Episode 613

Episode 613

As Lee Han stepped outside, Eandurde followed right behind.

“Junior. You have to stay here.”

“??”

Eandurde looked at him as if to say, ‘Why?’

Lee Han wondered how to explain.

“Because where we’re going now, you never know what kind of violence the Principal might use—”

“Stop maligning people so calmly. I’ve already used all the necessary violence.”

The Skull Principal cut Lee Han off and put a bracelet on Eandurde.

It was a bracelet to suppress the petrification curse in the evil eye and the snake hair transformation.

“Can I bring him along?”

“To adapt to Einrogard, he needs to study, but he also needs to practice being out and about.”

Seeing his junior grumbling, Lee Han suddenly became worried.

He wouldn’t attack random passersby, right?

‘I must prevent that at all costs.’

Lee Han made a firm determination not to let his junior become an imperial criminal.

“Let’s go.”

Following the Skull Principal, the two students walked on.

Eandurde sniffed around, taking in the scents of the people passing by.

“That…”

“That’s an ice cream cone. They put ice cream on top of a waffle cone.”

At Lee Han’s explanation, the junior’s eyes sparkled.

He immediately got ready to snatch the ice cream cone from a passing child.

“Ironclad, O cloak!”

Lee Han swiftly tied up his junior’s arms and legs with his cloak and then turned it into iron, urgently whispering.

“What did I say, junior? If you attack first…?”

“Oh. Don’t attack first!”

“Exactly!”

Upon Lee Han’s words, Eandurde became dispirited.

He just really wanted to try that treat.

“…Principal. Could you give me some money to buy ice cream?”

“You’ll spoil the kid if you buy him everything he wants.”

Even as he spoke, the Skull Principal flicked him an imperial silver coin. Lee Han went and bought an ice cream cone from a street vendor.

“See? If you want something, you pay money for it. Understand?”

“You earn money with work.”

“Exactly!”

Watching his junior smartly repeat what he’d learned while licking the ice cream, Lee Han felt proud.

True to his clever nature, teach him one thing, and he remembered three.

“But you’re not supposed to take money?”

“…Let’s go over this again, junior. So, if you take money first…”

As they made their way to meet the new student from the Pengerine family, Lee Han continued to teach Eandurde.

He grasped things quickly, but whenever someone passing by had something interesting, he’d forget and get ready to attack.

The Skull Principal commented when he saw this.

“We’ll need to enroll him in Einrogard quickly.”

“……”

Lee Han was worried this junior might end up being called something like “The Black Turtle Tower Beast” by his classmates at Einrogard.

He hoped he’d have many friends, like Nillia…

“That one…”

“I said no!”

Lee Han quickly grabbed his junior by the nape and firmly fixed his cloak with his staff, holding him back.

His junior spoke with a confused look.

“I think we’re here…”

“…Haha, you have a sharp eye! Good job.”

Lee Han let go of his staff and hand and praised his junior quickly.

Eandurde immediately forgot his recent misunderstanding and beamed, nodding.

• * *

The Pengerine family was a prestigious line in the empire, and their nobles had just as much pride.

One person who had inherited these qualities the most was Alhidel.

Before turning ten, Alhidel could read the imperial script, as well as the scripts from the Three Kingdoms era, the ancient kingdom era, and the Seven Kingdoms era, and solve all sorts of complicated arithmetic problems.

It wasn’t just intelligence, either.

In swordsmanship, considered essential for the nobility, Alhidel had impressed many swordsmen; in music, literature, and art, there were no shortcomings.

With such talent, the family had high hopes.

“That’s why sending them to Einrogard is the right thing. You already agreed to send them—how can you change your mind now? Are you trying to stain the Pengerine name?”

“For Alhidel’s future, I’ll endure any stain on the Pengerine name. If it’s Principal Gonadaltes, I’ll persuade him myself! Alhidel doesn’t need to waste time with mediocrities. Private tutors should teach!”

“Why do other nobles send their children to Einrogard instead of hiring private tutors? Einrogard is the oldest and most exceptional magic school in the empire. How many nobles who studied under private tutelage have achieved great things?”

“That’s only because the private tutors they hired were mediocre! If you hire the best, it’s a different story. Whether at a magic school or tower, there’s no need to waste precious time mixing with mediocrities!”

The family was sharply divided over Alhidel.

The older generation argued against wasting precious time and favored self-study, while the younger urged not to risk it and to send Alhidel to Einrogard.

Because they all genuinely rated Alhidel’s talent so highly, the debate was even fiercer. No one was willing to give in.

“Alhidel, what do you think? Don’t you want to try Einrogard? To polish your talents among the empire’s best?”

“Don’t put pressure on. Even if you go, it’ll be hard to find anyone on your level. You’ll end up lonely, wasting time!”

Alhidel hesitated, looking to the elders.

Alhidel knew their talents, but which choice was right was hard to decide.

Thinking of great teachers made Einrogard appealing, but there was concern about not finding peers and wasting time there…

“May I come in?”

“P-Principal Gonadaltes! Sorry for the disrespect… Please come in!”

“No, I happened to overhear. I see, so you’re agonizing over Einrogard because of Pengerine’s exceptional talent?”

“Yes, your Excellency. Pardon my words, but in my foolish opinion, it may be more efficient for Alhidel to study independently…”

The Skull Principal maintained his composure.

Luckily things wrapped up quickly this winter—otherwise, this could have turned ugly.

“I understand. Anyone would have such concerns.”

“Yes! I knew you’d understand!”

While the Skull Principal pretended to soothe the Pengerine penguin beastkins, Lee Han whispered to his junior.

“The one over there is another student entering with you.”

“Fight? Struggle? Submit?”

“No, not to fight… Actually, come to think of it, you might end up fighting, since you’ll be in different towers. Anyway, you could end up together, so see if you can make friends.”

“Looks weak.”

“You don’t have to be strong to be a friend, so…”

“Wardanaz. Come here.”

Lee Han, in the middle of ‘how to make friends at Einrogard,’ paused at the Skull Principal’s call.

“Yes, sir?”

“These Pengerines want to know the average level of an Einrogard student!”

“…?”

Lee Han wondered what that had to do with him.

Did he want him to give a talk?

“Should I talk about Gainando?”

“No need.”

The Skull Principal placed his hand on Lee Han’s shoulder and said,

“This Wardanaz boy is about average among Einrogard students.”

“……”

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

He wasn’t exactly full of confidence or arrogance, but he still knew he wasn’t the average in Einrogard.

He was the top student!

“Seeing this one, you can gauge Einrogard’s average level. Now, Pengerine. Come here.”

Alhidel, nervous to meet unfamiliar wizards, stepped forward.

But there was also evident confidence.

Even if these were seniors, there was no way they’d surpass Alhidel in knowledge.

“In which area does Pengerine excel?”

“Alhidel has no deficiencies with numbers.”

“Show us?”

The Pengerines unhesitatingly brought a thick arithmetic book.

They opened to a random page.

“Go ahead, Alhidel. Solve this.”

-The wizard wants to buy the following items with 22 silver coins…

Scratch, scratch—

Alhidel bowed their head and quickly moved a quill. Numbers and equations flew about.

After some time.

Finally finding the answer, Alhidel looked up.

“Done!”

“……”

“……”

“?”

Seeing the different reaction, Alhidel was bewildered.

The elders alternated between looking at Alhidel and Lee Han, bewildered.

“Well done, Pengerine. But your senior here wrote down the answer the moment you bowed your head.”

“…?!!”

Alhidel stared at Lee Han in disbelief.

Amazingly, Lee Han’s paper had the same answer, written neatly—without any calculations!

‘No way! He cheated!’

The Skull Principal spoke smugly.

“Pengerine, you’re not bad. You may be a little lacking at Einrogard… but Einrogard isn’t so harsh as to bar a little lacking student from entering.”

‘Seriously, that’s too much.’

Lee Han felt a bit sorry as the penguin beastkin junior looked devastated.

Alhidel would probably be in the top five of first-years.

It wasn’t that Alhidel was lacking—it was just that Lee Han was abnormally good at arithmetic…

“Alhidel isn’t only good with numbers. Alhidel is also very skilled with letters.”

“Show us?”

Without hesitation, the Pengerines brought a thick history book from the Three Kingdoms era.

They flipped to a random page.

“Alhidel, read for us.”

-As the three kingdoms hated each other and set the continent aflame, the enraged ■■■■■ took revenge…

“Wait a moment.”

The Skull Principal pointed out as Alhidel tried to quickly move past a part, stopping the reading.

“Why did you skip that part?”

“Huh? That part’s erased, I can’t read it…”

“It’s not erased. Wardanaz? Explain.”

“…That’s written in Saharin kingdom script. It reads ‘Gonadaltes’ in Saharin script.”

“!!!!”

At Lee Han’s words, Alhidel was deeply shocked.

This time, there could be no trick—it was a book their own family had brought and opened!

‘There was someone even more outstanding than me…!’

“What’s next? Swordsmanship?”

“Th-that’s right.”

“Bring the swords, Wardanaz.”

On the Skull Principal’s merciless orders, Lee Han whispered,

“Principal. Isn’t this a bit cruel?”

“Are you saying I’m pitiful for trying to coax someone with no talent into joining? Thanks for the sympathy.”

“…No, I meant that junior over there…”

“They should be grateful to get a free reality check. Better now than learning later. Would you rather grow up and end up like Alsicle?”

Seeing the Principal roasting Alsicle even when he wasn’t here, Lee Han quietly shut his mouth and went to get the swords.

• * *

After a few contests, the Pengerine family’s parlor was very quiet.

One of the elders murmured softly.

“Maybe Alhidel’s talent wasn’t all that exceptional after all…”

“As fellow family members, were we just too besotted?”

“…W-what are you saying! People outside the family, too, have praised Alhidel’s talent!”

“Maybe they were just being polite.”

“…?!”

C-could that be!?