Episode 1091

Episode 1091

“Are you talking about the magical energy?”

“Yes.”

‘Was there something like that?’

The butler felt puzzled again inside.

Noble families didn’t just buy mansions carelessly.

Buying cheaply without questioning or checking was something done in the Einrogard black market, and noble families actually checked everything in surprisingly detail.

What happened to the previous owners of this mansion, what recent events had occurred, and which families were nearby…

Not only that, but they even hired mages to check for any abnormal phenomena in the mansion. Of course, this villa had also gone through all those processes.

There shouldn’t have been anything wrong, though?

“Ah, I see! I, too, doubted the magical energy of this mansion a few times. When I tried to verify the magic that Senior Jandanni created for me, for some reason, I kept failing.”

“……”

Lee Han almost couldn’t hold back and almost said, ‘That’s because of your senior’s skill level.’

‘Oops. What am I doing.’

I’ve set a trap like this.

The opponent’s skills were sharper than he expected. Lee Han reminded himself never to let his guard down.

“You saw right. It’s because the magical energy underground in the mansion is subtly twisted. It’s so fine and hard to notice that it’s difficult to perceive, but it greatly affects high-level magic.”

“Oh my! I checked several times, but still…”

The butler shouted, his face turning pale.

For someone at his level to not notice this—it was a shameful mistake.

“It’s not your fault, Butler. It’s not easy to notice things like this. Don’t worry. I’ll handle it right away.”

“Th-thank you!”

The butler was slightly moved by the considerate action shown by the boy of the Wardanaz family.

Perhaps it was for this reason that the Einrogard mages wanted to visit the basement first.

Lee Han summoned the Skeleton Warrior and the skeleton army led by Gonadaltes.

If it had been a battle, he would have summoned golems, but skeleton warriors were much more suitable for chores in the basement.

My disciple…!

The young prince was once again moved.

From the club’s pseudonym to the names of summoned creatures. The kindness of this disciple seemed deeper than the ocean.

‘…I must never reveal the origin.’

Lee Han made up his mind and began digging. Together with telekinesis, the skeleton warriors carefully dug into the basement floor.

“Should I help too?”

Eren Dee, who had been glancing for a chance, asked cautiously. Lee Han gladly agreed. There was no reason to refuse.

“Good. What magic will you use?”

“I’ll show you my Gem Dancers!”

Eren Dee picked up a ruby, opal, sapphire, and garnet between her fingers and exclaimed.

This magic, where lifeless summoned creatures are precisely designed based on the magic power residing within the gems, was one of Eren Dee’s specialties.

Even though the gem would vanish after one use, it was worth it. Controlling such summoned creatures without a contract from another dimension was not easy.

Lee Han suppressed his urge to scream.

“…I don’t think you need to use it. We already have enough workers.”

“Really…”

Gainando’s distant relative nodded with a sulky face.

She had wanted to show her skills in front of a senior mage from Einrogard!

Kakakak-

“!”

A sound that was qualitatively different from digging dirt rang out.

It was similar to the sound of metal, but upon closer listening, it was a burst of magical energy that only a mage could recognize.

Disciple. Be ready.

Lee Han nodded and gripped his staff.

Soon, the secret vault hidden by the young prince would be revealed…

Boom!

A bronze guardian walked out from the pile of unearthed dirt.

Such guardians, made to protect dungeons or ruins, could be seen fairly often, but Lee Han felt a chill run down his spine.

With keen senses, he recognized the magic engraved on the opponent.

‘What the…?!’

Advanced fire resistance, advanced cold resistance, advanced lightning resistance, advanced darkness resistance…

All kinds of resistance magic were cast over its entire body, and even those resistance spells themselves were tricky to interpret. It was like ancient magic, with several traps set so it couldn’t be dispelled from the outside.

As soon as he saw this, an image flashed through his mind.

It was certain that the skeletal headmaster had made it in his youth.

Could a great mage create a guardian this powerful just by molding bronze rather roughly?

Gritting his teeth, Lee Han cast his spell.

The most powerful piercing magic he could think of right now was 5th circle magic, -Wardanaz’s Thunderfire-, but he doubted if pure lightning would be effective against such a heavily resistant opponent.

‘In that case…’

A skilled mage was flexible.

Lee Han immediately changed strategies. In the air, orbs of water began spinning as they formed.

Even if it had strong resistance to water elements, the impact from the spinning would surely accumulate. While pressing down the opponent with telekinesis, Lee Han went right into aiming.

-Intercept. Intercept.

Surprisingly, the bronze guardian’s surface changed, and a hidden spell emerged anew.

The amount of information from densely engraved spells and formulas was enough to give Lee Han a headache.

‘…It stops moving objects within a certain range… no…!’

A telekinesis-type spell that indiscriminately froze any incoming projectiles nearby.

Grinding his teeth at the young prince’s meticulous preparations, Lee Han cast his next spell. Now was not the time to stay still.

‘Teleportation!’

He even used newly learned spells.

Due to the opponent’s great magic power, he couldn’t teleport directly into the body, but he could pierce through the interception.

The spinning water orbs moved chaotically around the basement. Their movement wasn’t in connecting lines, but as dots blinking in and out.

It was a short but intense exchange, lasting barely a few seconds. The bronze guardian tried to bind and stop the projectiles, while Lee Han was a step ahead, teleporting the projectiles to penetrate through.

And the victor was Lee Han. Using massive magical power and a barrage, Lee Han finally gained the upper hand.

‘Broke through!’

He no longer felt the sensation of projectiles being blocked. The darts flew rapidly and struck the opponent’s torso with impact sounds.

Once, twice, three, four times…

He felt the opponent’s great magic waver for a moment. Then, the spells recorded within became a bit clearer to read. Not missing his chance, Lee Han used the black magnet on his staff to cast a counterspell.

‘The spells that must be stopped first are…!’

The resistance to water element and great magic power stopped instantaneously. Lee Han immediately teleported a Water Orb Projectile directly into the torso.

It was a critical hit. The accumulated impact exploded violently along with the damage.

Bang!

‘Whew. I survived.’

Lee Han let out a sigh of relief.

Since he’d been digging in the basement of someone else’s mansion, he’d been especially tense.

If this had been Einrogard, it wouldn’t have mattered even if the fight destroyed buildings, but unfortunately, this was a noble family’s mansion. If he hadn’t handled it immediately, a disaster might have happened.

Mainly to Lee Han’s own gold pouch…

‘But still, they didn’t warn me about this.’

Lee Han took out his notebook, ready to complain.

How could they leave out the most important thing?

He briefly even thought perhaps, like Headmaster Hae Mo or Professor Bol Mo, they’d set this up on purpose to provoke a fight.

Disciple?

Disciple. You don’t need to fight it! Since I’m here, it won’t attack you.

Disciple? Ah, you just wanted to try fighting it once. I’ll cheer for you.

You did great! Excellent!

“……”

Looking at the quickly added words, Lee Han made a gloomy face.

…Honestly, I had no way of checking this!

‘How could I check this in that short moment.’

In magical combat, the most important thing was speed.

The moment you saw your opponent, you had to launch a surprise attack right away.

In fact, the fight between Lee Han and the bronze guardian lasted less than ten seconds—a short and fierce clash.

If you hesitated for no reason, you could lose, so you couldn’t afford to read the words in your notebook before acting…

Your unyielding spirit of challenge always makes your nobility shine brighter, Disciple.

“…Thank you for the compliment…”

• * *

“Who would’ve thought… there was something like this under the basement…!”

The butler was appalled.

That the magical energy was disturbed—he’d never imagined this was what it meant.

So it wasn’t just that the magic power was murky?

Lee Han quickly managed his expression and spoke.

“That’s right. Sometimes the magic power can be murky, but sometimes an ancient magical golem like this is sleeping underground.”

It was a little different from what the young prince originally expected, but at least they’d arrived at the intended destination.

The two people looked at Lee Han with eyes full of respect.

Indeed, an upperclassman from Einrogard is different!

“Did you see that just now? That guardian had dozens of spells imprinted inside, and he felled it!”

Eren Dee shouted excitedly. To that, Lee Han, flustered, inadvertently asked back.

“You sensed that?”

Sensing the number of spells engraved in the bronze guardian.

She hadn’t counted them exactly, but even roughly estimating they were in the double digits was surprising enough. Even Lee Han hadn’t been able to count them exactly in that brief time.

“Huh? Yes.”

The Baldrogard student answered without any idea of how remarkable her ability was.

“…You are related to Gainando, right?”

“Huh…? I guess so?”

“And you’re a Baldrogard student?”

Eren Dee, puzzled, nodded. She didn’t understand what he was asking.

‘Even though divination magic is never absolute, to have such talent in Baldrogard…!’

Lee Han shuddered inside.

From Alsicle Pengerine to others, now and then mages with great talent who didn’t enroll in Einrogard could be seen.

But for such a talented mage to enter Baldrogard… Wasn’t this too much of a joke played by fate?

‘Should I report to the Headmaster right now and forcibly transfer her to Einrogard?’

At that point, Lee Han hesitated.

Thinking about it, it was a drastic idea that didn’t consider the other person’s wishes.

With almost 99% certainty, she’d end up unhappy.

‘Oops. What nonsense am I thinking. I must’ve picked up this habit from the skeleton headmaster over break.’

There was no way someone like him would have such drastic thoughts. He must have caught it from the skeleton headmaster.

“Are you alright?”

“…Yes. I’m alright. Could you please wait a moment? I think I need to check for other threats…”

Lee Han avoided the gaze of respect and expectation from the two, then checked the notebook again.

“So what now? Do we dig further?”

No. There’s no need. I already pulled it out and draped it over your shoulder, Disciple.

“???”

At the unexpected answer, Lee Han looked around.

Surprisingly, he felt nothing at all.

…Could it be a garment only visible to good people?