Episode 1229
Episode 1229
Gainando looked slightly sullen at his friend's sharp reaction.
'Why am I being treated differently when both Jowurin and I are imperial family members?'
"You only called me here to make me do menial tasks anyway."
'Oh? He's sharp.'
Lee Han was inwardly impressed.
As Gainando was now approaching the end of his second year at Einrogard, it was becoming increasingly difficult to deceive him.
Truthfully, just Lee Han and Yoner would have been sufficient for Yoanen's request this time.
It would have been nice to call a friend or senior who excelled in the Alchemy School, but...
'Doing that would likely destroy our friendship immediately.'
Yoner's older sister was the type who could make her subordinate alchemists work 27 hours a day if necessary.
No matter how good the request was, you couldn't recklessly involve acquaintances in a request from such a client.
But Gainando was different.
'It should be fine to exploit him a little. He's also related to Lady Yoanen.'
'Right. It's okay to exploit him. Lady Kraha said it was fine too.'
Lee Han and Yoner exchanged sinister glances. At that exchange, Gainando bristled again.
"I can see everything!? You've been looking at me like that since we got the request!"
"W-what are you talking about?"
"I have no idea what you're saying."
Gainando grumbled as he walked away.
'Just wait. Next time I get a difficult request, I'm dragging both of you along no matter what.'
Though he wasn't sure how he'd manage to get a difficult request!
"Why on earth are there two Dragons here?"
Yoanen grabbed her younger sister and whispered in a flustered voice.
Of course, even Yoner couldn't really explain this situation.
"His Highness Uman came down because he was sad... and I'm not sure about His Highness Jowurin either."
"????"
"Lady Maykin. Are these the two items we'll be working on this time?"
Lee Han called out to Yoanen.
No matter how much of an alchemy-obsessed iron-willed person she was, it wasn't easy to suppress curiosity in this situation.
You'd have to be at least as indifferent as Professor Verdus to manage that.
Yoanen suppressed her curiosity and nodded first.
"...Yes. Those two."
'Ugh. This is no ordinary difficulty.'
Lee Han inwardly recoiled when he saw the alchemy list Yoanen had written.
True to someone who could make her subordinate alchemists work 28 hours a day, the difficulty level of her interests was monstrously high.
<Purification of Kinis>.
This was research to reproduce and further improve part of ancient Transmutation Magic through alchemy.
If successful, this ashen powder would become a powerful reagent capable of purifying almost any contamination.
<Penumbra of the Canyon>.
This was research to theorize the Primitive Magic occurring in certain regions of the Empire.
In this nameless canyon, living creatures were often shifted into a half-shadow state, and Yoanen wanted to intentionally replicate this phenomenon.
Was it a form of localized dimensional overlap?
Or a variant of Dark Element manipulation?
If successful, it could be applied to various Artifacts.
'Looks like we'll have to work 29 hours a day...'
Both researches hinted at the wicked intentions Yoner's sister had considered.
A determination to thoroughly utilize Lee Han's magical power!
"Uh, Lady Maykin. But we're prisoners, so magic use is prohibited for us."
"It's fine. I got permission. It should be okay during the work."
Surprisingly, Yoanen was right.
There really was no interference with magic casting. Lee Han cursed inwardly.
'If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have needed to pull His Highness Uman's tooth...!'
I should've just waited a little longer!
Clank!
Yoanen even opened the prison cell door.
"Just stay within this floor. They said there won't be any problems if you do that."
"...Thank you... Could you perhaps release Professor Bagrak and His Highness Jowurin too?"
Yoanen suppressed her surreal feelings and proceeded to open the remaining cell doors.
When Lee Han tried to call for Uman, the massive Black Dragon shook its head.
"Uman would surely mess it up again..."
"......"
"...Professor, do you happen to have any good ideas?"
Lee Han whispered to Professor Voladi.
After all, wasn't he the one among them whose profession was most suited to education?
Professor Voladi fell into brief thought.
And then he began forming a water orb in midair...
"Wait!! Hold on!!!"
"?"
"What are you trying to do?!"
"Jowurin thinks this seems like a good idea."
Jowurin, who had been watching from the side, took Professor Voladi's side.
If they attacked him, wouldn't Uman wake up?
"...Both of you, please go over to that cell and help with the work first. I'll take care of His Highness Uman."
"Hmph. Lee Han isn't listening to Jowurin. Just because Jowurin landed a strike..."
"You landed a strike? On whom?"
When Yoner asked in confusion, Jowurin hastily backtracked.
"Jowurin must have misheard! Jowurin absolutely did not land any strike!"
"......"
Yoner was inwardly shocked.
Just who did you strike, exactly?
"Your Highness. It's possible you've truly lost your confidence."
"......"
"But one thing is certain. The mages here need Your Highness's help!"
"!"
The massive Black Dragon flinched.
"That can't be. Needing Uman's help... And... Uman would surely mess it up..."
'This Black Dragon's condition is worse than I thought.'
Lee Han grumbled inwardly.
Normally, this much would have been enough to tempt him!
"Your Highness. It's impossible to go through life without messing up sometimes. Just look at us. Why do you think we're in here?"
The prisoners—who were incarcerated for desertion, insubordination, and attacking nobles—were living quite boldly and well.
"And we would have acted the same way even if the Headmaster were here. Right, Professor?"
"?"
Professor Voladi, who had been checking alchemy equipment in another cell, poked his head out at the call.
"Even if the Headmaster were overseeing things, you would have deserted just the same, right Professor?"
"Probably."
"See!"
The Black Dragon flinched even more than before. It seemed like just one more push would do it.
"Your Highness. I believe in you. Even if not this time, I know you will surely move forward to overcome your failures!"
"...You're right!"
Vitality returned to Uman's eyes.
Then the Black Dragon that had filled the cell disappeared, replaced by the form of a rough-looking, large-statured man.
"I showed you an embarrassing sight, Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family. Thinking about it, you've shown Uman such trust and friendship that you even transformed into a Black Dragon for him."
Uman spoke with shame.
The fact that this mage—qualified to transform into a dragon—had chosen black as his color was an immense honor to Uman himself.
It showed just how much trust and friendship this mage held for Uman.
Lee Han panicked and said,
"Shh! Keep it down!"
"Huh?"
"Did you tell His Highness Jowurin about...?!"
This time, Jowurin abruptly stuck his head out from another cell.
"Jowurin thinks he just heard something about dragon transformation."
"You—you misheard! A misunderstanding! His Highness Uman was just talking about how he transformed into a dragon and then back into a human!"
"Lee Han... Jowurin and Uman don't transform into dragons—they transform into humans..."
Jowurin said in a slightly flustered voice.
How could a mage of Lee Han's caliber make such a mistake?
"Hahaha. Right. Hahaha. My apologies. Being in prison must have confused me."
"???"
Jowurin, who had pulled his head back in, turned to his fellow Blue Dragon Tower friends and asked,
"Lee Han seems a bit strange, doesn't he?"
"Lee Han is weird to begin with."
Gainando, who was grunting while moving magical coal, replied.
Unlike their friend who was too busy with chores to notice, Yoner—who knew why Lee Han was acting this way—felt cold sweat running down her back.
If His Highness Jowurin were to find out that Lee Han had transformed into a Black Dragon, how would he react?
"Hah, haha. It must be because he's been in prison. Haha."
'Yoner seems weird too!'
Jowurin thought to herself.
Listening to the voice coming from the distant cell, Lee Han whispered anxiously.
"You absolutely must not tell His Highness Jowurin that I transformed into a Black Dragon."
"Wh-why not?"
"...Because he must have been expecting me to transform into a Gold Dragon!"
"...I think you're misunderstanding something. My elder sister, Uman, has a far grander vessel of the soul than I do, so she would never be swayed by such trivial emotions—"
'This dragon needs to take a few more hits from Jowurin before he comes to his senses.'
Lee Han thought to himself.
Whether one's vessel was large or not, everyone was prone to jealousy.
"Enough. It's my transformation and my magic, so I'll decide. You must not tell him."
"V-very well. But I, Uman, will insist strongly. My elder sister will surely rejoice and bless you."
"Yes... well..."
As Uman said, it was possible that Lee Han would indeed be blessed.
After all, the mere fact that he could transform into a dragon was already an incredible feat.
But Uman...
'One hit... no, two or three hits at most.'
"Good! With this request, I shall contribute at least a little to the Empire's mages. Let us go!"
Having finished their conversation, Lee Han and Uman strode energetically into the hallway and moved toward the solitary cell where alchemy equipment had been laid out.
Since everyone from this floor's cells had gathered there, the solitary cell was packed and bustling.
Professor Voladi was writing down the necessary reaction formulas for alchemy while performing calculations. Yoanen watched carefully and cautiously posed a question.
"I think this part hasn't been proven yet, so we might need to test it."
"I agree. It's still unverified."
Meanwhile, Jowurin, who had been glancing at them, suddenly spoke up.
"It'll work."
"...Your Highness. Have you perhaps conducted this experiment before?"
As the discussion turned difficult, Jowurin shrank back slightly.
He looked at Lee Han as if asking for help and said,
"I haven't tried it... but to Jowurin, it just seems like it'll work..."
"I, Uman, am not particularly skilled in such calculations or formulas, but to me as well, it just seems like it'll work."
Lee Han responded incredulously.
"Your Highness. That's not how new magic should be developed. Every single step must be verified and—"
"It'll be fine."
"If both of you say it's fine, then we can proceed. We'll verify this separately later."
Professor Voladi and Yoanen boldly skipped the experimental verification. Flustered, Lee Han pressed further.
"Professor. If we don't confirm this now, won't it throw off the premises of all future experiments?"
"Lord Wardanaz. A dragon's intuition rarely fails."
Yoanen stepped in to explain.
Dragons rarely immersed themselves deeply in academia, but their innate intellect and instinctive senses sometimes displayed absurdly sharp insight.
Even if they lacked any foundational knowledge, there were times when they could simply look at something and determine whether it was right or wrong.
And if two dragons said the same thing, the chance of them being wrong was practically nonexistent.
"...Th-that's absurd! What kind of cheat-like ability is that?!"
Gainando, who had been diligently digging up rotten soil in the Black Magic faction's graveyard, belatedly overheard and wailed.
Jowurin, slightly pleased by his words, cleared his throat and said,
"It's not always possible."
"Does that even make sense?! Lee Han! Say something, will you?!"
Watching Gainando flail around, Lee Han shook his head.
Now he understood why Jowurin didn't dislike playing with Gainando.
'Sometimes, Gainando flatters better than Professor Bendozol.'
The more Gainando seethed with jealousy, the happier Jowurin would be!