Episode 530
Episode 530
The friends sent wary glances at Lee Han, thinking he was testing them.
However, Lee Han looked at them with genuine confusion and asked again.
"I'm asking what you're all doing here?"
"You..."
"Forced us to..."
"Fight...?"
At their resentful answers, Lee Han froze.
"You're saying I forced you to fight?"
"Yeah."
"That's ridiculous."
Lee Han scoffed.
"Since when do you guys listen just because someone forces you?"
"......"
"......"
The friends felt so wronged they could barely breathe.
What made it even more unfair was that there was some truth to his words.
It was true, but...
It was true, but...!
"Lee Han, you really did make us do it!!"
Gainando shouted with a voice full of indignation.
"Look at this!!"
"?"
Lee Han looked at the dark bruise around Gainando's eye and asked.
"Did you get that from fighting?"
"No. This is from when that White Tiger Tower bastard dodged an attack and hit me instead. Not that—look at my clothes. They're torn."
"I see. So the fight wasn't that intense, then?"
At Lee Han's words, the students reacted vehemently.
"It was!"
"That prince bastard just got lucky!"
"Can't you see the bandages?!"
At their heated outcry, Lee Han waved his hand as if conceding.
"Alright, alright. Got it. Just... ugh."
Lee Han suddenly felt a headache rushing in.
It was like recalling something that happened during sleepwalking—the sensation of fragmented memories resurfacing belatedly.
Drinking the suspicious spring water, suddenly feeling his entire mind filled with absolute certainty, calling his friends and rushing here...
"Huh. Why did I do that?"
"......"
"......"
Some of the students wanted to swear but held back.
If they cursed, the Wardanaz from earlier might reappear and attack them again.
Yoner asked in a worried voice.
"Lee Han. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Looks like the duration's completely worn off. Knowing the future is definitely dangerous..."
Knowing something intellectually and experiencing it firsthand were completely different.
After being entranced by the future just once, he could feel that that blind certainty wasn't necessarily a positive thing.
Someone might argue, 'What's so wrong about moving toward the most rational future in the most optimal way?'... but 'It's not always good.' Seeing his friends covered in bandages and splints, he realized it could definitely be dangerous.
"Even from my perspective, foreseeing the future really does seem like a dangerous thing. Wardanaz."
"I think so too. We mages need to be even more humble."
Seeing even the White Tiger Tower students—who usually had little interest in magic—speaking at length about it, the fear of divination magic had clearly taken root.
Yoner tried to lighten the mood by speaking up.
"But if we look at the positive side... we somehow broke through the obstacle! Without that spring, it would've been impossible."
"Maykin. My ankle's broken."
"Maykin. My neck hasn't been able to turn sideways since earlier."
Ignoring their complaints, Yoner pointed ahead.
"Aren't you all curious about what's behind there? Such a strong enemy was blocking the path. There must be treasures left by the seniors."
"True..."
Even the students groaning from their injuries perked up and went along with it.
Having spent nearly a year at Einrogard, their common sense had already been thoroughly shattered.
Even with broken ankles and necks that wouldn't turn, they still prioritized checking the spoils first.
"Right?"
Noticing the shift in their mood, Yoner nodded.
Then, he whispered to Lee Han.
"But what's actually in there?"
"No idea."
"...Huh?"
"I don't know. I never went in."
"......"
Under the influence of enhanced foresight, Lee Han had intuitively judged, 'The first thing we must do now is defeat the statue and break through the underground passage to find what the seniors left behind.' But now that the effect had worn off, he had no idea why he'd made that decision.
"Perhaps there are records left by seniors who saw this trial first?"
"That would be... a bit disappointing."
"What? What could possibly be more important than that?"
Lee Han was shocked by Yoner's statement.
What could possibly be more important to a student than information related to their studies?
"I hope there's meat. Pork."
"I'd prefer alcohol."
"How about pork marinated in alcohol?"
"No, you idiots. You can get meat anywhere. Sweets are the best! Cake, definitely."
"Prince, didn't you just eat candy earlier in the day?"
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did. You were waving it around and bragging right in front of us."
"...No, I didn't?"
Listening to the conversation behind him, Lee Han declared firmly,
"That's just them being weird."
'Lee Han, you're a bit weird yourself...' Yoner thought but swallowed the words for the sake of his hardworking friend.
Creak—
Fortunately, after the statue disappeared, there were no further traps. The students cautiously pushed open the heavy door and entered.
Given that it had been used as a storage space by seniors, the large underground area smelled of dry dust.
"Wind..."
The Princess summoned a breeze to clear the dust. Nearby, Gainen coughed and glared at Adenart.
"Check the shelves first."
"Wait. Be careful of traps."
At Salko's words, the Black Turtle Tower students asked,
"What kind of magic should we use to check?"
"Wait a moment."
At the dependable leader's response, the students cast respectful glances.
One of the essential qualities of a leader was competence.
Only those who could immediately devise solutions in the face of challenges were fit to lead.
"Wardanaz. Do you sense any mana from those shelves?"
"Not particularly."
"Hmm. Thanks."
Salko turned back and announced to his friends,
"No traps."
"......"
"......"
The Black Turtle Tower students wore complicated expressions as they retrieved items from the shelves.
Is this...
Really what competence looks like...
For me?
"Ugh."
Lee Han scanned the surroundings with a disappointed gaze.
A few bottles of liquor brewed by seniors, some expired potions, and a handful of scribbled notes or sketches.
The grand scheme to defeat the Mad Skull will soon be complete...
Kukukuku... You'll never even imagine what we're plotting...
'This is useless.'
Lee Han frowned.
What he wanted was systematic information about upcoming exams, not these lamentations.
Of course, thinking about it, this wasn't strange.
The chances of finding anything useful in a storage space unused for so long were naturally low.
But after risking his life in a duel with the statue, disappointment was inevitable.
He had at least expected something more useful than what was outside...
"?"
As he moved forward, Lee Han noticed that the innermost part of the warehouse was unusually clean.
Unlike the dust-covered areas, this space was clearly protected by various magic circles.
'What is this?'
Puzzled, Lee Han inspected the interior.
Starting with dust-repelling magic circles, multiple barriers shielded the inner space.
And occupying most of that space was an enormous artifact of unknown purpose—one he had never seen before.
The round-shaped artifact, easily taller than a person, looked like a haphazardly assembled gate made of miscellaneous junk.
'What kind of... artifact is this?'
-9/7
The artifact just won't work! Damn it. I have to complete this before graduation. Otherwise, I'll have no face left to show the senior who entrusted it to me.
-9/13
Found a solution in the Mad Skull's storage! The orichalcum latch fixed the drive unit's sealing issue! Haha! Just wait. I'll definitely solve this and proudly declare my success right in the Mad Skull's face!
-9/18
I'm trash unworthy of Einrogard.
-9/22
Drank some of the Mad Skull's brandy with friends, and my energy returned. Damn Einrogard. Damn magic. I can't believe I'm already a Gold Year student. It feels like just yesterday I was an iron-headed fool. Can I really complete this?
"Spatial magic is the plague of Imperial magic. We should never have researched this in the first place." -10/2
"Even after completing the related magical formulas, I still can't meet the mana requirements. How am I supposed to reduce the mana consumption further? Where can I get the additional mana needed? Should I beg our ancestors for help or something?" -10/25
"Three weeks of hard work—all for nothing. Even a Behemoth's heart couldn't provide enough mana. Ah, if only I could freely use all of Einrogard's mana like that damn skeleton!" -11/10
"Now that I've given up, I feel both relieved and sad. Burning down one of that crazy skeleton's storerooms with my friends did cheer me up a bit. Maybe if we pool our magic together, we might even be able to land a hit on that damn skeleton." -11/17
"Damn it. There was an even worse punishment room? Shouldn't have provoked that insane skeleton." -11/20
"I almost destroyed the Dimensional Gate Artifact. I couldn't bring myself to break something passed down by my seniors. Even though it's a useless piece of junk that can't function, I cast preservation spells to keep it intact. If any junior ever finds this artifact, I sincerely beg you not to destroy it. Of course, you probably will—I scavenged parts from broken artifacts too. But this is a truly remarkable artifact, passed down through generations to be perfected..."
"...?!!!!"
Having finished reading the journal beside it, Lee Han was utterly shocked.
'Dimensional Gate... Artifact??'
The illusion that magic was a miraculous discipline that turned the impossible into possible vanished after just three months of study.
Magic was a discipline governed by rules and theories even harsher than reality—not some shortcut that ignored order and laws.
And one prime example of this was spatial teleportation.
Space-time magic was infamous for its extreme difficulty, to the point where no proper school of study existed for it within the Empire. And spatial teleportation, as one of its most notorious applications, was even more terrifyingly complex.
Even a simple spell to move an object a single step forward could shatter a normal mage's brain and rupture their blood vessels upon casting.
And this difficulty increased exponentially with distance and the number of targets.
Given that, calling a Dimensional Gate Artifact "impossible" wouldn't be far from the truth.
'No wonder it looks so unstable, like it'll collapse any second.'
At first, he'd wondered why the artifact looked like a haphazard pile of scrap metal cobbled together—but it must have been a desperate attempt to meet the mana requirements and activate the spell.
Even if the durability was so poor it would shatter after one use, this was the only way to make casting possible at all.
Yet despite such desperation, the artifact remained incomplete. Lee Han honestly shuddered at the sheer determination he sensed from it.
'...'
They went this far just to escape the school?'
Judging by the artifact's design and records, the destination wasn't even that far away.
Their primary goal had simply been to escape the academy.
There must have been other ways to do that, but the fact that they stubbornly chose this method was so... mage-like.
'I get it.'
Lee Han understood his seniors' feelings.
At first, it might have started as a casual project, but as it slowly took shape, as it was passed down, and as the Skeleton Principal mocked them with, "You really think that's possible?"...
Given enough time, the means could become the goal itself.
Lost in thought for a moment, Lee Han finally turned his gaze away.
'Time to dismantle it.'
Just as the seniors had done, this non-functional artifact contained many valuable materials.
Leaving it untouched would be a waste.
WOOOOOOOOOOM—
"?"
"????"
The deafening roar from the artifact instantly drew the attention of everyone in the storeroom.