Episode 580
Episode 580
"That's Too Harsh..."
The squire looked at Giselle with a hurt expression.
Of course, recommending someone from a prestigious magical family like the Wardanaz—one that represented the empire—to the knight order was indeed a rare occurrence.
It was also difficult to predict how people would react.
But if it was a boy from the Wardanaz family, he was more than qualified to be recommended to the knight order.
Just look at how he had recently joined the Beech Knights in exterminating anti-magic zealots—wasn't that proof enough?
If it was the Wardanaz, they wouldn't tarnish the honor of the recommender—they'd only elevate it.
The Wardanaz would benefit from joining an outstanding knight order, and the Moradi would gain prestige for recommending such a talented individual...
"Moradi just doesn't want people to mistakenly think their family is close with the Wardanaz."
Lee Han stepped in to defend Moradi.
After all, recommending someone to the knight order under your family's name was a risky move—if the other party made a mistake, it could stain your own honor. It wasn't something you'd do unless you were very close.
The moment you made such a recommendation, people would inevitably think, Oh, they must be quite close.
Of course, Lee Han's intervention wasn't much help. Giselle immediately denied it.
"No? Why would I refuse to acknowledge a connection with the Wardanaz family? What kind of nonsense are you spouting, Wardanaz?"
From Giselle's perspective—someone with sharp political instincts—this was absolutely unacceptable.
Even if they weren't a knightly family, rumors spreading that she had refused ties with a great noble house like the Wardanaz would bring her no benefit.
"No—hey—"
Lee Han had hoped to wrap things up smoothly, but Giselle's insistence on dragging the conversation back to square one left him dumbfounded.
Of course, Giselle was just as baffled, glaring at him with an incredulous look.
'Why would you say something that makes it seem like our family wants to avoid being seen as close to the Wardanaz? What if the Wardanaz take offense?'
'No. Our family doesn't even read the empire's newspapers. Whatever you say, they won't care.'
Unable to stand it any longer, Durgyu stepped in.
"Wardanaz has repeatedly said he has absolutely no intention of joining the knight order. That's why Moradi reacted so hastily. Her words were rough, but please understand."
"Yeah. That's exactly it."
"Right. That's exactly it."
Lee Han and Giselle nodded in relief.
From Lee Han's perspective, being misunderstood as wanting to join the knight order was actually quite dangerous.
There were few professions as grueling and demanding as knighthood.
If he thought about it coldly, he could've retorted, 'What does that have to do with insults?'—but the squire accepted the explanation for now.
Since Durgyu was usually friendly with him, and there was something else that piqued his curiosity more.
"Wardanaz. If it were you, you'd excel in the knight order—so why not? There are mages in the knight order too. They're highly respected and assist the knights. Moradi, the knight order in the north where your family is..."
'Shut up, you clueless idiot.'
This time, Giselle managed to swallow her words.
If he wanted to recommend someone to the knight order, why keep pushing it onto her?
Fortunately, Durgyu answered again.
"Wardanaz is going to stay at Einrogard even after graduation. He has to research magic with the professors."
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, DERKU!?!?"
Lee Han shouted in horror.
This time, Durgyu looked slightly hurt.
It took a little while for the squires and students to clear up their misunderstandings and finally put their heads together.
"So, the six of us have to spend a day in that mountain range."
At the squire's words, Lee Han cautiously asked:
"Do you happen to know where we're starting from?"
"Of course not! Haha. Wardanaz, then it wouldn't be a test, would it?"
'This clueless idiot.'
Lee Han cursed the squire inwardly.
Sure, the Einrogard students had been locked inside, but these knights came from outside—how could they not have gathered even that much information?
Professor Ingoldel would probably have been more lenient with them.
"Wardanaz. This is serious."
"Why?"
As Giselle whispered the question, Lee Han looked puzzled.
Sure, they hadn't heard where they'd be starting from, but was it really that big of a deal?
"We were originally planning to stay overnight in a mountain lodge."
"That was the plan, right?"
"...Do these bastards look like they'd allow that?"
"What? No, of course they'd allow—"
Lee Han cut himself off mid-sentence.
The squires' gazes were far more upright and sharp-eyed than he'd expected.
Huh?
"Wait, everyone. I have a question—there are, um, some friends among us who... well, they hid a cabin in the mountains beforehand to take shelter in."
The moment Lee Han finished speaking, the squires recoiled in horror.
"Who would do such a despicable thing? Who exactly?"
"Wardanaz. We need to report this to the professor right now. Who was it?"
"...Well, I just overheard it in passing."
Lee Han's expression darkened at the squires' reaction.
Making a quick excuse, he pulled his friends aside.
"Seriously, are all knight family kids like this? Isn't preparing a lodge part of the test? Do they have any idea how hard we worked to gather supplies for it?"
With genuine frustration, Lee Han vented to his friends.
What right did these squires, who'd been living comfortably in the city, have to judge them like this?
Amid their busy schedules, Lee Han and his friends had gone through great pains to secretly build cabins throughout the mountain range without getting caught.
They'd snuck up during night shifts, woken up at dawn to climb, and used every spare moment during the day—
And the supplies they'd stocked inside? They were priceless treasures, painstakingly gathered from outside.
How dare they dismiss all that effort!
"To be fair, among knight families, those who joined the knight order early do tend to be more rigid."
Giselle agreed with Lee Han and explained further.
Those who had trained as squires from childhood to carry their weight in the order were stubborn and uncompromising.
That in itself was fine—the problem was forcing those standards on Einrogard students.
"Though, to be fair, White Tower kids are pretty good at compromising."
"Yeah...Wait, what?"
"...That's not really a compliment, is it, Lee Han?"
Giselle and Durgyu instinctively protested.
Coming from knight families themselves, being called "good at compromising" didn't exactly sound like praise.
"Aren't you guys pretty good at it?"
"What kind of slander is that?"
"Last time, one of your tower students sold wooden swords in the Black Market. Check around—I bet some of them are missing their swords now."
'These insane bastards.'
Giselle cursed her fellow tower students inwardly.
They were truly an embarrassment wherever they went.
"Th—they must have been really hungry. Like, really, really hungry."
"Hey... Choi. Just shut up."
Giselle gestured at the oblivious orc. The more he talked, the deeper the hole they dug.
"The important thing right now isn't how good our tower is at compromising."
'You're the ones who brought it up.'
Lee Han thought it but kept quiet for his friends' sake.
Durgyu had his head hung low, and Giselle's ears were burning red.
"It's about how we deal with those unhelpful ones. The test is about to start. We don't have time."
"True..."
Lee Han fell into thought.
Professor Ingoldel had probably paired them up so mages and knights could work in harmony, but it was backfiring.
For the three of them, who'd planned to find and hole up in a mountain lodge immediately, the squires were nothing but obstacles.
After a moment of contemplation, Lee Han spoke cautiously.
"Only one idea comes to mind."
"Same."
"I've got one too."
The three looked at each other in surprise.
Had they all arrived at the same thought simultaneously?
Durgyu was inwardly overjoyed.
'All that fighting together for a year wasn't for nothing!'
He'd always been anxious about how poorly Giselle and Lee Han got along, but seeing this gave him a glimmer of hope.
After all, trials are what truly forge the bonds of camaraderie.
"Then shall we say it together? Three. Two. One."
"Let's put them to sleep and subdue them."
"Knock them out first, then restrain them."
"Facing them head-on with our skills... Huh?"
Durgyu was taken aback.
His two friends' answers were slightly different from what he'd expected.
In a situation like this, wasn't the right improvisation to give up and work in sync with the three apprentice knights to overcome it together?
Giselle also tilted her head in confusion.
Though her thoughts were slightly different from Durgyu's concerns.
"Can we really put them to sleep?"
"I have some sleeping potions I made with my friends. We can just say it's for cold resistance."
"Ah. That sounds much more peaceful. Good. Let's go with that."
Lee Han and Giselle quickly reached a conclusion.
Put the three apprentice knights to sleep, tie them up, and take them along!
"What's wrong, Durgyu? Do you have something to add?"
"...It's nothing. I was going to suggest facing them head-on with our skills... That kind of talk."
"Haha. That's fair."
"Glad we're on the same page."
Durgyu smiled faintly, though somewhat forlornly, at his friends' words.
Clatter, clatter.
-"I can't believe we're traveling by carriage!"
Labda of the Enge Family was astonished.
He never imagined they could traverse these mountains by carriage. Einrogard truly lived up to its reputation as a school for mages.
"Labda, you're quite skilled with the Absorbing Sword, right?"
"Not quite a master yet. I still have a long way to go."
At Lee Han's words, Labda replied modestly. Yet, there was an unmistakable pride in his demeanor.
The sword techniques of the Enge Family focused on the intricacies of the Absorption Technique—a rare swordsmanship even within the empire.
Knights naturally took pride in their family's techniques, and Labda was no exception—if anything, his pride ran even deeper.
"Impressive. I've been practicing the Absorption Technique too, but applying it to swordsmanship... That's hard to even imagine."
"Thank... Wait?"
Labda sensed something odd. 'How exactly is he practicing it?' Could the Absorption Technique even be practiced like that?
"Here. Everyone, drink this."
Lee Han handed over potions contained in round glass bottles. The apprentice knights eyed them with curiosity.
"What's this?"
"A potion to help withstand the cold."
"Oh. Thanks."
Gulp, gulp.
-Lee Han smiled contentedly as he watched the apprentice knights drink the potions one by one.
"Can you tell where the carriage is headed?"
"Not at all. It doesn't seem to be moving in a conventional way."
Giselle frowned as she closed her eyes, tracking the carriage's movement.
Even ignoring the lack of windows, the carriage had been moving in physically impossible directions since earlier.
Climbing uphill only to suddenly drop downward, moving backward at times...
It was clear they had flown or teleported multiple times along the way.
Thud, screech!
The carriage halted, and the door swung open—a signal to disembark.
Lee Han and his friends tied up the sleeping apprentice knights and carried them out one by one. Then, the driverless carriage spun around and swiftly vanished downhill.
"The snow's getting worse..."
Durgyu groaned as he surveyed their surroundings.
He had a feeling the increasingly heavy snowfall wouldn't be easy to handle.
"I heard there are giants in these mountains. Hopefully, we won't run into any."
"Don't worry about giants. There aren't any here right now."
"I see. Thanks... Wait, Lee Han. How do you know that?"
Durgyu asked, but Lee Han didn't answer.
He was too focused on checking their location on the map.
"Found it. About thirty minutes' walk from here, and we'll reach the mountain lodge I prepared."
"Ugh... What in the world...?"
Labda stirred, his voice groggy from the potion.
Giselle promptly struck his solar plexus with the pommel of her sword. With a sharp cry, Labda fell unconscious again.
"What happened?"
Lee Han looked up from the map, and Giselle shrugged.
"Nothing. Let's get moving."