Chapter 1282

The sirens retreated incredibly quickly.

So quickly that even from far away, the sound of splashing could be heard without pause.

“It looked more like they were running away than retreating?”

Gainando, who was beside him, seemed to think the same thing and tilted his head.

“Shh. Don’t provoke Wardanaz. What are you going to do if he cuts off contact?”

“No, honestly, it’s not like only one or two things have run away after seeing Lee Han, so I don’t understand why he’s still like that.”

Gainando spoke as though he genuinely could not understand.

Starting with spirits, all kinds of beings had fled at the sight of his friend, so why was he still denying reality?

From Gainando’s perspective as a member of the dark magic school, that was a blessed talent.

He could not bring himself to say it because Lee Han would smack him on the back if he did...

‘I wish I could scare undead too.’

Whenever he crossed over to the undead realm, he could always feel the undead ignoring him and looking down on him.

It would be nice if he had terrifying dignity like his friend!

“Lord Gainando also denies it whenever someone tells you that you’re bad at mage cards even though you lose every time. Everyone is like that.”

“Wh... wh... wh... H-how could you say something so insulting?! I never knew you were such an undignified, vulgar, despicable, and wicked mage, Ratford!”

‘No. This bastard really is a member of the Imperial Family.’

Salco was slightly surprised.

Normally, Gainando always used only simple, short vocabulary like snacks, desserts, meals, and so on, making him wonder whether this bastard really was Imperial, but apparently even he knew how to use rather sophisticated vocabulary when the need arose.

-Salco, why aren’t you answering? You’re not having some ridiculous conversation with Gainando, are you? Something like a false rumor that the sirens ran away...

‘Gasp.’

Salco was horrified and answered.

-What are you talking about? We weren’t having any conversation like that.

-Your handwriting seems to be trembling a little?

-That’s because Gainando stupidly cursed us while blocking the sirens earlier.

-Ah. He must have blocked them with Song of Dizziness. Tell Gainando to learn some low-grade soul-defense magic. I’ve been telling him since the beginning of this year, and he still hasn’t learned any.

“...That’s a 3rd Circle spell...”

Gainando made a tearful face as he defended himself.

How could someone nag him from that far away?

-For a second-year, a 3rd Circle spell is well within the range of what you can learn.

“!??!!?”

***

“He’s gone completely pale with fear?”

Ivanna muttered as she looked at Gainando from afar.

One of the juniors who had been talking with the paper suddenly turned deathly pale and even fell backward onto his rear.

Palga spoke as though it was nothing surprising.

“Powerful artifacts always come with a price.”

Artifacts that could converse like that had to be treated with particular caution.

There was no way to know whether the artifact had been created purely to aid a mage, or whether some wicked and powerful other-dimensional being had been sealed inside it.

And generally, the latter was much more common.

If one became intoxicated by wisdom and power and recklessly revealed everything, one could get badly hurt.

“Looks like the artifact finally showed its true colors.”

“Then that artifact really is...”

“Yeah. There’s a high chance.”

Palga could no longer deny it.

Once might have been a coincidence, but if they had solved obstacle after obstacle using that artifact...

It meant that bundle of papers was an artifact comparable to the portrait of wisdom they were searching for.

“Then there’s only one thing to do. Let’s steal it!”

“Wait. Ivanna.”

“Don’t stop me. Even if you do, I’ll go alone.”

“That’s not what I mean. Think carefully. Even if they’re juniors, if that artifact is real, do you think it’ll be easy to steal it? They’re already on guard.”

“...!”

His friend’s expression changed after he struck a sore point.

Palga’s observation certainly made sense.

It would be one thing if their guard were down, but stealing an artifact from juniors who were already wary would not be easy.

Especially if they received help from that artifact too?

“You’re right. More importantly, Palga. You were pretending otherwise while thinking about how to steal it, weren’t you? As expected, White Tiger Tower blood flows through you too.”

“Wh... what are you talking about! No! I said that because I was trying to stop you! And that is not the spirit of White Tiger Tower!”

While the two were bickering, something enormous surged up from within the lake.

It was so huge that it would have been more fitting to call it an island.

The massive lump of rock spoke in a booming voice.

Who’s bothering the sirens?

“...?!?!?!”

Even the two third-year students were greatly flustered by the sight of a monster they had never seen before.

They knew there were abyssal beasts in Einroguard’s underground, carnivorous plants with tentacles that polluted space, upper-year students who had given up on graduating and secluded themselves underground, and so on, but they had never seen a monster like that before.

What the hell was it?

“B-Bulgassari! It’s Bulgassari! That’s Bulgassari!”

Ivanna shouted in a trembling voice.

She had heard rumors that a Bulgassari existed somewhere in Einroguard’s underground lake, but she had never expected to witness it directly like this!

This amorphous monster, which grew by eating iron, had no fixed appearance.

Its appearance changed greatly depending on what it ate and where it grew, and judging by that size, it was obvious that it had been living extremely well.

Not for one or two years, either, but for decades.

“What insane senior brought a Bulgassari into a magic academy!? What if the school collapses!?”

Ivanna was deeply outraged.

Even insanity had to have limits.

If a monster like Bulgassari grew up with a nasty temperament, it could simply destroy a small village.

“Einroguard probably wouldn’t collapse from something of that level. More importantly, I think we should step in too.”

Palga considered whether they should cooperate with the juniors.

The sirens earlier were one thing, but there really did not seem to be any way for the juniors alone to deal with that Bulgassari.

The difference in sheer scale was already too great, and most attacks would probably be blocked...

“Wouldn’t it be better to just get out of here?”

“No. We can’t do that.”

“Tch. Fine. I’ll try to draw its attention.”

While the two seniors quickly worked out a plan, Gainando shouted while trembling in fear.

“W-we didn’t bother them!”

Then why are the sirens running away so terrified?

“I don’t know! Maybe someone broke into their home!”

It was something he blurted out at random, but it was actually fairly convincing.

Einroguard students often entered the sirens’ territory and stole their tears or seashells before running away.

Bulgassari seemed persuaded and nodded.

I see. That makes sense.

“A-are you perhaps Lord Bulgassari?”

That’s right. Since you know what I am, you must be an upper-year student?

“No. I’m a second-year...”

A first-year student came here last year too. Are all of last year’s freshmen special or something?

“......”

“......”

The group knew who it had been without even needing to ask.

Salco quickly contacted Lee Han and told him they had met Bulgassari.

-You didn’t happen to fight Bulgassari, did you? Or scare it?

-How could something that huge be scared of me? Are you crazy?

-W-well, that’s true, but... fear is irrational by nature.

“Actually, that first-year student is my friend.”

What? Really?

Bulgassari reacted with surprise.

Gainando could not understand why the other party was surprised.

‘Do I look too gentle to be Lee Han’s friend?’

You don’t look very strong.

“...Th-things like that aren’t important between friends!”

That’s true. So what did everyone come here for?

Bulgassari asked in a leisurely manner.

Once it seemed unlikely to attack, the group relaxed and answered.

“We came down to look for a portrait.”

A portrait? Ah, you mean that thing.

“...!!!!!”

The students were so shocked they nearly fainted.

Bulgassari’s reaction was not, ‘There was something like that?’

Rather, it sounded as though it knew the portrait existed.

“D-does it really exist!?”

You mean the talking portrait, right? I saw the little friends go inside and hide it.

‘We found it!’

The ‘little friends’ must mean other seniors, and saying they had gone inside and hidden it proved that the rumor was true.

They had hidden it deep inside, beyond not only the marshlands that were difficult for others to cross, but even the lake and waterfall.

“C-could you perhaps tell us the exact location?”

Hmm. The little friends said it was a secret... But I was told to treat that freshman well, so...

“What? By whom?”

What?

“Who told you to treat Lee Han well?”

The second-year students looked at Bulgassari with eyes full of curiosity.

Bulgassari became flustered.

N-no one did. Nobody said anything like that.

“You just said...”

Stop asking! And I drifted into Einroguard’s underground on my own. No student brought me here.

“????”

While the students were plunged into confusion, someone suddenly appeared behind Salco with a swish.

It was Ivanna, the third-year senior from White Tiger Tower.

“!?!”

Salco realized his mistake.

He had been so distracted dealing with Bulgassari that he had forgotten about the seniors.

‘A surprise attack at a moment like this! Why the hell?!’

Salco gritted his teeth and strengthened his defenses, bracing himself for the powerful blow that would soon follow.

“Rock, cover my body...”

However, the senior did not attack Salco.

Instead, she snatched the bundle-of-papers artifact he was holding and shouted in delight.

“I got it! I got it!”

“????”

The juniors stared at her as though she were insane, but Ivanna paid them no attention and tried to escape.

She had gotten what she wanted, so it was time to get away.

“Shadow, pull!”

Surprisingly, Ivanna’s shadow, fixed far in the distance, suddenly yanked its owner toward it.

It was a creative application of transformation magic.

“Senior! Wait! Why on earth would you...”

“Juniors, I apologize. But remember this. At Einroguard, you must never trust anyone!”

Ivanna shot away again with a swish.

Gainando and his friends could only stare in bewilderment.

Why the hell was she stealing that?

Is that something worth stealing?

Bulgassari also seemed puzzled as it asked.

It did not look like a particularly impressive artifact.

At most, it seemed to have nothing more than communication magic cast on it.

“Senior! At least tell us the reason! Why are you stealing that!?”

Ivanna snorted at the shout coming from behind her.

Trying to stop someone with a question like that was something only first-years did.

Unless she was an idiot, she was not going to waste time answering it.

“Ivanna, you!”

An enraged Palga could be seen running toward her from ahead.

Apparently, he was furious that she had suddenly committed theft after saying they would draw attention so the juniors could escape.

Ivanna waved her hand as though saying farewell.

‘Only one person can become the owner of a treasure, Palga.’

To let the artifact know that a new owner had appeared, Ivanna unfolded the bundle of papers.

-Salco, did something happen? Why aren’t you answering?

-Did you drop it? Or did someone steal it...

-Who would steal this, and for what reason?

-...M-maybe the Principal stole it to spy on us.

-That’s truly the worst analogy.

The Einroguard second-years chatting together in the little group were startled.

An unfamiliar handwriting they had never seen before suddenly began rampaging across the page.

-Don’t lie! Reveal yourself! I know your true identity, ancient treasure! I’ll pay the price, so reveal yourself!

-?????

-What??

-Who are you?

-I said reveal yourself!

-I don’t know who you are, but this is just a small club made up of Einroguard second-years...

-Is that a code? A riddle!?