Chapter 1304

Lee Han hurried to explain.

“I didn’t tell them that.”

The mages of Valdrogard already knew more about Lee Han than Lee Han himself did.

They had everything organized, from the evil-god subjugation incident to a list of fifth-circle spells he could cast. There were even spells on the list that Lee Han had never used before, and he had nearly fled through the window when he saw it.

But the Skull Principal, already in an exceptionally foul mood, refused to believe his disciple.

“Quiet, Batdanaz.”

“Your Grace. Please do not torment Professor Wardanaz.”

“......”

At Amaset’s earnest plea, the Skull Principal nearly lost his composure for a moment.

Life truly was unpredictable.

Who could possibly have imagined that, over the course of his life, the principal of Valdrogard would ever land such a devastating blow on him?

“...Fine. Conscientiously speaking, I won’t deny that he’s qualified. But Amaset. You’re a noble of the honorable House Meikin, aren’t you?”

“House Kraha.”

'Does this man remember anything at all?'

Lee Han thought to himself.

At this point, it almost seemed as if he were getting it wrong on purpose.

“House Kraha, House Meikin, they’re both rich families, so what difference does it make? In any case, you’re a noble of an honorable house.”

“Your Grace...!”

The principal of Valdrogard fell for those words again and was moved. Lee Han grew uneasy at the sight.

Wasn’t he a little too innocent?

Of course, Lee Han, who had just been fooled himself, was hardly in a position to say that, but still, if the principal of a school and his own superior for the coming semester was like this, it was a little worrying...

“Who do you think you’re worrying about?!”

The Skull Principal scolded Lee Han. Lee Han flinched.

'What? How did he know?'

“This isn’t over yet, so stop thinking like a Valdrogard professor already, you bat-bat bastard!”

“You misunderstand.”

“Amaset. I appeal to your noble conscience and compassion. This Wardanaz may be stupid and cunning, but he still has a great deal of magic left to learn. Third year in particular is the time when students must choose their own research and focus on completing their microcosms and fifth-circle spells.”

Listening from the side, Lee Han wondered if he was the only one who found that strange.

Were microcosms and fifth-circle spells really supposed to come after “third year”?

Unfortunately, the only people present were the principal of Einroguard, the principal of Valdrogard, and a mere duke. None of them noticed anything strange.

“Isn’t it far too cruel to make him spend such an important period serving as a professor at Valdrogard? Don’t you feel sorry for a pillar who will bear the future of the Empire? I’ll compensate you several times over for the gold that impostor took. Release Wardanaz.”

“Principal!”

Lee Han was even more shocked than when he had first learned that the golden-eyed Skull Principal had been fake.

“You can’t do that! The school budget...”

“I’ll make the duke pay for it.”

“Ah. In that case.”

Lee Han relaxed. Duke Ikalderen joined the Skull Principal as well, if only to save his own life.

“I am of the same opinion. Sir Amaset. We will compensate you several times over, so release the disciple.”

“Hmmm...”

The principal of Valdrogard groaned under the weight of his conscience.

But in the end, he made up his mind and declared,

“I’m sorry, Your Grace. I cannot! The students of Valdrogard also deserve to have a genius mage renowned throughout the Empire as their professor!”

“...You nobles don’t even care about magic! You call that magic? It’s children playing house!”

In the end, the Skull Principal was the first to explode.

If Amaset had instead provoked him with something like, “Hmph, Principal of Einroguard, you always looked down on me, so this serves you right,” the Skull Principal might have maintained his composure.

Then he could have coldly replied, “Fine. Let’s see how long you can keep your head attached.”

But when his opponent, despite being wracked with guilt, stubbornly held firm out of concern for his students, the Skull Principal lost his temper.

Since when had Valdrogard students ever cared that much about magic?!?!

“If this were those bastards from Kalarogard or Petroguard, I’d understand after conceding the point a hundred times! But Valdrogard?! Go outside, grab any random student, and ask them how many times they cast magic in a year!”

“Your Grace! That is going too far! There are students at Valdrogard who seriously study magic!”

“One per year would already be a lot! At that point, just send that student outside to learn magic! Don’t summon innocent mage professors here and torment them!”

“I disagree! If a famous genius mage like Professor Wardanaz comes here as a professor, I believe Valdrogard’s students will begin taking a serious interest in magic as well!”

'Will they?'

Lee Han was skeptical.

He himself had already sunk so deeply into the swamp called magic that there was no longer any possibility of escaping, but magic was not exactly a field whose appeal and enjoyment were immediately obvious.

Like other disciplines, one had to endure the tedious fundamentals before discovering its true joys.

Even Gainando had taken quite a long time before discovering the joy of dark magic...

'No. Come to think of it, Gainando still seems to like mage cards more.'

Naturally, the Skull Principal was thinking the exact same thing as Lee Han.

“If bringing in a single professor were enough to make every student interested in magic, there’d be no reason for the Empire’s magic schools to exist. Enough. This is no longer something we can settle through conversation.”

“Principal! You can’t settle this with force!”

Lee Han hurriedly stopped the Skull Principal.

No matter how he looked at it, beating up Valdrogard’s principal and stealing the contract seemed excessive.

“I wasn’t planning to settle it with force, you bat of the bat-bat family.”

“Please stop adding more bats.”

“How did you fall for something like that? Are you really an Einroguard student? You, of all people? You’re not even that prince brat.”

“Ah. I’m telling you, he really looked genuine.”

“His eye color would have been different!”

“You turn into a skeleton and back into a person all the time, so I just assumed it was another one of those things!”

The master and disciple blamed each other.

After they had blamed each other to their satisfaction, Lee Han regained his composure and asked,

“Then if you aren’t going to use force, how do you plan to solve this?”

“...I’ll have to go ask His Majesty. There are extenuating circumstances this time.”

If the Skull Principal himself had sold his disciple, there would have been no question of asking anyone for help, but this time it truly had not been his fault.

He might get scolded a little for carelessly leaving his disciple unattended, but...

“Then isn’t that good? If His Majesty helps us.”

“It isn’t good, you stupid bat! It’ll take time!”

Whack!

Fuming, the Skull Principal struck Duke Ikalderen. The duke cried out in horror.

“What are you doing?!”

“I can’t hit a Valdrogard professor, so I hit you instead. Why? Do you have a complaint?”

“......”

Duke Ikalderen shut his mouth without saying another word. If he said he did have a complaint, it felt as though the Skull Principal might genuinely do something terrible.

“His Majesty values the Empire’s rules and laws more than you might think. Unless something is extremely urgent, he prefers to act according to proper procedure.”

A dragon whose life’s goal was to find someone decent and hand over the throne was hardly likely to enjoy stepping forward and wielding absolute monarchic power.

Secretly dividing things up, cutting them apart, dispersing them, and working behind the scenes was another matter, but acting openly at the forefront was absolutely unlike the Emperor.

“If His Majesty intervenes, he’ll probably persuade Valdrogard’s patrons and ask various noble houses to pressure the principal. It’ll take several months at minimum. But your semester starts in three months, and it’ll be over in six!”

“I-I see... But Principal. How difficult is being a Valdrogard professor?”

Thud!

The Skull Principal kicked Duke Ikalderen. The duke groaned and rolled aside.

“You’re already excited about playing professor!”

“No... If this isn’t resolved in time, I’ll have to serve as a professor, won’t I?”

“......”

Never before had his disciple’s calm and rational demeanor seemed so irritating.

Come to think of it, his disciple’s reaction was only natural.

'Wait. This bastard has nothing to lose!'

If you grabbed any Einroguard student and asked, “Would you rather spend one semester as a Valdrogard professor or as an Einroguard student?” every single one of them would choose the former.

Of course, falling drastically behind in magical research and coursework would be a problem, but the disciple standing in front of him was about as far removed from that concern as a person could possibly be.

If he kept bullying him here, Lee Han might even announce that he intended to remain a Valdrogard professor for the second semester of third year.

“A professor... Honestly, Valdrogard students will probably be pleased no matter what you do. You could lecture on mage cards, analyze the Detective Toberiz series, or explain the history of Imperial theater...”

“But they brought me here because of my magical ability. I can’t exactly avoid teaching magic.”

“How many Valdrogard students do you think could keep up with your magic?”

“......”

Lee Han paused.

That was admittedly somewhat worrying.

'Where am I even supposed to start explaining things?'

“If I were to give you some general advice, learn lessons from the professors you’ve watched and learned from. Garcia did the same when first appointed.”

“I see...”

Lee Han took the Skull Principal’s advice seriously.

Then he tilted his head.

“You mean Professor Garcia learned lessons from people like Professor Verdus?”

“Learning how not to teach is still a lesson.”

“I see.”

***

As much as he wanted to set fire to every palace on the hill, the Skull Principal restrained himself and prepared to attend the banquet.

Even if Einroguard had lost one student, he still had duties to fulfill as principal.

Amaset approached with a guilt-stricken expression and apologized.

“I’m sorry, Your Grace. In exchange, we will do everything we can to sponsor and support the grand festival this ti—”

“Get out of my sight.”

“...Yes...”

With his mood thoroughly ruined, the Skull Principal stood in a corner wearing an expression that said, “Come near me and I’ll kill you.”

His murderous aura was so intense that not even the most thick-skinned person attending the banquet dared speak to him.

“Duke.”

Duke Ikalderen, the greatest sinner among sinners, was the only person sitting at the Skull Principal’s table, sweating profusely.

“Go raise money.”

“Understood...”

The duke stood and trudged away.

He could not understand how a banquet that should have been enjoyable had turned into this.

Still, for the sake of survival, the duke did his utmost.

“Everyone, have you heard about this plan to join hands with the other magic schools?”

“Ah. Your Grace! It has been far too long! Why did you not attend the previous gathering?”

“...Something came up. In any case, have you all heard about joining hands with the other magic schools...”

“Let us not discuss such a dull subject! Your Grace! There is to be a race featuring the Empire’s finest horses. Which horse do you believe will win?”

“......”

For the first time, Duke Ikalderen realized that the work of a magic-school principal was harder than he had expected.

There were far more people in the Empire who had no interest in magic.

Most would rather sponsor the construction of a new theater than a festival between magic schools.

“But magic is incredible too! Do you know just how incredible magic is?”

“I don’t. It’s difficult, so I don’t pay much attention to it.”

As the duke struggled, Lee Han entered his field of vision.

The new professor of Valdrogard was already surrounded by people and receiving an enthusiastic response.

“One day, a Valdrogard student was invited to tour Einroguard. But when they arrived, they saw students throwing stones at some beaver beastkin professor. It looked so dangerous that the Valdrogard student said, ‘I don’t think stones are appropriate, everyone!’ The Einroguard students all agreed. Then they started launching boulders instead.”

“Wahahahaha!”

“That’s hilarious because it’s so unrealistic! There’s no way anything like that could ever happen!”