Chapter 1237

'Professor Thunderwalk is as shameless as ever.'

After putting some distance between them, the golem student checked the surroundings. Fortunately, Professor Thunderwalk did not seem to be secretly following.

Since the professor would dump his own work onto a student the moment they let their guard down, he could never be underestimated.

"I came on Professor Kraer's orders."

-Come in.

The Death Knights opened the door to the punishment area for professors.

After entering, the golem student stopped. There was something that had to be done before going any farther down.

'All right. Shall I open it?'

The golem student took a tightly sealed piece of parchment from inside his robes.

In fact, the reason the golem student had been unable to tell Professor Thunderwalk exactly why he was going to the punishment area for professors was simple.

He did not know exactly either.

A true secret was best preserved when even the mage carrying it did not know.

It might seem like a somewhat eccentric method of delivery, but such things were common among foresight mages, who paid attention to every seemingly meaningless action.

-Now. Once you enter the punishment area, open this letter. Never open it before you arrive! If you do, something dangerous will happen to you!

-Understood.

-Something really, really dangerous will happen, so absolutely do not open it beforehand!

-I-I understand.

The golem student did not know what dangerous future his master had foreseen, but he trusted the professor.

The professor could occasionally be selfish and use disciples as shields against the future, but was usually trustworthy...

To avoid misfortune, follow the instructions below in order.

1. Go down together with the Death Knights.

2. Once you reach the intended floor, ask the knights to lock the door from the outside.

3. Talk with the mage on that floor about Oculoguard.

'This is difficult. The future is always abstruse.'

The golem student sank into careful thought.

The more one learned foresight magic, the more one realized that before the vast ocean that was the future, a mage was no more than a single leaf.

Growing proud because one had discovered a small fragment of the future was like growing proud because one had seen a current brush past. Meanwhile, a storm and tidal wave might already be approaching overhead.

These instructions were difficult, but they were not completely impossible to guess at.

'Does telling me to go down with the Death Knights mean the person is dangerous? Honestly, I thought it would be Professor Verdus... No. Professor Verdus could be dangerous too.'

Thinking about it that way, asking the knights to lock the door from outside also made sense.

Professor Verdus might try to escape.

But the final instruction was truly impossible to understand.

Oculoguard, the magic academy where the Empire's madness-filled foresight mages gathered to sharpen their powers of prediction.

Naturally, Einroguard's foresight magic school had exchanges with them as well.

They were not as close as Einroguard's dark magic school and Kalarogard (though those two were unusually close), but as members of the same field, it was only natural that there would be some interaction.

But why was he supposed to talk about Oculoguard with Professor Verdus?

'What in the world could they possibly have to do with each other?'

Other than sending Professor Verdus's head to the mages of Oculoguard as a gift, nothing came to mind.

For now, the golem student stopped guessing and took action.

"Could you perhaps come down with me?"

-I see. That makes sense.

The Death Knights nodded as though they understood the golem student's request.

At present, anyone trying to make the successor work had to be prepared to risk their life.

The outsiders who had submitted commissions were at least outsiders, but if someone from within Einroguard had made him work for personal gain...

...Perhaps it was only natural to bring an escort along.

However, this student seemed to be misunderstanding one thing.

'If Professor Garcia comes flying in, we're stepping aside.'

'To think he failed to consider that. Truly unfortunate.'

The knights exchanged glances.

They had little intention of interfering in matters between professors and students.

Especially if the professor involved was an enraged Professor Garcia!

"And once I go inside, could you lock the outer door? Please don't open it until the designated amount of time has passed."

-Shouldn't you be locking the inside rather than the outside? Well, all right. We can do that much.

The knights' remark made the golem student even more uneasy.

Hadn't the divination already said that a great calamity awaited him this week?

Just what kind of situation was waiting for him...

Creeeak-

The golem student carefully opened the door and stepped onto the stairs.

"Professor. I've reflected on what I did. Please let me participate in Eandurde's exam again."

"Jowrin will beg together with him!"

"Uman also does not believe that Lee Han of House Wardanaz would make the same mistake..."

"???"

The punishment-area corridor was far more lively than expected, and the golem student descended the stairs with a strange feeling.

Then he poked his head out.

The first person he spotted was Professor Bagreg.

'Ah. Did Professor Kraer tell me to be careful because it was Professor Bagreg?'

But then there would be even less reason to talk about Oculoguard.

The next people he spotted only confused the golem student further.

'Her Majesty Jowrin... and even the Inspector? What? Why?'

For a moment, he wondered whether the Skull Principal had attacked the Inspector and locked him up.

Finally, he saw the back of a familiar student's head. Hearing the heavy footsteps, Lee Han turned around.

"Ah! Upper-year student!"

"...Nooooooooo!!!!"

At that moment, the golem student realized everything and howled like a mage from an old tale.

All the clues fit together like pieces of a puzzle, strongly warning of a single future.

Doom!

"???"

"What's wrong?"

Even Yonair, who had been working with Yoanen in another cell, ran out in confusion.

Lee Han and his friends were bewildered by the sight of the golem upper-year student wailing.

"Why are they acting like that?"

"Isn't it because His Highness Uman is here?"

"K-kugh. Everyone... I'm sorry..."

While Uman apologized, the golem upper-year student howled once again.

"To think it was Wardanaz! Professor Kraer, you! You've abandoned me to Wardanaz twice now!"

"......"

Lee Han looked slightly hurt.

Wasn't that a little too much?

"No. Come on. Saying the professor abandoned you to me... Isn't that a little harsh?"

"Open it! Open it!!"

The golem upper-year student ignored Lee Han and ran back up the stairs, pounding on the door.

Naturally, the Death Knights pretended not to hear.

-Ah. So this is why they asked us to lock it from the outside.

-How clever. Foresight mages really can see the future.

"I said open it!!"

***

Only after some time had passed did the golem upper-year student regain composure.

Or perhaps they had simply resigned themself to the situation somewhat. The accomplished alchemists brewed a potion that would work even on a golem and offered it over, but the student merely shook their head with a sorrowful motion.

"Um, please don't be too discouraged. This isn't such a bad place either."

"...I didn't come here to be locked in the punishment area. I came to deliver a message from my professor..."

"Pardon? Professor Kraer? Why didn't the professor come personally?"

"Exactly!"

The golem upper-year student furiously pounded the floor.

That despicable bastard!

Lee Han was honestly still a little bothered by the rude things the other student had said earlier, but since they were an upper-year student, he spoke first anyway.

"There's actually been some exaggeration surrounding the recent incident."

"The recent incident?"

The golem upper-year student asked back in confusion.

What recent incident?

"...Uh, do you perhaps... not know what happened recently?"

"What happened?"

Lee Han realized that because the other student rarely went outside, they had not heard any of the rumors at all.

'I see. So Professor Kraer was aiming for that. Despicable, but brilliant. Truly worthy of a foresight mage!'

"It's nothing. Nothing much happened."

The golem upper-year student was not fooled.

If he had done nothing wrong, then why was this junior here?

"If nothing happened, why are you here?"

"I punched Professor Verdus a few times while walking down the road. There were mitigating circumstances, so I ended up here."

It was an incredibly halfhearted lie, but strangely persuasive at the same time.

Both the motive and the result made sense.

"Then why is Professor Bagreg..."

"The professor was holding him from behind so he couldn't run away."

The golem upper-year student was left speechless. By this point, they were afraid even to ask about the two members of the Imperial Family.

Had those two thrown punches too?

'Maybe those two punched the principal...'

While the other student was still reeling from the shock, Lee Han seized control of the conversation.

"But if you haven't even heard any strange rumors recently, why were you so shocked? You had no reason to be surprised, did you?"

"There's a great calamity awaiting me this week."

"Yes."

"I said there's a great calamity awaiting me this week?"

"......"

For a moment, Lee Han almost lost his temper.

This upper-year student...!

"Is there any guarantee that has anything to do with me? Should a foresight mage whose job is to read the future really be holding prejudices like that?"

"Do I really need to remind you that last semester you were walking around with the principal's duplicate, and this semester you frightened Professor Kraer badly enough to make the professor run away?"

"......"

As expected, Einroguard's upper-year students were not easy opponents. Lee Han cursed inwardly.

"Fine. We're just talking past each other, so let's stop."

"From where I'm standing, I don't think we're talking past each other..."

"Why did you come here?"

"Because of Oculoguard. I see. Now I finally understand. I was wondering why the professor sent me."

The golem upper-year student nodded while speaking.

They had wondered why they had been told to go all the way to the punishment area for professors just to talk about another magic academy, but if the person involved was this junior, it made sense.

He was only a second-year, but his reputation was already widespread, and several magic towers had taken a strong interest in him.

If it was this junior, there was a good chance he could gain an advantage even in negotiations with the notoriously inflexible Oculoguard.

"Oculoguard? Ah, you mean the magic academy for foresight mages?"

"Right. Professor Kraer is currently trying to contact Oculoguard and arrange an exchange. Or at least something similar."

Lee Han was not surprised.

He knew where that idea had started.

Just during this vacation, Professor Garcia had visited the magic academy Petroguard and attempted to establish contact...

'Professor Garcia must have brought it up with Professor Kraer.'

Even His Majesty the Emperor had considerable interest in exchanges and cooperation among these magic academies.

If the people of the Empire (especially the bureaucrats) saw it, they might realize that these eccentric mages did more than simply cause trouble and were actually contributing to the continent.

Of course, the magic academies themselves were not interested.

Most of the Empire's magic academies disliked one another.

"I think I understand what you mean. I've heard something similar myself."

"Really?! That's good."

"Wait. Could we discuss something among ourselves for a moment?"

The golem upper-year student was surprised by the junior's request, but nodded.

Clearly, they had something serious to discuss regarding Oculoguard.

Once the other student moved some distance away, Lee Han whispered to Professor Voladi.

"Professor. Is the soundproofing magic properly in place?"

"Yes."

"Good. What I'm wondering is..."

Yoanen listened intently to what her younger sister's friend was saying.

Was he perhaps about to prepare some kind of magical scheme to persuade or win over Oculoguard?

"...About the upper-year student who came here to put this job on me. In Professor Garcia's eyes, do you think they're guilty or innocent?"

"Innocent, probably? This is official business, at least."

"Jowrin thinks they're guilty. It's official business, but that doesn't mean it's something Lee Han should have to do!"

"......"

Yoanen could not believe that the future talents who would one day lead the Empire had gathered together and were seriously having this conversation.