Episode 453

Episode 453

“Ah, y-you… you punk! I was worried about you…!”

“Sorry.”

Lee Han knocked out the screaming trainee knight.

It was already hard to win against Lee Han’s sword skills, and having been ambushed, the trainee stood no chance.

“Choi! You too!”

“S-sorry.”

Deorgyu swiftly took down his own trainee knight.

“Moradi, you… Of course! This is your trick, isn’t it?!”

“……”

Giselle scowled, then kicked the fallen trainee knight off the deck. The trainee made a splash as he fell into the sea.

“It’s an ambush! Hurry and help!”

“Drop the ballista and get over here! Wardanaz attacked us!”

“What? Aren’t we not allowed to use magic?!”

Deorgyu protested without thinking.

“I didn’t use it!”

“Not the time to explain, Deorgyu.”

Lee Han quickly scanned the deck.

They’d taken down a few with the ambush, but there were still trainee knights left. As trained knights, they quickly regrouped on deck to defend.

By contrast, Lee Han’s side was outnumbered and exhausted from all the swimming. A prolonged fight would be dangerous.

“Lee Han, they’re trying to surround us!”

“I know. Let’s move to the side!”

Lee Han escaped the center of the deck and ran toward the bow. The passageway near the cabin was narrow, making it hard to surround them.

The trainee knights trying to flank shouted in confusion.

“Hey! Why’re you running? Aren’t you supposed to seize the ship?!”

“You going to fight us one-on-one?!”

“W-well, not exactly…”

As the trainee knights stubbornly pursued, Lee Han abruptly stopped and turned.

He drew his sword.

Perhaps thinking he was finally ready to fight, the trainee knights cautiously gripped their swords.

How many times had they fallen for a Wardanaz ploy? They refused to let their guard down.

“Here I come.”

“Bring it, Wardanaz. I won’t retreat so eas—”

Whirl!

Lee Han spun and ran away again.

“……”

“A-are you really from the Wardanaz family?!”

The trainee knights shouted as they chased again.

No one could figure out what this guy was up to.

No point running all over the ship…

“Maybe he’s trying to isolate us one by one. Moradi’s over there! Careful!”

“Got it! Don’t let your guard down! Even if it’s narrow, don’t get separated!”

Giselle, running ahead of Lee Han, cursed the trainee knights inwardly.

Because of the family’s image, they couldn’t see the plain truth—idiots!

After a frantic chase, as Lee Han’s group began to slow, the trainee knights finally caught up from both sides.

“Huff… haah, haaah.”

“Phew, huff…”

Only heavy breathing could be heard—the groups were exhausted.

“Wa… Wardanaz. Now there’s nowhere to run. Face us.”

“Fine. I get it.”

Lee Han nodded obediently.

Of course, the trainee knights didn’t believe him.

“Don’t let your guard down. Not for a second.”

“Choi’s the same way. Did you see him trick us with that innocent face?”

“……”

Deorgyu blushed with shame.

Then, suddenly, Lee Han pointed behind them and shouted.

“Behind you! Look behind you!”

“Wardanaz… Like we’d fall for a trick like that?”

The trainee knights replied with pride.

They felt like they’d gotten skilled at handling all sorts of tricks just from dealing with Lee Han’s group.

Seeing that expression, Giselle clicked her tongue and muttered.

“Proud of being fooled a lot, are you…”

“Try whatever you want, Moradi. Your tricks won’t—gak!”

One of the trainee knights went down face-first.

White Tiger Tower students, who had climbed up with hooks, glared fiercely at the trainee knights from behind.

“Try shooting again, you rat bastards! Go on, shoot!”

“H-hey…! It’s not like we wanted to shoot at you…”

“Throw these guys into the sea! Toss them over and let them climb up themselves!”

“What the hell is with you people?!”

The trainee knights were furious at the White Tiger Tower students, who had no sense of gratitude.

• * *

There was a messy scuffle, but thanks to Professor Ingeldel and the knights, things were quickly settled.

While some knights discussed, “Interesting drill, maybe we should have our own try it…” Professor Ingeldel evaluated the students’ performance.

“Great job, everyone. Alpha, it was excellent the way you found a hook among the trash and used it to board the ship.”

“It was just luck.”

Angrago scratched the back of his head with pride.

“Jay, blocking the water spear was impressive. But stopping it with your body is dangerous, no matter how much armor you’re wearing. In a real fight you could get badly hurt. Take care.”

“Don’t worry! I’m tough!”

‘What a blockheaded guy.’

While Lee Han clicked his tongue, it was finally his group’s turn.

Professor Ingeldel looked at the three and spoke.

“For finding an unexpected route…”

“Professor. One moment.”

Lee Han, waiting hopefully for a perfect score, was startled by Giselle’s sudden interruption.

“I have something to say.”

“Moradi, what are you doing? We’re on the same team.”

Sensing doom, Lee Han tried to calm down Moradi as much as possible.

Besides, he hadn’t even done anything to Moradi this time. Unlike before, he hadn’t played her.

“Is it because you were mistaken for pulling a trick earlier? That wasn’t on me. Let’s not drag each other’s grades down.”

Lee Han thought Moradi was about to lower both their grades out of spite.

But that wasn’t why Moradi spoke.

“Wardanaz briefly emitted mana light from his whole body while climbing the ship earlier.”

“?!!”

Professor Ingeldel was shocked.

The knights nearby stopped mid-conversation, stunned.

“Mana light?! Is that true?!”

“Really? Wait, how’d I miss that?”

“Because Wardanaz had already climbed up by then.”

“Ah…!”

“Damn…!”

“We should’ve made the ship taller…!”

Professor Ingeldel and the knights all lamented at once.

That was how precious the missed opportunity was.

Lee Han, of course, was utterly confused.

‘Make the ship taller? Are they insane?’

He started to see why the skull principal hated outsiders coming in.

“Wardanaz, this is a very important opportunity. Do you understand?”

Professor Ingeldel fervently explained what it meant for Lee Han to emit mana light.

In the extreme situation of carrying his friends and climbing the ship, Lee Han had entered a trance.

All unnecessary force vanished, and the experiences gained through countless hardships naturally seeped into his body, enabling him to precisely control a ridiculous amount of mana…

“What did you just say?”

“Just ignore it.”

Professor Ingeldel glossed over the swear that had slipped out in his excitement. Lee Han was a little hurt.

“So it was an opportunity.”

“Exactly!”

“Indeed!”

Professor Ingeldel and the knights seemed much more regretful than Lee Han.

The more mana you have, the harder it is to control.

That amount would be tough even for someone as talented as Wardanaz; the missed opportunity felt all the more bitter.

But Lee Han didn’t really care.

‘I’ll get another chance.’

He hadn’t felt much, since it came and went so fast. Besides, Lee Han hadn’t taken up the sword to walk the martial path to the end out of knightly conviction.

He’d just wanted a healthy body and self-defense while relieving boredom…

Rather than what lay at the end of the sword path, he cared more about his year-end grades.

“Understood. What a pity. So, professor, the midterm exam score…”

“It may not be over yet.”

One of the White Oak Knights spoke up seriously.

Professor Ingeldel listened with a thoughtful look.

“Go on. I’m listening.”

“Unless too much time has passed, we could try reproducing the exact same situation.”

“…!”

Professor Ingeldel was surprised.

“…!”

So was Lee Han.

‘How can they say such nonsense so seriously?’

“Professor, the test’s over for me…”

“Wardanaz. This is very important. Maybe more important than the exam.”

“That’s ridiculous…”

A White Tiger Tower student muttered absentmindedly from the back.

“With Wardanaz, does he really need to study for tests? He’ll get a perfect score anyway.”

Lee Han glared as if he’d kill the student. Angrago quickly looked away in fear.

‘Wh-what did I ever do…!’

“And reproducing the exact situation is a stretch. My friends are all tired and need to prepare for the next exam.”

“Hmm.”

Professor Ingeldel felt sorry, realizing that was true.

The White Tiger Tower kids were tired now…

“We have young knights right here.”

The White Oak Knights stepped up, pointing at the trainee knights.

“He can climb with these on his back.”

“……”

While Lee Han was left speechless, Professor Ingeldel was moved.

“Everyone…! Thank you. I knew of the White Oak Knights’ honor, but not to this degree…”

“How could we abandon comrades walking the sword’s path with us?”

The trainee knights’ faces darkened.

Lee Han watched with a long sigh.

The White Tiger Tower students thought to themselves.

‘Thank god I’m not Wardanaz.’

‘Top of the class isn’t always good!’

It seemed that happiness wasn’t always proportional to grades.

• * *

“Moradi… I’ll curse you.”

Lee Han returned hours later than the other students.

He had to swim through the sea with the trainee knights, tie himself to them, and climb the ship’s outer wall.

Of course, he never recaptured the phenomenon from before. Professor Ingeldel and the knights were very disappointed.

-What a pity.

-Maybe you needed to climb up with true friends…

For the first time, Lee Han was thankful it was midterm season.

Otherwise, the knights would have made his life hell until he got his breakthrough.

‘Are the knights all turning into Einrogard, or maybe the world’s always been Einrogard?’

Thinking this, Lee Han moved on.

Through the darkening waters, he saw the familiar white skull.

“Headmaster.”

What is it? Why are you so late? And alone at that?

Lee Han decided not to mention what Professor Ingeldel made him do.

He had no intention of helping out the skull headmaster.

“I was late because I was studying for exams.”

For other students, this might have earned praise, but for you, it’s just fooling around. Enough with the nonsense—go focus on the magic you still haven’t learned.

The skull headmaster advised him warmly and gently. Lee Han nodded, grateful for the heartfelt advice.

“Um, yes. What are you up to, headmaster?”

I’m taking in the view of waterlogged Einrogard, feeling sorry for the students’ suffering.

“…Ah. I see.”

Lee Han said goodbye and pretended to walk away.

Then immediately cast as many invisibility and water breathing spells as he could, dove back into the water, and approached the headmaster’s location.