Episode 690
Episode 690
"?!"
At the words "It's done," Siana's eyes flew wide open as she spun around.
The fact that he was already analyzing the magic he'd just witnessed was surprising enough—but to be finished already?
"Huh? You're done already?"
Yet Gainando showed no surprise whatsoever as he opened the door.
"Then how about a round of Wizard Card—"
"No."
"Figured. Just thought I'd ask."
Watching Gainando swiftly backpedal and retreat, Siana felt slightly bewildered.
'...Am I the weird one here?!'
Truthfully, this wasn't something to be so shocked about—was she the only one reacting this way?
"What's the matter, Priest?"
"W-well, he says he's finished analyzing the seniors' magic."
"Gasp!"
Durgyu nearly toppled over in shock.
Seeing his reaction, Siana let out a sigh of relief.
'Thank goodness. It's Lord Gainando who's strange after all!'
"So it was Transformation Magic after all."
Lee Han stepped out, glancing at his friends. Noticing Durgyu standing awkwardly, Lee Han gave him a peculiar look before asking:
"Why are you standing like that?"
"J-just doing some stretches."
"Don't overdo your training. Anyway, it was Transformation Magic."
<Lesser Box Transmutation>—a 3rd-circle spell that transforms creatures below a certain size into wooden boxes.
Given how familiar and easy to comprehend the mana flow appeared externally, he'd guessed it would be a spell within his expected range—and he'd been right.
"Seems luck's on our side. The seniors happened to use a spell we could observe and analyze."
'That doesn't seem like luck to me...'
Siana thought privately.
Frankly, from the seniors' perspective, this was downright unfair.
How could they have anticipated that a mere junior who'd only completed his first year could grasp and potentially learn a spell's structure just by glancing at it?
Nilia whispered to Yoner:
"I always thought the Wardanaz kid was good at magic, but doesn't he seem more like a monster the more we see him lately?"
"Mmm. I want to deny it, but I can't really..."
After quietly silencing his chatting friends, Lee Han spoke again:
"Most likely, they planned to toss noisy troublemakers into our luggage pile."
"How utterly despicable!"
"Let's definitely do this next year too!"
"......"
Under their friends' pointed stares, Gainando flustered.
"Huh? You guys weren't planning to do it next year?"
"Now that we've figured out the magic, there's not much to worry about here."
Lee Han ignored them and continued.
Once you understood and could identify this type of magic, countering it wasn't particularly difficult.
They just needed to find the transformed objects mixed in their luggage, then either dispel them or toss them back into the seniors' pile.
"Alright, everyone get ready to head out."
"Again?"
"'Again'? We've barely done anything."
At Lee Han's words, his friends sighed and rose from their seats.
Upon arriving at Granden City, Lee Han chose to enter through the outermost, least popular gate among dozens of city gates.
Not content with that, he threw rough, worn cloth over their carriage to prevent anyone from guessing it belonged to a noble family.
All this was to slip into the villa undetected by the seniors. If they arrived in Granden City with abundant supplies only to be spotted by the seniors, it could lead to unnecessary trouble.
After safely storing their supplies at the villa, Lee Han's next move was to maximize contact with the seniors.
He'd probe their smuggling methods, and if they had any sinister schemes, prepare countermeasures in advance...
For that, Lee Han and his friends needed to roam every corner of Granden City like naive first-years who knew nothing.
"Listen up, everyone. If a senior brings up smuggling or secrets about Einrogard—"
"Gasp!"
"I'm shocked!"
"How could this be!"
"This is unbelievable! Utter nonsense!"
Satisfied by his friends' exaggerated reactions, Lee Han nodded approvingly.
"Good. Don't forget to react like that and play dumb. Let's move out!"
The Skeleton Principal's loyal knight, the Death Knight, walked down Granden City's main avenue with his robes tightly wrapped around him.
Technically, he could have walked under the bright midday sun, but it was a gesture of goodwill to consider the people of Granden City.
'The Wardanaz family's villa...'
Arriving at the Wardanaz family villa as ordered, the Death Knight knocked on the gate.
"Who is it?"
"I've come under the Headmaster's orders. Students, please open the gate."
-...
"Ahhh! It's an attack by the Headmaster!"
"It's not an attack, just a message—"
The Death Knight tried to explain in a fluster, but the students scrambled noisily to prepare their defenses.
"Lee Han! A Death Knight is at the gate!"
"What the... What did we get caught for?"
"No idea!"
"I'll contact the temple. Let's call the priests and attack!"
The Death Knight, who had come as a messenger today, had relatively little experience dealing with students.
Unlike a seasoned Death Knight, he floundered and shouted.
"This is a misunderstanding, everyone!"
"Don't listen! He's trying to trick us into opening the gate!"
"I'm here for the freshmen! The freshmen!"
-......
Screech—
The inner door of the villa opened, and students swarmed out with suspicious glares.
Only then could the Death Knight finally exhale.
"Really?"
"I can swear upon my honor as a knight. The freshmen must enter first."
Though the Skeleton Principal had entrusted Eandurde to Lee Han during the break, he couldn't leave it like that with the new term starting.
Now that Lee Han was becoming a second-year, he couldn't be grouped with the freshmen anymore.
"...A trap?"
Eandurde, who had been solving equations, eyed the Death Knight with deep suspicion.
"It's not a trap."
"But... it's a Death Knight."
"Ah. The Headmaster normally uses Death Knights as his minions."
"?!"
Leaving the horrified Eandurde behind, Lee Han opened the gate.
After all, they couldn't leave the Headmaster's messenger standing outside forever.
As the Death Knight stepped inside, he glanced around the Wardanaz family villa. The practical, no-nonsense cleanliness suggested little interest in exterior opulence or luxury.
"By any chance... you're not preparing for smuggling, are you?"
"Ghk."
"Kghk."
The Death Knight's casual question made the students cough as if they'd choked on air, leaving him flustered.
"Ah, no. You're already preparing to smuggle? As first-years?"
"What... What makes you say that?"
"You arrived early, and I noticed all these packed belongings... Please don't smuggle. I'm saying this for your sake."
At the Death Knight's words, the students shot him accusatory looks that screamed, 'You're just that skeleton Headmaster's lackey.'
Realizing the looks belatedly, the Death Knight protested.
"I'm not saying this on my master's behalf!"
"Sure, sure..."
"I truly mean it for your sake. Smuggling is bad! It might seem tempting at first glance, but you could lose all your prepared items and end up in the Punishment Room. And..."
The Death Knight hesitated.
He didn't want to unnecessarily sow discord among the students.
"Well... trusting your seniors too much is dangerous too."
"Yes."
"That's right."
"We know."
-?!!
The students' indifferent, dry reactions left the Death Knight bewildered.
"Ah, no. Aren't you surprised?"
"We are surprised."
"You don't look surprised at all..."
"My friends are all a bit expressionless."
Lee Han brazenly lied. The Death Knight, though confused, had no choice but to nod.
"How has the Headmaster been lately?"
"Yes. Thanks to Lord Wardanaz defeating all the bureaucrats, his workload has lightened considerably."
"????"
The friends nearby doubted their ears.
What had Lee Han done?
But Lee Han had no time to clear up the misunderstanding. Since they'd met the Headmaster's minion, he had to extract as much information as possible.
"By any chance, is there anything the Headmaster is wary of or cautious about?"
"Are you asking that to prepare for smuggling right now?"
The Death Knight was no fool.
He could easily discern the underlying meaning behind the students' questions.
-But I shall answer you nonetheless.
"!"
-After all, if you learn about Einrogard's ironclad defenses, you might abandon any thoughts of smuggling.
"Oh...!"
Had the Skeleton Principal been present, he would've scoffed, 'That might work on some, but not all!' Fortunately, he wasn't around.
-The master has increased the number of Death Knights in preparation for the new semester. Even the knights previously stationed elsewhere have returned.
'Do they really need to go this far just to inspect for smuggled goods?' Lee Han inwardly lamented as he mentally noted the increased numbers.
Wouldn't the usual number of personnel suffice?
-Dimensional Hounds have also been summoned. They'll patrol from the school's main gate all the way to the mountain range, sniffing out any potential contraband.
"...Uh, is the inspection always this thorough?"
-Normally, it happens about once every ten years. Summoning knights from other locations is quite a hassle... and Dimensional Hounds are rather troublesome creatures to deal with.
'Why did it have to be this year?' Lee Han seethed inwardly, furious at having drawn the worst possible timing in the fluctuating difficulty of smuggling attempts.
Couldn't they have picked a year with lower security?
"What about the skies...?"
-An excellent question! The Bone Wyverns have multiplied. Personally, I don't see the need for such extreme aerial measures, but the master is thorough. He must have anticipated that some students might attempt to breach the skies.
"...!!"
This sent a chill down Lee Han's spine.
It might have been a coincidence, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the Skeleton Principal was targeting him specifically.
'No way. The semester just started, and he's still...!' The Skeleton Principal had been biding his time to exact revenge for last year's humiliation when Lee Han had slipped out through the Spire Stables.
Had Lee Han attempted smuggling with Amur's help without knowing this, he would've been in deep trouble.
'At least I found out in time, but losing one of my options still stings.' Unlike his seniors, this had been one of the few methods only Lee Han could use—and now it was blocked.
Still, there was nothing he could do. Lee Han resolved to shelve the Spire Stables route until the Skeleton Principal's vigilance waned.
"But among the seniors, there are many exceptional mages, right? Is it even possible to inspect all of their magic thoroughly?"
The Death Knight hesitated, as if struck in a sore spot.
-We... can't catch all of them. But that doesn't mean you should attempt smuggling. Only an extremely small fraction succeed—do you really want to take that risk?
'Yes...' 'I do want to take that risk.' The students thought to themselves.
"Hearing this does make the idea of smuggling a little less appealing."
-Is that so!
The Death Knight's eyes brightened.
If his words could prevent even a few students from making mistakes, he was satisfied.
-Then I'm relieved. You'll learn soon enough—it's absolute chaos. No student quietly submits to inspection. Some cast spells, cause disturbances, sneak away, and sometimes even riots break out...
"...Uh, riots?"
-They must think that if everyone acts up at once, the Punishment Hall won't be able to hold them all! Of course, the master proves them wrong. That year, the first week of lectures was held in the Punishment Hall.
The seniors' past exploits were fascinating.
Lee Han listened intently, hoping to glean something useful.
-And this time, the Keeper of the Vault will also assist with inspections. No matter how skilled the students' magic is, getting through will be nearly impossible!
Lee Han nodded in agreement.
The Keeper of the Vault, with his mana-detection abilities, was the very embodiment of terror for students who wandered at night.
Lee Han himself had had a few close calls.
'Wait. If the Keeper is out inspecting, then the underground...?'
-Wardanaz?
"Yes?"
-Who is that?
The Death Knight pointed ahead with a bewildered expression.
A tightly bound senior, caught mid-escape from the mansion's outer hall, was being dragged back by a group of students.
-"Y-you brats! How did you even find out? Who told you?"
-"Senior, please behave!"
THUD!
As the door slammed shut, Lee Han shrugged and said,
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
-......