SMMA 110

Chapter 110

Though Yoener and Ihan walked alongside the horses instead of riding, they only realized belatedly that it wasn’t as slow as they had thought.
The students who rode on horseback were actually lost ahead of them.

“Whoah! Whoa-aaah!”
Starting with a White Tiger Tower student performing tricks eagerly, jumping up and down on one horse’s back…
Clatter clatter!
“Why are you guys coming back?”
“I don’t know! I’m not controlling them! Help!!”
Even a horse running in the opposite direction.

Ihan was surprisingly impressed by how well walking while holding the reins worked.

Puff.
The white horse snorted sadly, clearly disappointed at the chaos caused by the other horses.
It wanted to buck wildly with Ihan on its back, but its whole body was too drained to do anything.

Ihan rummaged in his pocket, took out some sugar cubes, and laid one on his palm in front of the white horse.

Puff!
Though normally the white horse caused all kinds of trouble, it stopped hating Ihan when it got a treat.

Ihan cursed the horse silently.
Such a calculating beast.

Looking at Yoener beside him, it was clear they had become close.
Yoener’s brown horse followed him gently, even without treats, seeming more worried about Yoener tiring out.

“Wardanaz!”
A rough voice called out behind them.
It was Salko of the Tutanta family and his friends.

“What’s going on? Hold on. Don’t come closer.”
“?”
Ihan stopped Salko and his friends from approaching.

“You might ruin my quiz.”

“We won’t!! Wardanaz, what do you take us for?!”
Salko’s followers were incensed.
Unlike Ihan, they didn’t care about grades.
Their efforts drove their own motivation to study hard, not the rankings.

“Everyone says that. So stay away.”
“Calm down, guys.”
Salko tried to pacify his friends.
“You’re not supposed to rummage in your bags around the Golden Mine area. People envy Ihan because he’s talented. He must have many rivals even within the Blue Dragon Tower. I can understand this kind of reaction.”

“?”
Yoener was puzzled. That’s not true, though.

“I won’t come closer anymore, Wardanaz.”
“Alright, Tutanta. What’s this about?”

Before Salko could speak, one of his friends snapped angrily.

“Think about what you’ve done, Wardanaz!”

Ihan froze.
There were so many complaints that he didn’t know where to start.

He asked seriously,
“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“What did you feed that horse just now?”

“I gave it sugar cubes.”

“What?! How could you feed that to a horse! You should’ve sold it in the black market instead!”

“……”

Puff!
For once, Ihan and the white horse were united in their shock.

Salko cleared his throat awkwardly for the first time.

“No, Wardanaz…”
“Was I wrong?”
“Yeah. That can’t be the reason.”

Salko took a brown paper-wrapped parcel from a friend and handed it to Ihan. The contents looked familiar—carrots.

“The horse will like carrots just as much. Sugar’s a rare luxury, so use carrots as a substitute.”

Salko said this and turned away. Ihan called to his solidly built dwarf—no, elf—friend.

“Tutana, thanks.”
“No problem. Come by the black market sometime.”
“Sure. It’s easy enough.”
“Let’s play a game of chess when you come.”

“……”

Ihan eyed Salko suspiciously, but Salko was already walking away.

“Well… saving sugar isn’t a bad thing.”

Though their supplies were still ample, sugar was indeed scarce.
If carrots worked as a substitute, that was good.

Ihan held up a carrot and offered it to the white horse.

Puhing!
The white horse shook its head stubbornly.

Ihan seriously thought about getting another white horse.
Surely the magic school has at least one white horse…
If he fed it well and raised its size, maybe it would look similar.

“!”
Ihan and Yoener spotted the riverbank in the distance. Several students had already brought their horses into the water.

Rowena, one of the White Tiger Tower students serving the princess, looked toward Ihan and said,
“Lord Wardanaz, please be careful.”

“What’s the matter?”

Rowena didn’t answer but pointed her wooden sword at the river.

When another student stopped a horse near the river to let it drink, something astonishing happened—the water level dropped sharply.

“……”
“……”

Ihan and Yoener’s faces twisted in disbelief.
That’s just too much!

“Have you figured out a solution?”
“I tried going deeper, but the current was too fast…”

Rowena hesitated.
The river was no joke.
Even water up to the waist could cause drowning if balance was lost, and faster currents increased danger.
This river looked deep enough to reach the chest.
Not knowing how far they needed to go, everyone was understandably cautious.

As Ihan approached, the princess hurried over. Rowena spoke on her behalf.
“The princess is glad to see you, Lord Wardanaz.”

“I just walked here…”

The princess stared intently at the brown package Ihan carried.

Does he want the horse to eat those carrots?

Ihan pulled out a carrot and offered it.

The princess bit into it, wrinkled her nose, and looked at Ihan with betrayed eyes.

Ihan and Yoener were bewildered at the reaction.
I gave it for the horse to eat…

“Shh.”
Rowena asked, puzzled,
“Where did these come from?”

“…A friend from Black Turtle Tower saw that they were fresh and told me to give them to the horse.”

“Sorry, but judging by the princess’s face, they look under-ripe.”

“That’s right. It seems like the farmer is a bit inexperienced. But since it’s a sincere gift, please don’t criticize too harshly.”

“Yes. We wouldn’t be so rude as to complain about a gift.”

Ihan shamelessly feigned innocence and quickly changed the subject.

“Let me try raising water from the river with water control magic.”

He swung his staff and conjured a giant wave above the river. Rowena was involuntarily impressed—so fast and easy!

The water neared the horse’s mouth, but just before its tongue touched it, the water evaporated.

“……”

Ihan was speechless.
This is really harsh.

Whoever Lightningstep Professor was, he must have cast some spell on the river—horses had to be brought into the water to drink.

Then…

Ihan took out a long, sturdy rope from his bag.

The other students watching were shocked.
Why is that coming out now?

They were amazed he carried it regularly. Ihan himself was puzzled.

What on earth…

“Let’s tie ourselves and our horses together.”

“!”

By tethering themselves with the horses, they’d better withstand the strong currents.

The students at the river nodded. This was worth trying.

“Good idea, Wardanaz.”
“Let’s do it together.”

Students linked themselves with rope and advanced with their horses.

“Careful… steady!”
“Got it! We did it!”

Cheers broke out among those who had gone deep into the river.

When the horses began to drink, the water level fell but not enough to prevent drinking.

Finally, the lead horse started gulping water.

Thank heavens.

Ihan exhaled in relief. This was an easy resolution.

Just let it end like this!

Puff.

The white horse grumbled, reluctant to proceed.

“Drink and I’ll give you another sugar cube.”

Whinny…

At Ihan’s words, the horse stopped complaining and lowered its head.

Students took turns standing at the front; now it was Ihan’s turn.

As the white horse drank, Ihan suddenly shivered as if hair stood on end.

He recalled the unsettling sensation from Volady’s harrowing class—blindfolded, tracking elemental movements.

Swiftly, he turned his head. A sudden surge of fierce water rushed downstream.

“Lightningstep!”

His friends didn’t understand why he shouted the professor’s name—nor that it was definitely a curse.

“Everyone, get out of the way! Shield, form up!”

Ihan shouted to the students behind him to dodge, then swung his staff to conjure an enormous water shield—large and thick as possible—drawing all available river water nearby.

The water level dipped rapidly, letting those behind escape.

But Ihan, deeper inside, was too late to move out.

The rushing water struck the shield head-on, splashing sideways and spraying water everywhere. The river rose once again.

But it was enough.

I can handle it!

Ihan had never intended to block the entire river flow with his shield—just to buy a moment.

As long as water didn’t reach him, he could escape.

But then…

Puff!

The white horse stumbled and fell.

Unlike the prepared Ihan who had detected it early, the horse was caught off guard and knocked down by the wave, flailing.

Students screamed. Yoener, who had already escaped, tried to re-enter, but others held him back.

“Pull the rope!”

Before Rowena finished, the rope snapped—water rushing wildly around Ihan cut it clean off.

All other methods were gone. Rowena shouted desperately,

“Lord Wardanaz! Even if alone, get out!”

“……”

The white horse suddenly leapt into the air.

It wasn’t that Ihan had discovered new magic and levitated the horse—he picked it up and stood.

The water shield precariously surrounded them.

Everyone was speechless—even the white horse seemed bewildered.

Horse whinnied loudly, as if scolding Ihan.

“…If you’re going to keep this up, I’ll bury you upside down at the riverbed.”

Ihan warned in a low, menacing voice.

Though his posture seemed solemn and grand, every inch of his body was screaming in agony.

One part of his mind maintained the water shield, while the rest rapidly released mana from his entire body.

Ingerdel had told him not to do this, but there was no other way.

Each step wasted magic from his entire body, enough to frighten even the horse.

No matter how he looked at it, Ihan seemed likely to collapse from exhaustion first.

Yet he neither fell nor sank in the water. Hoisting the white horse to the shallow riverbank, he put it down and shouted angrily, filled with resentment and frustration.

“Lightningstep!!”

“???”

Students again were confused; they couldn’t understand why Ihan yelled the professor’s name—let alone the insult behind it.

Puff…

The white horse hurriedly stood and ran to Ihan, concerned for his state.

But Ihan was not fooled.

“No matter how sweet you act, I’m not taking off that bracelet and belt.”

……