Episode 54

“So you’re saying Professor Mortoom gave you this bone?”
“Lord Wardanaz, I don’t know much about magic, but in our business, there’s a saying: never associate with necromancers.”
“……”
The two friends pointed out the reality without mercy.
No matter how you looked at it, the bone summon was a rather creepy gift.
A professor who would give something like that…
Without thinking, Ihan tried to make excuses.
“But it’s not entirely useless.”
“That may be, but it’s creepy.”
Ratford spoke loyally. Of course, his actual words were anything but loyal.
Still, perhaps sensing Ihan’s complicated feelings, Yoner tried to find some merit in the bone summon.
“At least it doesn’t need to be fed, it’s loyal, and it can do all kinds of tasks…”
“What can it do?”
Yoner ignored Ratford’s question as if he hadn’t heard it.
“…And, depending on how you look at it, maybe it’s kind of cute?”
“Thanks, Yoner. But hearing you say that brings me to my senses. This really is weird.”
He wanted to tell himself the gift had some use, but Ihan could no longer deny reality.
The bone summon was definitely strange.
“Why on earth would he give a bone summon as a gift?”
“I don’t know… Actually, I’m more curious why he gave the bone separately.”
“Isn’t it so you’ll find more bones around the school and assemble them?”
At Ratford’s words, Yoner laughed as if it was ridiculous.
“That’s absurd… Wait. That is absurd, right?”
“……”
But Ihan couldn’t laugh.
Ratford’s guess sounded far too plausible.
‘Don’t tell me that’s really what he meant?’
Otherwise, there was no reason for the hand bone picked up by a Black Turtle Tower student to stick so closely and combine with it.
Of course, anyone with a normal mindset would say, ‘Who would enjoy a bone scavenger hunt like this?’ But as everyone knew, professors did not have normal mindsets.
It was highly likely they thought, ‘The students will have fun hunting bones!’
‘Creepy.’
Ihan shuddered.
The bone summon itself was less frightening than the professors’ twisted way of thinking.
A terrifying logic absolutely beyond normal people!
“Wardanaz! Finished looking around the black market? …Wait, what’s that bone?!”
Asan Dalkard, who returned late, was aghast at the sight of the bone summon wandering around Ihan.
What on earth had happened?

• * *

The number of students gathered in front of Professor Ingerdel was considerable.
Not only the Blue Dragon and Black Turtle Towers, but also Phoenix Tower, and even the White Tiger Tower students were all present.
It was only natural, since all students taking the alchemy class needed materials.
Without an occasion like this, there was no way for students to gather ingredients from within the mountain range on their own.
Once everyone had gathered, Professor Ingerdel slowly began to speak.
“Safety first, and safety second. First, group up with your fellow tower members. Then, make sure to check each other’s faces and memorize the headcount. We’ll periodically check numbers to ensure no one is missing.”
“……”
“……”
Ingerdel had a knack for scaring students. Already, everyone’s faces were strung tight with anxiety.
‘Still, it’s better to be tense.’
Better to be anxious than to treat a trip into the mountains like a picnic and end up with a disaster.
The Blue Dragon Tower students were all familiar faces.
Ihan, Yoner, Asan, and even the Princess.
Asan asked, looking curious.
“Wardanaz, I heard from the Black Turtle Tower students that your cooking was really delicious.”
“They’re exaggerating. It was just an ordinary stew.”
Ihan thought the Tower students were just exaggerating.
Anything tastes good when you’re starving.
The meal he’d made earlier was just a simple stew with freshly cut vegetables, oil, salt, pepper, and tomato sauce.
“No, it was really tasty.”
“It truly was delicious.”
“?”
Ihan was surprised.
He expected such words from Ratford, but not from Yoner too.
“There wasn’t even any meat. Isn’t the dorm food better than that?”
“No, maybe because we all ate together outside? It just tasted much better.”
‘Is it because of the ingredients?’
He figured the only reason could be the freshly harvested vegetables in the stew.
Since they had grown suddenly at Professor Uregurum’s hut, Ihan suspected the professor might have sprinkled some special potion.
‘Wait. Did I cluelessly take rare elixirs the professor used on the field?’
Ihan regretted it for a moment.
But thinking about it, if that were the case, the professor should have put up a sign saying not to touch the garden. Plus, it was technically his own plot.
‘No matter how I look at it, it isn’t really my fault.’
If he’d known it would be rated so highly, Ihan would have tasted it himself and felt a bit of regret.
Just what did it taste like…
“Wait. Aren’t you from White Tiger Tower?”
Asan Dalkard spoke to an elf with long black hair.
It was a White Tiger Tower student they’d spoken with once before.
The unique thing was, instead of sticking with other students from that tower, they had pledged loyalty to the princess!
“I’ve already obtained permission from my fellow tower members. I will serve the Princess.”
It seemed several other tower students had already gathered around the princess.
Such astonishing loyalty.
By contrast…
Ihan looked around. Then a Black Turtle Tower student sidled up and spoke quietly.
“Do you dislike the White Tiger Tower students after all? Should we gather others and pick a fight with them?”
“……”
What on earth did they think of him?

• * *

“This spot looks good. Everyone, go gather your materials.”
After several hours of walking the mountain path, Professor Ingerdel found a flower field and stopped.
When he saw students breaking into groups and spreading out, this elf professor wore a pleased expression.
Despite his worries, the students behaved in an orderly fashion.
The students sensed it, too.
To survive at this school, there was no choice but to work together.
‘They’re all doing well.’
Every tower had a few students taking the lead.
Their personalities and methods differed, but it was undeniable that in times of crisis, these “leader” students were a big help to their friends.
The Wardanaz boy was one of them.
With a charisma as icy as his prestigious family, he influenced not only Blue Dragon Tower students but students of other towers as well.
He was cold and calm, but not hard-hearted—if he had a mean disposition, things would have been a lot worse for the towers.
‘There’s always a natural ringleader, but in his case, it’s on a different level.’
Having heard stories about Ihan from other students, Professor Ingerdel misunderstood a little.
Ihan wasn’t thinking anything like, ‘Since I was born to a famous magical family, it’s my duty to rule and govern others!’
Chirp chirp chirp.
“?”
Professor Ingerdel, who had been sitting, turned his head at the sound of birds behind him.
Pop!!
At that moment, Professor Ingerdel simply vanished.

• * *

“W-Wardanaz.”
Ihan was putting cloud mushrooms and dwarf hammer mushrooms into his basket when he realized something strange was going on.
Some Black Turtle Tower students approached with blue faces.
“What’s wrong?”
“The professor… the professor…! He’s disappeared!!”
“?!”
Ihan was shocked.
A few thoughts flashed through his mind.
Did Professor Ingerdel do this on purpose, lulling the students into security before disappearing as some kind of lesson?
‘No. I trust Professor Ingerdel. …Trusting him may not be statistically wise, but… I still do.’
Ihan shook his head.
Then, did some evil enemies like the Empire’s anti-magic faction sneak in and kidnap the professor?
‘That’s also nonsense. After that previous attack, security and defenses must have been increased several times, and they broke through? If so, the headmaster’s unfit for the job.’
If not that, then the next thought…
‘Did he lose to a monster? But Ingerdel is as skilled as Allaron. Could someone that powerful be taken down by a monster without making a sound? And could such a monster appear here on the mountain’s outskirts?’
When he thought about it, he realized that in this school, anything could happen with the local monsters, which left him feeling bitter, but he still trusted Ingerdel’s abilities.
He wasn’t someone who’d be taken out so easily.
“What do we do? What do we do?”
“Everyone, calm down. The professor may have just stepped out somewhere for a moment.”
Ihan wasn’t sure about it himself, but he spoke calmly for now.
The important thing was to soothe the other students.
‘There are no monsters, and no one’s lost. No need to panic. We just have to walk back the way we came.’
People might imagine the mountain range as untamed wilderness, but in reality, there were trails here and there.
Natural paths created by seniors who had come before.
They’d walked in pretty far, but as long as they followed this path back out…
Swooooshhhhhhhh—
“……”
“……”
Suddenly, a deluge came pouring down from above, making Ihan seriously suspect all this was a trap.

• * *

Ihan and some students took shelter from the rain under a nearby cliff.
Nillia, wringing out her wet clothes with a pale face, said,
“Trying to find the way in this situation is impossible. We’re bound to lose our way. And the bigger danger is losing body heat or encountering monsters. Meeting monsters in the rain is a nightmare.”
At Nillia’s words, the others’ faces filled with despair.
But Nillia continued in an encouraging tone,
“But don’t worry. We’re in a decent spot. If we just wait out the rain…”
“We should take the risk and find the path. If it rains harder, finding our way will be even more difficult.”
“No, we should just wait…”
“We haven’t seen the Phoenix Tower or White Tiger Tower students. How do we find them in this rain?”
“So let’s wait and…”
“We need to find the professor! Let’s try to call for him.”
Nillia gave up, looking glum.
Ihan waved her over. She trotted over and began gathering wood beside him.
Meanwhile, the students all spoke up with their own ideas.
We need to find the path, we need to regroup with the other students, we need to find the professor, and so on.
While this went on, Ihan built fires in several places. The bone summon moved around in the rain, fetching more kindling.
“I’m telling you, we need to do something ourselves right now!”
“We have to gather the other students! Everyone knows it’s better to have the numbers!”
“We should find the professor first!”
The debate heated up.
Realizing their arguments were at an impasse, the students sought a referee.
“Wardanaz!”
“Wardanaz, what do you think?”
“What?”
Ihan was startled as the arrows of attention suddenly flew his way while he was tending the fire.
“Well, shouldn’t we just wait until the rain passes?”
“…Th-that’s true.”
“Yeah, waiting seems best.”
“……”
Nillia glared at her friends.
When I said it, you didn’t listen at all…!