Episode 173

Episode 173

“Chase after them!”

“What?!”

“We can’t lose to Wardanaz! Are you planning to lose even in horseback riding?!”

“But…”

One of the students hesitated.

If they rushed out like that, there would be no way to handle the aftermath.

A horse is a living creature.

If they ran like that, it would get tired quickly…

“Ugh! I’m going!”

“Me too!”

But in the end, the students, one after another, began to pick up their whips and drive their horses.

No matter which Tower a student was from, they all had great pride when it came to horses.

Whether from a noble family, a knight family, or a merchant guild, none of them had ever heard anyone say they couldn’t ride a horse.

And…

‘There must be a reason why Wardanaz is running like that!’

‘Would Wardanaz really go wild like that without thinking?’

The students unconsciously trusted Lee Han.

Would Lee Han really go wild like that without any plan?

There must be a way.

If they followed that method too…

The students in the lead group began to dash out madly.

Nillia, seeing her friends go out, grew anxious and looked around.

“?”

Surprisingly, Yoner was just sitting there.

“Yoner? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Yoner was sitting on a brown-haired horse with a very worried expression. Nillia didn’t understand.

“Let’s chase after them now! If we go now, we’ll catch up quickly! I can even trip up the others with a lasso and make them fall!”

Nillia was calmly trying to break the rules, but Yoner didn’t point it out.

Because he had just seen something even more bewildering.

“That’s not it…”

Yoner wondered how to explain this. The griffon, transformed into a horse, had ignored Lee Han’s orders and dashed out like it was going wild!

• * *

‘Am I paying the price for trusting a monster?’

Sensing Lee Han’s distrust, the griffon snorted fiercely. Lee Han tried to soothe it.

“It’s a misunderstanding. Come on. Slow down a bit. I’m worried you’ll get tired.”

Of course, Lee Han was planning to get off and hit it the moment the griffon slowed down.

The griffon didn’t notice that ulterior motive, but another part of Lee Han’s words pricked its pride.

I don’t get tired!

-Puhihihing!

The griffon ran even harder. It was like a horse that had been unable to run for years and was now venting its frustration.

‘I must never trust a transformed monster again.’

Lee Han held tightly onto the griffon. It was running so fast that even Lee Han couldn’t let his guard down now.

If unlucky, it would throw off its rider too!

Caw!

A fierce-looking bird monster, like a cross between a crane and a chicken, swooped down from a tree nearby.

‘Demon Ghoul Bird!’

Lee Han tensed at the appearance of the highly aggressive bird monster.

But the griffon just snorted once and accelerated even more.

Bang!

The Demon Ghoul Bird tried to follow as it flew up, but it was no use.

As the griffon widened the distance, the Demon Ghoul Bird, panting, gave up and flew away.

“……”

The Demon Ghoul Bird wasn’t the only monster that appeared.

A rock by the roadside suddenly stood up and swung a stone menacingly.

The griffon ignored it and dashed on.

Suddenly, a bridge set up over the river disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The griffon ignored it and jumped over.

A thick fog blocked the road so much that nothing could be seen ahead.

The griffon ignored it and broke through.

“…Do as you please.”

Lee Han gave up.

At this point, he was curious to see how far it would go.

• * *

Third-year student of Blue Dragon Tower, Perse, sighed with a face full of worry.

A friend asked,

“What’s wrong, Perse?”

“All our attackers are just too slow.”

“Don’t worry. Once they get used to it, the horses will get faster too. You have to give the horses time to put on some weight.”

“It’s not just the horses. The riders are the problem too.”

Perse said firmly.

In the fierce game of polo, where many players clashed, speed wasn’t determined by the horse’s stamina alone.

Rather, the rider’s guts and skill played a bigger role.

Even if enemies came charging with sticks, you had to have the spirit to drive your horse forward as if you were ready to die for speed…

Clopclopclopclopclopclop!!!

“……”

“……”

The wind from the horse running so fast blew off both their hats.

The horse ran so fast that even the monsters blocking the way hurriedly stepped aside.

“What, what was that just now? That was a student, right? That was a student?”

“A freshman… Looks like a freshman? The freshmen’s test…”

“That’s it! That’s exactly it!”

Perse shouted, eyes shining.

That guts to charge like a madman, whether there were monsters ahead or not.

That was the spirit an attacker should have.

“But that’s a freshman, Perse…”

“There’s always next year! We can call them next year!”

“There’s no guarantee they’ll be interested in the polo club.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“?”

“With that kind of skill, there’s no way they’re not interested in polo!”

• * *

Fongrif finally stopped.

-Puhuhuhuhuhuhung!!

“Do you feel better now?”

Fongrif nodded. Then, shaking off its sweat, it bent its head to the stream and drank.

‘We really came far.’

Lee Han checked his surroundings.

He knew the magic school grounds were unimaginably vast, but he hadn’t expected to come this far.

They had dashed madly along the base of the mountain range.

And what spread out before Lee Han’s eyes was a desert.

“…?”

Why is there a desert inside the school grounds?

-Puhihing.

After drinking all the water, Fongrif signaled to go.

“Fongrif.”

-Puhung?

“If we don’t get back within the time limit, I’ll be disappointed in you.”

-……

Having run as much as it wanted, Fongrif seemed to sober up at the chill in Lee Han’s words and looked around.

Of course, even if it looked around, there was no way Fongrif would know this area. Fongrif started sweating nervously.

…We’ll make it back in time, right?

“Let’s go. Fongrif.”

Fongrif started running at full speed. It was even faster than when they came.

Lee Han fixed his body firmly and stared ahead.

“…?”

He saw a few students sprawled out by the roadside.

‘What’s this?’

At first, he thought they’d been attacked by monsters, but they looked too fine for that.

They had clearly just collapsed from exhaustion.

‘I don’t understand.’

Lee Han had been dragged along because Fongrif ignored his commands and ran wild, but the other students shouldn’t have been like that.

They must have gotten greedy and run too hard, only to collapse from exhaustion.

Lee Han looked at his friends with a hint of pity.

‘It can’t be helped. Today’s events will be a lesson.’

• * *

“…Full marks.”

“Thank you.”

“…But why?”

Professor Lightningstep couldn’t hold back and asked.

First place gets full marks.

That was obvious. Professor Lightningstep had no intention of arguing about that.

But the fact that the first place student had gone three times farther than the others (and had dashed so wildly that all the obstacles prepared had been scattered) was another story.

Why did you run as if your life depended on it?

“Five students collapsed from exhaustion trying to follow you, and three fell off their horses. It was lucky that you charged ahead and chased away all the monsters. You could have just come back at a reasonable pace… Did you want to set a new record that badly?”

From Professor Lightningstep’s perspective, Lee Han wasn’t the type to show off.

So why did he push himself so hard for a new record?

Was it pride in his riding skills, wanting to leave a legend?

Of course, Lee Han looked at Professor Lightningstep as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Isn’t it because you said those things, Professor?”

Who was it that dumped the griffon on him, and now asked, ‘Why did you set a new record?’

Such shamelessness was rare.

Was it because he was a professor that he could be this shameless?

Professor Lightningstep replied shamelessly, just as Lee Han thought.

“What nonsense. The griffon doesn’t like running that much. Especially when it’s been forcibly transformed into a horse. If you hadn’t ordered it, it wouldn’t have run.”

“…?!”

Lee Han was shocked by the professor’s words.

No way?!

‘It was acting like it was dying to run!’

Could it be that Lee Han had denied it the chance to prove its abilities for so long that it ended up like this?

“I must have underestimated it. It wanted to prove its abilities…”

Professor Lightningstep listened to Lee Han’s words with a half-doubtful expression.

It was hard to believe that a griffon would run so hard just for that reason.

“…It’s true.”

“Alright. I’ll believe you for now. Good work, go in and get some rest. You must be tired from running so much, and you still have other exams to take.”

“Fongrif had it harder than I did.”

Lee Han said this and looked at the returning students at the starting line.

As the students, looking a mess, returned one by one, they looked at Lee Han with awe-filled eyes.

“Did you see?”

“I saw.”

“That guy… might become the Empire’s greatest rider…!”

“……”

Lee Han decided he should just go rest.

• * *

Some students were suffering from muscle pain, but the magic school didn’t wait for them.

“We have to go get boneflesh flowers tonight. If you worry about how long it’ll take, it’ll be tight again today.”

“My thighs feel like they’re on fire.”

“I think my pelvis is cracked…”

Before evening, the Blue Dragon Tower students gathered on the first basement floor, leaning on their staffs and groaning.

The White Tiger Tower students laughed at them.

“Complaining about riding a horse, you must really be out of shape, ugh…”

“That Wardanaz guy… Why did he ride like a madman…”

Lee Han ignored the muttering.

“Alright. I know everyone’s not in great shape. But now’s the time for those taking alchemy to work together. If we don’t secure the ingredients as quickly as possible, everyone might fail.”

The magic school’s brutal schedule forced students from different towers to cooperate.

Lee Han planned to gather the students, quickly clear the dungeon, and collect the ingredients.

If he went in alone to get the ingredients and failed or got hurt, only Lee Han would lose out.

“Here. Take these.”

When Lee Han handed over the basket he’d brought from the lounge, the White Tiger Tower students looked puzzled.

“Is it a magic potion for the dungeon?”

“No. It’s an evening snack.”

“……”

The White Tiger Tower students lifted the cloth covering the basket. Sandwiches were neatly stacked inside.

“…Uh… Uh?”

“What, are you out of your mind?”

“Wardanaz. Don’t give any to those who aren’t hungry.”

At Ahsan’s words, the White Tiger Tower students frantically waved their hands.

“No! No! We’ll eat well!”

“Alright. If you’re ready, let’s go in.”

Lee Han lined up the students. Because of the dungeon’s terrain, it was impossible to form a formation with everyone together.

To some extent, each tower had to group up and coordinate on their own.

‘It’ll be faster for them to move on their own than for me to give orders one by one.’

The princess, curious about what kind of sandwiches they were, tried to lift the cloth on the basket.

Lee Han slapped the back of her hand.

“You have to eat it later.”

Like Gainando, royals had big appetites. Lee Han warned her and turned away.

“…?!”

The princess looked at Lee Han with eyes full of confusion, resentment, sadness, and grievance.

But Lee Han was too busy lining up and checking the students to look back.

“If there’s a problem, form up and respond on your own. If it seems dangerous, signal and make your own judgment.”

“Don’t worry, Wardanaz. We’re knights.”

The White Tiger Tower students hugged the basket to their chests and spoke. Truly knightly.

Tap-

While they were doing the final check on the first basement floor, someone came up the underground stairs leading to the dungeon.

It was Professor Voladi.

“…Isn’t it fun to have a picnic on the first basement floor, everyone? Shall we head back soon?”

“What kind of crazy talk is that, Wardanaz?”