The young students from knight families lowered their heads with embarrassed expressions.

"Why... Ah. That's not what's important right now. An extermination, how did this happen?"

Bang!

The lower part of the adventurer's guild door, which had been kicked too many times today, broke.

The priests who had hurriedly entered apologized in surprise.

"We're sorry! We were in such a rush to enter... Everything is ready, so we can depart immediately. The extermination..."

"Wait. Let's all calm down and share information with each other."

Daihal spoke coldly.

It seemed like he needed to sort out this situation.

"...So while Mr. Wardanaz was holding down the King of Ghouls, the other students here broke the artifact he was possessing."

Although it was hard to believe, the people gathered at the scene managed to piece together what had happened.

Dolgyu said, "Actually, before we broke it, Yi-Han had already killed the King of Ghouls and returned..."

"Did you say he killed it and returned?"

As the quill danced madly on the paper, Yi-Han stepped on Dolgyu's foot once and said, "It was an avatar. An avatar. I didn't kill it, just temporarily incapacitated it."

Anglago asked as if he didn't understand.

"Isn't that the same as killing it?"

"..."

Yi-Han was about to hit Anglago with his staff but stopped.

How much did he sleep during the lectures at Einroguard to say such a thing?

A knight from the Granden City Knights asked with a slightly embarrassed expression.

"Isn't that the same as killing it?"

"...No, it's not."

The priest next to him whispered and explained on his behalf.

"In a situation where the main body is in an artifact and an avatar is sent out, it's not usually called killing it."

"Aha... But isn't that the same thing?"

"Mages are usually a bit sensitive about terminology. Please be considerate."

Yi-Han felt a headache coming on that he hadn't felt even after exterminating the King of Ghouls.

It was like there was a wall between them in the conversation.

Common sense being used in such a way…

"So after Mr. Wardanaz repelled the avatar of the ghoul, the students here destroyed the artifact..."

"Actually, it was Wardanaz who destroyed the artifact too..."

Blanche, the guild clerk who was listening next to them, asked absentmindedly.

"Then what did you do?"

"..."

"...I'm sorry."

"Ah, no! I wasn't blaming you! There's no way I would blame mere 1st-year students!"

Yi-Han rubbed his brow with a tired expression and said, "If my friends hadn't found the artifact and broken all the obstacles, I wouldn't have been able to destroy it."

"That... That's right! We did that!"

Anglago seemed to have regained some confidence. The knight from the order asked Anglago in a way only he could hear.

"But why are you wearing such a sign?"

"We... well... ran on our own..."

"When?"

"When fighting the King of Ghouls...?"

"When that friend from the Wardanaz family was fighting?"

"Yes..."

The knight looked at Anglago with the most contemptuous gaze, as if looking at the filthiest thing in the world.

They abandoned their friend who was fighting and ran on their own?

"Ah, no! There's a reason!"

"Don't talk to me. You reek of something foul."

"I'm telling you there's a reason...!"

Daihal finished organizing and said, "You've really worked hard. Instead of sending an extermination team, we'll send someone first to check the situation in the cave. For now, it seems you should get some rest..."

Daihal signaled to the people gathered.

It meant not to bother the already exhausted 1st-year students any further, send them off, and handle the work with the remaining people.

"Let's do that."

"That seems to be the right thing."

At the scene, Yi-Han suddenly remembered something and spoke to the clerk.

"Ah. I have something to tell you."

"If there's anything..."

Yi-Han carefully put down his backpack and took out what was inside with delicate hand movements.

Blanche and the others tensed up, wondering if it might be another fragment of an evil being.

"These are geranium flowers, snow grass, and sleepy mugwort. I collected them while keeping the roots and leaves intact, so please check them. And these are Rapella squirrels."

"...Ah... yes..."

Blanche recorded it on the document while feeling confused inside.

'What in the world...?'

After Yi-Han and his friends left to rest, the remaining people organized a team and made plans to check the situation in the cave.

"Just in case, we'll also send a request for support to Einroguard."

"We sent a request for support last time during the plague incident, will it be okay? Einroguard might be a bit reluctant..."

"No. Above all, it's a matter involving Einroguard students, and they even directly resolved it, so there's no way they would dislike it. The mages of Einroguard are not such people."

Daihal calmly spouted words that would make the professors of Einroguard grab him by the collar if they heard.

Meanwhile, Blanche organized the testimonies of the other adventurers and mercenaries.

In fact, compared to Yi-Han's cold and specific testimony, their testimonies were quite messy.

Especially the testimonies of the mercenaries who had attacked first and were caught were even more so.

"So Buldahak threatened to kill you if you didn't follow him?"

"Yes. Sob sob."

"All these people were threatened by a single person?"

"Sob. To that extent, Buldahak..."

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll call an interrogator, not me, to interrogate you."

"So... sorry."

Blanche, who had organized the mercenaries' testimonies, looked at Gubon and Bijidek with slightly expectant eyes.

Why would the guild recommend the two of them?

It was because they were seasoned veterans.

Of course, they would give a calm and collected report…

"He tied up the mercenaries with bone handcuffs and took them inside. Ah. And summoned bone hands too."

"When the evil spirit appeared, he fired lightning magic in succession, but when it dodged, he immediately switched to flames..."

"With a single staff, that wide cave was completely ablaze!"

"The evil spirit tried to suppress the flames in a frenzy, but he swung the staff again and..."

"Wait. Wait."

Blanche realized something was strange and restrained the adventurers.

"No matter how I think about it, isn't the amount of magic casting too much? How many potions did he use in the middle?"

"...I don't think he used any...?"

"What do you mean... No matter how I think about it, it's too wasteful. If he didn't use potions, it's even more so..."

"That, wasn't the mage always like this? He even lit a fire for us during camping and summoned water..."

"When we entered the cave, he even provided light..."

"He did what???"

Blanche dropped the quill in disbelief.

What kind of odd jobs were these adventurers making the mage do??

Yi-Han woke up from his bed with a groan, still feeling sore despite resting the entire weekend. Considering the intense struggle he had with the King of Ghouls, it was fortunate that he only felt this much pain.

As he thought about his friends from the White Tiger Tower, Yi-Han hoped, 'Except for Dolgyu, I wish the rest of them suffer more from muscle pain.' They had used several enhancement spells, so they must be lying in bed groaning by now.

"Wouldn't it be better for you to rest more?" Sir Arlong asked, rushing over as soon as he heard that Yi-Han was awake. He couldn't help but worry after learning that Yi-Han had fought against an evil being in the cave.

"It's fine, Sir Knight. I don't have any issues moving around," Yi-Han reassured him.

"Still..."

"More importantly, how did the cave matter turn out?"

"They say the investigation is complete. The search revealed no traces of any evil magic, so it must have been completely reverse-summoned. The mages from Einroguard also joined in support, so it's certain."

"The mages from Einroguard also joined in support?"

"Yes. It's a magic-related matter, isn't it? Moreover, students were involved too. Of course they had to participate."

"..." Yi-Han tilted his head. 'I don't think the professors would think that way though.'

"It's truly... fortunate," Sir Arlong said in a worried voice. "From what I heard, the opponent was not an easy foe. It's a great blessing that you were able to win without getting injured like this."

"I was lucky. The other friends helped out too." Yi-Han mentioned his White Tiger Tower friends out of courtesy.

"The Adventurers' Guild sent gifts as an apology and to express their gratitude."

"...Come to think of it, I think my role was a bit more significant. I wonder if the Adventurers' Guild properly recognizes that?"

"Pardon? Of course they would recognize it." Sir Arlong didn't understand why Yi-Han said that. Yi-Han regretted it.

'Damn it. I should have exaggerated my contribution more.'

Now that he thought about it, the Adventurers' Guild was also a place where people lived. Wouldn't they give something extra if a job was done much more splendidly than the given request?

If he had known, he should have downplayed his White Tiger Tower friends a bit more.

"I should go and check."

"Do you have any appointments today?"

"Ah, it's the day to go to the Maykin family's alchemy workshop."

"Not only do you cherish your friendship, but you also don't neglect your studies. I'm just delighted."

"...Uh... Yes... That's right. Me." Yi-Han felt a bit embarrassed. He was going because they were giving a lot of silver coins...

'It's heavy.' Yi-Han was satisfied after checking the silver coins he received for completing the request before going out.

It was a prejudice that adventurers had to live an extravagant life, earning big and spending big. Soon, a new era of adventurers who earn big and consume efficiently would come.

'I'll have to take the White Tiger Tower guys out again once they recover.'

After stacking the silver coins neatly and putting them in the safe, Yi-Han reached out to another box.

The small box made of antique brown wood evoked anticipation just by looking at it. It was a gift from the Adventurers' Guild.

'Gold coins, gold statues, gold plaques, anything made of gold would be pleasing.'

Click!

Inside the box was a ring and a simple manual.

To Yi-Han Wardanaz, who perfectly completed missions from the valuable to the trivial for the sake of his own honor, we present this ring of <Lightning Emission> with our sincere gratitude.

"Oh..." Yi-Han put on the ring. Then, he cast the magic as written in the manual.

"Ring, summon the lightning."

One of the three gems embedded in the ring lost its color. The manual said it could be used three times a day, and it seemed one of those times had been consumed.

A streak of lightning flew out the window. It was a very useful artifact that could conveniently shoot lightning without any mana consumption, but...

"..."

'It's a magic I already know.'

Yi-Han was disappointed that it was not much different from what he had done. Rather, it was more inconvenient because the inscribed magic couldn't be finely controlled.

'What kind of... No.' Yi-Han, who was about to complain, changed his mind.

Come to think of it, lightning-type magic was quite difficult to handle even among elemental magic, and it was inscribed on a ring. This ring would be quite valuable.

'I should sell it.'

Other students might have said, 'Why are you selling such a useful artifact?!' but Yi-Han was different. There was no need when he already knew how to use the magic and had plenty of mana...

'Ah, right.' Yi-Han rummaged through the luggage he brought from the academy. Something suddenly came to mind.

'Where was it... Here it is.'

From the dusty luggage, a helmet appeared. It was the sentient artifact, the Helmet of Wisdom, that he had discovered in Einroguard's underground dungeon.

“...You finally called for me…”

The Helmet of Wisdom seemed somehow very angry.