Episode 966
Episode 966
"Wh...who?"
Lee Han pretended not to know.
Yukveltire looked at him with an expression that clearly showed she didn't understand.
"You're taking Transmutation Magic classes too, junior. How could you not know?"
'Damn it.' Lee Han realized his mistake too late.
Come to think of it, since he was taking classes from all schools of magic, his lies rarely worked these days.
Quickly giving up, Lee Han finally confessed.
"I just wanted to make sure I heard correctly. Senior Zarun from the Steel Shoe Family, right?"
"That's right."
"Why are you asking about him?"
"I'm planning to form a party with other students to catch him. It would be good if you, a junior from the Wardanaz Family, joined us too."
Yukveltire made the suggestion with an uncharacteristically gentle attitude.
For Yukveltire, who hated working with incompetent students, inviting a mere second-year to join her party was extremely surprising.
It would have been impossible if she didn't hold Lee Han in high regard.
That's why she could make such a gentle proposal.
Of course, it was only gentle by her standards—to other juniors in the school, it looked no different from her usual cold suggestions. Lee Han felt the same way.
'I really, really don't want to.'
As he'd already thought earlier, Lee Han had no desire to form a party with Yukveltire to explore Einrogard's underground mines.
Even in bright, open spaces, he sometimes felt like hitting her—he couldn't even imagine what might happen in a dark, confined area.
Lee Han decided he'd just make an excuse and bow out completely.
If he went down separately and ran into Yukveltire's party, it would only be more troublesome.
"Actually, I've fallen behind in many lectures because of this club outing week."
"?"
Anpagon, standing nearby, looked at his junior as if asking what nonsense he was spouting.
He'd already completed his staff and was practically done with his finals, so what was this about?
'Is he talking about other lectures?'
"So I plan to focus on lectures for a while."
Instead of Yukveltire, Anpagon responded to that statement.
"Wardanaz. The lectures will be postponed for a few more days anyway because of Senior Zarun."
"...?"
Lee Han didn't understand what he meant.
He said the lectures would be postponed for a few days because of Senior Zarun.
Did Senior Zarun have some ability to delay lectures or something?
'If such magic exists, I want to learn it too!'
"What do you mean by that?"
"The professors will want to get their hands on the orichalcum vein Senior Zarun found."
Anpagon explained as if it were no big deal.
Einrogard's lectures could be flexibly postponed, delayed, or even canceled depending on the professors' circumstances.
Sometimes professors were summoned to the capital, dragged to the Punishment Room, or went missing in the mountains—these things couldn't be helped.
But occasionally, lectures were postponed even without such reasons, and this was one of those times.
An orichalcum vein was valuable enough to warrant pausing lectures and sending students to search for it.
"...Don't joke about this."
"I'm not joking. I don't like jokes."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a paper bird flew in.
[To students enrolled in <The Tragic History of Ancient Artifacts and Summoning Magic>:
This is to inform you that Zarun, a student from the Steel Shoe Family, has discovered an orichalcum vein in the underground of Einrogard.
The lecture will be replaced with participation in the vein search. Enthusiastic participation is encouraged.
Professor Milley]
"......"
Rumors must have spread quickly, as more paper birds flew in—each sent by different professors.
Each letter conveyed the professors' determination to secure orichalcum for their students, even if it meant postponing their lectures.
"Professor Verdus wrote a letter too. Look."
"What?! Professor Verdus?!"
Lee Han couldn't believe it.
That Professor Verdus would skip lectures and push his students to go mining instead?
'Ah. Now that I think about it, he never liked lecturing in the first place. Maybe he's just happy for the excuse to cancel?'
[To students enrolled in <Staff Materials and Magic Amplification>!]
"Student Jarun of the Steel Shoe Family has found orichalcum!
You all need to hurry and snatch it away!
And don't forget to give me half afterward!"
Professor Verdus: "......"
Lee Han pulled his eyes away from the letter with a face full of contempt. The reason was even more trashy than he had expected.
Once his junior finished reading, Anpagon calmly burned the letter. There was no need to send such garbage in the first place.
"So, you can postpone your lecture studies for now. Securing even a small amount of orichalcum ore will be far more beneficial for you, Wardanaz."
"......"
Even Anpagon was saying that, so Lee Han wavered slightly.
It was true that it was a rare ore with no immediate use, but who knew what might happen later?
Seeing how everyone—from seniors to professors—was recommending grabbing it first and asking questions later, there must be a reason.
After some hesitation, Lee Han cautiously asked,
"Senior Anpagon, um... are you really okay with this? Moving together with Senior Yukveltire?"
"No. Not really."
True to the Enchantment Magic school's nature, there wasn't an ounce of respect for seniors.
Even with Yukveltire standing right there, Anpagon made it clear he had no desire to work together.
And Yukveltire didn't care either. Because Yukveltire also had no interest in moving around with Anpagon.
"...Wait, then why are you planning to move together?"
"Because Senior Yukveltire currently has the highest chance of finding Senior Jarun."
"??"
Lee Han didn't understand.
They weren't even in the same Stonemason Club—why would Yukveltire have the highest chance of finding Jarun?
"Do you have some special method?"
"Yes."
Yukveltire finally showed interest in her curious junior and explained with a benevolent attitude.
As an outstanding enchantment mage, Yukveltire naturally paid close attention to those who gathered and produced raw materials—just like most skilled enchanters did.
Students like Jarun of the Steel Shoe Family, who consistently mined gold and ores, fell into that category.
So, Yukveltire had secretly embedded a tracking method into Jarun's artifact.
"WHAAAAAAT????"
Lee Han shouted in shock.
Yukveltire frowned slightly at her junior's sudden outburst, as if wondering what the fuss was about.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah, no. Is it... really okay to cast a tracking spell on someone else's artifact?"
"Senior Steel Shoe occasionally steals our artifacts too."
Anpagon answered without any change in expression. Lee Han was even more speechless.
Was this self-defense?
Lee Han had thought he had a decent grasp of the relationships between Einrogard's schools, but new shocks kept popping up.
"R-right. So, the tracking spell was..."
"No. That's unrelated. That was just to check mineral locations..."
Lee Han pretended not to hear and ignored it.
If Yukveltire had really done something like that, it made sense why Anpagon—who preferred working alone—was willing to tag along.
'Is that person really the most likely one to find it?'
Tormented by the thought, Lee Han had no choice but to admit it.
If they wanted to find orichalcum ore right now, holding Yukveltire's hand was the most probable option.
"...Understood. Then I'll come along too."
"Good. You made the right choice."
"Finally, a sound judgment."
Listening to the two seniors, Lee Han already felt exhausted.
Yukveltire held out a small earring artifact that had been lying on the workshop table.
"Take this. You'll need it when we go underground."
"I see...Did you make this yourself, Senior?"
"Yes. How did you know?"
"The artifact is crafted so perfectly and neatly that I had a hunch."
Though Yukveltire wasn't one to care for flattery, it was different when it came from someone relatively close, like Diret or Lee Han.
Hiding a faint smile of pride, Yukveltire said,
"You have a good eye."
'I'll get rid of this and run a magic scan as soon as the search is over.'
Lee Han resolved to keep a close watch on that earring artifact. If Yukveltire had placed a tracking spell on Jarun, there was no reason they couldn't do the same to him.
"But Senior Yukveltire. Isn't Senior Diret joining us?"
"Diret won't be participating."
"Ah. Is he busy?"
"No. Diret's not joining because of an irrational decision. He said he wants to avoid going underground with me."
Yukveltire shook her head slightly, as if she still found it absurd no matter how much she thought about it.
What kind of illogical, nonsensical reason was that?
"......"
Lee Han's face turned slightly pale.
'Damn it. I should've asked first...!'
* * *
Fourth-year Anpagon.
Fifth-year Yukveltire.
Third-year Sigunting (who joined while working downstairs).
Second-year Lee Han.
The four Enchantment Magic students quickly finished their preparations and headed to the nearest underground entrance.
"From what I've heard, they usually use the underground passages near the Streamside Forest or the Dark Forest."
Lee Han still tried to ask questions, hoping to learn something from this opportunity.
But no answer came. All three seniors were thinking, 'Someone else will answer.'
"......Senior Yukveltire. From what I've heard, they usually use the underground passages near the Streamside Forest or the Dark Forest."
"Normally, that would be the best way to go underground. But it's dangerous when rumors are spreading like this."
Yukveltire, who was holding a bronze needle artifact to gauge Zarun's location, answered bluntly.
The usual convenient passages became prime hunting grounds for cunning and opportunistic students when incidents like this occurred.
They could just wait and follow behind.
Even if it was a bit harder to access, they had to take a detour in situations like this.
"This way."
Yukveltire tapped the ground and chanted a spell. Then, a stone slab rose from the earthen floor, revealing a door leading downward.
Lee Han was amazed by the neatly constructed passage leading all the way to the underground mining area.
"Did you seniors make this?"
"......"
"......Senior Anpagon. Did you seniors make this?"
"No. It's an underground passage made by Professor Verdus. We stole it, relocated it, and have been using it since."
Lee Han was curious about how one could steal and relocate an underground passage, but the atmosphere wasn't right for detailed questions.
Giving up, Lee Han quietly grabbed the ladder and descended.
* * *
There were countless rumors about Einrogard's underground.
Some said a mad wizard had brought in a Bulgasari and raised it, others claimed the Skeleton Principal had imprisoned an ancient archmage down there, and there were even whispers of interdimensional monsters lurking about.
And the scariest part was that these rumors turned out to be true more often than not.
The mining area was known to be one of the more dangerous zones in the underground.
Of course, Lee Han was tense...
...or not.
'...'
I visited the underground way too early because of Professor Bagrak.'
Even Lee Han was surprised at how un-nervous he was.
No matter how he thought about it, he'd seen too much since his first year.
"Rest."
"Yes."
The students, who had been illuminating their surroundings and maintaining defenses with artifacts, all stopped at once and sat on nearby rocks.
Lee Han considered recovering his energy and took out some simple snacks from his Backpack of Six Directions.
But the three seniors, as if they were puppets tied to the same string, simultaneously pulled out potion bottles and drank.
"......What are you drinking?"
"......"
"Senior Sigunting!!! What are you drinking?!"
"Hmm? A nutritional supplement potion."
The dwarf senior with geometrically braided beard shook the empty bottle as he spoke.
It tasted terrible, but it could replenish a meal's worth of nutrition quickly and easily.
"But if you invest a little time, you could have something much tastier and warmer, couldn't you?"
"Why waste time like that?"
"Hmm. I see."
Lee Han quickly abandoned the thought of preparing snacks for the seniors.
'Just let them eat like that.'
Unlike his friends, trying to feed these seniors would probably make Lee Han's stomach explode first.