Episode 163
Episode 163
It was a regrettable situation.
Lee Han had relayed the message hoping that the White Tiger Tower students would also have the fair right to take their exams, but...
The White Tiger Tower students, still half-drunk, failed to understand his sincerity.
They just stared at him like he was some kind of lunatic!
Professor Thunderstep walked along, cheerfully humming a tune.
Truth be told, exams weren't just hard on the students.
Professors also had to prepare questions and grade them.
If one could find joy in that, like the Skeleton Principal, it might be bearable—but for those who couldn't, exams were nothing but a painful chore.
That was the case for Professor Thunderstep as well.
'Huhu. Finally done.'
Professor Thunderstep uncorked a bottle of mead he had been saving. With the exam questions finished, he was in a good mood.
His eyes caught sight of the freshmen, drunk and rolling around on the grass.
'Perfect timing. Perfect timing.'
A famous spectacle that every freshman at the Magic School experienced—
The Headmaster's Midterm Exam Celebration Banquet!
Once they woke up with pounding headaches and faced their exams, they'd surely break their bad habit of reckless revelry before tests.
'If anything, they're getting off cheap. Hmph.'
Professor Thunderstep nodded to himself, satisfied with that thought.
Just then, a familiar apprentice dashed through the grass.
"Wardanaz?"
"Ah! Professor!"
"Haven't you heard the news? On a fine day like this, you can't skip a drink! This is my prized mead, but I'll make an exception for you."
Professor Thunderstep handed Lee Han the bottle of mead, intending to help the Skeleton Principal's scheme.
Lee Han, of course, glared at the professor with undisguised contempt.
"...Did you figure it out?"
"Yes."
"Oh?"
Flustered, Professor Thunderstep took the bottle back.
'This kid. He's sharp.'
For a starving freshman to avoid such an obvious trap—that was no small feat.
"I need to get to the main building's fourth floor right now. Isn't the Headmaster going too far?"
"He is a bit excessive."
Professor Thunderstep agreed.
No matter what else, he could wholeheartedly sympathize with complaints about the Skeleton Principal.
"'Complete and submit it by Friday'? What kind of ridiculous—"
"Uh... my exam is also due by Friday?"
"!"
Lee Han shot Professor Thunderstep a betrayed look. The dwarf professor instinctively defended himself.
"Giving a generous deadline isn't wrong! Besides, some alchemy assignments can't be finished in just an hour or two!"
Unlike the Skeleton Principal, who deliberately tormented students with false hope by setting a lenient Friday deadline, Professor Thunderstep had a deeper meaning.
Alchemy required time, so take the next week to brew your potions properly and submit them!
That was his true intention.
"I see..."
Lee Han was somewhat convinced.
"And you'll need time to gather materials too."
"......"
Lee Han revoked his earlier understanding.
'They're all the same breed.'
"Understood."
"Your eyes just now looked like they were full of contempt. Must be my imagination?"
"Why would I give you such a look?"
"Good. I'll trust you. Don't drink, don't do anything dangerous, and don't try to raid the professors' workshops."
"?"
Lee Han paused at the last remark.
'Did the seniors raid the professors' workshops?'
As they spoke, a group of students appeared from the opposite side.
He had expected them to be drunk, but surprisingly, they were completely sober.
They were students from the Black Turtle Tower.
Lee Han asked in surprise,
"Salko? How come you didn't drink? Are you a dw—"
"Dw—?"
"You... don't seem to like alcohol much, huh?"
Lee Han quickly cut himself off before saying "dwarf." Salko looked like one, but he was, in fact, an elf.
"Hmph. Wardanaz. What do you take us for? Did you think we'd get carelessly drunk like the others? We stored all the alcohol we received."
"Hey... shut up, you're embarrassing us."
One of Salko's gang members proudly boasted until a friend stopped him.
Thinking calmly, the act of bringing and separately storing the alcohol the Skeleton Principal had provided at the banquet...
Was admittedly a bit miserly.
Yet Lee Han was impressed.
"Remarkable. I never thought of that. Brilliant. To receive and store it away like that."
"......"
"......"
"Why is everyone acting like this?"
"Ah, no. It's nothing."
The Black Turtle Tower students suddenly felt a wave of shame return upon receiving Lee Han's praise.
'Are we being too miserly?'
'Was storing it going too far?'
Ignoring the reactions of his friends behind him, Salko spoke up.
"The Headmaster said the exam would be held on the fourth floor of the main building. Right?"
"That's correct."
"We're heading there now. Care to join us, Wardanaz?"
"!?"
The other Black Turtle Tower students were more shocked than Lee Han.
"Is this okay, Tutanta?"
"Why not? You all know Wardanaz's capabilities well enough."
"We do."
A few Black Turtle Tower students nodded.
Just yesterday, during their outing, it was thanks to Wardanaz that they had survived.
But that aside...
"Wardanaz is kind of scary."
"If there's a section requiring sacrifices, he might offer us up..."
'I can hear all of you.'
"But still, we have to acknowledge Wardanaz's abilities..."
"Right. The exam comes first now."
The friends who had finished discussing spoke up.
"Let's go together, Wardanaz!"
'If there's a sacrifice section, I'm definitely offering these guys up.'
"What's everyone gathered here for?"
Nilia walked over from the forest, looking puzzled, a bow in one hand and several rabbits in the other.
Her completely sober appearance made Lee Han suspicious.
"You didn't drink?"
"Drink? Where would I get alcohol to drink?"
"...Wait. How long have you been in the forest?"
"Since dawn yesterday?"
Nilia tilted her head, not understanding why Lee Han was asking.
She had been preparing to hunt since dawn yesterday to gather some meat and hides.
It had been a satisfying hunt.
No matter how skilled a hunter is, if the prey doesn't appear, it's all for nothing—luck plays a part too...
Four rabbits were more than enough to be pleased with.
"Look. I caught rabbits. Want one?"
At Nilia's kindness, Lee Han glared at the Black Turtle Tower students as if they were trash.
'They left a fellow tower member behind and only went to the banquet themselves?'
The Black Turtle Tower students instinctively defended themselves.
"We didn't hide it on purpose...!"
"When we woke up, you'd already gone hunting!"
"What are you talking about?"
Nilia still hadn't grasped the situation.
Lee Han summarized it bluntly.
"These jerks didn't tell you about the banquet and went by themselves—"
"That's not true!"
"We saved alcohol and cake for later! We'll definitely share it after the exam! Believe us!"
The Black Turtle Tower students pounded their chests in frustration.
Why would they exclude Nilia?!
"Ah. So that's what happened."
After the confusion, Nilia nodded.
"Couldn't that just happen?"
"?!"
Lee Han was baffled.
'When I and the others went separately, you were so shocked...'
"Good thing I didn't drink. I'll have some after the exam."
"Of course! Nilia, we're always grateful for your hard work!"
The Black Turtle Tower students exaggerated their gratitude several times more than usual.
They had always been thankful, but in this situation, it somehow sounded like a blatant lie.
"Nilia. If you ever feel like they're using you, let me know."
"No, I told you...!"
"Have you ever been to the fourth floor of the main building?"
"Not yet. The third floor is already so demanding."
At Lee Han's words, Salko nodded his head.
The brave freshmen were constantly striving to familiarize themselves with the layout of the main building.
Of course, regardless of such efforts, the Magic School's buildings harshly tested its students.
"The second floor is manageable, but from the third floor onward..."
"The third floor is definitely like that."
Up to the second floor, any staircase was passable without much trouble.
But from the third floor onward, all sorts of bizarre creatures would pop out.
Hadn't they already encountered both the Forgotten Beast Statue and the Polymorph Forest on the third floor?
"Fortunately, I know one path through the third floor. Taking that route to the fourth floor seems the safest bet."
"What kind of path is it?"
Salko was slightly surprised.
Salko and his friends still hadn't managed to breach the third floor. Everywhere they went, perplexing obstacles blocked their way.
Yet the Wardanaz kid had found a path through the third floor. It was truly an impressive feat.
"You remember that map I gave you last time to the Spire Stables? That's the path."
"Hmm? That's strange. Isn't the Polymorph Forest there?"
Salko was puzzled.
Since they shared information with Lee Han, Salko and his friends had also tried passing through the Polymorph Forest several times.
But every time, they transformed into animals and couldn't proceed at all.
Did the Wardanaz kid know a time when the Polymorph Forest disappeared?
"Ah. I found a way to get through."
"Wow... That's amazing."
Salko was genuinely impressed.
Despite diving into the Polymorph Forest multiple times, they'd never found a way—yet Wardanaz had figured it out.
Indeed, Wardanaz's magical prowess was undeniable.
A genius even among the elite gathered at Einrogard!
'But that's exactly what makes him terrifying.'
If he were just a magically gifted genius, they wouldn't be this wary.
To Salko, Wardanaz seemed like someone who could easily become the boss of a thieves' guild or a crime syndicate.
"By the way, can I ask how you got through?"
One of the Black Turtle Tower students inquired.
"Persuasion."
"Persuasion?! So it's a place that can be persuaded?"
"I am the Headmaster!"
Squeak squeak squeak!
The mice guarding the Polymorph Forest frantically cleared the path.
The illusory mist dissipated, and a straight path appeared through the center of the forest.
"......"
"......"
"The path's open. Let's go."
Lee Han briskly strode ahead, leading Ratford and Nilia.
The Black Turtle Tower students gaped in shock, staring at Lee Han's retreating figure.
That...
What the hell is that guy???
"Wardanaz, did you just say you were the Headmaster?"
"Ah. That was just a trick."
"......"
How the hell is that even possible...?
"Wait... Wardanaz. Could you explain in a bit more detail?"
One of the Black Turtle Tower students couldn't hold back and spoke up.
Nilia immediately scolded him.
"Is that really important right now? If you think about it, the answer's obvious."
Ratford joined in the scolding.
"It's easy if you just think about it."
"......"
Salko, who had also been about to ask out of curiosity, shut his mouth. But his curiosity remained.
'How the hell did he do it?'
What on earth do you have to do to make the Polymorph Forest recognize Wardanaz as the Headmaster...
-Stop, student. I am the Statue of the Labyrinth.
"!"
Lee Han halted at the telepathic voice.
Though the hallway appeared empty, he could sense the mana presence ahead.
-The moment you enter, you will challenge the labyrinth.
Lee Han didn't question why there was a labyrinth on the school's third floor.
-I see.
-But there is a way to pass through the labyrinth. Sacrifice one of your friends. If you send one of them to the underground punishment chamber, I will send you to the other side of the labyrinth.
Lee Han instinctively glanced at the Black Turtle Tower students.
Oblivious, they stared back at him with innocent, guileless eyes.
Why is he looking at us like that?