Episode 748

The giants lifted the Cooking Club members one by one onto their shoulders and unleashed the mountain-wrecking sheep.

The mountain-wrecking sheep began to hunt for traces of magic with a ferocity as if to destroy the world itself.

-Find a place that feels stuffy and unpleasant!

Ikurusha shouted to the giants.

They weren’t sorcerers, but their instincts were sharp and keen enough to match.

If the place where the boy Wardanaz had gone missing was bubbling with wicked magic, they had to look for places the giants instinctively avoided.

Rumble!

“What was that sound?”

Meanwhile, members of the Library Club approaching from another direction stopped at the distant roar.

The vast Einrogard mountain range was so filled with dangers that you couldn’t survive if you didn’t pay attention to even the smallest noise.

“O sound, reveal your identity.”

Sevius recited an incantation.

It was a spell to reveal the identity behind a sound.

“Senior Sevius, what is it?”

“……”

Instead of answering, Sevius wiped sweat from his brow. The Library Club members panicked at the sight.

What’s wrong?

“What is it? A mammoth?”

“That’s a huge noise. Isn’t it a mountain-wrecking sheep?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way a mountain-wrecking sheep would come this far down. If it does, it’s the end of the world.”

No sooner had they finished speaking than the head of a giant suddenly rose above the hill.

The mountain-wrecking sheep leaped and landed before the students.

-You help too! A student is missing!

“……”

“……”

The Library Club members struggled to understand the situation.

Giants, a mountain-wrecking sheep, and…

Other club magicians who had already been kidnapped?

“Why are you here??”

“Looking for a junior. …And you?”

“We’re also looking for a junior…”

-Hurry!

-Is this the time to chat?! How rude!

The giants barked sharply.

This was no time to be idling; the magicians were chatting leisurely.

“S-sorry.”

The students apologized under the giants’ scolding.

They couldn’t help but feel as if they were uncultured, rude people.

They had no idea why the giants were helping them search…

Swish—

“!”

Sevius’s eyes went wide as he saw a huge book flying through the sky.

It was Illeg senior’s flight artifact.

And riding along were…

‘Other fifth years?!’

It was understandable for club members to step up, since the new juniors were so valuable, but why were the busy fifth-year students willing to take part?

‘How many people have gathered in these mountains?’

• * *

“Direte, are you listening?”

“I said I’d help with your research! Say it one more time and I’ll mark it a hundred times!”

“But I’ve only said it seven times. If I say it one more, it’ll be eight.”

“Please don’t fight, you two.”

Illeg intervened between Yukbeltire and Direte.

There was much work ahead, so fighting would get them nowhere.

“Still, you’re impressive. You actually persuaded Yukbeltire.”

“It wasn’t persuasion, it was negotiation.”

Illeg, being a fellow Library Club member and having been kidnapped while researching music magic, was personally invested, but Yukbeltire—true to being Verdus’s disciple—wouldn’t help just for being in the same group.

Direte only managed to bring her along by agreeing to assist with Yukbeltire’s research.

‘Should I just steamroll through everything instead?’

“Wouldn’t it have been better to bring Caton too?”

“I tried, but they said he’s missing again. Seems to be somewhere in the desert region…”

If their fifth-year friend from White Tiger Tower had been here, he could’ve been a big help, but they couldn’t drag in someone who wasn’t available.

Direte sighed as he looked down.

The ashen mountain range was peaceful, completely unaware of his inner turmoil…

‘…????’

Direte’s eyes went wide as he saw giants rampaging everywhere with students.

“Yukbeltire. Look below.”

At his friend’s call, Yukbeltire sighed.

She was busy using her artifact to assist in the search nearby, so she found his call annoying.

Direte was too scatterbrained despite his talents.

“Direte, if you’re about to tell me to enjoy the scenery again to cheer up, stop. I’m not a child whose mood improves at a nice view.”

“Just. Look.”

After a few past attempts to cheer her up with beautiful scenery had only led to “How does this help my magic?” Direte had no intention of calling her over any scenery.

“…!”

“Giants!”

Yukbeltire and Illeg were both shocked when they looked down.

The giants were clearly searching for someone.

Some Library Club members had already been captured by the giants.

“Friends, our club juniors have been caught. We have to help!”

“Chaegla.”

Yukbeltire called Illeg in a serious voice.

“Stop dragging along juniors who can’t keep up. It does nothing for your magic.”

Illeg ignored her naturally.

“Direte, can you help if we have to face giants?”

“I can help, but those giants… they’re my junior’s friends.”

“?”

“??”

The two fifth-year students stared at Direte, as if to say, “What are you talking about?”

Direte blushed slightly.

“They’re really friends! They must be looking for Wardanaz.”

“How could—?”

“I see.”

Unlike Illeg, who was interested in and curious about his juniors, Yukbeltire simply accepted reality coolly.

Whether her junior was friends with giants was irrelevant to Yukbeltire herself.

If the giants weren’t needed for research, she saw no need for unnecessary questions.

“In that case, let’s use the giants’ instincts.”

No matter how great a mage’s magic, there was no such thing as a perfect spell.

There was always a gap, and if they cleverly exploited that gap, they could rescue the junior without the archmage noticing.

Yukbeltire decided to follow the giants’ sixth sense.

“Yukbeltire, if the giants and our juniors really find a gap in the spell, how long do you think it’ll take us before we can get in?”

“At least 1…”

“One day??”

“One month. What are you talking about?”

“No, it has to be settled in one day.”

“Direte, just because you force it…”

“JUST DO IT!”

• * *

“Cough!”

Lee Han was knocked backwards.

This time, it wasn’t the crazy doppelgänger’s attack but his spell’s failure.

Failing to maintain the form, the telekinetic force burst in all directions and blasted Lee Han away.

‘…Now I see why people just use spells like -Low-rank Manipulation-.’

-Low-rank Manipulation- had safely capped output, so even if it failed, there wasn’t much danger.

But the moment you try to crank up the output for full, freeform use, as Lee Han was attempting, the risk for failure soars.

‘I can manage to blast it as a shockwave, but maintaining a whip form and swinging it is just…’

But it wasn’t all failure.

Lee Han himself was surprised at just how compatible he was with telekinesis.

Especially in casting speed, it was practically finished.

“Strike!”

Bang!

With a condensed incantation, compressed telekinetic force struck the wall.

The speed of converting mana into telekinetic force, as well as condensing the incantation, had succeeded faster than he’d thought.

‘If it’s like this, maybe I really can go non-verbal soon.’

Lee Han wasn’t aware, but the trials he’d experienced over the past year were blooming his innate talent even more.

Moreover, the unique nature of telekinesis—cast entirely with the mage’s mind, without borrowing elemental power—actually made the difficulty lower for Lee Han.

Instant casting with overwhelming magic power and focus.

If he could just conquer the hardest part of this spell, non-verbal casting…

“Who are you?”

“!”

A voice he’d never heard came from behind; Lee Han spun around in surprise.

A mage in a mask made of true silver, wearing old-fashioned attire not seen in the empire.

Unable to read the opponent’s intent, Lee Han tensed his guard.

“A new disciple.”

The crazy doppelgänger answered instead of Lee Han.

Though there was no visible form, the voice rang out as if echoing through the workshop, confirming to Lee Han that he was always being watched to prevent escape.

‘Good thing I didn’t try to bolt.’

“Master, may I speak? The students of Einrogard are certainly talented, but most are still unpolished gems. Can they truly meet your expectations…”

Thunk!

A blade of darkness ignited out of thin air and pierced the mage’s body.

Coughing painfully, Antagondals still managed to apologize.

“…Forgive me, master.”

“I let you off easy with titles because you’re a servant, yet you overstep. Say one more word.”

The blade spun, tearing Antagondals apart again.

Lee Han realized with horror that, up till now, the crazy doppelgänger had been relatively kind to him.

To stab someone just for saying something displeasing!

‘Even if he’s a disciple—no, a servant, this is too much!’

But Antagondals didn’t seem to mind.

He pulled the blade of darkness from his body, swept away the evil energy with a wave of his hand, and sealed the wound. Silver threads intertwined in the air, binding his injury firmly shut.

After roughly patching the wound, Antagondals gazed at Lee Han through his mask.

“Are you alright?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your injury.”

“Oh. Once you know what magic it is, it’s really not that hard to heal.”

Antagondals’ voice sometimes sounded like a young man’s, sometimes like an old man’s.

It seemed both masculine and feminine, and the race was even more ambiguous.

“Judging by your expression, I suppose that was a bit of a shock for an Einrogard student. Why? Surprised to see a disciple stabbed by a master as part of magical training?”

“To be honest, yes.”

The archmage let out a giggle from within the mask and cast a soundproof barrier to keep the conversation private.

“I wouldn’t regret offering my soul, so what’s the big deal about being stabbed? It’s a trade. That monster gets a servant who worships them, and I get fragments of ancient magic. Suits me fine.”

With that, Lee Han realized the other wasn’t actually considering the crazy doppelgänger their master.

It was closer to a collaborative exchange born of matching interests.

‘The mindset of old-time mages is really hard to follow.’

“I saw the apparition you left in the forest.”

“An apparition?”

Lee Han explained the vision of Antagondals pleading and raging at the crazy doppelgänger.

Hearing this, Antagondals burst into laughter again.

“You saw that? If the monster brought you here, your sensitivity must be impressive.”

“The apparition was different from what I saw directly, though…”

“Of course. What you saw was the moment when that monster went mad.”

“??”

Lee Han was baffled; could the crazy doppelgänger get crazier?

“Sometimes that monster gets a little generous. I did my best to appeal emotionally, even put on a human face for those occasions.”

The crazy doppelgänger generally focused solely on what it considered honor, but very rarely a generous spell would come over him.

Antagondals was trying to take advantage of those rare moments, but hadn’t gotten much for his trouble.

“Why is it sometimes generous?”

“Haha! If there’s a moment the monster gets weak, it should be exploited. Why care about the reason?”

The magical criminal was content to coddle the crazy doppelgänger for scraps of ancient magic.

But Lee Han couldn’t help but be curious that the skeleton principal’s crazy doppelgänger could sometimes act generously.

‘Maybe he still retains some sanity?’

For someone desperate to escape, it was a hope too important to ignore.

“So what task did that monster give you?”

Lee Han explained the task he’d been given by the crazy doppelgänger.

And Antagondals let out the loudest laugh of the day.

“Dead man walking!”