already done?!
She knew this Blue Dragon Tower friend was a genius, but she hadn't expected him to finish so quickly.
"Wait. Why do you want to redo it?"
"The black mages—"
"The black mages helped? Ah. So that's why it was done faster than expected?"
That made sense.
Though the black mages had been somewhat incompetent in this situation (to be precise, the mage from Einrogard had been too capable), their magical abilities were by no means lacking.
If the black mages had helped, it was understandable that the blueprint had been completed so quickly...
"No. The other black mages kept insisting on making it more complicated, so we thought it was their proposal, but it turned out to actually be Wardanaz's idea, and..."
"????"
Giselle was utterly bewildered. Angrago's words made absolutely no sense to her.
In the end, Durgyu had to step in and explain.
"...Wait. Let me read it too."
Snatching the blueprint away, Giselle frowned as she scanned through it.
Then she declared with absolute certainty:
"This is more than enough."
"Don't lie! How could you understand it that fast?! I swear on the White Tiger Tower's honor, that's impossible!"
Angrago exploded before Lee Han could react.
There were some things you simply couldn't overlook, even among friends. Magic was especially one of them.
How could Moradi, from the same tower, have fully comprehended something he himself couldn't understand?!
"You don't need to grasp the magical theory—just look at the end result. Why are you trying to understand everything?"
Giselle stared at Angrago as if he'd lost his mind.
When constructing magical architecture based on such blueprints, you didn't need to understand every single detail.
You just had to arrange the materials as written and cast the spells accordingly.
If you could comprehend it all, why would you even commission it? You'd just build it yourself.
"......"
"......"
...She had a point.
For a moment, Angrago and Durgyu wondered if they'd been bewitched. Whether it was because of Wardanaz's piercing gaze, they'd mistakenly assumed they had to understand everything.
"But Moradi, what if there's a mistake in my work that causes problems during construction?"
"Did the black mages say there were any mistakes?"
"No, but—"
"Then there won't be any."
"...What if repairs are needed later when I'm not around?"
"You'll leave the blueprint behind, and they can compare and fix it. They just have to replicate the exact same process."
Lee Han, thoroughly countered, glanced at Angrago and Durgyu. The two laughed awkwardly, their unease palpable.
Please don't redo the work!
"W-well, we think Moradi's right too."
"Yeah. Lee Han, think about it. Starting over would be..."
"...Fine. You guys are probably right."
Whew!
When Lee Han finally conceded, his friends let out sighs of relief.
But his next words completely betrayed their expectations.
"Though, while we were talking, I thought of a way to improve it. I just need to fix that one part."
"Hey!"
Diret raced through the Empire's skies atop Rimpaxi, the fastest mount in the Black Magic faction and Professor Mortum's most prized possession.
As he neared the Moradi family's northern fortress, someone called out from below.
Cough, cough! "Diret! There's been a misunderstanding! You can turn back now!"
Diret ignored the figure disguised as Professor Mortum and flew straight past. Stopping to identify them would mean falling right into their trap.
"Coming through from Einrogard!"
The knights managing the cliffside stables for flying mounts recognized the flag and stepped aside.
Diret leapt off Rimpaxi mid-flight. The black-maned creature shook its mane and snorted in displeasure.
"Sorry! Right now, wicked enemies are trying to kidnap my junior!"
After promising treats later, Diret switched to flight magic instead.
"Halt! Flight is prohibited within the territory!"
A knight shouted, but Diret pretended not to hear. When you couldn't tell if someone was a disguised black mage or a real knight, feigning deafness was the best policy.
'This way!'
Having learned the location of Wardanaz and Catten's lodgings, Diret kicked the door open and barged in.
"Junior! You haven't been harmed by those lunatics, have you?!"
"?"
"......"
The Descendant of Ahrag, the Legion of Oondorgu, and the black mages from the Obsidian Magic Tower—all crammed into the small lodging—paused their noisy chatter and turned to stare.
From among them, Catten, sitting calmly, waved cheerfully.
"Who exactly are you calling lunatics?"
The gathered black mages asked, their voices dripping with curiosity.