Episode 198

Episode 198

How much time had passed?

The Spire Keeper, who had collapsed from an attack that flew in from behind, came to his senses and hurriedly got up.

The intruder attack artifact had awakened, and yet he had collapsed, leaving the freshman behind.

It was a mistake for which he would have no excuse, even if he had ten mouths.

The Spire Keeper stood up, clutching his staff, praying he was not too late.

“…?!”

However, the scene before his eyes was very different from what the Spire Keeper had expected.

First of all, the inside of the storage room was half destroyed.

The fight must have been so fierce that all the junk that had been lying around was smashed to pieces and scattered everywhere.

The Spire Keeper did not despair or panic over the items in the principal’s storage being destroyed.

In fact, the items here were precious only to the principal; the Spire Keeper himself had little interest. They weren’t his belongings anyway.

The Spire Keeper was more surprised that the freshman had fought so evenly against the intruder attack artifact.

Judging by the way the artifact had charged, it was definitely not something a lower-year student could handle.

“Ugh.”

Lee Han groaned as he got up.

In front of him, scorched and frozen artifacts lay scattered.

He had managed to seal them only by pouring out cold air over and over again, but his whole body ached.

‘To think Professor Voladi’s teaching was right.’

Lee Han disliked the fact that he had to admit Professor Voladi’s words more than the fatigue in his body.

A wizard must never let his guard down at any moment!

If he had reacted even a little slower, the artifact would have pierced him, leaving several holes in his body.

“Well done. Sharkan.”

Sharkan growled in satisfaction.

Without this powerful undead summon, he would not have been able to restrain the artifact.

While Lee Han was bombarding the artifact with all sorts of magic, Sharkan threw himself at it, pinning down its movements.

If not for Sharkan, he would have been stabbed in several places already.

‘By the way… are all artifacts this tough?’

He had never thought that an inanimate enemy could be so threatening.

The horror of it, unfazed even when struck by lightning, engulfed in flames, blasted with magic, or cursed.

The artifact, which only targeted his vital points, was terror itself.

He had barely managed to freeze its feet by pouring out enough cold air to freeze the entire room.

‘From now on, if I ever encounter an artifact-type enemy, I’ll just run away.’

The Spire Keeper, having regained his senses, approached Lee Han. Only then did Lee Han take in the situation around him.

“…This couldn’t be helped.”

Seeing the wrecked storage room, a different kind of fear suddenly washed over him.

How would the skeleton principal react when he saw this scene?

‘He wouldn’t blame it all on me, would he?’

Lee Han fervently hoped the Spire Keeper wouldn’t try to shift the blame.

If he had any conscience, he wouldn’t avoid responsibility, since it happened because he collapsed…

But this magic school was full of people who left their conscience at the front gate.

Sshk—

However, the Spire Keeper acted completely differently from what Lee Han had expected.

He bowed his head and expressed his gratitude.

“…!”

• * *

‘Why isn’t it coming?’

The skeleton principal, waiting happily for the ‘Globe of Cold Winter’, sensed something was wrong.

Could he have noticed?

‘No. That’s impossible. No matter how much of a genius he is, he couldn’t possibly see the magic inside in advance.’

The skeleton principal calmed his uneasy heart.

<Globe of Cold Winter> was a surprise gift for the students in the classroom.

The moment Lee Han brought it in, the weather trapped inside the globe would be released into the classroom, and the students would be delighted by the blizzard inside…

But why wasn’t it coming?

Whoosh!

An undead bird of prey flew in from outside the window. A letter sent by the Spire Keeper was tied to its ankle.

At the sight, the skeleton principal instinctively felt a sense of foreboding.

You need to come right away.

‘What the heck?’

The skeleton principal didn’t understand.

Did that Wardanaz kid notice and run away midway?

Or did he knock out the Spire Keeper and try to loot the storage?

Plausible hypotheses came to mind, but he couldn’t know the answer.

Tsk. I’ll be out for a bit, so do self-study while I’m gone.

“!”

The students’ faces brightened.

While I’m gone, write ‘I will not recklessly use unverified dangerous magic’ ten thousand times.

The students’ faces darkened.

Regardless, the skeleton principal made a creepy sound as he headed toward the spire.

What on earth happened?

• * *

……

The skeleton principal felt tears flowing from his empty eye sockets.

Of course, they weren’t real tears. Liches didn’t have tear glands.

But the skeleton principal could feel hot tears streaming down his face.

This… this is too much.

As the skeleton principal’s voice trembled with sadness, Lee Han’s fear multiplied several times.

If only he had gotten angry instead, but to see him like this…

Tap tap—

The Spire Keeper nudged the skeleton principal and handed him a piece of paper.

This freshman subdued the artifact, so he should be rewarded.

……

The skeleton principal cursed himself for bringing such a clueless guy as his minion.

How could he be even more clueless than the freshman next to him!

Is that what you say right now? Hm?

But in principle…

Principle or not, my heart is breaking! Wait. Which artifact caused this mess?

The skeleton principal, who had been angry, finally realized something was off.

It seemed clear that some artifact in the storage had awakened by mistake and caused this chaos.

…But the skeleton principal had never placed such a thing in this storage.

If he had, he wouldn’t have sent the freshman or let the Spire Keeper in.

What is this?

The items you requested last time, <Demon Sword of Vengeance> and <Chains of Giant Binding>, are complete and have been left here.

-Professor Bible Verdus

The skeleton principal’s jaw dropped as he found a note amid the chaos.

The artifact he had commissioned from Professor Verdus, splitting his fortune with great resolve last time.

…The professor who completed the artifact had left it in the storage.

As a surprise gift!

‘…No. That can’t be.’

Professor Verdus wasn’t the type to give surprise gifts.

He must have just left it in the nearest storage out of laziness.

I’ll kill you! Bible!

The skeleton principal roared in anger.

The pressure of the magic he emitted made the Spire Keeper’s body tremble.

“Principal. I think the Spire Keeper here is having a hard time…”

Lee Han, though afraid, spoke up for the Spire Keeper.

The skeleton principal seemed to come to his senses and stopped releasing his magic.

…Wait, am I being pitied by a freshman right now?!

The Spire Keeper bowed his head as if he was ashamed.

Having grasped the situation, the skeleton principal clicked his tongue and looked up at the ceiling in despair.

It was an accident caused not by anyone’s fault, but by misfortune and bad luck.

‘No, it’s Bible’s fault.’

The skeleton principal pulled himself together.

He had almost let it go because the mental shock was so great.

‘I’ll kill…’

Tap tap—

?

When the Spire Keeper nudged him again, the skeleton principal turned his head in puzzlement.

This freshman subdued the artifact, so he should be rewarded.

…Later. I’ll do it later.

The skeleton principal answered in a drained voice.

Strictly speaking, the Spire Keeper was right.

The demon sword and chains he had commissioned from Professor Verdus were no ordinary items.

The fact that the freshman subdued them was, even to the skeleton principal, an astonishing feat.

…If it were any other time!

Right now, the skeleton principal was too heartbroken and empty to be surprised or praise anyone.

I’ll do it later. Understood?

“Yes. Sure.”

Lee Han had no complaints at all.

He just wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.

Pop!

The skeleton principal disappeared.

Lee Han mourned for Professor Bible in his heart.

He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but it surely wasn’t to praise him.

Tap tap—

“?”

The Spire Keeper handed Lee Han a neatly wrapped package. Then he thanked him once again.

I’ll speak to Lord Gonadaltes about your reward next time.

Lee Han was touched.

‘What a good person!’

How did he end up working for someone like the skeleton principal…

• * *

Afternoon.

Lee Han headed to Professor Bible Verdus’s workshop, the Sacred Hall, to attend an additional lecture on imbuement magic.

‘Amazing.’

Surprisingly, quite a few students were gathered in front of the tower.

Considering that Professor Verdus was the worst educator, it was proof of how attractive imbuement magic was.

‘Professor Mortum seems pitiful for no reason.’

Sympathizing with a professor was one of the greatest taboos, but sometimes one couldn’t help it.

“…Wait. But why is everyone standing outside instead of going in?”

“They’re not opening the door.”

Lee Han moved through his friends and knocked on the workshop door.

Knock knock knock—

“Professor? Are you there?”

There was a commotion inside, followed by whispers as if they were discussing something.

-What should we do? Can we really do this? Won’t we end up in the punishment room later?

-We got permission to teach the class instead of the professor.

-Still… how can we trust that?

Only after quite some time did the door open.

“!”

“!!!!”

The first-year students were startled.

Behind the door were not Professor Verdus, but upper-year students they had never seen before.

And the upper-year students were also startled.

To be precise, only one of the upper-year students was startled.

‘That’s the freshman!?’

Kumandas, a fourth-year student majoring in Ancient Magic-Imbuement Magic and a friend of Koholti, recognized Lee Han’s face and was surprised.

He never expected to meet him here like this!

‘Huh? Wait a minute. Doesn’t he major in black magic?’

Kumandas was momentarily confused.

Of course, double or even triple majors weren’t unheard of, but they were very rare.

Even if one did double major, they would choose closely related and easier fields to study, like Kumandas had.

Otherwise, the student would collapse from overwork.

In fact, Kumandas had first specialized in imbuement magic, then added artifact studies in ancient magic.

It was essentially a double major closely linked to imbuement magic.

But the student before him was majoring in black magic + imbuement magic from first year…?

‘If he’s learning both from first year, that must be extremely difficult and exhausting.’

Kumandas was initially puzzled, but on reflection, thought it might be possible.

Wasn’t he the first-year with talent so great that even Direte was astonished?

He was such a first-year that people wondered if he had cast a grand spell from the Wardanaz Family…

It was only natural for someone with such grand ambition.

‘I wonder what a genius like that thinks about.’

Kumandas became curious.

Of course, Kumandas was considered a genius in the whole empire, but this magic school gathered only the geniuses among geniuses.

A true genius who stood out here was on another level.

Like the boy from the Wardanaz Family right in front of him!

‘Compared to someone like that, I’m just ordinary…’

Lee Han’s expressionless, statue-like face, deep in thought, gave off an even more mysterious aura.

He seemed like a wizard who was always immersed in the world of magic, except when sleeping.

“Senior.”

“What is it?”

The statue—no, the genius—spoke.

“May I eat the snacks on the table?”

“…Huh? Uh, sure, you can eat them…”

“You may.”

“Wardanaz, thank you!”

The other first-year students sincerely thanked Lee Han.

As the freshmen poured in, Kumandas wore a bewildered expression.

Huh?

Huh…?

‘Something… something’s different from what I expected…?’