Episode 760

“It’s just a minor dispute over ownership!”

To whom do the things in Einrogard belong?

Perhaps this difficult question is one that the Einrogard wizards will have to ponder for eternity.

The anonymous lich asserts, “It belongs to the lord, the principal.” An anonymous troll-blooded professor claims, “Isn’t it whoever tended to it?” Radical students insist, “It belongs to whomever needs it.” But no definite answer has ever been settled upon.

Usually, the rules are flexibly altered depending on the situation.

-Hey. I’ve claimed this alley passage first. If you want to pass, pay the toll.

-You maniac. Are students from the White Tiger Tower not knights but bandits? Attack!

-Wait. I’ve claimed this alley passage first. I repair the collapsed sections and regularly remove the traps. If you want to pass, pay the toll.

-Honorable White Tiger Tower student. I thank you for your labor. I will pay the toll.

According to the other party’s contribution and justification, ownership is acknowledged to a degree.

But this mushroom field was a place with a particularly tangled web of ownership.

More than ten years ago, a senior stumbled upon this colony where mushrooms grew on their own…

-Friends, I’ve found a mushroom field!

-Is there fog cloud mushroom too?

-Yeah! We don’t ever have to go into Mist Mountain again!

-Wait. With a field like this, someone else might try to take it by force.

-Let’s join forces to protect it. This mushroom field is ours!

A few years later, when the seniors graduated, the juniors inherited and split it among themselves…

-I was the one who helped the senior the most. I should get the biggest section!

-Don’t be ridiculous. Who looked after the mushrooms the most?

-They grow fine on their own! Enough nonsense—divide it equally!

Even the sections passed down became messily tangled and disputes erupted.

-From here to there is my area!

-What are you talking about? It’s not written that way here.

-Forgery?! You fraud—you forged that!

-Excuse me, I bought the rights to this mushroom field for twelve gold coins…

Forgery, theft, burglary, quarrels… all followed in turn, and now the field had several supposed owners and had become a strange land.

“Does such a place even exist?”

“There are lots of places like that in Einrogard, I hear.”

“……”

Returning to the embankment where his friends waited, Lee Han was dumbfounded by Yoner’s words.

“I suppose there’s no choice. I’ll have to take it by force.”

“I knew you’d say that, Wardanaz.”

Lee Han wondered if he shouldn’t have a genuine, heart-to-heart talk with Priest Siana one day.

‘Could she be thinking of me as one of those Shift Club seniors?’

He only moved things for survival when it was absolutely necessary—never for enjoyment.

…Probably.

“Should we wait until nightfall?”

“That’s the problem.”

“?”

“Didn’t we start alchemy class? Everyone’s busy gathering the supplies for the semester.”

“That’s true.”

“The seniors know that too, so they’ll probably camp out there for a while.”

“……”

Lee Han poked his head over the bank to double-check.

There were signs of sleeping bags and camping gear littered around the seniors. It looked like they were planning to stay for several more days.

“I hadn’t wanted to fight the seniors, but… if we want to avoid being caught, we’ll need to think carefully.”

“Don’t you usually think about whether you can win first?”

Yoner was annoyed at Lee Han, who was drawing up plans assuming victory as a given.

• * *

Professor Mortum coughed and gestured.

“You may open the door.”

Creak—

The door of the bone carriage, which had just landed at the spire stable, opened and a coughing wizard stepped out.

He looked as sick and worn-out as Professor Mortum.

The main difference was that Professor Mortum was short, while this wizard was tall.

“You still don’t look well, Professor Taswhan. Isn’t your research on the Curse of Moderation too harsh for a wizard?”

“Cough. I’m all right. My research on the Curse of Moderation is nearly finished. My poor health is due to the curse placed upon me by Lord Gonadaltes. At the gathering, in Kalarogard, I called Einrogard and our own school the twin wheels of the Empire’s wagon and…”

“……”

Professor Taswhan was a professor at Kalarogard, the magic school where the Empire’s dark wizards gathered, and an outstanding dark wizard himself.

And imperial dark wizards almost always had some connection to the Skull Principal.

The Skull Principal was the only mage who had handed down the authentic dark magic tradition from ancient times, and had contributed to establishing the modern Empire’s magic system—all but guaranteeing some degree of influence.

Professor Taswhan got struck by the Skull Principal at the Black Magic Assembly held in the Violet Mountains seven years before.

The -Night of Dark Wizards- was a joyful festival where renowned imperial dark wizards, leeches who still got “Are you still alive?” greetings, and many others would attend.

The Empire’s long-missing archmagus graced the festival with unheard-of secrets, esoteric lore, and candid reviews of the juniors’ spells, making the event even more lively.

In high spirits despite his frail body from all the dark magic research, Professor Taswhan downed several cups of potent poisons.

Then, in his drunken state, he spouted this in front of the Skull Principal:

-Lord Gonadaltes! I’m truly delighted. As one of the dark wizards of Kalarogard, one of the Empire’s twin wheels alongside Einrogard…

-What did you just say?

The Skull Principal, for insulting Einrogard and for foolishness (a real mage should never believe rumors but judge for themselves), cursed him on the spot.

That curse was still not fully dispelled, so Professor Taswhan was still suffering.

“Professor Taswhan. Whether it’s a comfort or not, the principal is busy these days. You probably won’t see him.”

“That’s wonderful news! Thank you, Professor Mortum. I feel a bit more energy in my body.”

As the chilly spring night wind swept through the tower’s stable, Professor Taswhan shivered. Even with a strong warming spell on his coat, the chill was biting.

“Here, have a cup of warm honey tea. My student made it.”

“Ohhh…”

Carefully accepting the cup, Professor Taswhan drank the honey tea. The hot golden liquid went down his throat and warmed his whole body.

That wasn’t all. There seemed to be some alchemy involved, as it even helped restore his body. Professor Taswhan, surprised, asked,

“Student Direte made this tea? I didn’t realize he was so talented even at alchemy.”

“No. My new student made it.”

“Enviable, Professor Mortum. It seems you’ve acquired yet another talented pupil. As expected, Einrogard gathers the best of the Empire—the dark magic school there must attract plenty of outstanding talents… At Kalarogard, it’s always a struggle to recruit students. Mine are diligent and skilled, but few new ones ever join.”

Shaking his head, Professor Taswhan shared the woes of a dark magic teacher.

At least Einrogard, being the Empire’s top magic school, brought in many talented students to even the dark school.

But Kalarogard really struggled to find students.

It was rare indeed to find someone both talented in magic and devoted to the dark arts.

“……”

Professor Mortum hesitated, unable to speak the blunt truth.

It was difficult to say that even Einrogard’s dark school barely got five new students this year.

“Congratulations on your many new pupils, Professor Mortum. The other dark wizards will surely be pleased to hear it.”

Professor Taswhan was sincerely delighted. Professor Mortum squeezed his eyes shut.

By now, it was much too late to correct him.

“…Where are your students?”

Professor Mortum changed the subject. Professor Taswhan pointed to the bone carriage.

“They’re inside. Still recovering from intoxication. It’ll take some time before they’re well enough to move.”

“I suggest you wait inside…”

“I can’t go in ahead of my students while they’re still out here.”

Professor Taswhan smiled kindly at Professor Mortum’s words.

No matter how cold or miserable, he couldn’t go inside before his disciples.

Professor Mortum grumbled quietly to himself.

‘You raise the average decency of professors too much.’

When someone raised the bar for professorial character too high, all the other professors suffered for it.

In a way, it was a selfish act.

“…Very well. What’s the purpose of your visit this time?”

“First: the wizard card club exchange match.”

“That club again? I just don’t know why wizards are so into that.”

Professor Mortum grumbled in disapproval.

He couldn’t understand why students from other magic schools journeyed all the way here for wizard cards.

Professor Taswhan laughed understandingly, as if he agreed.

“I don’t really get it either, but it’s my students’ hobby, so I let it be. If you only use the whip, even the strongest horse will eventually collapse.”

“The principal says you should whip the running horse… Never mind. What’s next?”

“Reagent purchases.”

Einrogard was both a place that purchased and sold huge quantities of reagents.

With its vast domain and bizarre main building, the resources available were endless.

Of course, consumption was so high that sales to outsiders were limited, but between imperial magic schools, exchange of needed materials was allowed.

“Reagent purchases… what do you need?”

“The curse-impregnated barrels and poisonous insects I mentioned last time, plus mushrooms too.”

“You can take the barrels with you right away. I doubt there are enough insects or mushrooms on hand now.”

“There’s a location I checked eleven years ago! I plan to collect them myself.”

“I see. Then I’ll assign a student as a guide—collect what you need.”

Professor Mortum took up his pen and quickly made notes for the visit’s purposes.

But Professor Taswhan frowned slightly.

“Is there someone other than Direte? No matter how you look at it, it’s a bit much to ask a fifth-year…”

“……”

This time, Professor Mortum reflected a bit.

Indeed, the point was valid.

‘Now, who to assign… A pity Koholti graduated. No, even if Koholti hadn’t graduated, I wouldn’t trust him. Ogoldos lacks street smarts…’

Escorting outside wizards was far more difficult than just hosting ordinary guests.

Guests usually only saw safe parts of the school, but wizard guests often wanted to visit deep inside.

So you needed someone adaptable, who could keep even rowdy Einrogard students in check.

“Hm. I’ll have to entrust it to Wardanaz.”

“There’s such a student? What year are they?”

“Now, don’t misunderstand.”

“Don’t be silly!”

Professor Taswhan laughed.

“Must be a third year? That’s fine. If it’s an Einrogard third year, they can handle it.”

After all, if someone was a standout even among the best magic school in the Empire, handling this as a third year would be no problem.

So Professor Taswhan thought.

“Actually, a second year…”

“????”