Episode 422

Episode 422

While Lee Han was running, other sociable students in the White Tiger Tower received similar messages.

“Professor Ingeldel is asking us to come?”

“Tell her I broke my leg.”

Giselle said indifferently, sunk into an armchair.

Deorgyu asked with a worried face.

“But Moradi. What if the professor really needs our help?”

“Then you go.”

“……”

Deorgyu hesitated.

Honestly, Deputy Leader Jeancliffe was someone he was reluctant to deal with.

Any student in the White Tiger Tower who had met Sir Jeancliffe at meetings knew full well how difficult he was to deal with.

Once caught, you couldn’t escape even if you cut off your own arm, so he might have been even scarier than an ogre.

“Sir Jeancliffe is a great knight though. Isn’t it a good chance to learn a lot?”

“Then you go.”

“No, you go, man. Don’t send Moradi.”

“……”

A student who had never met Jeancliffe tried to butt in only to be collectively scolded by the others and shrank away.

Is it… really that bad?

Giselle frowned and bit her lips.

“Just thinking about it gives me a headache… I have to go to the meeting later this week anyway, there’s no need to get worn out already.”

“Moradi. Can I ask you something?”

Deorgyu spoke up cautiously.

“Go ahead.”

“It might be a rude question…”

“Then maybe don’t ask?”

Giselle sneered and Deorgyu cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Uh… about that thing Lee Han invited you to.”

Giselle nodded with a blank expression, then drew a dagger and stuck it into the side table.

“??”

“I’m going to stick one in every time you’re rude. There’s just too many to try and remember them all.”

“……”

All I did was mention a name!

Still, Deorgyu pressed on.

“I was just wondering if maybe… you and Lee Han had some kind of friction or something.”

“What do you mean?”

Bartrek, sitting beside them, asked, puzzled.

Being invited together, he couldn’t understand what sort of question it was.

“Friction?”

“It’s that, well…”

“Let me guess.”

Giselle twirled her hair around her finger and said,

“Wardanaz invited us, but he wouldn’t invite us for no reason. There must be a trap. So why is there a trap? There must have been some friction. Like that?”

“That’s not exactly… um. Um.”

As Deorgyu hesitated, Bartrek protested as if wounded.

“We had no friction at all… well… except, Wardanaz almost got caught because we tried to escape, but that was an unavoidable accident!”

“……”

“……”

All the White Tiger Tower students—reading magazines in the lounge, slicing sweet potatoes with a knife, wrestling, reading polo strategy books—stiffened.

“Hey. We’d better avoid Wardanaz for a while…”

“He must be really pissed off.”

“Damn. I was going to do some bartering.”

“They say the market stabilizes only if he releases his supplies quickly.”

Watching his murmuring friends, Giselle shook her head with a sigh.

“Who cares if Wardanaz is angry or not. He’s always mad anyway.”

‘That’s because you, Moradi, tried to stomp him down first…’

Deorgyu thought that, but kept quiet out of consideration for Giselle’s pride.

“The point is, now that we’re invited to the knights’ meeting, we can’t not go. Choi, could you skip it?”

“That’s… not possible.”

For mere apprentice knights, being invited to such a gathering was a great honor.

Deorgyu would have gone even if the headmaster had been there.

“Then, hmm… just remember this.”

Instead of answering, Giselle signaled her intention to stick another dagger in the table, motioning for them to speak.

“If we keep as much distance from Wardanaz as possible, stick with the other knights until the meeting ends…”

“…Why not just carry a white flag around while we’re at it.”

Giselle looked dumbfounded, but Bartrek was honestly tempted.

If other knights were nearby, surely even an angry Wardanaz would restrain himself a bit?

• * *

Lee Han thought, back when he was learning under Professor Voladi, how nice it would have been if the professor had talked a little more.

What could be explained in words was explained through attack after attack; wasn’t that beastly?

But after meeting a truly talkative person, that idea changed a bit.

“I’ve heard so much about you. I’ve actually wanted to meet and hear your story since then. It’s amazing, actually. Isn’t the Wardanaz family considered the foremost magic family in the Empire? I remember seeing the family patriarch visiting on official business from afar once, when there was a major drought in the West due to a mana reflux. The patriarch moved all the seawater, removed the salt, and created a reservoir. That reservoir is still there, did you know? The name of the reservoir is…”

‘This is driving me insane.’

Lee Han looked at Professor Ingeldel with a sense of betrayal in his eyes.

He’d called him over so urgently!

Are professors, at their core, simply beings who betray their students?

‘I’m sorry.’

Professor Ingeldel apologized with his eyes as well.

Nothing else had really occurred to him.

“Come to think of it, you were also from the Alpha family, right? How is it? What do you think?”

“Uh… uh…”

Angrago, who had been brought over and was now sitting and listening to the conversation, started nodding off, then jumped in fright.

What were they talking about?

‘Help me…!’

As Angrago looked at him with teary eyes, Lee Han sighed and intervened in the conversation.

“By the way, Sir Jeancliffe.”

“Oh, do you have a question?”

Jeancliffe paused and straightened his clothes.

As a parrot beast-man, Jeancliffe had colorful and flamboyant feathers, and his attire was equally dazzling and varied.

Anyone would think he was a dancer, not a knight.

“We’re attending the knighthood meeting this week. Since it’s a gathering of knights, I shouldn’t show any shame in my swordsmanship.”

At Lee Han’s words, Professor Ingeldel’s face brightened and he nodded.

After hours of talking, it seemed they were finally moving to swordsmanship.

“There’s no need to worry. Why? You’re from the Wardanaz family after all. The Wardanaz clan is known for magic, but just showing this level of swordsmanship alone will impress the knights present…”

“I want to prepare anyway!”

Lee Han cut him off urgently.

If he let down his guard, Jeancliffe would dominate the conversation.

Just as a fine swordsman monopolizes the initiative and rains down attacks, so did Jeancliffe.

“In that case, I’ll explain the swordsmanship of each knight who will be attending…”

“How about demonstrating directly, Sir Jeancliffe!”

Professor Ingeldel also seized the moment and shouted desperately.

Jeancliffe hesitated for a moment. Professor Ingeldel didn’t notice, but Lee Han realized why.

‘He’s disappointed he can’t talk more!’

There were professors like that sometimes.

They just wanted to chatter on unilaterally…

“Very well. Let’s proceed.”

Fortunately, Jeancliffe stood up, grabbing his long sword adorned extravagantly with pure gold decorations.

Seeing his back, Lee Han felt a sudden doubt.

‘Is he really that skilled a swordsman?’

Moradi had said so, but Lee Han tended to be skeptical of what Moradi said.

Besides, every skilled swordsman he’d met so far looked obsessed with swordsmanship.

A tattered overcoat, a single sword at their side, eyes burning brightly—those looked reliable. But a sword with fancy decorations and a spotless ceremonial uniform just didn’t inspire confidence…

• * *

“Urk!”

Lee Han was sent flying backward.

Just like with Professor Ingeldel, Jeancliffe smashed through Lee Han’s rock-solid sword technique.

Amazingly, Jeancliffe was as strong as Ingeldel or Allarlong.

Jeancliffe clapped in surprise.

“Magnificent! I never expected this much!”

Lee Han coughed weakly. Even after flying backward, channeling all his mana into the sword, and infusing mana into his own body at the end, the impact was tremendous.

‘What kind of powerful sword…!’

Despite his flamboyant appearance, Jeancliffe wielded a brutally powerful sword.

He abandoned all flourishes or feints, firing off only the shortest, most efficient strikes.

Every attack packed brutal force.

If such blows were blocked, it would put the swordsman at risk too, but Jeancliffe didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

“It’s rare even among knights to see someone stand right back up after taking my attacks like you, Wardanaz. The apprentice knights should see this. Did you know? Mana isn’t just for magic—it can be used to completely control your physical self. Like you did just now, blocking…”

Lee Han immediately kicked the ground, sending dust flying. Jeancliffe looked at Professor Ingeldel with admiration.

A boy from a great house like Wardanaz even used tricks like that.

There was only one reason.

“You even teach tricks like this!”

“A, actually…”

Professor Ingeldel was flustered.

He hadn’t taught him that at all.

Jeancliffe knocked Lee Han back again. Rolling along the ground, Lee Han immediately prepared to counterattack.

“I’m well familiar with Allarlong’s Wall Rock Sword. I doubt there’s another heavy blade like it in the Empire. You must have learned the first five forms, being less familiar with Aura, right?”

Compared to other Imperial sword techniques, the Wall Rock Sword had relatively few and very simple forms.

Allarlong didn’t teach the later forms at all—truth was, they were considered dangerous without mastering Aura.

“That’s right.”

“Wall Rock Sword actually overlaps quite a bit with my style. Seeing you reminds me of the old days…”

Lee Han grew nervous.

Was he about to launch into stories of the past?

Fortunately, Jeancliffe did not.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to recommend a technique. Here, watch.”

Jeancliffe tensed up his whole body, gathered mana, and then shot forward with a thrust.

The attack burst out with a sonic boom that tore the air. The movement was simple, but the mana flow inside it was formidable.

“You may wonder why I’m showing you this. You’re already learning the Wall Rock Sword well, so there’s no real need to pick up extra moves from another style.”

‘I memorized every trick move last time, though.’

“But the reason I recommend this is because you’re already able to draw out mana to a considerable degree.”

Jeancliffe was surprised, seeing Lee Han draw upon mana during their bout.

Not just releasing it, but making his mana visible.

Used recklessly, that would exhaust a swordsman and leave him wrecked in no time. Only swordsmen who understood mana circulation could use it like that.

Push a little further, and you’d be able to manifest Aura!

To have reached this level at his age…

‘Truly remarkable!’

…Of course, Lee Han had not reached enlightenment just short of Aura—instead, he was just recklessly burning through his mana. But Jeancliffe didn’t notice that.

“This form is great for not only drawing out mana but also for refining your sense for forming Aura.”

“Is it… really okay to accept something like this?”

Lee Han was a bit flustered.

Nothing is scarier than generosity with no strings attached.

According to Jeancliffe, he was about to be taught one of his own sword techniques—a significant favor.

“Of course. Any knight should do his utmost to foster the next generation of Imperial knights! Be a great knight! I hope to hear of your fame one day!”

Caught up in the atmosphere, Jeancliffe spoke solemnly and turned away.

Having passed on his technique grandly, it was time for a grand exit.

As Jeancliffe walked away, Lee Han and Professor Ingeldel finally came to their senses and spoke.

“But…”

“This place… is supposed to train wizards in Einrogard, isn’t it…?”

No matter how much you taught swordsmanship, a knight would never come out of here.