Episode 1112

Episode 1112

-Do you have anything else to ask?

The angel, Apazragon, looked at Lee Han as if curious.

He couldn’t imagine there’d be anything more to ask right now besides the fact that the sword was not an angel’s blade.

-I don’t know who made that sword either. Judging by the workmanship, it’s probably a famous demon or extradimensional craftsman.

-I-I see.

Lee Han nodded for a moment.

The angel’s guess sounded quite plausible. No matter how skilled a mage was, it was very difficult for a mortal on the continent to accurately distinguish artifacts from other dimensions.

Unless one regularly traveled to different dimensions collecting information and interacting with other races, it was hard to tell if a sword had been made by an angel, a demon, or a tentacled monster with thirteen arms and forty-eight eyes.

-Then I’ll be off.

-…Wait! Wait!!!

-???

As the angel tried to leave coolly again, Lee Han called out urgently.

This time, the angel looked at Lee Han as if he found it strange.

This pioneer, who walked the old mage’s path, was not someone wasteful with his time, so why was he being called for unnecessary things today?

-Where were you just now? How did you show up right away?

‘Very good question, Lee Han!’

Professor Garcia also snapped out of it and cheered him on.

It was surprising enough that an angel suddenly appeared from the spirit dimension and started talking (and it even seemed her student had met him before), but that didn’t matter.

…Well, maybe it mattered a little, but Professor Garcia decided to let it slide. Wasn’t it just another time her student had befriended some strange being from another dimension?

But what really mattered was how that angel could show up right away.

Surely he hadn’t been following Lee Han around everywhere…

-I don’t know what you mean. I was watching you, so I showed up right away.

The angel looked at Lee Han even more oddly. He didn’t understand why Lee Han was asking such an obvious question.

-……

-……

The already chilly spiritual world got even colder.

Professor Garcia and Professor Voladi exchanged glances.

-Do you think you can take him down if you have to?

-I’ll attack at your signal.

They’d heard of demons tailing people after magical mishaps, but an angel trailing them was unheard of, even for Professor Garcia.

After all, weren’t angels usually not interested in the affairs of other planes?

Though confused, Professor Garcia steeled herself for her student. If an angel was harassing her student, she was ready to use force if necessary.

-When you asked me to look after you, did you mean you’d be following me all the time?!

-That’s right. Didn’t you tell me to do that?

-……

-……

Professor Garcia and Professor Voladi stared at their student intensely. Lee Han hurried to explain.

-No! That’s a misunderstanding!

-Is it really a misunderstanding…

-It truly is! Professor!

It really was a misunderstanding.

The angel had said “let’s keep looking after each other” before leaving, and Lee Han had only responded “sure”—he couldn’t have expected the angel would follow him around and keep watch.

Leaving his unfairly accused student behind, Professor Garcia spoke up to the angel.

-I have a question. Even if you were following Lee Han in this spirit dimension, we would have noticed. Were you moving through an entirely separate dimension that only you angels can use…?

-That’s right.

Angels were far fewer in number than demons, but their reputation was no less mighty. They possessed powerful racial abilities.

Especially in matters involving dimensions, they exhibited strange abilities even mages found hard to fathom.

The dimension Apazragon used was the dimension of Body-Light-Erasure.

This dimension did not exist independently of reality, but was like a kind of shadow dimension.

Once entered, you changed from a being to a hazy concept and couldn’t interact with the real dimension at all, but it was ideal for covert observation.

Apazragon had immersed himself in this shadow dimension to closely observe the path of the pioneer, and when a problem arose, he shifted up to the astral plane to point it out.

-……

Lee Han had nothing to say.

‘What a bizarre race is this?’

To think you could enter a dimension undetectable even by spiritual perception and observe others.

At this point, weren’t angels more trouble than demons?

-Come to think of it, pioneer, I have something to tell you.

Apparently remembering in mid-conversation, Apazragon spoke to Lee Han.

-…What is it?

-The magical sanctuary where you reside is so twisted dimensionally that it’s very hard to approach. I hope you’ll ask the lord of that domain to improve it.

Einrogard had accumulated layer upon layer of magic during its long history, and its surrounding dimensions were bizarrely warped as a result.

Powerful magic affected dimensions, too.

In such a place, even angelic races that freely traversed dimensions found it hard to enter. In fact, Apazragon had had to wait outside Einrogard and follow Lee Han once he exited.

To avoid unnecessary inconvenience, Lee Han would have to ask the territory’s lord to make a suitable dimensional passage.

-I see! I’ll be sure to tell the Headmaster.

-Thank you.

-……

Professor Garcia looked at her student with a complicated expression.

No matter who was present, they could tell her student was saying empty words if they weren’t crazy.

As if Lee Han would ask the Skull Headmaster to create a dimensional passage for outside visitors.

And whether that was even possible was doubtful.

Every time Professor Garcia saw the twisted dimensions around Einrogard, even she wondered, “Where would I even begin to untangle this mess?”

‘There are some advantages to Einrogard.’

Lee Han thought to himself.

He had no intention of doing it; he just felt grateful for Einrogard’s gnarly environment.

At least it kept out even angels!

-Let’s finish this business and talk later.

Lee Han said to Apazragon.

He wanted to lecture on why following a mortal mage without a word was rude, but there were too many people around right now.

Even at this moment, Jute was looking at the trio with a suspicious expression. He had to explain to them first.

-I’ll do that. I look forward to many lessons.

‘What lesson, you insane bastard.’

Lee Han swore inwardly.

For some reason, this angel misunderstood that by following Lee Han and observing him, he would gain enlightenment.

It was an absurd mistake, and the more Lee Han thought about it, the more his hatred for the Yaksha King soared.

To dump this kind of angel on him…

‘…If I go find the Yaksha King and fight, maybe this angel will realize something too?’

Pop!

As he had that thought, Apazragon disappeared. The astral overlay causing wilting vision faded back to normal.

“Is… is there some kind of problem?”

Jute asked, as if feeling uneasy.

The strange behavior of the three mages just now was on her mind.

Staring into empty air, lips moving as if talking with someone inaudible…

‘Wait a second. Did they just communicate with a spirit?’

If they’d sensed a spirit, she could understand.

To detect spiritual entities without even casting a separate spirit-detection spell. Truly astounding skill.

Were they really mages from Einrogard?

“Well… Jute, actually, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Lee Han said hesitantly.

As a fellow necromancy school mage, he didn’t want to embarrass her, but this was important.

If a completely different sword was used against the spirit whose weakness was supposed to be an angel, there were unpredictable risks.

“What is it…?”

“This sword is actually not made by an angel.”

“……”

Jute’s face stiffened.

She glared at Lee Han, trembling and shouted,

“So, so you finally show your true colors! Are you trying to insult me just because I’m a necromancer? You’re saying you can’t trust a necromancer!”

“No, I’m also from the necromancy school…”

“Kalarogard might not be as renowned as Einrogard, but it’s by no means an inferior school. I’ll prove that myself today!”

“We respect all magic schools. Well, except for Baldrogard, but anyway, why would we look down on Kalarogard?”

Lee Han wanted to persuade her, but she only responded stiffly.

Giving up, Lee Han sighed. Rather than cause a conflict with an outsider, it was best to choose the fastest solution.

“…Apazragon? Could you help, if you’re listening? If so, I’d appreciate it if you descended with a physical body.”

“W-who are you talking to?”

Even before Jute finished her question, suddenly a massive chunk of flesh manifested in reality.

This mass of meat, reminiscent of a slime, quickly shifted into a human shape. Apazragon, forcefully fitted into a human body, cleared his throat and spoke.

“Ah. Ah. Ah. Can you hear my voice well?”

“I can hear you fine, but you might want to move your eyes to the front, not the back of your head…”

“I see. Thank you for the feedback. The shapes of mortals are still unfamiliar to me.”

Apazragon rearranged his body again.

Since angels normally existed in their own dimension as pure souls, these physical, material bodies had to feel strange.

Adventurers and knights alike in the room were all stunned. No matter how worldly they were, it was extremely rare to see an angel.

But somehow, they instinctively understood.

The being before them was most definitely an angel!

Who else could emit such a presence? Jute nervously stammered out a question.

“A-are you really… an angel?”

“Yes.”

“Einrogard mages summon and walk around with angels?!”

“……”

Lee Han wondered where to even begin to explain. Professor Garcia, unable to bear it, answered on his behalf.

“You can think of it as something like that.”

“Tr-truly… truly amazing. I knew the magic of Einrogard was exceptional, but to think you were even researching ways to contract angels…”

“…Either way, this proves Lee Han wasn’t lying, doesn’t it? We know as much as we do because that angel told us.”

At Professor Garcia’s words, Jute nodded, dazed.

With such proof right before her, she had nothing to say. In fact, she felt so ashamed of her stubbornness she wanted to crawl into a mouse hole.

“I have nothing else to—wait, student?”

Jute, reddening as she tried to apologize, stopped short.

Hadn’t they just called the mage up front a student?

“Uh? Yes. Lee Han is a student.”

“Weren’t you a professor?! They definitely said professor earlier…”

“Professor Baegrek and I are professors, but Lee Han is still a student.”

“……”

Jute blinked and looked at Lee Han again.

Come to think of it, he did seem like a student. It even seemed strange that she’d thought he was a professor in the first place.

Huh?

‘…Why, why did I think he was a professor…?’

“Wait. Lee Han? The Lee Han of the Wardanaz family? …Aren’t you part of the necromancy school?!”

At Jute’s words, her companions grabbed her by the shoulders, as if they couldn’t take it anymore.

They trusted their leader, but today she’d gone too far.

“Give it a rest, Jute! You’re really weird today!”

“Stop being so clingy! There’s no way that guy is a necromancer!”

“……”

Just as Lee Han was about to answer ‘That’s right,’ he was left completely at a loss.