Episode 781
Episode 781
"Sigh. Fine. Let's just set up camp."
Unaware of Lafadell's internal shock, Gainando spoke with a sullen expression.
Ever since his summon had been reverse-summoned, the world seemed bleak no matter what he did.
"Y-you bastard. Are you suddenly trying to act all dignified by yourself...! How cowardly!"
"What nonsense are you spouting? I said let's set up camp. Do you want to see Lee Han get angry?"
Gainando looked incredulous as Lafadell changed the subject.
He was already distressed about having a summon reverse-summoned, and now this nonsense?
"Kuh, kuhk. Don't think this is over." 'Did he drink something bad?' Gainando wondered if his friend had inhaled hallucinogenic powder while passing through the forest area.
Why did he keep spouting nonsense...
"Call your summon and have it dig around here a bit."
By their second year at Einrogard, students—whether noble-born or slave-born—developed the skills to set up camp anywhere.
Gainando checked the surrounding terrain and pointed with his finger as he made the request. Having a small moat dug near the campsite would be convenient in many ways.
"Wouldn't your summon be more suitable? It's bigger..."
"Did I have something like that?"
Gainando feigned ignorance. Of course, it didn't work on Lafadell.
After making the contract, Gainando had bragged about it 131 times a day—it wasn't something easily forgotten.
"A big one, covered in thorn-like armor. That guy would be perfect for this kind of work."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Right! The Thorn Revenant. That was its name."
"...It got reverse-summoned! Happy now?!"
Gainando snapped and threw a bone.
Despite being hit in the face with the bone, Lafadell didn't get angry—instead, he was flustered.
For an undead summon to be completely destroyed and reverse-summoned...
This was a pretty significant matter for a black mage.
Not only would it take a while to recover, but even if it did, there was no guarantee the contract would remain intact.
Undead summons were vicious and unruly, rarely understanding a mage's circumstances.
"W-was it that intense? I'm sorry."
"...Forget it. Just do the work instead."
"I, I can't either."
"What? What do you mean?"
Gainando was puzzled when Lafadell hesitated.
As a black magic student, Lafadell also had a contracted summon.
"Yours got reverse-summoned too?"
"No... That's not it."
"Then what?"
"...I-it looks tired today, so I want to let it rest."
"......"
Gainando couldn't believe his ears.
An undead summon looked tired, so he wanted to let it rest...?
What kind of...?
"W-what nonsense is this? Is that in the contract?"
"No... I didn't make that kind of contract."
"Then order it."
"I-it's pitiful..." '...
Just how much does he cherish his undead summon??' Gainando was flabbergasted.
Among all the black mages he'd seen, Lafadell was the most doting and protective of his summon!
"You said black magic is just a means to an end! When you contracted the undead summon, you said you were just hiring it to learn about the enemy!"
"That was the plan!"
"Then summon it! Why let it rest?!"
"T-this is... Fine. It's a trick to lower its guard. If I treat it well, it'll let its guard down..."
"...You're lying!! You expect me to believe that?!"
For nearly ten minutes, Gainando and Lafadell argued—'Admit you like undead!' 'No, I hate undead!'—until they finally acknowledged they were at an impasse.
"Huff, huff... Fine. Let's both agree not to use our summons..."
"R-right. I'm glad you understand. ...Then how are we going to dig around here?"
"Are you good at earth magic?"
"No... You?"
"I'm not great at earth magic either..."
They stared blankly at each other.
There was only one method left.
* * *
"??"
"Why are you guys holding shovels?"
Their friends, who had been working elsewhere, looked at Gainando and Lafadell in confusion.
Why were these mages holding shovels like that?
"It's... it's a secret of black magic."
"O-oh, is that so?"
The other students thought there might be summons in black magic, but they decided to let it slide.
They still had their own workload left, and they didn't know much about black magic anyway.
"...Why are you two using shovels like that?"
Of course, they couldn't fool Lee Han. He stared at Lafadell with a bewildered expression.
Gainando might not have summons, so fine, but why was this guy too...?
"...My summons got reverse-summoned too..."
"Lee Han! This bastard said his summons looked tired, so he's not making them work today!"
"Hey!"
Lafadell was horrified, but Lee Han had already heard everything.
Lee Han looked at Lafadell with an expression of utter shock.
"I-I see. Lafadell. I understand you. Well, it's good to take care of your summons."
-Wow! What a kind black mage!
"No! That's not it!"
Lafadell would have preferred being mocked—this warm understanding only made him feel more ashamed.
To be misunderstood as a descendant of the Gral Family who dotes on undead creatures!
"I'm really just saving them for later use, I swear!"
"Yeah... Sure, whatever..."
Lee Han left Lafadell wailing in the background and went back to inspecting the campsite.
'Come to think of it, the quality keeps improving every time.'
Unlike other grades where each tower did their own thing, the current second-years of Einrogard had (reluctantly) gone through many crises together.
Perhaps because of that, their campsite-building skills kept leveling up.
Before, it was just digging a pit in front, scattering poison and snake-repelling powder, and huddling around a campfire behind a large rock as a windbreak...
But now, the campsite had a neatly dug moat at a perfect angle, filled with water mixed with extermination potions. The walls were tightly constructed with barrier magic, and inside, they had even built a tall watchtower to send signals to students who hadn't arrived yet...
"Don't you think the camp walls are too rough?"
"Should we change the color with magic?"
Now that they had some breathing room, students were even starting to decorate—some wanted to paint the walls, others wanted to place commemorative items at the entrance...
'...'
Do they really have to draw the Skeleton Principal, though?'
Lee Han shook his head as he watched his friends painting a mural of an evil skeleton being vanquished on the walls surrounding the campsite.
It was a waste of stamina and mana, but they were so enthusiastic that he couldn't stop them.
"Wardanaz! Over here! Here!"
Friends who had finished their assigned sections called out to Lee Han from inside the campsite, where they were boiling tea. A pot bubbled noisily over a small campfire.
"We were talking about tents. It'd be so convenient if we had one with spatial expansion magic."
Even though the current campsite was already much better than before, the students still aimed higher.
If they could set up tents enchanted with spatial expansion magic inside the campsite, how comfortable would that be?
At that point, they wouldn't even need to do all this heavy labor—just block off the surroundings and stay inside the tents.
Lee Han was slightly impressed.
'I never even thought of that. Everyone's so proactive.'
"That's true. But spatial magic artifacts are really tricky to make, aren't they? Do you have a plan?"
Creating a large artifact was difficult enough, but adding spatial magic made it even harder. Even for Einrogard students, it wasn't something easily obtained.
"Hehe. We do! Wardanaz!"
"Oh? What is it? Are you collaborating with the seniors to make one?"
Lee Han felt the rare satisfaction of learning magic from multiple schools.
This was the kind of project he wanted to join—one where he could really contribute.
'I really want a tent with spatial expansion magic.'
"If we're doing this, I'd like to use the workshop in the Sacred Pavilion Hall. The facilities there are decent. Professor Verdus' section is the best, but we can sneak in when he's not around. By the way, which school do the seniors belong to?"
Lee Han's friends looked at him with awkward expressions as he passionately spoke.
"Actually, we were talking about stealing from our seniors..."
"......"
Since making one themselves seemed impossible even by graduation time, stealing from an existing senior seemed like the only viable option.
"...W-well. I see."
"We were going to ask you to lead the theft, Wardanaz..."
Lee Han's group fell silent for a while, sipping their black tea.
Ashan, sensing the awkward atmosphere, tried to lighten the mood by speaking up.
"Actually, I did hear something about a spatial expansion magic artifact."
"Eh, really?!"
"What is it, Dalkard??"
"It's an ancient artifact - a tent about the size of a sleeping bag, but the inside is as spacious as half this campsite..."
"!!"
"Where did you read about it?! Which dungeon is it in?!"
The students all shouted with determination to immediately enter that dungeon and find the ancient artifact, regardless of whose turn it was.
"...W-well... a senior has it."
"......"
"......"
The friends fell silent again. After finishing his tea, Lee Han spoke.
"Well... it's not like there's a law saying we absolutely can't steal from seniors."
"Wardanaz!!"
"Right!? I knew we could count on you!!"
'Shouldn't the Teleportation Club be filled with guys like these?' Lee Han pondered slightly to himself.
While setting up camp and waiting, students from the Summoning department began arriving one by one.
When everyone had gathered, Ashan cleared his throat and pulled out a map.
"Alright everyone. While waiting, I measured the height and length here roughly..."
Swish swish swish
-"......"
"......"
Looking at the newly drawn map and the vast blank space occupying it, the students collectively sighed deeply.
To survey and fill out a map of this size, they'd probably have to explore this dimension continuously throughout the entire semester.
"Let's start by climbing to the summit of the central zone first. Everyone, gather your energy."
"Professor Milley must be disappointed too. How could she expect us to do this in one semester?"
"Maybe all professors are like that by nature. We just haven't noticed it before."
'What an admirable observation.' Lee Han strongly agreed with someone's comment.
Professors were indeed an inherently wicked species. Occasionally there might be one who seemed kind, but that was usually just students being delusional...
"Huff, huff huff. Wardanaz."
Among the group heading to survey the central zone summit, Lee Han was at the very front.
In such expeditions, having skilled mages at both the front and rear made it easier to handle emergencies.
As Lee Han led the way, Ashan approached him while panting heavily.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, not exactly. It's just..."
Ashan hesitated slightly, seeming somewhat embarrassed as he tried to speak.
"The Wardanaz family are famous dimension specialists in the Empire, right?"
"That... would be correct?"
"There's... a story I heard before, that the Wardanaz family leaves markers everywhere when exploring dimensions..."
Leaving markers containing information about the surroundings for other mages who might arrive later was indeed something dimension-exploring mages often did.
True to his family's generations-long tradition of serving as Imperial treasurers, Ashan was quite knowledgeable about such rumors.
"Right. They probably do that."
"...There's no chance we might find such markers here, is there?"
"...Ashan..."
"I-I know! I know it's impossible!"
Ashan's face turned red as he defended himself.
Even he realized how absurdly unrealistic his hope was.
Finding a marker left by the Wardanaz family in one of infinite dimensions would be less likely than finding a needle in a haystack...
"Even so, how could you expect to find such markers? You might as well hope to meet family members instead?"
"Statistically there's a higher chance since they leave behind many more markers..."
Ashan couldn't let go of the idea, speaking stubbornly.
The map they needed to fill just felt that terrifying.
"Give it up, Ashan. I used to calculate the probability of meteors falling on Einrogard too, but it was meaningless in the end. ...Huh, brother?"
Lee Han was startled to see his second brother Arsil Wardanaz in the distance at the central zone summit, assisted by spirits as he compiled his notes.