Episode 648

However, Alsicle was not fooled.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Waving his staff to summon the helmet back, Alsicle threatened the arrogant artifact.

“A mere helmet, being insolent to a wizard? I’ll lock you away in eternal frost!”

Please, help me. Master.

The helmet dropped its usual arrogance and called for Lee Han.

Unlike Einrogard’s students, outside wizards truly might do anything.

To teach the arrogant helmet a lesson, Alsicle conjured a thick block of ice and trapped it inside.

Then he asked Lee Han,

“Even so, with an artifact like this, it should have some use.”

“So, about that…”

Lee Han explained what kind of artifact the -Helmet of Wisdom- was.

If it had at least been useful besides being wicked, Lee Han would have used it more often, but this helmet had very little knowledge, and its answer cooldown was too long.

That’s why Lee Han never took it out except during the flood incident last semester.

But even so, Alsicle remained interested.

The fact it was made for the purpose of collecting knowledge was interesting in itself, and Alsicle was curious as to what sorts of knowledge it possessed.

“I’m jealous. To have gotten something like this.”

“Then, why don’t you buy it, Pengerine?”

“Oh? Really?”

“!”

Lee Han hesitated when Alsicle responded to what he’d said as a joke.

“You really want to buy it?”

“If you’ll sell it, of course I do.”

“This helmet, even the shop refused to buy it…”

“Well, a regular shop wouldn’t. It’s a wicked artifact. But I’m a wizard. An artifact like this is good for research.”

Lee Han’s eyes sparkled.

Since he’d failed to sell it, if he didn’t offload it to Alsicle this time, he might never get rid of it.

“In that case, just give me a single silver coin and you can take it!”

“What? No way! What are you talking about?”

Alsicle was appalled at Lee Han’s ridiculous offer.

No matter how much of an aristocrat he was, to display such a lack of understanding for the value of money!

If word got out that Alsicle had bought a junior’s artifact for the price of a single silver coin, from that day on his nickname in both the Imperial magical and social circles would be -Artifact Thief- or -Junior Exploiter-.

“How could I buy an artifact like this for just one silver coin? Absolutely not.”

“Oh dear.”

Feigning deep consideration, Lee Han opened his mouth.

“Then what about a price you consider appropriate, Pengerine?”

“You don’t buy things like this with money.”

As a senior wizard, buying Lee Han’s artifact for money was against tradition.

It was better than being known as “the guy who took it for a silver coin”, but he might end up with nicknames like -Buried in Gold- or -Pressure on Juniors-.

To prove there was no coercion or exploitation, an exchange was proper.

Alsicle would gift Lee Han an artifact a bit more valuable than what Lee Han had given him.

“…But I really would prefer gold coins. I won’t tell anyone, honestly.”

“Don’t be absurd. Honor doesn’t disappear just because no one sees it. Hm. What do I have that’s suitable?”

Alsicle ignored Lee Han, scanning his list of artifacts.

Having recently traded some expensive artifacts for Imperial gold coins to fund his magical research, his list was a bit lacking.

And after all, all of Wardanaz’s artifacts were powerful things.

Ghastly and hideous, sure, but he couldn’t deny their power.

“Hmm. A staff bearing the mark of Count Red Spirit… But you have the Frost Giant King’s Original Stone, so you wouldn’t need this… How on earth did you get the Frost Giant King’s Original Stone?”

Still fretting, Alsicle decided to question Lee Han again.

“There’s a dimension gate at the school… No, but didn’t I mention it before when Lord Yumidihus was here?”

“Did you?”

Alsicle tilted his head.

He still had vague memories of the visit with Yumidihus, Wardanaz, and Baegrek.

He remembered being so shocked by Wardanaz’s outrageous talent that he bawled…

“You, Pengerine, were going to lend me a staff embedded with a Frostagón egg, but Professor Baegrek stopped you. Said the stone from fighting the Frost Giant King was better than the egg.”

“Thanks for reminding me of something I wanted to forget.”

“I apologize.”

“How could that be your fault? It’s Baegrek’s fault.”

Grumbling, Alsicle dug through his artifacts. But nothing suitable came up.

“Pengerine, just take it first and repay me later.”

“No. Then I’d end up as -Alsicle the Junior Swindler-.”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, never mind.”

But no matter how he tried, there wasn’t an artifact on hand worthy of giving Wardanaz.

‘This won’t do.’

Alsicle resolved to join a few auctions as soon as possible.

As he quickly pulled out catalogues and letters, Lee Han looked on in curiosity.

“What are you doing?”

“Participating in an auction. If you want to join the Crescent Moon Auction, you have to send a letter by tomorrow.”

Some Imperial auctions required in-person attendance, but for those who couldn’t attend, there were auctions that accepted mail-in bids instead.

With the Empire’s vast territories, gathering in one place was hard.

So, for these people, catalogs would be sent out and bids sent in by letter by the deadline—the Crescent Moon Auction.

“Crescent Moon Auction!”

Lee Han and Yoner exclaimed in surprise.

“Why? You two want to look as well?”

“That’s the auction with tons of price gouging…!”

“Isn’t it a waste?”

“…That’s not what matters right now, is it.”

Unlike in other auctions, since you could only bid via letter, you had to go higher than normal.

Otherwise, you’d miss out.

But if you were in a hurry, there was no other choice. As Alsicle shooed the two students aside, he opened the catalog.

Seeing the outline of the Crescent Moon Auction catalog, full of flashy magical items, Lee Han’s eyes shone.

For someone like Lee Han, who dreamed of high profits at low cost, auctions were a hurdle he’d have to cross someday.

If you found treasure in a ruin or from a commission, where would you sell it?

Some wizards insisted on disassembling and analyzing everything for themselves, but Lee Han did not intend to be that wasteful.

‘I wonder what they have up.’

“Can I take a look too?”

“Browsing is fine, but no complaining about the price beside me.”

“Why not let me say an expensive thing is expensive…”

Lee Han grumbled, but Alsicle was firm.

It was distracting to have someone making a fuss about prices while picking artifacts.

“A Spardurs egg, estimated Imperial gold coins: two hundred… Wait. Why is a Spardurs egg so expensive?”

Breaking his own rule immediately, Lee Han complained, but Alsicle grumbled back with an explanation.

“Spardurs has feathers that shine in thirteen colors.”

“But it’s hardly useful for magic, and it doesn’t have any other special powers.”

“True. But it’s beautiful.”

“……”

Lee Han lamented at Alsicle’s words.

‘Over two hundred coins for an egg from a bird that’s just pretty?!’

It was an unbelievable extravagance by his standards.

Henagon’s Staff

The famous Western Imperial wizard Henagon’s staff is imbued with magic from years of use.

Estimated value: fifty Imperial gold coins.

Rosenata Blossom

The flower of all flowers—the finest fusion of pink and crimson in the Empire.

To raise it, no Imperial horticulturist could match -Flower Grower- Peltel, who cared for it for nearly a year.

The history of this flower…

…

…

Estimated value: 32,000 Imperial gold coins.

“Guh.”

Lee Han had never been magically assaulted before, but the auction catalog gave him a similar experience.

A flower with no magical use and just good looks was apparently worth more than a fortress.

“I don’t know why people don’t just buy artifacts. They have to be better than a flower like that!”

Lee Han grumbled bitterly.

For Lee Han, who hoped to dig up and sell artifacts later, this was almost a livelihood issue.

Why such a stark difference!

“Artifacts, well… normal people don’t need to use them…”

Alsicle sympathized with Lee Han’s feelings.

Saving money when it came to magical research—even investing gold coins was begrudged—yet wasting it without blinking on such things.

Alsicle thought: that money should be taken and given to wizards.

“Isn’t that basically theft?”

“There’s a more refined and elegant term than theft…”

“Bandit?”

“My mistake. Let’s just drop it.”

Alsicle changed the subject and turned the catalog’s pages. Though this auction didn’t have many items wizards would want, it was especially true for this round.

‘When I see things like this, I want to sell something too.’

Seeing the auction items, Lee Han felt inspired to hit it big in one go.

Like the things he had on hand…

‘The Bracelet of Ten Thousand Demons or Morningstar would be no good, right? The Behemoth necklace neither. The staff, too… Should I try selling the silver spoon for poison detection? Honestly, not detecting poison isn’t such a big deal. No, I probably wouldn’t get much for it. The design needed to be better. Or it needed a story.’

Seriously pondering how he might be able to swindle someone into buying his artifacts, Lee Han’s hand landed on a rolling pocket watch with a cracked glass face.

“This is…”

It was unfamiliar at first, but then he remembered.

He’d bought it at -The Will-o-wisp’s Tangled Treasure Pile-, a shop for used artifacts, with the great wizard Baldororn.

This wasn’t an artifact, though. The shopkeeper said so, and Baldororn had agreed.

But…

-Your wallet seems a bit heavier these days, now that you’ve sold some artifacts… Interested? If you miss this chance, you might never find a pocket watch in such good condition.

-If Master Baldororn says so…

-No, I didn’t mean it in any deep way!

Thinking back, Lee Han thought there might have been some hidden meaning in Baldororn’s words.

After all, both the skeleton principal and Arsil—those who live long tend to get bored; they never say things directly but always deal in roundabout metaphors.

If Baldororn’s words were a hint—

‘It’s quite possible.’

Entertaining thoughts that would make Baldororn flip if he heard them, Lee Han carefully examined the cracked pocket watch.

He searched for any secrets hidden within using detection magic and various methods.

But there was nothing special in the watch. Lee Han wondered if maybe he was just being paranoid.

‘Should I try pouring in a bit of magic?’

Very cautiously, Lee Han let a current of magic flow into the watch.

Sensing the internal structure by infusing magic like this was a specialty of enchanter wizards.

If you wanted to become skilled at artifact making and repair, you couldn’t always open them up.

Lee Han had started with the disadvantage of low innate magic power, but he also had a sensitive touch with magic second to none.

And, thanks also to the crazy beaver beastman professor who endlessly nagged him to practice controlling his output—

Lee Han was able to send just the right amount of magic. He could sense the complex structure within the watch becoming clearer.

Click!

Lee Han’s magic touched the watch’s escapement at exactly the right spot, and the sound of the second hand stopping rang distinctly in his ears.

And Lee Han felt time around him slow down for a moment.

‘…Time magic?!’