Episode 488
Episode 488
Lee Han held out the cotton candy he was carrying.
The White Tiger Tower student screamed and flung his body sideways. It was truly lamentable that the alleyway made it difficult to dodge.
'Damn it! That Wardanaz bastard. He's cunning!'
No wonder he was counted among the top combatants in the first year.
A flawless tactic, striking at their most vulnerable moment!
...But no magic came flying. Lee Han and his friends stared down at the White Tiger Tower students as if they were lunatics.
"What are you doing?"
"......"
Batrek, who had rolled in the muddy alley, quietly shut his mouth and stood up.
Brushing the dirt off his coat with a few firm pats, he spoke as dignifiedly as possible.
"...We were playing a round of polo."
"Here?"
"We usually play in alleyways."
The White Tiger Tower students behind him hesitated before nodding in agreement.
Lee Han gave a bewildered nod.
"Uh, yeah. Got it. You like playing polo in alleyways... Here, take this."
"???"
Batrek, who had taken the cotton candy Lee Han offered, looked puzzled.
"What's this?"
"A snack I bought for you guys?"
"Where'd you get the money...? Gasp. Did you steal it?"
"Why is 'did you steal it?' your first question? Professor Thunderstep gave it to me."
"!?"
The students were even more shocked by that than the idea of theft.
How?!
"Gasp! Did you threaten...!"
"No, you lunatics."
Lee Han briefly explained what had happened.
Upon hearing it, the students seemed to understand...
...but inwardly, they were horrified.
'How the hell did he convince him...?'
'Just how did he manage to persuade him?'
Because Lee Han had summarized it in a single line, the students had no choice but to let their imaginations run wild.
"Huh? Wait. Then why did we sneak out?"
"Good question."
"......"
"......"
The students were overcome with self-loathing.
Especially those who had gotten mud all over their clothes—their self-loathing was as thick as the mud itself.
"Well, you can still have fun now. I left some silver coins for your share."
Tap tap—
Adenart, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, pointed at the cotton candy Batrek was holding.
Because he had been standing there dumbfounded, the cotton candy had started to melt.
Lee Han flinched slightly and asked softly.
"...Are you telling Batrek to give the cotton candy back?"
"H-Here you go."
Still dazed by the situation, Batrek handed the cotton candy back to the Princess.
Adenart felt fury rising within her.
"No!"
"But who is that guy?"
"Ah. He's actually an incredible divination mage."
Batrek explained while cautiously eyeing the Princess.
The Princess was glaring at the two of them with murderous intensity.
'I heard there's a power struggle between Wardanaz and the Tower—was that true?'
"...He even guessed my family like this."
"Guessed? Not just a lucky shot?"
Lee Han was skeptical.
From what he knew, that kind of divination magic was extremely difficult and came with a heavy price.
Of course, the Empire had ancient and primal magics beyond Lee Han's knowledge, but even those followed certain fundamental principles.
In short, using divination magic powerful enough to accurately guess someone's family in a back alley like this was far too impractical.
"He's seriously amazing."
"Hmph... Hahaha. If you don't believe me, why not try it yourself? I won't ask for any payment."
Ianov thought this was perfect.
That talentless dwarf brat had been clinging to him and getting on his nerves, but this was a chance to shift the conversation.
Besides, if what he had just heard was true, this boy was...
'The Wardanaz family!'
If it was the Wardanaz family, there was a high chance he could produce the talent Antagondals was looking for.
Suppressing his excitement, Ianov called out.
"Wardanaz. You try it too. If you're wrong, he'll give you a silver coin."
"What? Is that for real?"
Lee Han was startled.
Was this guy suffering from some kind of disease that made him waste silver coins pointlessly?
"Try guessing this friend's family name!"
"It's the Wardanaz family, isn't it?"
"Good heavens...!"
Batrek was startled once again.
"...You've been calling him Wardanaz this whole time..."
"Are you an idiot?"
Priest Yoner and Siana asked with stern expressions. Batrek belatedly came to his senses.
"Ah. Right. My apologies. I got too excited."
"Hmm."
But Lee Han was too preoccupied with other thoughts to pay attention.
'I was planning to insist it was the Moradi family and take the money.'
He had considered claiming his name was Wardanaz but actually being from the Moradi family to swindle the silver coin, but his friends reacted too quickly, ruining his chance.
Now that the opportunity to earn a free silver coin had vanished, Lee Han's interest rapidly faded.
"I'm done here. Let's all go check out the shops. Batrek, you need to buy a new set of clothes."
"I have clothes I brought from school."
"Those aren't clothes—they're stitched-together rags. I'll buy them for you, so change."
Lee Han's blunt yet refreshing words moved his White Tiger Tower friends slightly.
'Thank you, Wardanaz.'
'For getting rid of Batrek's tattered scraps...!'
Of course, Ianov was flustered.
"Wait a moment...! Aren't you curious about your future?"
"I already know my future perfectly well."
Lee Han was coldly composed.
Graduating from Einrogard slightly harder than others, then leveraging connections and exceptional business sense to multiply his assets tenfold, becoming a rising entrepreneur in the empire and living a life of leisure—that was his future.
And when boredom struck, he could even visit the Skeleton Principal and toss gold coins at his face.
It was an all-too-clear future.
"More importantly, you should take better care of that table. If the corner breaks, the magic circle inside will destabilize."
"Huh? That was a magic table?"
"Yeah."
"I had no idea...!? Seriously?!"
"It's just a useless artifact with no effects. Probably made by someone with too much time on their hands."
Lee Han led his friends out of the alley.
Ianov was so shocked he couldn't even respond, just staring blankly at their retreating figures.
'Just now...?'
Did he really discern the hidden secret of the table from that distance without even touching it?
That alone was unbelievable, but what shocked him even more was Lee Han's reaction afterward.
What was that cynical attitude supposed to mean?
When Ianov had first heard the table's secret from Antagondals and precisely sensed the structure of its magic circle, he had been so awestruck by its beautiful, perfect manifestation of magic that he couldn't tear his eyes away.
For over half a year afterward, he had neglected meals and sleep, clinging to the table and exploring its depths.
Yet that boy had grasped its structure with just a glance from afar—so why did he react like that?!
'Why?! How can he not be curious about this?! Why isn't he curious?!'
He might have found the talent Antagondals spoke of, but at the same time, the way that talent behaved was so incomprehensible that Ianov instinctively felt chills.
It was the same eerie feeling he'd gotten long ago when he saw mages so far beyond his level that he couldn't even dream of catching up.
"Magician, sir. Magician, sir. We've found what you asked for."
The mercenaries Ianov had hired came running up to him.
"We heard there's a famous student among them. From a prestigious imperial family, already incredibly skilled—"
"From the Wardanaz family?"
"Exactly! As expected, Magician, you see through everything!"
Though they usually exuded a brutal and menacing aura, the mercenaries maintained a respectful demeanor in front of the mage, afraid of offending him.
They trembled at the mystique of Ianov, who seemed to peer into matters a thousand miles away just by sitting there.
"Deliver this book... by any means necessary, to that boy."
"......"
The mercenaries fell silent.
Though they were hardened fighters who took on all kinds of dirty jobs around the port, even they had things they feared.
They had no desire to get entangled with mages.
Especially if that mage was from Einrogard.
Ianov considered intimidating them by withering one of them to death but quickly changed his mind.
Now wasn't the time for the whip.
'If I scare them unnecessarily, they might just flee.'
"Look. This book has no spells cast upon it. It's purely a Magic Tome."
"We're illiterate, so even if we looked, we wouldn't understand..."
"And what if the mages catch us passing it along?"
"Then hand it to a merchant nearby or give it to a servant. Surely the Empire's mages wouldn't resort to torturing them, would you think?"
A subtle threat began to lace Ianov's voice.
Feeling the menace, the mercenaries hastily nodded and stuffed the Magic Tome into their rough leather coats.
"U-understood."
"We'll deliver it somehow."
"I'll give gold coins to whoever succeeds."
"...!"
"We'll do our absolute best!"
Only then did greed flash in the mercenaries' eyes.
Though it irked him, Ianov judged that he still needed their help for now.
'They still have their uses.'
The Magic Tome he had just handed them was one written by Antagondals.
It was thin and not particularly voluminous—a book dedicated to just one spell.
But that single spell was one Antagondals had developed himself. Even this slim tome had once left Ianov utterly stunned.
If such wisdom could be contained in this light, slender book, what must Antagondals' own intellect be like?
If he could obtain even a drop of that wisdom, Ianov would do anything.
'When he reads it... he won't be able to resist!'
A tyrannical and bloodthirsty magic, unlike anything from Einrogard.
Any arrogant genius would undoubtedly find it fascinating.
While the students enjoyed chocolate cake and coffee on the brick-walled café's second-floor terrace, Lee Han's curiosity prompted him to ask Nilia a question.
"Nilia. The Shadow Patrol hunters..."
"Huh?! What?! Why?! Did I mess up?! I did, didn't I?!"
"...No... I was just curious. Do you have any rules when tracking prey? Like never letting them escape?"
"Not exactly, but we generally don't let our prey slip away."
Nilia took a bite of cake and grimaced.
The cake was far too sweet for her, accustomed to the rough, bitter foods of the mountain ranges.
"You don't have to eat it if you don't like it."
"N-no! I can totally handle sweets! I'm a refined citizen of the Empire, after all!"
"......"
While Batrek was distracted with another snack, Lee Han stealthily swiped the tiramisu Batrek had ordered and placed it in front of Nilia.
Still oblivious, Nilia continued.
"If we let prey escape, it's a bit embarrassing. A hunter's pride, you know..."
"I see."
There were rumors that savage monsters were so prideful they would never let their prey escape, but the Shadow Patrol would scoff at such talk.
By that logic, they were the most prideful and tenacious in the mountain ranges!
Once they declared a hunt in the mountains, the hunters never let their target slip away.
Some hunters had even spent twenty years without returning to their outposts, stubbornly searching for their prey in the ranges.
'So that's why they go berserk at the sight of monsters?'
Lee Han decided he ought to treat the Shadow Patrol hunters a little better next time.
If they marked him as an enemy, it'd be a lifelong nuisance.
"Magician, sir!"
"Gahk!"
Lee Han nearly spat out his coffee.
A Shadow Patrol hunter had jumped up onto the terrace from below, rather than using the café stairs at the back.
Mortified, Nilia swiftly ducked under the table, covering herself with her cloak.
"W-what is it?"
"We're hunting a Sea Serpent and need your help. Will you assist us?"
"...Did Professor Thunderstep tell you to ask me?"