Chapter 1329

This might have been a kind of omen.

If even an ordinary magic academy like Valdrogard was turning eccentric and violent like Einroguard, then in the future, people might have to run away at the mere sight of a magic-academy mage's cloak anywhere in the Empire.

“Professor. Aren't those the people who got angry and told us not to approach earlier?”

The Valdrogard students showed their confusion when Lee Han tried to approach the expedition again.

The hostile attitude they had shown earlier had not seemed temporary. They were worried that the expedition might attack them if they approached again.

“Good question, everyone. As you work as mages, you'll encounter hostile people like this more often than you might think. What do you think you should do when that happens?”

“Just like you showed during the evil-god subjugation, Professor, we should smash them hard with the hammer of magic and subdue them!”

Jandanni shouted with complete conviction.

The other Valdrogard juniors applauded with expressions that said, 'As expected of our senior.' It looked correct to them too.

“...No. You should first attempt negotiation, and if it seems impossible, you should withdraw.”

“???”

All the Valdrogard students fell into confusion. Jandanni especially so.

“But Professor. I heard that during this evil-god subjugation, you mercilessly subdued worshipers hiding throughout Imperial cities by force...”

“Quiet! I'm speaking right now.”

“S-sorry.”

Lee Han had thought that if he worked as a professor and taught others, he might gain magical enlightenment.

Because he had accomplished so many things with ease until now, perhaps some hidden secret might even be concealed within excessive forms of magic.

But instead of magical enlightenment, he felt like he was merely getting better at underhanded tricks.

Like wielding authority whenever he was asked a question that was difficult to answer...

“Violence is not good for you. You should prioritize peaceful negotiation. Galvag, could you make the request again?”

The fierce-looking lieutenant beside him, who had been listening with an expression that seemed to say, 'Being a professor really is difficult,' immediately straightened up.

“Expedition! Listen! This place—”

“We were mistaken! We'll open the way according to Imperial law!”

The expedition members shouted as though they had been waiting for the chance.

They answered so quickly that Galvag had not even finished speaking.

Lee Han and the sailors glared at them fiercely.

'They can't even do this properly?'

'These idiots...'

Noticing their gazes, the expedition members hurriedly added,

“We were going to open it anyway! There was no secret deal or scheme behind this!”

“...In any case, things were resolved well this time. But everyone, remember this. When you encounter hostile people outside, you must not recklessly attack them.”

After saying that, Lee Han hurried forward with the sailors. It almost looked as though he was afraid someone might ask him another question.

The Valdrogard students followed him for the moment. Then they muttered among themselves.

“Don't you think there's some kind of magic on this island? Everything that happens here feels strange in one way or another...”

***

After reaching the reverse-flowing spring, Lee Han called for Ragesa.

“Ragesa! Can you hear me! I've arrived with the other sailors!”

-You're... here... What about... the idiots...?

“The idiots are doing fine too!”

“......”

Despite being called idiots, the members of the <Broken Bone Expedition> quietly waited.

That was because the sailors had been staring directly at them for some time now.

The sailors' eyes seemed to be saying,

-Go ahead and try something. Then we'll really teach you what it means for Imperial law not to exist.

Ragesa's voice came from inside the spring again.

-Bringing... the idiots... inside... would be dangerous...

“Are the sailors all right?”

-Those guys... can at least... pull their weight...

“There are Valdrogard students too, so I suppose that's impossible?”

-Brat... do you want... to get hit...?

Ragesa answered as though dumbfounded.

She had just told him not to bring the idiots inside, so why was he suddenly talking about Valdrogard students?

It was enough to make one wonder whether he had accidentally meant Einroguard.

'But there's no way an Einroguard student would ever confuse Valdrogard and Einroguard.'

“Understood. I'll have them wait outside.”

When Lee Han told the Valdrogard students that it was dangerous and they should wait outside for now, the students' eyes lit up with determination.

“Professor. We're prepared to overcome any danger! We even made it through this island!”

“...Go wait on the ship.”

If one were being precise, what the Valdrogard students had done on the island was closer to a light picnic.

Lee Han and the sailors had handled everything dangerous for them, so all the Valdrogard students had actually done was keep moving.

Lee Han was not reckless enough to take them somewhere truly dangerous just because they had managed that much.

'To know which places are dangerous, you need to spend at least a year in Einroguard.'

After spending about a year in Einroguard, even when one went somewhere dangerous, one developed enough intuition to distinguish between, 'That place is seriously dangerous,' and, 'This place is relatively safe.'

Until that sense developed, he could not take them somewhere genuinely dangerous.

Jandanni seemed to agree with Lee Han and told the juniors to go back to the ship.

“I understand, Professor. It could be dangerous for the juniors.”

“Jandanni, you should go wait on the ship too.”

“I-I'm a fifth-year stu—”

“If you don't have experience as a combat mage, you can't come with us. Go back to the ship and review the magic I taught you today together.”

The Valdrogard students still had not completely figured out this newly arrived professor, but there was at least one thing they all agreed on.

He was far too overprotective of his students!

Lee Han's friends would have trembled in fury if they had heard such thoughts.

If someone was kindly sending you away, you should keep quiet and leave without showing how happy you were. What kind of spoiled nonsense was that?

“The expedition members should wait on the ship too... Now that I think about it, how did you get here?”

“W-we flew here.”

The expedition members pointed into the air.

The flying-raft artifact they traveled on was convenient for relatively short voyages or for moving quickly between nearby islands.

It allowed them to move with excellent mobility without having to drag a cumbersome ship around like other people.

However, Ragesa immediately criticized it harshly.

-Just the fact... you came here... riding a toy like that... proves you're idiots...

Having spent her whole life traveling across the sea, Ragesa knew very well just how dangerous the ocean could become.

If the spirits became enraged and began rampaging, a flying-raft artifact like that would be blown away like a leaf no matter how high in the air it was.

Expeditions tended to attract fearless and reckless people, so they had probably thought it would be enough to predict the weather at sea, but just as foresight magic had limits, predictions were not perfect either.

“I agree that it seems a little dangerous. When traveling over the sea, you should at least ride something capable of defending itself.”

Lee Han had encountered Nukelavi on the way here, so he could not help but agree with Ragesa.

“E-exploration requires so much mobility that... We'll keep that in mind from now on.”

“We also encountered Nukelavi on the way here. I think you should always be prepared when traveling over the sea.”

“Nukelavi!? You managed to shake it off?”

“Ah. I subdued and sealed it.”

“You sealed it!! Did you fight it using the ship's magic?!”

“No. I summoned a spirit and fought it separately.”

“......”

An awkward silence briefly settled over them.

The expedition members thought inwardly.

'Didn't he just say the sea was dangerous?'

It was rather bewildering to hear that from a mage who, instead of relying on a ship's defenses when danger appeared, had summoned a spirit and fought the threat separately.

Lee Han seemed to realize the contradiction hidden in his own words and hurriedly added,

“Of course, that was because I happened to be lucky. If I had encountered a stronger enemy or a disaster, I wouldn't even have dared to try something like that.”

“I don't think there are many enemies at sea stronger than Nukelavi...”

-Stop... dealing with those idiots... and get in...!

“I'm coming in now!”

Cornered, Lee Han answered quickly.

Watching him, the expedition's elf mage thought inwardly.

Just what kind of mage was that Valdrogard professor?

'He doesn't seem to be from Valdrogard, so he must be an outsider. But there's no way I wouldn't know the name of such an aggressive and powerful mage. Who in the world is he?'

“Then please take care of everyone who remains.”

“Leave it to us, Professor Wardanaz.”

The elf mage was shocked when the sailors saw Lee Han off.

'Wardanaz?'

Could it possibly be that Wardanaz?!

'...No, even if I make every possible concession, there's no way he's a Valdrogard professor, is there?!'

The elf mage fell into complete confusion. It felt as though they had encountered a riddle that made absolutely no sense.

***

As they approached the spring, they could feel powerful spatial movement.

It was proof that a path into a new sea region was hidden within this spring.

As Lee Han entered the gradually opening dimensional gate, he thought,

'Come to think of it, I never asked the most important question. What kind of ruins are these?'

He had been so focused on finding the trapped Ragesa that he had failed to ask the most basic thing.

He should originally have asked the expedition members what information they had, but because they had gotten caught up in pointless conversation, he had missed the opportunity.

Crack-

“Come forth, Gull's Claw! It's time to go save your master!”

Galvag threw the small silver sailboat figurine attached to his belt buckle into the air and summoned a ship.

Captains and lieutenants each carried one of these summoning items for emergency escape.

Lee Han and the sailors skillfully climbed aboard the fast vessel with its silver hull.

Crack, crack!

'The sound of ice breaking? Is this a glacier?'

Galvag must have had the same thought, because he spoke.

“This sea region is probably filled with icebergs and glaciers. Be careful.”

“Understood.”

Splash!

The moment the fast vessel settled onto the sea, blade-like wind swept toward them. Once Galvag activated the ship's wind-barrier magic, things became much better.

Far in the distance, a ship trapped between icebergs came faintly into view.

“That's the Admiral's flagship! She's there!”

“Is it trapped by the icebergs?!”

“There's no way the Admiral couldn't break through icebergs of this level. There must be a reason. Approach for now! Don't collide with the ice head-on!”

As the fast vessel maneuvered deftly between the glaciers and closed the distance, Lee Han looked around.

For some reason, the surroundings felt familiar.

'Is it because all glacial regions look alike? This feels strangely familiar.'

Rustle-

Something poked its head out from atop a glacier, then quickly ducked back down.

Lee Han had only caught a glimpse of it, but that too felt strangely familiar.

'...What is this? Where have I seen that before?'

In the meantime, the fast vessel had nearly closed the entire distance.

Once the ships were close enough for them to recognize each other's faces, Ragesa, who was pouring a generous amount of rum into hot tea on the deck, waved happily.

“You're here, brat! Good. This treasure might be more useful to you than it is to me!”

“Treasure? Don't tell me you've been staying here all this time because of a treasure?”

“Why else would I stay in this damned Frost Giant sea region?”

“What kind of treasure could possibly... Wait. What sea region did you say this was?”

“The Frost Giant sea region. Brat, isn't it about time you started learning a microcosm? A microcosm left behind in these Frost Giant ruins should make a satisfying prize!”

Ragesa, who had been shouting excitedly, became puzzled when Lee Han fell silent.

“Are you like this because you're too happy?”

“Isn't that probably it? Professor is quite greedy when it comes to magic, after all.”

“What professor?”