Episode 316
Episode 316
The young students from knightly families bowed their heads with embarrassed expressions.
"Why... Oh. That's not important right now. Extermination? What's going on?"
BANG!
The lower part of the Adventurers' Guild door, which had been kicked too many times today, broke.
The priests who hurried in apologized in surprise.
"Sorry! We came in too urgently... Everything's ready so you can depart immediately for the extermination—"
"Wait. Let's all calm down and share information first."
Daihal spoke coolly.
It seemed this situation needed some sorting out.
"...So while Lord Wardanaz was holding down the Ghoul King, the other students here destroyed the artifact it was possessing."
Though it was hard to believe, the gathered people managed to piece together what had happened.
Durgyu spoke up.
"Actually, Lee Han had already killed the Ghoul King before we destroyed it..."
"You said he killed it?"
As the quill pen danced madly across the paper, Lee Han stepped on Durgyu's foot once and said:
"A clone. A clone. I didn't kill it either, just temporarily incapacitated it."
Angrago asked as if he didn't understand.
"Isn't that the same as killing it?"
"......"
Lee Han almost hit Angrago with his staff before stopping himself.
Just how much had he slept during Einrogard's lectures to say something like that?
A knight from the Granden City Knights asked with slight embarrassment:
"Isn't that killing it?"
"...No."
A nearby priest whispered an explanation instead.
"When the main body is left in an artifact and only a clone is sent out, we don't usually call that killing."
"Ah... But isn't that basically the same thing?"
"Magicians tend to be particular about terminology, you know. Please be considerate."
Lee Han felt a headache coming on—one he hadn't even felt after capturing the Ghoul King.
It was like they were talking past each other with an invisible wall between them.
To treat common sense like this...
"So after Lord Wardanaz defeated the Ghoul's clone, the students here destroyed the artifact—"
"Actually, Wardanaz was the one who destroyed the artifact too..."
Blanche, a guild staff member listening nearby, absentmindedly asked:
"Then what did they do?"
"......"
"...My apologies."
"Ah, no! I wasn't blaming them! As if I'd blame first-year students for something like that!"
Lee Han rubbed his tired brow and said:
"If my friends hadn't found the artifact and cleared all the obstacles, I couldn't have destroyed it."
"Th-that's right! We did that much!"
Angrago finally seemed to regain some confidence. A knight from the order asked quietly so only Angrago could hear:
"Then why are you wearing that sign?"
"We... uh... ran off on our own..."
"When?"
"While fighting the Ghoul King...?"
"While that Wardanaz kid was fighting?"
"Yes..."
The knight looked at Angrago with the contemptuous gaze one reserves for the filthiest garbage in the world.
They abandoned their friend during a fight and ran off on their own?
"N-no! There were circumstances!"
"Don't speak. You reek of disgrace."
"There really were circumstances...!"
Daihal finished organizing things and said:
"You've all worked hard. Instead of sending an extermination squad, we'll first send people to check the cave's condition. You should all rest for now..."
Daihal signaled to the gathered people.
The meaning was clear—don't harass the exhausted first-years any further. Send them off and handle the remaining work among themselves.
"Let's do that."
"That seems best."
As they got up, Lee Han suddenly remembered something and spoke to a staff member.
"Ah. There's something I need to tell you."
"What is it...?"
Lee Han carefully set down his backpack and with delicate movements, pulled out its contents.
Blanche and the others tensed up, wondering if another fragment of the evil entity had appeared.
"These are Geranium Flowers, Snow-Falling Herbs, and Sleep Mugwort. I collected them with their roots and leaves intact, so please verify them. And this is a Rapella Field Mouse."
"...Ah... Yes..."
Blanche recorded the items in the documents while feeling utterly bewildered inside.
'Just what in the world...?'
After Lee Han and his friends left to rest, the remaining personnel organized a team and made plans to assess the cave's situation.
"Just in case, we should send a request for support to Einrogard as well."
"We sent a request for support during the last plague incident too—will that be alright? Einrogard might be a bit hesitant..."
"No. Above all, this involves Einrogard's students, and they even resolved it themselves. There's no way they'd dislike that. The mages of Einrogard aren't the type to react poorly."
Daihal casually uttered words that would make the professors of Einrogard want to grab him by the collar.
Meanwhile, Blanche compiled the testimonies of the other adventurers and mercenaries.
Compared to Lee Han's calm and precise account, their testimonies were far more chaotic.
Especially those of the mercenaries who had charged in first and been captured—theirs were even worse.
"So, you're saying he threatened to kill you if you didn't follow him?"
"Y-yes. Sob."
"And all of you were intimidated by just one person?"
"Sob. That's how terrifying he—"
"If you keep spouting nonsense, I'll call an interrogator instead of handling this myself."
"S-sorry..."
After organizing the mercenaries' testimonies, Blanche glanced at Gobon and Bizdek with a hint of expectation.
There was a reason the guild had recommended these two.
They were seasoned veterans.
Naturally, they would provide a composed and accurate report...
"We bound the mercenaries with bone manacles and led them inside. Ah, and we also summoned Bone Hands."
"When the evil spirit appeared, he fired lightning spells in rapid succession, and when it dodged, he immediately switched to fire—"
"With a single swing of his staff, the entire vast cave was engulfed in roaring flames!"
"The evil spirit tried to resist by suppressing the flames, but then he swung his staff again and—"
"Wait. Wait."
Blanche sensed something off and stopped the adventurers.
"No matter how I think about it, that's way too many spell casts. How many potions did he use in between?"
"...I don't think he used any...?"
"What kind of... That's absurdly wasteful no matter how you look at it. If he didn't use potions, then even more so—"
"W-well, isn't that just how mages are? When we were camping, he lit fires for us and summoned water too..."
"And when we entered the cave, he even—"
"He did WHAT???"
Blanche dropped her quill in disbelief.
Had these adventurers really been making a mage do all their menial tasks?!
"Ugh..."
Lee Han groaned as he rose from his bed.
Even after resting all weekend, his body still felt stiff.
Considering he had wrestled with the Ghoul King, this much discomfort was actually fortunate.
Lee Han thought of his friends in the White Tiger Tower.
'Except for Durgyu, I hope the rest of them are suffering even worse muscle pains.'
Given how many Enhancement Magic spells they must have used, they were probably still groaning in bed right now.
"Wouldn't it be better to rest a little longer?"
Alarong rushed over as soon as he heard Lee Han was awake.
Having heard about his fierce battle with the evil entity in the cave, it was impossible not to worry.
"I'm fine. Really. Moving isn't a problem."
"But still..."
"More importantly, what happened with the cave situation?"
"The investigation is complete. The search found no trace of evil mana, so it must have been fully banished. The mages from Einrogard also participated in the support, so it's certain."
"Einrogard's mages joined in?"
"Yes. It's a matter concerning magic, isn't it? And students were involved too. Of course they'd participate."
"......"
Lee Han tilted his head in confusion.
'I don't think the professors would see it that way.'
"Truly... what a relief."
Alarong spoke with a voice full of concern.
"From what I heard, the opponent wasn't an easy foe. It's nothing short of a miracle that you emerged victorious without serious injuries."
"Just got lucky. Had help from other friends too."
Lee Han tactfully included his White Tiger Tower friends in the explanation.
"The Adventurers' Guild sent a gift as an apology and token of gratitude."
"...Come to think of it, I played a bigger role, didn't I? Do you think the Adventurers' Guild properly recognized that?"
"Pardon? Of course they would have recognized it."
Alarong didn't understand why Lee Han was acting this way. Lee Han immediately regretted his words.
'Damn. Should've exaggerated my contributions more.'
Now that he thought about it, the Adventurers' Guild was run by people too—if someone completed a request far beyond expectations, wouldn't they naturally offer some extra reward?
Had he known, he would've downplayed his White Tiger Tower friends' roles a bit more.
"I should go check it out."
"Do you have plans today?"
"Ah. It's the day I visit the Maykin Family's alchemy workshop."
"To cherish friendships while never neglecting your studies—nothing could bring me greater joy."
"...Uh... Well... Right. That's me."
Lee Han felt slightly embarrassed.
He was only going because they paid well...
'Hefty.'
Before heading out, Lee Han happily counted the silver coins he'd earned from completing the request.
The stereotype that adventurers should earn big and spend big on a lavish lifestyle was just that—a stereotype.
Soon, a new era of adventurers would dawn—one where they earned big and spent efficiently.
'Once the White Tiger Tower guys recover, I'll take them out again.'
After neatly stacking the silver coins into his safe, Lee Han reached for another box.
The small, antique brown wooden box alone was enough to spark anticipation. It was the gift from the Adventurers' Guild.
'Gold coins, gold statues, gold medals—anything gold would make me happy.'
Click!
Inside the box were a ring and a simple note.
To Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family, who, for the sake of his own honor, perfectly completes every request—from the most valuable to the most trivial—we present this <Lightning Discharge> ring with heartfelt gratitude.
"Uh..."
Lee Han put on the ring.
Then, as instructed in the note, he cast the spell.
"Ring, summon forth lightning."
One of the three gemstones embedded in the ring lost its color.
It was written that it could be used three times a day—one charge had already been spent.
A streak of lightning flew out the window.
Though it was a highly convenient artifact that allowed him to cast lightning without consuming his own mana...
"......"
'I already know this spell.'
Lee Han was disappointed by the magic, which wasn't much different from what he already knew.
In fact, since it was a pre-inscribed spell, fine control was impossible, making it even more cumbersome.
'Why would they give me this... Wait.'
Lee Han changed his mind mid-complaint.
Come to think of it, lightning magic was among the more difficult elemental magics to handle—and they'd managed to inscribe it into a ring.
This ring must be quite valuable.
'I should sell it.'
Other students might have exclaimed, 'Why would you sell such a useful artifact!?' but not Lee Han.
He already knew how to cast the spell, and his mana reserves were overflowing—why bother keeping it?
'Ah. Right.'
Lee Han rummaged through the belongings he'd brought from school.
Something had suddenly crossed his mind.
'Where was it... Ah, here it is.'
From the dusty pile emerged a helmet.
The ego artifact he'd found in Einrogard's underground dungeon—the Helmet of Wisdom.
...Finally, you call for me...
For some reason, the Helmet of Wisdom seemed extremely angry.