Episode 1064

When his disciple suddenly showed passionate enthusiasm, the young prince was caught off guard.

Just a while ago, Lee Han had grumbled as if he didn’t want to do it at all.

Why the sudden change?

‘But I can’t say I’m surprised.’

The prince quickly accepted it.

After all, when he thought about it, his disciple always loved magic—difficult magic most of all.

It wasn’t odd that hearing about the challenge made his pride as a wizard want to rise up and try.

-So that’s it, Disciple. The difficulty of this magic kindled your wizard’s pride, didn’t it?

“Huh? No… I just wanted to use Professor Verdus as a mount—”

“…?”

Yukveltire stared blankly at her junior.

He only promised to crawl on all fours, not that you could ride him, right?

-Very well. In that case, I’ll help with everything I have! Disciple, summon your spirit.

The prince clenched his fist determinedly.

Lee Han nodded and summoned a lesser fire spirit.

Out of the many spirits, the sparrow-shaped one Lee Han was friendly with appeared, chirping above his head.

-…Not that one, Disciple.

“I agree, that one doesn’t seem right.”

Even Yukveltire, who had regained her strength, chimed in as Lee Han waved it off and instead summoned a squirrel-shaped lesser ice spirit.

-Disciple. It’s pretty weird to summon cute spirits like that twice in this situation. Are you trying to show off?

“…Well, I did want to brag a little.”

The first one was a mistake, but the second was basically an act of pride.

Yukveltire asked, unable to understand.

“Why would you even b—”

“If you insult my spirits, I’ll challenge you to a duel, Senior.”

“……”

Yukveltire took two steps back.

Looking at her junior now reminded her of when she’d made Direte angry in the past.

-This golem seems awful. You’d be better off breaking the contract and finding a new one.

-Hey. Get out.

-I was just giving you honest advice and this is what I get?

-Get lost. Just go away forever.

After that, Direte hadn’t even greeted her for about a week.

Yukveltire figured it was probably because of black magic. The black magic school always made people irrational.

Her junior in front of her was a black magic student too, so it was a reasonable theory.

“The spirit Master means is probably the Thunder King. But since I summoned it recently, I have to wait until the contract rune regains its power.”

-No, that’s not it.

The prince’s reply puzzled Lee Han.

Huh?

“Then is it the Praetor of Storm and Gale?”

Wupinum was another powerful spirit, but like Perkuntra, it wasn’t one Lee Han could fully summon due to the nature of their contract.

-You’ve contracted a spirit like that, too? Disciple, spirits really seem to love you.

The young prince sounded amazed.

A title or rank for a spirit was a quick way to guess their strength.

A spirit who called themselves a Praetor certainly wasn’t weak.

“??”

Still, Lee Han’s question wasn’t resolved.

If it’s not Perkuntra or Wupinum, then what…?

‘Arna is a star, not a spirit, right?’

-Disciple. Don’t tell me you forgot about the spirit in your staff?

“…Of course not.”

Only then did Lee Han remember the spirit dwelling within his staff.

This was Saratan, spirit of the hornbeam, claiming the title of Battlewood King, sealed inside the staff.

After the spirit’s core was swapped to sacred wood, it had finally regained strength and was fierce enough to challenge Lee Han outright.

If the black book hadn’t helped inside the personal world, Lee Han might have actually lost.

“I was told to summon a spirit, so I thought only about the ones I can summon instantly. And this spirit is evil and wicked.”

Lee Han snitched right away.

-W-What… What did I do?!

Saratan screamed.

He’d been lying low inside the staff, thinking the magician had forgotten about him for a while…

“You see? He was pretending to be gone, but could answer immediately.”

-You never called me! …Aaaaggghh!

Lee Han, just like last time he’d subdued Saratan, overflowed with mana mercilessly.

Busted, Saratan immediately declared surrender.

-I was wrong! I’ll make sure to come out and help first from now on!

“Didn’t you promise that last time, and then just stay quiet?”

-…But really, there was nothing to help w—Aaaaggghhh!

Saratan wasn’t technically wrong.

The enemies Lee Han faced afterward were so powerful that a spirit stuck in the staff with only limited powers couldn’t do much anyhow.

At most, he could restore mana, help plants grow, or fortify the staff’s body—these aren’t much use against top-tier threats.

Of course, being technically correct wasn’t everything. Lee Han recalled his recent foes and vented his frustration at the unhelpful spirit.

Worse than Perkuntra, honestly!

Normally, only the staff’s owner could hear a spirit’s screaming, but the young prince could read the resonance of souls echoing between master and servant.

-Please calm down, Disciple.

“But Master, do you know how much trouble I’ve had because of this spirit? I had to fight for my life in the personal world, and I was almost ruined by the mandragora because of this guy!”

-…?

Saratan faltered.

The former, he understood, but the latter he didn’t recall at all.

-Wait. The mandragora—that wasn’t my fault, it was that dragon who—

A dragon had invaded and raised the mandragora, not him.

He’d been falsely accused back then and barely got out of trouble.

“Was it? Fine, I’ll skip that then.”

-……

“Still, you did attack me.”

-W-Well, yes, I did…

The young prince waved a hand to cut off their bickering.

-Enough. Stop now, both of you. This isn’t what I called you here for. Now then. Spirit.

As he spoke, a powerful spirit’s force flowed from the wooden part of Lee Han’s staff.

Incredibly, Saratan, long sealed in wood, was now being released into the open!

Saratan gaped at his newly-freed, gnarly wooden body. It was his true spirit body, which he’d only been able to move in the personal world.

This… This power! This power is mine again!

-Now then, let’s talk…

I’ll kill you, kid!

As soon as his power was restored, Saratan roared.

A huge hammer woven of ebony and walnut appeared in place of his fist—a retributive weapon charged with mana and spirit-force for smashing an annoying wizard.

-Lis…

Shut up! Whoever you are, thanks for freeing me, but that’s a one-time thing! If you want your painting unripped, shut your mouth!

Saratan barked before glaring at Lee Han. But Lee Han just stared calmly at the spirit without an ounce of fear.

That composure made Saratan flinch instead.

What was this?

“Your arm’s gone.”

What?

“Your arm. It’s gone.”

What the hel… Huh?!

Only then did Saratan realize the giant hammer he’d formed for his arm had vanished.

It didn’t stop there. Next, his legs disappeared, then his body crashed down to the ground.

Thud!

Now he couldn’t move at all.

This was a totally different level compared to losing inside the sealed staff.

Even though he was free, he couldn’t do anything?

Saratan was more shocked than when he’d been sealed away by other spirits in ages past.

Th-… the-… how…

-Spirit. Now can we talk?

The young prince in the painting smiled kindly without changing expression.

That demeanor rather terrified Saratan.

Sh… ut…

-If I must… I didn’t want to do this, but…

The young prince gestured once again.

Lee Han could feel it.

Saratan’s spirit body, fixed to the basement floor, had its soul extracted.

And that soul was then absorbed into the painting.

The prince, cupping the spirit’s soul between his hands as if in prayer, gently closed his eyes.

“!!!!”

Lee Han was appalled.

He’d seen the spirit emotionally disturbed before, but never trembling in outright terror like this.

What on earth was he doing?

While Lee Han goggled in horror, the spirit’s soul returned to normal. Saratan, regaining his senses, spoke up.

I… I think I lost my mind. Please allow me to become your doormat, magician! I think my “doormat” has lost its mind. Please allow me to become the magician of your mind!

-That’s enough. Thank you for understanding. You seem tongue-tied, so take a moment to rest.

“W-what did you just do?”

Lee Han whispered in shock.

If it was that method, maybe he could persuade even the most evasive spirits in the future.

-It’s simple. Disciple. I showed him the depths of my own soul, and convinced him directly.

“……”

What kind of soul could terrify a spirit like that?

While amazed, Lee Han thought to himself:

‘Hmm. I’d better not try that myself.’

If a spirit saw into Lee Han’s innermost soul, it’d probably think, “What a wretched materialist,” and look down on him.

-Spirit. You are currently under a powerful seal—your true spirit core is still locked in this staff.

Please allow me to be your doormat!

“?”

Saratan tried to say “I know that,” but the aftereffects made his mouth spew something else.

Unfazed, the young prince patiently encouraged him.

-Now, pull yourself together.

Y-yes…

-Do you know how to release that seal?

This magician—er, sir—if they use the staff’s powers and resonate, the seal should melt away.

-That’s right. But you can’t rely entirely on Disciple. You must train on your own, Spirit.

Helping the magician is what I do even now…

“When did you ever?”

Saratan pretended not to hear.

To be fair, it wasn’t really his fault he hadn’t had the chance.

The prince shook his head.

-That’s not what I mean. I don’t mean helping your magician’s work. The training I’m talking about is cultivating your own goodness. If you don’t refine yourself, no matter how much power you regain, you’ll never escape this staff.

!!!!

Saratan was shocked as if he’d been hit in the back of the head with a club.

‘Th-these spirit bastards. They went that far?!’

Moved by the prince’s persuasion just now, Saratan hastily asked,

T-then what should I do? I have no confidence in cultivating a good heart.

“What kind of loser is that?”

Lee Han said, dumbfounded.

You should at least try, but to give up before you start?

Yukveltire shook her head, pitying him. Unlike herself, that spirit was truly hopeless.

-Don’t worry. You have a guide to help you cultivate goodness. Just follow that guide and you’ll learn to refine your heart.

W-who is it? Is it a spirit I know?

-No. It’s my disciple here. Watch, follow, and learn from his actions.

……

For a moment, Saratan almost snapped out of his brainwashing.