Episode 1122
by CristaeEpisode 1122
In fact, the hamster trembled with such rage he couldn’t even answer. Seeing that pitifully cute display, Orlakh’s evaluation of him dropped several notches.
‘This guy. Listening to him bluster, he sounded like a grand magician, but it must’ve all been bluff.’
Mortals were known to be proficient liars, after all.
It wouldn’t be surprising if that hamster had bluffed just to get out of this crisis.
Orlakh was freshly pleased with his own decision.
Because he’d once worked for the Wardanaz family, he wasn’t fooled by such thin lies. Any other demon would have eagerly swallowed the bait.
“Hm. I don’t have anything for you, but here’s some seeds as a snack…”
Now the hamster gritted his teeth and growled, frothing at the mouth. He was so frustrated and vexed, he couldn’t even speak.
Still, Lee Han’s intentions to calm him had some effect.
The hamster realized no matter how angry he got, it was useless.
-…Fine. I’ll believe you were busy.
“Of course you should believe me. I said I was busy.”
This time Lee Han replied curtly.
Thinking back, he genuinely had been so busy all vacation, and to be doubted for that!
“You’re absolutely right. Shall I stash that hamster away somewhere unseen?”
The demon rubbed his hands together obsequiously. The hamster clenched the seeds he was holding tight.
To think he tried to collaborate with such a demon bastard!
-So, what were you busy with?
“Uh… That is…”
Lee Han tried to recall what happened over break.
He certainly had been busy, but thinking back, strangely, it felt embarrassing to explain in front of outsiders.
Persuading tower mages and nobles for Einrogard funding, visiting other magic schools to meet seniors…
Still, Lee Han managed to pick out the relatively less embarrassing, more plausible deeds.
“Cultists! Yes. I was busy tracking down cultists. Very wicked and vile people.”
-Cultists? I see…
A normal wizard would have said, ‘Why would a second-year be chasing cultists during vacation? Stop lying!’ but the hamster felt nothing out of place.
If it was the Wardanaz scion in front of him, it was hardly strange. At most, he might think, ‘That skeleton headmaster sure trains his protégés hard.’
-Which cultists? Phragal?
“Sengiros.”
-Weren’t they destroyed?
When the hamster asked in confusion, Lee Han shook his head slowly.
“You are extremely behind on outside news.”
-……
The hamster almost threw his seed but held back.
-Yeah… Late. Whose fault is that, I wonder.
“Looks like their order has revived again.”
Lee Han reported that the Sengiros cult was once again stirring in the shadows.
Hearing that, the hamster squeaked sarcastically.
-Wonderful. May chaos and discord spread across the continent… Ack! What are you doing?!
“Why would you say something like that?”
Lee Han shot a seed at him with telekinesis. The hamster rolled with a curse.
-So I’m supposed to root for Einrogard now?!
“You asked me to break your curse, didn’t you? If you want my magic proficiency to improve quickly, you should be hoping those cultists disappear. So I can focus undisturbed.”
-Not sure… if I can really believe that…
The hamster mumbled quietly.
He was worried that if he spoke louder, he’d get pelted with seeds again. Hamstery had made him a bit timider.
He’d initially pinned hopes on this guy, seeing how he’d inherited knowledge from that crazy clone.
But after spending all vacation in this dark, chilly storeroom, squeaking and eating seeds, the hamster grew a little more sober-minded.
…Can I really just wait and hope this guy’s magic improves enough to break my curse?
Just waiting didn’t suit the hamster’s temperament. Especially not when he might well have been forgotten.
That was why, knowing the risks, he’d tried to coax the demon into preparing potions and magic.
-How much of the inherited spirit tome have you deciphered?
The hamster suddenly wondered.
This Wardanaz youth was extremely irksome, arrogant, vile, and petty, but still, he couldn’t deny his genius with magic.
How much of the white grimoire left by the skeleton headmaster’s insane clone had he unraveled?
If, by chance, he’d found some clue to breaking the curse, there might be hope…
Lee Han responded, looking a bit downcast.
“Since then, I haven’t heard the book’s voice at all.”
-……
“Still, if I keep training diligently, maybe it’ll open up someday?”
-…Could you just please gather up those potions and magic for me?
“Not this again? If you forcibly break the curse, it’ll damage your soul.”
-I said it’s fine! I said I’m fine!!
The hamster squeaked frantically.
Regardless, Lee Han firmly forbade it, then took Orlakh and headed toward the seniors.
By now, the seniors had been waiting quite long enough.
“Senior, here’s the demon. Ask anything you need.”
“…It sounded like you two were having a very long conversation. Do you know each other?”
Ogoldos asked in a confused voice.
Even Ogoldos knew that asking, ‘Are you acquainted with a demon?’ was a weird question, but he couldn’t help himself.
“No. This is my first time meeting him today. The long conversation was because of the hamster over there.”
“That’s right! I’m a clean demon with no connection to the Wardanaz family!”
Orlakh pitched in eagerly for his young master.
Hearing that, the necromancy students all thought to themselves:
‘So, a demon associated with the Wardanaz family after all.’
‘Maybe a demon who once got caught by the Wardanaz family.’
While the seniors questioned Orlakh about places devil-dimension invaders might target, Direte quietly called his junior aside.
“Junior. Junior.”
“Yes?”
“Be honest.”
“…Alright. I did use the inspector’s authority for personal matters. But I have no regrets. The balance among schools…”
Direte was confused as the junior began babbling about something completely unexpected.
“Hold on. Hold on.”
“?”
“I was asking what you and the hamster and demon talked about for so long.”
“Oh… We were talking about the curse on the hamster. My magical progress has been slower than expected.”
“I see. Got it. Then what’s this about using the inspector’s authority for personal matters?”
“……”
Lee Han deeply reflected on himself.
He thought he’d gotten tougher at Einrogard, but he still had a long way to go.
So easily revealing an inner lack in situations like this…
“…To be honest, I became the inspector’s right hand.”
“……”
“Senior?”
When Direte said nothing, Lee Han nervously checked.
“Sorry. I was just so baffled I was pondering what you meant.”
“If you hear from the beginning it will make sense.”
“I really don’t think so…”
Under Direte’s skeptical gaze, Lee Han tried his best to keep the explanation short and concise.
“…So that’s what happened.”
“Wait, then is that why the professor suddenly decided to write the report himself?”
“That was because he suddenly realized his conscience… Yes, that’s correct.”
“And the reason Yukveltire took over the Nightmare Echo Forest plan?”
“That could be just a coincidence… actually, it’s also true.”
Direte stared at his junior with eyes full of shock.
He’d suspected something, but he hadn’t guessed he’d had the inspector dancing in the palm of his hand!
‘Could it be he’s born with some special power dragons trust?’
One dragon, fine, but bewitching two and it became suspicious.
“Senior, please don’t take your work back…”
Lee Han cautiously pleaded.
After working so hard to pawn work off on Professor Mortum and Senior Yukveltire, it would really sting if Direte took it back now.
“I won’t. Don’t worry.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Do you think I’m some sap who does all the work for other people?”
‘A little, yes.’
That was something he’d never say aloud.
“It won’t hurt the professor or Yukveltire to take on a bit more work. Thanks, but…”
“Thank you, senior! I’ll use the inspector’s authority to drastically increase our necromancy school’s budget!”
“…I was actually going to ask you not to do that.”
Direte let out a deep sigh.
He’d meant to say so anyway, but hadn’t expected the junior to volunteer an example on the spot.
“I appreciate your help, but stop there. Budgets should be raised properly by the rules, not by force—otherwise it’ll only cause problems later.”
“But we have fewer people and fewer commissions than the other schools—how do we raise it properly?”
“…Silence.”
Direte, who’d always answered juniors’ questions head-on, this time suppressed things with sheer seniority.
There was simply nothing to say.
“Anyway, I’ve spoken. Never do that. And here—this is the list of the spells we’ll cover in this lecture. Read it bit by bit during breaks. If you’re unsure, ask.”
Second semester’s lecture -Forbidden Dark Arts of Necromancy (Not Actually Taught)- was a class that provided countermeasures against forbidden spells.
Since necromancers dealt with some fairly dangerous magic and mysteries, it was right to practice prevention in advance.
Getting the list, Lee Han tilted his head.
Some of the countermeasures looked awfully familiar.
Countermeasures against the dark spirit creation art… -Propagation of Dark Wave-
…
…
Countermeasure against the Poison Domain propagation art… -Necromancy Cloak-
…
Countermeasure against summoning catoblepas… -Raven’s Evil Eye-
…
There were spells Lee Han had learned or been forced to learn in the previous term.
He looked at his senior in puzzlement, and Direte gave him a small nod.
That nod meant:
‘It’s a secret from the headmaster.’
As the lecturer, giving students this kind of slack would never be allowed by the skeleton head.
Even if the student had been running around all term.
But Direte didn’t care. She only followed her conscience.
If you were afraid of the headmaster, you could never make it to the fifth year at Einrogard.
“Senior.”
“Yeah. Speak.”
“There are spells here that I’ve already learned. Shouldn’t you update the list?”
“……”
Carrying the hamster cage back to the dorm, Lee Han fell into thought.
Why was Senior Direte so upset?
“Lee Han!”
“What is it?”
“The inspector…”
“No.”
“?!”
Gainando was startled.
How did Lee Han know what he was about to ask for?
“Wardanaz!”
“What is it?”
“Ins…”
“You too.”
“?!!”
Ahsan looked at him in disbelief.
He could understand Gainando, but to see right through his own mind too?
“There are rumors I’m controlling the inspector at will, but that’s absolutely not true. I just offered some reasonable advice.”
“Like how you control Prince Joulin?”
“Who’s been spreading that? Step out.”
The Blue Dragon Tower students turned as quiet as mice. Gainando quickly kicked the friend who’d just opened his mouth.
The outed student glared at Gainando with resentment.
“Traitor…!”
“Hmph. As if.”
“And things are much better than before.”
Lee Han made the outed student hold a bucket of water.
Thanks to Lee Han’s advice, Uman’s policies had indeed softened somewhat.
Even upperclassmen had given it high praise, saying, ‘Hm, this is about as tough as Headmaster Skeleton, or more.’
“It’s better than before, but compared to how we used to live, it’s still way too harsh!”
“Never mention that in front of the seniors…”
Lee Han advised his friends for their own good.
Some seniors had already started realizing second-years had had it unusually easy last semester, and it’d do no good for the rumor to spread further.
“Also, I won’t be able to see the inspector for the next couple days. After hearing all my advice, they went off to act on it.”
“And after two days?”
“After two days, I’ll be heading out to solve my next assignment.”
“……”
The students suddenly grew solemn. Someone muttered, “That’s why I said we shouldn’t bother Wardanaz.”