“It was quite pricey, you know…”

Despite having decided not to speak further, the Skull Principal murmured nostalgically, lost in his own memories.

“Your seniors didn’t care for it much, though.”

“......”

“......”

Not wanting to get drawn into any more stories, I-han and Asan quickly resumed cleaning up the storage.

---

“You’re alive!”

When the two returned after inspecting the storage room, their friends greeted them with cheers.

Asan looked at them incredulously. “We were only gone for an hour…”

“That’s plenty of time to disappear into the Punishment Hall around here,” one friend replied, nodding in agreement.

While the others accepted this, I-han explained what the Skull Principal had instructed them to do.

The students reacted just like Asan did.

“What? We’re barely getting by ourselves, and now we’re supposed to think of future freshmen?”

“Yeah! We didn’t get anything from our seniors—why should the freshmen? Let them fend for themselves!”

“Yeah, exactly!”

‘How heartwarming,’ I-han thought, ironically, watching the “selfless” attitude of his friends. Einroguard’s future looked bright indeed.

“Come on, everyone, let’s be reasonable. We can’t just forget about those coming after us,” Tisling, their class monitor, tried to reason.

As their friends hesitated, Gainan boldly countered, “Oh yes, we absolutely can! Let’s all focus on forgetting the freshmen!”

“But Lord Gainan, didn’t you receive the most help from Lord Wardanas?” Tisling hit Gainan with the truth without missing a beat. Gainan flailed, trying to deny it.

“W-what? That’s not exactly…”

“Admit it, Gainan. Without Wardanas, you’d have starved ages ago.”

“Those other Tower fools don’t know anything!” Gainan shouted indignantly as students from the Black Tortoise Tower and the White Tiger Tower chimed in.

In the common room, everyone had seen Gainan struggle his way through his studies.

“Honestly, Gainan, they’re not wrong.”

“!?”

But even Gainan’s friends from the Blue Dragon Tower didn’t back him up.

“Now that I think about it, there won’t be another Wardanas for the freshmen, will there?”

“It’ll probably be tough for them…”

“Fine. Let’s help out. Our seniors didn’t do anything for us, but this much is fine.”

Deciding to pitch in, everyone except Gainan headed into the storage room.

Thanks to the massive amount of supplies they’d stocked up on last weekend, the first-year students were feeling particularly generous.

“I-han! Surely there’s someone else who received more help than me, right? There’s gotta be one person!”

Ignoring Gainan’s whining, I-han walked into the storage room.

---

Broken potions and artifacts were sorted into wooden crates, while usable notebooks, quills, and ink bottles were arranged neatly.

“Should we leave this for the freshmen?”

“You’re so kind. Fine, I’ll leave this jar of candies for them.”

The first-year students discreetly hid a few items for the freshmen, stashing them between books and stationery so they’d find them next year.

“......”

Adenarth frowned thoughtfully, unsure whether to leave a certain book, *The Executed Warlocks: The Price of Dark Magic*, for the incoming class.

‘Should I just remove it?’

“Your Highness, if you’re hesitant, you don’t have to leave a snack. Even Gainan didn’t,” I-han said, noticing her dilemma.

Gainan, in fact, had tried to leave a note that read, *True snacks are what you find for yourself,* only to get smacked by his friends.

“......”

The princess pulled out a can of preserved food from her bag and left it for the freshmen.

“Why?”

She then added two chocolates before walking off, to the admiration of her followers.

“Isn’t she incredible?”

“She is, but… she doesn’t have to force herself to do this.”

“What are you talking about? Of course she’s doing it for the freshmen’s benefit.”

“Is that so?”

I-han nodded, even if he wasn’t entirely convinced. Her followers probably knew her better in this case.

‘She is a proper royal after all, not like Gainan.’

With that thought, I-han refocused on the task. He stashed a rusty, bloodstained sword in a crate, dispelled an enchantment from a damaged scroll, and set it aflame.

“?”

While clearing a hidden section on the shelf, I-han found an old note tucked into a crevice.

*To the freshman who reads this: meet in the Red Hawk Room on the fourth floor by midnight.*

- A Kind Senior

“What’s this about?”

“Isn’t it one of the principal’s traps?”

“It’s good to be cautious, but not everything can be one of the principal’s traps…” I-han and his friends pondered the note.

“The fourth floor isn’t easy to access anyway. Telling a freshman to go there is practically a death wish.”

“Yeah, it sounds like a prank.”

“Oh! Perfect. I’ll leave a note telling them to meet me on the fifth floor!” Gainan exclaimed.

I-han smacked him lightly, pointing out, “Isn’t this note really old? The senior who left it might have graduated by now.”

“Oh, true. That’s a shame. Why would a senior leave this, though? We can’t even reach them.”

“Actually, I’ve heard there are ways to temporarily disable the principal’s magic.”

“…?”

His friends were curious, but they refrained from asking, ‘How do you know that, Wardanas?’

‘Well, he is Wardanas, after all.’

Salco tapped the note, checking for hidden writing. Finding none, he whispered to I-han.

“Wardanas, it might not be from a senior. It could be an item they left.”

“That’s possible…”

The midnight instruction was confusing, but it might mean the room only opened after midnight, so this could be a leftover marker.

The senior must’ve known a note wasn’t a reliable way to arrange a meeting, given it was stored in a supply closet for freshman classes.

“So, it’s probably just an item?”

“I think that’s likely.”

“Hmm. Tough call. We’ve got enough supplies and exams next week, so I don’t want to take risks. Hold on, Salco—why are you whispering?”

“So those White Tiger guys can’t hear us.”

“…Fine, but they should come too.”

As expected, I-han’s friends weren’t overly interested.

Half of them didn’t see the point in going to the dangerous fourth floor when they had enough supplies, while the other half argued that since Einroguard’s items disappeared frequently, they should grab what they could.

“See? We should go now! A single day’s delay is dangerous in Einroguard, you know!”

“If it’s been fine this long, a few more days won’t hurt. You’re just trying to avoid studying for exams!”

“How dare you accuse me of such treason?!”

As his friends argued, Yoner turned to I-han.

“What do you think, I-han?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to this week. I have other work.”

“Not exam prep?”

“I’ve got a pocket knife fortress design job to finish.”

“......”

Yoner gave I-han a pitying look.

‘Will this kid ever find a day to relax?’

---

Contrary to his friend’s concern, I-han didn’t mind working on the pocket knife fortress design.

Unlike other tasks, this one actually came with a silver coin reward.

‘If only Einroguard tasks came with silver coins as rewards, that’d be ideal.’

Imagining the Skull Principal’s reaction to this thought, I-han picked up his quill.

“Wardanas.”

“Professor Nighten.”

At Professor Alfen Nighten’s summons, I-han set down his quill and stood up.

Today was the day for a preliminary meeting with those involved in the pocket knife fortress project.

“Are you keeping up alright? With exams coming up, I hope you’re not pushing yourself too hard.”

“Thank you for your concern. I’m doing my best,” I-han replied politely.

Then he paused, realizing it was this professor who’d suggested the job in the first place.

Wait…

“Indeed. I felt confident you could handle it, Wardanas. That’s why I recommended it.”

“…Oh, I see.”

There’s a saying that you don’t spit on a smiling face, but I-han felt he might make an exception for smiling professors.

Following Professor Nighten’s lead, I-han entered the meeting room, where a mirror-like artifact was already active.

- Professor Nighten, good to see you.

“Yes, likewise. If you’re ready, could you send over the design?”

- Certainly. We’re waiting for it.

I-han waited, a bit tense, for the guild members’ reactions.

He thought he’d done a good job, but that was his opinion. Who knew what the others would think?

What would their reaction be?

---

The stoneworking guild *Kudrin* and the woodworking guild *Ida* had been awarded the contract for the pocket knife fortress construction by the Empire.

The architects always had the same goal: to achieve maximum efficiency within budget, while meeting the client’s requirements as closely as possible.

The overall structure would be handled by these experts, while the Einroguard first-years were responsible for calculating the artifacts’ magic output, ensuring a stable magic source, and preventing conflicts among the artifacts’ placements.

“Oh, this is better than

 I expected…”

“Perhaps it’s because he’s from Einroguard?”

The well-organized and clear explanations earned praise from the guild members.

Thanks to the students’ efforts, Einroguard’s reputation among external evaluators was unknowingly boosted.

Initially worried, the guild members were now reassured. Much more trustworthy than some suspicious mage who’d boast about building towers or fortresses.

“This is excellent. The artifact placements are very well thought out.”

“Thank you.”

I-han relaxed slightly.

He’d spent countless hours calculating to prevent the artifacts from malfunctioning due to poor placement.

It was satisfying to see the hard work pay off.

“But…”

“!”

Suddenly, the guild members looked concerned.

Not knowing what mistake he’d made, I-han tensed up again.

‘Damn it. Was there a mistake? Time—no, excuses are pointless. This is a paid job.’

This wasn’t a professor or student; there was no point in explaining various methodologies.

Determined to identify and fix the issue, he asked, “What…”

“Let me take a look,” Professor Nighten interjected, furrowing his brows as he scanned the report.

Reading swiftly, the professor’s face turned as serious as the guild members’.

“This is indeed unusual.”

“Professor, I believe there’s a mistake here.”

“Let’s verify, then. Wardanas, did you notice anything unusual with the artifacts’ magic consumption?”

I-han racked his brain.

For efficiency, he’d minimized the artifacts’ magic consumption as much as possible.

By saving on power consumption, fewer magic sources were needed to operate the fortress.

With that approach, he’d managed to reduce it considerably… Had he missed something?

Thinking how amazing real professional mages were, I-han asked candidly, “I’m sorry. Is it that they’re consuming too much?”

“No… I meant that they’re consuming far too little. Artifacts shouldn’t consume this little.”

“Huh?”

Bewildered, I-han double-checked the design. He couldn’t find any errors.

“Simple artifacts can be this efficient, though.”

“???”