Episode 953
by CristaeEpisode 953
‘Damn. I overdid it.’
Coming back to his senses, Lee Han reflected deeply.
There was a reason why those old tales always showed mages led astray by evil power only to self-destruct.
No power of evil came without a price.
“What do you mean…?”
Ellendil, startled, wondered if his Junior was already under the artifact’s influence.
He had clearly intended to explain, so why close the artifact?
“…You were just about to explain, weren’t you?”
“No.”
No sooner had he finished than the Echo stone forcibly activated again.
And the Mad Clone’s phantom flowed out.
A member of the royal family will have to visit personally. Tell me the location.
“Actually, it looks like all the problems have been solved.”
The Mad Clone ignored Lee Han and spoke directly to Ellendil.
Where is it?
“Y-yes?”
When the human-form skull Headmaster spoke directly to him, Ellendil froze like a statue.
For every Einrogard student, a primal fear of the skull Headmaster was embedded deep in the soul.
Furthermore, the human-form skull Headmaster was often even more mad than the basic skeleton form.
The last time Ellendil had seen the human-form skull Headmaster was when he ripped apart magic criminals trying to contact Einrogard students in the Western Empire…
No wonder Ellendil was paralyzed.
I asked where it is.
“U-uh… Granden City Guard’s Second Barracks…”
Got it.
The Mad Clone turned off the Echo stone. Lee Han glared at Ellendil.
‘How can a 4th-year have such a weak heart!’
If it had been Senior Direte, he’d have held out with, ‘I’ll die before I betray my Junior!’
But it couldn’t be helped. Not every Senior could be like Direte.
Lee Han sighed.
“You guys better head back.”
“What? Why?”
The friends, busy cutting up the mercenaries’ coats (the fabric was too nice to throw away), looked puzzled at Lee Han’s words.
“Another mage’s coming soon. I think it could be dangerous.”
“Wardanaz. What do you take us for?”
The friends replied with looks of warm friendship.
They weren’t weak enough to shrink away just because a dangerous mage was arriving.
‘Wow. Truly close friends.’
Ellendil was inwardly amazed.
How could students from different towers be this close?
“It’s the Mad Clone of the Headmaster. Hurry and go back.”
“…But it’s not right to just ignore what you say and be stubborn. Got it!”
“Wardanaz. It’s not fear—it’s simply that we respect your advice, you understand?”
The friends immediately changed their attitude.
Refusing to heed expert advice in a dangerous situation could lead everyone to ruin.
Watching the friends dash away, Ellendil was flabbergasted.
“What’s with… those kids…?”
“They listen well to me. Anyway, let’s get ready for the Headmaster’s Clone to come.”
At his Junior’s words, Ellendil nodded.
Even as a mere clone, dealing with the Headmaster’s clone was not comforting.
Besides, the opponent was out of his mind—potentially even more dangerous for that.
Shrrrrk—
Dozens of twigs, like vines, grew from the ground and covered Ellendil, taking on the form of thick armor.
“…What are you doing?”
“Huh? Uh… Getting ready, right?”
“……”
Even to the eye, the Senior was clearly preparing to get hit ‘with less pain,’ which left Lee Han speechless.
“Not that kind of preparation. He’s going to teach us magic—how could we study in this collapsed basement?”
“He’s going to teach magic???”
When the Senior suddenly showed the intelligence of an Einrogard 1st-year or lower, Lee Han was baffled.
“Why else would he come?”
“Retri… Ah, never mind. Okay, I’ll get ready!”
Ellendil dismissed the armor and hurried around. Lee Han thought to himself.
‘Hmm. Senior Ellendil may be a 4th-year, but his social skills are lower than those of the black magic faction.’
It was an insult to both sides.
- * *
‘Is this really okay?’
Ellendil couldn’t stop pacing the private room lent by Daihal Dalkard.
His Junior had said, ‘He’s coming to teach us magic,’ but to Ellendil, that was impossible to believe.
It made no sense that the Mad Clone of the skull Headmaster would come for something like that.
‘Maybe I should run even now???’
Breaking the Echo stone and running as far away as possible…
Meanwhile, Lee Han was watching Ellendil with a look that could only be called pitiful.
‘Why is he so restless?’
Ellendil didn’t realize it, but this job had dropped his standing in Lee Han’s eyes lower and lower.
Though he’d started with the reputation below Direte, he was now beneath Yukveltire.
Bang!
“You’re here?”
“Yes.”
The Mad Clone entered, surveying the room briefly before calling for a servant.
“To put a royal apprentice in a pigsty like this. Inform your master immediately. If he doesn’t provide a proper room, he’ll answer to me.”
“Y-yes!”
The terrified servant tried to run for it, but an equally terrified Lee Han sprang up to block him.
“Wait, wait! I specifically asked for this room!”
“So you’ve taken to living like a beggar? Actually, considering the state of the magic school, it fits.”
‘It’s your fault!’
Lee Han felt a bit wronged.
Of course, the Mad Clone wasn’t the actual person, so maybe he was, but still—it wasn’t totally not his fault, either.
“I specifically rented this kind of room since I begged urgently.”
Ahsan’s brother had wanted to drive out the Baldrogard mages staying in the building and give the largest suite, but Lee Han declined.
He didn’t want to see -The Arrogant Rudeness of Einrogard Students—Should We Tolerate This?- in the Imperial paper.
And causing a scene didn’t seem wise, considering the Mad Clone’s identity.
If the skull Headmaster later reproached him for doing nothing while his fake ruined his reputation, who could Lee Han complain to then?
The Mad Clone sighed, as if not even sure where to start explaining.
“Didn’t know you were this stupid. I should’ve had Intarendals give you extra etiquette lessons. What do you think?”
“…Nyeh?”
Startled by suddenly being addressed, Ellendil, who’d been hiding in the corner all along, jumped out of his skin.
In fact, he’d hid in the corner since the Mad Clone entered.
His Junior had been buzzing about something or other, but Ellendil was too afraid to listen at all.
“I asked what you think. About a royal apprentice rejecting the protocol he’s due to learn magic in a pigsty.”
“A-am I… bad?”
“That’s right.”
The Mad Clone nodded as if Ellendil had answered properly. Ellendil let out a sigh of relief.
But Ellendil did not realize.
His Junior’s gaze had grown even more scornful.
‘Is this guy really my Senior?’
To take a stranger’s side out of fear.
Lee Han muttered inwardly as he spoke up.
“Hmph. I prefer it here. Maybe I’m used to living like a beggar at Einrogard, but it feels familiar.”
“What an unreasonable excuse.”
Plomp!
Lee Han threw himself onto the sofa. Seeing that posture, as if he was saying, ‘sue me,’ Ellendil trembled with even more terror.
Their opponent was a great mage who might literally disembowel him!
“S-stop… Get up…”
“…Fine. Get up.”
In the end, it was the Mad Clone who yielded first.
There was no time to waste on nonsense—they barely had enough to talk magic.
“That’s the artifact you showed earlier?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Lee Han nodded, pointing to the artifact sitting in the center of the suite.
The -Echo of the Demigod- currently hovered in midair, wrapped in three layers of impromptu sealing artifacts.
On top of that, a supplementary magic circle suppressed any unexpected influence from the evil god.
Zap!
With a wave of the Mad Clone’s hand, every seal vanished at once. Ellendil tensed without realizing it.
Even for a great mage, to release all the safeties on such an artifact—
And yet, the Mad Clone unhesitatingly picked up the artifact with his hand.
“It’s contaminated.”
“Y-yes?!!!”
Whoosh!
Having checked it, the Mad Clone casually tossed the artifact to Lee Han.
When his Junior caught it calmly, Ellendil screamed and collapsed.
‘What the…?!’
“??”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“His health isn’t so great.”
“Doesn’t look like that’s it.”
Clinging to his fading consciousness, Ellendil focused on the casual master-disciple conversation before him.
“You… You’re okay?”
“Yes? I’m fine. My resistance is strong… Besides, you wouldn’t give me something I can’t handle, right, Master?”
“……”
The Mad Clone nodded as if it was obvious, and Ellendil’s fragile psyche frayed even more.
Again Ellendil realized just what kind of monster his Junior really was.
“I can hear the evil god’s voice, but the interference doesn’t go beyond that.”
“Of course. Gods are useless if you just clear out their worshippers. Sit down. I’ll explain.”
Lee Han sat in front of the Mad Clone. Then he called Ellendil over.
“Senior, you sit too.”
“……”
Ellendil glared at his Junior in resentment before meekly sitting down.
The seat before the Mad Clone felt like a burning throne from hell.
‘Sob.’
“You remember the Black Emperor spell?”
“Yes.”
“?”
“Ah. Black Emperor spell—”
Lee Han explained to Ellendil.
In the old days, mages artificially made demigods and imprisoned them; the spell was…
“…How do you know that?”
“I ended up helping with it, somehow.”
“……”
The distance inside Ellendil’s heart subtly widened.
From a good Junior who loved spirits, to a Junior receiving direct magic instruction from the Headmaster’s Mad Clone.
“The principle of this artifact differs little from the Black Emperor spell. If you purify it and sever the connection to the evil god, you could use it as a secondary tool. Then you, my disciple, could cast the Black Emperor spell alone.”
“Senior, did you get that?”
“……”
With his Junior acting like a lunatic, Ellendil just wanted to cry.
Was his Junior hoping the Mad Clone would kill them both?
“Enough crazy talk and focus—”
-Are you present?
The suite’s door was knocked. The Mad Clone’s eyebrows went up. Ellendil shivered inside.
“What is it?”
-We’d like to ask a few questions about the mercenaries you caught.
Bothered by outsiders, the Mad Clone replied firmly.
“Send them away.”
“Come in!”
“……”
“……”
The Granden City mages entered with their thanks.
Even having received the reports about the captured evil god cultists, it was different to hear the details face-to-face.
“Who is this…?”
“Ah… This is Lord Gonadaltes.”
“Gasp!!! An honor! I’ve only ever seen your skeletal form from afar…!”
“Lord Gonadaltes says he’s pleased as well.”
Lee Han translated from beside the Mad Clone, who sat as still as a cold statue without saying a word.
Though it was obvious to anyone the Mad Clone was displeased, he didn’t kill the mages, didn’t crush the suite, and—most importantly—didn’t eat Ellendil’s Junior.
‘…Maybe… He’s gone mad twice and come out sane.’
With his brilliant mind, Ellendil formed a new hypothesis.
Since the skull Headmaster was so crazy, the Mad Clone might be sane by comparison.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain this much patience!