Episode 382
Episode 382
Clunk!
Following the Ghoul King's instructions, Lee Han touched the wall behind the pillar, and with the sound of a mechanism moving, a hidden space was revealed.
Seeing it, Lee Han suddenly grew uneasy.
'Please don't tell me it's bones again...?'
Come to think of it, the undead might have a slightly different concept of treasure.
Still, he was a king—surely there'd be at least a few jewels or something...
"Junior!!!!"
Ogodoth, who had gone in first, shouted with a voice full of joy. Lee Han asked excitedly,
"What's in there?"
"Bones! Bones!!! It's bones!!!!"
"......"
Lee Han's expression darkened for the first time in a while.
"Do you even know what treasure is?"
Do YOU even know what those bones are? How dare you act so shamelessly—
The Ghoul King was furious at Lee Han's attitude.
After going out of his way to reveal his hidden treasure, this was the kind of insolent response he got?!
"Those bones might be treasure to a black mage, but they're not treasure to me."
Nonsense! You're clearly a black mage—
Lee Han summoned lightning element, compressed it, failed again, and then hurled it at the Ghoul King.
Not satisfied with that, he even drew Morning Star.
"Look at this. Does this make me look like a black mage? Think back to when we fought last time."
......
When it came to getting what he wanted, Lee Han could be as stubborn as he needed to be.
And from the Ghoul King's perspective, he had no choice but to waver.
Recalling how Lee Han had fought before, he definitely hadn't seemed like a typical black mage.
"If you want mutual trust! Then you should bring out something proper!"
Lee Han harshly berated the wavering Ghoul King. He looked like a professor scolding a student who had failed to complete their assignment properly.
Ogodoth stared at him as if he were looking at a madman.
What the hell are you even doing...?!
During his black magic lectures, he had learned a lot about "Points to Consider When Dealing with Undead Beings from Other Dimensions," but he had never seen anything like this before.
...Wait a moment. He was still thinking.
"You're not just hiding the real treasure now, are you?"
Shut up already. As if a king would remember every single treasure stored in his palace one by one?!
Annoyed by the distraction while he was trying to concentrate, the Ghoul King snapped back.
Wait, he doesn't remember?
Lee Han was surprised.
If he were the king, he would've memorized the entire treasure inventory by heart...
Then something occurred to him.
"I knew it! I believed in you."
But before that—swear on your honor.
Ideally, he would've wanted to bind him with a proper contract, but now that they were separated by the magic circle, the only thing they could rely on was each other's word.
He wouldn't nitpick anymore—just open the magic circle!
The Ghoul King had absolutely no intention of keeping his promise, yet he didn't for a second consider that the other party might break theirs.
Because he believed that only he was ruthless and underhanded.
But standing right in front of him was someone even more underhanded than the Ghoul King.
"Of course. I swear."
...There was one more hidden storeroom on the opposite side.
Do undead just have a habit of building storerooms around themselves or something?
To think he had crammed multiple secret storerooms right next to the throne room...
It really showed just how little he trusted his subordinates.
"...?"
Following the Ghoul King's instructions, Lee Han revealed the hidden storeroom—and then froze.
A massive gate, unlike anything he had ever seen before, stood guarding the storeroom.
The metal door, engraved with intricate patterns, emitted a strange mana, making it impossible to tell what material it was made of.
Ogodoth, standing beside him, let out a groan.
"This is going to be tough."
Inexperienced people often imagined dungeon or ruin exploration as something where a skilled technician (suspiciously close to the Thieves' Guild but definitely not a thief) would deftly pick locks and disarm traps.
But most expeditions didn't go that smoothly.
Usually, locked doors and mechanisms were far sturdier than the skill of the person trying to disable them, and most of the time, they had to go around or avoid them altogether.
"Hey. Ghoul King! What's the deal with this?"
I already told you. You just can't open it. That door only opens when infused with my power.
The Ghoul King spoke while carefully suppressing any hint of cunning from leaking out.
In truth, the door to that warehouse was crafted by the most renowned undead sculptors and blacksmiths in the realm, following the Ghoul King's direct orders.
A door forged by blending eight rare metals, tempered with the blood of thirteen races, and quenched in the flames of six dimensions.
A masterpiece completed during the kingdom's golden age—no mere handful of mages could hope to open it with their struggles.
"If you release me, I'll open that door for you."
"I see. Understood. I'll give it my best shot to open it myself."
'Didn't you just swear not to nitpick anymore if I agreed to open it?!'
"That was assuming we'd already secured the treasure."
Lee Han ignored him.
He had no intention of keeping that promise even if they'd obtained the treasure—let alone pretending to listen when they hadn't even gotten that far.
Though the Ghoul King hurled curses from behind, they fell on deaf ears as far as Lee Han was concerned.
"Senior, step aside for a moment."
Lee Han motioned for Ogoldos to move aside before unleashing a barrage of spells.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Crash!
Starting with the Water Prison Bomb and ending with arrows enhanced by layered Enhancement Magic.
Even after pouring out his maximum firepower, the door remained unscathed.
"Wouldn't it be better to just give up and wait?"
"Hmm. I suppose there's no choice— Wait a second, Senior. Look over here."
Lee Han pointed to the massive rock formation beside the warehouse door.
One of the stray Water Prison Bombs had left a small mark on the enormous boulder.
"Shall we try breaking through this side instead?"
"...Are you serious?!"
Ogoldos was flabbergasted.
Going through the door would lead them straight inside, but tunneling through the adjacent rock formation would require an unimaginable detour.
"It's not like we have anything better to do."
"...Well, that's true..."
Watching his junior resort to breaking through solid rock after failing to breach the door, Ogoldos couldn't help but think to himself:
'He'd be incredibly popular in the Punishment Room.'
Any student confined in the Punishment Room would salivate at the chance to recruit someone with this level of talent.
"Are you seriously saying that right now?!"
As Professor Garcia roared, Professor Mortum visibly shrank back.
"If there's a dangerous ruin like that, you should evacuate the students first!"
"Th-that's a bit overprotective, don't you think...?"
The saying that quiet people are scariest when angry fit Professor Garcia perfectly.
Unable to meet her gaze, Professor Mortum stammered nervously.
"And why on earth did you take a first-year student into an undead dimension?!"
"Well... I-I thought it'd be fine since he'd already faced the Frost Giant King..."
"......"
Even Professor Garcia, who had been furious, was momentarily speechless at this.
Seizing the opportunity, Professor Mortum quickly turned to the Skeleton Principal for help.
"Lord Gonadaltes, please assist me. Coddling students won't do them any good. Overcoming adversity is how one becomes a great mage..."
Given that the Skeleton Principal usually forced crises upon students, Mortum expected him to take his side.
'What's the point of shielding them? Throwing them into danger hones their magic.'
Wasn't this the very philosophy the Headmaster always preached?
Yet the Skeleton Principal coldly refused.
"Even so, there are limits. Bringing a first-year into an undead dimension is excessive."
"!??!"
Professor Mortum stared at him with utter betrayal in his eyes.
He could understand Professor Garcia's anger—she'd always been protective of her students.
But for the Skeleton Principal to act like this was downright hypocritical.
"This is too much!"
"You were the one who went too far by taking a first-year there. Have you no sense? No wonder fewer students want to study Black Magic."
The Skeleton Principal cut him down icily.
He'd already received a warning from the Emperor. In such a situation, not only had Mortum failed to prevent trouble—he'd actively caused it. There was no way the Headmaster would go easy on him.
Better to pin the blame on Mortum than risk the Emperor's wrath by defending him.
'Just you wait!'
Professor Mortum gnashed his teeth at the betrayal by his respected mentor.
He vowed never to hand over any useful undead creatures, even if asked later.
So... is that all there is to this situation? You've wrapped things up more neatly than I expected.
The Skeleton Principal floated around, surveying the surroundings as he spoke.
Truth be told, Professor Mortum had made the best possible choice.
When Lee Han and Ogoldos went missing inside the palace, he immediately evacuated the remaining students outside and personally led the undead in the search.
Had he succeeded, the other professors would have praised him with 'Well done,' but unfortunately, reality was different.
The palace was protected by such powerful magic that the search took far longer than anticipated.
When the semester's start date arrived, Professor Mortum swallowed his tears and contacted the Skeleton Principal, who then relayed the situation to the other professors...
Thanks to that, the professors of Einrogard had gathered near the portal in this village.
'I was planning to deal with any troublesome adventurers myself. Who knew the knights would handle it so efficiently? Was it your doing?'
"No, it wasn't."
Then I won't praise you. Call the knights over. They deserve some commendation.
"......"
To breach the defenses of the profound ruins within the portal, minimizing variables was crucial.
The Skeleton Principal had intended to capture and expel any adventurers foolish enough to wander around, boasting about the newly opened path to another dimension. But since the knights had already taken care of it, he was rather impressed.
The knights accepted the Skeleton Principal's praise with the utmost courtesy.
While professors could afford to banter with the Skeleton Principal, the knights absolutely could not.
If they dared such behavior with the infamous Archmage Gonadaltes of the Empire, they'd spend the rest of their lives trapped as frogs in his jars.
"Thank you, Lord Gonadaltes!"
Good. Keep it up.
"Um... but the adventurers are persistently demanding their release. What would be the best course of action?"
Keep them locked up. Releasing noisy adventurers won't do any good.
The Skeleton Principal replied indifferently.
With the focus now on breaching the dimensional ruins, he had no intention of freeing troublesome adventurers.
If they were let out and tried sneaking back in, what a nuisance that would be.
Professor Garcia cautiously asked,
"Won't they protest?"
Let them. If they want to die.
The Skeleton Principal dismissed the matter, as if refusing to waste any more energy on such trivialities.
Saving the students was far more important than keeping a few adventurers locked up for another week.
They'd be well-fed anyway...
Of course, for the imprisoned Anti-Magic Zealots, it was a thunderbolt out of the blue.
-What?! Why won't you release us?! Is this how Imperial knights behave?!
-By Imperial law, I have the right to protection! Summon a magistrate!
Day One.
"How much progress has been made?"
About half the rules have been deciphered.
"That's a relief."
Professor Mortum replied with reassurance.
Even with age, a mentor remained a steadfast presence before their students.
Day Two.
"How much progress has been made?"
Turns out there are some traps in the rules.
"Oh no..."
"How unfortunate."
...?
Professor Garcia, sitting nearby, made the Skeleton Principal hesitate before speaking.
Day Three.
"How much progress has been made?"
I've stripped away the defensive magic and reinforced the palace to prevent collapse... Wait. Why do you all keep multiplying?
The Skeleton Principal frowned at the increasing number of professors in the village.
The semester had already started—who was handling the lectures?
"I just stopped by after finishing mine."
Professor Garcia is excusable... but the others don't strike me as that diligent. Must I really evaluate them seriously? Professors who abandoned their lectures—get back immediately.
Grumbling under the Skeleton Principal's petty threat, the professors rose from their seats.
Yet, one remained.
The Skeleton Principal stared at Professor Voladi in disbelief.
...Professor Bägrec. Return before I hang you upside down and kick you out.
"??"
Why are you acting shocked? I'm the one who should be shocked here!