Chapter 1357

Faint screams could be heard from behind.

Professor Verdus lacked many abilities, but if there was one in particular that was fatally lacking, it was tact.

This person simply had none.

-Why! Why! H-How did you break the magic with your fists?! No! Don’t break it!

‘I should run farther away.’

After putting enough distance between himself and the school to reach the forest, Professor Kirmin erased every trace of himself with illusion magic that was nearly flawless and stared toward the academy’s main building.

Before long, a very miserable-looking Professor Garcia trudged out.

Judging by the carriage being prepared, it seemed she intended to go to Valdrogard.

‘Hang in there, Garcia. The chances are low, but...’

Professor Kirmin was still half in doubt.

Had the Principal really sold Wardanaz to Valdrogard?

‘He’s not the kind of person who would do that... though he’s definitely capable of it. But still, he’s not the kind of person who would...’

Fwoosh!

Professor Kirmin felt the insignia pinned to the collar of the coat grow hot and flare with magical heat. A colleague from the same workplace was urgently contacting them.

The professor quickly tore off the insignia and threw it into the forest.

‘I shouldn’t answer any calls for a while.’

It felt like answering would become extremely troublesome.

***

-Professor! Look! That’s Valdrogard Hill!

“Sigh.”

-...Professor, should we buy you something from the city of Ileinas below? You liked cotton candy, didn’t you?

“Siiigh.”

-......

The Death Knight serving as the coachman simply shut its mouth and turned its head away.

Professor Garcia had been sighing throughout the entire journey. The Death Knight seriously thought it should inspect the floor of the carriage after this was over.

‘There might be a hole in it.’

“Siiiiigh.”

-U-Um, the heir is probably doing well at Valdrogard too.

-......

The other Death Knight beside it shot it a horrified look.

You call that comforting her??

Professor Garcia apparently thought the same, judging by her complicated expression.

-It’s true, isn’t it?

The Death Knight who had spoken seemed to realize there was no turning back and boldly pushed onward.

It was courage worthy of a knight. There were probably only a handful in the Empire who could say such things while Professor Garcia was glaring from behind.

-Honestly, Valdrogard’s environment is much better than Einroguard’s. You can just think of it as spending one semester on vacation. It’ll be a good rest.

‘I guess I’ll be driving the carriage alone.’

The Death Knight beside it thought inwardly.

Apparently, the number of coachmen was about to drop from two to one.

But Death Garcia—no, Professor Garcia—instead of reducing the number of coachmen, answered with a resigned expression.

“That’s true too.”

-Ghk.

A sad Professor Garcia was even more frightening than an angry Professor Garcia.

The Death Knights sitting on the driver’s bench became flustered.

‘What do we do?’

‘You’re the one who said it, you idiot!’

‘I was trying to comfort her!’

The knights desperately tried to change the subject somehow.

-Professor! Look over there! The sea! The sea! You liked the sea!

“The sea... is pretty... Lee Han would probably like it too...”

-...Einroguard has a lake as big as the sea.

‘The only problem is that there are quite a lot of monsters in it.’

-Professor! Look over there! The palace! The gemstone decorations are dazzling!

“Gemstones... must be expensive... Lee Han too...”

-Professor! Look over there! Einroguard students are lighting a campfire in the front courtyard!

“Einroguard students always light campfires... What? What did you say?”

Professor Garcia, who had been completely lost in sadness, jolted in surprise.

And the Death Knights who had spoken were startled as well.

Why were Einroguard students inside Valdrogard’s grounds??

-R-Raid...! Plundering!

-Hostage-taking! Blackmail!

The knights rapidly shouted out the possibilities that came to mind.

Einroguard students lighting a campfire in front of the palace.

It brought to mind the Valdrogard raid incident from fifteen years ago.

“Quickly! Get us inside!”

After receiving permission at the main gate, Professor Garcia and the Death Knights hurried up.

They intended to persuade the Einroguard students to surrender peacefully.

“Everyone! No matter how badly you need research funds, this kind of blackmail is...”

“Ah, Professor Garcia! What brings you here?”

One student spotted Professor Garcia over the wall and greeted her cheerfully.

Professor Garcia was surprised by the attitude. No matter how she looked at it, this was not how students committing a crime behaved.

‘What is this?’

-It may be a disguise!

-This year’s second-years really are on a different level. They’re no ordinary students...

The Death Knights sent wary looks toward them.

The students in the same year as the heir were unusually underhanded and shamelessly vicious, which from the knights’ perspective was the highest possible praise, making them very difficult opponents.

They absolutely could not let their guard down!

But Professor Garcia glanced at the knights once and asked,

“What are all of you doing here?”

“We’re helping with Wardanaz’s lectures!”

The student’s answer was bright, innocent, and overflowing with happiness.

It was a kind of positive energy that could never be seen at Einroguard.

The knights whispered in astonishment.

-How long have they even been at Valdrogard for them to become like that?

-It’s unbelievable...!

“Y-You’re helping with the lectures?”

“Yes.”

“I see... If that’s the case...”

Professor Garcia relaxed slightly.

The fact that this was not plundering, raiding, hostage-taking, or blackmail was already an enormous relief. Spending time at Einroguard tended to lower one’s standards for what counted as good news.

“Did all of you come here to help Lee Han?”

“Yes!”

“...Everyone should learn from you!”

Professor Garcia exclaimed, deeply moved.

Whether seniors or juniors, students were always split up by tower, fighting and stirring up conflict, but these second-years were clearly different.

To think they had all come together during their precious vacation to help a friend.

Professor Garcia’s eyes grew red, and she reached into her pocket for a handkerchief.

Crack!

The boards sealing one of the palace windows shattered, and a Valdrogard student burst out from inside.

A filthy coat, pants stained with potions and all kinds of reagents, eyes blazing with rage, hatred, and madness.

If not for the Valdrogard uniform, Professor Garcia might have mistaken the student for someone from Einroguard.

“Aaaaaah! Freedom!”

The Valdrogard student charged toward the wall with a roar.

Amazingly, the student had cast wind-element magic on their cloak and body-enhancement magic on their legs.

The Death Knight’s jawbone dropped open in shock.

‘Is that an Einroguard student wearing a Valdrogard uniform?’

Thud!

However, the Valdrogard student did not know that the palace courtyard was filled with all kinds of traps as well.

The moment the pitfall trap activated, the student vanished downward.

“Catch them! Put them back inside!”

“Let go! Let go of me! You lunatics! Isn’t this enough already?! I’m already a master of magic!”

“Master, my ass! That’s not for you to decide, you arrogant bastard! Go back and recite the spell a hundred times!”

The Einroguard students hauled the Valdrogard student out and shoved them back into the palace.

Then they repaired the boards over the window.

“......”

-......

Professor Garcia and the Death Knights all fell silent.

The Einroguard students spoke as though nothing had happened.

“We’re helping with Wardanaz’s lectures.”

“Open this door right now.”

***

“No. How did they break it? They shouldn’t be skilled enough for that.”

“The artifact was the blind spot. They’ve started using the artifacts they had.”

“That can’t be...! To progress this quickly...!”

The Einroguard students were shocked as though they were monkeys witnessing the discovery of fire.

Yonair thought inwardly,

‘Isn’t that a little too much?’

Just how had they normally thought of Valdrogard students to be this amazed by the use of artifacts?

But the others were entirely serious.

“Normally, this <Cloak of Elastic Wind> artifact and <Quickening Legs> artifact are difficult for a non-specialist to use together. But this Valdrogard bastard found a way to delay one effect with a reagent so they could use both at once.”

“Sneaky bastard! Trying to escape with artifacts instead of pure magical skill. Do you really want to escape that badly?”

“......”

The more Yonair listened, the more it felt as though they were insulting themselves.

‘Am I the only one hearing this?’

“Guys! A professor is here!”

One student ran inside and shouted loudly.

Anglago looked puzzled.

“Wardanaz is teaching right now.”

“...Professor Garcia is here!”

“!”

The students were startled by the news.

Professor Garcia came here?!

Lee Han, who was likewise inside the classroom, was also startled when he heard.

“Everyone, study on your own for a moment.”

“What happened, Professor?”

There was a crafty edge to the Valdrogard students’ voices, as though they were probing for a weakness in their professor.

It felt like the moment they spotted even the smallest weakness, they intended to strike at it and escape outside.

Lee Han felt proud seeing that.

There was no doubt that this attitude was also one of the reasons their magical progress had been so fast.

“My teacher has arrived.”

“...!!!”

The Valdrogard students were horrified.

An Einroguard professor who had trained Professor Wardanaz!

They could not even imagine what kind of being that would be. The students thought of the most horrific and terrifying creatures they knew.

A three-headed, six-armed giant, an amorphous monster with a hundred eyes, an evil lich that had survived from ancient times until the present...

Terrified, the Valdrogard students forgot their resentment and spoke to Senior Jandanni.

“Senior. You’ve visited Einroguard before, haven’t you?”

“I have.”

“Among Einroguard’s professors, who is the most terrifying and infamous? The one the students fear the most...”

“Hmm.”

Jandanni sank into thought.

At a time like this, accurate and useful information was necessary to earn the juniors’ respect.

Besides, the magic lectures had been somewhat harsh, and it seemed the juniors were beginning to resent Jandanni a little.

“It would probably be Professor Verdus.”

“Professor Verdus? I think I’ve heard that name before. Who was that again?”

“What race are they?”

“Race? A beaver beastkin.”

“......”

“......”

The juniors immediately gave Jandanni suspicious looks.

Jandanni became flustered.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Out of all the races in the world, why would anyone be afraid of a beaver beastkin professor! You might as well say they’re a penguin beastkin professor!”

“I’m telling you, it’s true! Ask Professor Wardanaz when he comes back later!”

Even at the senior’s firm insistence, the juniors kept looking suspicious.

The Valdrogard students here had learned many things while undergoing intensive magic training.

One of them was the habit of suspicion.

Even when learning magic, they now questioned whether the process was correct, whether the spell could be improved, whether the reagent could be changed, whether the senior in front of them might be deceiving them...

‘That sounds like a lie.’

‘Senior Jandanni turned out to be a better liar than I expected.’

“She’s outside!”

At those words, the Valdrogard students rushed toward the window.

It had been tightly sealed, but there were tiny gaps through which the outside could still be seen.

The Valdrogard students cast illusion magic to magnify their view.

“Ghk!”

“Terrifying...!”

The moment they saw Professor Garcia, the Valdrogard students froze.

Even Professor Wardanaz, along with all those suspicious, evil, underhanded workers, did not dare raise their heads in front of this Professor Garcia.

‘Maybe that professor is the most dangerous and terrifying person in all of Einroguard!’

‘If I ever visit Einroguard later, I’m definitely avoiding her!’