Episode 415
Episode 415
After concluding his business and returning, Lee Han quietly went about his preparations for the outing without making a fuss.
He cooked meals for the priests, attended the doctrinal lecture by this round's winner (surprisingly, the priests had chosen polo as this round's competition event), spent the remaining time studying, and got ahead on his assignments...
And so, by the time midnight passed and it was around two in the morning,
Lee Han had arrived in front of Amur's stable.
"Good luck."
"Thank you, as always."
Amur, watching Lee Han quickly change into civilian clothes, couldn't help but think to himself.
'He's oddly seasoned for a first-year.'
Who would ever guess that this student was a freshman at Einrogard?
Objectively speaking, Lee Han hadn't gone on outings that many times.
But he had gone about his tasks with such expertise that even the picky upperclassmen of Einrogard would admit, 'Even I couldn't have done better than that...'
A prepared freshman.
That was Lee Han.
As dawn broke and the village shops began opening, Lee Han swiftly dashed down the main road, purchasing every essential supply he could get his hands on.
Rice, barley, rye, lentils, onions, potatoes, peas, garlic, goat's milk, olive and palm oil, peaches, grapes, melons, bananas...
'Should grab some luxuries too.'
Several jars of sauce and peanut butter, mildly spicy tomato sauce, coffee grounds and tea leaves, maple syrup, flat cookies and chocolate.
'Might as well take some meat too. There's only so much we can procure inside.'
Though he couldn't carry much due to the bulk, he still packed salted herring and sardines, gutted lamb and pork sausages, canned beef, and even duck meat.
Before the morning was even over, Lee Han had finished preparing all the supplies.
Boxes packed so tightly that not a single strand of hair could fit inside.
Looking at them, Lee Han suddenly felt a twinge of regret.
'Hmm. Did I go a bit overboard like a madman?'
To an outsider, he might look less like a student returning to the magic school and more like someone fleeing a rebellion.
"Were you still resting? If you haven't started preparing yet, how about joining me for some tea..."
Amur, who had woken up late, spotted Lee Han standing outside and assumed he hadn't begun his preparations yet.
But when he opened the door, his eyes landed on the mountain of piled-up boxes.
"...You're already done?"
"Yes."
"...W-well then, let's go have some tea."
Entering the teahouse Jaksul (Sparrow's Tongue) in Philone Village, Amur ordered two cups of tea and sat down.
Instead of taking a seat by the scenic window, Lee Han headed straight for the innermost corner.
It was a spot shielded by partitions, making it difficult for passersby to easily spot his face.
And if needed, he could quickly escape through the window or the back door. Lee Han meticulously checked his escape routes, just in case.
"Y-you don't seriously think someone's chasing us... right?"
"Just being cautious."
Though Lee Han said it nonchalantly, Amur wondered if he should report this to the capital.
No matter how strict the school was, did it really make sense to send pursuers after students sneaking out on the weekend?
'Could the Wardanaz student be misunderstanding something?'
As he pondered this, the tea and snacks arrived. Lee Han found himself deliberating over how he could possibly take some of the dasik (tea sweets) made of rice and honey back with him.
"Uh, excuse me..."
"??"
In the quiet teahouse,
the arrival of a new customer who looked blatantly suspicious made both Lee Han and Amur flinch.
In a big city like Granden, people who cloaked themselves entirely in capes were common, but here in Philone Village, they weren't quite as frequent.
"What's the matter? Have there been any strange visitors in the village lately?"
"Nothing like that... Hmm... Oh. There was a group of odd folks who kept muttering among themselves, 'We should fix our golems like that too,' who came by the village."
"...My apologies. Those are the mages invited for their festival."
"Oh, is that so? Uh, were there also Black Mages?"
"Black Mages can be invited too..."
Lee Han corrected Amur's prejudice.
Amur was surprised to learn that even Black Mages received invitations.
"So you're saying no other guests came besides the mages?"
"As far as I know, that's correct."
Lee Han and Amur eyed the newly arrived guest with suspicion.
From their attire to their behavior, everything about them was blatantly suspicious.
However, the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up.
Swish—
"P-please don't tell anyone I came here. I'll leave this wooden sword as collateral—could I get some food and drink?"
"...Angrago, what the hell are you doing here?"
Lee Han asked in shock upon recognizing the White Tiger Tower student.
At Lee Han's call, Angrago let out a shrill scream and nearly toppled over.
"Woah... Wardanaz!"
"Yeah."
"Did the professor send you to catch me, you bastard?!"
"...No. I left first."
"!?!"
Though Lee Han and Salko had been skeptical, surprisingly, the escape route the White Tiger Tower students had discovered this time was real.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.
'Impressive!'
Lee Han was honestly surprised.
Who'd have thought these idiots would actually pull it off?
"What method did you use?"
"There was that Summoning Magic Festival recently. A lot of merchant carriages came in for the event..."
With the main gate open for the carriages, the White Tiger Tower students had targeted them.
Since people were coming and going, surveillance would be relatively lax—so they decided to sneak into the carriages and escape!
It wasn't a method they could use regularly, but it was a clever exploitation of the situation's loophole.
'Meanwhile, I got ambushed by Anti-Magic Zealots. These guys got lucky.'
Lee Han grumbled internally.
"Wait. Did only one or two of you escape? You guys move as a group."
"Yeah. We moved as a group."
"Then how did you all hide in the carriages?"
Since Lee Han had acted alone, boarding a single carriage hadn't been too difficult.
With Invisibility Magic, adding one more person wasn't that noticeable.
"...We didn't hide."
"What?"
At Lee Han's question, Angrago's face flushed with shame as he answered.
"We didn't hide."
"Then...?"
"...We subdued the merchant employees, locked them inside the carriage, and rode along with them."
"......"
"......"
Lee Han and Amur stared at Angrago in shock.
That was...
Straight-up carriage robbery!
"You..."
"Don't say it! Wardanaz, I already know, damn it!"
"You're not a knight, you're a bandit—"
"Ugh."
Angrago bit his lip, embarrassed even by his own actions.
"But we had no choice! How were we supposed to negotiate with the merchant employees? Anyone would've—"
Mid-sentence, Angrago suddenly glanced at Lee Han and changed his words.
"...At least we had no choice!"
'Did this bastard just look at me?'
"W-well. I'm not in a position to judge. I might've done the same."
At Lee Han's words, Angrago's expression brightened slightly.
He hadn't expected Wardanaz to say something like that.
"Opportunities are hard to catch once missed... Anyway, I get it—you guys each grabbed a vulnerable carriage and squeezed in. So it worked out, but why are you in such a sorry state now?"
"Well... You know how it is."
"??"
"After we passed through the city gates and got a bit farther... we, uh... let the employees go."
"...Don't tell me..."
Lee Han was shocked again.
"Don't tell me you just released them near Einrogard? Not after getting far from the school, apologizing for today's events, appealing to their sympathy by explaining how harsh Einrogard's rules are, and promising compensation in your family's name before letting them go?"
"...Were you there or something?"
Angrago pouted and grumbled.
How much easier it would have been if a Wardanaz had been in their carriage!
"Seriously, not a single one of you White Tiger Tower bastards thought this through?"
"Well... we were the only carriage that let them go."
"......"
"......"
Amur, who had been listening quietly, smacked his own forehead.
This was exactly why group actions were so difficult.
There was always that one troublemaker who ruined everything.
"This is a secret, okay?? The others still don't know which carriage let the staff go first..."
"You idiot, that's nothing to brag about."
Lee Han sighed.
The other White Tiger Tower students who were unaware must have faced an absolute disaster.
"What did the staff say when you freed them?"
"They thanked us, so we thought it was fine. We apologized too."
"By any chance... were their eyes burning with rage?"
"Yeah... they immediately sprinted to the main gate to report us..."
"......"
What happened next didn't need to be explained.
The Summons waiting at Einrogard's gates must have charged out and started chasing the carriages, leaving the White Tiger Tower students no choice but to panic and scatter in all directions.
Most of them were probably caught...
"How did you get away?"
"......"
"I said, how did you get away?"
"...I, I hid inside a box."
"A box? A carriage box?"
"Uh..."
Angrago's face turned even redder as he spoke.
Come to think of it, Lee Han had noticed a strong myrrh scent coming from Angrago—he must have hidden inside the Reagent Box.
"Right. Good job... What else could you do? Wait. I get being worried about getting caught, but why barter with a wooden sword?"
"Because I didn't have any silver coins!"
Angrago sounded genuinely wronged.
Students who had suffered dearly in the first semester had prepared for the second.
Once you entered the Magic School, both silver and gold coins were confiscated, making outings difficult.
So some clever students had gone to the merchant houses in Philone Village and deposited money along with certificates.
And the even more clever Skeleton Principal, as soon as the semester began, disguised himself as students and withdrew all that deposited money.
"...Did you really think depositing it at a merchant house wouldn't get found out? You should've hidden it somewhere unrelated. Or converted it into high-liquidity Artifacts to carry around."
"...Ugh..."
Angrago winced at Lee Han's criticism.
If only he'd been a little smarter...!
"Fine. You've suffered enough. I'll buy this for you, so drink up."
"R-really???"
"...Yeah."
Lee Han found Angrago's pitiful face too much to bear and ordered him some snacks. Angrago stuffed his cheeks to bursting with sweets.
Amur whispered from the side:
"Not all Einrogard students are the same, it seems."
"...Haha. Students are all different."
As Angrago devoured his food, Lee Han sank into thought.
'These idiots just made things unnecessarily messy.'
With no way of knowing how far the pursuers might chase them, he couldn't move around freely.
Getting caught alongside them would be the most unfair thing possible.
At least he'd finished all his necessary preparations in the morning, so that was something...
'I need to secure more silver coins.'
Though Lee Han had already stockpiled a decent amount of gold and silver coins, when it came to Einrogard, more funds were always better.
He'd planned to spend the rest of the day visiting shops and trading for supplies, but now the situation had turned uneasy.
If the Skeleton Principal's Death Knights were lying in wait...
"Excuse me, are you perhaps the mage?"
"!?"
Lee Han realized too late that he'd let his guard down while talking to Angrago.
He immediately grabbed Angrago by the scruff and shoved him forward, preparing to escape through the back exit.
But it wasn't necessary. The person addressing him was a familiar face.
The adventurers he'd worked with last break—Goo Bon and Bizdek.
The two greeted him with bright, welcoming expressions.
"It really is you, Mage! But... the person in front... why...?"
"My hand slipped."
Lee Han released Angrago's collar and brushed off his hands. Angrago glared at him.