Episode 435
Episode 435
Meanwhile, the knights uncorked bottles and poured alcohol into their cups with reckless abandon.
When servants appeared carrying platters of steaming whole roasted wild boar, the knights couldn't wait and rose from their seats to snatch the plates away.
"???"
Before Lee Han could even react to the snatched plates, the knights drew daggers and vigorously carved into the meat. One knight shoved an entire dripping chunk of fatty meat into his mouth in one gulp.
'Huh?'
Lee Han was bewildered.
This wasn't following the usual gathering protocol.
Normally at gatherings, people would exchange greetings first, engage in some conversation, enjoy a few games, and then share the prepared meal together...
But here, they'd jumped straight into food and drink.
Looking beside him, Angrago and Batrek were also hastily grabbing plates and piling food high upon them.
"Moradi. Don't get angry, but I'd appreciate an honest answer—I'm genuinely asking out of ignorance... Are knight gatherings normally like this?"
"...Yes. Why?"
"No reason. I was just surprised. They eat with such gusto."
"......"
Though Giselle didn't show it outwardly, she felt a wave of embarrassment rising within her.
The Beech Knights usually carried themselves with noble dignity, but when mealtime came, their true knightly nature inevitably surfaced.
While she'd never been ashamed of her knightly identity, the sight of the Beech Knights—who normally pretended to be aristocrats—acting this way made Giselle cringe.
'If they're going to eat this casually anyway, why did they bother with all those annoying formalities earlier?'
Lee Han mused to himself.
Had the knights acted this relaxed from the start, Lee Han wouldn't have needed to maintain all those excessive formalities outside either.
"So we eat and drink first, then talk later?"
Giselle nodded.
"This is much better. Wish we'd done this sooner."
"...?!?!?!!"
As Giselle's eyes widened at Lee Han, Jean-Cliff returned.
Having finished greeting the other knights, Jean-Cliff came back with a bottle of wine in one hand and a goblet in the other.
"I'd like to propose a toast! To the one who aided the knights of the Beech Knights!"
"Ah. Thank you."
Lee Han accepted the goblet. The shimmering wine filled it to the brim.
Jean-Cliff's and Giselle's goblets were likewise filled. The three raised their glasses together.
The instant they drank, Jean-Cliff's face contorted as he roared:
"POISON!!!!!"
Crash!
Giselle reacted fastest. The moment she heard Jean-Cliff's warning, she flung her half-drunk goblet to the floor.
'This can't be happening!'
Giselle's pupils were wide with shock.
That someone would dare poison a gathering of knights was shocking enough, but what truly stunned her was that she hadn't detected the poison at all.
Unlike these knights, she and the White Tiger Tower students were trained as mages, weren't they?
Given the nature of foreign toxins, it should have been impossible not to notice.
How could this happen?
'What kind of poison is this?'
Giselle's gaze darted around instantly. She saw Angrago and Batrek—already drunk—shaking empty bottles upside down before freezing in place. Quickly abandoning that line of thought, she turned to Lee Han.
'If it's Wardanaz, maybe he noticed...!'
But Lee Han's goblet stood completely empty. Giselle gasped in outrage, her voice rising to a sharp shriek.
"You drank it all?!!"
"Etiquette left me no choice..."
"Are you joking right now? Did you let your guard down just because we're outside school?!"
Lee Han honestly felt wronged.
When poison was well-crafted and well-administered, the recipient was always at a severe disadvantage.
"Everyone freeze and put down your drinks! You there—drop that bottle!"
Jean-Cliff hurled a table knife to shatter a wine bottle mid-air, startling a knight who'd been about to drink straight from it.
"Sir Jean-Cliff! What's the meaning of this?"
"You must be mistaken! Poison? There's nothing wrong with our bodies at all."
The drunken knights were bewildered by Jean-Cliff's shouting.
They too had some knowledge about poisons.
But they'd never heard of a poison that showed absolutely no immediate effects on the body.
Could Sir Jean-Cliff be mistaken?
"Damn it, I once heard from an alchemist in the capital. Right now it seems harmless, but when the reagent mixed in the food combines with the one in the alcohol over time..."
The well-connected Jean-Cliff had visited the capital and been introduced to a newly developed poison.
It was a poison based on Manabane Mushrooms, which the alchemist had excitedly introduced as an extremely unusual toxin.
-When the various reagent components exist separately, they have no effect. But when mixed together over time, they transform into poison. Such a cunning poison is truly rare.
To detect this kind of internally-mixed poison in advance, one would need to either be thoroughly familiar with all possible reagents or have prior knowledge of the poison's composition.
Fortunately, Jean-Cliff had remembered all the tastes of the reagents from the alchemist's explanation.
'He actually remembered all that?'
Lee Han was dumbfounded by the knight's crude method.
It would have been less surprising if he'd been thoroughly familiar with all the incoming reagents and thus sensed something amiss.
"Call the healing mages!"
Realizing this was no joking matter, the knights turned pale and shouted.
Poison was a race against time.
Even a slight delay could result in massive casualties.
Yet Lee Han remained calm.
'That kind of poison isn't very potent.'
Poisons designed to avoid detection by knights or mages inevitably had to be composed of weaker components.
It was highly likely this wasn't a life-threatening toxin.
"Sir Jean-Cliff. What are the poison's effects?"
"It temporarily renders one unable to use mana."
The knights collectively sighed in relief.
If it was just mana dispersion, it wasn't that dangerous.
"Who would...?"
"Servants, don't move! We'll investigate each of you!"
"We'll check the porters too."
"Who would put such poison here? Couldn't it have been mixed accidentally?"
Though the exits were sealed and investigations began, the chaotic situation remained messy.
The anti-magic activist hiding among the porters sneered inwardly.
'No matter what they do, they won't find it.'
Their preparations had been meticulous and persistent.
For weeks they'd been checking the gathering's food and alcohol, separately injecting components of the Manabane Mushroom-based poison.
This was fitting revenge against those knight bastards who'd ruined their grand plans.
'The signal's already been sent!'
A porter had sent the signal the moment the knights began eating and drinking.
Though Sir Jean-Cliff noticing was unexpected, it didn't matter since they'd already consumed it...
There were a few invited students among the knights, but they were still green novices.
Moreover, weren't they mages who'd also consumed the poison and had their mana dispersed?
In some ways, they were easier targets than the knights.
The plan was already 80% successful.
"Arise, emotions."
"???"
Suddenly one student brandished his staff and cast a spell at a servant.
The anti-magic activist nearly snorted in disbelief.
'Digging your own grave!'
Since mages were the Empire's most versatile talents, such interrogation magic was naturally possible.
But such spells weren't omnipotent. The activist knew exactly what kind of magic this was.
Extremely mana-intensive and mentally exhausting, it was meant for narrowing down suspects to one or two individuals.
To recklessly cast it now in haste...
No wonder he was just a student.
"Arise, emotions."
"Arise, emotions."
"Arise, arise, arise..."
"????"
The activist grew confused.
What was this?
'A bluff? Ah, I see! He's putting on an act! Playing tricks...'
He was pretending to recite a fake spell to gauge his opponent's reaction.
For a student, he was quite clever.
But the anti-mage remained unfazed.
'Go ahead and try.'
Snickering inwardly, the anti-mage kept his expression under control.
"Arise, emotions... ??"
Lee Han stared at the porter. Then, with a look of disbelief, he said:
"It's this guy, right?"
"SEIZE HIM!!!"
The enraged knights charged forward like a pack of wolves. The anti-mage screamed.
How was this possible?!
The knights were experts in interrogation. The battered anti-mage spilled everything about his gang waiting outside.
"What kind of nonsense...!"
"To think they resent us for fulfilling our duty as knights! This is why mercenary scum are the worst!"
The Beech Knights, unaware of the full circumstances, were furious.
If it had been a grudge they could at least understand, they might have respected them as enemies. But this? They were just venting unrelated hatred onto them.
"Anti-mages are all like that! Wretched seeds of evil corrupting the Empire!"
"......"
Lee Han broke out in a cold sweat.
Not because of the poison, but because he had just grasped the situation.
'...Did I make a mistake asking the knights for help?'
He had sought their aid to make things easier, but he hadn't expected it to backfire like this.
If any of the knights got hurt, Lee Han wouldn't be able to rest easy.
"This isn't the time for this. We need to prepare for the attack."
"I know."
Jean-Cliff's expression darkened.
"This is dangerous. The knights here aren't used to chaotic battles like this."
'He knew?'
Lee Han was surprised to see Jean-Cliff objectively assessing his own knight order.
Given that the Beech Knights were primarily focused on camaraderie and socializing, they were at an even greater disadvantage in a situation like this.
"Wardanaz. The mana..."
"It's not gathering."
Angrago and Batrek's faces were grim. The other knights were the same. The Manabane Mushroom's poison was finally taking full effect, spreading through them.
Jean-Cliff was forcefully circulating his own mana to endure, but his complexion was still poor.
"I see. Understood. Wait. I'll make an antidote. I don't know how much I can prepare before the attack begins, but..."
"...What?"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"
Jean-Cliff, who had been agonizing over how to prepare for battle, was stunned—as were Lee Han's friends.
He knew how to make an antidote?!
"Wh—how?! Did you know about this poison beforehand?"
"No... I didn't. And it's not a complete antidote. Since it's made with divine magic, I'm not sure how effective it'll be."
Lee Han raised his staff and prepared the divine magic.
He never expected Priest Siana's semi-forced lessons to be useful in a situation like this.
If the divine magic of the Afha Order that Lee Han had awakened was the White Flame transformation, then the divine magic of the Flemeng Order was antidote creation.
"You know divine magic...? Were you a devout believer...? No... Wait... The Wardanaz family...? That's not important right now... Wait, wait. You can't force yourself to cast it when you're low on mana!"
Jean-Cliff, who had been muttering to himself, panicked and tried to stop Lee Han.
No matter how urgent the situation, using mana-intensive magic like divine spells while drained was dangerous.
But before he could intervene, Lee Han had already created the antidote. The wine inside the bottle turned transparent.
"Sir Jean-Cliff first!"
"R-right."
Sir Jean-Cliff gulped down the colorless, transparent antidote.
To his astonishment, he could feel his scattered mana stabilizing again.
"Then I'll make the next antidote."
Angrago stood by, ready to drink the antidote as soon as it was ready.
But Lee Han subtly pushed Angrago aside and pulled Giselle forward.
In a situation like this, the ruthless Moradi was far more reliable.
Angrago cried out in shock.
"Moradi barely drank anything, so she's still fine?!"
"...No, Angrago. As the top alchemy student, I can tell Moradi's condition is worse."
"??!"
W-was it really?!