Episode 1192
by CristaeProfessor Jorzik was flustered by the other’s utterly unprovoked rudeness.
As a gentleman of the Empire, Professor Jorzik would never forgive rude behavior, but someone beating the ground with their fists and sobbing was a bit of an exception.
No matter how much of a gentleman of the Empire he was, he didn’t want to deal with madmen.
Professor Thunderstep, curious, asked a question.
“Are you crying because the dragon is too beautiful, or because you’re resentful that Wardanaz transformed into a dragon?”
“I don’t know either!”
‘So it’s both.’
The human heart is complicated.
You can shed tears out of emotion at the dragon transformation and at the same time shed tears out of jealousy.
In Professor Thunderstep’s eyes, it was both for Professor Bendozol.
He was moved, but at the same time burning up with jealousy!
Who invited that professor?
Lee Han, transformed into a dragon, already spoke in a tired voice.
He’d thought it was lucky Professor Verdus hadn’t come, but now an even louder professor had shown up without warning.
“Oh-huh-huh, uuuh, kuhuhuk, woooo!”
“……”
“…Has he already transformed into a beast?”
Professor Bendozol didn’t answer the question, but just sobbed louder and louder.
He cried so bitterly that a puddle had formed beneath him from his tears. Professor Thunderstep grimaced and lifted his boots well away.
“There, Professor Bendozol. Calm yourself. Of course, I know you wanted to transform into a dragon, but you see, magic is always…”
“Kuuk whyyy huuuhuuhuunaaaahh!”
“Why… me…? Ahh.”
Professor Thunderstep barely made out the answer from between the sobs and nodded.
“That’s just how dragons are as a species. Please, stop crying.”
That’s right, Professor. If you’re going to cry, do it outside.
“…Even Wardanaz is worried for you.”
Professor Thunderstep cunningly twisted his disciple’s words.
“Now. If you stop crying, I’ll give you one of your disciple’s scales as a present.”
But that’ll disappear anyway once the transformation ends, won’t it?
“Shh. Shut up. Please.”
The professor glared at his clueless student.
This rascal…
Still, Professor Bendozol, having apparently cried out all the water in his body, hiccupped and got to his feet.
The rest of the professors crowded around, trying to comfort him.
“You might still be able to get permission from the dragons someday, Professor.”
“That’s right. You’ve done a lot of things for the dragons, Professor Bendozol. The dragons probably won’t know, though…”
“I believe the next wizard to get a dragon’s permission will be you, Professor.”
The professors comforting Bendozol gestured to Lee Han, telling him to say something, too.
Uh…
“Hurry! Anything!”
B-being able to transform into a dragon isn’t necessarily all good, you know?
“……”
“…Just stay quiet. Professor Bendozol, please disregard what you just heard.”
There were some exceptions like Professor Bendozol, but overall, succeeding in transforming into a dragon was beneficial in many ways.
Especially since the remaining professors were quite willing to let Lee Han leave.
-Aha. So all that crazy testing was because of Professor Baegrek’s disappearance… Couldn’t you have just asked ahead? If you’d just said something, we would have let you substitute the final exam!
-Oh. I just didn’t think you would allow it.
-So you transformed into a dragon because of that?
-The reason I transformed into a dragon first was just because nothing else was working.
-…Okay! Off you go, then!
The professors were much kinder and more considerate than Lee Han expected.
Hearing the student’s concern for his teacher, they made exceptions beyond the school’s strict rules to help.
“So that’s how I ended up being able to leave.”
“…I-I see.”
Dawn.
Professor Kirmin, secretly meeting his student at the copse near Einrogard’s front gate, wore a confused expression.
He’d expected Wardanaz to break through all the tests and make it out, but this much kindness from the professors was unexpected.
Of course, Wardanaz’s magical skills had already been thoroughly proven without the need for exams, but still…
Was this okay?
‘No. For now, focus on Professor Voladi.’
Professor Kirmin shook off his doubts.
Before this outing, Wardanaz had asked Professor Kirmin in advance to accompany him.
Considering Professor Voladi’s skill, if the student approached alone, he might not only fail to catch him but get beaten and kicked out.
“Where’s Professor Kim?”
“I didn’t call him.”
“What…? Didn’t you say you would?”
“I lied. I thought you’d worry too much.”
“……”
Professor Kirmin was shocked.
Like master, like student—he was picking up all the bad habits already.
He couldn’t believe he’d lied even to Professor Garcia!
Whether the professor looked shocked or not, Lee Han pulled out a prepared commission letter.
“This outing isn’t for an official commission, so in principle I shouldn’t be able to leave. So I prepared a fake commission letter.”
Since he was out on commission so often, there were even jokes among students that ‘Maybe Wardanaz is already a professor,’ but Lee Han was still a student.
Without a valid commission, he couldn’t leave.
He could’ve used another commission as an excuse, but Lee Han didn’t even want to waste that time. He intended to go all out and bring the professor back as quickly as possible.
“Let’s see.”
In the name of House Kraha, to the wizard of House Wardanaz
The following commission is given:
Please organize and analyze the relevant spells…
Professor Kirmin’s eyes widened in surprise.
Masters of illusion were good at fakes and forgeries. Professor Kirmin certainly was.
But he couldn’t spot a single flaw in this fake commission letter.
The Kraha seal was perfect, the stationery was the unique Zapigi used by House Kraha, even the handwriting and signature…?
“How did you make this? House Kraha isn’t an easy house to forge the family’s items…”
“It’s not forged. It’s real.”
“?”
“I asked before and received one. It’s a blank commission letter stamped with the signet ring.”
It was only natural Professor Kirmin couldn’t spot any flaws.
It was called fake, but every other element was real.
Gainando’s mother herself had stamped her seal on her family’s stationery and filled in the necessary writing.
“!!!!”
Professor Kirmin was truly shocked.
You couldn’t just give out a fake commission letter like this to anyone. Even the seal and format were completely official.
With a wicked heart, you could write whatever you wanted in the blanks. Even if you added an enormous hoard of gold as a price, Kraha House would have trouble refuting it if the contents matched the letter. Every element, including the seal, was genuine.
And yet, a boy from another house had one of these. Unbelievable.
“Ah. Did the prince have it? Maybe he was preparing for a case where he needed to leave…”
“No. Gainando didn’t get one. She just gave it to me directly. I received it myself.”
“……”
Lee Han’s answer sent chills down Professor Kirmin’s spine.
He knew the matron of House Kraha was famous for her wealth, but this level of bravado!
…And such thoroughness, too—she didn’t even give this to Gainando!
‘No wonder House Kraha isn’t wealthy for nothing.’
Professor Kirmin felt a sudden respect for the absent Lady Kraha.
It’s easier said than done—who would hand this to their child’s friend, not their own child?
Unless she had absolute confidence that, if something really came up, Wardanaz would step up for Gainando, it would be impossible.
“I thought I’d never use this since I always had so many official commissions, but here we are. Let’s go. We need to convince the knights.”
“R-right.”
This semester, Lee Han had always left with knightly escorts.
Which meant, for this fake commission, he would need to fool even these knights and take them with him.
Even if most of the Death Knights were fond of Lee Han, if they discovered it was fake…
-An urgent commission? Let’s go.
-I’ll call the loafers over. Hey, bring Ironpot, too.
The resting Death Knights rose from their seats without even glancing at the letter.
Lee Han and Professor Kirmin, surprised, asked again.
“You’re not going to check the commission letter…?”
-There must be dozens of commissions this semester—when would we ever check all those? Just tell us where you’re going.
“…Uh…”
Hiding his dismay, Lee Han nodded.
It was a good thing, but it still felt unfair.
He’d even used Kraha House’s stationery…
Amark Bark, Bartrek Bark’s older brother and a dwarf of the New Moon Knights, carefully watched the street below the third-floor inn.
The knights under his command were currently trailing a professor from Einrogard.
The power of Einrogard’s wizards had always made the Empire’s knights feel fear.
All the more so if it was a former professor…
‘But you can’t just avoid them out of fear.’
Amark waited for his men’s report, his eyes full of conviction.
No matter how great a wizard, they couldn’t keep fooling the eyes of the New Moon Knights forever.
The contact network built up over dozens, hundreds of years wasn’t so easy to elude.
“We’ve found her!”
A subordinate knight rushed in, face excited. Amark gave a brief compliment and asked,
“Where is she staying?”
“At the Severed Moon Inn. It seems she’s blending in with mercenaries from outside.”
“That’s impressive. That’s why battle mages are such a pain.”
Amark clicked his tongue.
Unlike bookworm wizards, battle mages with battlefield experience weren’t just clever.
She’d cast thorough transformation magic, but on top of that, chose to stay in poor quarters with mercenaries just in case.
It wasn’t the work of an amateur.
“But Lord Bark. Why are we chasing this mage?”
“Hm?”
Amark paused.
He didn’t really have a good answer if asked for a reason.
How could he say he was helping out the friend who always looked after his dumb little brother? Especially in front of his subordinates, that would be too embarrassing.
“Well…”
“You idiot! If he could have told you, he would have. Don’t you get how important this is with it being a professor of Einrogard?!”
Another knight scolded his comrade.
Chasing a professor from Einrogard in secret was by no means an ordinary task.
It was obvious Amark was keeping some enormous information to himself.
He wasn’t giving it up, even to keep his subordinates safe.
“R-right… sorry!”
“No, no. That’s it. I can’t tell you, but it’s very important.”
Amark breathed a sigh of relief inside and looked down at the street again.