Episode 1141

Episode 1141

“Why are you doing this?”

-Isn’t that an incredibly blatant lie?

The baby Basilisk whispered.

Even though Joulin had become much more perceptive these days, such a half-hearted lie was just…

“You really don’t know anything yet.”

-?

“When there’s no evidence, even a blatant lie like this isn’t so bad.”

-……

The baby Basilisk thought, ‘Why is my master proud of such things?’ but quietly wriggled its tail.

If it spoke out, it felt like it would be kicked out of the sleeve with, ‘Then go to Joulin!’

Especially since Master’s personality had gotten rougher these days…

“It sounds like a lie…”

Joulin muttered quietly.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, nothing at all.”

Unfortunately, this young dragon couldn’t even bring up the idea that it strongly suspected its contractor.

If other senior dragons, who had made contracts with their contractors, had seen this, they would have lamented, ‘No matter how much you care for your contractor, you still need to have doubts.’

Lee Han, having achieved his goal, hid his triumphant smile and changed the subject.

If he kept talking about this, even Joulin would eventually get suspicious.

In the future, every time he went out on a request, since Lee Han was going to beat up–no, first track down the evil god worshipers, he absolutely couldn’t tell Joulin.

It would probably be one or the other, but both were unacceptable choices.

-Joulin will go with you, too!

-It’s too dangerous, absolutely not!

‘Hmm. I’m curious how you’ll react.’

“So, what were you doing?”

“Ah… Uman… Uman is making Joulin do work!”

Joulin grumbled indignantly, tattling.

He wanted his contractor to scold his mischievous younger sibling harshly.

Not only did he till the forest, but he was also made to check the oasis in the desert, inspect the mountain range’s rock condition, repair the castle walls and main buildings—there was hardly any time to rest with all those chores!

“Magnificent!”

Lee Han exclaimed in admiration at the things Joulin had done.

He never imagined that, while he was out running errand jobs, Joulin was doing such admirable work.

“…Huh?”

“Wow. Your Highness. That’s really amazing!”

“Magnificent. I’m touched.”

Not only the contractor, but even the priests genuinely admired him, shocking Joulin even more.

Huh, what?

“What’s going on with everyone?”

“The truth is, your Highness…”

Professor Garcia and Professor Kirmin, who arrived late, also heard the story and were shocked.

To think Joulin had been handling such troublesome work himself.

“Your Highness. You really did well!”

“I’m impressed!”

“…Hehe. Something like this isn’t even difficult for Joulin.”

Intoxicated by the praise, Joulin switched his attitude instantly.

He truly was learning a lot from the Einrogard students.

“I just came out after purifying the forest, so I’ll go back and finish the work!”

“Your Highness, why don’t you rest for a bit before continuing?”

Lee Han tried to stop Joulin, thinking he was overworking.

Although it seemed like he enjoyed maintaining and managing Einrogard as if he were tending a garden, it’s never good to overdo a task all at once.

However, Joulin, filled with pride, immediately turned back into a gold dragon and roared boldly.

Joulin would protect Einrogard for the sake of the students!

“I’ll make you snacks with the hidden supplies… Oh. He’s gone.”

Lee Han felt a tinge of loneliness seeing Joulin quickly disappear into the distance.

He knew Joulin was growing, but to see him fly away, not even wanting snacks anymore.

-I’ll eat it for you!

“…Thank you.”

Lee Han looked at the Basilisk in his sleeve with a warm gaze.

At least, he thought, this one won’t make him feel the loneliness of growth for a while.

“We can eat it for you, too.”

“Will you be okay with the punishment room?”

Lee Han wondered.

He himself was confident he wouldn’t get caught even if checked, but his priest friends…

However, Siana nodded confidently. Seeing that, Lee Han thought maybe his friend had a way.

‘Impressive.’

“We’ll just make a quick trip and come right back.”

“……”

Lee Han looked at Nigisor and Tijilling with an incredulous face. The two priests averted their eyes.

---

-Professor Verdus. You’re free to go.

“Hmm.”

-But why are you walking out on all fours…?

The Death Knight asked as he saw Professor Verdus crawling, not walking, out of the punishment room.

Professor Verdus replied with an annoyed tone.

“I lost a bet!”

-I know. I just asked because it’s always fun to hear it again.

In truth, Professor Verdus wasn’t originally dragged off to the punishment room.

No matter what advice Lee Han gave, Uman was a fundamentally gentle dragon and was not ruthless enough to just throw an Einrogard professor into the punishment room.

So, Uman put Professor Verdus in a small room for starters.

He left Garcia’s work (which Verdus was supposed to do originally) to him and made an offer.

-Professor Verdus. If you faithfully finish this work, I will absolutely release you. There will be no other punishment. Do you accept?

-All right! I’ll work hard!

-I see. Thank you for understanding. There have been many bad rumors about you, Professor Verdus, but Uman believes in you. People can always change.

-Right. Right. Don’t believe the rumors.

-Thank you. Then I will trust and leave it to you.

Five minutes after Uman left the small room.

Professor Verdus tried to escape, was caught by the Death Knights, and was dragged away.

-……

-It was just so boring, I couldn’t help it.

-How can you say something like that so calmly… The work you’ve been given is not for fun, it’s a responsibility. Professor Verdus!

-Got it. I’ll definitely do it.

-I really am trusting you this time.

And three minutes later.

Professor Verdus tried to escape again, was immediately caught, and the knights dragged him away, beaming.

Uman was shocked.

What kind of wizard is this?!

-Professor Verdus, shouldn’t you spend this time working instead?!

-I told you, I will…

-I don’t believe you!

-No, trust me. This time, really, I will!

-……

Uman pretended to leave the room but secretly hid around the corridor corner.

And immediately, Professor Verdus tried to turn the solitary room’s door to liquid and escape.

Uman had vowed that he would never become like the skeletal headmaster.

But Uman finally yelled in anger.

-Take all his belongings and lock him up in the punishment room!!!

The knights, smirking, took Professor Verdus to the punishment room.

Everyone had more or less expected this would happen.

Under surveillance far stricter and more daunting than in the small room, Professor Verdus finally understood that doing the work was more efficient than escaping.

From Garcia’s work (which was originally Verdus’s responsibility) to other miscellaneous tasks.

Of course, it wasn’t that he never tried escaping. Whenever the work became unbearably boring, Professor Verdus would slyly try to negotiate.

-If you help me escape, I’ll make you an item that dodges Gonadaltes’ pursuit… ack! Aaagh! Why hit me!

-Haha. When else will we ever get to take revenge on the professor like this?

-Damn it. Let me hit you, too! Why should you have all the fun!

-Should’ve picked a better lot.

Of course, it didn’t work very well.

Few had more grudges against Professor Verdus than the Death Knights.

And now.

Professor Verdus had finished his primary assigned tasks and was released. Having done only other people’s work and not his own for a while, his face looked very disgruntled.

“I did nothing but boring work, and now my soul feels frozen…”

-But professor. Handling the Enchantment Magic School’s accounting and ledgers is your actual job, after all.

“Professor Garcia is also a professor, isn’t he?”

-……

-Hold yourself back. Hold yourself back.

A knight about to kick him in anger was stopped by his colleagues.

If the escape attempt had happened inside the punishment room, maybe, but outside, he had to hold back.

Though he did really want to hit him…

-Prepare for your lectures. If you slack off in your next class, you’ll be dragged away again.

“It was great in the punishment room, not having to lecture.”

Professor Verdus muttered as he pulled out a bundle of papers from his arms.

His own artifact could remember the volume and weight of even a tiny miniature screw, but when it came to students’ lectures, if he didn’t look at his bundle of notes it wouldn’t come back to him easily.

“-Magical Architecture and Its Materials-… What was this class about again?”

-…It’s a magic architecture course, taken by students who join the stonemason club or are interested in architecture.

One of the main fields for Imperial magicians was this very architecture.

Since magic deeply affected all aspects of life, drawing magic into the buildings was natural.

And magical architecture didn’t use only a single school of magic. All sorts of magic from different schools were used.

Alchemy and transmutation for materials, divination for durability and earthquake-resistance…

…But it was the Enchantment Magic School that connected all these things within the architecture itself.

In that sense, it made perfect sense for Professor Verdus, a professor of Enchantment Magic, to teach this course.

But Professor Verdus freaked out and shouted. He even jumped up on all fours.

“This is Professor Knighten’s class, isn’t it?!”

Professor Alpen Knighten, a former Imperial bureaucrat and senior administrator, was not only in charge of several arithmetic-related classes but also taught architecture courses to students.

It was natural, in a way.

Magical architecture couldn’t be done just by a magician’s magic alone.

You had to talk with the visiting stonemason or carpentry guild members to understand their needs, and also be able to negotiate with the local aristocrats or officials.

If a new magical building sucked up all the area’s mana and ruined the existing buildings, those disputes could take decades to resolve.

So, it wasn’t surprising that Professor Alpen, who was not only a skilled magician himself but also had connections with various stonemason and carpentry guilds and even bureaucrats, was leading the class.

-Yes. While you were in the punishment room, Professor Knighten petitioned His Highness the Inspector.

Of course, Professor Alpen himself wasn’t too pleased with the situation.

Though there were more skilled experts like Professor Verdus, he didn’t want to teach, so the task fell to him.

The skeletal headmaster had begged, ‘I just can’t entrust this to that guy,’ so it passed on, but it wasn’t out of agreement.

So when Uman said to Professor Alpen, ‘If you have complaints about Professor Verdus, please let me know,’ it was only natural that this class came up immediately.

“So sneaky! I never thought he was this sneaky!”

Professor Verdus grumbled, venting his anger.

That anger was also directed at himself.

Had he acted before other professors and petitioned the Inspector, he could have grabbed all the classes for himself!

‘Where does he get the confidence that they’ll listen to him?’

‘Just leave him alone.’

-Professor Verdus. I advise you, please try not to be rude to visitors from outside.

The knights, surrounding the professor so he wouldn’t run off (him walking on all fours looked rather odd), gave him advice.

This magical architecture class, by nature, had outside guests, but everyone knew that Professor Verdus had a knack for making outsiders furious.

“Got it. No need to worry.”

-……

-Hold yourself back. Hold yourself back.

The knights, arriving at the classroom, sighed as they opened the door.

Honestly, they were 100% sure Professor Verdus was going to cause trouble again.

“If it were me, I’d try using -Bible’s Flight Enchantment- and -Jarun’s Inelastic Rubber-. It’s a spell like this…”

“Oh! That’s a great method. Wow. Even though Professor Verdus isn’t here, the atmosphere is so good—I wonder if it wouldn’t be better if he never turned up again!”

“Haha! What a joke!”

“Hahaha! It’s not a joke!”

-……

-……

The knights looked at the cheerful atmosphere inside the classroom and were taken aback.

The visiting stonemason guild members were laughing happily.

Lee Han was helping Yukveltire student as an assistant for the class, and everyone, including the students, looked happy.

“Looks like everything is running well without me, can’t you let me go?”

-…No. Get in there!

The knights, feeling a bit sorry toward the students and guests, firmly pushed Professor Verdus into the classroom.