Episode 726
by Cristae“Hm. That’s really odd.”
Barglios of House Elbali, the third-year student who had been asking through all the likely questions in the book, tilted his head in confusion.
Normally, you’d expect at least one yes by now, but only denials kept coming.
‘Thank goodness.’
Even if Lee Han hadn’t gotten an answer, he felt a bit relieved.
Thankfully, the wood spirit wasn’t angry with him.
…Of course, there were still plenty of reasons left to check, but for now, just knowing the spirit wasn’t upset over the questions asked so far was enough.
‘But this isn’t my fault.’
Once you started learning at Einrogard, everyone ended up meeting the Ghoul King or the Frost Giant King.
To survive such meetings, you sometimes had to contract with evil beings and the like…
“All right. At times like this you need an unusual question.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“Is it because you’re taking every magical school’s courses?”
“……”
Of course, the answer was no.
Lee Han glared at the senior, who awkwardly adjusted his glasses.
“It’s an unusual question. When you’re stuck, you try even these things to get an answer.”
“That’s a little too unusual, though, isn’t it?”
Barglios threw out some more questions.
Things like ‘Did you ever have the staff endure excessively powerful magic or mana?’ or ‘Did you let dangerous monsters touch the staff?’ But the spirit kept saying no.
“Wow. What is this, really?”
“Is it possible the spirit likes me so much it won’t answer?”
“That’s nonsense. Only a Baldrogard student would say a thing like that about someone taking every magical school’s classes.”
Barglios never compromised when it came to magic. Lee Han sulkily nodded.
“Are you dissatisfied because you can’t use your abilities… Wait, that’s it? Look here!”
As a positive answer appeared, Barglios was startled.
This question was so low on the list it was near “Are you currently politically dissatisfied due to recent power shifts in the spirit realm?” and “Did an ancestor of your wizard have a grudge-holding spirit friend?”
“Usually there’s no reason for a spirit not to be able to use its powers. Did you leave this staff laying around somewhere for a long time?”
“No. I carried it every day.”
“That’s strange. Hmm. Wait. First let’s check the spirit’s powers.”
As a summoning magic major, the orc senior calmly proceeded to verification despite the odd situation.
After casting a few spells, the wood spirit’s abilities turned out to be…
“Healing Authority, Life Authority, and Fortitude Authority. Three in all. Not bad! For a spirit not under contract to lend you this much power. Must’ve taken a liking to you.”
“I was lucky. But it’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Professor Thunderstep only told me about one. That it’s good for growing plants.”
Indeed, Professor Thunderstep had given a simple explanation when Lee Han first got the staff.
Said it’d be great when growing plants…
“That’s the Life Authority… but, well, not sure. Professors never pay attention to students anyway.”
‘Is that so?’
Though Lee Han was confused by the senior’s comment, he accepted it for now.
“First, Healing Authority. You’ve probably experienced it a few times. It’s great for wizards—recovers mana.”
“?”
He didn’t recall ever having his mana restored by the staff.
Just in case, Lee Han tried to remember, but nothing came to mind.
“It must not have worked, then. Now. Did you ever not use Healing Authority? See, it says you never used it… huh?”
The wood spirit bluntly answered that it had never used its Healing Authority.
Barglios was taken aback.
“Are my glasses malfunctioning?”
“No, I think you read it right.”
Lee Han replied with a slightly somber voice.
Thinking about it, even if the wood spirit could recover mana, Lee Han never had an opportunity to need it.
That power is only used if you’re running low on mana—and he never was.
“The other two, you must have used at least.”
“The Life Authority is the one you just mentioned…”
“Yep. Alchemists love that. Helps grow plants.”
“Yes. Pretty sure I’ve used that one.”
“That’s a relief. Did you ever not use Life Authority?”
The wood spirit promptly answered that it hadn’t used that either.
“……”
“…Did you actually use it?”
The orc senior, who’d been maintaining a scholarly attitude a moment ago, now eyed Lee Han grimly through his glasses.
It seemed Lee Han only used the staff at dusting time once a year.
“I grew plenty of plants! This is a misunderstanding. The spirit’s mistaken!”
“Hm. Did the wizard perhaps substitute the Life Authority with another method?”
The wood spirit immediately answered yes.
Lee Han asked, just to be sure.
“Did I substitute it with mana?”
Affirmative.
Lee Han was struck by a wave of futility.
He’d believed the staff had helped the plants grow, but it was just a placebo.
He only thought the staff made things grow, so when he spread mana around, the effect increased because he believed it would.
“I thought I was using the staff’s power.”
“C-cheer up. Those things happen sometimes. So what did you actually use instead?”
“I must have unconsciously scattered my magic. I believed things would grow better thanks to the wood spirit, but that was…”
“……”
Barglios took a step back, looking at Lee Han like he was a lunatic.
If Barglios were a spirit, he’d have answered affirmatively to the question about being too scared.
‘What the hell is with this guy?’
Magic was a discipline defined by a wizard’s firm will, so such things could count as a type of primitive magic.
But the “primitive” in “primitive magic” meant it was unstable and weak. That’s why modern spells were cast differently now.
To make a change with just one’s own suggestion and no chant required a tremendous output of mana.
Barglios couldn’t believe any one wizard could emit that much mana.
“What’s the Fortitude Authority?”
“Humble, but handy too. It lets the staff endure heavy blows or strong magic when cast.”
“I’ve definitely used that one.”
“I’d start doubting by now. Did you ever fail to use the Fortitude Authority?”
Coldly, the wood spirit replied that it had never used it.
Lee Han snapped.
“I’ve fought so many times—are you saying I forgot about the Ghoul King and Frost Giant King?!”
“…What kings??”
“Nothing. Please ask again, senior.”
“Just asking again won’t change the answer. The only reason you could fail to activate Fortitude Authority is if it’s still not enough. Are you lacking something?”
Affirmative.
Getting the answer that it was lacking, Lee Han didn’t understand.
“What do you mean, lacking?”
“Well… it means you have to use more powerful magic. Otherwise, the authority isn’t worth triggering.”
“……”
Lee Han stared at the staff as if it were mad.
“Well, anyway—hang in there! The wood spirit doesn’t hate you. If you have it show its stuff in the future, that’s all it needs.”
‘Is that even possible?’
When the class ended and Lee Han stood, comforted by the orc senior, he felt a little hollow.
He’d learned a lot, but it felt like he’d gained nothing.
Turned out he’d practically never used the spirit’s powers at all.
“No need to overthink it. If you have no use for the Healing Authority, just add another authority that links up with it. There must be powers that need mana recovery.”
If the wood spirit wanted to restore mana, you could just add a spell to the staff that steadily consumed mana. It was actually good news for a wizard.
Of course, it would make the creation process more difficult…
“Same goes for the Life Authority—add another authority to link up.”
“What about Fortitude Authority?”
“I don’t know any way but for you to cast even stronger magic.”
“…Thank you, senior. You must be busy, but you’ve been so kind to teach me.”
Lee Han gave sincere thanks.
Everyone was busy with their own classes, and seniors were busier, having an extra year’s workload.
To help so thoroughly was rare.
“Haha. Not like you’re a stranger, you’re a fellow junior.”
“Are you from the Blue Dragon Tower?”
“No? I meant the summoning school. See you in summoning class, junior.”
“……”
Now that he thought about it, at least one senior here was from each school.
That was why he could get help, but somehow, Lee Han felt strangely bittersweet.
‘Why do I feel so empty?’
“Hey, Wardanaz!”
Angrago spotted Lee Han and came running.
“Hurry up! If we don’t go now, we’ll miss it!”
“Miss what?”
“You don’t know?! Geez. Just come on! Quick!”
“I really don’t know, though.”
Angrago all but pushed Lee Han as he dragged him away.
“You’re a club member, so how come you don’t know?”
“That’s because the club I joined… Never mind. Which club is it?”
“Of course it’s the polo club. What else!”
Angrago answered, voice full of excitement.
One of the things he’d been looking forward to most last year was joining the Einrogard polo club.
“That animal’s here right now. Can you believe it? That we get to see it?”
“What are you talking about? A griffon? Basilisk?”
At Lee Han’s question, Angrago shouted in horror.
“What the hell, nothing that deadly! Of course not! Don’t you know what the polo club is? You have to bring riding animals!”
“Griffons and basilisks can be ridden too.”
Someone in his sleeve made a hissing noise in agreement.
Angrago ignored Lee Han, thinking he was speaking nonsense.
Checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening, the White Tiger Tower friend spoke in a low voice.
“…The professor is taking care of a unicorn right now!”
“Aha.”
Lee Han nodded, understanding what he meant.
He’d rescued an injured unicorn over winter break and brought it to Einrogard, so it wasn’t strange to see a unicorn there.
“Not surprising.”
‘Does this guy have nothing but cold mana in his veins?’
Angrago looked at Lee Han in utter disbelief.
For a pretty skilled polo player to react this coldly to news of a unicorn—if you had a heart, that was impossible.
“Wardanaz. Today I’m going to see a unicorn with my own eyes. And I’m going to ask it—”
“Ask what?”
“If it’ll play polo with me.”
‘That has to be the dumbest question a unicorn’s ever heard.’
Lee Han thought so, but seeing how excited his friend looked, he kept it to himself.
“Sure. It’s your right to ask. What about class?”
“Oh, of course.”
Angrago answered with determination.
“I’m just going to skip class. Unicorn’s more important.”
“……”
Lee Han kicked his friend back toward the classroom.
The polo club members were watching the unicorn anxiously from a distance.
A short, cranky-looking professor was howling at the unicorn, practically begging.
“Let me take care of you!”
“Professor, I think the unicorn needs us!”
“Shut up, you noisy, ugly creatures! Get out of here!”
Professor Bendozol fired off spells at the polo club members. They promptly scattered, as if they’d been expecting it.