Episode 410

Episode 410

Even if I say you were being excessive, I have no idea what Professor Mortum did.

“Ah. That…”

Lee Han hesitated.

Even when Lee Han said, ‘Haha, I thought it was a bit weird that the undead weren’t being controlled properly, but after reducing the number, the control went well. It seems controlling more than ten at once was too much for me’, Professor Mortum looked at him as if he were insane…

“I got greedy with controlling undead and increased their number, ended up struggling, and I think you forgot about it because you focused on that.”

You focused on that? Right. What advice did Mortum give?

“He told me to reduce the number of undead I control at once…”

The skeleton headmaster was impressed by such an obvious statement.

Truly useful advice. Why don’t you present it at the Black Magic Society or something?

“If you help me, Headmaster, I’ll give it a try.”

If controlling over ten undead is hard, lower it to one.

The skeleton headmaster grumbled, thinking that if he presented that, the society would be turned upside down.

If you reduced the number, of course controlling them would get easier… Ah. So that’s why you were practicing the bone explosion spell.

If you cast a spell like bone explosion on a skeleton summoned from the undead realm, you might get stabbed in the back, but a summon brought by ancient necromancy was a different story.

You could be creative by combining it with all sorts of bone magic.

Alright. Mortum must be busy lately too. I’ll teach you.

“Is there something you need?”

It’s nothing much, just avoiding Professor Garcia… I’ll probably have to keep avoiding until she cools down, so it can’t be helped. Take out the bones.

Lee Han took out the bones.

There were two kinds of bones he got from the palace in the undead dimension.

One was a bone engraved with bizarre patterns of purple and black. It was a bone that Senior Ogoldos found in a corner and gave to him.

And the other was a white bone. It was the bone given by the King of Ghouls.

This one is easy to tell. It looks like it’s at least a count.

“…Ah, how did you know that?”

Lee Han was shocked as the skeleton headmaster immediately recognized the bone with purple and black mixed.

Does he have a hobby of collecting imperial counts’ bones?

Surely he doesn’t actually think this is an imperial count, does he? I meant a demon.

“Of course, that’s what I thought too. Why would an imperial count show up here?”

Lee Han let out a sigh of relief inside.

The demons from other unstable realms had their own strict hierarchies and fought fiercely to climb that hierarchy.

A bone from a demon who ranked as a count would be very valuable.

Good lad. To think you’d keep such bones as loot.

“If you want it…”

Hmph. Are you trying to make me out to be a shameless guy?

The skeleton headmaster scoffed and handed the bone back to Lee Han.

A great mage may drive his disciple insane, but he never steals his disciple’s magic.

“…I was going to suggest trading it for gold coins, actually.”

‘Why is that guy so obsessed with gold?’

The skeleton headmaster didn’t understand.

A mage of Lee Han’s level surely wasn’t gathering gold to live well, and as a first-year, he hardly needed funds to run a guild or school…

Was he preparing for a grand arcane experiment or something?

Don’t ever sell this. That’s an order.

“Excuse me? I mean… understood.”

I’ll check every month so don’t try anything funny. Don’t say you lost it, don’t say someone stole it either.

“……”

Lee Han was surprised.

How did he know?

This is a reagent you need right now.

Why do black magicians obsess over bones?

Because high-quality bones are the easiest way to boost a spell’s power.

There’s a vast difference between summoning a skeleton using a random bone found on the roadside and using such a high-class demon count’s bone.

Especially for a black magician like Lee Han learning ancient necromancy, you must get used to using and handling strong bones.

You need to acclimate in advance so you can handle even stronger bones later with ease.

Bones that are too powerful won’t be easy to handle, so this is just about right for you now.

“Is that so. …A demon count, you say?”

Lee Han nodded, then felt uneasy.

Is it really appropriate for a first-year black magic student to be using a demon count’s bone for his summon?

Is something wrong?

“Well… understood. Then what’s this bone? About a demon hundred-man commander?”

Hmm.

The skeleton headmaster examined the plain white bone.

Lee Han didn’t expect much from it.

It had no pattern, the color was just white, it was smaller than the last one…

He suspected the King of Ghouls was up to something.

“A demon ten-man commander? Demon war hound?”

Be quiet. This one… I don’t know.

“Is it that insignificant? Where’s the King of Ghouls right now?”

No. It’s not an insignificant bone.

The skeleton headmaster’s voice grew serious.

For the skeleton headmaster, who prided himself as the greatest bone expert in the empire, to not recognize it…

It was by no means an insignificant bone.

It was definitely the bone of a powerful being, but… I can’t recognize it. Did it seal or erase its power…

The pondering skeleton headmaster spoke to Lee Han.

Let me take it to investigate.

“Wouldn’t it be faster to ask the King of Ghouls yourself?”

Well. Judging by his level, I doubt he knows what this is… but I’ll ask him. Once the torture, no, interrogation is over.

Lee Han pretended not to hear that.

“Take it, please.”

Alright. Take this count’s bone and use it for practice… Oh, right. How was the Demon Horde Bracelet? Did any of them respond?

A bracelet with all sorts of demons that had been trapped in the palace, sleeping inside.

They wouldn’t react to a typical stimulus, but the skeleton headmaster thought Lee Han would awaken at least one in the near future.

Given how eventful the boy’s life was…

“There wasn’t any, though?”

Oh. Really? Got it.

The skeleton headmaster saw Lee Han off and then wrote a letter.

To Voladi Baegrek

Lee Han Wardanaz is discouraged after losing to a golem using teleportation magic. Go help him.

Osu Gonadaltes

Seeing the letter flying to Professor Baegrek, the skeleton headmaster smiled brightly.

How lucky must a disciple be to have such a master!

• * *

“Do you know a student named Wardanaz?”

“…We don’t know anyone by that name!”

“Do you know a student named Wardanaz…”

“Who’s that!”

The Blue Dragon Tower students feigned ignorance at the visiting magicians’ questions.

Then they immediately sent a paper bird to Lee Han. Even if they couldn’t make the bird chirp, they could inscribe a few words on it.

Danger. Outsiders. Asking questions.

While sitting with the students listening to Summoning Magic, Lee Han scowled.

“I have no idea why these black magicians from outside are looking for me…”

“……”

One White Tiger Tower student hiccuped, but Lee Han didn’t notice.

“I’m asking you, please—if anyone asks if there’s a Wardanaz, just say you don’t know.”

“That’s not hard. Wardanaz.”

“Don’t worry. Lee Han.”

“Tr-Trust us. Wardanaz.”

“?

Lee Han was puzzled by the White Tiger Tower students’ overly straightforward replies.

“Why are you guys acting like this?”

“W-What’s wrong with us?”

“You’d usually go ‘Why should I help you?’ and complain.”

“W-What do you take us for? When did we ever do that?”

The Black Turtle Tower students nearby interjected.

“You used to do that.”

“Yeah. You totally did.”

“…But when outsiders come, us Einrogard students have to stick together.”

The White Tiger Tower students were becoming skillful at making excuses.

It seemed to work, as the other tower students didn’t question further.

“Does anyone know why my paper bird keeps spiraling to the right?”

“Paper bird, please, just fly straight for once. Paper bird. Paper bird. …You damn bird!”

But a more urgent task was at hand.

Soon, the festival for summoning magicians (including some black magicians) would be held, and to get Professor Millei’s points, students had to showcase something with their paper birds.

All students learning summoning magic could summon a paper bird by now…

But modifying it was no easy task.

Many students chose ‘command recognition’.

Normally, a summoned paper bird follows only predefined commands, but with this feature, they could add further instructions.

A smaller but skilled group of students chose ‘voice addition’.

Embedding voice data into the paper bird made it possible to have conversations from a distance.

…And Lee Han alone was studying farsight magic.

The trick Professor Millei had shown with the paper bird last time.

Controlling a paper bird and sharing its vision with the mage seemed simple, but the principle behind it was incredibly complex.

Summon the paper bird, grant sight to the eyeless bird, link that vision to the mage’s consciousness, and by this point, direct control is actually easier, so you have to control it too…

“Wardanaz, isn’t this too hard?”

“You sided with the professor when I wanted to try adding voice last time, didn’t you?”

“……”

A friend who spoke carelessly had to shrink into silence under Lee Han’s intimidating aura.

The sin for agreeing when Professor Millei said it’d be better to do something harder had yet to be forgiven.

‘I only agreed because the professor told me to…!’

“I-I didn’t do anything?”

When Nillia whispered from the side, Lee Han nodded approvingly.

“But, Nillia.”

“Yeah?”

“You should redraw that stroke on your magic circle. It’s crooked, so after channeling mana three times the line will break.”

“……”

Nillia only muttered inside, ‘You really should be doing something this hard’, and fixed it.

Meanwhile, a few black magicians from outside approached Professor Millei, fidgeting.

Professor Millei, in conversation, pointed to Lee Han. The black magicians bowed several times in gratitude.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“Damn. I thought black magicians weren’t supposed to ask for that.”

“??”

Nillia was bewildered by what she heard beside her.

Even if black magicians weren’t social, surely they could ask questions.

…Or could they not?

“Are you student Wardanaz!?”

“Yes… well…”

“We wanted to ask you about a golem!”

“Ah… is that so?”

Lee Han started to have a hunch about why the black magicians were seeking him out.

If they were asking about the golem…

“Wait. If you’re looking for me because of the golem… did those guys with wooden swords on their belts mention me?”

“Pardon? Uh… I think they might have.”

“……”

“……”

“Hey. Let’s go get ready somewhere else.”

“Get up. Wardanaz is about to beat up those White Tiger Tower guys.”

“Master. Let’s get up quickly.”

“W-Wait. Where are you going!”

The White Tiger Tower students hurriedly tried to cling to their tower friends, but the friends coldly shook them off.

Luckily, Lee Han didn’t retaliate. There were still black magicians present.

“I just repaired that golem—I didn’t make it.”

“Yes? We know that.”

“…??”

Lee Han was slightly confused by the black magicians’ responses.

Huh?

“If you didn’t make it and only repaired it, it isn’t that big of a deal, right?”

‘That IS a big deal, you nutcase…’

A student nearby thought to himself.

Even just repairing a golem was a big deal.

Apparently the black magicians agreed, as they responded immediately.

“Of course, that alone is amazing… but what we’re really curious about is how you controlled the golem.”

“Controlled the golem?”

“Yes!”

“I just did enough for chores…”

“Exactly. But most magicians can’t even do chores using a golem.”

“……”

Ah!