Episode 748
Episode 748
The giants lifted the Kitchen Club members onto their shoulders one by one, then released the Mountain-Destroying Sheep.
The Mountain-Destroying Sheep began moving ferociously, as if intent on bringing the world to ruin, searching for traces of magic.
"Find that cramped, unpleasant place!"
Ikurusha shouted at the giants.
Though they weren't mages, their instincts were just as sharp and keen.
If this was where the Wardanaz boy had gone missing, then surely some vile magic was bubbling up—so they needed to locate a place the giants found difficult to approach.
Krrrrumble!
"What was that noise?"
Meanwhile, the Library Club members, approaching from another direction, froze at the distant roar.
The vast Einrogard mountain range was a place teeming with all kinds of dangers, and one couldn't survive without paying attention to even the smallest sounds.
"Sound, reveal your nature."
Sebius chanted a spell.
It was magic designed to uncover the identity of whatever was making the noise.
"Senior Sebius, what is it?"
"......"
Instead of answering, Sebius broke out in a cold sweat. The Library Club members grew flustered at the sight.
Why is he acting like this?
"What is it? A mammoth?"
"The sound's too loud—could it be a Mountain-Destroying Sheep?"
"Don't be ridiculous. There's no way a Mountain-Destroying Sheep would come down this far. If it did, it'd be the end of the world."
No sooner had the members finished speaking than a giant's head abruptly popped up from below the hill.
And then, the Mountain-Destroying Sheep leaped down, landing right in front of the students.
"You lot, help too! A student's gone missing!"
"......"
"......"
The Library Club members struggled to process the situation.
Giants, a Mountain-Destroying Sheep, and...
Other kidnapped club mages?
"Why are you guys here?!"
"Looking for a junior... What about you?"
"We're also looking for a junior..."
"Hurry!"
"Is now really the time for idle chatter?! How rude!"
The giants snapped irritably.
This was no time to waste—these mages were casually chatting when they should've been moving urgently.
"S-sorry."
The students apologized under the giants' scolding.
They couldn't help but feel like uncultured, ill-mannered people.
They had no idea why the giants were helping with the search, but...
Whoosh—
"—!"
Sebius's eyes widened as he spotted a massive book flying through the sky.
That was Senior Illeg's flying artifact.
And riding alongside him were... other fifth-years?!
It made sense that club members would step up, given how precious their new junior was, but why would fifth-years—who were already busy with their own research—get involved?
Just how many people are in this mountain range?!
* * *
"Diret. Are you listening?"
"I said I got it! I already agreed to help with your research! Say it one more time, and I'll say it a hundred times!"
"It's only been seven times. One more would make eight."
"You two. Stop fighting."
Illeg intervened between Yukveltire and Diret.
There was still much to do, and if these two kept fighting, nothing would get done.
"Still, it's impressive. You actually convinced Yukveltire."
"It wasn't persuasion—it was negotiation."
Illeg himself, being a fellow Library Club member and having been kidnapped while researching music magic, had stepped up first. But Yukveltire, true to being a disciple of Verdus, didn't join the rescue effort just because they were from the same school.
In the end, Diret had to promise to assist Yukveltire's research before he could be dragged along.
'Should I just push them off?'
"Wouldn't it have been better to bring Catten along too?"
"I tried, but when I asked, they said he's gone missing again. Probably somewhere in the desert region..."
Having a fifth-year friend from the White Tiger Tower would've been helpful in this situation, but you couldn't force someone who wasn't there to come.
Diret sighed and looked down below.
The ashen mountain range, oblivious to Diret's inner thoughts, remained peaceful...
'...????'
Diret's eyes widened at the sight of the giants rummaging around with the students.
"Yukveltire. Look down there."
At her friend's call, Yukveltire let out a sigh as well.
She was currently focusing on searching the vicinity with her artifact, so being called for no reason was irritating.
Honestly, Diret was far too scatterbrained for someone with such outstanding talent.
"Diret. If you're about to tell me to take a break and enjoy the scenery again, save it. I'm not some child who gets cheered up by pretty landscapes."
"Hey. Just look."
Given their past history where Diret had shown her scenic views multiple times only to hear 'How does this help with magic?', he had absolutely no intention of calling her over just because the view was nice.
"...!"
"Giants!"
Both Yukveltire and Illeg were startled and looked down below.
The giants were clearly searching for someone.
In fact, several Library Club members had already been captured by the giants.
"Everyone. Our juniors in the club have been captured. We must help them!"
"Chae-gla."
Yukveltire called Illeg in a serious tone.
"Stop fussing over juniors who aren't even at your level. It won't contribute anything to your magic."
Illeg naturally ignored her.
"Mr. Diret. Can you assist us in dealing with those giants?"
"I can help, but those giants... they're friends of our junior."
"?"
"??"
As the two fifth-years stared at Diret as if he were spouting nonsense, his face turned slightly red.
"They're really friends! They're probably looking for Wardanaz."
"How is that...?"
"Indeed."
Unlike Illeg, who showed interest and curiosity about their junior, Yukveltire coldly assessed the reality.
Whether their junior was friends with giants or not wasn't particularly important to Yukveltire herself.
Unless it involved research that required giants, there was no reason to ask unnecessary questions.
"Then let's use the giants' instincts."
No matter how powerful a Grand Mage's magic was, no spell was ever perfect.
There had to be gaps, and if they could cleverly exploit those gaps, they could rescue their junior without the Grand Mage noticing.
Yukveltire planned to follow the giants' instincts.
"Yukveltire. If those giants and our junior find the gaps in the magic, how long do you think it'll take before we can enter?"
"At least one..."
"One day??"
"One month. What are you talking about?"
"No. We have to solve this within a day."
"Diret. Magic doesn't bend just because you—"
"Do it!"
"Ghk!"
Lee Han was sent flying backward.
This time, it wasn't because of the insane doppelgänger's attack, but because his magic had failed.
When he failed to maintain the form, the telekinetic force scattered in all directions, flinging him away.
'...Now I understand why people stick to spells like <Lesser Manipulation>.'
<Lesser Manipulation>, with its clearly limited output, wouldn't cause serious harm even if it failed.
But the moment Lee Han tried to amplify the output drastically and wield it freely, the risk of failure skyrocketed.
'I can roughly manage firing it as a shockwave, but maintaining it in a whip-like form is... impossible.'
Still, it wasn't all failure.
What surprised Lee Han himself was how unexpectedly well-suited he was to telekinesis.
Especially in terms of casting speed—it was almost perfected.
"Strike!"
Boom!
With an abbreviated incantation, condensed telekinetic force lashed against the wall.
Not only was the speed of converting mana into telekinetic force impressive, but he had even succeeded in abbreviating the incantation this quickly.
'At this rate, I might actually achieve incantationless casting.'
Unbeknownst to Lee Han himself, the trials he had endured throughout the past year had further honed his innate talent.
Moreover, the unique nature of telekinesis—requiring pure mental focus without borrowing the power of other elements—actually lowered the difficulty for him.
Instantaneous casting, thanks to overwhelming mana and concentration.
If he could just overcome one of the greatest hurdles in this spell—incantationless casting—
"Who are you?"
"!"
Hearing an unfamiliar voice from behind, Lee Han startled and turned around.
The mage wore a mask made of True Silver and was dressed in archaic robes that could no longer be seen in the current empire.
Lee Han grew wary at the sight of this inscrutable figure.
"He's a new disciple I've taken in."
The mad simulacrum answered in Lee Han's stead.
Though it had no visible form, its voice echoed through the workshop as if reverberating off the walls. Lee Han became certain—it was indeed keeping watch to prevent his escape.
'Good thing I didn't recklessly try to run.'
"Master, if I may be so bold as to speak... The students of Einrogard are undoubtedly exceptional talents, but most of them are still unrefined gems. I doubt they can truly accomplish what you desire—"
Thunk!
A blade of darkness ignited in midair and pierced straight through the mage's body.
Antagondals coughed painfully but still managed to offer an apology.
"...Forgive me, Master."
"Tch. I loosened your leash out of generosity, and now you dare crawl higher? Say one more word, and I'll make sure it's your last."
The blade twisted, tearing through Antagondals' body once more.
Lee Han was horrified, realizing just how kind the mad simulacrum had been to him until now.
To stab someone just for saying something slightly disagreeable—what kind of madness was this?
'Even if he's just a disciple—no, a servant—this is too much!'
Yet Antagondals himself didn't seem particularly bothered.
He pulled the dark blade out himself, then waved a hand to disperse the sinister energy before sealing the wound. Silver threads tangled haphazardly in the air, stitching the injury shut.
Once the rough healing was done, Antagondals stared piercingly at Lee Han from behind his mask.
"Are you alright?"
"What do you mean?"
"Your wound."
"Ah. Once you know the right spell, healing isn't all that difficult."
Antagondals' voice shifted—sometimes youthful, sometimes aged. At times it sounded masculine, yet carried an undeniable femininity. His race was even more ambiguous.
"Judging by your expression, this must be quite shocking for an Einrogard student. What? Surprised that learning magic involves getting stabbed by your master?"
"Frankly, yes."
The archmage let out a cackling laugh from behind his mask before casting a soundproof barrier to prevent their conversation from leaking.
"If I wouldn't hesitate to offer my soul, why would I hesitate over getting stabbed? It's a transaction. That monster is happy to have a servant to worship him, and I'm happy to scrape fragments of ancient magic from him."
Hearing this, Lee Han realized Antagondals didn't truly regard the mad simulacrum as his master.
Their relationship was closer to a mutually beneficial deal.
'The mindset of ancient mages is truly hard to follow.'
"I saw the illusion you left in the forest."
"Illusion?"
Lee Han described the vision of Antagondals pleading and raging at the mad simulacrum.
Upon hearing it, Antagondals burst into laughter again.
"You saw that? As expected of someone brought here by that monster—your sensitivity is remarkable."
"It was a bit different from the version I saw directly, though..."
"Of course. What you witnessed was the moment that monster truly lost its mind."
"??"
Lee Han was baffled. The mad simulacrum was already insane—how could it go even further?
"Occasionally, that monster becomes... lenient. I waited for one of those moments, even gave myself a human face to appeal to its emotions."
The mad simulacrum was usually fixated solely on its twisted sense of honor, but very rarely, it would show mercy.
Antagondals had tried to exploit that moment—but gained little from it.
"Why does it become lenient sometimes?"
"Hah! If a monster has moments of weakness, you use them. Why waste time wondering why?"
As a magic criminal, Antagondals was content just scraping together fragments of ancient magic by catering to the mad simulacrum's whims.
But Lee Han couldn't help but be intrigued. If the Skeleton Principal's mad simulacrum occasionally softened...
'Could there still be some trace of sanity left?'
For someone desperate to escape, that was a hope too significant to ignore.
"So, what did that monster order you to do?"
Lee Han explained the task assigned by the mad simulacrum.
Upon hearing it, Antagondals burst into the loudest laugh of the day.
"You're as good as dead!"
"......"