Episode 991
Episode 991
"Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family. What in the world is going on here?"
At Intarendals' almost scream-like exclamation, Lee Han responded as if he'd been waiting for this moment.
"Welcome. Chamberlain Intarendals. Please have a word with our teacher."
"Wh-wh-what?!"
The irreverent student's blasphemous words delivered an even greater shock to the chamberlain who was already on the verge of fainting.
"He said he'd provide guidance to prepare for the exam, but spent the entire day lecturing on completely unrelated topics."
"I... don't understand a single word of what you just said, Young Master Lee Han..."
Intarendals' voice was pitiful to hear. The current situation was simply unbelievable.
Every fleeting moment should be used to impart as much knowledge as possible to the student - what kind of waste was this? 'Could I be mistaken about something?' Perhaps his master had more time remaining than he'd thought.
Otherwise, this level of leisure made no sense.
"You've come. Did you bring it?"
"Yes, Mage Gonadaltes. But..."
Intarendals, who was about to ask a question, hesitated upon seeing the look in his master's eyes.
As a loyal chamberlain should, Intarendals could understand his master's commands just from a glance.
The current command was silence.
"What did you bring?"
"Student, go teach the other mages. Finish the remaining material."
When Lee Han showed interest, the Crazy Doppelganger waved his hand dismissively as if annoyed.
Having just struggled to drill completely exam-irrelevant lectures into his friends, Lee Han naturally grew furious.
"What? After making me teach unrelated content all day, if you're going to be like this, it would've been better if I'd just—!"
Of course, whether the student raged or not made no difference. The Crazy Doppelganger casually flung his disciple away.
"Now we can talk."
"...Master. May I speak frankly?"
"Intarendals. If a chamberlain like you cannot speak frankly, who could possibly speak frankly to royalty? Speak your mind."
The Crazy Doppelganger spoke with an uncharacteristically humble demeanor, different from his usual authoritative attitude.
Rather than being moved by his master's attitude, Intarendals felt even greater unease.
To see his usually flawless master showing vulnerability like this...
It made him wonder if perhaps time was running short, prompting such behavior.
"Is the world... rejecting you again, Master?"
"Correct."
"My apologies. I thought not. If it were true, you wouldn't have... Wait, what?!"
Intarendals reacted belatedly.
He hadn't actually expected his question to be answered in the affirmative.
"Has a heavenly tribulation or elemental calamity befallen you?! Or perhaps a dimensional rift—"
"Not yet. But judging by the future my student saw, it's almost certain."
The Crazy Doppelganger spoke calmly.
A great mage didn't rely solely on his own magic. Especially a mage being rejected by the world needed to remain all the more humble.
Even the greatest archmage couldn't foresee everything.
Fortunately, from the future his student had glimpsed, the Crazy Doppelganger could make some educated guesses.
"Given that the Reversal phenomenon from before is recurring, and seeing my student confront royalty... it will happen soon."
"I shall prepare countermeasures."
The chamberlain responded decisively.
The magical defenses installed near the mountain fortress weren't merely to evade the Skeleton Principal and his minions' surveillance.
One rejected by the world needed constant preparations to ward off the abnormal phenomena that would inevitably come. Without such measures, even an archmage could be Reverse Summoned in a single strike.
If another Reversal was imminent, they simply needed to prepare accordingly.
It would be tight, but they could plunder nearby resources and take what was lacking from the Dalkard Family's vaults...
"No. The cycle is too short."
However, the Crazy Doppelganger shook his head.
The more one avoided these waves of madness with magic, the more intense they became.
Since madness had struck twice in such quick succession, the third would come even faster and stronger.
"You can prepare each time it happens."
"Enough. In that case, it would be wiser to utilize reverse summoning."
"But, my lord..."
Intarendals hesitated.
Even if one could return after being reverse-summoned, predicting when that might happen was impossible even for a Great Mage.
Rather than pinning hopes on such an uncertain future, wasn't it better to find a way to resist now?
He couldn't understand why his wise master would make such a choice.
Yet Intarendals couldn't bring himself to ask. His loyalty held the Chamberlain back.
"...Understood. Then how shall we proceed?"
"There's a fairly competent alchemist. I've acquired an elixir. If another reversal occurs, I plan to use this to trigger the reverse summoning. As for you..."
Though called an elixir, a potion potent enough to reverse-summon the Crazy Doppelganger was essentially just a powerful poison.
Intarendals felt a surge of emotion rising in his chest at his master's words.
"...Yes. I will complete all remaining tasks before being reverse-summoned."
"Good. I leave it to you. Pass the remaining artifacts and books to my disciple, discard what must be discarded..."
"What shall we do about the hamster?"
"That trash? Better to dispose of it."
"Though insignificant, he was originally an exceptional mage. It might be wiser to pass him on."
Had Lee Han heard this, he would have recoiled in horror, saying, 'Please don't give me that!' But unfortunately, this conversation was happening without the disciple's knowledge.
Frowning at the Chamberlain's words, the Crazy Doppelganger pondered before nodding.
"Very well. It wouldn't hurt to have one more small pet. My disciple seems rather fond of it too."
"Indeed. Lord Lee Han was quite attached—enough to personally feed it."
Intarendals agreed on this point.
The royal disciple clearly had a soft spot for the hamster.
Though the hamster had once been a vile magic criminal, that hardly mattered. Even in ancient times, such peculiar pets had often been in vogue.
-"Polynomials, polynomials! Are you pretending not to remember on purpose? Just because I stopped you from playing last time?"
-"N-no! I really forgot, Wardanaz!"
-"Wardanaz. For the record, this brat didn't read the magic book he promised to last time."
-"Thanks, Moradi! You little—that's why you forgot. Come here!"
-"Mo... Moradi! We're from the same tower! Why are you doing this?!"
Watching Lee Han rounding up the other mages like mice, Intarendals turned his head to observe.
Then he spoke cautiously.
"...My lord. Having already spoken out of turn today, I beg your permission to offer one more piece of blunt counsel. In my humble opinion, it seems Lord Lee Han should be taught far more in the time that remains..."
No matter what else, he simply couldn't comprehend leaving the disciple so unchecked like this.
At the Chamberlain's words, the Crazy Doppelganger fell silent for a moment.
"It may appear that way. But the royal family has a plan."
"!"
Intarendals' face brightened.
As expected, his wise master had a flawless plan.
"Might I inquire what it is?"
"In due time, you too shall know, Chamberlain."
At this polite refusal, Intarendals bowed his head. It was time to cease impertinence and return to loyalty.
-"If you can't solve this single magical equation, what exactly were you doing last year? You, come here too!"
-"Wardanaz. This one got it wrong too and just changed his answer!"
-"You, come here too, you little—!"
"......"
Intarendals wore a troubled expression...
Surely, there must be a plan.
A grand and extraordinary plan beyond even the Chamberlain's comprehension...
Tap tap
-"Hmm...?"
On the night the weekend was ending.
Yoner, lying in bed trying to sleep, opened her eyes at the sound of a paper bird tapping against her dormitory window.
"...If it had been Gainando, I would've slipped a paralyzing poison into his meal..."
Fortunately, it wasn't her cousin who sent it.
Night stroll planned. Those wishing to participate, gather in the lounge.
-Lee Han
'Did he have something else to steal again?' Yoner, having received her friend's paper bird, hastily dressed and gathered her equipment. Compared to her first year, her gear had significantly increased.
A small bronze bell to detect hostile presences, her newly replaced staff, a balance scale and spoon for quickly identifying potion ingredients, a potion belt that could vaporize any potion into a mist-like cloud...
After checking everything, Yoner descended the stairs.
As she did, she kept pondering the purpose of this outing but couldn't figure it out.
Supplies were still plentiful, and there were no particular reagent shortages. 'Is it about exams?' If he'd uncovered exam-related information, that would make sense.
After all, wasn't Lee Han usually skilled in such matters?
"Ah. Yoner."
"What's up?"
"Professor Thunderstep has been acting suspicious, so we're checking it out."
Lee Han explained the recent situation.
Lately, the Crazy Doppelganger seemed to be hiding something, and one of those things was his conversation with Professor Thunderstep.
The Crazy Doppelganger was severely underestimating Einrogard students.
If something seemed suspicious, sneaking into workshops at midnight to investigate was the very essence of the Einrogard spirit.
"Lee Han!"
Just then, Gainando was spotted coming down the stairs, still wearing his sleep cap.
"Gainando. You're still wearing your sleep cap."
"Huh? This is an artifact. Trying it out this time."
"......"
"......"
The two deeply regretted having assumed their friend had carelessly come out still wearing his sleepwear.
Lee Han asked Gainando, "Do you know why we're going out this time?" 'Probably snacks,' Yoner thought to herself.
"Aren't you investigating because Professor Thunderstep seems to be plotting something behind your back? You've been concerned about that, right?"
"...?!!!"
Yoner was shocked by her cousin's reply.
What?!
"You... you...!"
"??"
"N-never mind. I thought it was for snacks."
"I already got snacks earlier."
"Shh. Shut up."
Lee Han firmly stepped on Gainando's foot.
He'd secretly given him one earlier because he kept whining, and now he was blabbing about it.
"Anyway, now that everyone's here, let's go."
"What about the others?"
"Didn't need many, so I only called you two. Needed Yoner to get into Professor Thunderstep's workshop, and Gainando... well... called him because he's reliable." 'Definitely called him because he'd come no matter what.' Yoner could sense her friend's true thoughts but said nothing.
The three quickly left the tower. Having been adept at sneaking out since first year, they could now navigate the surroundings blindfolded.
"Wait. It's the Death Knight's patrol time."
"Should we scare him off with sound or light?"
"Last time we used sound, so let's try light this time."
As a distant light flickered, the approaching Death Knight diverted to investigate elsewhere.
Lee Han and his friends nodded and moved on.
"But Lee Han."
"Yeah?"
"How do you plan to break into Professor Thunderstep's workshop?"
Gainando asked curiously.
Einrogard professors weren't fools and naturally fortified their towers with thorough magical defenses.
Now that he thought about it, if they were sneaking in, their usual brute-force method wouldn't work...
Swish—
Lee Han and Yoner simultaneously produced a key each.
The keys to Professor Thunderstep's workshop and tower—the Alchemy Hall.
"...Y-you stole them!?"
"No. The professor gave them to us. Told us to come manage reagents and tend to greenhouse herbs."
"Why didn't Professor Mortum give me a key like that?"
As Gainando grumbled, Lee Han subtly tucked away the remaining bundle of keys into his robe.
Among them, the key to the Black Rock Hall—the Black Magic workshop—gleamed darkly.
"...Professor Mortum is suspicious and stingy, you know."
"Well, that's true. He probably didn't even give one to Senior Diret!"