Episode 209

You’re probably at least vaguely pondering it by now. What must you do to reach the truth? Which path should you walk?

‘…I haven’t.’

He had thought about which government post would be good, but he hadn’t worried about how to reach the truth.

But Lee Han stayed silent.

The skeleton principal was being serious, and there was no benefit in revealing that he was thinking about government posts.

Considering the hostility some professors had shown toward bureaucrats last time…

Let me give you some useful advice. In my human days, I was a prince.

“Wh-what?????!!!!!”

Lee Han was so shocked his heart nearly stopped.

What was that reaction just now?

“No wonder you always seemed so dignified.”

Thank you. I was a prince of a beautiful small kingdom. Even so, I had many worries from a young age. Why must I begin dying from the moment I am born? Why must the people of the kingdom suffer from the eight sufferings, the seven emotions, and the five desires?

“I… I see.”

Lee Han was overwhelmed by how unexpectedly normal and admirable the skeleton principal’s youth had been.

Then I attained enlightenment and abandoned my flesh. I became a lich.

“…Didn’t you skip a bit too much in the story?”

What’s the point of listening to a boring story of ascetic training? Anyway, the important thing is that by abandoning my flesh, I was able to overcome the limitations I just mentioned.

“……”

The higher a mage’s level, the more virtues a mage needed to possess.

Not only did one have to control mana and understand magic, but also govern one’s own inner self and cultivate one’s mental image.

In that sense, emotions were also enemies a mage had to fight.

If one was swayed by the five desires, seven emotions, and eight sufferings, even the brightest mage would easily lose their way.

The skeleton principal had cut through such chains of agony in one stroke.

…Though that method was an extreme one—abandoning his living flesh.

“I’m not really into becoming a lich…”

I’m not telling you to become a lich.

The skeleton principal didn’t care even when Lee Han showed reluctance.

I’m just telling you the path I walked. Abandoning the flesh isn’t the only answer. There are infinite paths toward the truth.

Though only a skull with blue glowing eyes remained, there was an unfathomable mystery that could not be hidden.

For the first time, Lee Han saw the skeleton principal as a sage.

Usually, he felt like the boss monster of an evil castle…

In my opinion, you’ll be able to govern yourself without becoming a lich.

“Why do you think so?”

Lee Han was slightly hopeful.

No matter how eccentric, he was an archmage.

He couldn’t help but be pleased that such a person evaluated him highly.

Because at your age, it’s not easy to deliberately suffer under various professors. Such asceticism is helpful for cultivating mind and body. You made a very good choice. Keep it up.

“……”

Lee Han put on a serious face.

It was a compliment, but for some reason, it made him feel very bad.

• * *

‘This isn’t Pillone Village.’

Lee Han was surprised by the sight of the prosperous city outside the carriage.

Pillone Village, the closest village to Einrogard, was already quite prosperous due to its special circumstances.

Normally, ordinary villages didn’t have so many mages, adventurers, mercenaries, or merchants.

But the city before his eyes overwhelmed even Pillone Village. Everywhere he looked, there was an air of vitality and prosperity.

‘Is this Granden City.’

The city closest to the magic school.

It was the city he’d heard about when he went to Pillone Village—“The families of the students waiting outside all went to Granden City.”

Lee Han looked around anew.

Given his background, he wasn’t surprised by a big city, but it was still refreshing in many ways.

When he was with the Wardanaz Family, he had only stayed at the family mansion and estate.

Buy a gift.

-Yes.

“?”

Lee Han paused when the skeleton principal gave an order to the summon outside.

What gift?

We’re visiting Ogonin’s Tower. It’s rude to visit without a gift.

“……”

He thought it was already rude enough to visit for revenge, but Lee Han said nothing.

Oh, and buy some snacks for Ironhead.

-Yes.

A short while later.

Several prettily wrapped boxes of snacks flew into the carriage.

They contained licorice candy, red bean jelly, honey cookies, and so on. The skeleton principal complained about the selection.

Such unrefined snacks. Aren’t these the kind of snacks only children like?

-We bought the snacks most popular among young people.

I knew it. Foolish fellow.

-Sorry.

Enough. Eat.

But Lee Han didn’t touch the snacks recklessly. The skeleton principal was puzzled.

Why not? They’re not poisoned.

“If I eat this, will the reward you promised last time disappear?”

……

He was supposed to receive a reward for cleaning up after Professor Verdus’s incident.

The skeleton principal was truly impressed for the first time in a long while.

Among all the students he’d seen, there had never been one as cautious as this.

That’s separate. I promise.

“Thank you.”

…But don’t put the snacks in your coat pocket.

Seeing the freshman immediately try to put the snacks in his pocket, the skeleton principal reflected a little on the rules he’d set.

Come to think of it, I heard the tower keeper gave you a gift.

“Ah. Yes.”

It seemed a bit too much of a gift…

‘Hmm.’

Lee Han recalled the bundle the tower keeper had given him.

Indeed, the necklace in that bundle was a fine artifact.

…Except for the fact that it had an invisibility spell.

For Lee Han, who already had an invisibility belt and knew invisibility magic, the invisibility necklace was a bit much.

“But I’ve already learned invisibility magic.”

What? That’s fast. Which one did you learn?

“.”

At Lee Han’s answer, the skeleton principal showed both surprise and satisfaction.

Didn’t expect you to learn it so soon. You’re progressing quite quickly.

‘Damn. So I didn’t need to learn it all at once after all.’

My spell is better than other invisibility spells. You can be proud.

“I always am.”

And even artifacts with the same effect aren’t useless. Even if you’ve already learned the same spell. Think about it.

“?”

Lee Han tried to ponder the skeleton principal’s words, but the skeleton principal didn’t give him time.

The skeleton principal grumbled as he looked at the gift the summon had bought.

What is this supposed to be? No matter what, a pile of cards like this?

-There’s a card with Ogonin on it.

Just because there’s a card with Ogonin doesn’t make it a gift. Good grief…

The skeleton principal flicked the pile of cards into the air and sent them flying to the corner.

And why is Ogonin’s card so powerful?

-But master, you said last time that it’s not the card’s power that matters, but the mage who uses it…

The summon outside fell silent. Lee Han was sure the skeleton principal had cast a silence spell.

You take this.

‘I already have a finished deck.’

But Lee Han accepted it quietly.

Because the skeleton principal could get even more mischievous.

“……”

The card the skeleton principal tossed wasn’t Ogonin.

It was himself.

Put it in your deck and use it well. It’s a good card.

“Uh… yes.”

Lee Han’s deck was a nimble, low-cost deck that focused on quickly chipping away at the opposing mage’s health from the start of the game.

The skeleton principal’s card, which required a lot of mana to summon, was hard to use…

But Lee Han put the card in his deck right in front of the skeleton principal.

Flattery should always be sincere.

In fact, the skeleton principal was pleased with Lee Han’s action.

Let’s go buy it ourselves.

“Pardon? Is that alright?”

Lee Han hesitated.

No matter how used to bizarre mages the people of the Empire were, he doubted they’d be unfazed by a lich floating around as a skeleton.

But before Lee Han could finish his question, the skeleton principal had already transformed into a human.

Dressed in a robe of dark blue silk, holding a staff with the unique elegance only a noble could display, he was unmistakably a noble from a great imperial family.

Lee Han wasn’t surprised by that itself. If an archmage like the skeleton principal couldn’t wear a human shell, that would be more surprising.

What surprised Lee Han was that the skeleton principal’s human face was familiar.

‘A statue…!’

The statue guarding the passage to the forgotten beast’s statue on the third floor of the main building.

At the time, he’d thought, ‘I don’t know who that is, but he’s disgustingly handsome…’

Why are you staring?

“I’m simply amazed by your dignity.”

Your second greatest strength is that heart that knows what dignity is.

The skeleton principal nodded, pleased by the flattery.

Lee Han thought to himself.

‘Black magic really is terrifying.’

Even the full moon wanes, but how many people would see that statue and think of the skeleton principal?

Let’s go.

“Yes.”

The two (teacher and student) stepped out of the carriage.

Even in the crowded throng, the two drew everyone’s eyes at once.

The skeleton principal opened the door of a bookstore luxuriously decorated with brass and bronze carvings.

It was a bookstore with a sign reading .

“Welcome.”

A well-dressed employee straightened up and bowed. He guessed their status at a glance.

“Do you have magic books?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Give me the easiest introduction to illusion magic. Wrap it nicely.”

“…?”

Lee Han wondered what the skeleton principal was up to.

Of course, a bookstore of this size would have at least one magic book, but the easiest introduction to illusion magic?

“Are you going to give that as a gift?”

“Quick-witted, aren’t you.”

Lee Han decided to say nothing.

‘I know nothing. The two of them can settle it themselves.’

There was nothing to gain by getting between two mages who were at odds.

Lee Han turned his gaze and browsed other books. Then he spotted a familiar name.

“Is this a book written by Ogonin?”

“Let’s see… Yes. It’s about advanced applications of illusion magic in barriers, written when he was young… Ah. Good idea. I should buy that too. I’ll read it in front of him.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“No need to wrap this one. I’ll carry it.”

“……”

As the time to go to Ogonin’s Tower approached, Lee Han began to feel uneasy.

The skeleton principal could pick a fight anywhere and not care, but Lee Han was someone with a long future ahead.

If the illusionists bore a grudge against Lee Han instead of the skeleton principal…

‘Should I use invisibility magic?’

• * *

After finishing their shopping and leaving the city, the carriage began to fly through the sky.

In the middle of a mountain range filled with jagged cliffs, a wizard’s tower rose sharply.

The principal, back in his skeleton form, spoke up.

Life comes and goes, death returns.

Even a single word from a mage had a different meaning.

And the words the skeleton principal had just spoken were like that.

Lee Han realized that those words had triggered a great magic.

The world was shaking.

Mages were beings who understood the order of the world and could cunningly twist it, but sometimes there were mages who rewrote the order itself to their will.

The skeleton principal was a mage who had reached that level.

…The problem was, he was using it to pick a fight at someone else’s tower!