Episode 303

Salko was very friendly.

It was the complete opposite of his usual attitude at school, where he frowned and avoided students from the Blue Dragon Tower.

“Are you trying not to borrow money from your family?”

“Something like that.”

“Wardanaz, you’re a true noble.”

Salko meant it as a compliment, but Lee Han didn’t take it that way.

‘If I could borrow money from my family, I wouldn’t be doing this, you bastard.’

From Lee Han’s perspective—who was raising funds to increase profit—the family name was of little help.

Unless it was necessary for academic purposes, there wouldn’t be any support, and if he asked for a lucrative job, the answer would be, “Excuse me? Why would you do such a thing?”

“But Salko, aren’t you working at a guild? Shyles was busy.”

“Unlike the transport guild, our stonemasons’ guild has off-seasons.”

“I see. So you found another job to make use of your free time.”

“That’s right.”

Lee Han and Salko exchanged glances.

It was a sense of kinship only those obsessed with work could understand.

“Come with me, Wardanaz. I’ll explain how it’s done.”

As Salko said this and turned, his gang interrupted.

“Wait. Tutanta.”

“What is it?”

“I need to repay Wardanaz some silver.”

“M-me too.”

“Me as well…”

“……”

Salko looked at his friends in disbelief.

Just how much begging had these guys done to Wardanaz without him knowing…

• * *

Sitting in chairs, open a box, and when a reagent comes out, sense the amount of magical power in the reagent.

If the magical power amount differs from the original sample, or the magical quality is different, or if there are any issues, exclude that reagent.

It certainly wasn’t hard work.

It was just a tedious task that required patience and perseverance.

“This is actually pretty good training. Don’t you think so, Gainando? It’s good for developing your ability to distinguish between materials.”

“……”

Gainando thought his friend had gone mad.

So instead of answering, when Salko asked Lee Han for help and he left for a moment, Gainando frantically whispered to the other friends.

“He’s nuts! Lee Han must be crazy! He’s enjoying this!”

“Huh? Isn’t it pretty decent?”

Yoner said as she tossed reagents into the box.

As someone who wanted to run a few businesses herself later, Yoner saw nothing wrong with saving up silver coins like this.

“…You guys too?!”

“What? If you get paid this easily for this much work, you should be grateful.”

Nillia answered Gainando’s question in disbelief.

Back in the northern mountains, even if they spent three days hunting beasts, the hunters barely got a few imperial coins after sharing the spoils. Here, if you sat and sorted reagents for a few hours in the warehouse, you got silver in hand.

It was so good, she even thought, ‘So this is why people become mages.’

“That’s right. It’s a shame we can’t get more silver once we finish this job.”

“Yeah, I’m really disappointed too.”

Nillia and Ratford nodded repeatedly.

It was a shame that a job this good would be over after just one round.

“But it can’t be helped, right? There’s no way such a good job would always be around.”

“Exactly. It’s probably because it’s urgent that it pays this well.”

“E-everyone’s crazy… Dalkard! Dalkard!”

Gainando called out to his last remaining ally, Ahsan.

But Ahsan answered in a serious voice.

“This is a good opportunity.”

“…Are you crazy?! What’s with you! Get a hold of yourself! Why are you acting like this too!!”

Gainando didn’t realize it, but Ahsan had already been persuaded.

-Ahsan. Just think about it. What if you managed to gather silver coins by your own strength? What would your elder brother and sister think then?

-I-I see… If I give them gifts bought with silver coins I earned myself, even my brother and sister would have to acknowledge me.

-…I didn’t mean you had to buy gifts, but anyway, that’s the basic idea.

“Gainando, how long are you going to rely on your family’s power?”

“What are you saying! The family’s power is my own power!”

Just then, Lee Han returned to his seat as Gainando flailed about.

Lee Han looked at him curiously and asked,

“What are you doing?”

“J-just exercising for a second.”

“I see. Let’s sit back down.”

“…Okay…”

Gainando’s resistance ended pathetically. He sat back down and resumed sorting.

‘Sob. I want to go home.’

• * *

When they came out of the warehouse, the sun was already setting and dusk had fallen.

Magic lamps along the city’s crossroads were beginning to light up one by one. They could see night watchmen donning uniforms as well.

“Thank you so much for your hard work, mages.”

The merchant company staff bowed with genuine gratitude.

When students who clearly seemed to be from noble families arrived, they had worried, “Will this be alright? What if they make a fuss about hating boring work?” But the students finished the work surprisingly quickly and accurately.

Honestly, they wanted to call them again the next time there was work.

‘But that would probably be impolite.’

If you said, “Can we call you again if there’s work next time?” to the children of noble families, you might get, “Oh, sure—come to the manor, but you won’t get out in one piece.”

“Um…”

“?”

“If something like this comes up again, please contact me.”

Lee Han slipped a precious silver coin into the staff member’s hand and whispered.

The staff member was shocked by Lee Han’s networking skills, more sophisticated than even a career worker with over a decade’s experience.

‘What is this kid…!?’

Lee Han winked and turned away.

‘Looks like things are going well.’

Ultimately, jobs in this era were all about connections.

If you made a good impression at one workplace, you could get called again for future jobs, or get offers from affiliated places as well.

“Good job, everyone. Gainando, want to go buy some toys?”

Lee Han asked while watching Gainando, who was clutching his silver coin pouch and staring at it while everyone else stretched.

He worried that Gainando might go home and tattle: ‘Sob, Lee Han made me sweat wholesomely.’

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

Gainando burst out. Lee Han was slightly taken aback as that wasn’t his usual behavior.

“No, you wanted to buy toys, right? Or do you want cards?”

Gainando’s eyes darted as he hugged his silver coin pouch close to his chest.

He looked ready to swing his staff at anyone who touched his pouch.

“Do you know what I went through to earn this silver?! There’s no way I’m spending it like that! I’m going to hide it in the deepest vault in my room!”

“…O-okay.”

Lee Han was flustered by Gainando’s reaction but nodded.

It was a good thing anyway!

Ahsan tried to put a hand on Gainando’s shoulder to praise him, but Gainando growled and tried to bite.

Whack!

“Hey, you crazy bastard!! What are you doing?!”

“I told you not to come near! Anyone who comes near my silver coins, I’ll bite them all!”

“……”

Lee Han exchanged glances with Yoner.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have brought him along?”

“No, no… but at least he’s a bit better now…”

• * *

‘I think I did my best.’

Wardanaz Family estate.

Lee Han sorted out his notes on a piece of paper as he pondered.

He told his Black Turtle Tower friends, “Since I owe you, if any good jobs come up, let’s do them together,” and to everyone he met, “Let’s work together if anything comes up…”

With this, he’d probably get a shot at every possible job.

“Lee Han-nim. You’re back?”

Knight Allarlong knocked on the study door. Lee Han signaled for him to come in.

“If you’re alright, I wondered if I could request a sparring match, since it’s been a while.”

“Sure. Thank you, sir.”

“You’ve been going out a lot lately. Are you sure you don’t need any help? Please let me know if you ever need anything.”

“Hm.”

Lee Han paused for a moment.

Then he asked.

“Do you know of any short-term jobs where a student of the magic academy and mage could earn a lot of silver?”

“Excuse me?”

Allarlong was flustered.

Then he asked again.

“Forgive me, but… why do you need something like that? If it’s for magical needs, I can get you as much support as necessary…”

Lee Han nodded as if he’d expected that response.

“Let’s just go cross swords.”

“???”

Allarlong still looked confused as he followed Lee Han.

The estate’s training grounds.

Allarlong drew his sword.

Normally, Allarlong had a kindly old knight’s face, but the moment he drew his sword, he revealed an aura like a giant boulder.

Lee Han also drew his sword.

He had no chance of winning if he tried to beat Sir Allarlong, a knight with the title of Master granted only to the Empire’s top swordsmen.

‘Let’s make the most of what I’ve learned.’

Lee Han had learned two main sword techniques at Einrogard.

The first was the technique of infusing the sword with magical energy.

…To be precise, the real technique was an advanced method of perfectly circulating magic within the sword even in fierce chaos, uniting sword and body as one, but in Lee Han’s case, he just bluntly dumped mana in and wasted it…

Still, it was technically “infusing.”

The other was the art of Absorption.

By changing the attribute of the magical energy infused into the sword, your swordsmanship could become as unpredictable as magic.

“Then, here I come.”

And one hour later.

Thunk—

Lee Han lost his wooden sword and sprawled on the training ground floor. He still had plenty of magic left, but his body was out of energy.

Allarlong wiped the sweat and admired him.

“You were remarkable.”

“I… don’t think so.”

Lee Han spoke, enduring the bruises all over his body. But Allarlong was sincere.

“I never thought you could infuse such power in such a short time. Normal swordsmen need decades of training to reach that level. I suppose your magical talent must also translate into skill with mana manipulation. However, I’m curious about something…”

“What is it?”

“When you manipulate your magic, do you use any special technique? The power…”

Allarlong opened his tingling palm as he asked.

Without magical reinforcement, his hand would have been torn open; the sword strikes from the young master before him were that fierce.

It was good to find insight on your own, but if that insight harmed your body, as a swordmaster, he had to intervene.

“Ah, about that… well…”

Lee Han hesitated, trying not to sound utterly insane.

“……”

Having heard the explanation, Allarlong’s expression turned to disbelief.

“So… instead of circulating and maintaining magic within your sword… you just release it?”

“Well, I don’t always do it, only when I need to.”

“……”

Allarlong wondered if he should try to stop him.

If other swordsmen did that, they’d collapse from mana exhaustion after a single swing, spitting blood, but Lee Han had so much magic it was somehow alright…

“I’ve fought all sorts of experts and cunning swordsmen in the Empire, but I’ve never seen anyone do what you just described, Lee Han-nim.”

“Really?”

Lee Han was slightly discouraged.

He thought there’d be at least a few like that…

“It’s fine for now, but please be careful. It’s probably why the blade keeps… Oh, one more thing I want to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“Earlier, you definitely changed the attribute of your mana… Wasn’t that absorption sword technique? Where did you learn Absorbing Sword?”

“Oh. I once faced a swordsman from the Enghe Family.”

Allarlong was surprised.

“You mean a swordsman from the Enghe Family taught you their family style? How?”

“No. He didn’t teach me. After crossing swords, after a while I found I could change the attribute. So I’m trying to use it since then.”

“……”

Allarlong almost collapsed.