Episode 241
by CristaeEpisode 241
“That shield!”
“Oh. This shield.”
Lee Han nodded, stifling a yawn.
As a diligent student, Deorgyu certainly had a keen eye.
“Isn’t it amazing?”
“Of course it’s amazing…!”
“Yeah. Even though I didn’t separately perform a magic duration extension, it’s still active. I didn’t expect that either.”
Right now, the shield had been spinning for over six hours.
Normally, he would have deactivated it and moved on, but Lee Han had left it running to see how long it would last.
‘I have to check how long it lasts before I can actually use it.’
The fact that the imbuement magic held even without a duration extension was honestly surprising.
No matter how much magic power he had, he hadn’t expected even this to work.
Even Lee Han hadn’t anticipated it.
But even if luck was on his side, he couldn’t get complacent. He had to check exactly where the limits were.
…And if the duration was about a day, Lee Han planned to submit it right away.
‘I hope I can wrap it up here.’
“Still, impressive, Deorgyu. I didn’t expect you to figure it out right away. To notice so quickly that I didn’t separately perform a duration extension on this shield…”
“I-it must’ve just been luck from studying imbuement magic hard.”
Deorgyu, who actually hadn’t noticed, stammered.
He was just surprised Lee Han had already brought a finished product…
“By the way, Lee Han. I was going to ask while we worked together.”
“You can just ask separately, Deorgyu.”
“Thank you so much. Wait. Is it okay if Moradi asks, too?”
“I don’t mind, but you’re not going to sabotage me during finals after asking for my help, right? If you have a conscience.”
“Of course Moradi wouldn’t do that.”
“But Moradi doesn’t have a conscience.”
“Lee Han…”
“It’s fine. She probably didn’t hear.”
‘I think she did.’
With the hearing of someone raised in a knight family, she could have heard from this distance.
“Then just ask Moradi directly, Lee Han.”
“Good idea. Moradi, would you swear on your family and honor that you won’t sabotage me during finals?”
“…Fine. I promise.”
“If any White Tiger Tower student even picks a fight with me, can I blame you?”
“Why would that be my responsibility?!”
Giselle, who had been about to nod without thinking, was appalled.
He was trying to trick her the moment she let her guard down.
“Aren’t you like the leader of the White Tiger Tower students?”
“You have no idea how many students don’t listen to me… You think our tower is as obedient as yours?”
“Anyone hearing this would misunderstand. Ours is the least obedient of all the towers, Moradi.”
‘Thank goodness the other friends aren’t seeing this argument,’ thought Deorgyu.
If the Blue Dragon Tower students who trusted Lee Han or the White Tiger Tower students who trusted Giselle heard this, they’d be on the verge of tears, wondering what they did wrong.
- * *
“Alright. Let’s agree on this.”
Since both had things they needed, Lee Han and Giselle each made a concession.
“Don’t forget to lend me White Tiger Tower students when I need them later.”
Lee Han secured the right to mobilize White Tiger Tower students as needed.
In exchange, Giselle had Lee Han agree to teach the White Tiger Tower students.
Given the disastrous midterm grades, if things kept going like this, only Giselle and a few others would be able to go on vacation.
“You better not forget to teach them.”
“It’s not that hard to teach.”
“……”
“……”
Deorgyu and Giselle fell silent at Lee Han’s words.
Lee Han felt a tinge of unease at their reaction.
“…But if they got into Einrogard, they must have at least basic talent, right?”
“Y-yeah.”
“O-of course.”
“It’s just that our friends aren’t interested in studying, not that they’re dumb.”
‘Now I’m even more uneasy.’
Usually, students who gave excuses like that were the hardest to teach.
“Teaching is for later—let’s focus on the task at hand.”
Lee Han said, stifling another yawn.
Giselle found it odd.
Wardanaz looked different from usual.
‘Did he stay up all night? No way, right?’
Given Wardanaz’s thorough personality, there’s no way he’d stay up all night before having to roam the mountains at noon.
“Lee Han looks tired. Did he stay up all night?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Wardanaz would never do that.”
Giselle snapped at Deorgyu.
“But the imbuement magic assignment…”
“He must’ve finished it yesterday.”
“R-really?”
To Deorgyu, it already seemed like so little time, but…
‘If Moradi says so, it must be true.’
“So, shall we each say what monsters we know are in the mountain range?”
Even an Einrogard graduate probably couldn’t know the whole mountain range.
That’s how vast and deep it was.
Just last time, they’d wandered for hours and hadn’t gotten past the outskirts.
But the students of the magic school had knowledge and rumors built up.
“Bears, wolves, boars, or crocodiles.”
“There are crocodiles?!”
Deorgyu was shocked. Giselle answered with a slight jerk of her chin.
“There’s a swamp area.”
“There’s a swamp?!”
“Deorgyu. If you’re surprised already, what will you do later? Anything can appear. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a volcanic zone.”
‘I think I’d be surprised at that.’
‘Shouldn’t you be surprised at that…’
“Slimes and various chimeras.”
Hearing “chimera,” Lee Han clicked his tongue.
Why were there artificial fusion magical creatures like chimeras in this lush, pristine mountain range?
They must have come from wizards’ experiments.
And those wizards obviously came from Einrogard…
‘I resent the seniors who experimented without following safety protocols.’
“That’s about it.”
“I see. What about you, Deorgyu?”
When Giselle finished, Deorgyu spoke up.
“Actually, I heard from my friends, and they’re… aiming for giants.”
“…What?”
Giselle reacted before Lee Han. She asked, eyes wide in disbelief.
“Who’s trying to take down a giant? Tell me.”
“T-that’s a secret, I can’t say… And they’re not in the same group.”
Giants.
A race with massive bodies and powerful defenses, who could frighten nearby monsters just by walking around.
So fierce and barbaric that communication with other races was impossible—they were basically monsters. You had to be ready to be attacked on sight.
No matter how you looked at it, they weren’t opponents first-years should target…
But some White Tiger Tower students were seriously aiming for a giant.
It all started when they found a book about giants in the library.
-This is just for you. See this map? There’s a giant living beyond the mountain ridge.
-Oh…! Hey. This is just for you. I heard, roughly on the other side of the mountain range, there’s a giant.
-Wow… Come here. Don’t say I told you. This is really rare info, but apparently there’s a giant about here on the other side…
“…Are they trying to get themselves killed?”
Giselle muttered with a grimace.
She couldn’t believe they’d whispered about it in secret.
They probably hid it, thinking others would steal the idea, but who would really steal it?
No matter how much you want to win in competition, going after a giant…
“Wardanaz wouldn’t do something that reckless.”
“Right. …Wait. What does that mean?”
Lee Han sensed something off and tried to ask Giselle.
But Deorgyu spoke first.
“But they do seem to have a way to deal with the giant…”
“If the book had the giant’s location, it’s not surprising if it also had a method to deal with it.”
The problem was, giants weren’t easy enough to handle just because you read a method in a book.
“If reading a book once was enough, why would mages struggle?”
“Right. Th…?”
As he nodded, Deorgyu glanced at Lee Han.
He briefly wondered, ‘Should Lee Han be saying things like that?’
“I think you two are right. I’ll go and seriously try to talk them out of it.”
“No, wait.”
“Hold on.”
“?”
As Lee Han and Giselle both stopped him, Deorgyu was confused.
“Would sincere advice really be effective in this situation?”
“I don’t like agreeing with Wardanaz, but he’s right. If they’re secretly preparing, would they listen just because you warn them? They’ll just do it in secret.”
“T-true. Is there a better way?”
“First, let’s confirm their location. We should tail them.”
“After confirming, we’ll make sure they can’t get close.”
“We should take their book too. If they keep it, they’ll just keep thinking about it for the next few weeks.”
“Yeah. Let’s take the book.”
“……”
They’d come to the mountains to check what monsters were where, but…
As the topic suddenly shifted to banditry, Deorgyu couldn’t help but be bewildered.
“Isn’t taking it a bit much…?”
“Don’t misunderstand, Deorgyu. We’re doing this for our friends. Do you really think I’m doing this because I’m worried they’ll catch a giant and get a good grade?”
“Choi. Think about it. If you see your friends hurt later, what will you think? Won’t you regret not stopping them?”
“…M-maybe…”
Lee Han and Giselle nodded and each placed a hand on Deorgyu’s shoulders.
“Then you’re in with us, Deorgyu.”
“So who has the book? Tell us.”
“……”
- * *
Gatono of the Dulak Family looked around nervously in front of the cave.
Just in case someone was following.
‘Who would follow me to a place like this anyway.’
“Who’s there?”
“Gatono of Dulak.”
“Come in quietly.”
His teammates inside the cave gestured hurriedly.
“Is it going well?”
“Of course. Who’s Bartrek? He’s from the Bark Family.”
Bartrek was famous in the White Tiger Tower for his outstanding alchemy.
…Though he was a bit behind the geniuses of the other towers, his skills were still more than decent.
“This is… that, right?”
“Yeah. The potion that even puts a giant to sleep.”
A huge cauldron was hanging over the campfire inside the cave, and a foul-smelling decoction was boiling inside.
Just as Lee Han and Giselle feared, the White Tiger Tower students weren’t brainless.
Since they were facing a giant, they’d calculated everything carefully.
Here I write about the potion that puts giants to sleep, so that younger students don’t end up tangling with angry giants…
There was no need to kill the giant to subdue it.
Just put it to sleep and take its hair or treasure.
Sneak near its lair at night, sprinkle the potion while it sleeps…
Bang!
“?!?”
“What was that?”
“An intruder! Someone triggered the trap!”
“Who… Could it be Wardanaz?!”
“Why would Wardanaz be here! Don’t be ridiculous!”
- * *
“Is this the place?”
“Seems like it.”
“…Wait. I hear fighting inside.”
The three paused, watching from the bushes near the cave.
There was definitely the sound of fighting inside.
-Give us the book!
-You cowards! And you call yourselves knights!
-Hmph. Taking by force is what knights do. If you can’t protect your treasure, you don’t deserve it!
“……”
“……”
Giselle and Deorgyu bowed their heads in unison.
What an embarrassment to the tower!