Episode 398

“…Of course not.”

“Didn’t you hesitate just now?”

“That must have been your imagination.”

Yoner tilted his head.

He was sure Lee Han had hesitated.

“Priest Nigisor, maybe…”

Lee Han sighed as he watched Nigisor passionately proclaim to the Blue Dragon Tower students, about to try and hush him up.

But with such a public announcement, there was no way to keep it from reaching the other priests’ ears anyway.

“Do you understand??!”

Faced with Priest Nigisor’s burning gaze, the Blue Dragon Tower students were bewildered.

In truth, they were still too focused on the bread to really grasp the situation.

“I asked if you understand!”

“It… it seems like some amazing fire magic…”

The princess spoke hesitantly.

She didn’t know what the magic was, but judging from the unique transformation in the nature of the flame, she guessed it was some difficult, arcane element magic.

It wasn’t something a first-year would normally learn, but with Wardanaz, nothing was surprising.

“It’s not fire magic but divine magic! I said it’s divine magic!!”

Priest Nigisor stomped his feet in frustration. The princess shrank back a little, despite not really having done anything wrong.

Ahsan, not understanding, asked,

“But isn’t divine magic something only the priests can use?”

“Many people think so. But even if you’re not a priest, sometimes there are those who awaken to divine magic. It’s only possible for truly devout believers.”

“Huh. But Wardanaz isn’t all that devout…”

Ahsan didn’t see Lee Han as being particularly religious.

When they shared a dorm, Lee Han never prayed fervently or showed much sign of faith.

True, he did regularly give the Phoenix Tower priests their meals, but so did the other tower students…

“Ho-how can you say that…!”

Nigisor was literally shaking with frothing rage. Ahsan was alarmed and quickly shouted,

“N-no! Priest! On second thought, Wardanaz was definitely devout! He always gave you priests meals!”

“??”

The princess, listening beside him, tilted her head.

“How does giving food count as…”

“Everyone thinks so!”

“Y-yeah! Of course!”

Only after the Blue Dragon Tower students nodded did Priest Nigisor manage to calm down. The princess wasn’t convinced, but since the topic had already moved on, there was nothing she could do.

“So, have you all thought about what to bring to the Paragranum Guild?”

“Paragranum Guild?”

“…Why did you think we gathered here?”

“For snacks, wasn’t it?”

Lee Han ignored the intelligence-starved Blue Dragon Tower student and continued.

He had gathered his friends to tackle the difficult challenge of being recognized by the empire’s alchemists.

Pooling their wisdom would be far better than struggling alone.

“The usual kinds of potions aren’t likely to impress them, right?”

“That’s for sure.”

Ahsan replied.

“The Paragranum Guild’s alchemists are always thirsty for new recipes.”

“Oh. Ahsan, have you met them?”

“No, never in person, but when I was little, their alchemists once took over a cathedral building and threatened to burn it down unless they got a research grant. That stuck with me.”

“I…I see.”

He’d learned an extra, entirely unnecessary bit of information.

“For now, let’s write down any potions we can make, then any we haven’t made yet but could try, and then discuss them.”

At Lee Han’s suggestion, the group nodded.

“I made a lesser mental enhancement potion and a lesser stamina recovery potion…”

“I made Bion’s Awakening Potion once. I think I could do it again.”

“You said you couldn’t do it before, but you finally succeeded?”

“Yeah. The spell I used to add the powder was incomplete.”

As they took turns writing, someone noticed Lee Han’s note.

“Wardanaz, did you write this wrong? Is this really Dobruk’s Emerald Dream Potion?”

“It is. I learned it over the break.”

“……”

The student next to Lee Han looked horrified.

What kind of insane workshop would let a first-year handle -Dobruk’s Emerald Dream Potion-?

‘Shouldn’t someone tell the Emperor?’

When the list was sorted, Lee Han and his friends went through it item by item.

“What about trying a completely new recovery potion? I’ve got some herbs we could experiment with…”

“I’m thinking of challenging a strengthening-type potion. I’ve practiced those a lot lately.”

There were two ways to develop a new potion.

The first was to create something from nothing—a novel technique, combining unused materials and inventing new magic. This was something only the greatest of masters could achieve over long years, and once developed, such potions became guideposts and textbooks for countless alchemists.

The second way was to take existing methods and improve them.

Using a night spirit mushroom instead of a white spirit mushroom.

Replacing kalltakal mucus with a broken griffon beak.

Changing ingredients, spells used in the process, and countless other variables—the empire’s alchemists were always experimenting this way.

It was much easier than the first method, and with wisdom and luck, one could achieve considerable success.

Naturally, what these first-year students were focused on was the second method.

‘It might be good to improve Dobruk’s potion.’

He’d practiced Dobruk’s Emerald Dream Potion to the point of exhaustion over the break.

It was a genuinely difficult potion, but its completeness was something even Lee Han could appreciate.

If they could improve it, it’d undoubtedly be a stellar result.

The ingredients were a bit complicated, but he could probably borrow them from Professor Thunderstep…

“Lee Han. Lee Han.”

“?”

“What about making the potion my sister gave you?”

“Huh? Is that okay?”

Lee Han was surprised.

The recipe from Yoanen wasn’t some ordinary potion, but a formula she’d developed herself.

“She wouldn’t mind wherever you showed it off. Besides, she’s not that sort of person. She’s probably already forgotten she gave it to you.”

“Really?”

“And if not, so what. She deserves to pay a little.”

Yoner spoke as if she wanted her sister to get a taste of her own medicine. A lot had apparently built up.

“Did Lady Yoanen do something wrong?”

“Not to me. Usually to friends I brought home.”

“I see… I got lucky, then.”

“……”

Yoner gave Lee Han a look as if he were a lunatic, then gave up explaining.

“Enough, let’s just make potions.”

• * *

White Flame.

Priest Nigisor called the flame Lee Han summoned with divine magic by that name.

“Wait just a moment. Among recorded divine spells in the order, something similar… 41 years ago, green fire, possessed properties of absorbing and condensing toxins, no, ah! Here it is. White-fire, White Flame. Burns away foul taint and expels yin energy. This must be it.”

‘Is it really okay for me to do this while learning dark magic?’

A fire of purification wasn’t a bad thing, but Lee Han felt a bit conflicted.

“It wouldn’t be usable for dark-magic potions, but in other situations, it’d be pretty handy.”

“There are potions for dark magic, too?”

Priest Nigisor’s innocent question pained Lee Han’s heart.

“There are…”

“Oooh.”

As the priest marveled, Lee Han shook his head bitterly.

“The priest who taught me in childhood could use three different divine magics. If you keep striving, Lord Wardanaz will receive even more blessings.”

“I’m not even sure if I could gain more at this point.”

“It’s very possible.”

Priest Nigisor’s gaze was filled with unshakable faith.

Any other friend would have been touched, but Lee Han mostly just felt troubled.

He sensed a suspicious expectation, like ‘Someone who can create fire with such explosive power is bound to reach higher realms and create world-burning flames.’

“W-wa-wa-Wardanaz of House Lee Han…!!!”

A shrill shriek came from next to him.

“Priest Siana?”

“This… this can’t be. Please tell me it’s not true. Did you really… the Afha Order’s divine magic…???”

“It’s true!”

‘Ah, this oblivious fool.’

Lee Han wanted to smack Priest Nigisor on the back of the head for boasting so proudly.

Shouldn’t he at least act a little apologetic!

“Priest Siana. Even though I’ve awakened to divine magic, my faith in the Fleming Order has not…”

“Just once!”

“??”

“Please! Just give me one more chance!”

Priest Siana’s reaction was different from what Lee Han expected. The priest was practically about to grab him by the ankles.

“What chance?”

“Before you go back to the dorm, please pray one more time…! You’ll be able to awaken divine magic! Really!”

‘Is it really okay for their faith to be like this?’

To treat a near-miraculous divine spell like the skeleton headmaster’s lessons: “You just need a little more effort and it will work!”

Priest Nigisor tried to remain composed from the side.

“Divine spells aren’t something you can rush…”

“Just be quiet. Please, just once! If my turn passes, I’ll have to wait ages for another one!”

“All right, calm down.”

To placate Priest Siana, Lee Han agreed to pray again before going in.

Priest Siana kept looking all around, on guard as if someone might interrupt.

“O you who see the essence of all things and make changes occur, I offer my faith today, so please grant a sign of change to this believer…”

Pop!

“?!”

Lee Han looked up in surprise.

The divine power swelled and, as before, intertwined like warp and weft.

This was…?!

“Ah, no!”

Priest Nigisor, who’d been leisurely watching, cried out in panic.

Anyone could see this was a precursor to the awakening of divine magic.

If there was a precursor like this, it should have been saved to let the Afha Order awaken their divine magic—how could it be handed over to another order!

“What do you mean, no! Quiet, please!”

“Priest Siana?”

Surprised by the fierce back-and-forth, Lee Han asked nervously, but the response was only more intense.

“Focus!! Please just focus!!!”

“O-okay, I will.”

Regardless of Siana’s concern, the divine power safely turned into a miracle.

The potion in the flask turned crystal clear, and Siana clapped and jumped for joy.

“I knew it! I knew it would happen! The timing just passed by last time and it didn’t work, but now it did!”

“I don’t think divine magic really works that way…?”

As far as Lee Han knew, divine magic wasn’t like some gambler’s fallacy.

It’s not a system where repeated failures raise your odds of success—it’s based on faith and will…

But Priest Siana didn’t listen. She was too excited.

“I’m just running to the dorm real quick!”

“Wait! Priest Siana! Wait!”

Lee Han hurriedly called out, certain that if she ran to the dorm, a dozen other priests would come running out thinking, ‘Aha! Now’s my chance!’