"What are you doing now?"

Yi-Han carefully answered Professor Alkasis's question.

"Professor Verduus has asked for my assistance."

"...With what?"

"Artifact... production?"

"..."

Professor Alkasis looked outside once in disbelief, then at Yi-Han, and then outside again.

And she opened the door.

Professor Verduus, who was waiting with innocent eyes, tilted his head when the door opened and looked up at the two.

"Oh? Professor Lagrinde! Nice to see you!"

"Nice to see you too. ...So what are you doing now?"

Professor Alkasis's voice was as cold as ice.

In fact, it was closer to 'Do you know what you're doing right now?' rather than a question.

"Making an artifact?"

"Is it a low-difficulty artifact by any chance?"

Professor Alkasis tried her best to understand Professor Verduus by gathering the last remaining faith.

If it was a practice artifact for lower-year students, it would be natural to take Wardanaz and have him practice.

"No? It's my research project."

"You mean your research project as a professor?"

"Yep!"

Professor Verduus nodded his head. Despite his inherently cute appearance as a beaver mixed-blood, Professor Verduus was good at provoking other people's anger.

'Will a fist fly?'

Yi-Han habitually looked at Professor Alkasis's hand.

Usually, when other professors dealt with Professor Verduus, it was easy to read their emotions by looking at their hands.

If it clenched tightly, it meant they were about to hit him, and if the tendons twitched, it meant it was still okay...

Surprisingly, Professor Alkasis showed no movement at all.

"If it's a high-difficulty artifact that you, Professor, will work on, there's a high possibility of an accident if a 1st-year student works on it, and you know that in that case, it will definitely lead to injury, right?"

"Just be careful! Although this kid isn't good at magic, he's quite meticulous, so it'll be fine!"

Yi-Han showed a slightly hurt expression.

Except for Professor Verduus, he had never been told he was bad at magic anywhere.

"And if he gets hurt, we can just heal him."

"What if it's beyond the healing room's ability to treat?"

"We can call the healing mages at the academy to treat him, right?"

"Is that so? ...Kid. Go out for a bit."

Professor Alkasis pointed at the basilisk's egg and gestured to Yi-Han.

It meant to take the egg and go outside for a moment.

Professor Verduus tilted his head.

"If the conversation's over, why not just take him along?"

"Professor, you stay for a moment."

Yi-Han, who understood the situation, quickly took the basilisk's egg and closed the door of the hut.

Despite the sound being blocked by magic, it seemed like Professor Verduus's screams could be faintly heard.

As the egg trembled, Yi-Han patted it as if to say it was okay.

"It's because it's Professor Verduus. She doesn't do that to other people."

After the conversation ended, Professor Verduus spoke in a very dejected voice.

"You don't have to help."

"Say it more maturely."

"I realized that asking a 1st-year student to help with artifact production at a professor's level is not only dangerous but also puts too much of a burden on the student."

"Well done."

Professor Alkasis nodded her head with a tired expression.

Suddenly, a sense of futility came over her as she wasted her little remaining time because of Professor Verduus.

'Even wasting time in the most trashy way at Einroguard would have been better than this.'

"Professor. At least have some of this."

Yi-Han offered wild strawberry juice with a very polite attitude.

It was juice made from wild strawberries that he had stolen, no, picked near Professor Uregor's vegetable garden.

Professor Alkasis didn't understand why Yi-Han was suddenly sending a gaze full of respect, but she accepted her disciple's goodwill for now.

"Thank you. If Professor Verduus says something strange, let me know."

"You are the best professor at Einroguard, Professor."

"Don't flatter me unnecessarily. It's not a good habit for a mage."

After Professor Alkasis left, Professor Verduus grumbled. The basilisk's egg wriggled as if it didn't want to hear it.

Yi-Han ignored it as if he hadn't heard and said.

"Can't you do something else?"

"What else? A new research project? Gasp. Do you have an idea?"

Yi-Han smiled gently at the sight of a professor asking his 1st-year student for ideas for his new research project.

"I mean lecture preparation."

"Ah... lecture..."

Professor Verduus openly showed a reluctant expression. Yi-Han wanted to call Professor Alkasis back.

"I don't want to do it."

"You're saying that confidently, are you really a professor?"

'Even if you say that, you're not actually like that, are you?'

Yi-Han was slightly flustered when his thoughts and words were suddenly reversed.

However, Professor Verduus didn't seem to mind much as he had become gloomy.

"I don't want to do it, but Gonadaltes is forcing me to do it. Why do I have to do it?"

"Was that the case? ...Wait. You received a gold coin investment from the principal, right?"

"I did?"

Yi-Han looked at Professor Verduus with a contemptuous gaze. Professor Verduus didn't notice.

"Just prepare for the lecture."

"I said I don't want to."

"I'll call the principal."

"...!!!"

Professor Verduus looked at Yi-Han with an expression like a great mage betrayed by his best disciple.

He was so shocked that his beaver mixed-blood characteristic whiskers trembled.

"Hurry up and prepare."

"Okay..."

Professor Verduus, completely discouraged, moved to prepare. His back looked somehow miserable.

'Fortunately, it's Professor Verduus.'

If it were another professor, he would have felt bad for no reason, but since it was Professor Verduus, he didn't feel bad at all.

Yi-Han pushed Professor Verduus's back and headed towards the tower.

<Spirit Festival Hall>.

Professor Verduus's workshop and tower.

As soon as he arrived, the professor grumbled again as if he was bothered by the preparation.

"Here's the black iron ingot... and... some coal... and... a furnace and bellows... I need charcoal... ugh... bothersome... instead of charcoal, something else..."

"Find the charcoal."

Professor Verduus grumbled twice as much and looked for the charcoal.

"So what lecture is this?"

"We're going to directly transform the shape of the iron ingot to make it suitable for artifact production."

An outstanding enchantment mage was not only skilled in magic but also in understanding the properties of materials and shaping them.

One of the most representative methods of enchantment magic was to engrave magic on a substance through a magic circle, and at this time, the shape and structure of the substance also influenced the magic.

Even with the same armor, a skilled craftsman would create a structure that could draw out the power of the magic circle to be engraved on it from the beginning.

Of course, it wasn't an easy task.

One had to understand the magic circle to be engraved, understand the principles of that magic circle, and be able to calculate in advance what structure the equipment should be made into.

It couldn't be calculated after making it.

Even after the calculation, various magic materials had to be shaped very finely, so one had to be skilled not only in transformation magic but also in various metalworking and crafting.

Yi-Han, who had extracted the list of materials from Professor Verduus, rummaged through here and there and gathered the necessary items.

"But Professor. I understand that you have high standards, but isn't this too difficult? Can 1st-year students do this?"

"This is a 2nd-year lecture?"

"..."

Yi-Han almost threw the materials he was holding but held back.

For 2nd-year lecture preparation, he should have picked the most pitiful 2nd-year student and made them do it, so why was he making Yi-Han do it?

"Prepare for the 1st-year lecture."

"Why do you like preparing so much?"

"I'm just saying let's do the basics that need to be done... no, nevermind. Just hurry up and find them."

The skull principal was disappointed with the Death Knights' search that yielded no significant results.

'What's this? Did he receive help from an outsider? There shouldn't be any related outsiders.'

The skull principal was not an amateur. He had already checked all the outsiders related to the students.

If there was anyone helping with the escape, no, unauthorized outing, they would get to see the punishment room together.

-Could it have been a misunderstanding?-

Instead of answering, the skull principal covered the Death Knight's mouth.

The Death Knight, whose mouth was covered just for being kind-hearted, felt wronged.

“He might have bribed someone.”

-What crazy person would help someone go in and out of Einroguard? No matter how good silver coins are, if you get caught...-

“You never know in this world. Besides, that guy has quite an evil tongue. He can easily persuade them if he wants to.”

The skull principal believed that if Yi-Han put his mind to it, he could easily deceive a few nearby suppliers.

With the wealth of the Wardanaz family and his own evil eloquence, it wouldn't be too difficult to deceive a clumsy employee or two and borrow a carriage to ride.

“Good, good. Even if there are no immediate results, keep searching. If we keep pressuring them, the students will show gaps. Oh. Did the mages leave well?”

-Yes. Even the last remaining mages left the town.-

“Were there any complaining brats?”

-No. Everyone was satisfied.-

The skull principal nodded his head.

Above all else, the evaluation of the mages who visited the school was quite important.

If bad rumors spread among the empire's mages, there would be many bothersome things such as various invitations, events, investment attraction, research support, etc.

Getting called by the emperor and being scolded was an added bonus.

“What a ridiculous bunch. When I show them Einroguard's perfect education, they complain so much, but when I throw them a student, they quietly become excited!”

-What a ridiculous bunch indeed.-

“Yes. Anyway, those bastards are gone... are the knights still here?”

-Yes. As permitted, they will have a knight gathering on the weekend...-

“It must be a gathering of brainless ones. Since I allowed it, I have no choice. Send Death Knights to monitor them. Make sure no one secretly slips out and goes to the city or town.”

The Death Knights nodded their heads.

Monitoring for any possible deviations by students was their role.

After receiving a rough report, the skull principal floated away.

It was a fact that always surprised students when they heard it, but the skull principal regularly checked the professors' education curriculum.

It wasn't that he checked and it was this much, but rather, it was only this much because he checked.

“Whose turn is it?”

-It's Professor Millei's turn.-

“Millei is fine. She'll do well on her own.”

-Then it's Professor Garcia's turn.-

“Garcia is even more fine. She's too enthusiastic, that's the problem. Students grow well even if she teaches roughly.”

-Next is Professor Verduus's turn.-

“...Let's go check. I need to see that guy with my own two eyes.”

Even the skull principal, who usually let things slide, couldn't let Professor Verduus slide.

No matter how much he let things slide, there were still professors he had to see with his own two eyes.

A representative one was Professor Verduus.

He was the type to throw a carnelian, a box of processed maple wood, two bags of ice-cold powder, and an ogre's tendon at students and say, 'Make an artifact with these during this class and show me,' so one absolutely couldn't let their guard down.

The skull principal's belief was that geniuses grow well even if left alone, but Professor Verduus always tried to cross that line, so he was a problem.

“...What is this?”

-It's the lecture hall.-

“I'm not asking because I don't know it's the lecture hall... I'm asking what this is.”

-Isn't it what he prepared?-

“That guy??”

Seeing the measured materials and sample magic circles placed at each student's seat in the lecture hall, the skull principal doubted his eyes.

“Was Professor Verduus kidnapped and other enemies of Einroguard secretly disguised themselves and entered?”

-...We, well. It is a bit strange.-

“A bit?”

-Very strange.-

Before he finished speaking, Yi-Han opened the door and entered the lecture hall.

And after looking around inside to check, he went back out.

The skull principal, who realized what had happened, was dumbfounded.

“That guy is now preparing together with even a 1st-year disciple?!”

No matter how smart the disciple is, how can he entrust the preparation of lecture content to a 1st-year disciple?

“What if he makes a mistake?”

-Master.-

“What? What is it now?”

-Well... this seems to be 2nd-year lecture preparation...-

“...This won't do. Call Beavle.”