Yi-han received the potions and placed them in his pockets.

“To think I’d have the honor to receive such great potions. Words alone cannot describe how moved I am.”

“May I ask why you’re here? If there’s something you need help with, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Yi-han told her about the nasty trap that the professor had prepared for the assignment.

Priestess Siana, who had been listening with an earnest look, exclaimed in surprise, having recalled something.

“Yes, I remember seeing some odd ingredients within the mix. I was thinking of browsing through some books later on…”

“We’re currently in the process of pooling together all our ingredients to test out several recipes, and we’d be delighted to have someone like your respected self with us. After all, when it comes to alchemy, none would dare to claim that they’re better than Priestess Siana.”

Priestess Siana immediately nodded, excited.

“But of course, I’d be happy to help. I’ll call the other students from the Immortal Phoenix as well!”

‘If only the White Tigers were this easy to manipulate…’

Such were Yi-han’s thoughts as he watched the departing figure of the priestess.

***

The Black Tortoise were even easier to convince as Nilia and Ratford brought them out.

In fact, he had a harder time placating the students that rushed over from the black market to trade with him.

They lined up in front of him, thinking he was here to trade again.

-Wardanaz, how about this knife staff?! With this, the White Tigers won’t be your match!

-Move aside! Wardanaz, want this talisman? It helps you avoid golems!

Then came the White Tigers…

“Wardanaz is here!”

“Don’t charge at him by yourself!”

“…..”

Dolgyu had to intervene in the end and speak to his friends, but even then, the White Tigers refused to budge.

Eventually, Yi-han came back without them.

‘Well…we should have enough ingredients even without the White Tigers.’

With three towers cooperating, they had ingredients to spare.

With the help of Priestess Siana, Yi-han and Yonaire measured how many ingredients they had altogether.

Then, they split them into two piles, one of which was used for the experiments.

“Preparations are done. We can proceed with the experiments now.”

“Good work, everyone.”

All the students present let out a deep sigh.

They had to go through all this trouble because of the bs trap that Professor Uregor had laid.

“By the way, is it true that you’re leaving tomorrow using an exit permit?”

“!”

The Blue Dragons were aware that Yi-han had received an exit permit, but the students from the other towers were blown away by this news.

Not only were the Black Tortoise staring at Yi-han with looks of surprise, but the Immortal Phoenix were as well.

“Y-you received an exit permit!?”

“As one would expect of Sir Wardanaz!”

“How does one receive an exit permit? Do we have to take down a golem?”

“That’s not what’s important right now! Wardanaz, what do you plan on bringing back?”

The students gathered around Yi-han and bombarded him with questions.

Though they were envious of him, they were more curious about what he would bring back from the outside world.

“I-if it was me, I’d bring back…Gaaah! I’m spoiled for choices!”

“C-calm down. Let’s list them out one at a time.”

They were raising a fuss over nothing. Yi-han, who was at the center of all this, remained as calm as ever.

‘What would you bring back if you were allowed to take a day off?’

“Food! Lots and lots of food. Something sweet and easy to carry!”

“Wardanaz, you should borrow a carriage on your return trip!”

“Don’t you remember? We aren’t allowed to bring carriages into the school grounds!”

“Food’s fine and all, but how about clothes? What we’re wearing right now can hardly be considered rags.”

‘What’s wrong with what we’re wearing?’ Nilia wondered.

Personally, she felt comfortable in these clothes…

“You’re right. We need something more comfortable and durable.”

“Shoes! Hats! Cloaks! And…”

Asan joined the conversation as well.

“We should procure some books as well as utensils such as ink.”

“Are you nuts, Dargard? Can you eat books? Can you drink ink?

“Hey, I’m not saying we shouldn’t get food, but we seriously need to get some books.”

Asan had a valid reason for saying this.

In an attempt to complete their assignments, some students had gone to visit the academy’s library, but as expected, the books there weren’t arranged in a logical order, which made it terribly difficult to find the books that they needed.

‘Which sociopath organized these books?’

Chaos was the perfect word to describe the library, with no semblance of order.

Anyone that visited there would be horrified, and trying to find the appropriate book for the assignment would be an absolute nightmare.

The students missed the bookstores outside.

Out there, all they had to do was say ‘I’m looking for this book’, and the store owners would wrap it up for them. Oh, how they missed the good ol’ days!

“As things stand, there’s a 95% chance of us breaking down first due to the assignments. We should at least get some basic reading materials.”

“Hmm… you have a point.”

Even the students that had been screaming for butter cookies, chocolate chips, caramel waffles, milk rolls, and maple candies nodded in a serious manner.

“Books alone won’t be enough. We should also get an artifact that helps us do calculations. Doing everything by hand is brutal.”

“That’s a great point.”

“There’s nothing to do here, so we should get some magazines and novels as well. A new deck of cards and a chess board would help too.”

“…?”

The students that had been nodding suddenly stopped.

Something wasn’t right.

“Gainando! You think that’s what’s important right now!?”

“I do, and that’s why I said it! You guys are saying what you want. Why can’t I!?”

“Guys, Wardanaz went to sleep.”

“?!”

Tomorrow was Sunday, and he had to leave early in the morning, so he had returned to his room after completing the alchemy assignment.

***

‘I can’t fall asleep.’

Yi-han was at a loss.

It felt as if he was a child, looking forward to a school trip… no, that wasn’t quite right. It was closer to the feeling of tension one would feel before an important exam.

‘Will I be able to make it out safely?’

Based on how serious he looked, one might assume he was preparing for his graduation exam.

Even though he was leaving with an exit permit, Yi-han wasn’t about to lower his guard.

This was Einroguard. There were bound to be hiccups along the way.

‘Let’s take a moment to think. What kind of difficulties might I encounter?’

First off, carriages were probably banned, as was the case when they first enrolled in the academy.

‘They’re not going to take away what I have on me, right? I should carry as many things as I can then… I wonder how far the closest village is.’

Distance was a problem as well.

When he first attempted to escape, he had ridden a carriage, but that wasn’t the case this time.

Considering the nature of this academy, it wouldn’t surprise him if the village was located at a distance that couldn’t be reached in a day.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve learned a movement spell!’

Yi-han breathed a deep sigh.

He wouldn’t have been so stressed if he had known a body-enhancement spell, but such worries proved to be unfounded for the freshman.

Paririririk!

“…!?!?”

A book that was on his bookshelf fluttered open on its own. It was the black book that Principal Skelly had gifted him.

Tentacles made of words spurted out, which then proceeded to envelop Yi-han.

“The fu—?”

Before he could finish, he found himself transported to a foreign space, a place devoid of anything. Neither the sky nor the horizon existed there.

Yi-han’s instinct told him that he was inside an illusion created by the black book.

Boom!

The black book appeared before him and opened to a certain page while remaining afloat.

The spell shown on that page was , the one he had inherited but previously failed to master.

“…Are you telling me to master it?”

The book shook its body up and down. It seemed to be saying “yes”.

“Did you recommend this after sensing my distress?”

Once again, the book answered in the affirmative.

It looked quite cute as it did so, which improved Yi-han’s mood a bit.

The book was more loyal than he’d initially given it credit for.

“But wait. There’s not enough time for me to master it. I must leave tomorrow, so send me out.”

The black book stopped nodding when it heard what he said. Then, it slowly shook its body sideways in disapproval.

“…..”

‘I take that back. It ain’t loyal to me at all.’

There was no way a book from the principal could be normal.

“…Flare Up!”

Left with no choice, he decided to roast the book.

However, the spell failed to activate, and the black book flipped open once more in a smug manner, as if to tell him that he couldn’t use any spell other than .

“….”

After heaving a sigh, Yi-han took out his staff.

***

Prisoner 24601!

“But Master, I’m not a prisoner.”

Right, right. The age must be getting to me.

“….”

Yi-han yawned as he listened to the conversation between Principal Skelly and one of his summons.

He was no longer bothered by conversations like this.

The black book had dragged him into an illusion where he was forced to train, but it didn’t deprive him of sleep as everything had happened inside his dream.

However, he still felt mentally drained.

‘I hate myself for feeling relieved that nothing worse happened…’

Congratulations on your well-deserved leave, Wardanaz! Be proud of yourself, for this is the reward you earned through your hard work!

“Thanks.”

The rules are simple! You will leave the academy today as the sun rises, and you must be back at the gates by tomorrow at the same time. If you’re not here by then, we’ll dispatch a pursuit unit.

“…..”

He’d figured that would be the case, but it felt bizarre hearing it firsthand.

You’re only allowed to bring back what you’re carrying with you. In other words, you’re not allowed to bring in a horse, a carriage, or any other type of vehicle!

“Understood.”

Then I wish you the best of luck!

“…?”

Yi-han was slightly confused.

‘The rules aren’t as strict as I thought they’d be.’

He expected the academy to impose a limit on the amount of money he was allowed to spend or the number of items he was allowed to bring in, but there was no such clause.

‘What’s going on?’

***

Yi-han ran continuously, and thanks to his effort, he was able to arrive at his destination just as the sun shone directly above his head.

Pilone, the closest village to the academy.

“…So none of the properties around here are owned by nobles?”

“Yup. You must be a student that managed to escape from the academy. Whenever a new semester starts, staff members from Einroguard visit the village and have the followers relocate to a different place.”

“……”

Usually, noble households would not leave immediately after dropping their kids off at the academy.

Instead, they would prepare a property and have servants or slaves run the place so that their kids would have a place to return to during their breaks.

Though Yi-han wasn’t a huge fan of such ostentatious displays of wealth, he’d been banking on them.

He had brought with him the account book containing the students’ signatures, and his plan had been to exchange it for some money.

He didn’t think he’d run into such a setback.

‘This academy of ours is seriously nuts.’

“Where did they relocate to?”

“Grangden City, which is over in that direction.”

“And how long would it take to get there…?”

“A few days on horseback.”

“…..”

Yi-han finally realized why the academy didn’t impose any limits on the amount of money he could spend or the weight and volume of the things he could bring back.

There was no way for students to spend money in the first place, and even if they somehow managed to escape the academy, they would be left in utter despair upon realizing the truth!

“…Do they have to go this far!?”

“Did you say somethin’?”

“Nothing.”

Yi-han raised his head. He wasn’t so easily defeated.

“Where’s the closest merchants’ association?”

“Merchants’ association? There’s one over there…but why?”

“I’m going to borrow some money.”

“…..”

The villager was astonished.

The boy in front of him seemed to be from a distinguished family.

‘Is he going to be alright?’