Episode 129

After the skeleton headmaster finished speaking and faded into the dawn, the students let out a sigh of relief.

“Wait. What if he just pretended to leave and is actually hiding nearby under an invisibility spell?”

“He might be hiding close! Just in case, throw a stone!”

‘This magic school is corrupting the empire’s young talents.’

Ihan looked at his increasingly paranoid friends with pity.

“Still, it’s a shame. Phoenix Tower had some students get caught…”

Blue Dragon Tower didn’t lose a single student and so received a perfect score, but it wasn’t so for Phoenix Tower.

During the escape, a few priests were captured and dragged off, so they inevitably lost points.

“Teaching is what matters, not scores, so it’s fine.”

Priest Tijilling replied devoutly. Ihan was shocked at his attitude.

‘Aren’t scores the important thing?’

In the end, what’s recorded are the scores.

And as for the ‘teaching’—what kind of moral lesson could possibly be meaningful in a class like this?

All that was left behind were petty morals like “don’t hang around liches,” “don’t trust people recklessly,” “be wary of undead at night.”

“Yeah… that’s right. Teaching is important.”

When Ihan’s response lagged, Tijilling looked puzzled.

Why the late answer?

“By the way, the priests will be visiting school this weekend.”

“!”

Ihan’s face brightened.

When priests from the imperial church visited the academy, it wasn’t just about sharing food and drink.

Above all, the skeleton headmaster’s di… no, the skeleton headmaster’s tough lessons would be reduced a little.

The conscience of the empire would reform the school!

‘I’ll finally be able to relax a little this weekend.’

Moreover, Ihan had resolved to join not only the Frisinga Order but as many orders as possible.

With the priests visiting this weekend, he planned to go meet them in person and check out new orders.

Thinking about it…

‘Why doesn’t the Wardanas family sponsor the orders like all the other noble families do?’

Ihan grumbled internally.

Just look at Yoner’s family, the Meikin family!

By faithfully sponsoring the Flemaigne Order, their family members received all kinds of benefits.

Even if you weren’t a believer, couldn’t you at least donate a little?

‘No use complaining. My path is mine to make.’

Even if his family didn’t help, Ihan would forge ahead on his own path.

Ihan looked at Priest Tijilling.

Under Ihan’s charismatic gaze, Tijilling tensed a little.

“Did you want to say something…?”

“Priest Tijilling. You’ve gotten rather thin since I last saw you.”

“……”

Not at all?

“It hasn’t even been a day since we last met, so of course I haven’t lost weight…”

“Since you’re here at Blue Dragon Tower, you should eat something before you go.”

“……”

Because Ihan kept summoning him regularly: “I boiled some meat broth and brought it in a pot,” and made sure he ate, Tijilling was in no danger of nutritional deficiency.

And really, it hadn’t even been a day—how could he have gotten thin?

“Go on. Have a seat.”

“Priests who serve Frisinga shouldn’t indulge in luxurious meals, though…”

“I see. But if you don’t eat, I’ll make Gainando starve too.”

“?!”

Gainando, who was helping take down the barricade nearby, stared at Ihan in shock at the unexpected blow.

Why me?!

“Priest…! If I skip even one meal, I get hungry…!”

“……”

Tijilling could only quietly take a seat. Ihan nodded with a stern face, just like the skeleton headmaster.

“The other priests should sit too.”

“But most of the priests in the tower are so frugal, they’ll think a meal like this is sinful.”

Tijilling’s voice was slightly sulky.

“Priest Tijilling… you’re not like this because I threatened you with Gainando, are you?”

“No.”

He said no, but it didn’t seem entirely truthful. Gainando spoke up, confused.

“But the meals we eat are truly quite simple….”

“……”

“……”

The passing Blue Dragon Tower students looked at Gainando as if he were mad.

Has this guy already forgotten what kind of food counts as frugal?

“Guess it could be a bit much for people.”

Ihan nodded.

Of course, he wasn’t doing this because he had leftover ingredients.

He’d already crossed the point of no return with the White Tiger Tower.

Relations with Black Turtle Tower were relatively amicable, but because of the baseless rumors White Tiger Tower students had spread, there were times when Black Turtle Tower misunderstood Ihan.

But the wise, good-natured Phoenix Tower priests weren’t like that.

They wouldn’t be fooled by rumors—they would trust Ihan.

And most importantly, after a generous meal, they’d tell the visiting priests good things about him on the weekend.

Whether Phoenix Tower students liked it or not, they had to eat. Ihan’s eyes shone with cold determination.

“Gainando. Come with me. I need your help persuading them.”

“??”

“……”

Gainando didn’t understand why he was being called, but Priest Tijilling realized and was shocked.

• * *

Ihan took out the food he’d stored in the larder.

Warm white bread, buttered and served with honey and sweet tree sap, was brought to the table. Whole-roasted, salted, or smoked pork and beef were set beside them. Canned fish, thinly sliced, was arranged neatly on plates.

He even brought out a jar of fresh milk he’d borrowed—not stolen—from Professor Boltrunner’s cottage.

After scooping jam from glass jars filled with different fruit preserves, he stirred it into cold milk to make a sweet drink rare at school.

“You had stuff like this?!”

“Don’t ask for it—normally I won’t make it even if you do.”

‘How did he know?!’

Ihan slapped Gainando’s hand away as he reached for the food and sent him back. Then Ihan checked the soup.

The rich aroma of boiling broth made the Blue Dragon Tower students happy.

“Sharkan.”

Ihan tossed a chunk of meat to Sharkan. Gainando watched with envy until Sharkan growled at him, making him drop his gaze.

“Almost ready. Tell everyone to sit down.”

Ihan didn’t waste any of the juices from cooking the meat. He added homegrown vegetables and flour to make a sauce.

‘Nice.’

Tasting it, Ihan was impressed by his own talent. To use meat drippings this well…

It would pair excellently with fresh vegetables from the garden…

‘…Better stop thinking about this.’

Oddly, his magic hadn’t progressed that fast, but his cooking skills kept improving by leaps and bounds.

Yoner, who was helping set up, looked puzzled by the carrot cupcakes and pumpkin cookies baking nearby.

“Where’d these come from?”

“Made them from what I got in the garden.”

“……”

“These aren’t exactly difficult or professional recipes, Yoner. They’re really easier than you’d think.”

‘I didn’t even say anything…’

Yoner was startled by Ihan’s sudden defense.

“Understand?”

“Uh, yeah, uh-huh.”

He wasn’t even sure what he was agreeing to, but under Ihan’s intensity, he nodded.

For some reason, it seemed Ihan really wanted to insist he wasn’t serious about cooking.

…But to Yoner, this looked every bit as serious as it got…

• * *

Though they’d been forced to sit, the young priests, exhausted from a night of battle, were moved once they tasted the hot meal.

Seeing a student stuffing his cheeks until they were ready to burst, Ihan felt proud.

‘No, wait. That’s just Gainando.’

Looking closer, it wasn’t a Phoenix Tower student, but Gainando.

Luckily, the Phoenix Tower students were also enjoying the meal.

The only sounds were the clatter of dishes and cutlery.

“Thank you so much, Ihan of House Wardanas.”

“I only did what was right.”

While he silently hoped for a good word over the weekend, Ihan didn’t show it at all.

Instead, he simply nodded with noble dignity. The young priests were deeply impressed by the gesture.

“You said the priests will be visiting this weekend. I’d very much like to tell them what you’ve done, Ihan of House Wardanas.”

“I see. I won’t stop you.”

“But…”

“?”

Ihan was flustered at his hesitation.

Why?

‘Don’t tell me Wardanas House is on some blacklist??’

Judging by the way the family head talked about church orders, it wouldn’t be surprising if the orders disliked House Wardanas.

“If that happens, the priest would want to meet you personally to thank you—but aren’t you already terribly busy? You should rest on weekends…”

“I’m not busy at all. In fact, the only problem is that my weekends are too empty.”

“R-really?”

The young priests of Phoenix Tower were surprised at Ihan’s words.

No matter how you looked at him, he seemed immensely busy…

But to say it with such seriousness, he didn’t seem to be lying or joking.

‘Maybe he really isn’t?’

‘It must be true…’

• * *

“Black magic?”

Ihan raised his hand at Professor Garcia’s question.

“Summoning magic?”

Ihan raised his hand again.

“Illusion magic?”

Ihan raised his hand once more.

Then he met eyes with the Phoenix Tower students sitting nearby.

“…I’m really not busy, you know?”

“You… You seem really busy, though.”

“Ihan… you really are busy… maybe cut back a little.”

Not just the Phoenix Tower students—even his Blue Dragon Tower friends looked shocked.

Before the pop quiz, Professor Garcia divided students into groups according to their interests.

And Ihan joined every group.

No matter how you looked at it, this was crazy.

‘Isn’t he going to collapse at this rate?’

“I think you’re being too hard on yourself, Wardanas.”

“I think so too…”

Even the Black Turtle and White Tiger Tower students joined in.

But Ihan didn’t waver in the slightest.

“I still have plenty of energy.”

“Ihan… I really think you should cut back a bit…”

Professor Garcia approached with a worried voice.

Just as the bird with the most beautiful song dies the earliest, a prodigy with outstanding talent has to beware being devoured by it.

“I only say this from experience, Ihan. Trying every field of magic is the fate of any young, talented, and ambitious mage, but…”

‘Every word in that sentence seems the opposite of me.’

“It’s really tough.”

“Professor, did you also study multiple branches at once like Ihan?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Then maybe Ihan can too?”

“Uh… Well, I suppose…”

Professor Garcia was stumped by Gainando’s sharp question.

Huh?

Could it be?

Thinking back to the rough path he himself had walked, he thought maybe he should discourage a student from trying the same…

But maybe he had no right to.

Especially a naturally gifted mage like Ihan.

“Mm… But back then, there was nobody like Professor Begreg… no, never mind.”

Professor Garcia quickly cut himself off, not wanting to talk bad about other faculty.

But Ihan immediately understood what he meant.

“Well, Ihan is better than I was anyway, so maybe he’ll be fine. All right, I’ll say no more.”

Professor Garcia gave a supportive fist pump, then walked away.

Seeing that, Ihan was suddenly struck by an inexplicable anxiety, as if he’d just missed a final opportunity for something.