“Ma’am, are you acquainted with Professor Uregor?”

“Oh, how’d you know? I’m Bungaegor, his aunt.”

‘Wait, for real? She’s actually his relative?’

Yi-han had dismissed the idea that all dwarves that looked the same were related by blood, but it turned out his initial guess had been correct.

“What’s your relationship with Uregor?” the dwarf asked while pulling up her goggles.

Yi-han knew by instinct that something bad was about to happen.

It wasn’t good to have one’s name and face remembered by a professor, be it on Earth or in this world.

After all, he might be forced to enter graduate school just like in his previous life…

“I’m not that familiar with-”

“Wardanaz is Professor Uregor’s disciple!”

“Yeah! He’s received the professor’s approval! He’s even allowed to visit the professor’s hut!”

“…..”

Yi-han looked to his back and saw his friends from the Blue Dragons winking at him, proud of a job well done.

Those of the Blue Dragons were more than happy to praise Yi-han who was their acting leader.

‘Stop it, you immature brats! You aren’t helping anybody!’

Yi-han lashed out at them in his mind. However, the Blue Dragons were oblivious to his feelings and seemed pleased with themselves.

“That so! If you’re his disciple, you might as well be mine as well!”

“See, I wouldn’t consider myself his disciple…”

“He even allowed you to enter his hut, eh? You must’ve really gained his approval!”

“…Yeah, that’s right…”

Yi-han threw up the white flag, deciding it was better to leave a good impression on the professor.

***

After dismounting, Professor Bungaegor approached the students and shouted in a loud, resounding voice.

“ATTENTION!”

“Um, professor? Some students are still passed out…”

“Leave them be! They’ll wake up very soon!”

Though she said this with a clear voice that left no room for arguments, from a medical standpoint, what she said was complete bullshit.

“My name is Bungaegor Choidal, and I’ll be teaching you students this semester. It was originally supposed to be Professor Bentozol teaching you guys, but he went missing trying to find a unicorn. That’s why I’m standing in for him.”

‘Why is no one surprised that a professor went missing while searching for unicorns?’

Rather than the missing Professor Bentozol, the students were more focused on the name of the professor before them.

“Bungaegor? That exulted adventurer?”

“The Bungaegor that subdued a behemoth and turned it into her mount?!”

“The one who explored Spirit’s Crater that no one was able to step their foot into?!”

‘Hmm, I should’ve also paid some attention to newspaper columns that aren’t about the Empire’s economy.’

Yi-han couldn’t join in on their conversation, leaving him feeling excluded.

Apparently, she was a famous adventurer. Several students stared at Bungaegor with reverence in their eyes.

“Now, can anyone guess why I made my appearance on a Thunder Bird?”

“!”

Thunder Birds were monsters that even Yi-han had heard about.

Not only were they massive, but they also displayed fast, violent movements. Furthermore, they had the ability to unleash thunderbolts and whirlwinds on their opponents. To people flying in the skies or climbing tall mountains, they were a nightmare to face.

The students shivered knowing what kind of monster they had been up against.

‘The Empire should really investigate the academy at least once.’

While Yi-han was grumbling in his mind, a student raised his hand to answer the question.

“Is our goal for this semester to ride a Thunder Bird? To help us get familiarized with them-”

“Incorrect! Uahahaha! What a load of baloney. If you wish to ride a Thunder Bird, you’ll need more than a decade’s worth of practice!”

Bungaegor let out a huge bellow of laughter, finding the answer ridiculous.

The student that had spoken up just now awkwardly took a step back.

‘Right. Most of the people here haven’t taken the alchemy class.’

Unlike the class they were in right now which was mandatory, alchemy was an optional course. In other words, the vast majority of the students present had no idea how the dwarves of the ‘-egor’ family taught their lessons.

“Was it because you had to travel long distances in a short amount of time?”

“Wrong. If that was the case, I would’ve come riding a Sleipnir. Wardanaz! What do you think?”

“…..”

The last thing he wanted was attention, but the dwarven professors seemed adamant about picking on him.

Without a choice, he gave his answer while maintaining his expression.

“You wished to observe how we would react when suddenly confronted by dangerous monsters like the Thunder Bird.”

Some of the students around him burst out in laughter at his answer.

was supposed to be about going around the campus on beautiful horses. This wasn’t an course. Why in the world would the professor-

“Attaboy! Uregor’s got good eyes!”

‘Well fuck this.’

Yi-han didn’t think he’d hit the target.

Giving up, he shook his head.

Since he had ties with Professor Uregor, he was bound to encounter Professor Bungaegor as well. With how things stood, he decided it was better to get on her good side.

It was never a good idea to get in the eyes of a professor, but it was much worse to offend one.

‘Better be loved than hated…’

“P-Professor? Aren’t we riding horses in this class?”

“Y-yeah, why do we have to learn how to avoid Thunder Birds?”

Some of the slower ones had yet to understand the situation.

What happened to the horses? Why did they have to know how to escape from Thunder Birds?

“Of course you have to! What are you going to do if they come after you while you’re on horseback?”

Bungaegor responded fiercely as if they were being stupid, which made the students that asked the questions a bit more despondent.

‘But Thunder Birds are rare monsters that only appear high up in the mountains or in the skies…’

Yi-han, however, was wise enough to not say this out loud. A student had to watch their mouth in front of their professors.

“Worry not, for you’ll have plenty of opportunities to ride the horses that you love so much. Wardanaz, come to the front of the class. You’ll be my assistant.”

Yi-han did as he was told under the jealous and admiring eyes of the other students. He cared not about the students that admired him, but he had the strong urge to beat the hell out of those that looked at him with jealousy.

‘What’s there to even be jealous of…’

“Horses are the most basic type of mount inside the Empire. If you can’t ride one, you have no right to travel. To ride something more difficult, you must at least know how to ride a horse well.”

Most people seemed bored listening to Professor Bungaegor’s speech as there were more students present that knew how to ride a horse than those that didn’t.

Though the reasons varied, they had already covered far distances on horseback.

‘What more is there to learn?’ they wondered.

Professor Bungaegor, however, wasn’t angered by their attitude. Instead, she revealed a kind smile.

Shiver!

‘This…’

There was something ominous about her smile.

‘There’s more to this class than meets the eye!’

That much was clear.

This darn academy wasn’t giving them any breathing space; even their mounting class wasn’t normal!

“To the stables we go!”

The stable which was located near the academy’s main building was a wide and neatly-kept facility.

It stood at around three stories tall, and from the outside, its appearance resembled a storage room.

Its doors creaked open when the professor approached, almost as if the facility was alive.

‘A spell has been cast on it.’

Yi-han could feel the fluctuation coming from the stable.

It made sense that there was magic protecting it. After all, the horses inside were probably unlike the ones found outside.

“Wow!”

“My…!”

The students all exclaimed in surprise.

The horses on either side of the stable were more than enough to arouse the interest of the young students.

White, black, brown, gold. There were horses of various colors, and all it took was a glance to know that they belonged to a good breed of horses.

Sufficed to say, the students’ eyes brightened knowing they could ride such fine horses.

Yi-han, however, wasn’t so naive.

“Be careful,” he whispered to Yonaire who was beside him.

“Of what??”

“Think back to the alchemy class. Professor Bungaegor and Professor Uregor are related by blood. Do you think she’d be so kind? This has got to be a trap.”

“…!”

A look of realization dawned on her face, and Yonaire hurriedly nodded.

Professor Bungaegor stroked her beard as she smiled. Soon, she turned to Yi-han and spoke.

“Since you’ll be helping me out from now on, I’ll give you the chance to select your horse first.”

Several people clicked their tongues in jealousy.

They could endure the professor playing favorites, but letting Yi-han pick his horse first? That was something different.

The horse he picked would be his partner for the entire semester. This was no different from gifting him the best horse.

‘…or so they’d think. Idiots. Idiots everywhere.’

Yi-han clearly remembered Professor Bungaegor’s smile.

“Thank you, but I’ll choose later. Please let the others go first as it wouldn’t be fair otherwise.”

“Wardanaz…!”

“Such generosity!”

Those from the same dorm as him were deeply moved.

They had all been eyeing the chance to go first, and yet Wardanaz had taken a step back for them.

Only a true noble could show such grace to others!

“Then how should we do this?”

“Students in each tower will draw lots to decide who gets to go first. They’ll then send people out one at a time, and if two people from different towers wish for the same horse, they’ll draw lots once more.”

“Let’s go with that then.”

The students split up and formed a line representing each tower.

When the Blue Dragons proceeded to draw lots, Gainando eventually came out on top.

“Woooo yeah baby!”

Gainando was delighted by the result. It felt as if he was being rewarded for being taken away by the Thunder Bird earlier.

The rest of the Blue Dragons, on the other hand, didn’t bother to hide their disappointment.

“Why him?”

“We should’ve just had Wardanaz go first.”

“Hmph. Bark all you want.”

Gainando ignored their comments.

“Does Gainando know how to differentiate good horses from bad ones?” Yi-han asked Yonaire in a whisper.

“I’m…not so certain. But I’m pretty sure he doesn’t.”

Gainando stepped forward with a confident stride and chose a white horse which was the biggest and seemed to have the nastiest personality.

The students from the other towers gawked at him, taking a few moments to process his decision.

When it came to choosing horses, size wasn’t everything.

Furthermore, since they had to get close to them in order to tame them, it was silly to choose a horse with a nasty personality. Problems were bound to arise while he was on its back…

Pow!

“Ah!”

Wabam!

“Ugh!!”

Ptui!

“Uaaa!”

“?!”

The students watching were all shocked. Not only had Gainando been headbutted into oblivion, but the others that went first had also been kicked or spat on as well.

These horses… why were they so fierce?

Puleuleuleuleung!

Puleleung! Puheung! Puhuhuhueng!

The horses that had remained behaved until now started neighing in unison, glaring at the students as if they were their greatest enemies.

Their savage nature had finally been unveiled.

“Ahahahahaha! What did I tell you? You must learn how to ride horses well. Your first assignment isn’t getting on the horses’ back. It’s to get close to them. Did you seriously think I’d let greenhorns like you choose a horse?”

“W-what in the world…”

“This is going too far…!”

Those that hadn’t experienced Professor Uregor’s class were immensely disappointed, with some even starting to sob. However, Bungaegor didn’t stop laughing.

“Who knows? If you look after them day and night, one of the kind-hearted ones might open up to you. That’s your goal for the moment. One is enough! Get close to one of them!”

“…..”

‘I bet these aren’t your run-of-the-mill horses.’

Yi-han was certain about this. The horses here weren’t normal.

He refused to believe that horses with such shitty personalities existed in the wild…

Ttak-

Just as he was wondering which horse he should target, Professor Bungaegor patted him on the shoulder with her large paws.

“?”

“Oh, and by the way. Wardanaz, I’ll be selecting the horse for you.”

“…….”

Must you?