Episode 160
Episode 160
"How could I refuse such a delightful opportunity?"
He'd known they wouldn't refuse.
Master and disciple exchanged words with hidden intentions.
Having finished his declaration, the Skeleton Principal surveyed the students gathered before him with their Exit Permits.
Revenge against the ogre ninja who'd ruined the festival could wait—first, he needed to deal with... no, care for the students before him.
Were these all who'd gathered?
"Yes!"
"Since you've found treasures through luck and skill during the festival, I, Gonadaltes, hereby grant you my blessing."
"Thank you...?"
"Why's he acting like this all of a sudden?"
"Did the festival put him in a good mood?"
The students whispered in confusion, but Lee Han, who knew the truth, felt differently.
Sheer terror!
"To you iron-headed fools venturing outside, I grant freedom and indulgence from Saturday's sunrise to Sunday's sunrise. Make sure to gather at the school's main gate before the sun rises."
"Understood!"
'It begins.'
"Wait."
"What's wrong?"
As the Skeleton Principal vanished, the students who'd begun dispersing halted at Lee Han's call.
And grew wary.
"Everyone, be careful!"
"It's a Wardanaz. Remember what happened at Tutanta? Don't engage."
"Don't take out your Outing Pass! Hide it!"
"......"
Lee Han wasn't hurt by his friends' icy reactions.
Prophets were meant to be persecuted.
"Friends. Hear me out."
"We're listening, Wardanaz. Speak."
Students from other towers took cautious steps back to maintain distance before waiting for Lee Han's words.
Calmly, Lee Han began his explanation.
"So..."
Five minutes later.
The students stared at Lee Han with bizarre expressions.
Their faces clearly said, 'Even for you, this is too much.'
"It's true."
"...Even for you, this is too much..."
"That makes no sense."
"Would he really go that far...? Then again, it is him."
"Well, that's true..."
'No. They're listening better than I expected.'
Lee Han was surprised by his friends' more positive reaction than anticipated.
Thanks to his past deeds...
...or rather, thanks to the Skeleton Principal's accumulated infamy.
"But how did you figure this out?"
"That's..."
"It's a Wardanaz. Of course he'd find out."
"Right."
"?"
Lee Han was puzzled by the other tower students answering their own question among themselves.
What did they mean by "of course he'd find out"?
"Wardanaz. Why did you tell us this?"
"You're not demanding our Exit Permits as payment, are you?"
"No. Now that things have come to this, we must cooperate to overcome the crisis."
"......"
The White Tiger Tower and Turtle Tower students fell into deep contemplation.
"Ah... should we accept this?"
"Moradi. What do you think?"
"No matter how I look at it, isn't this dangerous?"
"But if the Headmaster really set up a trap..."
Seeing the students seriously deliberating among themselves, Lee Han turned to his friends from the Blue Dragon Tower and asked,
"...Am I really that untrustworthy?"
"Of course not, Wardanaz. Those idiots just have no vision and are overly suspicious."
"After Wardanaz went out of his way to save them! Though he did raid the lounge and beat up some White Tiger Tower guys! But that was a form of teaching!"
"You could call it a lesson."
'Shouldn't have asked.'
After lengthy debates over whether Lee Han or the Skeleton Principal was more terrifying, the White Tiger Tower and Turtle Tower students reached a conclusion.
"Fine, Wardanaz. We're in."
"We'll move together too. But once we pass the main gate, we're going our separate ways."
"Fair. I wasn't planning to stick with you outside either."
"And we absolutely won't accept being used as decoys."
"Fine."
"Using us as bait for traps first, or as test subjects for magic, or—"
"...Got it. I get it."
Lee Han resolved to clear up some of the misunderstandings the White Tiger Tower students had about this outing.
The misunderstandings caused by the school's strict rules had persisted far longer than they should have.
'This school really piles up misunderstandings between people.'
Lee Han, Gainando, Yoner, Ashan.
These were the students from the Blue Dragon Tower going on the outing.
"So what are you planning to do once we get out, Gainando?"
"First, I'll buy some new card sets..."
"...Anything but cards!"
"Give the card games a rest already!"
His friends shouted at Gainando as if they'd had enough.
Gainando could be called the number one card game enthusiast in the Blue Dragon Tower.
Not because of his skill.
But because once he started playing, he wouldn't let go until he won.
"But the new card sets must have come out this month..."
"Buy me some books instead."
"I want snacks."
"Can we get alcohol too?"
"Alcohol will get confiscated at the main gate."
Watching his friends chatting cheerfully, Lee Han felt a pang of pity.
To be so carefree...
With that kind of mindset, they'd only end up getting badly hurt once they stepped outside.
"I'll head to a café first..."
"You're wrong, Gainando."
"Huh?"
"Don't be so sure you'll even make it past the main gate."
"Uh... huh?"
"Steel your resolve. Think of this as a preview of the midterm exam. No fooling around, go to bed early. We'll gather with students from the other towers before sunrise and head to the main gate."
Lee Han gave his earnest advice and turned to leave.
He planned to sleep early tonight.
Because tomorrow's battle would begin at dawn.
As Lee Han headed to his private room, Gainando tilted his head in confusion.
"Why is Lee Han acting like that?"
"The Wardanaz don't usually talk nonsense, but... shouldn't you be going to bed early too?"
"Nah. It's fine. It's fine. Wanna play a round of cards?"
"Please, let's do something else..."
"Gyaaah! Aaaaah!"
Gainando screamed and ducked his head. Lee Han yanked him back by the collar.
"Fall back! Shield, unfold!"
Lee Han summoned a massive Water Shield.
A sticky green liquid blob flew from the distance and splattered against the shield.
"What the hell is that?!"
"Sleep-catchers! Don't let the liquid touch you! If it does, you'll be forced into sleep!"
To be honest, when Lee Han had seriously warned them earlier, students from the other towers still harbored doubts deep down.
-Would the headmaster really go that far?
-He's still the headmaster, would he actually...?
-Is the Wardanaz just trying to trick us?
But those doubts vanished the moment they set out for the main gate at dawn.
Grotesque plant-like monsters popped up along the path and began shooting globs of green liquid.
"Those who can make shields, make shields now! Yoner! The things you prepared!"
"Here!"
Yoner pulled out potion bottles and passed them to his friends.
"Throw them!"
The White Tiger Tower students crouched low and hurled the bottles as instructed. The sound of shattering glass was followed by roaring flames.
Whoosh!
"Wardanaz...!"
As the Sleep-catchers hit by the fire potions stopped attacking and flailed about, the White Tiger Tower students were genuinely shocked.
It was surprising enough that he'd predicted there would be traps—but to accurately guess what kind of traps?
A Black Turtle Tower student asked incredulously:
"Wardanaz. How did you know those monsters would appear?"
"Because I've fought them before."
"......"
"......"
The students were horrified.
What did he just say!?
'Did the Wardanaz family make him do that?'
'That's going too far...!'
Of course, the Wardanaz family had done no such thing.
The reason Lee Han knew so much about the monsters lying in ambush was because he'd been running around catching escaped monsters alongside the warehouse keeper.
Since he'd have to face them again, Lee Han had thoroughly studied the monsters.
And how to deal with them.
He'd spent the entire Friday preparing to confront these monsters.
"The monster's down!"
"Wait! Don't approach carelessly."
"Let's go finish it off properly..."
One impatient White Tiger Tower student tried rushing forward.
Lee Han struck him across the back with his staff.
Whack!
"I told you to wait!"
"S-sorry."
Just as expected after waiting a moment, the sleep-catcher suddenly sprang back to life. It had been playing dead.
"Throw it again!"
Another round flask went spinning through the air.
Sleep-catchers were annoying creatures that shot sleep-inducing green liquid from a distance and tried to swallow you whole if you got too close.
But once you knew their patterns, dealing with them wasn't particularly difficult.
You just had to maintain solid defenses and target their weak spots from behind.
Thud-
"I-it's down."
"Good. It's moving."
Lee Han kept his guard up and urged the students forward.
The students who'd been wary just moments ago—thinking 'The Wardanaz might be targeting us' or 'They might steal our Exit Permits'—had completely changed their attitudes.
First things first—let's get past the Skeleton Principal's trap!
"Moradi. Maybe this time Wardanaz really is trying to help us..."
"How naive."
Before Giselle could respond to the White Tiger Tower student, a black Turtle Tower student cut in.
He was one of the Salko faction.
"Wardanaz is trying to tame you like this. You're already dancing in the palm of his hand."
"W-what?"
"Soon enough, you'll wake up one day and realize you've been following Wardanaz's orders all along. Without a proper leader like Tutanta, you lot..."
"Hey. Get lost."
"Those guys really know how to ruin the mood."
The White Tiger Tower students irritably shoved the black Turtle Tower students away.
White Tiger Tower didn't just have bad relations with the Blue Dragon Tower. They didn't get along with the black Turtle Tower either.
"Moradi. Don't mind those jerks."
"I'm not? More importantly, Angrago Alpha."
"Huh?"
Angrago shrank back when Giselle called his name.
"Did you have an Outing Pass? I don't remember hearing about it."
"Ah... about that."
The goat beastman student hesitated before speaking.
"It's actually fake."
"...What?"
"It's fake."
Angrago explained the story behind this fake Outing Pass.
That Wardanaz guy had made it for him last time, and he'd happened to run into him yesterday and heard the story.
-That Outing Pass. Wouldn't it be better to use it when lots of students are leaving together? That way there's less chance of getting caught.
-I... I see! Wardanaz. I have to admit, you're clever when it counts.
-Exactly. I'm only saying this for your sake.
"......"
Giselle looked at Angrago with the most contemptuous expression one reserves for the stupidest person in the world.
To think he'd brought along a fake Outing Pass given by Wardanaz because he had nothing else to believe in?
"You know how dangerous this is, right?"
"I know, Moradi. But if I miss this chance, I might not get another until the end of the semester...!"
Giselle clicked her tongue internally.
From the looks of it, he wouldn't listen even if she warned him. She gave a slight nod.
"Do as you please."
"Y-yes! Thanks!"
While they were talking, Lee Han called out to Angrago.
"Angrago. Come here. I'll cast Enhancement Magic on you."
"Doesn't that Wardanaz guy seem unusually nice to Angrago?"
"Yeah. Is it because they fought together on the island last time?"
"......"
Lee Han summoned fire and light in all directions to create a path.
Then he had Sharkan flush out the shadow monsters hiding nearby.
The shadow monsters fiercely charged down the path of fire and light. Immediately, Lee Han blocked the entrance.
-!
"Got them. Let's go."
The battle—if you could even call it that—ended in an instant without any real fight or commotion.
Gainando voiced what the others were all thinking privately.
"But I think Lee Han could've handled this alone..."
"Shh. Keep it down."