Episode 1148
by CristaeThe two fell into a brief silence.
They never would have guessed that the person casting would be the one to personally write such a cold-blooded plan.
The saving grace was that Yukveltire hadn’t heard the conversation just now.
“If you wrote it yourself, it’s fine.”
“Yeah. Wardanaz, you’re the type who enjoys the thrill of controlling instability and danger.”
“When did I ever say that… Actually, I guess I did.”
Shigunting was especially interested in disposable artifacts with high power and output, and rated Lee Han highly for making them his research topic.
Of course, Lee Han’s real motive was to mass-sell disposable artifacts at a low margin, not for the thrill—
—but he couldn’t let the seniors know that, so he nodded and played along.
-I enjoy such dangers. I feel my magic boiling as I control this kind of instability and danger.
-I knew it! You crazy one, you!
‘Such precise memory for pointless things.’
If it were Gainando, he’d have forgotten by now, but these Enchanter School seniors never forgot stuff like that.
“Amazing,” murmured Anpagone.
He’d been distracted by the junior’s wild boldness, but besides that, the design itself was quite impressive.
From the current-mitigation spell to the spell guiding ships nearby, it was packed and designed with great care.
If the junior hadn’t admitted it, Anpagone would have thought Yukveltire designed it herself; it felt that sophisticated.
‘This is -Bible’s Mana Diffusion Enchantment-, and this is -Bible’s Mana Warping Enchantment-…’
As Anpagone read with focus, he realized something.
This junior had mastered more of Professor Verdus’s unique magic than expected.
In fact, in the Enchanter School, even with Verdus as the supposed leader, hardly any students learned much from him.
That’s because even joining the Einrogard Enchanter School required being able to “self-study.”
If you weren’t a genius who could learn whatever magic you needed on your own, you simply couldn’t survive in this school.
So the magic composition among students was generally whatever each had picked up, with no unity at all—
—yet, this junior used more of Verdus’s actual spells than anyone else.
Maybe, of everyone, he’d learned the most from Verdus.
Even Yukveltire or any other student would never have helped with Verdus’s work as much as this one did!
“No way…?”
“Huh?” wondered Lee Han as Anpagone murmured on.
Was there a mistake somewhere in the design?
“I just wondered if, after all your volunteering to help Professor Verdus, that’s what turned you into such a formidable enchanter. Thinking about it that way—maybe even Verdus’s outrageous demands—”
“…Everything you just said, from start to finish, is 100% wrong. Who on earth is spreading such lies??”
Lee Han, uncharacteristically, erupted in anger.
He’d never worked hard, never volunteered, and certainly wasn’t “thanks to” Professor Verdus.
Anpagone, flustered, apologized, but a small rift formed between the two.
‘Huh?’
The students who’d gathered for the project sensed something was off.
The site they’d picked for the lighthouse construction was a riverside of “The River of Endless Sorrow.”
The river, so named ever since students fleeing the headmaster’s warehouse decades ago dropped all their loot in it, had a fast current and wide span, making it great for testing the lighthouse.
There was a mine nearby (you had to watch out for giants), and a forest (sometimes attacked by a student who vowed to protect the woods), so it was quite suitable for building.
The problem was that there were more obstacles than expected at the site.
“Why did the trees spread this far?”
“Puhu. Either forest spirits got riled up, or a student supercharged the forest’s life.”
Swish!
A tree branch grabbed a student by the ankle and hoisted them upside down.
Falkrius nodded.
“If it’s this weird, a student must’ve pushed it too far.”
“Let me down!”
“Don’t go near the trees. God knows what was fed to them to make them so touchy.”
The spreading forest was not the only problem.
Something had recently twisted the landscape, giant boulders were lodged everywhere, and visions were blocked.
-What’s going on?
-It’s little wizards! Little wizards! Beware—they’ll steal our sheep!
Even giants on the nearby mountain were gazing and grumbling at the scene.
The students shouted back in protest.
“We’re not stealing your sheep! Why would we!?”
“We couldn’t even if we wanted to! Do you see how huge those sheep are?!”
Despite the seniors’ frantic persuasion, the giants scoffed.
Wizards were well-known for their lies.
“Why’s everyone fighting?”
Arriving late, Lee Han was puzzled to find his seniors and the giants shouting at each other from afar.
-They tried to steal sheep! Tried to steal sheep!
“We did not!”
“…Let’s everybody calm down first.”
Like a judge come to oversee the proceedings, Lee Han got both sides to settle down.
Falkrius asked anxiously,
“Puhu. Will this be okay? Maybe you picked the wrong spot.”
“It’s all right. I fully expected this.”
“Really? It seems almost impossible to build here.”
How’s he going to put up a lighthouse in a place this choked with boulders and attacking trees?
Lee Han looked to the sky and shouted.
“You can go ahead now!”
Of course!
Suddenly, the sky darkened. Something gigantic blocked the sun.
It was the Black Dragon.
Uman, imperial royalty and this semester’s Inspector, had volunteered immediately when he heard he could help students.
To this dragon, clearing trees and crushing boulders was as easy as breathing.
In the span of one tea break, the site was smooth and flat. All the obstacles had simply disappeared.
“Thank you, Your Highness!”
No need to mention it!
“……”
“……”
Not only the students, but even the giants stared at Lee Han in shock.
What had just happened?
-The rumors are true! He controls dragons as he pleases!
“Senior, please stop with the wild rumors…”
Lee Han wanted to see which evil senior kept spreading lies.
Uman helped out of love for students—he never “controlled” him…
“We didn’t say anything?”
“??”
Amazingly, it was the giants who’d shouted that just now.
When their eyes met, the giants hurried to hide their massive bodies, which did nothing.
“Who the heck is spreading rumors to even the giants?!”
Lee Han was incredulous.
Rumors spreading among seniors, he could understand.
He’d never “controlled” Uman, but he could understand how it might look that way.
Einrogard was full of foul-minded seniors, so it was unavoidable.
But mountain giants—how would they know?
-W-we heard it from Ikurusha.
True to his reputation as the smartest and wisest among the mountain giants, Ikurusha was well-versed in rumors even within Einrogard.
Lee Han, unconvinced, dug deeper.
“Who did Ikurusha hear it from?”
-Uh, probably the old yacha.
Ugh, these yacha!
Lee Han was starting to bear a grudge against the entire yacha race.
From the Yacha King to the yacha elders, what was their deal?
Falkrius, listening, curiously pressed on.
“Who did that yacha hear it from?”
-Probably the archmage…? They were close…
“……”
“……”
There were plenty called “archmage” within Einrogard lands, but only one truly counted.
The students all fell silent. They felt oddly guilty for their junior’s sake.
“…Anyway. Let’s get to work. I was going to ask the giants for help, anyway.”
A reason Lee Han had picked this place was the proximity to the mountain giants.
An unstoppable force few spells could match.
If this force helped, the schedule could be shortened drastically.
-Huh? Us?
Though friendly with Lee Han, the giants didn’t have much rapport with the other young wizards, and were unenthusiastic.
What if they helped and the wizards stole their sheep?
“I’ll guarantee your sheep’s safety. And if you help us, I’ll cook—”
-You’ll cook for us!?
The giants’ eyes sparkled.
Lee Han, unbeknownst to himself, had long since earned the title of master chef among the giants.
His spicy, salty, punishing flavors were a mystery even the best giant cooks couldn’t replicate.
“…I was going to, but now I don’t feel like it. Just help, please.”
-Why not?!
The giants were flustered.
He was clearly about to cook, so why did he change his mind!?
Working inside Einrogard’s territory required facing all sorts of unpredictable dangers.
Though Lee Han had braced for threats from giants or Ellendil, he’d made a mistake.
He hadn’t considered the evil threat rising from the river.
-♪♪♪♪!!!
-♩♩♩♩♩!!!!
There were few things that annoyed sirens more than loud, muddy construction by the water.
All the noise and dirt flowed straight to them as pollution.
Today, the sirens gathered at Einrogard were ready to teach those wizards a lesson.
Never build along the river!
Taking advantage of night’s darkness, the sirens raced through the water, cutting straight through countercurrents at undiminished speed.
They were worthy of their claim to spirit ancestry.
Siren Parthenope brandished her dagger. The dagger, a gift from an Einrogard professor, could absorb and sever magic.
If the students had set up magical defenses against river attacks…
…But the dagger showed no reaction. Some sirens snickered.
Another sign that students were lazy and careless compared to those in the old days.
Parthenope thought so, too.
To do such construction without setting up a single spell? Did these juniors have no ancestral wisdom?
Rrrrummmble—
-?!
At the sound of the ground shaking, the sirens in the water jumped in alarm.
Peeking out carefully, Parthenope gawked at the sight of giants snoring.
Sirens and giants had never gotten along, but even the sirens knew it was rare for giants to help students.
Why on earth were giants here?
Confused but determined, Parthenope signaled again. Now was the time to move.
-♪♪♩…
The target came into sight. They were so fast that the lighthouse already looked nearly done.
As the sirens prepared to flood the river, Parthenope raised her head for a final check.
And locked eyes with Lee Han.
“……”
-……