Episode 967

While the junior was resolving, ‘From now on, I’ll live for myself,’ the seniors paid no attention.

It was the same as Lee Han took out a thermally enchanted glass bottle of hot black tea and ate a pork sandwich marinated in spices and salt.

‘Amazing.’

He’d just resolved not to care, but Lee Han couldn’t help being surprised inside.

His fellow second-year friends like Gainando would gaze longingly like baby basilisks at any food he took out.

At Einrogard, hot, tasty food was like a siren’s song—hard to resist.

But these Enchantment Magic School seniors, regardless, stayed focused solely on their own tasks. No wonder they stuck with Professor Verdus.

For a moment, Lee Han felt an odd sense of dissatisfaction.

Without realizing it, this was the pride of someone who had played babysitter for nearly a year and a half at Einrogard.

How dare they ignore the snacks he’d prepared?

‘…What am I even thinking?’

Lee Han shook his head.

If he didn’t have to do anything, he should be happy—why complain? That was just nonsense.

“…Senior Sigunting, what are you doing?”

“Checking my artifact.”

The dwarf boy, one year above Lee Han, spoke as he inspected a crossbow pulsing with all sorts of magical flows.

Underground, even if you weren’t a combat mage, you couldn’t not be careful. At Einrogard, you had to look out for yourself.

“I see. It’s enchanted with all sorts of magic.”

The bolts loaded in the crossbow had detectable magics for tracking and homing.

Even a clumsy magician would become a sharpshooter with this.

The fletching at the back of each short bolt was enchanted for acceleration and penetration.

With that much magic and those spell constructs, it could pierce a steel shield even on a glancing blow.

The stock was enchanted for darkvision and enhanced sight, while the loading mechanism had Confidence Boost, Calculation Assistance, and Drafting Assistance spells…

“…?”

Lee Han thought he had seen wrong and looked again. But he had it right.

“Senior, does your crossbow really have Calculation Assistance and Drafting Assistance magic?”

“…Right!”

Sigunting stared in surprise at Lee Han.

He hadn’t explained, but his junior had analyzed which magics were on the artifact first.

No wonder he was rated so highly by other magicians.

“Incredible. How did you know?”

“Why does a crossbow need Calculation Assistance or Drafting Assistance? The magic should handle aiming, right…”

To Lee Han, it made more sense to cram in one more combat spell instead.

But Sigunting looked at him like he was a battle-maniac.

“What are you talking about? The combat power’s plenty—you should put in the spells you use day-to-day.”

“Day-to-day…?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Han was about to ask when anyone ever used Calculation or Drafting for ordinary life, but then glanced beside him.

Yukveltire and Anfagon were spending their spare time diligently sketching artifact blueprints.

“I see. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Happens, Wardanaz. If you want to save time, you should carry an artifact like this too.”

“I see…”

Taking his senior’s advice, Lee Han quietly put his thermos and sandwich wrapper back in his bag.

Seeing these seniors studying, he felt embarrassed.

“Okay, then, senior… what other combat artifacts did you bring?”

“That’s it.”

Sigunting didn’t know what his junior was asking.

Unless you were a battle-maniac, most magicians didn’t bring multiple combat artifacts.

Magic was about research and realizing ambition, not just tools for fighting.

“Wardanaz, do you have a bunch of combat artifacts?”

“Uh… I just have one. Haha.”

Lee Han quickly dodged the question.

Strictly speaking, since he could cast a lot with one staff, one might say he only needed one item.

He doubted the others would agree, though…

“Then I’ll go talk with the other seniors for a bit!”

‘Skilled, but wastes time on odd things,’ thought Sigunting.

Well, no one can be perfect in everything.

• * *

In the mining sectors under Einrogard, all sorts of monsters roamed.

Kuka, a crocodile beastman that could use primal magic.

Alicantos, birds that wandered crying out for rare metals.

Even wild golems born when corrupted earth and metal naturally absorbed magic.

The clever Einrogard students didn’t fight these foes.

No one gave medals for slaying mine monsters—so avoidance was best…

-Grrrrrrrk!

A crocodile beast waving its three skeletal, metal-tipped branches howled and fled.

It had tried to curse the magician, but it hadn’t worked at all.

Worse, a magical counterattack immediately came.

As it was bound with Telekinesis and battered by water projectiles able to break walls of mud, Kuka realized it had picked the wrong foe.

“Should we chase it? By the way, what were you saying just now?”

“Avoidance is best… Never mind, I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Yukveltire instantly changed her answer.

Seeing her junior’s combat ability, she realized she probably wouldn’t need to bother with avoidance at all.

She’d prepared for various scenarios including extra bodyguards, but to see him fight like this…

“Let’s just head straight down the south cave.”

“But, senior, there’s no sign of people here. Is this really okay?”

Lee Han asked, puzzled.

Thanks to Nillia’s Shadow Patrol lessons during his spare time, he had gotten much better at this sort of thing.

Even in the dark underground mines, a ranger’s skills don’t just disappear.

The winding west slope was crisscrossed with student tracks.

But the southern cave looked as if no one had come that way in ages.

Was it really all right to go there?

“Of course, Wardanaz junior. Don’t trust my judgment?”

“Uh, no.”

“Thought so. Let’s go.”

‘I definitely said “no,” though.’

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

He said he didn’t trust her, but she just took it how she liked.

And one hour later—

“Huff, huff.”

The students staggered exhausted from the opposite exit of the cave.

Among them, Lee Han looked especially worn out.

He’d had to take point, fending off all the charging monsters by himself.

The south cave was far rougher than he’d expected.

Dozens of Kuka beasts charging to trample the intruders, wild golems tumbling from the walls.

Lee Han blocked curses with his body and held the wild golems at bay with telekinesis and swordplay.

-Senior! When’s the area spell ready?

-Which senior?

-…Senior Yukveltire!

-Ah! Yukveltire, when’s it done?!

-28 seconds more.

-Then can one of you at least provide covering fire?! There’s too many! I don’t have time for spells!

-I’ll just summon a small fortress. Wardanaz, get behind—wait, did you take them all out yourself?

If he’d lacked even one of mana, telekinesis, or swordsmanship, the monsters would have broken through in no time.

After sheathing his staff and sword, Lee Han walked over to Yukveltire.

It looked like someone had struck her bag during the fight—part of it was damaged, and Yukveltire was inspecting the contents.

“Senior Yukveltire, may I ask something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Normally, you’d never take this route. Did you pick it just because I was here?”

It could sound arrogant or presumptuous, but there was no avoiding the suspicion.

No matter how he looked at it, it was too dangerous a route for seniors who weren’t combat mages.

Not even Professor Voladi would go out of his way to pick the riskier path…

“Yes.”

“So what, you figured if I was here and had resistance to monster magic and close combat, everything would be fine?”

“Yes.”

“You obviously didn’t imagine it might be dangerous or something might go wrong, right?”

Yukveltire wondered why her junior was bothering with pointless questions.

“I calculated for success. Success is what happened. Why keep asking?”

Lee Han deeply regretted accepting the offer without checking with Senior Direte first.

The devil’s bargain always looks tempting. And he fell for it!

“…Nothing.”

Grip!

Luckily, he’d swung his sword enough against the golems that he didn’t swing it at a senior.

Meanwhile, Yukveltire finished checking the damage.

“…My potions broke.”

“!”

Mana recovery potions, nutritional supplement potions—such things were vital for undertrained, low-stamina Enchantment Magic students. Yukveltire’s face darkened.

“Can’t you get the others to share? They must have brought plenty.”

“Nope.”

“No.”

Anfagon and Sigunting refused instantly.

Lee Han asked in shock,

“Wh-why? Is there even a reason?”

“No reason to give you any.”

“Even though you’re in the same school…”

The two seniors looked at him as if he’d said something bizarre.

So what if they were in the same school?

Lee Han realized anew he was the only sane one among madmen.

“Wardanaz, I think you’re missing the point. Imagine if I lost my share of potions—would Senior Yukveltire give me any?”

“She probably would.”

“She wouldn’t.”

“……”

Lee Han scowled at the reply from behind him.

Absolutely useless.

“Why?”

“Potion management is a magician’s own responsibility.”

“Well, sure, but if Yukveltire’s not with us, we’re in trouble.”

Lee Han quickly turned from the seniors and pleaded with the two he thought he could reason with.

“Isn’t Yukveltire the only one who can actually track Senior Jarun?”

“She could give us the means, and just go back herself.”

“She wouldn’t hand it over, though—”

“She would.”

“……”

CRACK!

Sigunting stared as a rock by the corridor shattered violently.

Did he just break that distant boulder with silent, chantless telekinesis??

“…Now what?”

Yukveltire replied calmly to Lee Han’s question.

“I initiated this mission, so it’s my responsibility.”

Losing her potions was Yukveltire’s mistake, and it was her proposal to gather the students and come down here.

For rational Einrogard Enchantment Magic students, this is when you yield the tracking means for Jarun and quietly climb back up alone.

“…I’ll just share my potions with you. Pay me back topside.”

Anfagon and Sigunting couldn’t grasp their junior’s intent.

“Why would you do that?”

“Isn’t Wardanaz just overflowing with mana?”

“But even so, why waste potions on a senior?”

“True, that.”

‘If only I could just smash them all.’

Ignoring their comments, Lee Han pulled a potion from his pack.

Handing it over, Yukveltire asked,

“There’s no meal-replacement potion…”

“…I’ll just make food. Just eat that.”

Yukveltire was about to say, “That’s more time-consuming,” then clamped her mouth shut.

She instinctively felt it would be best not to say it aloud.

Sometimes a student really does outdo their master.

Despite her “Little Verdus” nickname, Yukveltire definitely had better sense than her mentor.