Chapter 1258

'Come to think of it, I don’t think I saw Professor Voladi while I was talking with my friends earlier...'

The Einroguard students knew very well that those two master and disciple could easily carry out a combination threat.

What if one of them had drawn attention outside while the other threatened people inside the inn?

'That sounds plausible!'

“......”

Of course, that was not the case. The very innocent Lee Han thought to himself.

'Do they dislike the idea of me visiting Dekarogard?'

He had somewhat conflicting feelings about it.

For one thing, he felt a little wronged. Oculoguard had been the same way, so why did they dislike the very idea of him visiting so much?

'What did I even do? ...Hmm. I suppose I did do something.'

Lee Han quickly reflected on himself.

Dekarogard’s school culture had been so fresh and intense that he seemed to have gotten excited without realizing it.

But if one really traced the cause, this was Dekarogard’s school rules at fault. Lee Han had merely shown respect for the other party.

'And...'

Separate from feeling wronged, Lee Han knew very well how he ought to behave at times like this.

If Dekarogard’s school rule was ‘extort gold,’ then what was Einroguard’s?

If the enemy revealed a weakness, attack even more fiercely!

There were other school rules too, such as ‘Never forgive an informer,’ ‘Don’t throw away the bones after hunting,’ and ‘Never trust the Principal.’

“Do you perhaps dislike the idea of me visiting Dekarogard?”

“What nonsense. If a young genius like you visits the magic academy, it would be excellent stimulation.”

Professor Ukablock answered without changing his expression in the slightest.

Rattle rattle rattle-

However, his hand was trembling so violently that all the tea in his cup was spilling out.

“...I won’t go, so please make sure you deliver this properly to Professor Garcia.”

“I told you that you’re welcome to visit, didn’t I? But understood! Haha. I’ll make sure it reaches Professor Garcia no matter what!”

Seeing how delighted the other party was, Lee Han felt bitter.

To think he was this happy simply because Lee Han would not come...

“Ah. And keep the fact that you met me a secret.”

“I understand. Your devotion to your teacher is truly moving.”

“That isn’t really the reason... Anyway, I’m counting on you. If you make a mistake, I’ll pitch a tent on Dekarogard territory next semester and live there.”

“......”

“......”

***

Professor Garcia went to the capital’s famous <Rock Spirit’s Apple Jam Café> and bought hot coffee, apple pie, and stone soup. A soft, sweet aroma drifted upward.

The rock spirit recognized the professor and greeted Garcia warmly. The spirit pointed beside the professor, circled a finger next to its own head, then shrugged as if asking where someone was.

“The Principal didn’t come.”

The rock spirit grinned and walked away.

Professor Garcia carefully gathered the gifts and headed toward the place where the Oculoguard mages were staying.

'I apologize for the discourtesy that occurred this time. Although some rather harsh language was used...'

After going over the apology prepared in advance once more in mind, Professor Garcia sent a paper bird from beneath the spire.

It was better to ask permission beforehand rather than climb up however one pleased. Especially when coming to apologize.

Bang!

“!”

Professor Garcia was startled to see the Oculoguard mages immediately burst through the spire’s door and rush outside.

Anyone watching might have thought they had been waiting below the tower.

But surely that was not the case...

“Why are you all down here? What about your magic?”

“We were about to go out for a while.”

“???”

Oculoguard mages and going out.

There could hardly be two words that fit together less naturally.

Even when they came to the capital, weren’t they the sort of people who stayed somewhere quiet and focused only on magic?

Professor Garcia was bewildered.

“For what?”

“......”

This time, the Oculoguard mages were bewildered.

They looked at one another, trying to push the responsibility onto someone else, before eventually forcing out an answer.

“We were going sightseeing.”

“?????”

Professor Garcia’s confusion reached its peak.

'Could another duplicate of the Principal have appeared in the capital?'

Considering what had happened at the Hall of Gold as well, if incomprehensible things like this kept occurring one after another, there was a good chance some larger reason lay behind them.

It was far too strange to dismiss as simple coincidence!

“I-I see. Sightseeing... Sightseeing is nice. The capital is beautiful, after all...”

For now, Professor Garcia decided to stop asking questions.

As someone who had come to apologize, asking things like ‘Why are you all down here?’ or ‘Why are you going sightseeing in the capital?’ also felt a little strange.

“More importantly, I came to apolo—”

“There is no need, Professor Kim.”

“What? You know what I was going to say...”

“Did you not come to apologize for what happened this time?”

“!”

Professor Garcia was impressed.

As expected of Oculoguard’s outstanding foresight mages, their insight was sharp.

“Yes. Of course, it wasn’t us who sent that threatening letter, but I’m truly sorry that you had to experience something like that because of this exchange gathering...”

“There is no need, Professor Kim. We are all completely satisfied.”

“What? Really?”

Professor Garcia was pleased yet bewildered by the unbelievable words.

Why were these people suddenly acting like this?

“We are truly delighted to be participating in the exchange gathering.”

“Thank—”

“We firmly declare that we will fully support Professor Kim in everything that lies ahead.”

“...No. No. Wait.”

Professor Garcia finally could not hold back and spoke.

“If you have complaints, please just tell me! I don’t want cooperation between magic academies to proceed through threats.”

“We have none. We have never been threatened.”

“......”

That made it even more suspicious.

However, the Oculoguard mages left no opening whatsoever.

No matter how Professor Garcia coaxed and persuaded them, they merely repeated answers such as ‘We are happy’ and ‘We have never been threatened.’

In the end, Professor Garcia had no choice but to give up and turn away.

'What is really going on?'

Even though they had declared that they would cooperate fully, the uneasy feeling would not disappear.

Professor Garcia trudged onward.

The next destination was Dekarogard, which at least was relatively friendly and possible to reason with (though expensive).

Of course, before that, Professor Garcia stopped at one more place.

The Golden Dwarf Bank of the capital.

“...Could you perhaps tell me how many gold coins are left in my account right now?”

The dwarf in charge of Professor Garcia looked at the professor with pity.

Among the Imperial dwarves, all the most rigid, stingy, and cold-hearted dwarves worked at banks, and even among those banks, the Golden Dwarf Bank of the capital possessed an especially notorious reputation, but...

...even a dwarf from such a bank could not bring himself to treat Professor Garcia coldly and showed a trace of sympathy.

“Professor Kim. This old dwarf may not be your asset manager, but I still need to give you one piece of advice. Stop spending so much on your students. No professor at any magic academy spends money like that.”

“T-this time, it isn’t because of the students. It’s for school business.”

“Then all the more reason it should be handled through Einroguard’s budget, is it not?”

“...There isn’t much left after it gets distributed among all the schools of magic...”

“Tsk!”

The dwarf clicked his tongue in displeasure.

If the Einroguard mages reduced even one-tenth of the gold coins they wasted on bizarre magic, someone like Professor Garcia would never have to struggle like this.

“Here. This is the gold you have left.”

When Professor Garcia saw the number the bank dwarf had written on the stone tablet, the professor was startled.

The balance in one’s account was always lower than imagined.

Professor Garcia asked again with an embarrassed expression.

“...Could I perhaps borrow some gold coins from the bank? Using my position as an Einroguard professor...”

“It is possible. But there is a condition.”

“Ah! What condition? If it’s interest...”

“No. Promise that you will use it somewhere unrelated to Einroguard. Those are orders from above.”

“......”

The Golden Dwarf Bank of the capital trusted Professor Garcia, but it did not trust Einroguard.

If something was related to Einroguard, the bank could not lend gold even to Professor Garcia.

In the end, Professor Garcia had no choice but to head toward the Dekarogard mages with a dejected expression.

As the professor entered an alley, a mage dressed as a merchant suddenly spoke from among the crowd.

“Are you perhaps Professor Garcia Kim? The one who received an invitation from the Dekarogard mages...”

“Yes. That’s me.”

“I’ll show you the way. Please come this way.”

Professor Garcia knew perfectly well that the other party was not a merchant, but a Dekarogard student dressed as one.

And Garcia also knew that agreeing here meant getting money extracted.

Even so, Professor Garcia pretended not to know and quietly followed along.

Since the professor had to persuade the Dekarogard mages without any money, it was necessary to at least make a good impression on the students.

'Dekarogard students might want to participate in the exchange gathering. From one perspective, it’s another opportunity to extract additional gold coins.'

“Here we are, Professor!”

“Thank you. I found the place easily thanks to you.”

They had not even walked twenty steps, but Professor Garcia praised the student without the slightest hesitation.

Then Garcia reached for a silver coin from the wallet...

“No!”

“What? D-do you perhaps want gold?”

“No. I didn’t do this because I wanted money.”

“...Why are you really acting like this?!”

Professor Garcia cried out in horror.

The Oculoguard mages acting as though someone had threatened them had already been strange, but a Dekarogard mage refusing money felt far more chilling.

What in the world was happening in the capital?

However, Professor Garcia did not know.

Inside, a familiar Dekarogard professor was waiting to donate a huge sum of gold coins to Garcia!

Had Professor Garcia known, the professor might have fled in terror.

***

“What kind of magic academies are Terarogard and Pararogard?”

Lee Han checked the remaining magic academies on Professor Garcia’s list.

All he knew was that Terarogard belonged to the healing magic school, while Pararogard belonged to the illusion magic school.

Professor Voladi explained briefly.

“Terarogard is a school for radical healing mages.”

“Like Professor Lagrinde?”

Lee Han asked while thinking of Einroguard’s Professor Alkasis.

In truth, someone who made students work twenty-eight hours a day whenever things became urgent might be the true radical healing mage.

“More radical.”

“......”

The color drained from the Einroguard students’ faces.

Lee Han asked in horror,

“Do they perhaps kill people if they don’t focus properly on recovering?”

'At that point, wouldn’t they just be combat mages rather than healing mages?'

Unable to keep listening, Uman stepped in to explain.

“They do no such thing. The Terarogard mages simply charge their fees very strictly.”

These strict healing mages were infamous for demanding the most valuable thing a person possessed as payment for saving their life.

If the patient was a beggar who owned nothing, they would cast their magic in exchange for a single wooden bowl, but if the patient was wealthy, there were cases where they demanded several castles.

'No. They seem better at business than the Dekarogard mages!'

Lee Han admired their skill.

Whenever he saw mages selling their magic at a high price, he could not help but admire them.

“They don’t sound as radical as I expected. If the other party is rich, asking for that much is...”

“If they fail to pay, they begin collection.”

At Professor Voladi’s words, Lee Han looked puzzled.

“They forcibly take the payment? But that seems like a perfectly legitimate right.”

“They restore the patient’s physical condition to its original state.”

If the patient had been suffering from an epidemic, they returned them to the state of suffering from the epidemic.

If they had been poisoned, they returned them to the poisoned state.

As the horrified Lee Han stared, Uman began making excuses without realizing it.

“Uman absolutely does not mean to say that Uman agrees with the methods of the Terarogard mages! Uman was merely correcting what was inaccurate...”