Episode 621
Episode 621
"It's Fine."
"It's not fine. If you cast <Latent Heat Enchantment> on the saddle, both the rider and the horse will appreciate it."
Lee Han pulled out various daily-life spells he had learned under Professor Garcia in his first year.
Jiklin watched as Lee Han warmly cast the spell and ruffled his hair with a chuckle.
"Giselle, handle the rest."
"Magic isn't something you should waste like this, you know."
At her sister's command, Giselle timidly rebelled.
The Wardanaz boy was the weird one for wasting mana just because he had a lot of it—normally, no one would cast spells on such trivial details.
Jiklin's gaze hardened, thinking her sister was making excuses.
"Giselle. You shouldn't claim something is normal just because you can't do it."
"That's not what I—!"
"I'll take care of the rest!"
Giselle glared at Lee Han as he rushed off to cast spells on the other luggage.
Lee Han spoke as if he had no choice.
"I couldn't just stand still."
"Thanks. Thanks a lot. Yeah, sure. Why don't you just suck up to my sister some more?"
"Don't say that to me. It's just an Einrogard habit rubbing off."
"......"
Giselle had nothing to say to that.
Well, it was true—even in Einrogard, Wardanaz had been the one to recklessly cast spells on everything before a trip.
The only difference was that they were outside now!
Even within Einrogard, Wardanaz had been crazy, but seeing him outside made it clear just how insane he really was.
A proper mage should conserve their abilities and only cast spells when absolutely necessary, but he went ahead and used magic on every little thing...
With Wardanaz around, any other mage would look lazy and incompetent.
"What about the others?"
"There aren't any. This is it."
"...?"
Lee Han paused.
Of course, he knew that knights' hunts were less comfortable than noble hunts—no roads, rough terrain, no beaters or trackers, and no servants or porters to carry the luggage!
But if a hunter like Nilia from the Shadow Patrol heard this, she'd scoff.
-Wardanaz. Don't be fooled by the knights. Half of what they say is exaggeration, and the other half is whining. They go in only on good days, carrying maps that detail every fallen hair. Their squires even haul luxury supplies! Real hunting is still the hunters'...
Though slightly less comfortable than noble hunts, knights didn't go completely without conveniences either.
But this was all the people they had?
"What about the other knights? The squires?"
"I told you, there aren't any... Didn't I say inviting them wouldn't do any good?"
Giselle sighed.
The only reason she tolerated this was because she knew what Wardanaz had shown in Einrogard over the past year—otherwise, she would've opposed it with her life on the line.
Two horses per person.
Only the bare minimum of luggage they could carry themselves—nothing more.
This was Jiklin's hunt.
"Hmm. I see."
"...You're not more surprised?"
"Our family has a knight who does similar things..."
"You're really from the Wardanaz family, right??"
* * *
Jiklin was in a very good mood.
Her sister's friend from the Magic School was polite and pleasant—she had worried because he was from a mage family, but he got along surprisingly well with knights and horses.
Maybe he was better suited to being a knight.
"Wardanaz, do you see that river over there?"
"Yes, I see it."
"Once, a Great Serpent crawled up that river."
Jiklin's blunt gaze softened slightly as she stared at the river, lost in memory.
"What happened to it?"
"It died."
"...Why did it die?"
Lee Han regretted his vague question and asked again.
"Its head was cut off."
"Who cut it off, and how?"
Giselle answered sharply in annoyance.
"My sister fought alone for three days straight and cut its head off."
"Hahaha... Wait. You're not joking."
Lee Han, who had been about to force a laugh thinking it was a joke, froze mid-action.
Giselle was dead serious. Even her sister seemed puzzled as she asked,
"Do you see any reason for me to joke right now?"
"......"
Lee Han was stunned.
A knight single-handedly fighting a Great Serpent-level monster for three days straight and slaying it?
It was said that knights who reached such heights were like walking fortresses, but this surpassed all imagination.
'No way... Is she stronger than Professor Alarong or Professor Ingoldel??'
"Why on earth did she fight alone?"
"Because my sister wanted to. I was watching from the riverside."
Giselle shuddered as she recalled the horrific memory.
The anxiety of watching over her sister, fearing something might go wrong, was still vivid in her mind.
"You should've called for backup."
"She hates it when I call for backup."
"Who cares? Just call them and make up an excuse later."
"...?!"
Giselle was unexpectedly swayed by Lee Han's surprisingly plausible suggestion.
"Wait, so the purpose of this hunt is also...?"
"Right. We're wandering around looking for worthy prey."
Giselle explained in a dry tone.
They roamed the cold, rugged northern lands in search of prey worthy of a knight's one-on-one duel.
Once a suitable target was found, the knight would immediately engage while the others waited behind.
The stronger the knight, the higher the caliber of prey they sought—making it impossible to let their guard down...
"Isn't that just like Professor Bagrak's exams?"
"Hey. Watch your mouth. No matter how strong my sister is, she's not on the level of an Einrogard professor."
It seemed Giselle couldn't remain objective when it came to her sister.
Lee Han shook his head internally at the thought.
'Came here for vacation, only to find another professor-like figure outside the academy.'
What a tragic turn of events.
"Hmm."
Jiklin surveyed the high terrain before scanning the surroundings.
She had a hunch that a considerable number of monsters inhabited the nearby area.
"We'll stay here tonight. We should scout the nearby monsters first..."
"I'll handle it."
"That won't be necessary, Wardanaz. Take a rest. Mages aren't known for their stamina, after all."
"......"
Giselle grumbled inwardly, 'He's sturdier than I am.'
While Jiklin briefly left to scout, Lee Han immediately summoned his Skeleton Warriors and began preparing the campsite.
Before Giselle could even step forward, simple wooden barricades, bedding, a central bonfire, a cooking tripod, and alarm spells were already set up in the blink of an eye.
Giselle blinked in surprise.
They had camped together a few times at Einrogard, but it had never been this efficient.
'Did he... practice camping behind my back or something...?'
"What's wrong, Moradi?"
"Nothing. Thanks for setting things up."
"...What's wrong, Moradi?!"
"......"
Seeing Wardanaz react more violently to her gratitude than anything else, Giselle genuinely felt the urge to punch him.
'Hold back. My sister could return any minute...'
If Jiklin came back to find her grabbing Lee Han by the collar, she'd be the only one at a disadvantage.
Lee Han poured boiling coffee into a tin cup and handed it to Giselle. Then, with a serious expression, he said,
"Moradi."
"?"
Giselle braced herself, recalling the last time he wore that expression—when he asked something like, 'So it's "eonni," not "nuna," right?'
"If you say something useless again—"
"No. This is serious. Moradi. Get serious. I'm trying to have a serious conversation here."
"You little—!"
"If we find suitable prey and take them down quickly, the hunt will end sooner, right?"
"!"
Surprisingly, this time, it really was a serious topic.
Giselle nodded at Lee Han's sharp observation.
"Right. If we encounter worthy prey..."
"If Jiklin thinks 'this knight had a decent fight in this hunt,' then the hunt is over."
"You and I are both Einrogard mages. Let's use magic to quickly find suitable prey."
"That's a good idea, but it won't be that easy."
Giselle replied while resting her chin on her hand.
Even if there were many monsters around, finding the right opponent wasn't simple.
Magic wasn't omnipotent, after all.
"Unless you happen to have some secret magic taught by the Headmaster. Do you?"
"I have spells to enhance physical abilities."
"Hey. That's the one, right? The one that gave our tower guys muscle cramps..."
"No idea what you're talking about. More importantly, Moradi. What counts as a suitable opponent is ultimately a personal judgment."
"...Are you arguing just for the sake of it?"
"Not necessarily. I'm just saying persuasion is an option."
"Even if my sister seems naive, she's not easy to persuade. And her instincts are so sharp that lies won't work on her."
A knight of Jiklin's caliber had intuition almost akin to Divination Magic.
Just by observing the accompanying knight, she could gauge what kind of prey would make for a worthwhile fight.
"Then we just need to find some strong prey."
"Confident, are you?"
"If we prepare in advance, wouldn't we have the upper hand in battle?"
Lee Han pointed at the Skeleton Warriors. Giselle made a dubious face.
"I doubt my sister would allow such things in a knightly duel."
"Hmm. Then there's only one way left."
Lee Han spoke as if resigned.
Giselle wondered what sly method this Einrogard's top student had in mind.
"We'll insist we had a fierce fight while Lady Jiklin was away."
"...That might not be a bad idea...?"
Surprisingly, Giselle agreed.
Unlike other options, this one seemed plausible.
"Right? I'm planning to release the Summons I've contracted to scout the area. There's even an Ice Spirit."
"Alright. Got it."
"I said I'm releasing my contracted Summons to scout the area. There's an Ice Spirit too."
"...? I said I got it?"
At Giselle's reaction, Lee Han sulked slightly.
How could she not appreciate this brilliance!
"Wait. One more thing."
"?"
"If we want to finish the hunt and go back, we also need to find prey that suits my sister. It'll be harder than you think."
"Really? Why—"
Before he could finish, Jiklin's voice echoed from below.
"Everyone, I've returned from scouting. There weren't any suitable monsters... Wardanaz, did you create this campsite with magic?"
Jiklin spoke with her usual stoic expression, though a faint hint of surprise flickered across her face.
But Lee Han couldn't answer immediately.
In Jiklin's other hand dangled the severed head of a Minotaur, blood dripping steadily.
"Ah. Are you interested in this? I caught it on my way."
"...Oh. Ohh..."
Lee Han realized that finding prey worthy of this knight would be far harder than expected.
"We're in trouble."
Lee Han handed Giselle a bowl of soup stir-fried with minced Minotaur meat and potatoes as he spoke.
"At this rate, we'll be stuck outside until the banquet."
"See? I told you. Hunting with my sister is hell."
Giselle sipped the soup. It was decently tasty.
She never imagined she'd have the luxury of eating like this during a hellish hunt with Jiklin.
"Lady Jiklin didn't say much, but did she like it?"
"My sister? Finishing a whole bowl means she loved it. She usually doesn't even finish one."
"Don't people usually eat five bowls if it's delicious?"
"What kind of glutton eats like that?"
"Gainando... Ugh. Never mind."
"......"
As Lee Han tried to change the subject, a low-level Ice Spirit sent a signal, startling him.
"They found something?!"
"What, what kind of monster?!"
Giselle grabbed her sword hilt urgently.
"Ah. It's not a monster—it's people. Probably criminals."
"Oh..."
Giselle, about to sit back down in disappointment, straightened up again.
"Hey! If they're criminals, we should catch them!"
"Oh. Right."