Episode 131

‘Everything he said about the horse was wrong.’

Professor Lightfoot was at a loss.

“It’s just loyal, that’s all…”

“Oh. Really?”

Lee Han looked back at Sharkan. Sharkan wagged his tail with a happy expression.

“Come here, Sharkan. I actually always trusted you.”

Sharkan barked excitedly and ran up to him.

As he petted Sharkan, Lee Han thought he should give him the sausage he’d been saving for Gainan later.

Professor Lightfoot looked on with exasperation.

‘But if there really wasn’t any special magic treatment…’

If the lunatic—no, Professor Mortum—hadn’t put any special magic on the undead summon and yet it showed such loyalty, there were only two possibilities.

Either that Sharkan particularly liked people (about as likely as Gonadaltes becoming virtuous and compassionate), or Lee Han was so overwhelming that his presence simply dominated Sharkan.

Monsters like Sharkan were very sensitive to hierarchy. It made sense that a master that exuded magic like Lee Han did would receive such loyalty.

Most wizards needed all sorts of magic, arcane knowledge, and tricks to tame such monsters, yet he’d subdued one so easily.

And above all, the fact that the person himself wasn’t even aware was even more astonishing.

If some of Professor Lightfoot’s friends who knew about monster husbandry were here, they’d have spent hours discussing what just happened.

“Right, right. Sharkan. You’re a good boy. I always believed in you.”

Of course, someone who really believed wouldn’t say things like that, but Sharkan seemed delighted nonetheless.

Professor Lightfoot suddenly remembered something and asked,

“Wait. Why do you trust Sharkan but not th… the white horse?”

“Sir?”

Lee Han looked at the professor as if he’d asked something too obvious.

“Well, Sharkan was loyal from the start. That Ponlig kept kicking and biting me.”

It was hard for Lee Han to trust Ponlig.

He used to always cause trouble and suddenly became docile, which was suspicious no matter how he looked at it.

Moreover, among the horses in the stable, Ponlig was the smartest and most cunning.

Who knew if he’d taken some potion, had a spell cast, or had other monster blood mixed in, but his intelligence seemed to be several times that of other horses.

If such a horse suddenly became well-behaved, it was even more suspicious!

-Puhihihing!

Ponlig pawed the ground in frustration, protesting.

Of course, it could be suspicious if a horse suddenly acted that way, but griffons were always like this.

A proud magical creature, it would never accept someone who wasn’t its master attempting to ride it; once it recognized a master, it would be loyal.

Yet, since Lee Han thought of it as just a horse and misunderstood, Ponlig was about to die of frustration.

“See, he’s doing it again.”

-Puhing!!

Abandoning all hope of convincing Lee Han, Ponlig turned to Professor Lightfoot, neighing madly.

His message was one:

Undo the spell!!

Professor Lightfoot avoided Ponlig’s gaze.

‘Can’t do that.’

He’d gone through so much trouble to transform a perfectly good griffon into a horse.

Just the cost of the potions and magical reagents made undoing it unthinkable.

No matter how many potions or spells you use to make a horse vicious, it’ll never become a real monster.

A monster transformed into a horse needed to be in the stable so that when freshmen met actual monsters later, they’d be familiar with them.

“What do you think?”

“Yes, now that I hear your side, there’s some logic to it. Unlike Sharkan, Ponlig might be hiding his true feelings.”

-Puhihing! Puhihihihing!

Ponlig glared at Professor Lightfoot as if he would kill him.

Just wait until the spell is undone!

“Well, I’ll be going now. Have a good walk.”

“Yes, goodbye.”

-Puhing!! Puhihihing!!

“Enough, Ponlig. I’ll believe you.”

At his master’s insincere words, Ponlig stomped the ground sadly. Sharkan tapped Ponlig with his tail as if to comfort him.

Let’s find a way to undo the spell together…

• * *

“Huh. Seems like there’s less meat than usual today.”

“Gainan. Are you trying to trick us just so you can eat more? Act with honor.”

“N-no. I really think there’s less. Isn’t that strange?”

“Did you eat a bite and forget about it?”

“Co-could that be?”

As the Blue Dragon Tower students had breakfast, Sharkan, who’d just come back from a walk, roamed around the place.

He wasn’t just roaming around.

He knocked over the books piled in the lounge or took out reagents stored on shelves.

“What’s wrong, Sharkan?”

“Is he hungry? Gainan…”

“If you touch my plate, it’s a duel!”

Despite the questions, Sharkan continued to rummage through books and reagents without responding.

“Why is he doing that?”

“Maybe he’s looking for something? If he’s a highly intelligent monster, that’s totally possible.”

At Yonair’s suggestion, Lee Han fell into thought.

Was Sharkan searching for something?

“I don’t think there’s anything he needs. Sharkan. Come here.”

He pulled Sharkan closer. Sharkan braced his claws and resisted but was eventually dragged over.

“By the way, Wodanaz. Did you see the priests who came outside?”

“I wish they’d stay longer.”

Even nobles who lacked faith before starting at magic school often found faith growing suddenly.

Seeing priests from outside care for and help the students inevitably made them wonder: ‘Then what were all the professors we’ve met up till now?’

Yonair picked up his bag and said,

“So the priests are here?”

“Are you going to the Flemang order?”

“Yeah, and I’m going to ask about the potions.”

“!”

The potions Latford borrowed from the carriage.

Yonair and Lee Han had been working hard to figure out what those potions were, but as new students, it was hard going.

But if they asked the priests from the Alchemy Order, the Flemang Order?

‘That’s not a bad idea.’

“But Yonair… if there’s a suspicious potion, it’ll be hard to explain.”

“I’ll just claim we found it to the end. They’re all so kind, they wouldn’t confiscate them… probably?”

It was a little worrying, but there was no better plan.

Lee Han nodded at Yonair.

“Good. I’ll leave it to you.”

The other potions in the box were put into Yonair’s bag as well. Suddenly, Sharkan growled low.

-Grrrr…

“Sharkan. I said calm down.”

-Woof! Woof woof!

Sharkan barked desperately at the potion bottle in Lee Han’s hand.

As if he really wanted it.

“Sharkan. This isn’t for you.”

Besides, it was a bright green color that didn’t look healthy at all.

Even if Sharkan was an undead summon, there was no need to feed him poison.

In the end, the green potion went into the bag.

Sharkan stamped his feet in regret, but Yonair closed the bag.

“See you later.”

“Yeah. You’ll meet Priest Frisinga, right?”

“Right, I ought to see Priest Frisinga too.”

“…?”

Nodding along, Yonair sensed something strange in Lee Han’s words.

The priests ‘too’?

“I’ll go see which priests from the other orders have come. See you later.”

“……”

Seeing his friend trying to browse the religious orders like stores in an alley, Yonair said nothing.

Instead, he gave a cheer with his eyes.

Good luck!

…Although I still have no idea what he’s trying to do!

• * *

“Lee Han of the Wodanaz family. Nice to see you here.”

“Nice to see you too.”

“Are you perhaps interested in the faith of Bildotskal?”

“I’ve always been interested.”

“Then…!”

“But does the Bildotskal order allow believers to follow other orders too?”

“That is not allowed.”

“I’ll come by another time. Thank you for suggesting it.”

As he entered the area in front of the main building where the priests were gathered, Lee Han was surprised by how many Phoenix Tower students greeted him.

It was thanks to his previous good deeds.

The young priests called out to him kindly…

But Lee Han declined.

Because he intended to reap benefits from various orders, there was no way if they didn’t allow dual faith.

“Lee Han of the Wodanaz family.”

With a passionate voice, Priest Nigisor appeared.

True to his fire spirit lineage, he was blazing today as always.

“Good to see you.”

“Are you interested in the Afha order?”

“I’ve always been interested. But does the Afha order mind if you follow other orders too?”

To Lee Han’s question, Priest Nigisor nodded.

“The fire of Afha just burns, it doesn’t force a direction.”

“Oh… then I’d like to meet with you, Priest.”

“That’s good news. Follow me.”

Priest Nigisor led the way.

As he followed, Lee Han thought about the Afha order.

‘Come to think of it, I don’t actually know much about the Afha order.’

There were so many orders in the empire that unless it was one of the famous ones, or someone close to you believed, it was hard to know about them.

Lee Han had heard the Afha order worshipped fire…

‘So, is it a place that handles fire-based magic?’

If so, it could be a big help for Lee Han.

One of his greatest weaknesses was fire element magic.

He was relatively better at other elements, but with fire, he had the worst compatibility.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t use it, but used wrongly, it could burn himself up.

‘It’s warm.’

When he entered Afha Order’s large tent, the warmth hit him first.

It was because of the purplish flames burning inside.

The priests of the multi-race order, wearing clothes without any uniformity, were sitting comfortably and chatting, but welcomed Priest Nigisor as he entered.

“Priest Nigisor! May the fire of Afha visit you.”

“May the fire of Afha visit you. Priests, this is Lee Han of the Wodanaz family.”

“Ah, you mentioned… I’m surprised. I thought Wodanaz family mages had no interest in faith.”

“That’s a mistaken rumor.”

Lee Han lied brazenly, not even moistening his lips.

“Either way, I’m glad you’re interested. Would you like me to explain our faith?”

“Yes, please.”

The priest of the Afha order looked like a mercenary who had spent a decade on battlefields.

But as soon as he spoke, profound stories about the faith flowed out.

Lee Han listened intently.

It was a golden opportunity to find out what benefits membership in the Afha order brought.

“…And so, we believe the end of the world will come with the fire of Afha. The fire of Afha will burn everything.”

“…?”

Lee Han, focused until then, paused.

Huh?

“Is that… fire a metaphorical fire? Like one that burns injustice and villains and liches and so on?”

“No. It just burns everything.”

“…Ah. Is it like destruction for new creation and rebirth?”

“That’s an amusing idea, but after the end there is nothing. Just flames.”

“……”

“Now then, Lee Han of the Wodanaz family, let’s inspect the flame in your soul.”

Suddenly, Lee Han understood why Tiziling and Shiana had warned him to avoid Priest Nigisor.

‘Surely he’s not going to use the flame in my soul to help burn down the world…?’