Chapter 1263

'It was about magic?'

Thanks to the baby basilisk, Jowrin belatedly realized what it meant when it said someone was tormenting Lee Han.

Depending on how one looked at it, magical education could indeed seem a little like torment.

“But... Jowrin was told that learning magic is supposed to be painful and difficult.”

-Who told you something like that?

The baby basilisk frowned at the absurd statement.

Whoever it was, they had to be a very wicked person.

“Lee Han said that...”

-......

The baby basilisk immediately fell silent.

Come to think of it, it was easy to overlook in everyday life, but the mage who was the basilisk's master was also quite strict when it came to magic.

Just as the professors relentlessly drove Lee Han, Lee Han relentlessly drove his friends.

“Your Highness Yukbeltire.”

“So even if it looks like torment, it might not actually be real torment...”

“Your Highness Yukbeltire?”

“Ah! Yukbeltire is here!”

Jowrin, who had been ignoring the person calling her and whispering with the baby basilisk, realized a beat late when the name was repeated and hurriedly shouted.

The mage who had spoken to her gazed at her with deep respect and said,

“Your mana feels far deeper and more imposing than when I saw you last. Have you gained some sort of enlightenment in the meantime?”

Yukbeltire normally kept her mana carefully restrained, but things were different now.

A powerful and pure aura of mana that she had failed to fully conceal was slowly leaking out.

It was mana almost like that of a dragon.

“Yukbeltire gains °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° enlightenment every moment. It is like snacks that keep coming.”

“Ooh...!”

Although the other person's appearance, mana, and even manner of speaking were somewhat different, the mage did not suspect anything.

Everyone else had already confidently declared that she was Yukbeltire.

“If this is your fifth year at Einroguard, there must be several trials you need to overcome. I am curious whether everything is proceeding smoothly.”

“Mm. Yukbeltire has finished them all.”

“Y-you truly have?!”

The mage was startled.

This mage was not from Einroguard, but knew very well just how monstrous the upper-year students who remained at Einroguard without graduating were.

And also how difficult the feats those monsters had to accomplish were.

As a fifth-year student, she would have to complete not only her studies, but all kinds of presentations and research as well...

And she had finished all of it without even reaching next year?

“Of course!”

“Amazing. Truly amazing!”

The mage resolved to send a letter to Einroguard as soon as the festival ended and he returned.

If Yukbeltire's research had been completed, there was no way he could simply remain still as a mage.

Countless mages would flock there, so even if personally visiting to see it was impossible, he at least wanted to receive the papers.

After seeing the mage off, Jowrin said proudly,

“Mm. Jowrin was worried at first, but now it seems everything is fine!”

Imitating someone else was not nearly as difficult as she had expected.

Jowrin had gained confidence.

The baby basilisk spoke cautiously.

-Still, it might be dangerous if you talk too much. It would be better to keep your answers a little shorter...

“How?”

-What about something like, 'Move.' 'Do not interfere.' 'You are no help.'

“Th-that is far too rude...!”

Jowrin was horrified.

How could she possibly answer people who approached her like that?

-But that person normally answered like that...

Even after hearing the baby basilisk, Jowrin could not believe it.

How could a person possibly behave that way?

“Lady Yukbeltire! Would you perhaps look at a magical work made by the pilgrims gathered here?”

“Stop! Her Highness Yukbeltire greatly dislikes inferior work...”

When someone tried to show Yukbeltire a work created by the festival participants, others attempted to stop them.

It was obvious how this Imperial princess would react if they showed her something below a certain standard.

It would only make the atmosphere turn cold for no reason.

“Mm! Truly splendid!”

“?!!!”

Those who had met Yukbeltire before were greatly shocked.

They had never expected such glowing praise for a work the pilgrims had hastily put together.

The magical works made by roughly carving large pieces of miscellaneous wood were crude and childish.

Children might like them, but a distinguished mage would surely scoff.

Yet Yukbeltire genuinely applauded and looked delighted.

“Yukbeltire wishes to see more!”

“Your Highness...!”

“This is the first time I have met Your Highness today, but I now realize just how malicious and false all those rumors about you were!”

The moved participants and pilgrims burst into cheers for the fake Yukbeltire.

As expected, rumors in the Empire could not be trusted.

Who would have thought she was such a good person!

***

“What are we short on?”

Although her friend came running over wearing a mask, Yonair was not flustered.

The alchemists beside her were startled and asked,

“Who is that?”

“Ah... a mage who came to help. Don't worry too much about it.”

Before Yonair had even finished speaking, the masked mage infused additional mana into low-quality reagents and enhanced their performance.

As if that were not enough, he filled every remaining empty cauldron with water and began brewing potions simultaneously.

Cold-protection potions were something they had been making since first year.

Without even measuring anything, Lee Han divided up the reagents and tossed them in, then used telekinetic force to manipulate the tools at the same time.

After checking the mana inside the cauldrons, he cast additional magic where it was lacking, and where there was too much, he used liquid manipulation to transfer some of the contents into other cauldrons.

In an instant, five cauldrons' worth of potions were perfectly prepared.

Lee Han shouted to the alchemists,

“Turn off the fires in thirty minutes and bottle the potions!”

The masked mage disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.

The alchemists were left dumbfounded.

It was the first time they had ever seen anyone brew potions in such a hurried and violent way.

Alchemy was one of the most delicate and complex branches of magic, requiring painstaking care with every movement and every step. ℯ

Yet this was as careless as an innkeeper by the docks boiling soup in a cauldron...?!

“What?!”

The alchemists checked inside the cauldrons and were horrified.

Astonishingly, the state of the contents in all five cauldrons was accurate down to the smallest detail.

Looking at the bubbling potions, the alchemists could only doubt their own eyes.

How could someone complete such perfect potions in such a short time, and in such large quantities?

“W-who in the world was that? There is no way I would not have heard the name of an alchemist of that caliber...”

“Ah... um... that's Stedal of House Nago.”

Yonair did not feel like inventing another alias, so she gave them the one her friend often used.

“As expected...!”

“I've heard of him! Stedal of House Nago is apparently highly skilled in alchemy as well!”

“What? You've heard of him?”

Yonair was slightly flustered by the unexpected reaction.

Was he really that famous?

She had not realized that the alias her friend used had become famous enough to receive such an immediate response...

***

“Paridim!”

“Ah. You've arrived. We were preparing the price to perform a bone-dice divination.”

The foresight mages were carefully preparing magical offerings.

Since glimpsing the future placed a heavy burden on a mage, it was only natural to try cushioning that burden by paying a price in advance.

This bone-dice divination was frequently performed at events like this.

It involved rolling a hundred-sided die made of bone to divine the vulnerabilities of the current location.

Suitable offerings included five brass ingots, a candlestick and mirror more than a year old, a full day and night of sincere prayer, and so on.

The mages were discussing which offerings to use and how to divide the burden among themselves.

“Wasn't this a divination where you can pay with mana?”

“Pardon? That is true, but...”

Lee Han picked up the bone die from among the mages and threw it.

The foresight mages cried out in horror.

“Dangerous...!”

But Lee Han did not cough up blood or collapse under a curse.

The masked mage simply rolled the die again, and then again.

“1, 17, 45, 88, 94. Nothing else is coming up. I think this should be enough. Then I'll be going!”

When Lee Han disappeared, the foresight mages there were just as deeply shocked as the alchemists from earlier.

How in the world?!

“H-how did he do that? Who in the world is that person?”

“Which magic tower is he from? Please tell us!”

Unlike Yonair, Paridim was not particularly skilled at improvising.

After floundering around pitifully, this Oculoguard mage finally had no choice but to shout,

“H-he's a mage I don't know either!”

“......”

***

'I'm a little worried about Nillia.'

This time, as Lee Han moved toward the area where the enchantment mages were working, he fell into thought.

Both alchemists and enchantment mages were busy during festivals, but there was one difference.

Enchantment mages had a high chance of fighting among themselves.

That did not mean the average personality in the enchantment magic school was like Professor Verdus.

Of course, there were many eccentrics among craftsmen, but Professor Verdus was an exceptionally extreme case even among them.

Rather, the greater problem was the assignments given to the enchantment mages.

The alchemists only needed to keep producing a few predetermined potions, but the enchantment mages had to install magic circles as well as manage and inspect the magical structures created by festival participants.

Problems like this inevitably made disputes easy to start.

Mages were fundamentally a stubborn profession.

Once they started arguing over whether I was right and you were wrong...

“?!”

When Lee Han arrived, he was startled by an unexpected sight.

Nillia and the enchantment mages were amicably adjusting the magic on an ugly statue of an evil god.

“I think we should add a little more lightening magic here.”

“No. The weight is fine. We should adjust the durability instead. The participants made it in a hurry, so there are cracks...”

Of course, there were disagreements.

But whenever that happened, instead of insulting each other or fighting, the enchantment mages asked Nillia to mediate.

“I think it would be better to use reinforcement magic.”

“Urgh. I see.”

“We'll follow your advice!”

“?????”

Lee Han could not help being astonished.

It had only been a few hours. How had she already become that close with them?

'Surely she didn't threaten them.'

He was confused, but one thing was certain.

Nillia did not seem to need any help.

Seeing this, Lee Han even began to suspect that Nillia's usual complaints might have been exaggerated.

She always said she found it difficult even to talk when meeting strangers!

***

“Thank you, Alchemist!”

“I'm not an alchemist...!”

“Pardon?”

“...I am an alchemist. Sob.”

“Thank you!”

Gainando was making detoxification potions together with the priests.

Detoxification potions did not necessarily refer only to potions that cured deadly poison.

The category was quite broad, and potions that relieved various forms of fatigue or weak curses also fell under detoxification potions.

On top of that, as a student of the dark magic school, Gainando also knew how to make warding potions that protected against curses.

The festival participants were deeply grateful for the precious potion gifts.

“You're doing well.”

Lee Han was relieved when he arrived.

Since Gainando was working in a different area from Yonair, Lee Han had worried there might be some kind of problem, but Gainando was managing perfectly well on his own.

His skill was so polished that it was hard to believe he had once looked down on alchemy during first year.

“Lee H...!”

“Shh. I'm wearing a mask. Don't call my name carelessly.”

“Ah, got it. More importantly, I have something to report.”

“This isn't a report about how you suddenly need to check something at a toy shop or magazine store in the capital, is it?”

“......”

Gainando flinched at his friend's words.

How had Lee Han realized he had considered that for a moment?

“N-no! I heard some people who came to get potions talking earlier, and they said there are some strange people over in the Golden Leaf Forest.”

“How were they strange?”

“I got curious and pressed them for details, but everyone avoided answering...”

From the perspective of the festival participants, it was naturally uncomfortable to report fellow participants when they were not even certain about anything.

They did not even know what sort of mage the alchemist in front of them was.

How could they trust him enough to tell him everything?

“Hmm. Wait here for a moment.”

Lee Han disappeared into the crowd for a short while, then returned.

His expression had become noticeably more serious.

“I asked around. It sounds suspicious. I think we should check it out.”

“...Huh!? How did you get them to tell you?!”

'Did he threaten them?!'

Gainando wondered if his friend had used threats.

As expected of an expert from Einroguard, he had somehow managed it in such a short time...

Lee Han shook his head.

“No. I just took off my mask and told them who I was. They were so moved that they immediately told me everything.”

“......”

So that was why he had heard what sounded like cheering from over there earlier!