Episode 629

“If he weren’t an Einrogard student, I’d have made him my adjutant.”

“Right, right. I once wanted to use a dragon as my mount, too. But the dragon didn’t care for it,” the skeleton principal replied flatly.

If Wardanaz were appointed as House Moradi’s adjutant, the emperor would immediately get in touch.

He’d say: Are you rebelling against me now…?

“I’m aware.”

“Still, it would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

“?”

The patriarch gave the skeleton principal a questioning look at her words.

The skeleton principal gestured towards Lee Han and Giselle.

“Aren’t those two getting along well? It’s rare for students from different towers to be friendly even outside.”

For such an efficiency-minded patriarch, it was naturally pleasing that his children maintained good relations with Lee Han.

After all, just interacting with the Wardanaz family wasn’t easy, and his children being close with one of them was fortunate indeed.

By now, the patriarch might even be excitedly putting together a mental plan for “acquiring northern hegemony with House Wardanaz.”

“It isn’t good.”

“??”

But the response was unexpected. The patriarch had coldly denied it.

The skeleton principal was puzzled.

“Why not?”

“It’s foolish. Wasting what little time remains on sword duels. They should have been discussing the future of the estate…”

“……”

The skeleton principal was appalled.

So basically…

Was he regretting that his children played with friends instead of using the time for estate business??

‘What a madman.’

“Are you joking?”

“I’m quite serious. They can build friendships back at Einrogard.”

“……”

To be fair, the patriarch might have wanted to discuss the estate’s future with this rare talent he’d found.

But if your child’s playing with friends, most people would say, “Heh heh, you can discuss the estate later, so go ahead and bond with your friend.”

To say, “My business comes first, you can socialize at Einrogard,”—that was something only someone truly unusual could say.

“…Next time you visit, I’ll just book your entire schedule.”

“That was my intention anyway.”

The patriarch looked at the skeleton principal as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

He was already planning to book out all of Lee Han’s time in advance, so Ziklin or Giselle couldn’t interfere next time.

Faced with such unyielding seriousness and a total lack of humor, the skeleton principal felt a headache developing in her non-existent skull.

“Hey. Bring me some liquor.”

“Your Excellency would like a drink?”

“What, undead can’t have a drink?”

“No, that’s not it.”

The attendant hurriedly brought over a bottle in fright. The skeleton principal grimaced and knocked back the clear liquid.

“Patriarch.”

While Giselle was taking a brief break, Lee Han approached.

He looked at the skeleton principal and asked,

“Principal, you’re drinking al… No, what are you doing!”

“What, undead can’t drink?”

The skeleton principal splashed booze at Lee Han from her cup. Lee Han dodged left and right to avoid it. He had quick reflexes after getting a taste of Ziklin.

“What brings you, Wardanaz?”

“I’ve brought a gift to commemorate this visit.”

Lee Han pulled out his present.

It was a bottle of -Knight’s Delight-, a 40-year-old liquor he’d received from the Beechwood Knights.

He’d rather sell it at heart, but it was a bit iffy to do so. If he ran into that knight order at the Imperial markets, things could get complicated.

Better to see the big picture and use it as a bribe—no, as a gift.

“I present this gift to the patriarch who leads the shield of the North.”

“…Thank you.”

The patriarch accepted it without much reaction, but the skeleton principal could tell he was deeply moved.

‘Digging his own grave even deeper.’

The skeleton principal clicked her tongue at Lee Han.

She figured if Lee Han visited again, he’d be better off just going to the underground dungeon.

At least down there, there wouldn’t be a patriarch constantly talking his ear off!

• * *

“Ugh, uurrgh. Uuurrgh.”

On the day of departure from the estate.

Alsicle lay groaning in the carriage’s sleeping compartment.

To be popular among knights, you needed a strong liver.

Everyone you met offered you booze—there was no way not to get drunk.

“Can’t you use magic to sober up?”

“Still dying from the hangover…”

Magic wasn’t all-powerful.

Especially not for a drunken mage.

No matter how good the spell, it was useless for a drunk mage.

“Can’t we ask the principal for help?”

“Ha ha. You think I’d actually help?”

The skeleton principal answered with great delight.

Lee Han shook his head.

“I’m not just being mean. There’s no reason to forcibly speed up the natural healing process with magic. You learned that, didn’t you?”

“Ah. I did.”

It was easy to misunderstand magic as fundamentally bending the laws of the world to the mage’s will, but the first thing mages learned was restraint.

There was a saying that the more you relied on magic, the more likely you were to be devoured by it.

‘But I feel like the principal just wants to see Alsicle suffer.’

“Did everything end well for you in the North?”

“Yeah. Thanks to you, it wrapped up more smoothly. Never seen Ziderf that happy before.”

“He didn’t seem all that happy, though?”

“That’s as happy as he gets. Trust me.”

The skeleton principal spoke, gazing at the receding northern mountains.

“The dangers of the Empire’s wild frontiers aren’t just from the harsh environment. The stagnant mana there can produce all sorts of changes.”

The harsher the environment, the denser the mana pooled there.

For guardians of the Empire, that was genuinely terrifying.

Anywhere in the vast empire, dimensional rifts could open and beings from other worlds could burst through at any time.

The northern mountains were infamous for that. That’s why ranger groups like the Shadow Patrol existed.

“You always need to pay attention and watch for changes.”

“…?”

Lee Han was bewildered as the skeleton principal suddenly shifted from talking about House Moradi’s patriarch to the safety of the northern mountains and the empire.

Why was she telling him this?

“Oh, yes. Understood.”

“Right. As if dealing with monsters from other dimensions wasn’t bad enough, now cultists of dark gods are running wild… Trouble always comes in groups.”

The skeleton principal sighed and pulled out a letter.

Unpleasant as it was, it was a duty.

With the situation in the north, she’d have to send in mages for investigation.

Scribble!

The skeleton principal wrote a letter in one go, then let it fly like a bird out the carriage window.

“Spending what little gold I have for research just to track down damned cultists… Makes me want to grind my own bones to dust.”

There was an ominous tone to the principal’s words. Lee Han agreed quickly.

“Just lock them up in the underground punishment room forever!”

“Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

“……”

As they traveled, another letter flew into the carriage.

The skeleton principal tore it open and read.

“What is it?”

“Just when I thought it was over, I got another request. The bishop of the Bildockal Order wants a consultation.”

“Bildockal Order—that’s…”

Lee Han considered.

“The Order of the Night, right?”

“They’re a thieves’ order.”

“…I was being polite about it.”

Bildockal, god of night and thieves.

To outsiders, that might sound like an evil god—“Why would the Empire let a god like that be worshipped?”—but in truth, the priests of Bildockal weren’t actually thieves.

The priests worshiped Bildockal as the embodiment and symbol of night.

…The problem was, thieves also worshiped Bildockal passionately.

The tradition ran so deep that by now almost no one remembered him as the “god of the night”—only as the “god of night and thieves.”

‘Ratford worshipped Bildockal, didn’t he?’

Although Ratford wasn’t particularly devout, sometimes he’d throw a coin and ask for good luck—so that was already more devout than Lee Han.

“Why is the Bildockal Order calling you, Principal? Wait. Did you attack their priests?”

“It’s because one of their initiates is set to enroll. They wouldn’t summon me just for beating up priests.”

‘Shouldn’t you at least deny attacking them…?’

The skeleton principal, unusually, hesitated.

“Is there a problem with that junior?”

“No. I just don’t want to talk to those priests. Makes me feel dumber.”

“…Let’s get this over with. It’s the last, right?”

Deciding to just get through the overtime quickly, Lee Han nudged the principal forward.

• * *

Sometimes, thieves held lofty hopes of “joining the Bildockal Order to learn the true arts of the night,” and would visit the temple, only to turn back at the door.

From the moment you entered, you were greeted by utter darkness.

This was unique to the temples of the Bildockal Order.

Lee Han and the skeleton principal entered casting a dark vision spell.

Surprisingly, the order’s priests moved about easily in the darkness as if it was nothing.

“Where’s the thief boss?”

“…Gonadaltes, we’re not thieves. We are servants of the god of the night…”

“Yes, yes. Thief boss.”

Even in the darkness, the priests wore unmistakably resentful faces as they looked at the skeleton principal.

Lee Han, embarrassed, tried to act like he wasn’t with the group, but the principal mercilessly grabbed his arm and dragged him.

“Gonadaltes, you’re here.”

“?”

When Lee Han opened the door to the bishop’s chamber, he widened his eyes.

No one was there, but he heard a voice.

The skeleton principal said to Lee Han,

“Still inexperienced. Don’t think you’re safe just because you pierced the darkness.”

“!”

Only then did Lee Han realize he’d been too reliant on dark vision spell.

Every spell always had counters and countermeasures.

‘Divine magic!’

If it was the bishop of the Bildockal Order, she might be able to call forth a darkness that not even dark vision could pierce.

Lee Han shut his sight and focused on his magical senses. At last, he felt a unique magical presence ahead.

Slowly, like his eyes adjusting to darkness, he perceived the bishop’s form.

The bishop was an old woman with a gentle air.

“Say hello. Wardanaz. This is Ines of the Gre family. And this is Lee Han of the Wardanaz family.”

“Gonadaltes, it’s good to see you. As energetic as ever.”

“You have my sympathies for supporting the thieves.”

Lee Han quickly interjected to keep the mood from turning chilly.

“You mean the priests, right. Ha ha.”

“No, I meant actual thieves. This Ines here literally puts out meals for the local thieves.”

“…?”

“Charity. Charity. Like what you do for those pitiful students from other towers.”

‘But I get paid for that…’

Ines’s look of admiration made Lee Han miss his chance to clarify.

“I’d rather use the punishment room.”

“There’s a time for rooms and a time for a meal.”

Even at the principal’s flat reply, the bishop maintained her dignity.

“So, why did you call? If your new student doesn’t want to go to Einrogard because of prayer, just convince them. How hard is that?”

“That’s not it. Gonadaltes, I wanted to consult with you about a tiny problem with the new initiate.”

“Divine magic awakening? Psychic power? Magic aversion? Noblephobia? That last one’s fine. Actually good. At Einrogard you can beat nobles up within imperial law.”

“Actually, the new student offered the place is a thief.”

“…Now this is admirable. Is the Bildockal Order finally living up to its reputation?”

“Please, enough.”

Lee Han tugged at the principal’s sleeve, trying to stop her.