Chapter 1342

“Those despicable bastards. Just you wait!”

“Alhild... I think those people are our seniors...”

“Those despicable bastards. Just you wait and see!”

“I agree!”

While the two juniors ground their teeth, Lee Han continued talking with Alshicle.

“More importantly, why are you here, Lord Alshicle? Don’t tell me you brought the juniors here for a tour of Oculoguard?”

“Yeah. Alhild asked me to.”

Lee Han looked at him with respect.

To take precious time out of vacation (strictly speaking, it was not vacation for Alshicle) and bring his juniors all the way to Oculoguard.

If nothing else, in terms of devotion, he was better than Einroguard’s upper-year students.

Noticing Lee Han’s gaze, Alshicle flapped his wings in embarrassment.

“It’s nothing. I just made an appointment and brought them here.”

“Oculoguard isn’t exactly an easy place to visit. Let me thank you on their behalf.”

“If only those two were even one-tenth as considerate as you!”

At Alshicle’s words, the two first-year juniors spoke from behind him.

“We are grateful too.”

“That’s right! Thank you!”

“Hmph. Saying it now won’t... Anyway, Wardanaz. Are you going back to Valdrogard now?”

“Yes. I’ve finished Oculoguard’s work, so I ? NоvеIight ? (Original source) should return.”

At Lee Han’s answer, Alshicle looked at him with a mixture of pity, concern, confusion, and several other emotions.

“Can’t you say you had an accident and can’t go?”

“Lord Alshicle. They can hear you.”

“Can’t you say you had an accident and can’t go?”

“You might as well use telepathic speech.”

-What if you had an accident...

“No. And don’t worry too much. I’ve made preparations of my own.”

‘Preparations?’

Alshicle tilted his head.

He had difficulty imagining what Lee Han could possibly have prepared as a Valdrogard professor.

‘Is he planning to tell the students to study on their own while he practices his own magic? If that’s the preparation, I can understand.’

“I’m not planning to slack off. I actually prepared lectures.”

“Don’t read people’s minds. More importantly, you prepared lectures?”

“Yes. I’m going to teach the Valdrogard students the joy of magic.”

“!”

Alshicle was greatly shocked.

If that was actually possible, it might become an achievement remembered forever in Imperial history.

‘But is something like that even possible?’

He knew this genius junior’s abilities were extraordinary, but that did not mean there were no limits to them.

Wouldn’t assassinating Lord Gonadaltes be easier than teaching Valdrogard students the joy of magic?

“We already know the joy of magic.”

“So do I!”

When the Valdrogard students beside them agreed, the Einroguard juniors bristled this time.

“Hmph. When it comes to the joy of magic, Valdrogard cannot compare to Einroguard.”

“We use magic every moment of every day. Just recently, we were using magic so we wouldn’t freeze to death.”

“Could both of you be quiet?”

Lee Han shut the juniors up.

Stories about Einroguard were not particularly helpful when trying to teach Valdrogard students the joy of magic.

“Wardanaz. Good luck. I’ll visit from time to time.”

“Ah. If you really are going to visit... could you bring as many ice-type summons as possible when you come? Please make sure they have good surveillance and tracking capabilities.”

“That wouldn’t be difficult, but why?”

Alshicle looked puzzled.

Valdrogard was not Einroguard, so why would he need ice-type summons?

And not even for protection. Lee Han specifically wanted surveillance and tracking functions.

“I’ll tell you if you come visit.”

“We’ll definitely visit too!”

Alhild shouted from beside them, eyes blazing.

Lee Han and Alshicle answered at the same time.

“You need to study at Einroguard.”

“......”

Alhild had always respected both Lee Han and Alshicle, but for the first time today, a rebellious feeling surged up inside.

Leaving his house junior alone, Alshicle continued speaking with Lee Han.

“But will your magic be all right? You’ll have a lot to do this semester.”

“I plan to practice during my free time at Valdrogard.”

“That doesn’t sound easy...”

From behind the worried Alshicle, Professor Marhajin, thin as a scarecrow, suddenly poked their head out.

“Professor Wardanaz will take this.”

“What is it?”

“The microcosm magic you requested.”

Professor Marhajin held out a grimoire containing foresight-type microcosm magic.

After Lee Han rejected all the other spells offered as compensation, this microcosm was what remained.

Choosing the most difficult magic of all certainly lived up to his reputation.

“...Uh, is there anything else?”

“This was the last one.”

“......”

‘So I worried for nothing. He’ll practice magic properly wherever he goes.’

Alshicle realized inwardly that his concern had been unnecessary.

This junior was the kind of person who would never neglect magic no matter where he was thrown.

***

Yonair and the others were combing through the city’s bookstore district and buying grimoires indiscriminately.

Once they entered third year, they would have to choose their own research, so except for students who considered themselves truly brilliant or truly fearless, everyone felt at least a little nervous.

“Bookstores really are amazing. You can buy books just by paying money!”

“Hey... people are staring at us, so say it more quietly...”

Einroguard students who came outside after spending time at the academy always reacted in similar ways.

They would look at something utterly ordinary and react as though thinking, ‘Something this convenient existed?!’

Every time they entered Einroguard’s library, they had to form a party, prepare all kinds of defensive magic, and secure escape methods, so a bookstore where they could simply pay money and purchase magic books felt incredibly comfortable.

“More importantly, will it be all right if they have to stay trapped inside the whole time?”

“Yeah. I’m worried.”

Listening to her friends talk, Yonair thought to herself.

‘Who are they talking about?’

Both Lee Han and Gainando were trapped inside, so she could not tell.

“Ah. There’s a dark magic grimoire here. Should we buy it as a present?”

“Good idea. It might help.”

‘Hmm. I still can’t tell.’

Unfortunately, both of them belonged to the dark magic school, so that still did not narrow it down.

“No. They’ve probably already mastered everything around the third circle.”

“That’s true. Let’s find something harder.”

‘It’s Lee Han!’

Yonair realized the answer.

There was absolutely no way they were talking about Gainando.

“Meikin, Meikin. What do you think of this dark magic grimoire? Does it look good enough to give Wardanaz as a present?”

“I think it’s more appropriate for Gainando’s level than Lee Han’s.”

At Yonair’s answer, the Blue Dragon Tower student’s expression hardened.

“There’s no present for a snack thief.”

“......”

At Einroguard, grudges over food did not disappear easily.

Especially since everyone had suffered food shortages this semester.

“But this bookstore is better than I expected. I was prejudiced because it’s near Valdrogard, but maybe I was wrong.”

The Einroguard students were currently in the city of Ileinas.

It was a beautiful city in the western Empire, located near Valdrogard.

A little farther west lay a coastline famous for its sunsets and all sorts of magnificent natural scenery, while climbing the hills to the north led to Valdrogard, which was made up of palaces.

When the Einroguard students first arrived, they had not expected much from the city’s bookstores.

Above all, was this not a city near Valdrogard?

There could not possibly be any useful grimoires in a place like that.

Yet surprisingly, they kept finding magic books that were better than expected.

The secondhand bookstores in particular had many useful finds.

“This <Elemental Chain Spellbook> only has a little scribbling on the first page. Everything after that is clean!”

“My <Theory of Abyssal Summoning> is the same. Other than some jousting formation doodles, it’s practically new.”

“Everyone. Looking for books is fine, but you haven’t forgotten why we came here, right?”

“Of course not, Meikin. You don’t have to worry.”

There was only one reason the busy Einroguard students had gone out of their way to come all the way to the city in front of Valdrogard.

An utterly ridiculous rumor.

-Wardanaz became a Valdrogard professor?

-Nonsense! You might as well tell me Professor Verdus became a Valdrogard professor!

-That might actually make me a little happy... Anyway, this is obviously ridiculous.

-I heard the Principal sold him off for a huge amount of money.

-...I knew it! I knew it!

-He’s absolutely the kind of person who would do that!

Valdrogard had bragged about it so much that there was no way the rumor would not spread elsewhere.

Shaken by the ominous rumor, Lee Han’s friends began trying to verify it.

First, they sent letters to Gainando.

Since he was trapped inside during vacation, they sent them quite carefully, worried that he might be feeling depressed.

Hey! You prince bastard! I heard Wardanaz became a Valdrogard professor. What the hell does that mean?!

I heard Lee Han took a position as a Valdrogard professor. That’s just a false rumor, right? He’s still there with you, right? If you were together and you still let him take the position, don’t call yourself our relative once we’re back in the tower. We don’t know each other, got it?

LordGainandoIwantedtoaskyousomethingwhichiswhyIwrotethisletterrightnowatValdrogard...

Of course, no meaningful answer came back from Gainando.

Meanwhile, the rumors only grew more rampant, and the Einroguard students became increasingly restless.

Eventually, someone unable to endure it any longer shouted.

-Are we just going to keep talking like this? We’re mages. We should use our time more productively!

-R-Right. We should be preparing for third year instead...

-Let’s all infiltrate Valdrogard and check whether the rumor is true!

-Waaaaah!

If Lee Han had heard them, he would have smacked every one of them across the back.

It was difficult to imagine a more wasteful use of time!

At present, the Einroguard students were killing time in the city of Ileinas while waiting for Valdrogard’s gates to open.

This magic academy periodically invited outsiders for banquets, so if the timing was right, they could get inside too.

“Foresight magic school, have you still not found someone with an invitation? Hurry up! The alchemy school needs time to forge a copy!”

“Transformation magic school is ready! If you wear this, you’ll look roughly like a noble.”

“Can I keep wearing this from now on? It’s annoying having to find proper clothes and change every time I leave Einroguard.”

“No. It only lasts about thirty minutes.”

“Found one! My mouse spirit heard it! There’s a guest invited to a banquet at Valdrogard on the second floor of the café up ahead!”

“Everyone move! We steal the invitation, copy it, and put it back!”

“Preparing illusion magic... second floor... Good! Go in now!”

The Einroguard students moved like precision gears.

Unlike students from other years, these second-years had coordinated with one another countless times.

Their movements were correspondingly thorough and left no openings.

Moreover, because they could use magic from many different schools, they could deal with most obstacles that came their way.

Clatter-clatter-

At that moment, a carriage passed along the main road.

It bore the emblem of Valdrogard.

“?”

“What is it, Professor?”

“I thought I sensed magic over there... It must have been my imagination.”

“We’re getting close to a magic academy. It wouldn’t be strange for there to be magic around.”

‘That doesn’t seem right.’

Lee Han thought so, but smiled kindly out of consideration for the Valdrogard students.

But seriously, what was that?