Episode 876
Episode 876
After brushing off the soot clinging to his collar, Lee Han began his verification once more.
No matter how he thought about it, there must have been additional provocation.
"Professor. You see this staff, right? Actually, this staff..."
Lee Han briefly summarized the story behind this staff—how Yukveltire had proposed it first and had wanted to make it.
After hearing everything, Professor Verdus pondered deeply before tilting his head in confusion.
"That's strange."
"What is?"
"Garcia forced me to make this staff. I even told her Yukveltire wanted it, but she wouldn't listen."
"......"
-Because it seemed like Yukveltire wanted it.
-I told you not to pull any tricks.
-Ack! Aaack! I-I'm not tricking anyone!
-What do you mean Yukveltire wanted it? You don't even know what your own student wants, Professor.
-Well, that's true, but Yukveltire really did want—Ack! Aaack!
Since Lee Han had been present at the time, he could recall the memory. His face stiffened.
Unaware of his student's inner turmoil, Professor Verdus continued.
"Then it's Garcia's fault! I should just tell Yukveltire!"
"What are you talking about? I don't remember anything like that."
"Huh?"
"I have no recollection of that. Did Professor Garcia really say such things?"
"Wha—?!"
Professor Verdus was flustered.
"She did! Right here! She threatened me while breaking my collarbone!"
"Professor Garcia wouldn't harm a fly. There's no way she'd resort to threats. Given her imposing stature, you must have misinterpreted her body language, Professor."
Professor Bendozol, who had been listening nearby, backed Lee Han up.
"Say what you will, but Professor Kim isn't the type to threaten anyone. If he were, why would he run errands for you in the first place? He'd just crush your skull outright."
"I-It really happened...! I'm telling you, it really did!"
"Professor. That's not the point right now. What matters is that Senior Yukveltire is angry."
Lee Han swiftly redirected the conversation. Professor Verdus obediently nodded.
"Right. That's true."
"We need to resolve this."
"Should I go reprimand her again for acting irrationally?"
"...Absolutely not. Just apologize."
"Do you really think something so worthless will fix this? I doubt it."
-Wouldn't it be better to just offer it as tribute?
The demons, unable to bear it any longer, cautiously offered their advice.
"Sen—"
BAM!
"..."
"ior—"
BAM!
"..."
"!!"
BAM!
Lee Han called out to Yukveltire while defending and dodging with every syllable.
Only after a delay did Yukveltire glance at Lee Han's face, her gaze suspicious. The other seniors murmured among themselves.
-Isn't that Professor Verdus in disguise?
-No way. The Professor doesn't have the observational skills to disguise himself as a student.
Once confirming it really was her junior, Yukveltire asked sternly.
"What's going on? Why are you here?"
"There seems to have been a misunderstanding, so I came to clear it up."
Before the attacks could resume, Lee Han hurriedly explained.
Professor Verdus had retrieved the artifact and was planning to apologize to Professor Paselet soon...
"And he also wants to apologize to you, Seniors!"
"It's a scheme."
"A trick."
"Did Wardanaz get fooled?"
The seniors of the faction remained cold.
Professor Verdus knew thousands of spells, but apologizing was absolutely not one of them.
Hurry!
Jowurin smacked Professor Verdus' back with her front paw. She feared the enraged students might attack Lee Han.
"I'll apologize!"
"!"
As Professor Verdus, flung aside, dangled his head out from the attic entrance and shouted, the students were stunned.
"As a professor, I failed to properly support you all!"
"Has he lost his mind?!"
Despite the students' shock, Professor Verdus began earnestly apologizing, reciting what he had just memorized.
At first, the students had crossed their arms with an attitude of 'Let's see what nonsense he's going to spout this time,' but as Professor Verdus's apologies continued, their expressions began to waver slightly.
After all, apologies carry the most weight when they come from someone who never apologizes.
Professor Verdus's apology was so powerful that it could even melt the hearts of the cold-hearted students of the Enchantment Magic school.
"Hmm..."
"Hmm..."
Seeing the stern expressions of the seniors with their arms crossed soften slightly, Lee Han quickly urged him on.
"Hurry up and apologize to Senior Yukveltire too."
"Got it! What was I supposed to say again?"
"..."
'The staff.'
Seeing the man who could remember every single nail in his airship yet completely blank on a one-page apology made Lee Han want to smack him.
"Yukveltire, I'm sorry! I'll apologize! I went ahead and made the staff you were supposed to make!"
"!"
Hearing an apology she had never expected, Yukveltire's pupils widened slightly.
The students behind her began murmuring at his words.
-He never helped anyone even if they begged, but he went out of his way to make what Senior Yukveltire was working on?
-It's obvious. He probably just thought it looked fun and did it himself.
-Shouldn't we just restrain him now and hand him over to Professor Kraer?
Realizing the mood was turning dangerous, Lee Han hastily poked Professor Verdus in the back again.
Like a golem receiving a command, Professor Verdus obediently added to his apology.
"I'm really sorry!"
"..."
"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't care in the slightest."
At that response, Professor Verdus turned to Lee Han angrily.
"See! She says she doesn't care!"
"Just shut up and keep apologizing."
"..."
"Sorry! It's just... I'm more skilled than you, so I couldn't help it!"
"???"
Lee Han was horrified.
His constant prodding had caused Professor Verdus to malfunction and start spouting nonsense.
In a way, it was inevitable—forcing someone with no prior experience in apologizing to do so was bound to backfire.
Having exhausted all the memorized lines, Professor Verdus had no choice but to improvise his apology.
"Professor!"
Lee Han tried to stop him, but Professor Verdus seemed to misunderstand and kept going.
"You can just take over next time! Uh... practice your magic hard until then!"
"......"
Yukveltire, already known for her icy demeanor, now had eyes as cold as the Frost Giants' dimension.
From behind, Jowurin and Eandurde whispered.
'We should probably just push him off right now...'
"I agree."
Surprisingly, Yukveltire accepted the apology.
She, too, didn't want to act overly emotional over the staff theft incident.
"I don't behave like that. Understood?"
"..."
"Yes..."
Lee Han nodded, glancing at the seniors and siege weapons gathered behind her.
It already felt excessive, but pointing that out might make those siege weapons target him instead, and that was terrifying.
"Still, thank you for accepting it."
"You're a junior from the Wardanaz family, and you're also Diret's close junior. Plus, you promised to help with research during the break."
Professor Verdus, listening nearby, tilted his head in confusion.
"Huh? If that's the case, then my research is more—"
"Shut up. Please."
Professor Bendozol dragged Professor Verdus away and tossed him aside. It seemed they couldn't let their guard down until they returned the items to Professor Paselet.
'This is astonishing. With the two of them together, Professor Bendozol seems relatively sane in comparison.'
Lee Han mentally dubbed this the <Professor Insanity Conservation Hypothesis>.
Following the <Beastman Personality-Cuteness Inverse Proportion Hypothesis>, it seemed he had stumbled upon yet another groundbreaking theory.
Making a mental note to send a thesis to Einrogard graduates later, Lee Han quickly herded the group forward.
Jowurin, looking puzzled, asked a question.
'Lee Han. Jowurin has something she wonders about.'
"Speak, Your Highness."
"If Professor Kraer needs the artifact returned, couldn't Professor Verdus just go return it himself...?"
Jowurin couldn't understand why the entire group had to accompany Professor Verdus to return the artifact and apologize.
"There are several reasons for that."
Ah! I see! Because there might still be students who don't know the bounty on Professor Verdus has been lifted!
Jowurin exclaimed with joy, feeling like the famous detective Toberiz. 'To be precise, it hasn't actually been lifted yet.' "You're correct, Your Highness. And besides that, there's another reason."
What is it?
"Because Professor Verdus might disappear again without returning it."
Jowurin burst into laughter at what she thought was a hilarious joke.
But the rest of the group remained deadly serious. Even the demons were serious...
It's not a joke?
"Yes."......
Jowurin recoiled in shock and stared at Professor Verdus.
Professor Paselet of the Kraer family was a Banshee half-blood with multiple personalities.
His current personality happened to be the most foul-tempered one.
Given that a certain professor had promised to bring back an artifact but instead came up with excuses even an Einrogard student wouldn't use—like 'Someone stole it!'—this reaction was only natural.
"Verdus! With the Headmaster absent right now, don't think there's anyone left to protect your miserable life!"
"...Professor Kraer is seriously angry."
"No wonder my divination sticks predicted misfortune today!"
Students from the Divination Magic school quickly averted their gazes and fled the workshop.
Though Professor Paselet was generally kind despite his eccentricities, when his wrathful personality took over, the only sensible option was to run.
"Um... Professor..."
"Who—!"
Professor Paselet, about to snap at the intruder, suddenly froze.
The group before him was completely unexpected.
Not just Professor Verdus, but Professor Bendozol, demon slaves, and even a dragon and students...?!
Professor Paselet suppressed his anger and asked,
"What in the world is this?"
"Professor, we've recovered the artifact Professor Verdus lost."
"...Are you seriously telling me he actually lost it?"
Professor Paselet asked with deep suspicion. Jowurin wagged her tail and insisted.
It's true! Jowurin can vouch for it!
"Your Highness, I trust your word, but you should never trust Professor Verdus. Do you know what excuse he gave last year instead of bringing the promised counting sticks for Fortune Sticks Divination? He said, 'Why are you angry when I'm making them even better?'"
Th-that was a slightly different situation...
"The year before that, when I asked him to prepare turtle shells, he claimed he'd used them all up himself. The Headmaster was so exasperated he had to cover for him by saying they were lost. And before that—"
Utterly defeated, Jowurin lowered her tail and hid behind Lee Han. Given the vast difference in their sizes, it wasn't very effective.
"...Still, Professor. This time, we really did come to return it."
"Hmph."
Though still angry, Professor Paselet's temper cooled slightly when a student was the one presenting it.
The fault lay with Professor Verdus, not his student.
Besides, this particular student was arguably the most pitiable one in all of Einrogard.
"Fine. I'll lift the bounty. Still, it's well-made..."
"If you'd given me a little more time, I could've added user protection too."
"Then you should've done it sooner!"
Professor Paselet's sharp retort struck Professor Verdus' eardrums like a hammer. The beaver beastman staggered, losing his balance.
Lee Han thought to himself, 'So the reason I suffered was because he didn't add user protection...' If Professor Verdus had prioritized safety spells over useless functions from the start, none of this would have happened.
The realization made his anger flare up anew.
As Professor Paselet inspected the Star Guide, he suddenly turned to Lee Han and asked,
"You didn't use it recklessly, did you?"
"Uh..."
"Then again, even you, Wardanaz, would've struggled with this. I'll teach you how to use it properly before midterms, so don't rush. You can look forward to it! Finding stars is a joyous thing."
"Same with the contract. I'm looking forward to it."
"What contract? There isn't going to be one."
"......"