However, once trust is lost, it rarely returns.

The students from the White Tiger Tower, who were carried down on stretchers, glared at Professor Ingardel with betrayed eyes, as if they were puppies who had been tricked into losing their treats.

"Everyone..."

The students sharply turned their heads away from him.

"I apologize, everyone. I misjudged the difficulty level of the exam."

"Understandable."

Lihan replied reflexively, leading the group as they dragged their friends forward.

Gisel shot him a look of disbelief, and Lihan quickly defended himself.

"Sorry, force of habit."

Whenever a professor apologized, Lihan's habit was to respond with "It’s fine."

"Did the slimes get to you all?"

The knights were astonished.

The number of casualties seemed too high for an encounter with mere slimes. Shifting Slimes, while troublesome, weren’t typically so dangerous.

Once a few students had been affected, the rest were expected to catch on and counter them.

“Ugh…”

“Answer,” the White Pine knight ordered, turning to the trainee knight with a stern tone.

This exam wasn't only a test for Einroguard’s students but also an evaluation of the trainee knights.

While Ingardel was responsible for disciplining the students, the knights were in charge of their trainees.

“Had you known there was a shape-shifting monster, you could have taken measures, right?”

With creatures like Shifting Slimes, splitting up and keeping a distance was the best approach.

These creatures were usually unable to remain patient, eventually exposing a weakness.

“Well... It wasn’t the slimes.”

“Not the slimes?”

The knight looked surprised as the trainee knight hesitated.

“Oh, I see. Perhaps it was a giant?”

“Giants live in the mountains?!”

The trainee looked horrified, sparking hushed whispers among his peers.

“I thought that was just a rumor…”

“Forget that nonsense. But if it was a different monster, I could understand.”

If their initial strategy had been disrupted by the slimes, only to be attacked by another creature…

“What kind of monster was it?”

“Well, it was…” The trainee looked around and pointed a nervous finger at Lihan.

“?”

“We… fell for Wardanaz’s tricks…”

The knights were left speechless, their silence mirrored by the embarrassed expressions of the trainees.

“Explain what happened,” the knight demanded.

The trainees did their best to describe the situation.

Shifting Slimes, disguised as Lihan’s group, had skillfully drawn the students in, making them attack the real Lihan and his friends…

“I see…”

“But surely not all of you were tricked the same way, right? Why did so many of you fall?”

The other trainees recounted the same story: they were misled by Shifting Slimes mimicking Lihan’s group.

“Enough! Stop!”

The knights turned red with embarrassment.

For all of them to be tricked in the same way!

Even if one or two had been fooled, they should have started suspecting and guarding themselves after that. This was humiliating.

“This is an exam with competition! How could you trust others so easily? Did you learn nothing?”

“It’s just that Wardanaz seemed so trustworthy… We’re sorry.”

The knights of the White Pine Order silently reflected on the situation.

The issue wasn’t that Ingardel’s test was too harsh; rather, they’d been too complacent.

“I must have failed in my duty to train you. That you couldn’t handle this situation…”

“N-no! It’s not our fault! Those Einroguard students were fooled first, so—”

“Silence! Making excuses already? You’ll be in for some extra training when we return!”

While the trainee knights were being reprimanded, Professor Ingardel turned back to the students and apologized once more.

“Everyone, I won’t set such an exam for first-year finals again. You’ve all worked hard.”

“No.”

“?”

Lihan turned, curious to see which reckless student would speak up in front of a professor with a sword.

“Professor, I hope you prepare a similar exam for next year’s first years.”

“…Exactly! It would be too much of a waste if we were the only ones to go through this.”

“This isn’t your fault, Professor! We understand your intentions!”

The students of White Tiger Tower declared passionately, nearly gritting their teeth.

“Everyone!”

“Professor!”

The students hugged Professor Ingardel, staging a heartwarming reconciliation.

Lihan looked on, appalled.

‘Those jerks.’

Were they really that upset at the thought of going through it alone?

---

‘Strange…’

Lihan arrived at Mortum’s workshop, the Dark Hall, for his necromancy exam. Upon receiving the test paper, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

“Professor?”

*Cough.* “Yes?”

“Uh, is this all?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Nothing…”

Lihan glanced around the lecture room warily.

But there was nothing in the room.

Gainan, sitting beside him and eating a sandwich, stared curiously at Lihan’s odd behavior.

Rafadel, unable to resist, asked Gainan quietly.

“What’s he doing?”

“Huh? What?”

“Wardanaz. What’s with him?”

Since arriving, Wardanaz had been surveying his surroundings as if he were a knight infiltrating enemy territory.

Even Rafadel was starting to feel a little on edge.

“Lihan’s always like this.”

“……”

Rafadel regretted asking Gainan.

‘This guy wouldn’t notice if Wardanaz’s head fell off.’

*Cough.* “Wardanaz, there’s nothing hiding in the lecture room.”

“Really?”

Lihan was about to summon a paper bird to scout the room, but Mortum sighed.

“There’s nothing hiding outside the room either.”

“Oh. Got it.”

Lihan was about to cast *Ogonin’s Sense of Emotion* to read Mortum’s emotions.

Seeing this, Mortum decided he should clarify.

*Cough.* “Last midterms were quite chaotic. So we’re keeping this final exam simple.”

“…Is it because you ran out of reagents for the school?”

Lihan asked with genuine concern.

Rumor had it that the necromancy department wasn’t exactly well-funded. His seniors had complained about the shortage of materials during the last midterms.

*Cough.* “Have your seniors been telling you strange things about the necromancy department?”

Mortum began to suspect his seniors had been saying things they shouldn’t to Lihan.

Surely they hadn’t been whining to freshmen about their lack of resources, right? Especially considering he’d heard about a freshman borrowing supplies from another department…

“What exactly do you mean?”

“Things like the necromancy department being in dire straits…”

“Oh, they’d never say that.”

Mortum was a master of necromancy, and Lihan was a master of keeping up appearances.

He sensed the professor’s intentions the moment the question was asked.

Gainan tilted his head, puzzled.

He was sure his seniors had said…

“Our department is absolutely—urk!”

Lihan discreetly elbowed Gainan’s side, causing him to slump forward.

“Anyway, the necromancy department isn’t struggling that much, *cough,* so stop worrying and focus on the test.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Hearing this, Lihan felt slightly relieved.

It seemed this was genuinely the test, without any hidden tricks.

Of course, this could still be a ploy. Taking this into account, Lihan chose to remain moderately cautious.

A skilled mage always considers all possibilities.

---

**Select an undead creature from the list below:**

1. Skeleton  
2. Quinnae  
3. Sand Octopus  
4. Rock Drake  
5. Shadow Wraith  

‘Hmm.’

At first glance, it seemed straightforward, but this was a trick question.

‘Skeletons aren’t living creatures.’

The correct answer was “None of the above.” Lihan marked it down and moved on.

Beside him, Gainan glanced over, grinning.

“Lihan, this is way too easy!”

“You sure you read the question correctly?”

“Of course!”

‘I’ll be double-checking him later.’

Lihan decided that if Gainan had chosen Skeleton, he’d give him a stern talking-to.

How could he fall for such a childish trick?

‘Really, Lihan’s something else.’

Gainan, on the other hand, was inwardly annoyed with Lihan.

After all the study sessions together, shouldn’t he trust his friend? Asking if he read it properly?

**Select an undead creature from the list below:**

3. Sand Octopus

The answer had to be Sand Octopus, no doubt.

---

“Um, Professor?”

After they all submitted their tests, Rafadel raised his hand cautiously.

Gainan, finishing off his sandwich, stared blankly at Rafadel.

“I’d still like to demonstrate the undead summoning we practiced over the semester.”

“Ugh!”

Gainan nearly choked on his sandwich.

“Are you insane?! The exam’s over!”

“We practiced summoning undead all semester. It’s only right to be assessed on it.”

“That’s exactly the kind of thing Lihan would say! Are you crazy?!”

Even Lihan and Emirg looked at Rafadel in surprise.

They hadn’t expected this from him.

‘What’s he thinking?’

Mortum coughed and looked at him.

“Getting close to your summoned creatures, are you?”

“N-no! Not at all!”

Rafadel protested, shocked.

As a knight from a noble family dedicated to combating necromancers, how could he think otherwise?

Mortum, however, just nodded knowingly.

*Cough.* “That’s typical for those who summon the undead.”

Unlike other summoned creatures, undead summons were temperamental,

 constantly seeking chances to rebel. But after enduring their unruly behavior and training them, a necromancer might find themselves attached to their minions.

That kind of satisfaction was hard to match with other summons.

‘Is that so?’

Lihan was puzzled by Mortum’s explanation.

He couldn’t relate to that feeling at all.

Not only were undead creatures tricky to handle, but summoning them didn’t bring him any particular satisfaction…

‘He’s thinking unnecessary thoughts again.’

Mortum clicked his tongue as he looked at Lihan.

Of course, it made sense that Wardanaz wouldn’t relate to those sentiments.

*Cough.* “Since there’s some time left, let’s add a brief undead summoning exercise.”

Gainan let out a short cry of despair, but Mortum had no intention of changing his mind.

“Why are you doing this?! Didn’t you hate necromancy? Go back to hating it!”

“…I still don’t like it.”

“Liar! Total liar! Someone who dislikes it wouldn’t come prepared like this!”

As Gainan grabbed Rafadel by the collar, Lihan raised his staff, ready to begin.

‘An Abyssal Skeleton Warrior would do nicely.’

Among the undead he could summon, this was the one he controlled most confidently.

Thanks to his recent efforts, he could even command one with skilled movements.

A dancing Skeleton Warrior would surely earn him full marks…

*Cough.* “Wardanaz.”

“Yes?”

“No need for you to demonstrate.”

“……”