Episode 678
by CristaeEpisode 678
Gawon, a wizard belonging to the Flaher City Lilium Mage Tower.
Gawon was someone with strong self-pride.
In fact, it was rare to find a wizard who didn’t have strong pride. Stepping into a field that changes reality by your own will wasn’t for just anyone, as innate talent was required.
As such, it wasn’t strange for wizards to think of themselves as chosen people.
Even half-baked wizards, who didn’t have a proper mentor and learned magic from textbooks picked up on the street, were highly regarded. So how much more so for a wizard affiliated with a mage tower?
Wizards like Gawon couldn’t help but be proud.
But there is always a higher sky above.
There was an opponent against whom the name Lilium Mage Tower carried no weight, and that was Einrogard.
The legitimate lineage of imperial magic!
“Thank you for letting us ride. My name is Lee Han.”
“Pl-please make yourself comfortable. I am Gawon of the Lilium Mage Tower.”
“Thank you!”
Gainando immediately passed out beside them. Lee Han kicked Gainando’s back. Gainando quickly sat up.
“Everyone seems… unwell. Did something happen?”
“A few things happened.”
Lee Han spoke with a bitter expression.
Too many things had happened in the Bitong Mountains.
But it seemed Gawon interpreted Lee Han’s expression differently.
“Looks like you’ve been conducting some difficult and dangerous magical research… I won’t ask further.”
“That’s not quite it.”
“Yes. Let’s just put it that way.”
“……”
Lee Han caught the scent of someone who only said what they wanted to.
He wasn’t particularly surprised. Poor communication was one of the traits of wizards, after all.
“Are you all participating in the dinner gathering tonight, by any chance?”
“What gathering are you referring to?”
“The mage tower gathering. The one being held here in Flaher City this year.”
Magic was such a broad and infinite field that, no matter how much of a genius you were, delving into it alone was difficult.
That’s why wizards formed guilds and built mage towers to polish each other together.
Not stopping there, they would also share and exchange knowledge and insights.
Such was the purpose of gatherings.
Even if it wasn’t a large-scale academy-wide conference, regional guilds and towers often held gatherings together. This time, it seemed to be held in Flaher City.
“Ah. No, we haven’t been invited.”
“Invitation doesn’t matter! It’s an open event. If you’re students of Einrogard, you can attend as much as you like.”
Gawon spoke sincerely.
It wasn’t such a formal occasion, and no one would consider Einrogard students unqualified just for visiting.
They could attend as comfortably as they wished.
“To my knowledge, another student from Einrogard is also participating.”
“Really?”
Lee Han was curious.
Einrogard was neither a local guild nor a tower in this area.
“As I said, it’s an open gathering. If you’re interested and qualified, you can come. Perhaps that person is interested in the magic being presented at the gathering?”
‘A different senior?’
Lee Han thought that, if a senior from Einrogard was participating, it wouldn’t hurt to chat with them.
Since the new semester would start soon, and he would meet many seniors, it would be good to get to know a few in advance.
“I’ll consider it. By the way, will you be presenting anything today?”
Gawon replied with a proud and confident expression to Lee Han’s question.
“Of course.”
“Oh. What will you be presenting?”
“Ahem. Would you take a look at this?”
Gawon stacked three magic circles on the carriage floor and began chanting with a potion.
Watching from the side, Lee Han spoke with interest.
“You’re maintaining a spherical form with water element magic and then adding supplementary properties. Classifying and amplifying magical power…”
“Hurk, cough.”
Gawon choked mid-chant.
He hadn’t expected the boy beside him to immediately identify the spell without any explanation.
“Ho-how?”
“Pardon? I’m a wizard too.”
‘This is why Einrogard alumni…!’
If being a fellow wizard was all it took, Gawon wouldn’t be struggling like this.
Gawon almost burst out laughing but held it in. You could regret for a lifetime if you antagonized a wizard from Einrogard.
“Even being a wizard, most can’t identify such complex spells at a glance.”
‘Doesn’t seem all that complicated…’
Compared to the magic of the skeleton principal or professors, Gawon’s spell seemed simple and easy to understand.
Of course, saying so outright would be rude, so Lee Han carefully worded his response.
“I think I recognized it quickly because I’ve seen similar magic before. A bit of luck, too.”
“Ha… haha. Isn’t it too simple, perhaps?”
Gawon eyed Lee Han.
This spell summoned a sphere of water in the air, then created a device to filter and amplify magical power.
It was quite practical and well-received in the mage tower, but Gawon was bothered that it hadn’t developed much beyond the -Ota’s Prism of Light- spell from five years ago.
As similar magic had already appeared, latecomers had to showcase something even more innovative to receive praise.
“I don’t think complexity or simplicity is important in magic. What matters is the effect, isn’t it?”
“Isn’t that right?!”
Gawon’s face brightened.
With support from an Einrogard student, his confidence soared.
“But I think you can omit this part of the magic circle.”
“Pardon? This forms the structure on the left…”
“It’ll be fixed by the power on the other side.”
“W-wai…”
Before Gawon could stop him, Lee Han trimmed a part of the magic circle.
Amazingly, the spell still held.
“!!”
“I don’t think you need this border’s magical power either.”
“That one is essential! You need to amplify magic for this spell…”
“You just compress the magic into this spot.”
Lee Han redrew part of the magic circle written in luminous spirit ink and compressed magic into the shadow sand.
It was a simple tweak that took less than a second, but that alone reduced the magical power needed for this spell by a third.
Gawon blinked in shock.
‘E-Einrogard…!’
Truly terrifying!
“Alsicle, would you like to come with me?”
“Hm. You should go—there’s a lot for you to learn.”
Alsicle, having heard about the gathering, strongly recommended it.
The more wizards you knew, the better.
“What about you, Alsicle?”
“I don’t really want to go.”
“You don’t have to eat sardines.”
“…It’s not about the sardines, it’s my research. If I go, people will ask me about my progress.”
Alsicle shuddered at the very thought. Lee Han looked at Alsicle with sympathy.
It was a future Lee Han himself might face one day.
‘If professors keep asking how my spell practice is going every time we meet, I might go crazy.’
“How was the Bitong Mountains?”
“I met a unicorn.”
“What? Really?”
Alsicle was surprised.
Professor Lightningstep was an exceptional explorer, but unicorns were just as rare.
You had to be lucky to encounter one—so how did it happen?
“Wow. Congratulations. Did you get a hair or something?”
“I got some hair, a fragment of horn… and we decided to raise it at Einrogard.”
“…What?? Why?!”
Alsicle, who had been lounging, shot up.
Unicorns rarely settled anywhere near many people.
Just what had happened?
“Well, we found the missing professor, and he was taking care of the unicorn.”
“Ah, that craz—… Professor Bendozol?”
‘Famous, huh!?’
Lee Han was surprised that Alsicle instantly knew who Bendozol was.
“Since there were more than one Dochul, the unicorn was in danger…”
“Oh dear.”
“The principal came, took Professor Bendozol away, and moved the unicorn to Einrogard.”
“…Wait. Hold on.”
Alsicle was dumbfounded halfway through.
Was this some ancient play, where the skeleton principal comes in at the end and solves everything out of nowhere?
“Feels like you skipped a lot…”
“Ah, Alsicle, I have to go.”
“O-okay. Have a good time. Don’t forget to tell me more next time.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Which part of what you just said is ‘not a big deal’?”
Still grumbling, Alsicle saw Lee Han off.
His friends were too worn down by magic sickness and fatigue to even come outside. Even Eandurde was croaking.
‘Is it here?’
Following the directions Gawon gave earlier, Lee Han arrived at an old, shabby mansion.
It was small, with a yard overgrown with weeds and parts of the exterior visibly broken.
Normally, he’d wonder if this was the wrong place, but the magical energy in the mansion let Lee Han know he’d come to the right spot.
‘There must be magic inside this place.’
For a wizard who could expand space, exterior appearances meant nothing.
Lee Han looked around.
People who seemed to be wizards were each gathering their belongings and entering the mansion.
And there was a familiar hooded face—a crow beastkin wizard…
“…Direte senior?!”
“Who’s there!?”
Direte flapped the wings on his back in surprise and turned. Fortunately, it was a familiar junior.
“Hey! What are you doing here?!”
“I’m on break, too. I just happened to get invited to the gathering.”
“Ah… ah, right.”
Direte was briefly puzzled at how Lee Han, who’d just finished his first year, was invited to a gathering.
The atmosphere was open, but first-years were rarely invited.
‘No, if it’s you, I guess it’s possible.’
But Direte soon accepted it.
This junior was more than eligible to be invited.
“Are you hiding your identity?”
“N-not something so grand… I just don’t want to be recognized.”
“Are you stuck in your research lately…?”
“?!”
Direte was startled.
How did he know!?
“How did you know!?”
“I heard that when research stalls, one usually doesn’t attend these things.”
“That’s right. You’re sharp. I wear this hat just to avoid questions.”
“If it were me, I wouldn’t attend at all…”
“But if you’re invited, you can’t just leave the guestbook blank. Plus, gatherings can be helpful. I was hoping for some inspiration.”
Direte sighed and changed the subject.
“What have you been doing during break? Don’t tell me you’ve just been working again?”
“Don’t worry. Recently, I was chasing a unicorn in the Bitong Mountains with the professor.”
Lee Han was quite pleased with how impressive that sounded, even to himself.
“Cough.”
Direte nearly dropped his hat mid-cough.
“Why with the professor?”
“There was a bounty?”
“On the unicorn??”
“No. On Professor Bendozol.”
“…?”
Direte wanted to ask what that meant, but a bell sounded inside, signaling it was time to go in.
“Come on. Tell me the rest later.”
“Yes.”
“…Did you find the unicorn?”
“Yes. The principal took it to Einrogard.”
“……”