Episode 829

“Why are you looking at me like that? Don’t tell me you’re doubting what I said?”

“Yeah.”

“Rafadael can back me up.”

“Being idiots together just means you’ll both get fooled.”

‘Isn’t that a bit much?’

Lee Han thought to himself.

While Angrago and Rafadael could be a bit gullible, calling them idiots was excessive.

“Wardanaz. We’ll be okay, right?”

Angrago tiptoed closer as the two conversed.

Coming into the punishment room brought back several painful memories for him.

-They punished me for raiding the kitchen! I could pay them back, couldn’t I?

-Student, please be quiet.

-Hmph. I’ll keep complaining! Aren’t you death knights ashamed? Imprisoning students just for raiding a kitchen!

-If you don’t stop, I’ll have to make you quiet.

-Let’s see you try!

-Ugh. Turn to stone!

It wasn’t just painful memories—there were many dangers in the punishment room.

With traps and defenses everywhere to block escaping or sneaking students, even outstanding wizards could be caught if they let their guard down.

“Haha, of course it’ll be fine.”

“Y-yeah? I mean, you wouldn’t come down here for no reason, Wardanaz. You must have planned ahead.”

When Angrago left with a sigh of relief, Lee Han looked at Giselle.

“Don’t you think White Tiger Tower students trust people a little too easily?”

“Shut up.”

• * *

Lee Han, after leading his friends down to the punishment room, used courage and wisdom to overcome the difficulties.

“Hello.”

-Good. Hello, student Lee Han.

“I’ll just pass through.”

-Of course. Go ahead, student Lee Han.

As Lee Han politely greeted the death knight patrolling the hallway and walked past, the White Tiger Tower students stared in shock.

What did we just see??

“W-wait… Wait, Wardanaz.”

“What is it? Don’t distract me. I’ll lose my way.”

Lee Han, glaring at his map, answered curtly when his friends called out.

Even among the ever-shifting grounds of Einrogard, the punishment room changed like boiling soup.

Lee Han had mapped out some core routes, but if he got careless, he could step right into the wrong place.

“Wasn’t that a death knight just now?”

“…Do you guys not know what a death knight is? Rafadael, aren’t you Black Magic School…”

“I’m not asking because I don’t know! I’m asking how you convinced him!”

Branded a Black Magic School failure, Rafadael protested.

He wondered if Lee Han had used illusion magic to confuse the death knights.

He knew these knights had overwhelming magic, but perhaps Wardanaz…

“Oh. It’s just personal ties.”

“……”

“……”

The White Tiger Tower students fell silent again.

Polite though they were, death knights were the principal’s minions and objects of fear.

If words alone could persuade them, Einrogard students wouldn’t be tormented so much.

‘What kind of stunt do you have to pull to get on good terms with death knights?’

‘The principal has always favored Wardanaz, hasn’t she?’

‘I guess that’s true.’

Luckily, Lee Han didn’t hear their deep insults as he focused on his map.

“This way. Follow me. Dergeu, be careful on that path. Tap the sculpture on the wall and the floor will collapse, dropping you two floors down.”

“!”

“Don’t worry. Wardanaz, no second-year is dumb enough to touch that kind of thing.”

Giselle responded, seeing Lee Han was a little too concerned for the White Tiger Tower students.

Now that they were all second-years, they knew not to go poking random things at Einrogard.

‘Gainando did poke it, though,’ Lee Han thought as he proceeded.

There were things Lee Han could do in the punishment room that even most seniors couldn’t.

Of course, they still had to be on guard against natural traps or surprises, but just avoiding the death knights and Perkuntra’s pursuit gave them a huge advantage.

“Oh. Where did the warden go?”

Finding the floor where Perkuntra was usually found empty, Lee Han nervously stopped a passing death knight and asked.

The death knight explained kindly.

-Two days ago, some students summoned a void creature and destroyed the area. The warden moved downstairs. If you push through those bars, there’s a stairwell.

-Thank you.

“This is nothing like I expected.”

Watching for entertainment from behind, Lagesa grumbled.

She wanted to see students endure a dungeon – but this was more like a tour.

“Why is she even following us?”

“She wants to see how Einrogard students use magic.”

“I think she just wants to watch us fall into a trap…”

Thunk—

Before the conversation even ended, someone stepped on the edge of the floor and triggered a trap.

Because Perkuntra had moved, they entered an unfamiliar passage and encountered an unknown trap.

“Finally!”

Lagesa shouted in delight. The White Tiger Tower students reacted quickly.

“Keep your distance and hold your breath!”

“Check above!”

Once they spread out and checked for cloud or ceiling-drop type traps, the White Tiger Tower students showed real experience.

Any second-year could handle this much now, but…

Einrogard always exceeded expectations.

Suddenly, in the very center, space twisted and a sphere appeared. If you touched it, it would teleport you elsewhere in the punishment room.

“!!!”

Those who had moved already were caught off guard. Who’d have thought it would aim for those who had dodged?

“This way.”

Lee Han immediately used telekinesis.

He swept the students toward him and batted away the sphere.

Thud!

“The traps are more advanced underground. They target from a distance now instead of just nearby.”

He spoke to Lagesa.

If not for -Wardanaz Telekinesis-, which was optimized for speed, someone might have been knocked out.

“How fortunate.”

Lagesa answered with a mischievous smile. Her face said “fortunate,” but she clearly didn’t think so.

“…You aren’t disappointed I saved them, are you?”

“Of course not! Just keep moving. Wasn’t it from the steps down that you didn’t know the way?”

“……”

Meeting Lagesa’s expectant eyes with lukewarm indifference, Lee Han promptly summoned the skeleton knight Gonadaltes.

“You should go check carefully.”

“Hey! Don’t make it boring!”

Despite Lagesa’s protest, Lee Han was meticulous. The other students supported this approach.

“Wardanaz. You’re right.”

“Don’t let the outsider get in your head!”

‘This year’s second-years are all so shameless,’ Lagesa muttered.

Maybe it was the Wardanaz boy, but even with an outsider guest, no one worried about appearances.

Normally, someone would have stepped up and insisted on searching themselves…

‘But here’s a good target!’

Lagesa eyed a likely boy and sidled over to Angrago.

Angrago flinched and tried to edge away.

“You’re from the Alpha House, right? Those honored knights of the sea!”

“Huh! You know my family?”

“Of course! So will you really just stand around waiting while your friend handles everything?”

“T-that’s…”

“Surely a knight wouldn’t give up a glorious chance?”

Her subtle encouragement got to Angrago, who eventually ran over to Lee Han.

“Wardanaz!”

“?”

“I’ll go in and scout too. I’ve gotten stronger… Ow! Ow! OW!”

Lee Han smacked Angrago on the back with his staff. The White Tiger Tower students didn’t try to stop him.

“Angrago’s been talking nonsense, probably because he hasn’t been smacked for a while.”

“If we just wait, Wardanaz will handle everything on his own.”

“……”

Lagesa thought the current year’s White Tiger Tower students were strange.

It was odd that they let their own friend get smacked by an outsider student, and odd how they followed along like sheep…

Thud!

Gonadaltes, who’d rushed ahead, was immediately unsummoned.

A soul-absorption trap targeted undead. A red haze rose and sucked in the skeleton’s soul.

“Ah! It was destroyed. Oh well?”

“I could assemble another skeleton knight and send it in.”

“I heard from Professor Baegrek you use orthodox black magic, right?”

‘When did she hear about that?’

Lee Han made a sour face.

It wasn’t Baegrek, but for some reason, rumors of his academic progress kept spreading.

“Yes, I know it.”

“Orthodox black magic is excellent, but it has its weaknesses. The puppets you create have no soul. They won’t spot traps.”

In the Empire, black magic summoning usually meant contracting beings from another dimension.

It was more efficient for repeated summoning.

Compared to that, the old black magic Lee Han (forcibly) learned meant physically assembling an undead, then controlling it.

It was harder and, at times like this, couldn’t even set off the traps.

‘Maybe I should have just stuck with the modern method…’

“Now’s the time for a student to go in, right?”

“No thanks. I’ll just summon another.”

“Again? It just got unsummoned and must be cranky now. Haven’t you heard the tale of wizard Oondorgu, who starved to death after being trapped by ghouls?”

Regardless, Lee Han summoned his skeleton knight again.

“Could you go in once more?”

Gonadaltes bowed politely, then dashed right back into the trap.

Lagesa’s jaw dropped.

What kind of undead control was that?!

‘A monster…’

Of course, all he’d shown before already bordered on monstrous, but that was the glimmer of a genius.

To command an undead so forcefully required the cruelty of a grand archdemon.

“Kid, you’d do just fine in the demon realm.”

“Why would you say something so awful?”

Watching his summoned creature, Lee Han could only protest.

• * *

It took some time, but the outcome was certain.

Unlike other wizards, Lee Han could supply magic and send his summons again after they got destroyed.

After several repeats, he mapped out the passage’s secrets.

“Let’s go down.”

What brings you here?

Kwa-rurung!

Thunder and lightning crashed in the distance, surging through the walls and floor.

The students tensed unconsciously, feeling the immense presence.

“I came to ask for help.”

Help! Since you didn’t invoke the power of your contract, I could refuse, but… since you came all the way here, let’s hear it.

Perkuntra’s voice echoed to Lee Han alone.

The other students, tense from the growing thunder, got ready to react.

Usually, in Einrogard, this kind of sign meant an enemy was near…

“Thank you.”

No need. To be honest, I figured you’d come.

“!”

“How did you know?”

Lee Han was shocked.

Did Thunder Emperor spirits even have precognition?

Of course. It’s only natural. Maybe you mages don’t get it, but Dukema never forgets a loss. He must have sent you a letter, right?

“…No, that’s not it.”