Episode 665
Episode 665
"How can you talk about sandwiches when our friend might be seriously hurt right now?!"
"Huh?!"
Startled, Gainando nearly dropped his sandwich.
"Am I not allowed to eat a sandwich? W-would a rice ball have been better?"
"Are you joking right now?!"
Palga grew even more furious at Gainando's shameless attitude.
How could he be so sarcastic without even realizing his own mistake?
"Our friend is in danger right now...!"
[Winner: Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family!]
"...You're looking for food when he's in danger? How can you call yourself an Einrogard student like that?!"
In his agitation, Palga failed to notice what had happened in the duel arena behind them.
While they were arguing, the duel had already ended.
Lee Han returned to the spectator seats, looking puzzled.
"What did you guys do to make the senior so angry?"
"H-he got mad because we were about to eat sandwiches. I guess he has a vendetta against sandwiches."
'Does that even make sense?'
Lee Han gave Gainando a skeptical look.
No matter how he thought about it, it seemed more likely that Gainando had made some other mistake.
Like asking Palga to bring him a sandwich...
"Senior, why are you so angry?"
"Good timing, junior! These bastards didn't show the slightest concern while you were fighting Count Sement and just sat there eating sandwiches! Heartless trash who don't know the meaning of friendship!"
At Palga's scolding, his friends grew solemn.
Now that they thought about it, they had been too indifferent about Lee Han's duel.
They'd assumed he would win easily and relaxed, but from Lee Han's perspective, it might have felt disappointing.
"Sorry, Lee Han."
"We'll cheer you on properly next time."
"No, it's fine. I won anyway, so what does it matter?"
Lee Han was nonchalant.
What difference would it make if his friends cheered for him?
Professor Voladi's attacks wouldn't have been blocked by friendly encouragement.
"Count Sement is truly a formidable duelist."
"Ah, yes. He was. I got lucky."
"...Wait. Why are you here?"
Only then did Palga realize Lee Han was standing beside him.
Shouldn't he still be down in the duel arena?
"The duel ended, so I came back up..."
"...What? Who won?"
"I did."
"?!??!?"
At Lee Han's answer, Palga looked at the duel arena with a bewildered expression.
The Duel Club members were comforting the Count, who was praising Lee Han with a relieved expression.
[How on earth...?]
[He really had a lot of mana.]
[Other than that?]
[He really had a lot of mana.]
[...]
"No, Your Excellency, I understand the part about the mana."
[I told you, he had a lot of mana!]
[Even if he has a lot, he's still just a boy. How much could it be...?]
[You fools!]
"How?!"
"I blocked his artifact with my trait, spammed spells, then struck when his stance broke..."
Professor Voladi approached them like a ghost.
"[Lightning Cloak Enchantment] was too slow."
"Yes. I realized that too."
'Here we go again!'
Palga suddenly felt angry, even though it wasn't his business.
Wasn't it an incredible feat for a junior to defeat a Count?
Even Palga himself couldn't quite grasp how Lee Han had managed it.
At the very least, such an achievement deserved praise, yet they were nitpicking as if he'd committed some grave error.
"Professor, he really did well...!"
"The rest was fine."
"?!"
Professor Voladi's criticism ended there.
Palga was even more shocked than when he'd heard Lee Han had defeated the Count.
"That's it?!"
"That's it."
Professor Voladi and Lee Han both gave Palga odd looks.
Palga suddenly felt awkward.
"W-well, I mean..."
"Professor Voladi of the Bagrak Family."
A Duel Club official approached.
"We sincerely apologize, but we would appreciate it if you refrained from visiting our Plaha City Duel Club from today onward."
"I understand."
Professor Voladi nodded as if he had expected this.
Palga was startled and protested immediately.
"What has the professor done wrong to warrant a ban?"
"He hasn't done anything wrong. It's just that none of our Duel Club members can possibly face him, so we'd appreciate it if he refrained from visiting."
"What nonsense! How many members are still left—"
The receptionist answered expressionlessly.
"The rest were all defeated yesterday."
"......"
Palga stared at the professor with horrified eyes. 'What the hell did this madman do?' But Professor Voladi wasn't surprised at all.
Not even his junior was surprised.
Lee Han stood there with a bored expression. 'Of course they'd ban you if you keep winning like that.' If you chopped down all the trees in a forest at once, you'd have no more trees left afterward.
A good lumberjack knows to harvest gradually, thinking of the forest's future—for his own sake as much as the forest's.
"Lee Han of the Wardanaz family."
"Yes?"
"We sincerely apologize, but starting today, we'd like you to refrain from visiting our Plaha City Duel Club as well."
"...Excuse me!?"
Lee Han was shocked.
Why!?
"Th-there must be some mistake! It was Professor Bagrak who defeated the others yesterday!"
"You're his disciple, aren't you?"
"Disciples are much weaker than their masters, aren't they?!"
Lee Han was outraged at this absurd collective punishment.
By that logic, as the Skeleton Principal's disciple, Lee Han should be blacklisted across the entire Empire.
"Since you defeated Count Sementen, none of our Duel Club members would be able to defeat you either."
"That's ridiculous! I only won by sheer luck!"
Lee Han meant every word.
Count Sementen happened to rely heavily on artifacts, making him easy to counter. Against anyone else, it would've been a fierce battle.
While Lee Han could reluctantly accept Professor Voladi's ban, his own ban was absolutely unacceptable.
Palga seemed to agree, voicing his protest.
"Count Sementen has defeated over ten opponents so far. Yet he was never banned from entering."
The receptionist raised just his eyebrows, his face otherwise blank, as he replied.
"Count Sementen has never overwhelmingly defeated our club's champion in under ten seconds from the start of a duel."
"......"
Palga instinctively turned to look at Lee Han.
Just how did you win?
But Lee Han, true to his Einrogard upbringing, remained shameless.
Unflinching, he firmly insisted.
"It really was just luck!"
'Shouldn't all Einrogard students just be collectively banned from entering?' The receptionist thought to himself.
Anyone who had witnessed the count's defeat would know that calling it "luck" was impossible.
Yet this Wardanaz boy had the audacity to say it outright.
Even for a great noble family of the Empire, this was crossing a line!
"Tch. This is too much."
In the end, Lee Han gave up first and stepped back.
His eyes still burned with indignation.
Unable to watch, Palga tried to console him.
"Calm down, junior. It's true that disciples are weaker than their masters, but being Professor Bagrak's disciple naturally makes you seem far stronger."
"Didn't you also learn from Professor Bagrak, senior? Doesn't that make you his disciple too?"
"N-no, not me. Why would you—"
Palga hastily denied it, cowed by his junior's intensity.
A foreboding feeling surged—if he stayed quiet, he might somehow get dragged under Professor Bagrak's wing.
"Palga of the Ukim family."
"Yes?"
"We sincerely apologize, but starting today, we'd like you to refrain from visiting our Plaha City Duel Club as well."
"......"
Palga was genuinely wronged.
From the side, his junior sent him a look that said, 'I got the exact same treatment,' but it wasn't much comfort.
'I really didn't do anything wrong...!'
* * *
"See you at the start of the new semester."
"Yes."
Lee Han and his friends saw Palga off. For some reason, the senior's shoulders seemed narrower than usual.
Professor Voladi checked the time and prepared to leave. Durgyu asked without much thought.
"Where are you going, Professor?"
"Don't ask, you brat."
"???"
When Lee Han got angry, Durgyu was taken aback.
"Why, why?"
"If you ask like you're interested, are you going to take responsibility if he takes you along?"
"Even so, there's no way he'd..."
"Underground Arena. Interested?"
"No."
"Nope!"
"Absolutely not! Professor! Please be careful!"
At the professor's mention of heading to a real life-or-death fighting arena rather than a relatively safe duel, the students quickly spoke up in unison.
Professor Voladi looked at Lee Han. Lee Han answered immediately.
"I'm not interested either!"
"Good. I can't take you to the arena."
'Not that I even want to go...'
"Don't sneak after me."
"Yes."
"I'm serious."
"Yes... And I'm seriously answering..."
As if not fully trusting Lee Han, Professor Voladi emphasized just how dangerous the Underground Arena was.
No matter how much of a danger-seeking disciple Lee Han was, this time, he absolutely couldn't bring him along!
After seeing the professor off, Lee Han felt several times more exhausted than after the duel earlier.
"...Is it... over?"
"I didn't even do anything, but I'm tired..."
Eandurde waved his hand, suggesting they return to the mansion after seeing the seniors' state.
His eyes were filled with hopeful anticipation—perhaps they wouldn't have to endure the tedious shopping after all.
"Alright. Then let's go buy what Eandurde needs."
"......"
Eandurde shot Yoner a resentful look.
But Yoner paid no attention.
"Wait. Yoner. It's getting late."
"!"
At Lee Han's words, the junior's eyes sparkled again.
"So let's split up and check what Eandurde needs separately. That'll save time."
"......"
Eandurde sighed as if the ground had swallowed him. Then he glanced around, wondering if there was any way to escape.
"Oh, right. Durgyu. You stick with me."
"Why, Lee Han? Aren't we going to the armor shop?"
"No. I'm worried the junior might run off. Let's pair up and keep watch."
"...!"
Eandurde was horrified.
Was this senior reading his mind or something?!
* * *
While the others scattered to enjoy themselves, Lee Han, Durgyu, and Eandurde also began browsing.
"Hmm. I kind of want to buy something for Ponlig."
"But the headmaster confiscates everything brought in from outside, doesn't he?"
"That's true."
Durgyu smiled, thinking his friend was being unusually considerate.
Even if they couldn't bring it in, Ponlig would surely feel the sincerity behind the gesture.
"I should start thinking about smuggling it in."
"......"
Durgyu was stunned.
"Y-You were thinking about smuggling?!"
"Huh? Of course. Weren't you, Durgyu?"
"I wasn't... Isn't that weird? I doubt anyone else has thought of it."
"Moradi was considering it. Salko even asked in a letter if I'd thought of smuggling methods."
Durgyu was shocked again.
'Am... Am I the weird one?!'
"Hmm. Storing it in an outside village and bringing it in during outings would be the safest, but the problem is it might take weeks... The headmaster's been keeping a subtle eye on me, you know."
'I'd keep an eye on him too.'
Durgyu kept that thought to himself.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his friend here was at the center of every incident this year.
"Eandurde. What do you think of that horse?"
"Looks tasty."
"What about that bird?"
"Looks tasty."
"What about that snake?"
"Looks tas—"
"Is 'looks tasty' the only thing you can say?"
"The meat looks tender...?"
"I should show you the animals later."
Lee Han decided they should visit the imperial stables, which housed rare creatures, a bit later.