Episode 231

Quantity or quality?

It was a topic that came up in any field, but at least in summoning magic, quality was more important than quantity.

It was simple.

The effort required to increase the number was too much compared to the benefit gained.

Not to mention mana, but each time you summoned one, you had to pour in your full concentration, and at this rate, the magician would collapse first.

Even if you reduced the burden by summoning from another world, it was the same. You couldn’t just summon beings from another world recklessly, either.

For that reason, summoning magic pursued quality rather than quantity.

If you learned to summon a skeleton warrior, you should aim for a stronger skeleton warrior.

And if you succeeded in that, an even higher-level undead monster.

“But didn’t the principal command dozens, even hundreds, of summons?”

At Gainando’s question, Yoner and Lee Han looked at him as if he were pathetic.

And then they ignored him.

“Isn’t fifteen too much?”

“Hmm. Did I summon too many? But it’s not to the point that it’s a strain.”

Yoner was once again surprised at Lee Han’s words.

She knew that her Wardanaz family friend had as much mana as a mad dragon, but not to this extent.

“I don’t know much about black magic, but… do you usually train like this?”

At Yoner’s question, the princess nodded her head up and down from behind.

She knew a bit about black magic, so she seemed to think what Lee Han was doing now was strange.

“You don’t usually do it this way. It’s an ancient, outdated method.”

“I see… Wardanaz. So, ordinary necromancy is too easy for you, and you’re trying to revive the outdated ancient method to continue its progress? It’s a thought worthy of your intellect.”

Ahsan said as if he understood.

Lee Han almost hit him but held back, thinking Ahsan wasn’t to blame.

“It sounds grand, but… it’s close to that.”

“Still, this seems too reckless.”

“Yeah. Progress is a bit slow.”

Lee Han tapped his staff.

Unlike before, when they didn’t move at all, this time all the skeleton warriors raised their arms simultaneously.

And then they all threw wads of paper.

“Argh!”

Gainando was pummeled by flying wads of paper.

“This is about all I can do for now. Even that only works about once every two tries.”

“Oh…”

“There’s still a long way to go. Still.”

The students who didn’t know much about black magic just accepted it as such.

But the princess was appalled.

Not only had Lee Han raised fifteen skeleton warriors with an ancient method, but he was already able to control them to volley fire simultaneously.

Tap tap—

As the princess pointed as if to show them, Neblen spoke as if he understood.

“Ah. It certainly doesn’t look good. I’ll help Wardanaz clean up. Wardanaz, I don’t think your private room is the right place to practice. Should I help you move?”

“I should. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

The Blue Dragon Tower friends rolled up their sleeves and began picking up bones one by one.

“Sharkan. Thanks.”

-Grrng.

Lee Han thanked Sharkan as he loaded things onto his back.

“Gonadaltes. Take this and go.”

“Wha… whates???”

Ahsan freaked out and looked around.

Lee Han calmed his friend.

“Calm down, Ahsan. The principal didn’t come. The summon’s name is Gonadaltes.”

“Aha… …Wardanaz. I don’t have the right to say anything about other people’s summons, but isn’t that a bit dangerous???”

As his friends picked up their loads and walked off, the princess shook her head in frustration.

• * *

Salko of the Tutanta Family was walking with his friends.

He was looking for someone.

“Wardanaz is at Professor Thunderstep’s hut right now. Let’s go.”

“T-Tutanta. Isn’t this a bit dangerous?”

“Of course, Wardanaz is a terrifying guy you can never let your guard down around. But he’s not like the White Tiger Tower idiots who are impossible to cooperate with. As long as there are reasonable terms, we can work together.”

“No, I mean, isn’t it dangerous for us to go with just this group? What if Wardanaz suddenly attacks…”

“That’s what you meant.”

Salko clicked his tongue as he looked at the frightened Black Turtle Tower student.

“I told you, Wardanaz isn’t the type to attack recklessly.”

“B-but. Imirg, what do you think?”

The Black Turtle Tower student turned to his friend. The half-giant student who took black magic with Lee Han looked flustered.

“Uh, uh…”

Honestly, even though he took black magic with him, he really had no idea what kind of student Wardanaz was.

The prince seemed a bit dumb, Raphadael seemed a bit rude, but Wardanaz…

Other than being a magic genius, he had no sense of him at all.

“H-he’s good at magic.”

“Wardanaz is good at magic. That guy. Is he really the same age as us?”

“The Wardanaz Family is famous, after all.”

“No. I’ve seen someone from the Wardanaz Family from afar before, and no matter how I think about it, they weren’t on that level.”

The Black Turtle Tower students whispered as they walked.

If a student was just moderately outstanding, they’d think, ‘That guy’s smart,’ but if someone was so outstanding that it was incomprehensible, there was no choice but to react with ‘????’

Lee Han was exactly that.

Attending lectures from all the schools and keeping up without any trouble, his presence evoked not a genius but a monster.

A monster who pursued only magic!

“By the way, I heard something strange the other day. The Blue Dragon Tower guys say Wardanaz cooks for them every day.”

“Does that make sense?”

“But didn’t Wardanaz make us vegetable stew the other day? That was really good.”

“I’m not saying he can’t cook. If he’s good at alchemy, of course he’s good at cooking. But cooking every meal is a different story. Could you do that?”

The Black Turtle Tower student pondered.

Even in Einrogard, where ingredients were scarce, getting up at dawn every day to wash vegetables, peel them, chop meat, and prepare meals…

“I don’t think Wardanaz has any reason to do that.”

“Yeah. The Blue Dragon Tower guys are just bragging. Since Wardanaz cooked once, they’re using that to brag.”

“Those guys. They’re high nobles, but they’re telling dirty lies!”

“That’s how nobles are. Of all those who boast of their bloodline, only a handful show ability to match. We’re here. There it is.”

Salko pointed toward a hut near the distant forest.

It was Professor Thunderstep’s hut.

“Wardanaz! Are you there? We have something to talk about… Uwaaaaah!”

“Wuhuhuhk!”

At the sight of the skeleton warriors arranged like scarecrows behind the hut, the Black Turtle Tower students screamed.

• * *

“Sorry about that. I didn’t know you’d be so scared.”

“W-wait. We’re not scared.”

“Yeah. We were just startled, that’s all.”

Salko’s group of students were all from rough backgrounds.

If nothing else, they reacted very strongly to the word ‘scared.’

“Anyone can get scared when suddenly meeting undead. I understand.”

“I said we’re not!!”

“That’s enough, Wardanaz. We came here today to make a proposal.”

Salko glanced at the skeleton warriors standing around the vegetable garden.

They were hard to ignore, even if he tried not to look.

‘I don’t know much about black magic, but is it really possible to summon that many?’

“What’s your proposal? Ah. Salko, do you want to go into the undead realm together?”

“What are you talking about? I have no interest in black magic.”

‘No need to be so serious about it.’

Lee Han grumbled inwardly.

He was just joking!

“…I found an escape route.”

Salko lowered his voice. Lee Han was surprised.

He’d found an escape route?

“Ah. Are you talking about the Rockweed Cave guarded by Gandharva? I think you should give up on that. It’s not something we could possibly break through.”

“…First I’ve heard of that cave. How do you even know about such a place?”

Salko was inwardly shocked.

Blue Dragon Tower students prided themselves on their family, White Tiger Tower students on their swords, but Black Turtle Tower students prided themselves on their adaptability.

-We’re the ones who roam this vast magic school the most and know it best!

It wasn’t exactly wrong.

In fact, Black Turtle Tower students were generally so adaptable that they were usually the first to discover useful information by exploring everywhere.

But sometimes there were exceptions.

“I heard about it while wandering around.”

Lee Han, who had adaptability none of the Black Turtle Tower students could match, answered as if it was nothing.

From his demeanor, an aura exuded that only a seasoned student could have.

Slightly overwhelmed, Salko continued, hesitating.

“Anyway, it’s not that cave.”

“Don’t tell me it’s the mountain range path? You should put that off too. Last time, we trusted the White Tiger Tower guys and just got burned.”

“It’s not that either… If you walk west, under the mountain range, there’s a terrain that looks like a desert. Do you know it?”

He asked out of courtesy, but Salko assumed Lee Han wouldn’t know.

Who would have gone that far for no reason?

Salko and the Black Turtle Tower students wouldn’t have gone if they didn’t have information.

“I know it.”

“?!??!”

“H-how?”

“Last time, Fongrif went berserk… It’s not important. So what about that desert?”

“Look at this map.”

According to Salko, one of the Black Turtle Tower students had a strange experience while wandering the school at night.

It was a dark, empty room, but as he stepped in, a whisper told him it would grant his wish.

The student said, ‘I want to leave the school!’

“So he got this map?”

“Yeah.”

“Interesting. Where’s the room located?”

“When he went back, it was gone.”

‘Suspicious.’

Ever since entering the magic school, the only thing that had increased was suspicion.

Frankly, there was no way to know if the thing whispering to the student in that room was a wish-granting spirit or the skull principal pretending to be one.

“Anyway, if you look at this map…”

The map pointed to the desert area on the west side of the school grounds.

There was a well drawn, and if you went underground from that well…

“An underground passage?”

“Yeah. A passage running under the castle walls.”

“It says there are lots of monsters near the well.”

“Yeah. So we need strong combat power.”

“I’m not that strong in combat…”

“??”

“????”

The Black Turtle Tower students looked at the skeleton warriors standing in the garden.

Then they looked back at Lee Han.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“N-nothing. Anyway, do you have any thoughts?”

“Of course I’d like to secure an escape route. The problem is the difficulty. I already have a lot to do, so I don’t want to waste effort on something pointless…”

At Lee Han’s words, Salko signaled with his chin.

Then the Black Turtle Tower students started putting down the chests they had brought.

‘The Black Turtle Tower guys know what’s up.’

Lee Han looked at them with an expectant gaze.

As expected, unlike the other tower students, the Black Turtle Tower students knew how to make a deal.

‘Materials? Reagents? Magic books? Food?’

“Wardanaz. Look at this. These are statues and ceramics you can decorate your private room with. Aren’t they beautiful?”

“…Why are you giving these to me?”

“Uh… Don’t nobles like this sort of thing?”

“Who likes this sort of thing?”

“The Blue Dragon Tower students couldn’t buy these, they were so in demand…”

“……”

To think his friends had been buying such useless decorations without him knowing.

Lee Han sighed inwardly.