Episode 1052
Episode 1052
"No. But what you're saying makes sense."
The Skeleton Principal was exasperated by his disciple's behavior, as if he couldn't help but take the Dragon Contractor's side.
"You're saying things that sound reasonable. There are over a hundred safe places in the Empire—why Einrogard of all places?"
"Because there are many mages here, His Excellency the Magic Tower is present, and it starts with an 'E.'"
"Then we should just send her to Archmage Erindarbel's estate."
"But you're not there, Headmaster."
The Skeleton Principal swung his staff to smack his cheeky disciple, but Lee Han had already predicted it and stepped back to maintain distance.
Teaching an outstanding disciple was a teacher's joy, but sometimes, if they were too outstanding, it could turn into sheer frustration.
Suppressing his emotions, the Skeleton Principal spoke.
"Fine. It doesn't matter even if you insist."
"?"
"His Majesty won't allow it anyway."
Originally, the Emperor had been reluctant to send Jowurin to Einrogard, judging that she would disrupt the students' education.
"It doesn't seem like she'd—"
"Quiet."
Indeed, Jowurin—both a dragon and a member of the imperial family—could easily disturb Einrogard's diligent and disciplined atmosphere.
Moreover, hadn't she pulled off a deception last semester that would go down in imperial history?
"If His Majesty refuses, we'll just have to move her somewhere else. The imperial palace would do. You try convincing her."
"Does she dislike going to the imperial palace?"
Lee Han was puzzled.
If the plan to send her to Einrogard was rejected, the imperial palace seemed like the best alternative.
It was in the same capital, so the distance was short, there were powerful allies and reinforcements, and most importantly—she had family there.
"Of course she'd hate it. If she goes there, she'd only be allowed to study."
The Emperor would never tolerate his children acting recklessly or throwing their weight around.
The current imperial palace in the capital was the heart of the Empire's administration, swarming with countless officials.
If someone barged into a random room there shouting, "Let's play with Jowurin!" they'd be severely reprimanded.
The only books available would be ancient tomes and reports, and the only "fun" activity would be analyzing documents with the bureaucrats...
'No wonder she wouldn't want to go.'
"If we send her there, she might resent me later. Isn't there somewhere more enjoyable?"
"Now you're talking nonsense. It wouldn't be good to expose Her Highness to the Empire's ambitious schemers."
The Skeleton Principal spoke gravely.
Even the Emperor's non-immediate descendants attracted hordes of opportunists—someone like Jowurin would be an even bigger target.
"And this is also advice for you. If Her Highness becomes widely known, who do you think people will target?"
"You, Headmaster?"
"..."
"Did you form the contract, or did I?"
Suppressing the urge to punch his disciple, the Skeleton Principal explained. Only then did Lee Han realize.
'Ah, right. That makes sense.'
In terms of fame alone, the Skeleton Principal was already so renowned that Lee Han had assumed attention would shift to him. But upon reflection, he was the contractor.
If anyone wanted to pull Jowurin into their faction, they were more likely to approach Lee Han himself than the Skeleton Principal.
"Hmm. Still, forcing her into a boring place just because of that seems a bit..."
As he spoke, a paper bird flew in—a reply to the message sent to the Emperor.
The Skeleton Principal unfolded the letter to show Jowurin.
"See, Your Highness? His Majesty says no—"
"?!"
"?"
Everyone nearby looked puzzled. Jowurin blinked and asked—
It says it's allowed?
Shockingly, the letter contained a dignified script granting permission. The Skeleton Principal's half-bone face crumpled like a sheet of paper.
"..."
"It seems His Majesty has lost his mind."
"Headmaster. Your inner thoughts are slipping out."
"Those weren't inner thoughts."
"......"
Normally, the Skeleton Principal showed as much respect toward the Emperor as he had personally drawn from him, but this time was different.
Why on earth would he permit sending Jowurin to Einrogard?
"Could it be because of Lee Han's presence?"
Professor Garcia cautiously offered her opinion.
Recently, Jowurin had been maturing mentally at a rapid pace.
And with a contractor present, surely he wouldn't cause too much trouble for the Einrogard students?
"No. If it were His Majesty, he would have surely considered Wardanaz as well."
The Skeleton Principal shook his head in denial.
Of course, even the Headmaster himself agreed that Jowurin was becoming smarter.
With a contractor present, he likely wouldn't cause any major incidents.
But it would still place a considerable burden on the contractor responsible for looking after Jowurin.
The Emperor wasn't the type to sacrifice a student for his child's amusement—not even a single one.
"Perhaps His Majesty thought Lee Han's abilities could handle that much without issue?"
"...Professor..."
Lee Han was speechless.
What kind of absurd speculation was that?
"It sounds plausible, but I doubt His Majesty would do such a thing. Strange. There must be something I'm missing..."
The Skeleton Principal frowned deeply in thought. He looked several times more serious now than when discussing the appearance of the Evil God Cult.
'Wait. Is Jowurin going to Einrogard really something to agonize over this much?'
Regardless, Jowurin flapped his wings excitedly.
This was great! He was going to Einrogard!
"This isn't over yet, Your Highness. I will personally visit His Majesty to confirm this."
The Skeleton Principal stubbornly refused to let it go.
He suspected there might be some trickery in the letter, just like last time.
Of course, Jowurin paid no attention.
Einrogard!! Aren't you excited too, Lee Han?!
"Yes, yes."
Wow! Einrogard!
"Your Highness, please don't pull on the chain. Your Highness?"
Jowurin, too excited to wait, grabbed the chain still attached to Lee Han's unremoved handcuffs and started walking ahead.
At that ghastly sight, Professor Garcia silently vowed to confiscate the handcuffs the moment they were removed.
The eerie mansion in the capital, recently transferred into the possession of the young Wardanaz heir.
Originally, it had been a place devoid of any signs of life, filled only with the sounds of ghosts and evil spirits—but now, it was different.
A lively bustle from the work of numerous mages echoed throughout the entire mansion.
"Finished repairing the end room on the second floor?"
"The water won't come out. There must be a mistake in the connection."
"Can't we just summon water with magic whenever we need it?"
"Are you insane? Have you lost your mind after hanging around Wardanaz? You want to collapse from exhaustion conjuring water?"
"...Just connect it properly! Just connect it!"
As a White Tiger Tower student grumbled and walked away, Salko looked at the mansion from outside with a satisfied expression.
The once bizarre-looking building was gradually regaining a more respectable appearance.
'After finishing the repairs on the second-floor end room, I should repaint near the chimney. There's some magical contamination residue there... Maybe I should brew a new potion...'
"Tutanta, have you heard about the metallurgy workshop here? Would it be fine to take requests there?"
"The pay there isn't great. The nearby carpentry guild would be better."
"Ah. I was hoping to handle some second-semester requests here if possible..."
"Granden City would be better. The closer distance would be more advantageous."
Requests coming into Einrogard were largely divided into two types.
One type involved external visitors directly entrusting tasks to students—mostly crafting or analysis-related requests.
The other type required Einrogard students to go out and handle tasks themselves—usually involving search or subjugation missions.
Of course, the number of the former was far greater. The more cunning students were already scrambling to secure such requests in advance.
"Definitely. Since the guilds in Granden City are closer, they'd probably entrust more requests there, right?"
"Right."
"But if it's the Granden City guilds, wouldn't they just hand everything to Wardanaz?"
"......"
Caught off guard by the unexpected remark, Salko flinched.
And strangely enough, it did seem plausible.
'...'
Is that so?!'
Granden City, being close to Einrogard, was already rife with rumors about Lee Han.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Does Wardanaz have a hundred bodies or something? How could he possibly take them all?"
Ashan, who happened to be passing by, spoke with a disdainful tone.
Hearing that, Salko snapped back to his senses. Upon reflection, it really was an absurd notion.
'How could I be foolish enough to fall for that White Tiger Tower punk's words?!'
"But Wardanaz attends all the schools, doesn't he? Doesn't that mean he can take all the requests too..."
"......"
"......"
Salko and Ashan couldn't bring themselves to admit that they'd been left speechless by a mere White Tiger Tower student.
How could this happen?
"I'm back."
Fortunately, Lee Han came to their rescue.
Having returned from his outing, Lee Han opened the main gate and stepped inside.
"Wardanaz!"
"Wow. Did you fix all this? Impressive."
Lee Han was genuinely astonished by the further changes to the villa's exterior in such a short time.
He hadn't expected the repairs to progress this quickly.
'...'
Wait. Do I have to pay them?'
He wondered if it was okay to just let it slide when his friends had worked so hard.
'How much should I pay? There must be a standard rate...'
"...Ahhh!!!"
When Ashan suddenly screamed, Lee Han flinched.
Had his shameful thoughts about skimping on payment been exposed?
"Th-there...! There! Wardanaz!"
"Ah."
Lee Han quickly understood why his friend had screamed.
Behind him, Professor Garcia and the humanoid form of Jowurin had appeared.
"I get why you're startled. She wanted to visit the mansion and come along for fun."
"That's not it! Behind her!"
Ashan shouted in frustration.
He hadn't screamed because of Jowurin.
Sure, he was startled, but having met her last semester, he wasn't that shocked.
The real reason for Ashan's terror was what loomed behind her.
The Skeleton Principal of Einrogard, now fully skeletal, was floating in midair, drifting toward them.
"Ah. The Headmaster? We met at the mansion and came together."
"...Since when do you just 'come together' with him?!"
Ashan shuddered.
Watching his friend speak so casually, as if he'd picked up a pebble on the roadside, made him want to grab him by the collar.
'Even for Wardanaz, isn't this insane?!'
"Ahh!"
"Gahh!"
"Kyaaah!"
The other students, belatedly spotting the skeleton, erupted into screams from all corners of the mansion.
This was the worst possible opponent to encounter in this villa.
He'd thought today would be uneventful, but no—the Empire's fools had all gathered here.
The Skeleton Principal smirked inwardly at how densely they'd clustered.
Einrogard students were like grains of sand—seeing them huddled together like this was a rare sight.
Where was Professor Voladi?
"He stepped out for a moment."
Where to?
"Uh... I think he said he was going to get more wanted posters since they ran out..."
......
The Skeleton Principal sighed internally at the professor's absence.
What an irritatingly diligent disciple.
Follow him, Wardanaz.
"Huh? Me?"
...
Have you already forgotten what you just said? Then who should follow? That iron-headed one over there?
When the Skeleton Principal pointed at him, Gainando grumbled.
"I'm not iron-headed anymore."
"If I suddenly follow now, even Professor Bagrak would find it suspicious..."
?
"?"
The Skeleton Principal and Gainando both looked puzzled at the same time.
What exactly was suspicious about it?
"What do you mean by 'suspicious,' Lee Han?"
"...Well, if I suddenly show interest in bounty hunting, wouldn't it seem—"
The Skeleton Principal and Gainando burst into laughter simultaneously. Lee Han shot Gainando a betrayed glare.