Episode 1024

‘Was he maybe a great wizard?’

In truth, when Alsicle first explained things, Lee Han didn’t think too highly of the wizard in question.

He was blasted away by a Water Orb Projectile instantly, and for Lee Han, truly great wizards either became liches or lightly postponed death through dimensional-travel secrets.

But on further thought, an outstanding wizard didn’t always have to become a lich.

Especially considering the magical content this wizard ghost described…

‘Definitely not something at my level.’

He knew it was a space-time magic, but couldn’t gauge beyond that.

A door that created a space determined by the wizard’s will. He wasn’t even sure if he could do that with Small World magic…

“Huh? Wardanaz?”

Nillia and Yoner, who had been managing the leftover reagents after cleaning the potion preparation room, were surprised to see Lee Han coming upstairs.

They had thought he’d be solving the problem the wizard ghost left by now.

“What’s up? Already fixed it?”

“No. It was too hard. Feels like it’s out of my league.”

“What?!”

They were so shocked they dropped an empty glass bottle. Nillia quickly caught it with reflexes befitting a Shadow Patrol veteran.

“Whoa, careful… But Wardanaz! Maybe you got it wrong? You’re saying something is out of your league?”

“……”

Lee Han looked sourly at Nillia. But Yoner also took Nillia’s side.

“Yeah, Lee Han. Don’t just say you can’t do it, just try. Sometimes it works out when you least expect it.”

Resolving to have a serious talk with his friends about this someday, Lee Han explained the puzzle the wizard ghost wanted solved.

“The ghost tried to create an infinite space of possibilities defined by will, but it backfired and became a labyrinth of infinite space. This is outside my ability.”

“……”

“…Wait, but if it’s Wardanaz you might just pull it off.”

Nillia had to resist the urge to be convinced. How many times had she thought ‘Ah, Wardanaz can’t possibly solve this’ only to be proven wrong?

Yoner seemed wavered by that reasoning as well.

“Hey. I can hear you.”

Lee Han glared at his friends.

• * *

‘Is this all friendship amounts to?’

They didn’t even believe him when he said he couldn’t do it—Lee Han grumbled as he walked away.

He glanced through a first-floor window and saw Giselle, Deorgyu, and Raphadael outside busily trimming and burning vines.

“Think it’s done?”

“No, needs to be wider for a practice field. We have to clear it all the way over there.”

“But Moradi… Isn’t this Wardanaz’s villa? Why do we need a practice field?”

Raphadael wondered why a wizard’s family mansion garden would need such a thing.

Giselle’s face stiffened. Out of habit she’d started making a practice field, but she’d been caught off guard.

“…Wardanaz does swordsmanship, too.”

“Enough swordsmanship to need a dedicated field?”

“…I guess. And having a practice field just looks cool.”

Giselle signaled Deorgyu with her eyes—to help cover up the makeshift field.

“L-Lee Han will like a practice field. Practice fields are cool.”

“Really? I talked to a Blue Dragon Tower guy and he said it’s stupid and rustic to put a practice field in a mansion…”

“……”

“……”

Raphadael was merely speaking from experience, but Giselle and Deorgyu’s faces changed rapidly.

Uh…

Is that so?

Burned by relying solely on friends, Deorgyu whispered frantically,

“Moradi! You said Lee Han would like it!”

“Shh! It’s not decided yet.”

“Now that I think about it, Lee Han is from a high noble house, after all. How crude to have a practice field in front of the mansion…”

While Deorgyu anxiously wondered if he’d ruined his friend’s house, Lee Han called out to them as he approached.

“Need some help?”

“?!”

The three jerked their heads up in surprise.

Giselle motioned for Deorgyu and Raphadael to move—to hide the temporary practice field.

“Uh… Hey, Wardanaz. Done already?”

“Nope. Too hard, so I figured I couldn’t do it.”

The three exchanged glances, then smirked.

“Lee Han, don’t say stuff like that. Go back and try again. I know you’ll do it.”

“Yeah, Wardanaz. Quit pretending to be weak.”

Backed by Deorgyu and Raphadael’s encouragement, Lee Han laughed and replied.

“Raphadael, let’s do a practice round in the training field—with black magic allowed. Come on up, you.”

“Wha—! What!? Why just me?!”

“What? What’s wrong with a practice match?”

Lee Han was smiling, but Raphadael definitely sensed a murderous aura. Giselle let out a silent sigh of relief; she’d been about to say something but Raphadael spoke first.

“I’m supposed to solve an infinite labyrinth magically created while trying to shape a space from will, and how on earth could I do that? Huh?”

“…Wait, you can’t?”

To Raphadael’s naïve question, Lee Han nodded.

“Get up here. Should we both bring out a golem each?”

Knowing that his friend had a rare Dragonbone Golem at Einrogard, Raphadael blanched.

Deorgyu nervously tried to intervene.

“Lee Han, calm down. The training ground isn’t finished yet.”

“True. There’s still work to do. Need help?”

Lee Han waved his staff.

Although he didn’t have much self-confidence in his magical prowess, there were certain things he was sure about.

One was chores like this.

No matter what wizard he faced, he’d never lose in menial work!

“…Wait, but is the practice field really okay?”

At Raphadael’s question, Lee Han answered as if it were nothing.

“Of course. Why?”

“Aren’t you from a high noble house?”

“Deorgyu, you’ve been to my family’s estate, right?”

“I have…”

Deorgyu recalled past memories.

Demons, golems, and all sorts of…

…Wait.

‘Why was I worried about a practice field?’

Now that he remembered, House Wardanaz’s estate contained things far more bizarre and grotesque than a mere practice ground.

With that in mind, having a practice field at the villa was really nothing.

“Practice fields are great. Perfect for sword training and just look awesome.”

“R-Really? But somebody told me they hated them before…”

“Who?”

“The prince…”

“……”

“……”

“…Gainando hates every facility except for the magic card vault. Why do you believe everything he says?”

Lee Han’s rebuke made Raphadael feel honestly wronged.

How was he supposed to tell the difference!

“We’ll finish up the rest, so you go solve that wizard ghost’s problem, Lee Han.”

“Thanks, Deorgyu.”

Nodding at his friend’s kindness, Lee Han was grateful.

Overhearing, Raphadael whispered quietly,

“Anyone want to bet if Wardanaz will actually solve it after saying he can’t? I’m in for ‘yes’.”

“Me too, on ‘yes’.”

“Hey. I can hear you.”

• * *

Lee Han grumbled as he moved, even more than before.

Hearing a clatter, he peeked into the kitchen he’d previously cleaned and saw Gainando, Adenart, and Ahsan talking.

“I know.”

Without even asking, Lee Han called his friends over. They stared at him in surprise.

“You were hungry and looking for snacks, right?”

“…Uh, no?”

Ahsan replied, completely dumbfounded.

He couldn’t imagine what made Lee Han say such a thing.

Adenart thought privately.

This had to be because of Gainando!

“What? You weren’t looking for snacks?”

“There’s an artifact storage on the upper floor but the connected magical energy is a bit short. We were discussing if we could reroute excess power from the kitchen.”

Mansions of a certain noble scale always used magic just for maintenance and operations.

Storage rooms in particular consumed a lot of magical power for various isolation and amplification spells.

“Ah, so that was it.”

“But Wardanaz. Shouldn’t you be working on the ghost problem right now?”

“It’s hard, so I’ve come out to get help.”

“Got it.”

“Okay.”

“…????”

Baffled by the nonchalant responses from Ahsan and Gainando, Adenart was flustered.

“Wait, is it really okay for you all to be so laid-back just because Wardanaz can’t solve it?!”

“No… Well… Wardanaz’ll just solve it anyway.”

“Yeah. Lee Han complains, then solves things right away.”

Lee Han felt deeply betrayed.

It was one thing for Ahsan, but Gainando’s sandwich hadn’t even digested yet!

Suppressing his anger, Lee Han explained the wizard’s puzzle. Ahsan and Adenart’s expressions turned grave.

“Wait. You weren’t kidding about not being able to solve it.”

“……”

“It is definitely hard. …But are you saying Mother gave you this villa because of that puzzle?”

Sensing something amiss, Adenart cocked her head.

If the riddle was the reason for gifting the mansion, wasn’t that a mistake?

“Then… maybe she chose the wrong one…”

“There’s meaning even in the process of getting help. Haha. Don’t judge so quickly.”

Lee Han quickly distracted the princess and changed the subject.

“Anyway, I’m off to get help, so you all can manage, right? Also, finish up and make dinner, Gainando.”

“…What did I do wrong?!”

• * *

“Do we really need to help at the temple after coming all the way here? Geez. Would be nice to have some fun.”

Alsicle was troubled by the Phoenix Tower students’ request.

The Empire, being so vast, had all sorts of incidents and whenever those happened, the priests of various temples always took the lead in charitable acts.

It was fine for students in the capital to help during their spare time, but temples had been around for ages.

They’d be fine without extra help—couldn’t the students do something for themselves?

“Agreed. Priests, don’t you want to do something else?”

Salko echoed Alsicle’s thoughts. Siana glared at him and asked,

“When I asked for just half a cup of honey last time, you firmly refused…”

“W-We needed it too, sorry.”

The Black Turtle Tower did get along with Phoenix Tower, but unlike Wardanaz, they didn’t have an endlessly restocking storeroom.

You couldn’t just give away stuff so easily.

“Salko, Rapford. Why don’t you two and the priests tour the city market together?”

“Good idea—wait, Wardanaz. Did you already finish?”

At Salko’s question, Lee Han snapped.

“Maybe I didn’t! Why do you always assume I finished?!”

“N-No… I mean, you probably did, right?”

“I didn’t. I need help. Alsicle.”

As Lee Han started to explain and ask for help, Alsicle grinned.

“Wardanaz.”

“If you just say to go back and try again, I don’t care if it’s you, Alsicle—I’ll throw you out of the house.”

Lee Han glared. Alsicle was shocked.

“H-How did you know what I was thinking!?”

To read someone’s mind that specifically—especially a wizard’s—even with illusion magic, you’d need to deeply, accurately observe the soul.

Sure, Wardanaz was a genius beyond Alsicle himself, but still, how!?

“Is it soul magic!?”

“Just a prediction.”

“What? Divination magic?!”

“…Alsicle. Just listen.”

“Uh, okay.”

With Lee Han’s stern face, Alsicle grew a little sullen.

‘That didn’t deserve that much anger…’