Episode 827

Lee Han tugged Yukveltire into a corner and whispered quietly.

“Why were you so polite to the other seniors but only act that way to Lady Lagesa?”

“?”

Yukveltire tilted her head as if she had no idea what he meant.

Polite to other juniors?

What was he talking about?

“I never treated other students kindly. Actually, only thanks to Direte did I treat you — Wardanaz House junior — with any particular kindness.”

“??”

Now it was Lee Han’s turn to tilt his head.

“When was that?”

“I gave you staff advice a moment ago, didn’t I?”

“…That was just a part of the lecture, wasn’t it?”

Lee Han wanted to punch this senior.

“If it were any other junior’s question, I wouldn’t have bothered with such a vague request. The questioner’s ability is important, you know.”

“How could I possibly ask less vaguely? I’m just a second year.”

He was supposed to make a staff capable of handling powerful spirits and various power gems, but as a second year it was impossible for him to plan every detail from the start.

“And besides, you said you found it interesting. If you didn’t, you would’ve ignored even Direte if he’d asked, right?”

“When did I say that?”

“You just said putting in black magnetite was interesting, and you asked where I got the Echoing Stone.”

“……”

For the first time in a while, Yukveltire was at a loss for words.

She was interested in a junior’s research?

A second year’s project, especially one from a junior who had flatly refused to help with her artificial dimension research?

Absolutely unacceptable.

“No way.”

“Really?”

“Right. I’m not interested.”

“Either way, that’s not what matters right now. We need to persuade Lady Lagesa, don’t we?”

Whether Yukveltire was interested in his research didn’t matter to Lee Han, so he let it go.

“At the very least, you could treat her the way you do the other seniors.”

“I don’t get it… Actually, I respect Lady Lagesa all the more.”

“???”

Yukveltire patiently explained to her clueless junior.

Unlike with random juniors, whom she just ignored, Lagesa was someone she respected as a fellow wizard, so she was just honestly stating her opinion—

“…You don’t know their names?”

“Why should I remember them?”

‘Maybe it’s better if she’s just indifferent.’

Lee Han thought to himself.

For juniors she was indifferent about, she answered their questions nicely, but for those she cared about, like Lagesa, she spoke only her mind and grated on their nerves. Maybe it was best she stayed indifferent.

‘Come to think of it, she does the same thing to Senior Direte.’

“Anyway, I’ll talk to her. Just stay behind.”

“With your level, you won’t explain it right.”

“If you don’t want me to tattle on you to Senior Direte, keep your mouth shut and stay put.”

“……”

Yukveltire was shocked by her junior’s ferocity and fell silent.

How could someone be so rude?

• * *

“So, anyway, this bronze golem is useful, and this senior is also working on artificial dimension research…”

“Is that the one where the Duke of Arrogance came out last time?”

“How do you even know about that, Lady Lagesa?!”

Lee Han was shocked.

It was shocking that a sponsor would know of incidents during artificial dimension research in advance—he was even more curious how she found out.

How did a pirate wandering the seas know?

“The mages who participated wrote me letters to tell me about it.”

“……”

Lee Han realized that imperial mages communicated far more closely than he thought.

He’d need to be more careful in the future.

Otherwise, he might one day find a mage from the far east he’d never met saying, ‘Ah! The Spirit Director’s disciple is here!’

“But really, that was just the fault of those mages.”

“A true mage must consider even those kinds of things. Thinking you can perfectly control this imperfect world—that’s the arrogance of youth.”

“But with some spells, it’s absolutely necessary to exercise that kind of delicate control—”

Mid-excuse, Lee Han suddenly wondered why he was even doing this.

‘It’d have been enough to just catch a duke, but now I have to persuade Lady Lagesa too?’

Helping her would probably just grate on his nerves more…

Still, since he’d gotten this far, he decided to see it through, and kept praising Yukveltire.

At the Blue Dragon Tower she had great reputation and helped others (which, if you remembered the Kalendarion, wasn’t an outright lie); she had excellent social ties (having a friend like Direte, there was a point); she was respected by her juniors (just for now, Lee Han decided to show her respect)…

Lagesa, watching with a pained look, clicked her tongue and said,

“Enough, enough. Kid, your gilding of your own senior is a work of art for a fellow from the same school. If it were me, I’d have thrown her out the window already.”

“Haha. I’m not sure what you mean, lady.”

Lee Han answered innocently.

Besides, if anyone was going to be thrown out, it’d probably be Professor Verdus first.

“Come here, Bible’s disciple.”

At Lagesa’s command, Yukveltire proudly trotted over.

“Your junior’s words have touched this old pirate’s heart. Fine. People of the Empire may laugh at me, saying a fool who was tricked by Bible now gets tricked by his disciple, but I’ll fund you.”

“!”

Yukveltire’s eyes widened and trembled lightly with excitement.

“Junior of House Wardanaz. You’ve done well this time. You managed to persuade a stubborn, hard-headed wizard.”

“Senior… Either lower your voice or just shut up entirely, please…”

“Lady Lagesa, there’s no need to care for the scorn of those petty dust-mites.”

Yukveltire looked at Lagesa and spoke. Lagesa snorted.

“You may live in a tower without friends your whole life, but to Torgard’s daughter, reputation matters, all right? Anyway, investment is good but I have a condition.”

“I’ll let you be the second guest when the artificial dimension’s done.”

“…You go as often as you like. What I mean is, help this poor junior make his staff.”

“?”

Yukveltire looked confused.

Why would she do that?

“?”

Lee Han didn’t get it either.

He just didn’t want it.

“No, thanks.”

“…Wait, why not you now?”

This time, Lagesa was surprised by Lee Han’s refusal. She’d expected gratitude from him.

“I heard you’re making a black magnetite staff? That can’t be easy.”

“If I leave out the black magnetite, fine, but I don’t want to work with Professor Verdus…”

“……”

Faced with such flawless logic, Lagesa could only be impressed.

Yukveltire, as if not understanding, asked again,

“She didn’t mean Professor Verdus. She meant me, junior.”

“Haha. My mistake.”

“…Even so, making it alone will be too hard. It’d be a shame to pass up the chance to make a better staff, and… eh, never mind. But you do need help, kid.”

Lagesa opened her mouth, then swallowed her words.

Lee Han grew curious and asked.

“What was that reason you were about to say?”

“I’m a bit worried it might hurt your feelings to hear it, kid.”

“Haha. I’ll be fine.”

“Alright, then. I just thought, with all the schools you’re taking, including Bible’s, having one more weirdo by your side probably won’t change much.”

“……”

Sorrow and pain welled up deep in Lee Han’s eyes. Lagesa, seeing that, regretted saying anything.

“Hey, see? That’s why I wasn’t going to say it, I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

“No, lady. I’m fine.”

“Sorry. Anyway, it’s a good opportunity, see? Don’t miss your chance to make a better staff.”

If this boy of House Wardanaz was to face the trials ahead, having the experience of making a staff himself would be invaluable.

If he could adapt his staff to meet adversity, overcoming hardship would be that much more manageable.

While Lagesa pondered, Yukveltire seemed to finish her mental calculation about helping her junior versus the time saved by the gold coins she’d get from Lagesa.

“I’ll help.”

“Be quiet. Do you really think your opinion matters right now?”

“……”

• * *

In fact, Lee Han might know the most about the rare metal black magnetite.

Usually, mages avoided metals with mana-absorbing properties, as they interfered with their own spells.

“I didn’t have any problems with it, though.”

“You probably just overwhelmed it with sheer mana volume.”

Yukveltire drew on the paper.

She drew arrows for the magician’s mana output, with the black magnetite scattering the mana in all directions, then finally overwhelming it with a huge outpouring of magic.

“What’s this?”

“You’re a magician.”

“……”

Faced with the ghastly drawing, Lee Han wondered for an instant if it was a troll.

“Should I draw it?”

“Why?”

“It’s hard to understand yours…”

“…I think this is sufficient.”

“I don’t think it is.”

“What matters is the concept of magic, not how you draw it. Got it? And I decided this was efficient since it’s easy enough to follow. Direte said it’s fine too.”

“Ah, okay.”

Lee Han was flustered by the sudden torrent of speech.

“Are you in a bad mood because of what I said?”

“Not at all. I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Oh, good. So, about this black magnetite staff. I know the downside, but what are its merits?”

There had to be strengths as well as weaknesses—while it absorbed ambient mana and interfered with magic, there must be advantages.

Lee Han wanted to hear them in detail before deciding.

“It easily stores mana, and it’s very durable when casting. Power spells often break staffs, after all. Also, as a magic core, it’s very powerful.”

Because it constantly inhaled magic, its charge capacity was assured; and given it had to be durable, its solidity was naturally excellent.

But the part about being a powerful magic core was something Lee Han hadn’t considered.

‘I see.’

The role of a staff was like that of a spell.

Magic could be cast without one, but if you had one, it could amplify and control your abilities.

Since magic was fundamentally a shaky discipline that changed the world, many supporting measures were needed to stabilize it.

Just as spells focused the magician’s mind, so did staffs.

The center, axis, root of the magical process at work.

That was the role of a staff.

In the case of a black magnetite staff, it drew in all nearby mana—its presence would stand out even when casting unstable, complex magic.

Put simply, even casting magic while unconscious, you’d sense the presence of a black magnetite staff…

“That sounds like it’s worth trying.”

“I thought so. You want to master high-circle magic as soon as possible, so you should have an easier time casting with it.”

“…I was just talking about the staff’s sturdiness.”

Yukveltire ignored her junior’s complaint and continued.

“But you can’t make it with only black magnetite. You need otherworldly stones, magic gems, wood spirits… materials strong enough to hold those elements together.”

“Would Professor Verdus have any in his storeroom?”

“No. Unlikely. Materials of that quality get used as soon as they come in.”

“Why does the professor live so extravagantly?”

Yukveltire, who’d also promptly stolen and used any when they came her way, discreetly dodged the topic.

“The best staff core to control black magnetite would be…”

Lee Han listened quietly.

‘Please let it be easy to get. Please let it be easy to get…’

“A branch from a king-class spirit would be best.”

“…Why don’t we just forget this one?”

Lee Han almost crumpled the paper he’d just scribbled on.