Episode 1027

Lee Han spoke with a heavy sense of responsibility.

He hadn’t meant to, but he had managed to amplify the resentment of the Petrogard wizards.

Now that things had come to this, he figured he had to do something when he arrived at Petrogard.

‘I’ll just start by loudly complaining about Professor Verdus as soon as I get there.’

While making plans, Lee Han realized something odd.

“Huh? Where’s Alsicle?”

Amid the commotion among his friends, the penguin wizard was nowhere to be seen.

“No idea?”

Siana shrugged.

The villa was so large that it wouldn’t be strange for a wizard or two to be out of sight.

“Maybe he’s swimming in the bath?”

“No, that’s not it. He was cleaning out contaminated slimes in the water facilities earlier.”

Ratford waved his arm as he passed by. The water system connected to the villa was taking time to clean as well, thanks to magical waste dumped by wizards.

“Then maybe he’s in the study, snacking on sardine cans while reading.”

“Why specifically sardine cans…? No, I don’t think that’s it either. Has anything weird happened?”

Siana answered, “Because it’s cute,” and then became thoughtful.

“Oh, nothing major, but Professor Baegrek dropped by earlier.”

“…Alsicle!! Alsicle!!!!”

With his fastest movement of the day, Lee Han dashed into the villa.

Raphadael shuddered at the sight.

‘That guy… His moves have gotten even sharper!’

He was already unreasonably skilled in close combat for a wizard from a noble house, but after all he’d been through, Lee Han was now almost indistinguishable from a knight.

‘This is bad!’

After quickly checking the first floor, Lee Han ran for the stairs, full of regret.

He’d let his guard down.

He should have taken it more seriously when Alsicle whined about how scary Baegrek was…!

“Alsicle!”

“I’m here, Wardanaz!”

Hearing Alsicle’s voice from a remote room, Lee Han burst in.

Inside, the room—originally a study—stood Professor Voladi and Alsicle. Lee Han looked Alsicle up and down.

‘Doesn’t seem hurt. Then again, Professor Baegrek is someone who could beat you up without leaving a mark.’

“Why are you shouting like that?”

“What do you mean why!? If Alsicle meets Professor, his life ends that day…”

“Hey—hey! What are you talking about! When did I ever! I’m fine! Right, Voladi Baegrek?”

Flapping his wings, Alsicle urgently tried to cover Lee Han’s words.

What was this guy thinking, talking like that in Voladi Baegrek’s striking range?

Not knowing why the penguin wizard was flapping like that, Lee Han hesitated.

‘Is he really fine, or is he being forced to say he’s fine under duress?’

Like any good Einrogard student, Lee Han broadened his magical senses and cast Spirit Perception.

Just in case Professor Voladi had a magical weapon aimed at the fluffy penguin fur on Alsicle’s back.

“What is he doing?”

“Hey… Wardanaz, you…”

Naturally, he was caught.

Neither were dumb enough not to notice those spells.

Professor Voladi was simply puzzled; Alsicle, realizing Lee Han’s intent, freaked out.

“I mean it! I’m fine! Forget the stuff I said before!”

Surprisingly, Alsicle really was fine.

Professor Voladi hadn’t launched any ambushes, attacks, or torture on this visit.

-Uwaaaagh! Voladi Baegrek! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Just calm down!

-?

-…Oh, you didn’t come to punish me?

-Why did you think that?

-…Right! The world is so crazy these days, haha.

The purpose of Professor Voladi’s visit was to share information about the Void monster from beyond the dimension.

His disciple persistently denied participating, but of course Voladi was no fool.

-You didn’t believe me, did you?

-Should I?

-…Guess not. Geez. You’ve always been smart, Voladi Baegrek. That’s why you became an Einrogard professor.

-About the Void Spider, then.

-Yeah, let’s talk about that.

Alsicle, giving up on awkward flattery, got back to sharing intelligence.

-Judging by the traits, it might have escaped back outside the dimension.

-That’s possible. With its regenerative and reproductive abilities, it might’ve run away before the corrupted dimension burned out.

-It might target Wardanaz again.

-Now that you mention it, yeah. It did seem obsessed, maybe because of his mana.

-Doesn’t that worry you?

At Professor Voladi’s question, Alsicle panicked.

He half-expected, “How can you call yourself a senior wizard? Die!” as the next line.

-Save me!!!

-?

-No, just… you’re right, it should worry me… Maybe my brain’s gotten slow these days.

-Seems that way.

-……

…Anyway, no attack, ambush, or torture was involved.

Only some psychological discomfort…

“I see. That’s a relief. By the way… You didn’t get caught, right?”

“……”

Alsicle had to strain to keep a straight face at innocent Wardanaz’s questioning about his participation in the dimensional incident.

“Maybe…?”

“Hehe. Thank you!”

“So, did you solve the basement problem?”

“I’m just leaving it alone for now. Doesn’t look like an easy fix.”

Lee Han relayed what Professor Garcia had told him.

“Some Petrogard mages are trying it now, but odds aren’t good.”

“Petrogard? What are those weirdos doing here?”

“Well, it’s a long story…”

“Sum it up.”

“Sure. There’s big trouble at Petrogard Magic School because the Headmaster’s old disciple showed up. I’m going with Professor Garcia to help persuade them.”

“……”

“……”

The two wizards fell silent.

Recovering from the shock, Alsicle spoke.

“C-could you explain a bit more…?”

“Didn’t I already explain?”

‘How is that an explanation?’

Alsicle grumbled inwardly but let it go.

When your scary master was nearby (and especially in range), you didn’t tease lightly.

“Good, take care.”

“I’m coming, too.”

“!”

Alsicle was startled by Professor Voladi’s words.

Why would a wizard seemingly so unconnected to Petrogard come all of a sudden?

‘Ah. That’s it.’

Voladi Baegrek had trained under the Skull Headmaster and was, most importantly, the current master of Wardanaz.

So it made sense that he’d accompany Wardanaz on this journey to persuade the old disciple.

‘Poor guy. Forced to go through this because of his teachers.’

Alsicle looked at Wardanaz with pity.

To suffer extra for the mistakes of one’s teachers…

If Alsicle had to face the Skull Headmaster’s old disciple, he’d seriously consider running away.

As Lee Han headed for the door, Professor Voladi said,

“Let’s go.”

“?”

Alsicle looked around the room.

Was there someone else meant?

“…!!!”

Me!?

• * *

After failing to solve the basement and being chased out by the ghost, the Petrogard wizards were terribly downcast.

Professor Garcia did his best to comfort them.

“N-no one’s solved the Noenchenf problem before, you know!”

“Still, it doesn’t make the humiliation any less.”

No matter how they tried to spin it, the sting of being bested by an Einrogard underclassman didn’t fade.

“By the way. Would it be okay if the other students came along, too?”

“Eh? Uh… Sure.”

Dalser hesitated but finally agreed.

He couldn’t refuse a visit just because they’d been embarrassed by Einrogard students. That would be even more shameful.

“Can professors or other mages come, too?”

“Yes, please.”

Only after answering did Dalser wonder.

‘Aside from Professor Kim, were there any other professors planning to visit Petrogard?’

Five minutes later.

Dalser and Benjamin spotted Professor Voladi and started whispering with grave faces.

The students noticed and asked with concern.

“Professor, are you upset we’re coming along?”

After hearing the story about Petrogard, the students were surprisingly interested in visiting.

Of course, there were a few who said, “If I visit, I’ll just be angrier about ever coming to Einrogard, so I’m not going,” but most students wanted to see for themselves.

Professor Garcia shook his head.

“No, not at all. Don’t worry about it.”

“Professor Kim.”

After conferring with his colleague, Dalser asked with concern,

“Is Professor Baegrek coming for combat…?”

“No! For persuasion! To help talk sense into them!”

Professor Garcia desperately clarified.

But the mages’ suspicions didn’t fade easily.

…Was it truly not a subjugation party?

Lee Han also chimed in to defend Professor Garcia.

“Please believe us. Professor Baegrek is coming to persuade them.”

“You mean with force…?”

“He’s not the type to just use violence. …Probably… Right?”

To Lee Han’s question, Professor Voladi silently nodded.

With a mix of anxiety, distrust, worry, and resignation, the Petrogard wizards had to accept it.

“All right, then. Let’s go.”

“How far is Petrogard?”

“It’s not far from the capital now. Even at a slow pace, we’ll be there in under an hour.”

Now trying to put it all behind him, Dalser made an effort to introduce Petrogard to the Einrogard mages.

Though his pride was wounded and Professor Voladi made him nervous, treating incoming guests poorly would be a disgrace.

Salko raised his hand to ask,

“I heard that Petrogard teaches differently from Einrogard.”

“That’s right. Petrogard is very free. Our mages join and leave as they wish, learning from each other as they go. There are no formal professorial ranks.”

“What!?”

The Einrogard students were astonished. Professor Garcia explained,

“There are mages who fulfill teaching roles, but they’re just not called ‘professor.’”

“Then what do you call them?”

“Just Dalser, for example. You may call us that, too.”

“……”

The cultural shock silenced the Einrogard students.

Someone mumbled as if picturing it,

“Could you just go, ‘Hey, Gonadaltes!’ in Petrogard?”

“Shh! Keep it down.”

Listening from nearby, Lee Han grew curious and asked,

“So, you don’t grade students?”

“Not exactly. You need some standards and evaluations.”

‘Good.’

Lee Han and the other students sighed in relief.

If there was another school like Baldrogard with ultra-easy tests, nobody could have suppressed their anger.

“So, we let students do self-evaluation. Everyone gets perfect marks.”

“……”

“…Can I just go home to the villa?”

“Endure. We’ve come too far.”

The students’ intense reactions made Lee Han a little worried.

They hadn’t even met the Headmaster’s old disciple yet, and already this was happening…

‘Surely they won’t make trouble? Come on, they’re not freshmen; they wouldn’t lose it over something like that.’

“One thing I’m curious about. Do Petrogard students have free outings on days off?”

“Freedom is our creed, so naturally not just on holidays, but on regular days, too…”

“Wow! Look, that cloud looks just like a wyvern!”

Lee Han changed the topic and cut off the conversation at lightning speed.