Episode 83

“Wardhanaz, weren’t you the one who prepared this in advance?”

“Sometimes I wonder how you all think of me…”

Ihan checked the smashed hole. Then he clicked his tongue.

“This isn’t good.”

“Why is that?”

“The debris is inside the Gatekeeper’s Hall. It came in from outside.”

If it had been something Thunderstep raised that broke out from inside, there wasn’t much to worry about, but from the looks of it, some big monster had definitely entered from outside.

Ratford gazed at Ihan with a slightly impressed expression at his words.

“You truly have the makings of a master thief.”

“Kuh…!”

“M-me too! Ratford, I can deduce things as well!”

The Blue Dragon Tower students showed a strange sense of rivalry.

Even if they lagged behind in class or magic skills, they certainly didn’t want to fall behind in thievery.

Nilia looked at them as if to ask what was wrong.

“What’s with them?”

“They probably grew up reading a lot of fairy tales featuring honorable thieves.”

At Yoner’s words, Nilia thought that made no sense.

‘Do nobles in the Empire really grow up on such ridiculous fairy tales?’

“Aren’t there any hunters?”

“Uh… I mean, there must be fairy tales about thieves who used to be hunters, but…”

While the friends chatted, Ihan made up his mind and opened the door.

“Listen carefully, everyone. From now on, we’re not sneaking into the Gatekeeper’s Hall.”

“?”

“???”

Not breaking in? Then what?

Were they going to paint “Blue Dragon Tower students were here” on the walls or something?

“We’ve voluntarily gathered to stop a summon beast that entered the Gatekeeper’s Hall without permission and to protect the professor’s precious belongings.”

“…Ah. Aha!”

“Of course…!”

The summoned beast’s intrusion wasn’t all bad.

If something went wrong, they could always blame the summon beast later.

…Of course, whether that would work on Professor Thunderstep was another question.

• * *

“Light.”

Ihan conjured a ball of light. The first floor of the dark Gatekeeper’s Hall illuminated brightly.

Greenhouses and classrooms lined the hallway.

Students who had wandered the school at night knew this: the night school was nothing like it was by day.

Classrooms that seemed normal by daylight looked like they could easily hide a few undead in the night…

The plants that basked in the warm sun during the day looked like they were lying in wait in the shadows, poised to attack at any moment.

‘Honestly, it wouldn’t be weird if Professor Thunderstep prepared plants like that.’

First floor was familiar to the students, but from the second floor up, it was an unknown realm.

What on earth would they find?

“!”

Up the stairs to the second floor—a powerful mana was felt from inside.

The space itself was imbued with magic.

‘Spatial expansion!’

The space seemed dozens of times larger than the first floor. The second floor was a vast botanical garden.

Students were awestruck, overwhelmed by the sight of bizarre, gigantic plants they didn’t even know the names of, all thriving in the garden.

“They say a great alchemist has to be a great gardener. Even so, this scale is incredible…”

Priestess Siana muttered in awe.

Since gathering ingredients often meant wandering mountains and fields, it only made sense that an alchemist would grow what they could themselves.

But even so, the scale was truly impressive.

“Wow. What’s this plant called?”

Gainando pointed at a flower glowing in multi-colored hues, marveling at it.

It swayed gently in the moonlight filtering through the windows—it was truly beautiful.

Ihan answered kindly.

“That’s a Nephelops.”

“Oooh. What does it do?”

“It swallows whole any animal that touches its petals.”

“……”

Gainando recoiled in shock.

“But the honey from that flower fetches a pretty high price—”

“Is that the important part?!”

“You asked, so I answered.”

Ihan replied so, glancing around.

There were more things he didn’t know the names of than things he did. The same likely went for Yoner and Priestess Siana.

‘But…’

The Gatekeeper’s Hall wasn’t a dormitory. Since it was Professor Thunderstep’s workshop, there couldn’t be so many traps.

The professor had to walk around here, after all…

Ihan calmly searched for a path. There had to be a way Thunderstep used to walk through this botanic garden.

Clatter—

“!”

As if reading his mind, the bone summon at his waist made a rattling sound.

The bone summon pointed in a direction, as if to say, “Look over there.” Incredibly, fresh tracks were left in the mud—likely by a monster.

‘So a monster passed through here first!’

It was clear that the intruding monster had found the route Thunderstep normally used.

Ihan was about to praise the bone summon.

“Wardhanaz. Good idea! Judging by these footprints, the monster that came first passed through here! That means this path is a safe one.”

Nilia whispered excitedly.

Ihan was about to praise the bone summon but instead turned to Nilia.

“…That’s amazing, Nilia!”

Clatter clatter!

“It must be because you were with the Shadow Patrol! Incredible. I’m glad you joined us. I can’t imagine what we’d do without you.”

“It’s nothing, really.”

Nilia tried to wave it off, but her long ears perked up.

“Now, I’ll find the way. Tell everyone to follow.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Ihan put Nilia in front, sighing in relief.

Clatter clatter clatter!

As the bone summon protested, Ihan apologized.

“Sorry. Friendship is more complicated than you think.”

The bone summon wiggled its fingers as if it just didn’t get it.

• * *

Following the tracks of the monster that went ahead was actually a great strategy.

As they made their way along the garden path, the students encountered no attacks from any plants.

It was clear Professor Thunderstep hadn’t set any traps on his own paths.

‘Thank you, Professor.’

Ihan moved along, grateful for the professor’s laziness.

-■■■■…

“……”

But where there’s fortune, there’s always misfortune.

At the stairs to the third floor—located on the edge of the garden.

Seeing the monster positioned in front of those stairs, Ihan’s face turned to stone.

“That’s a bull… right?”

“Yeah. Doesn’t look like a normal bull though.”

Its horns were tangled with debris, vines, and leaves, having not only smashed the front door but also trampled several garden plants on the second floor.

Seeing that, Ihan remembered the bull Thunderstep once mentioned.

‘…Wait?’

So far, he’d thought the elemental bull trapped by Professor Ingeoldel was the bull in question, but now he realized—this one looked much more like what Thunderstep described.

For one, it wasn’t part elemental, and seemed physically enhanced by several potions.

‘So that was just something upperclassmen had summoned?’

Ihan felt sorry he’d ever cursed Thunderstep over the elemental bull.

‘No. Now that I think about it, there’s nothing to be sorry for.’

Looking at the current bull, any guilt instantly vanished.

He actually kept this thing waiting up the mountain?

“What’ll we do?”

“No need to fight, right?”

He’d already learned from fighting the elemental bull that you didn’t always have to defeat your opponent by force!

This botanic garden wasn’t a good place to fight anyway, and their goal wasn’t to subdue the bull.

Plus, the bull didn’t seem interested in the students. It had settled in front of the stairs, munching on something.

“If that’s really the professor’s bull… could it just be back because it’s hungry?”

Yoner’s idea sounded plausible.

If it belonged to Thunderstep, it would know the way around here.

Coming straight here without wrecking the first floor was something an ordinary monster wouldn’t manage.

“Then, if we leave it alone a bit longer, maybe it’ll finish eating and move on?”

“Seems likely.”

Relieved that they might not have to fight, the students sighed.

Just by size, this thing looked even more savage than the elemental bull.

“…Uh… Ihan…?”

Yoner tugged at Ihan’s sleeve.

“Is that thing really okay…?”

The bull ignored the students and chomped a plant beside it. After chewing for a bit, it spat it out, as if it tasted bad.

Then it munched another, then another, even trampling a few…

Clearly enjoying it, the bull began destroying the plants even faster.

Yoner and Priestess Siana, both experts in alchemy, turned pale. Even though these weren’t their own plants, it hurt to watch.

Ihan’s face also changed.

Students borrowing a bit of potion was one thing, but a monster trashing an entire garden was a different story entirely.

If the professor blamed both problems together, their anger could easily focus on the students.

“We have to stop it! O earth, clench the land!”

Ihan cried out the spell and ran ahead.

Then he fired a curse spell at the bull.

“Be paralyzed!”

The negative mana took form like a wave and flew at the bull.

But the bull sensed danger and dodged the curse.

“Wardhanaz! Why do we have to stop that thing?”

“This is about honor! Wardhanaz, I’ll help!”

The Blue Dragon Tower friends misunderstood Ihan’s intention and charged in with their staves.

“Flame of Power…”

Gainando began casting a fire spell, but Ihan panicked and hit his mouth.

Smack!

“?!?”

“Never use fire around plants!”

“Kuh… Be paralyzed!”

“Be paralyzed!!”

The friends fired off paralysis curses they had learned in class. Calling the wrong element in here could burn everything down.

Unlike Ihan’s curse, the bull didn’t even bother dodging the others’. Even after a few spells struck, it was unfazed.

“Ah, what on earth did Professor Thunderstep feed this thing?!”

The students cried in dismay—the bull was much sturdier than anticipated.

“Go distract it!”

Ihan sent in the bone summon and began gathering water orbs.

The bull ignored the other students’ staves but eyed only Ihan warily.

‘I shouldn’t have fired a curse so soon!’

It was never easy to land a curse spell on a sharp-witted monster.

By making it wary with that opening curse, he’d complicated things.

Ihan started firing water orbs in succession. The bull dodged expertly, but Ihan wasn’t flustered.

‘Just drag it away from the plants.’

He was attacking just to draw the bull away from the garden plants.

“Everyone—take this weakening potion!”

Priestess Siana pulled out a flask and handed it around. The students hurried to throw them.

With a crashing sound, the bull staggered as the potion hit it. Realizing its magic resistance had dropped, Yoner called out.

“Everyone, more curses!”

“Be paralyzed, be paralyzed!”

“Be paralyzed!”

The bull shook its head in annoyance. The curses began to creep beneath its skin, thanks to its lowered state.

Ihan fired water orbs around its body in erratic trajectories. The bull froze, startled.

Then Ihan’s curse burst forth.

‘Faster!’

“Be paralyzed!”

Determined to cast quicker than before, Ihan’s spell shot out before he even finished chanting. The moment was so urgent that he didn’t even realize it himself.

Thud!

The bull finally couldn’t resist—even Ihan’s spell brought it to its knees.

All at once, the students exhaled deeply.

“What on earth is all this?”

“!!!”

A tall, skinny willow tree strode out from among the plants.

Ihan immediately replied,

“We were guarding Professor Thunderstep’s plants.”

“…Yes! Some strange bull was tearing up the garden…!”