Episode 893

Episode 893

‘So this is why fake information is dangerous.’

Lee Han resolved that in the future, he would think twice before spreading wild rumors.

“If that’s true, they really are wicked and disgusting intruders!”

“R-really? But, Junior, is there any reason for them to be even more wicked just for stealing the Headmaster’s treasure…?”

Catten was bewildered by why his ever-cool junior year leader was so upset.

Joulin quietly whispered an explanation.

He is a disciple of Gonadaltes, it seems.

“I see…”

To Catten, the Skull Headmaster was just a strange and unfriendly archmage, but if one were a direct disciple, such theft warranted outrage.

“You may seem cold, Junior, but you’re actually quite affectionate.”

Joulin seemed to think so too—

“What are you doing back there? Hurry up!”

Lee Han grew annoyed when Catten and Joulin lagged behind, whispering.

• * *

Sorcerers were fundamentally a frail race.

While the magic they used was powerful and destructive, a sorcerer himself was ultimately a weak mortal, full of vulnerabilities.

That was why veteran adventurers did not especially fear sorcerers. There was even a saying among adventurers:

-A rookie trembles just hearing of a sorcerer, but a seasoned adventurer prepares calmly.

There were various ways to deal with them.

Disrupting their spellcasting, ambushing before spells, confusing them to break concentration, clouding the surrounding mana…

The adventurers of -Kangla’s Shadow-, who had infiltrated Einrogard, were, of course, well-accustomed to facing sorcerers.

Moreover, since they were infiltrating Einrogard, they had prepared even more thoroughly than usual.

Yet there was one thing these adventurers had never experienced before.

That was being pursued by not just a few, but dozens of sorcerers using every trick imaginable, all single-mindedly chasing only them.

-Stay calm. There are a lot of them, but they’re green; they’ve never seen real combat. We can easily outwit—

-There’s the intruder! There’s the intruder!

-Damn it! My device found them first! My device found them first! Hormasi! Can’t you hear me?!

-Can’t hear you! My dog found them first! Die!

-……

The confidence they’d tried to muster vanished within minutes.

The students of Einrogard began tracking down the adventurers at a truly incredible speed.

-Grrrrrrr!

“Isn’t that a Cerberus!? Why in the world are they keeping that at school?! That’s illegal under imperial law!”

“This is not the time! Swordsman! This way! Tear the fog scroll so they can’t chase!”

“The scroll’s not activating!”

-The Kitchen Club blocked the scroll! Did you all see?! That’s our achievement!

-Don’t try to claim the reward for that! Don’t even think it!

“These goddamn brats! Show them an inch and they climb all over you!”

Being chased endlessly by such young students, even the most stoic among the adventurers finally snapped. As they were all of the villainous sort, patience was not in abundance.

The swordsman drew the sword strapped to his back and chanted a spell.

“Drink my blood and rend my enemy!”

The blade nicked the swordsman’s fingers and crimson droplets formed. As the sword drank the blood, it trembled with a menacing, reddish glow.

“Hah!”

With a shout, the swordsman swung the blade. A bolt of magical energy flying from the distance vanished instantly.

The blade was also a powerful artifact that erased low-level magic.

The swordsman held his breath and hid his presence. Concealed among the bushes, he stabbed his sword at the unlucky student charging in front.

Thunk!

Feeling the sensation at his fingertips, the swordsman was sure of success.

“See, mages? Keep chasing me if you want—I’ll do this to all of you…”

“Got him! I caught him!”

“?!”

The student, who should by all rights have stopped breathing, giggled and grabbed the swordsman’s wrist.

He cheered to his friends that he’d caught the intruder. The spine-chilling scene sent shivers up the swordsman’s back.

“What the hell…?”

The swordsman hastily pulled out his sword. The other sorcerers were already closing in. There was no time to waste.

Whish!

With an incantation, the branches near the swordsman turned into blades, aiming for the intruder’s neck.

At the same time, pebbles on the ground transformed into sharp projectiles and flew at him. The swordsman swung his sword to erase the magic.

But, unlike before, the magic wasn’t dispersed. He glared angrily—when did the blade’s glow vanish?!

“This makes no… gah!”

“Got you, bastard! Hand over the treasure!”

“Hey! I caught him! I sealed that sword!”

“I could’ve caught him even if you hadn’t—trusting artifacts like that, what do you expect?”

The students argued over who would take the treasure, ignoring the completely subdued swordsman.

The student with a huge hole in his body grumbled.

“I went to all that trouble to cast blood conversion and seal the sword…”

“Hmph. If it was me, I’d have caught him without being stabbed. You missed your chance.”

“Man, he was really hard to find! How was I supposed to catch that on top of the magic?”

“All right, stop arguing and let’s just find the treasure.”

The swordsman glared at the students with bloodshot eyes, but he was no longer of any interest to the Einrogard students.

These upperclassmen had experienced far too many dangers to be frightened by mere adventurers.

“The treasure… isn’t here!?”

“Damn! We caught the wrong one! No wonder he tried to draw attention alone!”

“Wait. Guys. It looks like he wants to say something?”

As the bound swordsman mumbled, the students released their paralysis spells, hoping for a clue.

“Trying to tell us where the treasure’s hidden? Tell us and maybe we’ll make things a little easier for you…”

-I’ll kill every last one of you little brat mages!

“…Seriously. Of all the people to capture, we got this guy.”

“Bind him again. Send him to the Death Knights.”

“Shame, though. Couldn’t we use him for magic experiments?”

“Don’t even joke. Skull Headmaster would raise hell.”

“Why is it we’re allowed to test magic on our own students, but not on outside intruders?”

“I think the Headmaster just wants all the fun to himself.”

-……

The swordsman learned, for the first time, that calm conversation could be more terrifying than crude threats.

He’d often heard that Einrogard mages were on a different level, but not to this extent.

The wizards he’d imagined were utterly different from those before him now.

• * *

“What? They got caught this easily??”

Arriving late, Lee Han was startled to see upperclassmen lounging beneath the mountains, resting with the captured intruders hanging nearby.

Far more intruders had been caught than he had expected.

‘Was Antagondals scammed?’

He’d thought the adventurers entrusted by Antagondals must be formidable, but so many already caught…

“Or maybe the ones here are just a fraction, and there are far more intruders left…”

“Huh? No. Interrog—err, after questioning them, almost everyone’s been caught. Hardly any left.”

“……”

Lee Han began to wonder whether his seniors were simply that amazing, or these adventurers just that mediocre.

The -Kangla’s Shadow- party had truly collapsed. With most captured at first detection, “collapsed” was almost too generous.

All their contingency plans had proven meaningless. Even when they managed to block a divination spell, the students just switched to magical beasts, and if they thwarted magical beasts with flower scents, the students would pull out tracking artifacts…

Just getting caught once led to all this. The intruders must have found it incredibly unfair.

“Hm. Maybe they weren’t much after all. Perhaps Antagondals was scammed…”

Hmm. That could be, agreed Joulin.

Since Antagondals was a magical criminal, the adventurers she could hire had to be limited.

And who would dare to invade Einrogard?

So she’d have no choice but to hire those with such poor skills…

Lee Han and Joulin were having a conversation that would make the -Kangla’s Shadow- adventurers weep blood if they heard.

“By the way, have you seen Professor Ingeldel?”

“Professor Ingeldel? He went inside earlier, said he was catching intruders.”

“See? Professors are something else. We’re half ready to give up, but he’s chasing after them to the end.”

The upperclassmen admired Professor Ingeldel’s tenacity.

Even after capturing so many, the Skull Headmaster’s treasure still hadn’t appeared, so most were half-abandoning the hunt.

But Professor Ingeldel didn’t care and kept tracking. It was a choice only possible if you were consumed with greed to seize the treasure.

Was this the difference between students and professors?

“…Wait. He really is doing it for the treasure? Why? Shouldn’t it be the Headmaster himself, not a professor, who wants the Headmaster’s treasure?”

“That’s what I think too! Isn’t it cheating for the professor to join the race?”

The intelligent junior’s comment drew universal agreement from the students.

Frankly, any professor shouldn’t covet the Skull Headmaster’s treasure. You were supposed to yield that to the students.

‘Maybe I should just give up?’

Lee Han hesitated for a moment.

Judging by how many intruders his seniors had already caught, even if Professor Ingeldel snagged all the rest, there wouldn’t be many left.

Then, if those intruders showed up on the midterm, it wouldn’t be that hard…

‘What am I, insane? Even one experienced outside adventurer is dangerous.’

Fighting a veteran outsider was never a trivial matter. The only thing to do was shut it down.

“I never expected Professor Ingeldel to be so greedy.”

“Maybe it’s about the exam.”

“That’s even worse.”

Lee Han was appalled at Professor Voladi’s words.

If it wasn’t even about treasure, but just about using intruders for the midterm, that was more frightening.

-Found an intruder!

“!!”

As Lee Han worried, a shout echoed from afar.

The upperclassmen immediately launched into a chaotic brawl.

“Shadows, blind the enemy!”

“O earth! Bind them!”

“Fog, confuse their way…”

Why? Why are they acting like this?!

Joulin momentarily wondered if the students had all been hit by some spell. Catten explained kindly.

“They’re trying to check each other and get there first, Your Highness.”

……

Joulin, looking on pitifully, asked Lee Han,

But Lee Han, shouldn’t you be going that way if you’re looking for Professor Ingeldel?

“Uh… honestly, I was thinking of giving up since I’m late.”

Lee Han was slowly admitting defeat and resigning himself to facing the intruders during the midterm.

If even the students were fighting this fiercely, how hard would it be to stop Professor Ingeldel?

…Lee Han! Never give up! You absolutely must get Gonadaltes’s treasure first!

‘That’s just a rumor.’

Lee Han only wanted to stop Professor Ingeldel from capturing the intruders, not to get the treasure.

But Joulin, ignoring this, spread his wings and forcibly placed Lee Han on his back.

Let’s go! Joulin will take you!

As the dragon soared into the air, the fighting upperclassmen stared up in shock.

Riding a dragon into the sky?!