Episode 486
by CristaeEpisode 486
“Y-yes. I understand.”
Professor Thunderstep was unconsciously overwhelmed by the earnest sincerity in Lee Han’s voice.
“What were you doing, Professor? Were you, perhaps, taking a break…”
The student looked suspiciously at his teacher.
Since he had finished his work and come back first, he thought the professor should be doing something else, and wondered if perhaps he had been resting.
Seeing those eyes, Professor Thunderstep reflected on whether he had perhaps worked his students too harshly.
“…No. I was also doing my work. Look.”
Professor Thunderstep gestured and pointed outside the mansion’s window.
In the garden arranged in typical southern style, several fruit trees were heavily laden with fruit, and two servants were cleaning up the fallen leaves and trimming the grass beneath them.
Seeing this, Lee Han asked in puzzlement.
“Were you securing the fruit?”
“……”
It was such a typical Einrogard student thought that Professor Thunderstep was at a loss for words.
“Not the trees, next to them! The opposite window!”
“Aha. You meant over there.”
Only then did Lee Han notice the window the professor was pointing at.
Inside the large room of the mansion on the opposite side, members of the Meikin family were shaking hands with city alchemists.
Judging by their expressions, the negotiation had obviously ended satisfactorily for both sides.
“I was persuading the people from the Alchemist Guild. At least among all, they’re the most reasonable to talk to.”
“Are the people from the Alchemist Guild here nice?”
At Lee Han’s question, Professor Thunderstep answered instantly as if wondering what he was talking about.
“No. Guild guys all have bad personalities. Where do you find a guild guy who’s nice? Nice people don’t join guilds.”
“……”
Since a guild is a group of people with similar goals and directions, they didn’t easily compromise or yield.
The Alchemist Guild was no different.
“Then why do you say they’re reasonable to talk to…”
“Because of the circumstances. First, this request was made by the Meikin family, and I’m also an alchemist from Einrogard, you see.”
Professor Thunderstep lit his pipe as he spoke.
The Meikin family was a high-ranking noble family with great influence in the imperial alchemy circles, and Professor Thunderstep was also a famous alchemist in the empire.
If someone defied or threatened proposals from such people, they could expect harsh retribution.
“Of course, since there are also city people here, the Meikin family wouldn’t retaliate by cutting off supplies of materials or reagents, but still, you’d feel the pressure.”
“I see. Can you retaliate as well, Professor?”
“Me? I can, too.”
“!”
Lee Han was surprised.
Professor Thunderstep, strictly speaking, was more of a renowned academic type.
Being far from power or wealth, he didn’t seem to have the means to retaliate in such circumstances.
“Perhaps by asking the headmaster or Professor Baegrek to stage an ambush?”
“…What kind of crazy talk is that!? At most, I’d block their invitation to the Imperial Alchemy Society!”
“Aww…”
Lee Han was disappointed.
It was a bit too small-time as far as retaliation went.
Of course, to Professor Thunderstep, Lee Han sounded crazy.
‘Should I really have Lee Han spend less time with the headmaster?’
He was only a first-year. What would happen later…
“That said, it’s not as if I made an unreasonable proposal. The Meikin family agreed to supply some rare reagents, and I agreed to improve the recipe for three types of potions. Anyway, the Alchemist Guild said they would cooperate with our mediation.”
“I see. That’s a relief.”
“Now the other guilds are the problem.”
Professor Thunderstep exhaled a large puff of smoke as he spoke.
“The Fishermen’s Guild… It’s the same everywhere, but the stubbornness of boatmen is well known. Because of deep emotional rifts, even profit may not persuade them. It’s a matter of pride…”
“That’s the thing.”
“And I really don’t know what the adventurers’ guild here is thinking. Adventurer guild guys are always unpredictable, but these ones are especially so… No matter how small the group is, shouldn’t they at least present a clear stance? If they’d only tell us what they’re thinking, we could…”
“So, about that…”
Professor Thunderstep, who had been venting for a good while, finally noticed Lee Han and asked,
“Why? Do you have something to say?”
“The Fishermen’s Guild said they’d cooperate.”
“…What? Why??”
If it had been another student, he might have said, ‘Did you sneak into the cellar and drink my liquor while I wasn’t looking?’ but because it was Lee Han, his reaction was different.
Professor Thunderstep decided to trust him first, then asked.
How did this happen?
“Uh… Well, it’s not certain yet, but I was told that the Fishermen’s Guild was moved by seeing how hard we were working.”
“…Did one of the Shadow Patrol hunters risk their life to save a fisherman who fell into the water or something?”
Professor Thunderstep was extremely flustered.
Anything short of that wouldn’t have touched the stubborn fishermen.
“No, they said they were moved by me risking my life to catch monsters. That it was inspiring to see an Einrogard student work so hard and catch monsters without regard for his own safety…”
“……”
Professor Thunderstep was speechless.
Once he heard it, it did make sense.
‘Well, from an Einrogard perspective, that seems normal, but from the outside, it must look quite different!’
“O-okay. I’ll check on that. Anyway, thank you.”
“And the adventurers’ guild…”
“Did you talk to the adventurers’ guild, too!?”
Professor Thunderstep nearly dropped his pipe.
They had spent all morning hunting and subjugating, and had just returned to the mansion for lunch—when had Lee Han found the time to persuade them?
“Yes. It seemed there was a misunderstanding with the adventurers’ guild. They weren’t looking for confrontation, and said as long as they got reasonable compensation for participating in gathering requests, they’d be satisfied. They don’t seem to have any particular greed.”
“Really? That’s surprising. Why didn’t they say anything?”
“It seems they were a bit intimidated by the reputation of Einrogard and the Meikin family.”
“Ah… That’s understandable. Damn. That was my mistake.”
Professor Thunderstep tutted.
Thinking about it, it really was his fault.
He should have been more objective about how they might appear to those who had come with them.
“I must have scared them needlessly. Still, it looks like you resolved the misunderstanding nicely?”
Professor Thunderstep looked at Lee Han with approval.
Showcasing that level of social skill as a student in Einrogard was truly rare.
Especially since he was from the Wardanaz family, and yet cleared up misunderstandings and earned goodwill from those intimidated.
“Yes.”
“Of course, if you speak directly with a young student, you’re bound to clear up misunderstandings. Even Einrogard mages are people, after all.”
“……”
Lee Han didn’t mention that people from the adventurers’ guild had greeted him with trembling hands because of the Wardanaz family and Professor Voladi.
In any case, communications had been successfully wrapped up.
“Then I’d better go and talk to both right away. Really, thank you. Wardanaz! You’re the best!”
“Yes, Professor. Also…”
“?”
Seeing that his student had something more to say, Professor Thunderstep turned to him.
“If Professor Voladi hears about the sea serpent traces, the negotiation and the request will all turn into a mess.”
“…Alright, alright. Calm down.”
- * *
After finishing the belated negotiation with the two guilds, Professor Thunderstep was so delighted he could hardly keep from smiling.
“Well done! Wardanaz! Well done!”
“I was just lucky.”
“You can rest now! Rest up until we leave. Is there anything else you want?”
“Uh… Could you give my friends some time to rest as well?”
Professor Thunderstep paused.
“The work’s not all done yet.”
“If you calculate the schedule, there’s some leeway, isn’t there?”
“That’s true. But you know… If anything happens, that leeway…”
He was about to argue more, but Professor Thunderstep licked his lips and nodded.
“Fine. I should at least grant this much.”
“Really?”
Lee Han was a bit surprised.
He hadn’t expected much.
“Yes. Honestly, I thought it might take until tomorrow to convince everyone… Resolving it so quickly, how can I refuse a simple request? Even if the schedule gets a little tangled, as long as other professors sit down and help, there’ll be plenty of time.”
No longer needing to go around persuading others, they would have enough time if Professor Thunderstep and the others sat down and worked together.
Besides, Professor Thunderstep was not cold-blooded enough to refuse such a favor from a student who had accomplished so much.
And he was seriously worried about the aftermath if Lee Han bore a grudge after graduation.
Someone like Professor Verdus didn’t realize what could come back to haunt him, but Professor Thunderstep did.
“Let’s go together to deliver the news.”
“Yes.”
Professor Thunderstep and Lee Han walked down the corridor toward the workshop.
The professor flung open the door and shouted.
“Kids! I have good news…!”
“…?”
Lee Han and the professor were slightly taken aback.
The workshop was almost empty.
Only a handful of students were sitting in their seats and the rest were nowhere to be seen.
“Where did everyone go? Meikin?”
Professor Thunderstep asked, looking at Yoner.
Yoner avoided his gaze and replied.
“I’m not sure, Professor.”
“……”
“……”
Lee Han and Professor Thunderstep immediately understood the situation.
The students had gone out to play!
Yoner and a few of the excellent students stayed behind, thinking, ‘We should at least finish the work we’re responsible for’…
“Look at these brats who belong in the punishment room!”
Professor Thunderstep jumped around in fury.
To sneak off before the work was done!
Meanwhile, Lee Han secretly asked Yoner.
“Yoner. What were they thinking, going out when the work’s not finished…?”
“Well… you told everyone there was some leeway in the schedule.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Lee Han recall that he had informed his friends about the schedule.
Hearing that, the students had thought, ‘Oh? Then we could probably go out and come back,’ and had tried to go out for a bit.
‘I should keep this a secret from the professor.’
“Wait. Yoner. One more thing, I’m curious—where did they get the money? They shouldn’t have any.”
That’s partly why Professor Thunderstep had been off guard.
The students didn’t have any silver coins, so even if they did go out, there wouldn’t be much to enjoy.
“Some borrowed money. They asked some of the people from the Meikin family.”
“Ah. Did the Black Turtle Tower students borrow it?”
Lee Han thought it made sense.
They were practical and didn’t care about appearances, so saying, ‘I’ll pay back with the reward for the request later’ and borrowing…
“No. The Blue Dragon Tower students did.”
Yoner said, blushing slightly.
“…Really?”
“Yeah. It’s hard to ask for money unless it’s from a familiar family…”
Black Turtle Tower students didn’t have much of a connection with the Meikin family, so it wouldn’t have been easy to ask such a favor.
Only the Blue Dragon Tower students could have done it.
But…
“But wouldn’t the others have been too self-conscious to ask?”
“Yeah. It’s a bit unexpected, isn’t it?”
Yoner bit back the words, ‘I think some of them were encouraged after watching you, Lee Han.’
It was out of respect for his friend’s honor.
“Then what about the rest?”
“The rest just went out because getting out was good enough for them.”
“……”
Lee Han suddenly felt sad, thinking of the upperclassmen from the healing magic class.
After Professor Thunderstep finished raging and sighed, he spoke.
“Wardanaz. Go out and tell them to come back in moderation. As long as they’re back before tonight.”
“Thank you.”
“!?”
The remaining students were shocked when Thunderstep suddenly gave his permission.
And that wasn’t all.
Professor Thunderstep even took out his own wallet and tossed it to Lee Han.
“Buy some tasty food. Don’t buy any weird artifacts or potions.”
“Thank you.”
“…!!”
Shock.
Murmurs.
As the students rose in astonishment, Priest Siana approached Lee Han and whispered quietly in his ear.
“Did, did you…”
“Yes. I succeeded in the negotiations…”
“Did you blackmail the professor?!”
“…No.”