Chapter 1313

"I was going to have them demonstrate some magic, but this is simply too much to watch. Let's go."

"What did you just say?"

Dalser, who had been writhing on the floor, sprang upright as if launched. Lee Han tensed at the bizarre movement.

He thought things like that only happened in the dark magic school?

"I said I was going to have them demonstrate some magic."

"But... Your Excellency, you are not particularly interested in our magic, are you?"

Dalser could not understand why the Skull Principal was telling them to cast magic.

There was no way the Skull Principal had suddenly developed an interest in their magic at this point...

'Is he trying to mock us?'

"This little bat-bat here was originally supposed to seriously study microcosm magic this semester, but apparently he is going off to work as a professor in some magical wasteland. So I am trying to give him some instruction during vacation, at least."

"Microcosm magic!"

Startled, Dalser momentarily thought, 'Isn't microcosm magic far too difficult for a student who is only just entering third year?' but quickly abandoned that thought.

Come to think of it, a student who was only just entering third year going off to work as a professor at another magic school was already strange enough.

Even if that magic school was Valdrogard, it was no less strange.

'Well, at that level, it would not be strange for him to learn microcosm magic.'

The Skull Principal looked at Lee Han and asked.

"Come to think of it, didn't you learn anything in the punishment room? I would have expected Professor Voladi to torment you."

"What kind of nonsense is that... Do not slander Professor Voladi."

People confined to the same punishment room naturally became somewhat close.

Lee Han defended Professor Voladi. At least while they had been in the punishment room, Professor Voladi had been kind and cooperative.

"Listen to you calling it slander. He really did not torment you? Then it is one of two things. Either Professor Voladi truly did not torment you..."

"What is the other one?"

"He tormented you, but you adapted so thoroughly that you no longer recognized it as torment."

"......"

Lee Han was rendered speechless by the absurdity.

But the Skull Principal's words had the effect of a wicked serpent, disturbing a person's heart. Because of that, Lee Han fell into confusion.

'...Wait. Is that possible? N-no. I do not think so?'

Even after reconsidering it calmly, Professor Voladi had not particularly attacked him in the punishment room to make him learn a microcosm.

"Now you are even trying to drive a wedge between us!"

"I merely presented a possibility. Then did you really learn nothing at all? Professor Garcia and Professor Diret are one thing, but..."

"Professor Diret?"

"That came out wrong. Pay it no mind. And never tell Diret."

"......"

Lee Han felt as though he had just glimpsed a fragment of some bizarre and horrifying future, but that future was so overwhelming that he could not bring himself to mention it again.

'...I heard nothing.'

"There should have been more shameless professors than that. No one came at all?"

The Skull Principal did not believe in the consciences of Einroguard's professors. He believed in their lack of conscience.

People like Professor Garcia or Professor Dir... no, student Diret innocently thought, 'Wardanaz is having a hard time, so I should leave him alone at least during vacation,' but any professor with a little sense would instead conclude, 'If everyone else is leaving him alone, then now is my chance!'

He had expected at least one or two of them to sneak down, teach Lee Han a microcosm, and run away...

"Then have you really heard nothing about microcosm magic recently?" ℯ𝔴ℯ

"That is not the case. From the enchantment magic school and the dark magic school..."

"Ha! I knew it! Bivle, you sly and shameless mage! I knew it!"

"Hmph. Professor Verdus truly is as treacherous and vile as a person can be."

The Skull Principal and Dalser eagerly began criticizing Professor Verdus.

Normally Lee Han would have happily joined in at a moment like this, but not this time.

"N-no. Professor Verdus did not come down to the punishment room to teach me and then leave. I only met Professor Verdus briefly after the semester ended and vacation began."

"Is that really true? Then surely Professor Mortum did not either?"

"Professor Mortum never came down either, and more importantly, I did not learn it from Professor Mortum..."

Lee Han had heard about the dark magic school's microcosm from Diret and the Descendants. Professor Mortum had not even been there in the first place.

The Skull Principal sighed at those words.

"I do not know why Mortum is so sloppy about handling things. He was always sickly even as a student. At this rate, Professor Voladi is going to overtake him in number of students." ℴ

"Your Excellency. Even so, Professor Mortum has a fairly good reputation among us mages..."

"What meaning does it have for a dark magic school mage to have a good reputation at another magic school? Infamy would be better."

The Skull Principal shook his head regretfully at Professor Mortum's lukewarm way of handling matters.

Of course, it was practically impossible for dark magic school mages to behave the way they had in the past.

This was no longer an era without laws. They could hardly take corpses from the graveyards of other people's estates as they pleased.

But old dark mages, including the Skull Principal, made unreasonable demands like the old-timers they were.

-Act with spirit like you did in the old days!

-Just do not get caught!

They were absurd demands that would have made Professor Mortum swear if he heard them.

"Then it seems no one really came down. Well, Professor Garcia was frightening. What happened in the professors' lounge was really..."

"What?"

"Nothing. Forget what you just heard."

"......"

Lee Han glared at the Skull Principal.

It would have been better if he had simply said nothing, but throwing out only the beginning made Lee Han keep imagining the rest.

'What in the world did Professor Garcia do in the professors' lounge?'

Images kept appearing in his head of 'Professor Garcia spinning a long table around like a pinwheel' or 'Professor Garcia spinning Professor Verdus around like a pinwheel.'

"Then tell me what you heard, at least. What did Professor Verdus say?"

"First, there was the microcosm magnum opus..."

"Hmph!"

A harsh scoff came from beside him. It was Dalser, Petroguard's renowned mage.

"Always magnum opus! What an outdated spell... Does Professor Verdus think carrying those elements around makes it look impressive?!"

"...Dalser. I understand that you dislike Professor Bivle."

If there was one offense the Skull Principal, who protected Einroguard's faculty far more than one might expect, was willing to overlook, it was insulting Professor Verdus.

If some noble bastard insulted Professor Garcia, the Skull Principal would bury them upside down in a swamp, but if someone insulted Professor Verdus...

'Anyone can make a mistake now and then, as long as they are human.'

"But right now we are discussing magic."

"...My apologies, Your Excellency. How shameful. I failed to control my emotions and displayed an ugly side of myself."

"Continue."

"Ah. Yes."

Lee Han was somewhat bewildered, but he resumed his explanation for the moment.

Professor Verdus's microcosm magnum opus, and the six high-level spells containing that magic.

Dalser immediately cried out again.

"What an utterly shameless trick! He is not merely trying to teach a single microcosm, but to bundle equally difficult spells together and pass all of them down..."

"I do not think Professor Verdus is capable of such a cunning scheme."

"Wardanaz here is being deceived by Professor Verdus! Your Excellency!"

"Quiet down. Quiet."

The Skull Principal waved a hand, beginning to look irritated.

Until he arrived, he had expected he would have to talk about asking the Petroguard mages for cooperation. He had not expected to have to placate a Petroguard mage behaving like an obnoxious nuisance.

"Professor Bivle probably did not bring it up because they intended to teach all seven spells. If that had been the case, they would simply have said so openly."

"Professor Verdus is certainly capable of that."

Lee Han agreed.

"What about dark magic? If Diret taught you, was it Pentagrammaton?"

"Yes."

"Not bad. Once you learn it, casting high-difficulty dark magic will become considerably more convenient. In your case, Wardanaz, it should be easy to learn as well."

"...I do not know why everyone thinks that, but I believe it will take me quite a long time."

"What are you talking about? You can draw one out from your family or from the bracelet. Surely you were not fooled by something pretending to be dead."

"Nothing like that. It is simply that if I am going to seal something, I would prefer to seal the demon I fought."

"Aha."

The Skull Principal looked at his disciple with benevolent eyes, as if he understood Lee Han's feelings. That expression only made Lee Han more uneasy.

Usually, whenever the Skull Principal looked at him that way, nonsense followed...

"You greedy little thing. You want to increase the output of your microcosm magic. I too once pursued such glory in my younger days."

"Your Excellency's disciple truly is an excellent mage."

"Aside from all the bat-like behavior, he is quite a decent mage."

"......"

While Lee Han stared in disbelief, the Skull Principal finished organizing his thoughts.

"Is that everything?"

"Ah. I did learn <Microcosm, Terminalia> from Professor Garcia. But Professor Garcia did not secretly come down to teach me. It was truly unavoidable..."

"?!!"

The Skull Principal was shocked.

"Professor Garcia did?!"

"It was not deliberate. One of the students had a curse..."

"Professor Garcia has finally learned how to secure a share for themself. Dalser. Now this is something worth celebrating!"

"Congratulations on Professor Kim's behalf! Someone like Professor Kim truly deserves to prosper!"

"...Professor Garcia taught it to me in order to lift a curse. Not out of self-interest."

"You would like to believe that. But Wardanaz. What branch of magic is Terminalia?"

"Spacetime magic."

"And Professor Garcia's specialty?"

"Spacetime magic... No. This is slander!"

"The truth is not important. I want to believe it was Professor Garcia's scheme. That would make me feel much more pleased."

Professor Garcia constantly sacrificing themself one-sidedly was not particularly good for the other professors either. It would encourage bad habits.

If this really had been Professor Garcia's scheme, the Skull Principal felt he would genuinely be delighted.

'Is it just my imagination? Every time I talk with the Principal, I keep becoming suspicious of the professors...'

Lee Han instead looked suspiciously at the Skull Principal.

Was this person deliberately trying to sow discord?

"There is nothing more to say about Terminalia if it has already been passed down. As for Pentagrammaton, you want to put in a stronger demon, so that cannot be helped... Perhaps it would be best to start by practicing the magnum opus."

"Your Excellency!"

"All right. All right. Stop whining. I will give you a chance too."

The Skull Principal gestured toward Dalser. It meant that Dalser should show off the magic they were so proud of.

"It will probably be Simulacrum. Or perhaps Daimonas. In truth, just because they are Petroguard mages does not mean they only use creative and ingenious microcosm magic. Rather, because microcosm spells have been passed down for a long time, there are aspects of them that are easy to predict."

"...Your Excellency..."

The Petroguard mage stared at the Skull Principal in disbelief.

Was it really acceptable for a great mage to behave like this?

But the Skull Principal replied shamelessly.

"You are allowed to take a student from another magic school as you please, but I am not even allowed to say a single word about your magic?"

'He truly is the embodiment of holding a grudge.'

Lee Han was impressed.

He felt he now understood why the mages of the Empire feared the Skull Principal.

Once someone got on his bad side, he could retaliate through every petty method imaginable.

"You have thirty minutes left. Introduce it within thirty minutes. We have another appointment after this."

"Your Excellency!"