Episode 698

“Uh, why is this here?”

-Because you put it there, didn’t you?

The Death Knights glared sternly at Dehumcha.

Students sent to the punishment room often made many excuses.

Sleepwalking, multiple personalities, aftereffects of divination magic, and so on.

Of course, most of these excuses were dismissed without effect.

“This isn’t my bag! I definitely gave this to my junior…”

-You mean you put this in your junior’s bag?

The Death Knights’ gazes grew even colder.

The Death Knights handling this inspection knew well that Einrogard’s students would stop at nothing to pull off their smuggling schemes.

Including tricking innocent juniors to use as bait.

-Hmph, so your plan failed!

-For the crime of insulting the Master, attempting smuggling, and deceiving juniors, you’ll be punished!

“Damn, I get smuggling and tricking juniors—but why is telling the truth a crime?!”

Realizing he’d been found out, Dehumcha quickly threw down his bag and swung his staff to cast a spell.

A loud explosion resounded near the inspection line as his magic spread.

-An escape attempt!

“Escape attempt!”

The Death Knights rushed in, forming a solid phalanx. The students used the confusion to try breaking out by unleashing smoke and firing off illusions.

“Lee Han, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. I got away.”

Lee Han waved to his friends, having safely escaped.

What Lee Han had just done was very simple. So simple, it barely warranted being called a trick.

He’d dispelled the magic on his box, then stuck a newly enchanted bonecatcher parrot in the seniors’ luggage.

Never expecting a junior to know their plans, the seniors had no idea how to react when a bonecatcher parrot suddenly popped out and started screaming.

“The chaos seems worse than expected. Sure you’re okay?”

“I think they’ll be subdued soon.”

Lee Han coolly assessed the scene near the inspection line.

Dehumcha’s group was fighting valiantly, but since they hadn’t prepared for actual combat, they had their limits.

They formed walls of flame, set up magical circles to boost fire power, and tried to bring in spirits for chained attacks to push back the Death Knights, but their opponents were not so easy.

As the fire walls rose, the Death Knights immediately broke the chain spells and dispelled the wall summoning with a blow full of negative energy.

Then, with their master’s power, they filled the area with dark mist. The mages who inhaled the shadow element were shocked by the sensation of their vitality being sealed, causing them to lose control over their spells.

Dehumcha’s group staged a last-ditch barrage with all their prepared spells, but the Death Knights held firm with shield walls and low-ranking undead summons.

When those spells ran out, they’d surely be subdued.

‘They’re way too straightforward. Trying to win a power struggle against all these Death Knights…’

While Lee Han was doing his own unsolicited analysis of the skirmish, another group of seniors appeared.

This time, it was Ivanna’s group.

The reckless crew who combined physical enhancement and racial transformation magic to get through!

“Junior, where are you?”

“Ivanna senior, I’m here.”

“Now’s your chance. Let’s go!”

Not a single one of these new seniors considered helping Dehumcha during the fight.

Instead, they tried to use the confusion to sneak through inspection.

“Here. Drink this potion! It’s the potion that blocks inspection!”

“Yes, understood.”

The seniors, intending to trick Lee Han into drinking the potion and turn him into a giant, hesitated.

He was transforming more slowly than expected.

“Aren’t you going?”

“W-wait.”

“Just wait. The potion needs to kick in.”

Ivanna’s group didn’t know what happened when a mage had absurd levels of magic power.

Any external interference that could threaten them was instinctively repelled.

“Did you maybe give me the wrong thing? Try drinking it yourself.”

Lee Han swallowed another gulp, then offered it back to the seniors.

When the junior showed no effect, seniors really started to wonder if they’d used the wrong potion, and one tried a sip.

“Guh… GRAAAAH!”

The senior’s body ballooned instantly, transforming into a giant.

The Death Knights cried out, aghast.

-You really thought you could rush inspection in giant form?!

-Get the bone ballista! These filthy students!

“W-well, it’s come to this. Charge the inspection line!”

“We’re going through! We’re not hiding anything!”

-Ridiculous! If you’re so innocent, stand and wait!

“We are waiting! If you don’t inspect us now, we’re going in!”

“Push your way through!”

Before Dehumcha’s commotion ended, Ivanna’s group started another.

Seeing this, other smugglers saw their chance and surged toward inspection.

“Now’s the time!”

“We’ll pass through! Please inspect us! Oh, don’t have to? Okay, we’ll just go!”

-Insane students!

-■ ■■■■ ■■■!

-Please don’t curse so much, sir!

The Death Knights, as if expecting this, gathered at the inspection line, cursing as they went.

The few seniors still trying to bait more juniors hurried to do so.

“Junior, drink this potion!”

“Isn’t this a mix of berserker potion and blade bear transformation potion?”

“…How did you know? Did Eurde betray us? I thought he got caught by the principal!”

“He did get caught by the principal.”

“Shut up and drink! Every junior should go wild as a blade bear at least once!”

“If you bully your juniors, isn’t it off to the punishment room?”

“By that logic, the principal’s off to the punishment room first! If you don’t want to, I’ll feed it to you!”

Eurde’s remaining friends quickly whipped up the potion and drew it out of the bottle with their wands.

Then they transformed the contents into the form of a bat and sent it flying.

“Be summoned anew as a bat, liquid!”

“Cold, float as a shield!”

Lee Han immediately conjured an ice shield to block the front. With his quick reaction, the attempt to use the potion bat as an attack was thwarted.

With time bought, Lee Han reversed the opponent’s spell.

‘It’s like a paper bird summoning spell.’

Luckily, Lee Han had learned this kind of magic in his first year.

Summoning from nothing is complicated, needing a magic circle or reagent, but the opponent had kindly done all the prep.

All Lee Han had to do was steal control.

‘There will be a gap!’

“Break the shield first!”

“It’s tougher than expected, this guy. He must specialize in cold element!”

Magic crashed and fizzed over the ice shield.

‘I can hold a bit longer, maybe five seconds.’

Lee Han concentrated, monitoring what was left, focusing his magic sense.

The flow of nearby magic shifted. The opponent was about to try another summon.

“The potion’s slowing! I’ll re-summon!”

“Got it. Cover me!”

“Be summoned again as a ba—ugh?!”

Lee Han swung his staff and cast a counterspell.

Because he’d studied the spell structure thoroughly and learned a similar spell, it worked.

The senior, never dreaming a second-year would use high-level reverse spellcasting, was completely caught off guard. Control over the bat was lost.

“Be summoned anew, liquid!”

With the chant, Lee Han seized control of the potion. The potion changed into a bird shape and shot toward the seniors.

“What are you doing?! How could you let that get taken over?!”

“Paralyze!”

“You think a minor paralyze curse will—ugh!”

The senior, still stunned after the counterspell, paid the price.

Counting on his equipment’s magical defenses, he tried to tough out Lee Han’s paralysis, but the curse pierced right through.

Suddenly paralyzed, the potion went straight down his throat.

Gulp!

“No! He’ll turn into a blade bear!”

“…Then herd him toward the inspection! Damn it, junior, I’ll remember you! What’s your name?!”

“Bible Verdus!”

“You crazy bastard… fine! Rush the inspection!”

With one of their friends transforming into a blade bear, Eurde’s group gave up and retreated.

Victorious, Lee Han turned to the second-years.

“You all saw that? Now do you see what the seniors are up to?! Do you still want to smuggle with them?”

Lee Han’s repulsion of each senior’s offer was revenge for their trickery, but also for the other second-years.

There were too many blinded by greed who wouldn’t believe it unless they saw it with their own eyes!

“T-that’s…!”

Students from the White Tiger Tower stared in horror, and Lee Han nodded in satisfaction.

“What did I tell you?”

“Wardanaz took on a senior three to one and won?!”

“……”

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

He pointed at the moon and these useless kids looked at his finger!

“Is that really what you have to say?! You idiots who almost fell for that?”

“W-we do have to be careful though…”

The White Tiger Tower students were just too honest.

Apart from having received Lee Han’s help, everyone knew Wardanaz didn’t hesitate to blast White Tiger Tower students with magic when he was angry.

Given their tower was attacked most, their reaction made sense.

Even the Black Turtle Tower students seemed to agree, nodding along.

‘Hmm. I guess it’s never a bad idea to be ready for a dragon’s bite, even if you’re friendly with the dragon…’

If Lee Han had overheard, he’d have flipped the stew pot in outrage.

“It’s not that we don’t trust you, Wardanaz.”

“Right. It’s like the way we both respect and fear the principal. We trust you, but staying a little cautious…”

“Anyway, can you stop comparing Lee Han to the principal!”

Unable to take it anymore, Deorgyu scolded his friends.

Seeing that getting any angrier would only leave a scar, Lee Han called for Giselle.

“…Moradi. You explain it. If I say any more, I’ll pop a vein.”

‘Why me…’

Giselle looked displeased.

People might think they were close!

“Why are you making me do it?”

“…You helped out back at the estate. Lend me a hand, yeah?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

Students like Angrago and Dukema couldn’t believe their ears.

Who helped where with what?

Grinding her teeth, Giselle quickly got up.

“Don’t trust the seniors!”

“Moradi, you just…”

“Regardless of the grudge you all have against Wardanaz, you can’t trust seniors! You all saw with your own eyes what just happened!”

To change the subject, Giselle recited at least a hundred curses against Lee Han in her head as she shouted.

“Fall for that and you end up like them!”

“T-that’s true.”

“Absolutely.”

With senior smugglers simultaneously rioting at the inspection line, the commotion was wild.

The second-year students breathed a sigh of relief realizing they might have ended up among those caught.

As Lee Han watched along, he suddenly got curious.

“Moradi. You didn’t try to smuggle at all?”

“I found out the truth from my family’s senior. That’s why I wasn’t interested.”

“…Wait, you heard the truth and opted out?”

“Isn’t that normal?”

Giselle looked at Lee Han like he was the odd one.

If you knew the truth, you’d know how unfavorable things were for a new second-year trying to smuggle.

Anyone with sense would just give up this year—and Giselle naturally assumed Lee Han had done the same.

“…Y-Yeah. I didn’t do anything.”

“Thought so.”

“Yup. I didn’t do it.”

“Why’d you say it twice? I get it.”