Episode 888
Episode 888
"How Much Have You Made?"
"We're working hard, Magician!"
"Good. Hurry up."
A moment later.
"How much is done now?"
'Damn brat.' Saratan spewed curses.
He had clearly said it would take about a day, but now the mage was asking again after just a few steps.
Honestly, most mages were nothing but damnable brats.
"We're doing our best! But it'll take at least a day..."
"Hmm. You're not trying to trick me, are you?"
Lee Han muttered suspiciously. Saratan forced an obsequious smile (though the mage couldn't see it) and gauged the situation.
"Should I summon the Thunder King to supervise?"
"Calling upon a powerful spirit for something like this seems excessive."
"Is that so? It's just that this staff spirit is such a cunning creature..."
- ...!
At the sight of the mage boy casually uttering such a chilling threat—summoning the Thunder King for supervision—Saratan desperately began producing new sprouts infused with Authority.
Flicker!
In the dead of night, Jowurin quietly opened her eyes. Glancing around the lounge, she saw no other students.
'Hmph. Jowurin is clever indeed.'
Normally, Lee Han would have been sitting by the fireplace reading until dawn, but Jowurin had earlier persuaded him to go upstairs.
"Lee Han must sleep!"
"Huh? Why are you suddenly saying that?"
"Go now!"
"I have a lot to do, so suddenly sleeping is a bit..."
"If you don't go up, I'll send letters to the noble families of the Empire saying you're not sleeping and only studying!"
-...
"Your Highness... You haven't been reading any strange books, have you?"
Though bewildered, Lee Han gave in to Jowurin's stubbornness and went upstairs to lie down.
And truthfully, he was tired.
Einrogard students had the peculiar trait of falling asleep the moment their heads touched the ground, even without magic, and Lee Han was no exception.
'Jowurin will solve Lee Han's test for him.'
Just as Jowurin was about to slither out of the empty lounge, the voice of the Baby Basilisk reached her ears.
"What are you doing?......"
Come to think of it, she had forgotten she was cuddling the Baby Basilisk instead of Lee Han. Jowurin paled in shock and waved her front paws frantically.
Shh! Shh! Be quiet!
"I-I am being quiet! ..."
"Save me! Save me!!"
Realizing Lee Han wasn't there, the Baby Basilisk was terrified.
There was no one to stop the dragon before her from swallowing it whole.
"I said be quiet! ..."
Sniff!
Seeing that the Baby Basilisk's cries might ruin everything, Jowurin's eyes welled up with tears.
Startled, the Baby Basilisk froze.
"Wh-why are you crying??"
Because of the basilisk, Jowurin might get caught... Sniffle...
"N-no! No one's here! I don't know what you're planning, but..."
Jowurin had worked so hard on her plan!
"It's not over yet!"
The Baby Basilisk desperately tried to console her.
Jowurin, who had been on the verge of tears, managed to pull herself together at the encouragement.
S-so it's really not over yet...? Jowurin's plan?
"That's right! But what exactly is the plan?"
Hmm. Jowurin...
Jowurin explained her ambitious plan.
Sneak into the greenhouse at night and breathe her dragon breath over Lee Han's mandragoras to accelerate their growth.
Unfortunately, the Baby Basilisk wasn't a mage. As long as the plan didn't involve eating it, it was ready to praise any plan.
"That sounds like an amazing plan!!"
R-really?
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Jowurin stopped crying completely and giggled. The Baby Basilisk's cheers had lifted her spirits.
"Then let's set off again!"
"Yes!"
Jowurin placed the Baby Basilisk on top of her head.
Only then did the Baby Basilisk realize it was coming along too, but it couldn't bring itself to ask to be let down.
- ...
"Um... am I coming too?"
Hm?
"N-never mind! Let's do our best!"
"Then let us proceed!"
Transforming into an eagle, Jowurin swiftly flew up to the lounge window.
Then Professor Bendozol, who had been sleeping rough on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes and shot up into the air.
Jowurin and the baby basilisk were so startled their hearts nearly stopped.
"Euaaaaah?!"
"Kyyaaaaak?!"
"Who dares to— Huh? Your Highness?"
Professor Bendozol, awakened by the movement, was startled to find Jowurin in her transformed state instead of an intruder.
H-how did he recognize Jowurin?
"I can distinguish the thought waves emitted by all races. Even if you transform, that doesn't change."
-Th-that's creepy.
The baby basilisk whispered so only Jowurin could hear. Jowurin almost nodded but stopped herself.
J-Jowurin has somewhere to be. It would be good if you stepped aside.
"Where might that be?"
Professor Bendozol asked the natural question as her escort.
The night-time Einrogard was a demonic realm filled with all sorts of evil students and slightly less evil monsters, after all.
Of course, Jowurin hesitated and couldn't answer.
"Lord Dragon?"
"Uh... Well... You see..."
"???"
"Tch! Why must you pry so persistently? How insolent!"
Jowurin stubbornly retorted, even though she knew it made no sense. The baby basilisk thought to itself, 'This plan is already failing...' But surprisingly, the stubbornness was extremely effective. Professor Bendozol threw himself flat on the ground with a loud thud.
"Crash!"
"I have committed a capital offense, Lord Dragon! How dare this insignificant mage presume to question Your Highness's destination...!"
H-he's bleeding?!
"This is nothing."
Professor Bendozol sprang up and wiped the blood streaming down his forehead.
"Considering my disrespectful behavior, I deserve even greater suffering."
S-stop! Jowurin was wrong!
Unable to endure his madness, Jowurin finally confessed her plan. She was going to the 6th-floor greenhouse to tend to the mandragoras...
"Ah! So you intend to uproot the students' mandragoras and stockpile them in the Lord Dragon's vault! I shall assist you!"
Professor Bendozol exclaimed excitedly.
The students should be grateful. What a blessing that a dragon like Jowurin would take all their mandragoras away...
No, she wanted to help grow the mandragoras...
"Ah! So you've taken an interest in cultivating mandragoras! The Lord Dragon's mercy is vaster than the continent! I shall assist you!"
No, Jowurin has no interest in growing them. It's just that Lee Han's mandragoras don't seem fully grown yet...
"......"
Upon learning the reason, Professor Bendozol glared at the dormitory tower with a menacing look. The baby basilisk quickly whispered,
-L-look at that mage's eyes! He has murder in his eyes!
Is he glaring at Lee Han right now?!
"W-what are you saying? Absolutely not. Tch, these eyes! These eyes!"
Professor Bendozol began punching his own eyes repeatedly. Jowurin cried out in exasperation.
A-alright. You don't hate Lee Han, right?
"......Yes! Of course not."
-Make him swear that Lee Han is his cherished student.
The baby basilisk truly lived up to its title as the king of snakes with its cunning wisdom. Jowurin relayed the demand.
Suddenly, tears of blood began streaming from Bendozol's eyes...
"Eek!"
"Forgive me, Lord Dragon. I must have hit myself too hard just now."
O-oh... What about the oath...?
"......"
Professor Bendozol cycled through dozens of negative emotions on his face before finally clenching his teeth and swearing.
"By the love I hold for all animals, I swear... I shall consider that br— no, the Wardanaz family's student as my cherished disciple..."
-Can we also make him promise to leave Lee Han his inheritance?
When the baby basilisk slyly suggested, Jowurin looked troubled.
Th-that seems a bit too much, in Jowurin's opinion...
Professor Bendozol mobilized all his magic to escort Jowurin to the greenhouse.
Senior students sneaking around in the darkness quickly distanced themselves upon spotting Bendozol from afar.
"Eek! It's the madman!"
"Huh? Who?"
"The madman!"
"Ah. Professor Bendozol? Let's go the other way."
A mad reputation came in handy at times like these. The students couldn't even imagine that a transparent dragon was following behind Professor Bendozol.
Whenever students hesitated, Professor Bendozol threatened them with a growling sound.
"Grrrrk!"
"Eek! The crazy professor!"
"Who!? Verdus?"
"It's nighttime!"
"Ah, Bendozol! Run!"
After thoroughly clearing the path, Professor Bendozol wiped the sweat from his brow.
He'd always thought that Einrogard's student population could stand to be reduced to about one-tenth of its current size.
Instead, they should increase the number of magical creatures by tenfold...
'But how does the Dragon Lord plan to grow the mandragora?'
Though Professor Bendozol was a specialist in creatures, he wasn't incompetent in other fields. Einrogard professors were, by nature, versatile.
From the professor's perspective, to accelerate the growth of the mandragora at its current stage, they would need some elixirs or potions.
Things like <Arlkan's Growth Elixir> or, as a bolder choice, <Ahrag's Violet Poison> could also aid the mandragora's development.
'If they had secured these, they could have just ordered me to handle it. To move personally... That damn Wardanaz...!'
Professor Bendozol trembled with burning jealousy and hatred.
If he were Wardanaz, he would have lived every moment in gratitude.
That ungrateful, arrogant, wicked, and prideful bastard...
"I'll be back shortly."
"Very well. Safe travels."
As Jowurin spoke upon arriving at the greenhouse, Professor Bendozol nodded.
Flash!!!!!!
"?"
When a radiant sphere as bright as the sun flickered beyond the glass door, Professor Bendozol was startled.
'...Could it be?!'
There was one more method to grow mandragora besides elixirs and potions.
Creating an artificial sun.
It was such an absurd method that he hadn't even considered it, but for a dragon, it wasn't impossible.
"Dragon Lord!"
Rushing inside after opening the door, he saw the small floating sun vanish in an instant.
Jowurin coughed repeatedly. The recoil had hit because he had forcibly drawn out his breath before fully maturing.
Professor Bendozol nearly had a heart attack from rage and self-reproach but forced himself to stay composed.
"Are you alright?!"
I-I am fine. The other... other mandragoras...
"They're unharmed! You controlled it perfectly!"
The most crucial aspect of exhaling breath and fixing it to create a temporary artificial sun was control.
Given the sheer intensity of the storm of power, the moment it slipped, it would destroy everything around it.
In a greenhouse filled with plants, even the slightest mistake could lead to catastrophic destruction.
Of course, Professor Bendozol wouldn't have cared even if that had happened...
"They're fine. You precisely focused the light only on that... no, on Wardanaz's mandragora."
Hehe. Jowurin's plan had succeeded!
"As expected of the Dragon Lord!"
"Um... excuse me?"
The Baby Basilisk called out to the self-congratulating dragon and professor.
Lee Han's mandragora sprout, having absorbed the full force of the energy, was growing...
At an alarmingly rapid speed!
-----------!!!!!!
Even before it had fully emerged from the soil, the mandragora's scream struck the eardrums and shook the souls of the three.
Fortunately, their robust races—dragon, basilisk, and professor—allowed them to endure it.
"Out! Get out now!"
Professor Bendozol swiftly threw the other two outside, sealed the greenhouse door, and cast a barrier spell.
Meanwhile, inside, the overgrown mandragora continued to unleash its insane wails. The sheer ferocity was such that even with the barrier, the shockwaves could be felt outside the greenhouse.
'I've never seen anything like this...!'
Even Professor Bendozol had never encountered a mandragora that could emit such a terrifying scream while still buried underground.
Realizing things had gone awry, Jowurin made a distressed face.
T-This is bad...! W-What do we do? What do we do...?
"Dragon Lord!"
Huh? Does Professor Bendozol have a plan!?
"Your visit here today never happened!"