“In... in my forest? An artificial demigod...?”

Ilendil asked in a hollow voice, sounding like Gainando after being assigned extra homework.

He had heard correctly.

He was simply clinging to the desperate hope that he hadn’t.

“Yes? You agreed to share ownership of the relic. Would you rather keep it in the dormitory? Or another tower?”

“...”

Lee Han’s words struck directly at Ilendil’s weak point.

Ilendil’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly.

The reason Ilendil had coveted the relic in the first place was for the restoration and growth of the forest.

To achieve that, the relic needed to remain inside the forest continuously and steadily.

Lee Han was probably taking that into account and trying to be considerate, but—

‘I hate this so much!!!’

That didn’t change the fact that Ilendil absolutely did not want to tame an artificial demigod and practice evil ancient magic in the middle of the forest.

At this rate, his beloved forest might suddenly become a “Cursed Forest” or a “Forest of Ruin.”

“Th-That... wouldn’t it be dangerous? For you, junior...”

Ilendil awkwardly wiggled his fingers while desperately searching for excuses.

Lee Han was strangely touched by the concern.

Enough that Ilendil’s evaluation, which had previously dropped below Princess Yukbeltire’s level, rose slightly again.

‘At least he’s not a bad person!’

It might sound absurd for someone’s evaluation to rise over something so minor, but it couldn’t be helped.

When judging Einroguard upperclassmen, one’s standards naturally dropped lower and lower without realizing it.

The mere fact that Ilendil was worried about him was enough to improve Lee Han’s impression of him.

“Senior. Are you worried about me? Well... I suppose it does sound dangerous.”

“Silence.”

The insane duplicate shut down his pathetic disciple before turning toward Ilendil.

“If a member of the royal lineage has opinions regarding magical instruction, speak.”

“...I have none...”

Ilendil immediately shrank back again.

He was not reckless enough to openly voice complaints in front of someone who resembled the Skull Principal.

Lee Han felt genuinely sorry for him.

‘What a petty way to threaten someone.’

If somebody openly said, “Go ahead and complain if you have a problem,” who could actually say anything?

“Then may I say something?”

“No.”

“...”

The insane duplicate cut Lee Han off instantly and manipulated the <Echo of the Demigod> once more.

Dark crimson energy poured out thickly, accompanied by agonized screams that sounded like death throes.

Watching from the side, Lee Han casually asked,

“So it’s finished?”

“Yes. I sealed the evil deity’s power inside the relic. Use it after fully taming the demigod.”

“?”

Lee Han hesitated.

He had expected purification or severance.

Ilendil also looked as though he doubted his own hearing.

I will remember you...

“...Master. The evil deity says it’ll remember me.”

“Evil deities neither remember nor hold grudges. Do not assign meaning to their words.”

Just as a parrot did not understand the meaning of human speech when mimicking it, the same principle applied when evil deities spoke to humans.

Divine beings did not speak through personality or emotion.

They acted according to laws and principles.

The evil deity threatening Lee Han by saying it would remember him was not truly “remembering” in the human sense.

It had simply chosen the most effective form of contact.

“The mercenaries bound to that evil deity would already have had their souls consumed. But you, my disciple, possess no such shackles. At best, all it can do is threaten you. So long as you do not fear those threats, they are meaningless.”

An evil deity born from corrupted power and worship continuously moved according to the laws of its own existence.

Against Lee Han, who was effectively immune to bindings and curses, the only thing it could attempt was psychological corruption through intimidation.

‘I see.’

Lee Han understood immediately.

And at the same time, he felt a fresh chill run down his spine.

It was easy to mistake such a being for something with personality if one treated it casually.

But evil deities were closer to natural phenomena—pure power, like mana itself.

The moment one began assigning them greater meaning and feeling fear, one unknowingly strengthened their influence and fell deeper into corruption.

‘...Still, that doesn’t explain why we can’t just purify it completely.’

Truthfully, Lee Han could already guess the reason.

A connection to an evil deity had value in its own right.

The insane duplicate likely intended for the link to remain available in case it became useful later.

‘That sounds like terrible advice.’

Beside him, Ilendil stared at the insane duplicate with a mixture of horror, despair, disbelief, and silent resentment.

It was impossible not to feel uneasy knowing an evil deity slumbered inside the ancient relic.

Eventually realizing that glaring at the insane duplicate was pointless, Ilendil turned pleading eyes toward Lee Han instead.

Unfortunately, Lee Han had no solution either.

‘I’m sorry, senior. I can’t do anything about this.’

As proven earlier, persuading the insane duplicate on matters related to magic was nearly impossible.

The only thing Lee Han could do was postpone the issue.

“Understood. After taming the demigod, I’ll try speaking to it later if I remember.”

“Do so.”

“...”

Watching the two of them converse, Ilendil’s shoulders slumped lower and lower.

This ancient relic expedition was beginning to feel like a net loss.

***

“Still, senior. Don’t forget you promised to support my side inside <Einroguard’s Watchers>.”

“...Yeah... I know...”

After the insane duplicate departed, Ilendil became visibly more depressed.

Since Einroguard students were naturally gloomy creatures to begin with, Lee Han didn’t think much of it.

“By the way, are you heading straight back to Einroguard?”

“Yes.”

“How did you get out in the first place, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I received help from another student.”

Lee Han was genuinely shocked inside.

‘Wait. He has a friend?’

It was an extremely rude thought, but he couldn’t help it.

Ilendil seemed like the sort of person who had no friends whatsoever, much like Princess Yukbeltire.

Aside from the alchemy underclassmen around him, he didn’t appear to have any meaningful human relationships.

Then again, even Princess Yukbeltire had Senior Diret.

So Ilendil having a friend wasn’t impossible.

‘Please don’t tell me it’s Senior Diret.’

If even Ilendil’s only friend turned out to be Diret, Lee Han felt like he might genuinely cry.

“What kind of help?”

“A special glass bottle...”

In his slow voice, Ilendil explained.

It was a secret technique that allowed one to hide inside a glass bottle.

By using that magic, slipping out of Einroguard became possible.

Naturally, it only worked during periods when other students were leaving the academy, but Ilendil rarely cared about going outside anyway.

If not for the relic expedition, he wouldn’t have left at all.

“I see. Then where’s your friend now?”

“?”

Ilendil tilted his head in confusion.

“I don’t know...?”

“...Uh. Aren’t you supposed to regroup and return together? Or do you have another method for getting back?”

“I can just find another student.”

“...!!”

A horrifying realization suddenly struck Lee Han.

“When you came out earlier... did that student know about it?”

“Hmm? No...”

‘That’s not receiving help!’

Normally, secretly hiding inside someone’s belongings wasn’t described as “getting help.”

At that moment, Lee Han was reminded once again that the person before him was undeniably an Einroguard upperclassman.

No upperclassman at Einroguard was mentally normal.

“I see. So that’s your transportation method. Then... would it be possible for you to carry our luggage as well?”

Lee Han and his friends all had their own methods for hiding items, but there were never guarantees.

If the Death Knights became as stubborn as they had been at the start of the semester, things could become troublesome.

Entrusting the luggage to Ilendil in advance would reduce the risk considerably.

“...”

Ilendil looked like he was about to cry.

Reading the expression on the upperclassman’s face, Lee Han quickly added,

“If it’s troublesome or inconvenient, you don’t have to force yourself.”

“No... I can do it. There’s just... a problem...”

“If it’s a magical issue, I’ll help.”

Separate from the request itself, Lee Han genuinely intended to help however he could.

Since it was his group’s luggage being transported, he couldn’t simply dump the responsibility on someone else.

“I don’t want to meet those underclassmen again...”

“...”

Just imagining having to interact with several unfamiliar underclassmen again caused Ilendil to let out a long, exhausted sigh.

Lee Han pretended not to hear it.

‘Looks like I worried for nothing.’

***

“Thank you, senior!”

“C-Could you keep it down a little...”

“We’ll be counting on you, senior!”

In the end, Ilendil departed carrying an absurd amount of luggage.

The second-years praised him enthusiastically, saying they had completely misjudged him.

“I never expected that senior to agree to something like this.”

“Seriously. He’s the guy who released artificial spirits inside the forest. But I didn’t think he’d actually help with requests like this.”

‘That title’s going to stick forever, isn’t it?’

Lee Han suddenly worried that even after graduation, Ilendil would forever be remembered as:

“That upperclassman who released artificial spirits in the forest.”

The poor man had probably done plenty of other respectable things too...

“Yonair. I don’t see Anglago or Salco anywhere. Where did they go?”

“They went outside earlier saying they had something to do. ...Wait. Where are you going?”

Yonair looked puzzled by Lee Han’s outfit.

It wasn’t his usual Einroguard beggar-style clothing, nor the standard outfit used for outings.

The arm guards and leg guards looked more like... equipment for a jousting player.

“I’m going to practice jousting.”

“What?! Why?!”

Yonair looked horrified by the least fitting sentence imaginable.

“...Because I’m in the Jousting Club?”

“Ah.”

Only then did Yonair remember that his friend belonged to multiple clubs.

Lee Han spoke bitterly.

“To be honest, I’m not very confident either.”

“As a second-year, don’t you not have to participate?”

“I have too many rare mounts...”

With all the unusual mounts Lee Han possessed—starting with the griffin—not participating would probably cause several jousting-obsessed upperclassmen to collapse from shock.

Whether it ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) helped or not, Lee Han intended to cram in as much practice as possible beforehand.

“That outfit suits you perfectly. If I saw you in the arena, I’d think you were an excellent player.”

“That’s right, young master. There’s no need to worry. I’m certain you’ll display outstanding talent in jousting as well.”

Amur and Arien praised him enthusiastically, completely unaware of Lee Han’s actual thoughts.

‘I wonder if this will really be okay.’

The few jousting matches Lee Han had experienced at Einroguard had all been wildly irregular, heavily influenced by mounts and magic.

Upperclassmen like Karnella held absurdly high expectations for him, but real jousting players would possess entirely different skills.

It wouldn’t be surprising if he got completely overwhelmed.

“I wanted to stay and cheer for the match, but we’ll probably have to return before then.”

“What? Wardanaz is participating in a match?”

His friends looked deeply disappointed.

A fellow second-year friend was representing his club in competition.

If they couldn’t cheer for him at a time like this, when would they ever get the chance?

Unfortunately, the drama club’s outing period was ending.

It was time to return to the Death Knights and insist:

“We came back on time! We worked very hard helping people because of the monster incident at the palace!”

“Can’t we just refuse to go back?”

“That’s a guaranteed trip to the punishment cells. Don’t say ridiculous things.”

“Asan’s right. Getting thrown into the punishment cells over a match would be absurd.”

After firmly ordering everyone to return on time, Lee Han began receiving emergency jousting lessons from Amur and Arien.

Meanwhile, the others prepared to head back with disappointed expressions.

Packing newly purchased items.

Hiding suspicious materials.

Checking whether anything had been left behind.

Preparing tools and ingredients for future potion work once they returned to school.

...And even after all of that was finished, Anglago and Salco still hadn’t come back.

“...”

Lee Han pulled out his artifact.

—Anglago. Did you get kidnapped or something?

—What? Of course not! Just go back first. I still have something to do.

—...Don’t tell me you’re trying to sneak out just to watch the jousting match.

—Nooooo? What are you talking about?

—What are you idiots even discussing right now?

Giselle looked utterly horrified.

What on earth were those lunatics doing outside?