Episode 451

Episode 451

‘Haven’t I gotten too used to Einrogard?’

Where had the once lonely wolf-like hunter from the Shadow Patrol gone, leaving only a seasoned student of Einrogard?

When Nillia stepped back, the Black Turtle Tower students were very disappointed.

“Ah… I thought it might actually work if we tried a bit more…!”

“Wouldn’t silver coins have been better?”

“Wardanaz isn’t one of us, and a proposal that won’t work for money wouldn’t have worked anyway.”

“I thought Nillia had a high chance because she’s close with the Blue Dragon Tower kids.”

Flinch!

Lee Han distinctly saw Nillia flinch and glance over her friends for their reactions.

“…Nillia. Wait a second.”

“Huh? Why? What is it?”

“The Blue Dragon Tower kids were looking for you. They seem to be having a hard time because you weren’t there.”

“…Oh? Really↗?”

Even if she tried to hide it, she couldn’t disguise her voice rising, nor her slightly perked ears.

“Of course. Without you, half the Blue Dragon Tower kids would starve to death. I know you’re busy with the Black Turtle Tower friends, but try to give them some attention too.”

Nillia nodded with as dignified an expression as she could muster.

“Hah. Oh no! I didn’t think that far.”

“It can happen.”

Behind her, the Black Turtle Tower students looked at Nillia with admiration.

Even the Blue Dragon Tower students from great noble families depended on and respected Nillia—she was the object of yearning among her friends.

A dignified hunter from the Shadow Patrol who came down from the far northern mountains—on a completely different level from them!

Having just heard the conversation, their respect only grew deeper.

“She didn’t even bat an eye at the last ball. Didn’t flinch at all.”

“For someone like Nillia, who’s been through mountains and rivers, a ball would just seem like a child’s play, wouldn’t it?”

“……”

Nillia perked her ears, listening to the conversation, then quietly whispered to Lee Han.

“But did the Blue Dragon Tower kids really look for me?”

“Uh…”

“…Anyway, thanks.”

Nillia nodded as if she’d expected it and expressed her gratitude to Lee Han.

• * *

Wednesday morning.

After helping Professor Anfagon oversee the imbuement magic midterm, Lee Han finished up and came outside to prepare for the next exam.

“Hm…”

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“It’s just something a senior said, kind of weird.”

Lee Han explained the situation to Yoner, who was casting his fishing pole beside him.

Having helped Professor Anfagon supervise the imbuement magic exam was already known among his friends, so that part wasn’t surprising, but what Anfagon said afterwards was a bit odd.

“What did he say?”

“He said, if there’s a rumor about an excellent junior among the seniors, it could get troublesome, so I should be cautious…”

Lee Han didn’t get it.

After all, he’d already made a name for himself among the seniors since the first semester.

As seen last time, even seniors like Direte or Ogoldos seemed to know Lee Han’s name—there were quite a few seniors who recognized him.

‘Isn’t it already too late? Huh? Or is it not too late yet?’

“Maybe only the Black Magic School seniors know? That could be it.”

Lee Han held out a slightly hopeful prediction.

It wouldn’t be strange if the Black Magic School seniors, whose social lives were generally unhappy, hadn’t talked about Lee Han to others.

‘Hmm?’

Yoner, after catching a trout and tossing it into the keep-net, looked puzzled.

From what he’d heard, the Imbuement Magic School seniors also seemed to have pretty miserable social lives.

From Yoner’s perspective, the Imbuement Magic School seniors looked even less socially connected than those from the Black Magic School.

At least the Black Magic School seniors had enough social skills to summon the Frost Giant King at school by cooperating with other school friends, hadn’t they?

Not that it was a positive thing…

‘Maybe the Imbuement Magic School senior was mistaken?’

“Yoner. Yoner. Are you listening? Seems like only the Black Magic seniors know. So unexpectedly, maybe other seniors aren’t that interested.”

Lee Han was pleased.

He didn’t want unnecessary attention if he could avoid it.

“Uh… yeah.”

Yoner couldn’t quite bring himself to say what he was thinking, seeing his friend so happy.

“Wardanaz! Get down here, quick!”

“?”

Lee Han, sitting atop the danju-eo, turned his head.

The White Tiger Tower friends, who had set off first to take the swordsmanship exam, were splashing and swimming in the water.

“What are you guys doing in there?”

“What do you mean? We have an exam to take!”

“…??”

Lee Han was momentarily taken aback.

‘Isn’t swordsmanship supposed to be tested on solid ground?’

Given the nature of the subject, he naturally thought it’d be on hard, flat land.

“Don’t tell me the exam is in the water?”

“Yup. We have to steal the ship.”

“Hurry in! It’s hard without you!”

“Move the danju-eo or any boats out of the way. Then come in.”

“…How do I know you guys aren’t trying to trick me?”

At Lee Han’s suspicious gaze, the White Tiger Tower students shouted in exasperation.

“Would we all be here doing this just to trick you?!”

“Hurry up and get in!”

A few of the infuriated White Tiger Tower students suddenly thought to themselves.

‘Wait? If it’s to trick Wardanaz once, it might actually be worth it?’

On second thought, it seemed like a good trade.

• * *

The White Oak Knights who’d come to help with the exam were flustered at the sight of Einrogard, which had turned into an ocean.

“Shouldn’t we first stop the rain and get the water out?”

“Unfortunately, the headmaster said that would be tough.”

“What? That can’t be. I heard that Count Gonadaltes once dried up the sea. Surely this kind of flood…”

Professor Ingeldel swiftly changed the subject.

Any longer on this topic, and it’d only sound like complaining about Einrogard to the outside knights.

“Turning a crisis into an opportunity is a knightly virtue. Please, don’t worry. Exams can be taken even in conditions like this.”

“Aha. So the exams will be indoors?”

The knights looked admiringly at the professor as if it was a fine idea.

If held indoors, they could properly evaluate swordsmanship skills even in such a flood.

“The flood’s hit the indoors as well… so we’ve prepared a ship.”

Professor Ingeldel gestured behind him.

A sleek and rather agile-looking ship was waiting at the rear.

“Aha! You’ll have the students duel atop it…!”

“I plan to have the students swim over and try to steal the ship.”

“……”

The knights were left speechless.

The younger trainee knights in the back muttered among themselves.

-Isn’t this a bit much?

-Making them swim for the ship in this weather…

Unbeknownst to himself, Professor Ingeldel was already a fine Einrogard professor, at least from an outsider’s point of view.

• * *

“…First off, let’s all come up with a plan.”

Floating atop the water, Lee Han discussed with the White Tiger Tower students.

Teams of three, no magic, swim barehanded, and seize the designated ship.

It was a simple yet unbelievable exam.

‘Has Professor Ingeldel finally been completely corrupted by Einrogard?’

Lee Han felt sorry.

Professor Ingeldel had at least tried to stay within some bounds…

“What, what? Why are you all in the water?”

“Get in. Hurry.”

Students who arrived later than Lee Han were flabbergasted after learning the exam details.

“Where’s the ship?”

“See the reef and peak over by the sea?”

“That’s a stable, not a reef, and not a peak but a tower…”

“Anyway, turn that way, and the ship is there.”

“Then why are we sitting around here?”

“…Trying to hear Wardanaz’s plan?”

“What are you talking about!”

Dukema shouted in disbelief.

“Obviously it’s every man for himself. As if we’d take orders from Wardanaz!? Wardanaz is a competitor too!”

“Hey, hold on! Still, at least listen…”

“You guys do that! Let’s go! We’ll plant the flag first!”

Dukema led his team and started swimming energetically. Lee Han watched them go with regret.

‘Can’t believe they just dashed off before I decided how to use them!’

As Dukema and his team disappeared around the stable—no, the reef—there was a brief silence.

Splash splash splash splash splash!

Then, fierce spears of water started flying over the surface.

“!!”

“Gah! Ack! Blub! Blub blub!”

Though not sharply refined, each thick spear of water had enough force to send the students plunging deep into the sea with each hit.

Dukema and friends screamed and dove deep. Then, gasping for breath, they hurried back to their friends.

“What happened????”

“The, the knights on the ship… so unfair…!”

They expected interference from the deck above if they tried to board the ship, but hadn’t thought they’d be fired upon with ballistae launching water spears before even getting close.

Coughing and choking, Dukema and team spat up water.

“Thanks, Dukema. Thanks to your sacrifice, we know what to expect.”

“…Wardanaz.”

Dukema felt mildly repentant.

Though Wardanaz wasn’t even from White Tiger Tower, he set aside personal rivalry and focused on the problem at hand.

Meanwhile, Dukema had been stubborn and came to this.

“Since you’re already ahead, how about trying again? This time, the three of you split up…”

“…Get lost!!”

Dukema turned away in a huff. Lee Han looked regretful.

“Was I too pushy?”

“Y-yeah, maybe a bit.”

Deorgyu couldn’t bring himself to take Lee Han’s side.

With Lee Han not coming up with any special tricks, the students began to murmur restlessly.

“Wardanaz. You really got nothing?”

“If we can’t use magic, this’ll be tough.”

“Really?”

“…You think just because I can’t use magic, I can’t beat you up?”

At Lee Han’s serious question, the White Tiger Tower students, who’d been about to doubt him, flinched and backed away.

“Damn. Even Wardanaz is stuck…”

“Well, it’s a competition anyway. Fine. Let’s break through ourselves.”

As the students scattered across the water, Lee Han sank into thought.

‘No water breathing, no illusion magic, no cold magic… This is tough.’

Lee Han realized that he’d come to rely on magic much more than he thought.

Perhaps Professor Ingeldel had thrown the students into such an extreme situation to teach them this very lesson.

Or maybe, like the other Einrogard professors, he just wanted to watch the students suffer.

“Wait. Deorgyu. Where’s Moradi?”

“Y-you’re only now asking that?”

“There were too many White Tiger Tower kids earlier for me to notice.”

“Moradi said she’d try scouting ahead before you got here.”

Barely had the words left his mouth when, with a small splashing noise from the opposite side, Giselle peeked out from underwater.

Seeing that, Lee Han exclaimed, as if a realization had struck him.

“Approached by going around the other way? You saw through the carelessness that no one would expect someone to come from that far! But there’d still be lookouts… Ah. I get it. If you go around, there’s a lot of debris washed in near the lumber mill tower. If you camouflaged yourself among that debris, you could get close without being noticed. Brilliant, Moradi! Let’s head out right now!”

With the other students distracting from up front, now was the perfect time.

Lee Han immediately swam off in Moradi’s direction to waste no time. Deorgyu trailed after, caught off guard.

“……”

Giselle, who had swum all the way and returned exhausted, gasping for breath and about to explain her findings, was dumbstruck by what she saw.

That bastard…

…What the hell is he??