Episode 804
Episode 804
"Senior... as a polo player, have you no pride?! How could you accept such tainted gold coins without hesitation!?"
"!?"
Carnella was taken aback by the junior's unexpected accusation.
"Wh-what? Wait. What does receiving sponsorship have to do with a polo player's pride? What do you mean by 'tainted gold coins'? Can gold coins even be tainted?"
"Enough. You wouldn't understand, Senior!"
"Wait, junior! Come back! At least explain what you mean before leaving! Come back!"
As the usually kind and diligent junior stormed off in anger, Carnella stood flustered, not knowing what to do.
Was a proud polo player not supposed to accept gold coins...?
'At this point, there's no other choice.' Lee Han made up his mind.
All the excitement and fun of Club Week no longer mattered. 'I'll summon the Death Knights!'
The seniors who had been looking forward to Club Week would be terribly disappointed when it turned into a shocking and horrifying magic criminal extermination operation, but there was no helping it.
Lee Han had to survive too.
At first, he thought he could just avoid and endure the situation, but after witnessing Intarendals' capabilities, he realized that wouldn't work.
Just look at that absurd scale and speed of sponsorship.
At this rate, in just one day, they might form an <Einrogard Sponsors Guild> and start hunting him down.
'I've heard that the staff is mightier than the sword, but who knew gold coins would be mightier than the staff...'
-Is that really true?
-Indeed, Sir Clzenberg.
-What an astonishing revelation!
"O great Death Knights!"
Spotting Death Knights patrolling in the distance, Lee Han quickly ran toward them.
-Who would have thought someone would sponsor a Black Magic faction... especially during Club Week? Sponsoring a faction that's not even a club...
-Well, the Empire is vast—there must be all kinds of eccentric people.
-True, in the past, the Black Magic faction was quite prosperous and popular.
-Really? That's hard to imagine!
"......"
Lee Han was stunned by the Death Knights' conversation.
Meanwhile, the Death Knights recognized Lee Han and greeted him warmly.
-Huk... Isn't this Lee Han of the Wardanaz family?
-Huk... Lord Wardanaz!
Unbeknownst to Lee Han, the Death Knights had adopted the peculiar habit of prefacing their greetings with "Huk."
With no time to question this strange trend among the Skeleton Principal's subordinates, Lee Han got straight to the point.
"We have a serious situation! We must immediately gather the other knights and surround the school—"
Lee Han paused mid-sentence.
The Death Knights' earlier conversation had resurfaced in his mind.
"...Actually, I have a question for you all."
-Didn't you just say there was a serious situation?
"It is serious, but there's something even more pressing... I'm curious—what would happen in a situation like this?"
Lee Han carefully explained the day's events in the most roundabout way possible.
A suspicious magic criminal had resurrected the ancestor of an imperial noble family. The resurrected ancestor then misused the family's hidden wealth to sponsor mages. If this were discovered, what would happen to the sponsored funds?
-??
-??
The Death Knights were confused, failing to grasp the intent behind the question.
-Lee Han, generally speaking, resurrecting someone in perfect condition rather than as an undead is impossible.
-And why would someone resurrected like that even bother sponsoring mages? Especially if it was a suspicious magic criminal who did the resurrecting?
"...Ah, just humor me for a moment!"
Lee Han snapped.
If it had been any other student, they would have dragged him straight to the Punishment Room, but the Death Knights hesitated and backed off.
For one, dragging Lee Han to a regular Punishment Room would be meaningless. Moreover, considering their knightly conscience, punishing such a pitiable mage would be far too dishonorable.
-In that case, according to imperial law, the funds would likely be confiscated and returned to the original family, wouldn't they?
"Why is that? Doesn't the family ancestor also have rights?"
"Well, in a way, you could say that. But once someone dies, ownership of the assets effectively transfers. In fact, similar issues existed even back in the ancient kingdom era. There were even rebellions over it. Hmm. His Imperial Majesty, aware of such incidents, likely codified it clearly in imperial law for this very reason."
"......"
Lee Han silently cursed the unnecessarily competent and erudite Emperor in his heart.
'Laws should have some loopholes—that's what makes them humane. How can they be this thorough?'
"So why are you asking about this? Wait. Unless..."
Death Knight Sir Clzenberg looked at Lee Han with sudden understanding.
"That's not it."
-...
'He's planning to resurrect an old noble family ancestor to seize their wealth!'
"That is absolutely not the case."
"Isn't it?"
Sir Clzenberg looked extremely awkward.
He had been certain there could be no other reason.
Meanwhile, Lee Han was deeply conflicted.
'If I call the knights now...'
An image flashed through Lee Han's mind of Senior Diret sobbing after having his coin pouch stolen.
Of course, Diret was absolutely not the type to cry over a stolen coin pouch (if anything, Lee Han was closer to that type), but right now, there was no Diret beside Lee Han to get angry at his junior's insulting imagination.
"Great and noble knights of death."
"Just so you know, when our master addresses us like that, it's usually when he's about to assign us some difficult and troublesome task."
"..."
"Knights of death."
Lee Han immediately corrected himself.
Truly, as knights who had lived long lives, their skill at indirect criticism was unusually sharp.
"I have something to tell you now. Can you swear upon your honor to keep it a secret?"
-...!
-!!
The Death Knights' expressions grew grave.
If the heir was speaking this seriously, it must be quite a weighty matter.
"Is it about attacking our master?"
"No."
Lee Han paused after answering.
'Wait, is it? Depending on how you look at it, you could interpret it that way...'
"Actually, even if it were about attacking our master, that would be fine too. I was just asking hypothetically. I swear upon my honor to keep your secret."
"I, too, shall uphold my honor."
The Death Knights agreed far too readily, leaving Lee Han rather flustered.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Helping someone as pitiable as Lee Han is a knight's duty, is it not?"
"I agree as well."
"......"
For the first time, Lee Han realized that chivalry could wound people.
Still, he couldn't refuse such help. Calmly, Lee Han recounted the horrifying events of the day.
-......
-......
And the Death Knights were equally horrified.
Such audacious persistence was beyond anything they'd anticipated.
"By the gods, what kind of method is that?"
"As expected of our master's remnants—this is no ordinary matter."
"The nuisance is extraordinary too, I see."
"Excuse me. Are you listening? Forget about the gold coins—isn't there any way to resolve this? At the very least, can't we salvage just the Black Magic research funding?"
"Lee Han. We understand your feelings perfectly."
"Wardanaz. I understand as well. Frankly, for the Dalkard family to claim ownership over these coins is morally absurd in the first place. It's the ancestor's wealth, isn't it? Just because the ancestor died, does that mean descendants can use it however they please? The audacity! The insolence!"
As the junior Death Knight exploded in fury, Sir Clzenberg whispered,
"You must understand. The descendants squandered the fortune."
"Ah, yes..."
"Good. Let's not escalate this. We'll handle it quietly."
Lee Han was moved by the steadfast support of these battle-hardened knights.
Unlike the skeleton principal, who'd been conspicuously absent lately, these knights were truly the pillars holding up Einrogard.
"So what should we do?"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Death Knights used Shadow Leap to surround Intarendals, then plunged Dark Blades into him, sealing away any possibility of resistance.
Then they swiftly stuffed him into a subspace-charmed sack and gestured.
-Move!
"......"
Lee Han was stunned by how swiftly they'd subdued their opponent—faster than the blink of an eye.
Even if he had been in that position, he would have been overpowered just the same.
He'd often heard that knights were the natural enemies of mages, but seeing so many overwhelmingly powerful mages had made him forget...
The Death Knights, strengthened by the power of Einrogard, their domain, exhibited terrifying efficiency against mages.
No matter what magic one could wield, they'd subdue them before it could even be cast!
-This way, the stairs.
-Huhk, Student Wardanaz. Just jump out the window.
-Then plant your feet firmly in this pit here!
Lee Han followed the Death Knights through the hidden shortcuts within the main building, mentally memorizing the route.
Who knew? He might need this knowledge someday.
-Is the first room empty?
-No. There's a prisoner inside.
-The second and third rooms must be full.
-Ah! The seventh room is empty. Perfect!
"?"
As Lee Han looked puzzled, one of the kind Death Knights explained.
-This is the interrogation chamber personally designed by our master: <The Truth of Mages>. Exceptional mages tend to escape from ordinary confinement, you see.
'I shouldn't have asked.'
Lee Han immediately regretted hearing the explanation.
When they opened the door to the seventh room and stepped inside, Lee Han was hit by an instant, splitting headache.
The sheer density of overlapping spells caused an information overload.
A less perceptive mage might have fared better, but Lee Han, whose sensitivity in such matters was unparalleled, couldn't escape the pain.
'Ghk...! What kind of magic is this...?'
-Dump him out.
Thud!
Intarendals tumbled out of the sack onto the floor.
Despite the Dark Blades embedded throughout his body and the indignity of being kidnapped, Intarendals' expression remained utterly serene.
Truly, he carried himself like someone who had once served the Skeleton Principal in the ruthless ancient era. The Death Knights inwardly admired him.
-Intarendals. Do you know why you've been dragged here like this?
"I'm not entirely sure."
-Because your master and our master are enemies.
The Death Knights explained the relationship between the Skeleton Principal and the Crazy Doppelganger, insisting that Intarendals was serving the wrong master.
But Intarendals remained unmoved.
"How can you prove that the one you serve is the true master and not the doppelganger?"
-...
Uh...
The Death Knights hesitated.
Good point.
-Ours is far stronger and more wicked, so obviously the real one.
"That's something you'd only know after a direct comparison."
-Yours keeps disappearing and reappearing like some kind of thought-form.
"Even so, that doesn't necessarily mean he's a doppelganger..."
As the discussion veered into debate, Lee Han shot a glance at Sir Clzenberg.
The veteran Death Knight barked at his subordinates.
-Stop entertaining useless arguments! Intarendals. You have two choices. Will you quietly leave the school and relinquish the gold coins? Or will you die by our hands?
"Why should I fear death now? But even if I die, I'd like to know the reason. Why must I not make contact with Lee Han of the Wardanaz family? Perhaps your master is deceiving you."
-Enough nonsense. Lee Han of the Wardanaz family has already said he doesn't wish to meet you.
Intarendals didn't believe the Death Knight's words and smirked faintly.
As a capable former chamberlain who had handled all manner of affairs for his prince, he was adept at spotting the gaps in others' words.
"That's a lie. Lee Han of the Wardanaz family doesn't even know I'm here. Our paths kept crossing due to misfortune."
"......Actually, I am Lee Han of the Wardanaz family."
Unable to bear it any longer, Lee Han stepped forward and spoke.
At those words, Intarendals' face twisted in shock for the first time that day.
"Th-That's impossible! How can this be?!"