Episode 848

“I agree. Some members of the Teleportation Club say all the things in the world belong to them…”

“……”

“…Whether you agree with that or not, at the very least this item is something our Einrogard student has a right to.”

“Well said, senior!”

At Sevius’s words, Lee Han clapped flatteringly.

To be honest, even if they had no right to it, Lee Han would have tried to steal such an improved space-expansion backpack no matter what.

He needed it that much.

“Shh. We have to be quiet from here.”

Sevius carefully stopped walking. Then he asked Lee Han,

“Have you ever been to the fifth floor?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“I figured. It’s rare to get up to the fourth, even.”

In the first year at Einrogard, even wandering around the main building usually meant sticking to the second floor or, sometimes, the third.

Once you became a second-year and could enter the seventh-floor village where the upperclassmen gathered, you didn’t really have much reason to go to the fourth to sixth floors.

‘I actually went to the fourth floor a lot…’

Lee Han wanted to say he’d been there often since first year but held his tongue.

He didn’t want to seem like a weird junior to his senior.

“The fifth floor isn’t much different from the fourth. Strange classrooms, strange traps.”

“And the headmaster’s strange henchmen too.”

Sevius ignored him again. Lee Han felt a pang of disappointment.

“But the difference is, the guest accommodation is there. Unless you have a specific connection, visitors tend to stay there.”

Guests with personal ties to a specific magic school at Einrogard, like the students from Kalarogard, might stay at that school’s tower, but sometimes visitors had no such connections.

“Baldrogard folks, no matter their connections, won’t stay in towers.”

“Why? Do they dislike magic?”

“No. If they stay somewhere easy for Einrogard students to approach, they get raided all the time.”

“……”

As a fellow Einrogard student, Lee Han felt a little guilty.

“Anyway, the fifth floor’s inn is pretty safe. Non-guests can’t even see it.”

According to Sevius, the -Visitor Housing- on the fifth floor was like a little village.

Only those with guest status could enter it.

Ordinary students could wander the fifth floor endlessly and never find it.

“So. How would you get in?”

Confidently, as a fellow magic school and club junior, Lee Han replied:

“Kidnap a guest. If you bring one in front of you, a path will appear.”

“…That is one way. But I meant getting in from a different floor.”

If there was anything even the headmaster couldn’t completely control, it was the chaos of the main building.

The magic built up over ages operated by its own rules—utterly unpredictable.

Clever Einrogard students knew how to use that chaos to their advantage.

“If overlapping space between floors opens a path, the barrier spells around it weaken. So to get into a heavily guarded place, you should approach from another floor.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Lee Han regretted not saying, “Take advantage of weakened magic when spatial overlaps occur between floors,” instead of “kidnap a guest.” It would’ve made him look so much smarter.

‘Ugh, I should have thought more before I spoke.’

Sevius pulled out a map.

Every Einrogard student had their own map—getting lost was far too easy otherwise.

But Sevius’s map was unique. Instead of geography, it was filled with times.

“Is this for overlap timings?”

Sevius nodded.

He was picky about whom he did teleport job with, but he couldn’t deny this junior was an excellent partner.

Aside from the drawback of still being a second-year, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone this capable.

…So capable, it was scary!

“In thirty minutes, a path will open near the pig tower statue over there.”

“Then why are we going this way?”

“A poisonous swamp cropped up nearby, so it’s hard to get in. The chance the path opens got much lower too.”

“……”

Lee Han changed the subject.

“What about here? It says the ceiling opens in 47 minutes?”

“Somebody smashed up the corridor here, so it’s out for a while.”

Sevius muttered a curse under his breath with distaste.

Some maniac broke the corridor on the sixth floor, blocking another convenient route.

“……”

Lee Han was silent.

‘Is the bad luck from Gainando and Adenart following me?’

He felt strangely cursed…

“So we have to go in here—it’s opening in an hour. Let me explain a few spells before we head in.”

Sevius decided it was a good chance to teach since his junior was taking -Advanced Illusion Magic and Theory of Spirit Body-.

“First, -Ogonin’s Bewilder-. It’s a third-circle spell. It’s cast on your target and weakens their resistance, making them see illusions favorable to the caster.”

“Ogonin’s… Bewilder…”

Lee Han took diligent notes.

A talented illusionist could essentially control the other person, but it was actually really tough to control the mind of an intelligent being.

Reading and guiding their thoughts precisely was a lot of work.

It was often more efficient to just weaken their resistance and let them imagine something on their own.

“Next is -Ogonin’s Distortion-. Also a third-circle spell. You cast it on yourself. It disguises your appearance to match the surroundings.”

If you cast -Ogonin’s Distortion- on yourself in a nighttime Einrogard corridor, you’d likely appear as a professor to anyone who saw you.

The spell disguised you as the least out-of-place thing.

“Usually, these two spells are used in combination. One alone won’t cut it.”

“They both approach the soul, right? Is that correct?”

“…Yes. Exactly.”

Sevius was impressed as Lee Han picked out the key point.

As could be guessed from their inclusion in this semester’s content, both spells were developed to approach the soul.

The great illusionist Ogonin had designed efficient, high-level spells for future generations to follow.

The performance was excellent, and they increased proficiency in approaching the soul. Sevius couldn’t help but admire them every time.

“One approaches the enemy’s soul and disrupts its surface; the other shakes the surface of your own soul to create a resonance… but, aren’t there any such spells from a different magician, not just Ogonin?”

Lee Han asked purely out of curiosity.

Sevius responded bluntly.

“You don’t like Ogonin’s spells?”

“N-no, just curious.”

“…Sorry, that was unsenior-like. Sometimes our juniors dismiss Ogonin’s spells as boring and skip learning them.”

He didn’t think much of juniors who skipped Ogonin’s spells for something trendier.

That was all showy, foolish behavior.

“I respect Ogonin too! I really do!”

Lee Han quickly shouted, worried his true feelings would show. Sevius didn’t openly say so, but seemed satisfied.

“Last is -Ogonin’s Detect-. If you learned -Ogonin’s Emotion Sense-, it’ll be easy to get.”

“I learned it.”

“…Ah, okay. This spell detects the waves emitted by nearby souls—it picks up hostility.”

In simple terms, it could alert you to the approach of enemies.

All three spells were efficient and convenient—especially for Teleportation Club members.

‘I really was too biased against Ogonin.’

Lee Han reflected again.

It seemed his first impression of Ogonin had given him too much prejudice.

Maybe meeting an outstanding illusionist like Baldororn had something to do with it.

Standing beside the skeletal headmaster, even Alsicle of the Pengerine family seemed like a rookie magician.

“These three spells are what you’re supposed to learn over the semester. You passed the class since you learned to perceive the soul by a different method, but it wouldn’t hurt to learn these. I’ll cast them for you today.”

“Oh.”

While Sevius explained -Ogonin’s Detect-, Lee Han mastered the other two spells—-Ogonin’s Bewilder- and -Ogonin’s Distortion-—and paused.

Wait, he wasn’t supposed to be learning them now?!

“…Just go ahead and learn Detect too.”

“Yes… But, senior, shouldn’t you have said that first…”

“Quiet.”

‘Some senior he is…’

Lee Han grumbled to himself.

• * *

Fourth-year Baldrogard student Jandanni of the Alzadrk family spoke in a dejected tone.

“I knew Einrogard magicians were impressive, but to be able to use spells like that…”

The Baldrogard students who’d witnessed the ancient magic Black Crown had been quite shocked after returning.

Jandanni, in particular—who prided himself on taking magic seriously—felt the shock most keenly.

How could that Einrogard student cast such a spell?

“…No need to feel so down. That spell isn’t common even by Einrogard standards. It must have been a very special case.”

Garal, the magician hired by the Baldrogard students, tried to console Jandanni.

It wasn’t really in Garal’s nature, but he meant those words.

You couldn’t just use a spell like Black Crown, even if you were an Einrogard student.

Clearly they must have used some ancient relic or other exceptional means.

“Are you tricking me? That Wardanaz boy seemed to cast it without any concern.”

“…By sixth year, you could probably at least keep a poker face. You can’t judge by appearances.”

Garal, even as he spoke, felt confused.

Honestly, he wanted to ask how the spell had been cast.

‘If he used an ancient relic, why didn’t I notice?’

But with Garal’s words and the encouragement of the other students, Jandanni finally perked up.

Sure, if it was an Einrogard sixth-year, maybe it was plausible.

“Our time at Einrogard will be over soon. Is it okay to just hang around like this?”

“It’s fine. We finished all our sightseeing on the first day. We’ll relax until we leave.”

“……”

‘Are these people really magicians?’

Garal was dumbfounded inside.

A magician, when visiting another’s territory, should squeeze out every last drop of knowledge to take with them.

If you lacked that curiosity, you had no place being a magician.

Of course, perhaps it was too much to expect that kind of drive from the Baldrogard lot, but still, this was such laziness…

Clink—

Despite that, the Baldrogard students leisurely sipped wine from their expensive leather bag inside the inn. One played music; two others elegantly played wizard cards.

Even though he was being paid to be there, Garal felt like punching them.

“…That backpack. I’ve noticed for a while it’s quite unusual. Doesn’t seem like a ready-made.”

“As expected, you have a good eye! That’s right. My senior’s senior received it as a gift from an Einrogard magician. It’s a token of friendship.”

“…??”

Could a dragon and a rat really be friends?