Chapter 1294

“Gainando. Think carefully. Sure, Senior Diret was the one who told me, but don’t you think... Professor Mortum might have been there too?”

Refusing to give up, Lee Han began trying to tamper with his friend’s memory.

Human memory was originally soft and squishy like pudding, making it easy to distort.

Gainando’s memory especially so.

“No? I don’t remember that.”

“I told you to think carefully.”

“There’s nothing. Professor Mortum always makes Lee Han do annoying things. Or Senior Diret.”

“I-I-I knew it!”

BANG!

The dark mages slammed the table hard and shouted.

They were already still holding a grudge over Professor Mortum bragging about his disciple at gatherings, and Gainando’s accusation gave them an excellent excuse.

“This is our chance to expel him from the ranks of Imperial dark mages!”

‘I’m doomed.’

Lee Han gave up.

Come to think of it, this was partly Professor Mortum’s fault.

If he had not squandered all goodwill from his disciples in everyday life, Gainando would not have exposed him like this.

“Let’s go to Black Dark Hall! We’ll drag Professor Mortum down from his throne!”

“Wait! What about my magic?”

Professor Verdus shouted in alarm when the dark mages tried to take Lee Han away.

The professor had not even gotten to hear any magical secrets from the dark mages, nor had they finished teaching Lee Han the microcosm.

The Descendants of Ahrak glanced at one another.

Then they swiftly set the floor on fire.

The blaze was far larger and more powerful than the one Gainando had started earlier.

“What are you doing?! What are you doing!!”

“Hmph. Be grateful we didn’t set you on fire. Let’s go!”

“......”

While Professor Verdus frantically ran around trying to extinguish the flames, the dark mages took Lee Han and Gainando and left the mage tower.

Watching them, Lee Han thought inwardly.

‘Maybe the prejudice against Imperial dark mages... has at least some basis after all.’

***

Diret glanced at the mirror.

Then thought.

‘I’ve never seen that undead before.’

A moment later, Diret realized that it was not an unfamiliar undead.

It was their own condition that had gone bad.

‘Ah. They say when a dark mage starts seeing undead in the mirror, they’ve really gone too far.’

Apparently taking short breaks was not going to be enough.

Maybe a longer rest was necessary.

‘Three minutes... Is that too long? I’ll rest for about two minutes and fifty-five seconds.’

After splashing cold water over their face, Diret roughly skimmed through the pile of paper birds by the window, then burned them with a flick.

They were letters sent by Yukbeltire, who was currently heading toward the capital.

‘Why did she get obsessed with something like that...?’

Yukbeltire was spending what should have been the busiest period of winter vacation on something strange.

Namely, the <Dragon Statue Incident> that had occurred in the capital.

Letters kept arriving with rumors that someone had impersonated Yukbeltire and created a living dragon statue.

With their pride thoroughly wounded, Yukbeltire had decided to go see it with their own eyes and put an end to the ridiculous rumors.

To be fair, Diret could understand it.

Pride as a mage was indispensable.

What if someone used your name while creating a magical work?

And what if that magical work was something your current magic could not create?

Diret might lose sleep over it too.

But even so, going all the way to the capital just to confirm it personally...

‘Just how many letters did she get...?’

It was precious rest time, but Diret eventually gave up on trying not to think and seriously considered the matter.

What exactly was the truth behind this incident?

The most likely explanation was a rumor started by some fearless fraud or impersonator.

But there were several uncomfortable details that made it difficult to dismiss so easily.

The identities of the people who had sent Yukbeltire letters were reliable, and their testimonies were specific.

‘There are too many details where the testimonies line up. There may really have been some kind of magic that became the source of the rumor.’

If it was not just a false rumor...

Who was a mage with enough hostility toward Yukbeltire to impersonate her, while also possessing enough enchantment skill to create a living dragon statue?

‘Petroguard?’

The first thing that came to mind was the magic school where eccentric enchantment mages gathered.

That school disliked Einroguard’s enchantment professor—though in truth, all mages disliked Professor Verdus—and it also had enchantment mages skilled enough to create something like a living dragon statue.

The latter point was especially important.

They were mages who delved deeply into primitive enchantment magic, seeking to complete magic difficult to realize through modern Imperial methods by relying on aesthetic inspiration and luck.

One of their defining traits was precisely the creation of magical works that seemed to have been granted life.

It could be said to point in the exact opposite direction from Yukbeltire’s magic.

‘Would Petroguard mages suddenly come and pick a fight? Come to think of it, there are plenty of reasons... but they should know their own weakness.’

Petroguard mages’ weakness was reproducibility.

Even they could not reach their highest level unless inspiration or luck favored them, so what exactly would they be counting on to start a dispute?

The people who had witnessed the event would surely know that much too.

Thinking about it only made Diret even more confused.

‘Who really did it? Did some new genius appear at Petroguard?’

Diret came down from the workshop and widened their eyes upon seeing snacks laid out on the table.

A ham-and-egg sandwich under a warming spell, hot vegetable soup, black tea, and even honey pie.

At first, Diret wondered whether it was some monster from a fairy tale that helped dark mages—other schools had fairies helping them, but for the dark magic school it was usually monsters.

Then Diret reconsidered.

There was no way undead, who always started plotting how to stab their summoner in the back the moment they were summoned, would ever do something so admirable.

This was the junior’s doing.

‘Come to think of it, that one said they were stuck here during vacation too...’

Thinking about how the junior could not even leave during vacation made Diret feel even guiltier about getting angry last time.

Diret reflected deeply.

'Senior. I’m cheering for you in your next year. By the way, absolutely do not eat the food over there meant for the professor. Seriously. Absolutely do not eat it.'

“......”

Without realizing it, Diret looked toward the food sitting on Professor Mortum’s table.

There was a cold, shriveled piece of meat, and even the bread looked strangely blackish.

‘Surely there isn’t poison in it?’

Diret hesitated for a moment, then decided to trust the junior.

Given the junior’s personality, they probably had not gone as far as adding poison.

...Probably!

BANG BANG BANG BANG-

‘Who is that?’

At the violent pounding on the doors of Black Dark Hall, Diret put down the bowl of soup and walked over to the window.

An extremely unexpected group had gathered below.

“?!!”

“Open the door!”

“...You did receive proper permission to enter, correct?”

Diret stared at the Descendants of Ahrak with eyes full of suspicion.

Ever since they had tried to steal the junior away in the north, the other dark-magic factions of the Empire had lost all credibility in Diret’s eyes.

The idea that dark-magic schools should stick together was nothing more than empty words.

Lately, Diret was beginning to understand the Skull Principal a little better.

‘You never know when they’ll stab you in the back!’

“We received proper permission! Here! Look at this! Is that bastard Mortum inside?”

“Professor Mortum went out.”

“What a vile and cunning bastard. He knew this was coming and ran away!”

“???”

Diret suddenly felt a fear so intense that their heart nearly stopped.

No way.

“Did Professor Mortum borrow gold from you!?”

“Ah. No. We’d have to be insane to lend Mortum money.”

“Phew...”

Diret let out a sigh of relief and stroked their chest.

Then the two juniors caught their eye.

“Why are you two there!? You weren’t kidnapped, were you?!”

“What kind of ridiculous accusation is that... Do you think we’re Professor Verdus?”

The Descendants of Ahrak protested, but Diret did not even pretend to listen.

After the junior-poaching incident in the north, their credibility lay somewhere at the bottom of a lightless abyss.

‘This is really too much.’

The elderly dark mages grumbled inwardly.

Granted, they had tried to recruit an outstanding talent, but that was merely fulfilling their duty as mages.

It was already in the past.

Couldn’t everyone just forget about it and reconcile?

“They were visiting, and we happened to meet briefly. Nothing happened to us—”

“Oh, right. Senior. Professor Verdus’s mage tower is on fire.”

“Shut up, you idiot.”

Lee Han clamped Gainando’s mouth shut.

Senior Diret was currently looking at the dark mages with an extremely sharp gaze.

“You set Professor Verdus’s mage tower on fire?”

“No. I think there was a slight misunderstanding—”

“...Actually, that doesn’t really matter. Understood. Come inside.”

Diret thought for a moment, then opened the doors of Black Dark Hall.

Come to think of it, whether Professor Verdus’s mage tower was on fire or not was hardly something worth caring about.

It was not as though they had set the juniors on fire.

The elderly dark mages poured inside in a group, grumbling about having been made to wait outside.

“Diret, do you know? While you’ve been wasting your time like this, an enormous conspiracy has been unfolding outside.”

“When I sent you that paper on pseudo-relic magic last time, you praised it endlessly, so I’m curious why it suddenly counts as wasting time... Anyway, what conspiracy? Did some wicked mages try to steal my juniors again?”

Diret spoke in an icy voice.

Lee Han and Gainando thought it might be the first time they had seen this kind senior treat someone like this.

Diret did not even seem to speak to Professor Verdus that way!

“Ah. Forget about the old days already. Things like that happen between dark mages.”

“Oh, right. Senior. These people complimented me earlier.”

Gainando said it with obvious pride.

But given the situation, it was probably the worst possible thing to say.

Diret’s eyes immediately sharpened.

“Get out. Before I activate the tower’s magic.”

“N-no! No! It was pure praise with absolutely no ulterior motive! Explain yourself properly, you brat!”

The Descendants stared at Gainando suspiciously.

At first, they had thought he was simply a talented and promising young dark mage.

But the more he spoke, the more it felt as though he was somehow driving them directly into a trap.

Could he be deliberately doing this while pretending to know nothing with that innocent face?

“When did we ever say we were taking you away?!”

“What? But you said you’d invite me—”

“Black Dark Hall, by the power of shadow—”

“In a hundred years! We said we’d invite you in a hundred years! A hundred years from now!”

The moment Diret began chanting, the elderly dark mages desperately shouted.

Diret did not stop looking suspicious, but at least stopped the spell.

The dark mages sank into their seats, panting.

They felt as though their lifespans had shortened in those few moments.

“So what is this conspiracy?”

“Professor Verdus was trying to teach him microcosm magic!”

Lee Han sat there listening without thinking much of it.

Unlike these slightly deranged dark mages, Senior Diret was a sensible and admirable person.

There was no way Diret would get angry simply because Professor Verdus had tried to teach Lee Han microcosm magic first.

If anything, Diret would sternly rebuke the dark mages for making such a fuss—

But Senior Diret’s reaction was completely different from what Lee Han expected.

The greatest senior in the Empire stared at the junior with an expression mixed with bewilderment, disappointment, sadness, confusion, and more.

“...I-is that true?”

The moment Lee Han saw that expression, he immediately shouted.

“That wicked, selfish mage was trying to force the magic onto me! If these dark mages hadn’t helped, I would’ve had no choice but to learn it. Everyone, thank you once again!”

“What a promising youngster. The entire lineage of Imperial dark magic rests solely in your hands!”

The elderly dark mages looked at Lee Han as though they could not be more proud of him.