Episode 383
Episode 383
After finally driving out Professor Voladi, the Skeleton Principal let out a grumble.
'If only all professors were like Professor Garcia, how wonderful that would be.'
"You flatter me. But when will you begin the next task?"
"...Just taking a short break now."
"I see..."
One minute later.
"But when will you begin the next tas—"
'Going now. Going right now.'
The Skeleton Principal shuddered and floated away.
Though his composed demeanor often made people forget, Professor Garcia was also someone who had once attempted to attend lectures from every academic faction in Einrogard.
'If only we could bring in professors who are actually sane...'
Finding a professor who was both magically skilled and mentally sound was truly difficult.
The Skeleton Principal could only sigh at the lamentable state of the Empire's education system.
"Haa..."
......
"Hah..."
......
"Honestly..."
...Would you stop that, Professor Garcia?
"Hm?"
You've been sighing dozens of times since earlier.
"Ah. My apologies. I'm just worried."
Though the Skeleton Principal had stepped out for a brief rest after finishing today's work while waiting for the next path to open, Professor Garcia didn't spare him even that moment, continuing to sigh relentlessly.
The Skeleton Principal lamented the fact that Professor Garcia was so diligent.
Even if he wanted to send him to Einrogard, he had no excuse to do so.
'Wardanaz should be fine. That's what the divination magic showed, after all.'
"Ah. I was actually worried about Student Ogoldos."
The Skeleton Principal gave Professor Garcia a look of disbelief.
If a first-year and a second-year student were trapped together, shouldn't the concern be for the first-year...?
Noticing the reaction, Professor Garcia awkwardly tried to explain.
"I was worried about Lee Han too, of course."
'Doesn't seem like it...'
"Of course I'm worried. If they're trapped inside a ruin, food would be the first concern..."
The Skeleton Principal thought, 'If they're trapped in a ruin, shouldn't the bigger worries be traps or attacks from Watchers rather than food?' but he didn't bother asking.
'No need to worry about that. Wardanaz carries around an absurd amount of food wherever he goes.'
"...Ah, yes. I suppose so."
Professor Garcia was at a loss for words.
'What kind of...'
"Excuse me, Lord Gonadaltes. The adventurers are requesting an audience. What should we do?"
When the knights came to ask, the Skeleton Principal replied with visible annoyance.
'Tell them if they bother me one more time, I'll bury them upside down until this is all over. And make sure surveillance is tight. Those adventurers have a knack for making things difficult because they don't understand the concept of rules.'
"Understood."
As the knights left, Professor Garcia asked again.
"But still, if the two of them have to hold out, won't they run out of food?"
'Well, judging by the amount he carries, they should last just fine until I get there...'
At the Skeleton Principal's words, Professor Garcia's expression brightened slightly.
"That's a relief then. And with Lee Han there, Student Ogoldos should be fine too."
'...Do you not realize how weird that sounds?'
"Senior. Just in case, we should ration our food a bit, so today's dessert is just one slice of cake."
"...Hey, I'm an Einrogard student too."
Ogoldos accepted the chocolate cake with a look of disbelief.
By Einrogard student standards, this was practically a luxurious feast.
Regardless, Lee Han resumed tapping on the rock wall.
At first, the Ghoul King had scoffed, but as time passed, even he began to grow restless and tried every trick to interfere.
'You'll never break through like that!'
'Think again! What if the whole thing collapses?!'
'It's pointless no matter how you—'
Ogoldos found himself newly impressed by Lee Han.
He had been amazed by this junior many times before, but this was different.
'How can someone ignore others so thoroughly?'
If it had been Ogoldos, no matter how much he pretended not to care, he would've eventually snapped back or argued.
But Lee Han was truly ignoring the Ghoul King as if he didn't even exist.
So much so that the Ghoul King began shrieking as if having a fit.
Papa-pak-
Seeing the falling rock dust, Lee Han carefully checked how far he'd dug.
Having spent most of his waking hours madly pounding magic against this rock face, he'd managed to tunnel quite a considerable distance.
'So the saying about water droplets piercing stone isn't wrong after all.'
Create a Water Orb, spin it, fire it.
While endlessly repeating this simple process over and over, Lee Han was gradually improving.
Though he still couldn't instantly achieve perfect rotation...
Bang!
'Oops. Too hasty.'
When the Water Orb burst immediately after he tried spinning it at high speed upon creation, Lee Han clicked his tongue.
For now, he had to either spend more time or settle for imperfect rotation at lower speeds.
Fine! I'll tell you what's inside!
As Lee Han kept digging, the increasingly desperate Ghoul King shouted.
Of course, Lee Han pretended not to hear. If he focused, he could hear even shouted words with just his peripheral hearing—that was Lee Han's ability.
'Let's pretend it's the professor talking.'
Inside slumbers the Legion of Demons. So stop! Even if you keep opening it, nothing good will come to you.
In this undead dimension—no, in any dimension overflowing with violence and strife—the defeated must kneel before the victors and beg for mercy.
The Ghoul King too, in rising to his current position, had mercilessly crushed those he defeated.
One such remnant was that space sealed behind the door.
A prison sealing away the defeated—now mere souls—to prevent them from regaining power and resurrecting.
Ogoldos's expression turned grave.
If those words were true, continuing to open it would be extremely dangerous.
This wasn't properly unsealing a warded door but recklessly blasting through the rock itself, making it impossible to predict where the imprisoned beings might escape.
"Junior. I think we should reconsider this..."
"Does that sound believable to you?"
"Honestly, for a lie, it's quite plausible."
Imprisoning threatening rivals like that was exactly the kind of thing a powerful undead would do.
Lee Han growled in anger.
"How dare... try to pass that off as treasure!"
'Well, it is treasure.'
Ogoldos thought privately.
Such powerful souls could be used in grand magic or artifact creation, so calling them treasure wasn't wrong.
Though of course, since Lee Han wasn't formally trying to open the gate now...
"What's wrong, Senior?"
"R-right! Calling this treasure. Damn ghoul! That's going too far!"
Ogoldos hastily replied.
Lee Han's voice still carried quiet fury.
"If that's true, it's truly the worst, Senior."
"N-not the worst, right? We could just wait for rescue..."
"Having to just study without being able to gather more treasure in our remaining time..."
"......"
Ogoldos couldn't relate but stayed quiet out of fear of his junior.
KWA-JIJIJIJIJIK!
At that moment, the mana enveloping the entire palace shook violently before beginning to crumble apart.
Even the deep-layer mana defenses swirled chaotically in all directions, screaming.
"Kuh-huk...!"
Ogoldos collapsed unconscious from the overwhelming mana wave.
Though not a direct attack, such turbulent mana surges were destructive by their very nature.
KWAAAAAAANG!
"Isn't this method too reckless?!"
The Wardanaz will be fine, so stop worrying, Professor Garcia. Wardanaz! If you're alive, prepare for the Punishment Room...
"No. It's Student Ogoldos."
Ah.
The Skeleton Principal fell silent briefly.
He won't die.
"You damn■■ und■■■ bas■■■-!"
A student is listening, Professor Garcia. Enough cursing.
"Professor. I'm here."
Upon realizing Lee Han was there, Professor Garcia stopped cursing and rushed over. Just looking at his expression made it clear how worried he'd been.
"Lee Han...!"
"I'm sorry for causing you concern, Professor."
"No, no. The one who brought a first-year student in here is at fault."
'But I was the one who insisted on coming.'
Since he'd been the one stubbornly chasing dreams of instant wealth, Lee Han felt slightly guilty toward Professor Mortum.
"Student Ogoldos seems... fine. What a relief."
Though he'd briefly fainted, his complexion looked good, suggesting he'd been doing fine up until then.
Professor Garcia let out a sigh of relief as he surveyed the surroundings.
They'd clearly been living well—there were various scraps of food, a stone-carved table, and even a magic tome lying around.
While others might have been shocked, neither the Skeleton Principal nor Professor Garcia seemed particularly surprised.
Studying during break time was simply the most natural thing to do.
'They've made it quite cozy in here.'
"Thank you."
But what's that?
The Skeleton Principal pointed at the Ghoul King trapped inside the magic circle and asked.
The Ghoul King instinctively lowered its posture, having sensed just how powerful of an archmage the headmaster was.
"That's... the Ghoul King."
Lee Han, who'd spoken up, added an explanation, worried the weakened state might make it hard to recognize him as the Ghoul King.
"Even if he looks weak now, he was much stronger before being trapped. Also, the title 'Ghoul King' is self-proclaimed, so..."
...What exactly are you trying to explain??
The Skeleton Principal was baffled.
If he'd had eyes, he would've recognized that thing as the Ghoul King instantly.
After hearing an explanation of what had happened, the Skeleton Principal sighed.
'I should tell Mortum to avoid Professor Garcia for a while.'
He'd thought they were just trapped, but they'd fought the Ghoul King before being sealed away.
Professor Garcia's fists were already clenched so tightly they might burst, and the veins near his temples bulged and throbbed. If not for the students present, several staffs would have been shattered by now.
'But he should handle it himself.'
The Skeleton Principal decided that was as far as his concern for Professor Mortum went.
At that age, one ought to be responsible for their own survival.
"That bastard is truly despicable and wicked."
Lee Han complained, his voice trembling with indignation.
The Skeleton Principal found this odd.
Wasn't Lee Han the type to remain composed even when tormented by the likes of Baggrek or Verdus?
Yet here he was, complaining like this.
Had the Ghoul King really been that threatening and violent?
"He promised to tell me the location of treasure and then made me waste all my effort!"
......
The Skeleton Principal was utterly speechless when he saw the nearly hollowed-out bedrock.
He'd known Lee Han had abundant mana, but the fact that he'd used every last drop of it to attempt hollowing out that massive bedrock during his spare time was another matter entirely.
Who could have imagined such a thing? It was an act that completely defied a mage's common sense.
'He really is a wicked one. Then again, undead usually are.'
"He deserves nothing less than the torments of hell!"
Just why are you, of all people—a Wardanaz—so obsessed with material...?
Resigned, the Skeleton Principal silenced the Ghoul King mid-curse and floated away.
Then, after finishing hollowing out the bedrock, he devoured the demonic souls trapped inside in one gulp.
"...!"
!!!
It was such an intense scene that even Lee Han and the Ghoul King were stunned.
The Skeleton Principal's blue eye flames flared as he bound the devoured souls directly, compressing them into a single bone before sealing them away.
Here.
The Skeleton Principal fashioned a bracelet out of bone and tossed it to Lee Han.
It was a rare and unique artifact—one that imprisoned the wicked souls defeated by the Ghoul King.
Normally, he wouldn't grant students such privileges, but this much should be fine.
Lee Han looked up at the Skeleton Principal with slight admiration.
"Headmaster...!"
Yes.
"But shouldn't an artifact like this normally have a gem embedded in it? I'm not asking with any particular intent, I'm just curious about its stability..."
......