Episode 575
Episode 575
Parthenope ignored Lee Han's excuses and rowed the boat. She wanted to escape this dreadful chorus as quickly as possible.
'Huh?'
As Lee Han continued descending through the underground passage, the surroundings gradually felt more familiar. This place...?
"Professor Gonadaltes?"
When a massive boulder protruding from the distant underground lake greeted him, Lee Han responded cheerfully.
"Hello, Lord Bulgasari."
The rock-like monster, Bulgasari, recognized Lee Han and waved enthusiastically. The boulder shook before tumbling toward him.
'I should ask him not to wave his arms next time.'
"What brings you here?"
"I was actually bringing something in from outside."
Lee Han signaled to the giants waiting around the corner not to approach yet. Though puzzled, the giants waited patiently.
"You came all the way to this dangerous place just to bring something in? Be careful."
Bulgasari's slow but powerful voice boomed. While he respected students' freedom, it was always their own magic that ended up hurting them. If they tried to bring in something too dangerous, they could get hurt.
"Um, could you keep what I'm bringing in a secret from the others?"
At Lee Han's request, Bulgasari vibrated his rocky body slowly and laughed.
"Of course. I only grew this big thanks to students sneaking things in for me in the first place."
Bulgasari moved his stones as if to say, "Just trust me." He was prepared to respect whatever the student brought in.
"Thank you."
-......
The Siren towing Lee Han's boat wore a complicated expression. No matter how she looked at it, Bulgasari would surely be shocked when he saw.
But was he really getting help from a Siren?
"Yes."
"How?"
Sirens weren't the type to help other races. Curious, Bulgasari asked in his slow voice.
"I have a personal connection with her."
"Really?"
Siren Parthenope reacted similarly to when she had heard the giants' singing earlier—squeezing her eyes shut and covering her ears.
'They don't seem that close.'
Though Bulgasari thought so, he had no intention of interfering with what might be a miraculous friendship.
"Impressive. Good luck. Raise them well."
'It's not raising them...'
Lee Han realized Bulgasari had misunderstood. Just like the student who had secretly brought Bulgasari in long ago, he must have assumed Lee Han was smuggling in some dangerous creature now.
Lee Han considered explaining but stopped.
'We should just move.'
Seeing the giants fidgeting and twisting their bodies in impatience, he decided they needed to hurry.
"Thank you. Everyone, let's go again!"
-Groan. We waited so long.
-It was tough. So tough.
The giants emerged from behind the corner and splashed forward. Lee Han and the giants found the path Ikurusha had told them about—one of the many branching paths of Spiderweb Lake leading to the underground storeroom of the Main Building.
Watching their retreating figures, the usually easygoing Bulgasari was uncharacteristically stunned.
'Is he raising giants!?'
Einrogard students had smuggled in all sorts of bizarre creatures, but this was the first time anyone had tried bringing in giants to raise.
Just... what?!
"You've all worked hard."
Emerging from the passage and arriving at the underground storeroom, Lee Han spoke sincerely. The giants deserved this gratitude—they had walked this long path solely to help him.
"Thank you so much..."
-"We should use red. Red is warmer."
-"No! Yellow is better. Yellow is warmer."
Of course, the giants were too busy arguing among themselves about how to decorate the storeroom to notice Lee Han's thanks.
The underground storeroom was spacious enough for giants to wrestle inside, so they were completely absorbed in planning how to furnish the vast space.
'Hmm. At least they won't be bored—that's a relief.'
From Lee Han's perspective, it was better if the giants weren't bored. They had to stay here for a week, and if they wandered outside out of boredom and ran into Professor Voladi, things could get dangerous.
'If even one gets caught, they'll likely reveal our location.'
Given the giants' personalities, they were highly likely to talk under interrogation.
Lee Han gave them one final warning.
"You must not go outside carelessly. If you get caught, something terrible could happen."
"Working all day? It could be worse than that."
"Working for two whole days?? Ugh!"
"Yes. Even up to three days..." At Lee Han's warning, the giants stirred uneasily. Truly, the mages of Einrogard were eccentric and fearsome beings.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Got it. Trust us!"
Lee Han bid farewell to the giants and opened the warehouse door.
Whoosh!
"...??!"
As Lee Han stepped out, he was shocked to find the entire area blanketed in a green mist. The complex, overlapping flow of mana emanating from within—this wasn't just one poison but a deadly cocktail of multiple toxins. It was impossible to even guess how many types there were.
'What? What on earth happened?'
At first, he wondered if some monster had appeared, but then he immediately recalled Diret's words.
"Of course, I'll try talking first. But if persuasion fails, I might use a little poison. I'm not spreading poison to use on others. If rumors spread that poison has been deployed, people will stop coming in, you see? Got it? I'm absolutely not spreading poison to use on others."
'...'
No, isn't this a bit excessive?'
It seemed like poison hadn't just been sprayed in the hallway but across the entire vicinity. Lee Han was slightly taken aback. Was there really a need to go this far?
'Well... I suppose. Senior Diret wouldn't do this without reason. Maybe others refused to listen...'
Clunk!
His eyes caught sight of an undead camouflaged against the corridor wall. Judging by its connection to the magic circle ahead, it seemed like stepping on it would trigger the undead to leap out. Beyond that, there were more curse-based magic circles...
"......"
Seriously, was there any reason to go this far?!
Lee Han clung to the wall by manipulating the properties of his mana—the Mysteries of Absorption. Staying clear of the floor, he maneuvered along the wall to escape the area, only to spot red-painted words:
BLACK MAGIC FACTION, DIE!!
"......"
Lee Han quietly erased the words on the wall. Though they were magically inscribed and stubborn, he forced his mana into them until they finally disappeared.
"Truly, only Her Highness could do this!"
"Exactly! Who else but Her Highness could instruct our classmates so well?!"
"......"
Adenart shot her followers a look brimming with exhaustion, but they didn't notice.
"Next! Know that this is an honor! To be personally taught by Her Highness!"
"Hey... I'm royalty too, you know..."
Gainando, holding a questionnaire, glared indignantly at the followers. Sometimes, he genuinely wondered if Adenart's followers had completely forgotten he was also of royal blood.
"And teaching is the duty of the intelligent! Like the privileged giving back! Do you think Lee Han shows off like this every time he teaches?"
"Th-that's..."
"Hmm."
Surprisingly, the followers had no rebuttal to Gainando's sharp remark. After all, Wardanaz taught far more than this without ever flaunting it.
While the followers fumed, Adenart gestured for Gainando to come closer.
"What? Why?"
"...Tell them we're stopping today's study session."
"Really?!"
Gainando brightened instantly, looking at Adenart in disbelief. He never expected his usually disagreeable half-sister to say such a thing.
"...Wait. No."
Gainando's excitement deflated immediately. Adenart was also taken aback—she had assumed Gainando would jump at the chance to end the session.
"There's still more to study. If we don't finish even after coming back, Lee Han will really get angry."
"......"
Adenart shot Gainando a disdainful look. Just how little had he studied for Wardanaz to react like that? In any case, he was no help.
'This is exhausting.'
One thing Adenart realized was that answering her classmates' questions was unexpectedly draining. With each following different schools of magic and studying different subjects, the questions varied wildly. These weren't the kind of problems that could be solved just by being top of the class.
"So when using ox bones versus chicken bones in magic, what exactly causes the difference in..."
"Princess. I genuinely don't understand what's wrong with my endurance potion. The first attempt used one spoon of gold elixir, two pouches of coldaran, and a handful of stone fragrance—the second attempt used the exact same ingredients, so why did it fail the second time?"
"For crafting artifacts on the spot, can we use simplified magic circles like these?"
"Also, about summoning additional spirits..."
The fact that Adenart could answer even this much was impressive. Luck played a part too—had these been topics she had zero interest in, she wouldn't have been able to respond at all.
"Wait. You didn't ask me just because you wanted a break, did you?" Gainando shot Adenart a suspicious look.
Adenart couldn't answer out of pride.
"Hey. I think she does want a break."
"What nonsense! If Her Highness wanted a break, she would've told us."
"She could've told me. After teaching this much, wouldn't she want to rest?"
"Her Highness would never tire from something like this!"
"Right. Who do you take her for?"
"...You little—!"
Enraged, Gainando swung his staff. His followers didn't back down either, grabbing and wrestling him to the ground. Nearby students, seizing the opportunity, lunged at long-held grudges with students from other towers.
"You stole the breadfruit I had my eye on last time!"
"First come, first served!"
"This is payback for that last assignment!"
"Who are you blaming for your own stupid mistakes?!"
True to their reputation as students who struggled with studies, they were always ready to ditch studying at the slightest excuse. As paper flew and ink splattered, Lee Han returned.
BANG!
The sound of a wall shattering froze everyone mid-action. Even Gainando, who had been about to pour ink into a White Tiger Tower student's mouth, turned his head.
Lee Han stood there, having punched the wall, his expression blank as he scanned the room.
"What are you doing?"
"......"
"Uh... well..."
"You don't want to study?"
Under Lee Han's questioning, the students hesitated. Of course, they didn't want to study, but admitting that here might be fatal. Even Gainando realized that much.
"...It's not that..."
"That guy started it—!"
"No, he started—!"
"Everyone, sit down."
At Lee Han's command, the students quietly took their seats.
"Gainando. How much have you finished?"
"Al... almost all of it."
"Explain the difference between using ox bones and chicken bones."
"Uh, well, you see..."
Watching this, the others frantically flipped through their books, bracing for potential questions. Lee Han clicked his tongue and sat down.
'I told these idiots to study.'
Thud.
As silence fell, Adenart leaned in and whispered to Lee Han,
"...Really, thank you."
"???"