Chapter 1319

"...You can place a bet over there, Professor Wardanaz. But... don't you feel any sort of reluctance about someone directly involved in the matter participating in the betting?"

Professor Ukablock asked because he was genuinely curious.

Dekarogard might be a school where, from the moment students enrolled, they learned how to weigh their pride and sell it for a high price, but wasn't Einroguard a little different?

Einroguard mages had pride forged as strongly as they had starved...

"Professor, didn't you bet?"

"I... did..."

Lee Han immediately glared at Professor Ukablock. His gaze seemed to say, 'You placed a bet yourself, and now you're trying to keep a competitor out? Just what I'd expect from a Dekarogard professor!'

Realizing he had been misunderstood, Professor Ukablock hurriedly made an excuse.

"I'm not telling you not to join!"

"Ah. Yes."

"I'm telling you that's not what I meant! I was simply curious."

"Whenever the Principal sees me, he asks whether I've been practicing my microcosm, but no one thinks that's a purely innocent question."

Some questions occasionally carried a deeper meaning.

For example, when Lee Han said to Gainando, 'You're still playing mage cards?' and Gainando took it as an actual question and answered something like 'Yeah!', his back would end up on fire.

"My °• N ?? v ?? l i g h t •° mistake. Go place your bet quickly."

'Oh dear. The odds will go down.'

Professor Ukablock calculated inwardly. ℯℓ.

With this sort of betting, there ultimately had to be plenty of people betting on the opposite side for there to be much profit.

If Professor Wardanaz joined this side, Professor Ukablock's profits would decrease...

"But Professor. Do you really think the grand festival will be held successfully? Since I'm Professor Garcia's disciple, I'm betting money as a show of support, but if you think about it objectively, the odds are slim. Even now..."

"Go away!"

Professor Ukablock drove Lee Han off with a disgusted expression.

This new Valdrogard professor thought exactly like a reflection of himself in a mirror.

That only made him more irritating.

-Successor!

"?"

When the Death Knight hurried over, Lee Han turned his head in confusion.

Could this knight have come to bet gold coins too?

"What is it?"

-The Master has just returned to Einroguard.

"!"

Not only Lee Han but Professor Ukablock was startled.

"Could His Excellency have finally lost patience and blown up Einroguard?!"

-What do you mean, blow up Einroguard?

"Ah. The Einroguard I'm talking about here isn't the actual Einroguard, but rage... No, never mind. More importantly, why did he return?"

No matter how petty and narrow-minded the Skull Principal was, he would not abandon the work he was supposed to do and return merely because he had to look after a few Valdrogard students.

Something must have happened at Einroguard.

-It appears a summoned creature is rampaging through the territory. The damage is greater than expected, so the Master said he would deal with it personally.

"Wait. It's vacation right now."

Lee Han was puzzled.

At Einroguard, fires broke out whenever they felt like it, floods occurred, and incorrectly summoned monsters appeared from time to time. A fairly high percentage of such accidents were caused by student mistakes.

But an accident like this during vacation?

The Death Knight replied calmly, as though it were not surprising at all.

-It happens more often than you might think. There could have been a problem with research the students left behind, one of the professors might have caused an accident, or perhaps it's simply because this is Einroguard...

"......"

It was an explanation he could only accept.

'Well, Einroguard is built on bad land.'

The Skull Principal often said, 'You are fortunate to train in magic upon the most magically blessed terrain on the continent!', but not many students agreed.

Terrain blessed with magic also meant magical anomalies occurred frequently.

Where else would the Frost Giant King appear in a corridor?

"I think there's a high chance it's the enchantment magic school. Professor Verdus's careless attitude toward safety must have caused an accident."

-The Master said it seems to be a summoned creature from the dark magic school...

"...Professor Mortum! Professor Mortum is the culprit! I knew it!"

Lee Han immediately turned the arrow toward his teacher.

There was absolutely no way Senior Diret could have made such a mistake. Even if Diret had, it was only right for Professor Mortum to bear the responsibility in his capacity as teacher.

"I may or may not have heard something about Professor Mortum trying to form a contract with some suspicious being from a dark-magic realm. The Professor is suspicious!"

-I-I see. In any case, Successor. Please finish matters at Dekarogard in the Master's place. He entrusted them to you.

"After that, can I return to the punishment room on my own?"

-......

"Ah. I suppose I can't because of my position as a Valdrogard professor."

The Death Knight became slightly worried.

Until now, the knight had never once worried about how the Successor handled a task...

...The position of Valdrogard professor was the one and only position that somehow caused concern.

It was difficult even for the knight to understand why.

Of all the duties the Successor had taken on, this could be called the easiest, so why did it somehow make the knight more worried instead?

-As promised, I will escort the Successor and assist with Valdrogard's work.

"Thank you very much. I happened to need someone to watch the punishment room..."

'Did I hear that wrong?'

Professor Ukablock tilted his head.

Why would someone need a punishment room to teach Valdrogard students?

"More importantly, it's somewhat concerning that the Principal returned already when we haven't even persuaded all the magic schools yet."

-There are more than six months left anyway, so there should be plenty of time to persuade them. Please do not worry too much.

"Hmm."

After speaking, Lee Han and Professor Ukablock looked at each other.

Sensing something ominous, the professor spoke firmly.

"Professor Wardanaz. Hurry up and go place your gold."

"I think it wouldn't be too late if I thought about it a little more..."

"Go and bet quickly!"

***

The process of once again confirming the full cooperation of the Dekarogard mages and putting it into writing proceeded without the slightest obstacle.

"As long as Professor Wardanaz doesn't conduct business here, we are prepared to comply with any request during the grand festival."

'Isn't that a bit much?'

Lee Han grumbled inwardly.

Like a gambling house banning a guest who had won a huge sum from ever entering again, Dekarogard chose a cowardly trick instead of competing fairly through skill.

It might be profitable in the short term, but in the long term it would damage their pride as mages...

"Professor Wardanaz!"

"Hurry and promise! Someone holding the position of professor cannot plunder students!"

"All right. All right. I just have to not do it here, don't I?"

In the end, Lee Han made the promise.

For now, preparations for the grand festival were more important.

Carrying feelings of regret, sorrow, resentment, and more, Lee Han walked outside and saw the Valdrogard students waiting for him.

"Ah. Student Jandanni. You were waiting."

"Yes! Professor. I truly admire you. Even while carrying out your duties as a Valdrogard professor, you are also preparing for the grand festival..."

The two Valdrogard students looked at Lee Han with genuine respect.

Even while shouldering the heavy workload of a Valdrogard professor, he was also helping prepare the grand festival.

To them, it was an unimaginable degree of overwork.

'...Is there anything about being a Valdrogard professor that could actually be called a heavy workload??'

Lee Han was slightly confused, but did not show it.

He already had hardly any students. If he drove away even more here, he might truly end up with fewer disciples than Professor Voladi.

With an artificial smile, Lee Han responded to his disciples' praise.

"Your praise makes me very happy. Come to think of it, I'd like to meet the other Valdrogard students before the semester begins. Could you perhaps introduce me to them?"

Lee Han had realized something.

If he wanted to catch up even a little with the reputation the other professors had built for their lectures, he needed to start preparing during vacation.

Even if he sealed the classroom doors, it would only be effective if plenty of students came inside in the first place.

'I can't rely on reputation alone. Valdrogard students are unpredictable.'

Right now they were saying, 'If Professor Wardanaz opens a lecture, everyone will definitely come take a look at least once!', but he could never trust that.

This was Valdrogard.

A play called <Students Who Subjugate the Skull Principal> might suddenly be staged in a theater course, drawing everyone over there instead.

He had to meet as many of them as possible beforehand and recruit them!

Jandanni was delighted by Lee Han's request.

Most Valdrogard students enjoyed social activities. Few things were more enjoyable than introducing people to each other and chatting together.

That was even more true when the person in question was the newly appointed Professor Wardanaz.

"Of course, Professor! Do not worry! First, I would like to introduce you to Lutelvent. This friend is..."

"Senior. Lutelvent joined a residential program to observe and learn from the great actors of the Imperial Theater Company."

"Ah. Right. Then Arman..."

"Senior Arman left to participate in a theater festival being held in the north, remember?"

"Right! That's right."

"......"

Couldn't they just change the school's name from the Imperial Magic School to the Imperial Theater School?

Those words rose all the way to Lee Han's throat, but he forced them back down.

He could not afford to make even the students here run away.

But trends like this were one of Valdrogard's defining characteristics.

Sometimes it was horseback riding, sometimes travel, sometimes sailing, sometimes literature...

These trends were like storms, swallowing up the interests of the entire school.

And the current trend was theater.

It was an overwhelming trend that no one could deny.

'I'm not quite sure why magic has never been one of the trends.'

"Ah! I have a good idea."

"If you're suggesting that we go watch a play, I'm not going."

"So Professor Wardanaz likes theater too? Unfortunately, that isn't what I meant. There should be several juniors in the city of Isran right now. It isn't very far, so how about meeting them?"

"Is there a play being performed in the city of Isran?"

Slightly wounded, Lee Han asked about theater first.

If he visited the city of Isran and found them distracted by watching plays there as well...

'...I might shut down the theater.'

"No! Haha. The scenery of the city of Isran is beautiful, so they went to see it."

"I see."

Lee Han had also visited the city of Isran during his first year.

Unlike the Valdrogard students, he had not gone to see the beautiful ocean scenery, but to work.

Still, it was a beautiful city.

'Come to think of it, I also visited the city of Isran during the Three Kingdoms era.'

That was when he had met the young prince.

One could say the young prince was a beautiful person befitting a beautiful city.

The Valdrogard students now might not be quite to that extent, but they could still be called bright and lively students befitting a beautiful city...

"Because seeing beautiful scenery can inspire them to give even better performances!"

"Let's just hurry up and go."

***

The city of Isran had many things to boast about.

A city gate said to have been made from a mermaid's tears, a statue of water whose creation dated all the way back to ancient times...

But of all those things, the place people took the greatest pride in was still the harbor.

The enormous horizon that could not be seen farther north in the southern regions, along with the merchant ships packed tightly into the docks, filled people with energy simply by looking at them.

The two Valdrogard students smiled in satisfaction the moment they saw the scenery.

Seeing all the different faces of the Empire was precisely the joy of traveling.

"Professor. Isn't it truly beautiful?"

"Ah. Yes. It truly is beautiful. Where are the students? They haven't gone into a theater, have they?"

-The mages were caught by the privateer fleet anchored here? Really?

-I'm telling you! Apparently they climbed aboard the ships without any fear and tried to spy on them.

"Hahaha! What idiots! Professor, did you hear that? It seems there are some truly foolish mages around!"

"......"

Lee Han did not answer.

For some reason, he had a very ominous feeling.