Episode 541

“Uh. Sorry. I…”

When suddenly faced with a career change from an Einrogard student to Einrogard’s mountain warden, Lee Han hinted at his refusal.

The yaksha nodded, not seeming to expect Lee Han to agree anyway.

-Well, there’s no reason for a young magician to abandon the lineage of Einrogard and hole up deep in the mountains.

“…After graduation, with network connections and keen business sense, I’ll multiply my assets dozens of times over… Ah. Yes, that’s right.”

‘Did I hear wrong?’

The yaksha wondered if he’d just misheard.

There was almost no chance an Einrogard student, especially one who’d accumulated that much good karma, was greedy for money.

“So, who exactly is the troublesome one settled in the swamp? Is it perhaps a violet swamp worm?”

Lee Han searched his knowledge and mentioned the monster that came to mind.

The violet swamp worm was a monster the size of a bull, a real headache that, once settled in a swamp, spewed toxins that killed all the plants nearby.

‘But if the giants help, this shouldn’t be hard.’

It was only troublesome because it hid in the swamp, but for a race as physically strong and poison-resistant as giants, they could just brute-force it.

Go in the swamp and stir until it’s found—it’d have to come out.

-Hmm? Violet swamp worm? Ah… that little thing. Why would I call the giants over for that?

“Isn’t it really big…?”

-It’s a Ghoul Dragon. It’s an old one, so not only is it huge, but its miasma is no joke.

“……”

-Ow. Magician, why are you pulling my hair? Don’t pull it out. It’s precious hair.

“S-sorry.”

Lee Han had unconsciously grabbed a giant’s hair in surprise.

Frankly, a Ghoul Dragon, despite the “dragon” name, strictly speaking wasn’t a true dragon.

It was a similar subspecies, or really, not even a subspecies, just something dragon-like in appearance.

Empire’s dragon scholars often complained, “If you stick ‘dragon’ on every giant reptile, then why not call drakes ‘walking dragons’ too?” but people just liked intuitive names.

And Lee Han didn’t mind the term Ghoul Dragon.

Whether it was a true dragon or not didn’t matter if it could crush Lee Han in an instant, poison him with toxic breath, or kill him with corrupted claws.

“Uh… Should I call the headmaster?”

-What? Don’t do that, bloodling. You don’t know how scary Lord Gonadaltes is.

When Lee Han suggested bringing in the skeleton headmaster for something like this, the yaksha gaped in disbelief.

No matter how much Gonadaltes cherished the Einrogard students, he wasn’t so soft that he’d answer to every trivial whim.

“I just thought… Something like this seemed doable for him…”

-That’s exactly the mistake. Your seniors, and their seniors, and the seniors before them all made that mistake! You’ve hardly spoken with him—where’s this confidence come from?

“Hm.”

Lee Han was a bit overwhelmed by the yaksha’s firm attitude.

Is that so?

‘True, the skeleton headmaster is kind of crazy.’

Maybe it was just his own one-sided friendliness, and if he called him, the headmaster might flip out…

“All right. Still, isn’t fighting a Ghoul Dragon rather dangerous?”

-No, magician!

-Trust us!

The giants bristled at Lee Han’s reaction.

The magician seemed to be rating the Ghoul Dragon more highly than them.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you…”

-Lead the way! Old yaksha!

-Yeah, all right, all right.

“……”

• * *

Freed from the giants’ grasp, Valpatan and Anpagon immediately headed for the summit…

…Or not. Instead, they tailed the giants.

They were worried about their junior.

No matter how amazing the “giant controller” nickname was, giants were fickle and unpredictable.

If things went wrong, the giant controller could end up as giant food.

“…Wait. Is that a yaksha?”

“What? Yaksha?! There’s really a yaksha?”

Valpatan was shocked.

He’d heard from a graduated senior that ‘there’s a yaksha somewhere in this range,’ but thought it was just a scare story.

-On a day of heavy snow, I met a yaksha—hic—and he lectured me about my evil karma. Moradi, you should respect your seniors more… hic…where was I?

“Amazing… Where are they going?”

“I… I dunno. Damn it. Send the note again. We should start making our escape.”

As the giants and the yaksha began to move, both seniors’ faces hardened.

Their organized movement was ominous.

“They’re not going to eat our junior, are they…?”

“Don’t be barbaric. What a ridiculous thought!”

Anpagon snapped.

He didn’t believe in superstitions, but the White Tiger Tower guy’s doom-and-gloom was getting on his nerves.

“You think I’m not worried? You know how weird these giants are!”

“That junior is too small for all the giants to eat.”

“What if it’s for seasoning?”

“…Shut up!”

The two silently trailed behind.

The giants, humming, yanked up giant trees and began crafting something with them.

‘Are they… making a campsite?’

Valpatan was horrified.

Giants set up camp → get ready to cook → junior becomes the meal.

“Send a note! Get him ready to escape!”

“G-got it. Sending now!”

Even Anpagon, rarely pale, sent the note in haste.

• * *

-A Ghoul Dragon isn’t a violent or cruel beast. It’s just its temperament that’s the problem.

The yaksha checked the hastily-made wooden shields by the giants and gestured.

-It’d be nice if it just slept quietly deep underground, but it sometimes crawls out like this. All right, that’s enough. We’re not trying to capture it anyhow, so that’s enough.

“Ah. Are you going to talk it out?”

-A Ghoul Dragon won’t understand you. And even if it does, it’ll ignore you since it’s so lazy.

Lee Han wilted.

-The method’s simple. The youngsters go in and force the Ghoul Dragon out. If we get it far enough, it’ll get too lazy to return to the swamp and go back to its underground lair.

“…That’s really enough?”

Lee Han was surprised at the relatively peaceful method.

-Yeah. These guys just don’t listen, but they’re strong enough.

Seemed simple, but actually rallying giants to act together wasn’t easy.

-You, bloodling, just have one job.

“Understood. What kind of magic should I use up front?”

Ready for anything, Lee Han gripped his staff and asked.

-What are you talking about? Who would put such a young magician up front to drive away a Ghoul Dragon? Just give orders to the giants from the back. They don’t listen to me so well anyway.

“That’s all?”

-No… What else did you expect?

The yaksha looked at the young magician oddly.

Lee Han, feeling awkward, quickly answered.

“I just feel like I have too little to do…”

-You’re already doing more than enough. Those guys don’t listen to anyone. Good. All set. Drive it out!

Rrrrrrrrr!

As soon as the order was given, the giants swept away the forest and made a path.

There, a swamp was revealed, with a massive Ghoul Dragon settled atop it.

At a glance it was kind of dragon-like, but much smaller, and with many twisted, grotesque features—more like a botched chimera than a true dragon.

-Roooarrr!

“Wait, wait! Coordinate with each other!”

-Roar…

“To the side! Go around to the side!”

The giants really wouldn’t listen.

Lee Han coaxed, scolded, and threatened them to form a proper encirclement.

The yaksha watched, very pleased.

-You’re really good at this. By the way, what year are you? I forgot to ask.

“I’m a first-year.”

-Yeah… what?

-Old yaksha! Help!!

The giants called the yaksha.

The Ghoul Dragon, reluctant to leave the swamp, dug in harder.

The miasma it exhaled stung the giants’ noses and eyes, making them cry out.

-I’m coming. Here! Lend me your strength for a moment!

“Huh?”

The yaksha lifted Lee Han onto his head. The giant who’d lost his magician let out a wail.

-Wait a minute. I’ll give him back soon!

As the accumulated karma became force, an immensely powerful strength surged through the yaksha’s body—far more than before.

He’d felt it from the start, but the good karma this young magician carried was extraordinary.

-Get lost, you troublesome beast! Go back to your favorite place and just sleep!

-Good job, old yaksha!

The collision of giants shook and shattered everything around.

Lee Han held on for dear life atop the wildly shaking yaksha.

‘Just hang… on!’

At some point Lee Han realized he was standing atop the yaksha’s head quite naturally.

Ever since climbing the side of the ship during the last exam, he’d been close to an epiphany—now, in this situation, he finally embodied magic conversion with the property of adhesion.

No need to forcibly pour out mana—just naturally!

‘It wor…!’

-It’s moving! Roll it! Roll it!

-Force it from the swamp!

The giants, oblivious to Lee Han’s struggle, exuberantly kept pushing.

Even a perfectly stuck person would be rattled by the shaking.

The basilisk inside Lee Han’s sleeve whimpered in pity.

How did we end up getting dragged around by giants…!

• * *

-Hah, haah.

-You did well. You youngster have built up good karma.

After it was over, the yaksha spoke sincerely.

If it weren’t for the mud-soaked, panting giants, he couldn’t have dragged out the Ghoul Dragon alone.

They’d really done a good job.

-What did the old yaksha do!

-You forgot I only rushed in because you couldn’t do it?

-Old yaksha did something too…

The giants, all worked up, started arguing then shrank back.

-Magician. Where’s the magician?

-Old yaksha kidnapped him!

-I did not, you brats.

The yaksha scolded the giants and returned Lee Han to them. Lee Han sat on a giant’s shoulder, completely exhausted.

-Hold on. Why do you look so tired?

“It was a bit shaky up there…”

-What? With magic… Wait. You don’t know how to use it? Are you really a first-year??

The yaksha was shocked.

He knew there were all sorts at the base of the mountain, but never expected a first-year to be out here playing with giants.

-You’ll go far. Really, you’ll go far! Making friends with giants as a first-year…

“It’s not really by choice. The professors forced me to…”

Lee Han was about to complain about the professors, but the yaksha wasn’t listening.

-Take this. If you’re ever nearby again and need help from this old man, just pull it and I’ll come. Since I received help, I should help you too.

The yaksha handed him a small, horn-shaped charm. Lee Han took it with a puzzled look.

‘Would I ever come here again?’

Once this ended, he swore never to come back…

“Yes. Thank you.”

-If I’d known you were a first-year, I wouldn’t have asked you for help. I feel kind of bad now.

“It’s fine. Just your kind words make me happy.”

Lee Han answered bitterly, thinking of the professors who sent him here.

“?”

While the giants congratulated each other, Lee Han looked down at the ground.

A few notes, as if someone had sent them, were scattered on the ground.

‘What? Was someone else here besides my seniors?’