Episode 767
Episode 767
In truth, there was absolutely nothing worth looting on the second floor of the teahouse, but his friends held a strange belief.
Wouldn't Lee Han be able to scrounge up something even from an empty void of nothingness?
"...It wasn't looting the second floor. It was a trade."
Under his friends' bewildered gazes, Lee Han gave a simple explanation.
He had received magical items through a deal with a senior.
"A magical space?"
"Yes, Priestess Siana."
"...If it was that kind of space... you didn't happen to bring out other people's belongings along with yours, did you?"
The sheer quantity of materials he had brought out made Siana voice a reasonable suspicion.
Lee Han looked utterly flabbergasted at the question.
"What kind of nonsense is that? As if I would— Wait a minute."
Mid-conversation, Lee Han paused and double-checked just in case.
He really didn't want to end up on Einrogard's Watcher Club blacklist.
"See, it's nothing! Priestess Siana!"
"S-sorry..."
'...Thank goodness I didn't say anything.' Yoner thought to herself.
Truthfully, she had also wondered, 'Did he accidentally bring more than he should have?'
"I paid a fair price for this much. Don't get the wrong idea, everyone."
"What did you pay?"
Lee Han glanced at the innocent-looking skeleton—a black mage from another school—sitting nearby before deflecting the question.
"That's a secret."
"......"
His friends immediately began whispering among themselves.
"If Lee Han says it's a secret, doesn't that mean it was a really dangerous deal?"
"Maybe he found and sold something like the Headmaster's heart..."
"I think that Wardanaz bastard might've sold a bit of his own blood or flesh."
Lee Han swung his staff, using telekinesis to push away their chatter, then neatly stacked the received materials.
"Magic Yut? Who won?"
"It's still ongoing, so the winner isn't decided yet—"
"Gainando lost."
"That imperial brat is in last place."
As his friends shamelessly declared the results, Gainando subtly shoved the yut board aside and shouted.
"Let's check the supplies! The supplies!"
"I'll help too. But seriously, what kind of deal did you make to get this much?"
Agdung asked, completely unable to guess what Lee Han had done while chatting in the teahouse.
"I got lucky, Senior Agdung. Oh, right. I'll share some with you too, Senior."
"What? No, you can't do that. I'm your senior."
"Nonsense! You even visited Einrogard. This is just a small gift symbolizing goodwill from the Black Magic faction."
"But still, my pride..."
Crash!
While the two were talking, the others had already gotten to work.
They were splitting open tightly sealed wooden crates and barrels with small hatchets to check the contents inside.
"Everyone, confirm the quantities and take notes."
"One crate of mid-grade Black Tree Leaves."
"One crate of Flame Tree Roots."
"Lee Han, this barrel looks like it's filled with gravel tree sap."
"Is there anything edible? Here's a crate of processed Fire Birch."
"Stop talking nonsense, Gainando. One crate of Earth-attribute Magic Stones..."
'Did they smuggle it like I did?' Lee Han marveled inwardly as he sorted through the materials he had received.
Not only were the types impressive, but the sheer quantity was far more abundant than he had expected.
The other party was also an Einrogard student—how did they have this much?
What was going on?
"Huh. Did they ransack a forest or something?"
"!"
At Agdung's muttered words, Lee Han realized.
Most of these reagents were things that could be gathered from the forest.
'Indeed. But...'
Though Einrogard's territory was filled with mountains and forests, finding usable resources within them wasn't that easy.
Especially with reagents like these—they required specialized cultivation and effort to be of any real use.
The other party must have had access to several hidden secret forests.
'Impressive. As expected of seniors.' Lee Han felt a slight admiration for the unknown BeaverPenguinFox's wealth.
If they ever met face-to-face in the Watcher Club, he'd probably act a bit more politely.
To stash that kind of fortune within Einrogard's territory...
"Phew, huff huff. We're done organizing, Lee Han."
"Good work, everyone."
Gainando grumbled that Lee Han might have tricked them into thinking there was no food, but the other friends seemed quite satisfied.
After all, they had smuggled in enough supplies at the start of the semester to last a while, and these reagents were far more valuable right now.
Agdung, curious about what the disciple of the Magic Tower could possibly do with this amount of reagents, asked,
"What kind of research are you planning with these?"
"I was thinking of collaborating with the Black Magic students to make some..."
Lee Han had been considering using the reagents—aside from those needed for lectures and research—to craft something in the Black Magic school's workshops and facilities.
With the help of other seniors in the school, he could probably create something sellable, which would help fill the Black Magic school's coffers a bit.
But this wasn't something he could discuss with outsiders.
The idea of crafting Black Magic items for profit didn't exactly sound respectable.
"Make some...?"
"A little... forbidden research."
"!?"
Beaver
-Penguin
-Fox: Did you take the items?
Gonadaltes: Indeed. It seems they aren't completely destitute.
Beaver
-Penguin
-Fox: Don't brag. No one in Einrogard has that many reagents stocked up.
Gonadaltes: Heh. Is that so?
Lee Han, despite his bravado, was already worrying about what he'd have to offer in return when making requests within the Watcher Club later.
Would he have to pay in actual food?
'Though I doubt the seniors are that obsessed with food.'
Beaver
-Penguin
-Fox: Activate the artifact, and we'll hand over the remaining items. Hurry. The forest is crying.
"Senior Agdung."
"What?"
"I'd like to go activate the artifact Professor Taswan set up."
Agdung looked at Lee Han with an expression that said, I knew you'd say that. Lee Han quickly defended himself.
"It's not like I planned to hunt Contaminated Beings from the start, but seeing the current situation, things seem pretty serious..."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure that's it. Should we make a plan?"
Under different circumstances, Agdung might have hesitated and tried to stop them, but thanks to the artifact Professor Taswan had left behind, he didn't dissuade his juniors.
The plan was simple and straightforward.
"I'll cast a protective spell, so we'll move as quietly and stealthily as possible."
Once Agdung cast a protective spell shielding the group from the Contaminated Beings, they would move as quickly as possible through the safe mushroom patches to reach the artifact's location.
Once there, they could activate it, and that would be the end of it.
Imirgue, who had been listening nearby, muttered,
"H-how are you going to maintain a protective spell while moving...?"
'Good question.'
Lee Han was also puzzled by Imirgue's observation.
Unlike stationary protective spells, maintaining one while moving was an entirely different level of difficulty.
Casting individual protective spells on everyone here would drain not just mana but also an enormous amount of mental focus.
"Senior Agdung. What kind of spell are you planning to use? I'd like to help too."
"Ah, Wardanaz! There's really no need this time."
Agdung grinned and swung his staff.
A Summoning Magic circle formed, and in midair, several cloaks emitting a disgustingly foul stench materialized.
They looked like fabric woven from compressed Contaminated Beings, thread by thread.
The Einrogard students stiffened at the sight of what was undoubtedly the worst cloak they had ever seen.
Even the tattered cloaks they had patched with leaves when they first enrolled were better than this.
"...Do we have to wear this?"
"Yep. This is Kallarogard's hard-earned research achievement—the <Contaminated Being Cloak>. What do you think?"
Agdung spoke with pride.
Kallarogard, which frequently dealt with Contaminated Beings, had deeply considered how to find a more efficient method than exhausting themselves with repeated purification spells.
The result of that research was this very <Contaminated Being Cloak>.
Instead of emitting waves to repel or purify Contaminated Beings, it made the wearer register as one of them.
Mistaking the cloaked mages as their own kind, the Contaminated Beings wouldn't attack them.
"Uh..."
"Uh..."
"Mmm..."
None of his friends could bring themselves to speak properly, all hesitating.
In their hearts, they wished someone would step forward and shout, 'There's no way we can wear this!'—but no one dared to speak up.
"D-Don't you like it?"
Agdung grew flustered when the Einrogard students' reactions turned out more subdued than expected. At that, the students hastily exclaimed:
"It's amazing!"
"Who would've thought of something like this?!"
"If this gets published in the Imperial Newspaper, investors will line up to commercialize it!"
Lee Han shot a meaningful glance at the friends who were still standing frozen, prompting them to force out compliments through gritted teeth.
"Phew. For a second, I thought you all were unimpressed."
"......"
"Using Kallarogard's name for this is just mean, isn't it?"
Gainando muttered quietly from the back.
If this had been made under Baldrogard's name, he would've outright refused to wear it without hesitation!
'Come to think of it, I think I understand why the Black Magic school is so poor.' Lee Han thought as he draped the cloak over himself.
The cloak's effect was outstanding.
Without needing to cast additional spells or recharge mana, it could deceive Contaminated Beings—making it incredibly useful in hazardous areas.
But one flaw overshadowed all its merits.
Most people wouldn't be caught dead wearing such a grotesque and revolting cloak!
They'd rather buy cloaks several times more expensive than this...
'No matter how good the performance is, you can't make something like this. Another lesson learned.'
With faces as gloomy as a downpour, Lee Han and his party draped the cloaks over themselves and swiftly broke through the mushroom field.
The periodically appearing Contaminated Beings paid no attention to them, treating them like mere pebbles.
Though the performance was genuinely impressive, instead of marveling, the students checked the magic on their noses.
"The smell-numbing curse is about to wear off—will we be okay?"
"Shh. If you make noise, the Contaminated Beings might notice. Just endure a little longer."
While the others conversed, Lee Han and Agdung searched ahead for the staff.
Near a murky, bubbling pond filled with dark, viscous liquid, Agdung gestured excitedly upon spotting the peachwood staff artifact.
"Found it! Over there!"
"Should I just grab it?"
"Wait. We need to disable the defensive spells first—"
BAM!
Lee Han blasted them away with Psychokinesis and yanked the artifact toward him.
Agdung, trying to maintain his dignity as a senior, suppressed his shock and nodded approvingly.
"Hmm. A b-bit excessive, but acceptable."
"Senior Agdung, your jawbone is dislocated."
Meanwhile, Ilendil cursed every single faculty member and student of Einrogard as he waited anxiously.
"Calm down, everyone... Just hold on a little longer. Understood?"
The Spirits who had taken refuge nearby looked like they were suffocating from the Contaminated Beings' rampage.
If the Contaminated Beings continued roaming the forest unchecked, the Spirits wouldn't last long before being forced to retreat to their own dimension.
"We hired a mage... so soon... it should take effect..."
Though Ilendil usually spoke in a slow, languid tone, today his words came out twice as fast—proof of just how critical the situation in the 7th-floor forest was.
[Bakwantalana: This seems like a lie. I'm not sure. I'd advise against making such a big deal out of it.]
[Iactus: Oh! You should definitely go for it. I've always thought Gonadaltes was reliable, you know?]
Lee Han assumed Bakwantalana was taking his side, but in reality, the other members of the Watcher Club had advised Ilendil not to trust the deal.
No matter how he looked at it, absorbing all the contamination sources in such a short time was impossible.
Someone like Iactus was practically broadcasting his ulterior motives...
Yet Ilendil had ultimately accepted the suspicious proposal—because he was that desperate.
'But what if it's a lie...?'
Ilendil struggled to suppress the dark thoughts creeping up—thoughts of who to hire to make the other party suffer the most.
Just then, the 7th-floor forest erupted in chaos with a deafening roar.
KWA-RRRRUMBLE!
As the earth and water swapped places, forcibly dredging up the contamination sources, the Watcher Club members screamed.
[Iactus: This is insane! How?!]
[Gonadaltes: What's so insane about it?]
[Iactus: ...]
The sheer level of magic unfolding in the 7th floor right now is insane!
[Gonadaltes: That wasn't the tone I was going for...?]