His friends were taken aback, but Yi-Han remained calm. His actions were not driven by personal feelings but by valid reasoning.
“Without Dolgyu, the White Tiger Tower guys will never cooperate with me. If anything, they'd only cause trouble. In a situation like this, causing a commotion could attract the attention of Rock Drake.”
Yonaire tilted her head in confusion at this explanation.
"But why can't we just leave them be?"
"Let's go."
"..."
Yi-Han amplified his invisibility magic and started to move. Yonaire followed him with a subtle expression on her face.
"Everyone, don’t move."
"Uh... Ugh!"
The students of the White Tiger were terrified as if they were about to faint.
It was a shock when students from the Blue Dragon suddenly appeared out of thin air.
"What the... It's Wardanaz."
"It's not really reassuring, though..."
One of the White Tiger students muttered under his breath. Yi-Han made a mental note to remember the face of the student who had just muttered.
"Don't make a sound. Make a sound, and we'll attack."
"We know that, Wardanaz. We're not new recruits."
"?”
The students of the White Tiger seemed to not understand the situation.
Yi-Han pondered how to phrase "You are now subdued. Lay down your weapons and surrender, and you will be treated as prisoners according to the Einroguard regulations" in a less offensive manner.
"I've been looking for you, Wardanaz. Dolgyu asked me to come here."
"!"
Yi-Han hesitated.
Surprisingly, these students from the White Tiger had come to seek cooperation!
"..."
Realizing this belatedly, the students of the Blue Dragon exchanged glances.
'...What do we do?'
'Let's pretend we don't know anything.'
'Doesn't our posture with the staffs look suspicious?'
The students of the Blue Dragon, who were holding their staffs ready to cast spells at Yi-Han's signal, slowly lowered their hands. Their posture had seemed a bit suspicious.
The students of the White Tiger, sensing the odd atmosphere, asked,
"But Wardanaz, why bring so many friends..."
"You know the library is dangerous."
"Is that why?"
The students of the White Tiger, initially puzzled by the murderous aura of the Blue Dragon students, seemed to accept the explanation, nodding their heads.
Gainando, still not grasping the situation, whispered,
"When do we attack?"
"Attack?"
At Yonaire's gesture, the other friends quickly subdued Gainando.
Yi-Han, without changing his expression, said,
"We were discussing when to attack the Rock Drake."
"Attack... the Rock Drake???"
The students of the White Tiger looked at Yi-Han as if he were mad. They had suspected that Wardanaz, who had devoted his life to all kinds of magic and arcane arts, was a mad great mage, but not to this extent!
'Oops. I misspoke.'
In his haste, Yi-Han's excuse had come out a bit strange. He quickly clarified,
"It's not like we're definitely attacking Rock Drake. It's just that, in an unavoidable situation, we might attack."
"Right..."
"Are you going to do it when we're not around?"
Despite the clarification, the students of the White Tiger had already stepped back a few paces.
The very idea of attacking Rock Drake, even in an unavoidable situation, was terrifying.
Even the most reckless student from a knightly family had not considered the thought of attacking Rock Drake under these circumstances…
"...Enough. Tell us why you're here."
In fact, the students of the White Tiger were faring much better than those of the Blue Dragon. Unlike the Blue Dragon students, who only had their family names and magic abilities as their strengths, the White Tiger students inherently possessed the ability to take care of themselves in any situation.
Thus, they moved more proactively.
-Let's split up into groups of three and find the way!-
If confident, it was much more advantageous to move in smaller groups.
Although Yi-Han would never undertake such a reckless endeavor, the White Tiger students, as known, did not fall behind in bravery.
And this time, fortune favored them.
-We found it! Here's a door leading downstairs!-
-Call the others too! Tell them we found it!-
Upon discovering the passage downwards, Dolgyu earnestly requested his friends' assistance.
-Could you do me a favor, please?-
-It depends on what it is. Dolgyu.-
-Do you remember the two slices of butter sponge cake I gifted you last time?-
-...Fine. I'll listen. What is it?-
-I wish you would stealthily inform our friends from the Blue Dragon about this location. I'd go myself, but it's too conspicuous.-
-What?! Why!? Is it because of Wardanaz…-
-...It's not like that. I owe him a debt. Think about it, honoring the knight's code. Don't you owe Wardanaz too?-
-...Not that we don't, but...-
Dolgyu's words left his White Tiger friends speechless.
They too, being from knightly families, had their honor. They couldn't fully deny the help they had received from Yi-Han.
But...
-Even considering our knightly honor, we've been wronged too much.-
-Right. We've suffered too much.-
Honor or not, they had indeed endured a lot!
Yet, in the end, they couldn't defy Dolgyu.
Words like 'honorably' and 'repaying a favor' were something they, as scions of knightly families, couldn't simply ignore.
-I really don't want to go.-
-Right. Who knows what that Wardanaz will do.-
-If we're going, shouldn't we bring more people? Aren't we too few?-
"That's why, upon receiving Dolgyu's earnest request, we came here."
The White Tiger students conveniently omitted all their grumbling and complaints.
Yi-Han was slightly moved.
'Dolgyu...'
Among the White Tiger students, Dolgyu was the proof that there were those who understood honor and conscience.
Such unexpected help.
"So you came here to find Wardanaz? I thought you all hated getting involved with him."
"...Hmph. We don't mix petty emotions with what needs to be done. Nobles might not understand this sense of responsibility as knights."
"We never cared about our grudges with Wardanaz. We only thought about the debt we owed him. That's what honor is."
'These guys really didn't want to come, did they?'
Yi-Han thought to himself.
The students of the Blue Dragon were irked but said nothing.
Simply guiding them to the entrance was indeed a debt repaid.
"Alright. Thank you. Will you lead the way then?"
The White Tiger students took the lead, guiding the Blue Dragon students.
Though the terrain hadn't changed, making the pathfinding straightforward, it wasn't entirely easy.
"Rock Drake!"
The monster that had plagued the students throughout the dungeon still lurked in the wasteland.
As the students of the Blue Dragon grimaced in pain, those from the White Tiger spoke with overconfidence.
"What's the matter? Don't you know how to deal with Rock Drake?"
"Do you know how?"
"Of course. We encountered Rock Drake on our way here. How else would we have made it this far if we didn't know how to handle it?"
Yi-Han was surprised by the confident attitude of the White Tiger students.
'Is there a method passed down only in knightly families?'
Yi-Han, a student who had read every book he could in the Wardanaz family library and had taken extra lessons on various monsters from his Professor Bungaegor, had never come across an easy way to deal with Rock Drake.
What could it be?
'If it's a method exclusive to knightly families, I can't miss it.'
"Watch!"
The White Tiger students threw themselves prone on the dusty, dirt ground. They didn't care about the hot, dry earth dirtying their clothes and limbs.
"Rock Drake's vision is higher than you think. If we lie down like this, it won't spot us."
"And from this position!"
One of the White Tiger students began crawling on the ground. They crawled as low as possible, like a worm rubbing against the earth.
One of the Blue Dragon students muttered while watching.
"That looks like a bug..."
"Shh. Be quiet."
"See? If we crawl like this, we can avoid Rock Drake."
"I'll just cast an invisibility spell on us."
At Yi-Han's words, the dust-covered White Tiger students paused.
...What?
Is that even possible?
"You can do... that?"
"Sure."
"...But why did you make us do this?"
"I would have adopted your method if it seemed better."
"..."
Despite the explanation, the White Tiger students glared at Yi-Han.
"Over there, the slanted hill standing to the side is where we found the entrance."
"I see."
Yi-Han nodded as he surveyed the steep, 4-5 meter tall hillside, clinging to a cliff. It appeared they had ascended from the gentler slope on the opposite side.
"...Wait. Are there still students who haven't crossed over?"
"I'm not sure? Why? Are there still friends left behind?"
"It seems so."
Yi-Han enhanced his vision by lavishly concentrating mana around his eyes.
He then spotted the White Tiger students on the distant hill.
'Are they waiting for friends who haven't arrived yet? To teach them how to get down?'
If that was the case, the knights' camaraderie was indeed impressive...
-Block it! Don't let it climb up!-
-Get out all the potions! If Rock Drake comes up, we're dead!-
"..."
Watching the White Tiger students scurrying around and chattering in the distance, Yi-Han frowned.
Unaware of the situation, the White Tiger students continued chatting beside him.
"Wardanaz. No matter how skilled you are in magic, finding a path is a completely different..."
"Tsck."
"...Did I overstep? You're not angry, are you?"
-The door is locked. How do we open it?-
-Search the nearby storeroom. There might be a key or a way to open it.-
-Alright. ...Rock Drake!!-
-What? Open it with Rock Drake? How do we get Rock Drake here?-
-No! Rock Drake is over there!!-
As the White Tiger students pondered how to open the door leading downstairs, Rock Drake appeared before them.
-■■■■■…-
While the students exhibited a range of emotions from fear to despair and intimidation, Rock Drake closed the distance and took position in front of the hill.
It then glared at the students.
Even those unfamiliar with monsters could tell from its expression that the creature was deeply dissatisfied.
After some time, the sweating, hesitant White Tiger students, seeing that their adversary wasn't moving, could no longer wait and took the initiative.
-Is it... is it warning us to go?-
-Let's move for now!-
-What about the door? The one leading downstairs??-
-Is that important right now?!-
No sooner had they spoken than Rock Drake began to advance.
Its charge was not a ferocious stomp to crush its foes, but merely walking toward the hill was enough to inspire an overwhelming sense of dread.
"It's coming this way!!"
"Buy time somehow! Even if we have to go down the other side, we need to delay!"
"Bring all the repelling potions you have! Throw them!"
"Get ready with the magic. Aim for its eyes! We have to intimidate it!"
Snap!
A water bead, launched from somewhere, struck Rock Drake's nose with precision. The previously slowly approaching Rock Drake turned its head at a speed incomparable to before.
The movement was clearly one of annoyance.
"Is this... is this okay? Wardanaz?"
"I don't know..."
"..."
Yi-Han looked at Rock Drake with a detached, cold expression. The White Tiger students beside him involuntarily recalled the conversation they had heard earlier.
-We were discussing when to attack the Rock Drake.-
-It's not like we're definitely attacking Rock Drake. It's just that, in an unavoidable situation, we might attack.-
'...Is this guy really planning to take it down now?!?!'
