Chapter 52

"Is it really that dangerous?"

"There are far too many dangerous monsters in these mountains. In the deeper areas, there are probably many monsters whose true nature even the professors don't know. Since it's spring, more and more monsters will wake up as the weeks go by..."

Professor Ingeldel looked at the mountains with a worried gaze.

Since the magic school Einroard was located in a place rich in magical energy, it was inevitable that there would be many monsters around.

Especially the mountain range behind the school, from Ingeldel's perspective, was a dangerous area where almost all kinds of monsters could exist.

The deeper regions of the mountain range seemed suitable for powerful giant monsters like ogres, mountain giants, trolls, and wyverns to live...

With such monsters present, even powerful monsters that normally wouldn't live on the outskirts of the mountains would be pushed to the periphery to avoid the center.

"Even if students are full of energy, entering such a mountain range is not a wise choice. Only a madman would make such a choice."

"I'm not doing it because I want to enter, but because the assignment is to go into the mountain range and gather materials."

"......"

Professor Ingeldel cleared his throat with an awkward expression.

He didn't know it was an assignment from another professor.

"Is that so? Then the story might be different."

"The story doesn't seem to be different..."

Strictly speaking, Professor Ingeldel was a swordsman, not a magician.

Therefore, there could be some differences in thinking compared to the other professors at this school.

Especially the cool mindset of professors who think, "People might die while learning the art of magic," made Ingeldel shudder.

However, he couldn't badmouth a fellow professor in front of the students.

Professor Ingeldel hid his true feelings and spoke as tactfully as possible.

"If another professor asked you to go into the mountain range and gather materials, there must be a reason for it."

"Is that so?"

Lee Han was already looking at Professor Ingeldel with a distrustful gaze.

Just a moment ago, he was saying, "Only a madman would do such a thing," but now, upon hearing the professor's name, he showed such a reaction...

He strongly suspected that Ingeldel was siding with his fellow professor.

Professor Ingeldel cleared his throat again and changed the topic.

"By the way, your breathing has returned. Excellent. Have you completed the circulation?"

When Lee Han, who had been breathing heavily, suddenly spoke calmly, Professor Ingeldel was pleased.

This effect only occurs when the magical energy circulation within the body is completed.

"Ah? This is..."

Lee Han had an embarrassed look.

"I'm sorry. I lost my concentration and just released the magical energy."

The correct method is to extract magical energy from the center of the body and then concentrate it to circulate it throughout the body.

This is the standard method.

If the magical energy circulates smoothly throughout the body like blood, it can strengthen the body without any waste.

The key is a smooth, uninterrupted circulation!

...But when Lee Han's concentration was broken and he found it difficult, he simply sent the magical energy to various parts of his body and released it.

After all, he could always extract new magical energy.

"...???"

Professor Ingeldel, unable to understand what the student from the Wodanaz family was saying, stared at Lee Han.

* * *

"Hmm."

After listening to Lee Han's detailed explanation and the events that happened during the fight with the half-magicians, Professor Ingeldel fell into deep thought.

Originally, he should have discouraged Lee Han from doing something that could be fatal.

Fighting by wasting magical energy like that was like sprinkling one's own blood on the ground.

However, Professor Ingeldel had a flexible mindset.

If there are a hundred swordsmen, there are a hundred sword techniques.

Considering the innate magical energy capacity of the Wodanaz family's young boy (though it's debatable whether it can be called innate), such waste could be one of the methods.

After much deliberation, Professor Ingeldel made up his mind and said:

"I won't forbid that method. However, it's best to avoid using it as much as possible in daily life and focus on completing the circulation."

"Understood."

Lee Han nodded obediently.

In fact, Lee Han wasn't thinking of some grand glory like, "Grr... The most important virtue of a swordsman is strength... Even if the forbidden technique burns my life, I will gain powerful strength..."

If it's dangerous, he would simply think, "Oh, it's dangerous," and not do it.

"And with such a large amount of magical energy, it will be even harder to complete the circulation loop inside your body."

"......"

This sounded familiar.

"So, the Wodanaz student will increase his training volume."

"...Oh, oh..."

Lee Han managed to control his expression with a steel-like mind.

He had to pretend to be happy!

'Can't show it. Can't show it.'

Compared to the other professors, Professor Ingeldel still had a human heart and was delighted by this reaction.

"Is that so? I was worried you might dislike it, but it's a good thing."

"Yes... I'm very happy... As you know, I am serious about swordsmanship..."

Hearing Lee Han's words, Professor Ingeldel smiled broadly with his scarred face.

"I've known for a long time that the Wodanaz student is serious about swordsmanship."

"......"

"Oh, and when you go into the mountain range to find materials, I will accompany you."

"...Didn't Professor Ingeldel say it would be fine if I went with the professor who gave the assignment?"

"Yes, but I like to take walks."

Although it seemed unlikely that Professor Ingeldel, who had a prosthetic leg and arm, would enjoy walking in the steep mountains, Lee Han had no choice but to nod.

Honestly, if Professor Ingeldel was willing to go to such lengths, Lee Han was seriously worried about what might happen in the mountain range.

* * *

Evening.

Lee Han headed to Professor Ingeldel's cabin.

Despite all the events of the day, the professor's errands were not something that could be excused.

Of course, from Professor Ingeldel's perspective, it might be a bit unfair.

He never asked Lee Han to come every day and said it was fine if he was busy and didn't come.

And in fact, Lee Han had his own intentions.

'I need to gather as much information as possible.'

"?"

<Had to go out for some business. Feel free to take what you need! - Ingeldel>

"Oh..."

Lee Han was surprised when he saw the note.

After all, Professor Ingeldel is human and couldn't be stuck in his cabin like a hermit all the time. He had to teach other students and have time for his own affairs.

Lee Han nodded and took the note off.

Then he immediately returned to the tower and called Yoner to bring him along.

"Find useful items in this cabin?"

"Yeah. I want to check the potions in the box we found last time."

The box of potions that the professional thief Ratford had stolen from the carriage.

It was difficult for a first-year student like Lee Han to figure out the nature of these potions on his own.

If he could find useful items in Professor Ingeldel's cabin, it would be a great help.

A student knowledgeable in alchemy like Yoner would be even more capable of identifying them.

'Wait. This is Professor Ingeldel's cabin, isn't it?'

Yoner quickly recognized the place from the last time they cooked meat there.

'It should be fine.'

However, Yoner decided to let it go.

In a school as crazy as this, this was nothing.

"Wait. What's that?"

"What? Oh, the garden?"

When Yoner, who was walking in front, spoke with a surprised look, Lee Han replied as if it was nothing.

"I'm taking care of it, but it's still a long way off. It will take a few more months to grow."

"...Huh? They look fully grown?"

"?"

This time, it was Lee Han's turn to be surprised. He turned around to see what Yoner was talking about.

"...!!"

Yoner was right.

'What?'

Lee Han was shocked to see that the vegetables he had planted had already grown.

No matter how he thought about it, they had grown too quickly.

"Professor Ingeldel must have sprinkled something. He's quite impatient."

Hearing Lee Han's explanation, Yoner nodded.

Using a growth-promoting potion to eat them quickly.

'He really has a big appetite.'

That's how Professor Ingeldel, who was absent, ended up with an unfair reputation.

"Since it's like this, we should harvest them. Yoner, can you take care of the cabin?"

"Sure thing."

Lee Han picked up the farming tools and started harvesting the vegetables with skilled movements.

Yoner watched, momentarily mesmerized by the perfect actions, which could only be shown by a farmer with decades of experience.

Yoner understood why Professor Ingeldel favored Lee Han.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, nothing. I'll go find something useful."

While the basket was filling up with vegetables, Yoner busily searched the cabin.

After some time,

Lee Han's arms were full of baskets of crops, and Yoner's arms were full of boxes containing unidentified reagents and alchemy tools.

"Done?"

"Yeah!"

"Let's go!"

The two students from the Blue Dragon Tower left the cabin and ran off.

Only the new note Lee Han had stuck on the cabin door was left fluttering.

<Thank you, Professor. I left some of the harvested crops for you to taste. - Lee Han Wodanaz.>

* * *

Lee Han and Yoner greeted the morning sun with dark circles under their eyes.

They had spent the night conducting alchemy tests in the freshmen lounge.

"So, this is the Cantus potion?"

"Yeah."

The results of the tests were as follows:

<Imperial Western Wine (delicious)>.

<Cantus Potion> - Drinking it allows you to sing beautifully like a mermaid for a while.

End.

"......"

As Yoner's expression started to droop, Lee Han quickly reassured him.

"This is a good result. We can't expect to figure everything out on the first try."

"That's true, but... where would you use a singing potion?"

"There must be a use for it."

Creak-

At that moment, Asan Dalkard entered the lounge. He was happy to see the two.

"Wodanaz, are you ready to enter the mountain range today?"

"More or less."

Lee Han had a plan.

He would leave with other students on Friday, try to return by Saturday, and on Sunday...

'Use the leave pass to go out and come back.'

Lee Han tried to stay calm.

It was best to keep expectations low. There could be any number of traps before he even left.

"By the way, Wodanaz, do you want to visit the black market before entering the mountain range?"

"...What market?"

Lee Han was taken aback by Asan's words.

Black market?

'What kind of school has a black market?'

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't believe Asan's words...

...but it was real.

'Unbelievable.'

To be precise, it wasn't a black market but a small market.

A market set up by the freshmen of the Black Turtle Tower near their tower!

At first, they gathered to barter things they needed, but it became so convenient that it turned into a regular market.

Lee Han was speechless.

'What exactly is this school trying to teach the students?'

"Come on, let's play a game! Find the Emperor. The Emperor is in one of these three cards. Where is the Emperor? If you guess right, you get double the bread... Oh, Mr. Wodanaz."

Ratford, who was running a card game by skillfully moving three cards, suddenly stood up when he saw Lee Han.

When the students who were chatting around turned to look, Lee Han wanted to turn around and leave.