Episode 989
Episode 989
-This is excessively cruel!
Thanks to Lee Han's tattling, the Crazy Doppelganger confiscated all the wax memo pads, causing the Frost Giants to voice their complaints.
Of course, they didn't dare say it to the Crazy Doppelganger's face. They only muttered among themselves.
-Since ancient times, wise kings never oppressed their people nor suppressed their subjects.
-That's true.
"Quiet."
The Frost Giants fell silent as if struck dead. Once everyone shut their mouths, Catten seized the opportunity to get to the point.
"Though many things have happened, let me first present my proposal. We need trials to prove these mages' qualifications, and I want your help in preparing those trials."
At the senior's words, the White Tiger Tower students flinched.
Then they communicated intensely with their eyes: 'Refuse!' 'Say no!' How could a proud and honorable race stoop to helping with some magic academy student exams?
It would tarnish their honor and diminish their dignity. They should rightfully refuse.-...
Very well. We shall help.
"!!!!"
But the White Tiger Tower students' expectations were utterly shattered.
The Frost Giants feared the Crazy Doppelganger far more than the students had anticipated.
Catten exclaimed cheerfully,
"Underclassmen! This is truly wonderful! Who knew the giants would agree so easily! Professor Ingoldel will be delighted too!"
"Wow..."
"Hoo... This is amazing..."
Lee Han and Giselle responded with exaggerated expressions and voices. Catten tilted his head in confusion.
"Aren't you happy? Something feels off..."
"No, we're happy. Haha."
"Truly overjoyed...Wardanaz, is there any of that poison left in the liquor barrel?"
"Damn it. Shouldn't have thrown it away earlier."
Lee Han and Giselle sighed deeply.
Had they known they'd be fighting the Frost Giants again, they wouldn't have discarded that poisonous liquor!
"You won't make us fight them with just swords, right? You'll allow magic too?"
"Probably, but the fact that they're using Frost Giants as a test is already abnormal."
As the two whispered, the Crazy Doppelganger urged impatiently,
"Hurry up. What are you doing?"
From the Crazy Doppelganger's perspective, it was only natural to be displeased—his disciple was wasting time on idle chatter instead of retrieving the Frost Giants' artifact.
What was so impressive about facing Frost Giants that they were making such a fuss?
His disciple still had a long way to go when it came to maintaining dignity.
Lee Han cleared his throat awkwardly and looked at the Frost Giants.
"Then let me present my proposal. I..."
He paused mid-sentence.
Come to think of it, he had planned to seize the opportunity to retrieve (or rather, steal) the Frost Giants' artifact, not announce it so boldly.
No matter how you looked at it, was it really okay to say this outright in front of the Frost Giants?
-What proposal? Speak quickly.
"Stop dragging it out and spit it out already."
Not only the Frost Giants but even the Crazy Doppelganger pressed Lee Han.
Unable to come up with an excuse or a way to dodge, Lee Han finally confessed honestly.
"...I came to take possession of the artifact you're searching for."
"......"
The White Tiger Tower students behind him could only marvel.
They knew Wardanaz was bold, but this was beyond expectations. 'Respect, Wardanaz!' 'Who would dare say that to Frost Giants...!' To declare 'I came to take your artifact' right in front of those fierce giants.
No one could have predicted that even the famously reckless Wardanaz would say something like that.-......
The Frost Giants, too, seemed momentarily speechless.
But fortunately, Lee Han had the Crazy Doppelganger by his side.
"Did you not hear my disciple? Answer!"
-V-Very well. You may take the artifact.
Intimidated by the Crazy Doppelganger, the Frost Giants answered hesitantly.
At this response, the White Tiger Tower students were stunned once more. 'That actually worked?!' 'So that's it, Wardanaz. You planned to use the Headmaster's doppelganger from the start! What a terrifying guy!' No matter how long Einrogard's history was, Wardanaz was likely the first student to ever exploit the Skeleton Principal's doppelganger so thoroughly.
The students of the White Tiger Tower shuddered at their friend's cunning scheme.
Of course, Lee Han was shuddering just as much.
'This easily?'
Even if the Frost Giants were frightened, he had expected at least some minimal resistance—but they were yielding so meekly.
Could he possibly extract even more from them?
"Swear to me that you won't unnecessarily challenge me to duels in the future."
-...Very well. I swear.
"And no grumbling loudly enough for me to hear. Swear it."
The Frost Giants were startled.
How had this challenger read their thoughts so precisely?
'Is it magic?'
-...
We swear...
"I believe I told you not to waste time needlessly."
When the Crazy Doppelganger spoke, Lee Han realized he had overstepped.
He had gotten too greedy, borrowing his teacher's authority.
"My apologies."
"Enough. Let the royal family handle this. You want to command these Frost Giants as subordinates, don't you?"
"Y-yes... WHAT?!"
Lee Han, who had answered reflexively, suddenly shouted in shock.
What did he just say?!
"That's not—"
Lee Han simply didn't want to deal with giants chasing after him for duels every time he visited another dimension.
He absolutely did not want a horde of giants swarming in, offering themselves as subordinates every time he crossed dimensions.
But the Crazy Doppelganger, ever the perceptive teacher, had accurately read his unspoken thoughts.
What other reason could there be for phrasing it like that?
"You Frost Giants owe a debt to the royal family from the past. Repay that debt here and now."
-Ugh... Very well. We swear...
"......"
Before Lee Han could intervene, the Frost Giants finished their oath.
If they ever met in another dimension, they would rush to his aid, staking their honor on it!
"Wow, Wardanaz. I could understand retrieving artifacts, but I never imagined you'd even get the Frost Giants to serve you like subordinates later."
"...Can you not be quiet?"
"Why—why are you angry?!"
The unfortunate White Tiger Tower student, who had merely uttered a single word of admiration, was taken aback when his friend suddenly snapped.
What did I even do?!
Einrogard Library.
Most of the second-year students from each tower had gathered in this library, proud of its history and tradition.
Even if it was the weekend, it was extremely rare for students from different towers to gather like this in Einrogard.
But by now, the second-years were no longer surprised by that. They were more focused on something else.
"Wh-what the hell is that?"
"That's the Headmaster's doppelganger. I heard it follows Wardanaz around like a cursed specter."
"No, I know that. I'm talking about the guys hammering away next to him."
"Ah. The White Tiger Tower guys must've gotten ore from somewhere. They're probably forging equipment."
"Is that even allowed in the library?"
Whether the other tower students frowned and stared or not, the White Tiger Tower students continued pumping bellows and hammering away.
The Einrogard Library had never been a place of silence and peace to begin with. If it were, they wouldn't have needed to build a temporary fortress and fight for survival last time.
Why bring it up now?!
"Rowena, how's the sword?"
"It seems quite usable. We can probably make three more today."
"Heheh. All that hard work paid off."
The White Tiger Tower students nodded, perhaps recalling their mining efforts in another dimension.
Given all the hardship they endured, the finished equipment felt even more valuable.
"Wardanaz, thank—"
The White Tiger Tower students, about to thank their friend for helping with the dimensional visit, abruptly stopped.
To anyone watching, Wardanaz looked extremely displeased.
Come to think of it, he had been like this ever since returning from the dimension...
"Why is Wardanaz acting like that?"
While everyone was puzzled, Batrek proposed a plausible theory.
"Could it be because he has too much difficult material to prepare for the exams?"
"Indeed."
The reason students from various towers had gathered in the library was to prepare for the upcoming exams.
And as a student of Einrogard, Wardanaz couldn't escape those preparations either.
Considering the sheer number and difficulty of his lectures, it was impossible not to feel miserable.
"I think some guys might have gone to the Punishment Room, and that's why."
Lafadell, who usually wasn't very talkative, unexpectedly voiced his opinion this time.
That certainly seemed plausible.
Some troublemakers had caused enough trouble to land in the Punishment Room, which explained why certain faces were missing.
"...But isn't it weird for Wardanaz to be in a bad mood just because some guys went to the Punishment Room?"
Someone suddenly voiced their discomfort.
Wardanaz wasn't even the White Tiger Tower's professor—why would he care?
But the White Tiger Tower students, already accustomed to such things, didn't find it strange at all.
"What's weird about it? That's just how it's always been."
"Right. It's the guys in the Punishment Room who are the problem."
"...Huh, now that I think about it, that does make sense. Moradi, is Wardanaz really angry because of the guys in the Punishment Room?"
The White Tiger Tower students called upon their most reliable friend in such matters.
Giselle, who was passing by, answered with an expression that said, 'Shouldn't you be studying instead of wasting time on pointless conversations?'
"Probably still mad about the Frost Giants. He clearly didn't want to get involved, but he was forced into it."
"Huh? But being able to get help from giants in another dimension is obviously a good thing, right...?"
"It also means getting tangled up with other Frost Giants who didn't swear any oaths. How annoying would that be?"
"But Wardanaz is already on good terms with the giants from the back mountains, isn't he? What difference would adding Frost Giants make?"
"......"
Giselle was momentarily speechless.
She hadn't expected such sharp logic to come flying at her.
"...Then why don't you go argue with Wardanaz and report back?"
"Ah, no. That's a bit..."
Even the most oblivious among them knew that telling a friend who was already angry about being entangled with Frost Giants, "But you were already friends with giants," wasn't a wise choice.
Meanwhile, Lee Han lightly tapped a small, rocket-sized keg hanging around his neck with his staff. 'Still not working.' The White Tiger Tower students had thrown out brilliant hypotheses, but none of them were correct.
The reason for Lee Han's discomfort was that the Frost Giant relic wouldn't open.
-"Here it is. This liquor. We came here to find this liquor."
...Is it poisoned like before?
-"No, something far more precious is inside. Wisdom itself!"
!!!
Lee Han was startled by the Frost Giant's explanation.
Liquor containing wisdom?
Any Einrogard student would covet a potion that boosted intelligence, and Lee Han was no exception.
Not a failed concoction that turned one into a raving prophet like last time, but a true Potion of Wisdom.
If it was a Frost Giant relic, it might actually be possible.
The problem was that it wouldn't open no matter what he tried.
-"How do I open it?"
-"We don't know either. That's why we were struggling with it."
......
The tiny keg, no bigger than a fist, was astonishingly sturdy. Shaking it produced a sloshing sound, but no matter how much mana Lee Han poured into it, the relic dispersed it with precision.
'Damn it! Who the hell makes something that even accounts for the Mana Hammer?!'
He had no idea who crafted this relic, but he couldn't fathom why anyone would waste effort on such a thing.
"Wardanaz. If it's about the Frost Giants, you don't need to worry too much."
"Huh?"
Lee Han was startled when Giselle suddenly spoke to him.
"The dimensions are vast, and you probably won't run into Frost Giants again that often."
"Ah... thanks. But why bring that up now?"
"?"
Giselle paused.
Had it not been about the Frost Giants after all?
"Come here. Let's finish <Magic Algebra and Arcane Geometry> today."
When the Crazy Doppelganger behind him set an absurd goal, Lee Han's face twisted again.
'What? So it really wasn't about the Frost Giants.'
Come to think of it, Wardanaz had always gotten along well with giants.
Frost Giants were still giants, after all—it wouldn't take long for him to warm up to them.