Episode 37
Episode 37
"It worked."
Even if he cursed the professor internally, he didn't show it outwardly.
That was the mark of a seasoned graduate student.
Lee Han maintained his expression and bowed his head.
"Thank you."
"Nothing to thank me for. You solved it with your own power."
"......"
Despite the praise, Lee Han felt a slight lump in his throat.
Professor Voladi had genuinely fired that bead with lethal intent just now.
A direct hit would have at least cracked his bones.
Had he not urgently used [Lesser Manipulation] to levitate and block the bead, it would have been a truly dangerous moment.
'Professors are really...'
"Let's try again."
This time, Professor Voladi took out an ordinary iron bead instead of a Spirit Stone. Before the fist-sized iron bead could fall, Lee Han's [Lesser Manipulation] spell took effect.
"Move!"
The iron bead froze midair.
Lee Han half-hoped the bead might accidentally ricochet and knock Professor Voladi's jaw off, but once he'd grasped the knack of [Lesser Manipulation], it wasn't so easily shaken.
Professor Voladi pointed upward with his hand.
"Up."
Lee Han moved the iron bead upward. Though it trembled slightly unsteadily, the bead ascended swiftly.
"Down."
The bead descended again.
"Left. Right. One full rotation clockwise. Two full rotations counterclockwise."
After issuing commands without pause, Professor Voladi nodded in satisfaction.
"There's still a lot of wasted energy, but this is acceptable. From now on, we'll train with this iron bead instead of the Spirit Stone."
"But I haven't perfectly drawn a circle with the Spirit Stone yet. Is that alright?"
"Try again."
Lee Han set the iron bead aside and channeled mana into the Spirit Stone. Then he drew a circle.
"!"
Surprisingly, the circle he drew now was far more perfect than before—before he'd nearly faced death.
"Intense experiences make mages grow. The Spirit Stone was merely a training aid for incompetent mages. You no longer need it."
"I understand."
"Now draw a circle with the iron bead. Once your skills improve sufficiently, I'll prepare another trial like before."
"...Excuse me?"
Professor Voladi believed there were two types of people in the world.
Those who freeze when faced with mortal danger, and those who react with greater ferocity and sharpness.
Naturally, the latter were suited to be combat mages—and the Wardanaz boy before him possessed precisely that quality.
So it was only natural to make use of it.
"......"
Of course, from Lee Han's perspective, having just received what sounded like a death threat, his feelings were unavoidably complicated.
Damn this school, seriously!
Though he'd nearly died earlier, the school carried on as usual.
At the end of class, Professor Voladi handed Lee Han the iron bead.
-Practice drawing circles whenever you have time.
-Yes.
-And never let your guard down, no matter when.
-...What do you mea— No, I understand.
Even as he left, Lee Han felt uneasy.
Surely Professor Voladi wouldn't stalk him and ambush him, right?
Of course, he knew it sounded insane, but this school kept making him increasingly paranoid.
"Did you wait long?"
"Not at all."
Lee Han waved at the half-demon girl dressed in priestly robes.
Dijiling, a priestess of the Prisinga Order.
-Could you perhaps look after Dijiling a bit?
Since students of the Phoenix Tower were mostly former priests and lived austerely, Priest Mehrid worried that Dijiling, still growing, might collapse from exhaustion.
In exchange for three baskets of groceries, Lee Han intended to keep his promise.
'I'll feed her well so I can get more baskets next time.'
With that resolute thought, Lee Han sat down with Dijiling.
Perhaps because it was already evening, the sky was dyed crimson, and the mountain ranges surrounding the school looked as though they were ablaze.
'If only this weren't a school... Wait. Why do I feel like a prisoner now?'
Lee Han snapped out of it.
Lee Han wasn't a prisoner. Of course, this place had some prison-like aspects, but it was undeniably a school.
"Here's the priest robe you asked for."
"Ah. Thank you."
Lee Han accepted the robe Dijiling handed over. In return, he offered a round slice of bread thinly spread with marmalade jam.
It was bread incomparable to what the school served—soft and sweet to the taste.
"I'm fine, thank you."
But Dijiling declined.
"Is there a reason you're refusing?"
"Lord Prisinga suffers for our sake. It would be sinful for me alone to indulge in such delicacies."
Lee Han almost blurted out, What nonsense is that? but stopped himself, remembering he had joined the Prisinga Order.
Oops. I almost added another stain to the Wardanaz family's reputation.
Lee Han calmly nodded.
Forcing food on someone with such strong faith wasn't easy.
He had to probe carefully.
"Ah. This bread really tastes awful. Maybe it's gone stale. Wouldn't it be less sinful to eat it now?"
Shake shake.
"This pickled beef canned food has the worst taste ever. Wouldn't it be fine to eat this too?"
Shake shake.
"The person who baked this bread must have put their heart into it for you, and the one who made the jam must have worked hard to prepare it for you. If you don't eat it, it'll just go to waste..."
"......"
Did it work?
Seeing Dijiling's pupils waver with guilt, Lee Han wondered if his tactic had succeeded.
"...Wait. That bread wasn't baked specifically for me, was it? I saw it displayed earlier."
Tsk.
When Dijiling shrewdly caught on, Lee Han clicked his tongue.
Just a little more push would've done it...
As Lee Han kept trying to feed him, Dijiling wore an apologetic expression.
"I really am fine. I'll tell Priest Mehrid that I ate, so it'd be better to give it to someone else."
"Hmm..."
Lee Han was tempted.
Honestly, that would make things easier for him. The only discomfort was having to lie.
Priest Mehrid had entrusted Dijiling to Lee Han out of concern (even throwing in extra baskets), so skipping over that felt wrong.
If it had been a promise made to the Skeleton Principal, Lee Han wouldn't have hesitated to break it for even a second—but Priest Mehrid was a good person.
While Lee Han pondered, Dijiling took out a rough wooden cup, added green tea leaves, and poured hot water over them. Steam curled upward in wisps.
"Wait."
"?"
"Mind if I make some tea for you?"
After a brief pause, Dijiling nodded.
Having already refused the food, he couldn't bring himself to reject this too.
"Yes. Thank you."
"You'll really drink it, right?"
"Of course. Why...?"
"It's nothing."
Even in the Prisinga Order, they enjoyed coffee or green tea.
Of course, it was a beverage made purely from coffee grounds or tea leaves—utterly devoid of sweetness.
It wasn't just the Prisinga Order; other religious sects were the same. They mostly drank their beverages without any additives.
The stimulating effects of coffee or tea leaves helped priests maintain long hours of meditation.
Naturally, Dijiling assumed the tea Lee Han was preparing would be bitter and deep-flavored like green tea—something beneficial for spiritual discipline.
But that was a misunderstanding.
I'll pack it full of nutrients.
Borrowing Dijiling's kettle, Lee Han boiled water, added black tea leaves, and let it steep.
To intensify the aroma, he lightly crushed the ginger and cinnamon he'd brought from Thunderstep's Cabin and tossed them in.
But that wasn't all. Once the black tea was bubbling vigorously, Lee Han unsparingly dumped in sugar. Dijiling's mouth fell open in shock.
"What are you doing!?"
"D-Do you dislike the tea I'm making? This is a secret technique of my family, you know?"
Lee Han put on a genuinely hurt expression.
At that look, Dijiling flustered.
"N-no, it's not that I don't like it! It's just too extrav..."
"So our family's secret recipe is too extravagant for you!?"
"...It's nothing..."
Dijiling shut her mouth, afraid of hurting him further. Lee Han nodded with a satisfied expression.
Seeing that, Dijiling gave him a slightly suspicious look.
Surely he wasn't...acting?
'What a blasphemous thought.'
As a fellow believer and a member of the Wardanaz family, there was no way Lee Han would lie while even invoking his family name. Unlike Dijiling, a half-demon, wasn't the Wardanaz family one of the empire's most prestigious magical lineages?
Meanwhile, Lee Han, having finished adding sugar, poured in milk to complete the spiced milk tea.
"Here. Try it."
Dijiling cautiously brought the teacup to her lips with small, hesitant movements. A sweet, rich flavor she'd never experienced before spread instantly through her mouth.
'She does like it.'
Lee Han noticed Dijiling's expression softening and realized she was enjoying it. Well, after only eating bitter and tasteless things, how delicious must something sweet be?
Dijiling finished it faster than expected. Lee Han immediately poured her another cup from the teapot.
She sipped without refusal before startling belatedly.
"Surely you're not leaving behind tea brewed with your family's secret..."
"Enough. I get it."
Seeing how well the milk tea worked, Lee Han prepared the next beverage.
Into vigorously boiling water, he added sugar, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and milk, stirring well before tossing in cornstarch. The thick result was closer to soup than drink.
'Truly a wicked scheme.'
Lee Han marveled at his own stratagem.
Starting with drinks, then gradually serving something more soup-like to dismantle the other's values.
Once the cocoa soup was ready, Lee Han even floated some biscuits on top.
By the time Dijiling realized, she'd already emptied the bowl clean.
"Now that you've had it today, you can't say you won't eat it later. Come here at the set time from now on."
"...Was there a need to say it so dramatically...?"
Dijiling felt grateful to the Wardanaz boy for his consideration, yet baffled by his unnecessarily villainous tone. Anyone watching would think Lee Han was threatening her.
Night.
A time when freshmen clutched their starving stomachs with sorrowful faces, returning to their rooms or gambling over chess or card games in the lounge for a slice of bread.
At that hour, Lee Han was stepping out of the tower.
'I am a priest of the Prisinga Order. I am a priest of the Prisinga Order.'
Changed into priestly robes, Lee Han looked every bit like a Phoenix Tower student out for prayers.
His goal was simple.
To find the passage used by outsiders entering the school!
Once he found that route, he could disguise himself as an outsider and slip out.
'Conserve Invisibility Magic as much as possible. Who knows what traps await.'
The reason for disguising as a priest despite having Invisibility Magic was that this school was riddled with traps. If he entered somewhere and his magic dispelled, his life would be at risk.
To survive here, one method wasn't enough.
'...Suddenly I'm not sure if I really enrolled in a school.'
Lee Han grew melancholy anew.
How did it come to this...
The normally bustling first floor of the main building, usually filled with passing freshmen, stood empty.
Corridors connected to the massive central staircases leading to the second floor or basement and the lecture hall wings.
Bathed in sunlight, it seemed noble and elegant, but shrouded in darkness, everything exuded an ominous aura.
'If there's a place for external workers to come and go, it's most likely the first floor.'
Lee Han's gaze fell on the area behind the central staircase.
It housed banquet halls and grand halls—areas freshmen hadn't set foot in since the entrance ceremony.
"...?!"
Lee Han startled in that moment.
From the darkness ahead, another student was already tiptoeing stealthily toward the area behind the central staircase.