Chapter 1370

“Principal. Please do not doubt the sacred oath and loyalty we have devoted to Einroguard.”

“That’s right. Even without saying such things, we are always prepared to fulfill our responsibilities as professors.”

At the professors’ blatantly insincere responses, the Skull Principal had to suppress the urge to say, ‘Then maybe you should have shown up during the territory cleanup period.’

How was it that Professor Garcia was always the only one who came?

Of course. I trust you. Where else could I possibly find mages as dependable as all of you? Ha ha. Hahahaha.

“Ha ha ha. Hahahaha.”

‘This is so fake it’s suffocating.’

Professor Garcia could hardly tell whether this was Einroguard or some court ball filled with political intrigue.

Professor Voladi, who is less wise than Professor Jorzik. There is something you must remember. We need to capture that bastard, not kill it.

“!”

Professor Voladi almost never showed any change in expression, but this time they sent the Skull Principal an openly dissatisfied look.

Professor Thunderstep also spoke as if puzzled.

“Wouldn’t it be enough to cut off the Principal’s head and offer it to Valdrogard?”

Professor Thunderstep. Haven’t you seen and heard a few too many strange customs in the remote corners of the Empire? And if you cut off the head and send it over, that would be a threat, not persuasion. Do you want all of us to stand before His Majesty together?

‘Shouldn’t someone point out that they said the Principal’s head in the first place...?’

Professor Garcia muttered inwardly.

They should have said the duplicate’s head, yet everyone was unconsciously calling it the Principal’s head.

At least Professor Milei adjusted her monocle and explained on the Principal’s behalf.

“If you want to terminate the contract with Valdrogard, it would be best to capture the duplicate and take it there. And more importantly, that duplicate possesses an enormous fortune. I assume that is what the Principal is after.”

Since it is my duplicate, one could say that fortune was mine to begin with.

The Skull Principal openly admitted it without even trying to hide anything.

The great legacy the duplicate of greed for wealth had accumulated until now.

Of course, obtaining that legacy would never be easy. Even after using every method imaginable to track it, the duplicate had never readily exposed its trail.

As an outstanding archmage itself, the duplicate of greed for wealth had probably used some sort of secret technique to conceal its location.

But once we catch it, we can force it to cough everything up. That bastard! The students are going around starving and half naked while it lives in luxury all by itself?

‘Isn’t that just because the Principal starves them?’

Greatest and most outstanding mages of Einroguard! As your lord, I command you! Put your individual schedules aside for a moment and capture the most wicked magical criminal in the entire Empire!

“We will definitely capture the Principal!”

***

Don’t worry, Student Lee Han. Everything worked out well. We organized a subjugation force too.

“!”

Lee Han was delighted when Professor Garcia’s reply arrived.

He looked at the Death Knight beside him and said,

“It seems things didn’t turn into a clash with the professors like you said. That’s a relief.”

The rampage by the other professors you were worried about wasn’t that serious, Student Lee Han. Everyone reconciled and joined hands, so there is nothing to worry about.

“......”

-......

Lee Han and the Death Knight exchanged looks.

Any experienced Einroguardian knew how to find the metaphor hidden in the context.

‘So they did fight.’

‘It must have been pretty bad...’

Still, the fact that everyone had reconciled and joined hands meant that things had apparently been patched up somehow.

“How did they reconcile?”

-Master probably made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

“An offer they couldn’t refuse... Reduced lectures? Double funding?”

He also thought of things like ‘send Professor Verdus to the punishment room.’

But the Death Knight shook its head.

-Master probably told them he would give them the chance to attack a duplicate that looks exactly like him.

“......”

Lee Han was dumbfounded, but he could not refute it.

‘Genius. I need to learn this kind of wisdom.’

He was even tempted to imitate it and add something like ‘the right to attack a professor’ to the list of things Valdrogard points could buy.

Student Lee Han, it is enough for you to remain at Valdrogard and teach the students. You do not need to participate in the subjugation force.

“????”

Lee Han was shocked.

He wasn’t allowed to participate in the subjugation force?

The Death Knight watching from beside him thought inwardly.

‘Normally, you don’t let a student who has only completed their second year participate in a duplicate subjugation force, Successor...’

Of course, if one wanted to argue that point, students who had only completed their second year were not usually allowed to participate in an evil-god subjugation force either.

“Why aren’t they letting me participate?”

-Ah. Well. Mm.

The Death Knight considered saying exactly what it had just been thinking, but stopped itself.

One should always flatter future power in advance.

-I think Professor Garcia is simply worried about you. The other professors probably...

Before it could finish speaking, paper birds came flying in. They were paper birds sent by the other professors.

You absolutely must participate! Ignore what Professor Kim says!

-Professor Mortum

Wardanaz. Considering the duplicate’s cautious personality, I think the chances of success will be higher if you participate. Keep it secret from Bagreg that I sent you this letter.

-Anonymous Professor

“......”

Apparently, even the professors in the subjugation force had differing opinions.

Professor Garcia wanted to solve the matter among themselves without borrowing Lee Han’s strength, but some of the professors thought that would not be easy.

Even if the Skull Principal himself did not go, the duplicate of greed for wealth was far too cowardly and vigilant.

No matter how carefully they formed the encirclement and approached, the chances of capturing it were low, so they needed to come up with a more unconventional method.

“But does my going create some kind of unconventional method?”

The hamster, who had only been listening, answered instead.

-Since you already got fooled by it once, it’ll probably think you’re easy prey and lower its guard.

“......”

As Lee Han fired grapes like a rainstorm, the Death Knight silently offered its thanks.

That magical-criminal hamster might not be good for much else, but it had a useful talent for saying things the knight itself found difficult to say. It seemed likely to come in handy from time to time in the future.

The hamster, its fur drenched in fruit juice, squeaked and hurried to explain itself.

-And that’s not all! There’s something even more special!

“What, like I had the most gold coins squeezed out of me in the shortest amount of time among everyone it fooled?”

Lee Han asked coldly.

-A master-disciple relationship! I’m talking about the master-disciple relationship.

The hamster quickly answered, regretting that it had picked a fight first for no reason.

It was obvious from the incident with the maniac of honor, but a powerful bond existed between this lunatic and the lunatic archmage.

No matter how much it was merely a duplicate, it could not be completely free from the influence of the original.

Surely it would have no choice but to treat this lunatic specially as a disciple.

“...You mean like treating me specially by selling me for an especially high price?”

Naturally, Lee Han thought that was utter nonsense.

He had trusted it, followed it along obediently, and gotten sold to Valdrogard. What kind of special treatment as a disciple was that supposed to be?

-People’s hearts are complicated by nature, and an archmage’s heart is even more complicated. Besides, all those thought-forms are lunatics anyway.

“I see... Wait, did you just insult my master?”

‘Oops.’

Fortunately, perhaps because Lee Han was busy with the matter at hand, he did not launch another attack.

“Hmm. Understood. I don’t completely agree, of course, but the other side might lower its guard a little when it sees me.”

-That’s right, Successor. If it is Master’s duplicate, it definitely will.

The Death Knight was certain as well.

The most important thing when dealing with the duplicate of greed for wealth was preventing it from escaping in the first place.

This successor could accomplish precisely that most important task.

For whatever reason, the opponent would hesitate for at least a moment!

“Then I’ll ask the Valdrogard students for their understanding and leave for a while.”

-Yes. Do not worry too much. Your friends are watching them as tightly as an iron wall.

‘Watching them?’

The hamster tilted its head.

Lee Han was teaching lectures at Valdrogard, so why did “watching them as tightly as an iron wall” come into it?

Thwack!

-Eek!

A grape struck the hamster in the face while it was distracted. The hamster shouted furiously.

-What was that for?!

“You insulted my master earlier.”

-......

That persistent bastard...!

***

“The professor is going to be away soon? This is our chance!”

“If we can just break down the palace doors, everyone will rise up!”

-......

As Lee Han left the palace, the hamster sitting on his shoulder stared at the situation in horror.

This is Valdrogard???

The palace definitely looked like Valdrogard, but no matter how it looked at the students inside, they did not seem like Valdrogard students.

The way they whispered while staring at Lee Han with ominous, gleaming eyes made them look just like Einroguard students.

-Hey... those... what in the world...?

“Ah. Don’t worry about them. They talk like that, but escaping won’t be easy.”

-That’s not what I was asking?!

“You have to give them opportunities like that so they’ll work harder at magic. I can’t send them to the punishment room just because they voiced their opinions.”

-I didn’t tell you to send them to the punishment room...!

The hamster could not understand the situation at all.

Surely this lunatic had not locked the Valdrogard students up and forced them to learn magic...

...Right?

‘No way... No... He’s not even a magical criminal. Would he really do something like that?’

The more the hamster thought about it, the more plausible it somehow seemed.

Wardanaz denied it himself, but his behavior was remarkably similar to the Skull Principal’s.

It never said that aloud because Lee Han might beat it to death, but someone like him could easily get up to something at Valdrogard.

‘The laws of the Empire are ridiculous too. They should classify someone like this as a magical criminal. What a lunatic!’

As the palace gates closed, the fierce eyes of the Valdrogard students visible beyond them made all those half-baked magical criminals seem pathetic by comparison.

This was true madness!

“We’ll go to Student Ingsen’s villa first. Student Basiu exchanged addresses with him too, but I think there’s a higher chance they’ll go to Student Ingsen’s villa.”

-Why is that?

“Student Ingsen’s villa is in a more expensive location.”

-......

-......

How do you know that, Successor?

The knight almost asked, then shook its head.

An outstanding mage had a good memory, so perhaps Lee Han had happened to see the land prices in the city of Ileinas at some point and memorized them.

...It was a little too much of a stretch, though!

As they traveled on horseback, Lee Han sank into thought.

‘But what excuse should I use to enter the student’s villa?’

Naturally, he could not force his way inside.

The duplicate of greed for wealth might sense something was wrong and flee.

‘And it’s illegal under Imperial law too.’

-Can’t you use your position as a professor?

The Death Knight asked in confusion.

It could not understand why Lee Han was refusing to use the Valdrogard professorship he had gone to the trouble of acquiring.

Lee Han answered with a slightly embarrassed expression.

“Wouldn’t it be a little awkward for a professor to visit a student’s villa? It might look as though I were asking for a gift.”

-......

-......

The knight and hamster both fell speechless.

Was he seriously saying that?

‘This lunatic locked them up and now he’s saying this?’

The Death Knight handled it somewhat better than the hamster. It phrased its response with dignity.

-This is an urgent situation, so I think you can worry about such matters later.

“Understood. And being a professor doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll welcome me. Think about Einroguard.”

Einroguard professors rarely visited graduates’ mansions unless absolutely necessary.

They might face bloody retaliation.

After arriving in front of the villa mansion, Lee Han spoke to the gatekeeper.

“I am...”

“Ah! Are you the new Valdrogard professor? Hey! Notify everyone inside and prepare a banquet!”

“......”