Episode 39

There was a saying that when a person loses one sense, their other senses develop to compensate.
But even taking that into account, the storeroom keeper’s senses were astonishing.
How did he catch Ihan and Ratford even though he couldn’t see?
‘Hearing? No. We didn’t make a sound. Smell? No way, not with all this junk in here. Could it be… does he have the ability to sense mana?’
While Ihan debated whether to confront or flee, the storeroom keeper spoke again.
“So it’s you, Headmaster. My apologies.”
“…???”
The keeper didn’t approach further, just turned around and left.
Ratford was half-fainted in fright, but Ihan focused to figure out the situation.
What?
‘Why did he mistake me for that crazy skeleton headmaster?’
Any other student might have cracked under the pressure or made a mistake out of confusion.
But Ihan persisted in thinking it through.
‘It must be because of mana!’
The ability to detect mana.
If the keeper had found hidden Ihan and Ratford by sensing their mana, it made sense.
Ihan’s mana was, as the professors said, on a colossal scale.
When the blind keeper detected him, he might have mistaken Ihan’s mana for the headmaster’s.
‘But is that really possible? Even so, to confuse me with the headmaster…’
He didn’t totally buy it, but decided to go with that assumption for now.
They couldn’t stay here forever.
“Hey. Snap out of it.”
“Y-yeah. What just happened? How did you…?”
“That’s not important right now.”
There was no time to explain, and Ihan himself wasn’t totally sure.
But to Ratford, it sounded different.
Amazingly, this Wardanaz boy had even prepared a way to fool the underground storeroom keeper!
‘A… a big shot! This guy’s a real big shot!’
At this point, the rumors had underplayed it.
A freshman with the magic power to trick the storeroom keeper!
“Y-yes, sir.”
“?”
Ihan found it odd that Ratford was suddenly speaking formally, but there was no time for that.
“Let’s move. Don’t touch anything here.”
“Of course…! If we touch anything we might get caught, and that guy remembered all the inventory.”
“That’s right. And everything’s under alarm spells.”
Ihan also felt bad not being able to touch the goods stockpiled here.
But knowing the headmaster’s twisted mind, this storeroom was obviously a trap for clueless freshmen who made it this far.
In a week or two, he’d bet there’d be students who ended up here and got dragged off.
‘Don’t take the bait—keep moving. Gotta find the way out.’
Ihan resolved to search for a passage outside instead of fixating on the storeroom.
If he could just find a way out…!
“This way!”
Ratford pressed his ear to the floor and found the direction footsteps were coming from.
Calling it a storeroom hardly did justice to its scale—it felt like a gigantic labyrinth.
In such a place, Ratford’s sound-detecting skill was invaluable.
“Very impressive.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“But why the formal speech…?”
“Please follow me.”
Ratford hurried forward.
Who knew what could happen if they stayed in here too long!
Ihan might be fearless, but every second terrified Ratford.
‘I’m sure it was this way??’
But Ratford had to stop, bewildered.
He was sure he’d come toward the sound, but there was only a solid wall instead of a passage.
“Was it definitely this way?”
“Yes… but…”
“I think I get it.”
“!?”
Unlike Ratford, who only ever picked similar locks, Ihan was from Earth. So his imagination in this sort of situation was far broader.
“Look here. See the spots on the wall where it’s been touched? If you push those, it’ll open.”
“…!”
Ratford was stunned again.
Not only at the secret door that opened that way, but that the Wardanaz boy noticed it.
How did he…!
Thunk!
When he pressed the marked spots, the bricks really slid aside and revealed a passage.
It stretched so far they couldn’t see the end.
It was wide enough for two or three carriages to pass, and with light glinting off the walls and ceiling, it was clear they’d found the right path.
‘At last!’

• * *
  There were some rules for the merchants who delivered supplies needed by the magic school.
  Never reveal how to enter the magic school.
  Never speak of what you see in the magic school.
  Never speak first inside the magic school.
  There were others, too—‘Handle glassware carefully so it doesn’t break’, ‘Don’t move scrolls incorrectly’, things like that—but those were the main rules.
  The workers took those seriously more than anyone.
  No one wanted to end up a frog in a magician’s laboratory for breaking the rules.
  It wasn’t even a joke—one slip, and you might be stuck in that place forever.
  That was how scary the magic school was.
  There were reasons the local villagers both respected and feared it.
  So when a priest and a beggar suddenly appeared from the other end of the passage, the workers said nothing at all.
  Hmm, someone showed up!
  “……”
  “……”
  Ihan and Ratford were quite bewildered.
  The carriages at the end of the passage, the workers busily loading and unloading supplies—
  Even if coming face to face with them was surprising, what was stranger was that the workers deliberately ignored them.
  What was this?
  ‘Is this a rule, too?’
  From the way the workers studiously avoided their gaze, Ihan quickly got the gist of it.
  There’s no way a place like a magic school wouldn’t have thorough security.
  Given that, it made sense for workers to avoid unnecessary attention.
  ‘Stay calm. As long as I’m calm, they won’t notice anything.’
  Students who actually managed to escape school were extremely rare.
  It was highly unlikely that the workers, upon seeing Ihan and Ratford, would suspect ‘Huh? Are these freshmen escaping?’
  If Ihan didn’t panic and blow it himself…
  ‘Go confidently, especially now.’
  Without a flicker of expression, Ihan calmly spoke.
  “Can we go outside right now?”
  “I’m sorry, Father. Please wait just thirty minutes. We have a bit more to load.”
  “Understood. I can ride along, can’t I?”
  “Oh, of course!”
  The worker thought this priest was unusually polite and courteous. He could have just sat in the carriage without a word, but he even asked permission.
  No way would he imagine Ihan was a new student.
  For someone who’d just arrived, Ihan acted way too natural and had an air of dignity.
  None of the workers suspected Ihan.
  “……”
  Ratford looked at Ihan with respect.
  If he’d overpowered or out-magic’d the workers, he wouldn’t have been so impressed.
  But to get what he wanted by lying so smoothly like this—
  No need for long, complicated stories or heavy-handed bribes. A true thief could fool people with just their eyes and body language.
  ‘I’ve got a long way to go!’
  Ratford was grateful for seeing a new height of thievery tonight.
  Sometimes, a single real experience teaches more than ten years of training.
  This was one of those times.
• * *
  Clatter—
  The carts began rolling out after the loading was done. Of the six carts, Ihan and Ratford were in the last one.
  Even after finishing, the workers didn’t utter a single extra word. From this, Ihan sensed anew how formidable the school was.
  ‘If even the outside workers are managed this strictly…’
  You’d imagine a place for training the empire’s elite would be cozy and warm, but Ihan knew life wasn’t that simple.
  The magic school was a symbol of the empire and the mages. And both the empire and mages had enemies.
  To such enemies, the school must look like a sore thumb.
  Even setting those aside, there were surely people eager for the treasures inside the school.
  Viewed that way, this level of security was natural.
  ‘But even so, locking up freshmen and not letting them leave isn’t justifiable.’
  That was just the headmaster’s hobby.
  The carriage ahead hesitated for a moment. Ihan curiously poked his head out to look.
  “…!!!”
  A familiar face was boarding the front carriage.
  It was Professor Garcia Kim, the troll.
  ‘Did we get caught?’
  Ihan’s heart dropped.
  But upon reflection, they hadn’t been caught yet.
  If they had, the carriages would be surrounded and Ihan and Ratford would have been forced out with their hands up.
  So why was the professor in that carriage…?
  ‘Damn. Of all the rotten luck!’
  Ihan guessed what had happened.
  Professors were people too—they went out now and then. It just so happened today overlapped with their escape.
  “Ou… outside, could it be…?”
  “Shh.”
  Ihan signaled Ratford to control his expression.
  “We haven’t been found out. Just keep going. The village is large, and outside is dark—if you get off carefully, you won’t be noticed.”
  Ratford nodded.
  And felt a bit bewildered.
  ‘But who’s the real thief here?’
  Shouldn’t that be Ratford’s line to Ihan?
  The carriage resumed its clattering journey.
  Ihan focused, trying to remember as much as possible.
  Even if he failed due to unforeseen circumstances…
  ‘I’ll never give up.’
  He clenched his fist, embarrassed.
  …All this just to sneak out late from school…
• * *
  Professor Garcia carefully cradled the bundle given to him by the headmaster.
  -When you go outside, the imperial chamberlain should be waiting. Deliver the finished artifact to him.
  Professor Garcia wasn’t heading out just for a visit.
  The school may have looked peaceful from the outside, but inside it was like a boiling cauldron.
  With so many elite mages gathered, it was to be expected.
  Making and delivering artifacts for the emperor was one of the magic school’s responsibilities…
  This time, Professor Garcia had been charged with delivering the finished item quietly.
  Anyone not in the know might ask, ‘If it’s for the imperial family, why deliver it quietly?’ But that was just ignorance.
  There was nothing good about making a noisy, conspicuous delivery.
  It just attracted useless “flies.”
  A mage needed a practical mindset.
  Tap—
  “Eek!”
  “Ugh!”
  When some workers accidentally bumped into Professor Garcia, they tensed up and straightened immediately.
  A magic school professor was scary enough—but a troll professor!
  It was hard to say which was scarier.
  Professor Garcia grinned. He saw it every time, but the workers’ reactions never got old.
  “…Everyone, draw your weapons!”
  “??”
  At the worker’s shout, Garcia was confused.
  They might be scared, but this was too much, wasn’t it?
  “Professor! There’s someone suspicious ahead! Please get inside the carriage!”
  “…!!”
  Only then did Professor Garcia sense that something was wrong down the road.
  ‘Who could it be?!’