Episode 363
Episode 363
It didn't seem likely that the Skeleton Principal's temperament would allow professors to casually skip lectures and leave campus.
'What's going on? It's not like they're taking students along either... Hmm?'
As Lee Han was lost in thought, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of unease washing over him. It was an anxiety he couldn't even understand why he was feeling.
"Are you there?"
"!"
His friends on the second floor peered through the window toward the main gate. They saw a familiar face—Rowena, one of the Princess's followers.
"This is suspicious. Are the professors hiding behind her?"
"That can't be... Could they really be?"
"Tell her to raise both hands and come in slowly. We'll be ready to shut the gate immediately."
Seeing his friends exchanging such ominous words pained Lee Han's heart. The professors of Einrogard were truly corrupting his friends.
"Raise both hands and come in slowly!"
Though that was the case, Lee Han still took his friends' advice to heart. After all, there really might be professors hiding behind her.
"Huh?! Lord Wardanaz, why are you—"
"Don't play dumb! My wand is pointed right at you!"
Gainando shouted abruptly, looking ready to fire a curse at any moment.
Rowena was utterly confused, wondering what she could have possibly done wrong.
"What exactly did I—"
"I'll go check."
Ratford hurried downstairs and cautiously peeked his head outside the main gate.
"No professors here!"
"???"
"Ah, sorry. We thought the professors might be hiding behind you..."
Rowena was bewildered by Ratford's serious explanation, unsure whether this was some kind of joke at her expense.
"Are you joking?"
"No. I'm serious."
"......"
Rowena had come to invite them to visit Duke Icaldoren's estate together.
"Me too?"
Lee Han was puzzled.
He knew the Princess had received a riddle (disguised as a bribe) from Duke Icaldoren. Hadn't they worked together at the wand workshop to solve that riddle?
If his memory served him right, they had crafted it well, so why the need for him to visit now?
"Yes. Didn't Lord Wardanaz assist in solving it? Naturally, the honor should be shared..."
"I'm fine with just splitting the reward."
Rowena made an awkward expression at Lee Han's words. It was the kind of joke that was hard to respond to.
"I'm not very good at jokes..."
"It wasn't a joke, but I get why you came. Still, if something goes wrong, the blame won't splatter onto me, right?"
If the answer to the riddle turned out to be wrong and things escalated to "Wardanaz gave advice and it was wrong!", it would become a hassle.
After all, when a group project turns out poorly, isn't the one who bears the most responsibility the group leader with good grades?
"How could that ever happen!"
Rowena denied it in shock.
Adenart was absolutely not the kind of person to shift blame onto her followers.
"Lee Han. The way she denies it so strongly makes it even more suspicious."
"I can even swear upon my honor as a knight!"
"The more you insist, the more suspicious it gets!"
Gainando had the shameless ability to nitpick without hesitation.
Rowena glared at Gainando, frustrated and resentful. She couldn't understand what kind of malicious intent made him interfere with the Princess's affairs.
'What an absolutely unreasonable person!'
'If no one else were here, I would've hit him.'
"Calm down. Visiting Duke Icaldoren's estate isn't that big of a deal anyway."
In truth, it was just a matter of going there, eating some food, drinking something, complimenting the estate ("What a lovely mansion, haha"), and exchanging greetings with the Duke.
Seeing that Lee Han seemed willing to accept, Rowena's face brightened.
"It's not like it's my first time going."
"You've been there before?"
Rowena tilted her head in confusion.
During the break, the young man from the Wardanaz family had been so busy that even having multiple bodies wouldn't have been enough. Had he visited the Duke's estate before? Was it from a previous visit?
'I thought there was no prior connection?'
"Not the city estate here..."
Lee Han deftly changed the subject.
There was no point in mentioning how he and Professor Voladi had made an unauthorized visit to Einrogard during the semester.
"If the Skeleton Principal hears about this later, won't we be in trouble?"
"Won't we need any special preparations? Is it just a simple visit?"
"Yes! His Grace has already prepared commemorative gifts and is waiting for you!"
"I see... Wait, did you say gifts?"
Lee Han was startled.
"What kind of gifts?"
"Ah. Whenever students visit the mansion, His Grace presents them with gifts, calling them the pillars who will bear the Empire's future..."
"So what exactly are these gifts?"
Slightly overwhelmed by Lee Han's intensity, Rowena stammered.
"W-well, last time, he gave out small ornaments like this... Is there a problem?"
When Rowena pulled out a small medal made of pure gold, Lee Han's eyes wavered.
Given the number of the Princess's followers, it was astonishing that he handed out such things every time those students visited.
'Incredible!'
His wealth was astounding, but what was even more surprising was that despite possessing such riches, he hadn't offered any reward when Lee Han had defeated the Toxic Contaminated Being that attacked the Duke in his stead.
In fact, the latter was the bigger issue. Lee Han still held a grudge against the Duke.
'Only caring for the imperial family like that—what a despicable, power-serving wretch.'
"What a generous man."
But regardless of that grudge, if he was handing out gifts like that, there was no way Lee Han could refuse.
"Can I bring some friends along?"
At Lee Han's question, Rowena nodded as if she had been expecting it.
"His Grace said he would welcome anyone from here."
Even excluding the rotten Crown Prince or those from the Maykin Family, Duke Icaldoren welcomed any student from Einrogard.
In fact, when inviting the Princess, he had explicitly said she could bring any friends she wanted.
"Is there a limit on the number of people?"
"No. He said the more, the merrier."
"I see."
Lee Han nodded and began writing a letter with his quill.
The first-year students of Einrogard gathered in the training grounds were utterly shocked.
"Today isn't the first day of school, is it?"
"For a moment, I thought we were back at Einrogard."
That was how many students from different towers had gathered together.
Even the priest students from the Phoenix Tower had been invited.
"Everyone, I hope you enjoy a hearty meal at the Duke's mansion."
"...W-wait. Lord Wardanaz. The reason you invited us today isn't just for the meal, is it?"
"Of course not."
The priests sighed in relief at Lee Han's words.
They had come after receiving a letter saying, 'As students of Einrogard, your presence is needed to grace an important occasion,' so bringing up the meal had thrown them off.
Well, it wasn't like he'd summon priests just to get them a free meal at the Duke's mansion, right?
'There must be another reason, of course.'
It was clear there had to be a purpose for having priests at the mansion's banquet hall. The boy from the Wardanaz family didn't do things without reason.
"But why aren't the White Tiger Tower guys here?"
"I sent invitations, but they said their schedules were too packed. I get that adventurer requests are important, but aren't they a bit too obsessed?"
"...?"
"???"
Nilia and Ratford stared at Lee Han as if he were a thief.
Who was he to talk about obsession with adventurer requests when he was the most obsessed of them all?
"I... I didn't expect you to gather this many people."
Rowena blinked in surprise, finally realizing the breadth of Lee Han's connections.
Adenart did have followers, but there were limits.
When the invitation had said, 'Please bring the Princess's friends,' the followers had hesitated, wondering, 'Can we even call ourselves her friends?'
After serious deliberation, they had ultimately said, 'Rather than us, perhaps Her Highness should invite her friends separately.' But Adenart, not wanting to disappoint them, had decided to bring Rowena as her friend instead of summoning anyone else.
Everyone was moved and let it slide, but Rowena couldn't help worrying that Adénard might actually have no friends.
As a knight, if the person you serve has no friends, forcing friends upon them could be considered an act of loyalty—which was why Rowena had been agonizing over this matter lately.
"Lord Wardanaz. How exactly does one make friends?"
"Fr...friends?"
Lee Han hesitated.
Of course, he got along well with some students, but when it came to those from other towers...
'Can I really call them friends?'
"I'm not sure if I can say I have friends."
'And he's humble too.'
Rowena marveled at Lee Han's magnanimity. Truly, this was the demeanor of someone with vast connections.
If he were some rotten prince, he would've bragged, 'Because I'm amazing.'
"Then let me rephrase the question. How do you summon people like that?"
"Uh... well... that... I don't think you're being sincere."
"Sincere...!"
Rowena shuddered at the answer—so orthodox yet so difficult.
"If I cross swords sincerely and then, with genuine intent, propose to recruit them as Her Highness the Princess's friends... would that work?"
"I'm no expert on friendship, but I don't think that'll work."
Duke Icaldoren regretted his own decision to indiscriminately invite Einrogard students.
'It was a mistake to call in these filthy, vulgar, idiotic knight brats.'
The duke had never liked knights.
Even if they were nobles of the same empire, the crude behavior of knightly families felt more barbaric than aristocratic.
He had thought that students capable of entering Einrogard would be somewhat better, but their actions were no different.
"Drink! Drink! Drink!"
"This toast is for His Grace the Duke, who hosted tonight's banquet!"
"This toast is for the monsters we hunted!"
"This toast is... I don't know! Let's just drink!"
Clang!
Drunk and exhilarated, the White Tiger Tower students smashed their glasses on the floor, hurled plates, then marched into the banquet hall's corridor toward the kitchen to haul out entire barrels of alcohol and chug them.
Living in the knight quarters, White Tiger Tower students were accustomed to rough, hardy meals instead of rich, lavish feasts.
Of course, compared to Einrogard's fare, their usual food was edible—but next to the luxurious spread at this banquet, their dormitory meals were garbage.
Thunk!
"Who the hell—?!"
"Who threw that pie?!"
"I'm throwing one too!! Me too!!"
Duke Icaldoren maintained a composed expression from his seat at the high table—though internally, he was seething with curses.
'There's no way these imbeciles have any useful information.'
"Long live His Grace the Duke! Long live His Grace the Duke!"
"Your Grace! Thank you for inviting us!"
"Hahaha. Seeing everyone eat and drink so heartily fills me with jo—"
A misaimed cake flew straight toward Duke Icaldoren's face.
His guard swiftly batted it away, but the duke's twitching eyebrow was beyond control.
'...I'm going insane.'
When everyone else is insane, it's the sane ones who suffer.
Students like Giselle of the Moradi family or Durgyu of the Choi family had set down their forks and were eyeing the duke's reaction.
No matter how much he smiled, the current chaos in the banquet hall was impossible to ignore.
"Mo... Moradi. Are you sure this is fine?"
"Fine? What the hell are your eyeballs for? Why don't you sell them along with your head?"
"Don't snap at me! Shouldn't we stop this first?!"
Even after a cake nearly hit the duke, these drunken lunatics were still too wasted to sober up and were wreaking havoc.
But if the two of them stood up and put on stern faces, the atmosphere would turn icy in its own way.
It'd be like spitting in the White Tiger Tower's face.
Screeeech—
Amidst this, the banquet hall doors swung open.
Too absorbed in their revelry to notice, a White Tower student accidentally hurled a sauce-glazed roasted turkey toward the entrance.
"?"
Lee Han tilted his head slightly and dodged. Behind him, Gainando let out a shriek as he toppled over.
"Are these people insane?"
"Wh-what in the world...?"
As the students outside the door gasped and murmured in shock, Lee Han strode forward without hesitation.
Then he swung his staff straight into the solar plexus of the nearest White Tiger Tower student.