Chapter 1272

The students fell silent as mice. Lee Han wondered inwardly whom he should sell out.

'Professor Verdus? Senior Yukbeltire?'

But surprisingly, the Skull Principal spoke as though he did not care.

Enough. I don't care about the reason, so hurry inside.

"?!!!!!!"

Everyone present was startled.

Lee Han shouted without realizing it.

"What kind of trap did you set!"

"W-Wardanaz."

Paridim tried to stop him in alarm.

The principal of Einroguard held a position as high as the heavens even within the academy, and his fame outside it was boundless as well, so how could he be this rude?

The Skull Principal stared silently at Lee Han. A first-year freshman might have become nervous, but Lee Han was not fooled.

Are you curious about the reason?

"Yes."

Do you really want to hear it?

"Ah. I said I want to hear it."

Professor Garcia is flying here in a rage right now. She'll arrive in five minutes.

The moment he finished speaking, Lee Han's group scattered. The Skull Principal clicked his tongue.

Why did fools always doubt the words of a prophet?

Bang!

It did not even take five minutes for the prophecy to come true.

Professor Garcia arrived in front of the main gate and leaped down from a blazing broom.

Apparently she had pushed it so insanely hard that the artifact had overheated and caught fire.

The Skull Principal briefly wondered whether it was crazier to push it that hard, or to keep racing onward while casting a protective barrier around herself even as it burned.

"Principal!!!"

Good afternoon, Professor Garcia.

"Did you perhaps plan all of this, Principal?!"

Professor Garcia shouted while panting. It was difficult to tell whether that was because she was furious or because she had flown here too quickly.

Rather than provoke his angry disciple, the Skull Principal decided simply to answer the question.

I don't know what you're talking about. What exactly did I supposedly plan?

"You're saying you didn't send Student Lee Han to threaten the people from the other magic academies, and then make him participate in the festival and fight a void monster too?"

......

The Skull Principal stared at Professor Garcia in disbelief.

Professor Garcia was absurd enough, but at the same time, the disciple who was not present here was equally absurd.

He had known Lee Han had gone outside, but he had not imagined he had done something like that.

'What did that brat go and do?'

He had assumed Lee Han would at most help with Professor Garcia's work, but he had no idea what this business about the festival was.

Professor Garcia. Even as you're saying that, doesn't it sound strange to you? Would I have ordered something like that under the current circumstances?

"...That is true, but."

Professor Garcia's momentum weakened somewhat. Even as she spoke, she had felt that something about it was strange.

Even for the Skull Principal, it did not seem likely that he would have ordered that.

It was not even clear whether something like that was possible simply because someone ordered it.

"But you've used so many tricks while pretending otherwise, Principal."

Baseless slander wounds my heart, but I suppose that is the sort of defamation that naturally accompanies this position. Now then, Professor Garcia. Explain what happened. How else am I supposed to help you?

The Skull Principal kindly encouraged her, both to buy time until the punishment-area prisoners properly got back inside and to find out what had happened.

After hesitating, Professor Garcia finally opened her mouth.

"So, what happened was..."

* * *

-Please, accept these gold coins.

-Seriously, why are you doing this! If you don't want to cooperate, just say so!

-I'm completely sincere! There's no trick involved!

-I've never even heard of Dekarogard mages giving away gold coins in my life!

The excessive kindness shown by the magic academies sent chills down Professor Garcia's spine.

Normally, these people would have exhausted and worn someone down by repeatedly asking, 'Do we really have to?' 'Why do we have to?' 'Can't we do it later?' Yet now, no matter what she said, they showered her with flattery like 'We agree!' 'We definitely agreed to that, right?' 'Could you put that in the record?' and so on.

* * *

Wait, are you bragging right now?

The Skull Principal asked, sounding puzzled.

Professor Garcia was describing it as though it had been a horrific experience, but from the listener's perspective, it was impossible to sympathize at all.

If anything, it made his heart pound with excitement.

If the Skull Principal met the principals of the other magic academies and every time he spoke they flattered him with, 'We agree!'...

Just imagining it is delightful.

"...I'm not joking, Principal. It was genuinely creepy."

Being suspicious of an unfamiliar situation is certainly a good quality for a mage. But the mages from the other magic academies suddenly becoming cooperative isn't something you need to fear that much.

Being sensitive was an excellent quality for a mage, but being overly suspicious even of things that did not need suspicion was useless.

Honestly, the mages of the other magic academies suddenly changing their attitude and flattering someone was something that could happen easily enough.

The Imperial officials may have strongly requested it, or perhaps something unfortunate happened internally.

"You really didn't order them to do it, right?"

I could swear on all the administrative paperwork of Einroguard that you will have to handle for the next ten years.

'Gasp. I guess it really wasn't him.'

Professor Garcia was convinced by the Skull Principal's more serious-than-expected condition.

It truly seemed that the Skull Principal had nothing to do with this incident.

So, Professor Garcia, you think Wardanaz was active behind the scenes?

"...A little."

The Skull Principal let out a fake hearty laugh.

Even so, don't you think that's being far too suspicious?

Of course, inwardly he was trembling.

'This brat...!'

To think he had threatened and persuaded those magic academies so quickly in such a short period of time.

The Skull Principal had known since taking him around during vacation that Lee Han had tremendous administrative skill, but this surpassed his expectations yet again.

Truly amazing!

"It's not, it's not only because of that. Something else happened too."

What happened?

* * *

After carefully soothing the mages of the other magic academies and bringing the discussion to a good conclusion, Professor Garcia stepped outside feeling relieved.

She still felt slightly uneasy and suspicious, but it was true that she was a little happy to hear the other magic academies promise to cooperate so actively.

'Right. Let's not be too suspicious. The mages from the other academies might have cooperated out of good intentions too...'

-Did everyone hear? Lord Wardanaz has come outside the city gate! They say he's at oak hill?

-We need to go see this! You there, come along too! You need to see a great mage if you want to become a great mage yourself!

-Wow! Then can I enter Einroguard too?

-I said become a great mage, not enter Einroguard! Go to some other magic academy!

'???'

Professor Garcia doubted her ears at the chatter of the people rushing past.

What had they just said?

-Excuse me, you said Lord Wardanaz had come... Do you mean Lord Hierdan?

-Huh? I'm not sure about that. I only heard that a mage from House Wardanaz personally came to the festival.

-Th-Thank you.

Professor Garcia instinctively sensed something suspicious.

There was a mage of House Wardanaz outside the city gate right now?

Of course, ordinarily and by common sense, it could have been Hierdan.

But...

But if, against that incredibly low probability, Student Lee Han was here...

Then, astonishingly, all the strange behavior shown by the mages of the other magic academies would make perfect sense.

* * *

So? What happened?

The Skull Principal felt slightly tense inwardly, but did not show it.

He absolutely could not be exposed.

If Professor Garcia found out here, given her personality, there was a high chance she would hold even him responsible.

Even though the ones who had helped Lee Han escape were clearly those shameless Death Knights who knew nothing of honor!

"...I couldn't find Student Lee Han."

Then it was Hierdan.

"I couldn't find Lord Hierdan either."

Maybe he left first?

"......"

Ah. What?

When Professor Garcia stared at him suspiciously, the Skull Principal protested as though wronged.

Am I not allowed to say anything?

"I heard two black dragons appeared at the scene."

......

The Skull Principal nearly cursed for real.

What kind of multifaceted lunatic was this brat!

If he had secretly gone out to help, he should have just done what he needed to do and quietly come back. Why in the world was he transforming into a dragon?

And he had even transformed into a black dragon in front of Jowrin...

Crowds are prone to hallucinations. It might have been some kind of clone magic from Uman.

"How do you know it was His Highness Uman?"

Professor Garcia stabbed sharply at the opening, but her opponent was one step ahead. The Skull Principal answered naturally.

Ah. I suppose the news hasn't reached you yet. Uman received an order of dismissal and returned to the capital. Did you run into him in the capital?

"...!"

Professor Garcia, who had intended to use the discovery of Uman, who was supposed to be in the punishment area, as evidence for her 'Student Lee Han escape hypothesis,' hesitated.

"Th-That happened? Why?"

Who knows. He made plenty of mistakes. And he did act awfully friendly with Wardanaz in front of Princess Jowrin.

"Ah. I see."

Professor Garcia immediately understood.

Come to think of it, she had already thought for some time that Uman might end up stabbed in the back.

One had to maintain an appropriate distance from another dragon's contractor.

"...But the people at the scene said they saw Student Lee Han. They definitely saw him turn back from a dragon into a human."

As I said, crowds are prone to hallucinations. They might have mistaken Hierdan for him, or mistaken Uman for him. Both have black hair, don't they? They might look similar from a distance.

"......"

Until she came here, Professor Garcia had been 99% convinced that Lee Han had gone outside, but after talking with the Skull Principal, that dropped to around 95%.

Professor Garcia decided to check for herself. Asking the Skull Principal had been a waste of time after all.

"I'll just go check myself."

Professor Garcia. Please do not ignore the words of a sage.

Ignoring him, Professor Garcia headed toward the punishment area.

Since he had already bought all the time he originally intended to, the Skull Principal did not stop her and let her go.

He had something else to do.

I should tell the students some new information as a congratulatory present for their final exams.

-What information do you mean?

That your principal has returned. Everyone will feel energized, won't they?

* * *

Lee Han casually played a mage card.

His eyes were fixed on the cards, but his ears were pointed toward the entrance at the top of the stairs.

"Wardanaz."

"Yes, Professor."

"You played the wrong card."

"...Th-Thank you."

Lee Han clicked his tongue inwardly at Professor Voladi's composure in pointing out the incorrectly played card even in a situation like this.

Professor Garcia would soon come storming in, yet Professor Voladi was this calm.

'Is it because she's fooled Professor Garcia a few times before, so she's good at this?'

Creeeak-

"!!!"

The door opened with an ominous sound. Professor Garcia poked her head inside.

Lee Han carefully controlled his expression and asked with a bright face as though he had done nothing wrong.

"What brings you here, Professor?"

"......"

Professor Garcia silently looked around the inside of the punishment area.

With Uman and Jowrin gone, this floor of the punishment area for professors suddenly seemed deserted.

Other than that, there was nothing particularly strange. There was a huge hole between Lee Han's and Professor Voladi's cells, but that was...

"Professor, would you like to play mage cards with us..."

"Student Lee Han?"

"Yes??"

"Thank you."

With those words, Professor Garcia left again. Lee Han suddenly felt uneasy.

'...I managed my expression properly just now, right?'

Once the performance was over, Professor Voladi put away the mage cards and took out a thick stack of papers.

Curious, Lee Han asked.

"What is that, Professor?"

"Grading Eandurde's final exam."

"Ah. Shall I help too?"

When the disciple tried to come over, Professor Voladi pulled the bookshelf over and blocked the crawl hole.

"......"

Isn't that too much?!