Episode 186
Episode 186
'Oh no. She wasn't Gainando.'
Lee Han belatedly realized his mistake and regretted it.
No matter how much the Princess couldn't eat desserts, she wasn't at Gainando's level of eating poisoned cake.
But his hand had already moved. Lee Han knew the best course of action in such situations.
"Indeed. This artifact must have poison detection and detoxification functions."
The silver spoon that touched the poisoned cake produced smoke, just like when the detection spell had been cast earlier.
Simultaneously, the color of the smoke gradually changed—evidence that detoxification was progressing bit by bit.
The Princess blinked several times as she snapped out of her daze, then fluttered her eyelids as she tried to speak.
Whatever words came out next certainly wouldn't be pleasant.
"We should leave immediately. Let's go!"
Before the Princess's anger could erupt coldly, Lee Han turned and moved without giving her an opening.
The Princess was a beat slow to react as Lee Han dragged her away before any misunderstanding could be resolved.
"What are you—"
"Hurry!"
Lee Han pretended not to hear and rushed out.
The Princess stared at his retreating back with an utterly dumbfounded expression.
When they exited the tower, the friends who had entered first were sitting there in complete disarray.
Angrago was covered in dust and dirt, his clothes nearly torn to shreds as if he'd been beaten by someone.
Salko was drenched from head to toe as if he'd been swimming.
Most of the other friends were similarly in terrible shape.
Amidst this group, Lee Han and the Princess—completely unharmed—stood out conspicuously.
...He chose the wrong challenge.
The Skeleton Principal muttered with clear disappointment.
Come to think of it, poison wouldn't have been very effective against that boy from the Wardanaz family.
To luck out and pick something like that!
"Wardanaz. What kind of challenge did you take to come out so unscathed?"
Angrago asked with a voice mixed with envy and resentment. Lee Han replied calmly.
"It only looks like I'm fine on the outside. The challenge I entered was quite dangerous too. I had to eat poison."
"!"
"...!"
Their friends' expressions changed at those words.
A challenge where you had to eat poison?
Hearing that suddenly made their own challenges seem much better in comparison.
"That's... I'm sorry, Wardanaz. I spoke out of turn."
Angrago apologized sincerely. Lee Han nodded as if it were nothing.
"It's understandable. I get it."
"......"
......
The Princess and the Skeleton Principal stared at Lee Han as if he were absurd.
Such shamelessness...!
How about trying another challenge? You might just be capable of it.
"No, thank you, Headmaster. I'm simply honored you'd think so highly of me."
'What an insufferable brat.'
'I'm absolutely not going.'
On a golden weekend afternoon,
the students of the Blue Dragon Tower were sprawled across the lounge, enjoying the rare peace.
Even the Princess was chatting with her followers.
But Lee Han was packing a basket—neatly arranging rice balls, rice cakes, and fried snacks before adding a few bottles of drinks and standing up.
"Where are you going? The library?"
Yoner asked curiously.
Given how much food he was preparing, it could only be for an outdoor expedition or the library.
Though going to the library on a day like this was strange enough, coming from Lee Han, it was plausible.
"To deliver snacks."
"......"
Yoner was at a loss for words.
To go that far...!?
"You don't have to go that far, do you?"
"That's how you get paid more."
"Lee Han... You're too kind."
"Did you not hear what I just said?"
"Even considering that, you're still kind."
Lee Han was puzzled by Yoner's words.
How is this kind?
Clang!
The detention room exuded a chilling aura from the entrance. Despite it being spring, this place felt like a different season entirely.
'I really don't want to be here.'
It wasn't just because it was the detention room—there was clearly some magical reason for this overwhelming sense of aversion.
Otherwise, there was no way such an intense sense of foreboding would be present.
'Well, given the Skeleton Principal's personality, it's not like he'd just let students escape so easily...'
Even if confined to the punishment room, succeeding in an escape would grant innocence—but that rule wasn't for the students' sake.
It was a rule for the Skeleton Principal's amusement.
Having once wandered deep within the punishment room in an attempt to escape to the surface, Lee Han was well aware of its considerable scale.
Knock knock—
"Are you there?"
Silence.
Knock knock—
"Are you there?"
"...Grrr. Grrrrr. Grrrrrrr."
"My apologies."
Lee Han immediately moved to the next room.
After knocking on several doors in search of confined students, he soon realized this wouldn't be as easy as he'd thought.
'This is a disaster. Seems like they're placed quite deep inside.'
He'd known the punishment room was large, but he'd assumed the failing freshmen would be closer to the entrance.
Apparently not.
'I have too little information about the punishment room. Comparing it to the notes I took during my last escape attempt... That won't work. And I can't summon Perkuntra again so soon after last time.'
As Lee Han descended the stairs along the corridor, he thought that if he failed this time, he'd have to consider another approach.
Knock knock—
"Are you there?"
"Who's there?"
"!"
Surprisingly, a human voice responded from inside. It was unmistakably another student.
"Are you a student?"
"Hey. I don't know what year you are, but if you don't want me cursing you later, stop messing around and get lo—... Wait a second."
Diret paused abruptly.
The voice outside sounded oddly familiar.
In that instant, a flash of recognition struck Diret's mind.
"!"
The freshman who'd been placed in the neighboring cell last time, spouting unbelievable nonsense.
The freshman who'd visited Professor Mortum's Black Rock Hall to learn Black Magic.
And the freshman who, during the midterms, had blindly added lectures after falling for the professors' sweet talk, unaware of his own impending doom.
All three freshmen merged into one.
"...You! It's you, isn't it?! It's you, right?!?"
'Is this guy insane?'
Lee Han flinched.
As before, being locked in the punishment room didn't necessarily mean the person inside was a sane student.
For all he knew, it could be a monster mimicking a student...
"You're that freshman from the Wardanaz family, right? The one who, even before midterms, had already picked Elemental Magic, Black Magic, Summoning Magic, and Illusion Magic, took the exams, and got caught trying to escape through the underground tunnels in the first week!"
"!"
Now it was Lee Han's turn to be shocked.
The mages of the Magic School truly were astounding.
'Do upperclassmen develop the ability to see right through people even from inside the punishment room?'
"How on earth—?"
"What do you mean, how? I was in the cell next to yours last time, and I was there when you volunteered to help Professor Mortum during midterms. That's how I know."
"Ah...! So it was you?"
Lee Han recalled the upperclassman from the neighboring cell whose face he'd never seen.
By all accounts, he'd been a friendly guy.
He'd told Lee Han about the Spire Stables (though he'd taken snacks as a bribe), advised him to attend lectures in moderation (not that Lee Han listened), and even told him to relax around him...
And that guy was this guy.
"Wait. Don't tell me you've been locked up here since then?"
"Are you insane? Of course I got out and came back in."
An awkward silence fell.
For a moment, Lee Han thought, What exactly does this senior do to keep ending up in the punishment room?
And Diret saw right through him.
"Junior. Were you just thinking, What exactly does this senior do to keep ending up in the punishment room?"
"Of course not, Senior."
"Why the sudden formal speech?"
"Truthfully, I place great importance on manners."
'Doesn't seem like it.'
Considering how this junior had smuggled snacks into the punishment room last time, the odds were high he was from the Black Turtle Tower.
'...Huh? Wait. Wardanaz family, but from the Black Turtle Tower?'
Dilette tilted his head in confusion.
Something felt off.
"Alright. If you're learning Black Magic, I suppose it's fine for you to address me as your senior. And you owe me one, junior."
"I'm grateful for the stables."
"Not that! The midterm exam!"
"?"
Dilette felt unjustly aggrieved when Lee Han failed to recognize the senior's sacrifice.
Of course, the real culprit was the Skeleton Principal, but human emotions weren't so neatly divided.
"Wait a minute. Come to think of it, junior, didn't I warn you last time when you were in the Punishment Room?!"
As the memory surfaced, Dilette felt several times more wronged than before.
With your level of ability, multiple professors will be eyeing you. You'd better be careful in advance.
Hadn't he given that warning right there in the Punishment Room?
If this junior had actually heeded his warning, Dilette wouldn't have been dragged back here like this.
"Ah... that warning. Of course, I took it to heart."
"You call that taking it to heart?!"
Dilette was even more dumbfounded.
If that was "taking it to heart," then what would ignoring it look like? Attending every lecture?
"No, Senior. I appreciate your concern, but I've made my choices after careful consideration—rationally."
"...Explain this rational calculation of yours. Let's hear it."
Lee Han calmly laid out his reasoning to his senior.
First, he chose Black Magic because it suited his aptitude. Summoning Magic was also highly practical, so he picked that too. Illusion Magic was necessary, so he decided to learn it. As for Enchantment Magic, he'd hesitated at first, but since it matched his aptitude and Professor Garcia had recommended it, he'd added it to his list...
"Hold on. Junior. Enchantment Magic?? Don't you take Enchantment Magic after the midterms???"
"Ah. I happened to meet the professor earlier by chance."
"Oh... And by chance, you don't worry about working yourself to death?"
"No need to worry. I have everything under control."
Despite Dilette's sarcasm, Lee Han answered confidently.
But to Dilette, Lee Han was clearly walking the same path as Professor Garcia.
The path of an Asura—taking every magic field from the very first year!
Normally, a freshman with even a shred of common sense would hesitate, thinking, Can I really handle this? Hmm. No, it'd be too much, and hit the brakes.
But this junior in front of him was reacting like, Can I really handle this? Hmm. Well, it suits my aptitude and is useful, so maybe I'll just learn this much...
"Junior. Be careful. Seriously, be careful. I mean it. Really. Got it?"
"Thank you for your concern, Senior."
'This kid isn't going to listen to me.'
For some reason, Dilette had that premonition.
"Senior, I brought some snacks. Would you like some?"
"What? Snacks? ...Are you really from the Wardanaz family??"
Dilette couldn't help but be astonished at the sheer audacity of a first-year freshman bringing snacks into the Punishment Room.
And what was even more astonishing was the quality of the food.
Not the usual hard black bread or cold, stiff rice balls that freshmen typically ate.
Instead, freshly made rice balls with soft red bean cakes. Even crispy fried sweets.
Just... how?
'Ah. I gave away the portion meant for Gainando too.'
Lee Han decided to make an excuse later—that the Skeleton Principal had confiscated it on the way.
"...Whatever else, the third-years are definitely going to love you."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. I've seen plenty of juniors, but never one like you."
After taking a bite of the rice cake, Dilette hesitated before speaking.
He'd eaten too well, too generously, to just let it go.
Even if it meant extending his time in the Punishment Room, he couldn't not say it.
"Junior. The midterms are over now."
"Yes."
"Be careful."
"I'm always careful."
"...Good. That's a great attitude. But what I mean is—be extra careful. After midterms, the school usually goes completely insane."
'Can it get more insane than this?'
The next day.
Lee Han woke up and opened the window of his private room.
'It's strangely cold...?'
Fresh white snow had piled up, filling half of the tower's first floor.
Lee Han nodded calmly.
"Hmm. So it can get more insane."