Episode 530

Episode 530

The friends thought that Lee Han was testing them and sent wary glances.

However, Lee Han truly seemed puzzled as he looked at his friends and asked again.

“What are you all doing here?”

“You…”

“You forced us…”

“We were fighting, right…?”

At the friends’ resentful answers, Lee Han hesitated.

“You were fighting because I forced you to?”

“Yeah.”

“What kind of nonsense is that.”

Lee Han chuckled.

“Would you guys really listen just because you were forced?”

“……”

“……”

The friends felt so wronged that they couldn’t breathe.

What made it even worse was that his words were somewhat true.

It was accurate, but…

It was accurate, but…!

“Really, Lee Han, you made us do it!!”

Gainando shouted with a voice full of injustice.

“Look at this!!”

“?”

Lee Han saw the blue bruise around Gainando’s eye and asked,

“Did you get that while fighting?”

“No. That was when the white tiger tower guy dodged an attack and hit me by accident. Other than that, look at my clothes. My clothes are torn.”

“I see. I guess the fight wasn’t that intense?”

At Lee Han’s words, the students reacted fiercely.

“That’s not it!”

“That prince bastard just got lucky!”

“Don’t you see these bandages right now!”

At their heated protest, Lee Han waved his hand as if to say he understood.

“Alright, I get it. Wa… ugh.”

Lee Han belatedly felt a headache coming on.

It was like recalling fragmented memories from an episode of sleepwalking as the sensation of lost recollection surged back.

He drank a suspicious spring water, suddenly felt his mind fill with conviction, called his friends, and ran here…

“Huh. Why did I do that?”

“……”

“……”

Some of the students wanted to swear but held it in.

If they swore, earlier Wardanaz might reappear and attack them again.

Yoner asked in a worried voice.

“Lee Han. Are you alright?”

“Yes. I think the effect has completely ended now. Knowing the future really is dangerous…”

Knowing in your head and actually experiencing it are different things.

After being swept away by the future once, he could feel that the blind sensation was by no means purely positive.

Someone might say, what’s so wrong about moving on the optimal path to the most rational future…

‘That’s not necessarily a good thing.’

Seeing his friends with bandages and splints, he definitely thought it could be dangerous.

“I also think it’s really dangerous to predict the future. Wardanaz.”

“I agree. We magicians need to be even more humble.”

Even the white tiger tower students, who usually didn’t care much about magic, seemed to have a definite fear of foresight magic judging by how much they were talking about it.

Yoner opened his mouth to change the mood.

“Still, if we look on the bright side… we managed to break through the ordeal somehow! If it wasn’t for that spring, it wouldn’t have been possible.”

“Meikin, my ankle is broken.”

“Meikin, I haven’t been able to turn my neck since earlier.”

Ignoring his friends’ words, Yoner pointed ahead.

“Aren’t you all curious what’s behind there? Such a strong enemy was blocking the way? They say there are treasures left by the seniors.”

“Indeed…”

Even the students groaning in pain from their injuries perked up with interest.

After nearly a year in Einrogard, the students’ common sense had been significantly broken down.

Even with a broken ankle or a stiff neck, checking the loot came first.

“Right?”

Realizing that the mood among his friends had turned, Yoner nodded.

Then he whispered softly to Lee Han.

“But what’s actually inside?”

“I don’t know, either.”

“…Huh?”

“I don’t know either. I haven’t been in.”

“……”

Foresight-boosted Lee Han had instinctively judged, ‘The first thing to do right now is to defeat the statue, break through the underground passage, and find what the seniors left behind,’ but with the effect gone, Lee Han couldn’t remember why he made that decision.

“Maybe there are records left about the trial the seniors faced first?”

“That… would be a bit disappointing.”

“What? What could possibly be more important than that?”

Lee Han was shocked by Yoner’s remark.

What could be more important to a student than information about studies?

“I’d like there to be meat. Pork.”

“I’d prefer alcohol.”

“Then pork soaked in alcohol?”

“No, idiots. You can get meat anywhere. Sweets are the best! Cake, of course.”

“Prince, didn’t you have candy even earlier today?”

“No, I didn’t?”

“Yes, you did. You waved it in front of us and bragged.”

“…No, I didn’t?”

Hearing the conversation from behind, Lee Han spoke firmly.

“That’s just them being weird.”

‘Lee Han, you’re kind of weird, too…’

Yoner thought so, but kept it to himself out of consideration for his friend who’d suffered.

• * *

Creeeeaak—

Fortunately, after the statue disappeared, there were no more traps. The students cautiously opened the heavy door and stepped inside.

As it had been used as the seniors’ storage, the large underground space smelled of dry dust.

“Wind…”

The royal princess summoned the wind to clear the dust. Gainando, next to her, coughed and glared at Adenart.

“Check the shelves first.”

“Wait. Be careful of traps.”

At Salko’s words, the students from the Black Turtle Tower asked,

“With what magic should we check?”

“Wait just a bit.”

At the reliable leader’s answer, the students looked at him with respect.

One of the qualities a leader needs is ability.

Only those who present a solution when faced with an ordeal are worthy of being called a leader.

“Wardanaz. Do you sense any magic from that shelf?”

“Not really?”

“Hmm. Thanks.”

After returning, Salko spoke to his friends.

“No traps, apparently.”

“……”

“……”

The students from the Black Turtle Tower took out the items on the shelves with complicated expressions.

This is…

Competent… are they, really?

“Hmmm.”

Lee Han looked around with a disappointed gaze.

A few bottles of liquor brewed by the seniors that were also on the outer shelves, some expired potions, and some scribbles and notes.

The grand strategy to defeat the crazy skull was about to be completed…

Hehehe… They would never even imagine what we’re up to…

‘There’s nothing useful.’

Lee Han frowned.

What he wanted was systematic information about the upcoming exams in the various classes—not this kind of lament.

Of course, thinking about it, this wasn’t that strange.

The odds of finding anything useful in a storeroom that hadn’t been used for a while were always low.

But given that they had risked their lives fighting a statue just to get in, it was disappointing.

He had expected there to be something at least more useful than outside…

“?”

As he was walking, Lee Han realized that only the innermost part of the storeroom was unusually clean and organized.

Unlike the other dusty areas, this area was clearly protected by various magic circles.

‘What is this?’

Lee Han curiously checked the inner area.

Starting from the magic circles that kept out dust, all sorts of barriers were protecting the space.

And taking up most of the area was a huge artifact he’d never seen before, whose purpose was unknown.

The round artifact, easily taller than a person, looked like a gateway crudely cobbled together out of assorted junk.

‘What… artifact is this?’

-9/7

-The artifact just won’t activate! Damn it. I have to complete this before graduation. Otherwise, I’ll have no face to show to the senior who passed it down to me.

-9/13

-I found a solution in the crazy skull’s storeroom. An orichalcum latch solved the closure issue of the drive unit! Haha! Just watch. I’ll solve the problem and tell the crazy skull to his face that I succeeded!

-9/15

-I am trash, unworthy of entering Einrogard.

-9/18

-I regained some energy after sharing some of the crazy skull’s brandy with friends. Damn Einrogard. Damn magic. I can’t believe I’m already a golden year student. Feels like I was an Ironhead just yesterday. Can I really complete this?

-9/22

-Spatial magic is like a plague upon Imperial magic. I never should have researched this in the first place.

-10/2

-Even after completing the related magical formula, I just can’t provide enough magic power. How can I further reduce the magic power needed? Where do I get the shortage? Should I ask the ancestors for help?

-10/25

-Three weeks of hard work have gone to waste. Even with a Behemoth heart, the magic wasn’t enough. If only I could use all the magic in Einrogard at will like the crazy skull!

-11/10

-After giving up, I feel both relieved and sad. Burning one of the crazy skull’s storerooms with my friends has helped a bit. Maybe, since we’ve improved our magic a lot, if we all work together, we can really get back at the crazy skull.

-11/17

-Damn it. There was an even worse punishment room. I shouldn’t have messed with the crazy skull.

-11/20

-I tried to break the dimensional gateway artifact but stopped. I just couldn’t break something passed down by a senior. It’s a useless hunk that can’t be activated, but I’ve placed magic on it so it won’t be damaged.

-If any junior finds this artifact, I sincerely ask you not to destroy it. Of course, you’ll probably break it. I also broke it to take what I needed. But this is an incredible artifact that’s been passed down and built up for generations…

“…?!!!!”

After reading the journal stuck next to it, Lee Han was shocked.

‘A dimensional gate… artifact??’

The fantasy that magic makes the impossible possible disappears after just three months of study.

Magic is a discipline that operates with rules and logic even harsher than reality, not a shortcut for ignoring laws and order.

Spatial teleportation was a perfect example of this.

Spatial-temporal magic was so difficult that there isn’t even a school for it in the Empire, and among them, teleportation magic was even more terrifying in difficulty.

If an average mage tried to cast a spell to move even a material just one step ahead, their brain would immediately explode and blood vessels would burst.

And the farther the distance or the more targets, the more the difficulty rose exponentially.

So if it was a dimensional gate artifact, realistically, calling it ‘impossible’ wouldn’t be too off.

‘No wonder it looks so unstable, as if it could collapse at any time.’

He wondered why the artifact was cobbled together from bits and pieces—turns out it was a desperate attempt to gather the necessary magic power and activate the magic.

Even if it only lasted one go before breaking, it wouldn’t work at all unless put together this way in the first place.

Yet despite their desperate attempts, the artifact was never completed. Lee Han honestly shivered at the determination he felt from this artifact.

‘…To think they went this far to escape the school.’

From the design and records, it seemed the initial destination wasn’t even that far.

Escaping from school was the first goal.

If that’s all, there must have been other ways, but to insist on this method was so typical of a magician.

‘I understand.’

Lee Han understood how the seniors felt.

What started lightly eventually gets more completed, then passed down, then the skull principal jeers, ‘You think that’s possible?’…

Over time, the means can become the end.

Having been momentarily lost in sentiment, Lee Han turned his gaze.

‘I should dismantle it.’

As the senior wrote, this nonfunctional artifact contained many valuable materials.

It would be a waste to just leave it there.

WUUUUUUNNNNNG—

“?”

“????”

At the sudden roaring sound from the artifact, everyone in the storeroom turned their eyes.