Episode 862
Episode 862
'I was foolish. I should have suspected this kid first.' Professor Thunderstep lamented his own foolishness. Truly, a wizard must always keep learning.
"From now on, at Einrogard, whenever anything even slightly suspicious happens, I'll be suspecting you first, kid."
"That's... isn't that too harsh?"
Lee Han protested in indignation.
While he was indeed the cause this time, couldn't other incidents be the fault of seniors?
Lee Han? Lee Han??
"Your Highness! You mustn't break the wall with your foreleg!"
Professor Thunderstep urgently shouted, but Jowurin had already swung her foreleg upon hearing Lee Han's voice.
The powerful claws of the dragon, brimming with immense magical energy, cleanly sliced through the classroom's outer wall. The second-year students erupted in cheers.
"Long live the dragon!"
"According to Einrogard legends, a liberator would defeat the Skeleton Principal and save us all. It was a dragon all along!"
"Shut up, you idiots!"
Having identified the large young dragon as Jowurin, Thunderstep silenced the students.
At least it was somewhat fortunate that this wasn't actually a dragon who'd come to defeat the Skeleton Principal and rescue poor young wizards.
But this presented its own troublesome problems. 'Didn't the professors refuse? The Headmaster must have refused too...' He couldn't comprehend how the Emperor's third child had ended up visiting.
"Your Highness! Why did you come out!? You were supposed to stay inside!"
M-my apologies, Wardanaz. I woke up and no one was there...
Jowurin, seemingly cowed by Lee Han's shout, spoke while gauging his reaction.
She had dozed off in the warm lounge, woken to find it empty, and panicked before coming outside.
Like a young beast searching for its parents, Jowurin crawled toward Lee Han.
Using a dragon's senses, it had been easy to locate Lee Han and his friends in the Alchemy Hall classroom...
Was breaking the wall not allowed?
"...It's fine. Just don't do it again."
"What do you mean it's fine?"
Professor Thunderstep grumbled beside them.
Of course, faced with such a question, he too would have no choice but to say it was fine... 'The rumors must have spread already.' Lee Han grew troubled by his increasingly derailed plans.
He'd originally intended to quietly keep her here and send her back discreetly, but more and more people kept finding out.
Moreover, given how frightened Jowurin had been while coming here, she likely hadn't been hiding—meaning some seniors must have spotted her.
"Professor. Please help. What if someone attacks Her Highness?"
"Absolutely no chance of that! ...I wish I could say, but sadly I can't. More importantly, how did Her Highness even end up visiting?"
Lee Han explained to Professor Thunderstep.
The other students in the classroom listened with such intensity you could hear a pin drop.
This was a legendary imperial family member from the upper echelons of the succession line whom none had ever seen or heard of before.
And she was even a dragon!
They couldn't begin to imagine what mysterious circumstances lay behind this.
"...Her Highness wanted to come visit for fun, and Professor Bagrak's heart softened, so he eventually allowed it."
"......"
"......"
"Who's heart softened what?"
Professor Thunderstep wondered if he was getting old. His student's words sounded strange.
"But Professor Bagrak was the only one who actually received the proposal."
"...That's true. Ugh. This is our professors' mistake. We should have properly cautioned Professor Bagrak too..."
"The professors all knew about this?"
"The Headmaster must have sent letters to all the professors who might be approached."
"Including Professor Verdus?"
"I said professors who might be approached."
Professor Thunderstep grew irritated at his student's pointless question.
What kind of ridiculous question was that? 'Well, it was a stupid question.' Lee Han immediately conceded.
Jowurin might be young in mind, but she wasn't foolish.
"Since you've come all this way, there's no helping it. Come inside and observe the lecture. Wardanaz here will keep you company."
Wow!
As Jowurin excitedly entered the magic tower, Professor Thunderstep quickly repaired the damaged outer wall.
Then he whispered quietly to Lee Han:
"About what we were discussing earlier. Be careful of other seniors who might target His Highness."
"Yes. I'm aware."
"Specifically, watch out for attempts to steal His Highness's claws, scales, tears, blood..."
Professor Thunderstep proceeded to list in detail all 365 magical ingredients that could be harvested from a dragon, starting from tendons all the way to molars.
"...and so on. You must be vigilant against any attempts to steal these. Understood?"
"...T-that many?"
Lee Han was overwhelmed by the unexpectedly extensive list of ingredients.
At this point, Jowurin might as well be renamed .
Professor Thunderstep spoke with visible irritation:
"And this is the simplified version! So who was the fool who invited His Highness to this den of mad mages?"
"I didn't invite him,"
Lee Han grumbled.
And calling them mad mages seemed a bit harsh.
"Whether it's making His Highness cry to steal tears, pricking him to steal blood drops, secretly plucking scales... keep all these possibilities in mind."
'Hmm... maybe "den of mad mages" isn't so far off after all...'
After hearing such specific examples, Lee Han had to concede the point.
The Einrogard seniors were indeed capable of such things.
Just imagining someone secretly stabbing Jowurin and running off with his scales was terrifying enough.
"I did consider the possibility of rumors spreading. I just didn't expect it to happen this fast."
"How were you planning to prepare for it?"
"I thought to directly guard him with the help of seniors and professors..."
"Hmm. Go on."
"Seniors like Diret or Yukveltire among the fifth-years, and understanding professors like Garcia or you, Professor Thunderstep."
"Not a bad plan. I'd help, and Professor Garcia probably would too. But exclude Yukveltire."
"......"
When Lee Han gaped speechlessly, Professor Thunderstep repeated gravely:
"Exclude Yukveltire."
"Understood. But isn't Senior Yukveltire reliable too? Being a fifth-year and all..."
"How would you feel if I added Professor Verdus to my list of helpful professors?"
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
"Exactly. That's precisely how Yukveltire sounds to me."
"...!"
To Professor Thunderstep, Yukveltire wasn't someone who'd protect Jowurin—he was the type who'd draw blood, collect tears, pluck scales, and clip claws before making his escape.
Lee Han had no choice but to accept this. Truly, it was hard for a student to logically outmaneuver a professor.
"Are you Nilia? From the Shadow Patrol? I've heard about you!"
"Uhh. Uhhh."
"Tell me about the northern mountain ranges! Jowurin wants to hear stories!"
"Uhhhhhh...?"
Nilia's brain short-circuited under the dragon's sudden attention.
She never imagined she'd have to converse with a dragon in her lifetime...
'Help me, Wardanaz!'
When she looked to him for help, Lee Han annoyingly sidestepped the situation.
Seeing this, Nilia deeply regretted her choices.
'I should have listened to my friend's advice!'
The price of betraying friendship was this bitter.
"Now. Pay attention."
The lecture proceeded as usual, except for the massive dragon sitting at the back of the classroom.
Professor Thunderstep warned the students about the upcoming exam:
"Don't think you'll get off as easily as last time! This exam won't be so simple!"
Gasp. Wardanaz. The exam sounds tough. Shouldn't we use Jowurin's Dragon Stone?
"...Your Highness. That would defeat the purpose of the exam."
Professor Thunderstep spoke in a hollow voice.
The Dragon Stone extracted from a dragon's body was, to exaggerate slightly, a magical material so powerful it could rival the Philosopher's Stone.
With that, most alchemy exams could be passed by simply tossing it into water and reciting a single spell.
Jowurin pouted as she spoke.
But if the exam was difficult...
"...It won't be that hard for Wardanaz. Don't worry about it."
"What nonsense—"
Lee Han bristled.
Hadn't they seen Thunderstep cultivating Nefertem with Submersion Incense last time? Where was this lie coming from?
Professor Thunderstep ignored his indignant student, pulling out a few potions and handing them to Jowurin.
"Your Highness. This one instantly kills any student who tries to pluck your scales. This one turns tears into lethal poison..."
"......"
After finishing his detailed instructions, Professor Thunderstep turned to Lee Han.
"Call if you need help. And be careful around Professor Verdus."
"...I'll keep that in mind."
"And be careful around Professor Bendozol too."
"Now that I think about it, why did Professor Bendozol refuse?"
It occurred to him that sending a letter to Professor Bendozol might have been better than sending one to Professor Voladi.
Wasn't he the kind of person who would literally face death without hesitation if Jowurin commanded it?
Could it be that Jowurin didn't know of his existence?
"The Death Knights must have stolen the letter. I can't say for sure, but probably."
Lee Han marveled at the competence of the Death Knights.
So this was how Einrogard's security was maintained.
'If only they'd stolen the letter sent to Professor Bagrak too!'
Professor Bendozol was grilling the students, his irritation palpable.
"Hey! The wyvern is frowning because of you! If its lifespan shortens from stress, you'll take responsibility, won't you?! You—you wyvern-slaughtering brat!"
"Doesn't the professor seem more unhinged than usual?"
"Yeah, definitely."
The students of Einrogard whispered among themselves.
Professor Bendozol was acting even more beastly than usual.
'Seems like I've been tricked by that bastard.'
The reason for Professor Bendozol's heightened agitation was a second-year student from the Blue Dragon Tower.
Even though the professor himself was personally handling the chores, the unicorns didn't seem all that happy.
Of course, the unicorns were managing well enough (they might have been better off if the professor hadn't come at all), but by Professor Bendozol's standards, it was far from satisfactory.
'That evil little swindler! Even if I worked eight days a week, it wouldn't be enough—how dare he neglect the unicorns like this!'
After enduring and enduring until his patience reached its limit, Professor Bendozol set out to find Lee Han.
Along the way, he overheard students whispering.
-They say he rides a real dragon?
-I heard he was chosen by a dragon?
-What I heard was that he subdued a dragon. Doesn't that make more sense logically?
"...?"
Professor Bendozol stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. But the students had already passed by, leaving him no one to question.
'Did they just say dragon?'
Dragon.
A word that made his heart race with just a single syllable.
Was there any creature more magnificent and beautiful?
'...'
Must have misheard.'
-There's really a dragon? Are there any scales left??
-You didn't hear? It's a royal!
-So what? Royals aren't exactly rare!
"???"
Professor Bendozol's head whipped around 180 degrees again.
The moment their eyes met, the students screamed and bolted.
"It's Professor Bendozol! Run!"
"Stop! I have questions to—ugh, damn brats! Worse than poachers, the lot of you!"
The students were clever.
They knew very well that running into Professor Bendozol outside the classroom was never a good idea. The professor could only grumble and turn back.
'Better just find that bastard.'
Professor Bendozol decided to ignore the students' rumors and focus on finding Lee Han.
"...Your Highness. Could you come down, please?"
...
Are you uncomfortable??
"Uncom—no. Not uncomfortable. I'm just worried you might get hurt."
Jowurin is fine! Here! Wardanaz. Act like a knight!
"Ghk."
Witnessing Jowurin playing at being a dragon rider with Wardanaz perched on her back, Professor Bendozol clutched his chest and dropped to his knees.
It was simply too shocking.