Episode 83
Episode 83
"Wardanaz, you didn't prepare this in advance, did you?"
"Sometimes I wonder how you all perceive me..."
Lee Han checked the shattered hole and clicked his tongue.
"This isn't good."
"Why do you say that?"
"The debris is inside the Alchemy Hall. It came from outside."
If it had been something that Thunderstep Professor was raising inside the hall that broke out, it wouldn't have been much of a concern. But judging by the current state, it was clear that a large monster had entered from outside.
Ratford looked at Lee Han with slight admiration.
"You truly have the makings of a master thief."
"Keuk...!"
"M-me too! Ratford. I can deduce things too!"
The students from the Blue Dragon Tower displayed an odd sense of competitiveness.
Even if they lagged behind in academic grades or magical abilities, they didn't want to fall short when it came to thieving skills.
Nilia stared at them as if wondering why they were acting this way.
"Why are they like this?"
"Probably grew up reading too many fairy tales about honorable thieves."
At Yoner's words, Nilia found it absurd.
'Imperial nobles grew up reading such ridiculous fairy tales?'
"Isn't there a hunter?"
"Uh... there might be fairy tales about thieves who were former hunters..."
While his friends were talking, Lee Han made up his mind and opened the Alchemy Hall door.
"Listen carefully, everyone. From now on, we're not secretly infiltrating the Alchemy Hall."
"?"
"???"
If they weren't infiltrating secretly, then what were they doing?
Were they planning to paint "Blue Dragon Tower students were here" on the walls or something?
"We're voluntarily gathering to stop a rogue Summon that has intruded into the Alchemy Hall and to protect the professor's precious belongings."
"...Ah. Aha!"
"Indeed...!"
The Summon's intrusion wasn't entirely without its merits.
If things went wrong later, they could use the Summon as an excuse to justify themselves.
...Though whether that would work with Thunderstep Professor was questionable.
"Light."
Lee Han conjured a sphere of light, illuminating the dark first floor of the Alchemy Hall.
The greenhouses and lecture rooms lining the corridor.
Students who had wandered the Magic School at night would know—the school at night was entirely different from the school during the day.
Lecture rooms that seemed ordinary in daylight now looked like they could be hiding a few undead creatures...
Plants that basked in sunlight in warm greenhouses now seemed to be holding their breath in the darkness, waiting for a chance to attack.
'It wouldn't even be strange if Thunderstep Professor had actually prepared plants like that.'
At least the first floor was familiar to the students, but from the second floor onward, it was uncharted territory.
What could possibly be up there?
"!"
As they ascended the stairs to the second floor, an intense surge of mana could be felt from within.
The space itself was imbued with mana.
'Spatial expansion!'
A space that appeared dozens of times larger than the first floor greeted the students. The second floor was a vast botanical garden.
The sight of numerous peculiar and enormous plants, whose names they didn't even know, growing in clusters overwhelmed the students.
"They say an outstanding alchemist must also be an outstanding horticulturist. But even so, this scale is truly impressive..."
Priest Siana murmured in an awed voice.
Since alchemists had to traverse mountains and fields to gather ingredients, it was only natural they'd cultivate what they could themselves.
But even considering that, the scale was truly remarkable.
"Wow. What's the name of this plant?"
Gainando pointed at a flower glowing in vivid colors, fascinated.
Its delicate swaying under the faint moonlight streaming through the windows was truly beautiful.
Lee Han kindly answered.
"That flower is a Nepellops."
"Ooh. What does it do?"
"It captures and swallows whole any animal that touches its petals."
"......"
Gainando recoiled in horror.
"But the honey from that flower sells for quite a high price..."
"Is that really important right now?!"
"You asked, so I answered."
Lee Han retorted and glanced around.
There were far more plants he didn't know than those he did. The same likely went for Yoner and Priest Siana.
'But still...'
The Alchemy Hall wasn't the dormitory tower. As Professor Thunderstep's workshop, it couldn't possibly have as many traps.
After all, even Professor Thunderstep needed to move around freely here...
Lee Han calmly searched for a path. There had to be a route the professor used to navigate between these botanical sections.
Clink-
"!"
As if reading Lee Han's thoughts, the Bone Summon jingled from his belt.
The summon pointed in a direction, seemingly indicating they should look that way. Surprisingly, fresh footprints were visible in the mud—ones that looked like they belonged to a monster.
'I see. A monster must have passed through first!'
It was clear that some intruding monster had discovered the path Professor Thunderstep used before they did.
Lee Han was about to praise the Bone Summon when—
"Wardanaz! I've got a great idea. These footprints clearly show a monster came through here first! That means this path must be safe."
Nilia whispered excitedly.
Lee Han paused mid-praise and opened his mouth.
"...That's amazing, Nilia!"
Clink-clink!
"Is this because of your Shadow Patrol background? Truly impressive. I'm so glad you're here. Just imagining how we'd manage without you makes me dizzy."
"Oh, it's nothing special."
Nilia waved it off like it was no big deal, but her long ears were already perked up in delight.
"Alright. I'll lead the way. Everyone, follow me."
"Right, right."
Lee Han sent Nilia ahead and sighed in relief.
Clink-clink-clink!
At the Bone Summon's protesting sounds, Lee Han apologized.
"Sorry. Friendship is harder than it looks."
The summon wiggled its fingers as if to say it didn't understand.
Following the earlier monster's footprints turned out to be a better strategy than expected.
As they moved along the botanical garden's paths, the students faced no attacks from the plants.
Clearly, Professor Thunderstep hadn't bothered setting traps along his regular routes.
'Thank you, Professor.'
Lee Han expressed gratitude for the professor's laziness as they progressed.
-■■■■...
"......"
But where there's good fortune, misfortune follows.
At the far end of the botanical garden stood a three-story staircase.
When Lee Han saw the monster stationed before those steps, his expression hardened.
"That's... a bull, right?"
"Yeah. Doesn't look like any ordinary bull."
Having already smashed through the first-floor entrance, this bull had apparently trampled several second-floor plants too—its horns were tangled with debris, vines, and leaves.
The sight instantly reminded Lee Han of the bull Professor Thunderstep had once mentioned.
'...Wait.'
Until now, he'd assumed the Spirit Bull captured by Professor Ingoldel was that same creature. But looking closely, this bull before them matched Thunderstep's description far better.
For one, it showed no signs of spirit energy infusion—just physical enhancements from various potions.
'So was that other one just something summoned by upperclassmen?'
Lee Han felt guilty for having cursed Thunderstep over the Spirit Bull incident.
'No. Actually, I shouldn't feel bad.'
Any remorse vanished the moment he looked back at this bull.
They'd seriously stationed that thing on the mountain?
"What should we do?"
"No need to fight it necessarily."
Though a different variety, their experience with the Spirit Bull had taught them one thing—you don't always need to beat something into submission!
This garden wasn't an ideal battleground anyway, and subduing bulls wasn't their mission.
Besides, the bull seemed indifferent to the students, contentedly chewing something at the staircase's base.
"If that's Professor Thunderstep's bull... maybe it just came back because it was hungry?"
Yoner's theory sounded plausible.
If this was the professor's pet, its familiarity with the layout made sense.
Reaching this spot directly without wrecking the entire first floor would be difficult for an ordinary monster too.
"Then if we leave it alone, might it just eat and move aside on its own?"
"There's a high probability that's the case."
Realizing they might not have to fight, the students let out sighs of relief.
Judging by sheer size alone, the creature before them seemed even more violent and ferocious than the Spirit Bull.
"...Uh... Lee Han?"
Yoner grabbed Lee Han's sleeve and tugged as she spoke.
"That thing... are we sure it's okay?"
The bull ignored the students and abruptly bit off a plant beside it. It chewed a few times, seemed to find the taste unpleasant, then spat it out with a ptui.
Then it moved on to another plant, chewing and trampling several more underfoot...
As if finding this amusing, the bull began destroying the plants at a slightly faster pace.
The faces of Yoner, the alchemy expert, and Priest Siana turned pale. Even though these weren't their plants, their hearts ached at the sight.
Lee Han's complexion also changed.
There was a world of difference between students borrowing a few potion ingredients and some random monster completely wrecking the botanical garden's plants.
And if these two things were combined, the professor's wrath could very well be directed at the students.
"We have to stop it! O feet, wrinkle the earth!"
Lee Han chanted the spell and rushed forward.
Then he hurled a curse at the bull.
"Be paralyzed!"
Dark mana took shape like a wave and surged toward the bull.
However, the bull sensed the threat first and dodged the curse.
"Wardanaz! Why do we have to stop that thing?"
"That's what honor means, Wardanaz! I'm coming to help!"
Misunderstanding Lee Han's intentions, his friends from the Blue Dragon Tower raised their wands and charged.
"Flames of—"
As Gainando began chanting the Flame Creation spell, Lee Han panicked and slapped a hand over his mouth.
Smack!
"?!?"
"Absolutely no fire near the plants!"
"Tch... Be paralyzed!"
"Be paralyzed!!"
His friends cast the paralysis curse they'd learned in class. Accidentally summoning the wrong element here could burn the whole place down.
Unlike Lee Han's curse, the bull didn't even bother dodging the students' spells. Despite several curses landing, the bull remained unfazed.
"Ah, just what did Thundering Steps Professor feed this thing?!"
The students screamed in frustration—the bull was sturdier than they'd expected.
"Go distract it!"
Lee Han sent out his Bone Summon and began conjuring a Water Orb.
The bull paid no attention to the other students waving their wands around but kept a wary eye on Lee Han alone.
'Shouldn't have carelessly fired that curse!'
Hitting a monster with sharp instincts using curse magic wasn't easy.
His reckless curse had put the creature on guard, complicating things.
Lee Han began launching Water Orbs in rapid succession. Though the bull dodged them precisely, Lee Han didn't panic.
'First, lure it away from the plants.'
His attacks had been aimed at driving the bull away from the plants from the start.
"Everyone, take these weakening potions!"
Priest Siana pulled out flasks of potion and passed them around. The students who received them hurriedly threw them.
With the sound of shattering glass, the bull staggered as the potions hit. Realizing its magic resistance had weakened, Yoner shouted.
"Everyone, curse it again!"
"Be paralyzed, be paralyzed!"
"Be paralyzed!"
The bull shook its head irritably. Weakened, it could feel the curses seeping into its skin.
Lee Han detonated Water Orbs in irregular patterns around the bull, causing it to flinch and freeze momentarily.
Then Lee Han's curse struck.
'Faster!'
"Be paralyzed!"
The single-minded determination to cast faster than before made his incantation even swifter.
So much so that the curse shot out before Lee Han had even finished chanting. In the heat of the moment, even he didn't notice.
Thud!
Unable to withstand Lee Han's curse, the bull dropped to its knees.
The students all exhaled long breaths in unison, no one daring to speak first.
"What in the world is going on here?"
"!!!"
A tall, slender willow tree was walking toward them from among the plants.
Lee Han answered immediately.
"We were protecting Professor Thundering Steps's plants."
"...That's right! A strange bull was tearing up the plants...!"