A professional thief’s determination to steal was on a whole new level as compared to others.
Under the watchful eyes of the principal and the professors, Ratford had picked the locks and stolen the items within the chests.
An assortment of different-colored liquids were contained within the flasks, and Yi-han could feel various types of mana emanating from them.
“By the way…what are these?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know, sir.”
“…I-I see.”
Ratford was a professional thief, not a master alchemist. He had taken whatever seemed valuable without stopping to consider what they were.
‘I have no idea what they are, either.’
Though Yi-han had flipped through several books to study various topics while he was at the Wardanaz estate, he wasn’t knowledgeable enough in alchemy to identify what these liquids were.
“Yonaire, do you know what this is?”
“This…”
Yonaire took one of the flasks and studied it with a serious expression.
“Isn’t this alcohol?”
“…You’re kidding.”
“I think it’s wine.”
Yonaire unscrewed the cork and carefully took a whiff. Then, she nodded to herself.
“Yup, it’s wine.”
“….”
“But I think the rest are potions. As for their exact usage, I’d have to dig through the books in the library…”
“Whew. At least there’s that.”
Ratford wasn’t particularly surprised to witness a member of the Maykin Family and a member of the Wardanaz Family discuss stolen goods.
He knew not to interfere in matters that concerned the higher-ups.
‘He isn’t averse to the idea of using stolen potions. What an open-minded individual.’
“Thanks, Ratford. I’ll use them well.”
“The honor is mine. Please don’t hesitate to call me if my service is required.”
“Again, there’s no need to be so polite…Oh, wanna tend the horses together?”
Since Ratford was here early in the morning, it was a good chance for him to get closer to the horses.
Ratford bowed his head upon hearing this suggestion.
“It would be my honor to accompany you.”
“Stop with the honor nonsense.”
“The glory-”
“Stop.”
“Understood.”
Flop-
“?”
They heard something being dropped from behind.
When they looked back, they saw Nilia frozen in her spot, shock apparent on her face.
“…Y-you have…a new friend…”
She took several steps back, appearing distraught at the betrayal.
Yi-han and Yonaire quickly ran over to her.
***
“Oh, is that what happened? You should’ve told me earlier. Were you afraid I’d misunderstand or something?”
“……”
“……”
Yi-han and Yonaire exchanged meaningful glances.
‘She was about to jump to conclusions just now, wasn’t she?’
‘Definitely.’
They had fortunately dispelled Nilia’s misunderstanding. She had thought they were replacing her with Ratford, who was also a student of the Black Tortoise.
Ratford put on a serious face and said, “I’m not their friend. Rather, I’m their ser…eurrrp.”
“Shoot, my hands slipped.”
Yi-han used the brush for horse grooming to block Ratford’s mouth.
“Now, let’s all take care of the horses together.”
There were a couple of other students present at the stables, hoping to get close to the horses.
Though Professor Bungaegor had told the students to become friends with them, not many were diligent enough to wake up in the morning just to tend to some animals.
And it wasn’t like the horses were kind to the diligent ones.
“Agh! Stop spitting on me!”
“Listen, will you? What’s your problem? What is it that you want!?”
The horses spat at them, headbutted them, and tried to chomp on their hands.
Yi-han was indifferent to all this.
‘Lab animals are never the most cooperative.’
Sure, the horses were aggressive, but they were far from being the worst to work with. At the very least, they didn’t run away or throw dung at their caretakers.
“Here, let me brush your hair.”
– Puheung!
The white horse that Professor Bungaegor had entrusted Yi-han with glared at the boy in front of it.
It was painfully clear to everyone watching that it would strike the moment Yi-han approached it.
However, Yi-han didn’t seem to mind this at all.
Whoosh!
The white horse immediately charged at him. Yi-han had predicted this and jumped back to avoid the attack.
The horse was stunned; it didn’t think Yi-han would dodge its charge.
Twe!
This time, it spat, but Yi-han ducked, having seen this coming from a mile away.
“Good boy. Good boy.”
Chomp!
The horse tried to take a bite out of Yi-han, but the human sidestepped and quickly shortened the distance between them.
Even so, the horse wasn’t about to give up.
Its legs were tied up, so it couldn’t kick, but it tried to mess with the boy in a variety of ways.
Yi-han stood his ground, weaving through the attacks and blocking those he couldn’t.
Nilia, who was watching this from behind, was beyond impressed.
‘How’s he holding himself back?’
If it were her, she would’ve cussed the horse to oblivion or brought out the whip by now.
Yi-han, on the other hand, didn’t express any anger and continued to soothe the horse, calling” it a “good boy”.
‘Is this the dignity of nobles??’
***
-Puleuleu…
The white horse eventually got tired and lowered its head after causing a ruckus for a while.
It was only then that Yi-han began grooming it.
Even as it was getting brushed, the white horse glared at Yi-han, revealing its intention to strike once more after recovering its strength.
‘And you’re telling me it doesn’t have any monster blood running in its veins?’
Yi-han wasn’t convinced, seeing how tenacious the horse was.
The rest of the horses didn’t appear as nasty as this one…
Rattle!
“F-finally.”
Yonaire appeared covered in dirt after a lengthy period of struggling with her horse. Despite how she looked, there was a bright smile on her face.
Nilia and Ratford had also undergone a similar trial.
“It’s started to listen to me now.”
“I’ve also gotten a bit closer to my horse.”
Yi-han turned toward the white horse and stared at it intently.
Unfortunately, the creature didn’t budge and simply faced a different direction.
If it were any other student, they would’ve either been driven mad by its rebellious attitude or given up on taming it…
However, Yi-han’s heart was as tranquil as a pond.
‘It’s gonna have to give in one of these days.’
No matter what the horse did, it was still better than the nonsense that his professors cooked up.
Yi-han had let go of his emotions and was doing what he had to do.
After he was finished grooming the white horse, he gave it some food.
While maintaining eye contact, the horse gobbled down the feed, its eyes delivering a clear message of ‘don’t think this is over’.
“I’m thinking of bringing my horse on a walk,” said Yonaire, dusting herself off.
Walks were a must when it came to taking care of horses.
Not only did they keep the horses healthy, they helped form bonds with the students.
Even a sensitive beast would warm up to someone that was constantly around it.
‘Hmm.’
Yi-han had doubts about whether the white horse would follow him out on a walk without making a fuss.
It was already targeting him in that narrow space. Once it was out of the stables, wouldn’t it have more space to attack?
“Hmm…”
Yi-han first took a look at the bracelet and the belt that he was wearing, and then at the white horse.
For some reason, the horse felt a sense of dread when its eyes met with Yi-han’s.
***
“I’m here!”
“…..”
Uregor opened the door, keeping his facial expression in check.
From outside, Bungaegor stepped into the hut holding a tin cup.
“Brew some tea for me!”
“You don’t even like the tea that I brew…”
“It’s fine, I’ll bear with it!”
“……”
Sorrow evident on his face, Uregor boiled the water.
What a tragedy that Yi-han wasn’t present today.
“The freshmen seem to be working hard at the stables,” said Bungaegor, chugging down the hot tea that had been served to her.
Diligence was a trait that was important for both alchemists and trainers.
There was a reason why she gathered horses with nasty personalities and told the students to get familiar with them.
It was to train their diligence.
A lot went into becoming friends with an unfamiliar animal, with diligence being the most crucial.
Without being diligent, it was impossible to become close to animals.
“I’ve purposely made the horses extremely sensitive, but they’ll open up if you cherish them and approach them with sincerity. On the other hand, it would be a painful experience for those that try to whip the horses into submission.”
When given this assignment, students generally showed one of two responses.
Some students would wake up early in the morning to familiarize themselves with the horses. Others would conduct themselves as arrogantly as before, spurring on the horses and whipping them until they behaved.
What they didn’t know was that the horses prepared by Bungaegor weren’t the type to submit to violence. Hence, those that weren’t diligent would be in for a bitter experience.
“Kuhahahaha!”
“…..”
Uregor shook his head seeing his aunt howl in laughter while putting down her cup.
‘She enjoys torturing students way too much.’
Uregor and Bungaegor were two peas in a pod, at least in Yi-han’s mind, but Uregor wasn’t aware of this.
‘I’m different from her!’ was his official stance.
“Is Wardanaz doing well?”
“Ah, him. He’s a diligent one, so he should be fine. Granted, griffons are a bit more difficult to handle, but with a mix of diligence, cleverness, and luck, he should have no problem getting close to one.”
“?”
Uregor raised his head just as he was about to pour in more tea.
Something wasn’t right.
“Did you say ‘griffons’ just now?”
“Huh?”
“A moment ago…you mentioned griffons.”
“You must be hallucinating. I said horses.”
“……”
Uregor stared at his aunt, a mix of shock and terror in his eyes.
‘Did she really transform a griffon into a horse…?’
“You didn’t, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“…..”
‘No, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Griffon could be the name of that horse.’
Uregor returned to his senses.
Griffons. They were aerial monsters with the head and wings of an eagle and the paws and claws of a lion.
Not only were they extremely picky and prideful, they had violent personality and were very particular about who could be their master.
Their character and habits varied depending on where they came from, but one thing was for certain:
They weren’t creatures that a freshman could handle!!
“What’s the name of that horse?”
“Gri…Fongri.”
“…Have you finally gone mad!?!?!”
Uregor finally exploded.
His disciple had to take a rest just the other day to recover from an injury, and yet his aunt was forcing him to do something crazy.
“What’s your problem!? You wanna have a go? Is that it?”
“You frickin’ transformed a griffon into a horse!”
“Where’s your evidence, huh? You got proof? And let’s say I did. It’s now a horse, so it should be safe!”
“You think griffons are as dumb as slimes!?”
It was pandemonium inside the hut, with cups shattering, chairs flying, and furniture getting destroyed.
However, for the dwarves, it was a typical family quarrel.
***
-Puleuleuleuleuleuleung…
“Take that.”
Yi-han felt smug looking at the white horse in front of him.
Its b*tchy attitude from before was nowhere to be seen, and it had become much more well-behaved.
This was Yi-han’s handiwork. He had taken off his mana-absorbing bracelet and belt, placing them all on the horse instead.
“As expected. It’s become obedient now that I’ve sealed its mana.”
All living things were born with a certain amount of mana within them, and once they were drained of their mana, they would feel fatigued.
Equipped with all the items that were originally on Yi-han, the white horse was so worn out that it didn’t have the energy to resist anymore.
“Right. Let’s ”
-Puleuleung…
The white horse resigned itself to its fate and allowed Yi-han to lead it by the reins.
Yi-han arrived at a sudden thought seeing the horse behave this way.
‘It can still walk with the bracelet and belt equipped. Does the horse have high mana regen?’
Either that, or the equipment didn’t absorb as much mana as he initially thought.
‘Even if it had some monster blood running in its veins, a horse shouldn’t have that much mana. I guess the bracelet and belt aren’t as powerful as I imagined.’
He began walking alongside the horse, locked in his thoughts.
Several students around him were crying and begging for mercy after trying to forcefully mount their horses.
– Let me off!! Please! I was wrong!
‘How can I make them absorb more mana?’
Yi-han continued on his way, already used to seeing such scenes in the academy.
