Episode 784
Episode 784
The message Lee Han sent with malicious intent arrived soon enough. Giselle, who had been resting at the Sword-Wielding Mage cafe on the 7th floor—a gathering spot primarily for White Tiger Tower students—sipping acorn coffee, was puzzled upon receiving the message.
"Wardanaz persuaded Senior Jahan?"
"Yeah! Moradi, congratulations!"
"Did that bastard bribe you or something?"
The friends beside her glared with deep suspicion.
No matter how they thought about it, there was no reason for Wardanaz to show such goodwill without expecting something in return.
"Wha... what?! Bribe?! A bribe?! How dare you...! Draw your sword! A duel!"
The White Tiger Tower student, insulted by his friends, was fuming.
The others flinched slightly at his attitude because they could sense his sincerity.
"Hmm. Maybe not? Maybe I was mistaken."
"Let's take back what we just said... Wait. Why do you smell like meat? It's still too early for Wardanaz's distribution, isn't it?"
Though Wardanaz had secured ample smuggled food supplies at the beginning of the semester, the ruthless rules of Einrogard prevented them from freely purchasing those supplies.
The cruel seniors hadn't allowed them to buy the food cheaply and in abundance.
They had to secretly pay at a set time on a set day, and students from other towers called this "Wardanaz's distribution."
Thanks to that, they didn't starve, but they couldn't eat as luxuriously as they could outside. And if they factored in stockpiling for emergencies, it was even worse.
But what was this meat smell?
"Reveal yourself... You bastard! What is this?! It's like meat juice?!"
"W-well, Wardanaz was working at the Kitchen Club, so I got a choripan secretly..."
"...You were bribed!! 100% bribed!!"
"I wasn't! Choy was invited too!"
The White Tiger Tower students, who had been about to pounce on their friend, hesitated.
If Durgyu had been invited too, the story was a bit different.
"What about Choy..."
"Come to think of it, didn't that bastard Wardanaz visit the Moradi family's territory during winter break?"
"Shh. Quiet. If you mention that, Moradi will try to kill you."
"Why, though?"
"Probably because if rumors spread about a political alliance between the Moradi family of the North and the Wardanaz family, it could unite political enemies within the Empire's current system, which is divided into loyalists, noble factions, and neutrals."
"Indeed. Especially the western noble families would react even more sensitively. They're already furious that the knights were prioritized for deployment in the North."
"True. We may be from knight families, but as students of Einrogard, we must act honorably."
"......"
Giselle, who had been about to swing her sword behind them, stopped.
It was good that her friends had grown smarter after adapting to the Magic Academy, but they kept using that intelligence for things unrelated to magic.
"If even Choy was invited, it probably isn't a trap. I don't know what he's thinking. Surely he wouldn't have something as childish as wanting us to suffer through difficult lectures together..."
"Bwahahaha! Moradi, no matter how much you hate Wardanaz, even you should know better. Do you really think someone like Wardanaz would have such a childish idea?!"
As all the White Tiger Tower students burst into laughter, Giselle's face flushed slightly.
Even she had to admit it was an absurd thought.
"I was just throwing it out there."
"Kuhahahaha!"
"What do you all think?"
"Bwahahahaha!"
Thud thud thud!
"You're asking what we think?"
"W-well. Maybe since Choy was invited, Senior wanted to teach you too, Moradi?"
"......"
Giselle frowned slightly, then nodded.
She'd find out once she went anyway.
"Hehe. How is everyone?"
"It's... exhausting but rewarding. Thank you, Lee Han."
"...If we can learn like this in our spare time, it's an honor. Wardanaz."
"?"
Lee Han was baffled as he looked at his two friends collapsed on the floor, panting.
"Huh?"
"Aren't you suffering and struggling by coming out to learn like this in your free time? You won't even have any rest periods."
"Hmm. I'm fine since I have the next period free."
"My next period is free too, so it doesn't matter."
"......"
Lee Han felt a sense of dissonance as his friends' reactions differed from his expectations.
Normally, they should've been saying 'To think this was the kind of teaching we'd get... we've been tricked, ugh!' but...
These two friends were accepting it much better than he'd thought.
"Aren't you angry or anything about being called out for this kind of teaching?"
"It's harsh and painful, but isn't one lecture like this bearable?"
"I agree with Choy."
-Master, don't other people only take lectures like this?
The baby basilisk cocked its head and asked.
From inside the sleeve, it seemed the other students' schedules felt quite different from its master's lecture timetable.
It had thought it was supposed to be much more cruel and painful...?
"...I see. So one lecture is bearable."
"Right."
"I'm going to attend my next lecture now—would you like to audit it together?"
"What?"
Giselle immediately responded as if to say 'what nonsense is this?'
Giselle wasn't a cross-departmental student like Lee Han, nor was she foolish enough to be greedy about studying areas she wasn't currently learning.
She had more than enough just keeping up with her current lectures.
"Wouldn't auditing be a good experience?"
"...Wardanaz. You're not doing this because you're upset that I'm not suffering, are you?"
Giselle asked, thinking it couldn't possibly be the case.
Unlike Wardanaz, these two had plenty of free time and rest between lectures, so they were accepting Senior Jahan's teachings too easily—was that why he was acting this way?
"Moradi. That's rude. What are you implying about Lee Han? He persuaded the senior for our sake."
Durgyu scolded her in a stern voice.
Persuading Senior Jahan to let friends learn together wasn't something just anyone could do.
Perhaps Giselle thought so too, as she unusually apologized.
"That's... true. I apologize, Wardanaz. That was rude of me to say after receiving your favor."
"No, it's fine. Haha. ...By the way, is anyone interested in magical combat?"
Lee Han headed toward the lecture hall with a bitter expression.
'This is unfair. Why do my friends get to take fewer difficult lectures?'
No matter how much he tried to accept it as unavoidable, it wasn't easy to swallow.
Lee Han checked the lecture name.
<From Caterpillar to Dragon>
'At least it's easy to understand, thank goodness.'
It was obviously a Transmutation Magic lecture.
The question was—what year was it for!
'Second year would be nice, but probably not.'
None of his friends were taking <From Caterpillar to Dragon>. They might have missed it, but it likely wasn't a second-year lecture.
Most likely third year. And with meteor-falling-from-clear-sky odds—fourth year...
Lee Han doubted the Calendarium would recommend a fourth-year lecture, but at Einrogard, one could never let their guard down.
Tap tap tap!
"?"
Lee Han paused at the sight of a familiar senior rushing toward him from ahead.
"Senior Hormasi?"
"Oh, junior. What brings you here?"
The third-year senior from the Polo Club, who had been running like the wind, stopped upon spotting Lee Han.
"I'm on my way to a lecture."
"This alley only has one lecture hall, doesn't it? You're not here for <From Caterpillar to Dragon>, are you?"
"That's exactly why I'm here."
"What? That's a third-year lect—"
Carnella scanned Lee Han up and down before letting out an 'Ah!' of realization.
"Ah, right—you're that kid, aren't you?"
"......"
"Well. Welcome, then. Learning Transmutation Magic won't hurt."
Twirling the riding crop in her hand, Carnella welcomed the junior.
Having an outstanding junior from the same department join wasn't bad.
Of course, that junior was also dabbling in every other department...
-Master! That person scares me!
"?"
"Wait!"
Before Lee Han could respond, Carnella stretched out her hand and made a 'Shh!' sound, signaling for silence.
"What's the matter?"
"Didn't you just hear the Basilisk crying?"
......
The baby Basilisk shivered and coiled even tighter around Lee Han's arm.
The moment it got dragged out of the sleeve, it felt like it would be captured by that ruthless dark elf.
"Perhaps you misheard? Maybe it was some other serpent-type monster..."
"No. Junior, what kind of nonsense are you spouting? A Basilisk's cry has a different pitch from other serpent-type monsters. You shouldn't be raising a Basilisk if you don't even know that!"
Carnella scolded the junior for saying such strange things. Lee Han was starting to understand why the baby Basilisk was so afraid of this senior.
"Was it your Basilisk that spoke, junior?"
"My Basilisk is currently sleeping."
"Hmmmm... If it had woken up and spoken, I would've liked to have a little chat with it."
Carnella stared intently into Lee Han's sleeve. Lee Han could feel the baby Basilisk's tail trembling pitifully.
"What kind of chat were you hoping to have?"
"Oh, nothing major."
The towering dark elf senior crossed his arms and shrugged.
"Just what kind of food it likes, when it sleeps and wakes up..."
'Relatively normal, I guess.'
"When and how it relieves itself, when its mating season is..."
'This guy's insane.'
Lee Han realized the baby Basilisk's instincts had been right all along.
"Just trivial small talk like that? I'd also like to practice my Basilisk language a bit."
"You know Basilisk language?!"
"Not very well. I just studied it a little. More importantly, junior, if you're taking the <From Caterpillar to Dragon> lecture, you should help me out. I was actually on my way to catch a senior."
"A senior, you say?"
"Yeah. This lecture is taught alternately by the professor and a senior. But the senior keeps running away."
"......"
Lee Han, who had only ever known professors running away (well, Verdus), found the idea of a fleeing senior somewhat refreshing.
"Is that... allowed?"
"Normally, no. Punishment Room for that."
Though the real problem was getting sent to the Punishment Room. If you were prepared to face that, there were surprisingly many things you could get away with at Einrogard.
Ditching lectures, looting the principal's office, escaping the school—you name it.
Lee Han had yet to meet this senior, but he could already tell they were no ordinary kind of crazy.
"Oh, right. I heard you're quite sociable, junior?"
"Me? Really?"
"Last year, when the transmutation mages gathered, I heard you handled the guests?"
"...Ah. That did happen."
As last year's memories resurfaced, Lee Han's face stiffened.
The visiting transmutation mages from outside were all lively, sociable people who loved conversation.
In contrast, Einrogard's transmutation mages were relatively introverted, so they wanted a junior to handle all the bothersome socializing.
And at that gathering, Lee Han was the only junior present.
'Even now, it's ridiculous to think about.'
"It's such a relief to have a sociable junior like you. Our school lacks sociable people."
"But Senior Hormasi, aren't you quite sociable yourself?"
"Uh... well."
Carnella scratched his cheek awkwardly.
Only a tiny part of what the junior said was correct—the rest was wrong.
"I usually... only know how to talk to people who like polo or animals. Everyone else runs away when I try to talk to them about other hobbies."
"......"
It was only then that Lee Han remembered that "talkative" didn't necessarily mean "sociable."
'Come to think of it, Professor Verdus was talkative too...'
"What about the senior you're trying to catch now?"
"Ah. That senior is the most..."
"The most...?"
Lee Han expected the next word to be "sociable."
"...unsociable and eccentric person."
"I see..."
Lee Han grew gloomy.
Why was it so impossible to find a normal, well-adjusted senior at Einrogard?
Carnella gave Lee Han's back a hearty pat in encouragement.
"But this senior does have some good points!"
"Like what...? The skill of ditching lectures?"
"Well. Among all the seniors at Einrogard, this one is the best at making money."
At those words, Lee Han's heart—which had frozen over like ice—started beating rapidly again.