Episode 395
Episode 395
Angrago and the White Tiger Tower students were too ashamed to answer immediately.
But Lee Han grasped the situation right away.
"Did you idiots skip class and get captured by monsters?!"
"W-well, missing class doesn't matter..."
Somehow, the fact that the Wardanaz was angrier about them skipping class left the White Tiger Tower students bewildered.
Crack!
In an instant, the sound of trees colliding erupted from behind.
Lee Han clicked his tongue.
The broken wooden puppets had split apart, and new ones had appeared in their place.
'Just which professor made these?!'
The fact that they could multiply like that even after being destroyed—
As a fellow mage, it was a technique he couldn't help but admire, but as a student trying to attend class, it was infuriating persistence.
Lee Han took a deep breath.
With the Ghost Tree behind them, there weren't many options left.
'Finish this as quickly as possible and deal with the Ghost Tree!'
Crash!
'Incredible!'
Even while hanging upside down, Angrago couldn't help but marvel.
Though his personality left much to be desired, the Wardanaz's swordsmanship was undeniable.
A sturdy swordsmanship reminiscent of a walking fortress!
The Azure Rock Sword Lee Han had mastered wasn't particularly abundant in techniques, nor were its variations complex or bizarre.
Compared to all the intricate and esoteric swordsmanship styles out there, the Azure Rock Sword might seem like a low-tier technique at first glance.
But conversely, the fact that the Azure Rock Sword—with neither an abundance of techniques nor complex variations—had earned such renown in the Empire meant there had to be a good reason for it.
If a simple swing, once unleashed, was impossible to evade, then nothing could match the sheer power of that attack.
The simplest attack was the strongest.
Only those who could embody this simple yet difficult truth through patience and dedication could truly be called masters of the Azure Rock Sword...
"What are you doing?!!"
Angrago forgot he was even hanging and shouted.
While he'd been lost in admiration, Lee Han had suddenly started using some weird trick technique.
The wooden sword suddenly extended in length, making the wooden puppet flinch and retreat. That much was fine, but seeing that it dealt no damage upon contact...
It wasn't a real sword—just an illusionary trick to deceive the opponent.
"Stop talking. You're breaking my concentration."
"W-wait... Why would you use a technique like that...?"
He'd been marveling at pure swordsmanship, but seeing it mixed with strange tricks ruined the moment.
He'd wanted to witness the flawless beauty of the Azure Rock Sword without a single gap...
Of course, Angrago's expectations meant nothing to Lee Han. Without hesitation, Lee Han unleashed all the trick techniques he'd recently learned, toppling the wooden puppets one after another.
Caught off guard by the sudden barrage of bizarre techniques, the wooden puppets couldn't react and crumbled apart.
'As expected, trick techniques are the best.'
Of course, using such random tricks against a truly exceptional swordsman would be suicidal—they wouldn't even work...
But Lee Han had no intention of facing a truly exceptional swordsman in the first place.
If they were truly exceptional, he'd just avoid them—why would he fight?!
"Wardanaz! Watch out!"
Before Angrago's shout even finished, Lee Han had already kicked off the ground.
Branches shot up from the spot where he'd just been standing. An attack from the Ghost Tree.
"H-how?!"
"Obviously, I was on guard."
Lee Han dusted himself off as he spoke.
Fortunately, thanks to finishing off the wooden puppets quickly, he'd avoided the worst-case scenario of being surrounded.
"With the <Spatial Perception> spell... Wait. Did you guys not even use <Spatial Perception>?"
"......"
"......"
<Spatial Perception> was a high-difficulty spell for its Circle, and unlike Lee Han, most couldn't afford to waste it so casually.
Even if the White Tiger Tower students succeeded in casting it, maintaining it for more than 10 seconds would be a struggle.
'For a second, I almost cheered for the Ghost Tree.'
Swish!
An attack from behind.
As if he'd already anticipated it, Lee Han rolled sideways to dodge. The Ghost Tree let out a frustrated cry.
The opponent had realized that sneak attacks wouldn't work against him.
Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack—!
Branches lashed out like whips as the attacks resumed.
Lee Han maintained distance while dodging. As he skillfully rolled away, the Ghost Tree let out a mocking sound.
-■■■■...
It sounded like the tree was ridiculing him—as if he were a swordsman too cowardly to engage and only kept retreating.
Lee Han was slightly taken aback by that laughter.
'Is this bastard seriously misunderstanding something right now?'
This was no time for the Ghost Tree to be acting smug.
Because...
"Burn."
Dozens of flames bloomed in the air.
Though small in size, they were vicious flames imbued with potent mana.
He hadn't used long-range magic against the wooden puppets or during Professor Ingoldel's lecture, but the Ghost Tree didn't fall into that category.
The moment he created distance, he had planned to immediately cast spells and bombard it with magic—yet here it was, acting all cocky.
If anything, the Ghost Tree should've closed the gap to prevent Lee Han from retreating.
-■■■■!
Perhaps realizing this too late, the monster began scrambling toward him.
But it was already over.
The flames Lee Han had conjured traced deadly arcs before exploding against the Ghost Tree's exposed trunk.
Splash!
Lee Han doused the White Tiger Tower students with water.
He was worried the flames clinging to the Ghost Tree might accidentally spread to them.
"Are you all okay?"
"...You didn't have to dump water on us."
The students, now looking like drowned rats, groaned as they got up.
Having been left dangling upside-down and swinging like pendulums, their dizziness was anything but mild.
"Is everyone alright?"
"!!!"
The students jolted in surprise at Professor Ingoldel's voice from above.
"Professor?! Why are you here?!"
"W-Wardanaz... Did you... sell us out...?!"
"...You idiots. You were the ones messing around during lecture hours."
Lee Han was speechless.
After going out of his way to save them...
"W-We gotta run!"
'At least they're not completely brainless.'
No matter how thoughtless Angrago and his friends were, even they knew facing a professor after skipping class wasn't a good idea.
"Enough. Stay put."
"Why should we?! Y-You're planning to—"
"...Shut your mouths before I shut them for you."
From Lee Han's perspective, the White Tiger Tower students' paranoia was entirely the Skeleton Principal's fault.
Trapping them in the dead of night and making them run around like headless chickens would do that...
"This is all a misunderstanding because of the Headmaster."
"The Headmaster? No, this has nothing to do with him—"
"Quiet."
Angrago wanted to say, "We distrust you because of what YOU did, not because of the Skeleton Principal!"—but his mouth snapped shut.
"What are you all doing here?"
Professor Ingoldel, who had descended, looked at the scene with bewilderment.
Lee Han answered with feigned sympathy.
"Angrago and his friends were captured by a Ghost Tree here. Because of this, they couldn't attend the lecture, so..."
"???"
"Y-Yeah, that's right!"
Angrago was the quickest on the uptake. Catching on belatedly, he played along.
"Captured by a Ghost Tree, you say? What were you all doing here?"
"We were practicing swordsmanship in the forest."
"Oh my..."
Professor Ingoldel's expression softened with emotion.
He knew the White Tiger Tower students were serious about swordsmanship, but this was beyond expectations.
"Everyone, stay behind after today's session."
"Huh?"
"I'm deeply moved. I understand. I'll help ensure you never lose to a Ghost Tree again."
"......"
The White Tiger Tower students stared daggers at Lee Han, but he ignored them, scanning the Ghost Tree's remains for anything salvageable.
"Wardanaz..."
"Work hard."
"Our golem repairs..."
"You can do both. Work hard."
Lee Han patted Angrago's shoulder reassuringly. However, the ungrateful Angrago only scrunched up his face in displeasure.
"Wardanaz did well. You skillfully avoided those wooden dolls."
"Thank you."
"By the way, Wardanaz. Earlier, about the Beech Knights... I heard they're planning to visit the school soon..."
"Huh??"
Lee Han was startled.
The knights' decisiveness never failed to surprise him.
If someone casually mentioned, 'Let's have a meal sometime,' the knights would actually show up for that meal!
"Of course, we'd need permission first, but..."
"It'll be difficult, right?"
"...Fortunately, this time even the Headmaster has given his approval."
"HUH???"
"With riffraff, who knows? But the Beech Knights have always been generous donors. This seems like a good development."
Professor Ingoldel nodded with satisfaction, as if his reasoning was highly plausible.
This time, it was Lee Han's turn to scrunch up his face in displeasure.
"Why... do we... have to... move this...?"
"Blame your friends."
While Angrago and his friends stayed behind for remedial lessons after class, Lee Han helped the White Tiger Tower students carry lumber.
Angrago had whined pitifully, saying, 'If we don't take it now after finally finding it, we might not get another chance later,' but...
'If the golem gets repaired, it might actually be useful.'
At first, the idea seemed so unlikely that Lee Han didn't pay much attention, but with this many people gathered, his thoughts gradually changed.
Having a golem of that size would make work so much easier.
With Einrogard assigning more and more tasks lately, that golem could become a reliable helper.
"Lee Han. I heard about the storage. How about we search it more thoroughly?"
Derghwi wiped sweat from his forehead as he asked.
To gather materials for the golem, they had to comb through every corner of the school.
The storage room, piled high with junk, looked like a dump at first glance, but who knew—there might be something useful buried in there.
After all, wasn't the line between trash and treasure just a thin one?
Lee Han was impressed.
"Derghwi. You sly dog. Are you suggesting we take advantage of the White Tiger Tower students being fooled right now to quickly finish the chores we'd otherwise have to do at night? Genius."
"...N-no! That's not it!"
"Good idea. White Tiger Tower guys! Let's go! There's more stuff to gather!"
Lee Han shouted at the White Tiger Tower students as they set down the lumber.
Swept up in the momentum, the White Tiger Tower students mindlessly followed Lee Han.
Watching them, Lee Han felt pleased.
If nothing else, this kind of loyal simplicity was the White Tiger Tower students' greatest virtue.
'It'd be great if we could finish everything before the weekend.'
If they managed that, he could leisurely catch up on his piled-up studies over the weekend.
Clatter! Crash! Bang!
The White Tiger Tower students swarmed into the storage room and began hauling out crates one by one, just like last week.
"Just how much junk is in here? There's no end to it!"
"Hey. Isn't this basalt? If we polish it, we might be able to use it."
"That's monster dung."
"......"
Thud—
"Huh?"
Lee Han felt something brush against his foot and looked down.
A heavily rusted bronze doorknob was attached to a trapdoor on the floor.
"Hey, everyone, come here for a sec."
"W-Wardanaz! We weren't slacking off!"
"...I'm not scolding you. Just come here quickly."
Lee Han reminded himself to be a little gentler with the White Tiger Tower students.
"Have you seen this before?"
"...Huh?!?"
'Guess not.'
From their reactions, Lee Han realized this trapdoor leading underground had never been discovered before.
It must have been uncovered after clearing away the mountain of junk.
"T-this... Wardanaz... Isn't this... that thing?? That???"
"What is it?"
Lee Han asked, slightly hopeful at the White Tiger Tower student's reaction.
Did they know something about it?
"An underground escape tunnel made by our seniors...!"
"...I doubt there's an underground tunnel connecting Einrogard's second floor to outside the school walls."