Episode 396
Episode 396
"But this is Einrogard."
Lee Han couldn't completely dismiss the White Tiger Tower student's words.
Even if the structure made such a passage seem impossible, there was no such thing as "absolute" in Einrogard.
It was the kind of place where descending a few steps from an upper spire could lead you straight to the basement of a village outside the school.
With ancient magical relics so old that even the Skeleton Principal struggled to comprehend them scattered everywhere...
"No. No matter how I think about it, that can't be right."
After some deliberation, Lee Han firmly rejected the idea.
Sure, the possibility existed—but that possibility was about as likely as Gainando topping the year's rankings.
"Stop talking nonsense and step aside."
"Sniff..."
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Lee Han cautiously cast detection spells, probed the area with his mana as thoroughly as possible, and even knocked on the trapdoor to check for hidden mechanisms or traps.
'Doesn't seem like there's anything.'
Still, he wasn't confident enough in his own assessment, so he called his friends over.
"Anyone here good at detecting, disarming traps, or mechanisms?"
"......"
"......"
The White Tiger Tower students stared at Lee Han with bewildered expressions.
They were from knightly families—what kind of knight would specialize in such skills?
Yet Lee Han mercilessly berated them.
"None of you?? What the hell have you been learning, then?"
"Hey... we're knights... come on!"
"Fine. I'll do it myself."
Grumbling, Lee Han rechecked the door using techniques he'd learned from Ratford.
If only Ratford were here!
The White Tiger Tower students felt wronged, but they couldn't even argue as they watched Lee Han work.
Where the hell had this guy learned all this?
"Seems clear... Alright. I'm opening it. But first, I'm picking three of you."
"What for?"
"Three of you will help me open the door. The rest, stand by the other exit in case something goes wrong—be ready to bolt."
"......"
Ten minutes later.
The three unlucky ones who got picked (including Angrago, who had just returned from resupplying and was on the verge of tears) stood with Lee Han in front of the door.
"Open it!"
Creak... THUD—
With a heavy groan, the door slid upward.
A thick cloud of dust billowed out, nearly making them cough, revealing a dark, shadowy staircase leading underground.
Cough, cough... "An... an escape passage?"
"Not a chance. Everyone's got Darkvision up, right? Let's go!"
After casting every possible enhancement spell on his friends beforehand, Lee Han lowered his head and stepped forward.
Even with Darkvision, navigating through darkness was still restrictive and suffocating.
He wanted to light a torch, but he resisted—who knew what might be lurking inside?
"Potions, Wardanaz!"
"There's a lot!"
After descending the stairs and walking a short distance, they spotted shelves lined with glass bottles filled with shimmering liquids.
The White Tiger Tower students whispered excitedly, thinking they'd struck gold.
But Lee Han shook his head.
"No mana in them. It's alcohol."
"......"
"Isn't that even better?"
"Shh. Wardanaz is right here."
When one of the White Tiger Tower students blurted out in confusion, another quickly nudged him.
No matter how much they loved alcohol, shouting "Hey! It's not potions, it's booze! Awesome!" in front of a Wardanaz wouldn't end well.
How uncouth would that look?
"...Well. Alcohol is still valuable. We could trade it with the Black Turtle Tower."
"R-right? That's what I was thinking."
Angrago swallowed his drool as he replied.
Trade? Who cared about trade—he was already planning to claim his share for himself.
'Was this the seniors' secret stash?'
Lee Han stared at the shelves of alcohol, lost in thought.
Einrogard was a place where rooms appeared and vanished constantly. A room that had been in use for years could suddenly disappear without warning.
Some of the bottles had commercial labels, but others were clearly homemade.
"Cursing that damned skeleton while brewing this liquor here."
"Does it make sense to brawl over midterms? I'll report this to the Emperor one day!"
"O future junior who shall one day find these empty bottles, beware when outsiders enter! They are invited guests who come to trample upon you!"
"If I don't graduate next year, I won't complain even if I become undead!"
'They seem to have brewed these quite diligently...'
Despite the complaints, Lee Han was puzzled as to why the seniors had left these bottles behind.
Of course, it wouldn't be easy to retrieve them, but seniors who had spent years at the Magic School must have experienced shifting locations more than once or twice.
There was no reason for seasoned mages to simply abandon such things...
"Woah, woah, woah, Wardanaz."
Hearing Angorod's frightened voice beside him, Lee Han immediately reacted.
He raised his staff, prepared to cast a spell at a moment's notice, and turned his gaze.
'What the—?'
A massive statue was walking toward their group.
Towering at twice the height of the gathered students, the statue brushed perilously close to the corridor ceiling as it approached.
Since the opponent exuded no sense of intimidation or killing intent, Lee Han hesitated over whether he should cast a spell.
The statue was the one to break the silence first.
-Welcome, challengers.
In an instant, a wooden sword from one of the White Tiger Tower students teleported into the statue's grasp.
Lee Han was stunned.
'Spatial magic, used this effortlessly?!'
Among all magic disciplines, space-time magic was notoriously the most difficult.
Even if Einrogard was a place with unique magical properties, for a statue to wield spatial magic like that...
It was a sight hard to believe.
"M-my sword!! Give it back!!"
-This is the price of the challenge. Well? When shall we begin?
The statue asked indifferently.
"...What exactly are we competing in?"
-What else? When mages meet, it must be magic, of course.
'Damn it.'
Lee Han clicked his tongue.
If it had been anything other than magic, perhaps—but magic was a contest of pure skill.
Given that this mage-statue had just effortlessly stolen a wooden sword using spatial magic before anyone could react...
"Perfect!"
"If it's magic...!"
"...You crazy bastards."
"?!"
The White Tiger Tower students, who had been delighted, were shocked at being cursed at.
Why?!
"...So you were looking for something useful in the storage room?"
Giselle, who had arrived late, frowned upon seeing the White Tiger Tower students gathered there.
While she understood their desire to repair the golem, no matter how she looked at it, this seemed...
'Is Wardanaz making them do his work for him?'
"That's not it, Moradi."
"...Why would you think that?"
"The priests are involved too. He wouldn't dare pull such a trick."
"...Oh. Right."
Giselle suppressed the urge to swear.
"So where did that Wardanaz bastard go?"
"He went down to the basement here."
"...?!"
Before she could even hear the full explanation, the sound of frantic footsteps echoed from the staircase as someone came rushing up.
The White Tiger Tower students, pale-faced, screamed.
"Wardanaz is dying!!"
"What?!?!"
"What kind of nonsense is that?!"
The waiting students, startled, swarmed over in a panic.
"I'm not dying... you idiots..."
Lee Han, carried on a makeshift stretcher by his friends, muttered irritably.
He had expected it, but the mage-statue's skill was truly astonishing.
The moment the duel began, the statue had teleported chunks of rock right where Lee Han stood.
-No, your mana... impressive!
Of course, direct teleportation was blocked due to Lee Han's abnormal mana and his anti-magic resistance.
But the statue's true strength revealed itself afterward.
Even when its magic was countered, it didn't panic—its attacks flowed seamlessly like water.
If direct teleportation wasn't possible, then indirectly!
Whoosh!
In an instant, rock fragments materialized around Lee Han, surrounding and pummeling him relentlessly.
He hastily tried to defend himself with Transformation Magic, but the impact was unavoidable.
Lee Han was sent sprawling. Attacks utilizing spatial magic were ruthlessly flawless.
-With your leader fallen, this challenge ends here. The Room of Knowledge is not so easily entered.
"The Room of Knowledge??"
The students who heard the explanation were bewildered.
"What's the Room of Knowledge?"
"When I asked... they said it's a place where the seniors' accumulated studies are stored."
"What? That exists?"
"Even if it does, it's meaningless! We can't get in there anyway!"
Angrago said with a trembling voice.
Only those who had faced it directly could feel the intense pressure emanating from that place.
That a Wardanaz was taken down in one go...
"First, let's take Wardanaz to the infirmary. Just to be safe."
"Y-yeah."
Durgyu and Giselle grabbed Lee Han by both shoulders. Giselle absentmindedly supported him, then glared at Durgyu as if finding the situation absurd. Durgyu bowed his head pleadingly, as if begging her to just go along with it this once.
"Why am I—"
"What was that? Moradi?! You're supporting Lee Han after all! Truly, you're an honorable knight!"
Durgyu shouted loudly for everyone to hear.
Giselle's mouth fell open in shock.
Since when did Durgyu pull stunts like a Wardanaz?!
"You crazy bi—"
"S-sorry. Honestly, those guys aren't exactly reliable."
Before being helped out, Lee Han called out to Angrago.
"Angrago..."
"Speak, Wardanaz! Should I close the door?? Any instructions?"
"No... Bring out the alcohol inside..."
"......"
-He took quite a hard hit.
-Is... is he in critical condition?
-No. He took the hit well, so he's not badly injured. Once the shock wears off, he'll recover soon.
-Lee Han! Did you hear? You definitely protected your body with mana. To show such quick thinking in that situation!
-Durgyu... I feel nauseous, so please stop talking...
After resting for a few hours and recovering, Lee Han shook his head and headed toward the Black Turtle Tower.
'I let my guard down and paid for it.'
At Einrogard, you could never afford to relax, yet he'd let his guard down for just a moment and suffered the consequences.
He could guess what had happened.
Some seniors had repurposed the room they'd discovered as a liquor storage and reading room, but when the school's spatial layout was rearranged, that insane statue must have slipped in.
Given that it challenged anyone who approached to a duel, it was no wonder the seniors hadn't managed to break through.
And its combat magic was terrifyingly polished...
'I should forget about the basement for now and focus on repairing the golems.'
Normally, he'd have tried to force his way in to see what the seniors had left behind, but honestly, this was a dead end.
"Wardanaz!"
A few familiar faces from the Black Turtle Tower, sitting at the black market tables, waved at Lee Han when they saw him.
"We missed you. The market thrives when big spenders like you are around."
"Sorry. I'll bring in goods from outside soon, so don't worry."
"Heh heh..."
"Heh heh heh."
The students exchanged sinister glances as they spoke, looking every bit like seasoned smugglers.
"Instead, I brought something else today."
Lee Han brought out the alcohol the White Tiger Tower students had painstakingly retrieved from the basement.
The Black Turtle Tower students were stunned by the sight of the life-giving liquid.
"Alcohol, and this much...?! Wardanaz, just how...! How did you get this?!"
"Why ask such a crude question?"
"Hah... hah hah. My bad for asking."
"Why are you two talking so weirdly...?"
Ratford, the actual professional, was baffled by the unnecessarily suspicious atmosphere.
People didn't talk like that in the black market.
They just chatted amiably...?
Lee Han handed five bottles to the Black Turtle Tower students and received various supplies in return.
After weighing the cheese wrapped in paper and concluding negotiations, Lee Han nodded in satisfaction.
"This should last me a week."
"That's an understatement, Wardanaz. This is enough for a month. By the way, did you hear? Imperial alchemists have arrived."
"...Who came?"
"Imperial alchemists, apparently? Some other students saw them earlier."
"I see."
Suddenly, Lee Han recalled the message he'd seen in the basement.
"O future junior who shall find these empty bottles, beware when outsiders come! They are invited guests who will trample upon you!"
"...No, it's not even midterms yet... It can't be."