Episode 300

Episode 300

While Lee Han frowned and tried to recall his memory, the royals began to take action.

The prince, Bogajun, tapped his fingers on the table and spoke.

“Judging by the heavy weight of the egg, it doesn’t seem like it’s from a flying creature.”

The princess, Judrantas, immediately objected.

“You can’t think that way about everything. There are heavy flying creatures, too.”

“I know that. But for the sake of speculation, we need to choose the most probable…”

“That’s what I’m saying is wrong.”

“The real mistake was the escort knight getting involved in the bribery incident… ahem.”

“…Well, since you couldn’t solve the plague in Kldrann Village, it’s not surprising you can’t figure out something so basic… mhm.”

‘No. This is more amusing than I thought.’

Listening from the side, Lee Han felt like he understood why the nobles followed the royals and attended meetings.

It was more entertaining than expected to watch the royals warily test each other and argue.

Of course, the nobles didn’t follow them just for those underhanded thoughts…

Tap tap—

“?”

Lee Han turned his head. When he looked back, the princess of the same tower, Adenart, was standing there.

Adenart nodded slightly in gratitude and handed him a well-wrapped pouch.

Seeing that, Lee Han was deeply moved.

‘As expected of royalty—she knows grace!’

The favor of having stopped the princess from being forced into a difficult assignment by her followers last time.

Not forgetting that and trying to repay with silver coins like this.

‘The Empire’s future is bright.’

“Thank you.”

After responding, Lee Han untied the ribbon on the package.

Inside, a sparkling silver coin…

…didn’t come out; instead, a shiny medal appeared.

“????”

As a medal appeared instead of silver coins, Lee Han was momentarily flustered.

What was this?

‘Aha. Since there’s a physical limit to the weight and volume of silver coins, she gave a highly liquid piece of jewelry instead.’

Once again, Lee Han was impressed by the princess’s thoughtfulness.

Indeed, befitting the top… no, second-ranked student’s intelligence.

Giving a piece of jewelry that could be sold right away.

“Wardanaz-nim. That is a Boeun Medallion.”

“……”

At the follower’s kind explanation, Lee Han frowned.

Boeun Medallion.

When a member of a family received a favor, it was a gift given to show gratitude from that family.

If you presented this medallion when you needed help, you could receive assistance from the family anywhere, anytime.

Since Adenart’s maternal family was also quite influential, the value of this medallion was significant…

‘…She could have just given silver coins.’

But to Lee Han, it wasn’t very useful.

It wasn’t like Lee Han would seek the royals’ backing to get into politics, nor get involved in imperial social circles…

Moreover, such a medallion was difficult to convert into silver coins. If you handled it wrong, it could be seen as a slight against the family’s sincerity.

Suppressing a sigh inwardly, Lee Han answered insincerely.

“Receiving something like this… I feel it’s too much for me.”

“Haha. Not at all. The princess is very grateful for your dedication, Wardanaz-nim.”

“Do you think I should accept something like this?”

“Yes! Of course.”

The princess also nodded so intensely that it looked like she was urging him to accept.

Seeing that he couldn’t succeed in receiving something else instead, Lee Han put away the medal with bitterness.

“Thank you.”

“Wait. Who told you to just hand that out without permission?”

Bogajun sternly scolded Adenart’s follower.

While Bogajun and Judrantas were arguing, Adenart tried to take talent away as she pleased.

Judrantas also stopped arguing and jumped in.

“You’re trying to give the Boeun Medallion by force? Don’t you know that forced kindness can be troublesome?”

‘Surprisingly, that’s actually a sound point.’

But Adenart’s followers did not back down.

“What do you mean handing it out without permission, Bogajun-nim? This is something Adenart-nim is giving to a friend to express gratitude. The two of them are both studying together at Einrogard.”

“Kuk…”

“Kkuek.”

Bogajun and Judrantas both made sounds of frustration at the same time.

There was nothing better than the excuse of attending the same school to form a connection.

‘Such cowardice…’

‘To use attending Einrogard like this.’

As the two royals were at a loss for words, the follower continued triumphantly.

“Do you understand? Wardanaz-nim is Princess’s close and intimate friend.”

“?”

Lee Han tilted his head.

Was that so?

‘Are we… that close?’

Of course, he had cooked meals, and having been in the same tower, they had done various things together, but to call it an intimate friendship was a little puzzling.

Calling them friends was one thing, but…

“Fufu! Fufu! Fufu!”

Gainando seemed to agree and tried to protest loudly.

‘If we’re talking about close friendship, I’m even closer!’

Of course, since his speech was sealed, it had little effect.

“Quiet. There are a lot of eyes watching.”

Yoner poked Gainando in the side.

Lee Han had gone out of his way to help preserve his cousin’s image in front of all the nobles at the gathering today, yet Gainando was about to waste it.

This cousin needed to learn to be thankful.

“Hmph. School friendships are just games. Just because you study together doesn’t mean you have to serve them.”

“For once, you’re making sense. Right. It’s even stranger to expect someone to serve you just because you have a bit of acquaintance.”

The two royals shifted their tactic to undermining friendships.

Of course, neither Lee Han nor Adenart wavered.

Adenart was always expressionless, and Lee Han just didn’t really care.

‘Not exactly wrong, though.’

Serving someone just because you attended the same school was nonsense.

By that logic, Gainando would already have his own groupies…

“By the way. How about guessing what kind of egg that is?”

“I’m sure you could easily do it.”

Bogajun and Judrantas suggested a riddle to win Lee Han’s favor.

Of course, it was not a way to get on Lee Han’s good side at all.

‘I said I don’t want to. Why do these guys keep…’

If they just fought each other it would be fine, but trying to drag Lee Han into it was nothing but trouble.

Just as he was about to politely refuse, something flashed through his mind.

‘!’

A strangely familiar egg.

It felt like he’d seen it somewhere…

‘A basilisk egg!!’

He remembered vividly how Professor Voladi was disappointed when he received it. He wondered why he hadn’t remembered until now.

“Isn’t that a basilisk egg?”

Lee Han asked in a slightly flustered voice.

Of course, as long as it didn’t hatch, it didn’t really matter whether it was a basilisk egg or a dragon egg, but…

Wasn’t it a little dangerous?

‘Do the royals always use such riddles at gatherings? Even though this isn’t Einrogard?’

The noble who had brought the egg, Brodon, laughed like he had no idea what Lee Han was talking about.

“It’s not a basilisk egg, Wardanaz-nim.”

“Is that… so?”

As his opponent answered confidently, Lee Han hesitated. Maybe he was mistaken.

“Yes. Please believe me. There’s no way we’d bring such a dangerous egg to this gathering.”

“Did you get it from somewhere in particular?”

“I bought it from a merchant, actually.”

“……”

The expression on Lee Han’s face hardened as he tried to believe him.

Not raising or finding the egg himself, but buying it from a merchant.

Suddenly, he had a bad feeling.

‘…It’ll be fine, right.’

Thinking about it, whether it was a basilisk egg or a dragon egg, as long as there were no signs of it hatching, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Once the meeting ended, he’d just take it away again…

Crack!

As the egg cracked and something began coming out from inside, Lee Han reacted immediately.

“Everyone, get down!”

The harsh training Lee Han had received at Einrogard did not betray him.

Thanks to this, he drew his staff and began chanting a spell faster than anyone else.

“Spring forth. Spread out!”

A huge mass of water sprang forth from thin air, transformed into a curtain, and surrounded the glass case.

One of the most dangerous things when facing a basilisk was its evil eye.

Even a newborn basilisk’s gaze could cast a petrifying curse the moment eye contact was made.

“I will… ugh!”

“Stay still!”

“Wait, I…”

“You too!”

Grabbing the prince and princess, who tried to intervene, by the back of their necks and shoving them behind the table, Lee Han shouted to his friends.

“Remember what we did last time? Move just like then! Keep your head down and use a mirror to look! Move!”

Lee Han set up the table as a shield and pushed the nobles behind it, making sure no one stuck their head out to accidentally make eye contact.

Clang, thud!

The sound of breaking glass followed by a blunt impact came from the water curtain.

Lee Han was startled by the force, as if the barrier would break at any moment.

“It should be a hatchling, so how…?”

“Ah! Wardanaz-nim!”

From beneath the table, Jolvabden, hiding nearby, shouted as if realizing something.

“Sir Brodon often feeds his eggs growth potions to keep them healthy!”

“……”

As befitting a socialite of the imperial circle, Jolvabden was excellent at gathering information.

Of course, in this situation, that information was of little help!

Still not grasping the situation, Brodon shouted in denial.

“It might not be a basilisk!”

“Whatever it is, anything that rampages like that must be vicious! Everyone do not come out from behind the table! Sharkan, spring out! Perkuntra, I need your power!”

Realizing things were serious, Lee Han decided to use his strongest cards at once.

If he held back and tried half-measures, things could spiral out of control.

However, as Lee Han was halfway through summoning Perkuntra, the water curtain was finally torn apart.

Chiiii!

Amazingly, there was a burning sound from the water curtain.

Unable to break through by force, the monster had used poison to tear open the curtain.

In the gap torn open, the monster’s form glimmered.

A vile monster born with the soul of a snake and a rooster mixed together—a basilisk!

Swoosh!

The basilisk, sensing the most threatening mage present, immediately targeted Lee Han with its evil eye.

Its vertically slit pupil sparkled, spreading an evil petrification curse.

“…The one who made a contract with you calls upon you with right and proper qualification!”

-?????

But Lee Han didn’t waver at all despite being hit by the petrification curse.

In truth, he was so focused on chanting his spell that he didn’t even notice the basilisk had hit him with the curse.

Zap, zap, zap!

The petrification curse was cast repeatedly, but Lee Han deflected all of them.

And Perkuntra was summoned.

Rumble, crash!

Thunder and lightning stormed inside the room, and above Lee Han’s head, a colossal spirit of lightning began to take form.

What a mess is this?! Truly, trouble follows you everywhere you go!

“…I’ll explain later! The basilisk is trying to escape! Stop it!”

At Lee Han’s urgent shout, Perkuntra immediately assessed the situation.

If the basilisk was stuck inside that water curtain, it wasn’t a normal situation.

It looked like there were quite a few non-mages present as well, so it could easily lead to a major catastrophe.

Of all the countless mistakes you’ve made today, summoning me was the wisest choice!

Perkuntra’s body swelled greatly, then shot forward like a bolt of lightning.

It charged straight into the water curtain.

Whether it was a basilisk or whatever else, it would be subdued in one blow…

…It’s knocked out, isn’t it?

“Huh?”

I said it passed out. It looks like it’s exhausted.

Perkuntra pushed aside the water curtain to show the fallen basilisk. It lay there as if it were dead.

Sharkan also poked the basilisk. Even then, the basilisk didn’t get up.

“Is… that so?”

Yes.

An awkward silence momentarily passed between Lee Han and Perkuntra.

Lee Han spoke in an embarrassed voice.

“Thank you for coming, anyway.”

……

Perkuntra glared at Lee Han.