Episode 688

“I know it’s tough, but if you catch an opportunity during the semester…”

Lee Han, suddenly feeling like a pitiful junior, desperately made excuses, but Direte and Ellendil shook their heads coldly.

No matter how you looked at it, sneaking supplies in at the start of the new semester was far more likely to succeed.

“Okay, but even at the start of the semester, doesn’t the principal inspect everyone?”

“That’s right.”

Even freshmen had experienced this.

After passing through Einrogard’s main gate, the next thing was Principal Skull’s inspection.

During this process, any snacks, hidden goods, or even servants freshmen tried to bring in would all be kicked back out.

Direte fetched a chalkboard and picked up a piece of chalk.

He decided to take the opportunity to explain everything as thoroughly as he could for his junior.

“But with every rule, there’s always a loophole.”

‘You look especially cool today, senior.’

Lee Han watched, eyes full of respect, as Direte—who didn’t seem half as impressive teaching black magic—applied principles of magical theory to the art of smuggling.

• Mixed with luggage

Detection risk: ★★★★☆

Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆

Capacity limit: ★★★☆☆

“As you know, Einrogard’s rules don’t prohibit legitimate items.”

As mean as the principal was, he didn’t block all circulation of goods.

Students couldn’t bring in items they got at Einrogard or through school activities—and even Lee Han’s Morningstar was such an item.

And aside from Lee Han’s special case, students had more and more things, the higher their year, that they had to bring out of Einrogard.

Even during break, you had to study, so you’d leave with all sorts of research materials and magical texts.

Hardworking students used these loads in clever ways when returning to school.

“This pile of baggage is messier than you’d think, so it’s easy to slip something in. If you put in a sack of coffee beans or an artifact of bread dough, it’s hard to spot.”

“But what if they check closely…?”

“Yeah. There’s no perfect method.”

Direte wrote some more on the board.

• Tossing in

Detection risk: ★★★☆☆

Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆

Capacity limit: ★★★★☆

Einrogard was protected by powerful magic, but it had the weakness of being too vast.

Looking at how intruders slipped in every year, it wasn’t impossible to make a breach for smuggling goods.

“Sometimes, while wandering the school grounds, you’ll find places where the flow of magic is weak. That’s where you toss in contraband.”

“That doesn’t sound bad, so why is the risk so high?”

“Because the principal regularly sends out dimensional hounds to gather up smuggled goods first.”

“……”

Lee Han was left speechless at this endless cat-and-mouse game.

No way would the principal just sit and watch smuggling attempts.

“And in remote places, sometimes monsters get to the goods and destroy or steal them before the principal’s minions arrive, so the recovery rate isn’t great.”

Direte said, almost regretfully.

If Einrogard weren’t in such a harsh environment, there’d be better ways.

“Sometimes, the bold try opening a magic hole near the main gate to toss in the goods, but it’s a pretty risky plan.”

“It does seem dangerous, disrupting the magic that defends the school walls.”

“Huh? No, it’s risky because you’re easy to spot there. Easier to track down, too.”

“…And disrupting the defensive magic…?”

“That’s the principal’s problem to handle.”

Ellendil nodded as if to say Direte was right.

Lee Han felt a bit dizzy at the ruthless pragmatism of his Einrogard seniors.

If a student’s duty was to sneak in goods, the principal’s duty was to clean up the mess!

“There are lots more methods besides these classic, basic ones.”

• Transformation magic use

Detection risk: ★★☆☆☆

Difficulty: ★★★★☆

Capacity limit: ★★☆☆☆

• Subspace use

Detection risk: ★☆☆☆☆

Difficulty: ★★★★★

Capacity limit: ★★★☆☆

…

…

“It’s mostly transformation magic and subspace artifacts…”

“How do you use transformation magic to smuggle?”

In response to Lee Han’s question, Ellendil kindly demonstrated. A potion bottle disappeared behind some hair on his head.

“There are plenty who just store stuff in their stomachs, too. Bigger races like that. As for subspace, you use an artifact enchanted with space magic to stash things inside.”

Direte, perhaps a little parched, took a sip of tea and continued.

“There are all kinds of other smuggling tricks. I’m just going over the most well-known ones. The winner is whoever comes up with the best combination.”

Veteran Einrogard students never relied on just one way.

Instead, they tried to smuggle using as many different methods as possible—never putting all the eggs in one basket.

If ninety-nine out of a hundred failed, even that one success was a win!

That was the basic Einrogard approach to smuggling.

If you could succeed just once, it was worth all the failures.

“The principal’s inspection method changes every year, so some luck is needed. Sometimes he checks every detail, sometimes it’s half-hearted. That’s why, if there’s anything you want to bring in, you’d better start preparing now.”

Direte’s special lecture was worth its weight in gold.

Lee Han was deeply impressed and nodded.

“Really, thank you. Senior. That was inspiring.”

“Was it really that good?”

“I think it was the most impressive lecture I’ve ever heard.”

“Really?”

Direte almost felt smug, then hesitated.

‘…Wait, is he saying this was more memorable than the black magic lessons last semester?’

That stung a little…

Ellendil, who had been quietly listening, now spoke up.

“What smuggling methods do you think will be popular this year?”

“Not sure. I’ve heard there’s talk of making fake students and hiding stuff inside, but I don’t know the details.”

“……”

As Lee Han pondered which method would be best, he shuddered at the creativity of his seniors.

Truly, the Einrogard upperclassmen were something else.

• * *

“Guys! We’re in trouble!!”

“???”

“W-what happened?”

Still in a deep sleep from the mountain ordeal, Lee Han’s friends jumped to their feet at his knock on the annex door.

“We’re late!”

“…Huh? Huh?! I-is it the new term already?”

Gainando hurried to check the calendar.

Thankfully, the dreaded “end of the world” start-of-term date was still well off.

“It’s still a ways away!”

“Gainando. Don’t get complacent just because there’s over a week left. Everyone else is already getting ready.”

‘Why does this sound so familiar…?’

Gainando tilted his head.

It sounded a lot like what Lee Han always said when prepping for exams.

-Hah… huff, huff. We finished all this; can’t we rest a bit now? Even play a round of Mage Cards…?

-Gainando. Don’t get complacent just because we finished up to here. Everyone else is making progress! We have to do more!

-N-no way! Are the others really further along than me?!

-Of course. I checked with the White Tiger Tower kids and they’re way ahead of you.

-“Ugh…!”

Much later, Gainando learned that, in fact, the White Tiger Tower students were making slower progress than he was.

Thinking back on that still filled him with bittersweet betrayal.

“You’re tricking us again, aren’t you?!”

“Gainando. ‘Again’? Are you saying I’ve tricked you before?”

“N-no, not reall—”

“How could you? When did I ever trick you? What month, what day?”

“I mean, you’re putting me on the spot, I can’t recall right now…”

“So you can’t recall, but you’re accusing your friend?”

“…My bad… what should I do?”

Gainando gave up and shut his mouth.

There was no arguing with Lee Han like this.

“Everyone up! We need to pack and get to Granden City right away.”

“What’s going on? Why are we leaving so early?”

Alsicle, watching the students, was curious.

“Pengherine, I overlooked something.”

“W-what is it? Don’t tell me the start date was different? If it’s the principal, he would totally pull something like that.”

Alsicle wondered if the skeleton principal had told them a different start date.

Maybe he’d used time-messing magic to trick complacent students.

The skeleton principal would definitely stoop to that.

“That’s not it. We need to get to Granden and prepare for smuggling.”

“Oh, right. Prepare for wha—?”

“Smuggling. Smuggling.”

“…Ah! For Einrogard!”

Alsicle briefly wondered if he should report this to the authorities, then realized that, for Einrogard students, smuggling was normal.

“We really need to start now?”

“Yes. I hear the upperclassmen are already there, getting ready.”

“Hmm…”

Nodding, Alsicle suddenly wondered.

Was it truly right for the Empire’s future leaders to put so much energy and time into smuggling?

But he couldn’t say anything—their faces were too earnest and passionate.

“Honestly… I didn’t see this coming. It’s ingenious.”

“Me neither, Ratford. We got complacent during break. The principal spotted our weakness. The later we arrive, the happier he’d be.”

“First, we need to figure out what we’re going to smuggle in. How much food stores do we have left…?”

“The Blue Dragon Tower’s got five sacks of flour, six of rice, a case of cheese, and dried meat…”

Lee Han and his friends reviewed the supply lists they’d made right before winter break.

What should they bring in to last the whole year?

Feeling someone behind him, Alsicle turned. From behind the veil, radiant light beamed out.

It was Lady Kraha.

“Pengherine, what are you all doing now?”

“Uh, w-we’re just… getting a head start on our studies for the new term…”

• No, I told you! We don’t need chocolate right now!
• Chocolate is a basic necessity! How can you study without chocolate? How do you expect to survive without hot cocoa?!
• S-sharp point…!

The students argued so loudly about smuggling that Alsicle didn’t even have a chance to make excuses.

He sighed in defeat.

What kind of senior magician couldn’t even stop this?

‘Still, it’s unjust. That Wardanaz kid is just weird…’

“You all look wonderful.”

“…?!”

Alsicle was flustered at Lady Kraha’s words.

Surprisingly, she didn’t seem angry at all.

“Ah, is that… you’re not… mad?”

“Look. You’re all having serious discussions with your friends about magic, aren’t you?”

• You little! I’m never lending you the crossword magazine again!
• Let go! And I don’t need the crossword!

Even as the conversation turned into bickering matches, Lady Kraha looked utterly pleased.

“I’m truly moved by your enthusiasm, everyone. If you need anything, the Kraha family will get it for you.”

“!”

“Uh… uh.”

Without thinking, Ratford let go of Gainando’s collar. Seeing this, Lady Kraha gestured reassuringly.

“You may grab him as much as you wish.”

“Thank you.”

Ratford grabbed Gainando’s collar again. Gainando, even as he wheezed, insisted they had to sneak in the magazines.