Episode 464
Episode 464
"The Wardanaz family is from a great noble lineage, so they're a bit different in this regard."
Salko said bluntly.
Hearing that, the siren looked at Lee Han in surprise.
Did great noble families of the empire usually grab sirens by the scruff of their necks and drag them along?
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
At Lee Han's question, the siren averted her gaze slightly before resuming her writing.
From what he'd heard, this swamp was originally a lake with clear water.
It had been one of the resting places for sirens who roamed the underground waterways of Einrogard, but it had turned into a swamp due to the recent Spirit Flood.
On top of that injustice, the vein—which was supposed to stay deep inside the library—had suddenly gotten angry, crawled out, and started destroying everything in sight.
Marking its territory in what used to be the sirens' lake was just an added insult.
"......"
"......"
The students of the Black Turtle Tower stared at Lee Han with lukewarm expressions.
Their gazes seemed to ask, 'Could it be that the vein got angry because we broke the library furniture to build a fortress and occupied it?'
Lee Han answered firmly.
"It's clearly angry because of the Spirit Flood."
"......"
'But the flood shouldn't have affected the deepest parts of the library, right?'
While the students were bewildered, Lee Han quickly continued.
"I didn't save you just to show off, but you won't forget today's favor, right? I heard the noble descendants of spirits are very clear about debts and favors."
'I'm the one who's embarrassed here.'
Salko suddenly felt his face grow hot.
As someone from the Stonemason Guild, he had been taught that 'pride doesn't put food on the table,' but even he had to admit he still had a long way to go compared to Lee Han.
The next time he took on a construction request, he was determined to put what he'd learned from Lee Han into practice.
"Let's go, Salko. We need to figure out how far the vein's territory extends."
Since the Skeleton Principal was suspicious, they couldn't just leave things as they were.
Lee Han intended to chase the vein to the end and confirm the extent of its domain.
"But Wardanaz... If the vein is angry because of the fortress, that changes things. Besides... I doubt the vein even has the ability to secretly abduct students. Especially not in such a furious state."
Though his head was filled with worries, Salko was also thinking along the same lines as Giselle.
The vein was far from being a creature capable of quiet, stealthy abductions.
"There's no choice, Salko. Honestly, I suspect the vein might be acting under someone's orders."
"Wh-whose?"
"The Headmaster, of course. But I'm not entirely sure—"
"I knew it!"
Salko shouted with blazing eyes. Lee Han was slightly taken aback.
"N-no, this is just a possibility. There's no concrete evidence, so I'm saying we should chase the vein to the end and confirm—"
"Wardanaz. Do you know of a dwarf's intuition?"
'But you're an elf...'
"That intuition is telling me. The Headmaster is the culprit. It has to be him. If he wanted to take someone, he should've taken those White Tiger Tower bastards!"
"...So, you agree we should chase it down and confirm, right?"
"Yeah. Sorry for wasting time."
-♪♩♩♩...
"There it goes again, showing its true colors!"
Lee Han spun around with a shout and raised his staff.
Then, the siren, with a furious glare, smacked the ground hard with her hand.
Thud thud thud!
She had been writing to call them earlier, but the students had ignored her while chatting among themselves.
"Ah. Sorry."
The siren glared at Lee Han with a sharp gaze, all traces of gratitude gone.
Her eyes practically screamed that she wanted to sing several songs of rage in a row.
The siren's proposal was simple.
She offered to help track the vein.
The recently transformed swamp had many areas where one could sink if they stepped wrong, and the paths were so convoluted that even following traces risked losing the trail.
"Indeed... Wait a moment. You're not thinking of repaying your debt with this, are you? I'm just asking to be sure."
"Wardanaz... Couldn't we discuss that later...?"
"Fool. Important matters should always be stated upfront."
Siren shook her head vigorously as she pulled an old ferryboat over and had the students board it.
Then she began swimming while pushing the boat. The ferryboat instantly gained speed, swiftly traversing the swamp.
'So Sirens have this kind of ability too.'
Lee Han marveled inwardly.
He'd only known them for their singing, but they made for sturdy mounts when navigating aquatic terrain.
Meanwhile, Sharkan skillfully leapt forward, using patches of dry land as stepping stones while leading the way. Tracking Mack's trail without slowing down wasn't something just any summon could do.
Siren looked at Sharkan with renewed amazement.
It was hard to believe an academy student could command something like that.
It wouldn't be strange if he collapsed from mana exhaustion right away...
-Krrrruk!
Just as Sharkan was running ahead smoothly, he suddenly stopped moving and raised his claws, showing wariness.
"...!"
The students' eyes widened.
The small island ahead in the swamp was covered by a dark, undulating curtain-like barrier, as if someone had draped a black veil over it.
-♪♩♩!!
When Siren sang a short melody, Lee Han immediately turned his gaze. Siren hastily stopped singing and wrote instead.
Her handwriting was truly as bad as Gainen's, but Lee Han frowned and managed to decipher it.
"...Ah. Mack's ability is activating?"
Siren nodded hurriedly.
Since Mack fed on nightmares, he treasured them greatly—but occasionally, when truly necessary, he would regurgitate swallowed nightmares to threaten others.
The pitch-black curtain spread over the island was a sign of that.
A curtain of nightmares emitted by Mack!
"That makes no sense. Why would Mack do such a thing?"
-......
-...?
Siren and Sharkan simultaneously turned to look at Lee Han.
Though they were different species, their eyes both said, 'Because you chased after him...'
Lee Han retorted firmly.
"It's absurd for him to react like this just because a first-year student chased him. Besides, I didn't come with ill intentions. I just wanted to see what was going on."
Siren tried her hardest to write, 'That's not the point right now—just talk to Mack directly,' but Mack reacted faster.
He began expanding the curtain.
"Light, reveal the truth! Thin mist, spread forth!"
Lee Han quickly cast <Enchantment of Truth's Light> and <Ogonin's Thin Mist>.
The former was to counter the encroaching nightmares.
The latter was to block the spreading nightmares.
But Mack's nightmare curtain was stronger than expected. It surged forward like a tidal wave, swallowing the light and mist before striking the students directly.
"Ghk!"
"Kuh...!"
Groans escaped the students.
They had fallen straight into the nightmares Mack had gathered and unleashed.
"...Huh."
Lee Han was slightly taken aback.
Not because of the nightmares—but because they had almost no effect on him.
He knew his mana resistance was strong, but he'd expected at least brief illusions...
Seeing nothing and just having the nightmare curtain brush past him left him feeling awkward.
'This isn't the time.'
He needed to stop Mack as quickly as possible.
Even if the effects of such illusionary attacks didn't look dangerous on the surface, the accumulated internal damage was substantial.
The longer they were trapped, the worse it would get.
'To approach, I need to wake Siren. Can I wake her? Would a strong shock do it?'
Lee Han stared at Siren, pondering which spell to use.
But the siren was staring blankly at Lee Han with vacant eyes.
"......"
-......
Come to think of it, since the siren was descended from powerful spirits who lured others with their songs, it made sense that she'd have strong resistance to such nightmares.
Lee Han subtly lowered his staff.
The siren gave him a suspicious look.
"Hurry! Guide us to where the vein is! We need to save our friends!"
At Lee Han's shout, the siren hastily nodded her head and began pushing the boat again.
Even after unleashing the nightmare, when they broke through and entered, the vein let out a furious roar.
■■■■■...
"What's that thing saying?"
The siren quickly wrote on the side of the boat.
[Why are you tormenting me...]
"...How absurd that it dares to say such things after tormenting innocent people first! But as the righteous ones, we'll make a concession. Tell it that if it stops the nightmare and attacks immediately, once the flood ends, the students will leave the library!"
-???
The siren wanted to ask what he meant by the students leaving the library, but there was no time.
For now, she relayed the message as is.
-♩♩♩♪...
"How dare you!"
Hearing the singing, Lee Han instinctively reacted.
Then he realized his friends were all trapped in nightmares and unaffected.
"Ah. My bad. Keep singing."
-......
The fingers of the siren gripping the boat tensed.
■■■■...
The siren translated diligently.
The vein was asking, ['Is that really true?']
"I swear on my family's name."
The siren was genuinely shocked by Lee Han's sincerity.
To stake his family's name—wasn't that excessive?
"But tell it I need confirmation too. It might be acting on the Headmaster's orders."
[What nonsense...]
"...Just tell it to let us confirm! If we both want to avoid a fight!"
Freed from the nightmare, the students cautiously approached the vein's nest.
Surprisingly, there wasn't a single trace of the Skeleton Principal's involvement.
No Death Knights, no signs of magic—nothing.
Salko whispered with a grave expression.
"Could it be a disguise?"
The vein looked down at Salko with contempt in its eyes.
Lee Han, with an awkward expression, spoke up.
"One of our students suddenly disappeared. Do you know anything about it?"
■■■■■.
The siren hesitated before translating.
["...Around this time, professors often take students for Divination Magic exams? What kind of absurd accusation... Professor Kraer isn't the Headmaster—there's no way he'd do such a thing...!"]
Lee Han trailed off mid-sentence.
Now that he thought about it, there was no rule saying Professor Kraer couldn't do such a thing.
'What do I really know about Professor Kraer?'
The one principle to remember about the professor was simply: 'Never underestimate him.'
■■■■■■■...
[He personally helped with the Illusion Magic exam prep last time?]
"...Fine, I'll accept that opinion for now. I'll verify it."
Lee Han immediately pulled out paper and a quill.
"Tell me the details. When and where did he help with Illusion Magic exam prep? Did he help this year too? And if it's for Divination Magic exams, where does he take the students? Speak up."
The vein hesitated.
The professor hadn't explicitly forbidden it, but was it really okay to say this?
Lee Han pressed firmly.
"Hey! Do you want to keep seeing students living in the library?"
Tears welled up in the vein's eyes.
Finally, it gave up and spilled everything it knew.
■■■...
The siren's expression grew increasingly strange as she translated.
Objectively, the vein had been the villain, barging into their territory and causing havoc. Yet, strangely, she was starting to feel like the bad guy here.
Logically, this was a good outcome—the vein would return to its domain, and the sirens would reclaim theirs. So why...?
In the flickering light, the mage boy's chiseled face seemed to gleam with an especially sinister aura.
'...It must just be my imagination!'
The vein
was
trembling violently!