Chapter 1344

“Ha ha. Don't worry. You don't seriously think I'd be won over by a palace, do you?”

-Pardon? Just now...

The Death Knight doubted its own ears.

Hadn't the end of that sentence sounded like 'I will' rather than 'do you'?

Lee Han quickly changed the subject.

“Can I use any part of this palace? Remodeling or additions as well...”

“Yes. Of course.”

The servant nodded as though it were only natural. The knight trembled with rage at this despicable tactic.

-They should compete fair and square instead of trying to buy someone off like this! I have to reconsider my opinion of Lord Amaset. He looks so kind, yet he would resort to such schemes!

“I-I'm not quite sure what you mean. Professors normally receive one palace each...”

Startled by the Death Knight's furious outburst, the servant hurriedly explained.

“......”

-......

Lee Han and the knight exchanged glances. The Death Knight simply gave up and said,

-Successor. It would be perfectly understandable if you decided to stay here from now on...

“I won't. Calm down.”

After soothing his escort, Lee Han looked around the palace grounds.

In truth, the visual impact from the outside was overwhelming, but Einroguard also gave its professors plenty of space.

The interiors of the mage towers where each professor lived had been expanded hundreds of times over by drawing on the abundant mana of Einroguard's territory. Magic like that was only possible at Einroguard.

'Of course, if you asked the professors to choose between this palace and an Einroguard mage tower, they'd choose the former...'

Bathed in sunlight, the exterior of the palace gleamed beautifully with gold and dozens of kinds of gemstones. The countless sculptures carved across it created the illusion of visiting an exhibition hall.

The palace had three floors and possessed no separate spatial magic or expansion, but even taking that into account, it was extraordinarily spacious.

Lee Han examined a stained-glass window made of gemstones and wrote something down.

“Hmm. Windows.”

-?

The Death Knight looked puzzled, but Lee Han continued moving without stopping.

“Main gate, rear gate, north gate, south gate... Ah. There are two more secret doors.”

The palace had numerous ornate doors. Each one bore engraved images of dragons, griffins, symbols of religious orders, and more.

They were correspondingly tall and wide. Lee Han carefully calculated their dimensions and made another note.

-??

“The courtyard... Nothing connects beneath the fountain... The walls are a little low, but... well, I can raise them.”

Next came the courtyard in front of the palace. The garden, paved with marble, contained a fountain that announced the passing hours and several fruit trees whose branches hung overhead.

Lee Han tapped the wall with a finger. It seemed to be made from ebony, bluewater wood, and several kinds of metal. That should make it sturdy enough.

-???

The Death Knight stared blankly before belatedly realizing something.

'Is he planning to... Einroguard the palace?'

This was not prejudice. Many Einroguard students reacted similarly.

Even students from the Blue Dragon Tower, if thrown into a place like this, would instinctively try to steal something.

-Successor. You cannot Einroguard this palace. Not only would you eventually be caught, but the magic protecting the entire academy...

“Pardon? No. I'm not trying to steal anything. I'm looking for escape routes.”

-...Ah!

Only then did the Death Knight understand what Lee Han was doing.

If an Einroguard-style lecture was held inside this magical palace, the exits would naturally be sealed, which meant the students would inevitably start thinking about ways to escape.

A good professor anticipated the learning level of their students in advance.

In that regard, Lee Han was an excellent professor. Having escaped so many times himself, he could calculate potential escape routes merely by looking around the palace.

“I'll reinforce the windows, block the entrances, put barrier magic over the walls, and add a few more enchantments to the floor so they can't dig underground.”

And that was not all.

He needed to prepare basic magic in each hall of the palace.

He would have to start with elemental magic. It was the easiest branch of magic to begin with and the foundation of all foundations, so they could not move forward without it.

Once the students had been introduced to that and completed the preparation, he planned to have them use the elements to cast the basic spells unique to each school of magic.

For enchantment magic, for example, it would be good practice to have them imbue warmth into the hide of a monster with a strong fire attribute.

'Is that too difficult? Should I make it easier? Using Whiteflower Grass powder would amplify the attribute and make the spell easier to cast.'

Lee Han himself had been dragged away by Professor Verdus from the very beginning and forced to cast difficult spells without anything resembling basic instruction, but he could not do the same thing to the Valdrogard students.

-The Valdrogard students are going to love this!

“You think so?”

Lee Han was intrigued.

In truth, even Lee Han felt the slightest bit guilty about sealing the palace exits and teaching the students by force.

It was an unavoidable choice for the sake of magic, but wouldn't the Valdrogard students find it too difficult?

But hearing the Death Knight say that restored his confidence.

“That's not all. I'm planning to prepare various methods to lower the difficulty and make it easier for them to get started.”

-The Valdrogard students truly are fortunate.

“Oh, it's not that much. Heh heh.”

Watching Lee Han look pleased with himself, the Death Knight suddenly had a thought.

'But if Successor does all of this work alone, when is he going to have time to train his own magic?'

* * *

Unaware that an ominous and sinister scheme was brewing inside the western magical palace, another banquet was being held in a different palace of Valdrogard.

The only difference was that there seemed to be an unusually large number of guests giving off a strange atmosphere today.

Munch, munch-

“Hey. I told you not to steal food and stuff it inside your clothes.”

“That's why I'm stuffing it into my stomach.”

The most surprising part was that even the Blue Dragon Tower students were acting that way.

Even though they could have eaten the same things if they returned to their families and held a banquet, the moment food appeared in front of them, they instinctively filled their stomachs first.

That was the magic of Einroguard.

“It's a Moonshadow Fruit! How beautiful!”

“Having one on the table truly raises the dignity of this banquet. Ho ho.”

An apple-shaped fruit radiating a silver glow like moonlight appeared high atop the table, drawing exclamations from the guests.

The banquet hall contained countless dishes. Whole roasted lamb with the organs removed, beef shoulder seasoned with spices and garlic, dozens of fresh fish and small birds, fruits such as peaches, grapes, and melons...

Yet all of them seemed to lose their luster before that beautiful moonlit fruit.

“Why do people like that thing when it tastes terrible and is only pretty...”

“Shh. Keep your voice down. Everyone likes it.”

“I bit into one of those when I was starving once, and the astringent taste was so bad I couldn't eat anything for days!”

The guests gradually began whispering among themselves.

There seemed to be some strange people at the banquet.

-What on earth are those people?

-They look like mages... but also like beggars... I'm not really sure.

Fortunately, not all of the Einroguard students had lost their senses.

The students serving as leaders of each tower returned and whispered urgently.

“We confirmed it! He's in the western palace!”

“What is? The food warehouse?”

“...Wardanaz, you bastard!”

They had each disguised themselves as guests and questioned Valdrogard servants and other invitees.

-By the way. I heard an unusual rumor regarding one of Valdrogard's professors this semester.

-Ah! You must mean Professor Seden. The play this time was truly magnificent. And to think we're going to see an even more advanced production next semester...

-...Are there any other rumors besides that?

-Other rumors? Ah! Professor Seden was deeply impressed after seeing a reinterpretation of the play performed at <The Old King's Palace> in the city of Granden, and that reinterpretation was actually...

-Not that! Haven't you heard anything about a newly appointed Professor Wardanaz?

-...That's what I was getting to. The newly appointed Professor Wardanaz was the one who created that reinterpretation... Isn't that astonishingly bold? This professor possesses the unmistakable soul of an artist. This semester at Valdrogard, two artists will passionately...

-......

They had been forced to listen to plenty of nonsense along the way, but in the end, everything pointed to a single conclusion.

There was a newly appointed Professor Wardanaz in the western palace!

After leaving the banquet hall, the Einroguard students whispered among themselves, still unable to believe it.

“There must be some misunderstanding. Maybe it's another member of House Wardanaz.”

'Wouldn't that be even stranger?'

“Actually, I... prepared myself for this. The Principal probably sold him.”

“......”

A heavy silence settled over the students.

Even so, they did not stop. With grim expressions, they walked up the hill. Lights flashed from the distant palace, carrying the distinctive glow of mana produced by magic.

“Wardanaz?”

“...What? How did you guys get h—”

Before Lee Han could finish answering in surprise, the sound of wailing erupted. Flustered, Lee Han asked,

“You aren't actually crying, are you?”

“We really are crying!”

* * *

After wailing for quite some time, his friends finally regained their composure.

Then they looked around the palace and were shocked.

“This is...”

“It's over! Wardanaz is never coming back now!”

“...I am coming back, so calm down.”

“Who would go back to Einroguard after being given a palace like this?! Only a lunatic would go back!”

Lee Han froze at Anglago's shout.

...Would they?

'Come to think of it, why do I absolutely have to go back to Einroguard...'

Thud!

Giselle hurriedly kicked Anglago and silenced him. The other friends beside them clamped their hands over Anglago's mouth.

“No! Wardanaz! You're right. We believe you'll definitely come back!”

It was actually more dangerous to give him time to think deeply about something like this. He might start having unnecessary thoughts.

“So why exactly are you at Valdrogard? The Principal sold you, right?”

“It's somewhat similar.”

“I knew it! That crazy skull bastard!”

Lee Han hurriedly explained before his friends could misunderstand any further.

“Listen. It wasn't entirely the Principal's fault.”

When he explained what had happened with the Principal's duplicate, the students stared at Lee Han in disbelief.

Was this really Wardanaz?

“Wasn't that the kind of scam only a prince would fall for?”

“I think Wardanaz has gotten a little lax because of Gainando. They say intelligence is contagious too.”

“I can hear all of you. Anyway, the Principal wasn't the one who did it.”

At Lee Han's words, his friends exchanged glances.

Then they spoke simultaneously.

“The Principal failed to manage his duplicate, so it's still the Principal's fault.”

“...Is it?”

Lee Han nearly found himself persuaded again.

Now that he heard his friends say it, it did seem that way...

The Death Knight hurriedly intervened. Nothing good would come from letting Lee Han's thoughts head in that direction.

-Students. Since you're here, please help the Successor.

“You mean with escaping!”

“No. It must mean attacking the place and burning the contract.”

“Surely it means stealing the contract. Attacking is too extreme.”

-...That's not what I meant. We're remodeling the palace into a lecture hall...

Boos immediately erupted.

“Of course the Principal's lackey would say that!”

“The Valdrogard students aren't going to listen anyway!”

-Please hear me out! The Successor intends to conduct the lectures the Einroguard way! Do you see that over there? That's a punishment room!

The students who had been booing suddenly fell silent, their eyes beginning to gleam.

Lee Han spoke to his friends.

“Enough, all of you. Go back and prepare for third y—”

The students were already excitedly discussing how they should modify each part of the palace.

Lee Han shook his head.