Episode 562

It was something I bought for a pretty steep price…

Despite deciding not to ask, the Skull Principal mumbled to himself in a voice nostalgic with memories.

Your seniors didn’t like it much.

“……”

“……”

Lee Han and Ahsan hurriedly started cleaning up the items.

They didn’t want to stick around and hear any more backstory for no reason.

• * *

“You survived!”

Their friends shouted with joy when they saw the two returning after checking the condition of the storage.

Ahsan spoke, sounding dumbfounded.

“It’s not even been an hour since we left…”

“That’s more than enough time to disappear into the punishment room from here.”

“Well, you’re right about that.”

While his friend was coming to grips with it, Lee Han explained what the Skull Principal had told them to do.

As soon as they heard it, the students reacted the same as Ahsan.

“Huh? We’re barely surviving ourselves, but we have to think of the new students?”

“We didn’t get anything from our seniors, so the freshmen can fend for themselves too!”

“Yeah, right!”

‘How heartwarming.’

Lee Han thought the future of Einrogard was truly bright, seeing his friends’ warm reaction.

“E-everyone, please calm down. Still, we can’t just completely ignore the juniors who are coming in next.”

Even so, Priest Tijilling felt it was too much, so he tried to persuade his friends.

As the others hesitated, Gainando stepped up.

“No, we can! Let’s all focus on forgetting about the juniors together!”

“But Lord Gainando, didn’t Wardanaz help you the most?”

Tijilling swung the truth carelessly, landing a blow on Gainando. Gainando shook his hands and denied it in surprise.

“N-no, it’s not really like that!”

“It is, though.”

“Honestly, if not for Wardanaz, you’d have starved to death.”

“You Black Turtle Tower and White Tiger Tower guys don’t know anything!”

When the Black Turtle Tower and White Tiger Tower students chimed in, Gainando stomped around.

All those hours of being tormented while studying in the lounge and these guys knew nothing!

“Hrm. In Gainando’s case, it’s true, though.”

“!?”

But even his Blue Dragon Tower friends didn’t really take his side.

“You know, there won’t be a Wardanaz for the freshmen, right?”

“They’ll probably have a rough time…”

“Come on. Let’s just do it. We never got anything from our seniors, but this much is fine.”

Except for Gainando, the students chatted among themselves and just went right in to the storage.

Thanks to the huge stockpile of supplies from last weekend, the first-year students were more generous than ever.

“Lee Han. Isn’t there anyone who got more help than me? There has to be at least one person below me! Just one!”

Gainando grabbed the hem of Lee Han’s coat and whined. Lee Han ignored him and entered the storage.

• * *

Broken potions or artifacts were packed separate in wooden crates, and usable notebooks, quills, and ink bottles were organized neatly…

“Should I leave this for the juniors to eat?”

“Wow… you’re really nice. Fine, then I’ll leave this jar of candy too.”

The first-years quietly hid some things here and there for the freshmen.

If they hid it between books or stationery, next year the juniors would find it and realize.

“……”

Adenart was deep in thought with a serious face.

Among the books on the shelf, she was debating whether -Mages Executed for Evil Magical Practices- would be good for the juniors.

‘Should I pull it out?’

“Your Highness, if you’re not comfortable, you don’t have to leave snacks. Even Gainando didn’t leave anything.”

Seeing the princess ponder so long, Lee Han was considerate.

In fact, Gainando had slipped in a note reading “A true treat is the food you find with your own strength,” but got smacked by his friends for it.

“……”

The princess immediately found her bag, took out a can, and donated it for the juniors.

“Why, though?”

She donated two chocolates next and walked away. Her followers, impressed, spoke to Lee Han.

“Isn’t she admirable?”

“Uh, sure, but… there’s no need to force yourself if you don’t really want to…”

“What do you mean? Of course she left it thinking of the juniors.”

“Is that so?”

Lee Han nodded for now.

Her followers might not seem very trustworthy, but in a case like this, they probably knew better than Lee Han.

‘Well, unlike Gainando, she is a proper royal, so she probably cares about her status too.’

Finishing his conversation, Lee Han went back to work. He cleared a blood-stained rusty knife into a crate, dispelled damaged scrolls and burned them…

“?”

Lee Han found a letter wedged in a hidden space behind a shelf.

To the freshmen reading this, come to the 4th floor Red Magpie Room by midnight.

-From a kind senior

“What is this?”

“Isn’t this a trap by the principal?”

“It’s good to be suspicious, but isn’t suspecting literally everything to be a principal’s trap a little much…”

Lee Han and his friends put their heads together and debated the letter’s origin.

“You can’t even get to the 4th floor easily. Telling you to come to the 4th—isn’t that just a death sentence?”

“Yeah. Seems like a prank.”

“Gasp…! Good. I’ll leave a note telling them to come to the 5th floor…”

Lee Han hit Gainando once and stated his suspicion.

“Isn’t this letter really old? The senior who left it might have already graduated.”

“Oh, you’re right. That’s a shame. Why’d a senior even do this? They wouldn’t have met us anyway.”

“No, I heard there are ways to temporarily disable the principal’s enchantments.”

“…?”

The friends next to him were about to ask, ‘Wardanaz, how do you even know that?’ but let it go.

‘Well, he’s Wardanaz, he’d know.’

Salko tapped the letter, checking if there was any hidden writing. When he found no traps, he whispered to Lee Han so only he could hear.

“But Wardanaz, maybe it’s not a person, just some item that’s left behind.”

“True, could be…”

It said “by midnight,” which was confusing, but maybe it just meant that after midnight the room is closed and the item is left behind in this way.

And surely the senior also knew that a letter like this wasn’t a great way to meet anybody in person.

Since it’s a storage used for freshmen classes, there’s no telling when someone would discover it.

“So maybe it really is an item?”

“I think that’s more likely.”

“Hmm. I’m conflicted. We have plenty of supplies, and next week is exams, so I don’t want to do anything risky. Wait. Salko, why have you been whispering like that this whole time?”

“So the White Tiger Tower guys can’t hear.”

“…Still, we should go together.”

Just as Lee Han thought, the friends’ reactions weren’t that enthusiastic.

Half didn’t see why they should risk going to the dangerous 4th floor when they had plenty to eat, drink, and wear already, while the other half argued that you never know when items disappear at Einrogard, so you should grab things as fast as possible.

“That’s why we need to go now! You know that a single day makes the difference in Einrogard!”

“If it’s been fine so far, a few days won’t change anything. You just don’t want to study for finals, that’s all!”

“H-how dare you say such a thing?!”

As friends bickered, Yoner asked Lee Han,

“Lee Han. What do you think?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do it anyway this week. I’ve got something else going on.”

“Besides studying for finals?”

“I was commissioned to design the Pocket Knife Fortress, so I have to finish that.”

“……”

Yoner looked at his friend with concern.

‘Will the day ever come when this guy is happy?’

• * *

Contrary to Yoner’s worries, Lee Han actually didn’t mind the Pocket Knife Fortress commission.

Unlike other assignments, it paid in silver coins.

‘Hmm. Would be great if Einrogard’s assignments came with silver rewards too.’

Lee Han idly thought as he worked his quill, imagining the Skull Principal’s outrage at such a notion.

“Wardanaz.”

“Professor Knighten.”

When Alpen Knighten called, Lee Han put down his quill and stood up.

Today was the first day meeting with those commissioned for the Pocket Knife Fortress.

“How’s your preparation going? You have to prepare for finals too—hope you’re not overdoing it.”

“Thank you for your concern. I’m preparing as best I can.”

Lee Han answered with feigned courtesy, then paused.

When he thought about it, it was this professor who made him so busy.

Wait a second?

“Yes. Actually, I thought you could handle it, Wardanaz. That’s why I offered.”

“…Ah. Yes.”

There’s a saying you shouldn’t spit at a smiling face, but Lee Han was pretty sure he’d spit at a professor’s smiling face if he could.

Following Professor Alpen’s satisfied smile, Lee Han entered the room. An artifact shaped like a mirror was already in use.

-Professor Knighten. Greetings.

“Yes, good to see you all. If you’re ready, please send your designs.”

-We’re ready and waiting.

Lee Han waited nervously for the other party’s response.

He thought he’d done a good job, but that was just by his standards—he couldn’t be sure what the professionals would think.

How would they respond?

• * *

The -Kudrin- Masons’ Guild and -Ida- Carpenter’s Guild were the ones contracted by the Empire to build the Pocket Knife Fortress.

The goal of architects is always the same.

Within the given budget, be as efficient as possible and meet the client’s needs.

Overall construction and form were up to the professionals, and the first-year Einrogard students’ job this time was to calculate the magic power needed for artifacts inside the fortress, secure a supply of mana, and position the artifacts in a way that prevented malfunctions.

“Oh. This is…better than I thought…”

“Is it because he’s from Einrogard?”

With well-organized, clear explanations, the guild members marveled.

Thanks to this, without even realizing, Einrogard students’ external administrative reputation was going up fast.

They had been worried at first, but seeing this, they were relieved. He was far more trustworthy than those suspicious mages who bragged about what tower they built or what wall they’d constructed.

“Excellent. The placements you chose for the artifacts are very good.”

“Thank you.”

Lee Han relaxed a little.

He had recalculated everything to avoid artifact malfunctions due to their positions.

It was work that deserved some reward.

“But…”

“!”

Suddenly, the guild members’ faces turned serious.

Lee Han grew tense again, not knowing what mistake he’d made.

‘Damn. Was there a mistake after all? Time is— No, no point making excuses. We’re both professionals getting paid for this.’

There was no point making excuses about different schools of magic to someone who wasn’t a professor or student.

Lee Han steeled himself to find and fix the problem as quickly as possible.

“Wh—”

“Let me see that.”

Professor Alpen frowned and checked the report.

As the professor read quickly through the report, he seemed to find the issue and wore the same grave expression as the guild members.

“This is a bit odd.”

“You noticed too, Professor. I think this is an error.”

“Just in case, let’s double check. Didn’t you notice anything, Wardanaz? The amount of mana these artifacts use.”

Hearing Professor Alpen’s question, Lee Han started spinning his mind as fast as possible.

For efficiency, he had minimized the mana consumption of the fortress’s artifacts.

With such savings, you could get by installing fewer mana sources.

So Lee Han had minimized everything to the best of his knowledge…

‘Should I have cut it down even more?’

Thinking once again that real professional mages are on another level, Lee Han asked honestly.

“My apologies. Is the consumption still too high?”

“No… I mean it’s too low. There’s no way the artifacts would use this little.”

“Huh?”

Lee Han checked in puzzlement. Didn’t seem like he made a mistake.

“Simple artifacts can be cut down this much, though.”

“???”