Episode 262

Since it was late at night, as soon as Lee Han finished tidying up after dinner, he lay down on the bed.

He thought his mind would be too troubled to sleep, but he was so tired that as soon as his head hit the pillow, his eyes closed.

And Lee Han had a nightmare in which Professor Voladi brought a dragon.

-This is really not acceptable. I will appeal to His Majesty the Emperor.

-His Majesty has also given permission.

-This is absurd!

• * *

When Lee Han woke up in the morning, he sighed and poured coffee from the kettle into a cup.

Before long, Professor Voladi walked out of the room. Lee Han noticed the professor pause at the sight of coffee.

“Do you prefer tea?”

The professor nodded. Lee Han was not at all flustered and placed tea leaves in a cup.

He had prepared for every possibility, just in case.

“Are you both up? Ah. Coffee… No. I’ll enjoy it.”

“No, it’s fine. Would you prefer warm milk?”

“I do, but…”

Amur was surprised to see Lee Han immediately pour milk into a cup.

Magic?

“Was that magic…?”

“I just prepared everything in advance.”

“…??”

Professor Voladi, sipping his tea, finally spoke.

“Let’s depart.”

“Yes.”

“Good luck.”

Amur said to Lee Han. Lee Han nodded and thanked him.

“Thank you.”

“Good luck.”

“…Thank you.”

“Sincerely, good luck.”

“…That’s enough. Thank you.”

As Lee Han turned and left with Professor Voladi, his back somehow looked sad.

• * *

“But Professor, where do you plan to purchase such rare monsters?”

Lee Han asked Professor Voladi.

Pillone Village wasn’t as bustling or vast as a city, but it was still one of the largest and most prosperous villages.

Since the Empire’s best magic school was nearby, all sorts of related people came and went from the village.

But even considering that, there weren’t many places that sold rare monsters. Ordinary villages didn’t even have places like Amur’s stable.

‘Is there a place I don’t know about?’

Since he’d come out several times, Lee Han had a rough grasp of Pillone Village.

Was there a place selling rare monsters that Lee Han didn’t know about?

“I called a seller.”

“!”

Professor Voladi hadn’t just taken the day off.

On his day off, he had contacted people all over the Empire seeking rare monsters.

Among the adventurers and explorers scattered across the vast Empire, there were those who specialized in such requests.

By now, quite a few of them would have arrived in Pillone Village with the monsters they’d caught.

After hearing the explanation, Lee Han cursed inwardly.

‘No wonder adventurers get a bad reputation.’

If someone commissions a job for a high price, don’t just snatch it up—think about why the request was made in the first place.

What if a crazy wizard throws that monster at his student!

‘I won’t forgive this.’

Lee Han resolved once again to sabotage this deal.

“Hey! Over here, over here! Wizard! Nice to meet you!”

From afar, an orc adventurer waved his hand. He was dressed in a way that screamed ‘I am experienced.’

Behind him was a huge metal cage. Though it was tightly covered with a black cloth, it was obvious what might be inside.

“Hello. My name is Kilbedek, as I mentioned in the letter. Wait. Who is this beside you?”

“My student.”

“Ah.”

Kilbedek paused, but continued as if it didn’t bother him.

“First, let me tell you about the monster I’ve captured. Please forgive the discourtesy of explaining without unveiling the cloth.”

The two wizards nodded. The orc adventurer paused for a beat, then raised his voice.

“The monster I’ve brought is… a basilisk!!”

“!”

Lee Han was startled.

He even wondered if attacking the orc adventurer up ahead would count as self-defense.

“A basilisk! Wizards like you must surely know. King of serpents, with a fearsome petrifying evil eye. Unaffected by fire, water, or lightning, and agile enough to cross from one end of the earth to the other in the flick of its tongue…”

“Stop spouting nonsense!”

Lee Han interrupted firmly.

He couldn’t just let this go. He had to make the other party feel bad and leave.

“Your intentions are obvious. Of all the powerful monsters, why a basilisk? You needed an excuse to cover it with a black cloth, right? So you could insist that removing the cloth would endanger the people nearby! And does it make sense that someone who can cage a basilisk can’t put a blindfold on it? Clearly, what’s inside is a fake of similar size!”

“W-what are you…!”

Kilbedek stammered at the outrageous accusation. Lee Han felt sorry but didn’t stop.

“Look at that person’s outfit. It’s certainly expensive and well-worn, but you can’t hide your hands. Aren’t they free of scars or wounds!”

Lee Han began insisting based on whatever he could see.

In reality, even if someone had no scars or wounds, they could still be an experienced adventurer. They might have healed with magic or just been skilled enough not to get hurt.

But the important thing was the atmosphere.

He had to keep nitpicking until the other party got angry and said, ‘I can’t do this deal!’

“…I was wrong! Sob sob!”

“?!?!”

Suddenly, the orc adventurer prostrated himself on the ground.

“How could I dare to deceive wizards… I must have lost my mind for a moment! Please, just spare my life! It’s because of my debts…!”

“……”

Lee Han was at a loss for words. In the meantime, Professor Voladi praised him from the side.

“Well done.”

“…Thank you.”

“Leave.”

Professor Voladi chased Kilbedek away without any particular punishment or retribution. Lee Han, curious, asked,

“Did you know he was a fraud?”

“No. But I thought it was likely.”

Professor Voladi never trusted adventurers much in the first place.

That was why he had sent letters and requests everywhere to gather as many sellers as possible.

No matter how many you gathered, nine out of ten would be frauds.

“I see.”

“Let’s call the next person.”

‘I hope it’s another fraud.’

Suddenly, Lee Han felt hopeful.

If all the adventurers were like this…!

• * *

“What do you think?”

“Excuse me?”

“I asked what you think.”

“Uh… isn’t he an honest imperial adventurer?”

Perhaps because Lee Han’s keen suspicion of the orc adventurer at first was so impressive, Professor Voladi asked Lee Han for the same judgment with the next adventurer.

Of course, Lee Han had no such skill.

‘Damn. I just made stuff up before.’

How was Lee Han supposed to know all his nitpicks would turn out to be true?

“Do you really think so?”

“He’s… a bit suspicious.”

“In what way?”

“…He brought a rare monster, so he has no reason to be nervous or worried. But he keeps glancing around and seems anxious.”

Of course, it could just be because he was nervous dealing with wizards, or maybe he just needed to use the bathroom, but Lee Han mercilessly nitpicked.

“Damn it! This is why I hate wizards!”

“……”

Another adventurer abandoned all his baggage and ran away.

And after that, three more adventurers tried to scam them and were chased off (one of them even brought an ordinary rabbit and insisted it was the fearsome monster Al-Miraj, feared even by demons).

It was good for Lee Han, but by now, he was beginning to doubt the ethics of the empire’s adventurers.

‘Is the empire really okay?’

He was beginning to think maybe the adventurers should come to Einrogard during vacation for the skeleton headmaster’s ethics lessons.

“!”

Lee Han’s expression hardened.

There was a strange, indescribable sense of discomfort coming from the adventurers who had arrived this time.

‘What is it?’

A bizarre sense of discomfort, as if something was tickling his nerves.

Lee Han frowned, unable to figure out what it was.

Professor Voladi spoke from the side.

“It’s killing intent.”

“Excuse me?”

“What you’re feeling now. That’s killing intent.”

“…!”

Lee Han looked up.

Unlike the frauds from before, this time the approaching adventurers reeked of blood.

‘Are they crazy?’

They were not far from the magic school, and they had to know what would happen if they messed with an Einrogard wizard.

But the adventurers in front of him didn’t think logically.

A wizard coming to buy rare goods must have a lot of gold, so they’d do anything to take it!

They didn’t care about ‘what comes after’ or ‘revenge.’ Their whole plan was just to make a big score and escape if they didn’t get caught.

“Wizard. Come over here.”

“You need to get closer to check the monster, don’t you?”

The slightly hoarse voices of the two adventurers betrayed their barely hidden greed.

Lee Han clicked his tongue.

“Fools.”

“…!”

“Do you even know who you’re dealing with?”

With anyone else, it might have been different, but with Professor Voladi there, those adventurers’ fate was already sealed.

“And who are you supposed to be?”

Realizing something was off, the adventurer’s voice grew rougher.

Tap-

“?”

Professor Voladi placed his hand on Lee Han’s shoulder. And said,

“Take care of it.”

“Excuse me?”

Professor Voladi gestured with his chin. He meant for Lee Han to handle it.

Lee Han suddenly felt awkward.

‘Come on…’

He was planning to say, ‘Do you know who you’re dealing with?’ and watch Professor Voladi fight, but if it went like this, he’d just be some maniac saying, ‘Do you know who I am?’

‘Does it have to be me?’

“I asked who you are!”

“No need to know.”

With those words, Lee Han drew his staff. At the same time, the adventurers drew their weapons.

Both sides were already wary of each other.

• * *

Doig and Geido, the two brothers, feared the power of wizards but didn’t mind facing them.

The important thing was speed.

Magic was the greatest power in the Empire, but that meant nothing if it wasn’t cast.

If you stabbed a wizard before they could cast a spell, that was it.

The two adventurers drew their weapons. They were savage hidden weapons crafted by a dwarf blacksmith with a bounty on his head in the Empire.

Hidden weapons that launched poisoned daggers with the power of fire and wind.

Not only did the poison paralyze a wizard’s entire body, but the blade itself was made of chrysocolla, able to penetrate defensive magic.

How many times had they seen wizards, clutching their chests in disbelief, collapse even with defensive artifacts?

Doig and Geido were sure this time would be the same, but they went tumbling, bodies burning with shock.

“…!”

Lee Han was startled when his opponent went flying from a single lightning spell.

‘What? Is this a trap?’

“Flash, flash, flash!”

Lee Han didn’t let his guard down.

What he’d learned from going through dungeons with Professor Voladi was never to stop attacking just because a monster fell.

There was no need to conserve mana anyway, so Lee Han fired spells in rapid succession.

“That’s enough.”

“…Ah. Were they really down?”

Professor Voladi nodded.