Episode 850
Episode 850
Having quickly regained his composure, Lee Han gave an awkward cough.
He had nearly harassed an innocent person due to his hatred for Baldrogard.
"Senior. What should we do? I think we can check it out."
"Alright. Let's do that."
"'Senior?' Garal wondered inwardly.
If what the Wardanaz boy said was true, that would mean Sebius was at least a sixth-year student.
Of course, Einrogard students theoretically remained at the academy if they couldn't graduate, but Sebius didn't seem like that type...?"
"Wait. I've cast a spell. Don't open the main gate directly—check the snowflake pattern engraved above it. You'll need to find an identical pattern to disable it."
"Why was a boundary spell placed here?"
"It wasn't set as a boundary spell. Baldrogard students kept getting lost in town, so they placed it there. If you tamper with it, it makes a loud noise. That way, they can find their way back even from afar."
"......"
While Sebius wore a complicated expression, Lee Han spoke up in a slightly apologetic voice.
"Uh, Mr. Garal."
"What is it?"
"Actually, I already broke that spell you just mentioned. I thought it was a spell to summon Death Knights."
"...What? How?"
Garal was flustered.
The spell he had just mentioned was a boundary spell developed by the Northern Snowflake Magic Tower. Unless one knew the exact snowflake pattern set by the mage, disabling it wasn't easy.
"I broke it with brute force."
"...??!"
"Don't be too surprised. This junior here learned his craft from a great illusion mage."
"Ah, are you talking about Lord Ogonin?"
"No. It was Lord Valdororn..."
"???"
Hearing an unfamiliar mage's name, Garal grew even more confused.
"We've been chatting too long. Let's go in."
"'Who is that?'"
"Yes."
Sebius issued the command with a stern demeanor, as if he would no longer tolerate further conversation. Even if things were going well, letting one's guard down during relocation was the mark of an amateur.
Creak
—Garal had been right.
The first floor of the mansion was already devoid of people. Even the <Backpack of Six Directions> was blatantly left on the table, so conspicuously that it felt like a trap.
"Check for magic."
"There isn't any."
"Good. Then..."
Just as the two were about to grab the backpack, Zandanni yawned and walked down the stairs from the upper floor.
"Oh, you're back? I actually had something to ask—"
"......"
"......"
Lee Han and Sebius exchanged glances.
"Don't move. Put down your staff."
"Uh... how...?"
"Every barrier has its flaws."
"N-no, that's not it. How do I put down my staff without moving...?"
"...I'll take it from you."
Suddenly kidnapped alongside Garal, Zandanni sat dumbfounded in an armchair by the fireplace, forced into place.
Garal let out a deep sigh and asked, "You should be asleep—why were you up at this hour?"
"I was about to sleep, but then I remembered what you said earlier."
"What?"
"You asked why the sixth compartment was locked, didn't you?"
"...So you mean to tell me you woke up and came downstairs at this hour just to try opening it?"
"Yes."
Garal was stunned.
And so were Sebius and Lee Han.
"That's a lie."
"Don't lie. You woke up because you were craving the wine you drank earlier, didn't you?"
"Th-that's too much, both of you."
Though he was just an employer, Garal still made an effort to defend Zandanni from the Einrogard students' accusations.
"More importantly, what do you mean by the sixth compartment?"
"Ah. You still don't know. Among spatial expansion items, this backpack is uniquely..."
"Don't tell me—instead of inflating or expanding space, it creates separate subspaces and links them together? That's incredible."
"......"
Garal was astonished when Lee Han noticed before he could even explain. He himself hadn't realized it until he'd touched the bag personally.
"Did you already know about this?"
"No. I just realized it now."
"I... I see."
Garal struggled to contain his surprise. Zandanni, standing beside them, looked puzzled and asked, not understanding what the big deal was.
"What's the matter?"
"...It's nothing."
Suppressing the urge to punch him, Garal finally began his proper explanation.
The six spaces and the final locked space.
To this, Lee Han and Sebius even added the true backstory for Zandanni's sake.
"...So, our senior was captured like that!"
"Th-that's...!"
Zandanni blinked in shock at the horrifying truth.
"Do you understand now? Just how cruel, underhanded, and despicable stealing this bag was?"
"But... why would the Headmaster capture him just for going out?"
Even in his dazed state, Zandanni raised a perfectly reasonable question.
Lee Han had no answer.
"...That's not important right now. Every Empire Magic Academy has its own rules, doesn't it?"
"That's true."
Garal couldn't help but chime in.
He was growing increasingly worried about Zandanni provoking the students of what was arguably the most unfortunate magic academy in the Empire.
But oblivious to these concerns, Zandanni pressed further.
"And, well... couldn't there have been a misunderstanding?"
"What misunderstanding?"
"Maybe the two of them were actually close, but the Einrogard students didn't believe it and misunderstood..."
Lee Han started laughing.
Sebius joined in.
The two kept laughing. It must have gone on for a good ten minutes.
Garal coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem."
"Ah, sorry."
"It was just too funny."
At their reaction, Zandanni cursed inwardly.
Clearly, these Einrogard brutes were savage and heartless—utterly incapable of understanding friendship.
"Hmph. Let's just open the sixth space."
"Huh?"
"The locked sixth space, I mean."
Seeing that Lee Han didn't seem to understand, Zandanni exclaimed impatiently.
Of course, Lee Han had understood.
"You want to open it now?"
Even if Lee Han and Sebius were the rightful attackers by the Right of Entry, wanting to inspect the bag's hidden space with said attackers wasn't exactly normal thinking.
"We're taking this with us."
"That's beside the point! Any proper mage would be curious, wouldn't they?"
Garal internally scoffed at Zandanni's words.
This guy wasn't even curious until I mentioned it!
Still... 'I am curious too.'
Garal also wondered why the student who made this bag had locked the sixth space.
If there had been no space at all, that would be one thing—but creating a space only to lock it was undeniably strange.
Besides, once the Einrogard students took the bag, he'd never get another chance to check.
"If you open it now, I'll help. Honestly, I'm curious too."
"Garal."
Lee Han wavered slightly.
Having an experienced mage like Garal assist would definitely be useful.
"I'll help too."
"Huh? You don't have to—"
"......"
Zandanni glared at Lee Han.
The four mages gathered by the fireplace and got to work.
"It seems the space has been twisted and knotted shut. We'll need to undo it."
"What if we just blast it open with magic?"
"That might... destroy the bag."
At Garal's words, Zandanni, who had been listening, added:
"Not to mention, gathering enough mana here would be difficult. You'd need an enormous amount to break something like this."
Pleased with his own observation, Zandanni looked smug.
The other three exchanged complicated glances.
"Then what method would be best?"
"Honestly, bypassing it would be ideal if possible."
Sebius, who had been listening, shook his head and replied.
"I tried inserting a spatial probe, but it seems impossible. They've blocked it thoroughly. It appears they anticipated this kind of bypass from the start."
Twisting space inevitably creates vulnerabilities.
By channeling mana through those gaps, one could relatively easily pass through blocked spaces, but the creator had sealed those vulnerabilities almost perfectly.
"So it has to be a direct approach. If we just knew the rules governing its shape, we could solve it."
The twisted and convoluted space was a kind of maze.
If they could bypass the maze itself and find a detour, that would be best—but if not, they had no choice but to traverse it.
In such cases, the key lay in understanding the spatial rules that acted as the maze's map or guide.
If only they knew those rules, they could solve it immediately...
"By any chance, did you hear anything else when you inherited this backpack?"
"No, I didn't."
'Really unhelpful.'
'Completely useless.'
"Then how about this method?"
Zandanni, oblivious to their internal cursing, brought up an idea.
Among gemstones, the Emerald had the effect of granting its owner vision unclouded by falsehood.
To put it in magical terms, it could dispel various illusion magics and reveal the correct path.
A skilled alchemist knew how to expand and utilize such properties of gemstones.
"Here. We send in a Scarab crafted from an Emerald! It should restore the twisted space to its original state."
"......"
The three exchanged another complicated glance.
Finally, Lee Han stepped forward.
"Um, Zandanni. As you know, this spatial maze is larger and more complex than you might think. A single Emerald Scarab won't be enough."
Expensive gemstones were worth their price.
Even just the Emerald Scarab alone could restore twisted space to its original state without causing any major disturbances—which was undoubtedly impressive.
But it wasn't enough to solve the entire maze.
"Besides, retrieving it from such a maze would be difficult. You might restore a small section of space and lose it forever."
"Ah, no need for that."
"...?"
Zandanni smiled as if he'd been waiting for this moment. His confidence, befitting the top student of Baldrogard's Alchemy lectures, was evident in that smile.
"This was made as a disposable consumable from the start."
"...Excuse me?"
Lee Han doubted his ears. Zandanni excitedly explained.
The Emerald Scarab, crafted to resolve twisted space, had the drawbacks of limited range and difficulty in retrieval.
So Zandanni had come up with a brilliant idea.
He processed the gemstone to evaporate after a single use.
The range expanded significantly, and retrieval became unnecessary!
"......"
"......"
Lee Han and Sebius were too stunned to speak, staring at Zandanni with deeply shocked expressions.
Zandanni, mistaking their silence for admiration, puffed up with pride.
'That guy... is worse than a Magic Criminal!'
As Lee Han shuddered internally, Zandanni eagerly pulled out brooches, cufflinks, badges, and more—all made from Emeralds.
The two Einrogard students broke into a cold sweat watching him produce gemstones as effortlessly as Gainando retrieving hidden snacks.
"What if we use all of these?"
"...Zandanni, you're from the Alchemy School, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Do you often use gemstones?"
"How did you know? Gemstones are my specialty."
Zandanni excitedly explained the beauty of simplicity—no need to memorize complex materials and processes when a few gemstones could solve everything.
Why bother memorizing juniper berries and perilla leaves?
Just toss in a single golden beryl and be done with it!
Sure, the costs skyrocketed, but that wasn't a mage's concern.
Sebius found himself unconsciously comforting his junior—Lee Han's face had twisted so badly.
"Calm down. That method must have its drawbacks."
"What drawbacks? The drawback of happiness? The drawback of having free time to relax? The drawback of going to bed early, waking up early, and enjoying life?"
"......"