Episode 486
Episode 486
"Ah, yes. Understood."
The sincerity dripping from Lee Han's voice was so palpable that even Professor Thunderstep found himself involuntarily overwhelmed.
"What were you doing, Professor? You weren't... taking a break, were you?"
The student shot his teacher a suspicious glance.
If he had finished his task and returned early, he should have moved on to another one—could he really have been resting?
Seeing that look, Professor Thunderstep couldn't help but reflect on whether he had been working his students too harshly.
"...No. I was handling my own business. Look."
Professor Thunderstep gestured toward the window of the mansion.
In the garden, neatly arranged in typical southern fashion, several fruit trees hung heavy with ripe produce, while two servants below cleared away fallen leaves and trimmed the grass.
Lee Han blinked in confusion.
"Were you securing the fruits?"
"......"
The response was so quintessentially Einrogard that Professor Thunderstep was momentarily speechless.
"Not the trees! Over there—the other window!"
"Ah-ha. You meant that."
Only then did Lee Han spot what the professor had been pointing at.
Through the opposite window, inside a spacious room of the mansion, members of the Maykin Family and city alchemists were shaking hands.
Their expressions made it clear that the negotiations had concluded satisfactorily for both sides.
"I was persuading the Alchemists' Guild. They were at least the most reasonable ones to talk to."
"Are the Alchemists' Guild members here particularly good-natured?"
Professor Thunderstep gave him an incredulous look.
"No. Guild members are all ill-tempered. Where do you find good-natured guild members? Good-natured people don't join guilds."
"......"
Guilds, by nature, were groups of like-minded individuals with shared goals and directions, making them stubborn and unwilling to compromise easily.
The Alchemists' Guild was no exception.
"Then why were they so cooperative...?"
"Because of the circumstances. For one, this commission was entrusted by the Maykin Family. And second, I'm also an alchemist from Einrogard."
Professor Thunderstep lit his pipe as he spoke.
The Maykin Family was a major noble house with significant influence in the Empire's alchemy circles, and Professor Thunderstep himself was a renowned alchemist.
Defying or making unreasonable demands to such figures would have invited severe retaliation.
"Of course, since the city has its own people, the Maykin Family wouldn't retaliate by cutting off the supply of materials or reagents. But they'd still be wary of crossing us."
"I see. Can you retaliate too, Professor?"
"Me? Of course I can."
"!"
Lee Han was shocked.
By all accounts, Professor Thunderstep was a scholar of high repute—far removed from power or wealth. It didn't seem like he had the means to retaliate in such a situation.
"Are you going to ask Principal or Professor Bagrak to launch an attack for you?"
"...What kind of insane nonsense is that!? At most, I'd block their invitations to the Imperial Alchemy Society or something!"
"Tch..."
Lee Han was disappointed.
For retaliation, that seemed a bit underwhelming.
Of course, from Professor Thunderstep's perspective, Lee Han was the one being ridiculous.
'Should I reduce the time he spends around the Principal...?'
If he's like this in his first year, what's he going to be like later?
"Not that the proposal was unreasonable. The Maykin Family agreed to supply some rare reagents, and I offered to improve the crafting methods for three types of potions. In any case, the Alchemists' Guild has agreed to cooperate with our mediation."
"I see. That's a relief."
"Now the other guilds are the problem."
Professor Thunderstep exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.
"The Fishermen's Guild... Well, sailors everywhere are known for their stubbornness. The grudge runs deep, so even appealing to their self-interest might not work. It's a matter of pride..."
"About that..."
"And as for the Adventurers' Guild here—I have no idea what they're thinking. Adventurers are usually a flighty bunch, but this lot is especially erratic. Even if they're small in scale, they should at least present a clear stance. If they'd just say what they're thinking, we could..."
"So that's why..."
Professor Thunderstep, who had been venting excitedly for a while, finally noticed Lee Han and asked,
"What? Do you have something to say?"
"The Fishermen's Guild has agreed to cooperate."
"...What? Why??"
If it had been any other student, the reaction would have been, 'Did you sneak into the warehouse and drink alcohol behind my back?' But because it was Lee Han, the response was different.
Professor Thunderstep decided to believe him first before questioning.
What in the world happened?
"Well... It's not confirmed yet, but the Fishermen's Guild said they were moved by how hard we were working."
"...Did a Shadow Patrol hunter risk their life to save a drowning fisherman or something?"
Professor Thunderstep was utterly baffled.
Unless it was something that extreme, he couldn't imagine the stubborn fishermen being moved.
"No, they said they were moved by me risking my life to hunt monsters. They found it touching how an Einrogard student didn't spare himself in fighting monsters..."
"......"
Professor Thunderstep was at a loss for words.
Now that he thought about it, it made sense.
'Well, since it's Einrogard, that might seem normal, but from the outside, it must look different!'
"R-right. I'll check on that. Anyway, thanks."
"And the Adventurers' Guild..."
"You talked to the Adventurers' Guild too!?"
Professor Thunderstep nearly dropped his pipe.
They had spent the entire morning hunting and exterminating monsters, and had just returned to the mansion for lunch—when did he even have time to persuade them?
"Yes. It seems there was some misunderstanding on their part. They didn't actually want conflict—they just wanted fair compensation and the chance to participate in the gathering request, regardless of which side they worked with. They didn't have any particular greed."
"Really? That's surprising. Why didn't they say anything?"
"I think they were a bit intimidated by the reputation of Einrogard and the Maykin Family."
"Ah... That makes sense. Damn it. My mistake."
Professor Thunderstep clicked his tongue in frustration.
Looking back, this was his own error.
He should have judged how intimidating their group appeared more objectively.
"I ended up scaring them for no reason. Still, it seems you handled the misunderstanding well?"
Professor Thunderstep looked at Lee Han with approval.
It was rare to see an Einrogard student display such social skills.
Especially one from the Wardanaz family, who managed to clear up misunderstandings and win people over despite their fear.
"Yes."
"Of course, talking directly with a young student would clear things up. Even Einrogard mages are human, after all."
"......"
Lee Han decided not to mention that the Adventurers' Guild members had been trembling while greeting him—thanks to the Wardanaz family and Professor Voladi.
At any rate, communication had been successfully established.
"Then I should talk to both guilds right away. Thank you so much. Wardanaz! You're the only one who could've done this!"
"Yes, Professor. And..."
"?"
Seeing that his student still had more to say, Professor Thunderstep turned his gaze back.
"If word about the Sea Serpent traces reaches Professor Voladi's ears, the negotiations—and everything else—will turn into a complete mess."
"...R-right. Calm down."
After successfully negotiating with the two guilds, Professor Thunderstep was grinning from ear to ear.
"Well done! Wardanaz! Well done!"
"It was just luck."
"You can rest now! Take a proper break until we head back. Is there anything else you want?"
"Uh... Could my friends also get some time to rest?"
Professor Thunderstep hesitated.
"But the work isn't finished yet."
"If you calculate the schedule, there's some leeway."
"That's true. But you know as well as I do—if something unexpected happens, that leeway..."
Professor Thunderstep trailed off, then nodded reluctantly.
"Fine. I can grant a request like this."
"Really?"
Lee Han was slightly surprised.
He hadn't expected much.
"Yeah. Honestly, I thought convincing them might take until tomorrow, if it even worked at all... But you resolved it like this. How could I refuse such a small request? Even if the schedule gets tight, the other professors and I can handle it together."
Since there was no longer any need to go around persuading others, having Professor Thunderstep join them at the table would leave them with more than enough time to spare.
Moreover, Professor Thunderstep wasn't the kind of cold-hearted person who would refuse such a request from a student who had contributed this much.
And if he were to hold a grudge against Lee Han, he'd genuinely have to worry about his post-graduation prospects.
Someone like Professor Verdus might not even realize he had anything to feel guilty about, but Professor Thunderstep wasn't like that.
"Let's go deliver the news together."
"Yes."
Professor Thunderstep and Lee Han walked down the hallway toward the workshop.
The professor flung the door open and shouted.
"Kids! I've got good news...!"
"...?"
Both Lee Han and the professor were slightly taken aback.
The workshop was almost completely empty.
Only a few students were seated, while the rest were nowhere to be seen.
"Where did everyone go? Maykin?"
Professor Thunderstep turned to Yoner and asked.
Yoner averted his gaze slightly as he replied.
"I... don't know, Professor."
"......"
"......"
Both Lee Han and Professor Thunderstep immediately grasped the situation.
The students had snuck out to have fun!
Yoner and a few other top students had stayed behind, thinking, 'We should at least finish what needs to be done,' but...
"Those little brats deserve detention!"
Professor Thunderstep was fuming.
How dare they sneak out when the work wasn't even done!
Meanwhile, Lee Han quietly asked Yoner,
"Yoner, what were they thinking? The work isn't finished yet..."
"Well... you were the one who said we had some leeway in the schedule."
"Ah."
Only then did Lee Han recall that he had told his friends about the adjusted schedule.
Upon hearing that, the students must have thought, 'Oh? Then we can go out and come back, right?' and impulsively tried to sneak out.
'I should probably keep this a secret from the professor.'
"Wait. Yoner, one more thing I'm curious about—how did they even get money? They shouldn't have any."
This was another reason Professor Thunderstep had let his guard down.
Since the students didn't have any silver coins, there wasn't much they could do even if they went out.
"A few of them borrowed some. They asked those from the Maykin Family."
"Ah, so the Black Turtle Tower students borrowed it?"
Lee Han found that plausible.
Given how practical and unconcerned they were with face, they could easily say, 'We'll pay you back with mission rewards later,' and get away with it...
"No. The Blue Dragon Tower students."
Yoner's face turned slightly red as he answered, as if embarrassed.
"...Huh? Really?"
"Yeah. It's not easy to ask someone to lend you money unless you're from a family they're close with..."
How could the Black Turtle Tower students, who had no ties to the Maykin Family, make such a request so easily?
Only the Blue Dragon Tower students could pull that off.
But...
"But the others wouldn't ask because of their pride, right?"
"Yeah. A bit unexpected, isn't it?"
Yoner swallowed the rest of his words—'I think a few of them got the courage after seeing how you do things.'
He wanted to respect his friend's reputation.
"What about the rest?"
"The rest just went out thinking it'd be nice to step outside, even if they didn't have money."
"......"
Lee Han suddenly thought of the healing magic seniors and felt a pang of sadness.
Professor Thunderstep finally stopped stomping around, sighed, and said,
"Wardanaz. Go out and tell them to have some fun and come back. Just make sure they're back before tonight."
"Thank you."
"!?"
The remaining students were stunned when Thunderstep suddenly gave permission.
But that wasn't all.
Professor Thunderstep took out his wallet and—what's this?—tossed it to Lee Han.
"Buy yourself something tasty. Don't waste it on weird artifacts or potions."
"Thank you."
"...!!"
Shock.
Murmurs.
As the students stood up in bewilderment, Priest Siana approached Lee Han, leaned in, and whispered in a low voice,
"D-Did you...?"
"Yeah. The negotiation was a success..."
"Did you blackmail the professor?!"
"...No."