Episode 591

‘This school is out of its mind.’

Lee Han grumbled as he crafted a warding charm.

Complaining would do no good; the professors never listened.

“Divide, infuse.”

With the incantation, magic was imbued into the purple bone.

Though it was called a divination magic class, in reality, they learned more non-divinatory magic if you counted the hours.

One of those was the -Lesser Risk Dispersion- he was casting now.

A spell that distributed risks, normally incurred by the caster while using magic, among other items.

Of course, for powerful divination magic, even this spell wouldn’t be enough, but for the fortune-telling level of a first-year, it sufficed.

Priest Tijilling next to him, working skillfully, layered triangles over and over to create her amulet.

Priests of the Prisinga Order, who specialized in cursed artifacts, were adept at withstanding and warding off such curses.

Strengthening the charm’s structure with numerology using shapes and numbers was one of the order’s pooled wisdoms.

After completing the first phase, Tijilling wiped sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief, then looked over.

To her surprise, the boy of House Wardanaz was still wrestling with the bone.

“…?!!”

“Ugh. This thing’s absurdly tough.”

Lee Han gritted his teeth and knocked on the bone.

Typically, materials used for artifacts boasted high mana conductivity.

In other words, a good artifact material let mana flow through it easily and linger long.

But this purple bone that Professor Paselete had (forcibly) given him must have been made of something else entirely—it kept repelling the magic.

A warding artifact needed to be sturdy, but if it was too sturdy for magic itself to take hold, that was useless.

Lee Han shut his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

‘I’ll just have to do it bit by bit.’

If it wasn’t that magic couldn’t take, but instead magic was being constantly repelled, he still had a way.

Lee Han grabbed the bone and poured mana into it like mad. Normally it would have burst at once, but the bone’s toughness only caused it to vibrate as it somehow held on.

‘Break it in!’

A brute-force method, but at least it was a method.

An object tainted by Lee Han’s mana might just not repel his own magic anymore.

Once.

Twice.

Three times…

While other students tweaked the ward structure of their orbs, using various metals and semi-precious stones, and tested with simple fortune-telling, Lee Han kept shaving and shaping away at the bone.

“Wardanaz. Are you all right? The time is…”

“Rice isn’t ready until it boils! Uncooked rice doesn’t become a meal just because you rush it!”

“I was just worried, that’s all.”

“If you hurry, it just gets rough and takes even longer. Artifacts need proper crafting. If you slip while carving, is that any good?”

‘Is he—an artifact master!?’

The friend speaking to him sensed the aura of a master craftsman with decades of experience around Lee Han.

Lee Han, muttering under his breath, checked the bone again.

“Seems like it should work now… or is it still not enough?”

“Wardanaz, really, the time…”

Bang!

Finishing the base preparation, Lee Han blitzed into the next step.

In a flash, he swung his staff, split the bone, changed its shape, and started enchanting it.

“Divide and imbue. Divide and imbue. Divide, and…”

He chanted spells in rapid succession, at a pace far beyond what any other student could muster.

Looking at him reciting so quickly, people worried about mana exhaustion, collapse, magic feedback, but Lee Han didn’t so much as blink as he worked.

Even after that, Lee Han’s hands didn’t stop. The split and reshaped bones moved into position with precision.

“G-Good heavens…!”

“Is Avalkain reincarnated?!”

His workshop speed evoked the name of a legendary artifact master from centuries ago.

The students could do nothing but blink in awe and watch Lee Han work.

Rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle!

When he finished assembling and wrapping everything up, Lee Han set the amulet on the table.

At that, applause burst out from all sides.

“Wardanaz! Wardanaz!”

“Genius of hard labor!”

“Isn’t that an insult?”

From her seat at the front, Professor Paselete commented dryly.

“This is an exam.”

“Ah. Sorry, Professor.”

• * *

After the test, Paselete examined the warding charm Lee Han had submitted and was impressed.

It was on a whole different level from the other students.

‘Impressive.’

-Impressive!

Actually, the artifact’s material has a major influence.

The bone the skeletal headmaster handed over was bone from a hellblood sheep, so it wasn’t surprising its finished performance would surpass the rest.

What was truly impressive was that, within the time limit, he broke it in and finished it as a completed warding artifact.

In fact, even Professor Paselete, midway through, had wondered whether it could really be done in the time left.

Subduing the material by sheer force was one thing, but what followed was a streamlined, flawless work speed.

“Did you learn from Professor Verdus?”

“…Grnghh.”

Lee Han groaned like a mage under a tongue-crippling curse. Professor Paselete wondered if for a moment he had been cursed.

“You’re okay, right?”

“…I’m fine. I did learn it from Professor Verdus.”

‘What was that just now?’

The professor was confused, but Lee Han’s face was so grave she didn’t press further.

“You crafted the ward well. Not easy material, but you managed to break it in and finish it. At this level, it’ll withstand quite a few routine divinations.”

“Thank you.”

Lee Han held back hatred, anger, resentment, and sorrow as he composed his expression.

At least until the next thing she said.

“I admit, when I first heard you volunteered for that, I wondered if it was safe, but the future is always unpredictable.”

“Yeah… What? Volunteered?”

“You requested this, didn’t you?”

Lee Han went silent for a moment.

Then asked,

“The headmaster said that, right?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t think the headmaster just might have lied?”

Lee Han truly couldn’t fathom this part.

How could Professor Paselete, a divination magic master, not see such an obvious fact?

If the skeletal headmaster cackled and handed something over, suspiciousness should have been a given.

‘Is she a co-conspirator pretending ignorance?’

Lee Han shot a suspicious glance.

“Well, you just started the test with no protest, so I figured you really had asked for it.”

“……”

• * *

Tijilling thought Lee Han’s eyes looked a bit reddened as he walked out of the classroom.

‘Must be my imagination?’

Surely a boy as cold as a statue wouldn’t cry.

“Are you all right?”

“Priest Tijilling. I want to defeat a lich someday.”

“…Pardon?”

“Nothing. Did your test go well?”

“I got a 95.”

“Tough luck. Don’t be discouraged. You’ll do better next time.”

“……”

For a moment, Tijilling was struck dumb in disbelief.

“I-I thought that was a pretty good score…”

“Of course it is. That kind of positive mindset is what matters. Splendid.”

“……”

Even when a scammer came to the temple and tried to sell a cursed artifact at an outrageous price, Tijilling handled it calmly. But this boy of House Wardanaz had a rare talent for manipulating other people’s emotions.

‘Ah!’

Tijilling realized she was gripping her staff tightly and let go in surprise.

What did he just do?

‘I need to change the subject!’

“What exams do you have left now?”

“Dance, illusion magic, and healing magic—about those.”

“I just finished everything with this test.”

Tijilling answered and was startled.

There had been a boastful tone in her voice.

“…Hey, are you bragging that you finished before me?”

“N-no?? Definitely not! Not at all!”

Tijilling hurriedly denied it.

I can’t believe I just did that!

“There’s no harm in boasting… Go ahead, if you want. It’s my fault I signed up for too many, not yours.”

“That was really a slip of the tongue.”

“It happens. Anyone would feel happy their exams were over.”

The real reason wasn’t just finishing exams, but Tijilling chose to remain silent as a form of atonement.

“?”

As she tried to stay silent, the priestess sensed something odd.

“By the way…”

“Is there something you want to ask?”

“You haven’t taken the -Repeated Practice of Basic Magical Combat- test yet, have you?”

“…Oh, right. Have I? Haha, look at me. I forgot all about it.”

Lee Han laughed heartily.

Tijilling felt there was some hidden secret in that reaction.

What could it be?

“You couldn’t possibly forget—”

“Ah, Priest Tijilling! Look out the window! They made a flag with Einrogard’s motto! It’s not bad, is it?”

Students from the basic Imperial literature class had each inscribed a fitting motto for Einrogard on flags and hung them proudly.

-Pursuing freedom through unfreedom!

-The one who gets caught is the bad guy!

-More secretive than starlight, more cold-hearted than moonlight!

“…That?”

“I-It’s nice, isn’t it?”

• * *

“Um…”

“This is the Illusion Magic exam, right?”

The students who arrived before Lee Han were flustered as they approached Professor Kirmin’s magic tower.

As a master of illusion magic, his atelier was usually in flux, but today was even odder.

In place of the mage tower, dozens of barns had sprung up.

“You’re all here! I’ve been waiting.”

Professor Kirmin greeted them in his usual string-plucking voice. “Hello, Professor Ku.”

“Uh, isn’t the final supposed to be an illusion magic fight?”

Many students had assumed the final would be an illusion magic duel.

It had been emphasized so much during class, they expected it for the final.

But Professor Kirmin cheerfully shook his head.

“Oh, no, not necessarily. Just because it came up a lot in class doesn’t mean it’ll be on the exam.”

‘What a shame.’

Lee Han was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t an illusion duel.

If it had been, he could’ve easily scored full marks.

“Look at you, Wardanaz, all relieved. Last time, dueling a professor like me must’ve been rough, right? Good thing the exam’s not that, eh?”

“Wait, aren’t we facing each other as students on the final?”

Professor Kirmin chuckled with delight at Lee Han’s question.

Then he paused.

“Oh. You really mean that?”

“…Yes.”

“You can’t have that. It’s pointless.”

“Sometimes, doing pointless things confirms—”

“Nonsense. Even Voladi would be disappointed to hear you passed an exam so boringly.”

‘Couldn’t he use a little disappointment?’

Disappointment didn’t kill, but fighting a professor just might.

“Now then. Today’s exam is a simple makeshift labyrinth. You’ll realize as you spend more time at Einrogard, protecting your own space is more important than you’d think.”

As you can see from imperial fairy tales, mages loved to build their own towers and use them as sanctums.

Of course, you couldn’t just build such a place anywhere. To be a true workshop, it had to have powerful magical defenses for your treasures.

An adept illusionist could hide their presence even from an army ten thousand strong.

“For two days, you’ll each make a simple maze. After that, you’ll take turns entering someone else’s maze. We’ll see how well your maze repels intruders. Any questions?”

Some students raised their hands.

“Okay, what are you wondering?”

“Wardanaz… wait. How do we decide who enters whose maze?”

“……”