Episode 964
Episode 964
"There's plenty of food prepared, so there's no need to rush!"
"Is the soup ready? Bring more pork fat and salt!"
"Sigh."
The very person who had spread massive rumors throughout Granden City was letting out a deep sigh.
"Wardanaz. If you're tired, go rest. You've already done more than enough."
Falkrius subtly suggested it, noticing his junior seemed exhausted.
It wasn't an empty compliment—this junior had truly done several times more work than anyone else.
Had he not helped, they wouldn't have been able to prepare this much additional food.
The final stockpile of supplies was so vast that even the priests from various temples who had gathered to help, as well as the Kitchen Club students, were astonished.
"No, it's fine. I'll go fetch some water."
Lee Han waved his hand dismissively and raised his staff.
The priests nearby, who were busy drying and preserving the food, were stunned by the enormous amount of water materializing out of thin air.
'Creating that much water? The mana consumption must be extreme...'
'Are we overworking this junior??'
"..."
"Wardanaz! Do it in the back!"
"The priests are looking at us weirdly!"
"Ah. Right."
The seniors hastily shielded Lee Han behind them.
They wanted to explain to the priests, "We're not overworking him—he just naturally has a lot of mana!" but given the current situation, any explanation would likely fall on deaf ears.
After moving behind the temporary kitchen tent, Lee Han filled a cauldron with water and sighed again.
'...I acted too emotionally.'
He had lashed out in anger when his opponent not only provoked him but even insulted his seniors. But now that time had passed and his head had cooled, regret was starting to creep in.
No matter how despicable the opponent had been, hadn't his retaliation been excessive?
Swallowing his regret, Lee Han began replaying the events in his mind.
Just thinking about it was painful, but for the sake of self-reflection, he had to review it seriously.
Consumed by fury, Lee Han had disguised himself as Stedal Nago and effortlessly breached the mansion walls.
The defensive and surveillance spells in place were utterly crushed by Valdororn's Mana Hammer.
'Hah. Instead of wasting time rebuilding mansions, they should focus on their magic. They didn't even prepare shock dispersion?'
Most mages would disagree, but Lee Han firmly believed that magical barriers must be designed to thoroughly disperse external impacts.
If a mage with infinite mana swung their power like a blunt hammer from the outside, no matter how intricate the magic was, it would just shatter.
No matter how much time and money it took, they should have accounted for such scenarios.
'Good for me. I'll smash everything to pieces.'
"Tch!"
Lee Han gritted his teeth.
The seniors preparing nearby flinched and exclaimed.
"Uh, are we... preparing too slowly?"
All the club members knew that their junior, along with Falkrius, had gone ahead and secured a massive amount of extra supplies.
Normally, seniors wouldn't care about a junior's opinion, but the Wardanaz Family junior in front of them was a special case.
Wasn't this the same junior who routinely secured vast amounts of ingredients and took charge of the Kitchen Club students?
And now, with all the preparations he had made this time, they couldn't help but feel self-conscious.
"No, it's not because of you, seniors... It's because of a mistake I made."
"Huh? You made a mistake, Wardanaz?"
"......"
"Ah, no—what kind of mistake?"
The seniors set down their knives and ladles, gathering around to console him.
They couldn't even imagine this junior making a mistake, but if he had, they all wanted to help.
"Lately, I've been acting emotionally... even muttering self-conscious things to myself..."
"Ah, that's not even a mistake."
"Wardanaz, don't worry about it. When I'm doing alchemy, I mutter to myself about throwing the finished product at the Headmaster's face even when he's not around."
"Right. I whisper about assassinating Professor Verdus after graduation."
The seniors' comfort was rough but sincere. That sincerity reached Lee Han as well.
"Thank you, everyone."
"That kind of 'mistake' isn't even a mistake. Unless you blew up a building, don't even bother worrying about it."
"......"
Lee Han sank into deep contemplation once more.
Having infiltrated the mansion, Lee Han immediately headed toward the western annex.
Freshly rebuilt, its defenses appeared lax and full of gaps.
After concealing his presence with Invisibility Magic, impairing the guards' perception with Illusion Magic as they patrolled the area, and leaping up to the second floor with Psychokinesis (it was generally better not to use the main entrance when sneaking in), he spotted a familiar spirit patrolling the hallway with a gloomy gait.
"......"
It was the same Water Spirit he had encountered before.
Though Lee Han was under Invisibility Magic, the Water Spirit trembled upon sensing the ripples of a contract made with a King-class spirit.
Seeing the Water Spirit immediately turn to flee, Lee Han realized his Invisibility Magic had no effect.
"Wait! Stop!"
In truth, spirits didn't just stop because someone told them to. Lee Han immediately prepared a spell.
He couldn't afford to let the spirit escape and cause a commotion when he wasn't yet ready for combat—
Plop.
—To his surprise, the spirit stopped dead in its tracks.
Lee Han was stunned. A spirit that actually stopped when told to?
"...D-Did you really stop?"
The Water Spirit nodded.
"...Aren't you a spirit summoned to guard this mansion? Are you even allowed to listen to me?"
The spirit shook its head in denial.
"Seems like it wasn't a standard summoning. In that case, I should verify. I have a natural affinity with spirits and have contracts with many of them. I'll call some to communicate."
The spirit nodded with an air of reverence.
Truthfully, it felt more fear than friendliness toward him.
But it didn't dare question or doubt a mage who had formed a pact with a being on the level of a Spirit King.
If he said so, it must be true.
Surely a mage like him wouldn't bother with petty lies...
A Sparrow Spirit and a Squirrel Spirit, both contracted to Lee Han, materialized in the air.
Confused at first, they quickly grasped the situation and focused on communication.
"Not a formal contract?"
Though words weren't exchanged, through the spirits' communication and the power of their contracts, Lee Han barely managed to grasp the truth.
Shockingly, the spirit guarding the mansion wasn't under a formal contract.
Normally, when borrowing a spirit's power, a mage would promise compensation (though sometimes spirits fled even then) and form a contract.
But Bardan had done no such thing.
He had trapped the spirit, sealed it, and forcibly exploited its power.
'What?!'
Lee Han was appalled.
No matter how difficult contracting spirits could be, this was beyond the pale.
"What a despicable bastard!"
The Water Spirit nodded in agreement with the mage's fury.
Such a righteous reaction—clearly, this was a mage beloved by spirits. The earlier intimidation and the contract's ripples must have been a misunderstanding.
"Wait. Then, that rampage last time...?"
Lee Han had a sinking suspicion.
Last time, he had only taken the artifact.
Sure, he had knocked out the mansion's owner in the process, but he hadn't damaged the mansion itself.
Yet later, most rumors claimed the mansion had been half-destroyed.
Could it be...?
The spirit nodded in confirmation.
'That's it!'
With Bardan unconscious, the seal weakened, and the spirit, seizing the chance to escape, had gone berserk instead.
Lee Han was furious at the fact that he had been falsely accused.
"Does this even make sense?!"
The Water Spirit showed even more favor toward him upon seeing his reaction once again.
After calming down and suppressing his anger, Lee Han asked the spirit,
"Alright. Then where is the sealing artifact that bastard Bardan has?"
Since Bardan wasn't even a mage, an artifact would be absolutely necessary for him to seal the spirit and forcibly wield its power.
Most likely, Bardan hadn't captured this spirit himself but had purchased it from someone else who had.
If they could find and destroy the artifact, the spirit would be freed.
Shrug.
The Sparrow Spirit and Squirrel Spirit shrugged as if they didn't know either.
It seemed that after the previous rampage incident, Bardan had stopped carrying it around and instead hidden it tightly within his mansion.
"...Hmph. I was planning to smash things up anyway. It'll turn up while I'm breaking stuff."
The Water Spirit was deeply moved as it stared at Lee Han.
To think there was a mage who would go this far for a spirit's sake, without any personal gain.
Having made up its mind, the spirit declared it would help.
"You'll help? But aren't you bound by the sealing artifact?"
When Lee Han asked in puzzlement, the spirit expressed that it would be fine.
It wouldn't last long, but if it gave its all, it could resist its master's commands for a short while.
Despite the risk of severe damage to its very existence, the spirit's bold resolve ignited Lee Han's determination.
"...Alright. Then I'll do my best to smash everything too!"
Returning to reality, Lee Han felt slightly better.
'Well. At least the spirit was freed because of it.'
Though a small part of him still wondered if he had gone too far with the destruction, there had been a valid reason after all.
In the midst of his enthusiastic wrecking, the sealing artifact must have been destroyed too, as the spirit thanked him for its freedom before leaving.
Bardan had begged for mercy at one point, surrendering and asking what Lee Han wanted—but by then, Lee Han had nothing left to say.
The undead summons had already taken advantage of the chaos to sneak the food supplies out.
-Nothing.
-...
Huh?
- I want nothing.
- ......
And it didn't end with just that excuse.
True to his reputation as the Teleportation Club's rising ace, Lee Han had also thrown other treasures over the wall to obscure his true intentions.
From Lee Han's perspective, it was the perfect crime—but for Bardan, it was a terrifying ordeal as the damages multiplied tenfold.
'...'
Maybe I shouldn't have thrown the treasures? There were no witnesses anyway, so it wouldn't have been traced back to me...'
"Wardanaz. Look over there."
Falkrius, who had approached unnoticed, pointed ahead with an outstretched arm.
The starving and impoverished people of Granden City were happily receiving the food supplies.
"It's thanks to you that this was possible. Thank you."
"...Don't mention it."
Rather than dozens of excuses, the sight Falkrius had pointed out did far more to ease Lee Han's mind.
At the very least, hadn't it led to a good outcome?
Come to think of it, the Skeleton Principal of old used to tear through cities claiming he was doing good deeds—so a villain's mansion was nothing in comparison...
'No. Who am I even comparing myself to?!'
Lee Han hastily reeled himself back in and reflected.
If he kept making compromises like this, he'd truly end up becoming the Skeleton Principal's youngest evil disciple.
"By the way, Wardanaz. Did you hear the news?"
"What news?"
"They say the Stonemason Club's request got canceled. Apparently, the nobles who commissioned it got spooked when their lavish spending became too obvious, so they all backed out."
"Ah, that righteous thief, right? What an incredible mage. I hope they're from Einrogard."
"If they were a senior from Einrogard, they wouldn't do something so noble. If it were one of our seniors, they'd more likely be the ones ambushing the righteous thief."
"True...Wardanaz!?"
The seniors were startled when their junior suddenly collapsed face-first onto the floor in despair.