Episode 359

Episode 359

The reason dark wizards lingered near cemeteries was not because they liked cemeteries.

Of course, some peculiar dark wizards did like cemeteries, but it was rare for a wizard to choose a cold and gloomy cemetery over a warm and cozy fireplace.

The reason dark wizards stayed near cemeteries was because it was advantageous for dark magic.

By getting used to the aura of death, they could become more familiar with undead summons, gain additional mana for all sorts of dark magic, and above all, conduct magical experiments without worrying about being watched by others…

…Honestly, that last reason was quite important.

Most people did not want dark wizards conducting research next door.

Even the dark wizards themselves often did not want to research in their own mansion courtyards.

When all kinds of poisons were sprinkled on the plants and undead trampled across the lawns, no matter how beautiful the courtyard, it eventually turned into a cemetery.

Let alone if it was the mansion of a prestigious and historic grand family…

“Ah. Senior, you’re here?”

Lee Han, who was controlling the undead in the garden in front of the mansion, greeted Direte happily upon seeing him.

The undead bowed their heads in slow and awkward motions. Seeing this, Direte was surprised.

‘In that short time, like this?!’

He had known that Lee Han was having trouble controlling the undead.

In a way, it was understandable.

After all, a mere first-year student was trying to control undead in the style of classical dark magic.

The fact that he managed to make them move at all was impressive in itself.

“How did you get them to move?”

“Ah. I’ve still got a long way to go. Ideally, they should move more smoothly…”

The orthodox and elegant method was to intricately weave together dozens or hundreds of commands into one.

For a living creature, walking was as easy as breathing, but to make a mindless skeleton warrior walk required dozens or hundreds of detailed instructions like ‘apply force to the foot bones,’ ‘apply force to the shin bones,’ ‘transmit through the thigh bones,’ and so on.

Of course, no one could do all of this one by one, so a wizard needed to combine those dozens or hundreds of commands into one to give the command to ‘walk’.

All that complex flow of mana and comprehension was absolutely not something a first-year could acquire through trial and error. It required a wealth of experience.

So Lee Han used a trick.

“I just poured more mana into them.”

“…!”

Instead of giving detailed instructions one by one, he blasted them with the ‘walk’ command infused with immense magical power.

Of course, the result was disastrous.

The undead actually moved incredibly slowly.

If he had given the detailed instructions one by one, they would have been much faster.

But the important thing was that they moved at all.

Once they were made to move, it was possible to adapt and learn through repetition. Besides, didn’t that junior of his still have mana to spare even after such wasteful exertion?

It might have been a much faster route than exhausting his brain by calculating each command one by one.

“That’s actually a great method!”

“Senior…”

Lee Han looked at Direte with a slightly hurt expression. Direte was flustered.

“Why?”

“I’m not an idiot, I can tell when someone says something they don’t mean. You don’t have to go out of your way to praise me.”

“No… Hey!”

Direte felt very wronged.

Sure, it was a crude method, but in the end, it worked so he had genuinely meant it—this junior!

“I mean it!”

“Yes. If senior says so, I’ll trust it.”

Direte flapped his wings in frustration at his junior’s words, which painted him as a ‘bad senior who oppresses his juniors with authority’.

Meanwhile, Lee Han snatched the package Direte had brought.

“I’ll carry it for you. What is this?”

“Ah. That’s a visiting gift…”

Lee Han glanced into the box. It was full of unidentified bones.

Reaching out with his mana, he could feel a potent yin magic energy.

“Thank you so much, senior. I never thought I’d receive such a gift…”

“Really?”

Direte looked slightly embarrassed. He had chosen the gift with care, but hadn’t expected his junior to be this happy.

“Please have a seat. I’ll prepare some drinks.”

“Ah, I can…”

“You’re a guest, so that wouldn’t do. By the way, the others…”

“They’re juniors who also study dark magic.”

“I see!”

A spark flashed in Lee Han’s eyes for a moment.

Seniors from the same discipline.

…On second thought, Lee Han had no choice but to meet seniors from every discipline, but in any case, it never hurt to get in the good graces of seniors in his own field.

“Everyone, please take a seat. I’ll be back shortly with some drinks.”

“Uh, sure.”

“Ahem, ahem. Well… not bad.”

The dark magic students did their best to show that ‘they were quite used to this kind of treatment’.

Of course, the result made them look so awkward that Lee Han started to have other thoughts.

‘Are they feeling unwell?’

As Lee Han politely bowed and left, the students slouched out of their pretentious postures and whispered to each other.

“What is this?? Did you curse him or something?”

“Did you threaten him?”

“……”

Direte regretted bringing these bastards along.

“How can you even say that…”

“A student from the Blue Dragon Tower, let alone from the Wardanaz Family, learning dark magic—how strange! But why is he so polite!?”

“It’s creepy to see a Blue Dragon Tower student like that!”

“Is he even really from the Blue Dragon Tower?”

The dark magic students whispered.

Basically, Blue Dragon Tower students did not learn dark magic.

With all their outside concerns—honor, prestige, family—why would they bother learning dark magic?

Even an exceptionally eccentric Blue Dragon Tower student would still have issues.

So why was he so polite?

‘Indeed.’

Direte could understand his juniors’ confusion.

Basically, magic school students didn’t bother being especially courteous unless you were a senior from their own tower.

Inside the school, they’d at least avoid being rude since they might get beaten up, but outside, most of them would ignore you as if to say, ‘Do I know you?’

Especially Blue Dragon Tower students.

Inside, they walked around with their heads bowed in fear, but outside, why would they do so?

They seldom even met each other, and if they did, Blue Dragon Tower students just ignored everyone and minded their own business.

And that was even more annoying.

It would be better if, like the White Tiger Tower, they at least growled and snapped…

“It’s because we met in the punishment room. We became friends while I brought food for him in the punishment room.”

“You, senior?”

“Uh… No… He brought me the food, actually.”

“……”

“…????”

The juniors looked at Direte with eyes filled with shock, suspicion, and confusion.

How did you get a Blue Dragon Tower student from a great family to run chores in the punishment room?

No matter how much they wanted to believe it, only one thing came to mind.

‘It’s a curse. 100% a curse.’

‘No, poison. Poison is cleaner and less detectable than a curse. Maybe he’s supplying the antidote every week…’

‘Should we try to stop Senior Direte? If it ends up in the Imperial News again…’

“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s all a misunderstanding. You bastards.”

• * *

When Lee Han himself brought the teapot and a glass bottle of juice chilled with dew, the dark magic students looked at him with pity.

“?

“Junior… explain, will you? These guys… these kids think I’m threatening you.”

“What nonsense… I’m not being threatened.”

But despite Lee Han’s words, the dark magic students nodded pityingly as if to say ‘sure, right’.

“…No matter how I explain, it doesn’t seem to matter?”

“I must have lost my mind bringing them. …Did you call the other first-years?”

“Yes. I did.”

Having learned the purpose of today’s gathering, Lee Han had invited the other friends as well.

Come to think of it, one of them was a prince.

‘…I’ll leave the misunderstandings to senior to handle.’

Lee Han left it to Direte, frankly finding it troublesome.

“Can I ask you a few questions?”

“Yes.”

Lee Han was aware that not all the seniors here were friendly toward him.

It was only natural.

In any world, if some see the newcomer positively, others are going to be skeptical.

What the newcomer thought, how sincere they were, and so on.

If you showed yourself properly at a time like this, everything would be much easier going forward.

‘I’m ready.’

Lee Han also knew his own weak point.

He was taking classes in too many disciplines at once.

…It wasn’t intentional, but in any case, it could be seen as a bit negative.

But Lee Han was confident he could more than make up for that.

Honestly, was there any other first-year working as hard at dark magic as Lee Han?

“I noticed earlier you had summoned skeletons. Is it okay to do that in the front yard? Won’t it get dirty?”

“The dirtier, the better. It helps with practicing dark magic, after all.”

“…I also noticed your method of summoning undead is a bit different?”

“Yes. I’ve always had a great interest in dark magic, and recently I’ve wanted to make new discoveries by researching forms of dark magic that aren’t often used anymore. Fortunately, Professor Mortum gave a positive review of my ambitions and allowed me to practice like this.”

The bone principal and Professor Mortum’s coercion was presented as if Lee Han had volunteered.

The unaware dark magic students simply gazed at Lee Han in awe.

Why would a talent like this go into dark magic?

“Hmph.”

But the senior who was asking questions was not so easily swayed as the others.

As if to show he was different from everyone else, he shook his head several times and pressed on with more persistent questions.

“Anyone can have ambition. What matters is how you achieve it. I’m curious if you’ve mastered the basics. Do you know how to cast curses?”

“Yes.”

“Poisons?”

“I can make suffocating poison.”

Direte chimed in from the side.

“He can use dark elementals, too.”

“…!”

At that, the senior looked surprised, then nodded gravely.

It was a sign of surrender, his way of saying he had no more questions.

“Sorry, junior. Ogoldos isn’t usually so prickly.”

While the others were drinking, Direte pulled Lee Han aside to apologize.

“He’s just really serious about dark magic. That’s why he doesn’t like it when new juniors poke around for a bit and then give up.”

“I understand. That’s fair enough.”

In fact, Lee Han didn’t find seniors like Ogoldos unpleasant at all.

The real crazies were on the faculty side—no matter how impressive the seniors were, they could never match the truly deranged professors.

“…Sometimes I honestly wonder if I’m threatening you with real poison or something. Seeing such a promising junior join dark magic…”

“But I’m taking all the other magic classes too.”

“I know, so keep quiet.”

Direte went on to explain how often these gatherings were held and why.

A way for the dark magic students to exchange information, share tips on jobs or opportunities for the holidays…

“Oh yeah. I heard there was a rumor that professors got into a street fight over trying to take you to their tower. That’s not true, is it?”

“No, it’s true. But where is Professor Mortum now?”

“Professor Mortum? He’s usually in Granden City when we have these gatherings. …Wait. It’s really true?”

“He’s in Granden City? Why is that?”

“He says if we need help with magical research, don’t hesitate to call him to the meeting. But usually, magical research doesn’t get discussed during the gatherings. Hey. Junior. By the way, just now…”

“…Senior. Wait a minute.”

Lee Han cut off Direte, feeling a sense of dissonance.

Professor Mortum wasn’t around, but weirdly, Lee Han could almost hear a voice.

A voice saying, ‘Invite me too!’