Chapter 1229

Gainando looked slightly dejected at his friend's harsh response.

Jowrin wondered why she was being treated so differently when she was also a member of the Imperial Family.

"You only called me because you wanted someone to do the grunt work anyway."

'No? Sharp. This guy.'

Lee Han was slightly impressed inwardly.

Gainando was nearing the end of his second year at Einroguard now, so he was gradually becoming harder to fool.

In truth, Lee Han and Yonair alone would have been enough for Yoanen's commission.

It would have been even better if they could bring in a friend or upper-year student who was doing well in the alchemy school, but...

'If we did that, there's a high chance the friendship would immediately fall apart.'

Yonair's older sister was someone who could make the alchemists under her work twenty-seven hours a day if necessary.

No matter how good the commission was, Lee Han could not casually drag acquaintances into a commission from a client like this.

Gainando, however, was different.

'It's probably fine to work him a little. He's related to Lady Yoanen too.'

'Right. It's fine to work him. Lady Kraha said it was fine too.'

Lee Han and Yonair exchanged sinister glances. Gainando immediately flared up again when he saw them.

"I can see that, you know!? You've been looking at me like that ever since you got the commission!"

"W-what are you talking about?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Gainando grumbled as he moved along.

'Just you wait. The next time I get a difficult commission, I'm definitely dragging both of them along.'

He had no idea how he was supposed to get a difficult commission in the first place, though!

"Why in the world are there two dragons here?"

Yoanen grabbed her younger sibling and whispered in a bewildered voice.

Of course, it was not as though Yonair could really explain the situation either.

"His Majesty Uman came down here on his own because he was sad... and I don't really know about Her Majesty Jowrin."

"????"

"Lady Meikin. Are these the two things we'll be working on this time?"

Lee Han called out to Yoanen.

Even for someone as single-mindedly devoted to alchemy as she was, suppressing curiosity in a situation like this was not easy.

You would have to be at least Professor Verdus for that.

Yoanen forcibly suppressed her curiosity and nodded for the moment.

"...Yes. Those two."

'Ugh. Neither one is remotely easy.'

Lee Han recoiled inwardly when he saw the list of alchemical research Yoanen had written down.

As expected of someone who worked the alchemists under her twenty-eight hours a day, every single one of her interests was monstrously difficult.

<Kinis's Purification>.

This was research aimed at reproducing part of an ancient transformation spell through alchemy while improving upon it at the same time.

If successful, the ash-gray powder would become a powerful reagent capable of purifying nearly any ordinary contamination.

<Penumbra of the Gorge>.

This was research intended to theorize a form of primitive magic that occurred in a certain region of the Empire.

In this nameless gorge, living creatures were occasionally shifted into a half-shadow state, and Yoanen wanted to reproduce that phenomenon intentionally.

Was it a localized form of dimensional overlap?

Or a mutated form of the darkness element?

If successful, it could be applied and incorporated into a wide variety of artifacts.

'Looks like we'll have to work twenty-nine hours a day...'

Both research projects clearly revealed the wicked intent Yonair's older sister had devised.

She intended to make absolutely thorough use of Lee Han's mana!

"Uh. Lady Meikin. We're prisoners, so we're forbidden from using magic."

"It's fine. I got permission. You should be able to use it while we're working."

Astonishingly, Yoanen was right.

There really was no interference when Lee Han cast magic. He cursed inwardly.

'If I'd known this, there would've been no need to pull out His Majesty Uman's tooth...!'

He should have just waited a little!

CLACK!

Yoanen even opened the cell door.

"They told me you can move around as long as you stay on this floor. There shouldn't be any problems."

"...Thank you... Could you perhaps let Professor Bagreg and Her Majesty Jowrin out as well?"

Yoanen did her best to suppress the surreal feeling and opened the other cell doors.

When Lee Han was about to call Uman, the enormous black dragon shook its head.

"Uman will surely ruin things again..."

"......"

"...Professor, do you happen to know a good way to handle this?"

Lee Han whispered to Professor Voladi.

After all, wasn't the professor the person here whose profession was most closely related to education?

Professor Voladi thought for a moment.

Then formed a sphere of water in the air...

"Wait!! Wait!!!"

"?"

"What are you trying to do?!"

"Jowrin thinks it's a good idea."

Jowrin, who had been watching from the side, took Professor Voladi's side.

Wouldn't Uman get up if someone attacked him?

"...Both of you, go over to that cell and help with the work first. I'll bring His Majesty Uman."

"Hmph. Lee Han won't listen to Jowrin. Just because Jowrin used Jowrin's Strike once..."

"You used Jowrin's Strike? On whom?"

When Yonair asked in confusion, Jowrin hurriedly changed the subject.

"You must have misheard! Jowrin absolutely did not use Jowrin's Strike!"

"......"

Yonair was horrified inwardly.

Who in the world did she use it on?

"Your Majesty. Perhaps it is true that you've lost your confidence."

"......"

"But one thing is certain. The mages here need Your Majesty's help!"

"!"

The enormous black dragon flinched.

"That cannot be. To think anyone would need Uman's help. And... Uman will surely ruin it..."

'This black dragon's in worse shape than I thought.'

Lee Han complained inwardly.

Normally, this much would already have caught Uman's interest!

"Your Majesty. It's impossible to live without ruining something from time to time. Look at us. Why do you think we're in here?"

The prisoners who had been locked up for escaping, disobeying orders, and attacking the lord were all living perfectly confidently.

"And even if the principal had been here, we would have acted exactly the same way. Isn't that right, Professor?"

"?"

Professor Voladi, who was checking the alchemical equipment in another cell, poked their head out at the call.

"Even if the principal had been supervising, you still would've escaped in exactly the same way, right, Professor?"

"I suppose so."

"You see!"

The black dragon flinched harder than before. It seemed as though just a little more would get Uman to stand up.

"Your Majesty. I believe in you. Even if it isn't this time, I'm certain that you will eventually move forward to overcome your failures!"

"...You're right!"

Life returned to Uman's eyes.

Then the black dragon that had completely filled the cell disappeared, replaced by the form of a fierce-looking, enormous man.

"I showed you an embarrassing side of myself, Lee Han of House Wardanaz. Come to think of it, you placed enough trust and friendship in this Uman to transform into a black dragon."

Uman spoke with embarrassment.

For a mage qualified to transform into a dragon to have chosen the color black was an immense honor even for Uman.

It showed just how much trust and friendship this mage felt toward Uman personally.

Lee Han recoiled in alarm.

"Shh! Keep your voice down!"

"Hm?"

"You didn't happen to tell Her Majesty Jowrin...?!"

This time Jowrin suddenly stuck her head out from another cell.

"Jowrin believes she just heard something about transforming into a dragon."

"Y-you misheard! You heard it wrong! We were talking about His Majesty Uman transforming into a dragon and then changing back into a person!"

"Lee Han... Jowrin and Uman do not transform into dragons. We transform into people..."

Jowrin spoke in a slightly bewildered voice.

For a mage as accomplished as Lee Han to get something like that confused?

"Hahaha. I see. Hahaha. My apologies. I suppose being in prison confused me."

"???"

Jowrin withdrew her head and asked the other Blue Dragon Tower students,

"Jowrin thinks something is wrong with Lee Han."

"Lee Han is always weird."

Gainando answered while grunting as he carried over magical coal.

Unlike her friend, who was too busy with grunt work to notice, Yonair knew exactly why Lee Han was behaving that way and felt cold sweat run down her back.

How would Her Majesty Jowrin react if she found out Lee Han had transformed into a black dragon?

"M-maybe it's because he's been in prison. Haha. Hahaha."

'Yonair seems strange too!'

Jowrin thought inwardly.

Listening to the voices coming from the distant cell, Lee Han whispered anxiously,

"You absolutely must not tell Her Majesty Jowrin that I transformed into a black dragon."

"W-why not?"

"...Because she must have expected me to transform into a gold dragon!"

"...I think you're misunderstanding something. Uman's elder sister possesses a vessel of the soul far grander than this Uman's, so she would never be swept away by such petty emotions..."

'This dragon needs to take a few more Jowrin's Strikes before he comes to his senses.'

Lee Han thought inwardly.

No matter how broad someone's heart was, everyone felt jealousy.

"Enough. It's my transformation and my magic, so I'll decide. You absolutely must not tell her."

"A-all right. But this Uman will insist strongly on this. My elder sister would surely be delighted and bless you."

"Yes... well..."

As Uman said, Jowrin might indeed bless Lee Han.

The fact that he could transform into a dragon at all was already an extraordinary thing.

But Uman...

'One strike? No. He might take two or three.'

"Good! With this commission, I shall contribute at least a little to the mages of the Empire. Let us go!"

Having finished their conversation, Lee Han and Uman strode energetically into the corridor and headed toward the solitary cell where the alchemical equipment had been set up.

Everyone from the cells on this floor had gathered there, so the room was extremely crowded.

Professor Voladi was handling calculations while writing down the reaction equations needed for the alchemy. Yoanen watched and asked questions carefully.

"I think this part still hasn't been proven, so we'll need to test it experimentally."

"I agree. It remains unverified."

As they spoke, Jowrin glanced over from the side and said,

"Jowrin thinks it will work."

"...Your Majesty. Have you perhaps performed this experiment before?"

As soon as the conversation became difficult, Jowrin lost some of her confidence.

She looked at Lee Han as though asking for help and said,

"Jowrin hasn't tried it... but when Jowrin looks at it, it simply feels like it will work..."

"This Uman is not particularly skilled with calculations or formulas either, but to Uman, it also simply seems like it will work."

Lee Han stared at them in disbelief.

"Your Majesties. You can't handle new magic that way. You have to check and verify every part of the process..."

"It appears sound."

"If both of you say it's fine, then I suppose we can move on. We'll verify this separately later."

Professor Voladi and Yoanen boldly discarded the experimental verification altogether. Lee Han stared at them in confusion and asked,

"Professor. If we don't verify this before moving on, couldn't the assumptions themselves turn out to be wrong when we conduct the later experiments?"

"Lord Wardanaz. A dragon's intuition is almost never wrong."

Yoanen explained in the professor's place.

Dragons rarely devoted themselves deeply to scholarship, but their innate intelligence and instinctive senses sometimes displayed absurd levels of perception.

Even without foundational knowledge or anything else, there were times when they could simply look at something and determine whether it was right or wrong.

And if two dragons were saying the same thing, the probability that they were wrong was effectively nonexistent.

"...Th-that's ridiculous! How can anyone have such a cheating ability?!"

Gainando, who had been diligently digging up rotten soil from the dark magic school's cemetery, heard that belatedly and wailed.

Jowrin, apparently feeling a little proud at his reaction, cleared her throat with an "Ahem."

"It is not something Jowrin can always do."

"How does something like that even make sense!? Lee Han! You say something too!"

Lee Han shook his head as he watched Gainando practically bounce in outrage.

He thought he understood why Jowrin did not dislike playing with Gainando.

'Sometimes I think Gainando is better at flattery than Professor Bendozol.'

The more jealous Gainando became, the happier Jowrin would only get!