Chapter 1345

“I think something's missing here. Wardanaz. Traps. Just blocking things off isn't enough. You need traps to restrict their movements effectively.”

“......”

“Wardanaz. What do you think about putting a fake door here? We can make them waste time trying to break through this one.”

“......”

Lee Han felt bitter watching his friends talk far more than usual.

Why couldn't you put this much enthusiasm into your magic?!

Lee Han looked at Giselle, who was standing stiffly beside him. The moment she noticed his gaze, Giselle said,

“I'm not doing anything. Don't lump me in with them.”

“I didn't say anything... More importantly, are you really not preparing for third year?”

'You're one to talk.'

Not only Giselle, but several other friends passing by thought the same thing.

It was absurd hearing that from someone preparing to work as a Valdrogard professor right before entering third year.

But no one challenged him.

If they did, they had a feeling he'd give them some irritating answer like, 'I'll be fine just doing what I normally do.'

Salco, who had already loaded construction materials onto a rock summon behind them, cut in.

“You don't need to worry, Wardanaz. I've got plenty of time for this much work.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Of course they don't. But what does that have to do with me?”

Salco shrugged and walked away.

Whether those White Tiger Tower bastards failed because they weren't prepared was none of Salco's concern.

Lee Han noticed Giselle's fingertips trembling faintly. It looked as though she wanted to swing a sword.

'Does she want to hit Salco, or the White Tiger Tower students?'

Perhaps both.

“Moradi! I'm digging a pit here. What do you think I should put at the bottom?”

Anglago's cheerful shout came from beneath the wall. Lee Han pretended not to notice and turned his gaze away.

'Right. Einroguard students are all capable of handling things on their own. Let's trust my friends.'

-Ack! Ack! Moradi, why... Wardanaz! Help me!

* * *

While his friends remodeled different parts of the palace, Lee Han thoroughly inspected the interior.

The lectures were one thing, but if there were any hidden passages inside the palace, he could end up in serious trouble.

-Master also inspected every corner of the academy like this before the semester began.

The Death Knight spoke in a voice steeped in nostalgia. Lee Han found the comment extremely unpleasant.

'Now I suddenly don't want to do this anymore!'

After that brief disruption, Lee Han resumed his inspection.

What condition was the classroom floor in? Were there any hidden spaces? Was it sturdy enough to withstand spells being cast inside...?

“Hmm. This chair looks like it would spray small fragments everywhere if it broke. I'll have to replace it.”

'What exactly is he calculating?'

The Death Knight was bewildered internally, but said nothing.

Magical education was, after all, entirely within the Successor's authority.

Lee Han continued inspecting the classrooms one by one, making notes about what magic to install in each.

-Wardanaz! We dug a pond beneath this window. We even summoned a few small, adorable creatures!

Sharukal, the shark beastkin priest of the Phoenix Tower, spoke from the water with bubbles rising around him. Lee Han looked down beneath the window and nodded.

“Thanks...”

-There's no need to worry too much. Unlike the students from the other towers, we priests showed some consideration.

The Death Knight asked curiously,

-What kind of consideration?

-These little lightning-fish summons are edible. They're not poisonous.

-I see. Priests really are different in their own way.

While the knight expressed admiration, Lee Han had already moved on to the next classroom.

When Lee Han found the Blue Dragon Tower students installing a mechanism on the stairs, he called out to them.

“What are you planning to research in third year?”

“Wardanaz! Look at this! It's a labyrinth staircase!”

“......”

“I'm doing material-replication alchemy. I'm going to recreate <House Meikin's Cauldron>.”

Yonair hurriedly answered to comfort her friend.

She did not say it aloud, but there was no way Lee Han could feel entirely at ease after suddenly ending up working as a Valdrogard professor.

“<House Meikin's Cauldron>? Ah. You mentioned that before.”

True material-replication magic was currently considered almost impossible, but magic always had loopholes.

The lost <House Meikin's Cauldron> had likely used one of those loopholes to achieve limited material replication.

Yonair intended to study that branch of alchemy deeply and restore her family's long-lost aspiration.

'House Meikin really does have a lot of incredible treasures. If someone could restore the recipe for <House Meikin's Legendary Tart>, it might shake the entire Empire.'

While Lee Han thought about the lost dessert recipe that apparently interested the members of House Meikin far less than it interested him, Yonair gave him a suspicious look.

'It feels like he's thinking about something pointless. Probably just my imagination.'

“What about you, Lee Han?”

“I... originally planned to go deeper into the water element like Yumidihus and do some related applied research.”

There was no particularly profound reason behind it. Water magic was simply familiar because Lee Han had used it the most.

Since it was the type of magic he had used most often, he could apply it in many different ways, making it easy to research as well.

“But the microcosms changed my perspective a little.”

“I see. You've developed the ambition to create a microcosm of your own.”

“No?!”

Lee Han had been about to nod absentmindedly before suddenly shouting in surprise.

Was this actually the Skull Principal disguised as Yonair?

But Yonair looked even more surprised by Lee Han's reaction.

“It wasn't? You brought up microcosms, so I naturally assumed you meant research into developing one.”

As the two talked, Asan approached after finishing the first stage of his work and wiped dust from his glasses.

Step on a specific part of the staircase and you would be struck by a horrifying illusion of enrolling in Einroguard!

Asan was extremely proud of the trap he had devised.

'The time I spent learning magic at Einroguard wasn't wasted.'

“Are you talking about research? My topic is going to be summons from another dimension with foresight abilities.”

“Asan...!”

When Lee Han learned that not only Yonair but Asan had already chosen research topics, he felt strangely moved.

'I'm so glad I'm in the Blue Dragon Tower!'

There was always a selfish side hidden in the human heart.

At that moment, the thought, 'I'm so glad I'm not Moradi,' was slowly blossoming inside Lee Han's mind.

“Your research is obviously going to be microcosms, right, Wardanaz? Starting with developing one yourself.”

“...Asan!”

“???”

Lee Han shouted with a sense of betrayal, but Asan merely stared at him blankly, unable to understand.

What was wrong with Wardanaz?

“I haven't even thought about developing a microcosm. Where did this rumor even come from?”

“The professors said so.”

“......”

Lee Han had never imagined that spending the end of the semester in the punishment room would come back to haunt him like this.

Just what kind of conversations had been happening outside the punishment room?

“Which professors? No. You don't even have to tell me. Professor Verdus, right?”

“Wardanaz. It's not as though Professor Verdus necessarily had to be responsible for something like this.”

“So Professor Verdus didn't do it?”

“No... Professor Verdus said it too...”

Lee Han nodded as though he had known all along.

But in truth, this really was not solely Professor Verdus's responsibility.

Toward the end of the semester, several professors had held conversations like this.

-You lot need to start preparing your research once you enter third year next year. If you spend the entire vacation playing around, it'll all come back to haunt you by graduation, so keep that in mind.

-Do you have any advice for choosing a research topic?

-Hmm... If you haven't chosen one by now, I'd say your chances of graduating have already dropped by about thirty percent.

-......

-Look within your school of magic, see what your seniors have done, and if you go to the library, you can also find records left by graduates. The section is fairly deep underground, though, so you'll want to bring about a week's worth of food before going down.

-What happens if we fail to graduate? Do we really get imprisoned?

-That's a false rumor. Nothing like that happens at Einroguard.

-Then what happens if we fail to graduate?

-I just told you. That doesn't happen.

-......

-What kind of research is Wardanaz doing?

-Probably microcosms.

-Training a microcosm?

-No. Developing one. Training a microcosm is difficult magic, but it isn't really research.

Mages who successfully entered the realm of microcosms tended to develop one thought in common.

I want to leave my own mark here as well!

Mages who had other goals and little free time might not be able to devote themselves to such work.

But in Lee Han's case, he had comparatively plenty of time.

Any mage who entered the realm of microcosms at a young age would naturally become interested in creating something new.

-I see. What you're saying makes sense, Professor!

“What do you mean, it makes sense?! You could've just come to the punishment room and asked me!”

Lee Han scolded his friends in anger.

Why ask the professors and create ridiculous rumors when they could simply have come to the punishment room and asked him directly?

Asan and Yonair lowered their heads dejectedly.

“But... it didn't seem important enough to ask you about...”

“Honestly... it does seem like something you'd make...”

“I was just saying that microcosms changed how I see things. I wasn't saying I'd make them my research topic.”

When Lee Han stated that firmly, the two friends thought to themselves.

'He's going to make one eventually. One hundred percent.'

“Wardanaz. We're done over here too. It'll become the graveyard of Valdrogard students. Heh heh heh...”

“Shh. People will misunderstand if they hear you. We're only helping with the lecture hall.”

“What's the difference between a lecture hall and a graveyard?”

'You sound like the dark magic school.'

Listening to his friends, Lee Han suddenly sensed something strange and tilted his head.

Numerous spells had now been added throughout the palace, yet he could feel a peculiar disturbance between them.

As though something were interfering with the magic.

“Were there any other spells besides the ones you cast? Or some kind of device that interferes with magic?”

“None. We checked the entire place.”

“Finding hidden spaces is basic survival for Einroguard students.”

“Hmm.”

Lee Han knew his friends were not wrong. Einroguard students were extremely experienced at finding hidden spaces.

Hadn't Lee Han himself also inspected the interior using spatial magic?

Yet the strange feeling did not disappear. After thinking for a moment, Lee Han made a decision.

“Everyone, step back and keep your distance for a moment. I need to inspect this properly.”

<Microcosm, Terminalia>.

It was far more powerful than ordinary spatial-perception magic.

No matter how cleverly something had been hidden, it would reveal itself before this microcosm.

Lee Han floated a droplet of water into the air.

What he was casting now was not ordinary Terminalia. Lee Han had learned this microcosm magic in the form of another microcosm, Hwidore.

As the microcosm gradually gathered within the droplet, his friends behind him stared at him as though he were shameless beyond belief.

'And he got angry saying it had nothing to do with microcosms!'

'If that isn't development, then what is?'