Episode 396
by CristaeEpisode 396
“But this is Einrogard.”
Lee Han couldn’t completely dismiss what the White Tiger Tower student said.
Even if such a passage looked structurally impossible, Einrogard was a place where “impossible” did not exist.
It was the kind of place where, after going down just a few steps from the upper spire, you might suddenly find yourself in the basement of a village outside the school.
It was full of ancient magical relics so old even the skeleton headmaster had trouble keeping track of them…
“No. Even considering that, that’s not it.”
After pondering, Lee Han firmly denied it.
Sure, there was a possibility, but it was about as likely as Gainando becoming the top student this year.
“Stop talking nonsense and move aside.”
“Sniff.”
Bang bang bang—
Lee Han carefully cast magic to check the components, detected for any energies, and knocked on the hatch to check for mechanisms or traps inside.
‘Seems like there aren’t any.’
But since he wasn’t completely confident checking alone, Lee Han called his friends.
“Anyone here confident in detecting or disabling traps and mechanisms?”
“……”
“……”
The White Tiger Tower students looked at Lee Han in bewilderment.
They were from knight families—why would they have such skills?
But Lee Han remorselessly criticized them.
“No one?? What were you all doing if you didn’t even learn basic skills?”
“No… our knights… Hey…!”
“Forget it. I’ll do it myself.”
Grumbling, Lee Han checked the door again with a technique he learned from Ratford.
If only Ratford had been here!
The White Tiger Tower students felt wronged, but seeing Lee Han’s way of checking, they couldn’t protest.
Where on earth did he learn all that?
“Doesn’t look like there are any… Good. I’ll open it. Before that, I’ll pick three of you.”
“For what?”
“For opening the door together. The rest of you, just in case, stand by the door over there, and if something happens, run for it.”
“……”
10 minutes later.
The three unfortunate ones selected (including Angrago, who had come back after extra lessons only to get chosen by bad luck and was on the verge of tears) stood at the door with Lee Han.
“Open it!”
Creeeeak—
With a heavy noise, the door lifted upward.
As the thick dust, enough to make them cough, settled, a dark staircase leading underground appeared.
“Cough, cough… Is, is it an escape tunnel?”
“Of course not. You all have dark vision, right? Let’s go in!”
Before opening it, Lee Han had cast as many reinforcement spells as possible on his friends; now he bowed his head and stepped forward.
No matter how much dark vision was cast, walking in darkness always limited your vision and felt stuffy.
He wanted to light a fire, but Lee Han held back.
You never knew what could be inside.
“There are potions, Wardanaz!”
“Lots of them!”
After descending the stairs and walking through the passage, they saw glistening glass bottles on a shelf to the side.
The White Tiger Tower students whispered joyfully, having found something worthwhile.
But Lee Han shook his head.
“There’s no magical energy. It’s liquor.”
“……”
“Isn’t that even better?”
“Shh. Wardanaz is right there.”
When one of the White Tiger Tower students spoke cluelessly, another shot him a look.
No matter how much they liked to drink, shouting “Hey! It’s not a potion, it’s alcohol! Awesome!” in front of Wardanaz wasn’t a good idea.
How uncouth and crude would they seem.
“…Right. Alcohol is a decent item, too. You can trade it with the Black Turtle Tower.”
“Th-that’s what I thought, too.”
Angrago answered, swallowing his saliva.
Forget trading—he was thinking of drinking his share himself.
‘Was this the seniors’ secret stash?’
Lee Han pondered as he looked at the bottles on the shelves.
At Einrogard, rooms appeared and disappeared all the time. It wasn’t unusual for a room they’d used for years to suddenly fly off somewhere else.
Some of these bottles had store labels, while others were clearly homemade.
Cursing the crazy skeleton, I complete this liquor here.
How can it be right to fight each other in midterms? Someday I’ll report this to His Majesty the Emperor!
You who will find this empty bottle someday, be wary when outsiders arrive! They are those invited to trample on you!
If I can’t graduate next year, I won’t complain even if I become an undead!
‘They must have worked hard on these…’
Complaints aside, Lee Han was puzzled as to why the seniors left these bottles.
Of course, they’d be hard to retrieve, but having spent years at the magic school, those seniors must have experienced misplaced rooms more than once.
There was no reason for seasoned mages to just give up on these…
“Wa-wa-wardanaz.”
A terrified voice from Angrago at his side made Lee Han react instantly.
He leveled his staff and prepared to cast a spell, then turned his eyes.
‘What is that?’
A giant statue was walking toward their group.
The statue, about twice the height of the clustered students, brushed perilously close to the passage ceiling as it approached.
Because it gave off no sense of pressure or hostility, Lee Han hesitated to cast a spell.
The statue was quicker to break the hesitation.
-Welcome, challengers.
Suddenly, one White Tiger Tower student’s wooden sword teleported into the statue’s hand.
Lee Han was startled.
‘Spatial magic so easily!?’
Space-time magic was infamous among magic for being one of the most difficult types.
Even considering Einrogard’s unique magical qualities, for the statue to cast a spell of spatial magic so easily…
It was truly an unbelievable sight.
“M-my sword!! Give me back my sword!!”
-This is the price of challenge. Now. When shall we start?
The statue asked unemotionally.
“…Compete at what?”
-What would it be? When magicians meet, it’s obviously magic.
‘Damn.’
Lee Han clicked his tongue.
If it were anything but magic—but since it was magic, it would be purely a test of skill.
For a mage who could so easily snatch a wooden sword away with spatial magic…
“That’s it!”
“If it’s magic…!”
“…You maniacs.”
“?!”
The White Tiger Tower students, thrilled, were shocked at the insult.
Why?!
- * *
“…So you were looking for something useful in the storage room?”
Giselle, who had arrived at the storage room late, frowned at the sight of the White Tiger Tower students gathered there.
While she could understand wanting to repair the golem, still, this was…
‘Isn’t Wardanaz making them do his own work?’
“That’s not it. Moradi.”
“…Why do you think that?”
“It’s something even the priests are doing together. He wouldn’t try such tricks.”
“…Oh… right.”
Giselle bit her tongue to stop the curses.
“So where did that Wardanaz go?”
“He went down here, to the basement.”
“…?!”
Before she’d even finished hearing the explanation, someone came clattering up the stairs with a commotion.
The White Tiger Tower students, pale, screamed.
“Wardanaz is dying!!”
“What?!?!”
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
The students waiting above were shocked and rushed over.
“He’s not dying… you idiots…”
Lee Han, carried on a stretcher made by his friends, muttered irritably.
He had expected it, but the skill of the magical statue was truly astonishing.
As soon as the duel began, the statue teleported several rock shards to where Lee Han stood.
-No, your magical energy… astonishing!
Of course, the direct teleport was blocked by Lee Han’s abnormally strong magical energy.
But the statue showed its true strength after that.
Even when the magic was blocked, it didn’t panic—it followed with fluid, continuous attacks.
If direct teleportation was impossible, then indirectly!
Swish!
In an instant, rock shards appeared all around Lee Han, as if encircling him, and pounded him rapidly.
He tried to defend with transformation magic, but the shock was unavoidable.
Lee Han was thrown about. The attacks, using spatial magic, were thorough to a terrifying degree.
-Now that the leader has fallen, this challenge ends here. The Room of Knowledge cannot be entered so easily.
“Room of Knowledge??”
The listening students grew anxious.
“What’s the Room of Knowledge?”
“I asked… They said it’s a place where the things the seniors studied are stored.”
“What? That exists?”
“Even if it does, there’s no point! You can’t get inside anyway!”
Angrago said with a trembling voice.
Those who’d faced it directly experienced an overwhelming pressure from the opponent.
Even that Wardanaz was knocked out in one blow.
“Let’s take Wardanaz to the infirmary first. Just in case, we need to check.”
“Y-yeah.”
Deorgyu and Giselle took hold of Lee Han’s shoulders on each side. Giselle, supporting him absentmindedly, glared at Deorgyu in disbelief. Deorgyu bowed his head as if begging her to let it go just this once.
“Why am I…”
“What did you say? Moradi?! You’re volunteering to help Lee Han! You really are an honorable knight!”
Deorgyu shouted loudly for all to hear.
Giselle opened her mouth wide in shock.
Deorgyu, behaving just like Wardanaz!
“You crazy bas…”
“S-sorry. Honestly, I just don’t trust those guys.”
Before leaving, Lee Han called for Angrago.
“Angrago…”
“T-tell me, Wardanaz! Should I close the door?? Any last commands?”
“No… Bring out the liquor inside…”
“……”
- * *
-You were hit pretty hard.
-Is… is it dangerous?
-No. You took it well, so you’re not hurt badly. You’ll recover soon with some rest.
-Lee Han! Did you hear? You must have protected your body with magical energy. To cope so well in that situation!
-Deorgyu… You’re making me nauseous. Please talk quietly…
After several hours of rest, Lee Han recovered and shook his head as he made his way to the Black Turtle Tower.
‘Let my guard down and paid dearly.’
You really couldn’t lower your guard at Einrogard; letting it slip for a second, he got hit big time.
He could guess the circumstances.
A few seniors must have found the room and used it as a liquor stash and study room, only for the school’s shifting spaces to let in that crazy statue.
Whatever brought people close, it would challenge them to a duel, so it made sense the seniors couldn’t break through.
And its magical combat ability was so terrifyingly refined…
‘I shouldn’t even think about the basement and just repair the golem.’
Normally, he would have tried to break through and see what the seniors had left, but honestly, there was no answer to this one.
“Wardanaz!”
A few familiar Black Turtle Tower students sitting on the black market chairs waved when they saw Lee Han.
“It was a shame you weren’t here. You need a big spender like you for the market to thrive.”
“Sorry. I’ll bring goods from outside soon, so don’t worry.”
“Heh heh…”
“Hehehe.”
The students exchanged glances, their conversation as shady as seasoned smugglers.
“But today, I brought something different.”
Lee Han placed the bottles of liquor the White Tiger Tower students had brought up from the basement on the table.
The Black Turtle Tower students gasped in surprise at the sight of the life-giving fluid.
“Liquor, in such quantities…?! Wardanaz, just how…! How did you get this?!”
“Why ask such a rustic question?”
“Huh… I shouldn’t have asked.”
“Why are you two talking so weird…?”
Ratford, a real pro, was puzzled at the unreasonably suspicious vibe.
They didn’t talk that suspiciously at the black market.
They just chatted cheerfully, didn’t they…?
Lee Han handed over five bottles of liquor to the Black Turtle Tower students and received various supplies in exchange.
Estimating the weight of the cheese wrapped in paper and finishing up the deal, Lee Han nodded in satisfaction.
“This should last a week.”
“You exaggerate, Wardanaz. That’s enough to last a month. By the way, did you know the Imperial alchemists have arrived?”
“…Who came?”
“They say the Imperial alchemists have arrived? Some friends saw them earlier.”
“I see.”
Suddenly, Lee Han remembered the phrase he had seen in the basement.
You who will find this empty bottle someday, be wary when outsiders arrive! They are those invited to trample on you!
“…No way, it’s not even midterms yet… Surely not.”