Episode 442

Episode 442

Lee Han signaled to his friends with his eyes.

Since it was impossible to know what kind of personality the gigantic presence in front of them had, they had to be as cautious as possible.

Hadn’t they learned in the lecture that a quick-witted and eloquent mage survived longer than one merely rich in mana and skilled at magic?

“Yes. The sea. It’s the sea.”

The water… didn’t seem salty…

“It seems the spirits caused such a fuss that the salinity must have been reduced.”

According to the contract… you, mage, your request…

There was a sound of the water surging and the words kept being interrupted, but the students’ faces showed signs of relief.

Seeing Tanjuo say they would grant the request like that, it was certain that the summoning had succeeded.

“Hurry! Wardanaz!”

“Stop this flood!!”

“I know already. It’s exam period, of course we need to stop it.”

“…No, not just because it’s exam period, even if it wasn’t, we’d have to stop it!”

Lee Han’s madness left his friends slightly flustered.

“O Swallower of ships! Do you see the rampage of these spirits now?”

I… feel it…

“Stop the rampage of these spirits and cease the rain! Please halt the flood and send the water back to the underground where it came from!”

Gulp-

The sound of one of the students swallowing was heard loudly.

Tanjuo fell silently quiet.

……

As only the sound of water churning was heard again, Lee Han asked cautiously.

“O Swallower of ships! Is it perhaps that my voice is too soft…”

No… I heard…

Tanjuo answered slowly.

But… it is difficult… My power is incomplete…

‘Damn.’

Lee Han clicked his tongue.

It was unexpected, but on second thought, it was possible.

The Tanjuo that had been summoned now was Tanjuo in spiritual form.

Having lost most of the power it held in life, it was not surprising that it couldn’t grant Lee Han’s request.

‘If so…’

Lee Han calmly revised his demand.

“O Swallower of ships. Then I will not ask you to stop this flood. Instead, please change the direction of the rain clouds and storms!”

At the moment, Einrogard’s problem wasn’t just the rising water—periodically raging rain clouds and storms were an even bigger issue.

A calm sea could be crossed even by first-year mages, but once lashed by rain clouds and storms, there was nothing to be done.

That much… is possible… To where…?

“Please send it all to the upper floors of the Einrogard main building over there.”

“……”

“……”

The friends stood listening, then gasped in horror.

Hey…!

‘Is this okay?’

‘Shouldn’t we stop him?’

The upper floors of the main building were the domain of the principal and professors.

Wasn’t sending the rain clouds and storms there essentially a declaration of war?

“No. This is the right choice by Wardanaz.”

Salko said in a heavy voice.

“What are you talking about, Tutanta?”

“Who do you think caused this flood?”

“…!”

The students thought of one person.

Who but the master of this school would cause a flood?

‘Huh? That’s not it, though?’

Lee Han, who was focusing on Tanjuo, tilted his head.

This incident really wasn’t the fault of Skull Principal.

The spirits had just become periodically stronger and gone wild…

“Principal!”

“That’s right. Only the principal could have done this. Then are we supposed to just keep taking it? Would the principal be satisfied with doing this?”

“No! Absolutely not!”

“Tutanta is right. We can’t keep taking it anymore. Let’s show we can retaliate too!”

The first-year students, who had a lot piled up, shouted in unison.

To send water to Skull Principal’s quarters.

Just imagining it was exhilarating.

“Tanjuo-nim! Please send all the water in that direction!”

“That’s right!”

At the students’ cries, Tanjuo responded slowly.

…Instead… I’ll try to stop the flood… and cease the rain…

“……”

“……”

• * *

Tanjuo was more timid than expected.

Rather than sending the water to the lair of the archmage who ruled this area, it declared that it would instead somehow stop the flood.

‘Isn’t the first option better?’

Lee Han thought so, but since Tanjuo had chosen the latter, there was nothing to be done.

“If your power is incomplete, how do you plan to stop the flood and the rain?”

It’s hard… but temporarily…

Tanjuo explained with its surging sound.

While permanently subduing the spirits and sending the water away was difficult, temporarily calming the spirits and holding the water back was possible.

Of course… my power will be drained… must keep recovering…

Each time it acted, its power would be consumed, so it would rest, then temporarily block again.

Tanjuo said it would repeat this as long as possible.

“……”

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

‘No, really, isn’t the former better?’

When summoned by contract with a mage, a summoned existence generally wanted to fulfill the contract as quickly as possible and return to freedom.

So the faster method should have been chosen, but instead it insisted on exhausting its power until the end.

Just how terrifying was Skull Principal…

“If you’re willing to do that, then it’s fine with me.”

Only then did Tanjuo, as if reassured, release water.

“Then could you do it now? We have to move.”

Okay…

“While you’re at it, could you take us for a ride? We have to get to the classroom and might be late.”

……

Tanjuo glanced at Lee Han with a look filled with annoyance.

But it couldn’t bring itself to refuse.

It feared the mage might bring up what was said earlier again.

Okay…

• * *

Professor Rosine Fliework, who taught the lecture, stood at the front of the classroom with a slightly troubled expression.

“Haa…”

Next to her, the demon Oriphulas, who had served as the empire’s magistrate for 131 years, spoke as if he didn’t understand.

Mage. From what I see, this doesn’t seem like a good educational environment.

“……”

I once saw a demon duke train young demons, and even there, they didn’t deliberately cause natural disasters like this.

“Quiet, please.”

Professor Rosine silenced the demon beside her.

What she’d heard from Skull Principal over the weekend was still echoing in her ears, having been quite a shock.

-Professors. There’s a flood in Einrogard due to the spirits rampaging. It’s something that happens periodically, so new staff shouldn’t be too surprised…

Given that the veteran professors weren’t even surprised, it had to be an explanation with people like Professor Rosine, an outsider, in mind.

In fact, Professor Ingeldel, who taught swordsmanship, complained in disbelief and questioned several times, ‘But shouldn’t you at least stop the flood?’

-Professor Ingeldel. Calm down. This flood only happens about once in ten years, and it just happened to be a stroke of bad luck…

-But you need to drain the water so the students can come take their exams, don’t you?

-Why?

-Well… so the students…

-Why?

-……

-Why?

Skull Principal made it very clear with great force that they would absolutely not do it.

Professor Rosine went along for now, but couldn’t help worrying whether the students would make it properly.

Looking through the stained glass, wind and rain were raging crazily, and waves with high crests kept rolling in…

‘If students can’t make it, should I only let the ones present take the exam? Isn’t that too harsh, though?’

After all the effort to prepare…

Oriphulas, with a voice tinged with regret, pointed to the center of the classroom.

This midterm exam was for students to make a simple, trivial contract with a powerful being themselves.

Of course, since there was no way for first-year students to summon and face such evil and powerful beings without any help, Professor Rosine and Oriphulas had worked hard to collect, weaken, and seal such beings and lock them in cages for display in the classroom.

The students succeeded if they managed to understand and make a contract with any one of these beings through conversation and negotiation.

Do you have any idea how expensive that demon knight is? The empire’s officials were so reluctant to loan that demon…

“I know. I know. I know how hard it was to borrow.”

And that eight-headed beast was no picnic, either. Such a wild and ferocious brute…

-Mage, demon. I’ll kill you! Grrrr! I’ll rip your heart out and devour it! Free me! You wretches, you stink!

The monster in the cage threatened violently in a growling, rumbling voice. Oriphulas, bored, picked up a spear and stabbed the monster mercilessly.

-Kyaaagh!

Didn’t I say I’d let you out if you stayed quiet! Why act out? Can’t you endure even a short while? I’ve kept contracts for over a hundred years!

-Demon. Kill! Demon. Kill! Kraa! Kraa!

I don’t wish to use violence, but for the sake of young mages I have no choice. Speak up when you’ve reflected.

Oriphulas did not stop stabbing the monster. Such strong and wild beings had to be firmly kept in check from the beginning, as they’d climb all over you the moment you let up.

“…Oriphulas.”

What is it? Should I stab harder? But if I do that and it’s destroyed…

“No, it’s not that…”

Rosine couldn’t finish, simply pointing outside.

Oriphulas also turned his gaze out the window. Then, mouth agape, he dropped his spear.

From afar, a gigantic summoned beast was parting the sea and calming the rain clouds as it approached.

Tanjuo?! How rare! Which professor summoned this?

“The students are on top.”

……

“……”

The two mages and the demon fell silent.

Oriphulas recalled the young student he’d met last semester who’d made a contract with a demon without any special conditions.

And sure enough, that student was sitting atop Tanjuo, approaching the classroom.

• * *

“Wait, Wardanaz! If such a huge creature goes inside, won’t it damage the school building?”

“The principal will fix it. O Swallower of ships! Please go inside!”

Despite his friends’ concerns, Lee Han had no intention whatsoever of getting off Tanjuo.

As expected, even inside the main building, violent waves and rain clouds raged.

‘You can’t be complacent just because you’re inside a building. If you get swept away here, it’s even more dangerous.’

If you got caught in the current and swept all the way to the punishment room, there was nowhere to complain.

Lee Han had no intention of getting off Tanjuo.

Chwarururururuk—

As Tanjuo pushed the door and entered, the entrance of Einrogard suddenly widened and the hallway expanded.

A student riding next to him exclaimed in admiration.

“Ah…! I see!”

“Of course, a building like Einrogard wouldn’t be damaged by stuff like this! Wardanaz, you counted on that!”

“No. I just figured the principal would fix it if it was damaged. To the right!”

Tanjuo, resembling a whale, raced over the calm surface now clear of waves and rain clouds.

The students, forgetting the difficulties, cheered.

Crack!

Suddenly, a wall beside them opened and a savage waterfall started pouring down.

Water from somewhere had connected and come flying this way.

Lee Han shouted urgently.

“O Swallower of ships! Now…”

I know…

“If you can’t stop it, you have to send the water to the principal’s office!!”

Tanjuo made a bubbling sound and frantically blocked the waterfall.

The waterfall reversed upward, flowing back inside the wall.

“Thank you!”

Tanjuo, exhausted, couldn’t even answer.

Oriphulas, watching inside the classroom, shouted without realizing.

Perfect score… perfect score!

“???”

The students were bewildered by the sudden shout from the classroom.