Episode 268

‘Are all Einrogard students like that?’

Baishada thought in amazement.

Well, it was the place that gathered the Empire’s top talents, so maybe this was to be expected.

Even when they lodged half an arrow into a rock, they would feel disappointed thinking, ‘Ah, only half the arrow got in.’

“Tell your friend to stop saying nonsense.”

“He’s your teammate too, you know.”

Baishada didn’t hear Giselle and Deorgyu’s exchange.

‘Come to think of it, I heard that last time another fortress sent a young patrol to Einrogard. Would that patrol kid be like this, too?’

If all Einrogard students had personalities like this, then the young Shadow Patrol member from another fortress would likely be the same.

Baishada felt a new sense of respect for that patrol member she’d never even met.

Is this what it takes to get into Einrogard?

“If you want more accuracy, why not try lowering the power?”

“Lower the power?”

“Yes. It seems like you’re obsessed with power. You don’t actually need that much power.”

“But aren’t there monsters like demon ghouls with extremely tough armor? I think you need that kind of power to take those down.”

“T-that’s true, but a first-year usually wouldn’t encounter monsters like that, right?”

Baishada was flustered.

Sure, there were monsters with tough defenses, but students rarely met such creatures—

—especially first-years at the magic school.

Lee Han smiled wryly. Baishada didn’t really understand why the boy in front of her was like this.

“That’s a fair point. In that case, I’ll give up some power and focus on accuracy.”

“Why not try -Minor Homing- too?”

Giselle quipped sarcastically.

It was obviously not a serious suggestion.

The “homing” attribute in enchantment magic, which guided objects toward a target, was a highly advanced property.

It was far harder than “acceleration” or “weight increase.”

“Ah. Thanks, Moradi.”

But for Lee Han, who was already using “Auto Defense,” -Minor Homing- was well within reach.

Having a natural knack for certain things, Lee Han succeeded in casting -Minor Homing- on his first try.

“……”

Giselle was at a loss for words. Deorgyu, slightly surprised, commented from the side.

“Didn’t expect you to give good advice.”

“Shut up.”

“?!”

Lee Han reduced the power-up spells and added -Minor Homing-.

After a few tries, he found a pretty good combination.

‘-Minor Accuracy Boost-, -Minor Aim Enhancement-, -Minor Homing- twice, plus -Minor Piercing Boost-. This feels about right.’

He was pushing right up to the limit of what he could currently do—his best possible combination.

When he drew the bow, the arrow struck dead center on a distant rock.

Baishada clapped with a joyful face.

“Wonderful!”

“Thank you. I didn’t think it would work out so well.”

Lee Han himself was a bit amazed.

To be able to substitute archery this easily with just one spell (well, it was hardly just one spell)…

No wonder people sometimes called mages cheaters.

“At this point, it almost feels wrong to use a bow this easily.”

“It’s fine.”

Baishada, as a skilled archer, spoke with pride.

“It’s better to use a convenient, useful tool and enjoy it than to just waste time as a beginner and give up. Do you think top archers don’t use good bows or arrows? They go out of their way to find them.”

Archery, when explored deeply, was an inexhaustibly profound art.

Those who were true archers didn’t worry much about mages substituting for archery with magic.

They had confidence in their own skills.

“I see. That’s very good advice, thank you.”

Lee Han fired a few more arrows in succession. Baishada hesitated for a moment after seeing him split the tip of the previous arrow with the next shot.

…Magic really is broken!

“Thanks, Moradi. That was good advice.”

“……”

“I’d better practice a few more times.”

Lee Han, getting excited, picked up another arrow.

One might ask why he bothered learning archery when he had magic, but the bow did have advantages magic couldn’t match.

For starters, its overwhelming range.

If used well, it could easily cover over a hundred meters—something much harder to achieve with magic alone.

As a first-year student who might have to deal with monsters any time, Lee Han needed as many long-range options as possible.

Swish, swish, swish, swish!

Baishada was taken aback by how vigorously Lee Han practiced, putting arrow after arrow into the target.

She’d only suggested archery as a fun diversion, but he was practicing with serious focus.

“Surely monsters aren’t coming down to Einrogard, right? Haha.”

“……”

“……”

“…S-students. That was just a joke.”

• * *

Professor Thunderstep lit his pipe and blew out thick clouds of smoke.

Students often made the mistake of thinking, “Professors must be evil to give such assignments and exams,” but in reality, professors didn’t really like assignments or exams either.

After all, if you assign them, you have to grade them.

But students didn’t appreciate all their teachers’ toil. Instead, they’d just grumble, “Why did you make it so hard?”

“This really is a problem! Kids these days!”

“You did make it hard, you know.”

“Still. Should I force myself to make it easy?”

Professor Thunderstep grumbled while pouring tea for Professor Lightningstep.

On the table, potion bottles produced and submitted by students were scattered everywhere.

“This one missed the Dew of Setrivi potion. This one’s got too little of the Minor Mind Enhancement potion. I said to make Dobruk’s Blood Drop potion, but did they fetch sewer water? The stench!”

“Quiet, I’m trying to drink tea.”

“Yes.”

An alchemist of Professor Thunderstep’s caliber could judge a potion’s quality just by looking and sensing the magic within.

The pre-final assignment was Aurum’s Golden Potion.

The recipe itself wasn’t that difficult, but having to make and combine all sorts of basic potions was a massive pain.

You mixed Minor Mind Enhancement and Dew of Setrivi to make the base, then again added more Minor Mind Enhancement mixed with Dobruk’s Blood Drop, then again Minor Mind Enhancement with Bellezen’s…

“Isn’t that why students don’t like you?”

“Alchemy is supposed to be like this.”

Professor Thunderstep felt wronged.

He, too, suffered through all this “spoiled beer” just to become an alchemist. Trials were what let alchemists grow.

If they gave up here, how could they ever make more difficult potions?

“Uh… huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“That’s odd…”

Professor Thunderstep held the potion bottle up to a magical lamp, but it was still strange.

It was just…

Too neat and perfect.

“What’s odd about it?”

“It’s too well made.”

“Isn’t that good?”

“No. This was an assignment where they were supposed to not make it perfect!”

“……”

Professor Lightningstep looked at his nephew like he was trash, but Professor Thunderstep didn’t care.

It wasn’t like the students had easy access to high-grade ingredients. They scrounged up whatever was at hand from the school grounds; perfection should be impossible.

There should have been all sorts of impurities and residue…

But this Aurum’s Golden Potion was too perfect.

What’s going on?

“Th-this… It looks like they used a potion from an Alchemist Guild workshop?!”

“Clever.”

“No, that’s beyond clever! Who did this?!”

Lee Han Wardanaz

“……”

Professor Thunderstep was lost for words as he checked the name on the potion’s label.

How did this kid do that?

“You told them to make it by any means necessary. Of course they’ll use any means.”

“But no matter what, how could he buy the potion from outside!? How did he even do it!?”

“He probably bought it during the last outing.”

“How could he have known Aurum’s Golden Potion would be the assignment on that outing?”

“Who knows? Fascinating.”

Since it wasn’t his own problem, Professor Lightningstep was curious.

Of course, Professor Thunderstep felt differently.

No matter how attached he was to his student, this was a matter of pride.

How could he skip the hardship he’d so carefully assigned?

“Blame yourself, Wardanaz. Thanks to you, the final exams are going to get harder.”

Professor Lightningstep shook his head at his nephew muttering ominously.

Wasn’t that exactly why people developed the stereotype that alchemists locked themselves up in gloomy rooms and never came out?

• * *

Tuesday.

Professor Alpen Knighten inspected the assignments with a serious look.

The pre-final assignment for -Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic- was conceptualizing a structure.

And the final exam was to actually build that structure.

Because the two were connected, most students were already building their structures.

If you didn’t finish most of it this week (with the judging next week), it would get very hard. To make matters worse, next week was also finals for other classes, so time was even tighter.

“Professor Knighten.”

“Professor Fliework, greetings.”

Professor Alpen gave a slight nod to Professor Rosine.

Both were former Imperial officials and so were acquainted.

“The students’ work looks excellent! You must have taught them well, Professor.”

“I am still ashamed; they have much to learn.”

“They’re only first-years—this is plenty.”

“First-years or not, they are mages. I don’t think students want to be coddled for that.”

“……”

The students working nearby pouted.

That’s not true!

“Wardanaz. Wardanaz.”

Lee Han, who was embedding a magic stone in a vermilion wood pillar, replied with a shake of his head when Rowena from White Tiger Tower called out.

“I’m too busy to make snacks. Rowena, tell Her Highness to be patient.”

“……”

The princess, working with her followers a bit further away, glared at Lee Han in indignation and shock.

“Huh? Oh, no. I didn’t come for snacks.”

“Oh, really?”

Lee Han set down his hammer and looked over.

“So why’d you come?”

“Could you lend me some mana?”

“……”

“……”

“Isn’t that black sorcery?” Ahsan muttered in disgust.

For a mage, absorbing another’s mana was close to a taboo.

It was something even more precious than life, so the reaction was natural.

Gainando jumped up to protest.

“Not only black mages can absorb someone else’s mana!”

“What? There’s really no such method?”

“There… probably is.”

“Don’t come near me.”

“You—! Doesn’t your discipline have ways to do that?”

‘Probably not, honestly.’

Rowena, realizing she was misunderstood, shouted quickly.

“I’m not a black mage!”

“…No, you should say you don’t intend to steal mana, not just that you’re not a black mage.”

“I don’t intend to steal anyone’s mana…”

“There you go.”

Lee Han quickly understood the situation.

Just as drawing up a magic circle ate up mana through trial and error, magical constructions consumed a lot of mana too.

Lee Han could keep pouring in mana without getting tired, but other students had to rest to recover.

If Lee Han supplied his mana, the build time would be much shorter.

“Payment doesn’t have to be trade—you can owe me.”

“Oh! Really?”

Rowena was delighted as she pulled out a whole chunk of meat.

Amazingly, Einrogard students preferred paying in the outside world with cash over barter. Lee Han was simply grateful for that.

“Wait!”

“?”

Angrago from the Alpha Family interrupted and Lee Han looked at him curiously.

What’s he trying to say?

‘Is he trying to interfere?’

Given the White Tiger Tower students’ personalities, they probably didn’t like getting help from other towers, even if they were friends…

“Wardanaz. I’ll pay double, so help me first…”

“……”

“……”

“Is that guy really a knight? Is he really from White Tiger Tower?” Gainando muttered in confusion.