Episode 621

“It’s fine.”

“No, I insist. If I cast -Sleeping Heat Imbuement- on the saddle, not only the rider but the horse will enjoy it too.”

Lee Han brought out various domestic-use spells he’d learned from Professor Garcia in his first year.

Ziklin’s horse nickered and rubbed its head in delight at Lee Han’s magic warming the saddle.

“Giselle. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“You’re not supposed to waste magic like that.”

Giselle sheepishly objected to her older sister’s order.

It was just Wardanaz, so strange with his abundance of magic, who could afford such waste; normally, no one would use magic for every little thing like that.

Ziklin saw her sister’s excuse as an attempt to cover up her inadequacy and gave her a stern look.

“Giselle. Just because you aren’t able doesn’t mean you can say that’s how it’s supposed to be.”

“That’s not it…!”

“I’ll handle the rest!”

Giselle glared at Lee Han, who ran off to enchant the other luggage.

Lee Han said as if there was nothing he could do.

“I couldn’t just stand around.”

“Thanks. Really, thanks. Yeah. Why don’t you just flatter my sister some more.”

“Don’t blame me. It’s just my Einrogard habits showing.”

“……”

Giselle had nothing to say to Lee Han’s words.

Come to think of it, back at Einrogard too, it was always Wardanaz casting every spell imaginable before a trip.

The difference was, now they were outside!

Wardanaz was crazy even within Einrogard, but seeing him outside, he seemed newly insane.

A magician is supposed to conserve their abilities and use magic only in crucial moments, but he cast spells on every little thing…

Stand any magician next to Wardanaz and they’d seem lazy and incompetent.

“What about everyone else?”

“No one else. That’s all of us.”

“…?”

Lee Han paused.

Of course, he knew knights’ hunts were far more inconvenient than noble hunts.

Pathless, rough terrain, not a single gamekeeper or beater, no servants or porters to carry the gear!

But to be honest, even someone like Nillia from the Shadow Patrol would laugh at such complaints.

-Wardanaz. Don’t let knights fool you. Half of what knights say is exaggeration, the rest is whining. They go in with detailed maps noting every fallen hair and only on fine weather. Their apprentices lug along all sorts of luxury goods too! Real hunting is what hunters do…

It’s a little rougher than a noble’s hunt, but even knights don’t make it completely uncomfortable.

But for this to be everyone?

“What about the other knights? Squires?”

“No one… Didn’t I tell you? There’s nothing to gain from inviting more.”

Giselle sighed.

She’d only agreed to accept Wardanaz because she knew his abilities from a year at Einrogard. Otherwise, she’d have opposed it with her life.

Each with two horses.

Only baggage that would fit on the mounts; nothing more.

That was Ziklin’s hunt.

“Hm. I see.”

“…You’re less surprised than I thought??”

“We have a knight in our family who does similar stuff…”

“Are you sure you’re really from the Wardanaz family??”

• * *

Ziklin was in an excellent mood.

Her younger sister, after entering magic school, brought home a polite and pleasant friend.

She’d worried since it was a magician family, but didn’t expect they’d get along with a knight so well.

Perhaps this person suited being a knight even better.

“Wardanaz. Do you see the river over there?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Long ago, a serpent dragon once crawled up into that river.”

With her usually blunt gaze, Ziklin looked toward the river, lost in memory.

“What happened?”

“It died.”

“…Why did it die?”

Regretting asking offhandedly, Lee Han followed up.

“I cut its head off.”

“Who and how did that happen?”

Giselle answered curtly in her sister’s place.

“My sister fought it alone for three days and cut its head off.”

“Hahaha… Wait. That’s not a joke, is it.”

Lee Han, about to offer a polite laugh assuming it was a joke, paused.

Giselle had been serious. Even Ziklin asked as if it was strange:

“Is there a reason to joke?”

“……”

Lee Han was shocked.

For a knight to battle a giant monster like a serpent dragon alone for three days and defeat it.

They say a master-level knight is like a walking fortress, but this was beyond imagination.

‘Could she be even stronger than Professor Allarlong or Ingeldel?’

“Why did she fight alone?”

“My sister wanted to, so she did. I watched from the riverbank.”

Giselle recalled the dreadful past, making a disgusted face.

She still vividly remembered how worried she’d been, watching in case her sister got hurt.

“You should have called for backup.”

“She hates that.”

“Who cares. Just call, then explain later.”

“…?!”

Surprisingly, Lee Han’s advice sounded convincing to Giselle.

“Wait, so today’s hunt is like that too…?”

“Yeah. We just wander around looking for good prey.”

Giselle explained dryly.

They roam the cold, rough northern lands, searching for game worth fighting one-on-one.

If good prey was found, the order was to engage it, while everyone else waited behind.

The better the knight, the tougher the prey—absolutely no room for complacency…

“That’s just like Professor Baegrek’s exam!”

“Watch your mouth. My sister’s not as bad as an Einrogard professor.”

When it came to her own sister, Giselle couldn’t be objective.

Lee Han shook his head inwardly.

‘To think there’d be someone like my professor even outside during break.’

It was truly a sad thing.

“Hm.”

After checking the high ground, Ziklin looked around.

She had a feeling quite a few monsters lived nearby.

“We’ll camp here today. I should check the local monsters…”

“I’ll do that.”

“It’s fine, Wardanaz. You should rest. Magicians are supposed to be weaker, aren’t they?”

“……”

Giselle grumbled inwardly, “He’s sturdier than me, you know.”

While Ziklin left to scout, Lee Han instantly summoned skeleton warriors to set up a camp.

Before Giselle could even do anything, a simple palisade went up, along with beds, a campfire in the middle, a basic cooking tripod, and alarm spells set all around.

Giselle blinked in surprise.

She’d gone camping with him at Einrogard a few times, but it had never been like this.

‘Did he just go camping all the time since I saw him last…?’

“What’s up, Moradi?”

“Nothing. Thanks for the prep work.”

“…What’s up, Moradi?!”

“……”

Seeing Wardanaz react more strongly to a thank-you than anything else, Giselle really wanted to smack him.

‘Hold on. My sister could come back any minute…’

If Ziklin came back to find them fighting, only she herself would lose.

Lee Han handed Giselle a tin cup filled with boiled coffee. Then, in a serious tone, he said:

“Moradi.”

“?”

Giselle, wondering what he wanted to say, suddenly recalled a recent exchange.

Wasn’t this the exact same expression he wore right before saying, “Not nuna but unni, right?”

“If you say something ridiculous again…”

“No, it’s something serious. Moradi. Get serious. This is a serious talk.”

“You—!”

“If we find a suitable target fast, the hunt ends early, right?”

“!”

Amazingly, this time it was really a serious question.

Giselle nodded at Lee Han’s keen insight.

“Right. If we find good prey…”

If Ziklin felt, “This was a good fight for this hunt,” then the hunt ended.

“You, me, both Einrogard magicians. Let’s use our magic to scout out good prey quickly.”

“It’s a good idea, but not easy in practice.”

Giselle replied, propping her chin on her hand.

Even if there were a lot of monsters around here, finding the right one wasn’t easy.

Magic isn’t all-powerful, after all.

“Unless you know some secret spell you learned from the principal. Do you?”

“I know some spells for boosting physical abilities.”

“Hey, that’s it, isn’t it? The one that gave everyone in our tower muscle aches…”

“I don’t know what you mean. More importantly, Moradi, picking the right target is pretty subjective.”

“…So you’re going to fudge it?”

“Not exactly. I just mean, maybe I could convince her.”

“My sister may seem naive, but she’s not easy to persuade. And her intuition is so sharp even lies hardly work.”

For a knight at Ziklin’s level, her instincts were almost prophetic.

She could judge at a glance which prey and kind of battle a knight could handle.

“Then we just need to find somewhat strong prey.”

“Feeling confident?”

“If I prepare ahead, won’t the fight be easier?”

Lee Han pointed to his skeleton warriors. Giselle made a wry face.

“I wonder if my sister will allow that in a knight’s battle.”

“Hm. Then only one way is left.”

Lee Han spoke as if he had no choice.

Giselle grew curious what sort of plan this sly Einrogard top student had left in reserve.

“Let’s just claim we had a fierce fight while Ziklin’s away.”

“…That might not be bad…?”

Giselle actually agreed.

Unlike the other suggestions, this one felt strangely plausible.

“Right? I was thinking of sending my contracted summons and elementals to scout the area.”

“Alright.”

“I’m telling you, I’ll send them out right now.”

“…? I said I got it, didn’t I?”

Lee Han looked a little dejected at Giselle’s reaction.

How could she not be amazed!

“Wait. One more thing.”

“?”

“If you want to go home after the hunt, you need to find prey that satisfies my sister. It’s harder than you’d think.”

“Really? Why—”

No sooner were the words out than Ziklin’s voice rang out from below.

“Everyone, I’ve returned from scouting. There weren’t any worthy monsters… Wardanaz, did you make this campsite with magic?”

Ziklin’s usually blank face showed a faint trace of surprise.

But Lee Han could not answer right away.

In Ziklin’s other hand was a Minotaur’s head, blood dripping from it.

“Ah. Are you interested in this? I just caught it since I saw it on the way.”

“…Oh, ooh…”

Lee Han realized it would be harder than expected to find prey suitable for this knight.

• * *

“We’re in trouble.”

Lee Han said as he handed Giselle a soup made of diced Minotaur meat and potatoes.

“At this rate, we’ll be stuck outside right up until the banquet.”

“Told you so. My sister’s hunts are hell.”

Giselle sipped the soup. It was delicious beyond words.

She hadn’t imagined she’d enjoy such a meal during the hell of a hunt with Ziklin.

“Lady Ziklin didn’t say much; did she enjoy it?”

“My sister? That means she really liked it. She finished her serving. She never even eats a full bowl.”

“If it tastes good, don’t most people eat five bowls?”

“Which barbarian does that?”

“Gainando… uhm. Never mind.”

“……”

As Lee Han trailed off, a minor frost elemental sent him a signal, causing him to jump in surprise.

“They found an enemy!”

“What, what kind of monster?”

Giselle snatched up her sword handle and asked.

“Oh. They say it’s not a monster but a person. Looks like a criminal.”

“Ah…”

Giselle, disappointed, sat back down—then stood up at once.

“Hey! If it’s a criminal, we’ve got to catch them!”

“Oh, right. Good point.”