Episode 733

Direte wondered why his junior was suddenly so agitated.

Wasn’t the Headmaster always a bit mad, anyway?

It seemed strange for the junior—practically his star pupil—to only realize that now.

“I saw this illusion.”

Lee Han quickly explained the vision he had just witnessed.

Direte, knowing that for a wizard—especially one trained in divination—such a vision was not to be taken lightly, listened seriously.

“How tall were the trees?”

“Excuse me?”

“In the illusion, what was the height of the trees here?”

“There was barely any difference, but I think they were a bit shorter. Why?”

After checking the tree heights and the length of the shadows, as well as other landscape details in Lee Han’s account, Direte fell into thought.

Ever since she entered Einrogard, she’d kept an eye on the Shadow Woods—so even small differences allowed her to guess the time frame.

“That had to be in the last few months—no more than two or three months ago…”

“…!”

Lee Han’s face hardened at the news the vision was so recent.

“It happened just two or three months ago? This is bad, senior. We have to get back right away.”

“And do what?”

“I’ll send a letter to His Majesty the Emperor, and contact my patriarch to prepare for a hunt for the Headmaster.”

The peculiar specificity of his plan made Direte wonder if his junior often worried about such contingencies.

“Calm down, junior. There’re a few strange points here.”

“You mean about why the Headmaster is plotting something like this? The Headmaster loves plotting such things!”

“That’s not what I meant… It’s strange you saw this vision to begin with. You didn’t see a prophecy of the future, but rather a lingering memory left by a wizard.”

Direte had experienced Lee Han’s resistance to poisons and illusions firsthand last year; he knew Lee Han was highly resistant.

So this wasn’t a hostile spell, but more like a memory echo intentionally left by a wizard.

A clever enchantment left so only a ‘qualified’ person would see it upon arriving here.

And if the Headmaster was plotting something evil… why leave such evidence?

“I think I know why.”

“What is it?”

“The Headmaster enjoys that sort of thrill.”

“…Junior…”

Direte grimaced, but Lee Han sounded frustrated.

“The Headmaster is so insane, he’d no doubt plot while leaving clues for others!”

“Couldn’t it be just a being resembling the Headmaster?”

Direte, not very convinced himself, posed the question to calm Lee Han.

Lee Han paused.

“Wait. Come to think of it, I have heard a rumor about the Headmaster’s crazy clone before.”

“Really?”

“But that might be a fake rumor the Headmaster spread on purpose as part of a wicked scheme, to have an excuse if something happens…”

“Junior. Personally, I think it’s a crazy clone.”

“Is that so.”

When Direte spoke with such conviction, Lee Han couldn’t insist further and reluctantly backed down. If Direte thought so, maybe it really was just a crazy clone.

‘Or maybe it’s a fake rumor started by the Headmaster himself.’

“Why is such a mad clone associating with a spell-criminal? And why would a criminal call such a clone master?”

“Junior, all that’s urgent, but aren’t you curious how a crazy Headmaster clone appeared in the first place?”

Of course, understanding what the criminal and clone wanted here was the first order of business, but even so, as a mage, Direte found it odd that Lee Han wasn’t curious about the clone’s origin.

Wasn’t he even a little curious?

“I bet it happened by accident—maybe by breathing wrong or sneezing.”

“…Based on my own guess, it probably happened during the Headmaster’s ascension to a new level.”

Having inherited some of Gonadaltes’s magic via Professor Mortum, Direte knew a little about the magics the skeletal Headmaster used.

The Headmaster’s spells went back to ancient royal times—so old they defied most modern reference.

Having once been a prince of a minor kingdom, the Headmaster was one of the greatest mages of his time, pushing ever higher, relentlessly mastering all forms of magic.

Direte didn’t know every power or spell used in that journey—any scholar would struggle to piece it all together—but he’d heard tell of the great spell that cut away all emotion and attachment.

“There are liches in the Empire—some have become liches with legal sanction.”

“I’ve seen that in the papers.”

As was well known, high-ranking black magicians sometimes abandoned their bodies to become undead and chase after new heights.

But few did so, since lichdom came with heavy penalties.

Changing a staff required an adjustment period—how much more difficult must it be to change your whole body?

Many who hoped to reach new heights as liches only found despair and went berserk.

“Last time, a mad lich contaminated the southern granary region.”

“Let’s not get sidetracked. As you’re guessing, liches aren’t really perfect. But the Headmaster is a lich who’s almost perfect.”

The Headmaster liked to mention his skull’s golden-ratio curvature, but what Direte meant was something different.

Surviving from such ancient times to now was impossible for just any lich.

“There’d have been spells of a whole other tier in the Headmaster’s transformation, so it wouldn’t be strange if a crazy clone popped out in the process.”

“Right. I suspect the great spell that severs all emotion and attachment is the direct cause—as I’ve never seen that spell in any text. Judging by the result, something like an uncontrollable clone could certainly happen.”

‘That makes sense.’

Lee Han found Direte’s theory convincing.

The Headmaster often boasted of having severed all attachment and emotion—clearly, that wasn’t a run-of-the-mill spell.

If even the Headmaster was proud of it, it had to be an amazing ancient secret, and a side effect like a crazy clone wasn’t surprising.

“I want to back your theory, senior. But if that’s how a clone was spawned, what’s its purpose in Einrogard?”

“No clue.”

Direte knit her brow.

Who knew how many crazy clones there were? And what their goals might be was even less predictable.

Even the ‘normal’ skeletal Headmaster was a total wildcard—a mad clone was a problem on another level.

“But I can guess the spell-criminal’s goal—probably to learn magic.”

“Disguised as an Einrogard student!?”

Lee Han was concerned—surely a new student that old would be suspicious.

“No, I mean from the Headmaster’s clone.”

“Ah, right. The dynamic was pretty different from most teacher-student relationships.”

Usually, the master chased the disciple around, nagging them to learn—not broodingly ignoring them.

‘Junior, your idea of a student-master dynamic is a little weird, too…’

Direte thought to herself, feeling Lee Han had suffered enough.

“A Headmaster’s clone would more than suffice as a teacher. That spell-criminal’s infamy makes sense, then.”

“And if the clone was moody, it would naturally sometimes act upset at even its own students. Not strange at all.”

“Junior… you didn’t fight with the Headmaster lately, did you?”

“…No? Why?”

Lee Han, seeing Direte worried, was confused.

He thought he was being reasonable—why ask?

“N-no reason.”

“I really can’t tell why the Headmaster’s clone brought a spell-criminal here. Maybe they’re trying to assassinate the Headmaster.”

“Maybe so.”

Direte’s face hardened.

He’d decided to tell the skeletal Headmaster what happened as soon as he got back.

“But, senior…”

“What?”

“Aren’t you supposed to catch that shadow snail? You seemed determined to get it earlier…”

“It’s useful, but not enough to chase after now. Just helps with darkness mana recovery, black-magic boosts, undead summoning, strengthening reagents, that kind of thing…”

“……”

Lee Han squeezed his eyes shut in self-reproach.

He shouldn’t have brought up the Headmaster’s clone.

The shadow snail was way more important!

‘Damn. Got distracted by a pointless conversation.’

As Lee Han blamed himself, a wave of unease swept through his senses.

At the same time, Direte’s bracelet jingled with an alert. Both magicians’ faces changed.

“Senior!”

“Hold on tight!”

As befitted a veteran fifth-year, Direte responded immediately.

If his own senses couldn’t pick it up and it still triggered his warning artifact, the opponent was no joke.

Biting his left thumb to draw blood, Direte flicked it into the air.

At once, bone fragments imbued with magic burst from his clothes, spell after spell igniting.

-What’s that? Most ominous!

A summoned giant bird, totally different from the earlier shadowy familiar, appeared. It seemed intelligent, speaking in human tongue and gesturing at something behind.

But Direte’s spell didn’t stop there.

As more bone fragments burst alight, powerful black magic erupted.

Golems glowing green bound together massive bone walls and shoved them into the enemy like sledgehammers.

“!”

When Lee Han finally saw the enemy, his own face went pale.

A massive, black, sticky, wicked mass of magic was rolling through the forest like a tide.

That definitely wasn’t a naturally occurring monster.

‘The Headmaster’s mad clone? The spell-criminal?’

He didn’t know which, but it didn’t matter right now.

Lee Han immediately readied a mix of spells to harry the enemy.

Crackle! Crash!

Third-circle ice and lightning spells flew like bullets.

Despite prepping his own magic, Direte couldn’t help but smile grimly—few juniors were that reliable.

“Hitting it…”

As the enemy instantly restored its form, Lee Han grimaced.

With foes that could regenerate like that, physical attacks only led to endless war of attrition.

You’d have to incinerate it in one shot or exploit its weakness…

“Blooded bone, turn to poison and become a dreadful curse!”

Meanwhile, Direte unleashed his spell.

‘A curse?!’

A curse that attacked the target’s very existence would surely be effective here.

Still, curses could easily be blocked with just a little defense—they were more for control in wizard duels than as lethal shots.

Seeing Direte amplify the curse that much, Lee Han could only admire him as a fellow black magician.

“…Too weak!”

But Direte realized the curse hadn’t been a decisive blow and clicked his tongue.

-Danger! Direte! Danger!

The giant bird that carried them warned.

Despite the golems and bone barrier pinning it, the thing was catching up faster and faster.

‘…I’ll strike first!’

Direte pulled a shadowy sphere from his chest, chanting ominously.

So much mana was packed in the area warped; the air itself screamed.

‘Personal world!’

Lee Han recognized what his senior was about to attempt.

Forced to study by the Headmaster, he’d read about it.

He didn’t know exactly what sphere Direte had, but it must be an artifact that temporarily allowed use of a personal world.

As packed as the mana was, it still wasn’t enough—Direte clutched the sphere and poured in even more.

He turned ghostly pale and his nose bled.

Panicked, Lee Han grabbed the sphere to help.

“I’ll help too!”

“…!!!”

As Direte frantically gathered all mana from the area, his junior just manhandled the sphere and brute-forced in pure mana. Direte’s eyes bulged in disbelief.

“…You crazy little…!”

Lee Han pretended not to hear.