Episode 440

Lee Han forced his facial muscles to maintain a steady expression that was about to droop.

“Thank you…”

“When this hard day is over and you’re sitting on a wooden chair in your lodging, have a quiet drink with this bottle. Then you’ll think of us.”

The knights spoke in gentle voices.

The White Tiger Tower students listening in from behind already wore intoxicated expressions just from the words.

Was this not the knights’ aesthetic?

Lovers of both sword and drink…

‘Can I sell this? I’d get caught if I sold it, right? Should I barter it instead?’

Of course, for magician Lee Han it didn’t have much effect.

• * *

Hmph. From here, it looks like we’ll have to take a boat.

“……”

“……”

-……

Lee Han, the White Tiger Tower students, and even Fongrif stared at the skeleton headmaster in disbelief.

They hadn’t even reached the Einrogard walls yet, but the floodwaters had already risen to their waists.

I’ve prepared a bone ferry for you.

“Thank you, truly.”

Yes. Of course you should be thankful.

“Isn’t this really a bit too much, headmast… mmph.”

“Shh. Quiet, Angrago.”

Unable to hold it in, Angrago tried to protest, but Lee Han muffled her and got onto the boat.

There was no good to be gained by reacting to the skeleton headmaster’s provocation.

Splashhhhhhh—

“Row! Angrago! You’re the helmsman! Steer toward the gate!”

Coming from the seaside and having the most sailing experience, Angrago took the helm.

Angrago trembled at the heavy responsibility suddenly thrust upon her.

Whooooooo!

‘How can there be surf and storm on dry land!?’

For some reason, the spirits whipped up rough waves on the floodwaters that covered the ground.

The ferry shook like a leaf in the wind—perilously unstable.

“Wa… Wardanaz. I’ve, I’ve never steered a ship in weather like this…!”

“Angrago, no weak talk. You have to do this!”

I’ll be off, then.

The skeleton headmaster took off arrogantly, taking the Death Knights with him, racing atop the water through the school gate.

Ignoring him, Lee Han cheered Angrago on.

“Angrago. Trust yourself!”

“But with waves this rough…”

Slap!

“I said trust yourself, you rascal! Are you going to trust yourself or not?”

“I’ll, I’ll trust myself!”

“……”

Bartrek, rowing beside them, was about to feel moved but then stopped, keeping his eyes on Lee Han and rowing harder.

“The fog is making visibility…!”

“I’ll light a spell, just focus!”

“A wave! A wave’s coming! The water—!”

“I’ll bail the water out, just focus!”

“No! Now rain too…”

“I’ll put an ice shield over us! Keep going!”

“There’s a hole in the boat!”

“Fixed it! Steer again!”

“……”

Giselle and Bartrek quietly shut their mouths and rowed.

For some reason, each bit of conversation made them row even harder.

“Aren’t you two rowing a little too hard without resting? You can take turns and rest, right?”

“N-no, Wardanaz. We can row more!”

Catching his breath, Lee Han wondered at his friends’ relentless rowing.

It was good they were rowing hard, but would they be alright?

“The school gates!”

-Why are first-years out in weather like this??

The Death Knight guarding the gate, flustered, let Lee Han’s group through.

The usual landmarks—gardens, forests, paths—couldn’t be seen, so Lee Han headed toward the main building.

“Left! Angrago! Hard to port!”

The ferry cut through the fierce current and moved forward.

Up ahead, a tower was rising straight out of the floodwaters—it was being protected by magic, and had not been shaken or swept away by the flood.

As the entrance came into view, hope returned to the exhausted White Tiger Tower students’ faces.

“Faster! Faster!”

“The evil lich captain shouted at the crew with magic…”

“Is this really the time to sing that sea shanty? Seriously??!”

“S-sorry.”

Angrago, about to sing the rowing song from her hometown, sheepishly stopped at her friends’ comment.

“Open up!!”

Lee Han shouted. Friends inside hurriedly opened the door.

“In! Quick! The boat won’t last much longer!”

The boat the skeleton headmaster had conjured had been creaking for a while. If Lee Han hadn’t reinforced it, it would have collapsed soon.

The White Tiger Tower students rushed in hastily behind Lee Han.

“We’re alive…!”

Feeling solid ground underfoot, the White Tiger Tower students were choked with emotion, as if finishing a long sea voyage.

At least, until they noticed the Blue Dragon Tower students looking at them.

“……”

“……”

“W-Wardanaz… W-we risked our lives fighting together, and now you abandon us like this…?”

“…What nonsense is that? We just came to the nearest tower.”

Annoyed, Lee Han glared at the White Tiger Tower friends.

After saving them, this nonsense…

• * *

While the White Tiger Tower students sat awkwardly by the fireplace, Lee Han started checking the situation.

“We prepared as best we could, but it meant nothing…”

“Mother nature is great…!”

“All the stuff we left outside is gone…”

“Even the lounge is flooded, we were lucky to get some of it out…”

“Can you please speak one at a time?”

The friends grumbled like “Things we wish Einrogard would fix,” leaving Lee Han flustered.

Lee Han wasn’t the headmaster, after all.

“The lounge got flooded? But it should be protected by magic, right?”

“Water comes in when the wind’s really strong.”

“……”

Lee Han couldn’t help but feel some malice from the skeleton headmaster.

Of course, it could just be that, after so many years, the magic had worn out in places…

‘Surely he’s not purposely letting in discomforting, non-lethal outside elements.’

“We were splitting into teams, bailing water out of the tower.”

“That’s tough.”

Just then, the Blue Dragon Tower students who’d been out working returned.

Gainando at the front looked like a drowned rat.

“This is a cursed school.”

“You tripped over your own feet…”

“I’m telling you, this school is cursed.”

“To be honest, the princess did all the work…”

Still, they dusted off Gainando with towels.

Squealing like a rat being shaken, Gainando spotted Lee Han.

“Lee Han!!”

“Yeah. Good job.”

“This school’s completely cursed! I—”

Pushing aside the towel, Gainando delivered a passionate monologue about how hard he’d worked, why he hadn’t quit despite the hardship, and why he deserved snacks as a reward.

Even if there were a speech on succession to the throne, he wouldn’t be so passionate.

“R-right. Good job.”

“???”

Adenart, who’d just finished banishing the last of the water with her staff, looked at Gainando in confusion.

He’d just flopped around and swam like a dog during the work?

“I helped too…”

“Let’s first get the supplies organized. Who has the list of supplies we lost?”

“Here it is.”

“Thanks, Yoner.”

“……”

As the topic instantly changed, the princess glared at Gainando with a mixture of resentment and disbelief.

Realizing belatedly, Gainando asked his friends.

“Why’s Adenart glaring at me?”

“How badly did you have to mess up for our kind princess to look at you like that. Geez.”

The friends scolded Gainando. He felt extremely wronged.

“N-no, I really tried hard… And if she’s going to glare for working badly, isn’t that unfit for the next ruler? There are going to be citizens who aren’t good at working, too.”

‘You’re royalty too, you madman…’

The Blue Dragon Tower students were speechless at their friend’s casual abdication talk.

“It’s fine, Gainando. The princess is kind. If you do well next time, she’ll forgive you.”

“What if I mess up again?”

“It’s fine. If you mess up again, we’ll throw you out the window.”

“I-I’ll just not do it. I won’t.”

Gainando resolved that next time he’d work hard right in front of Adenart.

Surely the princess, with her trusting nature, would forgive him!

“Food goes here. Drinks over there. Fabric in the back. Don’t leave reagents on the ground. If they get wet it’ll be a pain. Oh, right.”

Lee Han walked deeper into the lounge. He took down a bundle he’d stored on the highest shelf.

Seeing the oilpaper- and waterproof-magic-wrapped bundle, Gainando’s eyes sparkled.

Is it food?

“Thank goodness. The books are fine.”

“……”

Gainando’s face turned as gloomy as a rainy season.

“It was just books…?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait… Did you have to … store books like that…?”

Gainando recalled all the effort, both mental and physical, that had gone into protecting that bundle and felt hollow.

He’d even gotten up at night to check, just in case…

“When the rainy season comes, books get ruined first. If we lose a book, we have to copy it all again. You want to do that?”

“Well…”

“I mean… no…”

Usually, the Blue Dragon Tower students didn’t agree with Gainando, but this time they felt like they strongly agreed.

Surely we could just lose a textbook or two??

If you lose them, you just don’t study, that’s all…

SPLASHOOOOOO—

“More water’s coming in downstairs!!”

“!!!”

Students’ faces changed.

After all that bailing, and it’s back?

As the princess stood up, Gainando jumped in front of her.

“This time I’ll go alone!”

“……”

The princess was so startled she couldn’t speak, and Gainando winked at her.

The princess started to suspect her half-brother was provoking her.

She had no intention of picking a petty fight, but if he was issuing a challenge…

“This is too frequent. It’s bad.”

“Wardanaz, even you can’t handle this?”

Angrago asked in dismay.

Lee Han had just bailed out as much water as an ocean from the boat.

If any sailors had seen it, they’d have shed tears and tried to recruit him on the spot.

Even so, if Lee Han said it was too much…

“No, I can solve it, but if this is happening in all the towers at once, there’s no point. I can’t plug everything myself.”

‘…Is he insane…?’

Angrago thought to herself, seeing Lee Han just naturally assume he’d have to handle all four towers.

She didn’t say it out loud, though.

If she did and got their own tower excluded out of spite, her friends would drown her.

“The individual rooms are fine, right?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“Everyone, put your important things in your rooms and come back out. Just bring what you need to evacuate.”

“…To where??”

• * *

The skeleton headmaster burst out into laughter at the top of the stairs on the third floor of the main building as a dimensional doorway opened.

As expected, a waterfall poured out and sent an unfortunate third-year student sliding down like a waterslide.

-Damn■ Einroga■ Cursed■…!

Sounded like cursing, but the skeleton headmaster ignored it and nodded in satisfaction.

Can’t even stop water like that? Still got a long way to go! Haha!

-Master?

What is it?

-Your student is moving with the first-years.

…Hmm?

The skeleton headmaster was slightly taken aback by the unexpected report.

Leading students around in this weather?

He’d assumed they’d just furiously bail water in their towers, blocking out intruders.

The towers would be safest, right?

Right now, the only remaining dry places were the school buildings protected by magic.

But the protection stopped at the building itself, not the students. As he’d just seen from the departing third-year student.

The towers, as student dorms, at least protected their rooms…

The Death Knight, watching the skeleton headmaster’s reaction, cautiously reported.

-Th-they seem to be bringing students from the other towers as well… It looks like they’re heading for the library. I think they’re planning to stay there for a while…

……

The skeleton headmaster, frankly, was so impressed he couldn’t even be mad.