Chapter 1305

When the people responded enthusiastically, Lee Han opened up another bundle of stories.

“One day, the knights guarding Einroguard made a mistake and were punished by the Principal. The Principal ordered them to build the gallows they would be hanged from themselves, then hang from them. And one knight actually shouted to another, ‘Hurry up and build it! We mustn’t make Master angry!’”

“What an absurd story! Wahahahaha!”

“...What are you doing?”

Unable to contain his bewilderment, Duke Ikalderen asked. Lee Han answered as though wondering why he was asking something so obvious.

“I’m getting acquainted with the people of Valdrogard.”

“I may not know much about Einroguard, but... aren’t Einroguard’s secrets supposed to be kept?”

The duke felt confused.

He himself had even sent spies in to learn those secrets, so there was something deeply strange about watching the Skull Principal’s disciple chatter away like this.

Was that really all right?

“Ah. The magic doesn’t affect me, so it’s fine.”

“That’s not what I mean...!”

Duke Ikalderen grew frustrated.

He had not been asking whether Wardanaz himself was all right. He was asking whether making jokes like that was all right!

“Ah. You mean whether it’s fine to make jokes like these?”

“Exactly!”

“It’s fine because nobody believes them anyway.”

“......”

The duke had nothing to say to that.

Sure enough, not a single person nearby believed Lee Han’s words. It was obvious they thought he was simply telling exaggerated jokes about Einroguard.

‘Come to think of it, before I investigated it myself, I also thought they were all ridiculous rumors...’

Rumors about Einroguard followed a rule.

If they sounded plausible, they were false rumors. If they sounded impossible, they were surprisingly likely to be true.

“Anyway, why did you come over?”

“I need your help. Those ignorant fools don’t understand the importance of magic at all.”

“True. Magic does consume a great many gold coins while leaving surprisingly little behind.”

“......”

When Duke Ikalderen stared at him as though he had just witnessed a traitor, Lee Han hurriedly corrected himself.

“I’m not taking their side. I’m saying I understand. No matter how much one invests in magic or donates to it, a visibly successful result appears maybe once in a hundred attempts, if that. In that case, I can understand wanting to invest in something one personally likes instead.”

“I understand what you mean, but an evil archmage is on the verge of killing me right now! Help me just once more, like when you saved me from starving to death last time!”

“Understood. Please calm down.”

“And could you perhaps borrow the kitchen here and prepare a meal?”

“Pardon? Why would I?”

“...Never mind. In any case, come with me!”

Having gotten carried away and tried to sneak in an embarrassing request as well, only to fail, Duke Ikalderen retreated at once.

For now, raising donations mattered more than gourmet food.

When the duke appeared with Lee Han, the nobles recognized him and exclaimed.

“Could that be the one from the evil-god expedition...”

“That’s right.”

“It is an honor to meet you! To think we would meet like this!”

The nobles became excited now that a topic had appeared that they could talk about for months.

Duke Ikalderen gauged the mood, then coughed and cut in.

“Wardanaz. The people here know very little about magic. Could you explain the appeal of great magic to them?”

“Yes! I’d love to hear it! What kinds of magic have there been recently at Einroguard?”

“I heard there’s a mage named Ilendil who’s on the verge of completing an elixir of spirit-realm resonance? Supposedly, with that potion, even an ordinary person can visit the spirit realm, converse with spirits, and be loved by them?”

Einroguard was a closed-off group, but magical research taking place inside it inevitably became the subject of rumors outside.

When gathering the expenses, reagents, materials, and so forth needed for magic, there was no choice but to interact with outside mages and organizations.

Such rumors tended to become increasingly exaggerated and sensational, stimulating people’s curiosity.

Since Lee Han knew Senior Ilendil personally, he nodded and answered.

“That potion was a terrible mistake. Senior got confused because they’re close with spirits. If an ordinary person became capable of sensing the resonance echoing throughout the spirit realm, they’d quickly go insane.”

“......”

“......”

The atmosphere turned awkward. The noble who had just brought up Ilendil’s name asked again in confusion.

“S-still... now that they’ve realized that... they can improve it... and make a better potion, right?”

“I’m not sure. I think it’ll be difficult. Senior misunderstood something fundamental, and Ilendil is also busy with other matters...”

“A friend of mine invested quite a lot in that potion?!”

“Oh dear... that’s unfortunate. But it can’t be helped. Magical research is simply like this. There are more failures than successes.”

The atmosphere sank past awkwardness into gloom. The nobles began murmuring.

“To think it was this bad...”

“Investing in magic may be even more dangerous than investing in a fleet crossing the open sea.”

“...Let’s talk privately for a moment.”

Duke Ikalderen pulled Lee Han aside.

Then he whispered pleadingly.

“Why are you doing this?! Are you trying to make sure I die this time?!”

“No... it’s just... but it’s a failed potion. I can’t exactly say it’s progressing well...”

Lee Han answered with a slightly apologetic expression.

He had not done this on purpose. What was he supposed to do about Senior Ilendil having made a mistaken assumption?

In fact, when Lee Han himself had first heard about the potion, he too had held a little hope.

Just a little.

But when he learned that even if it were completed, simply hearing the spirits would not make them love you, he had showered his senior with criticism and left the forest.

-Shouldn’t you properly investigate something before making it! You got people’s hopes up!

-I-I did make a mistake, but... isn’t there no reason for you to be angry?! You’re not even an investor...!?

-You’re only making mistakes like this because spirits love you without you even doing anything!

-T-that has even less to do with this...!

-Enough! Just watch what you say in the Watchers Club!

Thinking about it calmly now, there really had been no need to get that angry. Lee Han felt guilty.

‘I’ll apologize next semester. ...N-no. Would it be the semester after next?’

“You could have dodged the question or lied!”

“Senior Ilendil is the one who ruined the magic. Why am I supposed to lie about it?”

Duke Ikalderen realized there was no point getting angry at Lee Han.

No matter how mild he looked, this mage was the Skull Principal’s disciple. There was no way his stubbornness would be easy to break.

“...Koholti! Has everyone heard of a mage named Koholti? I heard Koholti is an Einroguard graduate!”

The duke refused to give up and introduced another topic.

The murderous intent in the Skull Principal’s stare from far away was growing noticeably stronger, which bothered him a great deal.

“Why are you suddenly bringing up Senior Koholti?”

“I heard a new spell was developed while serving with the Wasteland Starcatchers. Isn’t that remarkable?”

“Ah! I heard about that too! A spell that can find traces of demons just by scattering reagent powder! If that spell is developed further, wouldn’t it be possible to track down all sorts of wicked people? What about sponsoring that magic?”

As the mood returned to normal, the duke sighed in relief.

Then he sent Lee Han a desperate look.

Please, don’t fail this time!

However, Lee Han answered with an extremely awkward expression.

“That spell is actually a slightly modified rediscovery of a spell that was lost a hundred years ago.”

“......”

“...D-does that mean it’s a fraud?”

“It isn’t fraud. It is different from the old spell, at least.”

This was something he had heard when talking with Diret last time.

-Junior. Did you see the Imperial newspaper here?

-I’m in the punishment room, so...

-...Sorry. Anyway, look at this. There’s an article saying Koholti developed a reagent that can track traces of demons.

-That’s impressive. Developing magic while serving as a patrol mage?

-Impressive, my ass! This is just a slightly modified version of a spell the Einroguard dark magic school rediscovered last time! Other people might not know, but all the dark mages in the Empire probably do. What are they planning to do if someone calls them out on it...

-It’ll be fine, Senior. They just need to avoid meeting other dark mages. The Wasteland Starcatchers move around a lot, so they don’t often run into other dark mages. Senior Koholti must have known that too. Don’t worry too much.

-...That really is an absurd thing to say, but somehow it is comforting... Thanks.

“But considering the original spell, there’s almost no room for further development.”

“B-but I definitely heard that this mage Koholti received sponsorship from nearby nobles after announcing it?”

“That’s because... other magical research costs a lot of money. Wasn’t it probably funding meant for other research?”

If a mage announced some difficult, obscure magical research that had made no progress and asked people for money, nobody would give any.

Even if other mages sneered, ‘Good grief, that dark mage bastard,’ it first had to become enough of a topic to attract attention.

“......”

“......”

With the mood now completely sunk, Duke Ikalderen gave up.

‘Looks like I’ll be in Einroguard’s underground this year. Wardanaz will serve me meals, at least. ...No! Wait! He’s a Valdrogard professor this year!’

“Lord Wardanaz. There is one thing I’m curious about.”

One of the nobles spoke.

“If magic has so many failures and so many difficulties, why do mages continue practicing magic?”

“Because success lies beyond them.”

Lee Han answered politely.

“Even if they suffer failures and hardships, mages endure them because without going through those things, they cannot reach success. If they searched only for easy and comfortable methods, they would never accomplish feats such as the evil-god subjugation.”

‘What?!’

Duke Ikalderen was greatly shocked.

He had never imagined that Lee Han would reverse the entire mood here. As expected of the Skull Principal’s disciple, the depth of his schemes exceeded imagination.

In fact, the other nobles also looked impressed by the answer.

Lee Han’s continued honesty had instead left a favorable impression.

The future archmage of the Empire, who approached them sincerely rather than with clumsy lies, moved everyone.

“Then let us accompany you through those failures and hardships!”

“Me too! If I visit Einroguard next time, would I be able to meet you?”

“Ah. This semester I’m a Valdrogard professor...”

“Cough, cough, cough, cough!”

Duke Ikalderen forgot all dignity and began coughing like a madman.

If the sponsors said, ‘Really? Then I should donate to Valdrogard instead,’ the duke would truly be so aggrieved he would stop breathing.

***

“Hmph. You gathered a fair amount, but considering the damage you caused, you haven’t repaid even one ten-thousandth of it.”

“......”

The duke felt that the banquet hall was unusually hot and suffocating.

He wanted to go outside and breathe the cold air of freedom.

However, the Skull Principal still showed no sign of calming down.

“And you couldn’t even persuade them yourself. You had to borrow Bat-Bat’s help.”

“Bat-Bat?”

-Lord Wardanaz. Stop acting stupid.

“......”

Duke Ikalderen politely clasped his hands and adopted an attentive posture.

He felt as though he had gained more realizations in these past few years than he had learned in his entire life.

Especially lessons like ‘When an archmage is angry, keep your mouth shut’...

“Wait. Where did Bat-Bat go?”

-The Valdrogard professors arrived, so Lord Wardanaz went to the banquet hall in that palace.

Thud!

Duke Ikalderen clutched his shin and rolled across the floor. The servants nearby cried out in shock.

“Are you all right?!”

“It seems the duke has had a little too much to drink.”