“Um, yes. Thank you,” I-han replied, unsure how else to respond.

“Just to clarify… when would we need to go to the Punishment Hall?”

No matter how much the two students tried to bring it up, the Skull Principal snarled, barely containing his irritation.

“I told you, I’m not sending you there. I’m not! Yes, you did set a freshman escape record, something worthy of the history books, but I already said I’m not sending you there!”

- My master is being entirely serious.

Unable to watch any longer, a Death Knight beside them added helpfully.

- Although, I should mention, the two of you did make my master foam at the mouth by breaking that freshman escape record…

The Skull Principal waved his hand dismissively, his patience wearing thin.

The Death Knight providing the explanation was immediately summoned back to another dimension.

Unfazed, another Death Knight stepped forward to continue the explanation.

- It seems an inspector from the Empire witnessed the incident.

“Our escape and running around?”

- No, I believe he saw you assisting imperial citizens.

“Ah.”

At last, the two understood why the Skull Principal was behaving so oddly.

But there were still parts they couldn’t quite accept.

“Isn’t it strange that we’re not being sent to the Punishment Hall just because we did a good deed?”

“I-han’s right. I don’t get it. If that’s the case, then why are our upperclassmen being sent there?”

- Do you really want to go that badly?

The Death Knight looked at them in disbelief.

If they were lucky enough to avoid the Punishment Hall, shouldn’t they be saying, “Yay! Awesome!” instead of, “Does that even make sense? Are you tricking us?”

- Well, for one, doing something impressive enough to move an imperial inspector is not exactly a common good deed…

Giselle nodded reflexively.

Thinking it over, she had to admit, what they did wasn’t exactly an everyday act of kindness.

- …Besides, your upperclassmen haven’t really done anything like that, have they?

“There’s no way they haven’t done anything at all.”

- Not… that I know of? I don’t think so. Is there something?

The Death Knight genuinely seemed stumped, so he turned to the Skull Principal, who just shrugged as if he didn’t know either.

“No memory of anything like that. They’re always causing trouble.”

‘Hmm, asking any more might just provoke him.’

Realizing the mood, I-han quickly changed his tone.

“Thank you sincerely for your generous handling of this situation, Principal. This was indeed a case where we should have been punished, but you have graciously…”

“That’s enough. Before I make you regret it.”

“…Thank you.”

“Good.”

‘Not one for flowery language, I see.’

Still grumbling, the Skull Principal glanced around, apparently still in a foul mood.

“When is he arriving?”

- The inspector has just arrived. He should be coming up soon.

“Who is it?”

A dog from the Emp—

- An inspector from the Empire.

Right, an inspector.

‘Ah.’

Now it made even more sense to I-han.

If an inspector wanted to meet the “good students” who had performed a kind deed, then it made sense why the Skull Principal wasn’t sending them to the Punishment Hall.

“Uh, Principal?”

“What? Why? What?”

Though nervous, I-han felt compelled to ask.

“If the Empire’s inspector ends up holding Einroguard in high regard because of us, won’t that also increase the school’s funding? Doesn’t that count as our achievement?”

“...You...”

This crazy brat…!

Facing this new situation, Giselle felt she’d probably been less scared even when confronting the three-headed tiger in the Northern snows.

She had half a mind to sew shut the mouth of the Blue Dragon Tower’s troublemaker standing beside her.

The Death Knight stared at I-han in shock as well, thinking, ‘He must’ve left all his fear back in the womb!’

The Skull Principal glared at I-han for a moment before saying through gritted teeth, “...so, what do you want to eat?”

“We stocked up plenty on food during our last outing, so perhaps some potions we’ll need for the exams...”

- My lord, the inspector is about to come up.

“I know.”

- Just thought I’d mention, in case of any… explosions.

After sending yet another Death Knight back to the other dimension, the Skull Principal turned toward the door.

Then, looking back at the two, he added a final plea.

“Alright. Just speak properly in front of the inspector! Got it?”

“Yes. I’ll raise the school’s honor to new heights!”

I-han nodded with determination.

Giselle continued staring at him, prompting I-han to ask, confused, “What is it?”

“I’m beginning to think you really are his successor.”

“How dare you?!”

The Skull Principal’s “successor” shot Giselle a glare.

---

Hordrong showered I-han and Giselle with endless praise.

“Usually when Einroguard students go out, they just cause trouble and harass honest imperial citizens. But seeing such dedication from mere first-year students… truly remarkable.”

“It’s all thanks to Einroguard’s excellent educational policies and our dedicated principal,” I-han replied humbly.

“Hmm. Hmm. Perhaps I misjudged the place due to some… preconceptions.”

Beside him, Eunrade held back from commenting, “It wasn’t a misunderstanding” and pinched his thigh to stop himself.

“When I return, I’ll be sure to report what I’ve seen here. If more students like these emerge, the officials might change their minds.”

“Ugh.”

“?”

As Eunrade pinched his other thigh and made a small sound, Hordrong looked at him quizzically.

“Well then, Sir Gornadalthas, I’ll write to you upon my return. Thank you for a challenging year.”

“Oh, and you’re sure you don’t need to see the other students?”

“Seeing them would only complicate things. Just what I’ve seen today will do.”

For the first time that day, the Skull Principal smiled.

This inspector’s sincerity had slightly thawed the heart of the once-cold archmage.

Having an inspector visit the academy and review the upperclassmen’s research was a rare nightmare indeed.

The students might boast of discovering the world’s secrets when requesting funding, but during inspection, they’d whimper like clueless freshmen.

“Take care, Inspector Hordrong! Feel free to visit again!”

“I doubt that’ll happen. They rotate the posts each year.”

Hordrong gave a polite farewell and walked off with Eunrade.

The subordinate let out a sigh of relief, then spoke to his superior.

“Glad it went well in the end.”

“Yes. I’d have liked to check on the upperclassmen’s progress, but it’s probably better not to know.”

After all, it would’ve ruined the mood to see unprepared upperclassmen ruin the praise I-han and Giselle had earned.

Just this once, Hordrong had chosen to overlook things for Einroguard’s budding students.

“By the way, Sir Hordrong. If I may ask, why didn’t you mention anything about their activities during the summer break?”

Eunrade was curious.

This time, Hordrong had confirmed the good deeds straight from the students, but he’d ignored all of the rumors he’d heard about their summer activities.

He had gone through the trouble of asking the townsfolk, only to let it go.

“Those are just rumors, aren’t they?”

“Excuse me?”

“Looked like rumors to me.”

“...Ah, well, that’s...”

Eunrade wasn’t sure where to begin his explanation.

How could he tell his superior in a convincing way?

---

A strange tension hung over Einroguard as final exams approached.

The atmosphere was especially tense whenever the morning lecture was *Advanced Magic Ethics*—taught by none other than the Skull Principal!

“Hey, how does this outfit look?”

“Um… maybe you should lose the scarf and hat from outside.”

“Everyone, breathe through your nose, not your mouth!”

“Put away the magazines, toys, snacks, everything from outside!”

All the students with anything to hide were on edge even before the Skull Principal entered.

Since last weekend’s mass escape where they’d bought out half the market, their anxiety was understandably heightened.

I-han and Giselle may have returned unscathed, but the principal was known for his unpredictable nature. His wrath could surface at any moment.

Even Gainan was feigning studying with a book open.

“Well, good to see you all.”

“Good morning, Principal!”

“Yes, good morning.”

The Skull Principal scanned the room. The students stiffened, barely breathing, their eyes darting nervously.

“Do you know the name of this class?”

“Uh…”

“‘Uh’ is not the name of the class.”

“It’s *Advanced Magic Ethics*.”

“Correct. It’s ethics. But what’s the point of learning it all year if you’re all just going to break the rules together?”

“……”

“……”

The students avoided eye contact, overwhelmed by his ominous tone.

“I’m not blaming you. It’s your upperclassmen’s fault. If they don’t set an example, how are you supposed to follow?”

I-han nodded as if he completely agreed.

“Don’t nod along, Wardanas.”

“Uh…”

‘But we don’t even meet the upperclassmen, do we?’

Yoner was slightly confused.

The first-year students’ actions didn’t seem to have anything to do with

 the upperclassmen.

“Anyway, a few announcements. There will be no final exam for *Advanced Magic Ethics* this semester. The teaching materials have, unfortunately, vanished.”

“……”

“...Hooray! Hooray!”

One student jumped onto a desk, and the others followed suit, climbing onto their desks in celebration.

Some even twirled their wands to cast bursts of light, and Gainan ripped out notebook pages to toss into the air.

The Skull Principal blinked, and in an instant, all the students making noise found themselves dangling upside down from the ceiling.

The room fell silent.

“For the final, just write ‘I will not escape from school with my friends’ one hundred times.”

That sounded like an easy assignment. The students nodded in relief.

But I-han eyed the principal suspiciously.

“You’re not just setting us up to let our guard down, are you?”

“Oh, is that possible?” Gainan, still hanging upside down, perked up, intrigued.

“And Wardanas. Dalkard. You two, come with me.”

“Is this really a trap?”

“No, he called Asan too. If it were a trap, he’d only call I-han.”

“Shut it, Gainan.”

---

Contrary to expectations, the Skull Principal didn’t lead them to one of Einroguard’s infamous punishment traps.

Instead, he led them to an ordinary storage room.

*Magic Ethics Lecture Storage*

*No Outside Access*

Muttering an incantation under his breath, the Skull Principal opened a hidden door in the wall, revealing the entrance to the storage room.

“Since there’s no final exam, there’s some work I need done instead.”

“Do we have to clean out this whole storage room ourselves?”

“No, of course not. I’ll assign others to help. Do they just get to slack off?”

“Oh, I thought it was just us.”

I-han felt a little embarrassed, realizing he’d misjudged the principal’s intent as pure punishment.

Thinking back, the Skull Principal wasn’t the type to hold a petty grudge against just one student.

If there was any grudge, it was probably against the entire group that had snuck out together.

“Inspect the room, get the others to help, and make sure everything’s cleaned up by next week. Toss what’s broken, clear out what’s expired… for the new freshmen.”

“……”

For a brief moment, Asan thought, ‘Do we really need to care about the freshmen when we’re struggling ourselves?’

“Your upperclassmen had the same thought as you, Dalkard.”

“Gasp… How did you…!”

“I’m not expecting you to be thorough. Just get it into a usable state for classes.”

The Skull Principal surveyed the dusty storage room.

Crash!

A nearby shelf collapsed, and a guillotine rolled out from among its contents.

Clicking his tongue, the Skull Principal said, “Broken, huh? We’ll toss that.”

“……”

“……”

They both wondered why it was even there, but decided not to ask.