Episode 545
Episode 545
'Are you giving them away for free?'
For a moment, Nilia hesitated, wondering if she was the odd one.
Come to think of it, the Wardanaz family had been selling items at remarkably low prices.
In fact, most of their friends interpreted Wardanaz's business in a slightly different way.
'Is Wardanaz doing this to earn silver coins?'
'Right. If they just gave things away, some kids wouldn't take them because of pride. So they're making an excuse like this.'
'Honestly, Wardanaz. You don't need to go through all this trouble—just give them to us. Right, Wardanaz?'
'No? Pay up. Stop talking nonsense.'
'Haha. Got it. Got it.'
Nilia had wanted to share the items she made with her friends without any cost, just like she used to in the mountains. But maybe Wardanaz's method was the right one.
After all, her friends might secretly dislike receiving things for free.
"..."
"Well. Maybe my friends wouldn't like getting things for free. Right?"
"What are you talking about?"
Lee Han looked at Nilia as if she were speaking nonsense.
His plan had been to make quality items, sell them well, and secure a solid profit. So Nilia's strange words left him utterly bewildered.
"No... Uh... I mean, giving things to friends. I thought I could just share them—"
"Nilia. I told you before—what you're good at should be compensated. You need to put a value on it."
'Oh no.'
As soon as Lee Han started talking, Nilia realized her mistake.
Judging by his tone, this was going to be a ten-minute lecture at least.
Last time, she had casually mentioned, 'I shared the game I hunted yesterday because my friends were hungry,' and ended up being cornered by Wardanaz and Yoner. They had lectured her for thirty minutes on, 'Nilia, how do you expect to survive the harsh life of Einrogard like this? We're worried sick about you.'
"Hey. That's not what I meant. I'll take money! I'll take money! I messed up!"
"Really? Do you honestly think that?"
"O-Of course!"
Nilia's eyes darted left and right. Lee Han eyed her suspiciously before finally nodding.
"Hmm. Alright."
"By the way, Dame Nilia. I'm truly grateful for the leather gloves you gifted me last time. Thanks to them, I can work comfortably even in cold weather like today."
Rowena, who had just finished her task, wiped her sweat and expressed her gratitude to Nilia.
"......"
"......"
Lee Han stared piercingly at Nilia.
Nilia quickly grabbed a crate and bolted to the classroom.
Sssss—
"Gah!"
Angrago flinched at the smell of burning leather and frantically looked around.
From the far corner of the classroom, Professor Verdus, who had been repairing an artifact without even glancing up, spoke.
"Pour the neutralizing solution next to it... Wait. Too late. Change it to a different leather."
"...S-Sorry, Wardanaz."
Angrago spoke up, realizing he had wasted precious leather.
Lee Han replied gently and generously.
"It's fine. You're paying for it anyway."
"...Huh? I-It wasn't free?"
"If you complete it properly, it's free as payment for your work. But if you fail, we can't sell it, can we?"
"He's right, Alpha. You should know the value of materials."
From behind, Salko shook his hammer as if scolding.
"This is why those knight-family brats are like this. Always swinging swords around, they don't know how hard it is to make things and just waste materials."
"Ah, Tutanta's right. You're wasting materials just because you didn't bring them yourself, huh? Typical White Tiger Tower folks."
'Ugh, these bastards.'
Though the Black Turtle Tower and the Blue Dragon Tower weren't exactly on good terms, they became very friendly when it came to badmouthing another tower.
Snap!
Salko let out a low groan.
While engraving the magic circle's pattern, the golden thread embedded inside snapped due to excessive mana.
"Haha! Tutanta, you idiot!"
"Wasting materials! Wasting materials! The materials Wardanaz gathered with blood and sweat!"
As if they had been waiting, the White Tiger Tower students stood up from behind and jeered.
"The gold thread wasn't something I gathered—"
"Apologize to Wardanaz! Say you're sorry to Wardanaz!"
"Shut up. Even if I apologize, it won't be because you told me to!"
"So I'm saying it wasn't my gathered material—"
Lee Han, who had been trying to mediate, grew annoyed and simply raised his staff to smack his friends.
Whack whack whack whack whack!
"Ow! Aaah!"
"Cut it out. Just stop. You're delaying the work right now because of this."
The students returned their focus to their tasks.
Of course, the wary glances they exchanged never disappeared. Their eyes flashed with the unspoken challenge—just try and mess up now.
"Ah."
Nilia froze when the leather tore. She had been trying to neatly finish the edge when it ripped.
The White Tiger Tower students' eyes gleamed when they noticed Nilia's dismayed expression. The Black Turtle Tower students immediately tensed, ready to fiercely defend their dormmate.
"......"
"......"
But after a glance at Nilia's face, the White Tiger Tower students quietly averted their gazes, pretending not to see.
They had suffered too much at Nilia's hands to pick a fight now.
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Hey. Keep it down."
"S-sorry, Wardanaz."
'Hmm. So this is why the seniors kept storing armor-like gear.'
Lee Han nodded to himself, recalling the gifts he had received from seniors Anpagon and Balpatan as payment for his work.
He had wondered why they kept multiple sets of completed armor as if preparing for war, but now he realized—having armor around was just plain useful at Einrogard.
Now that he was crafting new garments, including a coat, the importance of defense struck him anew.
"Make it thicker. Thick enough to stop an arrow."
"We have to block arrows too?"
"Wouldn't it be better if we could? Can you dodge arrows? What about magically reinforced ones? Why are you so arrogant? If there were a trap in your dorm hallway that shot multi-layered enchanted arrows, would you just die?"
"......"
Angrago, who had spoken up only to get scolded, silently picked up his tools again.
This seemed excessive, but Wardanaz's standards were just that high.
'How is he even...?'
Angrago stole a glance at Wardanaz's work.
And was horrified.
Inside the coat, magic circles were layered so densely that their complexity was impossible to grasp at a glance.
Naturally, Wardanaz was frowning, stuck on some problem.
"The hardening enchantment isn't manifesting."
"Uh, aren't you being too greedy?"
"Am I?"
Lee Han paused, thought for a moment, then shrugged.
"Nah. If we're using materials, we might as well go all out."
"You've crammed in too much magic. Trim it. It's a miracle it hasn't exploded yet."
Professor Verdus, who had been passing by, took one look at Lee Han's coat and delivered his verdict without hesitation.
Lee Han sulked but reduced the magic.
'Madman...'
Angrago decided he'd just stick to making a warm coat and looked away.
"Right. The finals are in two weeks, yes?"
The students, who had been frantically sewing, all lifted their heads at once.
When Professor Verdus mentioned exams, they couldn't help but pay attention.
"We'll be making Simple Artifacts right here."
"Should we prepare materials or reagents in advance?"
"What kind of artifact do we need to make?"
"Hold on."
Professor Verdus rummaged through his robes and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper in response to their questions.
"Let's see... 'Vible, if you ignore my instructions and act on your own one more time, I'll hang you upside down in the punishment chamber—' Ah. No. Wrong side."
"......"
The professor flipped the paper over and read aloud. It was clearly an exam directive from the Skeleton Principal.
"'Materials and reagents shall be repurposed from items used and discarded by this year's students.'"
"Excuse me?"
"How is that even—?!"
There was a saying that a craftsman shouldn't discriminate against tools, but honestly, that was just wrong.
Truly exceptional craftsmen were often obsessively particular about their tools.
Just look at Professor Verdus.
He was the type who wouldn't bat an eye at any personal insult, but the moment someone touched his equipment, he'd mobilize every artifact in his possession to bombard them.
And now they were expected to use discarded materials?
"This... this isn't leather anymore, it's just a lump of charcoal."
Angrago checked the leather he'd burned and tossed into the crate next to him.
We're supposed to make artifacts with this?
The other students weren't faring any better.
As they realized just how many materials they'd destroyed over the past year, their faces turned pale.
Only Lee Han remained unfazed.
He immediately picked up a carving knife, about to make marks on a perfectly good piece of leather.
'If I increase the usable discarded materials now...'
"[Wardanaz. Don't you dare increase usable discards after hearing this. I'll be checking and taking them.]"
"......"
Lee Han looked up at the professor with the expression of someone who'd just been checkmated by the Skeleton Principal's message.
Outplayed!
'Damn. Still too early.'
After thoroughly reading the Skeleton Principal's note titled <How to Conduct Final Exams! Easy Finals Even Professor Verdus Can Handle>, the professor addressed the students:
"Good news—you don't need to prepare materials!"
"......"
"Grr... GRAAAAH!"
One enraged White Tiger Tower student finally snapped and charged at Professor Verdus.
The professor, looking puzzled, casually flung the student out the window.
"Why'd he do that?"
"Some students occasionally suffer from bouts of madness."
At Lee Han's explanation, Professor Verdus nodded knowingly.
"See it every year."
"How unfortunate."
Listening to tales of his seniors' naive days, Lee Han clicked his tongue.
If you're going to attack, at least plan it better!
"Everyone, come get your clothes."
"Wardanaz. This is too small for me."
"There are larger sizes in the back. Imirg, I made your robe separately—take that one. Gainen, you brat. Stop picking by color and check if the size fits."
"Huh? But this fits me perfectly?"
Gainen waved a pair of pants that looked at least three sizes too big for him.
The wrinkles resembling skeletal patterns perfectly matched his aesthetic.
"If I catch you holding up your pants like last time, I'm confiscating your cards."
Phoenix Tower priests helping out looked puzzled and asked:
"Don't you have belts?"
"He lost his belt gambling too."
"......"
"...Maybe confiscating is better..."
Gainen grabbed a properly sized pair and bolted.
Currently, Lee Han was distributing winter clothing with help from Phoenix Tower students.
While easier than crafting, it was surprisingly tricky—he had to check each item's performance and do quick fittings.
"Thanks for helping, everyone."
"Of course we'd help with such good work."
"Huh? But I'm selling these for money?"
"...Uh..."
The priest glanced at Nilia.
I thought these were giveaways?
Priest Siana reassured them:
"Selling far below market price counts as giving."
"R-really?"
"Absolutely."
'Typical Flemeng Order behavior.'
Lee Han's opinion of the Flemeng Order rose slightly.
Students armored head-to-toe in new clothes looked noticeably livelier.
Angrago, proudly asking for feedback on his creations, noticed the pile behind Lee Han's stall.
"Wardanaz. What's that?"
"Oh. Tents and sleeping bags made from leftover materials."
"...Why?"
"Might come in handy."
"??"
In Angrago's mind, there was no scenario requiring such camping gear.
Sure, if they crawled into the mountains they'd need it—but who'd go camping in winter?
"The final exam will involve spending a day in the mountain range."
"......"
"......"
Students stared at Professor Ingoldel with utter betrayal.
The elf professor, flustered by their reaction, asked:
"Don't all knightly families do this kind of camping training?"
"Well..."
"...I mean... they do..."