Episode 282

“…Excellent. I’ll give you a perfect score.”

“Thank you.”

To the left.

To the right.

Three spins in place, then a somersault.

Lastly, an elegant ballet.

Thankfully, Gonadaltes kindly fulfilled Lee Han’s order, which could have been excessive if it weren’t for goodwill.

“Thank you, Gonadaltes.”

The skeletal warrior nodded hastily, giving off a vibe of warily watching Lee Han for some reason.

“You may return…”

Pop!

Back at his seat, Lee Han tilted his head.

“Something’s strange.”

“The skeleton is doing ballet?”

Gainando looked at Lee Han with a ‘Now you notice?’ expression.

“No. The professor’s expression.”

Just as he’d read the spirit’s emotions, Lee Han could also read the professor’s mood.

In fact, professors were easier than spirits.

Professors were more overt about their emotions.

“Well, of course.”

“?”

“Think about what you named the skeleton warrior.”

The friends nodded in agreement. Lee Han was puzzled.

“It’s not the first time she heard it.”

“No matter how many times she hears it, she’ll never get used to it.”

While they were talking, it was Gainando’s turn.

“Gainando. Be careful.”

“Yeah.”

Gainando, who was going out with a nervous face, looked deeply moved at his friends’ supportive words.

“Don’t overdo it and cause an accident. Just give up and come back here.”

“Don’t think you’re going to show off by yourself. You’re not Wardanaz.”

“……”

Seeing his friends, who had already failed on their first try, trying to drag him down, Gainando snorted.

“Hmph! Losers!”

“Gainando… You’ll be back over here, just wait…”

“Gainando. When you swung your staff, did you swing it clockwise or counterclockwise? Think hard about it.”

Lee Han was impressed.

They couldn’t do the magic, but they were top class at dragging others down.

“But I’ve already figured it out.”

Gainando was fairly confident. He was helped by the hints from his friends’ earlier attempts.

Nillia had succeeded by being warm and familiar with spirits.

Lee Han had succeeded with the undead by being strict and firm.

Gainando, also dealing with an undead, should copy the latter.

“Listen! If you do not obey my command, I will…”

The skeletal warrior immediately dashed in and slapped Gainando across the face.

Enraged, Gainando swung his staff and got into a collar-grabbing fight with the skeletal warrior.

“I told you to give up and come back.”

“Gainando! Break his leg! Break his leg!”

• * *

Swordsmanship class.

Unlike other final exams, the students weren’t waiting with much tension.

Swordsmanship class didn’t require a direct exam on the spot like other classes.

“What did you guys bring?”

“Why do you ask? What about you?”

“As if we’d tell so easily.”

The students eyed each other warily.

The exam was to bring evidence of having hunted the strongest prey possible in the mountain range.

Regardless of grades, knowing someone else hunted a stronger prey than oneself was a matter of pride.

“That’s why they’re probing like that, Lee Han.”

“I see, Deorgyu. But in my opinion, grades are what really matter.”

Lee Han said coldly.

It was a final exam—why worry about pride over grades?

Grades were clearly more important!

“Well, that’s true… but, inside the White Tiger Tower, it’s quite a big deal.”

“Deorgyu. Enough nonsense. By the way, no one found out what we brought, right?”

Since Deorgyu and Moradi belonged to the White Tiger Tower, they often clashed with other students.

Moradi was the type who could always secure his own share, so he’d never get caught, but Deorgyu was more careless and a bit naïve.

He could easily slip up and reveal information if friends begged desperately!

“Don’t worry. Lee Han. No one knows what we brought.”

“That’s good.”

In a competitive exam like this, keeping your asset secret was quite important.

If it leaked, competition would just heat up unnecessarily and everyone would get exhausted.

Lee Han didn’t want that sort of mutually hurtful fight.

“You got it, Deorgyu? We’re protecting our friends here.”

“That’s right, Choi. Keep that in mind.”

“……”

Deorgyu looked at Lee Han and Giselle with a complicated expression.

He sensed something fishy in the way the two of them were focusing on convincing him alone.

• * *

Dukema of the Jey family looked around nervously. Gatono from the Dulak family scolded him.

“Others will notice, stay still.”

“S-sorry.”

Gulp—

The two did their best to remain calm and looked straight ahead. Another party member spoke.

“But now that we’re here, can’t we tell each other?”

“No! Submit quietly. There’s no benefit in provoking anyone else.”

“Even so, do you really think someone could still catch up now?”

The White Tiger Tower student asked incredulously.

There was at most an hour or two left—how could anyone find and defeat new prey in that time?

“Wardanaz is crazy enough to do it.”

“Yeah. Don’t provoke Wardanaz!”

“……”

The White Tiger Tower student who’d asked involuntarily nodded along.

It was absurd, but there was real intensity in the voices of the other two.

Gatono reached into his backpack. He felt something solid, wrapped tightly in cloth.

Amazingly, it was…

A shoe once worn by a giant.

‘No one else will have such a great trophy!’

Gatono was sure.

No matter how skilled Wardanaz, Deorgyu, or Moradi were, this would be impossible.

It was the same for the other students.

After all the humiliation and trouble in hunting a giant, who would dare try it again?

But Gatono and his friends were different. They hadn’t given up.

-Mr. Guesse, we want to face the giant.

-Please help us!

Guesse, a Wasteland Star-Catcher hunter, was moved by the White Tiger Tower students’ passion.

Since he had come here to teach and help the students anyway, he couldn’t help but be impressed by those who made a special effort to seek him out.

-I like your spirit. In that case, I’ll help you just this once.

-Really!?

-But whether you succeed or not is up to your own abilities. I can’t help with that.

-Don’t worry! We’ll do whatever it takes!

Gatono and friends shouted enthusiastically.

At this moment, they felt like they could do anything.

-Here. All you have to do is crawl over there to the animal pen and bring back the giant’s shoe.

-Uh… aren’t we going to fight the giant directly?

-Of course not. No one would allow first-year students to take on a giant head-to-head.

-……

-……

-Is something wrong?

-No, it’s nothing…

-Back to the point, you don’t need to fight the giant. The shoes alone are strong enough proof.

-But isn’t the exam about defeating a target and bringing proof?

-If you can sneak up and steal the shoe without being noticed, that’s virtually the same as a loss in our Wasteland Star-Catcher way, at least.

-I—Is that so?

The White Tiger Tower students were swayed by the hunter’s logic.

Frankly, even without directly fighting the giant, they would have accepted any excuse at this point.

-Wait. Mr. Guesse. That animal pen is a complete mud pit.

-That’s even better. The mud will mask your scent so the giant won’t notice. If necessary, you can always hide under the pigs.

-…Isn’t there another way besides crawling?

-Not unless you want to face the giant itself.

The White Tiger Tower students deliberated for a long time, but in the end, stripped off their outer clothes and crawled through the mud.

It stank so badly that the smell lingered for days no matter how much they washed, but it was worth it.

A shoe worn by a giant.

Who else could have brought that?

Gatono was so swept up in his own triumph he didn’t notice another student approaching from behind.

Tap!

Another student quickly approached from another party and slapped Gatono’s hand.

The giant’s shoe rolled out from inside.

“…!!”

“Th-that’s a giant’s shoe, isn’t it?! Is that a shoe worn by a giant?!”

“Guys! These jerks broke their promise and faced a giant!”

White Tiger Tower students who’d grown suspicious saw the giant’s shoe and were horrified.

After all, they’d agreed to avoid giants, and here was this cheap stunt?

“Cowards! How can you call yourselves knights?”

“I have no shame. I hold my head high before the heavens! That promise was just not to hazard fighting a giant because it was too dangerous. We, however, were confident and went anyway. What’s wrong with that?”

“Liar! You just hid it in case we went after the giant too!”

“If you’re jealous, just say so. Don’t act all pitiful about it!”

“Did you just say that?!”

The White Tiger Tower students didn’t stop at an argument—grabbing collars and throwing punches flew.

A little ways off, Lee Han, sitting with Moradi and Deorgyu, clicked his tongue at the sight.

“Idiots. Breaking promises and sneaking off to face a giant behind their friends’ backs.”

“…Lee Han. But we also faced a giant.”

“We didn’t get caught.”

“We didn’t get caught.”

“……”

• * *

Professor Ingeldel gave his thanks to the Shadow Patrol hunter Baishada and the Wasteland Star-Catcher hunter Guesse.

“It’s all thanks to your help.”

“N-not at all, professor.”

“As a hunter, it was an honor just to teach young mages.”

‘You’re really good with words.’

Baishada admired Guesse’s speaking skills.

No wonder he was often quoted in the Imperial papers—not just anyone from Wasteland Star-Catchers. His rhetoric was on another level from the Shadow Patrol hunters.

“Thank you for saying so. Well, shall we see what the students hunted and brought?”

The two hunters sat with the professor.

The students in the swordsmanship class brought forth evidence of their quarry in turn, and the two hunters commented enthusiastically each time.

“This is a vampire shade bat! They rarely leave their caves at this time of year—impressive…”

“They caught a walking fire mushroom. Mages will be mages, I see. Even hunters avoid those because they’re such a hassle.”

“Bringing in the fruit of a vine stalker? That’s impressive!”

When it came time for Gatono and friends, the giant’s shoe elicited astonishment from Professor Ingeldel as well.

“Bringing in a shoe worn by a giant…! How did you manage that!”

Gatono, sporting a black eye, spoke carefully.

“We didn’t defeat the giant.”

“That’s fine. It’s even more impressive to bring it without defeating the giant.”

Professor Ingeldel then looked at Guesse.

“Thank you once again, Mr. Guesse.”

“Professor, I knew you were wise, but you truly surprise me. How did you know?”

“If you hadn’t given them advice, how on earth would first-year students think to face a giant?”

Guesse coughed bashfully.

Baishada felt envious inside at the sight.

Reputation, popularity, skills, and now even the ability to give great advice to mages.

‘Isn’t this too unfair?’

Next up were Lee Han and his friends.

When Lee Han submitted a strand of the giant Ikurusha’s hair, Professor Ingeldel and Guesse both coughed and spit out the water they’d just drunk.

Then, with shocked faces, they turned to Baishada.

Baishada, flustered, shouted,

“No, no, no… I had nothing to do with it!”

“I know, Mr. Baishada.”

“You do?!”

“When you’re teaching, it always seems insignificant from your side. But for the learners, even a single sentence can be a huge revelation…”

“……”