Episode 808
Episode 808
No answer came.
But Lee Han persistently kept calling.
Just like Professor Verdus, who would only say what he wanted right into his student's ear, Lee Han repeatedly called out to the Crazy Doppelganger...
What is it?
A faint illusion finally emerged.
The Crazy Doppelganger's face was as expressionless as usual, but the slight frown between his brows betrayed his irritation.
"Greetings, Master."
"Seeing you call me like this, I suppose you've completed it."
The Crazy Doppelganger tossed aside the large mass he was holding in one hand. Lee Han asked curiously,
"What is that?"
Instead of an answer, a vaguely familiar voice came from the massive lump. It was Antagondals' voice.
"-Don't get cocky and hurry... come back... you damn brat..."
Lee Han pretended not to hear and ignored it.
No matter how pitiable a magic criminal might be, there was no way Lee Han could go save him.
What would happen if Lee Han ended up in that state?
'No need to explain.'
'I already understand everything.'
"So, what? Did you call me to show off your magic?"
"Ah, there's something I wanted to ask, so I called you like this."
Along with his reply, Lee Han inquired about substitutes for juniper berries, perilla leaves, and galena in Dobruk's Soul-Returning Potion.
The Crazy Doppelganger's expression darkened at the unexpected question.
"Did I teach you to play around with ingredients when I told you to master lightning magic?"
"My apologies. This foolish disciple hit a wall and had nowhere else to turn. Only you came to mind, Master. Sniff."
As long as no offensive magic was flying his way, Lee Han could wield smooth talk as much as he pleased.
The Crazy Doppelganger was visibly displeased but eventually spoke.
"Didn't I already hear before that you, disciple, have an interest in various schools? Your progress is slow enough as it is—it's irritating that you aren't focusing, but since it's come to this, I might as well answer. At least it's a question about magic..."
'What a petty trick.'
"Pardon?"
"What? Do I still need to explain more?"
"Yes. I'd be grateful if you would."
'He hasn't explained anything yet.' Lee Han cursed inwardly.
What kind of nonsense was this, acting as if he'd explained everything when he hadn't said a word?
It seemed Lee Han wasn't the only one seething inside—the Crazy Doppelganger's face also showed he was suppressing the urge to beat his disciple through the illusion as he began his explanation.
Dobruk's Soul-Returning Potion (it had a different name when the Crazy Doppelganger was alive) was a potion that temporarily severed the soul from the body, creating a kind of out-of-body effect. Over time, its formula had changed, but the Crazy Doppelganger recognized its purpose and the reason for the alterations the moment he saw it.
In spectral alchemy, juniper berries could be replaced by pagoda trees, and perilla leaves by Saururus chinensis. But all of it was meaningless. When the Crazy Doppelganger was alive, he never used juniper berries or perilla leaves—he prioritized strengthening the out-of-body effect even at the cost of stability. But this current potion favored stability even if it slightly weakened the effect. Substituting with pagoda trees or Saururus chinensis might temporarily seem to improve the effect, but stability would drop again. Strictly speaking, that wasn't a true substitute. Those who compromised on such details could never become good alchemists. The precise answer was: 'There are no substitute materials.'
'What kind of trick question is this?!' Lee Han fumed inwardly.
From the looks of it, this guest didn't even seem to have gold coins, yet he had the nerve to ask such a question. He should've realized it back when he was with the Baldrogard students—this was clearly an incredibly rude person.
"Thank you, Master."
"Wasting time on such nonsense—"
"I'll ask again. Please wait a moment!"
After cutting off the illusion, Lee Han answered, "There are no complete substitute materials."
Garal was stunned. This was a question that even seasoned alchemists often fell for.
In fact, the more knowledgeable an alchemist was, the easier it was to fall for it. Anyone who knew the effects of juniper or perilla leaves and was aware of similar ingredients would naturally give that answer.
But it was a trap.
The balance of this potion was extremely delicate and peculiar—substituting ingredients that merely appeared similar would immediately produce an entirely different result.
One could only avoid being fooled if they had memorized the effects of dozens, even hundreds of ingredients, and understood the subtle, minute changes that occurred when they were added to this potion...
"Haha! Wrong!"
One of the Baldrogard students behind them shouted with a voice full of delight.
"Juniper can be replaced with pagoda tree, and perilla leaves with Japanese catnip! Too bad!"
The other students marveled at their friend's knowledge.
'Truly, the brilliance of the top student in alchemy class is spine-chilling!'
'You're the ones who are wrong, you idiots...!' Garal felt ashamed and screamed internally instead.
Not only was the answer itself incorrect, but Japanese catnip was outright impossible to substitute. Adding Japanese catnip would cause the soul to stubbornly cling and congeal.
"Wait, shouldn't it be Chinese lizardtail instead of Japanese catnip?"
An Einrogard student asked in confusion, as if they already knew. Garal felt his face grow even hotter.
"Chinese lizardtail? Uh... um, wait. Was it Chinese lizardtail?"
"If you add Japanese catnip, the soul would stubbornly cling and congeal, wouldn't it?"
"R-right... it was Chinese lizardtail. Yeah."
The Baldrogard student belatedly admitted their mistake.
Their friends then praised their courage and honesty.
"Oh, your honesty is commendable!"
"Exactly, my friend! It's practically the same as getting it right!"
'What do you mean "practically the same"?'
Lee Han felt his mind go numb listening to the Baldrogard students' conversation.
The herbs themselves were completely different!
'Are they seriously counting it as correct just because one ingredient was right?'
'I feel like common sense is... collapsing.'
He was starting to understand why the seniors were wary of Baldrogard students.
If he kept listening, he felt like his entire worldview would crumble.
"That's not the point! What matters is that you gave a completely wrong answer!"
"Excuse me, but we were the ones who got it right."
Unable to hold back any longer, Garal spoke with a deep sigh and self-reproach.
"Huh?!"
"What nonsense are you spouting?! Juniper can be replaced with pagoda tree, can't it?!"
Zandanni of the Aljadk family asked in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
According to what he had learned, substitution was definitely possible.
Was this mage Garal perhaps misinformed?
"If you substitute it, the astral projection effect changes. The stability changes too. The Soul-Severing Potion's balance is so delicate that substituting even one ingredient essentially turns it into a different potion."
"But... isn't it similar?"
"Not by alchemists' standards."
"That's... ridiculous..."
Zandanni and his friends were utterly shocked.
They had thought they could easily retaliate, but instead, they were the ones being humiliated.
Unable to watch any longer, Lee Han stepped in generously to smooth things over. No matter what, they were guests from outside, and he couldn't just leave them like this.
"These kinds of questions test an alchemist's ingenuity, so even the most skilled alchemists can make mistakes. Your abilities are undoubtedly impressive."
"...Thank you. Truly an honor!"
"Not many second-years in Einrogard would even know that juniper can be substituted with pagoda tree."
This was genuine.
The Soul-Severing Potion was something usually made by upperclassmen anyway (if it were a lower-year potion, Lee Han would have already memorized it), and most students wouldn't even have a reason to look at its recipe.
"Wait, aren't we second-years?"
"Ah... Are you third-years, then?"
"Fourth-years."
"......"
Lee Han was stunned when he heard that these students were Baldrogard fourth-years.
So these were graduating students acting like this?!
'Are they insane? No, wait. Even in their graduation year, they can still move around. Maybe they've already prepared everything in advance.'
Regaining his composure, Lee Han gritted his teeth and asked.
"Since you're fourth-years, shouldn't you be preparing for graduation? Is it really alright to visit like this?"
"Haha. A truly excellent mage is always prepared at all times."
'Must not kill them. Must not kill them...' Lee Han steeled himself once more.
"But still... don't you have things you should be doing? Or have you already finished all your preparations?"
"Things to do? Not particularly... Ah! You must mean the graduation ball!"
It was fortunate that Garal, who had been standing nearby, couldn't hold back any longer and intervened.
Had he not, Lee Han might have ended up burying a few Baldrogard students right there.
"...So you came here for this so-called 'fair competition.'"
"Aha."
After hearing their full explanation, Lee Han looked at the students with eyes full of contempt.
Not only were they slacking off in their fourth year, but they'd come here for such a trivial reason.
Lee Han made a firm resolution to cast Invisibility Magic and join in when the seniors would later jeer at the Baldrogard students and throw pebbles at them.
Garal cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Your skills are impressive. Are you fourth-years?"
"Second-year."
"...I think my ears are cursed. What did you say?"
"Second-year."
"...Please, I beg of you—can you keep their grade level a secret from them?"
Garal spoke with such genuine desperation that Lee Han's resolve softened slightly.
"Th-that shouldn't be too difficult..."
"Thank you. Sigh I shouldn't have taken this commission. If mere second-years are at this level..."
Garal let out a weary sigh at the unexpectedly high caliber of the Einrogard students.
Breaking the other party's pride appropriately wasn't an easy task either. He couldn't just ambush or attack them outright.
If he provoked them too aggressively or challenged them to a duel, he might get ambushed by the Einrogard students before he could even dent their pride...
The earlier riddle had been the easier option, but after Lee Han solved it in one go, their confidence had evaporated.
"Einrogard's overall level is quite high, after all."
"It really seems so. Sigh"
While the two were talking, Zandanni interjected with a curious expression.
"What should I call you?"
"Just call me Lee Han."
Lee Han deliberately hid his family name and only gave his first name.
Usually, mentioning just the name would lead to misunderstandings, since noble families were often recognized by their surnames.
"And your family name?"
"??"
The unexpected question caught Lee Han slightly off guard.
How did they know he was from a noble family?
"Wait. Look—those Kallarogard bastards are here!"
Fortunately, before Lee Han could fumble for an answer, new guests came into view.
A group of Kallarogard students were loitering around up ahead.
"Disgusting lowlifes. Look at them shamelessly wandering around!"
"What happened between you?"
"Last year, those bastards ambushed us!"
"Oh... how so?"
Lee Han asked, sounding eager to hear the details.
Luckily, the Baldrogard students didn't seem to notice.
"They cowardly summoned undead."
"......"
Lee Han had to bite back the words, 'What's cowardly about that?'
This was truly exhausting.
"And then they threw us into a mud pit—"
"Baldrogard scum!!"
"Attack! It's fine to attack inside Einrogard!"
The Kallarogard students must have spotted them too, as they began shouting.
Lee Han debated whether to ask why it was fine to attack inside Einrogard or to try and stop the fight first.
"Everyone, stop! If you attack, we'll have no choice but to defend ourselves."
"Tch. They brought a bodyguard. What a bunch of cowards."
While Lee Han hesitated, Garal stepped forward.
Upon noticing the outsider mage, the Kallarogard students took a step back.
However, as a practitioner of Black Magic, Lee Han could sense that the students hadn't fully dismissed their spells and were still eyeing an opportunity.
How long do I have to wait?
"!"
When the Crazy Doppelganger oozed out and asked, Lee Han hastily replied.
"Please wait just a little longer. There are outsiders attacking right now."
"Outsiders? Attacking?"
"Yes."
"Do you need advice?"
"Ah. Yes. That would be appreciated."
Lee Han recalled the useful explanation he'd heard earlier and answered.
"Just wipe them all out and bury them in a pit."
"...Is there no other advice?"