"Why not?"

"I don't want to amplify the energy of fire to suppress it."

"I see."

Puyo nodded, as if understanding what Yi-Han meant.

"So you're not satisfied with such a simple method."

"...No."

Yi-Han almost burst out for a moment.

The unique aesthetic sense of an enchantment mage had nothing to do with the current situation.

"I'm having difficulty controlling fire magic."

"A mage of your caliber?"

Puyo was taken aback by Yi-Han's words.

Fire element was considered one of the easier elements among the various elements.

Unlike other elements, fire was something one encountered easily in daily life.

Yi-Han's statement was similar to someone capable of advanced calculus having difficulty with addition.

"Because of my abundant mana..."

"Even if it's abundant, is it really that difficult to control fire?"

"Yes."

"..."

Puyo was taken aback by Yi-Han's direct answer, but soon nodded and accepted it.

"That's truly an amazing thing... Truly amazing."

'There's no need to emphasize it twice.'

"I see. If I carelessly amplified the energy of fire, it could have the opposite effect."

"Thank you for understanding."

"But it's become difficult. That was the best method. There are other methods, but..."

Yi-Han asked worriedly,

"Is it a costly method?"

"No, it's not the cost that's making me hesitate. The difficulty level is high, you see. It's not just a matter of enchanting, but also requires the skill of the mage who wields the staff."

Puyo drew a simple diagram on the paper.

The stone left by the King of Frost Giants.

To control the power of this stone, one would need to place an opposing attribute like fire, or perhaps another controllable attribute.

If not fire, the next best attribute would be...

"Dark element. The problem is, even if I put a dark element gem on the staff, if the mage doesn't know how to handle the dark element, wouldn’t that be dangerous..."

Dark element was one of the most difficult to handle, unlike fire element.

If you added the power of a gem with dark element attributes to the staff, it could later affect the mage when casting spells.

"I can handle dark element."

"...I-I see. Then let's work on it that way."

Puyo looked at Yi-Han with a gaze filled with astonishment.

Yonaire carefully rolled the dice.

If a 3 came up this time, she would be stuck in the 'Fail Magic Test' square and have to rest for a turn.

Given her current unfavorable situation, that would make a comeback nearly impossible.

"Hehehe."

Next to her, Gainando let out a sinister chuckle.

After losing 8 rounds, the time to win had finally come.

"Hey. Shut up and play quietly."

"Yes. Please be quiet."

Nillia and Ratford immediately scolded him.

They were stuck in the 'Tricked by a Friend and Had Potion Stolen' square and the 'Tried to Steal an Artifact but Got Arrested' square, making them highly irritable.

Gainando kept his mouth shut and strategized inwardly.

'When Yonaire rolls, I'll activate the 'Dark Mage Gathering at the Graveyard' card to...'

"Huh? It's Wardanaz!"

Nillia jumped up, startled to see Yi-Han entering the main gate through the window.

At her sudden movement, the game board was tilted and the pieces fell over. Gainando cried out and tried to catch the pieces.

But Ratford and Yonaire also stood up in succession. The board was completely overturned, and the pieces were scattered on the floor.

"Wardanaz!"

"Guys. Don't shout. It's giving me a headache. ...Why is Gainando crying?"

"He... he's crying because he's happy you're back..."

Yi-Han glanced at the scattered pieces on the floor and asked,

"Were you about to win the dice game and lost?"

"No, no, no!"

As Gainando pushed the pieces on the floor with his foot, Yi-Han plopped down on the sofa.

Ratford asked, puzzled,

"Why didn't you come to the mansion for days? Surely he didn't imprison you in the workshop."

"He did imprison me."

"..."

"..."

"He didn't physically imprison me, but it was essentially the same."

Yi-Han groaned.

If he gave him an amount of work that a human couldn't do and set a time limit, he couldn't go to the mansion.

He hadn't even slept properly, so where would he have the time to go to the mansion?

Nillia was outraged at the sight of her disheveled friend.

"Isn't this too much? No matter what, keeping someone imprisoned for days and just making them work, even the Shadow Patrol doesn't... Well, they did do that, but to do this in the Empire's city!"

"It's fine, Nillia."

"What's fine about it?"

"The pay is good."

"..."

"..."

Yi-Han snatched the cocoa Gainando was drinking and gulped it down. Seeing that, Ratford spoke up.

"It's one thing about the workshop, but weren't those who took you there, the ones from the White Tiger Tower, the bad guys?"

"Those White Tiger Tower guys are the worst!"

This time, it wasn't really the White Tiger Tower's fault, but the two Black Tortoise Tower students cursed the White Tiger Tower.

While they were doing that, Yi-Han explained to Yonaire what had happened.

"...So I ended up going to the workshop while trying to solve that riddle. But he said he would pay me if I worked there..."

"Wait."

Yonaire, who had been listening, tilted her head.

Gainando also spoke as if agreeing.

"No matter how important gold coins are, a place that doesn't even let you meet your friends while making you work like that isn't a good place. Right? That's what you were trying to say, right?"

"No, that's not it."

"...It's not?"

The reason Yoner was puzzled was because of the riddle.

'A riddle about making a staff? It seems more like a real riddle...?'

In Yonaire's view, it really seemed like a riddle.

If her guess was right, that was a riddle alluding to the moon.

She had heard that Duke Icaldoren had obtained an ancient relic imbued with the power of the moon with great difficulty and treasured it, so she thought he might be referring to that.

But...

"Then what were you trying to say?"

"...Nothing. It's nothing."

"What?"

Gainando grumbled, but Yonaire swallowed her words.

The Princess's followers would probably know better if it was really a riddle or not, and above all...

'Saying it now would be too pitiful.'

It would be so heartbreaking to tell the friend who had worked hard and returned that it wasn't actually that.

From what she heard, Duke Icaldoren had acknowledged the answer last time. Probably out of respect for the Princess's reputation, he would acknowledge whatever answer she gave.

So this time would be fine too.

"By the way, what about Professor Beavle?"

Yi-Han asked on his way, curious.

Given Professor Beavle's personality, it would be strange if he didn't raise a ruckus if Yi-Han didn't return, but he was surprisingly quiet.

And that made it even more unsettling.

"He left?"

"He left?"

Yi-Han was surprised.

"Did you happen to ask where he was going?"

"How could I do that?"

Nillia asked back, as if it was absurd.

They should be grateful that Professor Beavle left, let alone ask where he was going, in case he came back.

Yi-Han understood Nillia's words.

'She's right.'

"At least the professors have all left now."

At Ratford's words, Yi-Han answered in a melancholy tone.

"Other professors may come."

"That can't be..."

"Is student Yi-Han here?"

"..."

Ratford turned his head and looked out the window.

A large troll mixed-blood professor was standing politely at the mansion's main gate.

"See?"

Yi-Han was neither surprised nor angry. Ratford whispered urgently,

"Should we say he's not here?"

"It probably won't be effective. Judging by the time she arrived, she must have obtained the information from somewhere."

"But even Professor Garcia...!"

Nillia spat out, full of betrayal.

Among the professors, she didn't expect even Professor Garcia to come during the break and harass the students.

"Nillia. All the professors are the same. Don't be too disappointed."

"Even so! I believed in Professor Garcia!"

"I came to help stop other professors from visiting and harassing student Yi-Han. I'm glad Professor Beavle understood and left."

"..."

"..."

"Ahhh! Professor Garcia!"

Nillia burst into tears of repentance and hugged Professor Garcia. Professor Garcia looked around at the other students, flustered.

"Why are you...?"

"It's nothing, Professor Garcia. Thank you for coming."

Yi-Han bowed his head sincerely.

To have doubted such a professor.

He was utterly ashamed of himself.

'Have I lost my conscience while dealing with the professors?'

"But you're really not going to ask for anything?"

Gainando asked with a suspicious gaze.

Unlike the other friends, Gainando had not yet let go of his suspicion.

Since every professor he met took Yi-Han away for additional lectures, it was only natural.

Professor Garcia could also calm his guard and secretly take Yi-Han away.

"You! What arrogant words are those to Professor Garcia!"

"What if Professor Garcia secretly kidnaps Yi-Han and takes him away!"

"..."

Seeing the students pointing fingers and fighting with each other, Professor Garcia's head throbbed.

The professors must have caused such a ruckus at the Wardanaz mansion for the students to be like this.

'It's all the fault of the principal!'

Telling the professor where the student was staying during the break was not inherently wrong, but no matter how she thought about it, the skull principal had clearly done it with malicious intent.

Each professor who heard it came to visit the mansion one by one, turning it upside down.

Professor Beavle had done the same just now.

It took so much coaxing and persuasion to get Professor Beavle to leave, as he had settled in the guest room and immersed himself in work as if it were his own workshop.

"I really have no intention of making you do anything."

"That sounds like a lie."

At Gainando's blunt words, Yi-Han thought inwardly,

'In fact, I feel the same way.'

A professor with no intention of making him do anything?

It was such a transcendent concept that Yi-Han's mind couldn't accept it.

"I just want student Yi-Han to rest and do what he wants. Before the professors came to harass him, what was he planning to do originally?"

"Earn gold..."

Before Yi-Han could say that he was planning to work, Yonaire poked his thigh.

If he told the truth here, Professor Garcia would likely worry unnecessarily.

-Talk about something related to rest!-

-Right.-

Yi-Han understood Yonaire's intention.

-...Well, what is there to say about rest?-

-...-

The top student friend who could answer any question about magic or work without hesitation couldn't immediately come up with something related to rest, making Yonaire feel like she was about to cry.

-What if you say you went to buy something?-

-Not a bad idea.-

"I was planning to wander around the marketplace and buy some things."

At Yi-Han's exemplary answer, Professor Garcia's face brightened.

'Fortunate!'

At least Yi-Han had some planned rest in mind.

"Could it be Mage Cards?!"

"No. That's not it."