Episode 618

‘Is this really a good idea?’

Lee Han hesitated at the knights’ suggestion.

Of course, he thought he’d gotten pretty close to Moradi, but there are all kinds of different friendships in the world.

Some friendships were the type where, if you said, “Hey, I came to hang out!” at someone’s mansion, the other person would get annoyed.

In Lee Han’s view, Moradi had some stingy and mean-spirited sides, so if a friend showed up, there was a good chance she’d be cold and dismissive…

“Oh, is Lady Moradi here?!”

“!”

Suddenly, a member of the Moradi family appeared, startling Lee Han.

Speak of the devil and she appears—Moradi…

“I am Valpatan Moradi of the Moradi family. Pleased to meet you.”

‘Ah. I was wrong.’

The person who entered was another member of the Moradi family.

Valpatan Moradi.

A third-year student of Einrogard from the Moradi family. Hearing that a magician from the Fongrif family and a junior from Einrogard were visiting, Valpatan had come out of curiosity.

He already knew a lot about Alsicle, the famous magician of the Fongrif family.

But the junior was different.

Wasn’t he from the Wardanaz family!

– Sir Inkan. Is he really from the Wardanaz family?

– Yes. He’s the real deal.

– That’s great. There’s so much I wanted to ask!

It wasn’t just because he was a Wardanaz.

Already, rumors about the first-year from the Wardanaz family were circulating among some seniors at Einrogard.

– I hear he’s from the buff magic school.

– I heard he’s that crazy skull bastard’s star disciple—must be dangerous, right?

– He’s close with Illendil…

– Then he really IS dangerous, isn’t he?

– No, he’s also friends with the dark magic school.

– Then he’s DEFINITELY dangerous, right?

On top of that, there were all sorts of wild rumors about him fighting the Ghoul King, fighting the Frost Giant King, hunting down magical criminals and anti-magicists… how could one not be curious?

And Valpatan had one more thing he was curious about that others didn’t.

“Sir Fongrif. Nice to meet you.”

After greeting the others, Valpatan looked at Lee Han and asked:

“…Uh, Gainando…?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

Lee Han shamelessly feigned ignorance.

• * *

Lee Han had a number of talents.

One of them was his ability to lie with a straight face.

Those who got tricked by this fell into doubt: ‘Wait, am I remembering wrong?’

Valpatan was no exception.

“Ah, really? Maybe I misheard, things were pretty chaotic then.”

“Yes. Gainando is the name of my friend. You must have gotten confused since my friend was with me.”

“That’s probably it. Gosh, this is embarrassing as a senior.”

Valpatan looked flustered.

A senior who couldn’t even remember a name.

Thinking of the misunderstandings that had stemmed from that, he felt even more awkward.

“Anyway, good to meet you, Wardanaz! I’ve heard a lot about you.”

This time, Lee Han wasn’t particularly surprised.

He smiled calmly and responded:

“You must’ve heard from the order knights?”

“I heard from other Einrogard students.”

“…?!”

Lee Han was a bit thrown by the unexpected answer.

“From the dark magic school seniors?”

“No. I’m not really close with those dark magic types. Just a few friends from the Tower mentioned you. During the dimensional rift, a junior apparently worked all sorts of magic schools. Oh! Didn’t you cut down all those penguin swordsmen from another dimension? How’d you even do that?”

At Valpatan’s words, the knights who had been sitting casually straightened up with keen interest.

This sounded like a fun story.

“That actually wasn’t me; I borrowed another summon’s power…”

“That’s right! Didn’t you take top marks in swordsmanship class? Everyone, I heard this: Wardanaz is top of the swordsmanship course! Better than the knight family kids!”

‘Does this guy not listen to anything I say?’

Valpatan kept bringing up new topics before Lee Han could even answer, making Lee Han think this to himself.

“Oh…!”

“Top marks…”

The knights’ eyes shone as they looked at Lee Han. Since this wasn’t exactly a lie, Lee Han couldn’t refute it.

“I started training swordsmanship at a young age.”

“Let’s hear about that.”

Valpatan pulled up a chair and sat comfortably before Lee Han.

His attitude made it clear he wasn’t leaving until he’d heard all about what went on at Einrogard.

‘Damn it. If he weren’t a senior, I’d just ignore him.’

To have to explain, one by one, all the exaggerated (and some not so exaggerated) stories about himself in front of the knights…

If he weren’t a senior, Lee Han would have cut things short!

• * *

“…And that’s how we dealt with the anti-magicists.”

“Ah. Wait. I’m…getting a little teary.”

Valpatan wiped his eyes with a handkerchief, genuinely moved.

The other knights also looked deeply touched.

“Was it really worth crying over…?”

“What? How can you not? This is so moving. What a wonderful story! I’ve got to share this with my friends.”

The knights’ sensitivity was vastly different from Lee Han’s. Valpatan and the others were sincerely impressed by the young magicians standing up and fighting rather than running away.

“By the way, are you close with Giselle? You two seemed close, fighting side by side.”

Another knight answered before Valpatan’s question.

“Yes! He said they were very close.”

“Really?”

“I didn’t say ‘very’…”

“How interesting.”

Valpatan was intrigued.

He was related to Giselle, but she wasn’t exactly easy to get close to.

As a direct descendant of the Moradi family, she had inherited that cold, razor-sharp personality most strongly.

While Valpatan, being from a side branch and having trained with other knight families, had become a bit more laid back, Giselle, having been raised as a direct heir, was thoroughly strict in these aspects.

“So, in other words, Moradi is a bit rude and lacking in social skills?”

“N-no, I didn’t exactly say that…”

Valpatan was flustered by Lee Han’s question.

“She’s just a bit cold and stern. Not someone who builds friendships easily.”

One of the knights listening interjected:

“But, if it’s someone from the Wardanaz family, wouldn’t they be worthy of friendship?”

“Hmmm. Maybe so.”

Valpatan thought it a real possibility.

The Wardanaz name was famous even among the Empire’s other great houses.

The fact that their reputation persisted despite not engaging much in politics or society just showed the house’s power.

The purest magical bloodline.

Considering that, it wouldn’t be strange if Giselle had intentionally sought a friendship.

A dignified friendship that would never tarnish either house’s name.

“That’s Giselle for you. So clever.”

“I’m impressed. Even in making friends, she goes the noble’s way.”

“…?”

Lee Han, listening to all this, tilted his head.

Would Moradi really have approached him with things like that in mind…?

‘She just seemed kind of unlucky to me.’

Didn’t she give him a hard time for taking swordsmanship class as a Blue Dragon Tower student?

Still, as a member of the Moradi family, Lee Han decided to praise his friend.

“Indeed! Come to think of it, she always treated my bloodline with respect…”

“Knew it! Wow, that’s amazing. I’m going to brag about this to my friends later.”

Valpatan felt proud; once school started again, he planned to boast about how wide the Moradi family’s network was.

The achievements of a family member were his own pride, too.

Next to him, Alsicle asked, fascinated:

“I don’t know much, but your friend seems so dignified for a knight house kid—almost like a model noble.”

“Uh, well…”

After finishing Giselle’s story, Valpatan took a drink to wet his throat and then straightened up.

Lee Han felt a sense of foreboding from that posture.

“But about the Ghoul King…”

‘Is this some new kind of torture?’

No matter how much he repeated the same stories, the knights listened with pure delight, making Lee Han shudder.

How could anyone love chatting this much?

BANG!

“Lady Moradi is coming!”

Suddenly, the door burst open and a knight yelled in alarm.

“…?”

“There’s more than one Moradi, isn’t there?”

“I’m Moradi, too.”

The panting knight caught his breath and shouted again.

“Lady Zecline of the Moradi family!!”

“!!!!”

The knights all sprang to their feet. Valpatan leaped up in a panic.

“Make way!”

“Let go! Where’s your sense of respect for seniors?”

“If I get caught today I’m finished!”

The knights all rushed to escape.

Valpatan tried too, but got stuck behind the others crowding the doorway and was a beat too late.

Meanwhile, the arriving servant said,

“Sir Alsicle of the Fongrif family. Sir Lee Han of the Wardanaz family. Oh, Sir Valpatan, you’re here too.”

“…I-I was just leaving…”

“Then, I’ll let Lady Zecline know.”

“Ah, wait! I’ll just stay. I realized it’s not that important.”

“Very well. Anyway, Lady Zecline will be visiting you both soon bearing gifts. Is that all right?”

Alsicle and Lee Han looked at each other.

In situations like this, one just went along with the visit, but to ask permission so formally—this was something only noble families that stressed etiquette would do.

“Is it all right?”

“Yes, thank you. Please inform her.”

Once the servant left, Valpatan let out a deep sigh.

“Who is Lady Zecline?”

“Huh, didn’t you ever hear from Giselle? It’s her older sister.”

“I see. …Not her big sister?”

“What are you talking about?”

Valpatan looked at Lee Han as if he was speaking nonsense.

Lee Han looked at Valpatan the same way.

“That’s not what matters now. Sir Fongrif, if I or any other knight have done something improper, please tell us now! I beg you, even if it’s impolite!”

Alsicle glanced at the plate of sardines, then replied.

“…Nothing at all.”

“That’s a relief. Wardanaz, did I do anything…”

“Haha. Not at all, Senior. But did you just say Giselle’s older sister…?”

“Whew… yes, good. Thank goodness.”

Valpatan fussed about with his appearance, fussing with his clothes and clearing his throat.

Alsicle grew even more curious at the sight.

“What kind of person is Lady Zecline from the Moradi family?”

“Oh. She has nothing to do with you two. But she does with me. She’s very strict about rules and propriety…”

Valpatan didn’t really fit in with the Moradi family’s culture, but Zecline didn’t fit in either. Yet she was from the direct line.

Loyalty, integrity, honor, chivalry…

There were few knights left who actually upheld such virtues. Even Imperial knights were a bit secular these days—that was natural.

But Zecline embodied those virtues. Not so much a northern Imperial knight, but more like a knight from the old kingdom era.

“There are still people like that?!”

Alsicle exclaimed in admiration.

For a direct member of the Moradi family to still live like that—astonishing and admirable.

“It’s tough for us.”

Valpatan complained.

Knights couldn’t spend all their days swinging swords and training.

Sometimes you needed socializing and heroic tales…

“But why did all the knights run off just now?”

“If she catches them slacking off and chatting with guests instead of training, she’ll scold them. I did my training today, so I should be fine. Maybe.”

“……”

For a moment, Lee Han looked at Valpatan the way he looked at Gainando.