Episode 932
Episode 932
As Lee Han packed up Asen's Polarizer, he muttered to himself.
Fundamentally, illusion mages had extremely poor compatibility with Lee Han.
Moreover, Lee Han had recently gained deep enlightenment into the principles of Withering.
Now that his understanding of souls had significantly increased, the difficulty level for illusion mages trying to attack Lee Han was unimaginably high.
'If only other places were like this too.'
Feeling joy at this unexpected stroke of luck, Lee Han thought it would be nice if other places were like this too—though he knew that was probably wishful thinking. After all, not all mages possessing artifacts would be illusion mages.
Even if they were illusion mages, they wouldn't necessarily construct all their defensive magic solely with illusion spells...
What had happened here at Uap's workshop was simply a stroke of good fortune. Lee Han reminded himself that he shouldn't count on such luck.
"...Hmm. Did I break too much?"
Just as Lee Han was about to leave with the Polarizer, he paused.
Taking one last look around the workshop before exiting, it seemed like he might have destroyed a bit too much magic...
To be more precise, all the defensive spells were completely obliterated.
While one might call it excessive, Lee Han had his excuses ready.
The underground workshop had so many interconnected spells layered so intricately that Lee Han couldn't reasonably dismantle them with care.
Some spells were difficult to even comprehend, and touching them carelessly could trigger unexpected backlash. From Lee Han's perspective, he had no choice but to smash through them with full force.
He was still just a second-year student—what kind of power control and consideration could he possibly manage? That was still beyond him.
'In a way, this is also one method of relocation. The seniors will understand.'
Though it was closer to robbery than theft, Lee Han shook his head.
His identity remained undiscovered, he'd obtained his target item, and he hadn't caused any significant collateral damage.
Even if the workshop's spells were utterly devastated, this much should be fine.
'Other seniors must have done it this way at least once!'
"Hmm. I'm not sure if this will be alright."
Arian, who had been waiting on the first floor of the guild hall building across the way, spoke with evident concern.
"It'll be fine. That student excels at improvisation."
"I know Einrogard students are prodigies, but... it is a mage's workshop after all."
Originally, Arian had planned to make contact with Uap himself.
To naturally approach someone holed up in their workshop, one needed an excuse to visit.
But Lee Han had rejected Arian's proposal.
-In that case, it would be easier to track you down later when the item goes missing. I'd rather not cause you trouble, Mr. Arian.
-But sneaking in is dangerous. It's a mage's workshop, after all.
-Hmm. I'll carefully scout it out first and return. If it seems impossible, I'll ask for help.
The boy from the Wardanaz family declared he would cast Invisibility Magic and investigate the basement himself.
His unwavering determination made it impossible to dissuade him further, but Arian still regretted it.
He knew all too well how dangerous mages' workshops could be.
No matter how small or ordinary they appeared on the surface, mages' workshops were often sturdier and deadlier than most fortresses. Even if he was an Einrogard student and a genius from the Wardanaz family, another mage's workshop was a different story.
One mistake could...
"All done!"
"?!!"
When Lee Han returned with a bright expression, both of them were startled.
How had he returned so quickly?
"Did you find a way inside?"
"Ah, no. While scouting around, it seemed like I could just break through by force, so I smashed my way in, knocked out the opponent, and took it."
Lee Han carefully produced Asen's Polarizer.
As it was the target artifact, he handled it with great care.
Of course, neither of them paid much attention to the artifact Lee Han had retrieved. The story they'd just heard was far too shocking for that.
"Wait, wait a moment. Young master. I don't understand!"
"I thought you'd say that."
Lee Han nodded as if he'd anticipated this reaction.
As expected of an experienced merchant, Arian had quickly sensed something amiss.
"You must be reacting to the sinister energy emanating from this artifact. I believe it's been corrupted."
Though not easily detectable through mana, Lee Han could see that the dimensional spirit channel connected to Asen's Polarizer had turned a murky black.
It was clear that the phenomena observable through the polarizer were being secretly corrupted by malevolent forces from another dimension.
What made it worse was how difficult it was for mages to notice this corruption.
Even when inspecting it with mana, nothing seemed amiss, and the otherworldly evil didn't exert immediate influence, making detection nearly impossible.
By the time a mage sensed something wrong, they'd likely already fallen into irreversible corruption.
"You noticed the corruption so easily—truly remarkable insight, Mr. Arian!"
"...Ah, no. It was corrupted? That's not what I meant."
Arian hastily clarified the misunderstanding, flustered.
What would he know? He was an experienced merchant, not a mage.
Though he'd heard rumors about Uap collecting suspicious artifacts, he never expected the polarizer to be one of them.
Lee Han tilted his head in confusion.
"Then what don't you understand?"
"...Everything that just happened! How did you go in to check the workshop's structure and come out with the polarizer?!"
Amur nodded approvingly beside him.
Not being much of a talker himself, he was immensely grateful that Arian was asking the questions for him.
"Ah, you mean that."
Lee Han scratched his head sheepishly, as if it hadn't even occurred to him, and explained what had happened.
He cast invisibility, layered a few illusion spells, passed through the first floor, descended to the basement where the magic defenses were densely packed, but they seemed breakable with raw force, so he smashed through them...
"That's all there is to it. Nothing special."
"......"
"......"
The two men suffered as their understanding of magic was utterly shattered.
Were workshop defenses really that fragile? 'Even for a Wardanaz, to destroy Uap's magic so effortlessly...' Arian shuddered inwardly.
He'd clearly underestimated the young master of the Wardanaz family.
To ransack Uap's workshop in broad daylight with such ease.
"Impressive. Truly remarkable."
Amur was the first to regain his composure and offer praise. Lee Han responded modestly.
"I just got lucky. Against other types of magic, I wouldn't have broken through so easily."
"Haha. In my homeland, they say attracting luck is also a form of ability."
Arian, finally collecting himself, chimed in.
"Young master, is there anything inside that needs... cleaning up?"
If he'd summoned fire or dangerous summons, they'd need to send people in.
Otherwise, the dangers of the underground workshop might spill out unpredictably.
"Ah, no need to worry about that. All the magical defenses inside have been destroyed. There's no remaining danger."
"I-I see... That's good then."
Faced with an Einrogard student, both men thought simultaneously: 'Can this really be called a quiet retrieval?' Technically it was quiet, but the sheer audacity of the assault... 'No, this must be a one-time thing. The Wardanaz young master wouldn't deliberately cause a scene.'
Their next target was a mansion located in the noble district at the city's center.
A mansion connected to none other than the Greenbell family's branch lineage.
In Granden City, the Greenbell family was a traditional aristocratic house whose influence couldn't be underestimated. Arian warned that they needed to proceed with caution.
"Even though it's a branch family, if the commotion gets too big, the Greenbell Family will likely step in to help. Setting that aside, given their financial wealth, their defenses must be thorough."
A mansion guarded by an influential patron and abundant gold coins.
Arian believed that now was the time to choose the conventional method.
Disguising themselves as merchants bringing gifts to assess the mansion's vulnerabilities.
"Hmm. I'll go in first and check things out before coming back."
"...You're not planning to knock them out and take it like last time, are you?"
At Arian's joke, Lee Han burst into laughter.
"Haha! You really have a knack for jokes!"
"It was a joke, but..."
'Though there was a hint of sincerity in it.'
"I'll just check the mansion's layout and come back."
The two waited at a nearby tavern for Lee Han to return. About thirty minutes later...
Lee Han emerged from an alleyway, dispelling his Invisibility Magic, and let out a deep sigh.
"You're back! You must be exhausted. So, how can I assist with the preparations?"
"Um. Well..."
Lee Han hesitated, then lifted his backpack. From it, he pulled out the squirrel statue artifact.
This vividly crimson copper statue was the Divination Magic artifact Professor Paselet Kraer had requested.
"Actually, I already took it."
"......"
"......"
Amur nearly dropped the tin mug he was holding. Arian, too stunned to remember his merchant principles, glared at the young master.
What in the world just happened?
"You said you were just going to check the layout and come back!"
"No... There were circumstances."
"Was the opponent too weak, by any chance?"
"What are you talking about? That's not it."
Lee Han waved his hands dismissively at their reactions and did his best to explain.
While he had acted somewhat like a bandit at Uap's workshop thanks to luck, Lee Han was originally a mage who preferred quiet, untraceable work.
Mages who enjoyed direct confrontations and showing off wouldn't have been allowed into the Teleportation Club in the first place.
Given that, Lee Han had genuinely planned to take the most conventional approach possible with this mansion.
Sneak in unnoticed to assess the mansion's layout, identify its weak points, then enlist others' help to visit the mansion properly, gradually spreading confusion to widen the gaps...
A series of seemingly coincidental events, woven together with an order only a mage would recognize, would ensure the target disappeared without anyone noticing.
Despite Lee Han's explanation, the two remained unimpressed. Their expressions practically begged him to just get on with the story of how he raided the mansion.
"...Well, when I went inside, I found out the eastern wing of the mansion was being guarded by a Water Spirit."
Not just the Water Spirit—powerful Water Element Magic was swirling through the eastern corridor, warding off intruders.
Seeing this, Lee Han thought it wouldn't hurt to attempt control over the Water Element.
He didn't expect an outsider mage to easily seize control, but there was no harm in trying.
And then, Lee Han gained dominion over the element.
—
...Huh?
His formidable mana and refined Water Element Magic granted him the power to wrest control of the mansion's spells.
Realizing that some intruder had stolen control of the element, the Water Spirit charged at him in fury.
Then, upon seeing Lee Han, it immediately turned tail and fled.
—
...Uh-oh.
Lee Han realized things had escalated beyond expectations and decided to retreat.
The other sections of the mansion hadn't noticed the disturbance yet, but it was only a matter of time before—
—
"Who goes there?! Who dares tamper with our magic... Gah—!"
—
"Damn it."
Unfortunately, a noble clad in a red silk vest, having heard the commotion, came running.
Lee Han had no choice but to knock him unconscious with the Water Element under his control. He didn't know who the man was, but leaving him be wasn't an option.
"After that, I searched him and found this on him. So I just took it."
"......"
"...Is it really okay to just take it outright like this?"
"I don't know either..."
This was the first time he had stolen something so blatantly while still remaining undetected.