Episode 848
Episode 848
"I agree too. Some members of the Teleportation Club think everything in the world belongs to them, but..."
"......"
"..."
"Whether you agree or not, at least this item rightfully belongs to our Einrogard student."
"You're absolutely right, Senior!"
"At Sebius's words, Lee Han clapped his hands as if flattering him."
Honestly, even if he had no claim to it, he would've probably insisted on stealing the improved Space Expansion Backpack anyway.
It was that essential of an item.
"Shh. From here on out, we need to be quiet."
Sebius cautiously halted his steps. Then he asked Lee Han:
"Have you ever been to the 5th floor before?"
"No, I haven't."
"Figured. You don't have much reason to go to the 4th floor either."
For first-year Einrogard students, even if they wandered around the main building, they usually only went up to the 2nd floor, occasionally the 3rd. By second year, they could immediately enter the 7th-floor village where upperclassmen gathered, so unless there was a special reason, they rarely had any business on the 4th to 6th floors.
'But I went to the 4th floor a lot...'
Lee Han wanted to say he'd frequently visited the 4th floor even as a first-year but held back.
He didn't want to come across as a weird junior in front of his senior.
"The 5th floor isn't much different from the 4th. Strange classrooms, strange traps..."
"...And the Principal's strange minions."
Sebius pretended not to hear that last part. Lee Han felt a little dejected.
"But one key difference is that there's a visitor lodging area. Guests unrelated to any particular faction usually stay there."
Guests like those from Kallarogard who had ties to specific factions within Einrogard could stay in their respective magic towers, but sometimes, there were visitors who had no connections with any faculty members at all.
"Baldrogard folks, regardless of connections, tend to avoid staying in places like magic towers."
"Why is that? Do they hate magic?"
"No. Because if they stay somewhere easily accessible to Einrogard students, they'd get ambushed a lot."
"......"
As a fellow Einrogard student, Lee Han felt slightly guilty.
"Anyway, the 5th-floor lodging is a pretty safe place. To begin with, it's invisible unless you're a guest."
According to Sebius's explanation, the <Visitor Lodging> on the 5th floor was like a small village.
A small village only accessible to those qualified as guests.
Naturally, no matter how much non-guest students wandered the 5th floor, they could never reach that village.
"So. How do you think we should approach this place?"
At his senior's question, Lee Han confidently answered.
As a junior from the same faction and club, he had to show competence in moments like this.
"We kidnap a guest. If we use them as a guide, the path should appear."
"...That is a usable method, I suppose. Though what I meant was a way to access it from another floor."
If there was one thing even the Skeleton Principal couldn't interfere with, it was the inherent chaos of Einrogard's main building.
The accumulated magic over centuries operated under so many different rules that it was impossible to predict.
Clever Einrogard students knew how to skillfully exploit this chaos.
"When space overlaps between floors and a path opens, the surrounding magic naturally weakens. To breach a heavily secured area, you need to approach it from another floor."
"I see. Thank you."
Lee Han regretted his answer.
Instead of saying "We kidnap a guest," if he had said, "We exploit the weakening of nearby magic when spatial overlap occurs between floors," how much more impressive would he have sounded?
'Tch. Should've thought a bit more before speaking.'
Sebius pulled out a map from his pocket.
Every Einrogard student had their own personal map. Without one, it was far too easy to get lost.
But Sebius's map was unusual. Instead of terrain, it was densely packed with timings.
"Is it perhaps the overlapping time?"
Sebius nodded.
Though he was picky about choosing mages to work with on spatial displacement tasks, he couldn't deny that this junior was an exceptional partner.
If you overlooked the fact that he was still just a second-year, it was hard to find someone this capable...
He was so competent it was almost frightening!
"Originally, a path was supposed to open near that pig tower statue in 30 minutes."
"But why did you come this way then?"
"A toxic swamp formed nearby, making it hard to enter. The chances of the path not opening at all have also increased."
"......"
Lee Han changed the subject.
"What about here then? The ceiling here is supposed to open in 47 minutes, according to this."
"Someone wrecked the corridor here, so we can't use it for a while."
Sebius muttered a low curse with clear displeasure.
Some ignorantly insane bastard had shattered the 6th-floor corridor, blocking yet another convenient path.
"......"
Lee Han fell silent. 'Is misfortune piling up because of Gainando and Adenart too?' He felt strangely unlucky...
"So we'll have to enter through here, which opens in an hour. Before we go in, let me explain a few spells."
Sebius, thinking this was perfect timing, began his explanation.
Since his junior was also taking <Advanced Illusion Magic and Theory of Ethereal Studies>, it seemed like a good opportunity to teach him the spells covered in the course.
"First, <Ogonin's Deception>. A 3rd-circle spell. It's cast on the target, weakening their resistance to make them perceive illusions favorable to the caster."
"Ogonin's... Deception..."
Lee Han listened attentively while taking notes.
While it's said that a master illusionist can literally manipulate others, controlling a highly intelligent lifeform was an incredibly difficult task.
You had to completely read their thoughts and guide them precisely—it wasn't something you could do casually.
Instead, weakening the target's resistance generally and letting their imagination do the rest was a far more efficient approach.
"Next is <Ogonin's Distortion>. Also a 3rd-circle spell. This one is cast on the mage themselves. It disguises your appearance to blend in with the surrounding terrain."
If you cast <Ogonin's Distortion> on yourself in the middle of an Einrogard corridor at night, you'd most likely appear as a professor to anyone watching.
This spell disguised you as whatever would seem least out of place in that situation.
"These two spells are usually used together. Either one alone leaves too many gaps."
"Both are spells that interact with the soul, right?"
"...Yes. Exactly."
Sebius was inwardly impressed when Lee Han hit the nail on the head.
As suggested by the fact that these spells were being taught this semester, they were developed specifically for soul interaction, regardless of their surface effects.
The great illusionist Ogonin had created these efficient and brilliant spells to make it easier for future students to follow in his footsteps.
Not only were the spells themselves excellent, but mastering them also deepened one's understanding of the soul. Every time Sebius studied Ogonin's spells, he couldn't help but marvel.
"One disrupts the surface of the target's soul, while the other shakes your own soul's surface to create a resonance... But are there no spells created by other mages besides Ogonin?"
Purely out of curiosity, Lee Han asked.
Sebius answered somewhat curtly.
"Are you saying Ogonin's spells don't satisfy you?"
"Oh, no! I was just curious."
"...Sorry. That wasn't very senior-like of me. Sometimes there are juniors who dismiss Ogonin's spells as boring, you see."
Sebius didn't care much for juniors who neglected Ogonin's spells in favor of learning others first.
That was just pretentious, utterly foolish behavior.
"I respect Ogonin too! Immensely!"
Lee Han quickly shouted out loud, afraid his inner thoughts might be revealed. Sebius didn't show it openly, but he seemed quite satisfied.
"Lastly, there's <Ogonin's Detection>. If you've learned <Ogonin's Emotion Perception>, it should be easy to understand..."
"I've learned it."
"..."
"W-Well, anyway. This spell detects the wavelengths emitted by nearby souls to identify hostility."
Putting aside the principles, it was essentially a spell that detected approaching enemies in advance.
All three spells were undoubtedly efficient and convenient. Especially for members of the Teleportation Club.
'It seems I really did have too much prejudice against Ogonin.' Lee Han reflected once again.
As he had realized before, his first encounter with Ogonin had left him with too much bias.
Perhaps meeting an outstanding illusion mage like Valdororn had skewed his perspective.
After all, standing next to the Skeleton Principal made even Alsicle of the Pengerin Family seem like a novice mage.
"These three spells were originally meant to be learned over this semester. You've already mastered soul perception in a different way, so you passed the lecture, but it wouldn't hurt to learn them later."
Today, I'll cast them for you instead.
"Huh?"
While Sebius was explaining <Ogonin's Detection>, Lee Han, who had already learned <Ogonin's Deception> and <Ogonin's Distortion>, paused in surprise.
Did that mean he wasn't supposed to learn them now?
"..."
"Just go ahead and learn Detection too."
"Yes... But, Senior. Shouldn't you have told me this earlier...?"
"Be quiet."
'This is too much, even for a senior.' Lee Han grumbled inwardly.
* * *
Zandanni of the Aljadk Family, a fourth-year student at Baldrogard, spoke with a sullen expression.
"I knew Einrogard mages were impressive, but I didn't expect them to wield magic like that."
The Baldrogard students who had witnessed the ancient magic, the Black Emperor's Crown, returned deeply shaken.
Especially Zandanni, who prided himself on taking magic studies seriously (or so he believed), was even more shocked.
How could that Einrogard student unleash such magic?
"..."
"Don't be too disheartened. Even by Einrogard standards, that magic isn't normal. It must have been an exceptional situation."
Garal, the mercenary mage hired by the Baldrogard students, tried to console Zandanni.
It wasn't in his usual nature to comfort others, but he meant what he said.
Magic like the Black Emperor's Crown wasn't something even an Einrogard student could casually use.
They must have relied on some exceptional method, like an ancient artifact.
"You're not lying to me, are you? That boy from the Wardanaz Family cast it so effortlessly."
"...By sixth year, anyone can maintain a calm expression. You can't judge by appearances."
Garal himself felt slightly confused as he spoke.
Honestly, he wanted to ask how it had been done.
'If he used an ancient artifact, why didn't I sense it?'
Encouraged by Garal's words and the support of the other students, Zandanni finally regained his composure.
Well, if it was an Einrogard sixth-year, maybe he could accept it somehow.
"Soon, our time at Einrogard will be up. Should we really just stay here like this?"
"It's fine. We've already seen everything on the first day. We should spend the remaining time relaxing before heading back."
"......"
'Are these brats really mages?' Garal thought, baffled.
A true mage, when visiting another mage's territory, would squeeze out every last drop of knowledge they could get.
Without that thirst for knowledge, they weren't real mages.
Of course, expecting such dedication from Baldrogard brats was a luxury, but this was just too lazy...
Clink
—Regardless, the Baldrogard students lounged leisurely in their quarters, sipping wine from their high-quality leather bags. One played music, while the other two engaged in a refined game of Wizard Cards.
Garal, despite being paid for this job, wanted to smack them.
"..."
"That backpack. I've been meaning to ask—it's quite unusual. Doesn't look like a mass-produced item."
"You've got a sharp eye! That's right. It was a gift from an Einrogard mage to my senior's senior. A token of friendship."
"...??"
'Since when do dragons and mice get along?'