Episode 110

Even though Yoner and Lee Han walked rather than rode their horses, they realized belatedly that it actually wasn’t slower.

Students trying to ride ahead were instead struggling out in front.

“Waaah! Waaahh!”

Starting with a White Tiger Tower student putting on a spectacle, jumping forward and back atop his bucking horse…

Clatter, clatter, clatter!

“Why are you coming back this way?”

“I don’t know! I’m not controlling it! Help!!”

There were also horses running in the opposite direction.

Lee Han was surprised to find out that simply holding the reins and walking was not so bad after all.

-Frrt.

The white horse let out a disappointed snort at the chaos of the other horses.

If it had its way, it would have thrown Lee Han on its back and run wild, but with its strength completely drained, that wasn’t possible.

Lee Han dug into his pocket, pulled out a sugar cube, and held it out on his palm.

-Frrt!

Usually the white horse gave him all sorts of trouble, but only when given treats did it stop hating Lee Han.

Lee Han inwardly cursed at the horse.

‘Such a mercenary beast.’

Looking over at Yoner, the two of them really seemed to be getting along with his horse.

The brown horse was gentle and obedient to Yoner even without a treat, as if worried about Yoner tiring first.

“Wardanaz!”

A rough voice called from behind.

It was Salko of House Twutanta and his friends.

“What’s up? Hold on. Don’t come any closer.”

“?”

Lee Han stopped Salko and friends from approaching.

“You might ruin my quiz.”

“…We won’t!! Wardanaz, what do you take us for?”

Salko’s underlings were indignant.

Unlike Lee Han, they weren’t driven by grades.

Even for this quiz, the effort they put in was to prove themselves, not for scores.

“Everyone says that. So stay back.”

“Chill out, everyone,” Salko said to his friends.

“It’s like how you shouldn’t dig in your bag next to a gold mine. Wardanaz is talented, so he draws a lot of envy. He must have rivals even in Blue Dragon Tower. I get his reaction.”

“?”

Yoner was puzzled.

That’s not it though?

“We won’t come any closer, Wardanaz.”

“All right, Twutanta. What’s up?”

Before Salko could respond, one friend burst out angrily.

“Think about what you did, Wardanaz!”

Lee Han paused.

There were so many things, he didn’t know what to pick.

Lee Han replied seriously,

“No idea. What do you mean?”

“What did you just give your horse?”

“A sugar cube.”

“Yeah! Why would you feed that to your horse? You should have brought it to the underground market and sold it!”

“……”

-Frrt!

Lee Han and the white horse shared the same look of disbelief for once.

For the first time, Salko cleared his throat, a little embarrassed.

“No, Wardanaz.”

“Wasn’t that it?”

“Of course not. That’s not the reason.”

Salko got a brown paper parcel from his friend and handed it to Lee Han. He caught a glimpse of what was inside.

Carrots.

“The horse will like carrots just as much. Sugar is a rare delicacy—use carrots instead.”

Salko turned away after saying that. Lee Han called to his strong-backed dwarf—no, elf—friend.

“Twutanta. Thanks.”

“It’s nothing. Drop by the underground market next time.”

“Sure. I won’t forget.”

“And play a game of chess before you go.”

“……”

Lee Han gave Salko a suspicious look, but Salko was already walking off.

“Well… can’t complain if I can save money on sugar.”

There were still enough supplies for now, but sugar was indeed a luxury.

If carrots could be used instead, it wasn’t bad. Lee Han offered the carrot to the white horse.

-Frrrt!

The horse snorted and turned its head away in distaste.

Lee Han seriously wondered if he should get another white horse.

‘There must at least be one other white horse at the magic school…’

If he raised it well and bulked it up, maybe it’d look similar after all?

• * *

“!”

From a distance, Lee Han and Yoner saw the riverbank. Some students had already led their horses to the water.

Rowena, the White Tiger Tower follower who served the princess, saw Lee Han and called out,

“Wardanaz-nim. Please be careful.”

“What’s wrong?”

Rowena pointed at the river with her wooden sword rather than answering.

As one student tried to let his horse drink, something surprising happened.

The water level of the river dropped sharply.

“……”

“……”

Lee Han and Yoner grimaced.

This was just too much!

“Did you find a solution?”

“I tried going deeper, but the current’s kind of fast…”

Rowena looked hesitant.

Never take a river lightly.

Even if it only came up to your waist, you could drown if you lost your balance, and with a quick current, it was even more dangerous.

Let alone this river, which came at least up to your chest.

If you didn’t know how deep you had to go, it made everyone more cautious.

As Lee Han approached, the princess ran up to him. Rowena spoke for her.

“Her Highness is glad you’re here, Wardanaz-nim.”

“I just walked over…”

The princess stared at the brown package Lee Han was holding.

‘Does she want to feed the carrot to a horse?’

Lee Han hesitated, then offered her a carrot.

The princess bit into it immediately and scowled, then looked at Lee Han with betrayed eyes.

Lee Han and Yoner were flustered.

‘It was for the horse…’

‘Shh.’

Rowena, looking dubious, asked in her stead,

“Where did you get this?”

“…A Black Turtle Tower friend gave it to me, said it was fresh.”

“Sorry, but from Her Highness’s face, it seems it’s not ripe…”

“No wonder. Guess they aren’t skilled at farming yet. But let’s not complain too much, since the intent was kind.”

“Yes. We’re not so shameless as to criticize a gift.”

Lee Han played dumb and swiftly changed the subject.

“I’ll try fetching water from the river with water control magic.”

With a wave of his staff, a huge ball of water rose from the river. Rowena unwittingly marveled.

So fast, so effortlessly!

The water blob floated toward the horse’s mouth.

But just as its tongue reached for it, the water evaporated.

“……”

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

‘This is too much.’

Did even a quiz have to be taken this seriously?

He didn’t know what spell Professor Lightning Step had used on the river, but it seemed there was no way to water the horse without leading it into the river.

In that case…

Lee Han took out a long, sturdy rope from his backpack.

The other students watching were stunned.

‘Why does he have that on him??’

They were amazed at where he’d found it, and also just couldn’t understand why he carried it around all the time.

How…?

“Let’s tie ourselves together.”

“!”

If they tied the horses and people together, it’d be easier to endure the strong river current.

The students at the riverbank nodded. This was worth trying.

“Good idea, Wardanaz.”

“Let’s do it together.”

The students tied themselves together and entered the river with their horses.

“Careful… all right!”

“Done! We did it!”

Cheers erupted from the students who ventured deep into the river.

The river level dropped when the horses went to drink, but not so much they couldn’t reach.

At last, the lead horses began to gulp water.

‘Thank goodness.’

Lee Han breathed a sigh of relief inside. That was a real solutions.

Let it end like this!

-Frrt.

The white horse complained, not wanting to go in.

“If you drink, I’ll give you another sugar cube.”

-Frrrr…

At Lee Han’s words, the white horse stopped fussing and lowered its head.

Each student was taking a turn at the front; now it was Lee Han’s turn.

While the white horse drank, Lee Han suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Just like when, in Professor Voladi’s grueling—no, intense—lesson, he had sensed the movement of elements with his eyes closed.

That chilling sensation!

Lee Han whipped his head around. Upstream, a surging current was hurtling savagely toward him.

“Lightning Step!”

His friends didn’t understand why Lee Han was suddenly shouting the professor’s name.

Nor did they know it was a curse.

“Everyone, get back! Shield, unfurl!”

Lee Han shouted for the students behind him to get out of the way, then swung his staff and conjured a massive water shield.

A water shield as big and thick as possible.

A water shield made using as much nearby river water as possible!

The river level dropped in the surrounding area. Thanks to that, the students behind him quickly moved to safety.

But Lee Han, having gone farthest in, was too late to escape.

The wave from upstream slammed straight into the water shield and exploded outward. Water splashed, and the river rose.

But it was enough.

‘I can endure!’

From the start, Lee Han had no intention of completely blocking the river with the water shield.

A few seconds was enough.

As long as water didn’t immediately rise around him, he could escape.

But then…

-Frrt!

The white horse collapsed.

Unlike Lee Han, who sensed the current and prepared in advance, the white horse realized too late. It was knocked down by the water surging around its legs and began to struggle.

A few students screamed. Yoner, who’d gotten out, tried to rush back in but was held by other students.

“Pull the rope!”

Before Rowena even finished her sentence, the rope snapped. The surging water to either side of Lee Han washed the rope away.

There were no options left. Rowena shouted desperately.

“Wardanaz-nim! At least save yourself…!”

“……”

The white horse suddenly floated in midair.

Lee Han hadn’t discovered a new spell and levitated it.

…He had lifted the white horse onto his back and stood up.

The water shield teetered, barely holding around Lee Han.

Everyone was speechless. Even the white horse seemed stunned by Lee Han’s feat.

The white horse neighed in protest.

“…If you act up now, I’ll bury you in the riverbed upside down.”

Lee Han growled in a low, menacing tone.

On the outside, he looked solemn and heroic, but inside, his whole body was screaming.

One part of his mind kept up the water shield, another was frantically expending magic all through his body.

Professor Ingelder had said not to do that, but Lee Han had no choice.

With every step, the reckless expenditure of mana was so extreme even the white horse was frightened.

Anyone could see the human would collapse from exhaustion first.

But Lee Han neither collapsed nor fell in the river. He barely managed to haul the horse to shallower water and set it down.

There, he let out a cry mixed with resentment and frustration.

“Lightning Step!!”

“???”

Again, the students were confused. They didn’t understand why Lee Han shouted the professor’s name.

-Frrrt…

The white horse hurriedly got up and ran to Lee Han, worried about his condition.

But Lee Han was unmoved.

“No matter how nice you act, you’re not getting that bracelet and belt taken off.”

-……