Episode 743

“Oh—Senior!”

Entering the tower, Lee Han was surprised to see a familiar face.

It was Illeg of the Chaegla family, a spectacled bear beastkin student, waiting with a gentle expression.

Of course, even if the man before him looked gentle and kind, Lee Han wasn’t fooled.

He still recalled vividly the superhuman strength this priestly senior had demonstrated in the library club last time.

“Wardanaz. Good to see you. How’s school? Not overworking yourself?”

“I think I’m doing alright. Overwork… Um…”

Lee Han hesitated.

He felt a bit guilty saying he wasn’t overworking himself.

“By the way, senior, are you interested in music magic too?”

“Yes. I’m quite curious about several aspects of music magic.”

“Isn’t music magic pretty inefficient, like other primitive magics?”

“But it has irreplaceable strengths.”

Illeg’s eyes sparkled as he replied.

As a fifth-year student, Illeg didn’t lose interest just because something wasn’t immediately effective or didn’t yield results.

This library club priest was interested in the spatial control properties unique to music magic.

It was quite appealing that one could enchant an entire area without using word magic, personal domains, or high-level grand magic.

“Of course, since most scores have been lost and efficiency research is lacking, its effects are weak and limited… But that’s why we prepared this tower. Its power will amplify the magic.”

Illeg pointed to -Tower of Echoes- with one mighty, muscular arm.

In this semester’s music magic project, Illeg planned to restore some lost musical scores and use them to try enchanting several spots around Einrogard.

The ultimate goal: to recreate semi-permanent music magic!

‘Oh.’

Hearing the muscular senior lay out a systematic plan with clear goals kindled Lee Han’s interest.

Music magic had always seemed too limited, but as Illeg said, if scores could be restored and efficiency increased, it could grant effects in chosen locations.

‘Hm. If it’s doable… Starting with a stamina-recovery effect for my room. Then a focus effect for the second-year common lounge. No, that’s not enough. I’d better add a cursed song that causes pain when someone misbehaves. Intelligence boost for the base. Growth for the hut…’

“Wardanaz. I heard you know how to perform a music magic piece. Could you show us?”

Even if he hadn’t known any music spells, if a senior with Illeg’s build had asked, Lee Han would have tried to master one on the spot.

Luckily, Lee Han did know one.

“I have one, but the lyrics are sort of strange. The effect is mainly amplifying shadow element…”

“Wardanaz! That alone is amazing.”

Not just because Illeg was kind—other students interested in music magic were nodding as well.

With music magic just beginning to get rebuilt from the ground up, even being able to perform one complete spell was a huge help for fellow students.

The bard Ifadur seemed to think so too and encouraged Lee Han.

“Wardanaz, there are no such things as weird songs in the Empire. Whether it’s a concerto, satire, symphony or rhapsody, every song is beautiful in its own right.”

Encouraged by the seniors and bard, Lee Han realized his worries had been misplaced.

‘Right. That’s true.’

Even if the piece he’d practiced over winter break sounded odd, it was still a fine spell.

A song that boosted shadow elements and altered the area’s attributes could be useful.

…Mainly for black magic, but still.

“Then I’ll give it a try.”

To repay the warm encouragement, Lee Han took out his violin and began to play the hymn.

“Praise the sacrifice of freshmen, O magicians…”

“?”

“??”

“What did your seniors see? They saw the devils of hell, and those devils walking about…”

“???”

“????”

The lyrics were so peculiar that students couldn’t focus on the changes happening in the room.

Even though the lights had been set bright, darkness deepened as the shadow element thickened around them.

But everyone kept whispering about the lyrics.

“What kind of lyrics are those? Sounds like something from the Three Kingdoms era…”

“Was Einrogard around even then?”

“The buildings, maybe? Wait—are those all lived experiences?”

“No way… right? You’d have to be the unluckiest person in the Empire…”

After finishing, Lee Han marveled at the boost in shadow element and how long the effect lasted.

“Impressive—this tower’s effect really works! I didn’t know it’d last this long.”

“……”

“……”

“Seniors?”

At last, Illeg was the first to recover and began to clap heartily.

At once, the other students took his cue and shot him glances.

clapclapclapclapclapclap!

“That was a moving song!”

“We’ve certainly proved the effect of music magic!”

“Wardanaz, having a junior like you makes us very happy!”

Burying any questions about the lyrics, the seniors hurriedly praised their junior.

Lee Han bowed, proud.

“Thank you. I didn’t expect such compliments.”

“Alright, how about we practice together?”

Illeg addressed the students.

The best way to learn magic was to cast it yourself.

And now that they had a junior with a complete score, it was all the easier to practice.

“Excuse me, junior.”

“Yes?”

“About these lyrics…”

“So the song is weird after all?”

“No, no! Not at all—it’s just, I’m curious about the meaning. Here—‘They saw the devils of hell, and those devils walking about’—what does that mean?”

“That was from something I experienced last year…”

“……”

• * *

-O magicians…

“Oh, they’re singing.”

“Reckon music magic is practical?”

“I don’t know. But if Senior Illeg’s working on it, there must be good prospects.”

The finishing masonry club students paused outside -Tower of Echoes-, unable to help listening to the music drifting out.

Now that they thought about it, such cultural luxuries were rare in Einrogard.

Sure, outside you could hear music recorded by magic, but inside, who bothered with that?

“Nice…”

“If there’s a chance, I want to request the Lich Hunt Overture. I love that song.”

“It’s a good opera. The moral about the lich being defeated is nice too.”

-What did your seniors see? They saw the devils of hell, and those devils walking about…

“?”

“???”

The masonry club students were so wrapped up in the music that they only noticed the lyrics belatedly.

Darkness flickered ominously from the windows of the Tower of Echoes.

“…Wanna go back?”

“Let’s do that.”

Upon reflection, no matter how nice the music, lingering near a magic research lab wasn’t a wise idea.

• * *

“Didn’t expect results right from the start!”

The students gathered for music magic were energized and delighted.

At first the lyrics had felt awkward, but once they kept practicing, the strangeness faded. More and more, they realized these were lyrics any Einrogard student could relate to.

“Thank you, Wardanaz. We’ll have to practice regularly!”

“We should show this to others as well. Even if the effect is weak, the song alone’s worth it.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Hearing his seniors truly enjoy the piece filled Lee Han with a deep, rewarding joy.

Maybe this was what it felt like to be an artist.

‘I thought the lyrics were odd, but I guess they’re okay here.’

“Alright, everyone, gather up!”

Illeg, in gratitude to the students who came to study music magic on the weekend, poured hot cocoa from a kettle and pointed at the bookshelf.

Its shelves were crammed with ancient books and scores, their dates impossible to guess.

“These are the music magic scores I’ve gathered from the library. Few are complete—most need restoring—but there are a few in good enough shape to try right away. Here, Ifadur will help you play and sing these pieces.”

The students’ eyes shone with curiosity and anticipation.

Everyone here was interested in learning and using music magic, so it was only natural to be captivated by the piles of scores.

“Ifadur.”

“Yes.”

The old bard, a turtlefolk, nodded and stood. One by one, he drew out scores in decent condition and began reading them aloud.

-“Lizard Calling the Rain,” seems to be a panpipe piece. Likely a water element effect… Intermediate level to play.

In music magic, the performance was as important as the magic itself, and naturally, higher difficulty pieces meant harder magic.

The students, listening closely, gauged which instruments they knew best and how hard each piece would be for them.

-“Next is ‘Eactus’s March.’ Uses drums, definitely needs percussion. Might be useful in combat…”

“I’d like to try learning that one!”

One senior quickly raised a hand.

Illeg shook his head.

“We’ll select pieces a different way.”

“Huh? How?”

Illeg held up a bunch of folded slips of paper.

The students watched, confused.

“We’re drawing lots?”

“Yes. Otherwise, everyone would fight over the popular pieces. This way, we get the widest possible practice and records.”

Lee Han tilted his head.

From a research perspective, casting a wide net to gather information on diverse scores was logical.

It was important to learn which pieces were good, which not so much, which had unique effects, etc.

But for the students here to learn music magic, each had their own limited instrument skills and specific songs they could sing.

If they had to learn an unfamiliar type, wouldn’t that take much longer?

“If it’s the wrong type, won’t the practice take way longer?”

“That’s true. Illeg should reconsider.”

The senior next to Lee Han nodded in agreement. Others chimed in as well.

“This only raises the already high difficulty.”

“It’s not like we can do much beyond the tower anyway.”

With everyone more or less in agreement, the seniors called out to Illeg.

“Senior!”

“What is it?”

Lee Han felt oddly nervous, even though he hadn’t said anything.

What would Illeg do about this junior uprising?

“Let’s hurry up and get started! We want to see what we’ll play!”

“Yes! Hold on.”

Illeg grinned and started mixing up the slips.

Lee Han stared, incredulous at the conversation, as the seniors calmly explained.

“We can’t refuse Senior Illeg’s words.”

“Yeah. As long as we complain amongst ourselves, that’s enough.”

“……”

Lee Han admired the seniors’ mastery of social skills.