Episode 587
Episode 587
'Did I answer too hastily?'
Lee Han had answered quickly because he had many reasons to feel guilty.
After all, arriving early before finals to finish the exam wasn't exactly an upright attitude.
But now, the tree spirit's reaction made Lee Han realize he might have overlooked something.
What was it?
"Do you know me?"
...To the Young Master...
The tree spirit's uniquely slow and heavy voice.
Lee Han realized that the "Young Master" it was referring to was the Skeleton Principal.
'Ah. Is it one of the Headmaster's subordinates?'
If that were the case, it wouldn't be strange if it had heard about him.
Lee Han felt slightly relieved.
...
I have.
"Ah. Yes. I see. But about helping us... Are you perhaps the caretaker of this jungle?"
The camphor tree spirit nodded.
To be precise, it was less about caretaking and more about cleaning up its own mistake, but forest guardians weren't fond of speaking much.
And in a way, cleaning up was close enough to caretaking.
'No. This is lucky.'
Lee Han marveled at his current fortune.
With the help of the jungle's guardian, they could easily pass through the dense forest.
If they could just uncover the jungle's secrets...!
"Priest Siana. Priest Sharukal. This is good luck."
"I understand perfectly."
"Can't we just pretend we're here to help? Haha!"
The priests quickly grasped Lee Han's meaning and prepared to lie.
They would act like helpers accompanying the forest guardian to explore the jungle's paths!
Their bright expressions showed not a shred of the stubbornness that priests shouldn't lie.
Lee Han suddenly paused.
'Is it really okay for priests to get this comfortable with lying?'
Then, after a second, he reconsidered.
'Well, they're adapting to Einrogard. Good for them.'
"Then let's go!"
The camphor tree spirit looked pleased at Lee Han and the students.
It was clearly finals season, yet here they were, willingly helping to clean up a jungle that had nothing to do with their exams.
They were truly kind students.
Among the plant monsters the Skeleton Principal had recently brought in, the Avatara was known for its extreme vitality and reproductive capability.
Just a single seed could instantly transform its surroundings into a dense jungle.
To cleanly deal with an Avatara, they had to eliminate the core plants that served as the jungle's foundation.
Of course, it wasn't easy.
The Avatara wasn't the type of monster to actively attack or devour intruders, but it wasn't passive either.
The more provoked it was, the more it would flourish, pushing intruders out with its ever-thickening jungle.
Despite its slow speech, the forest guardian moved swiftly through the jungle, almost gliding.
...This...
"This tree?"
"Is there something about this tree?"
...Core...
"......"
...Must...
Unable to wait any longer, the students spoke up.
"Could you speak just a little faster?"
...Be...
The forest guardian wore an expression that said it had already spoken more than enough today as it slowly continued.
The students whispered among themselves.
"Dig here?"
"Destroy it?"
"Maybe 'identify'?"
"Or 'excavate'..."
...Destroyed...
"It means break it!"
Having gotten their answer, the students immediately drew their wands and swung.
Sharukal grabbed a nearby branch, transforming its tip into an axe blade, and swung with force.
Kang!
"Uh... wh-what?"
Sharukal looked bewildered.
A powerful recoil, as if he had struck solid rock, made his hands tingle.
"This doesn't seem like an ordinary tree."
At Lee Han's words, Siana nodded.
"That does seem to be the case. Step aside."
"W-wait. Just one more try..."
"Ah. One attempt per person. Move. Quickly."
'Was that a rule?' Lee Han wondered, but Siana pushed Sharukal aside and pulled out a potion bottle.
"Die!"
"Ooooh!"
The priests cheered loudly from behind.
Lee Han watched them and once again thought to himself, 'Is it really okay for priests to be this combative?'
Sizzle—
Whatever Siana had concocted and been carrying, it was clearly a highly toxic liquid that seeped into the tree's roots.
Yet despite this, the tree showed no signs of withering and remained intact.
"Ugh! Move aside! Move aside!"
"Ah, seriously!"
"Next, the power of the Sisenja Order—"
"Does this mean the Sisenja Order is weak if it fails?"
"What kind of nonsense is that?!"
Crackle—
While the priests were energetically arguing, the Forest Keeper slowly opened his mouth.
Hearing this, Siana turned to her friends.
"He says... use fire magic? He's telling us to use fire magic."
"Is that alright?"
It wasn't that the priests didn't know fire magic.
Given that this was a jungle and the flames could unpredictably spread, they had been restraining themselves from using it.
Thud—
"Seeing how resistant it is to burning, it should be fine."
"Then I'll summon the flames."
Once the priests demonstrated that the fire around the tree didn't spread uncontrollably, Lee Han stepped forward with his staff.
Since the tree they needed to destroy had unexpectedly strong defenses, it seemed Lee Han would have to take action.
'As long as it doesn't spread to the surroundings...'
Excited at the thought of using fire magic after so long, Lee Han focused intently.
"Burn..."
A powerful flame, infused with dense mana, slowly rose.
For a moment, the fire flickered violently, threatening to explode outward, but Lee Han barely regained control and directed it to scorch the tree's outer bark.
Though the tree had withstood other methods, it couldn't endure this flame. Slowly, the fire spread, engulfing the tree.
The priests cheered and applauded.
"As expected!"
"The might of the Flemeng Order!"
"No, the Afha Order!"
"Neither of those—"
While Lee Han tried to mediate the arguing priests, the Forest Keeper thought to himself, 'I was going to say fire wouldn't work...'
Originally, the Forest Keeper had intended to tell the students that fire would be useless.
Assuming they would try fire magic after swinging an axe and pouring potions, he had prepared to explain.
The Avatara, the core tree of the territory, was thoroughly protected—normally impervious to axes, potions, or flames.
The standard method to remove it was to first sever its connection to the rest of the jungle, drain its vitality to weaken its defenses, and then strike its weak point with a special incantation...
But this first-year had simply overpowered it by setting it ablaze. Truly astonishing.
Yet instead of being flustered or amazed, the Forest Keeper merely blinked.
Originally, he had planned to explain the proper method, but now feeling too lazy, he simply pointed in the next direction.
Next...
"Alright. Everyone, let's move."
The students followed, completely unaware that fire wasn't the intended solution.
"Fire really was the answer, huh?"
"Should we keep this a secret from Priest Nigisor?"
Location...
"How do you find your way through the jungle?"
Lee Han asked persistently.
One thing he had learned since entering Einrogard was that all knowledge would prove useful someday.
Right now, they could just follow the Forest Keeper, but in the future, he might find himself alone in the middle of the jungle.
Energy...
"Energy? Ah. Earlier, the core tree had distinct defensive capabilities compared to other plants. Naturally, the energy it emits would also be distinguishable. So, you're saying we should sense that difference, memorize it, and use it as a guide to navigate?"
The Forest Keeper nodded contentedly.
Not having to explain everything made him pleased.
What a clever first-year!
"Indeed."
"No, no, no."
Priest Siana, standing nearby, cut in, flustered.
"What was that just now?!"
"Huh?"
Lee Han was puzzled.
Had Priest Siana not heard?
"So, Priest Siana. Just like how you can sense the flow of mana in magic, you can feel the mana flow in this jungle too, right? Even though it seems chaotic and meaningless at first glance, there are certain mana patterns that can serve as indicators. The tree we destroyed earlier was one of them."
"How do you detect and remember that...? No. That's not important right now, I'll ask you later."
Priest Siana didn't question how Lee Han could identify and grasp the specific mana patterns he wanted amidst this disordered flow of mana.
They had grown close enough with this boy from the Wardanaz family that asking such amateurish questions felt unnecessary.
It was clear he had solved it using his own mysterious and unique ability.
Or perhaps it was some sinister forbidden magic passed down in his family—though that wasn't particularly important...
"Wait, were you two just talking telepathically?"
"Huh? No. Did it look like that?"
"It definitely seemed like telepathic communication."
"You weren't talking telepathically?!"
"......"
Lee Han was rather flustered by the priests' reactions.
Why was that?
After that, Lee Han's group diligently followed the Forest Keeper and assisted with the tasks assigned to them.
Along the way, they learned from the Forest Keeper how to navigate the jungle, identify dangerous plants, and gather useful parts from the plants they removed.
"Did... we just learn something?"
"Can we really call that learning?"
The priests whispered among themselves.
It was less like the Forest Keeper had taught them and more like Lee Han had figured things out on his own while the Forest Keeper was just standing there.
If they had placed a crumpled rock or a guidepost in front of him instead, he probably would have learned just as much.
Unaware of the priests' murmuring, Lee Han, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped as something occurred to him.
'Wait. This is strange.'
Come to think of it, the Forest Keeper was supposed to be managing this jungle.
But instead of maintaining it, the Forest Keeper had been going around destroying specific trees.
Of course, there were cases where parts of the jungle became dangerous due to contamination in some of the trees.
If a blight spread among the trees, it could quickly infect the others, so removing the diseased trees was a priority in such situations.
But the trees the Forest Keeper was destroying didn't seem like diseased ones—they seemed more like core trees that formed the heart of the territory.
Almost as if the Forest Keeper was trying to eliminate the jungle itself.
'Well, it wouldn't be bad for us if the jungle disappeared... but what's going on? Are they not supposed to keep this place around?'
Lee Han was puzzled about why the Forest Keeper was trying to erase the jungle.
It definitely wasn't because the students found it inconvenient...
While he was pondering this, they arrived at the last tree. Following the Forest Keeper's instructions, Lee Han burned it down with flames.
The moment he did, the plants in the jungle began collapsing all at once.
It was as if time had sped up—the bushes withered, leaves turned to dead foliage and fell, and the trees rotted away into the ground.
All of it gathered and condensed into a single seed. It almost felt like the jungle had been an illusion all along.
"Uh... So you really came here to remove the jungle?"
For the first time that day, the Forest Keeper reacted differently.
They couldn't understand what this young master's disciple was talking about.
Of course they had come to remove the jungle—why else would they be here?
Screech—
As the jungle vanished, the classroom door was revealed, and Professor Yonlamo stepped out from inside.
"Did you clean it all up? Thanks... Oh, Lee Han? What are the other students doing here?"
Professor Yonlamo looked puzzled at the students gathered in front of the classroom.
There was still plenty of time left before the exam.
"Wait, did you all help clear the jungle? I appreciate it, but it's finals week—shouldn't you be preparing for the exams...?"
"Professor, um... Wasn't breaking through this jungle part of the exam?"
One of the priests cautiously asked.
Everyone's expressions darkened as they sensed something ominous.
"I clearly said the final exam was about transforming your arm. Wait, did I not mention that?"
"......"
"......"
"Tha...nk... you..."
Leaving behind the students with faces rotting in despair, the Forest Keeper gave a word of thanks and cheerfully walked away.