Episode 999

The old Yaksha waved his arm as if annoyed. The giants’ mouths snapped shut by force.

-Come. I kept it safe.

“The attendant…”

-From earth you come, to earth you return. Don’t grieve. For the dead to be attached to this world is no blessing.

“…?”

Lee Han looked at the Death Knights flying through the sky on undead mounts.

It sounded plausible, but in Einrogard it wasn’t all that persuasive.

Sensing that skeptical gaze, the old Yaksha clicked his tongue.

-“Young ones never listen, do they. Fine. Just take your things.”

The old Yaksha opened a tree stump as if it were a chest and took out the artifacts inside.

A pouch of reagents, a white-covered book, and a cage containing the hamster.

“…”

Lee Han, about to be moved when receiving the reagents and book, froze as soon as he made eye contact with the hamster.

“…Why are you in there?”

-You think I want to be like this?!

The hamster in the cage shot back with angry squeaks.

A nearby giant grumbled.

-That rat’s a picky eater. Other rats will eat rotten stuff, but not this one.

-Ignorant species! They should have gone extinct already!

The hamster, “cared for” by giants while Lee Han slept, was brimming with murderous energy.

Apparently, giants weren’t skilled at caring for hamsters.

“I thought you’d have returned to normal after Master ascended.”

-So did I.

The hamster, once a magical criminal, grumbled as he munched on a grape Lee Han tossed. Thanks to the giants, he felt like his stomach was sticking to his back.

-But I was wrong. That crazy guy set up the magic so it wouldn’t release even if he disappeared.

The hamster had underestimated the tenacity and perfectionism of an ancient archmage.

To think the magic would sustain itself in a loop even if he vanished.

If only he hadn’t been the victim, he might have been impressed by such perfectionism, but unfortunately, he was its victim.

“Wow… he really is incredible, isn’t he?”

-……

When Lee Han admired the mad clone’s magic, the hamster’s feelings churned.

Little brat only feels that way because he’s not the one suffering…

But the hamster held back. The only one he could count on now was the boy in front of him.

-I’ll definitely repay you. Please release me!

“Huh? I don’t know how.”

-…Ugh.

Only then did the hamster realize he was dealing with a mere second-year Einrogard student.

He’d briefly forgotten after seeing the Small World and matching wits with Gonadaltes, but he really couldn’t expect such magic to be undone here.

‘Why was I even waiting for this kid?’

For a moment, the hamster wondered if his intelligence had dropped due to the curse.

He’d spent a week thinking he’d be freed as soon as the kid returned, but realized none of it made sense.

“Didn’t anyone else undo it for you?”

-Would you, if you were them?

The hamster squeaked with disbelief at Lee Han’s question.

The other magicians present were the skull headmaster or the vampire professor; what reason would they have to free a magical criminal?

“That’s unfortunate. Well, good luck.”

-…Wait! Wait! Wait! Don’t leave me behind!

When Lee Han took the reagents and book and turned to leave, the hamster frantically banged the side of the cage and squeaked.

-I’ll definitely be of help! Think about it. Would the clone have made it through the world’s disaster without my help?

“Wait. Weren’t you the one egging us on to just kill him?”

As Lee Han recalled, his voice chilled a bit. The hamster became even more desperate.

-…That was just suggesting one option. When you refused, I gave you another way!

“I appreciate your help, but I really don’t know how to dispel it. Why not ask the old Yaksha instead?”

-You inherited the magic from the clone! It’s obvious just from the book!

The hamster quickly recognized what sort of book the mad clone had left.

Usually, a wizard’s grimoire was written to summarize their insights for future disciples.

Some grimoires were written in easily understood script for everyone, others encrypted for particular schools.

The rarest and most powerful were the spiritual books.

Grimoires containing a shard of the wizard’s own soul.

Such books couldn’t be read normally, nor easily opened—sometimes not even destroyed.

They handed down magic only according to the will embedded within.

“!”

Lee Han immediately understood the hamster’s explanation. He already owned a similar book.

The black book the skull headmaster had (forcibly) handed him.

“This book contains the secret to release the spell?”

-That’s right.

“…But learning that will take a lot of time, won’t it?”

-All the more reason to start right away! Don’t waste time here!

At the hamster’s grumbling, Lee Han’s face soured.

Certainly, the mad clone’s ascension had left a strong impression and a new goal for Lee Han.

But that didn’t mean he’d drop everything and leap into magic study just because a hamster kept pestering him.

He’d follow his own pace as always.

‘Should I just leave this noisy thing with the giants?’

‘He’s not really planning to abandon me to the giants, is he?’

The two wizards read each other’s minds. The hamster squeaked submissively.

-…Now that I think about it, you’re still a student, and it’ll take time to learn how to untie this magic. Take your time. And please, can you take me along? Don’t leave me with these maniacs?

That rat bastard’s still alive? The giants’ patience is better than I thought.

“!”

With the sudden familiar telepathy behind him, Lee Han turned.

The giants were already breaking trees and rocks as they fled in all directions.

Boom boom boom boom boom!

-It’s the headmaster!

-Run! Run! He’ll take our booze and meat!

Amid the wild reaction, the skull headmaster chuckled with satisfaction.

The hamster wanted to run too, but could only bury himself in the sawdust.

Fortunately, the skull headmaster ignored him entirely. There were too many more urgent things to deal with than trivialities like this.

Bat-naz, I heard you woke up. Figured you’d come here.

The old Yaksha asked with curiosity,

-So did you really cover the whole domain with the dream veil?

I understand your shock.

The skull headmaster pretended not to hear, but the old Yaksha was persistent.

-To my knowledge, even covering a small area with the dream veil isn’t easy. How did you manage to cover the whole domain? Did you borrow gold? Even a tremendous hoard wouldn’t…

Unable to bear it, the skull headmaster banished the old Yaksha far away.

The Yaksha race really did know how to get on one’s nerves from times ancient.

Since I’ve accepted you as my disciple, I should have explained. I apologize, properly, as your teacher.

“No, I spoke harshly as well.”

Lee Han softened when the skull headmaster apologized formally.

To be fair, the skull headmaster hadn’t acted out of pure malice.

…Though there was a bit of malice, but for someone who was always malicious, this time he’d tried to do what was best.

“I’m sorry I cursed at you. Maybe saying you should be headmaster until the world ends was going too far.”

…Somehow that’s even harsher than what you said back then…but never mind.

The skull headmaster was puzzled by how much stronger the insult had gotten, but let it slide.

That wasn’t what mattered now.

Right. Let’s just bury both our mistakes here in the mountain.

“Yes.”

Now, finish your exams quickly and come to the headmaster’s office. I’ll need your help persuading the empire’s evil creditors.

And having said his piece, the skull headmaster spun around and floated away.

Lee Han gazed blankly at the round, white skull’s back.

What the…?!

Wait.

The skull headmaster stopped, then floated back.

“What is it?”

Don’t send any complaints.

“?!!”

• * *

“Wardanaz is in big trouble!”

“Stop being so dramatic. Wardanaz isn’t a weakling like you. He’ll get up when he’s recovered.”

“No, that’s not it! He did wake up, but didn’t even ask about the test?!”

“…What?!”

The White Tiger Tower students, skinning a wild boar, began to stir with shock.

So shocked that they were butchering the prime cuts right along with the hide.

“Then what was the point of studying so hard?”

“Damn, we worked for nothing.”

“……”

Giselle, standing behind with a pocketknife, glared at her friends as if to kill.

Noticing the gaze, the White Tiger Tower students hastily changed their tone.

“Come to think of it, studying is about self-improvement, right. Ha ha.”

“Yeah, just like Wardanaz’s story last time—he said the real treasure buried in the vineyard was effort.”

“I still don’t get that story…”

One student tilted his head in confusion.

Wardanaz’s story last time, about the three brothers who inherited a vineyard from an old farmer, baffled him.

The old farmer left a will saying, “I’ve buried treasure in the vineyard.” The three brothers dug and dug.

They found no treasure, but the tilled vineyard yielded an abundant grape harvest that year…

‘Does that mean a wizard should even doubt their parents?’

Maybe it meant even when a great wizard leaves a grimoire, there’s no telling if there’s any real treasure inside, so check for yourself, don’t just accept it blindly.

Of course, Wardanaz had gotten mad about that interpretation, but wasn’t getting mad normal for him?

“We should visit Wardanaz and check up on him, just in case. If he really doesn’t care about the test, he must be seriously hurt.”

Even Giselle didn’t try to stop her friends this time.

Those Blue Dragon Tower braggarts were always exaggerating, but this time it did seem serious.

“What are you all up to?”

Passing by the seventh-floor courtyard, Lee Han was puzzled to see his friends in conversation.

His friends shouted in surprise.

“Wardanaz! Is it okay for you to be walking around?!”

“With all that rest, I’m fine.”

Lee Han carried a cage in one hand and some leaves for hamster food in the other.

It was a sudden new pet, but his friends weren’t fazed—they had a different question.

“The test?!”

“What test?”

“Those Blue Dragon Tower guys said you’ve stopped caring about the exam or gone crazy…”

“I didn’t say crazy, you jerks!”

Blue Dragon Tower students jumped in, appalled.

Where do rumors like that come from?!

“Oh, I get it now. It’s not that I stopped caring about the test. I just had urgent business, and had to check that first. There are more important things than exams in the world, you know.”

“…!!”

His friends were stunned by the new Wardanaz.

Usually, if you said something like “There are more important things than tests—like field hockey,” a lightning bolt would hit your back, but now…

“Are you really okay?”

“No, I like the new Wardanaz.”

While Blue Dragon Tower students whispered in shock (Giselle included herself in that), the White Tiger Tower students took it in stride.

A Wardanaz less obsessed with exams was much more attractive than before.

“Wardanaz! We welcome the new you! There really is more to life than exams!”

“Yeah! What were you doing, anyway? Getting food for a new pet?”

“No. Gotta finish the test quickly, so I went to turn it in first.”

Lee Han waved the completed test in his cage.

It was the “Magical Algebra & Arcane Geometry” exam, and he got a perfect score with no mistakes.

“……”

“……”

The White Tiger Tower students’ hearts shattered.

There were wizards in the world who aced the test even without being obsessed with it.