Episode 239
Episode 239
"Why is everyone like this? Surely you're not... lacking money?"
One uneasy merchant tried to lighten the mood with a joking remark.
"Yes..."
"Apologies... it's school regulations..."
"......"
As the White Tiger Tower students answered hesitantly, the merchants were aghast.
What kind of rule is that??
They'd heard rumors about the strict teaching, but this...
"Th-that doesn't make sense! If you can't bring money to school... how do you go out?"
'That's a perfectly valid point.'
Lee Han nodded in agreement.
"That's not the issue right now."
"R-right. That's... um..."
As the merchants floundered in confusion, one White Tiger Tower student tentatively suggested:
"Couldn't we... pay during vacation? On our family's honor—"
—How dare you attempt credit transactions on the sacred grounds of Einrogard? Have you no honor? No pride? And you call yourselves mages?
"......"
The Death Knights standing nearby mercilessly tore into them.
The White Tiger Tower student, who had misspoken and suddenly found himself branded as shameless, immediately shrank back.
"N-no! Sir Death Knights! We didn't mean—"
—Nonsense! Coddling students only breeds trouble. They must be disciplined strictly. Haven't you heard the old tales? Spoiled heirs always squander their family fortunes, thinking it's their own to waste.
"I doubt buying a few materials would bankrupt anyone..."
The merchants muttered, but the Death Knights pretended not to hear.
'No matter how you look at it, the Skeleton Principal must've sent them.'
Now that he thought about it, the Skeleton Principal would never have allowed merchants to enter the school grounds so easily.
He'd probably anticipated this very situation and let them in deliberately.
Even deploying Death Knights to enforce the no-credit rule!
"Um. Would it be alright if I just bought my things first?"
Seeing that this could drag on, Lee Han spoke up.
The merchants were startled.
"You have money right now?"
"Yes."
"How... no, of course you would... Thank you so much!"
Still, the fact that at least one student had money delighted the merchants.
"Huh? If the Wardanaz has money... can't we just borrow from him?"
—How dare you attempt monetary transactions between friends on the sacred grounds of Einrogard? Have you no fear of ruining friendships? And you call yourselves mages?
"I... I spoke out of turn."
'What an idiot.'
Lee Han clicked his tongue at the White Tiger Tower student.
If you're going to borrow, do it secretly where the Death Knights can't see. Did he really have to ask so blatantly?
"Why are you all just standing around?"
Professor Verdus approached, puzzled by the students lingering awkwardly.
"...Professor. We don't have money. You might've forgotten, but..."
"Of course. Bringing silver into the school is prohibited."
At Professor Verdus' words, the students grew even more suspicious.
If he knew, then why was this happening?
Did he just want to watch them suffer in frustration?
Come to think of it, given the Headmaster's personality, that wasn't an implausible theory...
"Work for it. Your seniors did the same."
"Excuse me?"
"Work. You know, labor? Never heard of it?"
"......"
"......"
Both merchants and students were stunned by this unexpected solution.
It wasn't entirely unreasonable.
Mages were among the Empire's most elite professionals.
A skilled mage's services were priceless—money alone couldn't guarantee their work.
Even first-years at Einrogard were far more capable than the mediocre mages wandering the streets...
"R-really? Is that allowed?"
"Of course. Ask for anything."
"No, I mean..."
Touched by Professor Verdus' kindness in answering for them, the students' voices trembled slightly.
Professor Verdus was startled when he saw Lee Han.
"Why do you have money?!"
'That's what I'd like to know too.'
For the first time, the other students found themselves sympathizing with Professor Verdus's sentiments.
"Well, you see—"
"Actually, I don't really care. You pay up. Hurry up and make the artifact. I'm looking forward to that floating steel shield."
"He can already make artifacts like that?!"
Nearby merchants gasped in surprise, but Lee Han no longer had the energy to explain.
And then...
"I'll also repay my debt through labor."
"Huh? Why would you—?"
The merchants looked puzzled.
The Death Knights kindly explained.
-It's friendship.
-Honorable friendship.
"Ah...!"
"Wardanaz...!"
Both the merchants and the other students were impressed.
Regardless, Lee Han did some quick calculations.
'Looking at the material prices roughly...'
If he could settle it through labor, it was an absolute win.
Why waste silver coins needlessly?
'Why the hell is this guy trying to repay through labor?'
Giselle stared at Lee Han with disbelief.
It obviously couldn't be because of friendship (Giselle wasn't an idiot like the Death Knights), and as a Wardanaz, he wouldn't be so stingy as to do this to save money...
Then why?
"By any chance, if I do more work than the material cost, can I get a refund?"
"Excuse me?"
"......"
"What?! Merchants came to the school?!"
Gainando, who had been sprawled on the sofa, abruptly sat up.
"Not the kind of merchants you're thinking of, Gainando."
"Right. They only sell reagents for magic."
"But surely they have some snacks, don't they?"
"Didn't see any. Oh, they did sell bait for luring beasts though."
A day later, the merchants' visit had become something of a hot topic.
Given the academy's insular environment, it was only natural for outsiders to draw attention.
Of course, students who learned the truth quickly lost interest.
"Nothing useful here."
"You should prepare in advance."
Lee Han advised his friends.
"Other classes will soon assign pre-final projects too. It'd be wise to stock up on materials you'll likely need."
"...!"
He definitely had a point.
When professors assigned tasks, they weren't so kind as to provide the materials too.
"Is... is that so?"
"Maybe we should go buy some in advance."
Convinced, the Blue Dragon Tower students hastily gathered their things and stood up.
Then they went to see the merchants.
One hour later.
"...We've been tricked..."
"Tricked by Wardanaz..."
"People would misunderstand if they heard this."
Lee Han scolded the friends sitting beside him.
At first, the merchants had said, "Oh, how could we possibly make mages work for us?" but they turned out to be surprisingly good at putting them to work.
Professionals are thorough, after all.
-These are potions that failed during brewing. We'd like you to separate them as much as possible to salvage the materials.
-Could you pick out items among these miscellaneous things that still have mana left in them?
-We need someone to complete the groundwork for scrolls. Could you help? There are a few hundred sheets, though...
The White Tiger Tower students, who had been sitting there from the start, were listlessly moving their hands with dazed expressions.
Even if the tasks weren't difficult, they weren't exactly easy either.
Separating potions still consumed mana, identifying mana-infused items among junk required concentration, and drawing lines on scrolls for groundwork was exhausting in its own right.
"Were assignments always this hard...?"
'Actually, the assignments haven't even started yet.'
While his friends staggered from exhaustion and mana depletion, Lee Han remained perfectly energetic.
"Done."
"Wait, already?!"
"Yes. Please give me the next task."
"You should probably take a break."
The merchants tried to stop him.
True, Lee Han still seemed fine, but with the other students struggling, they were worried about making him work continuously.
"No, I can do more."
"Rather... since you've worked this much, wouldn't it be enough to just take the materials...?"
"No. Since there's a chance of failure, I want to work more as preparation."
If there's any left, I'll take it as silver coins!
Professor Verdus, who was passing by, asked:
"Given your skills, it seems like you could just do this much and be fine?"
"No."
"I'm telling you, just doing this much would—"
"No. It's insufficient."
"I said just doing it is fine!"
"It's insufficient!"
"...Y-you two. Please don't fight."
The merchants were flustered by the sight of teacher and student arguing.
Why on earth are they fighting over something like this?
"It seems everyone's struggling because of the pre-final assignments."
Professor Ingoldel spoke with a pitying tone as he looked at the students who resembled corpses.
"I should give you one piece of good news. In my class, there are no separate pre-final assignments."
"!!"
"Professor Ingoldel! You're a true educator!"
"Being praised like this doesn't make me feel particularly good... but now that the finals are right around the corner, don't let your guard down too much. A few assignments will come your way soon enough."
Lee Han nodded.
Once the storm of pre-final assignments currently battering them one after another ended, there was a high chance the finals would arrive the moment they opened their eyes.
They couldn't let their guard down just because there were 2-3 weeks left.
"So I'll tell you about the finals first."
"!"
"Professor...! To go this far...!"
'This isn't good.'
Unlike his moved friends, Lee Han grew tense.
Though Professor Ingoldel seemed slightly more reasonable than the other mad professors, he was still a professor at Einrogard.
He was absolutely not someone lenient toward students.
"Do you see that mountain range?"
Professor Ingoldel pointed toward the mountain range behind the main building with the tip of his sword.
The students nodded.
Since everyone had suffered there at least once or twice, there was no way they wouldn't know the mountain range within the magic school.
"Your final exam will be hunting there in groups of three."
"Oh..."
"What are we hunting? Wild boars? Bulls?"
"Hunt whatever you like. The stronger the prey, the higher your grade will be."
"......"
"......"
The students' expressions hardened.
Wait... what?
'Can't we collude?'
Lee Han thought that as he glanced around, but he soon gave up.
Judging by the expressions of the White Tiger Tower students, they were absolutely not the type to collude.
If he tried to join hands, they'd stab him in the back immediately and go find stronger prey themselves.
Especially since swordsmanship classes were a matter of pride for White Tiger Tower students.
There was no way a suggestion like 'Let's not push ourselves too hard and just get good grades together' would work.
"Friends. Think carefully. We already have so many pre-final assignments. And now we have finals too—what's the point of burning with competitiveness here... Never mind. What's the use of me saying this? Do whatever you want."
Lee Han gave up mid-sentence.
The White Tiger Tower students weren't even listening with half an ear.
The tumultuous week was coming to an end, but the classes showed no mercy.
As pre-final assignments started pouring in even from mandatory liberal arts courses like <Basic Imperial Language and Logic> and <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic>, the students wore nauseated expressions.
"Ah. Wardanaz. You're making a floating steel shield?"
Professor Alpen Nayton looked at Lee Han with a curious gaze.
"It just sort of happened..."
"Though it's just a Makeshift Artifact, the calculations won't be easy. Show it to me once it's done. I'm curious to see how far you'll complete it."
"...Yes."
'This school needs to stop letting professors talk to each other.'
Starting from Professor Voladi, then Professor Verdus, and now even Professor Nayton showing interest in when he'd make the floating steel shield, Lee Han was starting to feel suffocated.
'I really need to start right away.'
At this point, even if he wanted to change his assignment topic, it was highly unlikely he could.
Just imagining the professors saying things like 'Why not try again?' 'It's a shame, but won't you try once more?' 'I think you could do it if you just put in a little more effort...' made him dizzy.
...I'll make this my top priority and finish it within this weekend no matter what!