Chapter 1239

Yoanen accepted her younger sister's advice.

Einroguard's foresight magic school was already practically half-dead. There was no need to waste words on people who were willingly walking down the path to self-destruction.

However, this genius from House Wardanaz defied her expectations once again.

"Well... I think I understand what the professor meant. I can see the logic."

"???"

At those unbelievable words, Yoanen opened her eyes wide and whispered to her younger sister.

"Is he serious?"

"Lee Han probably is..."

To an outsider from Einroguard, understanding a professor who had suggested throwing him over a wall and then running away might seem strange.

But to Yonair, it looked strange.

"Hm?"

"N-no. I misspoke. I meant that from my perspective, I can understand it."

Yonair hurriedly corrected herself.

She had meant to say that it made sense from the perspective of an Einroguard student, but had accidentally said it looked strange. That absolutely was not what she truly thought.

Yoanen looked suspiciously at her younger sister through her amethyst glasses.

'It seems strange even from an Einroguard student's perspective...'

Hearing his friend's elder sister whispering nearby as though she thought he was strange, Lee Han cleared his throat and began explaining.

"I meant that although the professor is an evil and despicable person, I understand the method itself."

Of course, Lee Han himself did not agree with it...

...but he could not deny the fact that in the eyes of a small number of extreme foresight mages, he appeared to be an existence capable of twisting foresight.

It was truly unfortunate.

'There really are a lot of strange mages in the Empire. It can't be helped.'

"Anyway, if the other side believes it, couldn't that become one possible method? You might consider threatening them with it."

'W-why is this guy accepting it so naturally?'

The golem upper-year student was flustered.

If they had been working at a magic tower and overheard juniors talking like, 'The professor said to throw you into Valdrogard and run away,' 'What? Why Valdrogard?' they would have been quite hurt.

Yet this junior was accepting it far too naturally.

Just how much had he been through?!

At the sight, the golem upper-year student felt a pang of conscience. This body might not contain a living, beating heart, but their soul still possessed one.

'Ugh. And I treated a junior like that...'

Even if they wanted to avoid misfortune, treating him so rudely had gone too far.

It was only natural that the alchemist from House Meikin had mocked them.

"Junior. I'm truly sorr... What are you doing?"

The golem upper-year student, who had resolved to call out an apology, stopped when they saw the junior already huddled together with the others writing a letter.

"Pardon? We were writing a letter to Oculoguard."

"...I-I see."

Overwhelmed by the swift and capable junior, the golem upper-year student glanced at the letter.

Just how were they writing it?

...This is a warning to the mages of Oculoguard!

If you ignore our contact even one more time, the mad rider of the apocalypse and monster that devours foresight will invade your territory...

"......"

It's a threatening letter!

"Wait. Lee Han. If the handwriting stays consistent, they might identify it."

"Ah. What a mistake. I'll switch to my left hand."

"I'll write a few letters separately."

"I'll cut letters out of magic books and paste them on!"

...If you ignoreourcontactevenonemoretime,the madriderofthe*apocalypse...

"Much better."

Yoanen looked at her younger sister with an expression no less troubled than the golem upper-year student's.

She knew mages should not be raised like flowers in a greenhouse, but like weeds in a field...

...but weren't they raising them like poisonous weeds rather than ordinary weeds?

'What in the world do they normally do here?'

Jowrin, who had been watching with great interest from the side, spoke up.

"Lee Han. Lee Han."

"Yes?"

"Professor Garcia may dislike this."

"Hah. Do not worry, Your Majesty."

Lee Han looked at Jowrin approvingly. This dragon had made a rather sharp observation.

...Ifyoutellanyoneaboutthis,wewill immediatelyinvade your territory...

"This should do it."

"As expected!"

Jowrin's eyes sparkled like stars. Uman pretended not to see and turned his gaze toward the cell wall.

'Uman saw nothing.'

He knew this was necessary for the future of the Empire, but his heart still found it difficult to accept.

"I think it's roughly finished. Upper-year student. Could you send this letter for us?"

"Wait."

When Professor Voladi spoke, everyone froze.

The golem upper-year student suddenly realized something.

Come to think of it, wasn't the professor the only person here who actually held a faculty position?

There was no way the professor would allow them to send a threatening letter like this.

"My apologies, Professor. We'll change the contents a little..."

"Oculoguard may refuse to read the letter itself, so add magic as well."

Those stubborn foresight mages were highly likely to throw the letter away without even reading it.

To prepare for that, it would be better to enchant the letter so that the moment it was received, it would shout its contents aloud by itself.

"Thank you. I'll do that."

"......"

After hearing the exchange between Lee Han and Professor Voladi, the golem upper-year student said nothing more and took the letter.

They could only hope that this method would work.

"Then I'll go send this..."

"Wait. Upper-year student. You can't just leave."

"Hm?"

The golem upper-year student flinched.

They could not just leave?

Countless thoughts suddenly flashed through their mind.

Could the junior still remember the harsh things they had said earlier and be planning revenge...

"I'm stuck in this punishment room and can't attend my lectures. I need your help."

"Ah."

Come to think of it, this junior was still only a second-year!

***

"Huff. Huff."

"Did something happen?"

When the golem upper-year student returned to Gaksu Hall looking exhausted, the other foresight magic students looked puzzled.

"No... nothing... I merely managed to make my way through a terrifying thorny path of fate."

"Ah. I see."

The second-year students looked confused, but the third-years were not particularly surprised.

Once one delved deeply into foresight magic, one naturally became accustomed to such cryptic ways of speaking.

Foresight mages were the sort of people who, even after skipping lunch, would say something like, 'I prevented satiety from crushing my hunger.'

After resting for a while, the golem upper-year student recovered and checked Lee Han's lectures for the semester.

'Wardanaz... Wardanaz... third-year second-semester lecture, <Avoiding Misfortune and Twisting Fate>...'

It truly was a lecture that junior needed, though there was something ironic about it.

Wasn't it already too late for him to be taking something like this?!

'No. If he starts being careful now, perhaps he can still avoid even greater misfortune.'

That thought had not been very becoming of a foresight mage. The golem upper-year student reflected slightly.

'<The Book of Misfortune and Omens>, <Signs and Shadows>, <Introduction to Avoiding Calamity>, <Talismans and Patterns>...'

"Why are you taking those books?"

One of the juniors asked curiously.

The golem upper-year student had already memorized those books several times over.

"Well... I'm going to take them to the junior from House Wardanaz. He's in the punishment room right now."

"Ah. Because of the evil-god subjugation."

"...?"

The golem upper-year student stopped stacking books.

What had they just said?

"What subjugation?"

"The evil-god subjugation. You know, Wardanaz... apparently he secretly escaped and joined an expedition to subjugate an evil god this time... Didn't you know?"

Not only the golem upper-year student, but several other students who had not gone outside recently were greatly shocked.

Of course, none of their reactions compared to the golem upper-year student's.

No wonder the explanation about grabbing Professor Verdus and beating him had seemed a little strange!

"...Uuuugh. Uuuugh! Professor Kraer...!"

"P-professor? Why are you suddenly saying the professor's name? What's wrong?"

Earlier in the punishment room, the golem upper-year student had thought they had understood everything, but that had been an illusion.

Beneath that truth, another layer of truth had been hidden.

Perhaps the truth of the world itself was like this.

There was no such thing as absolute truth, and everything was...

'Ah. This isn't the time to attain enlightenment.'

The golem upper-year student composed themself. It was shocking, but after the enormous shock they had already suffered earlier, it was somewhat bearable.

"I didn't know. That's surprising."

"You're amazing, upper-year student. When we first heard that Wardanaz had directly faced an evil god and fought it, we thought it was just a ridiculous rumor. We were really shocked."

"...Directly? Cough. Cough!"

The golem upper-year student staggered and coughed out stone dust. The transformation magic they had worked so hard to maintain seemed on the verge of unraveling.

'I think I need to reread <The Book of Misfortune and Omens> myself...'

Seeing the junior begin telling the students who had not heard the news the full story, the golem upper-year student covered their ears.

They did not think they should hear the details right now. They might truly collapse and be unable to endure it.

"...I'll take the books over first."

"Oh, upper-year student. Did you send that letter earlier? I saw a paper bird flying away."

"Yes. I sent it to Oculoguard."

The moment the golem upper-year student answered, negative reactions burst out.

Even the students who had not joined the conversation and had been muttering while performing divinations spoke up.

"I think we can predict the result without even casting a divination."

"Why waste time on those arrogant bastards? We should just ignore them too."

"This time is a little different."

"How?"

"Well..."

The golem upper-year student hesitated.

Einroguard's academic culture normally did not regard threats and deception as shameful, but this was somewhat exceptional.

-The professor suggested throwing the junior over their wall and leaving him there, and the junior agreed it sounded plausible, so we sent them a threatening letter using that.

'Even to me, that sounds incredibly strange.'

"...We wrote it with complete sincerity and devotion."

"Upper-year student. Did you accidentally drink the wrong potion?"

"Can't you not get drunk while you're a golem?"

"......"

The golem upper-year student decided to simply gather the books and leave as quickly as possible.

Once this matter was over, they would hide deep in some desert where no one would ever find them until graduation!

Pop!

At that moment, a paper bird flew in through the window. The students looked puzzled as they checked its contents.

We sincerely apologize for the disrespect we have shown until now.

We have immediately dispatched representatives, so please wait just a little longer.

Oculoguard

"H-how did you do that?"

"...Did you threaten to burn down their territory or something??"

The foresight magic student did not realize that they had accidentally struck upon the truth.

***

"I should thank Lady Meikin during the vacation."

"Lee Han, didn't you say you have to stay here during the vacation too?"

"...I should thank Lady Meikin next semester."

After finishing her work, Yoanen left, and Lee Han remained with his friends to look over the alchemy facilities left inside the solitary cell.

Generously, Yoanen had left behind all the equipment and tools she had brought for her younger sister and her friend.

At this point, it would hardly have been strange to call the place an outright workshop.

"We'll have to take all this with us when we leave..."

"Jowrin can swallow it."

"That's all right. If I accept one more commission, get the magic restriction lifted, and put everything into my bag..."

Lee Han waved his staff.

He had assumed that since the commission was finished, his magic would have been blocked again.

However, his magic was not blocked. Telekinetic force activated, making Gainando's arm move on its own, open a book, and grab a quill.

Gainando screamed.

"No! No!!"

"It's not blocked?"

"Lee Han must have been given special treatment because he's a model prisoner!"

"...I don't think there's anything like that. Probably..."

Lee Han looked puzzled.

Just then, the door at the top of the stairs opened, and the golem upper-year student appeared looking several times more haggard than usual.

"Upper-year student. Did you perhaps lift the restriction?"

"Hm? Ah... yes. Guests came. It's probably because of that."

"What commission are they here for?"

Lee Han had accepted so many commissions that he could not immediately guess.

However, the guests who had arrived this time were not there because of a commission.

The mages from Oculoguard poured inside in a group, threw themselves to the floor, and prostrated themselves completely.

"......"

"Did those people lose a bet like Professor Verdus too?"

Jowrin asked curiously.