Episode 771

“You’re not thinking I’m the one who spread the poison, are you?”

Lee Han hadn’t caused the toxic swamp on the sixth floor…

…But even if the swamp hadn’t appeared, he was certain that this -Gonadaltes’ Black Magic Cloak-, or rather, the -Black Magic School Defense Cloak- would have sold well.

No matter how you looked at it, it was bound to sell.

“Of course not, Wardanaz.”

Ogoldos agreed, winking.

“…You’re not just saying that, but actually thinking it inside, are you?”

“Huh? Wasn’t I?”

“I’m not.”

Lee Han answered firmly.

What did they take him for?

“Who would do something like that?”

“Last year, Senior Direte and Senior Koholti spread poison together to block off an area.”

“……”

Come to think of it, the black magic seniors had spread poison in the corridor to help Lee Han hide the giants underground.

He reflected on what he’d just said.

‘Hmph. No one ever really knows what someone might do.’

“Anyway, it wasn’t me this time.”

Even after Lee Han said so, the black magic students began debating, ‘But was it really?’

Annoyed, Lee Han called his friends over.

“That’s not what’s important right now!”

“Oh, right. We need to make more cloaks. It would be easier if the professor helped.”

“The professor’s gone. I think he ran away.”

“Should we call Senior Direte?”

Lee Han thumped his staff on the floor. The black magic students looked at him curiously.

“Let’s not call Senior Direte just yet.”

“Huh. Why not?”

“If I say don’t call him, don’t call him, you idiot.”

At Lee Han’s irritation, Gainando shrank back.

‘I was just asking…!’

“The dye’s already soaking, so we can keep working as soon as the first stage of processing is done. That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what?”

“We need to sell something else right away! Senior, don’t you see?”

“I-I don’t. What is it?”

Lee Han’s intensity slightly overwhelmed Ogoldos.

When gold coins were involved, this junior overwhelmed even professors, never mind seniors.

“I mean antidote items! If we sell them at a lower price than the cloak, they’ll be competitive.”

Just because you made cloaks and they sold well didn’t mean you should only sell cloaks.

Whoever caused the toxic swamp, it was only right to seize the opportunity.

“What? So you mean sell antidote potions or antitoxins?”

“That’s right.”

Temporary antidote potions to block poisoning, or resistance draughts to prevent toxins from working—those sorts of items.

They were essential for adventurers who explored dungeons, but not so much for Einrogard students.

As mentioned before, unless the product was really outstanding, there was no reason students would buy expensive items.

They could always learn to make their own!

“Wouldn’t people want to just do it themselves, or buy something better?”

“Senior!”

“??”

“Students from other schools don’t know much about black magic!”

“……”

“So don’t overthink whether students will carefully weigh black magic items. If you just advertise it well, they’ll believe it.”

Faced with this blunt truth, Ogoldos looked crestfallen.

Thinking about it, students from other schools probably couldn’t distinguish easy black magic from hard black magic in the first place.

They weren’t even interested…

“Wardanaz. One more thing.”

Agdung joined in.

“What is it, senior?”

“I heard that although the toxic swamp broke out on the sixth floor, many of the swamps aren’t very strong, and if you know what you’re doing there are lots of empty spaces. Are consumables like these really going to sell?”

“Hmm.”

Hearing this, Lee Han grew thoughtful.

Then he opened his mouth.

“That’s something you’ll need to help with, senior.”

“Me? I’d like to help, but what could I…”

• * *

“Everyone, please listen! I’m from Kalarogard!”

“Kalarogard? That’s a black magic school, right?”

“That’s a relief. If it was Baldrogard, I was going to throw a rock.”

Students going up and down the seventh floor stopped to listen when they saw the Kalarogard student.

What was he going to say?

“A toxic swamp broke out on the sixth floor, and it’s extremely dangerous!”

“How is it dangerous?”

“…Really dangerous!”

“So in what way specifically? Like, are there restrictions on elements, or does it interfere with mana usage…?”

“It’s even more dangerous than that!”

“???”

Agdung avoided a straight answer and waved his arms dramatically.

“For now, don’t go down to the sixth floor! If you really must, buy antidote potions from the black magic school students over there! We also have antitoixins and defensive cloaks!”

No sooner had he finished than a blond-haired boy came running and collapsed.

“Kuh… Poison, poison…!”

“Oh no! Here, drink this antidote!”

Black magic students rushed over and lifted the fallen Gainando, feeding him the potion.

“Everyone, did you see that!”

Agdung was grateful he was a skeleton.

Otherwise, the awkwardness would have shown on his face!

“If you go to the sixth floor unprepared, it’s dangerous!”

The students discussed what they’d just heard.

-Is the poisonous swamp really that serious?

-Who on earth caused it? Wasn’t it the black magic school?

-Nah, if they caused it would they be out here selling antidotes? They’d be spreading more poison.

-I guess a Kalarogard mage came to help out. They don’t normally do stuff like this.

“……”

Listening to the murmurs, Lee Han looked sour.

He was glad not to be suspected of staging the whole thing, but not being suspected at all had its own unsatisfactory feeling.

Did the black magic school have such a reputation that no one even considered they’d sell things like this?

‘They think it was all Agdung senior’s idea!’

“One antidote, please.”

“Ah. Yes, here you are. Thank you.”

“I didn’t know the black magic school could do this. Good work. I support you.”

“Yes…”

“You’re only doing this because there’s someone from Kalarogard here, right?”

“No, it’s just what we can do…”

“What are you talking about? You guys used to spread more poison!”

“Well… actually, there was someone in our school named Koholti who led that kind of thing. Now that he’s graduated, we’re trying to do things like this.”

The students were unsure but bought the potions anyway.

The price wasn’t high (by Einrogard standards), and with the sixth floor’s situation, it didn’t hurt to be careful.

“Gainando, can you go collapse over there again in about 30 minutes?”

“Fufu, got it.”

Next to Lee Han, Gainando was making fake poison and practicing how to make it look real.

Since everyone was a capable magician, he’d have to show convincing symptoms of poisoning.

“Senior Agdung, thank you. If it weren’t for you, we couldn’t have achieved this success.”

“Y-yeah.”

Getting a line like “If it weren’t for you, this wouldn’t have worked out” from a student from a different school was something he had always wanted…

‘So why doesn’t it feel that good?’

• * *

All weekend, Lee Han worked with the black magic students to fill up the treasury and change their reputation.

Einrogard’s Guardians even heard the surprising news.

Iactus: Have you heard the black magic school is selling antidotes instead of poison?! Why are they helping people?!

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Apparently, there used to be a graduate named Koholti who banned antidotes to keep the poison dangerous.

Iactus: That’s ruthless!

“……”

Lee Han decided to apologize to Senior Koholti if he met him, then finished organizing the treasury. Outside Blackrock Hall, the sun slowly rose to signal the start of another week.

‘Thank goodness. I hope the income keeps up like this.’

This round of profits was enough to pay the participating students and still fill up the treasury.

The problem was whether it could be sustained.

‘Don’t worry already. There will be another opportunity next time.’

If a curse broke out or there was another undead incident…

…Well, of course Lee Han had no intention of causing one. He was just faintly hoping!

“What are you doing there?”

“!”

Lee Han was startled.

The most miserable fifth-year student in the black magic school had come in through the Blackrock Hall door.

“Hello, Senior Direte.”

“Why are you… up so early in the morning, didn’t sleep?”

“What about you?”

“Me, well…”

“Me too, well…”

“……”

“……”

The two simultaneously felt immense pity for each other.

“I’m just organizing what I worked on this weekend.”

“What did you work on?”

“I made and sold items with the help of the professor and other students.”

“…Did they even sell?”

“Yes. We actually did pretty well.”

“I see…”

Direte didn’t believe his junior, but didn’t press further.

What good was it to dwell on such a sad story?

“Here, have some coffee.”

“Thanks.”

“What’s that?”

Lee Han looked curiously at the cup Direte brought in.

Why did it seem to radiate an aura of poison?

“Belgaring’s poison. Its bitter taste is good for waking up.”

“…Why not just drink normal coffee??”

“Hey. Coffee beans are expensive.”

Still grumbling, Direte took the hot tin cup.

Where in Einrogard would you find another junior making coffee for his senior?

Usually they’d just steal the seniors’ coffee beans…

“Wait. Why didn’t you call me if you got help from the professor?”

“The professor said not to call you.”

“If I hadn’t had my coffee, that would have slid by, but now that I’ve had coffee I’m awake. The professor would never say that.”

‘Should’ve skipped the coffee.’

Direte shook his head.

It was the wicked professor’s fault, not the good-hearted junior’s.

“What lecture do you have this morning?”

“There might not be one.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Yes, actually there is. -Sword and Life-, but it’s Professor Ingeldel’s class so it shouldn’t be too bad…”

“That’s not Professor Ingeldel’s class.”

“Huh?”

“Let me see.”

Direte sipped his coffee and looked at Lee Han’s class list, then nodded.

“Junior, this one isn’t Professor Ingeldel’s class.”

“Then who teaches it?”

Even with so many magicians in Einrogard, really skilled swordsmen were actually rare.

“Catten of the Jahan family. Fifth year in the White Tiger Tower.”

“!”

Hearing it was a fifth-year from White Tiger Tower, Lee Han tensed up a little.

After all, White Tiger Tower and Blue Dragon Tower had a long history of rivalry.

“What kind of person are they?”

“Jahan? That guy is…”

‘Are they a master of enhancement magic? Or maybe some other kind of mage…?’

“…The dumbest in Einrogard.”

“???”

Lee Han wasn’t sure he’d heard right.

“Pardon?”

“Dumb.”

“But he’s a fifth year. He can’t be dumb. Ah, got it—dumb by your standards, senior?”

“No, just objectively dumb… Junior, you took all-department courses, right?”

“Yes.”

“Jahan is like this.”

Direte made a circle with his fingers.

“Catten-senpai took all departments too?”

“No… zero departments. He failed all of them.”

“……”