Chapter 1297

“...O-okay. Go ahead.”

When the junior asked for a chance to explain, Diret decided to hear him out for now.

Truthfully, they were a little curious about what kind of explanation he intended to give.

‘Seriously, how is he planning to explain this?’

What circumstances could possibly have led him, under the identity of Stedal Nago, to create a living dragon statue together with a fake Yukbeltire?

Even Diret, a talented mage who had completed Einroguard’s fifth-year curriculum, could not begin to guess.

“Actually... I’m sorry. It was simply my fault. Sob.”

Lee Han, who had been about to explain himself, quickly gave up.

He thought about it for a moment, but there was no way to talk his way around this.

Seriously, how was he supposed to explain this?!

“...N-no. You don’t have to be that devastated. It’s fine!”

Diret became flustered instead when the junior sank into despair rather than explaining himself.

In truth, this was not something worth being so devastated over.

Considering all the things Yukbeltire had done to the junior, the fact that the junior had not attempted to assassinate her at Einroguard already counted as showing plenty of courtesy.

Compared to assassination, merely borrowing her name outside the academy was practically adorable.

“And it’s not like you failed. You made it well, didn’t you? Yukbeltire’s reputation went up too. You did well. You really did.”

If Yukbeltire heard that, she would probably roll around on the floor in wounded pride, but Diret did not care.

Their friend was not here anyway.

“But you said enchantment mages consider something like this deeply humiliating.”

Lee Han asked in confusion.

He had definitely received that answer when he had casually asked Yukbeltire and the other upper-year students from the enchantment magic school.

-Think carefully, Wardanaz. A mage better than me steals my commission, completes it successfully under my name, and gets praised for it. What do you think that means?

-Doesn’t it mean the other person is really kind and good?

-No. It’s closer to mocking my skills and provoking me.

-......

It was not just Senior Sigunting who had a particularly twisted personality. They all seemed to think similarly.

Diret did not deny that part.

“That is true.”

“......”

Lee Han stared at the senior in disbelief.

Then it wasn’t fine at all, was it?

“It doesn’t sound fine to me.”

“No, no. In this situation, the person most at fault is Yukbeltire for lacking the ability to cast that magic.”

‘Has Senior been under too much stress about advancing to the next year?’

Lee Han was slightly taken aback by the unexpected remark.

To think the senior with the noblest character in all of Einroguard would say something like this.

But Diret was not saying it without any basis.

“By the way, Junior, don’t get the wrong idea. Yukbeltire herself said that.”

“Ah.”

Lee Han found himself convinced without even realizing it.

It really did sound like something Senior Yukbeltire would say.

“Whenever I used enchantment magic in the past, Yukbeltire would butt in without permission, cast it herself, and say things like, ‘Your magic was insufficient, so I helped. Why are you angry? You’re behaving irrationally right now.’”

Diret imitated their friend’s way of speaking quite convincingly.

It was so convincing that Lee Han almost frowned instinctively.

“So if you get caught, Junior, you can just say the same thing. Something like, ‘Senior couldn’t perform this magic, so I did it in her place.’”

“Wouldn’t that sound too rude?”

“It’s fine. Yukbeltire has spent her whole life being rude.”

Lee Han looked at Diret with a moved expression.

How could they be so clear and decisive?

‘I think Senior Diret should become the Empire’s Chief Justice.’

“So... what exactly happened?”

“Hmm. Actually, I had occasion to go out with Her Highness Jowrin.”

Diret heard that the junior had gone out to a festival near the capital while he was supposed to be confined in the punishment area, but chose not to point it out.

At this point, pointing it out would almost feel belated.

‘Honestly, it would’ve been more surprising if he hadn’t gone out...’

The junior denied it, but frankly, when it came to breaking school rules, the junior was remarkably sincere.

Sometimes Diret wondered whether he broke them deliberately.

“Then a situation came up where we had to reveal our identities. I had no choice but to introduce myself as Stedal Nago, while Her Highness introduced herself as Yukbeltire.”

“Wait. Wait.”

Diret sensed something strange and interrupted the conversation.

“Junior, you introduced Her Highness Jowrin as Yukbeltire? Not Gainando, not Adenart, but specifically Yukbeltire?”

“......”

“Junior... I told you that you can be honest.”

“Actually, Her Highness Jowrin said it first.”

“I knew it. ...But why in the world did Her Highness Jowrin choose that alias? I mean, they are both members of the Imperial Family, but still.”

The baby basilisk inside Lee Han’s sleeve suddenly began hiccupping.

The reason Jowrin had chosen that alias was because of the basilisk’s advice.

‘W-wasn’t it fine as long as I picked any member of the Imperial Family?’

“I’m not sure. She probably just picked any name she had heard before.”

“Surely she didn’t remember it because she heard the juniors insulting Yukbeltire...”

Diret became slightly worried.

Even as Yukbeltire’s longtime friend, Diret sometimes wanted to smack her with a pot. How must the juniors feel?

“Come on. It wasn’t that.”

“Really?”

“Yes. There are actually quite a few people who respect Senior Yukbeltire.”

“Junior. Even so, let’s not tell lies that are completely impossible.”

“...I’m sorry. That was a lie.”

An awkward silence hung between them for a moment.

Lee Han cleared his throat and continued.

“Anyway, because of that alias, a commission meant for Senior Yukbeltire naturally ended up coming to us.”

“I see. Wait. Then this is largely Yukbeltire’s fault for putting off the commission, isn’t it? If she didn’t want an impersonator to appear, she should have dealt with it sooner.”

“??”

Lee Han tilted his head at the senior’s words.

As an Einroguard student, Lee Han had grown fairly accustomed to making unreasonable arguments, but even by those standards, what Senior Diret had just said felt rather forced.

It was not as though Yukbeltire had taken the payment and run off like Professor Verdus. Could this really even be called procrastinating?

“Isn’t delaying it this much fairly normal?”

“No. Enchantment mages always drag out commissions until the deadline just because they’re popular. This is Yukbeltire’s fault, so if you get caught later, make sure you point this out too.”

‘Their bias is bending way too far inward.’

It was natural to favor someone from the same dark magic school, but this felt like their arm had bent inward a full one hundred and eighty degrees.

When Lee Han continued tilting his head, Diret firmly drove the point home.

“It’s Yukbeltire’s fault.”

“Ah. Yes.”

The more he listened, the more it did sound like Yukbeltire’s fault.

Lee Han decided to stop doubting it.

“Then lastly... how did you make the living dragon statue? Even Petroguard mages would have trouble succeeding in a single attempt in such a short time.”

The reason people had cheered for Yukbeltire—or rather, the fake Yukbeltire’s magic—was not only because the dragon statue was alive.

It was also because of the performance of completing it on the spot without any preparation.

Unlike the Petroguard mages, who constantly complained, saying things like, ‘Art requires inspiration, so please wait another year,’ this Yukbeltire—or rather, fake Yukbeltire—had completed the magic in one decisive attempt despite it not even being their specialty.

Not only had it impressed the nobles at the festival, it had also flattened the pride of the Petroguard mages.

“And as a bonus, you could say it flattened the real Yukbeltire’s pride too.”

“Senior...”

“S-sorry. But isn’t it exciting? I’m a little excited.”

Diret tried to comfort the junior, who had become gloomy.

It seemed the junior had a bit of a soft-hearted side.

There was absolutely no reason for him to feel that way because of Yukbeltire.

Hadn’t the junior personally thrown Yukbeltire’s favorite phrase—‘If you feel wronged, defeat me with magic’—right back at her?

‘If it were me, I’d have written about it in my diary out of excitement.’

“Actually, I didn’t do it intentionally. I was working on another spell and completed it unconsciously.”

“What?”

Diret doubted their ears.

But as if insisting he was not lying, the junior explained what had happened in detail.

When Jowrin became interested in enchantment magic, Lee Han had gotten excited and explained the various spells required for artifact creation. Eventually, they began enchanting it one spell at a time according to what Jowrin wanted...

...And while Lee Han’s attention wandered for just a moment, they somehow ended up with a living dragon statue.

Diret listened with a dazed expression, then suddenly exclaimed as though everything made sense.

“I get it! Junior, you’re especially close with His Highness Uman, aren’t you? So that’s why—mmph!”

“You must never say something like that!”

Lee Han panicked, clamped a hand over the senior’s mouth, and looked around.

Fortunately, Jowrin had gone to the capital and was nowhere nearby.

Lee Han also firmly warned the baby basilisk inside his sleeve to keep quiet.

“You didn’t hear anything!”

-I didn’t hear anything! Master is closest with Lady Jowrin!

Lee Han stroked the intelligent creature.

Diret pulled free from the junior’s grip and spoke.

“R-right. I understand what you’re worried about, Junior. But you said Her Highness went to the capital, right? It should be fine.”

“That is true, but as they say, birds hear words spoken by day and undead hear words spoken by night. There could be a traitor.”

‘Is Her Highness Jowrin more possessive than I thought?’

Diret wondered inwardly.

From appearances, Diret had always thought she seemed very gentle and kind...

But then again, people could not be judged by appearances.

When Diret had first seen Yukbeltire, they too had thought, ‘How can someone look so much like a doll?’

Now they thought, ‘How can someone like that exist?’

So appearances really told you nothing.

“I’m closer with Her Highness Jowrin than with His Highness Uman. The fact that I transformed into a black dragon or created a living black dragon statue was purely a coincidence.”

“R-right. I understand. I understand.”

After hearing the full explanation, Diret decided to accept it for now.

The idea that he had unconsciously completed magic of that level by coincidence was truly difficult to believe, but magically speaking, it was not impossible.

Of course, if Yukbeltire heard about it, she would probably become even angrier and roll around on the floor, but that was Yukbeltire’s own problem...

“Don’t worry too much. If Yukbeltire somehow figures out your identity and comes to confront you, don’t forget to use the arguments I gave you.”

“I’ll remember them. Thank you once again, Senior.”

“It’s nothing. If anything, you deserve praise.”

Aside from the minor mistake of impersonating his senior, it really had been an excellent job.

Hadn’t he successfully resolved the commission on his own?

And technically speaking, it had been a commission that came to the junior as well.

As a mage, he could hold his head high.

After patting the junior on the shoulder and sending him away, Diret resumed organizing the books in the archive.

Then suddenly, they stopped walking.

“...?”

Huh?

“Junior. Junior? Did you say earlier that you transformed into a black dragon? Could you explain what you meant by that again??”