Episode 639

While everyone was deeply moved, Arsil spoke up. Lee Han was slightly flustered.

“Uh. You want to give presents to my friends? It’s not necessary… No, brother. Please don’t be offended. Some of the things you give are kind of dangerous. You really want to give something truly safe? Last time you said that to me too… Though I knew it was dangerous, you said it was because you wanted to give something good? Wait, what are you doing right now?”

Lee Han felt choked up.

He’d asked for something safe—why did he keep trying to give him unsolicited affection!

“Lee Han. I’m curious what it means that your brother speaks in spirit language…”

Yoner was curious about what kind of person Lee Han’s brother was.

And mixed into that curiosity was a slightly mischievous expectation.

Just as Yoner was embarrassed because of her crazy elder sister, she wanted to see Lee Han become embarrassed because of his crazy sibling!

“What kind of present?”

“Wait, Gainando. Spirit language…”

“Is spirit language important? Didn’t he just say ‘present’ just now! He did say ‘present’, right?”

The clueless relative rushed at Lee Han to ask.

Even without being mysterious, anyone offering a present would be tempting.

“He did say ‘present’, but be careful. Gainando. Most of the presents my brother gives are strange.”

Arsil looked a little crestfallen as he defended himself. Of course, his ungrateful younger brother didn’t even pretend to hear it.

“Does Gainando like wizard card games? He does like them… No. Brother. Please don’t give him any wizard card game-related presents. If you do, he’ll play that all day.”

“What? He’s giving me wizard cards?!”

Gainando, even without understanding the spirit language, somehow intuitively grasped the conversation.

“Me! Me! I want to receive it! If you give it to me, I’ll use it gratefully for the rest of my life!”

Arsil smiled and handed over a tough leather pencil case. Gainando took it, puzzled.

“Uh, is this to tell me to study?”

“No. He says it’s not a pencil case, but a case for wizard cards.”

“It’s a leather case!”

Gainando delightedly placed his cards in the case. Then Arsil explained.

“He says it’s not an ordinary case? That it’ll give you advice during wizard card games.”

“…!”

Gainando was shocked.

Artifacts with intelligence or a will of their own were extremely rare.

Let alone one specialized in wizard card games.

Who would ever bother making an expensive artifact just to give advice on wizard card games?

“R-really?!”

“But isn’t it a game decided by luck anyway? Is there any point in advice?”

“You don’t know anything, Lee Han! Skill is incredibly important in wizard card games!”

At Gainando’s protest, Nillia asked, perplexed,

“Doesn’t he lose to Wardanaz all the time?”

“Leave him be. I guarantee, even with advice, he’s not going to win.”

Despite his friends’ slander, Gainando paid them no mind.

He thought his low win rate was caused not only by bad luck but by the occasional—even if rare—misjudgment.

If he could get rid of those mistakes with advice, he could definitely win!

“Huhu. Now no one can stop me…”

“My brother says let’s have a quick game. What do you think?”

“Alright!”

Gainando’s face lit up as he took out his cards from the case.

Arsil also laughed and took out his cards. Seeing cards like -Wandering Book Peddler- and -Raging Wind Spirit-, Gainando smiled with confidence.

They weren’t particularly rare or expensive cards.

And ten minutes later.

“……”

Gainando blinked in shock after losing five games in a row.

And not just losing—he lost much more overwhelmingly than usual.

“L-Lee Han, isn’t this bad advice?!”

Lee Han replied indifferently.

“My brother can hear the voices of spirits.”

“So what?”

“The spirits tell him all your cards. It’ll be hard for you to win.”

“!?”

Gainando gaped at the spirits.

How could they sabotage a sacred card game!

“H-how could the spirits do this…! How!”

The spirits just chattered and laughed at Arsil. Arsil also laughed and responded.

“Is your brother making fun of me?!”

“He just says the sunlight is nice today.”

Reeling from the shock of defeat, Gainando changed targets.

“Lee Han. Just one game!”

“Fine. Okay. Okay.”

Normally, he’d have smacked him on the back of the head and told him to study, but since Gainando had come as a guest from afar, he felt a little weaker.

Besides, the coachman was gone too…

‘If I lose on purpose, he’ll be happy.’

Lee Han decided to lose intentionally for Gainando’s sake.

After all, if Lee Han won, they’d have to play several more games, so it was the only rational choice.

Luckily, the leather case from Arsil seemed to be an ordinary (from Arsil’s perspective, dull and uninteresting) artifact with no side effects.

“So you’re saying I should play -Palm Tree Knights- here?”

Gainando muttered, conversing with the leather case.

“But Lee Han already played three -Swift Skeleton Warriors- on the field? If I don’t use a card to defend myself here, won’t I die next turn? It’s fine? He can’t kill me? …Understood. Then I’ll trust you and play -Palm Tree Knights-!”

Gainando played the knight card with confidence. With a dazzling flash, the knights moved inside the card.

Then Lee Han commanded his -Swift Skeleton Warriors- to wipe out Gainando’s remaining life.

“…N-no!!! You said it was fine!!!”

Gainando shouted at the leather case.

“What do you mean it was just bad luck! How can advice be like this! My judgment was right!”

“…You played a game, right? I’m going.”

Lee Han and his friends quickly turned away while Gainando was quarreling with the leather case.

If they got caught now, they’d have to play several more games.

Arsil gave Nillia a jade comb as a present.

“Th-thank you! …But what kind of artifact is this?”

“If you comb your hair with it, enemies can’t find you for a while… No, brother. Was it that kind of item!? If it was, you could have just said so…!”

Arsil waved dismissively as if it were a boring item. Then he gave Yoner an inkwell containing color-changing ink.

“This is ink that writes letters your enemies can’t see. …Brother, could you please give me gifts like this in the future?”

Yoner picked up a quill and wrote ‘Gainando is an idiot’ on the paper.

“Gainando?”

“What?”

Gainando, angry from losing an argument with the leather case, turned his head.

“Can you see this?”

“Huh? It’s just paper.”

Yoner nodded, satisfied.

“Thank you.”

Arsil responded with a casual greeting as if it was nothing.

• * *

After finishing greetings, the friends, as typical mansion guests, toured the mansion and spoke with Lee Han’s new junior (Gainando got his hand bitten).

After that, they all sat together in the library and began studying magic. Not because they especially liked it, but because there wasn’t much else to do in the mansion.

After about three days, Gainando begged, with a look hard to tell if he was in Einrogard or not.

“C-can you at least show us around the estate, Lee Han… If I stay here any longer, I might die.”

“Quiet. Just study.”

Yoner scolded her cousin as she moved her quill.

Einrogard didn’t assign summer homework, but considering the workload, it was basically the same as having assignments.

If you didn’t prepare for the parts you lacked during your first year, you’d have to pay with your body in second year when you returned to school.

‘Hmm. Looks like Nillia wants to rest, too.’

Lee Han glanced at Nillia, who froze as she tried to open her mouth awkwardly.

She was probably about to agree with Gainando, but stopped when she saw Yoner’s reaction.

“…A little sightseeing isn’t a bad idea. Is there anywhere you’re curious about?”

Usually, even if a great noble family’s estate was far from a city, it wasn’t boring.

With countless guests regularly visiting and staying, new balls, banquets, plays, and performances kept being held.

New guests could fill a day just by attending such events.

But House Wardanaz’s estate was the most peculiar and out-of-place among the great noble families.

Not only were there no guests, you rarely even saw the mansion’s own residents, so there was little to do.

Patrolling the estate was just about the only option.

Touring the family’s lands to get fresh air and look around—an enjoyable diversion any noble family could offer…

“Lee Han. The western mansion garden is off-limits right now. The golems have started a revolt, and it’ll take some time to bring them under control.”

Allarlong politely informed them as he walked down the corridor. Lee Han spoke with resignation.

“Well. No western garden, then.”

“……”

Gainando regretted speaking up but couldn’t stop now.

Patrolling a garden in full-on golem rebellion seemed preferable to endless studying.

“Then the north! North side!”

“There’s the lake labyrinth up north… Sir! Is it safe to enter the lake labyrinth now?”

“I wouldn’t recommend it, Lee Han. The waters of the labyrinth are particularly strong now—it’s dangerous if you enter wrongly.”

“So he says.”

The three wanted to ask, ‘What in the world is the lake labyrinth and why is that on your estate?’ but clamped their mouths shut, fearing Lee Han might take them to see for themselves.

Fortunately, Lee Han was not alone in the mansion. Passing by, Arsil overheard the conversation and kindly spoke.

“My brother says he’ll show you a suitable place.”

“The lake labyrinth?!”

Gainando shouted in shock, and Lee Han replied as if that was nonsense,

“The lake labyrinth is dangerous. Gainando. Even if you want to go, hold back.”

“Ah, no… I didn’t actually want to go to the lake labyrinth…”

Arsil motioned for them to just follow.

He wanted to give his younger brother’s friends an enjoyable experience since they had come all the way here.

“Hmm. I wonder if this is okay.”

As Lee Han hesitated, his friends curiously asked,

“Why?”

“The places my brother usually recommends are kind of weird and dangerous.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“Yeah. Lee Han, we survived Einrogard, didn’t we?”

Seeing his friends so confident, Lee Han felt reassured.

They’d all toughened up together thanks to their time at Einrogard.

“Yeah. You’re right.”

As Arsil walked ahead, spirits began to appear one by one, moving stones from the dirt road and clearing underbrush.

The spirits cleared the way so Arsil wouldn’t get hurt.

He hadn’t really noticed before, but now that he understood spirits to some degree, he realized just how amazing this was.

‘…Don’t be jealous.’

Lee Han reminded himself, trying not to look.

It was only natural Arsil didn’t bother learning magic.

When spirits loved you that much, what would you need magic for?

People like Lee Han, who didn’t receive the spirits’ affection…

‘Wait. What am I thinking?’

Arsil’s pace became faster. Lee Han and friends sped up behind to keep up—

The spirits were pushing them from behind.

“Here?”

When Arsil stopped, Lee Han was puzzled. There didn’t seem to be anything special nearby.

Rrrrumble—

Earth spirits made heavy sounds as they opened an entrance.

An ancient tomb appeared before them, so old it was impossible to tell how old it was.

Seeing it, Gainando muttered without realizing,

“Isn’t this way, way more weird and dangerous than I was expecting?”