Chapter 95: "I really have no intention of going out. But if it will put your mind at ease, I’ll gladly listen to the information."
Yi Han spoke with a serious expression.
His face, as if carved from stone, showed no hint of jest, which made Salko feel inexplicably confused. 'Did he really never go out at night?' Salko glanced at his friend from the Black Turtle Tower, who shook his head.
It was a warning not to be fooled.
"......"
Salko's expression darkened slightly.
As expected, these flashy nobles were dangerous to trust. "... Follow me. I’ll explain."
Salko then whispered something to his friends from the Black Turtle Tower.
Curious, Yi Han quietly asked the friend who had once shared vegetable stew with him, "What did Tootanta say?" The friend replied with an apologetic look, "... He said not to talk to you alone when he’s not around." "......"
In truth, Yi Han wasn’t the only one wandering outside at night.
Most students had started venturing out of the tower.
They had realized that simply sleeping through the night wouldn’t help them survive in this school.
Whether it was for food, assignments, or even escape, they had to roam the school and search for anything they could find.
Naturally, Salko was doing the same.
"Are you criticizing me for sneaking around the school at night?" "... I never criticized you."
Salko replied, sounding incredulous.
Thinking about it, he really hadn’t.
"I see. Go on." "......"
Salko continued his story.
Recently, Salko and his friends had been challenging the third floor of the main building.
Among the magic school buildings, the main building was the largest and held the most mysteries.
Rumors said even the headmaster didn’t know everything that was inside.
As if to prove the rumors true, the third floor of the main building changed every time they visited.
Sometimes there were five corridors, other times the stairs leading there disappeared, and sometimes they were blocked by walls after just a few steps...
But Salko, with the tenacity of someone from the Stoneworkers' Guild, had managed to find a way in.
"How do you get in?" "When the hour and minute are odd numbers, when there are no clouds in the sky, and when you hold your wand in your left hand. Only then does the corridor on the third floor open properly." "......"
For a moment, Yi Han thought Salko was teasing him.
But Salko was dead serious.
"I... see."
Well, it was a magic school, after all.
Yi Han was just grateful that the conditions for the corridor to open at night didn’t involve riding a unicycle while roasting peanuts with lightning and jumping through rings of fire.
"Thanks. That’s useful information."
Yi Han, who needed to visit the stables located in the upper floors of the main building, found the information about the third floor quite handy.
"The information isn’t over yet. There’s something on that third floor that might help you."
"It’s not the Lightning Spirit, is it?" "?" "No, just kidding. What is it?" Yi Han was curious.
Even if it was a magical being, the magic school was already filled with all sorts of strange creatures—liches, troll hybrids, vampires, lightning spirits, and so on...
And most of them probably weren’t the kind you’d want to have a chat with.
Yi Han would have bet gold coins on that.
"I can’t tell you." "......"
"Because I swore an oath not to reveal its identity."
"I see. So you want me to go and find out for myself?" "No. Finding that being is even more complicated and difficult than entering the third-floor corridor. I’ll have to go with you. Depending on your decision, I’ll guide you to that being once we’re in the third-floor corridor."
Salko spoke with a rock-solid attitude.
But Yi Han couldn’t help but feel suspicious. 'Is this guy setting me up?' After being unfairly attacked by other students so many times, suspicion was his first reaction.
After all, Salko didn’t exactly like nobles and knights.
What if, upon reaching the third-floor corridor, a group of Black Turtle Tower students were waiting in masks? Or what if the being on the third floor wanted a student as a sacrifice, and Salko had chosen Yi Han for that...?
"Why the hesitation?" Salko asked, completely unaware that Yi Han was harboring such rude suspicions.
"Won’t that being be upset if you guide me there after swearing an oath?" "No. It said as long as I don’t reveal its identity, bringing new students is fine. I even double-checked in the <Basic Imperial Language and Logic> class just to be sure." 'Tsk.' Salko was as diligent a student as Yi Han.
He wasn’t someone you could easily manipulate, like Gainando.
"Do you really think it’ll help?" "On my family’s honor, I believe so. Though my judgment isn’t always right."
Salko stroked his beard like a dwarf and spoke seriously. 'Well, I do need any information I can get.' After some thought, Yi Han nodded.
If he wanted to find the path to the stables in the upper floors of the main building, he couldn’t afford to be picky about hot or cold water.
"Alright. When do you plan to go?" "Tonight."
Saturday evening.
While other students were lounging in the common room, wrapped in blankets and enjoying the warmth of a bonfire, with a steaming cup of tea or coffee in one hand and a quill, chess piece, or card in the other, Yi Han was walking up the dark stairs of the main building with Salko. 'Seems like no one else is around.' Yi Han kept an eye out for any potential ambush.
The Black Turtle Tower students didn’t seem to be following.
Salko carried a wand in one hand and a hammer at his waist.
Honestly, that hammer felt more threatening than the wooden swords the White Tiger Tower students carried.
"I asked other students about you. Wodanaz."
Salko spoke in a low, granite-like voice.
"What did you ask?" "What kind of person you are." "......"
Yi Han glanced around again.
He was worried Salko might shout, "Die, Wodanaz! Your evil deeds end here!" and a group of ambushing students would jump out.
Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
"I heard you’ve been sharing food with other students. Not just the Blue Dragon Tower students, but even those from other towers."
"Yeah."
"Good deeds deserve respect, but I’d advise against it. People who don’t work for their own food and clothing won’t appreciate its value, no matter who provides it."
Yi Han found himself nodding unconsciously.
It was too true.
"...?" Salko was taken aback when Yi Han nodded.
He hadn’t expected someone from the Wodanaz family to agree so readily without any argument.
"You... understand?" "It’s not wrong. People who don’t work for themselves don’t know the value of things."
"Exactly. Do you think nobles or knights understand how sacred labor is? All they know is how to strut around with swords and act important."
"I think even nobles and knights should be sent to farms to plow fields. They learn swordsmanship as part of their education, so why not farming?" The two young laborers bonded passionately over their shared views.
After the conversation, Yi Han and Salko looked at each other with newfound respect.
Salko’s rock-like face softened slightly.
"I think I misjudged you. I apologize, Wodanaz. Some White Tiger Tower students said you were a heartless, evil archmage..." "......" "... That was just the arrogant knights spreading rumors."
"Exactly. Such rumors always cloud our judgment. As mages, we must always be vigilant."
"Well said."
Salko nodded in reflection.
Yi Han thought to himself, 'From now on, no matter what rumors spread, I can just dismiss them as nonsense.' Salko glanced at Yi Han’s hands—calloused from tending gardens and various tasks.
No noble could have hands like that.
People with the same hands recognize each other.
Salko fully acknowledged Yi Han now.
But then he grew curious.
Why would a student like Yi Han take care of other lazy good-for-nothings?
"Wodanaz. I have a question."
"What is it?" "Why do you take care of students from your own tower?" "......"
Yi Han was caught off guard.
Well... 'It’s for the money...' He did it because he was paid.
He wasn’t about to prepare breakfast and deliver meals for free.
Of course, it was for the money.
But Yi Han thought it wouldn’t be good to say that now, especially since Salko seemed to hold him in high regard.
So Yi Han decided to answer ambiguously.
"Because they’re my friends." "......"
Salko was deeply impressed by that answer.
He had thought the students following Wodanaz did so because of his magical prowess, but it seemed there was more to it.
"I could never do that... but now I think I understand a bit of what you nobles call 'honor.' It’s not entirely nonexistent." "......"
Yi Han tucked the ledger in his pocket a little deeper.
If Salko found out, he’d never trust nobles again.
As they walked ahead through the third-floor corridor of the main building, Salko suddenly stopped and pointed at a statue.
It was a statue of an unnamed mage.
Though old, faded, and partially broken, it was breathtakingly beautiful.
So beautiful that it didn’t seem human. 'Strange.
Why does it feel familiar?' "Do you see how this statue is broken, Wodanaz?" Salko pulled out his hammer.
Yi Han took a step back, placing his hand on his waist, and nodded.
"I repaired this statue before. I couldn’t just leave it broken like this." 'A workaholic.' But Yi Han understood.
Just like Yonelle felt the urge to water plants when she saw them, or Nillia wanted to hunt when she saw prey, or Yi Han himself wanted to bow when he saw a professor...
Salko had his own occupational quirks.
"But it’s broken again?" "Yes. This statue keeps breaking no matter how many times I fix it. And that’s the key to opening this hidden door."
Salko carefully repaired the broken statue.
As he did, a rumbling sound echoed in the darkness, and the statue rotated once.
At the same time, a hidden passage opened.
"Go inside, Wodanaz. From here, you must go alone."
"Tootanta... I trust you."
"I know. That’s why you’ve come this far."
"I really do trust you."
"Why are you repeating yourself?" Unaware that Yi Han was reading his reactions, Salko tilted his head in confusion.
A new student has arrived. "!" Inside the passage was a statue—a mix of various beasts.
"Greetings. I am the Forgotten Beast Statue. I’ve been in this school for a long time. Student who repaired the statue, will you first swear not to reveal my identity to others?" "... I swear."
As Yi Han answered, the dog’s tail on the statue wagged happily.
"Excuse me, but what are you doing here?" "Just passing the time. The room I guarded was closed 187 years ago. Since then, I’ve been wandering the cool places of this school."
"I’m curious, why shouldn’t I tell others about you?" "Because the professors might give me work again."
"How wise...!" "Thank you for understanding."
Yi Han was now certain that this statue was truly wise.