Episode 482
by CristaeEpisode 482
When the boy of the Wardanaz family, who had always responded softly and kindly to everything so far, suddenly asked coldly, the Shadow Patrol hunters were flustered.
“What are you talking about…?!”
“Do we look like people who would do that?”
“We really did it because we liked it!”
“Hoo… Wait, please come back here for a moment.”
Lee Han called the hunters who were standing by the boat’s edge.
The Shadow Patrol approached hesitantly, crushed by the undeniable dignity Lee Han displayed.
“Now. The difference between this arrow and that arrow is…”
Lee Han explained harder than before.
How the arrows he had just enchanted with magic differed from the arrows that came out of the workshop with a magic series from Zenbaya.
The former had magic forcibly layered with brute mana, while the latter, despite having magic layered perfectly through calculation, had no instability at all…
“……”
“……”
Of course, the Shadow Patrol hunters didn’t understand a thing.
‘Do you get what he’s saying?’
‘No…’
‘You know how to read, so why don’t you understand?’
‘I don’t think he’s speaking Imperial.’
After finishing his long speech, Lee Han asked,
“Do you understand now?”
“…Ye… No?”
The hunters, afraid that Lee Han would explain it again, hurriedly shouted,
“Mage! Uh… The fancy theory about magic, we get it.”
“…It’s not the flair, it’s about application of mana color…”
“But to tell the truth, we’re not lying, this arrow really is better. Look carefully. Heavier, faster, deeper penetration—doesn’t that make it a good arrow?”
The hunters quickly pulled out an arrow and stuck it in a distant reef.
Then they pulled out a Meikin family arrow for comparison.
Amazingly, the arrow Lee Han had just enchanted penetrated deeper.
The Shadow Patrol hunters looked at the mage with triumphant eyes.
Surely this would convince him…
“Didn’t you pull my arrow harder than theirs?”
“……”
“……”
The Shadow Patrol hunters felt a sense of absurdity similar to Nillia’s.
“Let me try pulling it.”
“Mage, you know how to shoot a bow too?”
“Nillia taught me.”
“Pfft… Oh?”
The hunters, about to laugh at a joke, were startled by Lee Han’s posture.
The way he held the bow was exactly as taught by the Shadow Patrol.
Uh…
Huh??
“Are you really close to Nillia?”
“What are you saying… Unless you pointed the bow and threatened her, would that ever happen?”
“I tried that at the inn last time I was in the village, but the adventurers ran away. I just wanted to have a drink together…”
“Should I have aimed the bow more accurately? Maybe Nillia did it spot on.”
While the hunters gossiped behind him, Lee Han focused on the bow.
Drawing a bowstring on a quickly moving boat required intense focus no matter how enchanted the arrow was.
Thwack!
“!”
Having shot both arrows, Lee Han was surprised.
Really…?
‘The arrow I enchanted penetrated deeper!’
“…Mage! See, what did we tell you!”
“We really said it was better because it was better!”
The hunters clamored, clearly waiting for this.
“Please enchant our arrows quickly!”
“You could do it all along, why did you make such a fuss!”
The Shadow Patrol hunters grumbled constantly at Lee Han’s act.
Sure enough, mages could do it but always refused.
The mage in the village must have been able to enchant arrows but just made excuses because he was too lazy.
“It’s not always supposed to work out this well… It just so happens the spells needed for these arrows are ones I can use, and I’m suppressing them with force, but usually if you stack spells this much it’s unstable…”
“We completely understand!”
“Thank you! Mage!”
The hunters understood in their own way.
-All mages are modest like that, even though they can do it.
Professor Thunderstep, who had been intently focused in the bow searching for the position of the Sangoria flower, glanced back in shock.
At some point, Lee Han had blended in with the Shadow Patrol hunters and was hanging out with them.
He knew Lee Han was sociable, but honestly, he was surprised.
‘Is that guy really from the Wardanaz family…?’
“Wardanaz. What are you talking about over there?”
“I was enchanting their arrows.”
“I see. …Wait. You have your own arrows, don’t you?”
“They said my magic was better…”
“……”
Professor Thunderstep, who was about to bury his nose in the map again, looked at Lee Han with an appalled expression.
What on earth are you doing?!
- * *
“We found one. Steer the boat over there.”
“Turn the bow!”
The south shore of the city was a complicated archipelago of rocks and islands.
That meant lots of monsters popped up, and if you made a wrong turn, you could easily run aground.
Fortunately, the sailors commanding the Meikin family’s speedboats were all veterans among veterans. They handled the boat calmly despite Professor Thunderstep’s sudden requests.
“Impressive. To turn the ship so adeptly…”
“Haha. It’s nothing compared to the hunters’ demands.”
“……”
Professor Thunderstep started to say something, then stopped.
Next to him, Professor Lightningstep asked,
“Is it really on this island?”
“Yes. Do you see the Bakdok birds flying overhead? They like Sangoria flowers, so they’re probably hoping to eat one. If we dig through the thickets, we’ll find one.”
“Got it. Let’s anchor for a while and ask the hunters to clear the area.”
Professor Lightningstep looked around.
It was quiet for now, but there was a lot to be done.
From monsters waiting in the waters to those on the island, they needed to clear them all so the fishermen and gatherers could travel safely.
“Shadow Patrol… No. Wardanaz, what are you doing?”
Professor Lightningstep was flustered seeing Lee Han practicing archery among the hunters.
A couple of hunters were even offering leather flasks, urging him to try northern liquor.
Making friends is fine, but isn’t this way too fast?
“Enchanting arrows for them and practicing archery…”
“O-okay. I don’t know how that connects, but… anyway, everyone. Please get to sweeping this area now.”
“!”
The waiting Shadow Patrol hunters sprang to their feet.
Moments ago, they’d been slouching in ragged clothes, chatting lazily, but now they radiated a razor-sharp aura.
“Let’s begin.”
“Jalbar, cover my back. Andaltan, you take the other side.”
“Wait.”
Professor Voladi raised his hand and spoke.
The hunters who were about to jump off with bows and spears stopped and looked at the mage.
The Shadow Patrol hunters respected the strong, and that vampire mage was certainly worthy of that respect.
“What is it?”
“Do not clear the monsters on the island.”
“!”
The hunters’ faces grew grave.
“Do you know something we don’t?”
“What’s hiding that we have to avoid…?”
“Wardanaz must clear them.”
“……”
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere turned icy.
Lee Han and even the Shadow Patrol hunters whispered among themselves in confusion.
“What does that mean?”
“It looks like the Wardanaz family mage wants to handle the monsters on the island…?”
“Alone? Surely we misheard.”
The hunters never sent a rookie alone onto an island to fight off everything. That wasn’t a hunter—that was lunacy.
Sensing the chill in the air, Professor Thunderstep coughed.
‘Damn. This is why I hate being outside Einrogard.’
After being inside Einrogard, any actions by other mages outside had to be watched carefully.
Otherwise, things got this awkward.
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Professor Baegrek, right?”
Professor Thunderstep desperately winked as he spoke.
Hoping Professor Voladi would understand his intent.
-I get that you want to train Wardanaz, but there’ll be plenty of chances later! Let’s just skip it this time! We look crazy!
But Professor Voladi was cold.
“Did something get in your eye?”
“…No… just… some dust.”
Professor Thunderstep gave up quickly.
To think Professor Baegrek would listen to him was absurd.
“And there was no misunderstanding.”
“Yes… there wasn’t…”
Professor Lightningstep looked at Professor Thunderstep as if pitying him.
Professor Thunderstep thought if this wasn’t a family elder, he’d grab him by the collar.
“Let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
Lee Han answered with an emotionless face.
It was a reaction made possible by resignation, but to others it looked different.
‘He just accepts that!?’
‘Are all Einrogard mages like this!?’
Even Professors Thunderstep and Lightningstep, not just the sailors or hunters, thought this was all very odd.
‘Disciples take after their teachers, they say.’
‘He’s learned so much from Professor Baegrek that this isn’t even scary anymore?’
Both dwarves thought Lee Han would have attacked if he’d heard them.
- * *
Lee Han, together with Professor Voladi, realized something the moment he stepped on the island.
His skills had improved greatly.
“Water!”
A mage skilled at water elemental control is even stronger when surrounded by water.
Even for someone like Lee Han, who could force out water from the air if needed, this was a huge advantage.
He summoned seawater and immediately set up a barrier, then lowered his stance. He shot illusions to each side and focused on the water to get it spinning.
Whirr!
It took less time, and while the spinning was still lacking, it was certainly quicker than last time.
And above all…
‘Even if the spinning’s not perfect, the power’s plenty!’
The water orb flew fiercely, striking the carnivorous plant that had just attacked Lee Han.
The spinning water orb hit a much wider area than its own size, blowing off the plant’s sharp flower buds in a single blow.
“Well done.”
Professor Voladi spoke, revealing a faint sense of satisfaction.
“You’ve improved.”
“Thank you.”
Lee Han himself was proud.
It hadn’t just been spinning he’d trained all this time. Because he was taking other schools of study, Professor Voladi had kept adding advanced courses.
“But you must cut down the time further.”
“Yes.”
“Do all mages in training go through things like that?”
“Horrific. Why do Imperials threaten kids who don’t listen by saying they’ll send them to the Northern Mountains? Seeing this, our patrol’s nothing in comparison.”
“……”
Lee Han turned his gaze away.
Next to him, out on the sea, hunters in rowboats were handling monsters and gossiping.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
Lee Han considered telling Professor Voladi, ‘The outsiders have some weird preconceptions,’ but decided against it.
It wouldn’t help anyway.
“Wait.”
Professor Voladi went forward, checked something, and returned.
“Good opportunity to check -Baegrek’s Instant Foresight-. There’s a Seed-Fragment Vine ahead.”
Seed-Fragment Vine.
Lee Han had only read about this plant monster in books; it shot seeds randomly like shotgun pellets.
Combat foresight magic like -Baegrek’s Instant Foresight- only worked properly if you knew the enemy’s pattern…
“…Turn to steel, oh cloak.”
Lee Han braced himself to get hit a few times and put up his defense.
He sincerely hoped it would hurt less, but from the distant Shadow Patrol hunters, it looked different.
“As expected of mages—they’re as good at fighting as they are at casting.”
“I remember an Imperial mage who came to the mountains once whined about not being able to fight, but that was a lie. Never falling for that again!”