Episode 461
Episode 461
Einrogard was often described as hell, and the Skeleton Principal quite liked that description...
But even hell had its rules.
The Skeleton Principal had lived a long, long life, but this was the first time he'd seen scoundrels sending their juniors to beg for materials they needed.
Were they insane??
Well, this worked out perfectly. Verdus had been whining about needing friends—time to make him some. Lead the way!
"It wasn't an order."
What?
"I volunteered."
Ha! Of course. All Einrogard students "volunteer" to live like this, after all.
"......"
Lee Han shot the Skeleton Principal a look of utter disbelief.
How can YOU of all people say that?!
...Actually. Now that he thought about it, something was off.
With his sharp intellect, the Skeleton Principal immediately sensed the incongruity.
Come to think of it, even if they were his seniors, it seemed unlikely they could intimidate this particular brat.
You're not the type to get bullied anywhere, are you?
"Well... I can be intimidated too..."
Lee Han protested, but the Skeleton Principal ignored him.
Then what? Surely you didn't come here to help those seniors—what are you trying to summon? Testing out those bones I gave you last time?
"I came to help the seniors..."
Ambitious, but it won't be easy. Drawing out that bone's power at your current level is... Still, challenges are always good—Wait. Help who?
"I volunteered to help the seniors."
......
The Skeleton Principal stared at Lee Han with eyes brimming with shock, horror, contempt, and disgust.
Why in the world would you do that?!
"Just give me the stuff."
Having grown weary of this, Lee Han decided to brazen it out.
He wasn't here to beg in the first place—he'd come to collect rightful payment for work done.
After a long silence, the Skeleton Principal seemed to realize persuasion was futile. Clicking his tongue in disapproval, he spoke.
...Follow me.
"Thank you."
Death Knights emerged from the corridor, riding skeletal ferry boats—ready to carry the load.
Take him to the East Storage. The Songbird Storage. You know the one.
-Which Songbird Storage, my lord? The 4th floor Songbird Storage? Or the 7th floor...
Clang!
The Skeleton Principal struck the Death Knight's helmet with a crisp, ringing sound.
Watch your tongue, you imbecile! At your age, making such slips!
-Yes...? Wait, no. How is anyone supposed to find the storage based on what you just said?
That one's particularly hopeless. How many times must I warn against complacency!
Lee Han shook his head with an innocent expression, as if to deny any ulterior motive.
Internally, of course, he was already scheming.
'4th floor, 7th floor Songbird Storage. Mental note made.'
He fully intended to raid the Skeleton Principal's honey jars at the earliest opportunity.
Go.
"Yes. Thank you."
You'll regret this.
"Yes. Thank you."
Do you really think they'll remember your help? You won't even get to meet them!
"Yes. Thank you."
If you're counting on meeting them next year, that's a colossal delusion. The upper years are all too busy with their research to spare time for...
"Yes. Thank you."
-My lord. The more you continue, the more only you appear patheti...
The Skeleton Principal banished the speaking Death Knight to another dimension.
"Professor. Professor."
"Hm? Come in."
Professor Thunderstep was sketching a map on the first floor of the Alchemy Hall when Lee Han entered, motioning him forward.
"What are you working on?"
"Ah, the flood washed away all the cabins... I've cast protective spells, but we need to locate and retrieve them quickly. Einrogard's crawling with monsters—it's dangerous."
Professor Thunderstep was calculating the flood's flow patterns and estimating how far the cabins might have been carried.
Lee Han hesitated upon seeing this.
"...Now that you mention it, I think I saw sirens surrounding one of the cabins. The rain was too heavy to see clearly, though."
Professor Thunderstep let out a pained groan.
"Good grief...! Do you know how much those cost...!!"
"My apologies. I tried to stop them, but as you know, sirens are..."
"Alright. Sirens are too much for first-year students to handle."
Professor Thunderstep paused mid-sentence.
"But you might actually be able to—"
"Ah, Professor. I came because I have a request."
"Huh? Oh. Go ahead."
Professor Thunderstep pushed aside the map, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.
"The Black Magic school is running low on reagents. Could you possibly spare some?"
"Gahk!"
Professor Thunderstep choked on his tea, spraying it all over the map.
After coughing violently for a while, he waved his staff to clean up the mess, calmed his breathing, and then shouted.
"Did the seniors put you up to this?!!"
"No. I just felt bad and wanted to help them out."
"Hmm. I understand your sentiment... but this isn't right."
Professor Thunderstep tried to reason with Lee Han.
If the seniors were short on reagents, they should gather them themselves—no matter how exceptional a junior might be, it wasn't their place to run around doing it for them.
Even if it was a Wardanaz...
Hmm...
Hmm...
"Right. Even if it's you, a Wardanaz, this isn't acceptable."
"Why did you hesitate just now?"
"Must be your imagination."
"Well, Professor. Actually, this is partly my fault."
"Your fault?"
Professor Thunderstep scoffed.
No matter how he looked at it, there was no way a junior could be at fault here.
Even if a first-year had made a mistake, what kind of mistake could it possibly be?
And even if they had, it was the seniors' responsibility to handle it.
"What, did you spill a reagent bottle during an experiment? That's nonsense. A minor mistake like that is obviously the seniors' responsibility to cover."
"No. The seniors were creating an Undead Wave, but I misunderstood and annihilated it."
"......"
"......"
An awkward silence stretched between them.
Professor Thunderstep sank deep into thought, then downed the rest of his tea in one gulp and spoke.
"What do you need?"
"Professor Willow?"
Lee Han knocked on the greenhouse door where Professor Willow, who taught Botany, resided.
Though it wasn't a class for first-years, he had met her by chance before and thought it worth asking.
'Judging by the personalities of Einrogard's professors, she's among the better ones.'
"Long time no see. Where's that troll kid who called me an oak tree last time?"
"Gainando isn't here. Let me apologize again for that."
"No need. I was just joking because I'm happy to see you again."
Professor Willow set down her watering can and slowly walked toward Lee Han.
"So, what brings you here? Need some plants?"
"Ah, the Black Magic school is running low on reagents, so I was wondering if you could spare—"
"!!!"
As Professor Willow slowly began to raise her voice, Lee Han hastily interjected.
"I wasn't coerced! I genuinely wanted to help the seniors. Also, I annihilated an Undead Wave."
"!!!!!!"
The explanation was too hasty.
Professor Willow let out a scream only those with tree-blooded ancestry could understand.
Ten minutes later.
"...So that's what happened."
"I see. That's surprising. In that case, I'll gladly provide what you need."
Professor Willow nodded readily and began packing the necessary reagents into a crate.
Moved by her immediate generosity, Lee Han felt a surge of gratitude.
'They say the generous give more. Professor Willow truly is different.'
There was a reason Lee Han had gone to the Skeleton Principal, Professor Thunderstep, and Professor Willow first.
The Skeleton Principal was infamous for having hundreds of hidden storerooms across the school, while Professors Thunderstep and Willow, due to the nature of their subjects, naturally had large reagent stockpiles.
Professor Thunderstep had agreed because Lee Han handled his chores, but Professor Willow...
"Thank you so much."
"Don't mention it. I can do at least this much for a student who'll be learning under me starting next year."
"...?"
Huh?
Coholti gently brushed away the pile of dirt and lifted his head.
Then he checked his surroundings.
"Ogoldos. You can come out now."
"Look what you've gotten us into, Senior."
"You didn't stop me either, so you're an accomplice."
The two crawled out of the pit and dusted themselves off. Coholti spat out the dirt that had gotten into his mouth.
"Do you think Diret might have calmed down a bit?"
"No..."
"Hey. Why are you so negative?"
"Even the most optimistic person wouldn't say Senior Diret has calmed down in this situation."
Ogoldos said while watching Diret roaming the distant fields, scraping together reagents.
With his wings raised high and feathers all puffed up, he looked absolutely furious no matter how you saw it.
"Then at least pretend to be gathering reagents quickly."
"I'll just gather them properly. Not pretending."
"......"
Coholti briefly considered shoving him back into the pit.
But just then, the junior at the center of this mess returned.
"I'm back."
"!"
Seeing Lee Han return, Coholti hastily threw down his reagent pouch and rushed over.
"Waaah! You must have had such a hard time! I'm sorry! I'm such a terrible person!"
"Eh? Why are you suddenly like this?"
Lee Han was bewildered.
Had Senior Coholti also been hit by the <Drunkard's Curse> in the meantime?
"I should have stopped you more! No, I did try to stop you! But I should have been firmer! You must have suffered so much! Those bastards from other schools are all terrible! Yeah!"
Coholti kept glancing furtively at Diret behind them as he tightly hugged Lee Han.
"Don't be too sad about what happened. Those other school bastards are always like that."
"No... Senior."
"Huh?"
Lee Han pushed Coholti away and spoke.
"I got them."
"...Huh?"
Some very familiar-looking death knights entered, leisurely placing down chests.
-Will this suffice?
"Thank you! Please convey my gratitude to the Headmaster as well!"
-Well... I don't think our master will be too pleased about that.
"Then please tell him all the more."
The death knight grinned and nodded.
Watching this scene, Coholti was utterly dumbfounded.
What in the world was happening right now?
"...Y-you brought all this?"
"Ah. There's more."
The death knights went outside and began neatly stacking more chests.
He'd expected maybe one or two pouches worth at most, but the sheer volume being stacked up in entire chests made Coholti just blink repeatedly.
This was enough to last comfortably for a whole year.
"Uh... junior. Don't misunderstand me... I'm not doubting you, but how exactly did you get all this?"
"First I asked the Headmaster and got some from him."
"CoughCough"
Coholti and Ogoldos both erupted into coughing fits simultaneously.
This had already far exceeded their expectations from the very start.
"Are you alright?"
"Ah, no. Must be some dirt still in my mouth from earlier when we were in the pit."
"You were in a pit!? Why!?"
"Diret... I mean, we just like pits... Sometimes we just go into pits for no reason."
Ogoldos glared at his senior with contempt-filled eyes.
If he wanted to act weird, he should do it alone instead of dragging him into it.
"A pit? Is it some kind of Black Magic training method?"
"Well... you could say that. But that's not important - you asked the Headmaster?"
"Yes."
"And he actually gave them to you?"
"I persuaded him."
"......"
"......"
The two were newly reminded that Lee Han enjoyed the Skeleton Principal's special favor.
What student could possibly receive such treatment?
"Amazing. Truly. What else?"
"This is from Professor Thunderstep."
"Wasn't that professor... rather stingy?"
Professor Thunderstep had quite the reputation among students for being tight-fisted.
And he just gave these away?
"I persuaded him."
"......"
"......"
The two began feeling dizzy as they tried to guess what exactly this junior meant by "persuasion."