Episode 453
Episode 453
"Ah, you... you bastard! I was worried about you...!"
"My apologies."
Lee Han struck down the screaming apprentice knight.
Even in a fair sword fight, the apprentice knight would have struggled to win against him, but having been ambushed on top of that, there was no way he could hold his ground.
"Choi! You too?!"
"S-sorry."
Durgyu swiftly knocked down another apprentice knight.
"Moradi, you... I see! This was your trickery, wasn't it?!"
"......"
Giselle frowned and kicked the fallen apprentice knight, sending him tumbling overboard. With a splash, the knight plunged into the sea.
"Ambush! Hurry, help us!"
"Drop your weapons and come here! The Wardanaz bastard attacked us!"
"What? But we can't use magic!"
Durgyu reflexively protested.
"We didn't!"
"Now's not the time to argue about that, Durgyu."
Lee Han quickly scanned the deck.
Though they had taken down a few with the ambush, there were still apprentice knights left. True to their disciplined training as a cohesive knightly order, they had swiftly regrouped on the deck despite the sudden attack and formed a defensive formation.
In contrast, Lee Han's side was outnumbered and exhausted from prolonged swimming. A prolonged fight would be dangerous.
"Lee Han. They're trying to surround us!"
"I know. Let's break to the side!"
Lee Han broke away from the center of the deck and sprinted toward the bow. The narrow passage beside the cabins near the ship's prow made it difficult for the enemy to encircle them.
The apprentice knights, who had been trying to cut them off from behind, shouted in frustration.
"Hey! Why are you running?! We're supposed to capture the ship!"
"Are you gonna fight us one-on-one or what?!"
"Th-that's not the point, but..."
As the apprentice knights stubbornly pursued them, Lee Han suddenly stopped and turned around.
Then, he raised his sword.
Thinking he was finally ready to fight, the apprentice knights cautiously gripped their own swords.
They had been fooled by the Wardanaz family name one too many times—they weren't about to let their guard down now.
"Here I come."
"Bring it, Wardanaz. We won't back down so easi—"
Whoosh!
Lee Han turned around again and resumed sprinting away.
"......"
"...Huh? Wait. Are you even really from the Wardanaz family?!"
The apprentice knights chased after him, shouting in confusion.
They couldn't figure out what this guy was planning.
Running around the ship like this was pointless...
"He might be trying to pick us off one by one. Moradi's over there! Be careful!"
"Got it. Everyone, stay sharp! Even if the path is narrow, don't spread out!"
Giselle, running ahead of Lee Han, inwardly cursed the apprentice knights.
Fools blinded by their family's reputation—they couldn't even see the obvious!
After a long chase, just as Lee Han's group began slowing down, the apprentice knights finally managed to close in from both sides.
"Pant... pant, pant, pant..."
"Huff... huff, huff..."
Both sides were exhausted, their heavy breathing the only sound between them.
"Wo... Wardanaz. There's nowhere left to run. Let's settle this."
"Fine. Got it."
Lee Han nodded obediently.
Of course, the apprentice knights weren't buying it.
"Don't fall for anything, no matter what."
"Same goes for that Choi guy. We've seen him pull tricks with that innocent face before, right?"
"......"
Durgyu flushed slightly in embarrassment.
Then, suddenly, Lee Han pointed behind them and shouted.
"Behind you! Look behind you!"
"Wardanaz... Do you really think we'd fall for that?"
The apprentice knights spoke with pride, as if they had mastered countering every trick while dealing with Lee Han's group.
Giselle clicked her tongue at their expressions and muttered under her breath.
"Being fooled so much isn't something to brag about..."
"Do whatever you want, Moradi. We won't fall for your schemes anym—Gahk!"
One of the apprentice knights suddenly collapsed forward.
Behind them, students from the White Tiger Tower, who had climbed aboard with grappling hooks, glared fiercely at the remaining knights.
"Go ahead and shoot again, you filthy bastards! I dare you to shoot!"
"N-no, wait...! We didn't shoot because we wanted to—"
"Throw these bastards into the sea! Let them swim back up themselves!"
"What kind of lunatics are these?!"
The White Tiger Tower students, who showed not an ounce of gratitude, enraged the apprentice knights with their response.
Though the scuffle had been disgraceful, fortunately, Professor Ingoldel and the knights quickly intervened to restore order.
While some knights murmured among themselves—"This seems like an interesting training method. What if we had our knights try it next time?"—Professor Ingoldel proceeded to evaluate the students' performance.
"You all did well. Alpha, it was impressive how you found the grappling hook amidst that pile of garbage and managed to board the ship."
"I just got lucky."
Angrago scratched the back of his head, looking pleased.
"Jay, blocking the water spears was remarkable. However, using your own body as a shield is dangerous. Even with armor, you could sustain serious injuries in real combat. Be more careful."
"Don't worry! I'm tough as nails!"
'Ugh, that muscle-headed idiot.'
As Lee Han clicked his tongue in disapproval, it was finally his group's turn for evaluation.
Professor Ingoldel studied the three of them before speaking.
"You found a path no one else considered—"
"Professor. Wait a moment."
Giselle's sudden interruption made Lee Han freeze mid-expectation, having been anticipating full marks.
"I have something to say."
"Moradi. What's this about? We're on the same team."
A sense of foreboding washed over Lee Han, and he tried his best to placate her.
Besides, this exam had been genuinely unfair. Unlike other situations, he hadn't even tried to screw her over this time.
"Is this about earlier, when you got blamed for the trick I pulled? That wasn't my intention. Let's not drag each other's scores down for no reason."
Lee Han assumed Giselle was trying to lower his score even if it meant sacrificing her own in the process.
But that wasn't why she had spoken up.
"Wardanaz briefly emitted a mana glow across his entire body while climbing the ship earlier."
"?!!"
Professor Ingoldel was stunned.
Even the knights nearby, who had been murmuring about whether they should throw someone overboard right now, froze in shock.
"A mana glow?! Are you serious?!"
"Really?! Wait—how did we miss that?!"
"Because that bastard Wardanaz had already climbed all the way up the ship by then."
"Ah...!"
"Damn it...!"
"We should've made the ship taller...!"
Professor Ingoldel and the knights collectively groaned in frustration.
They were lamenting the wasted opportunity—one that Lee Han had completely missed.
Of course, Lee Han had no idea what they were even talking about.
'Make the ship taller? Are they insane?'
He was starting to understand why the Skeleton Principal disliked outsiders so much.
"Wardanaz. This was an incredibly rare opportunity. Do you realize that?"
Professor Ingoldel passionately explained just how significant that brief mana glow had been.
In that extreme moment—carrying his friends while scaling the ship—Lee Han had entered a state of complete focus.
All unnecessary strength had faded away. Every hardship he had endured naturally melded into his body, allowing him to precisely control that absurdly vast amount of mana...
"Wait, what did you just say?"
"Let's move past that."
Professor Ingoldel smoothly brushed past the curse that had slipped out in his excitement. Lee Han felt slightly wounded.
"So... it was a rare opportunity, then."
"Exactly!"
"Indeed!"
Professor Ingoldel and the knights were far more regretful than Lee Han himself.
The greater the mana, the harder it was to control.
Even for someone of Wardanaz's talent, that amount of mana would have been difficult to master, making this missed chance all the more painful.
Of course, Lee Han remained indifferent.
'There'll be another chance someday.'
The opportunity had come and gone too quickly for him to even process it. Besides, Lee Han hadn't picked up the sword with the unwavering conviction of a martial artist determined to walk the path of the blade to its end.
'It was just something I picked up to pass the time, stay healthy, and for self-defense anyway...'
He was more curious about his year-end grades than what lay at the end of the sword path.
"I understand. What a shame. So Professor, about this midterm exam grade..."
"It might not be over yet."
One of the White Poplar Knights spoke up seriously.
Professor Ingoldel turned his gaze attentively, signaling he was listening carefully.
"Go ahead. I'm listening."
"Unless too much time has passed—but it hasn't been that long—we could recreate the exact same conditions and try to reproduce the phenomenon."
"...!"
Professor Ingoldel was astonished.
"...!"
Lee Han was equally shocked.
'What kind of nonsense is he spouting so seriously?'
"Professor, the exam is already—"
"Wardanaz. This is truly important. This might be more significant than the exam itself."
"That makes absolutely no—"
A White Tiger Tower student blurted out thoughtlessly:
"Honestly, someone at Wardanaz's level doesn't even need to study more for exams, right? He'll get perfect scores anyway."
Lee Han shot the student a murderous glare. The terrified Angra quickly averted his eyes.
'W-what did I do wrong...?!'
"And recreating the exact same conditions would be too much. My friends are all exhausted and need to prepare for the next exam."
"Hmm."
Professor Ingoldel acknowledged the point regretfully.
The White Tiger Tower students were indeed worn out...
"But we have young knights right here."
The White Poplar Knights stepped forward.
They pointed to their squires and declared:
"You can just carry them up the ship's hull."
"......"
As Lee Han stood speechless, Professor Ingoldel was moved to tears.
"All of you...! Thank you. I knew of the White Poplar Knights' honor, but to this extent...?"
"As knights, how could we abandon a comrade walking the path of the sword together?"
The squires' faces turned ashen.
Lee Han sighed deeply at the sight.
The White Tiger Tower students thought privately:
'Thank the gods I'm not Wardanaz.'
'Being the top student isn't all good after all!'
Watching this, they realized happiness might not be tied to grades at all.
"Moradi... I'll curse you."
Lee Han returned several hours later than the other students.
He'd had to swim with the squires in the ocean, then tie themselves together with ropes to scale the ship's outer hull.
Of course, the phenomenon he'd experienced earlier didn't recur. Professor Ingoldel and the knights were deeply disappointed.
-What a true shame.
-Perhaps we should have made him carry his close friends up instead...
For the first time, Lee Han felt grateful that this was midterm exam week.
Otherwise, the knights would have put him through hell until he achieved enlightenment.
'Are the knights becoming more like Einrogard, or was the world always Einrogard to begin with?'
Pondering this, Lee Han walked on.
Through the darkening waterway, a familiar white skull came into view.
"Headmaster."
What? Why are you so late? And alone?
Lee Han decided against mentioning Professor Ingoldel's assignment.
He had no desire to give the Skeleton Principal more reasons to be pleased.
"I was studying for the exams, so I got delayed."
With any other student I'd praise that, but you're wasting effort. Stop useless activities and master the spells you haven't learned yet.
The Skeleton Principal offered this gentle, kindly advice. Lee Han nodded gratefully at the warm counsel.
"Ah. Yes. What are you doing here, Headmaster?"
I was observing Einrogard's submerged scenery while lamenting students' suffering.
"...Ah. Yes. Understood."
Lee Han bowed and pretended to walk away.
Then he immediately cast every invisibility and underwater breathing spell he knew, dove into the water, and swam toward the Skeleton Principal's location.