Episode 460

Episode 460

Lee Han was shocked by the ridiculous misunderstanding.

They said Professor Verdus had been turned into an undead.

Wasn’t this even more absurd than the nonsense those White Tiger Tower guys spouted?

“Huh? It wasn’t him?”

Lee Han smacked the back of Gainando’s head again and said.

“It’s just someone with the same name.”

“So pitiful! Of all people, to have the same name as Professor Verdus!”

When Gainando sympathized with a sincerely emotional voice, Lee Han was a bit flustered.

“Th… that’s not quite right, is it?”

“No. Too pitiful.”

In the distance, two familiar seniors were seen running up, panting.

Lee Han greeted them warmly.

“Hello.”

“Huff. Huff… Wh-what were you doing?”

“We were feeling sorry because the undead mage Lee Han summoned turned out to be Verdus.”

At Gainando’s reply, Koholti was appalled.

“You, did you turn Professor Verdus into an undead!?”

“……”

• * *

Once the truth was understood, Koholti wanted to crawl into a hole.

Ogonin whispered from beside him.

“Senior. There are many pits here where undead have gone in. I think you could go into one of those.”

“Daktzr…”

How could someone in their fourth year, not even a first-year, make this kind of ridiculous mistake?

But Koholti also had an excuse.

“I’d heard that Professor Verdus suddenly disappeared. Because of that…”

‘Even if the professor disappeared, isn’t it a bit weird to link that to me?’

Lee Han thought so, but held his tongue out of consideration for his senior.

However, Lee Han didn’t know.

To Koholti and some of the others, Lee Han was already considered the direct craz— no, direct successor—of the progress of the Skull Headmaster!

“The professor has gone to the punishment room.”

At Lee Han’s explanation, Koholti looked as if to say, ‘I thought so,’ and nodded understandingly.

“Right. I was wondering where he went.”

“Couldn’t you have just asked the other seniors?”

To Gainando’s question, Koholti replied sheepishly.

“Those guys learning infusion magic said they didn’t know and didn’t care.”

“……”

“……”

An awkward silence lingered.

Lee Han spoke up to change the subject.

“By the way, senior, since we stopped the undead, does that mean the test is over?”

“Hm? No. The test is something else. -Drunkard’s Curse- is the test.”

A curse-type spell that induces intense drunkenness in the opponent.

It was a 2nd circle spell, but the difficulty was relatively low, and even if not mastered, casting it was still possible, so it was often used as the next teaching material for beginner dark wizards who had learned a few curse spells.

“…Uh, then the undead attack had nothing to do with the test at all?”

Lee Han was a little taken aback.

Of course, he had heard that it was just a demonstration before the midterm, but he still thought it might be related to the test.

If not, then why?

“……”

“……”

Koholti and Ogonin looked at each other.

Ogonin bowed his head as if he hadn’t seen anything.

In these sorts of situations, the higher-year students should be responsible.

“…Wo, Wardanaz, should I take responsibility and give you full marks?”

“No…”

Lee Han was flustered by his senior’s abrupt odd comment.

• * *

After the test was over (Gainando and Raphadael, having accidentally cursed each other, were staggering around drunk), Lee Han was about to go back but stopped.

Koholti was sighing as he looked around the field where the undead had been smashed.

“What’s the matter, senior?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing. Go back now. If you stay too long, the Principal will nitpick.”

‘No matter how I look at it, something’s up.’

Koholti was wearing the face of a senior who had gotten into trouble behind the professor’s back.

Just in case, Lee Han asked again.

“Senior. I’m a student taking dark magic classes too. If something’s wrong, I’d like you to tell me.”

“Ah, no. This isn’t something a junior should worry about.”

Ogonin, who was collecting dirt beside him, muttered.

“Seems we all know now who dealt with the Frost Giant King.”

“……”

Koholti kicked Ogonin into the pit.

“Senior?”

“No, no. My foot slipped. I’m not usually like this. Don’t misunderstand. You won’t, right? Our school of magic isn’t usually like this!”

Koholti was extremely anxious that Lee Han would see this and think, ‘Do dark magic school seniors usually hit their juniors?’

If that misunderstanding spread, Koholti would probably be beaten by his fellow dark magicians and professors!

“If you speak honestly, I won’t misunderstand.”

“It’s just that… Well… Sigh.”

Koholti was honest, fearing this junior might otherwise run away.

But he couldn’t help but feel as he spoke:

‘Isn’t this too pathetic? Is this really okay?’

For the school’s potion reserves to be shaken just by showing one undead wave—how poor did that make them look?

But Lee Han felt deeply empathetic toward Koholti’s pain.

“Oh no…!”

Lee Han’s heart ached.

It wasn’t the seniors’ fault that there weren’t enough reagents—it was Professor Mortum’s lack of ability.

He should’ve either secured extra funding with political cunning or at least stolen some; failing to do that, he left the students to struggle.

“The professor is really being too much!”

“Oh… no. It’s not quite that bad? To be honest, our professor is better than someone like Professor Verdus…”

Lee Han felt even sorrier.

The seniors must have spent so long in Einrogard that certain areas of their brains responsible for making comparisons had atrophied.

“No, I’m sorry. Not knowing your situation, I went and smashed all the undead.”

“That couldn’t really be helped… No, well… Wardanaz, I appreciate you taking my side, but…”

Koholti was getting even more embarrassed.

This first-year student’s feelings were so honest and intense.

As if he’d been studying in the dark magic school for years…

He appreciated it, but it was honestly a bit overwhelming.

And honestly, if a first-year successfully countered an undead wave, it should be praised, not something to feel sorry for because reagents were used up.

If Koholti had achieved something like that in his first year, he’d have bragged about it in his friends’ ears every week until graduation.

“I’ll try to get some reagents.”

“Huh? No, no. You’re not supposed to steal them.”

Koholti tried to stop Lee Han.

Looking at Einrogard’s students, it was easy to think there were no rules or laws, but Einrogard did have some implicit rules.

One of them was that looting and theft between students were forbidden.

The Principal’s property was considered sort of a student shared property, so it was okay, but if students started robbing each other, it would get out of hand.

Supposedly you’d be fine if you didn’t get caught, but there are no true secrets in the world.

“Especially, reagents used in dark magic are easy to notice.”

“I didn’t mean stealing—I was going to ask for them.”

“……”

“……”

Ogonin, who climbed out of the pit, looked at Koholti with an expression of disbelief.

Koholti again kicked Ogonin back into the pit and said.

“Pleading is harder, you know? If it were you, would you really just give away the school’s hard-earned resources?”

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I’ll try asking.”

Most professors didn’t earn their own gold, relying on generous research funds, so many had dulled senses for money.

If someone they had a good relationship with asked a favor, there was a good chance they’d give some freely.

Plus, in Lee Han’s case, he knew many professors, so if he begged his way around, he could probably collect a decent amount.

Lee Han was confident.

“No… Um… I appreciate it, but just don’t overdo it. Don’t take it too hard if a professor turns you down. Give up if you think it’s not working, okay? Promise?”

“Yes. Thank you for your concern. Let’s go, then.”

Lee Han looked at his friends and said.

Imirg picked up the passed-out Gainando and Raphadael by the scruffs of their necks.

“…Sorry about this.”

“Oh, no. I’m glad I could help.”

“Should we just throw those guys in the water and go?”

“Oh, no! It’s not heavy. I can carry them!”

Imirg blurted out, worried Lee Han might really throw the two into the water.

Koholti looked fondly at the retreating backs of the first-year juniors.

The curse magic (even though the two cast it on each other and collapsed), that they were so close-knit—

All the first-year juniors seemed trustworthy.

Especially someone like Wardanaz, even more so.

To care about his senior’s situation as if it were his own, even though it wasn’t.

Koholti didn’t expect much from the outcome, but just the warmth in his chest was enough.

‘So even bloodless, tearless Einrogard can have moments like this…’

As Koholti pulled out his handkerchief to hide his reddened eyes, Direte showed up in the back, bringing his minions.

Having finished preparing the custom minions for reagent collection, he had come.

“Is the test already over?”

“Huh? Uh.”

“That was faster than I expected.”

“Uh…”

“…But why are all the undead in this state?”

Direte asked in a blank voice.

That expressionlessness made Koholti all the more nervous.

“It’s just that…”

Koholti explained the situation as quickly as he could.

But he couldn’t help being distracted by the minions Direte had summoned.

If those minions attacked now, Koholti wasn’t prepared to defend.

“…Sigh.”

After listening to the explanation, Direte let out a deep sigh.

“How could things get this tangled?”

“R-right?”

Koholti twitched as he watched Direte’s staff closely.

Fortunately, Direte showed no signs of attacking.

“We can’t help it… Let’s just salvage what we can.”

“…That’s okay, right?”

“It’s not okay, but what can I do. Who would have expected a first-year junior to destroy everything like this?”

“Right?!”

With Koholti confident Direte wouldn’t attack, his face brightened.

“Exactly. An unforeseen, truly unlucky disaster. In a way, I guess it’s impressive?”

“…You’re not actually happy about this, are you?”

At the chill in Direte’s voice, Koholti quickly put on a sad face.

“No, no. Just… just saying. Of course I’m sad. Plus, our junior went to another school to get reagents. It’s touching, but also so sad.”

“…A junior went to another school to get reagents?”

“Yeah.”

“And you let him go without stopping him?”

“…Uh… well…”

Koholti thought about saying, ‘I did try to stop him,’ but he was afraid it would just make Direte angrier, so he kept quiet.

Thud!

Ogonin welcomed Koholti as he landed in the pit he was in.

“Welcome.”

“Daktzr…”

As clods of earth flew down on top of him, Koholti prepared a breathing spell.

• * *

“Principal!”

???

The Skull Headmaster was taken aback by Lee Han calling him so assertively.

Lee Han hadn’t originally been a student who approached so familiarly.

Lee Han usually looked appalled at the Skull Headmaster, and the Skull Headmaster liked that, but…

What’s going on?

“I helped supervise the school building’s repairs last time.”

You did…?

“I also found and protected the secret pathway guests fell into. Donations were just a bonus, by the way.”

……

“During the festival, I helped the magicians too…”

Just say what you want.

The Skull Headmaster was bewildered, but decided to hear Lee Han out.

Looking at just what Lee Han had mentioned, he really had accomplished a lot.

The Skull Headmaster found Lee Han vexing but didn’t deny these facts.

Is it outing passes? How many did you check are left?

“They’re still available.”

Let your friends use some, too.

“They’ll take care of themselves.”

‘You brat.’

The Skull Headmaster missed the old Lee Han, who used to cherish his friends.

“There’s a shortage of reagents for dark magic in our department. Could you possibly support us?”

……

The Skull Headmaster was so shocked, his jaw hung open.

“Principal?”

…Don’t tell me those lunatics made you come beg for them?!?!