Episode 185

Heir to the Imperial Throne.

The Death Knight’s summons were not over.

Gainando, who had been dragged outside, tilted his head and asked,

“Me?”

You are the runner-up of Blue Dragon Tower. Come with me.

Of course, it was referring to the princess.

Gainando grumbled and turned his head.

What a filthy magic school, discriminating by grades!

“I trust you’re not dragging us to the punishment room just for doing well on the exam.”

Of course not.

The Death Knight answered calmly.

“I trust you’re not dragging us somewhere just as hard as the punishment room.”

The Death Knight did not answer this.

Lee Han felt uneasy.

The princess, who was walking toward the door, looked at the line in front of the desserts with a look of realization.

Then she whispered to the Death Knight.

No. We must move immediately.

“……”

The princess glared coldly at the Death Knight. But the Death Knight, true to being undead, was unfazed.

Clang!

“Lee Han! You’re next to me, right?? You’re next to me?!”

Gainando, sitting in the front carriage, tried to stick his head out, gripping the iron bars on the window.

“Yes.”

“Can you maybe take down the Death Knight and rescue us?”

“Of course not.”

“Ugh…!”

The students locked up, including Gainando, let out sighs of despair.

‘Did these guys really think I could take down the Death Knight and rescue them?’

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

Quiet. We’re heading to the next dormitory.

The two carriages carrying the failing and top students rattled across the school grounds.

Tap tap—

“?”

The princess whispered to Lee Han in a quiet voice. Her expression was so serious that Lee Han tensed up without realizing it.

‘What is it? Did she notice something?’

“…Next time, when…?”

“You mean the desserts?”

The princess nodded.

‘I have no plans for that.’

It was more trouble than it was worth, and he had already used up all the luxurious ingredients he’d bought from outside.

Who knew when he’d go out again, so how could there be a next time?

“I used up all the ingredients.”

The princess looked shocked, then glared even more coldly at the Death Knight outside the carriage.

“Compensate for the snacks! Give back the snacks!”

At that moment, Gainando seemed to have a similar thought and banged on the bars, shouting noisily.

The Death Knight, looking fed up, closed the carriage window.

• * *

“Why is it so noisy up front?”

“Who knows. I have no idea.”

The top student of Black Turtle Tower (Salko of the Tutanta Family) and the runner-up (a student Lee Han had never spoken to) looked puzzled as they entered the carriage.

It seemed like there was constant noise from the carriage in front…

Were they shouting because they didn’t want to be dragged away?

The runner-up of Black Turtle Tower glanced at the princess’s expression and quietly asked Lee Han, just loud enough for him to hear.

“Her Highness seems displeased. Did something happen?”

She was always cold, but today she seemed even colder.

“Hmph. It’s probably her pride.”

Salko clicked his tongue in disapproval.

From Salko’s perspective, who didn’t particularly like Blue Dragon Tower students, the princess, who had gathered followers from various towers as soon as she entered, was not someone he could view favorably.

It looked like she was enjoying excessive privileges just because of her bloodline.

“Tutanta. You’re being too loud.”

“If they hear, so be it. Isn’t she just upset because she lost to Wardanaz?”

“It happens to everyone.”

“But with Wardanaz right next to her, she shouldn’t show it so openly. Anyway, those with good bloodlines only think about themselves…”

‘I’m from the Wardanaz Family too.’

For a moment, Lee Han wondered if Salko thought of him as being from the same tower.

“That’s a misunderstanding, Salko.”

“A misunderstanding?”

“Yes. She’s just upset because she got dragged away while eating snacks. Wouldn’t anyone be?”

“…Wardanaz. I thought you were good at everything, but you’re not good at jokes. That was a terrible joke.”

“Wardanaz, that was a really lame joke.”

“Anyway, since you don’t seem to want to badmouth your friend, I’ll stop. But Wardanaz, think about it. Friends are supposed to walk side by side, not have one standing above the other…”

“……”

This time, Lee Han felt a surge of emotion for no reason.

‘Even when I tell the truth, these guys…’

Meanwhile, the top and runner-up from the other towers also boarded the carriage.

We’ve arrived. Top students, get off the carriage.

“Where is this?”

The room for top students.

‘A hidden tower?’

The carriage had come near the main building, but there was a gloomy tower Lee Han had never seen before.

It was clearly located in a magically hidden space.

From the outside…

‘It just looks like another punishment room.’

No need to be nervous. Top students.

The familiar voice of the skull principal tickled their ears.

The skull principal’s figure floated above the gloomy tower.

The failing students go to the punishment room, but the top students receive a reward. This place is prepared to reward the top students.

“Is that really true!?”

Angrago said in a delighted voice.

Lee Han and Giselle looked at him simultaneously as if he were pathetic.

You believe that?

Of course! Naturally. Surely there isn’t a student who doesn’t believe it?

“Of course not.”

That’s right. Unlike the failing students, the ones gathered here are the best in their towers.

With those words, the round nameplate hanging on the tower’s door began to spin.

Now, go in and take it!

“…Excuse me, but may I ask exactly what we’re supposed to take?”

Not difficult.

The skull principal, perhaps in a good mood today, explained quite generously.

This tower was created to celebrate the top students who did well on the exam.

Open the door, overcome the trials on each floor, and just take the reward!

If you’re capable, you can keep going up and take rewards on as many floors as you want, so it’s basically a happy tower of rewards.

“……”

“……”

Lee Han and Giselle’s faces grew serious.

Just hearing the explanation was chilling.

‘It sounds like a tower of trials and suffering.’

Knowing the skull principal’s personality, it wouldn’t be strange if he had prepared hell from the first floor.

What good are the rewards, anyway?

If you can’t clear it, it’s meaningless!

“Thank you, Principal!”

Your joy is my joy.

Angrago, still not realizing, was still happy.

Now then… White Tiger Tower first. Enter!

“Why do we have to go first?”

If you’re upset, do better on the next exam.

“Isn’t it good to go first?”

Angrago wondered. Giselle closed her eyes as if bracing herself.

The spinning nameplate slowly stopped and a symbol appeared.

It was the symbol of a sword.

The trial of the sword!

The tower’s door opened and swallowed the two White Tiger Tower students.

It was only a brief moment, but thanks to harsh training from Knight Allarlong, Lee Han was able to glimpse the inside of the room.

It was definitely dozens of golems holding swords.

“……”

Lee Han seriously considered that the punishment room might be better.

• * *

The challenge Lee Han and the princess drew was the symbol of a potion.

‘Not sure if this is lucky or unlucky.’

Lee Han swallowed his anxiety and stepped forward.

What was the wisest choice in this situation?

‘Forget the second and third floors, just clear the first floor and get out.’

Only a madman would clear the first floor and then say, ‘Wow, I wonder what the reward on the second floor is?’ and go up.

Of course, realistically, even clearing the first floor wouldn’t be easy.

The important thing now was to get out of the tower with as little injury as possible.

If it was possible to declare surrender, Lee Han was considering that too.

Trial of Wisdom

Once a person eats the poison, the trial begins. Make an antidote and save your friend.

“…Declare surrender? Forfeit? Give up?”

The tower gave no answer. Lee Han sighed.

Looking ahead, there was a cake on the table. Anyone could tell it was poisoned.

And next to it were a cauldron, alchemy tools, and ingredients.

The princess raised her staff and aimed at the cake.

“Poison, reveal yourself.”

Immediately, multicolored smoke rose from the cake. The princess’s eyes filled with surprise and disbelief.

“Surely not all of that is poison… is it?”

The princess nodded. Lee Han made a sickened face.

She probably hadn’t even identified all the poisons inside with that magic, and there were already so many.

At this point, it wasn’t a poisoned cake, but poison shaped like a cake.

The princess gestured that they needed to cut the cake. There was a limit to how much poison could be identified without opening it.

But the cake wouldn’t cut.

“…They made it so you can’t open it before eating.”

Lee Han muttered with resentment.

The skull principal really spared no attention to detail in these things.

‘Guess there’s no choice.’

Lee Han steeled himself.

Based on his experience so far, Lee Han’s magic power gave him considerable resistance to various poisons.

Of course, he wouldn’t be perfectly fine after eating such a deadly poisoned cake, but he’d definitely endure better than the princess.

“I’ll eat it, so please make the antidote right away.”

“!”

The princess’s cold eyes wavered. She shook her head in surprise, trying to stop him.

Of course, Lee Han was not someone who particularly respected the wishes of royalty, whether it was Gainando or the princess.

He took a bite of the cake right away.

“!”

‘No way. It’s even more absurd because it tastes good.’

For something poisoned, it was surprisingly sweet and tasty.

Rumble!

As soon as he took a bite, the door ahead opened and the writing changed.

Trial of Wisdom

The trial has begun. Pass through the door without being poisoned.

“Hurry!”

Lee Han urged. There was no way to know how much time was left.

The princess hurried to the ingredients. She was in such a rush that she almost stumbled.

Proving why she was called the empire’s genius, the princess moved with not a single wasted motion.

She placed a piece of cake on a board, broke down its components, and immediately started throwing ingredients with antidote properties into the cauldron for each separated poison.

The cauldron bubbled as the potion boiled. As several ingredients went in and the staff was waved, the potion’s color changed rapidly.

‘Focus…!’

A pressure she’d never experienced before pressed down on her.

When would she have ever experienced alchemy with a friend’s life on the line? The princess bit her lip.

Rustle!

The princess’s hands, which had been making the potion without stopping, suddenly halted.

It was a bad sign.

Sure enough, the princess’s eyes began to shake. She had encountered a poison she’d never seen before.

The princess desperately pulled out antidote ingredients and tried to match them to the cake crumbs. Of course, nothing worked.

Despair welled up. The princess turned to Lee Han with a look of distress.

“Mi—…!”

Lee Han was sitting calmly with a serious expression.

Wondering why the poisoning hadn’t started, Lee Han took another bite of cake, and, feeling the princess’s gaze, looked up.

“…Um. I don’t think I’m going to get poisoned.”

“……”

The princess glared coldly at Lee Han.

• * *

The princess glared with a betrayed look, but Lee Han was unperturbed.

‘I didn’t expect not to get poisoned even after eating it.’

It wasn’t that Lee Han had just sat by to watch the princess waste her effort.

He just thought the poison would take some time to take effect.

Just in case, he tried going through the door, and the trial was cleared immediately.

Trial of Wisdom

You have splendidly cleared the trial. Receive your reward.

An honorable wizard will move forward, but running away like a coward is also your choice.

“Let’s take the reward and get out.”

The princess nodded.

After a moment, the reward appeared before the students with a puff of smoke.

Pop!

It was a silver spoon. Lee Han and the princess each took a silver spoon, looking bewildered.

‘What is this?’

The princess, as if she understood, used the spoon to scoop a bit of the remaining cake. Lee Han, startled, slapped the back of her hand.

“Don’t eat it!”

“……”

The princess was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t even react properly.