Episode 506
Episode 506
Watching the retreating back of the dwarf wizard scurrying away, Lee Han suddenly had a thought.
'Wait a minute...!'
Now wasn't the time to feel dejected about getting pickpocketed—no, having something stuffed into his sleeve.
"Professor! You need to move now!"
"?"
Lee Han quickly pushed Professor Voladi's back and began moving.
Thanks to being tempered by Einrogard's harsh environment, he had anticipated the actions of the other Transformation Mages.
'We need to get out of here!'
"What's going on?"
"I have some questions to ask you about magical combat! They're not the kind of questions to ask here, so let's go somewhere outsiders can't reach!"
At the mention of magical combat, Professor Voladi seemed quite intrigued and willingly followed.
Dodging the outsiders' pursuit, Lee Han slipped into a side staircase next to the corridor and descended, hearing the murmurs of voices behind him.
-Huh? I thought they went this way...
-Wait. Why are we here? You just said it wasn't this way earlier!
-Haha, let's not blame each other when we're in the same boat!
-Ugh... Fine! Then let's just talk it out together!
'Thank goodness I learned Divination Magic.'
Thanks to his training in Divination Magic, he managed to escape without being caught by those crazy mages. Lee Han silently expressed his gratitude to Professor Kraer.
Of course, this had nothing to do with Divination Magic.
Gainando, who had packed his bag to attend the Black Magic lecture, looked puzzled when he saw Lee Han's face.
"Hey. Gral. Lee Han seems a bit off."
"The Wardanaz have always been weird. And don't act all friendly. Don't even poke me with your staff."
Raphael irritably swatted away Gainando's staff as he tried to poke him.
Normally, when other students from the Blue Dragon Tower were told, "Hey, don't talk to me," they'd react with, "What? How dare you act so insolent?" and stop interacting altogether. But this prince just ignored it and kept talking anyway.
"He looks exhausted, doesn't he?"
"Of course he's exhausted. Learning magic like that would tire anyone out."
"No, he was usually fine with that much."
"......"
'Is this guy really his friend?'
Raphael stared at Gainando with a deeply dubious expression.
If a friend was pushing himself that hard to learn magic, you should stop him for the sake of his health, not say, "He was usually fine with that much."
It was hard to tell whether those words came from his mouth or just noise from his snout.
"Are... are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I had to greet some Transformation Mages from outside."
"I see."
Imirg nodded but felt something was off.
'Hmm?'
He had never heard about Transformation Mages coming from outside, and it was strange that Wardanaz was the one greeting them.
Besides, today wasn't even a day for Transformation Magic lectures!
"Transformation Mages visited? Why were you the one greeting them?"
Raphael, thinking the same thing, asked the question.
Gainando looked at his friend with pity and said,
"You don't know? Last time Summoning Mages visited, and when Black Mages came, Lee Han greeted them too. It's probably the same with Transformation Mages."
"...No... Wait— Hey! HEY!!"
As Gainando spouted nonsense and walked into the lecture hall, Raphael nearly grabbed the back of his own neck in frustration.
To spout such ridiculous nonsense and then leave before anyone could even figure out where to start refuting him—
That prince had a special talent for pissing people off.
"Good afternoon, Professor."
"Cough. Yes. You've worked hard. I heard you were solving a request outside?"
Having apparently heard about the request, Professor Motum coughed and gestured for Lee Han to sit down.
"Yes. Since other professors were also present, it wasn't that difficult."
Lee Han answered with practiced insincerity, not even moistening his lips. It was almost an instinctive response.
With no way of knowing how conversations between professors might unfold in his absence, caution was his best policy.
"Not difficult? Cough. You got lucky. From now on, it will be."
"......"
"......"
Though his friends looked exasperated, Lee Han actually agreed with Professor Mortum's words. 'That counts as warm and considerate concern.' Considering the difficulty level of their previous request, by second year they might well be sent alone to hunt dragons and be expected to bring back exact change.
"Cough, cough... External requests have to meet the silver-paying employers' standards, so they're always troublesome. And you lot are... well. Black mages."
"......"
"......"
His friends' faces darkened.
Had seniors been present, someone might have said, "Professor, you'll tell us anyway in second year, so could you please shut up now?" But Professor Mortum just laid it out plainly.
Apparently, the difficulty level of requests black mages received was higher than those given to other magical disciplines.
While enchantment magic practitioners got requests like "Please fix this broken artifact," black mages in reality received requests like "A plague zone has erupted in the south - send black mages immediately"...
"Uh, but wouldn't there be demand if you're good at making golems or summons?"
Gai Nando asked incredulously while pulling bones from his bag, clearly skeptical.
Lee Han had definitely said this before:
-'Lee Han. Why do we need to study bone armor enhancement magic? I don't think people would request stuff like that.'
-'Oh Gai Nando. You don't know? Bone armor enhancement is all the rage among adventurers these days. Everyone's clamoring for it.'
-'What?! Really?! Then what about bone spear enhancement?'
-'Exactly. There are so few black mages they're practically a rare commodity.'
-'What about skeleton-type summons or golems?! Are those popular too?'
-'Those are the most popular of all. Last I heard, nobles say few things let them flaunt themselves like a bone golem.'
-'I've never heard anyone say that.'
-'Well obviously they pretend not to care when they can't get bone golems - it's embarrassing.'
-'Aha!'
"Cough. Only black mages use those golems and summons. Why would magic-ignorant commoners care about such hideous summons?"
"...???"
Gai Nando stared at Lee Han with a world-shattered expression, but Lee Han pretended not to notice.
"Don't think about peddling weird things - focus on building skills to handle any request. Cough. Everyone take out your bones."
The students produced bones.
They were currently practicing magic to further strengthen summoned undead creatures.
"Cough. Wardanaz, go practice dark element over there."
Lee Han moved without surprise or hesitation. 'Well, I've already done undead reinforcement several times.' Having succeeded multiple times, there was no need to practice it again now.
"Professor. Aren't the seniors here today?"
At Gai Nando's question, Professor Mortum soothed his throat with hot tea before answering.
"They have their own studies... You should be able to handle this much yourselves."
'Exactly.' Lee Han understood perfectly.
And this was actually good for Lee Han in the long run.
Given the black magic department's staffing shortage, Lee Han might have to look after first-years even after becoming a second-year himself. 'You should know how to handle magic you can do yourself. He's right.' Moreover, since that incident when Senior Diret tried anonymously gathering information through notebooks and they'd accidentally crossed paths, it seemed best to keep some distance for a while.
Humans do have a sense of shame, after all.
'Unless you're the Skeleton Principal, this would be a bit awkward for anyone.'
"......"
"......"
Following Professor Mortum's instructions, Lee Han paused when he entered through the side door and saw Diret wearing a mask.
Huh?
"Professor? Didn't you say the seniors weren't here?"
Cough. "That was for bone magic... Did you really think I'd make you practice Dark Element magic alone?"
Professor Mortum scolded Lee Han in an irritated tone.
Who would've thought someone like Wardanaz—let alone Gainando—would ask such a stupid question?
Of course, if they were practicing Dark Element magic, a Black Mage had to supervise.
"O-Oh, right."
"Hurry up and practice. You'll be tested on Dark Element during finals too."
Gainando jumped in surprise.
"Us too?!"
Cough. "No. Just Wardanaz, as an extra."
"Phew. What a relief."
"......"
"......"
Imirg and Lafadell stared at Gainando as if he were trash.
Lee Han turned his gaze to the masked Diret.
"Um, Senior."
"Nope?"
"Excuse me?"
"I said I'm not your senior. I'm someone you've never met before."
Lee Han shifted his attention to the unfamiliar crow beastman mage wearing a mask.
"Ah... Esteemed Black Mage whom I'm meeting for the first time. I humbly request your guidance on Dark Element magic..."
"...Sure, I'll take care of you..."
Amid the awkward atmosphere, the Dark Element lecture began.
The unfamiliar crow beastman mage was exceptionally skilled.
"Dark Element is among the most peculiar and alien of all elements."
"That's correct."
"Therefore, you must handle it with even greater caution, and rather than using it directly, it's more advantageous to combine it with magic from other schools. Transformation Magic or Enchantment Magic, for instance, are particularly suited for this—just temporarily imbuing an object with Dark Element alone can..."
Diret started from the very basics of Dark Element magic.
Even if Lee Han had received direct instruction from other professors or the Skeleton Principal, neglecting such fundamentals wasn't Diret's style.
"But, Senior."
"Yeah...Wait. I said I'm not your senior."
"Ah... Esteemed Black Mage whom I'm meeting for the first time."
Lee Han pointed behind him and asked,
"What are those?"
Behind the unfamiliar crow beastman mage stood several large straw dolls.
One might have been fine, but with multiple eerily similar straw dolls standing there ominously, it was impossible not to notice.
"Ah. Those are practice straw dolls."
"Are we releasing Dark Element into those dolls?"
Having trained in basic elemental magic under Professor Voladi in a similar manner, this wasn't particularly surprising.
Of course, Professor Voladi had used living people instead of straw dolls, but the difference wasn't that big, right?
"Releasing...Not exactly—it's closer to Enchantment... We're making Cursed Dolls."
"Cursed... Dolls?"
Perhaps sensing something unusual in Lee Han's tone, the unfamiliar crow beastman mage suddenly spoke faster and at greater length.
"This isn't for anything shady—it's a common method when learning to utilize Dark Element."
Due to its nature, Dark Element was typically used indirectly—through Enchantment or Transformation—rather than direct applications like shape-shifting or release.
One of the most common applied spells was the Dark Cursed Doll.
Simply by firmly imbuing a straw doll with Dark Element, it would become a cursed item that drained the life force of anyone who possessed it.
Black Mages proficient in this magic could create cursed items out of nearly any object.
"Understand? This isn't some strange or illegal magic that violates Imperial law. Junior. Are you listening?"
"You just called me 'junior'—"
"You misheard. Now, focus."