Episode 1238
Episode 1238
"Sis. Sis."
"...Huh? Wha?"
"I asked what you think."
"Huhhh?"
Yoanen, snapping back to attention, looked around.
Everyone was waiting for her answer with serious expressions.
Would Professor Garcia judge that Golem Senior as guilty or innocent?
For a moment, the words 'Is that really important right now?' rose to her throat, but Yoanen maintained her composure as much as possible.
Truly, it was the patience worthy of a Maykin Family genius.
"I think he'd probably be found guilty?"
"I knew you'd say that!"
"If even Lady Maykin thinks so, the likelihood of guilt must be really high. What a pity."
Lee Han glanced sympathetically at Golem Senior waiting in the distance, keeping his space.
Though the senior had merely been deceived by an evil professor, Professor Garcia was highly unlikely to forgive him.
If she accepted such excuses, every professor would start pulling the same tricks from now on!
"Hmm... But aren't we going to discuss Oculogard?"
Uman cautiously interjected.
While whether Professor Garcia would execute that innocent student was important, negotiating with Oculogard seemed equally crucial.
It could become the first proof that Empire's magic schools could cooperate...
"Pfft. Why should Lee Han handle that?"
"I don't think Lee Han needs to bother with that either."
"My junior is right. This isn't something Lord Wardanaz should concern himself with. And why would Einrogard need to lower itself to beg another magic school? Unless another school comes asking politely, that is."
'These arrogant mages!'
Uman burned with frustration at the uniformly indifferent and haughty responses.
As the only bureaucrat present, Uman firmly believed the Empire's mages should stop fighting and unite.
Just think of all that wasted potential from pointless competition and rivalry.
If multiple magic schools combined forces, they could respond far more wisely to threats both within and outside the Empire.
Even the Skeleton Principal wouldn't need to run around everywhere alone...
But the mages remained utterly indifferent.
Even Gainando and Yoner, who'd visited Petrogard during break, were negative about it—other students' attitudes went without saying.
Ultimately, there was one core reason:
-If they're not welcoming us either, why should we go out of our way?
"No. I think we should persuade Oculogard."
"!!!!"
Uman was moved nearly to tears.
Truly, this scion of the Wardanaz Family and great elder sister's contractor never disappointed.
'Elder Sister really knows how to pick them!'
Among all the arrogant mages present, Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family was clearly the only one thinking about the Empire's future.
"Why?"
"If we handle this well, Professor Garcia might cool her anger a bit."
"......"
Uman was stunned by the unexpectedly trivial reason.
All this groundwork for the Empire's future, for just that?
And it wasn't even about completely cooling her anger—just reducing it slightly.
"Ah. If that's the case, I guess we have no choice."
The astonishing part was how readily his friends accepted this explanation.
'W-wait. I see! That's it!'
Only then did Uman realize.
It was a deception!
Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family had provided a plausible fake reason to fool his arrogant friends and fellow mages.
A reason involving his teacher's favor was perfectly believable.
'Astonishing. Truly astonishing!'
Now Uman's gaze held not just respect but reverence for Lee Han.
To go through such trouble lying for the Empire's future.
Perhaps this student still retained some of the goodness the Skeleton Principal had forgotten.
"...Sniff!"
"???"
Jowurin gave her suddenly teary-eyed younger sibling a puzzled look.
Why was she acting like this?
"If we persuade Oculogard, Golem Senior's crimes might be somewhat mitigated. Good. I'll call him again."
Lee Han dispelled the soundproofing magic and summoned Golem Senior.
Unaware that his juniors had just been discussing his tragic fate, Golem Senior trudged over.
"What were you talking about?"
"Well... we talked about Oculogard..."
Lee Han glanced at his friends. It was a signal to make something up.
"We also discussed whether we should throw punches at those mages, like we did with Professor Verdus. Right, Yoner?"
"...Y-yeah."
Yoner immediately regretted not speaking first.
What kind of ridiculous lie was that?!
Golem Senior spoke in a grave tone.
"Throwing punches is unacceptable. And having Professor Bagrak restrain them from behind is even worse."
Magic Academies in the Empire were relatively lenient about students fighting among themselves, but the moment a professor got involved, the situation changed entirely.
The likelihood of things turning deadly increased dramatically.
"Haha, just joking. Anyway, Senior. How far have you progressed in contacting and persuading Oculogard's mages?"
Lee Han wanted to hear his senior's opinion first.
Just how was the Einrogard Divination Magic faction approaching the task of persuading another magic school?
"First, Oculogard is a magic school composed of divination mages."
"Right."
"That's it."
"...Huh?"
"That's all there is to it."
"......"
Lee Han doubted his ears. In fact, he wasn't the only one.
Jowurin, and even Uman, stared at Golem Senior as if he'd lost his mind.
"What kind of nonsense is this?"
-Your Highness, it might be wise to... choose your words carefully.
At the Baby Basilisk's advice, Jowurin coughed awkwardly and rephrased.
"I fail to comprehend the meaning of these words."
-Changing the phrasing doesn't make it any better.
Uman, unable to understand, asked,
"So you're saying no preparations have been made at all?"
When even the Inspector asked seriously, Golem Senior flinched.
It seemed even he couldn't remain composed in front of the Inspector.
"I believe there's been a misunderstanding, Your Highness."
"From where I'm standing, there's no misunderstanding at all. To Uman, it seems the Einrogard divination mages have no intention of cooperating whatsoever."
"If you hear the explanation, you'll understand. Here, look."
Golem Senior began detailing the preparations the Einrogard Divination Magic faction had made so far.
First, there had been letters.
"We sent several paper birds. With polite greetings..."
"What happened?"
"No replies."
"...Maybe they didn't receive them..."
"So we visited in person. But we were turned away."
"......"
Several more attempts at contact followed, but none were successful. Oculogard's mages responded with extreme hostility.
Lee Han turned to Professor Voladi in shock.
"I didn't expect it to be this bad. Why are they acting like this?"
"Because they fear the future."
For the sake of his confused student, the professor elaborated further.
"Do you remember Ksaxarigol?"
"Yes."
"Those lunatics who called themselves 'the monsters that devour divination' in front of Lee Han?"
Gainando chimed in from the side. Hearing this, Golem Senior's ears perked up in disbelief.
"Who called who what?"
"It's nothing. Gainando, you idiot! How many times have I told you not to believe weird rumors?!"
Lee Han scolded his friend harshly. Gainando felt truly wronged.
'Because of those Ksaxarigol bastards...! Just you wait!'
He was starting to understand why Evil God Worshippers were so reviled in the Empire. They were utterly useless in life.
"Indeed. Those fanatics spare no means or methods to turn divination into reality."
Compared to other Evil God Worshipper sects—those who twisted their flesh into grotesque chimeras or offered blood-soaked sacrifices—the Ksaxarigol sect might seem relatively tame.
But experienced mages never underestimated them.
"They were madmen who would stop at nothing to turn the futures they had seen into reality."
And in a way, the divination mages of Oculogard shared some similarities in their modus operandi with these Evil God Worshippers.
"It's about controlling future possibilities through disciplined actions."
If the Evil God Worshippers would stop at nothing to turn only the futures they had observed into reality out of countless possibilities, Oculogard would stop at nothing to prevent the threatening futures from becoming reality out of those same countless possibilities.
"Is it like performing rituals to ward off misfortune? Like what you're doing, Senior?"
"Similar. But the scale is on a completely different level."
Golem Senior also engaged in eccentric behavior to avoid misfortune, but it was incomparable to Oculogard.
After all, this Magic Academy operated by establishing rules at an institutional level.
The more these mages restrained themselves and acted cautiously, the more threatening futures would be pushed away...
...and the more this rejection accumulated, the less power the apocalypse would have!
'Does this even make sense?'
Lee Han was utterly confused.
The idea that a group of divination mages living disciplined lives together could push away threatening futures...
As if sensing his confusion, Yoanen elaborated.
"Divination Magic is inherently the most ambiguous and hardest to verify. That's why there are many alchemists but few divination mages."
Golem Senior, who had been listening, bristled at this.
How dare this outsider alchemist try to lure away their school's talent?
"That's precisely what makes it valuable. If it were something anyone could do, wouldn't it be too easy?"
Yoanen didn't respond. She pretended not to hear and continued with her own point.
"By the way, the Alchemy School doesn't have professors abandoning seniors to juniors or anything like that. Treating juniors like bearers of misfortune—I can't believe such a school even exists."
'She's really my cousin, but she's terrifying.'
Yoner marveled inwardly.
A skilled alchemist knew how to wield poison not just in potion bottles but also on the tip of their tongue.
Indeed, Golem Senior was deeply affected.
So much so that his stone face seemed to turn pale with shock.
Unable to stand by any longer, Lee Han stepped in.
Yoanen could just leave, but Lee Han still had to continue working with this senior in their school.
"Ah, that was just a misunderstanding. More like an inside joke in our school."
"A bit too serious for a joke... but fine. If you say so, Wardanaz."
Yoanen smiled faintly and backed off. Golem Senior, looking sullen, apologized.
"...Sorry. As your senior, even if you were some insane harbinger of the apocalypse, I shouldn't have treated you like that."
'His wording just got worse.'
Lee Han made a face.
"Insane harbinger of the apocalypse"—that was a new one.
Had the senior been calling him that in his head all along?
"No... I'm fine. Let's get back to Oculogard. So these mages... they ignore outside contact because they're strict about school rules?"
"Yes. That's highly likely."
The first solution that came to mind was 'cut off their funding,' but upon reflection, others must have already considered that.
Oculogard clearly had enough financial independence not to rely on the Empire's support. Otherwise, such seclusion wouldn't have been possible.
Noticing his junior's expression, Golem Senior cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Well... Professor Kraer did suggest one method."
"There was such a thing? Why didn't you mention it sooner?"
Lee Han was puzzled.
If there was a solution, shouldn't it have been the first thing brought up?
"Well... you see, this was the professor's idea, and I don't think he was entirely serious. Probably just joking."
"...What is it? Don't tell me he said to go set something on fire?"
"He said to take you there, throw you over the wall, and run away... and then they'd definitely contact us..."
"......"
"......"
The atmosphere turned icy. Golem Senior hastily exclaimed,
"I absolutely do not agree with this!"
"Of course not. Really. Wardanaz, as you know, the Alchemy School—"
"Enough, cousin."