Episode 18
Episode 18
The White Tiger Tower students turned out to be more narrow-minded than Lee Han had expected.
The moment he tried to leave after class, three students suddenly blocked his path.
"Wardanaz. Did you really think you could win so despicably and just walk away?"
"We'll teach you a lesson so you never dare shamelessly attend lectures again."
A dwarf student and an orc student whose names Lee Han didn't know spat out the words.
Still trying to grasp the situation, Lee Han probed with a question.
"Are you really doing this knowing I'm from the Wardanaz family?"
"How cowardly to threaten us with your family name...!"
"And three against one isn't cowardly?"
"Shut up!"
Though they pretended otherwise, a flicker of fear passed across their faces.
They seemed to have heard rumors about the Wardanaz family.
Yet they were going to gang up three against one just to boost their dorm's pride?
'Aside from them being fundamentally a bit empty-headed... do they have some backing?'
Either they came from great families themselves or had support from one.
'The former seems unlikely, so it must be the latter.'
If that was the case, then they really were severely empty-headed.
If a conflict arose with a great family like Wardanaz, there's no way their supporting great family would protect them.
More likely, they'd just be used and discarded.
There's a saying for a reason: don't meddle in fights between great families...
'If they were the type to understand that, they wouldn't have attacked in the first place.'
If his opponents were the type to act without thinking, no amount of logical persuasion from Lee Han would help.
Fists were close, but family influence was far away.
"Who put you up to this? Probably a family yours can't refuse."
"!!!"
"!!!!!"
The three students looked like they might faint from shock.
How could some student from another dorm guess so accurately about White Tiger Tower's internal affairs?
"Sh-shut up!"
"Let's attack!"
"Surround him!"
Realizing further conversation would only put them at a disadvantage, the three began moving stealthily to attack.
'Three against one is too much.'
Seizing the moment, Lee Han quickly racked his brain.
Alarong had been adamant:
-One-on-one is fine. Two-on-one, do it if you must. Three-on-one? Just run.
If you ever have to fight three people, just bolt!
Lee Han agreed.
All three were likely from knightly families with decent swordsmanship training—facing them three against one would put Lee Han at a clear disadvantage.
The problem was they were blocking the path.
He had to shake them off and break through somehow.
'Got it!'
At that moment, something flashed through Lee Han's mind.
They knew he was from the Wardanaz family, a renowned magical lineage.
He had to use that.
"Move!"
When Lee Han chanted a spell in a commanding voice, the three students jumped in surprise.
Magic?
They were still struggling with the simplest illumination spells!
'Threaten them with Lesser Manipulation.'
Lee Han hadn't fully mastered the <Lesser Manipulation> spell either.
He hadn't succeeded in proper control yet.
But it didn't matter.
His opponents wouldn't know he hadn't perfected it.
With their own magical skills being pathetic, Lee Han's magic was more than enough to intimidate them.
Thwack!
"......"
Lee Han's eyes widened in shock.
All he'd meant to do was levitate a pebble.
Once the pebble was in the air, he could've used it to threaten them however he wanted.
But Lee Han had overestimated his magical ability.
Keeping something suspended midair was harder than he'd thought.
The moment he cast the spell, the pebble shot forward like an arrow.
And struck the goat beastman student squarely on the forehead.
"Wardanaz, you bastard!! How dare you!!"
The remaining two students were stunned—this was their first encounter with combat magic.
A rock arrow spell that flies at you without even giving you time to react.
Even for a Wardanaz family member, to already wield such powerful magic...!
"...If the next one wants to die too, come closer."
Lee Han spoke coldly.
At this point, there was no other choice.
That spell just now had to be used to bluff as originally intended.
"Ugh..."
"You'd better step aside. If you have swords, I have magic."
The two wore expressions torn between fear and pride.
At that moment, Lee Han cast his magic again.
"Move!"
"Gah!"
The dwarf student flung his body sideways. But the rock arrow precisely tracked the dodging dwarf and struck him square in the stomach.
Thwack!
"Ghk... Ugh."
The dwarf student collapsed forward without even catching his breath. The remaining orc student was utterly terrified.
To hit even when dodged.
This was no ordinary skill.
'Did I not mess up learning magic?'
Looking at the fallen students, Lee Han was inwardly bewildered too.
How come lifting objects doesn't work, but hitting opponents—without even aiming—works so perfectly?
"S-stop it. I surrender! I'll move! I'll get out of the way! Stop shooting! Don't kill me!"
'I'm not killing you, you lunatic.'
Though Lee Han thought this, he maintained his expression to the end.
"Be careful from now on. The name of the Wardanaz family."
"Grr..."
The orc student gnashed his teeth but didn't dare meet his eyes.
Durgyu, who arrived belatedly, locked eyes with Lee Han while wearing an utterly dumbfounded expression.
"Did you come to fight too?"
"N-no."
In this situation, even the unshakable Durgyu couldn't help but stammer.
"That Moradi family's Giselle threatened you?"
"No. Giselle—"
"Ah. Right. Giselle. Hard name. Anyway, that Moradi family's Giselle?"
Lee Han was slightly surprised by Durgyu's confession.
The atmospheres of the Blue Dragon Tower and White Tiger Tower were quite different.
Perhaps because the Blue Dragon Tower housed scions of great families or imperial blood, no single person dominated the atmosphere.
In reality, it was closer to a loose gathering where people formed groups based on their family connections.
Though Princess Adenart was the most famous and had a few followers, even that was far from a command hierarchy.
But in White Tiger Tower, Giselle of the Moradi family was pulling the strings?
"What does she look like?"
"Like this."
Durgyu skillfully sketched her appearance on the ground with a twig.
Hearing this, Lee Han was shocked.
'No way...?!'
Wasn't that the student who'd pretended to be kind and struck up conversations with him during swordsmanship class?
"No wonder she was excessively friendly despite being decent-looking... She was hiding wicked intentions all along."
"Wardanaz. I agree Giselle Moradi is wicked, but I don't think that has anything to do with her looks. And 'decent-looking'? Wait, do you think Giselle is a—"
Lee Han let Durgyu's remark go in one ear and out the other.
Why bother listening to someone defending a decent-looking bastard?
'How ironic.'
Initially, Lee Han had considered borrowing the influence of Giselle—who at least acted kindly—to persuade other students.
Instead, he'd grown closer to Durgyu, with whom he'd initially clashed, while Giselle turned out to be hiding sinister schemes.
'Was she testing me by talking to me?'
Lee Han recalled his conversations with Giselle.
He hadn't said anything particularly important or compromising.
Sure, he'd said, "I'm taking swordsmanship class to coast on grades!" but that wouldn't warrant sending students to ambush him.
If anything, hearing that would make someone think he was an easy target, not a threat.
"This doesn't make sense. Why attack me?"
"I can think of a few reasons. First, you're from the Wardanaz family."
"Is there some bad blood between our families that I don't know about?"
Lee Han was puzzled.
Could there be some bloody feud between the Wardanaz magic family and the Moradi knight family?
"No. Not that I know of. But if Giselle ruthlessly crushes you—a prestigious Wardanaz family member—her authority among us first-years will grow that much stronger."
"......"
Lee Han immediately grasped the meaning and his expression darkened.
So right now, Lee Han was...
Being seen as an expensive trophy with the Wardanaz family label attached?
'This is oddly irritating.'
No matter how much he tried to dismiss it as childish teenage squabbles, it still left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Not all first-years follow Giselle now, but if she demonstrates that kind of charisma, more students will start following her."
"You call siccing classmates to throw punches 'charisma'? Typical knight family behavior."
At Lee Han's words, Durgyu bowed his head with an ashamed expression. He too wasn't free from this dynamic.
"No, I wasn't directing that at you. Don't look so down."
"Thanks, Wardanaz. Let me continue. Giselle has a personality that always seeks to be the leader. She'll do anything to assert her power and dominance. So... if you plan to keep attending swordsmanship lectures, I wanted to warn you to be careful."
If Lee Han continued attending swordsmanship lectures and showed promise, the White Tiger Tower students would inevitably grow jealous.
And she would skillfully manipulate that sentiment to make more students follow her.
Durgyu cautiously suggested:
"You don't necessarily have to attend the lectures. There are ways to learn swordsmanship separately during breaks."
"Hmm. Durgyu."
"?"
"Just occurred to me—I'm also planning to take <Basic Physical Training>... Is that also just for White Tiger Tower students?"
"...Wardanaz. This might sound rude but... isn't the Wardanaz family a renowned magic lineage...? Why on earth...?"
Durgyu finally couldn't hold back his question.
After parting ways with Durgyu, Lee Han fell deep in thought on his way back.
Truthfully, Durgyu's advice was the simplest solution.
-Avoid lectures attended only by White Tiger Tower students.
If he just avoided those classes, Giselle wouldn't be able to pick fights no matter how hard she tried.
In other lectures, Lee Han would be with fellow Blue Dragon Tower students—how could she possibly start trouble there?
And if Lee Han disappeared from those lectures, Giselle wouldn't go out of her way to chase him down either. There'd be nothing to gain.
But Lee Han had no intention of accepting that advice.
First, though Durgyu didn't know it, Lee Han had chosen those lectures specifically for easy credits...
'Daring to play politics with me, are they?'
Second was pride.
They were pulling these petty schemes for such trivial reasons—was he just supposed to let that slide?
Lee Han had no intention of taking losses like that.
BANG—
Returning to the tower, Lee Han flung open the first-year common room door.
Students chatting in small groups noticed him and waved.
"Friends!"
"...?"
"??"
"Today, I was attacked by White Tiger Tower students. Just for being from the Blue Dragon Tower!"
A stunned silence.
The sheer absurdity of the statement made the students process it a beat late.
Then someone flipped a table.
"...Have those tin-can bastards lost their minds!?"
"They've got no respect, is that it!?"
'Huh?'
His classmates' reactions were far more intense than Lee Han had anticipated.
"Spread the word! Those White Tiger Tower punks dared lay hands on a Wardanaz!"
"Gainando they might get away with, but touching a Wardanaz? They've crossed a line!"
"Any way to get weapons? Find where we can bring some from! I'll kill them!"
As things started escalating excessively, Lee Han stepped in to calm them.
"Wait. Hold on. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but you don't need to go that far. I—"
"No! Wardanaz. We owe you."
"Right! There's not one person here who hasn't eaten meat you provided!"
Seeing his friends thanking him without realizing how badly they'd been overcharged made Lee Han feel slightly guilty.
"And this is about pride!"
"Let's crush those White Tiger Tower bastards!"
"Crush the White Tiger Tower bastards!!"