Episode 502
Episode 502
'If I leave this be, it's going to become troublesome.'
The Skeleton Principal grew slightly anxious as Ifadur kept showing increasing interest in Lee Han.
There was nothing inherently wrong with Ifadur taking an interest in Lee Han, but if it became entangled with Einrogard, things could get quite bothersome.
-"So how was the Spirit Flood resolved?"
-"That was the Wardanaz kid who..."
-"There's still ice clinging to this hallway. Wait! Lord Gonadaltes. Isn't this Frost Giant ice!? Has a Frost Giant ever been summoned at the school!? Who resolved that?"
-"That was also the Wardanaz kid..."
Normally, there would be nothing wrong with composing songs praising a student.
But in Lee Han's case...
It was a bit extreme.
A song about "a first-year student succeeding in Lightning Element magic" would make the Empire's people smile, but a song about "a first-year student dueling with the Frost Giant King" would leave them utterly shocked.
The Emperor was already giving him the stink eye, saying 'Could you tone it down a bit?' If songs like "A first-year student fought the Frost Giant King~" started spreading in the capital...
'Kid. Your face is full of exhaustion!'
"Headmaster, you're a magic crimi—mmph!"
The Skeleton Principal summoned a Bone Hand out of thin air to cover Lee Han's mouth.
Saying "I learned forbidden arts to fight magic criminals" in front of Ifadur wasn't exactly a good idea.
'You've worked hard! Go inside and get some proper rest now. Sorry for making you work so hard at dawn!'
"I'm still fine, though?"
'No! Go inside and rest!'
Lee Han, unaware of the Skeleton Principal's inner thoughts, looked puzzled.
He had been trying his best to repay what he'd received...
'Why is he acting like this?'
Since the Skeleton Principal seemed desperate to send him away, Lee Han nodded.
"Understood. Then I'll see you next time. It was an honor meeting you today, Lord Ifadur."
"The honor was mine."
The old minstrel smiled warmly as he spoke.
It wasn't just polite words—he meant it sincerely.
As a minstrel, students carrying such fascinating bundles of stories were rare.
'At least I managed to send him away.'
The Skeleton Principal inwardly sighed in relief.
Now that Wardanaz had left, Ifadur would likely turn his attention elsewhere in Einrogard.
...Though that in itself was another problem...
Ah. Professor Thunderstep.
In the distance, the dwarf professor could be seen walking toward them, one hand clutching a bundle of moonlit herbs.
Recognizing Ifadur's face, Professor Thunderstep spoke with great enthusiasm.
"Could it be Lord Ifadur? I'd heard about the invitation, but I never thought you'd actually come!"
......
The Skeleton Principal stared at Professor Thunderstep with a deadpan expression.
Of course, some of the Empire's sharp-eyed nobles had declined invitations to Einrogard before, but to say it so blatantly...
Fortunately, Ifadur didn't seem to pick up on the underlying meaning of those words.
"I'm delighted by everyone's warm welcome."
Ifadur smiled gently, his face creasing with quiet joy at Professor Thunderstep's greeting.
"Between the students and everyone else, I'm so warmly received that I don't know how to repay such kindness..."
"Oh. You've met the students too?"
"Yes. A student from the Wardanaz family helped guide me."
"Ah, Wardanaz. It hasn't been long since he fought a Sea Serpent during his travels. That kid is quite diligent."
"A Sea Serpent, you say?!"
Ifadur gasped in shock and immediately pulled out his quill.
Watching this, the Skeleton Principal sighed as if the ground had collapsed beneath him.
'Every last one of them is utterly useless!'
Weekend afternoon.
"Wardanaz. Here."
Students from the White Tiger Tower carried a box and set it down in front of Lee Han.
They had gone to verify the locations of the materials they'd heard about from their counterparts beyond the mirror.
"Nothing unusual happened?"
"Huh? No, nothing."
'Hmm.'
Lee Han was slightly surprised.
The person on the other side of the mirror hadn't played any tricks as he'd expected.
'If they didn't play any tricks... then the likelihood that it's really not the Black Turtle Tower or the White Tiger Tower is high.'
Lee Han subtly badmouthed the White Tiger Tower in front of its students.
"Got it. You all worked hard—take this."
When he pointed to the food supplies promised as part of their deal, the White Tiger Tower students quickly gathered them...
...but instead of leaving, they hesitated.
"?"
"Wardanaz. Uh..."
'What's this?'
Since they weren't usually the type to act so timid, Lee Han grew even more puzzled.
Had something happened while they were gathering the ingredients?
"Speak honestly. I won't say anything. Did something happen?"
Encouraged by Lee Han's kind words, the White Tiger Tower students mustered their courage and asked:
"You met Lord Ifadur, right?"
"We heard you're helping Lord Ifadur with something..."
"......"
Thwack!
"Ow! Y-you said to be honest! You said you wouldn't say anything!"
Thwack! Thwack!
Lee Han struck them once more with his staff before waving them off.
"Go. Don't spout nonsense."
He was already tense about brewing the high-difficulty precognition potion, and now they were talking nonsense.
As the White Tiger Tower students grumbled and left, Lee Han's real friends arrived—those who would actually help him.
Reliable friends who excelled in alchemy lectures.
Yoner dragged a chair over and sat beside him, asking:
"By the way. I heard Lord Ifadur came?"
"...Huh? You know Lord Ifadur?"
Lee Han looked at Yoner in disbelief.
He thought Yoner wouldn't know!
"Of course I know...? My family has invited him occasionally. My sister likes his songs too."
"......"
As Lee Han slumped slightly in defeat, Yoner tilted her head as if asking what was wrong.
'I thought we were comrades.'
He had assumed they only read the Empire's financial news together, but the Maykin Family's basic standards were on a completely different level from the Wardanaz Family's.
Not just Ashan, but even the White Tiger Tower students—and even the Phoenix Tower students—were buzzing with talk about Ifadur.
"I saw it clearly with my own eyes. He pulled a flute from his shell..."
"He got his song evaluated?"
"He got some criticism on the lyrics, but he was praised quite a bit. He said he'd send it to his older brother and sister too."
Lee Han swallowed his gloomy feelings and sorted the ingredients.
Seeing even the Princess talk about Ifadur, it seemed he really was famous.
"Wardanaz. Wardanaz."
"?"
Nilia poked Lee Han and whispered low:
"Who's Ifadur?"
"...You're the only one, Nilia."
"Why—why are you saying that? Out of nowhere!"
Even with all the ingredients gathered, brewing a high-difficulty potion was no easy task.
Saturday passed, and even on Sunday, Lee Han remained hunched over the cauldron.
"I'm worried about the ingredient quantities."
"If we fail again, definitely."
Adding precisely measured ingredients without the slightest error, meticulously controlling mana while chanting the incantation, stirring in the exact required direction when the potion boiled...
No matter how genius Lee Han's talent was, he couldn't succeed at all these steps in one go. There had already been several failures.
The only consolation was that none of the failures had been so bad that he had to start completely from scratch.
But it was true that even minor failures gradually depleted the ingredients. With a tense expression, Lee Han tossed another blue Me'anil flower into the cauldron.
Then he fed the basilisk egg placed beside him.
"......"
Priest Siana, watching from the side, was speechless.
Despite saying he was tense, seeing him calmly feed the egg like this made it seem like he wasn't tense at all.
'Am I really nervous?'
That was the moment.
Priest Siana startled and shouted.
"Uh... uhh?! Lord Wardanaz! Lord Wardanaz!"
"I know. Priest Siana! Don't worry!"
Lee Han swiftly added wintergrass and poured cold freshwater to prevent the potion from boiling over the cauldron.
Yet that wasn't enough. The self-heating potion seethed as if it would melt the cauldron itself.
'I knew this would happen!'
But thanks to experiencing several failures already, Lee Han was prepared.
He immediately cast a frost spell to prevent the cauldron's temperature from rising any further.
"Frost...!"
Normally, such heat generated during alchemy should be resolved through ingredient combinations or special reagents rather than separate magic.
Without knowing the exact cause, using magic to suppress it would only lead to recurring issues.
Yet Lee Han relentlessly cast spells as if it didn't concern him.
'If the problem recurs, I'll just block it with magic again!'
If he couldn't solve it with his brain, he'd overwhelm it with sheer mana capacity.
"Lord Wardanaz!"
"It's under control, Priest Siana! I told you not to worry!"
"That's not it—look at the egg! The egg!"
"??"
Lee Han instinctively turned his head.
Crackle!
Webs of cracks spread across the basilisk egg's surface. Fractures that looked ready to split open any moment.
Crack!
In an instant, the egg shattered as something the size of a scarf slithered out.
The newborn basilisk scurried toward Lee Han with apparent delight, its movements reminiscent of a chick rushing toward its parent.
But Lee Han reacted contrary to the basilisk's expectations.
"Priest Siana, get down and close your eyes!"
Lee Han shouted while covering the baby basilisk's eyes with his hand. Priest Siana startled and immediately dropped to the ground.
-......
The baby basilisk stared at Lee Han with wounded eyes.
After a brief commotion (three small cauldrons toppled over and one chest shattered), Lee Han realized the baby basilisk didn't indiscriminately unleash its Evil Eye.
It only shot its gaze if it perceived someone as a threat.
'Still, better safe than sorry—I should keep its eyes covered.'
Lee Han tightly wrapped the baby basilisk's eyes with silk. The creature smacked Lee Han's wrist with its tail, clearly displeased.
"Priest Siana. Are you alright?"
"Ah. Yes. I'm fine. So it really was a basilisk! I thought the White Tiger Tower folks were just spouting nonsense..."
Priest Siana had a subtly sharp tongue. Lee Han nodded and replied.
"I was raising it as a favor for the professor. But... it hatched way earlier than expected."
Though not an authority on basilisk rearing, Lee Han knew enough to recognize this was abnormally premature.
"Right? Did you overfeed it?"
"I followed the proper portions..."
"Could the egg have been exposed to excessively strong mana?"
"There's no way I'd place it in such an envir—"
Lee Han abruptly stopped.
Come to think of it, he had been carrying the egg around unusually often lately.
"...I did have it with me a lot."
Priest Siana chuckled at Lee Han's words.
"What nonsense are you saying, Lord Wardanaz? If the basilisk egg absorbed your mana, you'd obviously have noticed. You're no fool—it's impossible you wouldn't realize something like that."
"......"
Lee Han felt slightly wounded. The silk-wrapped basilisk patted him consolingly.
"Still, no need to overthink it. Even if it hatched early, it'll just be smaller—it can still do everything it needs to."
Priest Siana pulled out a sharp, pointed brass syringe.
One of an alchemist's tools for extracting liquids from plants or animals.
"Here. Lord Wardanaz. Hold it steady."
"...Excuse me, Priest Siana, but what exactly are you planning?"
"Huh? Didn't you raise it to extract venom?"
The basilisk coiled around his neck trembled violently, sensing danger.