Episode 260
Episode 260
As the lecture ended, Professor Verdus approached Lee Han with an innocent expression.
"Now do you have time to learn?"
"...Professor. I don't think I have time right now since I'm struggling with my final exam assignments."
Lee Han pointed at the shield as he spoke.
Professor Verdus looked surprised and asked again.
"What are you talking about!? There's so much to fix about this shield!?"
"Of course, but I have to fix it at my current skill level."
"Ah!"
At Lee Han's words, Professor Verdus let out a gasp as if finally realizing something.
Lee Han wanted to smack the professor.
"It's difficult!"
"Isn't it?"
"Hmm... hmm... ugh... Something you can do at your level..."
Professor Verdus closed his eyes in thought for a moment before speaking.
"There is!"
"Huh? What is it?"
"How about adding an attack reflection enchantment?"
"...How on earth is that something achievable at my level?"
Though Lee Han didn't know much about Enchantment Magic yet, he could guess that the 'reflection' attribute in Enchantment Magic was absolutely not easy.
The concept of directly returning an incoming attack's trajectory couldn't possibly be simple, could it?
When compared to attributes like levitation, automation, or defense, the answer was obvious.
"That's actually one of the easier ones?"
"Is that so..."
Lee Han fell into deep thought—whether he should seriously start studying reflection attributes or just paint the shield and stubbornly claim he'd upgraded it.
'If my final exam grades go down the drain, it'll affect my overall score to some extent...'
As Lee Han agonized, Professor Verdus innocently asked again beside him.
"Anyway, now that we've decided, do you have time to learn?"
"No?"
"?!?!??!"
Professor Verdus stared at Lee Han with an expression he might make if all his collected tree bark had suddenly burned to ashes.
'This feels satisfying.'
Sitting in his spot, Lee Han smiled contentedly as he recalled Professor Verdus's expression.
This was practically Lee Han's lifeline.
The moment he said, "Alright, I'll learn," it was obvious Professor Verdus wouldn't let him go until he was satisfied.
He had to endure, over and over again.
'If possible, I'd like to hold out until graduation.'
Lee Han imagined telling Professor Verdus, "I'll learn tomorrow," right before his graduation ceremony.
Of course, holding out that long might be impossible...
"Has anyone finished the <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic> assignment?"
"Who could possibly have finished that already? ...Wardanaz?"
A student from the Blue Dragon Tower spoke up before suddenly turning to look at Lee Han.
Lee Han responded with a baffled expression.
"I haven't finished either. No—can't you see the pile of assignments in front of me?"
While his friends were each choosing one or two magic disciplines to focus on, Lee Han was additionally studying Black Magic, Summoning Magic, Illusion Magic, Enchantment Magic, Divination Magic, Transformation Magic, Healing Magic, and more.
His friends silently averted their eyes from the stack of books several times thicker than theirs.
They were afraid of accidentally making eye contact with Lee Han and getting dragged into extra studying.
'I should start thinking about the <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic> assignment soon.'
Saturday.
Though it was a weekend where everyone could reasonably laze around, with finals just a week away, a tense atmosphere hung over the tower.
Next week: the hellish pre-finals assignments. The week after: the hellish finals themselves...
There were even courses where assignments and finals were linked or combined.
The <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic> assignment fell into that category.
-Submit a draft design for a simple magical structure. Once approved, proceed with construction. Efficiency and resourcefulness will be evaluated.
-Uh... do we have to gather the materials ourselves too?
-Unfortunately, no materials outside the provided ones will be permitted. Use only what's given.
-Thank you!!
-??
It wasn't an impossibly difficult assignment like Enchantment Magic.
Still, it was no easy task either—choosing a structure, selecting suitable magic for it, picking the necessary materials, estimating costs as tightly as possible, and if approved, actually building it...
'...The mages I imagined at first were supposed to be a bit more mystical.'
Ever since entering Einrogard, the mystique surrounding mages seemed to fade more with each passing day.
Lee Han glanced briefly out the window. The sun was already high overhead.
The moment he took Ponlig out to the Spire Stables this evening, his entire weekend would effectively vanish.
He needed to finish as many assignments as possible before then...
"Yoner. What would be the simplest structure to make?"
"Huh?"
Yoner, who had been sketching a makeshift potion storage box beside him, lifted his head.
"A magic lamp or a box? Maybe a simple trap?"
"Hmm."
Lee Han jotted down each idea as he pondered.
Something simple, easy to complete, requiring minimal materials, yet still capable of earning a good evaluation—did such a thing exist?
"...If something like that existed, I would've done it first, don't you think?"
Yoner was starting to worry that his friend had studied too hard and might have lost his mind.
But Lee Han was seriously engrossed.
He felt like something was about to click.
"...Yoner. I've got it!"
"What?"
Yoner was so startled he nearly snapped his quill.
Had Lee Han really found something that met all those conditions?
How was that even possible??
"Look at this."
Lee Han sketched a long, pole-shaped magic lamp.
It was the kind of luminous structure commonly installed along city streets, castle roads, fortresses, or village thoroughfares—magically glowing to illuminate dark pathways.
Since they could be installed practically anywhere to brighten dim streets, they had become a staple for many apprentice mages.
But that also meant extensive research had already been done on them.
Brighter, cheaper, longer-lasting, more efficient, more dazzling—even with added functionalities—every possible variation of improved magic lamps already existed.
Professor Alpen Nayton had stated that efficiency and thriftiness would be the evaluation criteria, but if his design overlapped too much with existing ones, deductions were inevitable.
Had Lee Han somehow devised a design that stood apart from all those existing ones?
"...?!"
Yoner was stunned when he saw the magic lamp Lee Han pointed to.
It was just a long, pole-shaped structure—with nothing else.
'No way...?'
Yoner recalled the duration of the light sphere his friend had conjured.
And the duration of the floating shield, too.
"Don't tell me... you're planning to strip away all the design elements and solve everything with pure magic?!"
A strategy only Lee Han could pull off.
It meant scrapping mana distribution, structural frameworks, and everything else—then just casting the magic himself.
If others heard this, they'd scoff, "What kind of design is that?"—but there was some logic to it.
If the magic could last for days, then even without a proper design, it could still be called a magical structure!
Of course, there was no telling how Professor Nayton would react to such stubbornness, but it was undeniably a brilliant idea.
"...What kind of nonsense are you spouting, Yoner? I haven't even drawn it yet."
Lee Han gave Yoner a baffled look. Yoner flushed slightly in embarrassment.
"You're not?"
"Of course not. There's no way the professor would accept such stubborn reasoning."
"He might, though..."
Yoner trailed off uncertainly.
"This is what I was thinking, Yoner. By layering amplification magic circles here, we can boost efficiency. There'll be some trial and error, but it'll use far fewer materials."
Lee Han's explanation was undeniably sound.
The production difficulty would increase, but with enough skill, it was a design that could save on material costs.
Still, Yoner couldn't help but ask with lingering regret.
"...You're really not considering the other idea?"
"I told you, no."
Fwoosh!
Lee Han fitted Ponlig with an invisibility artifact.
"Ponlig. Be good. You have to stay quiet until we get there. Understood?"
-Pffh...?
Ponlig gave Lee Han an uneasy look, wondering why his master was acting so strangely.
Compared to other students, Ponlig's owner was... quite peculiar.
"Good, good. You're doing great."
Ponlig tilted his head repeatedly as he followed behind Lee Han.
The Death Knights waved at Lee Han as he walked toward the main gate of the central building.
-"Don't wander around too late, Wardanaz boy."
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
-"Why are you nagging him like that? It's fine to stay out late sometimes. If anyone hears you, they'll think you never take night walks!"
-"Shh, shh! Wardanaz boy is listening!"
'How heartwarming.'
Thanks to having already spoken with the Death Knights around the main gate, Lee Han could move around without raising any suspicion.
Fortunately, the side path leading to the Spire Stables was still open.
'It's going so smoothly that it's making me uneasy.'
In less than thirty minutes, as Lee Han reached the vicinity of the Spire Stables, he felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
Having spent so long at Einrogard, he'd developed a habit of feeling unnecessarily anxious even when things were going well.
'Cover my face with the cloak...'
Lee Han roughly draped the cloak over his head like someone sneaking out.
If Amur came by from outside, he could just pretend to be friends with him and leave together.
'There's a chance.'
At first, he'd been a little worried, but seeing the people coming and going from the stables, it seemed quite feasible.
Surprisingly, there were many visitors bustling about.
From professors to merchants, guild employees, and even errand runners.
The crowd was so dense that people kept bumping shoulders as they moved.
No one paid any attention to Lee Han.
"Do mages have no sense of reason!? They want Fire Spirit Bird eggs delivered within a week! How am I supposed to get them in just a week!?"
"Hey! Be careful with that box! If it breaks, we could all die!"
"Wh-what, is there a demon inside or something?"
"No. It's a glass sculpture the headmaster ordered."
"......"
While listening to these heartwarming conversations, a familiar face flew in from the distance.
'Amur!'
Amur landed skillfully and signed the entry log.
Then, he glanced around.
"Over here."
"...Finally!"
Amur hadn't expected much, but when he spotted Lee Han, he nearly jumped with joy.
"Truly impressive. I didn't expect this! I had no idea you could pull it off."
"It's too early to celebrate."
"No need to worry. Now that we've come this far, it's practically a success. When those merchants leave, we'll go with them."
Lee Han nodded.
Though his expression remained calm, his heart was pounding.
If this succeeded, Lee Han would secure a way to leave the school grounds regularly.
While Amur unloaded his cargo, Lee Han fed Ponlig the [Curse-Dispelling Potion].
Poof!
Returning to his original form, Ponlig scraped the ground excitedly.
"...I thought it was a joke, but it was real after all."
Amur was astonished once more as he watched the griffin yawning contentedly in the corner of the Spire Stables.
No matter how you looked at it, this wasn't a monster a first-year student should be able to tame.
"Won't the griffin stand out too much?"
"No need to worry about that. There are far stranger beasts here than a griffin."
True to Amur's words, the nearby creatures were overflowing with personality—too much, in fact.
Lee Han tried to avoid the piercing gaze of a human-faced bird staring directly at him.
"Our turn is coming up soon. Get ready."
"Yes."
The Spire Stables were so vast that one end wasn't visible from the other, but when large mounts clashed trying to enter or exit, that vastness meant nothing.
Naturally, order had to be enforced.
Those waiting outside hovered near the entrance, while those leaving sat waiting by the exit.
Lee Han glanced around. Many people had cloaks pulled tightly over their heads, likely due to the cold high-altitude weather.
-"Next group, depart! Depart!"
The stablemaster didn't stop Lee Han. He walked slowly, leading the griffin.
Whoosh!
The griffin kicked off the bricks and soared into the sky. Lee Han felt an immense sense of liberation.
"You've tamed a griffin."
"...?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
At Professor Voladi's calm voice beside him, Lee Han nearly dropped the griffin's reins and fell to the ground.