Episode 366

The Beech Knights weren’t a knight order that fought intense real combat, but still, a full knight of a formal knight order and a student still learning magic at Einrogard couldn’t help but differ in skill.

Of course, there would be many eyes on the Beech Knights, so they’d have to go easy regardless, but even so, it looked very disadvantageous for the students.

The servant just couldn’t understand why the students were looking so delighted.

“Let’s trample those arrogant punks, Wardanaz! Don’t forgive them—ever!”

“They don’t even know you can use a sword. Hide it and finish them in a single move!”

“If you attack with magic, then draw your sword, they’ll be so surprised they’ll be done for!”

As the White Tiger Tower students shrieked their nasty plans, other tower students cast them troubled glances.

Salko muttered,

“Are those guys really knights?”

Some of the White Tiger Tower students were too embarrassed by their friends to raise their heads.

They weren’t even going to step up themselves, just bluster and push it all on Wardanaz…

“A-are you really going to be alright?”

The servant asked hesitantly.

“Don’t worry! We have Wardanaz!”

“Uh… you mean the mage isn’t the one going out to fight?”

“……”

“……”

The servant’s innocent question jolted the White Tiger Tower students back to their senses.

“W-we’re weaker than Wardanaz…”

“Ah, ah, right. Of course.”

When the mood became awkward, the servant tried to lift it by shouting,

“If it’s for a friend, I think I could step up in their place! Isn’t that how friendship works?”

“N-not that we’re really friends…”

“……”

As things got very uncomfortable, the White Tiger Tower students reflexively looked at Lee Han.

“Y-you’ll go out for us, right, Wardanaz?”

“We can’t leave you out of White Tiger Tower’s forces.”

“Hey! Are you nuts? Wardanaz is Blue Dragon Tower!”

“Ah, my bad. Habit…”

• * *

Aside from the White Tiger Tower students’ nonsense, Lee Han took the provocation from the opponents quite seriously.

Before the match, he called Deorgyu and Giselle over to properly assess the opposition’s strength.

“The Beech Knights aren’t that strong or famous as a knight order.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Are you really, really sure?”

“…Why are you asking again?”

Giselle stiffly held back from adding “you brat” or “you punk” at the end.

Instead of answering, Lee Han looked over at Deorgyu, who glanced at Giselle and nodded.

“I’m sure, Lee Han. They’re not some great knight order.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

“But Lee Han… even if they’re not like Lord Bikelinz or Professor Ingeldel, anyone representing their knight order won’t be a pushover.”

Deorgyu spoke with a worried tone.

Unlike the other White Tiger Tower students (some of whom were convinced Lee Han could bust out forbidden magic to fight the Skull Principal to a draw), Deorgyu and Giselle were much more grounded.

Lee Han was strong, but he was still a student.

His opponent, on the other hand, was a knight with experience. After all, it was always the knights who brought down mages.

“Don’t worry, Deorgyu. I have a plan.”

With things having gone this far, Lee Han no longer intended to just let things go smoothly.

No matter how obsessed you are with a banquet hall, there’s a limit.

Whatever the opponent was thinking, he was determined to show them what for.

“So what are you going to do?”

Giselle asked out of genuine curiosity.

She knew Lee Han was a sly, cunning, and meticulous strategist, but she couldn’t imagine just how he’d manage in this situation.

“Just watch.”

Lee Han approached the servant and whispered.

“I think it’s just too harsh to have students face off against knights. I feel like they should make a bigger concession. Please try your best to explain this.”

Rather than being moved by the silver coin that slipped into his sleeve, the servant was flustered.

Did it really have to come to this?

“O-of course, this is my job. No need to tip. I’ll do my best.”

“Nonsense. Take it. Take it.”

Lee Han grabbed the resisting servant and shoved the silver coin into his pocket.

The servant finally gave up, pocketed the coin, and left—then soon returned.

“They say it’s fine to prepare your magic in advance.”

“Thank you.”

Giselle now understood.

It was simple but effective.

Of course, it was absolutely not the sort of move you’d expect from someone of a great noble house.

‘Is he insane, for real.’

“Here. Have one more.”

“Eh?! That’s really not neces—”

“Go tell them that the students seem like they’re just going to reject the proposal unless they concede further.”

“……”

The servant left with a dazed look on his face, unsure what he was even doing, and then came back.

“They say you can face not just one, but three at once.”

“I see. Hold on. Don’t go. The students ate so much today they feel heavy, so you should probably…”

“Wardanaz, serious problem!”

A sudden outcry made all three turn their heads.

“It’s not just the Beech Knights! The White Oak Knights are here too! It’s those guys who came to the school last time!”

“!”

Lee Han was startled.

This was a real blow.

If the White Oak Knight squires started talking about what he’d done before…

‘It’ll be much harder to lull them with an act!’

“Even so, since you forged some friendship crossing swords before, isn’t it possible they’ll keep your secrets?”

At Lee Han’s question, Deorgyu and Giselle both shook their heads.

“I doubt those punks would do that.”

“If they act like that, I’m not Giselle of the Moradi Family—I’m of the Wardanaz Family.”

‘Isn’t that too much?’

While Lee Han thought that, someone quietly entered through the back door of the banquet hall.

It was a familiar White Oak Knight squire.

“Cheo, cheop…”

“Shh! Keep it down. I snuck in. I’m here to give you a tip.”

The squire slipped between the students, all the while glancing nervously at the door.

“By the way, what’d you just try to say? Cheop?”

“…Maybe you misheard. Sounded like smacking lips.”

“Really?”

The squire promptly turned to Lee Han, as if uninterested, then rapidly whispered in a tiny voice.

“The Beech Knights outside are totally underestimating you. They have no clue how wicked—”

“Wicked?”

“…I got flustered and misspoke. I mean how skilled you are in both sword and magic, and how deep your schemes run. The guy stepping forward uses sword and shield, but he’s left-handed, okay? His swordsmanship is…”

Receiving the opponent’s weaknesses right away thanks to the squire’s friendship, Lee Han looked at Deorgyu and Giselle. Both averted their eyes.

• * *

Refreshed from his rest, the duke opened the door and came out.

His guards and attendants were standing at rigid attention in front of the study, not even daring to breathe.

It was unnecessary, but the duke took the lead and began walking as if it was only natural.

“…?”

A raucous noise was coming up from the first floor, below the great stairs.

At first, he thought it was coming from the banquet hall, but on second thought, the direction was wrong.

“What’s going on?”

“……”

“……”

The attendants held their breath, failing to grasp the situation.

Since the duke had ordered the servants not to be disturbed while he rested and they too had waited in silence in front of the study, they had little idea what was happening.

“I’ll go check immediately.”

One attendant hurried down—so fast he nearly slipped several times.

He reached the first floor to find knights and students gathered in a cluster, apparently conducting some sort of duel, and his heart dropped at the sight.

“What on earth is going on here?”

“A… an issue erupted over who would use the banquet hall…”

Seeing the attendant’s grave face, the servant explained in tears.

“We couldn’t help it since we were told not to come up…”

“You should have intervened! How can there be sword-fighting inside the mansion?!”

“It’s, it’s not sword-fighting—it’s a practice match…”

At least that was some relief, but things were still looking bad.

If knights and students clashed, the outcome was obvious.

Even if the knights won gently, the students would only harbor resentment at how things were handled—and if the knights went hard at all, the consequences would be dire.

The attendant sprinted back to deliver the news to the duke.

Having listened to everything, Duke Ikaldoren froze over cold as ice. His anger had reached the critical limit.

“And?”

“……”

“So why are you just reporting it to me? Do you expect me to resolve it personally? Hm?”

“I’ll go resolve it at once!”

The attendants and guards bawled in unison and charged downstairs.

They were ready to thrash the knights themselves to stop this mess.

“This… this is unfair!”

“I don’t see how it’s unfair.”

“You were hiding magic… magic was already in effect!”

“You said it was fine to prepare spells in advance, didn’t you?”

“…???”

But the sight that greeted the guards was the complete opposite of their expectations.

• * *

Lee Han, Deorgyu, and Giselle walked out with every possible buff stacked on them.

Doing their best to look weak, frightened, and nervous.

“Deorgyu, don’t glare. You look tough.”

“S-sorry, Lee Han. I’m just bad at acting…”

“Imagine you’re Gainando.”

“I… I am Gainando. I am Gainando.”

“……”

That wasn’t all.

Lee Han boldly summoned water orbs and asked for time to complete their spinning formation.

His knightly opponent, not knowing what spells Lee Han intended, lightly agreed. Seeing the trio’s nervous act, he already considered this a win.

BANG!

As a result, the opposing knight was sent crashing through a window and into the side garden of the mansion.

“……”

“…Please tell me you didn’t do that on purpose, Lee Han.”

“Sorry. I failed to control my strength.”

Late to realize what had happened, the knights lodged strong protests.

“T-this is unfair!”

He’d planned to have a tight fight so he could use the excuse, “Ha ha, I just let down my guard because you’re youngsters,” but after sending the knight flying with a single blow, Lee Han didn’t have many moves left.

Time to go for brazen denial!

“I don’t see how it’s unfair.”

“You were hiding magic!”

“You said we could use spells in advance.”

With a look of utter innocence, Lee Han insisted.

In fact, the knights had nothing to say.

It had already all been agreed upon beforehand.

“What a cunning trick…!”

“Enough.”

“Your Grace!”

The knights rejoiced at Duke Ikaldoren’s arrival.

“We were just having a little spar. If it pleases you, could you referee…”

“Why?”

“Pardon?”

“Why are you having a match in another man’s house?”

“……”

“S-some minor issue came up…”

“And for a minor issue, you thought it okay to have a duel in someone else’s mansion? Is that the way of the Beech Knights?”

Finally sensing the gravity of the situation, the knightly order’s representatives clammed up.

They might have acted like big shots on their own turf, but when the duke exploded, they were as easily blown away as anyone.

“Your Grace, please, this is a misunderstanding—”

“Are you saying I’m a fool now? That I can’t even understand what you’re saying?”

“N-no, that’s not it…”

“I overlooked your mistake with generosity, and this is how you repay me?!”

The duke let out a tightly contained, icy rage.

Seeing this, Lee Han thought to himself.

‘Seems different from his reputation.’

He’d laughed heartily when the White Tiger Tower students went wild, but now he was ferociously enraged over a duel.

Contrary to rumor, he was quite temperamental and eccentric.

Also stingy…