Episode 615

‘Phew. Made it.’

Lee Han let out a sigh of relief.

He had forged the headmaster’s signature so Nillia could escape the Shadow Patrol during vacation.

Fortunately, it looked like the headmaster’s attention was focused on the knights below.

“Useless lot, as always…”

“If you order us to shoot, we’ll do so secretly.”

At the Shadow Patrol hunters’ sly remarks, the Skull Headmaster shook his head.

“No need. Let’s just be satisfied with what we shot last time.”

“……”

Lee Han was appalled by the conversation happening beside him.

Of course, the hunters of the northern mountains and the knights beneath them were not on good terms.

From the perspective of hunters risking their lives to scout the mountain depths, the knights were nothing but useless, arrogant loudmouths.

In contrast, to the northern knights, the hunters were barbarians who constantly took whatever little supplies their impoverished families had, always complaining for more.

‘Still, shooting arrows is a bit much.’

• * *

The northern knights sat in front of the log cabin, waiting for its owner to return.

Unable to wait any longer, one young apprentice knight grumbled a little.

“Still, is it right to keep the honorable northern knights waiting like this? They clearly said they’d come today!”

The apprentice’s audacity in complaining first while the heaven-like knights sat still was something that would have normally been met with a stick.

But the old knight teaching the apprentice just grinned.

“Oh? Then, speak your mind when the woodcutters return.”

“Really, is that okay!?”

“Of course!”

The other knights, about to get upset, stopped moving and smiled at the old knight’s words.

Oblivious to the situation, the young apprentice nodded vigorously.

“I understand. I dare!”

Before long, a group of woodcutters came up from below.

These were locals returning after finishing their work.

The woodcutters of the northern mountains, composed of various races, walked with massive axes that made even their big frames look small. Steam rose from their heated bodies with every exhale and step.

“……”

The apprentice knight’s jaw dropped at the woodcutters’ unexpected appearance.

The knights snickered.

The freemen around the northern mountains were different from freemen elsewhere.

Just living in such a harsh region required considerable strength and courage.

The mountain woodcutters, in particular, were famous even among them.

Made up of those boasting great natural strength, these people would sweep away most monster packs on their own without requesting help!

“T-t-to keep knights waiting like this!”

The apprentice knight, unable to back down out of pride, shouted.

The woodcutters looked at him as if he were an idiot.

“What is it now, knights? You come to start trouble?”

“H-how dare you! How…!”

“Sorry. Please understand. He’s still young.”

The old knight smiled as he covered the apprentice’s mouth.

“You know why we came. It’s such a waste of talent.”

At his words, the woodcutters scratched their cheeks.

Truth was, they already knew.

The young woodcutter, Ulgan.

He was known among woodcutters for his large frame and great strength.

Naturally, this reputation had reached the ears of the knights nearby.

“But the boy’s not interested. He already ran away once.”

Surprisingly, Ulgan had trained as an apprentice knight a few years ago.

So famous for some time, the knights had approached him since then.

Persuaded earnestly, Ulgan went to train as an apprentice knight, but soon lost interest and returned to the woodcutters.

“We don’t really get it either. He was well-liked even among the apprentices.”

“We get it. He chose to be a free woodcutter over a stuffy knight.”

The woodcutters chuckled at their comrade’s comment.

A few knights bristled, but the old knight extended an arm to restrain them.

“Let them talk. I want to hear what he didn’t like.”

“Maybe the other apprentices ostracized him?”

“That wasn’t it.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Well, Ulgan beat up all the other apprentices…”

On the first night in the dorms, Ulgan had beaten all the other apprentices and reigned as their boss.

If Ulgan so much as spoke a word, the others even pretended to die, so ostracism was unthinkable.

“Ha! That’s Ulgan for you.”

“Did he quit because it was boring?”

Despite the woodcutters’ admiration, the old knight remained calm.

He had served as a knight in the north for quite some time, but rarely had he seen a talent so promising as Ulgan.

-This kid was born for knighthood!

Massive frame, overwhelming strength, excellent reflexes, and even innate superpowers.

If trained well, he might become a legendary knight of the north.

He didn’t mean to look down on woodcutters, but Ulgan was too extraordinary to remain one.

‘I’ll persuade him into the knighthood no matter what.’

Now that he was older, the old knight would take him personally and teach him.

“Being a knight is boring.”

“???”

“But being a magician is not boring!”

“…?!”

The northern knights looked up, thinking some crazy outsider was picking a fight, only to turn and be shocked at the face they saw.

The Empire’s protector of the magical barrier was walking over, flanked by the Shadow Patrol.

“Y-y-y-y-y…”

“-Y-y-y-y-your Excellency. Not bad.”

“W-what brings you here!?”

The northern knights panicked.

Usually, Lord Gonadaltes only came to this harsh land when serious trouble had occurred.

Like a spell on a Shadow Patrol fortress being destroyed, or a horde of monsters appearing…

The old knight, however, saw a different possibility.

“Could it be that Ulgan was chosen as a student for Einrogard?!”

“That’s right.”

“No, no way!”

“Why? You think big people can’t use magic?”

At Gonadaltes’ words, the Shadow Patrol behind burst out laughing.

“Haha, the noble knights are so full of prejudice!”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

“……”

The knights decided to make sure they spit on the next shipment to the Shadow Patrol.

“N-no. Ulgan was just born to be a knight.”

“Didn’t you find his strength suspicious? Even for his size? He must have a natural sensitivity to magic. He can handle mana to a degree without formal training. And he has superpowers too, doesn’t he? That’s something you see a lot in untrained magicians.”

“Oh…”

The woodcutters responded with interest to the Skull Headmaster.

They had known he was someone special, but hearing him now made him seem even more credible.

An aura of nobility and intellect on a level far above the knights.

“No, both mana and superpowers are essential for knights, too!!”

The knights, seeing things taking a strange turn, desperately argued back.

To draw aura, a knight needed to handle mana, and superpowers were even more useful for a knight than a magician.

As for magicians—since they could achieve the same results through study, why be obsessed with superpowers?

You could tell just from how magicians called superpowers “primitive magic.”

‘Something’s strange.’

The old knight found Gonadaltes’ calm demeanor odd.

This Skull Headmaster wasn’t the sort of person to listen to others’ words so leisurely.

Just what is he up to?

• * *

“I hate mountains.”

Alsicle swung his staff, panting as he walked in front. The typical example of a magician neglecting physical training.

Eandur looked at Alsicle with pity.

“Pathetic!”

“No. Lots of magicians are naturally frail.”

“?”

Eandur looked Lee Han up and down.

Embarrassed, Lee Han made an excuse.

“There are exceptions too, of course.”

“Why don’t magicians train their bodies?”

“Because magic is just that convenient…”

“Lazy!”

“No, it’s a little different from laziness… right?”

The reason Lee Han’s group had split off was simple.

By order of the Skull Headmaster.

-If the new student isn’t here, he must be somewhere else. I’ll keep the knights busy, so go find him.

-What do we do after we find him?

-Get him to enter Einrogard.

-Huh? How, exactly?

-Easy. Do it the way you always do.

-…Wait…

Lee Han had been dumbfounded but the Skull Headmaster just left.

So Lee Han had no choice but to take Alsicle and the junior to go find Ulgan.

“Snow, reveal the tracks.”

Alsicle recited a spell; snowflakes revealed footprints left in the ground.

Relieved by his success, Alsicle let out a breath.

This magic revealed footprints, but it wasn’t all-powerful. If used improperly, it could fail outright.

With young magicians watching from behind, he’d worried about failing, so he was relieved.

‘Whew. That’s a relief.’

“Wow. So there was a method like that.”

“It’s not that difficult a spell. Should I teach you later?”

“Thank you. I was debating whether to use divination magic.”

When Lee Han started putting away the colored stones he used for divination, Alsicle asked with curiosity.

“Divination magic? It’s difficult to use it away from a workshop, right?”

Normally, one would ask, ‘You can already use divination magic?!’ but Alsicle had grown close enough to Lee Han to not ask such stupid questions anymore.

“Yeah. At this level, I can manage with just magic power.”

“……”

At that, Alsicle looked down at the footprints he’d made with his snow spell.

Swish, swish, swish—

“Why are you erasing them?!”

“This never happened!”

“No, seriously, why are you doing this!”

While Alsicle was being restrained, Eandur sniffed to find someone’s location.

“There, over there!”

Eandur tugged Lee Han’s sleeve, pointing yonder.

A hulking human was chopping wood at an astounding speed.

‘If that guy enrolls in Einrogard, we’ll never worry about firewood again!’

A talent who could disrupt Einrogard’s market equilibrium—Lee Han was amazed.

Alsicle was just as impressed beside him.

“He may look like a warrior, but he’s got serious magic talent! He’s even using superpowers.”

“Superpowers?”

“Yeah. Looks like telekinesis. He’s unconsciously channeling telekinesis into the axe right now.”

“That’s really fascinating.”

‘You’re even more fascinating…’

Alsicle bit back what he wanted to say.

Compared to such ordinary superpowers, the Wardanaz family boy was far stranger.

“Where are you from?”

Ulgan noticed the magicians and jumped with surprise.

“Are you knights…?!”

“No. We’re magicians from Einrogard, Ulgan.”

Alsicle calmed the young woodcutter.

“Einrogard…?”

“Yes. We came looking for you because you have talent for magic. Do you have time to talk for a bit?”

Ulgan put down his axe and approached, looking bewildered.

“Magic, you say…”

“I heard you once trained as an apprentice knight, may I ask why you quit?”

At Alsicle’s question, Ulgan’s face darkened.

“Uh. If it’s a hard question to answer…”

“No. I should have answered properly. Actually, the reason I…”

As Ulgan set his resolve, the other three watched him intently.

They were curious what could possibly be the reason.

Why on earth?

“…I hate fighting.”

“……”

“……”

A brief silence fell.

Alsicle was first to regain composure.

“In that case, Einrogard suits you even more!”

“Y-you think so?”

Ulgan looked tempted, and Lee Han thought to himself.

‘Is it okay to come to Einrogard when you hate fighting?’