Episode 389

‘I had a vague suspicion myself.’

Lee Han felt it too.

Since Professor Voladi wasn’t a basilisk-rearing expert and probably didn’t have other disciples…

…the likelihood was high that Lee Han would be the one taking care of the basilisk!

But just because he expected it didn’t mean his heart didn’t ache.

“Do your best. It’ll be a truly valuable experience.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Valuable? Why does he have to go through such rare and precious trouble?”

Professor Thunderstep grumbled incredulously. Professor Lightningstep gave an equally incredulous look, as if to say what nonsense was that.

“Think about it. When else will you get to look after and raise a basilisk egg? And how helpful will that be as experience? Once you’ve done a good job with that, every other serpent monster in the Empire will seem like a child.”

‘Sure it will.’

There were so many monsters in the Empire—there was no need to prepare for serpent monsters in advance.

If you just avoided the places they appeared, you’d be fine.

“In my view, it’s better to just avoid dangerous places or leave it to a snake expert…”

Professor Thunderstep said as he handed Lee Han a basket of food. Inside were bread and rice cakes, a large hunk of meat wrapped in paper, cheese, salt, a jar of sugar- and honey-preserved fruit, and a few cans.

“What’s this?”

“Take it and eat up. You must be busy after coming late, anyway.”

Someone like Lee Han could easily catch up to the other students’ progress despite coming two weeks late, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be strenuous.

Considering all the things he had to do in the second semester, he needed to at least eat well.

Lee Han was honestly touched.

Not many professors did things like this.

“Professor…!”

“Hmph. Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m only giving it because you worked well.”

“Thank you.”

Lee Han bowed his head, then slipped the canned foods he’d hidden back into the basket.

Professor Thunderstep glared at him for that.

• * *

Evening.

Lee Han, using the ingredients he’d brought from the cabin and garden, prepared a simple dinner.

The meal was richer than the ones the school provided, but there were still some empty spots on the table as he hadn’t been able to properly bring in supplies from outside yet.

The priests weren’t exactly into hunting or gathering, either.

‘Hmm. It bothers me a bit.’

Lee Han grilled skewers of rice cake, meat, and asparagus over the fire and handed them to the priests.

“It’s still a bit lacking right now, but please bear with it until next outing. As soon as I can go out, I’ll be sure to bring plenty back.”

“What do you mean… even this is more than enough!”

“That’s right! If we eat any more luxuriously, we’ll be punished.”

The priests quickly devoured the stew made with potatoes, vegetables, spices, and rice as they spoke.

Seeing their sweet behavior, Lee Han smiled in spite of himself.

‘Those Blue Dragon Tower guys need to learn from this.’

Up until just now, he’d worried, ‘I hope those Blue Dragon Tower guys are eating okay,’ but seeing the priests made him think, ‘They’ll manage somehow.’

“By the way, Lord Lee Han. Would you like to come with me for the chore assignment?”

“It’s already that time? Let’s go.”

Lee Han nodded at Sharkal’s words. Sharkal quickly led Lee Han away before the other priests could notice.

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

“I’d be bothered if the other priests noticed… I mean, I was actually just late picking up the new assignment.”

“It didn’t seem like you were that late…”

-Where did Lord Lee Han of the Wardanaz family go?

-Not sure? Did he go into the tower for a bit?

-Wait, didn’t Priest Sharkal go to pick up the assignment? I think they went together!

-Chase after them!

“……”

Lee Han stared at Sharkal. Sharkal pretended not to notice.

“Let’s hurry!”

“I thought priests hated lying…?”

When they arrived at the main building, an undead waiting there greeted Lee Han and Sharkal.

-You made it quickly.

“……”

-But why is the Wardanaz bloodline among the priests?

“There’s a reason. If you ask the principal, you’ll understand.”

-Ah. Is the master trying to torment the Blue Dragon Tower students?

“…No, that’s not it… Or maybe, yes?”

-Well, Blue Dragon Tower’s first years did have too easy a time last semester. The master even grumbled about it several times.

“……”

Lee Han decided to pretend he hadn’t heard anything.

As they conversed, the other tower students arrived one by one.

Unlike Lee Han and Sharkal, the other students’ faces were full of tension.

Lee Han waved and called to his friends.

“Did you eat well for dinner? Did Gainando bring you the right ingredients?”

Upon seeing Lee Han, his friends began to cry instead of waving back.

“Wo, Wardanaz…! Sob! Please come back!”

“…Did Gainando cook?”

“No, Gainando wasn’t allowed to cook…”

A Blue Dragon Tower student spoke tearfully.

In hindsight, Lee Han realized his plan had a flaw.

Even if he didn’t allow Gainando to cook, the other friends weren’t exactly skilled either!

Blue Dragon Tower students committed every rookie mistake: burning food, messing up seasoning, combining ingredients that didn’t go together, and so on.

No matter how much Yoner, the student talented in alchemy, tried to control things, it was hopeless.

-Turn the heat down! I said down!

-Why? If the fire’s high, it cooks faster, isn’t that better?

-Measure the salt properly! Don’t just sprinkle it!

-Huh? Wardanaz just sprinkled it. Isn’t it all about instinct?

-This is your first time, how could you have an instinct?! Hey! Don’t add more water! The vegetables already have enough moisture!

“Maybe you should rename your tower Hungry Blue Worm Tower?”

“We’re not that bad. Hmph.”

Hearing this, White Tiger Tower students puffed up with pride.

Of course, to Lee Han, it was ridiculous.

‘They only know how to grill, and they think that makes them special…’

They were better than the Blue Dragon Tower students, but that was just basic human expectation, and the White Tiger Tower kids weren’t great cooks either.

He knew this well from Moradi and Deorgyu.

-Caught a rabbit!

-Oh… let’s grill it!

-Got some bread!

-Oh… let’s grill it!

-Bought some fish!

-Oh… let’s grill it!

-I brought spices and sugar, is there anything we can make? Like that dish Wardanaz made. That was good.

-I know! Let’s grill it and sprinkle on top.

All they knew was grilling!

‘Still, I guess even grilling is better than nothing.’

“You guys should just eat it raw. Don’t bother trying to cook.”

Once all the students gathered, the undead spoke up.

-Attention. Everyone’s here. I will now explain this week’s chores. First… some third-year students tried to raid the fourth-floor kitchen, failed, and started a fire, so that needs to be cleaned up.

One student raised their hand and asked.

“Uh… Why don’t the third-years clean it themselves?”

-Good question. The third-years are cleaning up an accident caused by the fourth-years.

“……”

“……”

-Next… has anyone been to the Forest of the Stream south of the main building?

“I have.”

A White Tiger Tower student replied. Lee Han felt a bad premonition.

-I see… I don’t recall ever telling anyone to go there, so you must have snuck in. I’ll remember your name.

“Ah, no…!”

‘Of course.’

There was no such thing as a safe answer.

-Anyway, there are reports of a pest outbreak. They aren’t that strong, so go take care of it. Next… second floor storage room cleanup. There’s so much junk it’ll take a while.

“!!”

As his friends froze, Lee Han asked curiously.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah. That came up last week, too. The White Tiger Tower did it.”

“I see.”

Lee Han looked over at the White Tiger Tower students.

“How was it?”

“Um. Wasn’t too hard, Wardanaz.”

“We couldn’t finish, but that was just because of the quantity…”

Lee Han noticed their wavering eyes immediately.

‘Must have been rough.’

Judging by their reaction, it was a lot of work and clearly exhausting.

Otherwise, those guys would’ve volunteered to do it again.

-Well then, let’s divide up the tasks.

The undead started making lots and passed them out. Sharkal held Lee Han’s wrist and spoke earnestly.

“Lord Lee Han. How about praying to Lord Agltaqua?”

“Uh… isn’t he the god of the sea and storms?”

Lee Han had never heard that Agltaqua also presided over drawing lots.

“Yes. But Lord Agltaqua’s power is great, so if you believe and pray…”

Lee Han unfolded his lot.

Second floor storage room cleanup.

“……”

“…Come to think of it, he doesn’t preside over lots.”

• * *

“Sorry about this. Seems like we drew the tough one.”

“Not at all. There’s no such thing as hard or easy in these chores.”

“That’s right. In fact, the harder it is, the more rewarding.”

‘I can’t get used to this.’

Lee Han suffered a little at the priests’ words.

If it were the Blue Dragon Tower kids, they’d at least shamelessly complain—they were almost too nice here, and it got a bit uncomfortable.

Creeeak—

Upon opening the door, the students were met with a giant garbage dump.

No one knew who’d stacked it, but the room was completely crammed with junk.

Einrogard’s interior layout would change randomly, and when that happened, hidden spaces students secretly used for storage would just pop up.

And if it was left alone for much longer, the space could burst and scatter trash everywhere.

Once discovered, it had to be cleared out ASAP.

“…Wait.”

Looking around the piles of junk, Lee Han noticed a cloth covering a corner.

Lifting the cloth revealed another pile of garbage underneath.

That itself wasn’t shocking…

‘This pile looks pretty new.’

Finding it suspicious, Lee Han checked the top of the heap.

There, he found broken wooden swords frequently used by the White Tiger Tower students.

“…Looks like the White Tiger Tower guys got lazy cleaning and hid their junk here.”

“Oh dear…”

“We’ll just have to work even harder.”

The priests spoke with pity.

Lee Han stared at them, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

“I’ll be back—I need to drop something off at the tower.”

“Of course. Take your time.”

• * *

“No need to worry about the stream forest. Nothing dangerous there. I’ve hunted there several times.”

“Really?”

The White Tiger Tower student who’d been inside the forest boasted confidently.

“Yeah. There’s never any dangerous monsters—urk!”

Thwack!

Lee Han subdued one White Tiger Tower student with magic from behind, then pointed his staff at another.

“Hands up. Move a finger and I’ll break something.”

“Wa… Wardanaz! Is this because we teased you about being worms earlier…?”

“What are you talking about?”

“…Isn’t it?”

“You guys who cleaned the storage last week—did you do it properly or not?”

At Lee Han’s question, the White Tiger Tower student flinched.

It was the look of someone with a guilty conscience.

“We… we worked hard…”

“Okay. Take two steps to your right.”

“Wh-why?”

“If you pass out there, you could fall into the stream. You wouldn’t want your clothes to get wet.”

“…Maybe we… did cut some corners…”

“I see. Two steps to the right—”

“J-just a little! Really just a little!”