Episode 812
Episode 812
We Won.
Lee Han let out a sigh of relief.
Bakwantalana and the Bulgasari, who had almost gotten themselves cursed for trying to tell the truth, quietly disappeared.
'My apologies. Curse me later when the truth comes out.'
Lee Han silently vowed to keep his mouth shut if those two later started screaming "Gonadaltes, come out!" when the truth was revealed.
This victory had only been possible due to sheer luck.
If the Baldrogard students hadn't spread rumors that it was the work of 5th or 6th years...
'Hmm. But they wouldn't have believed it was me anyway, right? I'm still a second-year.'
In that regard, the Bulgasari was truly peculiar—how could it suspect Lee Han himself in this situation?
Was its intuition just that sharp, or did it know something Lee Han didn't?
'I might have pushed it a bit too hard as a liar. I need to buy time for the rumors to spread.'
He didn't care if the truth came out later, but the rumors needed to spread first.
Once they did, it would be much easier to make excuses.
"Junior. What are you doing here?"
"!"
Lee Han, who had been manipulating public opinion from an empty classroom, jumped at the voice from the front.
Diret, passing by the hallway, had spotted his junior and asked the question.
"I was previewing next week's magic lessons!"
"...Oh. I see."
'Oh no.'
Seeing the pitying look in his senior's eyes, Lee Han realized he'd slipped up.
It was the weekend during the festival, and here he was alone in a classroom previewing magic.
Anyone would think he was obsessed.
"It was just for a moment! Just a quick thought!"
"People don't usually study on a sudden whim, but... Never mind. Come with me, junior. I've got something to show you."
Diret gestured as if this was perfect timing.
Normally, the crow beastman's expression only showed exhaustion, irritation, or pity—but today, rare traces of joy and excitement were visible.
"??"
Lee Han was puzzled.
'Did the Skeleton Principal get locked up in an Empire prison or something?'
If not, he couldn't imagine what else would warrant such a smile.
"Is something going on?"
"Huh? Oh, could you tell? Hehe."
'Did he really get locked up??'
As Diret spoke in an unusually giddy tone, Lee Han grew even more bewildered.
Now that he thought about it, the Skeleton Principal had been absent lately.
"Should I tell you? No, junior... Maybe it's better if you see for yourself later... Or should I just say it now?"
"Are you... alright?"
"Ah, I'm fine. I'm just rambling, aren't I?"
Diret cleared his throat awkwardly and composed himself.
No matter how excited he was, he still had to maintain his dignity as a senior.
Once even the feathers on his fluttering wings settled, he began explaining again.
"Junior, listen carefully. Don't freak out, okay? And absolutely no fainting."
"...D-Did the Principal really get imprisoned?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Never mind. Then what is it?"
"...The Black Magic department received a donation!!"
"Ah."
Finally, Lee Han understood.
It seemed the news of Intarendals (Dalkard's family) donating gold coins had only just reached Diret.
"...Aren't you happy?"
Diret stared at his junior with eyes full of disappointment and confusion.
He had been certain his junior would be overjoyed at the news.
The thought of this second-year scraping together gold coins with his small hands to fill the Black Magic department's coffers had been heartbreaking.
He'd been relieved that the department wouldn't have to force such pitiful acts anymore...
"W-w-waaaah! I'm so happy! Such a miracle!"
Lee Han realized his mistake and boldly flung himself backward.
As he fell over backward with a thud and shouted, the baby basilisk inside his sleeve got startled and let out a shriek.
"...You're really bad at acting."
"I don't know what you're talking about! I'm just so shocked I can't comprehend anything!"
"Hey. Cut it out. More importantly... did you already know about this?"
"Yes."
"How?? I just heard about it myself, and you weren't even there!"
"Well... you'll have to promise to keep this a secret."
"I swear on my honor and my heart. Now, tell me."
Lee Han briefly explained the events that had occurred over the weekend.
The Crazy Doppelganger reviving an ancient subordinate, the ancient subordinate using the family's blood and wealth to gain entry...
Thud!
Diret fell over backward in shock.
"Uh... was there a reason for that performance just now?"
"This is me genuinely falling over in shock... you dumb junior!"
Grumbling, she grabbed Lee Han's hand and pulled herself up from the hallway floor.
Diret was conflicted.
No matter how she thought about it, it felt like blood money obtained by selling out her junior.
The joy she'd felt upon hearing about the donation had completely vanished, leaving only a heavy heart.
"Wait. Junior. Did you by any chance show off Ancient Magic to students from other schools?"
"...Huh? I'm not sure. Maybe Yukv—"
"Yukveltire came by and kept bothering me, so I asked what was going on. She said it was nothing, but that couldn't be true, so I kept pressing until she admitted there were rumors she'd used forbidden Ancient Magic."
"...Gasp!"
'Word spreads faster than I expected,' Lee Han thought with slight admiration.
The Watcher Club members seemed to have looser lips than he'd anticipated. He hadn't expected the rumors to reach Yukveltire herself already.
"Isn't that a good thing? Isn't it spreading your reputation far and wide?"
"...Junior, you... that's not how most second-years think...?"
"Actually, I heard it from Senior Falkrius."
Without hesitation, Lee Han deflected the blame onto another senior.
He was starting to feel like he was performing acrobatics on a tightrope, but there was no helping it.
"It's not necessarily bad, but Yukveltire has more pride than you'd think. She gets really upset when praised for something she didn't do. Once, when she collapsed because she couldn't finish an assignment on time, I secretly helped her, and she got so mad she didn't speak to me for a week."
"That's completely trash behavior!"
"W-well, it's not that... or is it? I guess it might seem that way to you."
Diret recalled what Yukveltire had done to her junior and waffled over whether to defend her or not.
"...Anyway. It was you, right? The moment Yukveltire mentioned it, I thought of you, but even then, I couldn't imagine where you'd have learned such Ancient Magic, so I let it go."
"Yes. It was actually me."
Lee Han gave up and confessed.
He did his best to explain that the Crazy Doppelganger had threatened him with a staff, leaving him no choice.
The kindhearted Diret felt pained by her junior's words.
"That damn doppelganger, I swear...! We really need to exterminate it soon."
"Absolutely right!"
"But, junior. Could you explain in more detail what kind of magic it was?"
Diret's black eyes sparkled with curiosity as she glanced at her junior.
"......"
"Ah, no—just academic curiosity... since it's forbidden Ancient Black Magic... I was just wondering... Never mind. Sorry, my bad."
Still, Lee Han eventually began explaining about the Black Emperor's Crown.
About a third of his explanation consisted of cursing the Crazy Doppelganger, Kallarogard, and Baldrogard students.
Diret felt guilty about squeezing magic knowledge out of his junior who'd been through so much, so he didn't make any critical remarks.
"Does it even make sense for fourth-years to come here? Those Baldrogard bastards! I heard Baldrogard fourth-years were different before, but I was completely fooled!"
"Ah... well. It's not like there aren't occasionally Baldrogard students who come to their senses and study magic seriously..."
"Really?"
Lee Han showed the same dubious expression as when he'd heard the saying 'There are good professors in the Empire too.'
Do such people really exist?
"...Those types usually don't come to Einrogard to play around during festival periods."
"That was certainly true."
A Baldrogard student who'd come to their senses and studied magic seriously would treasure every day for studying, not hire people to come play at Einrogard.
"Anyway, this is how the summoning works. I heard that a demigod's Authority can also be controlled by mages. In the past, black mages created a water-controlling demigod to build an underwater city..."
Diret's eyes sparkled brightly as he scribbled his junior's words onto paper.
How often would one get to hear lost arcane secrets from ancient black mages directly?
"Senior. Aren't you enjoying this a bit too much?"
"...K-knowledge itself isn't a crime."
Click!
At that moment, the Echo Stone glowed again, and the illusion flowed out.
The Crazy Doppelganger stared at Lee Han with disbelief and spoke.
'You've managed to figure out the structure quite well.'
"Your disciple accidentally messed around with things... My apologies."
'Is this a black mage's workshop?'
Noticing the atmosphere reminiscent of Professor Mortum's tower, the Black Rock Hall, the Crazy Doppelganger glanced around.
'Seems like it was made by a fairly competent black mage.'
"!"
Lee Han was startled by the Crazy Doppelganger's words.
It was rare to see the Crazy Doppelganger speak so highly of a mage.
'Well, when you think about it, he'd be something like a distant disciple.'
Considering that the doppelganger had split off from the Skeleton Principal long ago, and Professor Mortum was now a disciple who learned from the Skeleton Principal, it wasn't strange for the Crazy Doppelganger to view Mortum's magic favorably.
But there was one odd thing.
"What is it?"
'It's excessively impoverished. Has it been ransacked by thieves?'
"The two black magic students fell silent simultaneously."
Lee Han couldn't bring himself to explain properly and instead deflected.
"Something like that."
'Scum dare... Trash. Find those thieves and make them pay the price they deserve.'
"Yes! I'll erase them from this world!"
Diret gave his junior a sympathetic look.
Meanwhile, the Crazy Doppelganger noticed Diret's presence. After coldly scanning him, it spoke dismissively.
'Are you the workshop owner's disciple? You're fairly competent too.'
"No way!" Lee Han shouted in alarm.
If the Crazy Doppelganger took Diret as a disciple as well...
Diret was already miserable enough being a fifth-year. That would be too cruel.
'What nonsense are you spouting?'
"Weren't you going to take him as your disciple?"
'...Trash. If you spout nonsense one more time, I'll turn your tongue into lead. Would I take a pebble I see on the roadside as a disciple? That one is weak-willed and lacks severity in temperament. A fatal flaw.'
"That's not a compliment..."
Lee Han, about to retort, paused.
'Wait. Then what about me?'
While he was feeling displeased, the Crazy Doppelganger asked again.
'Who owns this workshop?'
"Professor Mortum."
'And that one?'
Diret answered instead, his tone curt given that this was an ancient being tormenting his junior.
"A senior from the same school."
'I see. Then I'll defeat both—'
Snap!
Lee Han turned off the Echo Stone again.
"Hmph. Save your nonsense for Antagondals."
Diret, who had been watching, was taken aback...
Is it really okay to treat an ancient being like this?!