Chapter 1286

The friends were neither angry nor flustered by Lee Han’s sudden betrayal.

Instead, they looked at Lee Han with pity.

‘How much must he be watching Professor Garcia’s mood to act like that?’

‘Is Professor Garcia still angry? It should be about time for the anger to fade.’

Since they knew why Lee Han had been locked in the punishment area, his friends did not bother arguing with him.

Except Gainando.

“What are you talking about! Lee Han, you also... Ugh.”

“Shut up, you bastard.”

“Please keep your mouth shut.”

When the two Black Tortoise Tower students jabbed him in the ribs and smacked him across the back, Gainando groaned and bent over.

Meanwhile, Professor Garcia came downstairs. Upon discovering Ivanna trapped inside the ice, opening and closing her mouth, Professor Garcia stopped short.

“...Surely you all didn’t do this, did you?”

“Absolutely not, Professor. How could we even do something like this in the first place?”

Salco protested in horror.

At their level, it was impossible to trap a third-year senior inside ice like this.

“Couldn’t Lee Han do it?”

“Prince, please be quiet!”

“You should have been the one put inside the ice!”

The two Black Tortoise Tower students became furious at Gainando’s words, which only poured oil onto the misunderstanding.

Was this really the time to brag about their friend’s abilities!

Fortunately, Professor Garcia seemed to realize that Lee Han had not done it. Frowning, Professor Garcia said,

“This is the Authority of a frost giant. How in the world did this happen?”

“It’s a long story...”

“Did the Frost Giant King perhaps come looking for Student Lee Han and force an unreasonable trial on him?”

“......”

The students who had been about to explain stopped dead.

How did Professor Garcia know?

“Y-yes.”

“Frost giants are warlike, so once they acknowledge someone’s skill as a challenger, they tend to become very attached. Since Student Lee Han hadn’t shown himself for a long time, it isn’t surprising that the king came looking for him personally.”

“I met it last year, though.”

“That counts as quite a long time by frost giant standards.”

Lee Han was once again left speechless.

What the hell was wrong with these bastards?

“Still, approaching Einroguard shouldn’t have been easy. What method did it use to meet you? Did you go on a dimensional expedition or something?” ℴ

“Well... Actually...”

After hesitating, Lee Han eventually explained what had happened.

There was no real way to avoid mentioning the rumors about the portrait.

“...There was even a Bulgassari down there.”

“Who in the world brought a Bulgassari into the school? Did the Principal secretly do it?”

“Cough, cough.”

Professor Garcia, who had been listening calmly, suddenly coughed.

“Are you all right? Would you like some tea?”

“I-I’m fine, Student Lee Han.”

When Professor Garcia refused, Lee Han set the cup of black tea back down on the table. Gainando diligently stretched an arm through the bars and took the tea.

‘It feels like he eats and drinks better here than in the tower lounge.’

Even though the Inspector had disappeared, the overall quality of life for the second-years had plummeted after Lee Han was imprisoned in the punishment area.

It was not easy to replace someone who smuggled in supplies, sold them cheaply, periodically handed them out for free, mediated whenever students from the towers fought, answered questions about assignments, and sometimes even solved them if someone rolled around on the floor saying they absolutely could not do it.

Lee Han clicked his tongue and took a wrapped sugar cube from the shelf before tossing it to Gainando. Gainando nearly cried from emotion.

“A-anyway, while looking for the portrait, you ended up meeting the Frost Giant King. Why were you trying to find such a portrait, Student Lee Han?”

“Well... You know. Someone young, benevolent, and worthy of respect...”

Even in front of his friends, Lee Han avoided saying, ‘A painting of the young Principal.’

It was probably already too late, but he did not want to look even crazier in front of his friends.

However, his friends already knew what Lee Han was looking for.

“Lee Han... You can just be honest.”

“We know you’re looking for a painting of the young Principal. I’ll be honest. It sounds insane, but this isn’t the first time you’ve done something insane. Wardanaz, I respect you.”

“...Everyone, listen. The young Principal is practically a different being from the Skull Principal. You’ll understand too if you ever meet him and talk to him.”

Even after Lee Han’s desperate explanation, his friends only gave him lukewarm looks.

Even if the Skull Principal had once been young and kind, he was still the Skull Principal!

‘No matter how much water you pour into coffee, it’s still coffee, not water.’

Professor Garcia’s heart ached at the disciple’s words.

All the more because Professor Garcia had done nothing but scold Lee Han since the evil-god subjugation. Professor Garcia had failed to realize that the disciple had been missing the young prince.

“Sniff. Student Lee Han.”

“Why is Professor Garcia suddenly acting like that?”

“Maybe Professor Garcia thinks Wardanaz went insane because he’s having such a hard time.”

“Hey. I can hear all of you.”

Lee Han snapped from inside the bars.

These bastards really said whatever they wanted!

“Professor. Can you release Senior?”

“I’ll take a look. More importantly, this is interesting. If the Frost Giant King were going to take someone hostage, I would have expected it to choose Student Gainando rather than Student Ivanna.”

The White Tiger Tower senior trapped inside the ice glared at Gainando with furious eyes.

Gainando shamelessly replied,

“That king must be crazy. Kings go crazy all the time.”

“Well, frost giants are difficult to predict. Let’s see...”

Professor Garcia examined the king’s Authority and probed inside it with magic.

“Hmm.”

“How is it?”

“Mmm.”

“Is it difficult?”

“This is...”

“So it really is hard.”

Hearing the conversation going back and forth outside, Ivanna tried her utmost to make her eyes gleam fiercely enough to communicate her intentions.

“First, I should talk with Student Ivanna. I’ll connect us with telepathy for a moment, so don’t be surprised.”

Professor Garcia briefly linked minds with Ivanna. Curious, the juniors asked,

“What is Senior saying?”

“...She’s asking everyone to shut the f—... No, to please be quiet.”

Professor Garcia relayed the words with an awkward smile. The juniors could roughly guess what the original wording had been.

“I’ve examined it, and although it is possible to dispel, I think it would be better not to.”

“(What kind of nonsense is that, Professor!)”

“Please listen until the end, Student Ivanna. There are several spells hidden inside the Authority that I don’t recognize, and I haven’t been able to identify exactly what they are. Frost giants are persistent by nature, so if I arbitrarily dispel it instead of Student Lee Han, something might happen.”

“Th-then does Senior have to stay like that?”

Gainando asked with an extremely worried expression.

Professor Garcia was slightly moved by the sight. Perhaps because he spent so much time with Lee Han, Gainando seemed to have learned to worry about others regardless of their tower.

“No. I’m going to teach Student Lee Han how to release it starting now.”

“Ah!”

“Then it’s solved. We’ll be going now. Lee Han. See you next time.”

Gainando and the others even waved cheerfully before heading upstairs. Lee Han waved back for them to take care.

Watching them, Ivanna felt the back of her neck stiffen with rage despite her body being immobilized by the ice.

What do you mean it’s solved!

Still, Ivanna did not let go of her last shred of hope and asked Professor Garcia,

“(Professor. Roughly what circle is the magic you’re about to teach him?)”

“It’s fifth-circle, but it’s closely related to spells Student Lee Han has already learned, so it should be relatively easy. You don’t need to worry, Student Ivanna.”

“(......)”

Ivanna was left speechless by the sight of Professor Garcia saying something so absurd without changing expression.

Easy fifth-circle spell or whatever, there was no way a second-year student could learn that.

Even if he was an absolute genius, it would take a year!

“(Could you perhaps put a bounty on that blond bastard who just left instead?)”

“What?! Why in the world?!”

***

Professor Garcia and Lee Han sat down for the lesson. Since Lee Han had already taken several lessons here after being locked in the punishment area, it did not feel particularly awkward.

“Professor.”

“What is it, Student Lee Han?”

“Could you perhaps turn that ice statue around to face the other way?”

“...All right.”

Professor Garcia understood the disciple’s feelings.

If a senior trapped inside the ice kept staring holes into him, the pressure alone could make even a spell that should succeed end in failure.

Once only the senior’s back was visible, Lee Han felt much more at ease.

“Student Lee Han. What I said earlier wasn’t a lie. This Authority is actually deeply connected to magic you have already learned.”

“Cold magic? It’s true that among the elements, cold is the one I’m relatively familiar with...”

Lee Han was fairly confident in cold-element magic, both because he had studied some at school and because he had become close with Alshicle.

However, Professor Garcia shook their head.

“You’re only half right. As Student Lee Han already knows, once magic reaches a higher realm, concepts that become increasingly distant from reality can also be made concrete. Ice like this doesn’t exist in reality, does it?”

‘Ah.’

Lee Han immediately understood what Professor Garcia meant.

Even in the dark magic school, when creating curses or poisons at lower circles, one generally combined curses or poisons that actually existed, but as the level rose, mages would sometimes create entirely imaginary poisons.

Things that existed in reality had limits, but imaginary poisons created by mages did not have those limits.

Such poisons were closer to concepts, or conceptual poisons, than to poisons that existed in reality.

This Authority of ice used by the Frost Giant King was no ordinary ice either.

Indeed, if it had been ordinary ice, it would have melted somewhat simply by waiting, or it could have been melted with ordinary magic.

“Then which of the spells Student Lee Han has learned do you think this ice is connected to?”

“Hmm. It may be ice created by applying curses or poisons from the dark magic school.”

“Wrong. That’s also a good idea, but if it had frozen Student Ivanna in that manner, she wouldn’t be conscious like this. She would have been paralyzed or unconscious.”

“I see... Then what about the transformation magic school? What if it was created by maximizing the material properties of ice?”

“If that were the case, Student Ivanna likewise wouldn’t be able to respond through telepathy like this.”

Professor Garcia gave him a meaningful look.

There was now only one answer left among the magic Student Lee Han had learned, so Professor Garcia expected him to say it shortly.

“I see. Then what about the summoning magic school? In another dimension...”

“......”

Professor Garcia realized their mistake.

This disciple had learned far too many kinds of magic, so if Lee Han kept choosing hypotheses from among the magic he had learned, the possibilities would never end.

Having realized this, Professor Garcia quickly shouted the correct answer.

“The answer is spacetime magic, Student Lee Han!”

“Gasp. I see. I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for...”

The Authority displayed by the Frost Giant King was precisely an Authority of spatial isolation.

Although it looked like ice, this ice was actually a concept similar to a dimensional barrier that separated the outside from the inside.

Naturally, it could not be melted by ordinary heat or the passage of time. Lee Han nodded.

“I understand. Then what kind of magic should I use to approach dispelling this?”

“Actually, Student Lee Han already knows a similar spell. Here’s a hint: it’s microcosm magic.”

“Basilios?”

“Not that one.”

“Hwidore?”

“...Not that one.”

“Dunamis? Dendrobium?”

Professor Garcia glared at the disciple.

Once again, Professor Garcia was struck by just how absurdly many microcosm spells Lee Han had learned.

“I’m sorry...”

“...No. There’s nothing to apologize for. Wait, what is Dendrobium?”

“I’ve never used it either. I only said it because I’ve heard of it. Really.”

“......”

Professor Garcia looked at the disciple suspiciously.