Episode 264

Episode 264

‘I almost became the subject of the worst misunderstanding in the world.’

Even after answering, Lee Han felt uneasy.

He was worried that Duke Ikaldoren might go back to the imperial social circles and spread fake rumors like, ‘That boy Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family is so close with Gonadaltes.’

If that happened, how would the Headmaster and those holding grudges react?

And there were more than just a few of them.

“How is life in Einrogard? Are you satisfied?”

Duke Ikaldoren tilted his teacup and asked about life in the magic school.

Lee Han felt all his nerves stand on end.

This was…?

‘It could be a trap!’

What if Duke Ikaldoren was actually on close terms with the Headmaster?

And he was trying to pry out any complaints from a student he happened to meet?

“I am more than satisfied.”

“Is that so?”

“The Headmaster always helps students focus on their studies. The students at the magic school are always in an environment where all they can think about is magic.”

“…?”

Duke Ikaldoren was confused.

Einrogard was an intimate place where outsiders had a hard time figuring out what was going on, but still, there was no such thing as a perfect secret in the world.

To some extent, rumors were bound to leak out.

Of course, some rumors about Einrogard had leaked out, and even Duke Ikaldoren knew that much.

According to the rumors, Einrogard was by no means such a satisfactory environment.

‘What are you plotting, Wardanaz? What are you plotting, Gonadaltes?’

Duke Ikaldoren’s small eyes flashed slightly. The unexpected answer complicated his thoughts.

But no matter how he thought about it, the boy in front of him didn’t seem to be lying.

After all, there was no reason for him to lie.

If so, did Gonadaltes really change the rules?

‘That itself is entirely possible. But why? For what reason?’

A person of Gonadaltes’ stature wouldn’t change the rules for no reason.

Duke Ikaldoren’s reasoning dug even deeper.

‘No way… is he trying to win favor with the other great noble families or the Emperor?’

Gonadaltes was a great mage famous for being blunt even in front of the Emperor.

For such a mage to try to curry favor with other great noble families or the Emperor, he must be preparing for something significant.

What on earth was he planning?

Duke Ikaldoren felt a chill down his spine, as if a blade of ice had been pressed against it.

‘No way… is he targeting me? Gonadaltes! Is that it?!’

“Not only that, but all the professors are outstanding. They do their utmost to teach us even a little more… always helping us in every way.”

As he was speaking, Professor Voladi nodded, and Lee Han almost coughed, but managed to finish his sentence.

At that attitude, Duke Ikaldoren became even more convinced.

For him to emphasize it that much, it was definitely not a lie. There really must have been a change within the magic school.

‘I need to be even more cautious.’

“Your Grace.”

“Speak.”

One of his subordinates approached, bowed his head, and spoke in a low voice.

“We found what you ordered.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a basilisk.”

Professor Voladi set down his teacup. Though his face was expressionless, satisfaction radiated from his entire body.

‘Duke Ikaldoren. I won’t forget this.’

Lee Han held back a sigh and renewed his resolve once more.

• * *

“This is… not a basilisk, is it?”

“To be exact, it’s its egg, Mage.”

Lee Han felt slightly pleased.

In contrast, Professor Voladi seemed slightly displeased.

“When will it hatch?”

“That’s hard to say for sure. As you know, rare monsters like the basilisk are quite capricious.”

An egg laid by a rooster and then brooded over a long time by a venomous snake, transformed.

That was a basilisk’s egg.

It was indeed an extremely rare treasure, but for Professor Voladi, who needed an opponent for his disciple to face right now, the egg was of no use.

You couldn’t exactly have him fight an egg.

As Professor Voladi remained silent, the atmosphere became subtly awkward. The Duke’s subordinates seemed slightly offended.

Even a basilisk’s egg was a very rare treasure, and yet, even as a mage, to receive such a gift without any gratitude?

Sensing this, Lee Han quickly stepped forward.

“Thank you very much. I will not forget Your Grace’s kindness. It seems the professor is so grateful he’s at a loss for words.”

“Haha. Seeing you so happy makes us happy too.”

Only then did the Duke’s subordinates relax and look satisfied.

“It was really hard to get. You’d be surprised at the premium we paid.”

‘Damn. Just give us gold coins.’

It was a miserable deal where the Duke’s subordinates, Lee Han, and Professor Voladi were all unhappy.

Lee Han seriously considered whether, if he tried to secretly sell the basilisk egg and got caught, Duke Ikaldoren would send an assassin after him.

After the subordinates left and they were alone, Professor Voladi spoke.

“That’s useless.”

“No, Professor. If you take good care of it and hatch it, it’ll be fine.”

Lee Han wanted to wrap this up around here.

He was afraid Professor Voladi might go looking for a dragon and pick a fight.

“Even if it’s just an egg, it’s still a basilisk’s egg. If raised well, it’ll grow quickly.”

“……”

After pondering Lee Han’s persuasion, Professor Voladi finally answered.

“…Right. If it’s not too late, I can use it for the next test.”

“No. That’s not what I meant.”

Lee Han replied seriously.

• * *

Having exchanged gifts and confirmed they weren’t close with the Headmaster, Duke Ikaldoren began preparing to see them off.

“You said you came out to buy materials?”

“Yes.”

“You, go with them. Merchants don’t easily bring out really good goods.”

The Duke ordered his subordinate.

Merchants weren’t clever enough to deceive mages, but neither were they stupid enough to easily part with their best goods.

It was in these small ways that Duke Ikaldoren accumulated favors.

Especially when the other party was from a great noble family.

A noble’s honor was to never easily forget a favor received.

Of course, it did bother him a little that the other party was from the Wardanaz Family, but this boy seemed much more normal than the other Wardanaz members…

‘Is Duke Ikaldoren perhaps a pushover?’

Lee Han wondered.

To just bestow things like that.

Surely he didn’t have the delusion that Lee Han would feel bad and repay him later, so was he just showing off a great noble’s generosity?

If so, that was truly surprising.

Why such a meaningless gesture…

• * *

“First, give me all the minor mental fortification potions you have, and do you have Setribi’s Dew Potion? I also need Dobruk’s Blood Drop Potion.”

“P-please wait just a moment.”

The alchemists sitting in the guild workshop were startled by the visit of such a distinguished guest.

“It’ll take a little time since we have to check inventory and make them. But are you really going to buy this much?”

“Yes.”

Lee Han’s strategy was simple.

Since Professor Thunderstep had said, ‘Getting materials is also your ability, so make them on your own,’ he really planned to show his ability.

He would buy all the useful potions from outside.

Starting with those needed for the final project, and including all those that could be used for the final exam!

Originally, since he didn’t have much money, he’d intended to buy only what he absolutely needed, but since Duke Ikaldoren was providing gold, there was no reason to save.

The Duke’s subordinates watching from behind exchanged bewildered looks.

-Isn’t he buying… too much?

But no one tried to stop him.

If they stopped him for no reason, Duke Ikaldoren would yell at them for disrespecting his authority.

It was a bit more expensive than expected, but considering Duke Ikaldoren’s intention to bestow favor, it might have been for the best.

“Let’s go to the candy shop next door.”

“Excuse me?”

“Is there a problem?”

“Uh… nothing at all.”

The Duke’s subordinates followed Lee Han past the door of -Dasig’s Candy Shop-, decorated with colorful, long candies.

They wondered why a mage would go into a candy shop, but thought maybe there was some ingredient they didn’t know about that he needed.

Maybe there was a potion that required crispy crème brûlée, or a magic spell prepared with sweet éclairs…

…Do those really exist?

“This giant chocolate cake doesn’t seem like an ordinary item.”

“You have a good eye, sir. Sometimes adventurers who’ve struggled for months buy it to celebrate a victory. It takes a week just to make one.”

“Good. I’ll buy this too.”

“My goodness! I knew you were distinguished, but I didn’t expect you to buy this!”

Lee Han nodded confidently.

The Duke’s subordinates behind him could only look more and more puzzled.

• * *

“All done, Professor.”

After the wild shopping spree ended and Sunday evening arrived, Lee Han met Professor Voladi again in front of Amur’s Stable.

Amur’s jaw dropped when he saw Lee Han carrying an enormous mountain of luggage.

“What the…?”

Even a porter who’d worked for a merchant group for over ten years wouldn’t carry so much luggage so mercilessly.

“It’s fine. Let’s depart.”

“No… wait a minute.”

Amur was flustered.

If there was anything more important than escaping prison—no, school—it was returning without being caught.

Of course, Lee Han and Amur had prepared for this.

They’d planned to sneak in around midnight on Sunday, disguised as Amur and his subordinate staff.

But this was just too much luggage.

A box or two might be overlooked, but carrying that much, even the Spire Stable keeper would say, ‘Let’s check this for a moment,’ even if he were blind.

“Hmm. I did buy a bit much.”

“A bit much…?”

“It’s fine.”

“??”

“Just say it’s the professor’s luggage.”

“Uh… is that okay?”

Amur was even more flustered.

Was it really okay to use the revered teacher’s name for such smuggling?

Professor Voladi nodded as if it didn’t matter. Lee Han gave him a look as if he expected this.

“Then let’s depart! Oh, I brought some dessert. Please have it when you get hungry.”

“No, students don’t have much money… wait…?”

Amur couldn’t understand how Lee Han bought so much.

Unless you were extremely childish or shameless, it wasn’t easy to use your family name for this…

“…Well, fine. Let’s depart!”

Lee Han fed snacks to the griffon (when given the highest grade jerky, the griffon was very happy), and checked Professor Voladi’s luggage.

While going around the village with the Duke’s subordinates, Professor Voladi had also bought a few long boxes large enough to fit a person.

‘…Surely it’s not monsters, right?’

Lee Han felt uneasy but steeled his mind. No matter how much Professor Voladi wanted to, he couldn’t have acquired more monsters in that short time.

“What’s inside those?”

“Adventurers.”

“…Excuse me?”

“Adventurers. The ones who tried to trick us earlier.”

Professor Voladi spoke calmly.

So calmly that the boxes of snacks Lee Han had stacked and the adventurer boxes felt almost the same.

Of course, Lee Han wasn’t fooled.

“Professor, why would you…?”

“I plan to use them for the final exam. They’re trash, but with some training, they’ll be useful.”

“……”