Episode 67

Episode 067

The Blue Dragon Tower students who arrived late looked at the bustling lounge in confusion and asked,
“What’s going on?”
“Wodanaz said we should raid the White Tiger Tower and steal their flag!”
“…Wooooow! I’ve been waiting for this!”
Each new student who heard the situation burst out cheering.
“No matter how I think about it, isn’t trading better?”
Gainando still muttered as if unable to accept it.
Lee Han grew curious and asked.
It was quite rare for Gainando to voice his opinion like this.
“Why do you think that?”
“If we trade, we can finish the assignment safely without any risk.”
“That’s true. But we already decided not to because we can’t trust those White Tiger Tower guys.”
“They seem trustworthy this time, though.”
“How come?”
“They gave me bread and milk and spoke kindly to me…”
“……”
Lee Han was appalled.
In these austere times, giving someone bread and milk was never just a simple act of kindness.
At best, giving away half a loaf of bread might be kind, but beyond that, there must be some ulterior motive.
‘Did they try to bribe Gainando?’
Why him…?
‘Well, thinking about it, Gainando’s actually a pretty decent target.’
With his status, he seemed to have some influence (though the White Tiger Tower students likely didn’t fully know the inner workings of the Blue Dragon Tower), and he looked sufficiently careless, making him ideal to probe…
Having roughly figured out the situation, Lee Han pondered and then spoke.
“Alright, Gainando. Let’s try your way before the raid.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah. Go tell the White Tiger Tower guys that I changed my mind.”
“Aren’t you going to tell the others?”
Gainando looked puzzled.
Shouldn’t he tell the now-excited friends that the plan was changing slightly?
“They probably wouldn’t accept your wonderful plan anyway.”
“That’s… true. I’ll go tell them!”
Gainando set off confidently. Yonere, who had been listening from the side, wore a worried expression.
Lee Han nodded as if he understood Yonere’s worry and said,
“Don’t worry. The White Tiger Tower guys might have bad attitudes, but even they wouldn’t grab and torment Gainando in a situation like this.”
“No, I was worried in case Gainando betrays us.”
“…Gainando’s not that kind of person, is he?”
“But you never know in life. Wish there was a potion to prevent betrayal.”
“……”
Lee Han became just a little scared of Yonere.
Besides, isn’t Gainando your cousin!

• * *

“All done?”
“All done.”
The White Tiger Tower students were satisfied with the splendid looking flag.
Surprisingly, the White Tiger Tower students were genuinely thinking about trading the flag.
…It was a fake flag, though!
Swapping a fake flag for the opponent’s real flag was quite an ingenious idea.
Of course, it wasn’t easy. All the keen-eyed Blue Dragon Tower students had to be fooled.
As a result, the White Tiger Tower students went to the Black Tortoise Tower’s black market and traded precious rabbit meat they’d caught over the weekend for cloth and dye.
It was a painful sacrifice for all of them, who were hungry, but it couldn’t be helped.
“Moradi! It’s done! The prince guy fell for it! He said to set a time and place for the trade! We’re meeting in front of the main hall tomorrow when the sun’s overhead!”
Angrago, the White Tiger Tower’s goat beastman student who’d gone to meet Gainando, shouted excitedly.
“Of course! Angrago, great job!”
“After feeding him such precious food, this was the least he could do!”
Everyone clapped and stomped their feet, but Giselle still wore a troubled expression.
Next to her, the dwarf student Dukema asked,
“What’s wrong, Moradi? Is something up?”
“I still don’t know if that prince guy is useful or not…”
There was a reason Giselle felt uneasy.
In any group, the one leading it always had a certain aura.
Much as she hated to admit it, anyone could see it in Lee Han of the Wodanaz family.
Even without being the leader, those with some position in a group always stood out a bit…
…But the prince named Gainando felt strange; there was none of that about him.
“Moradi, trust Angrago’s eyes. That prince will be a useful lever.”
“Yeah. I think so too.”
When Dukema sided with Angrago, the other students joined in.
‘What’s a brat with no skills but lots of confidence going on about?’
Of course, Giselle didn’t fall for her friends’ show of loyalty.
Objectively, Angrago wasn’t that competent.
If he was, he wouldn’t have run away bawling when the three of them went to confront Wodanaz!
But Giselle said no more.
Though she acted like the leader in the White Tiger Tower, she couldn’t get her way on everything.
Her friends, who trusted her skills and family and followed her orders, were still human, with feelings and complaints.
If she forced her orders too much, things could go wrong.
Sometimes she had to show she listened to her friends. Maybe because they were all aspiring knights, their pride was very sensitive to this.
“Alright. If Angrago feels that strongly about it, we’ll go with it.”
“Hehe.”
Angrago scratched his head sheepishly.
‘Even if it fails, it’s just a fake flag anyway.’
Even if the deal failed, or if the other side tried to trap them, there’d be no real loss.
At worst, they’d just lose a fake flag that had no use to begin with.
Thinking that, Giselle nodded.
“Okay. Then let’s disperse. We’ll trade tomorrow.”
“Got it!”

• * *

Late at night, while everyone slept.
Lee Han and his friends slipped out under the cover of darkness.
Surprisingly, they didn’t go alone—among them was a student from the Black Tortoise Tower.
It was none other than the professional thief, Ratford.
“Please follow me.”
Since Lee Han wasn’t moving alone, he needed the eye of a pro thief.
Thankfully, Ratford gladly agreed to Lee Han’s request.
“Gasp.”
Yonere drew in his breath with a startled noise. Lee Han tensed up as well.
What was it?
“Why?”
“…We should have called Nilia too…!”
“!!!”
Lee Han realized his mistake too late.
True, Nilia’s skills weren’t needed for this theft, but if she heard about it later, she’d definitely…
“Ratford. If Nilia asks, I never called you.”
“Understood?”
“…No, there’s no way she won’t hear about it.”
With so many people, there was no chance Nilia wouldn’t hear.
‘I’ll have to explain later.’
“That’s the White Tiger Tower up ahead.”
In the darkness, only the moonlight shone on the tall tower. Lee Han nodded and approached slowly. Having come here a few times, it wasn’t that unfamiliar.
“Everyone remembers the plan, right? Stick to it.”
The Blue Dragon Tower students nodded, faces tense.
In truth, it wasn’t much of a plan.
Lee Han and Ratford would enter first.
The others would hide nearby—if Lee Han called, they’d enter; if not, they’d stay put.
But nerves were inevitable.
Especially since, coming from great imperial families, for most this was a first nighttime raid.
“Ra… Ratford. Should we bite a twig so we don’t make any noise? I saw that in a novel once.”
“There’s no reason, as no one patrols and there aren’t many people.”
“Ratford. I wrapped my shoes in cloth so I won’t make noise!”
“At night you could slip, so you’d best unwrap them.”
In this way, Ratford ended up acting as a sorta one-day theft instructor. Lee Han gestured to Ratford.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Lee Han and Ratford stood before the White Tiger Tower’s door. They looked as natural as if it were their own tower.
Asan, who was tightly clenching his sweaty palms in back, suddenly wondered.
‘Ratford aside, why is Wodanaz so familiar with this…?’
Lee Han held his breath and touched the tower.
He tried to read the magic within the tower.
“…!”
For a moment, Lee Han nearly collapsed.
When one forcibly crammed too much knowledge and information into their head at once, it was dizzying.
That’s what Lee Han felt now.
There were countless spells cast over this tower.
On top of that, Lee Han’s mana perception was exceptionally keen.
Other students might only notice a simple spell or two nearby, but Lee Han sensed layers far beyond that.
“Are you okay?!”
Seeing Lee Han break into a cold sweat, Ratford whispered in alarm.
“I’m okay, I’m okay. Just startled a little. As expected, it’s no joke.”
“A wizard’s tower is never easy to enter. If it’s too tough…”
“No, let’s do it.”
Lee Han focused, trying not to read the entire tower.
He only needed to break through the spell at the entrance!
Woooooooo—
“…!”
A mass of magical power started to gather. Even the relatively insensitive Ratford could perceive the gathering power.
‘Is this… okay?’
Ratford became worried.
If the magic was that strong, a single mistake could seriously hurt Lee Han.
‘No. If it’s Lord Wodanaz…’
KABOOM!!!!!!
“!!”
“!!!!”
Even the Blue Dragon Tower students waiting in back were startled by the huge surge of magic.
Then Lee Han shouted.
“The door’s broken! Everyone, get in!!”
“Let’s… let’s go!”

• * *

-Master. The magic on the White Tiger Tower just stopped.
No way those anti-magic guys again?! How’d they get past the walls?
Deep in his underground workshop, the headmaster skeleton was startled for the first time in ages.
-It seems the freshmen stopped it.
Ah. If that’s so, I suppose it’s possible. Must be the assignment I gave them. They should’ve taken care of it sooner.
The headmaster quickly regained his composure.
Wait. No freshman should be able to fool the tower’s magic… Did they get an artifact? Did some careless fool lose an artifact? Oh, no. There was another way.
Muttering to himself, the headmaster skeleton quickly found the answer.
There was a freshman who could temporarily stop the tower’s magic.
Did he just smash it by force? How crude… But where did he learn that?
The headmaster was a bit puzzled.
Such a brute-force method was hardly ever useful and quite dangerous, so neither books nor professors at the school taught it.
To dispel magic, you should analyze the structure and find its weakness—what kind of brute would just bash it with brute force!
-Shall I find out?
No, you idiot skeleton. I wasn’t talking to you. Anyway, even if the entrance’s broken, there should be other spells that stop intruders, right? What happened to those?
The tower’s magic wasn’t just on the entrance.
Countless anti-intrusion spells were in place inside too.
-Most of the other barrier spells stopped as well.
……
The headmaster skeleton paused again.
Not only the entrance, but the other spells, too?
‘What kind of brute is this…!’
Just how hard did he hit it, for the other magics to stop too?