Episode 756
Episode 756
For a while, no one in the Watcher Club spoke.
Only after belatedly recovering from the shock did Iactus write with trembling handwriting.
Iactus:
...
He really isn't the Headmaster, right...?
While the Watcher Club members whispered among themselves about the new member's identity, Lee Han closed his book, left the tower, and began moving.
He had already been cautious about running into freshmen, but now he was even more wary.
'From now on, I should stick as close to the main building as possible.'
When the seniors had first told him, "The higher your grade, the more you'll end up staying inside the main building," Lee Han had been skeptical.
Of course, the interior of Einrogard's main building was a bizarre, near-infinite structure, even larger than the academy's grounds...
But weren't there many things that could only be obtained outside the main building, in the academy's territory?
Even if students became busier and life got harder in the upper grades, how could they never leave the main building?
But now he understood.
'With those insane clones of the Skeleton Principal periodically hunting us down, how could anyone venture far out?'
If he wasn't careful, he could easily get kidnapped by some strange archmage...
Of course, the reasons other students had were quite different from Lee Han's...
"Excuse me?"
Lee Han pushed open the door to Professor Verdus's workshop—the Magic Tower, the Sacred Pavilion Hall—and stepped inside.
As he ascended to the second floor, he spotted three seniors from the Enchantment Magic department, their workspaces arranged in a chaotic mess. The seniors had their faces pressed so close to their workbenches that their noses nearly touched, meticulously finishing their artifacts.
"Seniors. Do you happen to know where Senior Yukveltire is?"
"......"
"Seniors?"
When they didn't respond, Lee Han decided to employ the same method he had used with Professor Verdus.
"SENIORS!!!"
"Gah—! You scared me! What the hell?!"
The Enchantment Magic students, deeply absorbed in their spells, jumped in shock at the sudden shout.
"Good day!"
"Why are you shouting so loudly? Call us quietly!"
"My apologies. I'll keep that in mind next time. Do you know where Senior Yukveltire's workshop is?"
"Nope."
"...?"
Lee Han was slightly taken aback.
There was no way a mage of Yukveltire's caliber in the Enchantment Magic department wouldn't have a workshop in the Sacred Pavilion Hall.
"Doesn't he have a workshop here in the Sacred Pavilion Hall?"
"He probably does."
"But you don't know where?"
"Nope."
Lee Han smiled and asked another question.
"Do you happen to know where Professor Verdus's workshop is?"
"No idea. Why would I?"
"I see. Thank you."
Having heard their answers, Lee Han concluded that he would have to search for it himself.
It wasn't uncommon for Enchantment Magic students to not even know each other's names.
"Senior Yukveltire?"
"Yeah."
"You're not Senior Yukveltire, are you?"
"Yeah."
"...Have a nice day."
"Yeah."
After pushing past the uncooperative Enchantment Magic students, Lee Han finally managed to locate Yukveltire's workshop.
The Princess was conducting her research while occupying the entire third basement floor.
"Senior, are you here?"
"Come in."
Yukveltire set down her sapphire-rimmed glasses on the table and gestured.
Then, as if she had expected this, she spoke.
"Right. You must have taken an interest in my research."
"......"
Lee Han was speechless at her baseless confidence.
"Senior. I was kidnapped by a clone until yesterday."
"Hmm."
Yukveltire didn't seem to grasp his meaning and fell into deep thought.
Then, as if she had figured it out, she lightly clapped her hands.
"Ah, so while learning magic under the Headmaster's clone, you must have had an epiphany. And that epiphany is related to my research. Right?"
"......Actually, I came to ask you to stop tormenting Senior Diret."
Lee Han pulled out a basket of food he had brought as a bribe.
'Since she's Adenart's older sister and related to Gainando, I thought the food bribe might work,' Lee Han thought hopefully.
Yukveltire immediately responded as if the idea was absurd.
"You seem to be mistaken—it's always Diret who torments me. I've never once troubled Diret. I've always shown respect."
"......"
Lee Han mentally recited three times: 'They're my senior, this is their workshop, and acting rashly might backfire,' before speaking.
"To be honest, I'd rather not debate the definition of 'tormenting,' Senior."
"Listen carefully. You'll understand once you hear it. When we first enrolled, Diret chose the Black Magic school as their major. I advised them—'You have no future in that field, come to the Enchantment Magic school instead.' And do you know what Diret did? They cast a curse right at my face. Now, who do you think was tormenting whom?"
"It sounds like you were the one tormenting Diret Senior."
"Hah!"
Yukveltire let out a cold sigh, as if disappointed.
To think a junior she'd acknowledged would say something so foolish.
"Senior, didn't you request Diret Senior's help in exchange for rescuing me? But honestly, how effective was your assistance?"
"That's a sharp observation. You're right—the output was far too lacking."
Yukveltire readily admitted.
She had identified the weak points in the magic and prepared a method to break them, but lacked the means to execute it.
"I'll do what I can to help, so please stop involving Diret Senior in this research."
"Fine."
Surprisingly, Yukveltire agreed without resistance.
Lee Han blinked in surprise.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"You're truly okay without Diret Senior's help from now on?"
"Diret wasn't helping with the research anyway."
"...?"
For a moment, Lee Han wondered if he'd misheard.
Not helping?
"Wait—didn't Diret Senior agree to assist with your research in exchange for rescuing me?"
"They did. But as you pointed out, their help wasn't very effective. Diret pointed that out and persuaded me. I accepted. Hmm. Actually, this could count as another instance of Diret tormenting me."
Yukveltire mused coldly.
No matter how she looked at it, Diret was definitely the one causing trouble.
Such self-centered stubbornness.
"So... even if I hadn't helped, Diret Senior wouldn't have been involved in this research?"
"Well, they might have come around to help out of remorse."
"..."
"Senior, please keep it a secret from Diret Senior that I'm assisting with the research."
"?"
Yukveltire tilted her head slightly, puzzled by her junior's request.
The research was exactly as Lee Han had seen it during the last winter break.
The Artificial Dimension Artifact.
A grand project designed to create an artificially isolated dimension according to the mage's will.
"You learned something from last time's failure, right?"
"Not to trust other mages?"
"That's a good lesson too. I'll pass it on to Diret."
While trusting other mages had been one cause of failure, Yukveltire also recognized the need to improve the artifact's fundamental structure.
The current Artificial Dimension Artifact relied on connecting dozens, even hundreds, of magic circles to continuously accelerate mana.
Mana accelerated in the first magic circle would be further accelerated in the second, then again in the third...
Creating even a tiny artificial dimension required immense power, making this structure unavoidable.
But this excessively intricate and complex design meant that a single mistake in any magic circle could lead to irreversible consequences.
When Yukveltire personally oversaw everything from start to finish, there were no issues. But the moment outside mages got involved, it became a ticking time bomb.
"Just last time, a very minor mistake alone caused it to distort into an elliptical shape and connect to an indeterminate dimension."
"I'm considering two major solutions. One is simplifying part of the structure. The other is adding a safety device to detect dimensions in advance."
By reducing and merging some of the magic circles, the probability of mistakes would decrease, while simultaneously adding an artifact to detect and monitor any potential connections to indeterminate dimensions.
It was such a rational improvement that even Lee Han, who had little interest in this research, found it convincing.
"I see. So my role is to infuse mana to compensate when merging magic circles?"
"That's one of your roles."
Yukveltire was pleased with her junior's response.
Unlike other juniors who needed explanations five or ten times, this one understood immediately—a very satisfying sight.
When merging connected magic circles into a single improved one, mana loss was inevitable, so a method to compensate was necessary.
Originally, it would have been quite complex, but with a mage capable of infusing mana, the problem could be resolved in an instant.
"Then I'll sit and wait."
"Understood."
Lee Han sat down and waited while reading Escape from Einrogard.
Yukveltire flipped through and sorted stacks of paper hundreds of sheets thick, continuously sketching new magic circles.
'Hmm.'
After about an hour, Lee Han wondered if it was okay to ask how much longer it would take.
But since his senior seemed so deeply focused, he took out a toy from his pocket and played with the basilisk instead.
The baby basilisk hissed happily, clearly delighted.
'Speaking of which, those Watcher Club bastards. They can't even distinguish fake rumors.'
Lee Han resolved to confront the beaver, penguin, and fox the next time he saw them.
It wasn't for nothing that ominous animals were in their aliases. What if they brought back unverified rumors?
Another hour passed like that.
Yukveltire raised her head with the most exhausted expression in the world. His voice was half-gone.
"It's done. Come over here and infuse mana."
"Understood."
Lee Han approached the artifact as instructed and channeled mana into it. A flash of light followed, and a section of the artifact was newly modified.
Though an enormous amount of mana had been expended, Lee Han remained unaffected.
"Is it done now?"
"Now for the next one."
Yukveltire sat back down at the desk piled with hundreds of sheets and began drawing a new magic circle.
Lee Han glanced at the artificial dimension artifact and calculated Yukveltire's working speed.
'So, to fully improve this...?'
While estimating whether it would take years—and whether he could graduate and escape before then—a loud thud came from the front. Startled, Lee Han looked up.
Yukveltire had collapsed.
"Are you alright?!"
"I've consumed too few nutrients..."
Lee Han was speechless at how elegantly he phrased "I'm starving."
Even Adenart and Gainando made sure to eat properly—what kind of fifth-year behaves like this?
"I happened to bring snacks, so have some. Here, I have sandwiches."
"Does it have cheese?"
Lee Han was impressed by his supernatural ability to detect ingredients—truly befitting of royalty—and smiled warmly.
"Yes."
"I'm not too fond of cheese."
"...I-I see. Then here, have this ham and egg sandwich instead."
"I'm not too fond of ham either..."
Yukveltire picked out every ingredient one by one before contentedly munching on plain bread.
"Your cooking skills are decent. Almost on par with the imperial chefs."
"......"
Having finished his "meal" with just a piece of bread and a sip of cocoa, Yukveltire immediately signaled that he was full.
While Lee Han was still baffled, the workshop door opened, and Diret entered.
"Hey. I'll help. Even if you're incompetent, you at least put in the effort, so—"
"......"
Lee Han froze when his eyes met Diret's.
Desperately, he blurted out,
"...I just happened to be here to observe!"
"You came to assist with the research, didn't you?"
Lee Han shoved the obstructive senior aside. Yukveltire tumbled off the sofa with a loud thud.