Episode 431
Episode 431
Professor Garcia tried to defend Professor Verdus with a shred of conscience, but the Skeleton Principal paid no heed.
"Who else could it be if not that bastard? Did students break in and take it? That scoundrel Vible is clearly the culprit. I swear on my skull, I'll throw that good-for-nothing into the Punishment Chamber!"
"......"
"Well then, I'll take my leave! Suffer appropriately, Professor Garcia. Don't neglect your health like you did in your student days."
As the Skeleton Principal whooshed out, Professor Garcia let out a deep sigh.
Though brief, the encounter had been so tense that his back was drenched in cold sweat.
"Come out quickly, all of you. What were you thinking, sneaking into the faculty lounge?!"
Professor Garcia pulled the students out of the closet one by one.
Priestess Dijiling asked with visible concern.
"If Professor Verdus faces trouble because of us..."
Lee Han answered in his stead.
"It's fine. Professor Verdus will understand."
"...??"
When Lee Han answered instead of the professor, Priestess Dijiling looked slightly flustered.
Huh?
"How do you know that?"
"Priestess Dijiling, I'm embarrassed to say this myself, but I'm one of Professor Verdus's closest disciples. It's easy to guess what he's thinking. Professor Verdus will understand."
"...Is... is that so...?"
As Priestess Dijiling hesitated, still not fully convinced, Professor Garcia hastily interjected.
"Lee Han is right. The professor will understand."
Truthfully, even Professor Garcia didn't know whether Professor Verdus would actually understand, but now wasn't the time to debate that.
They needed to get the students out of the lounge as quickly as possible.
"Hurry, everyone, go downstairs. And never come back to the faculty lounge again!"
"Even if we don't get caught?"
"...Lee Han, let's have a private talk later. Ah, right."
Professor Garcia turned his gaze as if he'd nearly forgotten something.
"Take the items you gathered earlier too. No point leaving them after all that effort."
From the waterproofed cloth to the seawater stones and scrolls, he handed over an armful of items, leaving Lee Han flustered.
"But Professor, from what I heard earlier, these aren't things I can use—"
"Learn to use them. When has anyone ever known everything from the start?"
"Professor, are you angry that I entered the lounge?"
The students, who had barely made it back to the tower, finally caught their breath.
Priest Nigisor and Priest Siana, still buzzing with excitement, whispered rapidly.
"That was truly magnificent!"
"Are we going again tomorrow?!"
"...Ah, no. I have to study tomorrow."
"Then the day after tomorrow??"
"I have work the day after tomorrow."
Priest Siana's face fell with disappointment.
Feeling oddly guilty, Lee Han spoke up.
"If you need a guide for night walks, there are other friends I can introduce you to."
"That's...! I hadn't thought of that."
Priest Siana shook her head as if the idea had never occurred to her.
It was true—there was no rule saying she had to go only with Lee Han.
"I should recommend this to other priests in the tower too."
"It wouldn't be bad to go together."
Since the Death Knights treated priests kindly, there was no harm in going out in groups.
Listening to the conversation, Priestess Dijiling cautiously tugged at Lee Han's sleeve.
"What is it? Ah."
Lee Han looked at Priestess Dijiling as if he understood.
"You want to join but feel shy, right?"
"...No."
Priestess Dijiling nearly lost her usual composure—a rare sight indeed.
"Not that... the box..."
"Ah. That."
Lee Han pulled out a small bronze box from the pile of items.
It was the Reagent Box engraved with a small cauldron fragment—the very one the Skeleton Principal had been searching for.
"I've been troubled about this box the whole time."
Priestess Dijiling exhaled softly as she spoke.
Lee Han looked at her again, as if he understood.
"I was also thinking about how to use this box to gain an advantage during the flood."
"...That's not the point, we should return it to the Headmast—"
"The real question is how to use this."
Lee Han sank deep into thought.
Judging by what the Skeleton Principal had said, this Reagent Box was undoubtedly something that could make the flood even more tormenting for the students.
Increasing the flood's volume, controlling its direction...
"Or maybe poisoning the water."
"...No, that's definitely not it."
Priestess Dijiling reflexively replied.
Even for the Headmaster, poisoning the water seemed too extreme.
At that point, you'd have to call him not a headmaster but just a mad mage.
"Is that so? I thought it was a plausible possibility."
Lee Han clicked his tongue in disappointment as he gripped the bronze lid of the Reagent Box.
Having inspected it as thoroughly as he could, he decided to open it directly to check.
Click!
Fortunately, opening the box didn't trigger any curses the Skeleton Principal might have placed.
Inside were ordinary reagents.
"Reagents... I see."
"It is a reagent storage box, after all."
"These are materials I've never seen before. Priest Siana?"
Priest Siana, who had been making plans for a night hike with other priests the next day, turned her head at the call.
"What is it? I'm in the middle of planning right now, so if you could ask later—"
"I was wondering if you knew what these materials are. I thought Priest Siana, being exceptional in alchemy, might know. If you're busy, I can—"
Priest Siana threw down her quill and paper and rushed over.
Then she gasped in surprise upon seeing the contents of the Reagent Box.
"This is the horn of a Tanjuer (Swallower of Ships)!"
"!"
Tanjuer.
As the name "Swallower of Ships" suggested, it was a massive sea monster reminiscent of a whale.
Of course, if it were merely whale-sized, it wouldn't have earned such a fearsome name.
The Tanjuer was a monster with abilities akin to demons or spirits from other dimensions—capable of freely manipulating ocean storms and riding between waves and clouds.
And the horn of a Tanjuer...
"I've only read about it in books—this is my first time seeing one in person. It's incredibly rare..."
"What? How expensive is it?"
Assuming Lee Han's question was a joke, Priest Siana ignored it and continued.
"The Tanjuer's power is wholly concentrated in this horn. With just this, you could summon a Tanjuer. Though it would only be in spirit form..."
Even without a physical body of flesh and bone, a monster of the Tanjuer's caliber could wield tremendous power.
Lee Han thought he understood what the Skeleton Principal had been planning.
"The other materials here are supplementary reagents for summoning. To summon the Tanjuer and..."
Priests Siana and Dijiling nodded simultaneously.
Given the Headmaster's personality, it was obvious he'd use storm manipulation to torment the students.
"...He probably intended to attack the students' towers."
"???"
"...Huh? To that extent?"
"Isn't it possible?"
Lee Han closed the box as he spoke.
The priests, being too kind-hearted, underestimated the Skeleton Principal's malice—but Lee Han didn't.
Torrential rain would naturally obscure visibility.
Who was to say the Headmaster wouldn't send Death Knights riding the Tanjuer to assault the towers?
"Anyway, that's not the important part."
"Right. What matters is that the box is in our hands now."
"Ah, that too, but... What I meant was, after alerting the other towers to prepare for the flood, we should get ready to use this."
"......"
"......"
"We can do both, right? Hah. Priest Siana, can I ask you more about summoning the Tanjuer?"
"The summoning itself isn't difficult. All the materials are here—just follow the process correctly."
"No, I was asking how expensive it is... Thanks."
Come to think of it, selling it would be quite difficult.
Even if they took it outside to sell, could they really keep it a secret from the Skeleton Principal?
"Ah, Lord Wardanaz. There's one more problem."
"What is it?"
"It'll probably require quite a lot of mana, but that's fine, right?"
"......"
Lee Han felt slightly saddened that his friends so naturally considered him a walking mana battery.
The Skeleton Principal, who had entered to conduct the <Advanced Basic Magic Character Education> lecture, formed wrinkles on his skull when he heard the students whispering.
-So a flood is really coming.
-In this weather? It doesn't seem like flood weather.
-But that Wardanaz guy wouldn't lie about something like this.
-Then what should we do?
-Let's start by making rafts. Can we gather more wood?
-The guys from the Black Turtle Tower keep raising their prices. We might have to offer some of our stored meat.
-Despicable bastards! Trying to profit from their friends' misfortune!
To think you're being swayed by false rumors about a flood. Are you really Einrogard students?
"!"
"!!!"
The first-year students' eyes widened at the Skeleton Principal's rebuke.
Then they whispered again:
"A real flood must be coming!"
"This is insane...! I honestly thought it wouldn't happen!"
......
The Skeleton Principal realized his mistake and clicked his tongue inwardly.
Unlike other grades, the boy from the Wardanaz family held strong influence over all four towers.
Whether they liked it or not, there weren't many who could ignore the boy's words.
Especially in situations where he was opposing the Skeleton Principal like this!
'No wonder he's Verdus's disciple. The way he acts is truly detestable.'
The Skeleton Principal had this extremely rude and insulting thought as he floated away.
Do as you please. When you suffer, it'll only be your loss.
"Hey. It's really a flood."
"I'd even bet my family name on this."
Shut up.
A silence spell fell over the tactless students.
The Skeleton Principal looked around at the students and asked.
Where did we leave off last time? Did we finish "I will not assault visitors from outside and pick their pockets"?
"Yes! Headmaster!"
"And did we cover 'If I absolutely must assault a visitor and pick their pockets, I will disguise it well so as not to get caught'?"
"Yes! Headmaster!"
Did we? You're progressing quickly. Then today I should bring out the teaching materials.
With a sharp sound, the noise of Death Knights hurriedly running down the hallway could be heard.
At this sound, the students immediately tensed up.
Some students hid beneath long tables, while others clustered around Lee Han.
"Wo, Wardanaz. What kind of monster is coming? What kind of monster is it?"
"Be quiet. You're being annoying."
The door opened and Death Knights entered.
But contrary to the students' worries, there was no monster attack.
Between the Death Knights stood an ordinary mage.
"???"
"What..."
Begin.
The mage cleared his throat and spoke:
"Beloved juniors. You must be thinking like this right now."
"!!"
Lee Han was shocked by that address.
Amazingly, the person before them was an Einrogard graduate!
'What the...!?'
Students who were seeing someone senior to them for practically the first time stared at the mage with great curiosity.
"I'm studying at Einrogard, the empire's greatest magic school. Therefore, I'm the best in the empire. I can do whatever I want. I can steal livestock from villages for transformation magic experiments, or borrow guild property from cities for alchemy."
"......"
All the first-years grew serious.
None of them had ever had such thoughts.
"That thinking is a huge misconception, dear juniors. If you persist in such misconceptions, you'll unknowingly sink into the swamp of evil crimes and end up with imperial bounties on your heads."
Then why did you take others' property for your experiments?
"Headmaster, please... we're in front of the juniors..."
What dignity does a caught criminal have? Fine. I'll say no more.
The Skeleton Principal grumbled but didn't speak further.
As the senior mage before them lectured on "Why I forgot Einrogard's glorious opportunities and fell into crime," Lee Han thought to himself:
'This senior... might he have left something behind when he graduated?'