Gainando snatched up the steak like a veteran hunter and tore into it like a triumphant lion.

Lee Han looked at him in surprise. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Isn’t it hot?”

“Ith not hot becauth I numbed it.”

“What?”

Gulp!

“I numbed my mouth with dark magic!”

Gainando grinned proudly.

By deadening the sensation inside his mouth, he could eat hot food faster than everyone else.

The moment he heard that, Lee Han smacked him across the back.

Why!?

Gainando couldn’t understand why he had gotten hit.

He had practiced magic diligently and used it exactly the way Lee Han had taught him!

Meanwhile, Jowurin sampled a bite of cake, a cookie, some soufflé, and pudding before politely pushing her plate away.

Dragons were not a race that needed to eat constantly in the first place, so that amount was more than enough.

“Your Majesty. Please eat a little more.”

Mmm. Jowurin is full.

The moment Lee Han brought over a plate of vegetables, Jowurin immediately pretended not to notice it.

“But dragons don’t really need—”

“That won’t do. You need a balanced diet.”

“Then should I eat it instead?”

“You stay out of this. Here, Your Majesty.”

But Jowurin is a dragon, so it doesn’t matter...

“You certainly have gotten rather thin. Excellent observation. That’s exactly how you should take care of her!”

Professor Bendozol chimed in enthusiastically from the side.

Though his disciple was disagreeable in many ways, at least he was handling this matter properly.

If she’s a dragon, shouldn’t she have a much sturdier physique?

At those words, Jowurin secretly glared at Professor Bendozol.

Between tormenting Lee Han and this, he truly was a terrible mage.

Lee Han briefly stepped away to speak with some of his other friends.

Jowurin glanced around furtively before hurriedly stuffing the salad into her mouth with loud crunching noises.

“???”

Eandurde, sitting nearby, stared suspiciously at the plate.

For all the crunching and gulping, barely a tiny corner of the salad had disappeared.

...S-see? This much is gone...

Jowurin pleaded desperately.

Eandurde looked at her pitifully, then silently snatched away the plate and devoured the remaining carrots in a single sweep.

Jowurin’s eyes sparkled.

Then she immediately tried to hug Eandurde.

“Grrrrrowl!”

“What are you two doing? Oh. Your Majesty, you finished everything.”

Th-that’s...

Jowurin, terrible at lying, darted her eyes around wildly before suddenly pointing outside the window with one paw.

There’s a paper bird over there!

“How dare someone interrupt the Dragon’s meal!”

Professor Bendozol exploded in fury and blasted the paper bird out of the sky.

Then he leaned out the window and roared downward.

“You lazy demons! Can’t you even handle a simple task properly? Interrupt the Dragon’s meal one more time and I’ll devour every last one of you!”

...

Jowurin’s face turned pale blue.

Even if she somehow managed to eat vegetables, she definitely did not want to eat demons.

“But who keeps sending these paper birds?”

“Probably Professor Verdus.”

“How do you know Professor Verdus sent them?”

“One already came earlier.”

“???”

His friends looked at Lee Han in confusion before finally understanding.

Ah. Wardanaz shot it down.

“We asked a tactless question.”

“From now on, let’s all shoot down Professor Verdus’s paper birds whenever they appear.”

“We’re protecting Wardanaz from Professor Verdus.”

“...I wasn’t the one who shot it down. Her Majesty did.”

?!

Jowurin jerked upright in shock.

When had Jowurin done that!?

“You crushed it in your sleep while talking earlier.”

...That was sleeping Jowurin! Sleeping Jowurin and awake Jowurin are different! You should forgive her!

Gainando looked deeply impressed by that reasoning.

As expected of royalty. Her logic was extraordinary.

“Your Majesty may shoot down Professor Verdus’s paper birds as much as you like.”

“That’s right! You did a great thing!”

???

Jowurin tilted her head in confusion at the students’ enthusiastic praise.

What exactly is Professor Verdus...!?

Meanwhile, Lee Han walked over to the window and addressed the demons below.

“Could you send just one paper bird over? We should at least check what it says.”

The demons, who had been worked to exhaustion by the mad professor, were moved to tears by those words.

—You who show such mercy... from which house do you come, noble mage? Please tell us your family name. We wish to repay this kindness someday.

“...This isn’t the sort of thing worthy of revealing my family name over. Just send the paper bird.”

At that moment, another paper bird flew in, and Lee Han finally checked the message.

—Help me!

I figured.

Lee Han wasn’t especially surprised by Professor Verdus’s plea for help.

Professor Paserlet had put a bounty on him in a fit of rage, after all.

Now that I’ve confirmed it, I should return the artifact.

After what he had learned from the Yachaowang, there was no reason to continue holding onto the Star Guide.

And no matter how irritating Professor Verdus was—

I could probably leave him hanging upside down while people prepare to burn him at the stake. ...No, I can’t. Am I exhausted because of the Black Book?

Lee Han took pride in being different from Professor Verdus.

The saying “the disciple surpasses the master” existed for a reason.

—Enemies have invaded the Sacred Workshop! You need to come immediately!

“??”

That part genuinely surprised him.

Ever since mysterious righteous mages had attacked the underground workshop, Professor Verdus should have reinforced the Sacred Workshop’s security to the highest possible level.

And yet someone had still broken through.

How? No... could Professor Voladi Bagreg have gotten involved again?

If Professor Voladi had accepted another commission, Lee Han would honestly have admired the persistence.

A battle mage ought to be that relentless.

But the culprit turned out not to be Professor Voladi Bagreg.

—The enchantment magic school students betrayed us! You can’t trust anyone!

“...”

Lee Han was left speechless.

Betrayed by his own disciples.

Wait. Then does that mean Princess Yukbeltire betrayed him too?

Since Princess Yukbeltire was Professor Verdus’s top disciple, perhaps she had at least remained neutral—

No. Probably not.

Lee Han recalled her recent behavior and shook his head.

She was probably leading the divination magic school students from the front lines right now.

He firmly resolved to be even more cautious around Princess Yukbeltire from now on.

***

After finishing breakfast, Lee Han headed out with Jowurin.

Eandurde ended up coming too because Jowurin refused to let go after latching onto her.

Professor Bendozol came because he refused to release Lee Han’s ankle.

And naturally, the demons dragged around by Professor Bendozol had no choice but to follow as well.

...There are a lot of people here against their will.

Still, it couldn’t be helped.

Since Jowurin was accompanying them, they needed enough protection.

—Which house does that merciful mage belong to?

“That one? House Wardanaz.”

—...

Lee Han could hear ominous whispers passing between Professor Bendozol and the demons behind him, but he was too busy thinking to pay attention.

If the divination magic school seniors really betrayed him, then how am I supposed to get inside?

Normally, he could simply enter the Sacred Tower and find Professor Verdus directly.

But if the divination magic school students had turned against him, the situation changed entirely.

Suspicious eyes would be watching everything from the entrance to the deepest rooms of the tower. The moment Lee Han acted strangely, attacks would fly at him even if he was only a junior.

“Halt!”

“I need to go inside briefly. I conducted magical research with Anpagon this time, and the results are stored in there...”

“No one is allowed into the Sacred Tower right now. Until Professor Verdus is captured, we can’t permit any variables. Entry is forbidden.”

“I understand. If that’s the reason, it can’t be helped. I hope you catch him.”

“Thanks for the support.”

“...”

Lee Han focused on the conversation happening ahead.

Beside him, Jowurin watched curiously.

Even though something important was trapped inside, the student accepted it calmly and left without getting angry.

Einroguard students are truly rational!

“That’s... not exactly it.”

Aside from students from unrelated schools, who immediately accepted the explanation after hearing Professor Verdus was being hunted down, Lee Han looked around carefully.

The divination magic school seniors had sealed off the entire tower while preparing for Professor Verdus’s possible counterattack.

For now, they had cornered him through surprise and numbers.

But if they gave him even the slightest opening, the countless creations hidden inside the tower could activate at any moment.

And once that happened, the battle would reverse instantly.

Professor Verdus’s disciples understood better than anyone what happened if their monstrously powerful master was given time to cast spells freely.

This is hopeless. Forcing my way through is also...

Professor Voladi Bagreg wasn’t here, and with Jowurin and Eandurde beside him, Lee Han wanted to avoid using force if possible.

If things truly came to that, he would first have to send those two away and place Professor Bendozol on the front line...

“Junior Wardanaz?”

Lee Han flinched when several divination magic school seniors recognized him.

“What brings you here?”

“Uh... I left something inside.”

“I see. Go ahead.”

“...???”

Lee Han stared blankly.

That easily??

Is this because I belong to the divination magic school too?

While he stood there confused, Salko approached from behind.

Seeing the entrance blocked, Salko asked cautiously,

“May I enter?”

“No. Nobody is allowed into the Sacred Tower right now.”

“Even for seniors, this seems awfully arbitrary—”

“Until Professor Verdus is captured, no variables are permitted. Entry is forbidden.”

“Ah. Understood. I wish you success.”

Salko politely encouraged the senior before leaving.

But seeing someone from the same school get rejected only made Lee Han more confused.

“Um, senior?”

“Why are you still standing there instead of going in?”

“There’s something I don’t understand. Why am I allowed inside when Salko isn’t?”

“The junior from the Tutanta Family arrived late. The professor may already have bought him over.”

“...But I arrived late too?”

At Lee Han’s question, all the divination magic school seniors burst into laughter at once.

Then they answered.

“You? The junior who hates Professor Verdus more than anyone else in Einroguard? At least say something believable!”

“...”

The divination magic school was not a particularly affectionate school where seniors and juniors warmly supported each other.

But they did thoroughly share information about Professor Verdus’s atrocities.

After all, they needed to prepare for whatever terrible thing he might do next.

The junior from House Wardanaz had apparently suffered under Professor Verdus’s harassment since his very first vacation.

The professor had even personally tracked him down just to force work onto him.

If another divination magic school student had gone through all that, they might genuinely have hired outside assassins to eliminate their master.

“What are you waiting for? Go in already.”

“Ah... yes... thank you. Though I do have companions with me...”

“Did you gather them in preparation for capturing Professor Verdus?”

“No. Her Majesty simply decided to come along.”

“Hmm. Then perhaps try persuading her to help catch Professor Verdus. Dragons are an exceptionally powerful race.”

Leave it to Jowurin! If Jowurin encounters Professor Verdus, she’ll catch him immediately!

Jowurin proudly thumped her chest.

Lee Han lowered his voice and whispered to her.

“Your Majesty. We’re not actually here to capture Professor Verdus. You understand that, right?”

I know. But Lee Han, Jowurin still doesn’t understand why Lee Han wants to help Professor Verdus.

“...Your Majesty. The underground workshop where you borrowed all those items before belonged to Professor Verdus.”

But in Jowurin’s eyes, the amount of suffering Professor Verdus had inflicted on Lee Han far outweighed a simple loan.

Wouldn’t it be fine to rob him a little more?

“Huh?”

For a brief moment, Lee Han found himself swayed by her reasoning.

At that moment, one of the demons trailing behind them cautiously offered advice.

—Um... noble mage from the family. If I may humbly say so, wouldn’t it be better to continue showing the same generous mercy you originally intended?

The demons were genuinely worried that this rare merciful mage—who, shockingly, came from House Wardanaz—might end up corrupted by the evil dragon.