Episode 343

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

Lee Han pulled himself together.

The princess and her group’s extravagant sense of money was dizzying, but right now it was certainly helpful.

‘Yeah, begging the professors for help wouldn’t do much good anyway.’

Even if he asked Verd—no, the professors for help, there was a high chance they’d refuse outright.

It was much easier to benefit from the goodwill of the sponsors.

“Then, let’s go and collect the staffs.”

But there was a troubled look on Lee Han’s face.

Seeing this, Rowena whispered worriedly.

“I’m concerned the previous battle might still be affecting him.”

“True. With Wardanaz’s personality, he probably wouldn’t say even if he was having a hard time.”

“We should make sure he sees a healer along the way.”

• * *

Arriving at the staff shop, Lee Han asked because he couldn’t understand.

“Why did we just visit a healing mage?”

“Uh, well, I just felt a bit unwell, so…”

“Are you sick? Wouldn’t it be better to rest then?”

Lee Han thought Rowena might be overworked.

So he leaned in and spoke quietly so only Cltran could hear.

“Does Her Highness work you too hard?”

“?!”

The princess’s eyes widened with innocent injustice.

“Th-that’s not it.”

“You’re stammering—it’s suspicious.”

“I said it’s not!”

The healer they’d just met had examined Lee Han and confirmed that he couldn’t be any healthier.

Even when Rowena and Cltran said ‘He just fought a poisonous abomination!’ and ‘Yes, please look him over more thoroughly!’, it was no use.

There really was nothing wrong—what more could they do?

Instead, the healer had said something to the other three.

-It seems you’ve overexerted your magic recently. Because you went almost to the point of mana depletion, there’s still some lingering damage.

-It seems you practiced alchemy all night, but be careful; even for a mage, if you handle reagents without proper ventilation, you can get poisoned.

Cltran quickly opened the door, thinking that talking any further would just lead to weird misunderstandings.

The sign reading -Puyo’s Banyan Tree Staffs- spun around as the door opened.

“Master Puyo is the finest staff craftsman in Granden City.”

Located in the city center and with an exterior that had an old-fashioned charm, the shop was clearly well-established.

That alone said Puyo was a craftsman of great experience and skill.

“Do you think he knows Professor Verdus?”

“I wonder…? I’m not sure about that.”

Rowena also tilted her head.

The princess’s group was able to visit Puyo’s shop because their sponsors were on good terms with Puyo, not because they were close with him themselves.

In fact, Puyo wasn’t someone who easily became close with freshmen.

A veteran artifact craftsman was also an experienced enchanter.

It wasn’t easy to befriend a mage who was likely decades older than you.

“Is this your first time meeting him?”

“I did greet him outside once before, but this is the first time visiting like this…”

“Are you all here?”

A tree walked out from inside.

To be precise, Puyo was a wood spirit half-blood. His face and hands, his arms, looked just like branches, and it was easy to mistake him for a tree.

“It’s an honor to see you again, Master Puyo.”

“Cut the needless pleasantries.”

Puyo didn’t care for bothersome formalities.

If not for the earnest requests of the sponsors, he wouldn’t have let young students into his workshop at all.

“You said you needed staffs with no magic on them, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Overwhelmed by Puyo’s presence, Rowena stammered a little.

Of course, Lee Han wasn’t bothered.

There were professors much crazier than Puyo.

Honestly, someone like Puyo, who was gruff but got straight to the point, was in the top 5% of personalities.

Crash—

With a wave of Puyo’s hand, several boxes piled on the shelf burst open and long staffs spilled out.

They were pure wooden staffs, not yet enchanted in any way.

“Do your work here. Don’t come inside. Don’t touch things in my shop at random. Since you’re Einrogard students, you must have at least learned the basics of enchantment.”

The students nodded.

“Then I trust you won’t cause any needless accidents.”

With that, Puyo went to the workshop in the back.

Only then did Rowena and Cltran breathe sighs of relief.

“That was tense.”

“Yeah. I thought I was going to suffocate. …Wardanaz, what are you doing?”

“Hm? Oh. I’m looking to see if there are any good staffs.”

Lee Han was checking the surroundings, regardless of what the others were saying about Puyo.

If there was a good one, he planned to take it.

“Didn’t you feel anything about Master Puyo?”

“Not really. Didn’t he just say what was necessary?”

Do your work here, don’t cause accidents, don’t touch anything else.

He really just told them what they needed—no reason to be scared.

“Well, let’s sort the staffs first. Long ones over here. Short ones over there.”

“Got it. Uh, Wardanaz? Why are we sorting them?”

With Cltran’s question, Lee Han gave him a look like he would at Gainando.

He smiled and answered.

“The longer the staff, the stronger the effect.”

“Ah… r-right!”

The staff was the artifact that most directly assisted a mage’s casting.

For that reason, staffs’ performance fluctuated greatly even with small changes in materials.

Generally, the longer the staff, the greater its power, and the denser it was, the stiffer the magic became.

Anyone who handled staffs should have at least memorized these trends as rules of thumb.

Of course, Cltran didn’t really know, but he answered as if he did.

“I think that was right!”

“Cltran. If you don’t know, just say so.”

“…Sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Did you sleep through enchantment class? It’s in the book.”

“……”

Cltran felt a surge of grievance.

‘You told me to say it…!’

If they were Blue Dragon Tower students, they wouldn’t have fallen for such an obvious trick, but Cltran—with less experience—got caught.

• * *

Puyo, who was trying to focus on his work, put his tools down.

With other people in the workshop, it was hard to concentrate.

He couldn’t turn them down because his sponsors had begged so earnestly, but he was starting to regret it.

It wasn’t just that he didn’t like others in his workshop.

Even if they were Einrogard students, these were still freshmen.

Even if they had learned enchantment, it couldn’t have been for long; their experience would be lacking.

Letting such students use high-quality staffs felt wasteful.

Knowing their potential could be ruined by clumsy spellwork, turning them into failed works, pained him.

‘I really can’t stand it.’

Puyo moved to the door and peeked at how the students were working.

No matter how much the princess and her sponsors insisted, if they did anything too absurd, he wouldn’t let it go.

He was ready to take any excuse to stop the work and send them out…

“All right, Cltran. Since you told me you got it, answer this: A mage who specializes in fire elemental and summoning magic comes looking for a staff. She’s a dwarf. Her previous staff was made of maple and embedded with a Firebird Stone. What would you recommend?”

“Uh… uh…”

“Start with the length.”

“W-well, since it’s fire element, I guess long for more power…”

“Wrong. For fire element, power isn’t always the most important. Control might be more crucial. And she’s a dwarf, so a long staff could just be cumbersome. Didn’t you study enchantment?”

“Hng…”

Cltran was utterly crushed. Rowena, too, shrank back and stuck to the princess, afraid she’d get grilled if she didn’t.

‘????’

Puyo was surprised by the unexpected turn.

He’d thought the students would fiddle with the staffs carelessly and waste materials, but they were preparing systematically.

It was astonishing.

“But isn’t it fine to just try them one by one to get a feel for them—”

Thwack!

Lee Han smacked Cltran with a staff.

“Are you made of staffs or something?”

‘We have plenty left…’

Cltran grumbled inwardly, but Lee Han’s staff was too scary for him to keep arguing.

“You have to do a perfect calculation before you start. Okay, Cltran. Answer this: Between water, wind, and light elements, which should be enchanted first? And which staff matches best?”

“…C-Can I ask Rowena instead?”

“!!”

Rowena’s long ears shot up in shock.

She looked at Cltran with eyes full of betrayal, but Cltran wasn’t in a state to care.

‘Save myself first!’

“Uh, um, Your Highness?”

“……”

Adenart stared at Rowena. Rowena, embarrassed, looked down.

Instead of saying anything to her followers, Adenart just picked up a staff.

“Zelkova staff. Good choice. Cltran, water element has to come first because it’s more stable than other elements…”

“Ugh…! I should’ve just said something! I could’ve gotten it right! Seriously!”

“Just listen.”

As he watched the students’ conversation, Puyo wondered if he needed to revise his earlier thoughts.

He’d heard a lot about the princess’s talent from her followers, but seeing it now, she stood out even among Einrogard’s brilliant students.

And that boy was remarkable, too.

Not only was his knowledge of enchantment impressive.

As a master craftsman, Puyo could tell a person’s skill by how they prepared before starting.

In that sense, the boy seemed experienced at this kind of work.

Even with Einrogard’s training, picking things up that fast didn’t make sense. He should have studied under the same conditions as everyone else.

He was clearly talented.

‘Incredible. Such talent is possible…’

Little did Puyo know how much Lee Han had been worked to death by his other professors; he could only admire such gifts as pure talent.

“All right. Here’s the magic circle for water element today.”

While Puyo was marveling, Lee Han looked through his books and picked a magic circle.

Cltran asked timidly,

“Wardanaz, is there any reason you chose this particular water magic circle?”

“I’ve used it a lot, and I’m familiar with it.”

“Ah, I see. …Wait? I don’t remember it ever being assigned for homework?”

“I worked on it separately with Professor Verdus.”

Cltran was amazed.

To work on projects individually with a professor—

That was Wardanaz for you.

“That’s amazing, Wardanaz. I’m so jeal—”

“Cltran. Before you say that, think carefully about what you’re saying.”

“……”

Cltran reconsidered.

And when he thought about it, it wasn’t enviable at all.

Anyone studying enchantment had caught at least a whiff of Professor Verdus’s madness.

Rowena asked curiously,

“By the way, when did you have time for that during the semester?”

“Did it over break…”

“Ah…”

A heavy silence descended.

Even the princess, more used to silence than most, was at a loss for how to break this, shifting her glance about awkwardly.

“Were you a student of Professor Verdus?”

The one who broke the silence was Puyo.

Puyo came out from inside, and Lee Han hesitated.

‘…I won’t get attacked just for saying I was his student, right?’

Thinking about it, if someone knew Professor Verdus, there was a good chance they didn’t get along with him.