Episode 97

Episode 097

When you multiplied 14 by 19, it was 266, not 417. Not a single digit was correct.

Ihan asked suspiciously.

“Gainando. How do you make a low-grade mana recovery potion?”

It was the same question the other friends had asked earlier.

If it really was a potion of wisdom, he should have been able to answer correctly like before.

“You cut off the base of the galamardo, then cut the remaining part along with the pinky finger. At the same time you have to shred the seolhyang grass finely by hand…”

He answered calmly and composedly as before, but Ihan wasn’t fooled.

Wasn’t it true that, on the cutting board earlier, the base of the galamardo and his pinky finger were both cut off!

“It wasn’t a potion of wisdom, but a potion of confidence.”

“……”

The Blue Dragon Tower friends were truly disappointed.

They could have passed all their assignments and exams so easily!

“But can’t we trick the White Tiger Tower guys into thinking it’s a potion of wisdom and sell it to them?”

“Oooh…”

“What do you mean, ‘Oooh’? No.”

Ihan stopped the students.

The princess was about to get up with the potion, but hesitated at Ihan’s words and quietly sat back down.

“Why not?! Wordanaz, you know how rude and arrogant those jerks are!”

“They even badmouthed you last time!”

“I know. But… Wait. What did they say?”

Ihan tried to let it go, but couldn’t help asking.

“They said you’re way better at black magic than the upperclassmen.”

‘Isn’t that not an insult at all?’

Ihan thought to himself.

Of course, he could guess what they really meant by it, but as an insult, it was a bit weak.

The White Tiger Tower students probably meant it as a slight, but to Ihan, it didn’t really…

For example, “Wordanaz will starve to death after graduation” or “Wordanaz will get caught by the professors and fail to graduate” would have been far more insulting.

“That much is fine. I can handle my own affairs, so don’t get needlessly angry on my behalf. The most important thing now is the lake.”

“!”

At those words, the Blue Dragon Tower students remembered—or rather, recalled the assignment they were trying to forget.

It was the homework assigned by the skeleton principal.

“Do we really have to go to the lake?”

“Can’t we just give up on one assignment? Having to cooperate with those guys… What really matters is honor, not grades.”

At that, Ihan, Yoner, the princess, and Asan all stared at the student as if to say, ‘What kind of nonsense are you talking about?’

How could anyone say grades aren’t important??

“Grades are honor. What are you talking about?”

“Yeah. Grades are… uh, honor.”

Ihan almost said, “To get ahead, you need good grades,” but stopped himself.

Most of the people here thought, “So what if my grades aren’t good? I have a family name. I won’t starve,” so it wouldn’t be very convincing.

And…

‘If I say that, it might be dangerous later.’

Judging by the way Professor Voladi and Professor Kirmine talked, it felt somehow risky to say, “My goal is to become a bureaucrat and get ahead,” inside the magic school.

It might be better to keep it hidden until he’d really secured his position and was ready to leave.

“S… sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

The friend who’d spoken so thoughtlessly apologized, unable to withstand the stares from Ihan and the others.

So that’s how it is!

Grades are that important…!

• * *

‘I was hoping the potion box would have something useful.’

Ihan thought wistfully as he looked at the lake.

Specifically, he’d wanted something like a potion of water-walking or underwater breathing.

No matter how he thought about it, this principal’s assignment had to involve some trouble with water.

Falling in or drinking it or…

But from the stolen potion box, the only confirmed potions were Imperial Western Wine (delicious), Cantus Potion (granted the talent for singing), and the potion of confidence.

Ihan seriously considered secretly giving a little of the remaining potions to the White Tiger Tower students.

If only he could test them directly…

‘If there’s a potion of strength or giantification, that could be a problem. They’d come kill me first.’

Ihan, thinking of the risks, decided to drop it.

After all, testing unverified potions on people was ethically wrong.

“Shield, unfold!”

Ihan chanted the spell toward the lake.

A mage using water element magic became much more comfortable and powerful when water was nearby.

It dramatically reduced the mana and mental energy required to summon water.

…Or so he’d heard, but Ihan didn’t really feel the difference.

‘Am I just inexperienced?’

Whether he used the lake’s water or just summoned water, it felt about the same to him.

Maybe that only changed with higher-tier magic.

At low circles, you didn’t really feel a difference, but maybe at higher circles…

Ihan kept trying various things with the glob of water he’d summoned in the shape of a shield.

The reason he was alone by the lake on such a happy Sunday morning was only one.

He was trying to find a way across the lake.

‘It really is huge.’

It wasn’t unreasonable that some inland students thought, “Wow, this campus has a sea inside it.”

From Ihan’s side, he couldn’t even see the end of the lake.

He had to figure out how to cross by next week. The skeleton principal wasn’t someone who’d grant mercy just because there wasn’t a way.

“Ferryboat, appear!”

Ihan tried various spells, experimenting to change the water’s shape into a ferryboat.

He was trying to summon a water-made ferry.

If Professor Garcia had been here, she would surely have been appalled by her student’s absurd effort.

• No matter how confident you are, can you imagine how difficult it is to maintain the shape of a ferry?

Maintaining a water shield and conjuring a ferry to cross a lake were entirely different in scale.

A shield and a ferry differed in both size and density.

Naturally, the required mana was vastly different.

Even if he kept the boat’s structure simple, it was far more complex than a shield.

And, unlike a shield that just floated in the air, he had to keep the shape stable floating on the water…

Ihan realized this fact soon enough.

Sure enough, conjuring a water ferry wasn’t efficient.

‘It’s definitely difficult. Could I really keep this thing afloat on the lake?’

There was also the possibility of monsters or the skeleton principal himself jumping out of the lake to attack.

Considering that, a water ferry was not doable.

‘It’s a shame I succeeded in summoning it, but I should give up.’

Ihan gave up neatly, and released the successfully summoned water ferry onto the lake.

Professor Garcia, if present, would have been horrified again.

-You succeeded in making that, but you’re just letting it go?!

‘Should I use enchantment magic after all?’

If potions or water ferries weren’t possible, enchantment magic was the next option.

A type of magic that involved directly engraving magic onto items, materials, or living beings to maintain effects.

The water-walking and underwater breathing spells also belonged to enchantment magic.

The problem was, Ihan had only learned about enchantment magic indirectly.

He’d studied its applications in courses like , but hadn’t been formally taught yet.

And even if he did study it formally, it didn’t seem likely he’d master water-walking or underwater breathing as a first-year…

‘Black magic isn’t much help in cases like this. Alchemy or enchantment magic are way more practical.’

Ihan imagined Professor Mortum shedding a tear.

‘Same goes for the lightning spirit. Professor Stormstep’s ice spirit helps even with storing ingredients and reagents… In times like this, you could freeze the lake and make a road.’

Ihan then imagined Perkuntra getting choked up.

‘When you think about it, magic is kind of weak…’

“Careful!”

“Don’t worry. Okay, let’s gently push it.”

“?”

Hearing voices beyond the bushes, Ihan crouched and approached quietly.

Amazingly, the White Tiger Tower friends were building something like a ferry. Even Ihan, who didn’t really know about it, could tell it was just about complete.

“!”

“Is it okay to launch it like this?”

“Of course. I’ve done it lots of times.”

The goat beastkin, Angrago, answered confidently.

Whenever the knights had a long break, Angrago used to follow his parents back to his mother’s hometown, where he’d ride and sail boats at sea.

Not only did he have plenty of experience with small ferries, he was confident in making them himself.

“Once it’s afloat, let’s go back and tell everyone!”

“Yeah! They’ll all be waiting. Wait… what if we actually find a way to the island?”

“That’s a really good idea. Moradi will like it too.”

Angrago nodded.

It was nice having Moradi and the other students impressed, but, above all…

Just imagining that Wordanaz guy looking at him with a mixture of respect and resentment—it already sent a thrill through him.

-Kuk. Angrago Alpha. I acknowledge you. To have found the path I have not yet discovered—you’re much more amazing than I thought. I was a fool for looking down on you…

Even Wordanaz, who’d mastered all evil magics, wouldn’t know the wisdom of sailing like this.

Rustle—

With the sound of something moving in the bushes, Ihan appeared, holding his staff.

“Hey.”

When Ihan called out, Angrago and his friend instinctively raised both arms. The staff pointed at them felt like the tip of a blade.

“Y…you bastard…!”

“So cowardly…!”

Angrago was so aggrieved his horns trembled.

He’d spent many sleepless nights making that ferry.

He’d even named it ‘Baphomet’ and worked hard, only to have it stolen by a mugger with a staff.

He wanted to fight, but thinking of Ihan’s magic shown last time, he couldn’t move rashly.

If he drew his sword and charged, the staff would swing before that.

“My ferry! To have my ferry taken like this…!”

“Don’t move.”

Ihan gave a warning and then instantly regretted it.

‘Why am I threatening them?’

To begin with, he’d approached the White Tiger Tower students to ask how they planned to make the crossing, how they would find the way.

But suddenly, with the White Tiger Tower students acting like they were held up by a robber, Ihan reflexively said, “Don’t move.”

Habits really were scary.

“No, that’s not it.”

Ihan lowered his staff.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I didn’t come to take your ferry. I just came to ask how things were going.”

“R…really??”

“But you pointed your staff and threatened to curse us if we didn’t hand over the ferry…”

Angrago paused, realizing that didn’t actually happen. He was just so flustered he’d imagined it.

“It was a misunderstanding.”

The two White Tiger Tower students quietly lowered their arms. Ihan nodded, pretending not to notice.

“It was a misunderstanding.”

“So you came because you’re interested in the ferry I made?”

“Yeah. However…”

Ihan trailed off and looked at Angrago anew.

He made the boat?

‘This one’s boat might be even more dangerous than Gainando’s…’

“What?”

Angrago didn’t notice Ihan’s rude inner thoughts and just looked confused.