Episode 526

Episode 526

“Are we really getting attacked??”

“I don’t know what you mean. Student Gainando.”

Even at Gainando’s question, Professor Garcia did not give in.

“But at Einrogard, when the season gets chilly, it’s true that the attacks from the undead increase a bit. I think everyone needs to be careful.”

“Huh? This is my first time hearing this?”

“Hey. Keep it down.”

The friends muffled Gainando’s mouth.

Nothing good would come from interrupting Professor Garcia when he was giving devoted advice to the students.

“Umph, you guys don’t even know dark magic… umph umph!”

‘It does make sense.’

Lee Han fell into thought at Professor Garcia’s words.

Knowing the skull principal’s personality, the closer the end of the year loomed, the more likely it was that he would be actively scheming since he would recall not having troubled the students enough.

Probably, Professor Garcia’s words were a metaphorical expression of that.

“…It’s not only undead; sometimes other types may attack too, so don’t have only the undead in mind, everyone.”

“……”

“……”

A student from the White Tiger Tower who had a quill in their mouth was shocked and dropped it.

What on earth…?!

• * *

“Gainando. Help us out.”

“Yeah. Summon the undead quickly.”

“No, you guys! My skeleton is mad now!”

At his friends’ grumbling, Gainando flared up in anger.

These ungrateful friends had forced the skeleton warrior he had painstakingly summoned to be reverse-summoned, and now were whining for him to summon it again quickly.

“Do you know how tricky summoned beasts are! Didn’t you learn anything in summoning magic class!”

“Huh?”

“Wait, really?”

Seeing his friends’ surprised reactions, Gainando looked at them as if to say, ‘Now you get it?’

“Undead are like that too?”

“…Get itchy! Get itchy!”

“Argh! You idiot, that’s a curse!”

While Gainando was playing tag with another student, Ahsan said curiously.

“Wow. So undead have feelings like familiars too.”

“……”

Yoner pitied the students learning dark magic in his mind.

Even Gainando, who had shown off about alchemy, seemed a little pitiable.

“Of course they would. You’re calling forth beings from another realm under a contract, after all.”

“But Wardanaz just uses undead carelessly.”

Ahsan pointed to Lee Han.

Lee Han was summoning skeleton warriors to explain and help his friends.

-Here. As you can see from the skeleton warriors here, these connecting joints are weak…

Crunch!

-Wha, Wardanaz. Is it okay to treat summoned creatures like this?

-Huh? Oh. Don’t worry about it.

“…Just ignore Lee Han. He’s unique in his own way. Lee Han is just a special case.”

Yoner, blaming Lee Han for making the explanation difficult, changed the subject.

-Undead eradication, undead eradication… Huh? Wardanaz, the skeleton warrior is just ignoring and coming in.

-That’s because I’m forcing it. It’s fine, don’t worry.

-…If you can force it, doesn’t that mean it’s not working? Shouldn’t you re-cast it?

-No. This is how it’s supposed to work.

-???

Lee Han, who had taught his friends the method of dealing with undead as best he could, took a short breather and sat down.

Professor Garcia looked at Lee Han as though she was about to burst with pride.

“You worked hard. Student Lee Han.”

“No, Professor. Compared to you, who taught us…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Silence.

For a moment, silence lingered between teacher and student.

Professor Garcia glanced toward the lake and muttered in a voice that was neither small nor loud.

“Boxes…”

“?”

“One should be careful with the insides of food boxes given by someone… There might be an enemy hiding inside.”

“……”

Professor Garcia’s brightest student realized the underlying meaning of the murmur and was shocked.

The skull principal often used to hand out snacks when an important exam period came around.

Of course, they weren’t ordinary snacks.

They were fatal treats that made one drowsy as soon as they were eaten.

Normally, knowing that, no one would even touch them, but since the students were from Einrogard, they adapted to their environment.

They either ate after the exam, neutralized them before eating, or, like Gainando, simply ate and slept it off.

Delicious snacks at Einrogard were too tempting to resist.

It was clear the skull principal was setting another trap, banking on that.

If the students received the boxes, they’d store them in the lounge storage room…

‘Do we really have to go this far?’

Lee Han answered gratefully.

“I’ll keep that in mind. But, Professor, how do you know all this…”

“My friends fell for it, you see.”

“……”

“Luckily, I was fine even when I ate it. Thanks for worrying about me.”

“Th-that’s so, huh.”

Though not particularly worried, Lee Han pretended he was.

Silence again.

Lee Han quietly waited for Professor Garcia’s next muttering.

“When it starts to snow… one should be careful about what’s inside the piled snow…”

“……”

• * *

“Professor. I’m thinking of raising chickens.”

“Chickens?”

Professor Thunderstep, biting his pipe as he walked over, looked puzzled.

Lee Han already had chickens.

To be accurate, they were actually Professor Thunderstep’s chickens, but as Lee Han managed the garden next to the hut, he’d naturally gained the right to use them as appropriate.

That included the eggs laid by the chickens.

“Are you trying to have even more? Won’t it be hard to manage?”

If it were any other student, it’d be fine, but if Lee Han took on more work, it could get genuinely dangerous.

“I’ll be careful. Anyway, I’m planning to raise them, and they’re ghost chickens.”

“Cough.”

Professor Thunderstep coughed. He had inhaled the smoke wrong.

“You’ve caught a ghost chicken? That’s not an easy one—how did you manage?”

“Ah. Let’s say hypothetically, I did.”

“What… so you haven’t caught it yet.”

Professor Thunderstep made a disappointed face.

If Lee Han had caught one, he was thinking of asking to buy some eggs…

Then again, thinking it over, catching that tricky creature would be more surprising.

“Why would it behave so meekly if it did?”

“You should ask my wife for that one…”

“Ah. Sorry. When I needed to ask something, you came to my mind first, Professor. That’s just like me…”

Lee Han spoke with an innocent face, pretending to know nothing.

He had distributed his questions so Professor Lightningstep wouldn’t grow suspicious after being asked too many times.

However, whether the excuse was effective or not, Professor Thunderstep answered with a pleased expression.

“But I do know about ghost chickens. It’s not common for one to behave. If its eyes are cloudy, or it looks weak, or the color of its comb is off, then it’s sick.”

“What if that’s not the case?”

“Well. Then it’s scared. But usually, it won’t get scared. It’s a vicious and ill-tempered creature.”

“Hmm… Understood. Also, I hear they’re smart and cunning. Is there a way to prevent it from escaping if I do catch it?”

“Lay out simple but threatening traps. Since it’s not likely to get caught, if you block its way, it’ll get a clue and give up trying to run.”

“I see. Thank you, Professor.”

Lee Han stood up, holding a basket filled with fresh vegetables and freshly caught fish.

Professor Thunderstep, now weary, didn’t say anything further. He was almost grateful that Lee Han wasn’t touching the supplies in the hut.

“Well. Now I understand why Professor Willow is so pleased with him.”

After Lee Han left, Professor Thunderstep looked around and muttered.

It was hard to believe that this place had recently been wrecked by a flood, given how quickly it had recovered.

To think that the plants in the garden and flowerbeds had grown back this fast.

It wasn’t unheard of for wizards born with a special constitution or with the blood of related spirits to be especially good at growing plants, but Lee Han’s was extraordinarily fast and strong.

He’d heard that Lee Han had been blessed by a spirit in the mountains, but this…

‘Could he possibly be leaking magic inadvertently?’

For a moment, the thought crossed Professor Thunderstep’s mind, but he shook his head.

It was impossible to leak that much magic and affect things at this scale, and Lee Han would surely know if he was leaking such magic.

What was more concerning was the ghost chicken story.

‘It was oddly specific.’

Professor Thunderstep had some intuition.

Lee Han asking such detailed questions—it was hard not to be suspicious.

‘It has to be…’

After some consideration, Professor Thunderstep was convinced.

There was only one possibility.

That fearless disciple had only heard that ghost chickens were rare and was planning to roam the mountains to catch one.

“Tsk tsk tsk.”

Professor Thunderstep shook his head in dismay.

Catching a ghost chicken firsthand was way too reckless.

Maybe it was because he’d never experienced failure—this disciple really had no fear.

It’d be better to just steal one…

• * *

“Alright. You get it, right? It’s very dangerous if you come out here.”

Lee Han showed the trap set at the entrance to the ghost chicken as a warning.

To demonstrate its power, he even summoned a skeleton warrior and sent it into the trap.

The ghost chicken, munching feed inside the hut, just stared blankly at Lee Han with its round eyes at this sight.

As his opponent remained totally unfazed, Lee Han grumbled.

“That one is really crafty. I can never let my guard down.”

The baby basilisk cocked its tail.

It didn’t seem like the ghost chicken was vicious or radiating murderous intent.

It just seemed tamed…?

Checking the time, Lee Han gave one more warning to the ghost chicken and began to walk away.

He was on tower duty tonight.

After breaking the forbidden barrier at the hut’s entrance, Lee Han dusted off the dirt on his coat and was about to head out…

‘Gasp.’

“……”

Few things are as nerve-wracking as running into a professor after sunset.

Encountering Professor Paselete Craer, the prediction magic professor, Lee Han quickly ran through his thoughts.

‘Today I have a legitimate reason to be out. If I look flustered, that’s even more suspicious.’

“Good evening, Professor.”

“……”

Professor Paselete did not reply.

For a moment, Lee Han worried the professor might be angry, but the professor was simply gazing blankly at the sky, seemingly unconcerned.

‘Ah. Is it something magic-related?’

Lee Han knew well that Professor Paselete had split personalities and specialized in the most perplexing and eccentric prediction magic.

For a person like that, coming out at night and immersing herself in her own world was not strange.

After all, there were people who would hide undead in boxes or in the snow to torment their disciples, or who threw iron spheres at them…

‘Better not say anything more and just pass by.’

“-Wardanaz-?”

Lee Han had to tense up so he wouldn’t accidentally make a sound in surprise.

Priest Tijilling was standing behind with a puzzled look.

“Tijilling… Priest. What brings you here?”

“I heard rock plantain works well for getting rid of thunder rats, so I came to harvest some.”

“Ah.”

Lee Han, recalling his tower duties, spoke up.

“I shouldn’t have come out. I was going to do it myself.”

“If you’re going to harvest, you should go together, so why alone…?”

“Ah, not harvesting—I was going to get rid of them all at once. I read in a book that when strong lightning strikes, they come out, so I was going to strike lightning magic near the tunnels and wipe them all out in one go…”

“……”

Priest Tijilling was shocked by the absurd method, then, looking at Professor Paselete, raised an eyebrow.

“Professor?”

“Huh? Yeah. It’s the professor. She seems to be concentrating, so it’s best not to disturb her.”

Since Tijilling was also learning prediction magic alongside Lee Han, he understood what Lee Han meant.

“Understood. Well then, I’ll head back…”

At that moment, Professor Paselete finished focusing and opened her eyes.

Upon seeing Lee Han, the professor said,

“I appreciated the magic you gave me yesterday, Principal.”

“I think you’re mistaken…”

“As expected, you are truly a fitting successor chosen by Lord Gonadaltes.”

“…I really think you’ve mistaken me for someone else!”

Lee Han instinctively protested firmly.