Chapter 1284

As befitted a member of the Dueling Club, Palga did not hesitate and immediately sprang into action. Casting enhancement magic on the juniors, he shouted loudly.

“Everyone, run!”

If the races at Einroguard were ranked by danger, troll half-bloods would be among the least dangerous, while giants and beaver beastkin could be considered among the most dangerous.

They were born naturally powerful, were stubborn, and had rules of their own, so carelessly provoking them could result in serious injury.

Ivanna knew that well too, so she had already put a considerable distance between herself and the others. Palga prepared to take the rear in case the giant pursued them.

“What? Why?”

“Couldn’t he be doing this because he wants the portrait all to himself?”

“????”

However, the juniors’ reaction was extremely bewildering.

Rather than running away, they were staring suspiciously at Palga.

“I said it’s a giant!? What are you all doing instead of getting out of here!” ℯℯ𝑙.

While Palga was jumping up and down in agitation, a giant suddenly poked its head out from inside.

Then it happily waved at Gainando and the others.

-The little tricksters! Long time no see!

“Hello. Since we last saw you...”

-The tower last time was fun!

The giant picked up Salco, Gainando, and Ratford all at once, then swung them around in circles.

An enraged Gainando struggled and shouted.

“Put me down!”

-No need to be polite! It’s not tiring!

“I’m the one who’s tired!!”

-I don’t see the elder friend. Where is he?

After putting the students down, the giant looked around for someone. Gainando drank a motion-sickness removal potion as he answered.

“Cough, Lee Han couldn’t come because he’s locked up.”

-What!? Why!?

-You’re noisy! Keep it down!

The giants inside shouted.

They did not know what was happening outside, but the noise was disturbing their concentration.

-This isn’t the time for that! The elder was taken away!

-What!? Why!?

CRASH! BANG! THUD!

The other giants came rushing out.

“W-well... That...”

Gainando hesitated.

Saying that Lee Han had been sent to the punishment area for fighting an evil god somehow sounded strange.

Wouldn’t anyone who heard that think Einroguard was a terribly unreasonable and oppressive school?

‘Ah. But that’s true, isn’t it?’

“He was punished for fighting an evil god without permission.”

-What!? That makes no sense!

-Mages are really bad! We giants never punish someone for fighting a powerful enemy!

The giants were greatly outraged.

Punishing someone for fighting a powerful enemy truly made no sense. If anything, it was something that deserved praise.

-We’ll go get him! The elder can live with us in the mountains instead of with the mages!

‘Gasp.’

Gainando realized he had made a mistake.

Even if Gainando was no expert on giants, he could at least guess that Lee Han would not like this very much.

Even if the magic academy was a horrible and miserable place, compared to a giant village in the mountains...

“Th-there’s no need for that! Lee Han is reflecting on what he did right now!”

-Reflecting on something that doesn’t need reflection means the elder was definitely tricked by the mages!

-We have to rescue him quickly!

“...No! No! Actually, this is also part of Lee Han’s plan...”

While Gainando frantically tried to calm the giants, Palga, who had regained his senses, asked Salco.

“W-what exactly is going on? How did you persuade the giants? A magic item?”

“Ah... Wardanaz is acquainted with the giants. He worked on a commission with them before too.”

“......”

“......”

The expressions of the two White Tiger Tower seniors hardened like stone.

...Did the junior from House Wardanaz perhaps have some kind of ability that let him get along with bizarre beings?

After barely recovering from the shock, Ivanna spoke.

“It’s... it’s not entirely impossible. There are mages in the summoning magic school who are especially loved by spirits, right? Mages born with special souls. Maybe this is just an extreme version of that.”

“I-I see. Now that I think about it, I feel like I’ve heard rumors that there was a mage like that in House Wardanaz. Since they’re from the same house, maybe the junior has a similar ability.”

At the two seniors’ speculation, Salco and Ratford exchanged glances.

Let’s keep it secret that Wardanaz was not particularly popular with spirits!

“But even so, being friends with giants really makes no sense.”

“Senior Caten is friends with giants.”

“From what I heard, that wasn’t friendship. I heard he beat them into submission...”

While the seniors whispered among themselves, Gainando let out a breathless sigh.

He had finally succeeded in persuading the giants.

“You all understand, right!? There’s absolutely no need for you to come down!”

-Aww.

-I miss the elder. Sob.

‘Wait. Even if we say he gets along with giants because of some special soul, what’s with the elder thing?’

Palga wondered inwardly.

He could not even imagine what Lee Han had done to be treated as an elder by giants.

-Salco. If the giants don’t object, ask them to let you go inside.

“Could we perhaps... go inside?”

-No! This is the giants’ sacred sanctuary.

“What kind of ridiculous...! It’s just a broken basement... Mmph!”

Gainando tried to argue, but Ratford quickly sealed his mouth.

Logical criticism meant little against giants. If giants occupied a pretty basement and declared, ‘From today on, this is our race’s sanctuary!’ then one had to respect that.

“But we came at Wardanaz’s... um... damn it, the ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) elder’s request.”

Salco said it while enduring his embarrassment.

Even for an Einroguard student, calling his friend the elder of a giant tribe was somewhat embarrassing.

-Hmm. What these little mages say has some truth. The elder has the right to enter here.

-But the elder did not come himself!

-They said he’s locked up. He probably had no choice.

-This is something the elder must see in person! The painting wants that too!

Ratford immediately reported every single word to Lee Han without leaving out a single character.

Lee Han, who had been following the conversation closely, froze for a moment at the giants’ words.

‘The painting wants that?!’

-Ratford, did they say the painting wants to meet me?

-Yes. I heard it clearly.

‘Could it be...?!’

Lee Han felt his heart pounding.

He had not really been expecting much, but he had never thought he would hear a clue like this.

There were many moving portraits in the Empire, but there could not be many portraits that specifically wanted to meet Lee Han.

If so, there was a high chance that it was the young prince!

-Ask the giants more!

At Lee Han’s urging, his friends began asking questions.

“Um, you just said that the painting wanted to meet Lee Han. Is that really true?”

-That’s right. The painting said several times that it wanted to meet the elder.

“W-what kind of painting is it?”

-It is a wise and intelligent painting! We giants were already smart, but after meeting this painting, we became even smarter.

The more Lee Han heard, the more certain he became.

This really might be the young prince...!

-Tell them you’ll ask the painting for permission. It’ll definitely allow it!

Lee Han was not wrong. The giant who had gone inside to deliver the message came back out after a while and said,

-The painting gave permission! Everyone come in!

“!!!!”

***

The giants guided the students with solemn expressions.

Seeing these normally violent and rude beings acting so carefully only made the students even more curious.

What kind of painting was it for the giants to respect it this much?

Palga asked a question to investigate.

“Giants. What kind of painting is the one inside?”

-It is royalty. Full of dignity and wisdom.

“I see... What kind of wisdom do you usually ask it for?”

-Things like what food to serve at feasts, or what animals to raise next year.

“......”

-What else was there?

-A dimensional rift appeared in the mountains, so we also asked how to close it.

-That is not an important story. Is there anything else besides that?

“!!!”

Palga was greatly surprised.

A dimensional rift like that was absolutely not something an unskilled mage could close.

And yet the painting had even managed to have giants, who were far removed from magic, close one.

Just what kind of being was this painting?

“Juniors. You seem to have some idea... Does Wardanaz know about this portrait?”

“A little. Lee Han is fairly close with this portrait. They can’t talk right now, though...”

“!”

The White Tiger Tower seniors were even more surprised, but quickly regained their composure.

In truth, this was less surprising than being friends with sirens or giants.

Mages as exceptional as Wardanaz tended to have dozens of secrets even when they were juniors. It would not have been strange if he had obtained the portrait of wisdom before.

“Impressive. Not just anyone can rank first across every school of magic.”

“In a way, that’s fortunate. If they already know each other, there’s a higher chance the portrait will cooperate.”

“That’s true.”

Ivanna nodded.

Talking portraits like that did not always cooperate unconditionally. Some portraits demanded sinister prices or sacrifices.

From that perspective, the fact that the junior already knew it was quite encouraging.

-We’re here. Enter respectfully!

-Mind your manners!

“......”

The students stood tensely in front of a room at the end of the ruined basement passage.

From the outside, it looked like an ordinary room. A rusted iron door with hinges that creaked from corrosion, and even cracked bricks nearby.

It was hard to believe that a treasure cherished by the giants was hidden in such a ruin, but the students knew very well.

Einroguard’s treasures were always hidden casually in shabby places like this.

“Hello. We are mages of Einroguard.”

-Mages of Einroguard? Good. I happened to have something I wanted to convey. You may enter.

CREEEAK-

The students carefully opened the door and slowly stepped inside.

And there, hanging in the center of the room, they came face to face with a huge portrait.

A portrait of royalty overflowing with dignity, wisdom, and power.

It was a portrait of a frost giant wearing a crown.

“......”

“......”

Gainando and his companions went pale.

Even if they did not know exactly what kind of mentor their friend was looking for, they instinctively felt that this was definitely not it.

Ratford asked Gainando just in case.

“Lord Gainando. Is this perhaps the right one?”

“...I-I don’t think so? As far as I know... the painting Lee Han wants is a painting of the Principal when he was young.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“It’s a long story. It sounds insane, but the young Principal is very different from the current Principal...”

“Juniors? Instead of talking among yourselves, you should speak with the portrait.”

Palga called out to the whispering juniors.

Seeing the frost giant king was certainly fascinating.

How in the world had the junior from House Wardanaz become acquainted with the frost giant king?

Fortunately, Palga and Ivanna had already adapted to some extent.

On the way here, they had personally witnessed his connections with sirens, Bulgassari, and giants.

For a junior like that, being close with the frost giant king would not be strange either.

-The King of the Frost Giants has been waiting for a renowned challenger. Now. Step forward and identify yourself!

“It says to introduce yourself. Junior.”

“Well... Uh... That...”

Gainando first took out the bundle of papers and hurriedly reported the situation.

-...So this is what happened. Lee Han. Is this the right one? It isn’t, right? What do we do?

No answer came back. Gainando suddenly had a bad feeling.

-Did Wardanaz go somewhere?

-Shut up! Lee Han wouldn’t do that! ...He wouldn’t, right? Lee Han?! Lee Han?!