Episode 419

Episode 419

The danger of an incursion from another dimension lay in the unpredictability of what might occur.

In extreme cases, even if superposition or collision occurred, nothing at all might happen…

Or, beings from another dimension might pour out endlessly.

One of the main duties assigned to imperial mages was to check for and prevent such natural phenomena in advance.

If they managed to stop it in time, the situation could be quickly resolved, but if they missed it, there was no telling how beings from another dimension might overtake reality.

In that sense, the current situation could be considered somewhat lucky.

After all, they had discovered it before it blew.

If there had been more time, they could have closed it off altogether or resolved the collision, but there wasn’t enough time for that…

“First, let’s start preparing!”

“W-wait. We could be wrong…”

“I learned this in Einrogard; usually, ominous calculations aren’t wrong. Have faith in your abilities!”

“Wardanaz…”

The black mages looked at Lee Han with slightly moved expressions.

Lee Han had to hold himself back from striking the black mages who were wasting time when he was anxious to death.

‘If we were in Einrogard, someone would’ve taken a blow to the head or shin by now.’

“Why does it have to be a collision? I thought it was just a temporary mana pooling phenomenon.”

“I’ll prepare the summoning.”

As it was a gathering of summoning mages, they began summoning various forces to prepare for the situation.

Lee Han was a little flustered at the sight.

“Wait. Wait. Everyone, aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Yes?”

“Ah!”

One black mage grinned at Lee Han.

“You want to prepare together, is that it. Understood.”

“…No, I mean, aren’t there knights here.”

Just then, the mages went ‘ah’ as if they had realized.

Lee Han could imagine how much of a headache imperial officials must have dealing with the mages and knights.

“But wouldn’t it be uncomfortable to coordinate with those idiots for nothing?”

“They’re not idiots, they’re knights. And this is the knights’ camp, so of course we should tell them what’s going on! I’ll go tell them myself.”

• * *

“But wouldn’t it be uncomfortable to coordinate with mages for nothing?”

“……”

Hearing the knights repeat precisely what the mages had just said, Lee Han was speechless.

“Ah. Of course, I don’t mean you, Wardanaz. You’re from a knightly family…”

“Hey. What are you talking about.”

“Ah, oh. Sorry. You’re just so close with the other students, I got the wrong idea.”

The Beechwood Knight demonstrated an astonishing ability to get on the nerves of both Lee Han and all of the White Tiger Tower students.

“The mages here are different from the usual lot. They know how to respect and honor the knights. Do you know what they said when this situation happened? ‘What a relief in this misfortune! To have reliable knights by our side!’”

“?”

“???”

The White Tiger Tower friends looked at Lee Han as if he were crazy, but the knights stroked their mustaches with satisfaction.

“Well… it wasn’t quite like that…”

“Wasn’t it always the knights who protected the mages when enemies appeared? Shields of the weak, shields of the Empire, shields of civilization…”

One minute later.

With happy faces, the knights ran off to make their own battle preparations.

As soon as they left, Lee Han returned to his usual cold expression and muttered,

“Such annoying people.”

“……”

“……”

“By the way, Moradi. The Beechwood Knights, you know…”

“?”

Giselle frowned, wondering what he was getting at. After confirming no one was listening, Lee Han whispered.

“Skill. Are they… skilled enough?”

“Ah.”

Giselle immediately understood.

Sure, when seeing practical knight order like the White Poplar Knights, then comparing with the Beechwood Knights, it was easy to get confused whether they were knights or nobles.

“This should be good enough. They’re knights, after all.”

“…No other reasons to feel secure?”

“Hey, you jerk! What do you take knights for!”

The others listening were indignant, but Giselle took it all with overflowing understanding.

‘Maybe it’s odd to always trust knights unconditionally in the first place.’

“There’s one more. The vice-captain is here. He’s Jeancliff of the Jeanclain family, a renowned knight.”

“What… what type of renown?”

“…He’s renowned for swinging his sword well, you jerk.”

Even Giselle, after holding back, ended up snapping.

How much did he look down on knights?

Only then did Lee Han let out a sigh of relief.

‘If he’s a vice-captain, he should be a fairly skilled knight.’

“By the way, where is the vice-captain?”

“…Probably around somewhere. Surely.”

“?”

When Giselle showed a worried look, Lee Han, puzzled, called a passing knight.

“Where is the vice-captain?”

“The vice-captain went to Pillone Village for a short greeting.”

“……”

Lee Han shot a look at Giselle as if to explain.

Giselle sighed deeply and replied.

“A bit… sociable, is all.”

“Good thing he’s not too sociable, then.”

• * *

Luckily, those present managed to repel the threat without issue.

An amphibian-fish hybrid appeared—a monster new to even the most experienced adventurer, knight, or mage—but it couldn’t break through the firmly prepared encirclement.

The summoned beasts, golems, artifacts, and arms summoned by the summoners shone brightly, unleashing firepower, while the undead conjured by the black mages launched fierce attacks with eerie magic power.

That wasn’t all. Mages who still had energy available immobilized the monsters with elemental magic, poison, or even curse spells.

And Lee Han, too, diligently cast magic…

…Actually, he was more busy running back and forth.

—Wait! Are you releasing poison mist right now? Even so, poison is just… Please tell them we don’t need it!

—…He said he’s deeply sorry for insulting the knights’ honor, but at the moment, that’s the only magic he can use! If you don’t let him, the black mages will have to just rush forward wielding staves…

—W-well… under those circumstances… Okay.

He blocked the knights’ complaints.

—The knights are such a nuisance! They keep getting too close to the summoned beasts, so it’s hard to cast spells… Can you tell them to back off a bit?

—They sincerely apologize for hindering the high study of magic! But with their techniques, this is the best they can do, and they beg the mages’ broad understanding…

—Hmm. If you say so… Okay!

He blocked the mages’ complaints, too.

Running frantically between both groups, Lee Han desperately handled both sides’ gripes.

And he learned one thing.

‘…I should never do this again!’

Even if offered an imperial position, he should never accept a post mediating between groups!

It was exhausting enough to run this small group together—thinking of something on a larger scale was dreadful.

He had to find a comfortable post free of such troublesome tasks at all cost.

“Everyone, thank you for your hard work.”

“Still, fewer showed up than we expected. Won’t even need potions.”

As the anomaly dissipated, those who had participated in battle exchanged positive evaluations.

During the fight, each side sensed the other’s respect for them and warmed up to each other.

Of course, Lee Han caught between them was left totally exhausted.

“Have you finished your investigation?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, but…”

The knights and adventurers were taken aback by how worn out Lee Han looked.

“A-are you all right…”

“I’m perfectly fine. Now that the commission is complete, I’ll be heading off.”

He made sure to collect his reward, then quickly prepared to depart.

“Why don’t you stay a little longer…”

“No, thank you. Oh, by the way—please keep it secret that I was ever here.”

“Why’s that?”

“No matter how modest you are, too much humility isn’t good!”

With both mages and knights clamoring, Lee Han felt a headache coming on.

“It’s… that my abilities are still incomplete. I don’t want to sully Einrogard’s name. Please understand.”

“Heh…”

“How could you…!”

“Well, then!”

As Lee Han hurried to leave, the White Tiger Tower students whispered in confusion.

“Wardanaz. Sure, we should get ready to return, but it’s not even dusk yet, is it? Why are you rushing?”

“…You idiots. With a dimensional collision event, do you think no one from Einrogard will come? We need to get out fast.”

“…The horses!! Please let us borrow horses!!!”

“?!”

• * *

While Lee Han hurried back to the village to collect his things and prepared to return to the spire via Amur’s stable, the skeletal headmaster came flying to the campsite.

…Why is this over here?

—Yes. The knights seem to have set up a camp.

…That’s not what I meant. Why didn’t the knights stay in the village and instead set up camp here?

The ever-loyal undead knight replied dutifully.

—They were granted access to Einrogard, so I think they wanted to arrive as soon as possible.

…Damn it. This is why I hate sponsors.

The skeletal headmaster grumbled.

Now that he thought about it, a knight order had mentioned coming by and having some exchange with the students.

Who could have guessed they’d make a loophole like this.

The White Tiger Tower students who hadn’t been caught probably escaped this way, huh?

—I think that’s quite likely.

Anyway, the problem with knights is that they always cover for others from knightly families. By the way…

The skeletal headmaster’s burning eye-sockets scanned the campsite.

From the look of it, everything was quite in order.

I suppose it wasn’t a big deal after all. Looks like they handled it well themselves—just need to lock it up after checking.

—Yes. I will do so.

The skeletal headmaster had flown over after sensing the dimensional collision while catching runaway students, but he was relieved to see the situation wasn’t urgent.

‘If it had been urgent, they’d have contacted me immediately.’

Open the door. The lord has arrived.

“Oh! Lord Gonadaltes!!”

?!

The mages and the skeletal headmaster were equally shocked.

The mages who’d attended the festival were together with the knights.

You were here too?

“Yes!”

Did you help stop it together??

“How did you know?”

How did you end up working together?!?

“Is that so shocking?”

Of course it’s shocking as hell! You actually cooperated with the knights?? If you’re that good at cooperating, why did you all flagrantly ignore the cautions I gave you for the festival?!

“…It didn’t seem like that big a deal…”

“W-wait, are you angry?”

I’m not angry. Just amazed.

The skeletal headmaster truly was amazed.

These mages were the textbook definition of anti-social—guys who’d go to a knightly family for investment and say, ‘You probably won’t understand, but please invest anyway.’

Of course, the knights were no slouches either.

Yet the two sides had worked together to prevent the incident.

Was some kind of world-destroying entity about to come out or something?

“No.”

How fascinating… Truly amazing.

The skeletal headmaster first finished checking the state of affairs. The mages had handled all the cleanup, all the entities summoned were defeated, and no one was hurt.

It wasn’t just nominal cooperation—they’d genuinely worked together.

The skeletal headmaster’s glowing eyes spun in circles.

How fascinating…

—Master. You should look for the students as well.

Ah, right. Have you seen any of the students around here?

“Huh?”

It’s nothing… I just have urgent news for the students. Did they ask you to hide them? Don’t worry. I overlook a bit of sneaking off from time to time. Just let me deliver the urgent message and I’ll leave.

“…I’m afraid I don’t quite understand.”

‘Just look at this.’

The skeletal headmaster’s gaze flashed oddly.

Usually, at this point, someone would blurt it out, but today the atmosphere here was strangely fishy.

Just what had happened here?