Episode 854
Episode 854
Lee Han started to apply pressure to the same spot Professor Garcia had grabbed earlier but stopped himself.
'It's too wasteful to use now.'
If he used it once, Professor Verdus would never give him a safe distance again, and it would be a shame to waste it just to vent his anger like this.
'Heh heh. Professor Verdus has no idea about his own weakness!'
Completely oblivious to his student's wicked intentions, Professor Verdus began his explanation.
Truthfully, even before this small flying sailboat, Professor Verdus's long-cherished dream had been a flying ship.
Not just any small sailboat, but a massive flying sailing ship—one that could fly entirely autonomously.
It wasn't as if the Empire lacked flying vehicles entirely.
Even without relying on winged beasts like griffins or unicorns, enchanters of considerable skill could create flight artifacts to traverse the skies.
And those with even greater skill could enlarge those artifacts, adjust their balance, and even carry additional passengers.
But this was only possible when a mage was aboard to directly control the artifact.
Professor Verdus, however, wanted perfection—a flying sailing ship that could navigate on its own without needing a single mage aboard.
Of course, the difficulty increased by thousands of times as a result.
The sails, masts, bow, and crow's nest had to be engraved with magic to gather and amplify wind, while the massive keel supporting the ship's central structure required magic to reduce weight and reverse gravity.
Making these magic circles work in harmony was already mind-blowingly difficult, but there were just as many other challenges to overcome—no wonder Professor Verdus had spent decades agonizing over it without success.
'Thanks to that, I suffered during vacation too.'
Lee Han had (forcibly) assisted Professor Verdus in solving the mana efficiency issues for the massive flying ship.
The idea was to oversaturate certain magic circles with mana, measure the output efficiency, and use that to compensate...
'Wait. I remember all of this?!'
Lee Han was horrified to realize that everything he had worked on with Professor Verdus last year was still fresh in his mind.
He would have felt less resentful if he had remembered the plot of Gainando's poorly written detective novel instead.
He had already forgotten that, yet Professor Verdus's theories remained lodged in his brain. The mere thought of it was deeply unpleasant.
"Compared to what I showed you last time, this one is childishly low-level."
"Lady Lagesa would be delighted to hear this."
"Well, Lady Lagesa has always had low standards."
"......"
'I definitely need to report this.'
Lee Han mentally noted down what he had just heard.
"It doesn't move completely on its own—someone has to steer it. Hold this wheel here."
"What level of mage would be required?"
A mage could control this flight artifact, but the question was—could mages of any level do it?
A well-made flight artifact could even be piloted by a Baldrogard student, while a poorly made one would require someone of Professor Verdus's caliber.
Skill aside, wouldn't it be sad if no one mourned its crash?
"A mage?"
"Huh? Doesn't a mage control it?"
"This was made so that even non-mages could operate it. How many pirates do you think are mages?"
"...!"
Lee Han was deeply shocked by Professor Verdus's casual remark.
He had forgotten, but the beaver-bird—no, the beaver beastman professor before him was undoubtedly a genius.
'I forgot. Professor Verdus is someone who's survived this long despite his personality.'
The fact that he had managed to stay alive under the Skeleton Principal with that attitude was proof enough of his genius.
"Even non-mages can operate it, you say."
Though the words sounded simple, the sheer amount of magic required to make a ship's wheel—originally designed for sailing the seas—usable for ordinary people piloting through the skies was staggering.
First, they had to alter sensory perception so air resistance felt like water resistance. Each sail had to be individually adjusted to move as if on the ocean. Beyond that, they had to account for every possible scenario that might occur without a mage present.
"And how does it land without a mage?"
"Just drop the anchor enchanted with gravity magic, and the ship will descend on its own."
"What about departure?"
"The moment the anchor is raised, the ship is designed to lift off."
"What about turning? Or encountering storm clouds? Or monsters?"
Lee Han fired off question after question, but Professor Verdus answered each one without the slightest hint of irritation. As he marveled at the meticulously crafted small flying sailboat, Lee Han suddenly paused.
"But Professor... doesn't that mean it's already complete?"
From what he'd heard, there didn't seem to be anything lacking. Was the professor describing post-completion specs while the project was still unfinished?
"No. There are still improvements to be made."
"Where? Are you talking about this chipped paint here?"
"That's fine."
"Then is it the figurehead at the bow? It looks a bit unfinished, but it doesn't seem critically important..."
"Huh? That's already done. It's a beaver."
"...Ah. Um. Y-yes. Very... majestic."
Lee Han stared at the beaver-shaped figurehead Professor Verdus had installed and thought to himself, 'I thought it was a chimera.'
"Then if it's not that, what is it?"
"It needs to move completely automatically, without anyone at the helm!"
Lee Han was stunned once more. The project was already impressive enough—now the professor was aiming for something even more challenging.
More importantly, wasn't this the very problem even Professor Verdus himself hadn't solved yet? (Though that was for a massive flying sailing ship.)
'Lagesa must be no ordinary person either.'
Then again, given the sheer amount of gold coins invested, aiming for something of this caliber made sense. Otherwise, who would even fund Professor Verdus?
"Lagesa has quite the ambition. Honestly, investments and sponsorships usually have some realistic goal in mind, but aiming for something like this..."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"...Wasn't this Lagesa's request?"
"Lagesa didn't ask for this."
"???"
Lee Han felt as if his soul were spinning, as though he'd been hit by illusion magic. Was Professor Verdus using word magic or something?
"...Then what is this for? You said it was for Lagesa."
"Ah, Lagesa said just making it operable would be enough."
Lagesa was a practical pirate—she didn't even dream of something like a fully autonomous small flying ship. She simply wanted a reconnaissance vessel that even pirates who couldn't use magic could operate, hence the investment.
"Then... isn't it already complete? Can't you just hand it over?"
"What are you saying? After coming this far, you want me to stop improving it and just hand it over? Are you even a mage?"
"......"
Lee Han squeezed his eyes shut at the sight of Professor Verdus, who had completely forgotten the concept of investment.
'Why did I even come here after receiving that letter?!'
Whether it was the black magnetite or the staff he'd promised to make, he should've just forgotten about it and ignored it!
"So, Professor. You've already completed it, Lagesa made no further demands, but you think it'd be a waste to stop here, so you're holding onto it. Even though the other party is different, you still won't hand it over."
"Yep!"
"...Then if you can't finish it by tomorrow, will you give up and hand it over?"
"Nope."
"I see... There's dust on your shoulder again."
Lee Han naturally placed his hand on Professor Verdus's shoulder.
'Is it now?'
* * *
In the end, Lee Han held back once more.
'It's better to wait for an opportunity to steal it away.'
After all, if he helped out, an opportunity would surely arise. If things didn't work out, he planned to steal the sailboat himself and take it to Lagesa.
He even had a backpack now...
'Not sure if it'll fit in the backpack. Maybe if I empty out space number 6? It'll be cutting it close.'
"Alright. Follow me."
Professor Verdus led Lee Han out of the attic.
Then, he peeked his head out cautiously and glanced around.
"Why are you doing that?"
"Looking out for an ambush!"
"...This is inside your magic tower, isn't it?"
"There could be traitors, you know."
'Sharp in the weirdest places.'
Given that Professor Verdus's students had once discussed how much they'd sell their master for, his paranoia wasn't entirely unfounded.
Even after checking his surroundings, Professor Verdus remained on guard. As they exited the tower's main gate, he went into detection mode again. For nearly ten minutes, he scanned for attackers, assassins, spies, or Lagesa, making Lee Han yawn.
"You should've lived a kinder life."
"Thorough as always."
Lee Han realized his inner thoughts had slipped out, but Professor Verdus paid no mind.
"What nonsense? I have lived kindly!"
"...So, where are we going?"
Professor Verdus grunted as he pulled out the sailboat he had dragged along and gestured for Lee Han to board.
Once they both got on, the sailboat floated into the air. Their destination was above the massive Main Building.
Flying within Einrogard's territory, especially near the Main Building, wasn't the wisest choice.
The Death Knights, who monitored students attempting to escape, would immediately take flight on their own mounts.
But the Death Knights didn't rise.
Lee Han realized the knights must already be familiar with Professor Verdus's sailboat.
'Of course. It'd be too bothersome for both sides to monitor every single one of the professor's rides.'
This was useful information.
If he ever needed to sneak out later, he could just kidnap Professor Verdus and hitch a ride...
"Oops. Wrong entrance."
As the Main Building suddenly stretched upward, increasing in height, Professor Verdus backed the sailboat away.
After adjusting their altitude slightly, they entered again. This time, the Main Building remained still, revealing the Spire Stable—a place Lee Han had seen a few times before.
Professor Verdus landed lightly and began pulling out thick scrolls from his backpack, stacking them neatly. To make the sailboat move without a helmsman, multiple Manipulation Magic spells were necessary.
"Alright. We'll test these one by one and record the deviations."
"But, Professor. I don't know these spells."
Lee Han examined the spells Professor Verdus had taken out.
Thanks to being forcibly apprenticed, Lee Han had learned various spells, from Vible's Mana Emission Enchantment to absorption, amplification, curvature, and conversion.
But these were far more complex and demanded intuitive results—Vible's Departure Enchantment, Vible's Flight Enchantment, Vible's Landing Enchantment...
They seemed to be spells designed to handle different flight scenarios.
Naturally, they had to be complicated.
They were practically the spells needed for crafting a Flight Artifact.
'So this is how Flight Artifacts are assembled.'
As a second-year, Lee Han quickly grasped the concept.
If spells like Vible's Mana Emission Enchantment were the basic arithmetic of artifact crafting, then spells like Vible's Departure Enchantment were like specialized formulas for specific situations.
Specific situations—meaning, these were spells that were almost essential for crafting Flight Artifacts.
"Ah. Really?"
Professor Verdus looked puzzled at his student's admission. He had assumed Lee Han would know them.
"Yes. Should I just record the deviations while you conduct the experiments?"
"Huh? No. I brought you here because I need your mana. Guess you'll have to learn them now."
"......"
Lee Han stared intently at Professor Verdus's shoulder once more.