Episode 306
by CristaeIf it were about imbuement magic, which was his senior’s specialty, maybe it would be different, but when it came to elemental control and manipulation, Lee Han honestly didn’t think he’d lose to a second-year senior.
The senior probably hadn’t been beaten while learning from a mad professor, after all.
“Senior. You seem to have misunderstood because I was nervous passing the test earlier, but it’s not that I’m weak at elemental manipulation. It’s that if I lose concentration, I could burn down the entire temple.”
“…Uh… Oh. I… I see?”
Valgaro thought he was starting to see why this first-year had no friends.
What kind of crazy bluster was that?
“That’s enough. If you’re not confident, I’ll just handle it myself. I’ve gotten plenty of advice from you, so I should pay you back in some way.”
“Hey! I said you shouldn’t! I’d rather—”
Before Valgaro could stop him, Lee Han stepped forward.
“Senior really doesn’t need to take on this opponent. I’ll do it myself.”
“Fine.”
Otiro was not about to back down easily, either.
The ignorant are always the brave.
Otiro didn’t know exactly what the real level of Einrogard students was.
Seeing that Lee Han was a lower-year student, even younger than Valgaro, he figured it was worth a try.
‘I’ve done fire element control many times before. There’s no way I’ll lose to a young student…’
It wasn’t something just anyone could do, to modify a 1st-circle spell and fake it as 4th-circle.
Otiro, who had continuously practiced his fire manipulation, felt he stood a chance in a contest of flame control, even against an Einrogard student.
Fwoooooooooosh!
…Until dozens of flames instantly floated up into the air.
“…I, I made a mistake. I am utterly guilty. Please forgive me!”
Otiro immediately prostrated himself.
The moment he saw it, his senses returned.
Lee Han, his face expressionless, was focusing on the flames before looking up.
Controlling dozens of flames wasn’t particularly hard, but if he lost focus and made them explode, that would be a huge problem.
So his words came out short.
“What did you do wrong?”
“Excuse me??”
“Say what you did wrong.”
Lee Han returned his mental focus to sustaining the flames.
Otiro, misunderstanding that grim expression for something else, hastily cried out:
“T-To deceive the other mages… I tried to deceive the other mages! I am sorry. After gaining some petty skill, greed overcame me…”
“That bastard!”
“Trying to deceive us!?”
Naturally, the mages nearby were furious.
It would have been strange if they weren’t angry, considering they were almost tricked out of more than just the bet.
‘That should wrap it up.’
Seeing that things didn’t seem likely to get out of hand anymore, Lee Han began to dispel the flames one by one, making sure not to let any accidentally explode and set everything ablaze.
“You… you…!”
As the other mages surrounded Otiro, cursing him with harsh faces, Valgaro stared at Lee Han in shock.
A mage who saw nothing from what Lee Han just did would lack all magical talent.
‘Oops.’
Lee Han clicked his tongue inwardly.
He summoned as many flames as possible to make his dominance clear, but that ended up exposing his true ability.
“…You, you’re a fire magic prodigy!”
“…Senior, you truly are the White Tiger Tower personified.”
“Huh? Why the sudden compliment?”
Valgaro grew shy, being suddenly praised by his junior.
“When you looked so tense while casting fire magic earlier, I thought there was something wrong… Turns out you’re just a bit timid, huh. That’s a shame.”
“Haha.”
“But so what! Even if you’re nervous, skill is what matters in magic. Even among the second-years, I haven’t seen anyone who could float dozens of flames at once like you.”
Valgaro wasn’t just giving compliments—he was genuinely pleased.
“I was waiting for a junior like you to come to the tower.”
“Excuse me?”
“A junior who can crush those smug Blue Dragon Tower bastards!”
“……”
Lee Han suddenly felt sorry.
“Do you know how cocky those guys get just because they’re good at magic? Bastards… we’ll see about that!”
While Valgaro rambled on excitedly, the mages who had punched Otiro came over and thanked Lee Han.
“Thank you so much.”
“Thanks to you, we weren’t deceived. Just the thought of falling for that scam… gives me chills…”
“Wait! Aren’t you Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family?!”
“!?”
Lee Han was startled.
A mage he’d never met had just nailed his identity.
“Isn’t that right? Right? I heard from Master Jolvabden! You’re the Einrogard first-year who took down a basilisk in a single blow!”
“……”
Lee Han regretted not having subdued Jolvabden.
When another mage heard this, he clapped his knee and said:
“Ah! I heard that too! Didn’t you defeat Knight Doin of the Dalkard Family in a magical duel at the Beller Family’s mansion?”
“He even overwhelmed Knight Doin of Baldrogard!”
“It wasn’t overwhelming, his mana just ran out…”
“You exhausted your opponent’s mana?”
“……”
Lee Han didn’t realize rumors could spread this quickly in Granden City’s social circles.
“Uh… Gainando? What are they talking about? You’re Gainando of the Moradi Family…”
“Ah. I just remembered an urgent appointment. Senior, I’ll see you next time!”
Lee Han quickly grabbed his permit and exited the temple.
The mages who remained surrounded Valgaro, bombarding him with questions.
“If you’re an Einrogard student, by any chance…”
“Are you close with him? Could you possibly arrange a meeting with him…”
“Hey, move! Move! Junior! Wait, junior!!”
- * *
“Oh? Lee Han.”
Deorgyu greeted Lee Han warmly with a wave.
He’d run into Lee Han by chance on Granden City’s main street.
But Lee Han, walking from afar, looked unusually exhausted.
“What’s wrong? You look tired.”
“…Something happened. Deorgyu, what have you been up to?”
“With the semester over, I thought I’d take a good rest, but I’ve been preparing to work with friends. Actually, you probably don’t know this. The White Tiger Tower students…”
“You’re talking about taking commissions as adventurers to keep up their skills in real situations. And earning their own living expenses as a bonus.”
“How did you know!?”
Deorgyu was startled.
Usually, nobles and knights and their circles didn’t closely know about each other’s daily lives.
Lee Han gave a gentle smile and said,
“We’re friends. Of course I care about how you’ve been doing.”
“Lee Han…!”
Deorgyu was moved close to tears.
There were some White Tiger Tower students who said, “Don’t meet Wardanaz during vacation, that guy is dangerous.”
He wanted to show those narrow-minded guys Lee Han’s consideration now.
‘What could they say about such a thoughtful friend?’
“So you’re going to register as an adventurer?”
“Yeah. Something like that.”
Deorgyu nodded.
Adventurers who received and solved commissions.
At first glance, it sounded unnecessary to have qualifications or registration—you could just find someone needing a commission and make a deal, right?
But that was only true in the Empire’s far-off lawless zones; in major cities, such randomness didn’t fly.
So the Imperial Adventurer’s Guild stepped in to manage and mediate, preventing unnecessary conflict or disputes.
Adventurers had their identities verified and registered at the guild, and clients deposited silver and gold with the guild, which then guaranteed the commission’s security. It was a pretty organized system.
“I borrowed from someone I know to get my equipment, and my other friends are being introduced to places selling gear for cheap so they’re getting fitted as well…”
Before he finished, a group of White Tiger Tower students clad in armor appeared from the other side.
There were scratches and some rust, but nothing seemed wrong with the performance. They’d clearly been connected through an order or knightly family network.
“W-Wardanaz!”
“Yeah.”
“…Wait! Don’t get the wrong idea!”
“What do you mean, ‘don’t get the wrong idea’?”
Lee Han was puzzled that the White Tiger Tower students were so flustered and trembling.
He hadn’t even done anything yet.
“W-We’ll pay back our debt by working!”
“Y-yeah! We even borrowed this gear partly on credit! Don’t get the wrong idea! We didn’t use the silver we owe you first!”
‘Ah.’
Lee Han finally understood.
Unlike the basically wealthy Blue Dragon Tower students or the few Black Turtle Tower students from rich merchant backgrounds, White Tiger Tower students didn’t have much money.
There were only a handful of truly wealthy knightly families, and if you weren’t one of them, you had to earn your own living expenses, unless family connections took care of room and board—everything else was up to you.
“That’s fine.”
“We already made a contract, so really, even if you beat us to death right now, we’ve got no way to… Huh? That’s fine?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
The White Tiger Tower students froze at Lee Han’s words.
“R-Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Can we really pay you back by earning it? Or if we’re late, are you going to go to the order and leave a message shaming our family name…”
“That’d be creative. But I wouldn’t do that.”
“Then maybe you’ll send a letter to our families—”
Tired, Lee Han lifted his staff. The White Tiger Tower students flinched.
“I said it’s fine.”
“G-Got it. Thanks.”
One of the White Tiger Tower students said quietly, watching for Lee Han’s reaction.
“Then we… we’ll head inside to register at the adventurer’s guild.”
“I’ll come too.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s go in together. I’m here to register, too.”
“……”
“…Why??”
“To save up silver coins.”
Lee Han answered, but none of the White Tiger Tower students believed him.
‘Is he keeping up his battle instincts?’
‘Must be. Why is a mage more combative than a knight?’
‘He really is crazy about magic!’
“Come on, let’s not stand around. Let’s go in.”
Deorgyu encouraged his friends.
The White Tiger Tower students didn’t want Lee Han at their back, but had no choice but to open the guild doors and enter.
The Adventurer’s Guild wasn’t especially remarkable inside. In fact, it was quieter and more businesslike than other buildings.
Were it not for the variety of costumes on people sitting quietly, you might not have guessed it was the Adventurer’s Guild.
Bang!
“Einrogard first-year, Angrago of the Alpha Family, verified. Please do your best.”
Bang!
“Einrogard first-year, Dukema of the Jay Family, verified. Please do your best.”
The process of registering as an adventurer went much faster than expected.
With the assured status of being Einrogard students, and since everyone had a family, it was no surprise.
The clerk didn’t even look up, just stamped the papers and handed over a permit and medal.
“Einrogard first-year, Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family.”
“Yes.”
“……”
The clerk paused, looked up, and stared at Lee Han. He looked very perplexed.
“Are you planning to do activities together with your friends?”
“Excuse me? I suppose we will if there are commissions we can do together.”
“The commissions are unlikely to be too dangerous, but please remember that you could be injured.”
“Understood.”
Lee Han understood the clerk’s concern.
Sometimes, idle and bored nobles came to try adventuring for fun.
If it ended there, fine, but usually those nobles would later complain, “How could you drag me into such a filthy job?!” if they got hurt.
“But really…”
“Don’t worry about Wardanaz—no, I mean, you don’t need to worry about Wardanaz.”
“Yeah. He’s really insane… I mean, he’s more than capable of looking after himself.”
“We vouch for him ourselves.”
“????”
When the knightly family students spoke up in unison, the clerk looked even more confused.
Just who in the world was this student?