Episode 1237
by CristaeEpisode 1237
‘Professor Thunderstep is still as shameless as ever.’
The golem student, having put some distance, checked his surroundings. Fortunately, it looked like Professor Thunderstep wasn’t secretly following him.
He could never let his guard down, as the professor was always ready to dump his own work on students at the slightest chance.
“I came here on Professor Craer’s orders.”
-Go ahead.
The Death Knights opened the door of the teachers’ punishment room.
The golem student stopped as he entered. There was something he had to do before going down further.
‘Alright. Let’s open it.’
The golem student took out a well-sealed parchment from his pocket.
In fact, the reason he couldn’t tell Professor Thunderstep exactly what he was going to the teachers’ punishment room for was simple.
He didn’t know exactly himself.
True secrets are best kept when even the mage doesn’t know them.
It seemed like a strange way of delivering instructions, but for divination wizards who paid attention to every seemingly meaningless action, such things were common.
-Now. Once you’re inside the punishment room, open this letter. Absolutely do not open it before arrival! If you do, something dangerous will happen to you!
-Understood.
-Something really, really dangerous will happen, so you absolutely must not open it early!
-I, I understand.
He didn’t know what kind of dangerous future his teacher had foreseen, but the golem student trusted his teacher.
Sometimes he was selfish and used his students as shields for the future, but most of the time he was dependable…
To avoid misfortune, follow these instructions in order.
- Go down together with the Death Knights.
- Once you arrive at the target floor, ask the knights to lock the door from the outside.
- Talk to the mage on that floor about Okulogarde.
‘Difficult. The future is always complex.’
The golem student pondered carefully.
The more he learned divination, the more he realized that, before the vast ocean of the future, a mage was just a single leaf.
Feeling proud for glimpsing a bit of the future was like feeling proud after seeing a current brush past you. Meanwhile, above your head, storms and tidal waves may already be gathering.
These instructions were tough, but not completely impossible to speculate about.
‘To go down with the Death Knights means there’s a dangerous person? Honestly, I thought it would be Professor Verdus… No. Professor Verdus could also be dangerous.’
Thinking that way, he could understand why he was supposed to have the knights lock the door from the outside.
If it was Professor Verdus, he might have tried to escape.
But the last part, he really couldn’t guess.
Okulogarde—an academy where the Empire’s maddest diviners gather to hone their foresight.
The Einrogard School of Divination naturally had exchanges with them, too.
Though not as close as the Black Magic School and Kalarogard (who were oddly close), of course, they interacted as schools of the same discipline.
But then why talk to Professor Verdus about Okulogarde?
‘What connection could there be?’
He couldn’t think of anything except sending Professor Verdus’s head as a gift to the Okulogarde mages.
The golem student stopped speculating and moved to action.
“Would you be able to go down with me?”
-Indeed. That sounds reasonable.
The Death Knights nodded as if they understood the golem student’s request.
Anyone who wanted to make the heir do chores these days was risking their life.
Those who put in requests from outside had the excuse of being outsiders; if an Einrogard insider did it for personal gain…
…bringing an escort was probably only natural.
But this student seemed to be misunderstanding one thing.
‘If Professor Garcia storms in, we’ll retreat.’
‘How did he not think of that. Truly unfortunate.’
The knights exchanged glances.
They had no intention to interfere in matters between professors and students.
Especially if that professor was Garcia and angry!
“And when I go inside, can you lock the door from the outside? Please don’t open it until a set time has passed.”
-Shouldn’t we lock it from the inside, not the outside? Well, alright. We can do that much.
The knights’ responses made the golem student even more uneasy.
Hadn’t his divination just said there’d be big misfortune this week?
What on earth was about to happen…
Creak—
The golem student carefully opened the door and stepped onto the stairs.
“Professor. I regret what I did. Please let me take Eandurde’s test again.”
“Joulin will plead together as well!”
“I, Uman, do not think Lee Han of House Wardanaz will make the same mistake…”
“???”
The golem student felt something was off as he descended the staircase into the unexpectedly lively punishment room hallway.
Then he peeked his head in.
The first he saw was Professor Baegrek.
‘Ah. Was it to be careful because it’s Professor Baegrek?’
But talking about Okulogarde would make even less sense?
The next discovery threw the golem student even more into confusion.
‘His Highness Joulin… and the Inspector? What is this? Why?’
Was it possible that the skeleton headmaster had attacked and imprisoned the Inspector?
Lastly, he recognized the back of a familiar student’s head. Lee Han turned upon hearing the heavy footsteps.
“Oh, Senior!”
“…Nooooooooooooo!!!”
At that moment, the golem student realized everything and screamed like a wizard from ancient tales.
All the clues clicked together like a puzzle, warning strongly of a single future.
Ruin!
“???”
“What’s wrong?”
Even Yoner, who was working in another solitary room with Yoanen, rushed out in puzzlement.
Lee Han and friends were confused to see Senior Golem crying out.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“Isn’t it because His Highness Uman is here?”
“Ugh, s-sorry, everyone…”
As Uman apologized, Senior Golem cried out again.
“To think it would be Wardanaz! Professor Craer, you! You abandoned me to Wardanaz twice now!”
“……”
Lee Han looked a little hurt.
Isn’t that too much?
“Senior. You say he abandoned you with me. Isn’t that a bit harsh?”
“Open up! Open up!!”
Senior Golem ignored Lee Han and ran up the stairs, banging on the door.
Of course, the Death Knights pretended not to notice.
-Ah, so this is why he asked us to lock the door from outside.
-Smart, isn’t he. Diviners know how to see the future.
“I said open up!!”
Only after some time had passed did Senior Golem regain his senses.
Or perhaps he’d just resigned himself. Outstanding alchemists even made potions that worked on golems and offered them, but he shook his head sadly.
“Senior, please, don’t be so discouraged. This isn’t such a bad place.”
“…I didn’t come here to be imprisoned, but to deliver a message from my Professor…”
“Pardon? Professor Craer? Why not come himself?”
“Exactly!”
Senior Golem, enraged, pounded the floor.
So dirty!
Honestly, Lee Han still felt a bit hurt from the earlier slight, but as the other was a Senior, he spoke up first.
“Senior. Actually, there’s some exaggeration about this incident.”
“This incident?”
Senior Golem asked back, puzzled.
What incident?
“…Uh, you mean… Don’t you know what’s happened recently?”
“What did happen?”
Lee Han realized the other hadn’t heard any rumors at all, probably because he rarely went outside.
‘I see. Professor Craer aimed for this. Dirty but brilliant. Truly a divination wizard!’
“It’s nothing. Nothing much happened.”
Senior Golem didn’t buy it.
If there was no crime, why was this Junior even here?
“If it was nothing, then why are you here?”
“I slugged Professor Verdus on the street. Taking all into account, that’s why I’m here.”
It was a truly insincere lie, but oddly persuasive.
Both motive and outcome made sense.
“Then why is Professor Baegrek…”
“The Professor was holding me from behind to keep me from escaping.”
Senior Golem was left speechless. At this point, he was even afraid to ask about the two royals.
Did they also throw punches?
‘Maybe those two punched the Headmaster…’
Taking advantage of the other’s shock, Lee Han seized the initiative in the conversation.
“By the way, Senior. If you haven’t even heard any strange rumors, why were you so startled? You didn’t have any reason to be surprised.”
“There’s big misfortune coming this week.”
“Yes.”
“I said, there’s big misfortune this week!”
“……”
Lee Han almost snapped for a second.
This Senior!?
“Is there any proof it’s related to me? Can a divination wizard who’s supposed to read the future afford to have such biases?”
“Do I have to remind you you were always with the Headmaster’s clone last semester, and this semester you scared Professor Craer so much he ran off?”
“……”
Second-year students at Einrogard really were tough. Lee Han cursed inside.
“Enough. We’re just talking past each other, let’s stop.”
“I don’t think we’re talking past each other…”
“Why did you come?”
“Because of Okulogarde. That’s it. Now I see why the Professor sent me.”
Senior Golem nodded as he spoke.
He had wondered why he had to go all the way to the teachers’ punishment room to talk about another magic school, but it made sense if the person involved was this Junior.
He might be only a second-year, but his fame was already widespread and various magic towers were greatly interested in him.
If it was this Junior, he probably had a high chance of successful negotiations even with the stubborn Okulogarde.
“Okulogarde? Ah, the magic school of the diviners, you mean?”
“Yes. The Professor is currently trying to arrange an exchange meeting with Okulogarde. Or at least something similar.”
Lee Han wasn’t surprised.
He already knew where this talk had started.
After all, this vacation Professor Garcia even went to magic school Petrogarde to try making contact…
‘Professor Garcia must have asked Professor Craer about it for sure.’
Even His Majesty the Emperor was interested in exchanges and unity between these magic schools.
If the people of the Empire (especially the bureaucrats) saw it, they’d feel these eccentric mages were actually contributing to the continent and not just causing trouble.
Of course, the magic schools themselves didn’t really care. Most imperial magic schools hated each other.
“I get your point. I’ve heard similar things.”
“Really?! That’s good.”
“Wait. May we discuss this among ourselves for a bit?”
Senior Golem was surprised by his Junior’s words but nodded.
He must really have something serious about Okulogarde to discuss.
As the other took some distance, Lee Han whispered to Professor Voladi.
“Professor. Is the soundproofing magic set up properly?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a relief. What I’m curious about…”
Yoanen listened carefully to his younger brother’s friend.
Was he perhaps about to plan some magical scheme to persuade or win over Okulogarde?
“…The Senior who came to assign this job to me—in Professor Garcia’s view, would he be guilty or innocent?”
“Probably innocent? This is official business, after all.”
“Joulin thinks he’ll be guilty. It’s official business, but it’s not something Lee Han should have to do!”
“……”
Yoanen couldn’t believe that future empire leaders were having such a serious discussion.