Even with the same amount of mana, the mana was never exactly the same.

Some mana might have a slightly stronger affinity for the fire attribute, some might have a slightly stronger affinity for the negative attribute, and some mana might be murky due to many impurities.

Mana with fewer impurities and higher purity produced much stronger effects even with the same amount.

Naturally, as a mage, one would want to carry only the purest mana in their body, but…

...that was practically impossible.

Living meant decaying and dying.

Even just breathing created impurities, so a living being could not possess mana without a speck of impurity.

Therefore, mages polished their mana with various arcane practices and increased its purity with spells.

However, there were occasional exceptions.

There were mages who were born with high-purity mana without having to do such things.

The boy from the Wardanaz family in front of them was a bit too high, but…

-Don't tell Beavle.-

-Of course.-

The skull principal and Professor Garcia conversed telepathically.

If Professor Verduus found out about this, it was obvious that he would become even more troublesome.

"What's wrong?"

“Stay still for a bit. Why are you being so fidgety?”

The skull principal blocked Professor Verduus's view and forcefully turned his neck. With a cracking sound, Professor Verduus's neck twisted.

Meanwhile, Professor Garcia quickly dispersed the remaining mana so that Professor Verduus wouldn't notice.

“Hurry up and cast the spell.”

"Wait. My neck hurts a bit."

“I'll heal it later. We need to do it before the received mana disappears.”

"Alright. Alright."

Professor Verduus grumbled but did what he had to do.

After waving his staff a few times and tapping it, a flame-resistant spell was cast on all the students present.

When the preparations were finished, the skull principal asked with interest.

“So, how do you plan to exhaust the phoenix's stamina now?”

"First, please help us, you two."

“?”

The skull principal was puzzled when Yi-Han pointed at him and Professor Boladi.

How dare you?

“If you think I'll kindly help you, you're greatly mistaken, boy.”

'You said you would help...'

The students were dumbfounded, but Yi-Han was not surprised.

He was always like that!

"But you'll still help to some extent, right?"

“Only to the extent that a professor can.”

"Yes. That's all I'm asking for."

“So, what is it?”

...

The skull principal stared at the phoenix with a dull gaze. Then, he spoke to Professor Boladi beside him.

“Why did you accept it then?”

"?"

Just now.

This was what Yi-Han requested.

-Please drive the phoenix towards us, you two.-

-What? Drive the phoenix with magic? That's beyond what a professor can do.-

-I'm not asking you to use magic.-

-Then?-

-Just get close to it.-

-...-

The skull principal had to admit that Yi-Han used his head well.

Unlike driving the phoenix with magic, just getting close to it wasn't particularly difficult.

Moreover, mythical beasts like phoenixes possessed keen instincts close to extrasensory perception.

A being like the skull principal, who could harm the phoenix, had a high chance of being avoided.

However, the skull principal had said something, so he couldn't refuse…

-Fine. But Professor Bagrak here doesn't like such things…-

'Refuse on my behalf, Professor Bagrak.'

-Understood.-

-!?-

Professor Boladi accepted too easily, contrary to expectations.

From the skull principal's perspective, it was an absurd situation.

Since when was he so cooperative with the magic academy's affairs??

"It's necessary for teaching, isn't it?"

…

The skull principal's mouth gaped open.

Although he was a great mage who had abandoned the five desires and seven emotions and reached the realm of enlightenment, Professor Boladi's words shook the skull principal's emotions.

'That... that bastard...!'

If Professor Garcia had said such a thing, the skull principal would have fully understood.

Even if Professor Alpen or Professor Mortum had said such a thing, he could have understood to some extent.

However, when Professor Boladi, who was even more self-righteous than Professor Beavle Verduus when it came to education, spouted such nonsense, his anger soared.

Where was he all this time when the skull principal had subtly hinted, 'Even so, don't you think you should change your thinking a bit if you continue to have 0 disciples?'!

“That... that...!”

"?"

“...It's nothing.”

The skull principal gave up on talking to Professor Boladi.

There was only one thing he felt after being at Einroguard for a long time.

Talking to a wall would only make one's own mouth hurt.

People like Professor Beavle or Professor Boladi were not the type to be persuaded by the skull principal's words.

'Should I have prevented that Wardanaz bastard from attending the lecture...'

The skull principal felt a nonexistent stomach ache.

By now, Professor Boladi was probably thinking, 'Since a disciple who passed the curriculum I created has appeared, I was indeed not wrong.'

Thinking about that brought a headache.

“Let's just drive it.”

The skull principal approached the phoenix.

Then, the phoenix, who had been frolicking in the sky, was startled and chirped.

■■■! ■■■! ■■■■ ■!

“Shut up. You're just a bird brain who can only burn well. I allowed you to play in my garden, so don't be impudent.”

The frightened phoenix immediately changed direction and started flying towards the opposite side of the skull principal.

However, Professor Boladi was already waiting there.

Professor Boladi, who was floating in the air with a levitation spell like the skull principal, stared at the phoenix with an expressionless face.

'Will it pass by?'

The skull principal hoped that the phoenix would pass by Professor Boladi.

Unlike the skull principal, who exuded an overwhelming presence from his soul, Professor Boladi was not a monster who had lived since ancient times.

Moreover, Professor Boladi was an enlightened combat mage.

He was an enlightened mage when it came to controlling and not revealing emotions.

Then, the phoenix might not feel threatened and pass by…

Swish!

The phoenix immediately changed direction and flew away.

The skull principal blinked his eyes in astonishment.

“...Did you perhaps attack that phoenix before?”

"I tried to catch it."

…

The skull principal let out a deep sigh.

He saw the phoenix that had fled far away entering the main building of the magic academy.

"Close it!"

As the phoenix entered the building, Yi-Han shouted to the students.

Despite the heavy sound of the main gate closing, the phoenix was not flustered.

Rather, it flew towards the students as if asking them to play.

"Wardanaz! What should we do now?"

"We have to catch it."

"And after we catch it?"

"We have to endure until it gets tired."

"...Huh? That, that's it?"

The glorious imperial bureaucrat, Eunrad Lee, smiled and spoke to his escorts.

"There's nothing to worry about, everyone. Einroguard is not such a dangerous place."

"Even, even if you say that..."

"My colleague previously escorted a bureaucrat going to Einroguard, and since then, he never spoke about Einroguard again."

The adventurers hired as escorts were extremely tense.

Experienced and seasoned adventurers knew which places in the empire were relatively safe and which were dangerous.

...And to adventurers, Einroguard was one of the most dangerous areas in the empire.

It wasn't because it had a harsh natural environment or the presence of powerful monsters.

It was simply because there were so many eccentric mages among the mages of Einroguard.

And now they had to enter that Einroguard.

Even if they tried not to be nervous, they couldn't help but be nervous.

"You're all worrying too much. I didn't intend to say this, but actually, I'm from Einroguard."

Eunrad Lee revealed his alma mater to the adventurers.

He judged that it was necessary to alleviate their anxiety.

However, that had the opposite effect.

"...!!"

"He, he's from Einroguard!"

"Did we accept the wrong request?"

"Still... it's an imperial request, so they wouldn't sacrifice us to Einroguard, right?"

"We can't unconditionally trust an imperial request!"

"..."

The fact that he was a mage from Einroguard made the adventurers even more frightened.

The adventurers trembled, fearing that Eunrad Lee would capture them and hand them over as experimental subjects. Eunrad Lee had to spend several hours persuading them.

"...Do you understand now? I'm not trying to hand you over as experimental subjects, but I'm going to do my job as an imperial bureaucrat."

"That... that's right..."

"I'll trust you for now..."

The adventurers nodded their heads timidly. Seeing their appearance, Eunrad Lee held back a sigh.

'It's hard to work because of false rumors.'

It was a simple task of checking the status of magic academy students as an imperial bureaucrat, but who would have thought the adventurers would be so scared?

False rumors were making things complicated.

"Many rumors about Einroguard are false. Don't rashly believe them. Do you understand?"

"Yes..."

"Then. Was the incident reported in last year's imperial newspaper, where all the goats in the town near Einroguard turned into demons, also a false rumor?"

"Ah. That was an unfortunate accident."

"..."

"..."

The adventurers looked at each other.

Then, they carefully asked once more.

"By any chance, was the incident reported in the imperial newspaper two years ago, where a dark mage from Einroguard infiltrated a knight's cemetery and tried to steal corpses, also a false rumor?"

"That actually happened, but there are a few graduates, so isn't it possible for one person to cause an accident?"

"...That, that's right!"

"You're absolutely right!"

The adventurers nodded their heads and whispered behind. Their eyes and faces were filled with fear and terror, but Eunrad Lee didn't notice.

'We'll arrive within an hour.'

Eunrad Lee looked around the familiar path and checked the sky. The dawn had not yet broken, but it was almost time for daybreak.

Since the final exams would start this week, they arrived just in time, but…

"Come on, everyone! Cheer up."

"Understood. Mr. Mage."

"Since we received silver coins, we will thoroughly complete our job."

The adventurers nodded their heads and waved their lanterns to open the way.

Although it was a well-maintained imperial road, they had to be careful when it was this dark. Monsters could jump out from nearby bushes.

Kwakwakwakwakwang!

"!??!!"

"Battle formation!"

When a huge monster suddenly jumped out with a roar, the adventurers were startled and drew their weapons.

However, Eunrad Lee stopped the adventurers.

"There's no need to fight."

"What???"

"Look at the letters engraved on its shoulder. It's a chimera that escaped from the magic academy. A prohibition has been placed on it so that it can't attack people."

"..."

"..."

The adventurers stared at Eunrad Lee with eyes filled with intense emotions.

It was surprising that he could recognize the letters engraved on its shoulder in this darkness, but more than that…

'Is it something to be so calm about when a chimera has escaped from the magic academy?'

"Mr. Mage. Shouldn't we call the guards?"

"Haha. There's no need for that. It's not that big of a deal."

"...That's right!"

After some time had passed.

The huge walls and main gate of the magic academy finally came into view.

As soon as the main gate opened, a monster nearby came rolling while roaring.

"■■■■! ■■! ■■■■ ■■■!"

"?!??"

"Battle formation again..."

"There's no need to fight."

"What???"

"It's a 4th-year student who failed a transformation spell. They'll return to their original form soon."

"..."

"..."

The adventurers gave up on being surprised anymore.

It seemed like they wouldn't be surprised no matter what they saw now.

Creak-

The main building's door opened.

Inside, some young students were panting while pressing down on a phoenix with haggard faces.

The adventurers spoke to Eunrad Lee as if they wouldn't be surprised this time.

"This must be an event of the magic academy, right?"

"I guess that's essential to becoming a mage?"

"...What, what, what on earth are they doing, Principal?!?!"

Eunrad Lee asked the skull principal in shock.

No matter what, this was too much!