Episode 799
Episode 799
"What should we do?"
"What do you mean, 'what should we do'? We need to teach those remaining guys a lesson."
The old pirate woman pointed at the second-year students as she spoke. The second-years stared at Lee Han with eyes like squirrels who'd just had their acorns stolen, as if saying:
-Are you gonna hit us?
'Did these bastards secretly learn telepathy magic without me noticing?'
Lee Han couldn't bring himself to attack his fellow students due to the pangs of his conscience.
"I can't do it."
"What?! Are you even a pirate?!"
"I'm not a pirate. And I just got disqualified from pirate magic earlier."
At Lee Han's retort, Lagesa cackled with laughter.
"Is this because of pirate magic? Just as Professor Bagrak said, you're truly greedy for knowledge."
"No, it's just that after finally learning something, you're making it completely unusable..."
"Fine, fine. I'll compromise this time. I'll just teach you all properly. Come here, everyone! I'll show you the pirate way of fighting!"
"If we learn this, can we land a hit on Wardanaz too?"
"Of course!"
"......"
Lee Han glared at Lafadell.
Had he ever seen such an ungrateful bastard before?!
"Lafadell."
"Ah, no. I was just asking. Purely academic curiosity."
"Seeing your reaction, it seems you still have some conscience left. But that's not what I meant. Why aren't the fourth-year seniors here?"
Now that he thought about it, the third-years had just run away, the second-years were still here, but there wasn't a single fourth-year in sight.
Of course, he understood they were busy preparing for graduation, but not a single one showing up?
"The fourth-year seniors said they had something to do today, so they didn't come."
"...!"
Lee Han realized and marveled.
'Fourth-years really are on another level!'
This wasn't just "testing the waters before crossing"—this was next-level caution. They had quickly withdrawn just from hearing rumors about Professor Kirmin being busy and external guests arriving.
All to avoid any potential danger.
After all, if they let the underclassmen meet the guests first, they could find out who it was later...
'That's downright ruthless.'
Is that what it takes to be a fourth-year at Einrogard?
* * *
Bulgasari: Hey! Everyone knows guests are coming next week, right? You all preparing?
"!"
Lee Han, who had just finished his Duel Club activities, stared in confusion at the words appearing on the [Whispers of Einrogard].
'That's a senior I've never seen before.'
The senior using the alias "Bulgasari" seemed particularly interested in the other members, engaging them in all sorts of conversations.
Bulgasari: Iactus, how about you?
Iactus: I'm preparing just fine.
Bulgasari: Bakwantalana, you? Wow, you seem really excited!
"...?"
As he read the exchange, Lee Han felt an odd sense of discomfort.
There was something forced about the other person's excitement—an unnatural vibe.
'Maybe I'm imagining it. There's no reason to fake excitement.'
Students of Einrogard were fundamentally gloomy beings. There was no need to pretend to be excited.
Bakwantalana: Does anyone know who destroyed the 6th-floor hallway?
Iactus: Right. Who the hell broke the 6th-floor hallway? What kind of lunatic was it? More importantly, how did they even do it?
'Tsk. There really are a lot of crazy people.'
Lee Han was shocked as he read the messages.
Apparently, some insane student had destroyed the 6th-floor hallway.
Given that Einrogard's Main Building was protected by powerful magic, breaking it from the inside shouldn't have been easy...
Gonadaltes: Is that true? There really are a lot of lunatics.
Iactus: There have always been crazy people, so I'm not that surprised. I'm more curious about how they did it. If I knew, I'd use it too.
Bulgasari: Iactus, that's not a good thing to do.
Iactus: Mind your own business.
Bakwantalana: From what I saw at the scene, it wasn't just ordinary violence. It wasn't normal magic. I suspect it might have been a high-level demon beast or a powerful spirit going berserk.
Iactus: "Damn. Is it 'Monster Season at Einrogard' again? What's with this lately? I heard some lunatic showed up in the outskirts of the territory too."
Gonadaltes: "I agree. Having a crazy monster roaming inside the Main Building..."
Lee Han, who had been idly twirling his quill, paused. 'Huh?' Come to think of it, wasn't the Duel Club located on the 6th floor?
And wasn't the place where he learned pirate magic from Lagesa also on the 6th floor...?
Iactus: "Should we commission the Hunters' Club to track the monster? Those guys charge way too much."
Gonadaltes: "Seems like a waste. Everyone here should be capable of protecting themselves against a single monster, no? No point wasting money when you'll just end up at a loss."
Iactus: "Is that so?"
Gonadaltes: "Don't be fooled, Iactus. While you're sacrificing for others, they'll be hoarding their gold coins to spend on themselves."
Iactus: "Now that you put it that way, I'm pissed. Fine. Let the desperate ones catch it."
Bulgasari: "Let's not be so selfish about this. If you step up even when it's not your problem, someday your friends will do the same for you."
Iactus: "When? After I graduate?"
'Better change the subject.' Lee Han sensed that dragging out the discussion about who destroyed the hallway or what kind of monster had been summoned inside Einrogard's Main Building wouldn't do any good.
The longer they talked, the more likely it was that some innocent second-year student would end up under suspicion.
Iactus: "Does anyone have info about next week's guest?"
Fortunately, Iactus smoothly shifted the topic. Lee Han immediately chimed in.
Gonadaltes: "I know one."
Iactus: "Oh. Gonadaltes! My friend with that horrifying pseudonym! Who is it?"
Gonadaltes: "Pirate Lagesa. In case someone doesn't know her, let me explain—"
Bakwantalana: "You mean Lagesa, daughter of Torgerd?"
Iactus: "The admiral of the Southern Privateer Fleet!"
Bulgasari: "..."
Who the hell invited Lagesa?
'Wait. She's famous, isn't she?' Lee Han was slightly taken aback.
Of course, Lagesa was somewhat well-known in the Empire, but he hadn't expected every single club member to recognize her name instantly.
Gonadaltes: "Impressive. I didn't think every single one of you would know."
Iactus: "Haha. Well, I'm a cultured man, so it makes sense for me, but the others probably have different reasons. It's because of Lagesa's achievements, right?"
Gonadaltes: "What achievements?"
Iactus: "Hey. Hey. Are you seriously asking? Obviously, I'm talking about the time she invested twenty crates of imperial gold coins into Professor Verdus!"
Gonadaltes: "Ah. That achievement..."
"......"
Lee Han stopped his quill and sank into deep contemplation. He felt a little sorry for Lagesa.
Just because she trusted Professor Verdus and invested crates of gold coins, she'd already been branded among Einrogard students as 'that sucker who trusted Professor Verdus and invested.'
It was downright cruel.
Bakwantalana: "I respect Lagesa."
Gonadaltes: "Do you?"
Bakwantalana: "Lagesa is a captain with immense wealth, and she's also a generous enough investor to put money into Professor Verdus. I'd love to meet her."
Gonadaltes: "......"
Club Week wasn't just a time for outsiders interested in the clubs to visit and have fun.
Sure, outsiders might come with that mindset, but at least the ambitious Einrogard students had other priorities.
For the students, the important questions were:
- Among this week's visitors, who's rich and gullible enough?
If someone had a heavy coin purse and the generosity to invest in any research, they had to be lured in and persuaded—before other mages could drain that purse dry.
Einrogard students showed no mercy in this goodwill competition. If someone tried to snatch the sucker first, they'd fight tooth and nail to stop them.
'I really didn't need to know this...'
Iactus: "Thanks, Gonadaltes. That was extremely valuable intel. I should prepare some rum."
Bakwantalana: "Preparing an achievement befitting a pirate doesn't sound too bad either."
Iactus: "Oh dear. I should've dabbled in piracy a bit."
Bulgasari: "Instead of scheming to deceive guests, why not try sincerely persuading them?"
Surprisingly, all present members pretended not to hear Bulgasari's words.
Lee Han thought to himself, 'Bulgasari doesn't seem to have many friends here...'
Iactus: "Gonadaltes. Let me share some information too. The Kitchen Club seems to have invited some big shots this time. They've invited both the Capital Bakers' Guild and the Butchers' Guild. Try sneaking into the Kitchen Club and coax them into letting you show off your research."
Gonadaltes: "Is that allowed?"
Iactus: "Of course not! If the Kitchen Club members catch you, you'll end up in their cooking pot, so you must do it secretly. But it's worth it. I heard they're swimming in gold coins these days and don't know what to do with them."
Bakwantalana: "Since I've received valuable information, let me offer some advice too. The Stonemason Club has invited Dejie from the Lkobi family."
Iactus: "What?! That master artisan from the architecture guild is coming?! How did they invite him?!"
Bakwantalana: "Rumor has it they showed him the Tower of Echoes. I'm not sure if it's true though."
Iactus: "If it's Dejie... he probably carries his weight in gold coins. Damn it. If only we could lure him away from the Stonemason Club!"
'Wait. Do I have access to all of them?' Listening to the seniors' conversation, Lee Han realized for the first time the advantage of joining multiple clubs.
By being part of several clubs, he could easily approach any visiting guests. 'If I can secure some funding...' Lee Han momentarily fell into happy contemplation—a rare occurrence.
What if he could meet an investor with a heavy purse of gold coins and a kind heart? 'First, I should get some investment for the Black Magic department, then ask for funding for Senior Diret's research too. My own research hasn't even started yet... Hmm. But since I'm writing the Water Prison Bomb book, maybe I could ask for a little support to complete it? That much should be acceptable. I could also get more support for Basil and Ponlig's feed. Come to think of it, I could use some potions for Lightning Element magic practice too...' As his imagination ran wild, Lee Han barely managed to snap out of it.
The allure of gold coins was so powerful that merely imagining them made it hard to break free. 'Oops. What am I doing? This is truly dangerous.'
Bakwantalana: "Gonadaltes. Which club invited Lagesa?"
Gonadaltes: "The Duel Club."
Bulgasari: "Wow! Professor Kirmin Ku invited Lagesa? I can hardly believe it!"
Gonadaltes: "No. From what I heard, Professor Kirmin Ku was too busy, so he asked Professor Voladi Bagrak to handle it."
Bulgasari fell silent for a moment.
Lee Han tilted his head in confusion. 'What's going on?' Or perhaps, like Lee Han, the senior might have flinched just hearing Professor Voladi's name. If so, that would explain everything.
Bulgasari: "I see. Thank you, everyone. I have some business to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."
Iactus: "Bulgasari. You're the only one not sharing any good information. Stop just giving advice and share something useful for once."
Bulgasari: "Ah. Sorry. I didn't think about it."
Iactus: "Of course you didn't. Bulgasari only enjoys lecturing others!"
Watching the exchange, Lee Han thought, 'Isn't this creating too much resentment? What if they run into each other later?' Iactus seemed quite confident in his abilities, but as they say, you never know how the world works.
Making enemies never did anyone any good.
Bulgasari: "..."
"Duke Icaldoren will be attending as a guest. Happy now?"
Iactus: "What nonsense are you spouting, Bulgasari? Why would Duke Icaldoren attend?"
Gonadaltes: "No. Bulgasari has a point. Duke Icaldoren is currently imprisoned in a corner of Einrogard."
Iactus: "..."
"How do you know that?"