Chapter 1302

Seeing that, Amaset of House Kraha, the principal of Valdrogard, shed tears of emotion.

“Finally!”

“W-why are you crying?”

Lee Han was flustered when a mage who was obviously of very high status started genuinely crying.

“It’s nothing. It’s just... thinking that Valdrogard has finally hired a professor from Einroguard... I’m so deeply moved... No other principal could possibly have achieved something like this.”

“......”

Lee Han suddenly felt a deep sense of guilt.

Whenever Valdrogard students came to Einroguard and complained despite how easy they had it, he often wanted to shove them headfirst into the manure pit of the dark magic school, but now that an actual opportunity had appeared, it was not so easy.

Spitting in the face of someone who was smiling at you was difficult by nature.

‘Only the Principal can do something like that. More importantly, I’m supposed to deceive someone like this?’

“Thank you. Truly, thank you!”

“Forgive me, but may I ask your name...?”

“Ah! I haven’t even properly introduced myself. Look at me. I’m Amaset of House Kraha, principal of Valdrogard.”

“...You’re the principal?!”

Lee Han was greatly startled once again.

He had assumed that the principal of a magic school would be an eccentric, twisted mage who would leave an unforgettable impression after meeting them only once.

“I was surprised too.”

“Why were you surprised, Principal?”

“...No reason?”

Lee Han gave the Skull Principal a sidelong glance at the pointless remark, then turned his attention back.

Knowing that the mage before him was the current principal of Valdrogard made him seem completely different.

A noble who looked this gentle and mild was the principal?

‘His magic... doesn’t seem particularly impressive?’

An accomplished mage had many ways to estimate another person’s ability.

They could observe the flow of mana around them, the strength of their soul, and many other things, and Lee Han knew how to use most of those methods.

‘Is he hiding his ability?’

“If you don’t mind me asking, what level of magic can you use?”

“Ah! I’m not a professional mage. I only learned magic as part of my general education.”

Amaset immediately clarified in case the mage of House Wardanaz misunderstood his ability.

At most, Amaset had learned a few first-circle spells as a hobby. He was not a professional mage.

The principal of Valdrogard needed many qualities—character, interpersonal skills, social ability, connections—but magical ability was not one of them.

“I-is that really all right? What if the professors rebel or attack you?”

“Would something like that ever happen???”

Amaset was greatly surprised by the fresh concern raised by the new professor.

It was a possibility he had never imagined even once in his life.

The Skull Principal beside him also spoke with a surprised expression.

“Does that happen often at Einroguard?”

“Why are you asking that, Principal?”

“...No reason! I was just matching the mood, disciple.”

Lee Han decided the timing was convenient and used the opportunity as an excuse to pull the Skull Principal aside.

Thinking about deceiving a Valdrogard principal who was this happy was making the guilt rather difficult to bear.

“So what are you really after? I don’t know what it is, but don’t go too far. Don’t you feel sorry for him?”

“I don’t think you’re in a position to worry about someone else right now...”

“Pardon?”

“No. Nothing.”

The Skull Principal thought this incident would be a good lesson for his disciple as well.

Being too innocent was not necessarily a good thing, so a shock like this would make for useful education.

“What I’m after is perfectly obvious. Everything here.”

Like a stage actor, the Skull Principal spread both arms dramatically and spoke with solemn intensity.

This land, overflowing with the aura of gold, was worth plundering even by force.

He would make an enormous profit even if he only carried away a few of the palaces.

‘He’ll probably be shocked.’

The Skull Principal glanced over, anticipating Lee Han’s reaction.

With this disciple’s personality, he would surely be startled and cry out, “What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that?!”

Then the Skull Principal planned to naturally teach him the principles of the world and the wisdom of gold.

He felt he should do at least that much.

“Ah. Yes. I suppose you would.”

“...Aren’t you surprised?”

“Why are you making ‘I’m going to collect a lot of donations’ sound so grand? Dressing it up like that doesn’t change what you’re doing.”

“What... No! I’m not talking about receiving donations. I mean I’m literally going to take these palaces with me.”

“Stop bluffing. You personally said that dragon magic is protecting this place.”

“Dragon magic is protecting this place?”

The Skull Principal was startled.

He knew there was powerful protective magic here, but he had not imagined that a dragon had personally cast it.

“I can’t believe it. I need to check for myself!”

‘He isn’t planning to use that as an excuse to run away, is he?’

Lee Han watched the Skull Principal leave with a suspicious gaze.

***

The Skull Principal, who usually looked real enough but somehow seemed even more real than usual, was visiting a mansion together with a Death Knight.

There was only one purpose.

To bring a duke to the Valdrogard banquet.

-Master. In my opinion, we shouldn’t have released Duke Ikalderen.

“I think so too. Then we wouldn’t have had to make this annoying visit.”

The Skull Principal agreed with the knight.

If he had simply kept the duke locked up in Einroguard’s punishment area, he could have taken him out as easily as picking up a piece of bread with his fingers. Releasing him out of unnecessary kindness had only forced him to do the work twice.

“But I had no choice. The nobles kept pestering me.”

When a duke suddenly disappeared, no one failed to become suspicious.

Any °• N ?? v ?? l i g h t •° noble with a head on their shoulders would suspect the Skull Principal first.

As various houses continually sent letters and submitted petitions to the Emperor, eventually even the Emperor contacted the Skull Principal and told him, “If you’ve tormented him enough, release him already.”

-Wasn’t it because you received all the money?

“That was part of it, of course. But I could have refused to release him even after receiving all the compensation. Keeping my promise—that is generosity and kindness.”

-You are absolutely correct.

With Lee Han absent, there was no one there to point out anything wrong with this master and servant.

When they arrived at the mansion, Duke Ikalderen immediately appeared.

“...Welcome. Both of you.”

“You came out personally? How unusual.”

The Skull Principal looked at Duke Ikalderen in surprise when he came down himself instead of sending a chief attendant or servant.

This greedy, arrogant man had nothing to boast about except the bloodline he had been born into, so whenever he had time, he waved it around like a banner.

When a guest came, he would make them stand around briefly in accordance with ducal etiquette, have them shown to the reception room, make them wait again...

For someone like that to come out personally instead of sending a subordinate was truly an astonishing change.

-As expected, Einroguard’s underground changes people. Professor Verdus excluded.

“Shh. Be quiet.”

“Hmph... If I made you wait, who knows what you’d do.”

Facing the Skull Principal and the wicked knight made fear rise from the deepest parts of Duke Ikalderen’s body, but he endured it and still managed to sneer.

Thinking of the humiliations he had suffered at Einroguard, he could not possibly endure without saying at least that much.

Clack!

When the Death Knight placed a hand on the hilt of its sword, Duke Ikalderen shouted in alarm.

“W-why?! Surely not because of that remark?! No!”

-I was adjusting the position of my sword.

“......”

The duke’s face flushed red with humiliation.

The memories of what the knights had done to him in Einroguard’s punishment area were still vivid.

The Skull Principal clicked his tongue and reprimanded the knight.

“Don’t tease the weak.”

-My apologies, Master.

“......”

In a way, that was also half teasing, but Duke Ikalderen could no longer manage another sneer.

His confinements at Einroguard last year and this year had taught many things to a duke who had never experienced true hardship in his life.

Before the Empire’s real power, the authority accumulated by an old noble house was no sturdier than a sheet of paper.

And the Imperial Spirit Chancellor was capable of going far more out of control than anyone had imagined!

He kept pretending to be weak around officials and nobles in the capital, fooling everyone, but this was a man who could bare his fangs at any moment, tear out a noble’s throat, and kill them without hesitation.

“You received the letter, didn’t you?”

“I did. You said you needed my help with the Valdrogard banquet.”

“Right. All you need to do is liven up the atmosphere, praise Einroguard a little, things like that. I released you, so you can do that much, can’t you?”

“...I’m not saying I absolutely refuse, but didn’t you ask me for something similar two weeks ago?”

The duke spoke in a dissatisfied voice.

Two weeks earlier, the Skull Principal had clearly sent a letter saying, “I need to persuade one of the nobles, and I released you, so help me out a little.”

And it was not as though he had simply released him.

He had taken several times the compensation under the pretext of providing support for the students before letting him go.

And now this?

“That’s how favors work. Did you think doing something once meant the debt was immediately repaid? This is why someone whose only lifetime accomplishment is being born to the right father thinks like—”

-He truly is shameless beyond belief. He seems like the sort who will only regret it after being abducted underground again.

“I said I’ll go! I said I’ll go!”

The duke deeply regretted complaining even a little, only to come out worse for it.

The subtle barbs often used in Imperial high society were completely useless against these monsters.

“I’ll get ready, so wait here.”

“Hurry up.”

“...I’ll be as fast as possible.”

And one hour later.

The expressions of the Skull Principal and the knight twisted in exactly the same way.

“Go up and hit him once.”

-Yes.

The Death Knight went upstairs, and a scream rang out from above.

“Wait! I told you to wait! You idiot! If I’m going to attend a banquet, I need at least this much preparation! I skipped half the process because you told me to be as fast as possible!”

-Do you want me to throw you back in the underground prison?! Hurry up!

A short while later, the knight came back down.

It spoke in a voice that sounded utterly exhausted.

-My apologies, Master. The duke is being stubborn.

“Forget it. He says he’ll cooperate, so let him be. What a lunatic. It’s not as if he’ll look any different whether he spends ten minutes getting ready or two hours...”

Imperial nobles with too much free time loved pointless extravagance.

It would have been enough to change clothes with magic, casually cast one or two light-element or transformation spells on their faces, and leave, but they insisted that anything less was imperfect and had artisans prepare them painstakingly by hand.

As far as the Skull Principal was concerned, Duke Ikalderen looked exactly the same whether he prepared for ten minutes or two hours, but he could not ignore a noble’s obsession with social events and banquets.

If he forcibly cut the process short, he might have to watch the duke twist his body around and hide one side of his face for the entire banquet.

Another hour later.

“Go up and hit him twice.”

-Yes.

“Wait, wait! Just thirty more minutes! Give me thirty more minutes and I’ll make an additional donation to Einroguard! You know what I’m talking about!”

“What exactly am I supposed to know? Just finish up and come out.”

“You can stand around doing nothing and still have people worship you. But if I’m to maintain the dignity of a duke, this level of preparation is necessary!”

“You’ve gotten fairly good at flattery. Fine. Give him another thirty minutes.”

Thirty-five minutes later.

The duke came walking down while glaring at the knight after being hit three times.

He was covered in all manner of dangling insignia and ornaments.

The Skull Principal looked at him and said,

“In the old days, they usually called someone dressed like that a court jester.”

“Hmph... I imagine fashion itself has changed since your era.”

“Wardanaz might be beating up Valdrogard students out of boredom by now. Let’s get going.”

“Wardanaz? There’s a mage from House Wardanaz there?”

The duke shouted in great surprise.

The Skull Principal nodded.

“Yes. Don’t hold some pointless grudge. You’ll only make things harder for yourself.”

“N-no, it’s nothing like that. I... perhaps...”

“?”

“If there’s a mage from House Wardanaz there, could I ask to have a meal with him?”

“......”

-......

Master and knight had the same thought at the same time.

‘Did we keep him in the punishment area too long?’