Episode 1221
by CristaeSnapping out of his shock, Lee Han managed to shout,
“Professor, you were in the next cell?! Why?!”
Professor Kirmin, instead of answering, took the placard from the next cell and brought it over.
A criminal who ignored the words of the Headmaster, colleagues, and students and escaped on his own (not that dangerous).
‘What the…’
Lee Han felt both absurdity and injustice at once.
He knew there was no point in competing over these placards, but it still felt unfair that he was labeled far more heinous than Professor Voladi.
“No, why am I a worse criminal?!”
“It’s because of your usual behavior. If someone who’s always good does something bad just once, it’s all the more shocking.”
A normally diligent student acting out several times was a huge shock, but Professor Voladi escaping on his own wasn’t actually that surprising.
He was always like that anyway!
Lee Han, of course, couldn’t accept such a ridiculous explanation.
“This doesn’t make any sense.”
“Wardanaz, are you a new student at Einrogard or something? Don’t act surprised now.”
Professor Kirmin hung the placard back on his friend’s door with a sarcastic remark.
Lee Han called out to Professor Voladi in the next room.
“But Professor, why didn’t you say anything, being right next door?”
“You didn’t call for me.”
“……”
At the calm voice from the next cell, Lee Han was speechless.
If he was awake, couldn’t he have explained when Lee Han spoke to the warden!?
“Is that something you say to a disciple who worked so hard for you with all his heart?”
Unable to stand it anymore, Professor Kirmin grabbed a fruit and threw it to his friend.
Lee Han was annoying, but he couldn’t compare to the original. This vampire friend really had a special talent for getting under people’s skin.
“Indeed. I’ll thank you once again.”
“What are you saying… I wanted to do it anyway.”
As the two teacher and student exchanged a heartwarming conversation through the wall, Professor Kirmin looked like he wanted to die from the sight.
They’d worried everyone and now were all chummy in the punishment room—he just wanted to dump cold water over them.
Kirmin’s wish was soon granted. As soon as the talk about subduing the evil god was finished, Professor Voladi cut to the chase.
“I heard you used Small World Dunamis.”
“Ah.”
“Oh.”
At the unexpected development, Professor Kirmin looked at Lee Han with anticipation.
Could it be?
Just as he hoped, his friend started grilling his student.
He questioned Lee Han about every case of him using Dunamis, demanded why it was reckless, and probed his motives—Lee Han immediately whispered to Professor Kirmin.
“Professor. Isn’t there any way to switch cells?”
“If you could, it wouldn’t be a punishment cell, Wardanaz.”
“I think Professor Baegrek has misunderstood something…”
Apparently, Professor Voladi was convinced that his magic-obsessed student had fallen for Dunamis, a spell he couldn’t possibly use at his current level.
But that was a misunderstanding.
He only used such a dangerous Small World repeatedly because he absolutely had to. Normally, Lee Han would never touch something as risky as Dunamis…
‘Is it really a misunderstanding?’
Professor Kirmin thought to himself.
He used to think his friend misunderstood Wardanaz, but these days he wondered if his friend wasn’t actually the first to see him clearly.
Outwardly, Lee Han protested, “Haha, I’m not that kind of guy,” but…
His actions were proof enough that he was very much a magic-crazed sorcerer.
“Sure, sure. Try explaining yourself to Baegrek.”
“Professor! Don’t do this!”
Lee Han became desperate as Professor Kirmin tried to leave.
If he left now, Lee Han would be left alone to listen to Professor Voladi’s lectures.
“Oh right. Good news, Wardanaz. Professor Baegrek gets released at the end of the semester.”
“…That’s really not fair!”
“You should have listened to Professor Kim a little more. I’m going. I’ll bring you some more lecture materials next time.”
“Professor! Professor!”
Contrary to his worries, Professor Voladi did not harass Lee Han 24/7.
After finishing his lecture about Small World Dunamis, Professor Voladi advised Lee Han to rest.
Judging by his condition, both body and soul probably hadn’t recovered from the aftereffects yet.
‘Whew.’
Lee Han never thought he’d feel lucky to be injured.
He almost wished he could keep pretending to be injured until the end of break.
“Lee Han!!!”
“!”
When his familiar Blue Dragon Tower friends appeared, Lee Han was surprised and got up from his bed.
He never imagined his friends would come find him here.
“How did you find this place? Is it that easy to locate?”
Unlike the usual punishment cell, this was a rather special one.
And they found it so easily.
Did they perhaps get help from seniors?
“We just went to the punishment cell and said your name, and the spirit drew a map for us?”
“Oh.”
Lee Han gave silent thanks to Perkuntra.
Though he couldn’t get him out of the professors’ punishment room, he’d done his best.
‘Good, he’s not sulking.’
He nodded, thinking if the Thunder King-spirit had heard, he’d have sulked for sure.
“Thanks for coming, everyone.”
“Here, take this. We brought you some food.”
Yoner opened his basket’s lid and pulled out preserved foods, handing them through the bars.
With canned goods, tea leaves, coffee powder, sugar, chocolate, and more flying in nonstop, Lee Han was amazed and asked,
“Where did you get all this?”
This semester, thanks to Inspector Uman, students had a hard time getting extra food. These luxury items were worse.
“We got some help from Professor Thunderstep.”
“Professor Thunderstep? I didn’t think the professor cared that much about me.”
Lee Han looked genuinely touched.
Usually, that gruff dwarf patrol professor never stopped grumbling—he never thought he’d secretly help.
Even if he grumbled, he couldn’t just ignore his student.
“I said we got help with Professor Thunderstep, not that Professor Thunderstep helped.”
“……”
At Yoner’s words, Lee Han shut his mouth.
He could guess what had happened.
‘You raided the professor’s supply!’
He felt a bit guilty, but it couldn’t be helped. Lee Han was going to be here for a while.
And when Professor Thunderstep set up an outside storeroom, he surely knew it was going to get raided.
‘Right. The professor will probably understand when he hears where it went.’
“Lee Han. Here, I brought you a book.”
“You brought a grimoire?!”
Lee Han was floored by Gainando’s words.
He didn’t think Gainando would bring him a grimoire.
Had Gainando finally gotten serious about magic?
“It’s… not a grimoire.”
“…Well, still, bringing a book is something. Which book? Maybe the -Introduction to Basic Reagents- I recommended? That’s always a good read.”
-“Toberiz Imprisoned,” “Toberiz Escapes the Citadel,” “Toberiz Escapes the Island”…
“……”
Receiving the books, Lee Han glanced at the fireplace. Gainando, realizing what that look meant, shouted urgently.
“Don’t burn them! Give them back if you’re going to burn them!”
“Gainando. The fireplace doesn’t just keep itself going, you know.”
“You can keep the fire going with magic anyway…!”
Knowing his friend could keep the flames going with magic, Gainando pleaded not to burn his books.
Eventually, Lee Han gave up and shelved the books instead. Only then did Gainando breathe a sigh of relief.
“Read them when you’re bored. They might help.”
“S-sure. Maybe they’ll help… somehow.”
“Wardanaz. I brought you some tools you can use while studying inside.”
Ahsan started pulling things out.
Even though he had a desk, ink, quill, and paper, everything seemed in short supply.
For study, having quality ink, quill, and paper made things much easier.
“Did you bring a small alchemy cauldron too?”
“Of course. Here it is.”
Ahsan, as if it was obvious, pulled out a small cauldron. Adenart, beside him, shrunk it with a transmutation spell and tossed it through the bars.
“Hm. It would be nice to have an armillary sphere too, but I doubt you’d bring something like that?”
“Nope. Brought it.”
Before Lee Han could answer, Ahsan pulled that out too, and then some more.
“Here’s a copper distiller, a spirit balance scale, a dimensional map, magic chalk and chalkboard, a measuring compass…”
“……”
Lee Han looked stunned at the volume.
All this?
“You brought all this?”
“Don’t you need it, Wardanaz?”
Ahsan replied as if it was obvious. Even the friends beside him nodded.
Given his reputation, even this didn’t seem enough.
If he was going to be in the punishment room until the end of term, maybe he should sweep his lab clean!
“…Yeah… Thanks…”
Lee Han arranged the tools skillfully throughout the cell.
At this point, it was hard to tell whether it was a cell or a research lab in a mage tower.
“Here you are, Wardanaz.”
When it was his turn, Adenart quickly offered a small tin case.
-Wonderful Meikin Family Butter Biscuits- was printed on the tin.
Seeing the label, Lee Han nodded inside. ‘Giving dessert as a present. That’s so Adenart.’
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy them.”
“?”
Adenart looked at him, puzzled.
“…Uh, aren’t these snacks?”
“No. They’re grimoires.”
Lee Han hastily opened the case to check.
Sure enough, books, not butter biscuits, were inside.
“Why books in a cookie tin?”
Adenart hesitated a bit at the question.
Seeing that, Lee Han nodded with understanding.
‘Must’ve really loved those biscuits.’
He must have eaten all the butter biscuits, but, not wanting to part with the tin, he stored books in there.
Didn’t Gainando often reuse his hot chocolate mug for plain water, too?
“Those books… Actually, they’re seniors’ books, so I couldn’t bring them openly.”
“…What?!”
Lee Han was aghast at that answer—far beyond his guess.
Raiding Professor Thunderstep’s canned goods and such might have been one thing (though actually it wasn’t), but to take unrelated seniors’ grimoires—
‘Why?’
“Did you have a fight with the seniors or something? Why would you…”
“Uh, Wardanaz. We helped too.”
Ahsan hesitantly raised his hand. Yoner joined in, looking a bit sheepish.
“…Wait, Ahsan, did you also steal the tools you brought from the seniors?!”
Lee Han belatedly realized.
Thinking about it, even if you took all the supplies from the common room, it wouldn’t add up to that much—
“Yeah.”
“……”
“How else do you think I got all this?”
The students of Einrogard’s Blue Dragon Tower were sharp and resourceful.
Where to get good equipment, tools, grimoires for one’s friend?
There were many options, but the quickest and easiest was to raid the seniors’ stuff.
They’d have higher-grade tools and books too!
“…Thank you all, really.”
Lee Han started to say something but gave up.
What could he say to friends who risked trouble with the seniors for him?
As Lee Han flipped through the grimoire Adenart had brought, he paused.
‘Did I just see Senior Yukveltire’s name…?’
Must be my imagination?