Episode 1085

“…Let’s just report in.”

Giving up, Direte changed the topic.

Now that things were resolved, it was time to deliver the good news to the mansion’s owner, Bulsaerek.

Once the servant ran to announce the news, Bulsaerek himself came dashing out.

“Is it true?! The demon has been dealt with?!”

“Yes. There’s nothing to worry about anymore.”

“Thank you so ve—”

Bang!

Bulsaerek, about to forget his manners in joy and thank them, was startled by the sudden, loud opening of the mansion’s door.

‘Did we miss a demon?!’

But it wasn’t a demon entering. Panting, it was Yukveltire.

“……”

“……”

Direte and Stedal Nago avoided her gaze. Yukveltire’s fingertips trembled.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

Koholti, not understanding the situation, asked puzzledly.

Why did only Yukveltire come separately?

“Why is this magician here by herself?”

“Looks like she got lost. Just ignore it.”

At Direte’s words, Yukveltire’s hands trembled even more. Stedal Nago joined in.

“The capital is crowded, so it’s easy to get lost.”

“Ah… I should have given her a guide. I’m sorry.”

The Black Magic School students mumbled about the unexpected exchange.

“Yukveltire senior got lost?”

“First I’ve heard of that.”

Taking advantage of their friend’s momentary paralysis from rage, Direte acted quickly.

If she didn’t split the reward now, she could just imagine how annoying it would be later.

“Thank you for the reward. Here—I’ll split it up now.”

“Huh? You can put it all in the school treasury. You basically did everything, senior.”

“What are you talking about, Dirimpa. Besides, how will you survive in the capital with no money?”

“It’s not like I need to spend money. If you just study magic in your room…”

“……”

“……”

Koholti and the others looked at Dirimpa with sympathy.

Unlike Dirimpa, the others clearly needed coins.

“…Enough, everyone just take your share.”

“Th-thank you!”

“No need to thank me. Here.”

Bulsaerek watched the magicians’ conversation with satisfaction.

Though it was his own mistake that caused everything, seeing the Einrogard magicians splitting the reward so amicably made him proud.

“I was worried because of the rumors about black magicians… but Einrogard’s black magicians are so polite and diligent!”

“…W-what are they doing over there?”

Hearing a voice from behind, Bulsaerek turned.

His distant relative, and young family prodigy, Raphadael, was staring in shock at the people in the mansion.

“Ah, Raphadael! You’re here! It’s nothing—everything’s fine now.”

“No… but… why… why are they…?”

Raphadael stammered.

The truth was, Raphadael’s affiliation with the Black Magic School wasn’t really known in the family.

Only close relatives knew, and since Raphadael had never made it public, other relatives didn’t know what school he belonged to.

“Right. Since you’re from Einrogard too, you might have met these folks, even if you’re in a different department—since you go to the same school!”

‘…He didn’t mention it.’

‘Didn’t say he was one of us, huh.’

The seniors of the Black Magic School looked at their junior with understanding.

If you came from a status-conscious family, it could be a little embarrassing to admit to the Black Magic School. The seniors understood this mindset well.

“Let’s help him. He’s our junior, after all.”

“We should agree on what to say. By the way, what kind of department did he claim?”

While the seniors were whispering, Bulsaerek suddenly remembered something.

“Now that I think of it, Raphadael. Which school did you say you were in?”

“Uh…”

Raphadael blinked at the awkward question.

He hadn’t expected this and his mind went blank.

Should he hide that he was in the Black Magic School? Would the seniors be upset? What if he revealed it? And why was that Wardanaz guy here acting under a fake identity?

Unable to stand it any longer, Koholti spoke up.

“He’s in the Enchanter School.”

…The problem was, Koholti wasn’t the only one who spoke.

“The Divination School, right.”

“The Transformation School…”

The other seniors all suggested what they thought were plausible department names to help their junior.

This produced an abrupt and deeply awkward silence.

“……”

“……”

“A-are you saying you can attend that many schools at once, Raphadael? What if you go mad?!”

‘That’s a bit harsh…’

Lee Han bristled a little inside.

Raphadael looked at the seniors. Then looked at his disguised friend.

Determination flickered in Raphadael’s eyes.

“…I’m actually in the Black Magic School!”

“What? All of those schools, you’re juggling?!”

“N-no… Just Black Magic School…”

• * *

Fortunately, Bulsaerek did not feel any shame learning the family prodigy was studying in the Black Magic School.

Instead, he was shocked and determined to treat him properly as a direct senior.

“Wow, what a great guy.”

“Yeah. Gral.”

“……”

Raphadael lowered his head, embarrassed. Lee Han tried to comfort him.

“Raise your head, Raphadael. You’ve got a good relative.”

“Why are you even dressed like that…”

“It’s a long story.”

“……”

Koholti asked in disbelief.

“We tried to make you look better by saying you were from a good department, so why confess to being Black Magic School?”

“Yeah, why Enchanter? If you’d said Divination, Gral would have accepted it!”

“Transformation would’ve worked, too…”

“Enchanter’s better. Look at the income.”

“But then you get stuck with ‘associated with Professor Verdus.’”

When the seniors began bickering over useless details, Raphadael interrupted urgently.

“But I didn’t want to hide the things I’d worked so hard to learn all this time.”

“…!”

“You…”

The seniors looked at him with a tinge of pride.

He’d come in ranting about how he was just here to tear down the Black Magic school, and now he was showing real pride.

Koholti, unable to understand, wondered inwardly,

‘Why do we all get along in this department when we have no money?’

Stedal Nago, feeling deeply moved, put his hand on Raphadael’s shoulder.

“Excellent, magician.”

“…Please stop…”

Raphadael, sounding extremely annoyed, brushed his hand away and asked,

“More importantly, why are you all here?”

“There was a demon summoned to the mansion. We came to deal with it. Caught it, right here.”

“?!”

Raphadael was horrified by the answer.

But that surprise was just beginning.

“But the demon brought an angel along, so we had to negotiate—Senior Yukveltire helped, too…”

“?!!!”

“Nago helped as well.”

“Mhm.”

“……”

Raphadael stared, mouth agape, at his disguised classmate.

What on earth is this guy doing with his life?

“You negotiated with an ANGEL?!”

“Oh right. Now that I think about it, the Gral family has angelic blood, doesn’t it?”

Lee Han belatedly remembered his friend’s lineage.

Something about mixing angelic blood a few generations back?

“Nago, you really know everything, don’t you!”

Koholti fawned, rubbing his palms together. Raphadael looked back and forth at both sides, bewildered.

Just what is going on?

‘Wardanaz…! What are you even doing…?!’

But there was no change in the expression of Lee Han—no, Stedal Nago. The cold look made Raphadael shudder.

Is this the kind of composure you need to be first in the year?!

“Do you have any advice about angels?”

“Advice… um…”

Raphadael valiantly suppressed the urge to shout ‘Drop the disguise already, man!’ and thought hard.

Were there any family stories about angels?

“…Generally, Celestials are pretty single-minded.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“It’s rare you’ll even have reason to talk, but very occasionally there are contracts. That’s the case with my ancestor…”

Contracts with spirits, angels, or demons left bigger or smaller traces on the soul.

Depending on the depth of the trace, certain characteristics might surface in the descendants.

“In that sense, first impressions are most important.”

“First impressions?”

“As I said, Celestials are stubborn. If you want to contract with them, you have to persuade them on your very first meeting. Otherwise, it’ll be tough…”

“…What about the opposite?”

Raphadael hesitated at Stedal Nago’s question.

He didn’t get what that meant.

“The opposite?”

“I mean, what if you DON’T want to contract?”

“You’d have to prove right off the bat that your goals don’t align with the angel’s…”

“What if you failed at that—what then the next time you meet?”

“…If you failed, isn’t it just over at that point? Wouldn’t the angel keep chasing you until you contract?”

“……”

Not getting the answer he wanted, Lee Han turned dead serious.

‘This guy knows nothing.’

Apparently Raphadael got his drift. He protested in a wronged tone.

“But it’s practically impossible to contract with the same spirit again if you fail once—why do you think angels would be any different…”

“Hey! Raphadael! That’s out of line!”

Koholti pretended to scold him, while Raphadael nearly lost it.

Are these graduates for real?!

Unable to take any more, Direte broke in.

“All right, enough, everyone. By the way, why did you come here anyway?”

“Oh. I came to get things ready for the new term. Someone said they’d give me some unused magic items…”

“Get ready? How are you going to bring those in?”

The seniors were confused.

Unless you were a fifth-year, you couldn’t confidently talk about bringing things in at the start of term.

You could get caught smuggling anytime.

“Wardanaz said he’d carry them in for me.”

At Raphadael’s words, the seniors grew very quiet.

And thought—

‘Second-years really suck!’

Even if you liked your juniors, seeing them live so happily thanks to a single friend made strange jealousy bubble up.

Why didn’t we have friends like that?!

• * *

As the end of vacation approached, the second-year students slowly prepared their luggage.

No matter how many times it happened, it never felt like enough—there were always things you wished you’d brought to Einrogard. There was always the feeling, “Ah, I should have brought that!”

“??”

Eandurde and Alhidle couldn’t understand the seniors’ actions.

Surely outside goods were forbidden—so why were the seniors preparing so calmly?

“Excuse me, I have a question.”

Spotting Gainando, Alhidle spoke up.

Gainando shot a wary look—afraid that this smart first-year might ask a tough question about magic.

“Wh-what is it? I’m busy, you know.”

“Sorry. I’ll keep it simple. How are the seniors planning to bring these items in?”

“Huh? Oh. Lee Han’s bringing them. There’s some new smuggling method? I heard there’s plenty of space.”

“A-amazing… Is it just because you’re in the same tower and he’s being generous?”

“Nah. He does it for students from other towers too.”

“…A-amazing. Truly… Is it just this once? Does he charge a high fee?”

Alhidle, desperate to preserve their worldview, kept probing.

But Gainando, totally unaware of his junior’s mental struggle, answered honestly.

“He did it last time too? He just smuggles for free. Cooking—he charges for that, but smuggling is just…”

“……”

“……”

Gainando didn’t notice that the looks in his juniors’ eyes had shifted to envy and resentment.