Episode 1062

But that wasn’t my fault.

Even after remembering, the Skeleton Headmaster was very confident.

If he had a prior engagement and wanted to use Wardanaz as a magic slave during the vacation, he should have just brought him along by merit in the first place.

He himself had done such a thing under Professor Verdus, so complaining now that it was done to him was hardly reasonable.

“Magic slave?”

It’s a metaphor.

“……”

This time, even Lee Han glared at the Skeleton Headmaster.

After all that, he’d replenished Einrogard’s empty coffers for him?

“No, Headmaster. Did you take Yukveltire out even though she had a prior engagement?”

As Professor Garcia spoke in disbelief, the fifth-year Senior’s eyes sparkled with hope.

Thankfully, there was one wizard here with a proper sense of right and wrong.

Still, Professor Garcia, if I dare defend myself, Yukveltire is no different. Last year, she tried to kidnap a professor, and the year before, she tried to kidnap a friend. If you swing a sword, you have to be prepared to be hit in return.

“……”

Unfortunately, Professor Garcia was instantly refuted.

Yukveltire’s past caught up with her.

Could she have even made the prior engagement with Wardanaz in proper form? Had she abused her authority as a Senior?

“Hrk.”

“Uh, no, that’s not it.”

Lee Han answered in a fluster when Professor Garcia looked at him with a doubtful gaze.

Of course, Yukveltire was a bothersome person, but at least this time, the arrangement wasn’t made by coercion.

Don’t listen, Professor Garcia. Didn’t that Wardanaz kid get kidnapped last time and then become a disciple? If he can learn magic, he can’t make normal logical decisions.

“That was your clone last time, Headmaster…”

Lee Han retorted in disbelief, but Professor Garcia had almost been persuaded already.

Yukveltire, perceiving her complete defeat, trembled with rage at her fingertips directed at the Skeleton Headmaster.

‘A great archmage who hates the Skeleton Headmaster enough to be suspicious of him will be born in the future.’

Even without divination magic, Lee Han somehow felt he could see the future. He tried to soothe his Senior.

“I more or less finished what I was doing. I’ll help you with your research.”

“But I can’t get back the time I lost.”

“Would you rather make use of the rest of the vacation, or just leav…go away?”

After a bit of thought, Yukveltire replied,

“It’s better to do something with the rest of the vacation.”

“As expected, Senior, you are wise.”

While Lee Han was praising his Senior, Professor Garcia quietly approached Alsicle.

Alsicle huffed and said,

“Leaving someone behind like that!”

“Shh! It’s not the time for that.”

“You think I’ll fall for such a shallow trick…”

Alsicle was even angrier at such typical Einrogard methods.

Wizards from Einrogard were master fraudsters in every kind of scheming. One of their favorite tricks was feigning an emergency to deceive people.

-Oh! Sir Pengerine! That wizard over there seems to be poisoned by a gargoyle’s flame! Please give first aid!

-A-alright!

-Got him! Pengerine is out of the way! We’re meeting this sponsor first! Go!

-…You bastards!

Alsicle, having already been caught by this kind of ruse from several alumni, could only feel more angry than fooled.

No. It really isn’t the time. You have more important things to worry about.

“?!”

When even the Skeleton Headmaster spoke seriously, Alsicle faltered.

Gonadaltes was a great archmage, and though Alsicle was relatively friendly with him, that reverence never faded.

Alsicle held back his anger and asked,

“Why?”

Because Professor Voladi is thinking about holding you accountable for what happened during the last expedition. That’s all.

Pop-!

Not wanting to let Alcicle hold him up, the Skeleton Headmaster disappeared immediately.

Professor Garcia, flustered by herself, said,

“B-but I’m sure it’ll be fine! Just don’t go around alone!”

“…I should have just stayed in Petrogarde…”

Alsicle regretted deeply.

Why did I come back here, what glory did I expect to find?

• * *

“Wow! Alsicle!”

“Ack!”

Alsicle’s hardship was still not over.

Alsicle trudged into the villa and, ascending the central stairs, spotted a girl with golden eyes he recognized and recoiled.

Why is Princess Joulin here?

“Alsicle! Wyvern play! Let’s play wyvern! Where are you going! Come play with Joulin!”

“Wardanaz! Wardanaz! She’s trying to kill me!”

Alsicle frantically beat his wings searching for Lee Han, the only contractor who could possibly restrain this dragonkin.

He froze the stairs with ice to create a shortcut, then zipped down to the first floor. The second-year students marveled at the sight.

“Amazing magic.”

“He’s even cute!”

Alsicle finally found Lee Han, who was chatting with friends.

“Wardanaz! The Princess is trying to kill me!”

“Excuse me? It’s not that bad. Why are you making such a fuss…”

Lee Han knew what wyvern play was.

It was a game where one tossed Alsicle up and watched him flutter like a wyvern.

“Don’t you know that strength control is harder in human form than as a dragon? Do you want to see me stuck in the ceiling? The moment I crash there, Professor Voladi Baegrek will rush in and skewer me on the spot.”

“……”

Instead of saying, “It’s not that bad,” Lee Han seriously pondered for a moment.

That reaction frightened Alsicle even more.

“Y-you’re supposed to deny it now. Why are you like this?”

“Honestly, it might be best for you to be careful about Professor Baegrek…”

“…I’m staying here for a while.”

As Alsicle plopped down among them, the second-year students said firmly,

“Don’t touch the loot.”

“Loot?”

“Wardanaz raided the bandits’ fortress and brought back loot. We’re auctioning it right now.”

“…What on earth happened while I was gone?!”

Alsicle hadn’t thought so much could change just from wasting some time at Petrogarde.

What exactly could have happened in that interval?

“Sir Alsicle, could you close the parlor door, please?”

“Ah. Is there a reason this needs to be done somewhere quiet?”

Alsicle stood and waddled over, but Lee Han shook his head.

“I’m just wary of being watched by my Senior.”

“……”

Only then did Alsicle realize that Yukveltire was standing outside, staring blankly.

She was so persistent, hoping to drag her junior into research without wasting even a second once the auction ended.

Adenart hung her head in shame, wishing everyone would forget that they were sisters.

“C-can’t you just have her come in and wait?”

“No, we don’t want that.”

“Honestly, Senior, you’re imposing.”

‘Cold-hearted kids.’

Even as a specialist in ice magic, Alsicle shivered at the second-year Einrogard students’ chilly reaction, thinking his own ice magic was warmer than this.

“If you all listen, you might change your minds. Here, let me explain.”

Alsicle began to describe Yukveltire’s journey.

Once Yukveltire realized her perfectly planned vacation research had been ruined because of the Skeleton Headmaster, she nevertheless responded calmly despite the shock.

-Oh no! Yukveltire! How could such an evil archmage interfere with your magic? Let me become your attendant and help you!

Her friend volunteered, but Yukveltire declined. This wasn’t something a friend could help with.

“…Wait, that’s weird from the start.”

“Why?”

“If it’s a friend, isn’t it Senior Direte? There’s no way Senior Direte would say that…”

The Direte that Lee Han knew would have said,

-Well, what can you do? I can’t help during vacation. Take it up with the Headmaster.

“Really? Well, anyway, that’s what I heard.”

Alsicle shrugged. Despite his blatant distortion, Lee Han had no choice but to accept it.

‘Such a devious person. Distorting things just because she isn’t present.’

Anyway, after shaking off her clingy friend, Yukveltire arrived in the capital belatedly.

Since Lee Han had left a week earlier, even if she flew, there was bound to be a time gap.

“But as we know, we went to Petrogarde.”

“We did.”

“Petrogarde was better than I expected. Though there were plenty of annoying people.”

Friends who had visited Petrogarde chimed in.

Visiting Petrogarde had been a pretty big shock even for the Einrogard students.

“That’s a relief. Judging by how the Petrogarde wizards talk, it looks like the exchange meeting will take place. If it’s just Einrogard and Petrogarde, it’ll be the Pitah Festival or something.”

Alsicle tried to recall the old name from memory.

There were different names for each imperial magic school exchange.

When it was just two schools, three schools, and so on…

The name of the event between Einrogard and Petrogarde was clearly -Pitah Festival-.

Lee Han, suddenly curious, asked,

“Has there ever been an exchange just between Einrogard and Kalarogard?”

“Yeah. Walpurgis Night.”

“What about Einrogard and Baldrogard?”

“Uh… That was the Imperial Magic School Social Exchange, I think.”

“……”

“……”

The abrupt, businesslike name startled the students.

Lee Han regretted asking.

“Anyway, that Princess got to Petrogarde late.”

Surprisingly, Yukveltire already had connections among the Petrogarde wizards.

Given her year and ability, it would have been stranger if she didn’t.

“So after talking, she followed you here?”

“No, the Petrogarde wizards raised a fuss and told her to get lost. As you know, the Einrogard Enchantment magic school and Petrogarde aren’t on good terms.”

“……”

I didn’t know that!?

Lee Han was dumbfounded, but unfortunately, there was no one to explain.

“There was a commotion, so I stepped out to mediate. To help them reconcile, I talked magic and showed them artifacts.”

Alsicle’s outstanding magic, impressive credentials, and cute appearance were extremely effective at calming people.

Once Alsicle mediated, the Petrogarde wizards put aside old grudges and allowed Yukveltire to enter.

Yukveltire also complimented the Petrogarde wizards on their artifacts.

“Oh.”

“And then the Princess asked where you were, and they told her you’d gone ahead?”

Suddenly, Lee Han felt a foreboding.

The mood had been cordial, but why did he feel something ominous?

“What happened?”

“She immediately called all of Petrogarde’s artifacts junk—”

“I didn’t say that.”

Came a voice from a Senior outside whose face wasn’t visible, but Alsicle ignored it and went on.

“She said it. In fact, ‘said’ is too mild—a full-on, unfiltered tirade is more like it.”

Feeling it would be bad to stay longer, Alsicle hurried out with Yukveltire.

Nothing good would come from fighting inside enemy territory.

“…But Sir Alsicle, it sounds like you suffered the most but are still siding with your Senior?”

“After she left me behind, I started feeling sorry for her.”

“…Senior Yukveltire! Please come inside!”

Lee Han quickly opened the door and changed the subject.

• * *

“So what should I do?”

“This week, we’re going to try fusing these two spells.”

Yukveltire laid out dozens of magic circle diagrams on the table and began explaining.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but her eyes seemed to burn more than usual.

“Combining these two spells is by no means easy, so prepare yourself. Specifically, things like bounty hunting and all your other jobs…”

Lee Han half-listened and gathered the important diagrams.

“Excuse me. I’ll just go ask something real quick.”

“Don—”

Yukveltire, thinking her diabolical junior was going to use the wicked escape maneuver he learned from the Skeleton Headmaster, tried to stop him in a panic.

But unexpectedly, it wasn’t long before Lee Han returned.

“I redrew the magic circle here. They said there were some mistakes in the previous ones.”

“…?!!!”