Episode 900
Episode 900
"Don't joke with me."
"..."
"I'm not joking. Please verify."
Lee Han extended the wooden box containing the fragrance. Professor Thunderstep shouted as if he couldn't believe it.
"Don't tell me you brute-forced it with mana?!"
"Uh...would that have been acceptable? I thought the box would break if I did that."
"...Right."
Professor Thunderstep, well aware of Lee Han's mana capacity, had naturally prepared additional traps accounting for that very possibility.
If one tried to recklessly push through with brute mana force, the container box itself would shatter. The Red Sandalwood Incense was an extremely delicate and complex fragrance.
The professor had planned to say with feigned regret if Lee Han returned with a dejected face saying 'The box broke'—'This was an incense neutralization test, not a destruction test. Stop trying to smash everything with mana all the time'...but...
Tsk!
Professor Thunderstep snatched the box, started to open it, then suddenly paused. He said to his student:
"Wait. Take three steps back."
"Yes. But why?"
"Hmm."
"Wait...you don't actually think I'm going to attack you right now, do you?"
Lee Han stared at the dwarf professor with disbelief.
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't imagine any other reason why Professor Thunderstep would tell him to step back right now.
The professor awkwardly stroked his beard with an embarrassed expression. This student truly had uncanny perceptiveness.
"I suppose you could say there's some element of that."
"That's going too far, isn't it?"
"Don't blame me. Blame your seniors."
"Are you saying some seniors actually attempted attacks like this?"
"Do you really think there weren't any?"
Professor Thunderstep took out a ring embedded with Ash-heavy Stone and waved it over the box. Fortunately, no dangers were detected.
"Oh, what an admirable student! I believed in you all along!"
"......"
Despite the professor's praise, Lee Han remained unimpressed.
"Don't take it too personally. In a way, this suspicion is a compliment. I wouldn't suspect other second-years like this."
"Why wouldn't you?"
"Normally we only start suspecting from third year..."
"Hmm. I see."
Lee Han nodded as if he'd learned something valuable. Seeing this, Professor Thunderstep had a sudden realization.
'Did I just teach this baby dragon how to deceive people?'
'Well, Professor Verdus will probably be the first victim anyway.'
With that thought, the professor opened the box. A gentle fragrance flowed out in sequence - the completely neutralized components of the Red Sandalwood Incense.
"......"
Professor Thunderstep thought he would have been less shocked if the student had actually attacked him.
Of course, the boy from the Wardanaz family had always had a talent for surprising people, but this was the first time he'd been completely beyond all expectations.
Just what method had he used to achieve such perfect neutralization?
"By my lightning-struck beard... I simply can't believe it... How did you do this?? Did you practice neutralizing Red Sandalwood Incense during vacation?"
"No."
"That's not the problem! Even if you could do it, I thought it would take you at least until this weekend."
Though Professor Thunderstep had designed this test specifically targeting Lee Han, he hadn't completely underestimated his student's abilities.
He had thought it might be barely possible within the given timeframe.
But to bring it back immediately after the day changed...
Shocked enough to make his beard bristle, the professor began babbling whatever came to mind.
"You didn't happen to get a Dragon Stone from His Highness Jowurin, did you? No...that's nonsense even as I say it. No matter how fond His Highness is of you, he wouldn't give you something that precious."
The professor shook his head at his own words.
Though Jowurin was still a young and childish dragon, a dragon was still a dragon.
Those who bore malice or greed toward her would be instantly detected through the power of her bloodline.
Had Lee Han said, 'I'll bake you a pie, so please give me a Dragon Stone,' she would have mercilessly swung her forepaw without hesitation.
"She really gave it to me."
"What method did you... What?"
"I said she really gave it to me."
Lee Han replied with a gloomy expression, like an eldest brother exasperated by his mischievous youngest sibling's antics.
Why did Jowurin keep acting so recklessly?
The previous dawn.
After finishing his other studies, Lee Han grabbed the wooden box to attempt Professor Thunderstep's exam.
Having seen several friends suffer harsh consequences from attempting this test, Lee Han was quite tense.
'Yoner cursed that the exam was absolute hell.'
He wondered if, after graduation, they might end up ambushing Professor Thunderstep together. Carefully, he opened the lid.
Though alchemy was often associated with potions, it was, in truth, a discipline concerning the synthesis of all materials.
The subject could be potions, metals, or even chimeras.
And Professor Thunderstep was a master of incense crafting. The Red Sandalwood Incense was so exquisitely made that Lee Han felt a headache just looking at it.
At least Lee Han was fortunate enough not to be affected by the scent—other students had to endure moments where their consciousness flickered between dimensions.
'Black Shadow Sand.'
Taking a pinch of the black sand from his reagent pouch, Lee Han slowly sprinkled it over the Red Sandalwood Incense.
The sand left strange, glowing traces as it settled.
'Now, geranium petals over the traces.'
One by one, the geranium petals drifted onto the marks. But a single misaligned petal brushed against the incense's trail, causing the Red Sandalwood Incense inside the box to tremble violently and scatter the Black Shadow Sand away.
"......"
Suppressing a curse, Lee Han tried again. He needed to separate the incense, even if just a little.
'This isn't working. It's expensive, but I'll have to use cyanite.'
When frustrated, people tend to make emotional decisions. Lee Han, who would normally avoid expensive reagents, now reached for one to attempt separating the incense. He didn't even need to open his reagent pouch to check—he knew its contents so well that his fingers could pluck out the right one by touch alone.
Tap—
Holding the mineral, Lee Han carefully extended it over the box.
Then, the Red Sandalwood Incense inside trembled before suddenly splitting into dozens of separate fragrance trails.
"?????"
Too stunned by the sudden change inside the box, Lee Han didn't even notice that the mineral in his hand wasn't cyanite—it was golden.
Meanwhile, the incense had completely neutralized. The sight was so absurd that Lee Han wondered if he was dreaming.
'What the hell?'
Pondering whether he had discovered a new use for cyanite, Lee Han belatedly realized that the mineral in his hand was... unusual.
The energy radiating from it was far beyond extraordinary.
For one, the color was wrong (cyanite was, in fact, stored separately in his reagent pouch). Inside, it felt as though hundreds, even thousands, of reagents had been condensed into one, endlessly shifting and emitting a faint, unending glow.
For a single reagent to contain such overwhelming power—enough to substitute for hundreds—it was almost like a Philosopher's Stone.
Of course, a real Philosopher's Stone couldn't be left at room temperature like this—it required multiple layers of magical seals. So it couldn't be that. The closest comparison would be the legendary Dragon Stone...
"....Jowurin! Jowurin!!"
Finally realizing, Lee Han shot up from his chair. The baby basilisk coiled in his sleeve startled awake, blinked, then closed its eyes again.
"Jowurin, you—!"
What's going on?
Jowurin, who had been pretending to sleep this whole time, opened her eyes with a yawn.
Lee Han glared at the young dragon with a stern gaze. The honorific 'Your Highness' had long since vanished.
"Lee Han, there's a Dragon Stone in my reagent pouch. Do you happen to know who put it there?"
Jowurin blinked innocently and replied,
"I know not."
"More importantly, has the Red Sandalwood Incense been resolved? How did it go?"
"Be quiet. I'm the one asking questions right now."
"......"
Jowurin, slightly intimidated by Lee Han's unexpectedly furious demeanor, folded her wings.
Still, she wasn't completely frightened. She had something to rely on.
"Jowurin. Dragon Stones are extremely, extremely rare materials. Only dragons can produce them."
Jowurin already knew that.
'Is he insane?!'
At Jowurin's retort, Gainando trembled violently.
This was the worst possible time to argue back—it would only provoke Lee Han further.
As someone experienced in stubbornness, Gainando knew full well that such backtalk only led to miserable consequences.
And Gainando wasn't the only one terrified.
A few students who had once tried stubborn excuses like, "I was training my intellect through chess, not gambling!" or "I came here to learn magic, not do chores for the dorm!"—only to be brutally subdued—watched the exchange while gulping nervously.
'...Wardanaz is the kind of guy who'd even smack a dragon on the head!'
"But strangely, there was no Dragon Stone in my reagent pouch until yesterday, and suddenly, today, there it is. And coincidentally, there's one dragon in the lounge who's brought up Dragon Stones before. So. Who do you think the culprit is?"
"Hmph. Lee Han, you're overlooking one thing."
"...What am I overlooking? Tell me."
"As Gonadaltes said, and as you yourself have said—Einrogard operates on 'innocent until proven guilty'! If you didn't catch me in the act, no matter how suspicious I am, I'm innocent!"
Jowurin proudly cited Einrogard's rules.
This was the very thing the young dragon had been counting on.
Einrogard's proud school policy guaranteed students' freedom unless there was concrete evidence or they were caught red-handed.
It was one of the two great pillars upholding Einrogard—alongside the Skeleton Principal's freedom to torment students.
"Indeed."
"Hmph. Jowurin is clever. Now, Lee Han! What happened with the Red Sandalwood Incense?"
Flaring her wings triumphantly, Jowurin shouted.
"You're grounded from now on."
Lee Han spoke in a cold voice and turned sharply.
"Wha—wh-what?!"
Jowurin was stunned.
Her logic had been flawless!
"Why?! Lee Han! According to Einrogard's rules—"
"Y-Your Highness... That may be Einrogard's rule, but... you're overlooking one thing..."
"What did I overlook?!"
Jowurin was on the verge of tears. The students hesitated before speaking.
"...The rule only matters if we choose to enforce it."
"......"
Einrogard students weren't exactly known for strictly following rules.
Only then did Jowurin realize the flaw in her logic and belatedly called out to Lee Han.
"Lee Han! Lee Han! Jowurin was wrong!"
But Lee Han had already gone upstairs.
Gainando shook his head.
"This is bad. Level 5 anger."
"...Level 5 anger? That's terrible..."
Jowurin didn't know what "Level 5 anger" meant, but she could tell it wasn't good.
"Servant! What should Jowurin do? How can I make Lee Han forgive me?"
"Uh... well..."
Gainando panicked.
If he knew the answer, he wouldn't be constantly groveling himself.
"...I think all you can do is pray and accept your fate..."
"Lee Han! Jowurin was wrong!"
Following the expert's advice, Jowurin kept shouting upstairs.
Creak.
—The sound of a private room door opening came from above.
The young dragon's face lit up with hope.
"Servant! Lee Han came out!"
'Wait. Is he really forgiving her just for this?!' Gainando felt inexplicably aggrieved.
'Is she getting special treatment just because she's a dragon?!'
But Lee Han didn't come downstairs. Instead, another creature came shuffling down.
It was the Baby Basilisk.
—"Master said to live with Your Highness from now on... Waaah...!!!"
"Waaaah!"
The two young, rare creatures wailed miserably, making the lounge tremble with their cries.