Episode 125
Episode 125
Upon seeing the fallen mouse, Lee Han found himself making excuses before he could stop himself.
"I'm not a dragon, lich, or the headmaster."
The friends near Lee Han stared at him as if asking what nonsense he was spouting. The red fox stretched out its front paw as if telling him to look ahead.
The mouse abruptly stood up and began to flee.
"...Wait! You challenged me to a duel! Nobly, with honor—"
Lee Han reflexively brought up honor before pausing.
Come to think of it, this was a trick that only worked on his Blue Dragon Tower friends.
"Nobly, clean up the bowl you ate from."
"Nobly, look up the information on reagents in the book."
"Nobly, why don't you walk over that trap once?"
There was no way a mouse would fall for noble honor. Lee Han hastily changed his words.
"...Mouse-ly, uphold your honor!"
Of course, the mouse didn't listen and fled into the forest. The red fox gave Lee Han a pitiful look. Perhaps because it was in animal form, the gaze stung a bit more.
"Fine then. Let's chase it."
It was clear that the mouse was likely the ruler of this forest.
Why a mouse learned magic and became the ruler of the forest was beyond him, but Lee Han simply accepted it now.
...If it was the Magic School, such things were possible.
"Stop right there! I challenge you to a duel!"
As he chased after the mouse while shouting about duels, he felt a pang of self-loathing, but that wasn't important right now.
Sharkan rattled as it followed the mouse's trail.
The mouse, realizing it was being pursued, launched a counterattack.
"!"
The fruit-bearing vines by the roadside suddenly transformed into a fierce white-headed eagle.
Lee Han reacted instantly.
"O space, be perceived! And... surge forth!"
As the Spatial Perception spell was recited, the situation around Lee Han quickly formed in his mind. The trajectory of the fleeing mouse in the distance became vividly clear.
A large mass of water rapidly formed, then transformed into water orbs at Lee Han's will, swirling around him.
Though it started as a simple 1st-Circle <Water Creation> spell, it instantly underwent shape-shifting and motion control.
Yoner the red fox, watching from the side, was so startled that its tail stood on end.
'!?'
How could he not be shocked? His friend had secretly advanced several steps ahead in water magic when no one was looking.
Of course, Lee Han had always been skilled with water magic, but...
This was faster, more complex, and more refined than what he'd seen before.
Was this really okay?
"Don't worry. I can handle this much!"
Misinterpreting his friends' stunned reactions, Lee Han immediately attacked the white-headed eagle.
The water orbs flew in sharp, heavy trajectories, and upon impact, the eagle burst with a pop, reverting back to a bush.
"Sharkan! Catch it! Don't let it escape!"
With a splashing sound, the nearby spring began bubbling up.
The pooled water took shape like a massive slime, ready to lunge forward.
"Flash forth!"
Lee Han immediately swung his staff, casting <Lightning Creation>.
Though a 1st-Circle spell, lightning was the most destructive and fastest among the elements, making it perfect for this situation.
Crack!
The lightning bolt struck the spring slime, but it remained unharmed. Perhaps due to its sheer size, the slime prepared to move again.
Lee Han focused his mana and unleashed his next move.
"Strike forth, Perkuntra's Thunder!"
Though a 2nd-Circle spell, since it was personally developed by Perkuntra, the powerful lightning spirit, its power rivaled even higher-Circle spells...
...or so only Perkuntra knew, because Lee Han still had doubts about this spell.
Strangely, every time he used it, the effects were underwhelming.
'If it doesn't work this time, I'm sealing it away for a while.'
In truth, it was just that all the enemies Lee Han had faced so far were far too strong for a freshman to handle.
But Lee Han had already made up his mind.
'Perkuntra must be a spirit with a bit of a tendency to exaggerate!'
CRACKLE-ZZZT!
With a rapid charge, the intensified lightning bolt came crashing down onto the spring slime.
The spring slime thrashed violently with tremendous tremors, parts of its body evaporating until its size visibly shrank.
Yet the spring slime still stubbornly remained standing.
"Perkuntra!"
Cursing the absent spirit, Lee Han immediately drew Morning Star.
Nilia panicked, mewling frantically as she tried to stop him.
'It's already defeated!'
The spring slime had already collapsed from the powerful magic. The fact that it wasn't moving at all was proof enough.
What appeared to be standing was merely the residual mana maintaining the shape of the pooled water from the spring.
But Nilia's cries didn't reach Lee Han.
Lee Han swung Morning Star and cleaved through the fallen spring slime. Only then did the pooled water lose its form and scatter.
"I think I've been scammed by that spirit."
"......"
The forest mouse scurried away in panic while casting transformation magic around itself.
Yet the intruder—who looked like a freshman but chased after it with terrifying proficiency—made it impossible to tell whether it was the headmaster or a dragon.
That was the most suspicious part.
If it were truly a freshman, there was no way they could pursue it so skillfully.
The white-headed eagle was one thing, but to instantly defeat a slime made from the Cold Iron Water pooled in the spring without even breaking a sweat...
No matter how it thought about it, this had to be the Skeleton Principal in disguise.
The forest mouse trembled in fear.
Though this magic school generally ignored monsters, demons, angels, or spirits nesting in its corners, there were rare occasions when a professor would personally come to dismantle them if they crossed a line.
This was clearly one of those times.
The forest mouse couldn't understand.
What exactly had it done to provoke the Skeleton Principal?
All it did was spread a forest in a corner of the hallway to play with the freshmen...
No matter how it thought about it, that didn't seem like such a grave offense.
CLACK!
With the sound of clattering bones, Sharkan suddenly leaped out, blocking the forest mouse's path.
Startled, the mouse tried to cast another spell, but Lee Han was faster.
"Move!"
Lee Han immediately cast Lesser Manipulation, suspending the forest mouse in the air to prevent escape.
When this mere rookie tried to lift it with a 1st Circle spell, the forest mouse scoffed and attempted to counter.
It tried to transform its body, but...
Squeak?!
The forest mouse was stunned.
Its body wouldn't move, as if gripped by some overwhelming mana.
Even when it tried to cast magic, nothing happened.
The opponent was controlling the space around it with such an immense amount of mana that no other magic could interfere.
To exert such pointless control with a mere 1st Circle spell meant for lifting quills...
There was only one explanation.
The Skeleton Principal's signature sadistic intimidation!
Squeak...
The forest mouse slumped its head to the side as if giving up entirely.
Lee Han was startled.
'Did... did I kill it?'
For a moment, he thought he might have overcharged Lesser Manipulation.
But no matter how he thought about it, Lesser Manipulation didn't have that effect—it was just for lifting and manipulating objects.
Fortunately, upon closer inspection, the mouse wasn't dead. It just seemed to have surrendered.
"Hey, listen, I'm really..."
Lee Han hesitated mid-sentence as he tried to explain, 'I'm not a dragon, lich, or the Skeleton Principal.'
...Did he really need to clear this up?
Judging by the magic the mouse had used earlier, despite its panic, it was clearly a far more skilled mage than Lee Han.
If it stopped running and started attacking him with all sorts of transformation magic, he could very well lose.
Moreover, if the misunderstanding was cleared up, wouldn't the mouse—resentful for being chased—attack him viciously out of spite?
But if it kept thinking Lee Han was the Skeleton Principal...
'Wouldn't that mean we could just leave the forest right away?'
It wasn't like this was his first time doing this. Hadn't he just recently pretended to be the Skeleton Principal to evade the warehouse keeper underground?
His friends tilted their heads in confusion as they stared at Lee Han.
'Is he really agonizing over how to convince this mouse?'
"That's right. I am indeed the Headmaster."
Squeak!
The mouse, who had been cautiously peeking at Lee Han with one eye open, immediately squeezed both eyes shut and flopped onto its back again.
Its attitude clearly said, "I knew it."
"......"
"......"
Lee Han could feel the gazes of his animal-transformed friends burning into him, but he deliberately ignored them.
"However, if you show mercy... and let me and my friends here leave, I might overlook making you one of my undead minions."
Lee Han did his best to make his voice sound as eerie as possible.
He didn't actually know what an "undead minion" was either, but he just blurted out whatever came to mind.
At this, the mouse nodded its head so vigorously it created a small gust of wind.
Squeaksqueaksqueaksqueaksqueak!
The mouse desperately pointed in a direction, clearly wanting to get the Skeleton Principal out of there as quickly as possible.
Lee Han and his friends followed the forest path. In the distance, the familiar school corridors began to come into view.
"Ah. Wait."
Lee Han and his friends, who had been about to leave, paused.
The mouse stared at Lee Han with shocked eyes.
No... no way?
"No. There's one more person. Just a moment."
He had forgotten about Gainando.
Lee Han went back inside and retrieved Gainando.
The white rat burst into tears the moment it saw Lee Han and clung to him desperately.
"Gainando."
His friends nodded in confirmation. Lee Han placed the white rat on top of his staff.
Gainando, moved to tears at the sight of his reunited friends, suddenly panicked when he saw Nilia.
Squeaksqueaksqueaksqueaksqueaksqueaksqueak!
"Huh?"
Lee Han looked at Nilia, then back at Gainando.
"It's fine. She won't bite."
Of course, Gainando couldn't hear those words. He immediately hid inside Lee Han's coat pocket.
Instead of forcibly pulling Gainando out, Lee Han simply took out the Beer Candy from the pocket and moved it elsewhere.
"Well then, farewell, forest mouse. If I ever need to pass through here again, I'll see you then."
Yoner, who had been listening nearby, tilted his head in confusion.
...Wasn't that a threat?
Indeed, the mouse seemed to take it that way, trembling uncontrollably.
In the end, the mouse squeaked frantically and dug out a treasure it had buried in the forest floor.
It was a mysterious bone imbued with abundant mana.
Squeaksqueak...
The mouse looked up at Lee Han pleadingly, as if begging him to take it and leave.
Of course, Lee Han had no particular interest in bones. Unless it was Professor Mortum...
Clatter!
At that moment, Sharkan lunged forward. Bones clattered and tangled chaotically as the empty gaps in Sharkan's form were filled.
"...!"
As the once skeletal summon now stood complete without a single gap, their friends gasped in awe at the mystery of summoning magic.
Lee Han, however, was thinking something else entirely.
'...How dangerous did they say Sharkan was again?'
According to Professor Lightning Step, Sharkan was an extremely arrogant and violent creature.
Right now, it was docile because it was incomplete, but once fully restored, its original temperament might resurface!
'Should I bet on the slim possibility that Professor Mortum considered the freshmen's safety, or the obvious likelihood that he forgot about safety protocols?'
Naturally, it was the latter.
Lee Han immediately gripped his staff and stared at Sharkan.
"...Sharkan?"
At its master's call, Sharkan did not immediately rush over and kneel.
But neither did it charge at Lee Han, roaring fiercely while aiming for his throat with its bone fangs.
Sharkan just...
pretended not to hear and ignored him.
When called again, it lay down and buried its head in the ground.
"???"
His friends were baffled, unable to understand why the bone summon was behaving this way.
Nilia, being a hunter, was the first to realize.
This was...
'Is it... rebellious phase?'
Even the loyal dogs and wolves raised by hunters went through phases where they wouldn't listen as they grew older.
It was because their spirits matured, giving rise to rebelliousness.
'...But does an undead bone summon even have rebellious phases?'
Nilia blinked in disbelief.