Lee Han, who had been puzzled, belatedly recalled the sinister scheme Jowrin was plotting.
A wicked scheme to completely tie down a mage.
Come to think of it, the target of that plan might not have been the Skull Principal, but Eandurde.
“Oh, right. Eandurde. There’s something you need to know when you meet Jowrin.”
Lee Han carefully explained the story he had heard.
After listening to the explanation, Eandurde made an expression Lee Han had never seen before.
It was the face of someone who had no idea where to begin or what to say.
“Th... thank you for telling me...”
“If you’re worried, should I go alone? No matter how much Jowrin invited us, it would be troublesome to waste your vacation.”
Eandurde shook his head again.
From that gesture, Lee Han could feel a strong trust in his friend.
Eandurde is better than me.
For some reason, Lee Han felt his eyes grow misty.
To think Eandurde, who had been worried about whether he could make friends, would show a reaction like this.
“Do you need help choosing a gift?”
“I think I’ll be fine.”
Eandurde stared intently at Lee Han as Eandurde spoke.
Lee Han nodded at the firm confidence he felt from that attitude.
“I see. You already have a gift in mind?”
“Yes...”
***
Clank!
Lee Han blinked at the handcuffs fastened around his wrist.
He was newly realizing that when a person was too dumbfounded, words simply did not come out.
Jowrin’s scheme succeeded!
Regardless, Jowrin shouted triumphantly while pounding the floor with her front paws in the middle of the cave.
“...”
To think he would be ambushed like this after visiting Jowrin’s manor.
Even if magical criminals or anti-magic extremists had attacked Einroguard, he probably would not have been this surprised.
“...No... I was the target?!”
Lee Han, finally realizing the truth, shouted in a voice full of shock. Beside him, Eandurde carefully nodded.
There had been signs from the very invitation.
To Eandurde,
Make sure to visit during vacation! I’ll invite Lee Han too and lock him up in the manor so we can keep playing together!
Jowrin
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“...You said to choose a friend...”
Ah.
Seeing his junior stammer out that excuse, Lee Han had no choice but to understand.
He had told Eandurde to do it!
“I didn’t know this was the kind of friendship it would be.”
Even thinking about it again, it was absurd.
After visiting the manor, passing through the main gate, and stepping into the enormous cave-like interior that appeared when the door unique to this manor opened...
Jowrin, who had been crouching in the darkness, had quickly jumped out and fastened handcuffs around Lee Han’s wrist. It was unbelievable speed for a dragon of her size.
Truly a dragon!
While newly realizing the power of the dragon race even in the midst of this, Lee Han first checked the handcuffs.
If he poured mana into them like crazy, overloaded them, and then burst them apart...
“!”
Surprisingly, these ordinary-looking handcuffs perfectly dispersed the mana. Pure mana shock could not damage them at all.
“How?!”
My sibling helped! Other dragons assisted with the creation!
“...”
Lee Han recalled the advice he had given Jowrin’s sibling, Wuman, and fell into self-loathing.
-Have you prepared for pure mana shock attacks? It’s not common, but very rarely, there are mages who do this...
Even if he had tried to dig his own grave on purpose, he probably could not have dug it this well.
Taking advantage of the contractor’s self-loathing, Jowrin quickly crawled over and snatched away his sword. Then she tried to take his staff too, but this time Lee Han came to his senses and blocked her.
“Now, now. Your Majesty.”
The staff can be stored here too!
Thinking that Jowrin seemed to have become more shameless since he had last seen her, Lee Han spoke firmly.
“Remove these handcuffs.”
...
“Your Majesty?”
...
Jowrin pretended not to hear him again.
She had decided to pretend not to hear unfavorable words.
No. Why has she become so Einroguard-like? Could it be because of her visit to Einroguard?
Lee Han left Jowrin, who was acting like a bratty seven-year-old, alone for now and focused on removing the shackles.
Rather than removing handcuffs made by a dragon, it seemed better to cut the chain first.
...They really were made by a dragon. They’re like feathers.
After casting detection magic and scattering mana to sense the handcuffs and chain, Lee Han was freshly amazed.
The handcuffs and chain were so light and soft that he could barely feel their weight despite wearing them, but when he tried to flow mana inside, they disrupted the intrusion like solid castle walls.
It did not seem like any special metal had been used, yet they had created such a powerful and mysterious artifact.
He thought word-command magic might have been used. For a dragon, that was certainly possible.
Wait. This isn’t the time to be impressed.
This was not the time to admire the dragon’s magical skill. He had to remove the chain connected to the handcuffs first.
Lee Han strengthened his detection magic and expanded the sensing range.
No matter how perfect an artifact was, once it was made, it was bound to have some point of decay or weakening.
He planned to repeatedly cast magic at the weakest point until it worked.
No matter how well prepared it was for mana shocks from within, it could not be invincible against every attack from outside.
Judging by how she took the sword first, there’s a high chance it has limitations against physical attacks.
Crawl, crawl.
Sensing the movement of mana, Jowrin quickly crawled onto the chain.
She covered the chain with her body to prevent attacks. Lee Han was so dumbfounded that he lost his words again.
“...Your Majesty. Please move aside.”
...
Jowrin pretended not to hear and covered her head with her wings. Eandurde was too embarrassed to lift his head even though Jowrin was his friend.
-Isn’t that too much?
Basil said while looking at Jowrin. Jowrin answered in a sulky voice.
We’re friends!
-No, no...! Even if you’re friends, wrong is still wrong...
Jowrin even prepared gifts like this!
Jowrin swished her tail and pointed to the cave wall. Various monster meats, frozen with ice magic and packaged in large portions to give to Basil when they met again, were lined up on the shelf.
Seeing those gifts, Basil floundered, not knowing what to do. Lee Han sighed.
If you’re going to be lured by food, don’t step forward in the first place!
“Your Majesty. Even if you hadn’t deceived me like this, I was planning to stay at the manor from the beginning.”
Really?
Jowrin’s ears perked up. Seeing how her hearing only returned for topics favorable to her, it seemed there was definitely some influence from attending Einroguard.
“Yes.”
How long? One hundred?
“...You mean one hundred hours? That much is fine...”
Jowrin meant one hundred years.
“...”
“...”
-...
At such an unconscionable statement, not only Lee Han, but also Eandurde and Basil were left speechless.
They had thought it would be one hundred days at most...
“...Isn’t that too much?”
When Eandurde whispered, Jowrin fidgeted.
Negotiations are originally done like this...
-I don’t think that’s right.
Why are you saying things like that when you’re on Jowrin’s side!
-...Hng... I understand...
Basil, not as strong-willed as Eandurde, simply lowered its tail.
Meanwhile, Lee Han walked around to check the range of the chains.
Does this just mean I can’t leave the manor?
The chains lengthened according to Lee Han’s movements, but the moment he approached the manor’s gate, they stopped extending and would not stretch any farther.
Jowrin followed him closely, worried that Lee Han might secretly break the chains.
But Lee Han. Is that bundle of luggage you brought perhaps a gift?
Lee Han did not answer and checked the windows. It seemed escaping through the windows would not be easy either.
...!!!
Being ignored, Jowrin’s eyes widened in shock. She had not expected to be ignored.
Hmm. Should I break the chains while Jowrin is sleeping? But her senses are sharp, so she would probably wake up immediately.
Lee Han recalled just how much stamina Jowrin had.
Certainly, when she had been in the Einroguard dormitory, she had slept a lot, but that was only under normal circumstances.
If she decided to stay awake on purpose, she could probably outlast Lee Han by far. After all, she was a dragon.
I guess I should persuade her rather than forcefully break them.
Lee Han...
Jowrin called her contractor with tears in her voice. Lee Han sighed and responded.
“Your Majesty. No matter what, you can’t just bind me like this arbitrarily.”
But this is what I learned at Einroguard.
“...”
Lee Han cursed the Skull Principal inwardly.
Constantly pushing mages to seize what they wanted with their own power—wasn’t that why even Jowrin had become twisted?
“That is something you learned wrong. Einroguard’s true teachings are harmony, cooperation, and friendship.”
“?”
Eandurde looked at his senior as if asking what nonsense he was talking about.
Though Eandurde had attended for only one semester, Eandurde could not find any of those three values.
“The perseverance to not lose those values even in harsh environments is Einroguard’s true teaching.”
-Really?
I don’t think so?
Not only Basil, but even Jowrin was suspicious. Since visiting Einroguard, she had become especially smart, making her extraordinarily difficult to deceive.
“If you can’t believe it, ask the Principal. He’ll agree immediately.”
If the Skull Principal did not want to die, he would try to stop Jowrin from practicing Einroguard’s teachings.
Lee Han spoke confidently, trusting in that.
“Now. Trust your contractor, Your Majesty, and release me. The contractor who will visit the dragons’ court with you even if Your Majesty destroys a castle later.”
...Jowrin wouldn’t do such a thing!
Jowrin grumbled at the absurd slander.
Why would she do something like that?
Then, Lee Han. How long will you stay?
“Oh, right. Your Majesty. I brought you a gift.”
Lee Han changed the subject when an unfavorable topic came up.
This was just a hunch, but he felt that if he mentioned anything less than one hundred years, Jowrin would definitely insist on not releasing him.
At the mention of a gift, Jowrin’s attention was drawn elsewhere. Lee Han rattled the chains and took out a toy.
“...Uh... that... is that okay???”
Eandurde asked in confusion.
What Lee Han had taken out was a very large bone-shaped toy. It looked like a dog toy that had been greatly enlarged.
“These handcuffs? It’s fine. They’re much lighter than I thought.”
“...No, no. That’s not what I meant...”
While Eandurde was flustered, Lee Han activated the magic of the dog bone—no, the dragon bone.
This toy, which Lee Han had admired at the auction house, was actually an item even its creator, the enchantment mage Gashufa, had thought would not sell.
It had originally been made to train wyverns, but once it was completed, the wyverns showed no interest in it at all.
Apparently, wyverns, being fierce and wild by nature, wanted more destructive and bloody rewards.
But Lee Han had discovered a different value in this toy.
-Did you make this? It’s truly a wonderful item!
-R-really? I thought it was a failure...
-Not at all! This is a masterpiece. I’ll buy everything you have here!
-!!!
After the student from Einroguard praised it highly and left, Gashufa was greatly surprised.
To think a mage from Einroguard would say such things.
Perhaps his work had value that even he had not thought of?
“Now. Your Majesty. Here it goes!”
Swoosh!
When Lee Han threw the bone, Jowrin excitedly flew after it. At that sight, Eandurde and Basil wore very complicated expressions.
...Is this really okay?
