Episode 224

Anyway, next time try going in alone… Listen to the whole thing before you leave!

As Lee Han walked away, the skull headmaster grumbled and shouted.

“Please understand, Headmaster. I heard he defeated all those Shade Wraiths. Of course he’s tired.”

Professor Garcia, who arrived late, spoke up for Lee Han, and the skull headmaster became indignant.

You don’t even know what you’re talking about!

It’s because you didn’t see it yourself that you say that…! Professor Garcia, do you know how easily that kid took them down?

“There’s no such thing as easy or hard when defeating monsters. It’s all equally difficult.”

……

Sometimes, the most irritating thing is when someone makes an irrefutable, sensible point. The skull headmaster was left speechless.

But he really did take them down easily…

“Alright. Everyone go inside and rest. You’ve all worked hard. Classes start tomorrow, so until then…”

Even though they were exhausted, the students looked a little moved by Professor Garcia’s warm words.

“…Just rest and read the books you brought back.”

“……”

“……”

The students’ mouths dropped open.

How is that resting…?

“??”

Professor Garcia didn’t understand the students’ reactions.

The skull headmaster nodded with satisfaction.

Professor Garcia is right. Everyone go back and rest while reading your books.

“Did I… say something strange?”

Nothing at all. You did very well, Professor Garcia.

• * *

Even if they were frustrated, there was nothing else the students could do.

The students who came out of the library returned to their own towers and took turns reading the books they had brought out.

“Whoa. Lee Han, did you know this? There are ores called fake gold. Apparently, alchemists used to make this and sell it as gold?”

Gainando, who was reading the book -Introduction to Elementary Ore Studies-, asked in surprise.

Lee Han and Yoner answered at the same time.

“You can’t do that anymore.”

“There are too many ways to check now.”

“I see. Wait. How do you two know that so well?”

At Gainando’s curiosity, the two glanced away.

‘The amount I have to study keeps increasing.’

Looking at the new books he brought from the library, Lee Han was once again struck by how much he had to study.

The students were all copying down books according to the paths they wanted to pursue, but Lee Han…

“Wardanaz. Drink this.”

“Wardanaz. Eat this.”

“…Why are you giving me these?”

“J-just because?”

“We owed you a lot in the library! That’s why!”

Every time his friends saw the pile of books in front of Lee Han, they gave him snacks and drinks as they passed by.

No matter how much of a Wardanaz he was, there was no way not to worry about that many books.

‘It’s kind of sad that, of all the books I have, the ones written by the skull headmaster and Professor Voladi are the most user-friendly.’

Lee Han thought as he looked over the books.

It was no joke.

Basically, magical textbooks did not just summarize the main points in an easy-to-understand way.

They were full of metaphors, slang, and codes that only the wizard themselves would know, so deciphering, comparing, and figuring them out was all work.

In that sense, the black book of the skull headmaster (even if forcefully), and Professor Voladi’s lightning/blood magic books—which precisely laid out the key points—were definitely good books.

‘Considering Professor Voladi’s personality, I should hurry through these books as fast as possible.’

Given Professor Voladi’s nature, it wouldn’t be strange for him to suddenly say, ‘You must have mastered Spell A by now. Didn’t? Then do it right now,’ and spring some unreasonable attack.

If you didn’t want to get beaten for no reason, it was better to learn in advance.

‘The next spell seems to be an application of lightning element and imbuement magic… Blood magic is a shockwave type? Surprisingly normal.’

Lee Han, who only meant to check briefly, snapped to his senses.

Time had vanished in an instant.

‘I should at least read the book for the next class first.’

Knock knock knock—

“?”

Someone knocked on the lounge door.

Blue Dragon Tower students had already learned that someone knocking on the lounge door in the middle of the night was never a good sign.

“…Who is it?”

Knock knock knock—

“……”

“…Let’s decide who opens it with rock-paper-scissors.”

The friends nearby gritted their teeth and played rock-paper-scissors.

Gainando, with a sad face, opened the door.

“But surely the headmaster wouldn’t send another undead attack…”

“Uwaah! Undead!!!”

“I knew it! I knew this would happen!”

The students jumped up and threw their books. They overturned the table to build a barricade.

-By the headmaster’s order, I have come to deliver snacks.

“……”

“…Don’t be fooled. There could be a trap in the snack basket.”

But there really was no trap in the basket.

The undead sent by the skull headmaster set down a basket of freshly baked bread and white rice cakes filled with red bean paste, and turned away without hesitation.

-Then, please study hard.

“P-please get home safely?”

“Wait.”

Lee Han stopped the undead from leaving.

“How can we believe these snacks aren’t a trap?”

“Wardanaz. Surely he wouldn’t go that far, right?”

“There’s no way he’d put a trap in the snacks, right?”

Actually, Lee Han wasn’t really suspicious of the snacks themselves.

Rather, he had another motive.

‘Stall for time and try to get him talking.’

What he’d learned from dealing with the Storekeeper and Spirekeeper last time was that the skull headmaster’s minions actually knew a lot.

If he could get even a hint of the skull headmaster’s evil plans, it would be a huge help.

For that, he had to find some pretext to get the other party talking.

“Answer me. How can we believe these snacks aren’t a trap?”

-As expected, you’re sharp!

The undead exclaimed in admiration and chanted a spell. Suddenly, thick smoke filled the lounge so densely that they couldn’t see a thing.

The students coughed and were shocked.

“R-really?!”

“Wardanaz, how did you know?”

-Do you think first-year Ironheads can stop me?

The undead skillfully stirred up the area and immediately tried to dash out the entrance.

“Flash!”

But Lee Han’s spell was faster. A lightning bolt shot sharply toward the entrance, startling the undead.

‘How?’

The smoke the undead had conjured was a magical smoke cloud, so you couldn’t see through it.

Especially for a first-year student.

Even if his opponent was a talented student praised by his master, he was still a young, unrefined gem.

But how?

“Flash, flash, flash!”

Lee Han, without hesitation, fired lightning. With the repeated spellcasting, the area around the lounge entrance was destroyed.

Only then did the undead realize.

‘This brat!?’

Lee Han wasn’t casting spells based on the undead’s position.

He remembered where the undead was before the spell and fired a barrage at that area.

Remembering the position in such a short time was impressive, and trusting that memory to boldly spam magic was even more so.

The undead thought, this boy wasn’t praised for nothing.

‘But once you’re found out, it’s over.’

In this situation, once your intentions were discovered, it would inevitably lead to defeat.

Passing through the coughing Blue Dragon Tower students in the smoke cloud, the undead approached Lee Han.

“Wardanaz! What should we…”

“Everyone stay still and don’t move!”

With no visibility, screams and shouts filled the air from all directions.

Pure chaos.

It was the perfect situation for the undead.

“Wardanaz!”

The undead used magic to change his voice.

A voice similar to that of a Blue Dragon Tower student came out. That would fool anyone.

“Wardanaz, I’m coming to help!”

“I told you to stay still!”

“Wardanaz!”

Despite Lee Han’s warning, the undead called out in a student’s voice and approached.

Once he got close, he planned to subdue Lee Han and walk out casually.

How could a first-year boy possibly notice the undead approaching in this situation?

But the undead was mistaken about one thing.

Even if it was a friend, in a situation like this, Lee Han would mercilessly…

“Warda… gah!”

Wham!

…throw a punch.

Amazingly, the punch landed immediately. Hit by a mana-charged punch, the undead’s spellcasting was interrupted by the shock.

-Keheuk…

‘What?’

Lee Han had punched anyone who got close.

But the sensation at his fingertips was strange.

A hard, bony feeling.

At that moment, Lee Han realized who it was.

His combat experience and instincts, forged through all sorts of situations, produced the right answer even now.

‘It’s an undead!’

The undead had tried to sneak up.

“Surrender!”

Lee Han shouted as he threw another punch. Bracing for mana waste, he unleashed a wild surge.

At the same time, he kicked at his invisible opponent’s legs. The mana, imbued with the absorption (吸) technique he’d just learned, broke the opponent’s balance.

“I said surrender!”

Thwack! Thwack thwack thwack!

“Surrender!”

Thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack!

“If you don’t surrender…”

As he kept punching, the smoke cloud cleared.

The undead, completely beaten to a pulp, lay sprawled on the floor.

-You have to… give me a chance to… surrender…

This first-year was much better at close combat than expected.

• * *

“So what happens if we eat that?”

Surrounded by Blue Dragon Tower students with fierce faces, the undead answered in a deflated voice.

-That…

“A transformation curse? Mana sealed? Teleported somewhere else? Like the punishment room?”

At Lee Han’s sharp guesses, all his friends marveled.

Noticing the undead’s trap earlier and now—Wardanaz’s powers of observation were truly superhuman.

“How did he figure it out?”

‘Indeed.’

The undead wondered the same.

How did he know the snack was a trap, and how did he know the undead was approaching?

How?

“Since you can’t answer, it must be an even more evil poison.”

-No… If you eat it, you just sleep deeply.

“…Huh? That’s it?”

-Since there are pop quizzes in tomorrow’s classes…

“……”

“……”

The students’ faces hardened.

They were shocked that there were pop quizzes tomorrow, and even more shocked by the skull headmaster’s evil in sending snacks spiked with sleeping potion for that reason.

‘I’m never eating snacks from the headmaster again.’

“Eh. Still, it’s not as bad as I thought.”

Gainando said, disappointed.

He was expecting a vicious curse or deadly poison, but all it did was make you sleep deeply.

“What are you talking about, Gainando? Pop quizzes are a big deal.”

“Yeah. That’s the worst trap.”

“R-really?”

As his high-achieving friends became serious, Gainando grumbled inside.

Why are tests such a big deal!

The undead, having finished, reattached his broken bones. Lee Han, feeling a bit sorry, apologized.

“Sorry about that.”

-It’s nothing. Doesn’t even hurt.

He was still soft-hearted like a first-year. The undead waved as if he was fine and tried to stand up.

Tap—

But Lee Han blocked him from getting up.

-…I have a lot of places to go. Can’t you let me go now?

“What exactly are the classes with pop quizzes tomorrow?”

-It’s too much to tell you even that…

Lee Han raised his staff.

It meant he would attack before the other side could cast a spell.

The undead immediately retracted his thought that Lee Han was soft-hearted.

‘What a vicious guy…!’

Is he really a first-year?