Episode 126

Whether or not an undead summon could go through a rebellious phase wasn’t the point.

The fact was that Sharkan was clearly in a rebellious mood right now.

“Sharkan. I told you to come here.”

As Ihan’s voice lowered, the mouse instead trembled even more.

Wouldn’t that stubborn undead summon get smashed in front of the headmaster?

But instead of beating up Sharkan, Ihan tried however he could to coax and soothe him.

“Sharkan! What’s going on?”

Papapak!

Sharkan started digging the ground as if he hadn’t heard Ihan’s words.

Ihan was flustered.

A summon that had always listened so well until now…

Mortum had mentioned it before.

That undead summons didn’t necessarily obey their master’s commands absolutely.

Actually, they were often more disobedient.

Due to the contradictory nature between the living and the dead, plus the fact that the stronger an undead summon became, the less obedient it would be.

So it wasn’t unreasonable that Sharkan—clearly a strong summon—would act like this.

Tap tap—

Nillia pointed with her claw at Ihan’s coat pocket. Then she made a gesture as if to throw something to Sharkan.

“To tempt him with food?”

Nillia nodded.

“Gainando??”

Nillia shook her head in alarm.

At some point, Gainando had poked his head out of the coat pocket and was staring at Nillia with an expression of shock and betrayal.

‘Not that! Beer candy!’

“Ah. You meant the beer candy.”

Ihan finally understood Nillia’s intent.

Because Gainando kept getting into the pocket, Ihan had moved the beer candy to another pocket.

When he finally took out the beer candy, Sharkan’s ears instantly perked up.

“…Here! Fetch!”

Instinctively, Ihan tossed the beer candy to the other side. Sharkan, who had been lying down, jumped up excitedly and snapped up the beer candy in midair.

“Feel better now?”

But Sharkan just ate the beer candy and lay down again.

The mouse watching nervously ran over to Sharkan and squeaked.

Squeaksqueaksqueak!!

The gist was something like, “If you keep this up, you really might die,” but Sharkan just turned his head away sulkily.

Ihan and Nillia fell into deep thought.

“Clearly… he wants something, doesn’t he?”

Nillia nodded with a whimper.

No matter how rebellious, a summon that followed Ihan acting this way had to have a reason.

It was obvious the summon itself desired something.

“Do you really want to eat Gainando… Just kidding. Gainando.”

Gainando let out a squeak of sorrow and tried to hide back inside the coat.

“If you’d just done your assignments when told, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

‘That has nothing to do with it…’

Yoner was impressed at Ihan using the Polymorph Forest as an opportunity to correct old bad habits.

He’d make a great dorm supervisor!

“Sharkan. Sharkan? I can’t help you unless you tell me what you want. If you want something, express it somehow.”

Sharkan ignored him for a while, then suddenly turned his body.

He then pointed to himself.

Even completed, he was all bones and looked quite shabby and grim.

“…Huh? Do you need a body?”

Sharkan wagged his tailbone excitedly, as if that was exactly it. It was good the summon seemed cheered up, but Ihan became even more flustered.

‘What am I supposed to make him a body out of?’

Yoner, knowledgeable in alchemy, pointed at the mud beside the forest.

It was soft and sticky—good enough to use for golems or other summons.

“How about that?”

Sharkan approached the mud and rolled in it. Flesh made out of mud began to cover the bones.

“Oh…!”

Ihan and his friends were amazed at the sight.

The color left something to be desired, but compared to just bones moving around, he now looked far more imposing.

Crackle!

But Sharkan didn’t seem satisfied.

He looked over his new body, then immediately shook all the mud off.

Ihan quickly summoned a water shield for defense. A clump of mud flew through the air and slapped onto Gainando’s face.

Squeaksqueak!

“Guess he didn’t like the mud.”

The red fox made a gloomy face. Ihan comforted him as if it was fine.

“At least we found a method. It’s not like we lost anything.”

Gainando swiped the mud off his face with his forepaws and looked extremely displeased.

There WAS a loss!

The mouse, anxious at the group not leaving the forest, interrupted the conversation.

Squeaksqueaksqueak—

“Telling us to follow?”

The mouse nodded and led Ihan and friends to the spring they’d passed earlier.

It was the spring that contained Cold Iron Water. The same water used for the spring slime.

Since it was mixed with special mana, chances were good even a picky undead summon would be satisfied.

Realizing the spring’s water was special, Ihan watched expectantly.

‘This might actually work.’

Splash!

Sharkan leaped into the spring and walked out with a body made of water.

The flesh, a darker blue than normal water, made Sharkan look even more mysterious.

Ihan and his friends were even more amazed than before.

At this rate, surely…

Splash!

But coldly, Sharkan shook off all the water.

Gainando got splattered in the face with water again.

Squeaksqueaksqueaksqueak!

‘Hmm. He seems to be saying to toss that out.’

Ihan couldn’t speak mouse, but he could at least understand what Gainando was saying.

“Sorry, Sharkan, but I really can’t make you any more bodies.”

Ihan decided to try his last resort.

Sharkan, just stay by that pond!

It wasn’t bluff or a threat. He genuinely wouldn’t listen anymore—what else could Ihan do?

Ihan slowly turned away.

Sharkan whined, scraping pitifully at the floor, then tried to bite Ihan’s staff.

“No, Sharkan.”

But Sharkan persisted, continuously pointing at Ihan’s staff as if he wanted something.

“…You want me to make it?”

Sharkan perked up his tailbone. Although he understood what Sharkan wanted, Ihan was still flustered.

‘I don’t have the ability to do that.’

He only had a few elemental spells he could use now, and none of the available elements would satisfy such a picky summon.

If there was any hope, maybe…

“All right. Let’s give it a try.”

!

Sharkan, seeing Ihan pick up his staff, sat and stared at him expectantly.

“Strike! The lightning of Perkunttra!”

When the lightning roared through the air, Sharkan evaded it in shock.

Then, with a very angry look, he began pounding the ground furiously.

“…That wasn’t it?”

Ihan had assumed he’d wish for a body of lightning, so he was startled at the reaction.

Isn’t lightning cool?

Sharkan, huffing, just pointed at the spring water.

‘Was he asking for water to be made?’

Although he began preparing the spell, Ihan felt a bit concerned.

This was a guy who didn’t even like the special water from the spring—would he be satisfied with water summoned by Ihan?

But against expectations, when a mass of water appeared midair, Sharkan delightedly snuggled into it.

The water changed shape and became Sharkan’s body.

“Is that all right?”

Sharkan, now water-colored, growled and pointed at the staff.

“You want more?”

Sharkan nodded vehemently.

Ihan called up more water.

The summoned water flowed into Sharkan’s body, and, even then, did not stop but continued…

Squeaksqueak?

The forest mouse watching was astonished.

The undead summon was already intimidating, compressing a massive amount of water into its muscle; the headmaster summoning water nonstop was even more astonishing.

How did he have so much mana to waste so casually?

• * *

“That was really a weird experience.”

“……”

“……”

Ihan and his friends returned to the midnight tower looking completely drained.

Gainando was still rubbing his face as if he felt there were whiskers left on it.

‘Didn’t even get to the stables, and only finished Sharkan, huh.’

They had wandered so long in the Polymorph Forest that after making it through, Ihan could only turn around and come back.

It wasn’t as if there had been no progress, but still, he felt a bit regretful.

‘But with exams tomorrow, I really can’t push myself…’

Growl!

“?”

Sharkan lunged at Gainando. With the hulking blue-glowing summon coming at him, Gainando dodged in terror.

“Wh-what is it?! Are you mad I teased you with food!? I’ll give it! I’ll give it, okay!?”

‘Did he tease him while I wasn’t watching?’

As Sharkan pinned Gainando and sat atop him, other Blue Dragon Tower students in the lounge stared in fascination.

“Is that the bone summon?”

“How did he finish it?”

“Looks way better than last time. Want some too?”

The friends each tossed Sharkan, sitting atop Gainando, their snacks.

Sharkan snapped up each treat excitedly, wagging his tail.

“Please… let me go…”

Growl!

“N-no, actually. You don’t need to let me go.”

When Sharkan growled, Gainando quickly lowered his own tail. But Sharkan wasn’t actually angry at Gainando.

Woof! Woof woof woof!

“???”

When Sharkan barked toward the outside, Ihan instinctively grabbed his staff.

It made no difference that they were in the lounge.

At a magic school, you could never relax in the lounge—students from other towers in masks might burst in and steal your banner.

Thunk!

The front door of the lounge opened, and skeleton warriors Ihan had seen somewhere before suddenly appeared.

The abruptness of the entrance shocked the students.

“Is… Is the school ruined?!”

“No way! Spark!”

Ihan reacted first. Swinging his staff, his lightning spell made the students’ hair stand on end as it shot by.

The skeleton warrior ahead took the blast and crumbled to dust.

“Wake up the others! The headmaster is attacking us!”

“Why… why?!”

“I don’t know eit—”

Ihan started to reply but trailed off.

…Could it be they’re doing this just to keep us studying before tomorrow’s pop quiz?

Amazingly, instinct told him that was probably true.

“…Anyway, everyone gather! Barricade the lounge door!”

“Okay, okay!”

Ihan levitated water orbs and fired them in succession, pushing back the skeleton warriors.

Meanwhile, the other students quickly piled sofas and chairs at the entrance of the lounge.

Asan, checking the window, shouted in surprise.

“Undead are surrounding the tower with torches!”

‘This is nuts.’

Woof! Woof!

Ihan ruffled Sharkan’s head. If not for Sharkan, they would have been attacked before anyone could grab a staff.

“Sharkan, stand guard. If anyone breaks in, chase them off. Everyone else, help fortify the barricade!”

The princess, hair disheveled, came down and waved her staff.

Mud layered itself over the barricade, starting to harden.

Yoner tossed potions he had prepared to the other friends. Gainando quickly made sure none of the snacks fell to the floor.

Thud, thud, thud—

Other friends who’d been asleep came down, and although the barricade at the lounge entrance was finished for now, the sounds outside didn’t cease.

The regular pounding made the students shudder.

“What the… what is…?”

Ironheads… open the door…

“……”

“……”

The Blue Dragon Tower students, faces stone-cold at the voice outside, built the barricade even higher.