Episode 248
Episode 248
"Why? Do you have something to tell the Wardanaz kid?"
"No... nothing."
Salko shook his head.
He had definitely heard the name Ogonin before, but it was likely just someone with the same name.
If it were that Ogonin, he'd probably be teaching junior mages in a Magic Tower by now.
There was no way someone like that would waste time teaching a first-year student.
"By the way, about this Valdororn person..."
"Ah, Lord Valdororn. I met him last time I went out too—he's truly wise."
A student from the black Turtle Tower who'd met Valdororn with Lee Han when he last went outside happened to pass by and answered.
"I see. Impressive."
Seeing all his friends react like this, Salko had no choice but to believe it.
He must really be an incredible mage!
The barrier created by Illusion Magic was akin to a kind of lock.
Just as there were weak, flimsy locks and sturdy, durable ones, simple-structured ones and complex ones...
The barriers cast by exceptional illusionists resembled multiple layers of intricate, unyielding locks stacked together.
To breach this barrier, an intruder would need to fully comprehend and dismantle the structure of each lock.
This dismantling process was only possible if the attackers' skill surpassed the defenders'—an inevitability.
Of course, Lee Han wasn't more skilled than the illustrious mages of the Magic School, but...
BANG!
'Lucky me.'
Lee Han had a method taught to him by Valdororn.
The method of wielding an overwhelming amount of mana to smash the locks themselves to pieces!
While some barriers were prepared against brute force destruction, many were surprisingly lax in this regard.
From a mage's common sense, dismantling a barrier so crudely was utterly nonsensical.
Why would an archmage with that much mana bother using such a brute-force method to dismantle a barrier?
They could just analyze and dismantle it properly!
It was only natural they wouldn't guard against such a wasteful approach. In a way, it was pure extravagance.
With a sound like tearing fabric, the barrier opened.
Luckily, it was a barrier Lee Han could break through.
Lee Han felt grateful to Valdororn once again.
...Of course, Valdororn hadn't taught him to go around dismantling barriers so barbarically!
'This staircase is pretty long, though.'
Beyond the dismantled barrier lay a spiral staircase.
Even after climbing quite a bit, the end wasn't in sight.
At least the path wasn't blocked and no obstacles appeared, so it seemed fine, but...
Clunk, clunk!
At the end of the spiral staircase, a door leading to a corridor came into view.
From the slightly ajar door, quite a noisy sound leaked out. Something seemed to be happening in the corridor.
'A magic experiment?'
Lee Han approached the door and peered down the corridor.
Unfinished Magic Circles were etched here and there, and materials were strewn haphazardly across the floor—a very familiar sight.
Whether mages or not, students struggling with countless assignments looked the same everywhere.
"Anyone here?"
Lee Han called out cautiously.
No matter which year's students were around, it was better to announce himself rather than stepping in unannounced.
Besides, the seniors probably wouldn't even notice him anyway...
CRASH! BANG!
Before Lee Han could even finish speaking, material containers toppled and wooden boxes went rolling in all directions.
Then, a single sheet of paper floated up into the air.
-How did you get here, junior?
First-year and fourth-year students at the Magic School weren't fundamentally all that different.
Sure, fourth-years were more adept at managing meals, knew more about the Magic School, and could cast more spells than first-years, but...
When it came to doing assignments when they were given and preparing for exams when they loomed, there wasn't much difference at all.
This held true even for Diret and Coholti—rare Black Magic majors among the fourth-years.
"Shouldn't you be staying put during the relocation period?"
"Yeah. Normally, that would be the case. If only some cursed bastards hadn't released the Frost Giant King into the hallway and wasted an entire week of my life."
"......"
Coholti had nothing to say even if he'd grown ten mouths.
The accident where their magic experiment with friends had failed, causing another dimension to overlap with the upper hallway.
While the first-years might have enjoyed a blissful, miraculous time with the spring snowfall, Coholti and his friends had been scrambling to clean up the mess.
Just because the Frost Giant King returned didn't mean the dimensional overlap's aftermath disappeared instantly. They had to set up various magic circles as precautions, periodically check the situation, write reports...
And they had to do all this while preparing for assignments and final exams.
The professors might be kind and gentle to first-years, but they were razor-sharp with fourth-years.
If they failed assignments or flunked exams because of their own experimental mistakes, there would be absolutely no forgiveness.
"Th-that's right. Whoever did it was really terrible."
"Yeah. Right. I hope whoever it was drops dead. Don't you?"
"Y-yeah."
"Shut up and finish the magic circle. Given the time we have left, even if this were Demon Lord Week instead of Rearrangement Week, we'd still have to work."
The assignment Diret and Coholti were currently working on was a magic circle to control powerful otherworldly beings.
Summoned entities from other dimensions always lurked, waiting to stab their masters in the back and break free from control.
Lower-tier summons could be controlled with relatively simple methods, but the stronger the summon, the higher its intelligence and willpower became.
Controlling such beings couldn't be done with simple methods. High-level magic was required.
The magic circle they were attempting now was one such method.
If completed properly, it would weaken the summoned being's power and break its will, but...
"Finished drawing the walls?"
"Done."
"Check it."
Coholti rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a round bell. It was a bell contracted with a lower-tier demon.
Of course, they couldn't summon a powerful summon into an untested magic circle, so they had to test it first with a weaker monster.
Pop!
A demon emerged with a puff of smoke.
At first, the demon seemed to writhe in discomfort, but after a while, it started eyeing its surroundings and slowly tried to scurry toward a corner.
"The east is the Life Gate. We need to block it."
"I'll block it now!"
Coholti ran over eagerly to block it.
Praying his friend would forget about the Frost Giant King.
"Blocked?"
"Blocked."
"Check again."
Coholti summoned the demon once more. The emerging demon showed brief discomfort like before, but soon adapted and immediately tried to escape.
"This time, the north is open."
"......"
Coholti let out deep, heavy sighs.
This was how high-level magic circles always were.
Fix one part, and another acts up. Adjust that, and a previously stable part starts causing trouble...
"Let's modify it again."
"Yeah... Ugh."
"?"
When Coholti flinched, Diret frowned.
It was unmistakably the reaction of someone hiding something.
"...What? What's wrong?"
"N-nothing."
"Nothing my ass. You clearly just went 'ugh.'"
"I told you, it's nothing..."
"Do what you want. But if I find out you're hiding something, I'll really curse you with the Black Plague."
"...Actually, the intruder prevention barrier we set up downstairs broke..."
"Are you fucking kidding me?!"
'Damn. Should've kept my mouth shut.'
Coholti regretted it inwardly.
He should've resisted Diret's coaxing and held out to the end...
"You call that a report? Why the hell is it broken? I told you to set it up properly!"
"No... I really... did it properly..."
"Then why is it broken?"
"...I must've messed up..."
Coholti shrank as he spoke.
During the Rearrangement Period, when even nonexistent shortcuts appeared in the main building,
Upperclassmen had to be extra careful.
What if some first-year wandered in while they were conducting experiments upstairs and got hurt?
"After attending the magic school for years, what exactly have you learned? To let underclassmen get hurt in this school? Does it make any sense for injuries to occur in this prestigious institution?"
"Does it make se... No, it doesn't. I'm sorry."
Naturally, Diret and Coholti had taken measures to prevent lowerclassmen from setting foot on the newly connected shortcut.
They'd set up barrier magic and even written phrases like, 'This path is protected by a barrier! Those without skill, turn back!'...
But whether Coholti had made a mistake while casting the barrier, it suddenly shattered.
"Hurry up and go recast it!"
"Y-yes, right away!"
Coholti scrambled to head back down.
However, their guest arrived even faster.
When a familiar first-year student they'd seen before emerged through the door after climbing the shortcut's stairs, Diret and Coholti were stunned.
"It said 'Upper Floor Shortcut'... Was I wrong?"
-Well, you're not wrong.
Lee Han conversed casually with the invisible Diret.
For a freshman at the magic school, this wasn't an unusual sight.
-Wardanaz. I really owe you for last time.
When text in a different handwriting appeared, Lee Han was puzzled before realizing.
"Ah. Were you the one present during the Frost Giant King incident last time?"
-That's right. Hey, I really apprecia...
Diret couldn't hold back and elbowed Coholti in the back.
"Look at you. Bragging about solving things with an underclassman's help now?"
"Ghk! Ghk! Diret, the underclassman is watching right now, violence is..."
"He can't see us anyway!"
Diret resorted to magical means for the roughhousing.
Lee Han tilted his head when the seniors' conversation abruptly cut off.
"Are you still there?"
-Just dropped my quill for a second.
'Something's suspicious here.'
Though Lee Han thought so, he didn't press further. The seniors must have their own circumstances.
-How did you get up here? There was supposed to be a barrier.
"Ah. I tried dispelling it... Guess I got lucky."
"......"
"......"
Diret stared at Coholti in disbelief. Coholti turned beet red and hung his head.
'Dispelled by a first-year...?'
If word got out to others, Coholti's nickname would undoubtedly become <Defeated by an Iron Skull> or <Inferior to an Iron Skull>.
'That's not the important part right now.'
Deciding to ask how the dispelling worked later when he got the chance, Diret moved to the crucial question.
-Why are you heading to the upper floors?
"I'm looking for the Spire Stables you mentioned last time."
Diret was speechless.
Of course, he was the one who'd told Lee Han about it, but he never imagined a first-year would seriously attempt to carve a path all the way to the upper spire.
...Is he really a first-year??
-...I can't say anything since I'm the one who told you. The Spire Stables are close from here. Follow the hallway straight, then turn sideways and climb the stairs—you'll see it right away.
"Really?!"
Lee Han was overjoyed, almost jumping in excitement.
Thanks to the rearrangement period, such luck had come his way.
'Right. After all the bad luck, it's about time for good fortune!'
Considering everything that had happened to him during weekdays and weekends so far, it wouldn't be strange if a shower of gold coins rained down as he walked.
He'd just had too much misfortune.
-Wait. But you can't pass here right now. We're in the middle of an experiment.
Diret drew an arrow on paper.
At the end of the corridor adorned with complex magic circles stood a crystal prison.
And inside it was a clearly furious, hulking demon.
-We can't clear that until the experiment's over.
Diret briefly explained the nature of the experiment. Lee Han nodded along.
"So we just need to make that demon submit?"
-That's right.
"Does magic pass from outside to inside the prison?"
-It does, but why?
"Lightning Bolt!"
Lee Han hurled a bolt of lightning at the unnamed demon trapped inside the crystal.
The demon let out a pained roar.
-Underclassman. I appreciate the help, but demons don't submit just from being hit.
"Is that so... My apologies."
'Huh?'
Unlike Diret, who'd been watching Lee Han during the conversation, Coholti had a clear view of the demon in the crystal prison.
Did that demon just avert its gaze?