Episode 575

Parthenope ignored Lee Han’s excuses and steered the boat forward.

She wanted to escape this horrible chorus as soon as possible.

• * *

‘Huh?’

As Lee Han kept heading down the underground passage, he began to notice the scenery looking more and more familiar.

This place is…?

Sir Gonadaltes?

From atop a massive rock jutting out over the underground lake in the distance, the Bulgasari monster called out, and Lee Han replied happily.

“Hello, Mr. Ghoul.”

Oh. You’re the one from last time…

The monster, looking like a gigantic boulder, recognized Lee Han and waved enthusiastically. As the stone moved, pebbles flew everywhere.

‘Next time I need to ask him not to wave.’

What’s up?

“Actually, I’m just bringing something in from outside.”

Lee Han signaled the giants not to come around the corner yet.

The giants, though puzzled, waited patiently.

Why’d you come all the way to such a dangerous place just to bring in something from outside? Be careful.

The Bulgasari spoke slowly but with a booming, powerful voice.

He respected the students’ freedom, but it was always the mage’s own magic that got them hurt.

If you tried to bring something too dangerous, you were liable to get yourself hurt.

“Um, would you be able to keep what I’m bringing in a secret from others?”

The Bulgasari vibrated his rocky body slowly in laughter.

Of course. After all, I grew up here thanks to a student who snuck me in.

He moved stones as if to say, Trust me.

Whatever the student brought in, the Bulgasari was ready to respect it.

“Thank you.”

-……

The siren towing Lee Han’s boat had a complicated expression.

No matter what, she felt the Bulgasari would be shocked if he saw what Lee Han was smuggling in.

But you’re getting help from a siren?

“Yes.”

How? Sirens don’t help other races.

The Bulgasari asked with slow curiosity.

“I’m acquainted with her.”

Really?

The siren, Parthenope, wore a similar expression to when she’d heard the giants’ singing.

Squeezing her eyes shut and plugging her ears.

‘Doesn’t look friendly to me?’

So thought the Bulgasari, but he had no plans to disrupt a miracle friendship just in case.

Impressive. Good luck. Take good care of it.

‘I’m not raising it…’

Lee Han realized the Bulgasari had misunderstood.

He thought, just like long ago when a student smuggled in the Bulgasari, Lee Han now was smuggling in a dangerous creature.

Lee Han started to explain and then stopped.

‘I’ll just move forward.’

Seeing the waiting giants fidgeting, he thought he should hurry up.

“Thank you. Everyone, let’s go!”

-Ugh. We waited.

-It was tough. So tough.

The giants emerged from behind the corner, splashing forth.

Lee Han and the giants found the path Ikurusha had described.

Of the many side paths at Spider Web Lake, this was the one leading to the main building’s underground storage.

The Bulgasari, gazing dazedly at their departing backs, was shocked in a way that didn’t match his relaxed disposition.

‘Is he raising giants!?’

Einrogard students had smuggled in all sorts of strange creatures, but this was the first time anyone had ever brought in giants to raise.

Just…?!

• * *

“Thank you all for your hard work.”

After exiting the passage and arriving at the underground storage, Lee Han spoke from the heart.

The giants deserved such gratitude.

After all, they’d walked this long way solely to help Lee Han.

“Thank you so muc—”

-We need to hang up red. Red is warmer.

-No! Yellow is better. Yellow is warmer.

Of course, the giants ignored Lee Han’s thanks and argued about how to decorate the storage.

The underground storage was spacious enough for the giants to wrestle inside, so they were thoroughly occupied with ideas for decorating this vast space.

‘Hmmm. Maybe it’s better if they’re not bored.’

From Lee Han’s perspective, it was best the giants stayed entertained.

After all, they’d have to stay in here for a week, and if they grew bored and wandered outside, Professor Voladi might spot them and things could get dangerous.

‘If even one is caught, there’s a good chance they’ll spill the location.’

With the typical giant temperament, any interrogation could easily get them talking.

Lee Han gave the giants one last caution.

“Don’t go wandering outside. If you get caught, something awful could happen.”

-Work all day?

“It could be even worse.”

-Work all day for two days?? Eek!

“Yes. Even for three days…”

The giants shuddered at Lee Han’s warning.

Truly, Einrogard’s mages were eccentric and fearsome beings.

“Well, I’m counting on you.”

-Got it. Trust us!

Lee Han said his goodbyes and opened the door to exit the storage.

WHOOOSH!

“…??!”

When Lee Han opened the door, he was shocked to see the entire area filled with green mist.

Complex overlapping flows of magic could be felt from within.

It wasn’t just one poison, but a compound of multiple poisons. There were so many, it was impossible to count.

‘What? What happened here?’

At first, Lee Han thought some monster had appeared, but he quickly remembered what Direte had said.

-Of course, we’ll try to reason with them first. But if words fail, we might use a bit of poison. It’s not to harm anyone; it’s just that the rumor will keep people out. Got it? It’s never meant to hurt anyone.

‘…Isn’t this a bit much?’

It looked like poison had been spread over not just the front of the hallway but the whole local area.

Lee Han was slightly taken aback.

Was this really necessary?

‘Hmm… Well. Direte isn’t the kind to go that far for no reason. There must have been something. Maybe people didn’t listen…’

Clunk!

Lee Han’s eye caught an undead camouflaged within the wall.

Seeing that it was connected to a magical array at the front, it was clearly set up to activate the moment someone stepped on it.

And in front of that, there were curse-type arrays, too…

“……”

Was this really necessary??!

Lee Han used the principles of mana transformation to stick to the wall. It was a trick of the Absorption Technique.

Like that, clinging to the wall without touching the floor as he escaped the area, Lee Han spotted some writing painted in red on the wall.

DIE BLACK MAGIC FACTION!!

“……”

Lee Han quietly wiped the graffiti from the wall.

It was written with magic, so it was a bit tough, but after pouring in mana, he managed to clean it off.

• * *

“As expected of Her Highness.”

“That’s right! Who else but the princess could teach her classmates so well!”

“……”

Adenart looked at her followers with tired, dying eyes, but they didn’t notice.

“Next! You should feel honored! Her Highness herself is teaching you like this!”

“Hey… I’m a prince too, you know…”

Holding his question sheet, Gainando glared at the followers, feeling indignant.

Sometimes, you honestly wondered if Adenart’s followers had genuinely forgotten Gainando was royalty too.

“And teaching is the duty of the smart! As if it’s charity! Do you think Lee Han teaches us and boasts about it every time?”

“W-well…”

“Hmph.”

Surprisingly, the followers had no retort to Gainando’s sharp words.

After all, Wardanaz taught them far more without complaining or bragging.

While the followers fumed, Adenart waved Gainando closer.

“What? Why?”

“…Please tell them that’s enough studying for today.”

“Really!?”

Gainando’s face lit up.

He never thought his half-sibling would say such a thing.

“…Wait. No, that won’t do.”

Gainando’s excitement faded instantly.

Adenart was taken aback.

She really expected Gainando would be happy to stop studying.

“There’s still more to do. If we’re not done after coming back, Lee Han will really get angry.”

“……”

Adenart looked at Gainando with a scornful gaze.

How little must he have studied, for even Wardanaz to say that?

Absolutely no help at all.

‘This is exhausting.’

What Adenart realized was that answering friends’ questions was unexpectedly tiring.

Since they were all enrolled in different factions and studied different subjects, the questions varied wildly.

These weren’t questions you could answer just by having top grades in your year.

-So when using an ox bone versus a chicken bone in magic, what accounts for the difference…

-Your Highness, I can’t figure out what’s wrong with my potion of patience. For the first attempt, I added a spoon of golden nectar, two bags of Coldaran, and a pinch of musk, and I did the same on the second, but for some reason, it didn’t work the second time.

-Can I use the following simple magic circles to make instant artifacts?

-I’d like to summon an extra spirit, but…

The fact that she even answered some of these questions was pretty impressive.

Luck played a role too.

If it had been something she had no interest in at all, she couldn’t have answered.

“Hold on. Don’t tell me you told me that just because you wanted a break?”

Gainando looked at Adenart suspiciously.

Adenart’s pride wouldn’t let her answer.

“Hey. She wants a break, right?”

“What are you talking about? That’s nonsense. If Her Highness wanted a break, she’d tell us.”

“She could say it to me. Anyone would want a break after teaching so much, right?”

“Her Highness would not be tired by something like this.”

“That’s right. Are you comparing her to yourself?”

“…You little brats!”

Agitated, Gainando swung his staff. The followers didn’t back down and tackled him to the floor.

Other students studying nearby took the chance to grab the throats of students from their rival towers, settling old scores.

“You snatched the breadfruit I’d been saving!”

“Finders keepers!”

“This is revenge for last assignment!”

“You messed up because you’re stupid, don’t blame me!”

As befit friends gathered for their poor grades, they were always ready to stop studying at the slightest excuse.

As paper flew and ink splattered, Lee Han returned.

BANG!

At the sound of the wall breaking, everyone fell silent and turned.

Even Gainando, who had been about to pour ink into the mouth of a White Tiger Tower friend, looked up.

Lee Han stood with no expression on his face, hand against the wall.

“What are you doing?”

“……”

“…Uh… well…”

“Do you not want to study?”

At Lee Han’s question, the friends glanced at each other.

Of course, they didn’t want to, but saying so might get them killed—even Gainando realized that.

“…Not really…”

“He started it…”

“No, he started it…”

“Everyone sit down.”

At Lee Han’s command, the students sat quietly.

“Gainando. How far did you get?”

“Uh… almost done.”

“Tell me the difference between using ox bone and chicken bone.”

“Well, that is…”

At that, the friends desperately flipped through their books, bracing for a question to come their way.

Lee Han clicked his tongue and sat down.

‘Told them to study, and this is what they do.’

Tap—

When things quieted down, Adenart whispered softly to Lee Han.

“…Thank you. Really.”

“???”