Episode 606

Episode 606

Perhaps because he was moved, Silvas found himself signing without realizing it as the story was coming to an end.

“I will make a report in my name to support the -Research on the Races Preferred as Prey by Trolls-! This is research that the Empire must conduct right now. No, the Empire should be embarrassed it hasn’t done this research until now!”

“Thank you.”

Lee Han let out a sigh of relief and expressed his gratitude.

This Silvas bureaucrat had a warm heart, unlike the skeleton headmaster.

Thanks to that, just appealing to emotion alone had been enough to succeed like this.

‘That was lucky.’

After finishing his greeting and stepping outside, Lee Han checked the next research proposal.

-Research on the Most Efficient Staff-Swinging Motions

Lost in thought, Lee Han mumbled as he walked down the corridor.

“The number of magicians and Imperial citizens injured each year due to failed staff movements is gradually increasing… In Einrogard alone, dozens of students are injured a year, and some say this may have something to do with staff-swinging motions…”

• * *

The skeleton headmaster was sitting and waiting on the terrace of the -Rock Spirit’s Apple Jam Café-.

The skeleton headmaster, who had enjoyed all sorts of gourmet food, was indifferent to culinary trends in the capital, but this café deserved praise.

“Remarkable. The coffee and apple pie are outstanding, but this stone soup is the taste of the soul.”

Screech.

The rock spirit looked away, embarrassed.

The skeleton headmaster left a tip, telling him to strive forward.

“Headmaster!”

“You’re here?”

When his disciple appeared in the distance, looking tired, the skeleton headmaster gestured for him to sit down.

“You’re much later than I thought. You’ve worked hard.”

“No, sir. I’m sorry I’m late.”

“No need to apologize. Persuading thieves was never going to be easy.”

“They’re not exactly… thieves…”

“Hmph. All Imperial bureaucrats are thieves. Should I ask?”

The skeleton headmaster called over a passing adventurer and asked.

“Hey. Are Imperial bureaucrats thieves or not?”

“Those people are pale-faced thieves!”

“See?”

“…I think that adventurer must have paid a lot of taxes recently.”

The skeleton headmaster called over another traveler and tried to ask again.

“Imperial bureaucrats—”

“I was wrong. Please, stop.”

“Alright, that’s enough then.”

The skeleton headmaster pushed the stone soup toward the exhausted Lee Han.

Despite being simply boiled with only stones, this soup truly tasted like the soul.

‘…The fox and the crane??’

Of course, to Lee Han, it just looked like a rather shabby soup. He slid the bowl aside and spoke.

“Still, I achieved quite a result, considering how late it got.”

“Oh? Really?”

The skeleton headmaster was genuinely surprised.

The research proposals brought this time by the skeleton headmaster were well known as some of the most useless in Einrogard.

In the first place, any proposal that wasn’t “useless” would have been passed without the headmaster needing to bring it personally.

The very fact that the headmaster had to come and plead for these proposals proved they were trash.

Yet he’d gotten even one of them through?

It was truly astonishing.

“Which one did you get approved?”

“I got them all approved, actually.”

“…Don’t lie. Ha ha.”

“It’s true.”

Lee Han laid out the research proposals, each bearing the signature of an Imperial bureaucrat.

The signatures were pledges that the officials would participate in their own names, as mentioned before.

The skeleton headmaster suddenly fell silent and began to leaf through the proposals over and over.

Read once, read twice, read three times…

Lee Han, feeling a little worried by the headmaster’s silence, asked:

“Are you alright?”

“I am truly proud of you.”

The skeleton headmaster’s voice quivered slightly. Lee Han became even more puzzled.

“…Thank yo—?”

Before Lee Han could finish his words, the skeleton headmaster shouted to the people sitting at the surrounding tables.

“Everyone, listen up! This proud young man is my disciple! The Bureaucrat Slayer of Einrogard is my disciple, I say!”

“Why are you doing this?!”

Lee Han shouted in embarrassment, but the skeleton headmaster, feeling too good to care, ignored him and yelled out:

“Owner! I will pay for all the food and drink in this café today!”

“Hooray! I don’t know where you’re from, but let us thank such a generous customer!”

“I don’t know who it is, but it seems their disciple has achieved something amazing!”

“The Bureaucrat Slayer of Einrogard!”

“Hooray for the Bureaucrat Slayer!”

As people all around cheered and applauded without even knowing what was going on, Lee Han swore to himself that he would never walk around with the skeleton headmaster again.

• * *

Morning.

After spending the night at the skeleton headmaster’s villa in the capital (a villa where Death Knights, dressed like servants, served), Lee Han went down for breakfast.

The skeleton headmaster, still in human form, was already out first reading the Imperial newspaper.

Reading sharply, the skeleton headmaster gestured as he saw Lee Han coming down.

“You were truly excellent yesterday.”

“No matter how I think about it, what you did at the café was a bit much.”

“Hmm. I’m reflecting on that myself. Sometimes, even an archmage can’t contain his joy.”

The Death Knights nodded as if agreeing.

-Yesterday was a day worthy of our master’s delight.

-The bureaucrats, always so strict, got fooled so easily!

“It wasn’t being fooled, but rather that they understood out of genuine sincerity…”

-Haha. Sure, let’s say that.

The Death Knights winked.

Lee Han was dumbfounded, but bit his tongue and decided to just eat the meal in front of him.

It was an Imperial eastern-style breakfast made mainly with rice, fish, and vegetables. Lee Han, feeling curious, asked,

“Do you like eastern food?”

“My outstanding Bureaucrat Slayer disciple.”

“If you keep calling me Bureaucrat Slayer, I’ll just return to the Wardanaz family.”

“My outstanding disciple.”

Despite the threat, the warmth in the skeleton headmaster’s gaze was unwavering.

Yesterday’s accomplishments must have been truly impressive.

“Asking a lich what food he likes is not a good question.”

“…S-sorry. It was just surprising to see an eastern meal served.”

“I just suited it to your taste.”

Lee Han was even more surprised the headmaster knew his taste.

In fact, at Einrogard, Lee Han would eat whatever he could get, so western or eastern cuisine didn’t matter much.

Unless observed very carefully, it would have been hard to tell.

“Thank you. Honestly, I was a bit surprised.”

“It’s nothing. I know everything my students steal and where they steal it from.”

“But you didn’t know when they go out.”

“……”

The headmaster’s eyes almost switched back to their usual coldness from warm affection, but then they softened again.

Yesterday’s achievement really must have been extraordinary.

“There are always exceptions in magic.”

‘You waste your observational skills on such pointless things.’

Devoting such perception to nothing but making traps, when he could discern someone’s favorite food, was a talent in itself.

“What’s the schedule today?”

“You can rest a bit. I’ll meet some more bureaucrats in the morning. Since the ones beneath signed, the ones above won’t make much noise.”

“Then I’ll wait by writing some letters.”

He had a pile of letters to send to friends anyway, so he had to write them in his spare moments.

And he still had lots of magic homework to do…

“And in the afternoon, we’ll meet the sponsors of the capital.”

“Sponsors?”

“Did I say sponsors? Oh, must have misspoken. I meant the capital’s supporters.”

“…So, people who support Einrogard, right?”

“That’s right. We’ll take Pengerine along too. Just like you cast mind magic on the bureaucrats, cast mind magic on the sponsors. Sponsors should be much easier, so don’t worry, outstanding disciple.”

“I didn’t cast mind magic.”

“Being able to make people act as if you did, even when you didn’t, is the true peak of magic. Excellent.”

Lee Han wondered whether to throw a tomato from the table.

But there were still coins he hadn’t been paid yet. Lee Han decided to hold on a little longer.

“The bureaucrats were lucky. The sponsors are different…”

“Just do as you did this year and it’ll be enough.”

“What did I do this year?”

“……”

The skeleton headmaster stared at Lee Han like he couldn’t believe it.

-……

The Death Knights also looked at Lee Han with disbelief.

The incredible feats Lee Han had performed in front of this year’s sponsors were everyday occurrences he barely remembered?

“No, I really don’t know. What did I…”

“W-well. Just stay ignorant, then. Outstanding disciple. I’ll be back… Oh, if Pengerine wakes up, tell them to wait for breakfast.”

“Oh? Did you perhaps make a reservation at a capital restaurant?”

“Hmm? No. Pengerine has to eat sardines in front of the sponsors.”

“……”

• * *

The skeleton headmaster hadn’t lied. The sponsors were much more generous and lenient than the bureaucrats.

After all, it was sponsorship spent by people of immense wealth, seeking the honor of supporting the Imperial Magic School, Einrogard.

These people, unlike bureaucrats, didn’t nitpick about efficiency. They laid out their wallets with gusto.

So the skeleton headmaster’s approach shifted as well.

He would subtly induce them to increase their sponsorships by talking about recent student achievements.

“Did you all hear that Einrogard’s students outperformed the alchemist guilds and made a perfect potion?”

“Oh, I heard! Lord Gonadaltes! How amazing!”

“But I heard Einrogard’s polo club lost again…”

“Oh, you really had to mention that?”

Of course, there were times when the skeleton headmaster’s expression twisted, but most of the time, things went smoothly.

The sponsors were especially interested in Lee Han, who was introduced as the skeleton headmaster’s disciple.

It was surprising that someone so young was being treated as a personal disciple, and adding that he was from the Wardanaz family made him all the more intriguing.

No sponsor would forgo such a rare opportunity to establish a connection with a virtually guaranteed future archmage.

Lee Han, unshaken by their attention, maintained a calm manner and handled everything perfectly. The skeleton headmaster shot him a look of approval.

And Alsicle diligently ate sardines.

Maybe it was just his imagination, but every time Alsicle ate a sardine, it seemed the sponsor funding shot up.

“Good work. Today, there were no strange proposals, so it was easy.”

“Strange proposals? Like what…?”

“Rich nobles sometimes get the urge to waste money on useless things.”

The skeleton headmaster said as he walked down the road.

Like Professor Verdus’s outrageous project, sometimes—no, actually quite often—nobles would dream up ridiculous business schemes.

-“Let’s install teleportation devices all across the Empire so you can travel anywhere at any time!”

-“Oh… how would that work?”

-“That’s for the mages to take care of!”

-……

If they weren’t sponsors, you’d slap them and kick them out, but since they were sponsors you had to let them down gently.

If a sponsor went bankrupt with a nonsense project, it would only hurt Einrogard.

“Don’t ever accept anything like those proposals. Sometimes idiots get sponsorships and dive into projects they’re not capable of, but it almost never works out.”

“Uh. So how much sponsorship are we getting?”

“…Did you not hear what I just said??”

“I was just asking.”

The headmaster’s eyes, which had warmed from yesterday, were starting to return to their original state.