Episode 768
by CristaeEpisode 768
‘This guy. He didn’t trust me.’
Lee Han realized upon seeing the other’s reaction.
Clearly, in that short time, BeaverPenguinFox had asked the other members too.
Otherwise, there was no reason for that kind of reaction.
Gonadaltes: From the looks of things, you all advised BeaverPenguinFox that it’s not possible to use that kind of magic in this situation, didn’t you?
Iactus: N-no. I recommended doing it.
Gonadaltes: Don’t lie.
Actually Iactus had recommended it.
Though he used irony, which was the problem…
Gonadaltes: In contrast, Baquantalana’s insight is a cut above. Iactus, you should reflect on yourself.
Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Actually, Baquantalana also said it sounded like a lie.
Gonadaltes: ……
Baquantalana: I don’t think it’s a good habit to reveal conversations we’ve had with each other.
‘No one can be trusted.’
Lee Han grumbled inwardly.
It might have sounded a bit far-fetched, but still, to think that, as a new member, they’d all been criticizing him behind his back.
The club was called -Guardians of Einrogard-, but their conduct was more like that of suspicious doubters.
Beaver-Penguin-Fox: I’m busy, so I’ll go now. Anyway, Gonadaltes, I’d like to thank you again.
Gonadaltes: It wasn’t even hard. Unlike someone else, that is. Then I’ll go too.
Iactus: ……
Baquantalana: ……
Iactus: That’s not really the principal, right?
- * *
With a clack, Agdung snapped his jawbone in place.
“Ugh. That really surprised me. What kind of magic was that?”
The peachwood staff artifact Professor Taswhan left behind was protected by a pretty solid spell.
Since it involved magic, if you activated it wrong, headlines like, “Kalarogard Professor Terrorizes Einrogard!!” or “Cause traced to an insult during the Black Magicians’ Night seven years ago…” could appear in the empire’s newspapers.
But to just break the protective magic with telekinesis.
Telekinetic magic is manageable for precise control at low output, but for combat use, the difficulty level soared.
It consumed not only magical energy but considerable mental strength as well, so for battle magicians, telekinesis was only ever used as a supplementary technique.
It’d usually be engraved into items as enhancement magic beforehand or used as a distraction to disrupt the enemy’s concentration…
But this Morningstar Hall disciple apparently broke the protective spell and pulled the staff over using only telekinesis.
At this distance, to bring out that level of destructive force?
‘What magic achieves that? Among telekinetic spells… -Summon Small Fist- is too weak. -Small Shockwave- won’t work…’
“It’s -Wardanaz’s Psychokinesis-.”
“Ah. Must be a family secret spell.”
Only then did Agdung somewhat accept it.
The world of magic was vast, and among them, there were some legendary secret magics whose power transcended circle limitations.
What Wardanaz just used was one such spell.
Among the famous stories of the Wardanaz patriarch, one even involved moving an entire sea to create a lake.
“Family? Well. You could call it that…”
“Can I ask what circle the spell is?”
“Five circles.”
“?”
Agdung doubted his ears.
“Five circles?”
“Yes. To bring out that level of destructive force with telekinesis, five circles is about the minimum needed for stability.”
“Uh, uh… but that’s not what I meant…”
The Morningstar Hall disciple seemed to think Agdung’s “Five circles?” meant “Did you really have to use a five-circle spell for this?”
“…Remember -Be Gone, Defiled Ones!- and -Resolution Toward Corruption-?”
“Excuse me? Yes.”
Both were black magic defense spells, one third circle, one fourth circle.
“You hadn’t learned either of them?”
“That’s right.”
“What did you say back then?”
“I said I’m sorry I didn’t learn the spell?”
“…No! You said you couldn’t learn them because you were a second year!!”
For the first time, Agdung lost his temper at the Morningstar Hall disciple. Lee Han was a bit flustered.
“S-sorry?”
“No, I’m sorry… Just forget what I said. Anyway, you said it was because you were a second year!”
“Yes.”
“But the spell you just used was five circles!”
“Senior, it’s proper for a magician to learn spells suited to their level, but sometimes, if it fits your aptitude, you can learn spells one or two circles higher, right?”
“……”
As the other rolled out the imperial doctrine of magic, Agdung felt extremely vexed.
Sure, that was correct, but it was only true for relatively simple spells—not for a five-circle spell like that.
“Right… I forgot about that…”
Agdung fixed his jawbone extra tightly. It almost popped out again.
‘Seriously, when I go back I have to leave Wardanaz out of the stories.’
At this point, there was no way to sugarcoat it. Best to erase it from the record entirely, so juniors wouldn’t be discouraged.
Fwooooosh!
“!”
A huge mass of contaminant began to burn.
As the earth and water turned and the contaminants emerged, the seniors inside Exiles’ Village rushed over.
-Those good with fire, this way!
-Priestess! Can you use holy magic?
-The only holy magic I know is turning water into wine…
“They’re Einrogard magicians! We’ll withdraw.”
Agdung gestured to the juniors.
With a dependable force now arrived, Lee Han and his friends could step back and rest.
“Senior, do you by any chance have spare Contaminant Cloaks?”
“I do, but why?”
“Could I buy some from you?”
“??”
Agdung was taken aback by the sudden offer.
“You’re not thinking of selling them in town or a city, are you? Just so you know, Contaminant Cloaks don’t really sell. …Actually, they don’t sell at all.”
For pride’s sake, Agdung tried to phrase it nicely, but then confessed honestly in case the Morningstar Hall disciple actually believed him and tried to buy.
“I mean to sell them to those seniors over there.”
“Hmm. Will they sell, though?”
Agdung took pride in the -Contaminant Cloak- developed at Kalarogard, but lacked confidence it would actually sell.
Basically, when black magic scholars had to sell something, their confidence always dropped.
“They’re magicians too, so they’ll know how to deal with it anyway, and the appearance is rough… and now that I think of it, it’s a bit smelly…”
‘That’s the exact opposite of what you said before.’
Lee Han felt slightly dumbfounded.
Just before, when he was talking about the performance, Agdung had been so confident, but when it came to selling, he shrank.
“Have confidence, Senior Agdung. This -Contaminant Cloak- is definitely an effective item.”
“R-right?”
Nodding, Lee Han approached the seniors preparing to purify the contaminant.
After talking with them, he came back.
“How’d it go, Lee Han?”
“They said they don’t need it. With this sme… I mean, with this item they don’t need it.”
“Ugh. Why do magicians know how to use magic? It’s annoying.”
Gainando was annoyed by the rejection from the seniors.
Magicians, being so good at versatility, made it hard to sell anything.
“I’ll go look around nearby.”
“Huh? Why? Where to…”
While his friends wondered, Lee Han left the mushroom field to move around.
30 minutes later.
Groups of contaminants appeared from several directions at once. Lee Han, too, dispelled his invisibility magic and arrived at the mushroom field.
“There sure are a lot of contaminants.”
“……”
“I’ll go ask the seniors again.”
“…No way, Lee Han…”
“Shh. Quiet.”
Lee Han approached the seniors again.
Now bothered by the large groups of contaminants, the seniors listened to Lee Han’s offer much more attentively than before.
-Actually, now I’m thinking about buying…
-Is that so…
After the conversation, Lee Han returned.
His friends asked with eager faces.
“Did you sell them?!”
“Not yet. This time, I turned them down.”
“Huh? Why!?”
“I thought I could sell them for more if the number of contaminants goes up. Senior Agdung, could I also learn about contaminant attraction…?”
“……”
- * *
“Everyone! Let’s fight for the forest!”
“Uwaaah! It’s Senior Ellendil!”
“……”
Ellendil clicked her tongue as she watched students running away.
Admittedly, she had attacked juniors for logging in the forest, but to think they’d run in a crisis like this.
Still, the contaminants were rapidly decreasing.
All the students in Exiles’ Village were skilled magicians, so they realized this was a great opportunity.
“Huh…?”
Leading the spirits out, Ellendil was delighted to see a familiar junior resting with a Kalarogard student in the mushroom field.
It was the kind-hearted junior who had comforted her even after her dark elemental spirit rampaged last time.
“You…”
“S-se-senior Ellendil…!”
Imirg murmured in a terrified voice. Lee Han wondered at this.
Of course, Senior Ellendil did attack juniors who entered the forest and created artificial dark elemental spirits that ran amok, but…
‘Hmm. Makes sense to be afraid.’
By Lee Han’s standards, Ellendil was a wicked senior.
She also received extreme favoritism from the spirits.
“What’s wrong?”
“Other seniors told us to be careful around Senior Ellendil. She’s really, really dangerous.”
“Eh. Doesn’t look that way.”
Gainando, who didn’t really know about Ellendil, scoffed.
Honestly, from appearances alone, half-dryad Ellendil looked much less dangerous than half-giant Imirg.
“No, Senior Ellendil is truly dangerous.”
“That’s right, Gainando.”
Siana and Yoner supported with serious expressions.
Both were from the alchemy school and had already heard the rumors from other seniors.
“She’s supposed to be the most dangerous person in the alchemy school.”
“What’s most dangerous…?”
As Ellendil approached and tilted her head askance, the two second-years from the alchemy school almost screamed.
“We were talking about how Professor Thunderstep’s greed is the most dangerous thing.”
Lee Han answered for them. Ellendil nodded in agreement.
She was an excellent alchemist, but as a gatherer of forest ingredients, Professor Thunderstep’s greed was infamous.
“Are the spirits doing well…?”
“Uh, um, yes. Sure.”
“And here…?”
“I was helping purify contaminants.”
To be precise, he was profiting while purifying, but Lee Han summarized simply.
If he went into details, the other person would just get bored.
“Of course! I knew I was right about you!”
Moved again like before, Ellendil’s eyes filled with tears. Not wanting to provoke this wicked senior’s temper, Lee Han nodded silently.
“What brings you here, senior?”
“I was also helping with the purification.”
“I see…”
Now that he thought about it, as an upperclassman who cared for the forest, there was no reason she wouldn’t take part in something like this.
‘Huh?’
Lee Han, nodding, sensed something strange.
Someone who cherishes the forest, owns several forests, and is eccentric and ill-tempered…
‘!’
BeaverPenguinFox of the Guardian Club flashed swiftly through Lee Han’s mind.
There were plenty of seniors nearby, so it wasn’t certain yet, but the probability was quite high.
“Senior, come to think of it, I feel like I’ve been seeing more animals around Einrogard territory lately.”
“Really?”
“What animal do you like most, senior?”
“I like foxes… penguins…?”
“I see.”
“And maybe beavers, too…?”
“Ugh. Why do you like that kind of professor?” Gainando protested.
Ellendil scolded sternly:
“I said beaver, not beaver beastman! Can’t you even tell a human from an ape?!”
“S-sorry.”