Episode 316

Episode 316

The young students from the knight families lowered their heads in embarrassment.

“Why… Ah. That’s not important right now. A subjugation, you say? What happened?”

Bang!

The lower part of the adventurer guild’s door, which had been kicked too many times today, broke.

The priests who rushed in apologized in shock.

“We’re sorry! We were in a rush to come in… Everything is ready, so you can depart right away. The subjugation…”

“Wait. Let’s all calm down and share information.”

Daihal spoke calmly.

It seemed like the situation needed to be sorted out.

• * *

“…So while Lord Wardanaz was restraining the King of Ghouls, the other students here destroyed the vessel the creature was possessing.”

It was hard to believe, but those who had gathered managed to go over what had happened.

Deorgyu spoke.

“Actually, before we destroyed it, Lee Han killed the King of Ghouls and came back…”

“You said you killed it and came back?”

As the quill danced madly on the paper, Lee Han gave Deorgyu’s foot a light stomp and spoke.

“It was a doppelgänger. A doppelgänger. We didn’t actually kill it; we just incapacitated it temporarily.”

Angrago asked, as if unable to understand.

“Isn’t that killing it?”

“……”

Lee Han was about to hit Angrago with his staff but paused.

How much must he have slept through lectures at Einrogard to say things like that?

A knight from the Granden City knights asked, looking a little embarrassed.

“Isn’t that killing it?”

“…No.”

A priest next to him whispered an explanation instead.

“It was a case where the main body was left in the relic and only the doppelgänger was sent out, so we usually don’t call that killing it.”

“Aha… But isn’t that pretty much the same thing?”

“You know how wizards are particular about terminology. Please be considerate.”

A headache arose in Lee Han stronger than anything he’d felt after fighting the King of Ghouls.

It was like they were talking with a wall between them.

Such basic common sense, and yet…

“So after Lord Wardanaz defeated the doppelgänger of the Ghoul King, the students here destroyed the relic…”

“Actually, Wardanaz did that too…”

Guild staff member Blance, listening from the side, asked absentmindedly.

“Then what exactly did you do?”

“……”

“…I’m sorry.”

“N-no! I wasn’t blaming you! I would never blame first-year students for something like this!”

Lee Han spoke, rubbing his forehead in exhaustion.

“If my friends hadn’t found the relic and destroyed all the obstacles, I wouldn’t have been able to break it.”

“Th-that’s right! We did do that!”

Only then did Angrago seem to regain some confidence. The knight whispered to Angrago so that only he could hear.

“Then why are you wearing a sign like that?”

“We… um… ran out on our own…”

“When?”

“During the fight with the King of Ghouls…?”

“When that Wardanaz family student was fighting?”

“Yes…”

The knight stared at Angrago with a look of disgust, as if he was seeing the filthiest abomination in the world.

While his friend was fighting, he ran off alone with the others?

“N-no! There’s a reason for that!”

“Don’t talk to me. You reek of filth.”

“I’m telling you, there really is a reason…!”

Daihal wrapped things up and said,

“You’ve all worked very hard. Instead of sending out a subjugation force, we’ll first send people to check the situation in the cave. For now, you should all rest…”

Daihal signaled to those gathered.

It meant not to torment the already exhausted first-year students any further—let them go, and the remaining people would handle the rest.

“Let’s do that.”

“That sounds right.”

Suddenly, Lee Han spoke up to the staff member, recalling something.

“Ah. I have something to tell you.”

“Is there something…?”

Lee Han carefully set his backpack down and took something out with delicate hands.

Blance and others grew tense, worried perhaps another shard of some evil being might appear.

“These are Geranium Flowers, Seollak Grass, and Sleepwort. I harvested them with the roots and leaves intact, so please check. And this is a Lapella Field Rat.”

“…Ah… Okay…”

Blance recorded it in her papers, confused inside.

‘What on earth…?’

• * *

After Lee Han and his friends left to rest, those who remained put together a team and planned to check the situation in the cave.

“Just in case, I’ll also send a request for support to Einrogard.”

“We sent a request for support during the last plague incident too—will that be all right? Einrogard might be a bit reluctant…”

“No. Most importantly, students from Einrogard are involved, and they solved it themselves too. There’s no way they’d dislike that. The mages of Einrogard aren’t like that.”

Daihal brazenly said things that would get him throttled if the professors of Einrogard heard them.

Meanwhile, Blance was compiling statements from adventurers and mercenaries.

Compared to Lee Han’s cold and detailed account, their statements were quite messy.

Especially those of the mercenaries who had charged in and gotten caught—they were even more so.

“So, Buldahak said he’d kill you all if you didn’t follow?”

“Yes. Ugh, sob.”

“All these people, threatened by one person?”

“Sniffle. Buldahak is just that…”

“If you keep causing problems, I’ll send for an inquisitor to interrogate you instead of doing it myself.”

“S-sorry.”

Blance looked at Gubon and Vizidek with eyes tinged with anticipation.

Why else had the guild recommended those two?

Because they were seasoned veterans.

Naturally, a calm and concise report…

“They tied up the mercenaries with bone handcuffs and took them inside. Ah, and summoned a bone hand, too.”

“When the wraith appeared, they fired lightning magic continuously, and when it dodged, immediately followed up with fire…”

“With a single swing of the staff, that whole vast cave went up in flames!”

“When the wraith tried to suppress the fire in its death throes, the staff was swung again…”

“Wait, wait.”

Blance realized something was off and stopped the adventurers.

“Isn’t that an awful lot of spellcasting? How many potions were used?”

“…I don’t think we used any…?”

“What… That’s even more wasteful. If you didn’t use potions…”

“Aren’t all mages like this? During camping, he lit the fire and conjured water for us…”

“When we entered the cave, he also made light…”

“He did what???”

Blance dropped her quill, doubting her ears.

Just what kind of odd jobs were these adventurers making a mage do??

• * *

“Ugh.”

Lee Han got up from bed, still feeling sore.

Even after resting the whole weekend, his body still felt stiff.

Having wrestled with the King of Ghouls like that, it was a relief things weren’t worse.

Lee Han thought of his friends from the White Tiger Tower.

‘Except for Deorgyu, I hope the rest of them suffer muscle aches even longer.’

He had used several enhancement spells, so they were probably lying in bed groaning.

“Wouldn’t it be better to rest more?”

Allarlong came running as soon as he heard that Lee Han was up.

He’d heard of Lee Han’s battle with an evil being in the cave—of course he was worried.

“I’m fine, Sir. I have no trouble moving around.”

“Still…”

“By the way, what’s going on with the cave?”

“They said the inspection is complete. No evil magic was found during the search, so it’s definitely been fully banished. The Einrogard mages also assisted, so it’s certain.”

“The Einrogard mages—also helped?”

“Yes, it’s related to magic isn’t it? And students were directly involved. Of course they had to assist.”

“……”

Lee Han tilted his head.

‘I don’t think the professors feel that way.’

“I’m really… glad.”

Allarlong said in a voice full of relief.

“I heard your opponent was no easy foe. It’s a blessing you overcame it without injury.”

“I was lucky. My friends’ help made a difference.”

Out of courtesy, Lee Han credited his friends from the White Tiger Tower.

“I heard the Adventurer Guild sent a gift as an apology and thanks.”

“…Now that I think about it, I feel like my role was bigger. Did the guild really recognize that?”

“Pardon? Of course they recognized it.”

Allarlong didn’t understand why Lee Han was worried. Lee Han felt regret.

‘Damn. I should have exaggerated my achievements a bit more.’

Now that he thought about it, the Adventurer Guild was run by people. If someone did much more than required, wouldn’t they reward them in some way?

Now he wished he’d talked down the White Tiger Tower boys a bit more.

“I guess I should go check.”

“Do you have plans for today?”

“Ah. I’m supposed to visit the Meikin Family’s Alchemy Workshop today.”

“You cherish your friendships while never neglecting your studies. It makes me happy.”

“…Uh… Yeah, that’s right. Me.”

Lee Han felt a little awkward.

He was only going because they’d pay a lot of silver coins…

• * *

‘How hefty.’

Lee Han smiled in satisfaction, checking the silver coins from his completed commission before going out.

The belief that adventurers should live recklessly, making and spending big, was a stereotype.

A new age of adventurers who earn big and spend efficiently was about to dawn.

‘Once those White Tiger Tower guys recover, I’ll take them out again.’

After stacking the silver coins neatly into his safe, Lee Han reached into another box.

A small, old-fashioned wooden box inspired a sense of anticipation just by looking at it. It was a gift from the Adventurer Guild.

‘Gold coins, a gold statue, a gold medallion—anyway, anything gold would delight me.’

Click!

Inside were a ring and a simple instruction manual.

To Lord Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family, who, for the sake of his own honor, has flawlessly completed every commission—from the worthwhile to the trivial—we present this -Lightning Discharge- ring with our heartfelt gratitude.

“Uh…”

Lee Han put on the ring.

And, following the instructions, he cast the spell.

“Ring, summon forth lightning.”

One of the three jewels on the ring lost its color.

It said it could be used up to three times a day; apparently one use was just spent.

A streak of lightning flew out the window.

It was a very useful artifact that allowed one to shoot lightning without any mana cost and with convenience, but…

“……”

‘Isn’t this a spell I already know?’

Lee Han was disappointed that the magic was no different from what he could already do.

In fact, since the magic was pre-engraved, it was less precise and more inconvenient.

‘Why give me something like this… No, wait.’

About to complain, Lee Han changed his mind.

Come to think of it, lightning-element magic was quite difficult among elemental spells, and here it was, engraved into a ring.

This ring must be pretty valuable.

‘I should sell it.’

If the other students had heard this, they’d say, ‘Why sell such a useful artifact?!’ but not Lee Han.

He already knew the spell, and he had more than enough mana, so there was no reason…

‘Ah. Right.’

Lee Han rummaged through the stuff he’d brought from school.

He suddenly remembered something.

‘Where was it… Ah, here it is.’

From the dusty pile of belongings, a helmet emerged.

The ego artifact he’d found in the Einrogard underground dungeon—the Helm of Wisdom.

…You finally called for me…

For some reason, the Helm of Wisdom seemed very angry.