Episode 562
Episode 562
We Paid Quite a Lot for These, You Know...
Despite having resolved not to ask, the Skeleton Principal muttered in a voice lost in memories.
"Your seniors didn't like them very much."
"......"
"......"
Lee Han and Ashan quickly began clearing away the items.
They had no desire to stand around idly and end up hearing even more unnecessary stories.
* * *
"You're alive!"
Their friends, who had just finished roughly checking the state of the storage room, shouted joyfully upon seeing the two return.
Ashan responded with a tone of disbelief.
"We were gone for less than an hour..."
"That's more than enough time to disappear into the Punishment Room here."
"Well, I guess that's true."
While their friend nodded in understanding, Lee Han explained the tasks the Skeleton Principal had assigned them.
The students reacted the same way Ashan had upon hearing it.
"Huh? We're barely surviving ourselves—why should we care about the freshmen?"
"We didn't get anything from our seniors, so the freshmen should fend for themselves too!"
"Yeah, exactly!"
'How heartwarming, truly.'
Lee Han, moved by his friends' heartwarming response, felt that Einrogard's future was indeed bright.
"E-Everyone, calm down. Still, we can't completely ignore the freshmen who'll be coming in next, right?"
Dijiling, being a priest, seemed to feel this was a bit too harsh and tried to persuade them.
When their friends hesitated, Gainando stepped in.
"No! We absolutely can! Let's all focus and forget about the freshmen together!"
"Gainando, didn't you receive the most help from Wardanaz?"
Dijiling unintentionally struck Gainando with the truth. Flustered, Gainando waved his hands in denial.
"N-No way! It wasn't that much!"
"It kinda was."
"Honestly, you would've starved without Wardanaz."
"People from other towers wouldn't even know!"
When students from the Black Turtle Tower and White Tiger Tower chimed in, Gainando bristled with indignation.
After all the suffering he endured studying in the lounge, these clueless fools had no right to talk!
"Hmm. In Gainando's case, it's kinda true."
"!?"
But even his friends from the Blue Dragon Tower didn't exactly take his side.
"Come to think of it, the freshmen won't have a Wardanaz either, right?"
"It'll be tough for them..."
"Ah, whatever. Let's do it. We didn't get anything from our seniors, but this much is nothing."
Excluding Gainando, the students discussed among themselves and soon cheerfully entered the storage room.
Thanks to the massive supplies they had secured last weekend, the first-year students were now in a more generous mood than anyone else.
"Lee Han! There's gotta be someone who got more help than me, right? At least one person? There must be at least one guy below me!"
Gainando whined, tugging at the hem of Lee Han's coat. Lee Han ignored him and walked into the storage room.
* * *
Broken potions and artifacts were packed separately into wooden crates, while usable notebooks, quills, and ink bottles were neatly arranged...
"Should we leave these for the freshmen to eat?"
"Wow... You're really kind. Fine, I'll leave this barrel of candy too."
The first-year students hid small gifts here and there for the incoming freshmen.
Tucked between books or stationery, next year's freshmen would find them and realize.
"......"
Adenart was lost in thought, her expression serious.
He was debating whether <Mages Executed for Evil Magic>—one of the books on the shelf—was really appropriate for freshmen.
'Should I just take it out?'
"Princess, if you don't feel like it, you don't have to leave any snacks. Even Gainando didn't leave any."
Lee Han, noticing the Princess's prolonged hesitation, offered her some consideration.
In reality, Gainando had slipped in a note saying, "True snacks are the food you find through your own efforts," and was promptly smacked by his friends.
"......"
The Princess immediately rummaged through her bag and pulled out a can. Then, she donated it for the freshmen.
"Why, though?"
The Princess donated two more chocolates before walking away. Her followers, impressed, turned to Lee Han.
"How truly magnificent of Her Highness!"
"Well, magnificent sure, but there's no need to force yourself to do something you don't feel like—"
"What are you saying? Of course it's because she's considerate of her juniors."
"Is that so?"
Lee Han gave a hesitant nod.
Though the followers weren't entirely reliable, in matters like this, they probably knew better than he did.
'Well, unlike Gainando, she's a proper imperial so she'd care about maintaining appearances.'
Finishing the conversation, Lee Han focused on his task. He stored the blood-stained rusty knife in a chest, dispelled the magic from the damaged scroll before burning it...
"?"
Behind the shelf, Lee Han discovered a hidden space with a single letter tucked inside.
To the freshman who reads this: Come to the 4th-floor Crimson Peacock Room by midnight.
- Your Kindly Senior
"What the hell is this?"
"Isn't this the Headmaster's trap?"
"Suspicion is good, but suspecting everything in the world as the Headmaster's trap is a bit excessive..."
Lee Han and his friends huddled together, puzzling over the letter's origin.
"First of all, the 4th floor isn't easily accessible. Telling someone to go there is basically telling them to die."
"Right. It's just spiteful."
"Gasp...! Great. I'll also leave a note telling someone to come to the 5th floor—"
Lee Han smacked Gainando and voiced his doubts.
"Isn't this letter way too old? At this point, the senior who left it might have already graduated."
"Ah. You're right. What a shame. Why would a senior leave something like this? It's not like we can even contact them."
"No. There are ways to temporarily neutralize the Headmaster's spells."
"...?"
The nearby friends almost asked, Wardanaz, how do you even know that? but stopped themselves.
'Well, it's Wardanaz, so of course he'd know.'
Salko tapped the letter lightly, checking for hidden text. Confirming there were no hidden mechanisms, he whispered so only Lee Han could hear.
"But Wardanaz, it might not be from a senior—it could just be something left behind."
"Well, that's true too..."
The mention of by midnight was confusing, but it was possible the room would be locked afterward, so someone might have left it like this.
And any senior would know that a letter like this wasn't the best way to arrange a direct meeting.
Given that this was a storage room used for freshman lectures, there was no telling when the recipient might find it.
"So it's really just an object?"
"I think the odds are high."
"Hmm. This is tricky. We have enough supplies, and with exams next week, I don't want to take unnecessary risks. Wait—Salko, why have you been talking like that this whole time?"
"So the White Tiger Tower bastards don't hear us."
"...Still, we should go together."
As Lee Han expected, his friends' reactions weren't exactly enthusiastic.
Half of them argued that with enough food, drink, and clothing, there was no need to risk entering the dangerous 4th floor, while the other half insisted that Einrogard's artifacts could vanish anytime, so they should secure them as quickly as possible.
"That's why we have to go now! You know how crucial a single day can be in Einrogard!"
"If we've been fine until now, a few more days won't make a difference. You're just doing this because you don't want to study for exams!"
"H-How dare you insult me like that?!"
While the others bickered, Yoner turned to Lee Han.
"Lee Han, what do you think?"
"I'll probably have a tough week anyway. Got some work to do."
"Besides finals prep?"
"I took on the Pocket Knife Fortress design commission, so I have to finish that."
"......"
Yoner gave him a pitying look.
Will this kid ever have a happy day?
Contrary to Yoner's worries, Lee Han, surprisingly, had no complaints about the Pocket Knife Fortress design commission.
Unlike other assignments, this one paid in silver coins.
Hmm. It'd be great if Einrogard's assignments also rewarded us with silver coins.
Imagining the Skeleton Principal cursing if he heard that thought, Lee Han twirled his quill.
"Wardanaz."
"Professor Nayton."
When Professor Alpen Nayton called, Lee Han put down his quill and stood up.
Today was the day he would meet for the first time with those who had commissioned the Pocket Knife Fortress project.
"Is your preparation going well? I'm concerned you might be overburdened, having to prepare for finals as well."
"Thank you for your concern. I'm doing my best to prepare."
Lee Han gave a polite answer, then paused.
Come to think of it, it was this very professor who had pushed him into this overwork.
Wait—
"Indeed. I believed that someone of your caliber, Wardanaz, would be more than capable. That's why I recommended you."
"...Ah. Yes."
They say you shouldn't spit at a smiling face, but Lee Han felt quite confident he could spit at a professor's smiling face.
Following Professor Alpen, who was beaming with satisfaction, Lee Han entered the room. An artifact shaped like a mirror was already activated.
-Professor Nayton. Good to see you.
"Indeed. Pleasure to meet you all. If you're ready, may we send over the designs?"
-Yes. We've been waiting.
Lee Han waited nervously for their reaction.
He thought he'd done a decent job, but that was only by his own standards—there was no telling if the others would agree.
What kind of response would he get?
The <Kudrin> Stonemason Guild and the <Ida> Carpentry Guild were the ones who had received the commission from the Empire for the construction of the Pocket Knife Fortress.
The architects' goal was always the same:
To efficiently achieve the client's demands within the given budget.
The overall construction and design were the work of these professionals, while the first-year Einrogard student's task was to calculate the mana consumption of the artifacts installed in the fortress, secure a sustainable mana source, and ensure the artifacts were placed in optimal positions to prevent malfunctions.
"Oh. This is better than expected..."
"As expected from an Einrogard graduate, isn't it?"
The guild members were impressed by the well-organized and easy-to-understand explanations.
Thanks to this, the external administrative evaluation of Einrogard students rose significantly without them even realizing it.
Those who had initially been worried now felt reassured. These students were far more reliable than the suspicious mages who boasted about building towers or walls.
"Excellent work. The artifact placements are very well thought out."
"Thank you."
Lee Han relaxed slightly.
How many calculations had he repeated just to ensure the artifacts wouldn't interfere with each other in their designated positions?
This much recognition was only fair.
"But..."
"!"
Suddenly, the guild members' expressions turned grave.
Lee Han tensed again, unsure what mistake he had made.
'Damn it. Did I really make an error? Time-wise... No. Excuses are pointless. This is a paid job, after all.'
There was no use making excuses—these weren't professors or fellow students who would understand academic difficulties.
Lee Han steeled himself to identify and fix the issue as quickly as possible.
"What is..."
"Let me take a look."
Professor Alpen frowned as he reviewed the report.
After skimming through it, the professor's expression soon matched the guild members' grave looks.
"This is rather odd."
"You noticed it too, Professor. There seems to be a mistake here."
"Let's verify it just in case. Didn't you notice anything unusual here, Wardanaz? Regarding the mana consumption of the artifacts."
Lee Han racked his brain at Professor Alpen's question.
To maximize efficiency, he had minimized the mana consumption of the artifacts installed in the fortress as much as possible.
By cutting costs this way, fewer mana sources needed to be installed to keep everything running.
He had used every method he knew to reduce consumption, but—
'Did I need to reduce it even further?'
Acknowledging the sheer skill of professional mages, Lee Han asked honestly:
"My apologies. Is the consumption still too high?"
"No... It's the opposite. The artifacts shouldn't be consuming this little."
"Excuse me?"
Lee Han checked again, puzzled. He couldn't find any obvious mistakes.
"Simple artifacts can be reduced to this level, though."
"???"