Episode 1106

“Huh? This is what the magic does, right?”

Lee Han was more flustered by the senior’s words.

He clearly felt his future was being hidden by shadows—why say otherwise?

“It’s… supposed to be more subtle… and weaker…”

The golem senior stammered on, trying to explain.

The original, spell-cast -Escape to the Shadow Fortress- was a much quieter and calmer spell.

It was like a lake: you’d slip into the water to evade the enemy’s divination.

But Lee Han’s music magic was intense and overflowing with power.

Like a storm, it swept away all enemy divinations nearby.

The result—avoiding being detected by enemy divination—was the same, but…

…Could the two even be called the same magic?

“The principle’s the same, isn’t it?”

“That’s true, but strictly speaking…”

“If there are no problems, I’ll just use it as is. I mean, asking me to perfectly master such a difficult spell at my level is a stretch. If I can cast even a degraded version, I’m grateful.”

“It’s not degraded! Hey!”

The golem senior wanted to correct Lee Han’s misunderstanding, but Lee Han had already shifted his focus to the performance.

The magic was still being cast—he couldn’t spend too long on distractions.

Kwwaaarrr!

If another mage had been present, they would have heard the thunder of magic surging just as the golem senior did.

A storm pounded upon the shadow fortress concealing the caster’s fate.

And what a noise that storm made!

With the wild concentration of power reminiscent of a broken cliff, the spell was completed. Lee Han took a deep breath and put down his instrument.

“How is it?”

“What do you mean, how is it. I told you.”

The golem senior replied bluntly.

“Come on. I told you I’d be grateful even for a degraded version…”

“It’s not downgraded!”

“Really? So the magic’s fine, right?”

“It is, but aren’t you curious?”

It was only natural for a mage to be interested in phenomena like this.

Especially for a wizard like Lee Han, whose magical skill was already astonishing for a second-year.

Why would a music-magic version of the spell differ so much from the standard one?

Could it be that music magic was the original form, and the current -Escape to the Shadow Fortress- a simplified adaptation?

“I’m not curious.”

“…Don’t lie.”

“I mean it. If the spell works, I have things to do and should go.”

“What do you have to do?”

“I’m going to break through the inspector’s watch to meet Prince Joulin.”

“Aha! Alright, good luck!”

The golem senior decided to research the magical conundrum on his own.

He all but shoved his junior out and scattered salt, holy water, and every warding reagent he could find at the doorway.

Then he prayed to fate.

‘Please, next time, let this junior go to the professor instead.’

• * *

‘Move before the spell wears off.’

Lee Han acted without delay.

Normally, he would have checked things more thoroughly.

He’d have tried the spell multiple times, recorded ranges and durations, and checked variables…

But now wasn’t the time. If he tried and the spell failed to work again, he’d be in trouble.

…Joulin’s patience wouldn’t last that long!

‘Honestly, Joulin’s patience is about 0.8 Gainando. Unlike Gainando, who was trained at Einrogard, Joulin’s is even lower.’

Pop—

Darting forward, Lee Han cast an invisibility spell, vanishing without a trace.

He readied the two most likely needed movement spells, then drew a deep breath.

The main building at Einrogard looked unchanged, but the atmosphere around it was tense.

Usually, the overlay of centuries’ magic was dizzying enough, but now…

‘There’s a new magic in the air I’ve never seen before.’

Surely this was the dragon magic Wuman had cast.

A divination spell to catch students sneaking around at night!

-Good grief. He’s tripled the patrols.

“!”

Hearing the familiar voices of knights in the distance, Lee Han ducked low.

Even with both invisibility and shadow fortress active, overconfidence could only bring disaster.

-Wasn’t it you who always pushed for more patrols? Saying students kept looting the storerooms.

-Yes, but that was a proper contest between my knightly prowess and the mages’ cleverness. To see which would win! Now they’ve just blanketed the whole area with magic—there’s nothing fair about it…

‘Are you serious with this nonsense?’

Lee Han almost burst out to retort. If this was a ploy, it was truly sly.

What’s this talk of a fair contest?

The students were risking their lives sneaking around at night out of hunger…!

Still, the ridiculous conversation had given Lee Han new intel.

‘So His Highness really did add new magic.’

While knights had previously just increased their patrols, Wuman now had magical surveillance encircling the building.

A whole new level of suffocation—even the little breathing room afforded by the old way was gone.

‘I don’t know how effective this fortress magic is at blocking… Should I just push straight into the main building?’

Lee Han took out his notebook to chat with Joulin.

They’d covered her location last time, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.

Fwoosh!

“…?!!!”

He was suddenly startled by a blaze rising in the hills beyond.

‘What the…?’

Fire was breaking out not just in one place, but by the lake woods, on the main building’s southern field, even by the main gate.

At first, Lee Han thought it was evil cultists, anti-magic radicals, or magical criminals attacking Einrogard.

They’d suffered too much—it wouldn’t be surprising for someone to come seek revenge.

But the culprit was far more mundane than expected.

“Hey, Inspector! Try inspecting this!!”

“Inspector, get lost to the capital!! Einrogard belongs to the students!!”

All over, magically amplified student shouts echoed.

Students in the towers rushed to their lounge windows, clapping together in unison.

“The spirit of Einrogard isn’t dead yet!”

“Well done! Burn it all down!”

“……”

The reaction was even more extreme than Lee Han had imagined; he was at a loss for words.

‘So this is why the skull headmaster loosens the reins…!’

No amount of oppression would repress the students of Einrogard. Back them into a corner, and who knows what they’d unleash.

Strictly speaking, it was the skull headmaster who’d made them that way since freshman year, but that was beside the point.

-I knew this would happen!

-See, inspectors. All they know is bossing people around without understanding anything about education!

-Positions, everyone! Make sure the damage doesn’t spread!

The knights moved without surprise.

After seeing the new inspector’s daily meal plans, they’d concluded, ‘the students will revolt soon.’

When students go hungry, they can’t rebel. But force them to eat tasteless food, and rebellion is inevitable.

‘…Which is good for me. They’ll relax the watch on the main building now.’

Lee Han opened his notebook. As the flames shot up all over, the Watchman Club was in an uproar.

-Iactus: Hahahaha!! How’s that taste!!!

-Beaver-Penguin-Fox: That was you? It’s not easy to say this, but… honestly, I respect you.

-Iactus: Hmph. More rebels will rise. Let’s see if you can stop sabotage all over the place.

-Beaver-Penguin-Fox: How do you plan to handle the search later, though?

-Iactus: I have my methods. Remember these three words: ‘memory confusion potion.’

‘What?!’

Lee Han was shocked inside.

He’d known Iactus was an extreme member, but he hadn’t realized he was behind this uproar!

‘Much crazier than I thought. I’d better not get involved.’

Of course, Lee Han’s own solo magic break-in at the main building was nothing to brag about right now.

But Lee Han thought shamelessly,

‘Compared to that senior, I’m a stickler for rules. This little infiltration is just cute in comparison, right?’

-Joulin: Lee Han!!!

-Gonadaltes: Ah, yes, Your Highness. You’re still on the fifth floor, right?

-Joulin: Is that fire outside your doing?!?! Because of me?!?!

“……”

• * *

Currently, only Joulin and Wuman were staying in the fifth-floor guest village.

Actually, Wuman was nonstop patrolling around Einrogard, nagging everywhere he went (which resulted in 17 holes and 53 cracks in the walls getting fixed immediately), so it was basically just Joulin in town.

And the only one who’d play with this unlucky princess was an equally unlucky archmage.

“Ha! Joulin wins!”

“Your Highness, for reference, the queen doesn’t teleport; she moves diagonally, vertically, and horizontally.”

“Really?”

Joulin grumbled, resetting the pieces.

Unlike chess with special dragon pieces that could move anywhere and breathe, normal chess was still hard for her.

“Why did you want to play normal chess all of a sudden?”

“Well… um…”

Hesitating, Joulin admitted,

“A stude…I mean, someone told me that playing chess with special pieces means you’re still immature… Joulin doesn’t agree, but…”

She kept glancing at the skull headmaster, hoping for agreement.

“Actually, it does mean you’re immature. I’m glad to see you growing.”

“…Really?!?!?!?!”

Joulin was scandalized.

Why had no one told her?!

“J-Joulin always thought it was proof of her majesty and virtue… Wait, wasn’t that something Gonadaltes said to me?”

Joulin’s eyes sharpened.

Was Gonadaltes deceiving her this whole time?

“Your Highness! Look there! A wildfire!”

“If Gonadaltes is deceiving Joulin, I’ll never forgive—wait, it really is a fire!”

“Why would I lie to you, Your Highness? We mages live in such sorrow.”

“S-sorry. Joulin can’t believe she doubted Gonadaltes…”

Joulin reflected deeply.

To have doubted the blameless Gonadaltes out of emotion—it was disgraceful for a dragon.

The knight standing guard nearby thought to himself,

‘Isn’t this why they sometimes go astray later?’

Young dragons used to follow their masters faithfully. When they grew up, they rebelled. Some of the blame had to go to their masters, right?

“B-but should we just sit here while there’s a fire?”

“Oh, Wuman will handle it. And don’t worry. It’ll be a student-set fire.”

“Lee Han?!”

-……

The knight guarding nearby thought again.

‘Why think of the heir first?’

There were many more likely arsonists. This accusation was unfair.

The skull headmaster nodded at the accusation against his apprentice.

“That’s probably right.”

-What the hell…!

The knight blurted out without thinking.