Having suddenly found itself on the verge of being framed as the culprit simply because it had shown off a little, Sarataan’s voice grew even more urgent.

-That is not what I meant, Master Mage! Please believe me!

“Believe you?”

-Yes!

“You, who tried to kill me and escape the moment we met?”

-...

Sarataan wanted to say, When powerful beings meet in another dimension, a good fight or two is only natural, so why are you still being petty about that?

However, after being attacked by the mage several times recently, Sarataan’s social skills had developed to an advanced level for a great spirit.

-It was a misunderstanding!!

“Wardanaz, it’s that spirit! We need to subjugate it!”

“That arrogant, ungrateful bastard! No wonder Wardanaz had to rule it by force! We worried about it, and this is how it repays us?!”

Friends from every tower angrily pointed at Lee Han’s staff and shouted.

If Lee Han hadn’t been standing there, they might have snatched the staff away and burned it on the spot.

“Everyone, calm down first.”

“Wardanaz. You can’t trust that spirit! It’ll betray you again!”

“No, I’m telling you to calm down because if we’re going to subjugate the spirit inside the staff safely, we need to move somewhere without people and cast shock-prevention magic first.”

“...”

The students couldn’t ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) help admiring Wardanaz, who had already finished planning the subjugation before they even persuaded him.

Truly, this was the brilliance befitting the top student of their year.

-No! You can’t, Master Mage! I’m sealed right now, so if I’m destroyed, I’ll be gone forever...!

“That’s why you should have behaved instead of stabbing me in the back.”

-I didn’t stab you in the back!!

Stop!!

“???”

When Jowrin screamed, all the students turned to her in surprise.

“Your Majesty. What’s wrong?”

“Ah. Watching the spirit get punished must be painful for you. Don’t worry. Wardanaz will make it disappear somewhere you can’t see.”

That’s not it... That’s not it... This was... This was Jowrin’s fault...!

“!!!”

Unable to endure the guilt any longer, Jowrin finally confessed.

The students still didn’t understand and asked again.

“Your Majesty did it? You’re not saying that to protect the spirit, are you?”

“You’re so kind. Why is Gainando so different?”

-Hey, you mage bastards! I told you I didn’t do it!!

Sarataan screamed from inside the staff. Lee Han frowned at the noise.

“Your Majesty. Please tell us what happened. And don’t worry. No matter what Your Majesty did, none of the students here will be angry.”

When tears welled in Jowrin’s eyes, Lee Han gently comforted her. The students nodded along.

“That’s right, Your Majesty. Accidents like this happen every day at Einroguard.”

“Let’s just say the spirit did it. We’re fine with that.”

Everyone... Jowrin is so grateful!

“Kgh.”

Jowrin burst into tears and tried to hug the students.

If Lee Han hadn’t spread a telekinetic cushion in time, several students might have had their ribs broken.

Actually... this is what happened...

After crying for a while, Jowrin finally calmed down and explained the situation.

As she spoke, she kept glancing around nervously, worried that Lee Han might get angry.

“This is... Professor Bendozol’s fault.”

“Right. The spirit is also at fault.”

“In a way, it’s also the fault of the Principal for creating a magic school like this. Anyway, Your Majesty isn’t at fault at all.”

Lee Han and his friends quickly distributed the blame elsewhere to comfort Jowrin.

Jowrin shook her head.

No, no. It isn’t Professor Bendozol’s fault, or the spirit’s fault, or Gonadaltes’s fault... It was Jowrin...

-Master Mage. She says it’s not my fault! Can’t you hear her??

When Sarataan protested, Lee Han quietly infused mana into the staff.

Understanding the warning, Sarataan immediately shut its mouth.

“Honestly, Professor Bendozol is responsible. Isn’t that what being a professor means? Isn’t that right, Professor?”

Lee Han looked to Professor Voladi as if asking for support.

Professor Voladi readily answered.

“A professor must take responsibility. This is Professor Bendozol’s responsibility.”

“See!”

Is that so?

Jowrin, who had been blaming herself until now, became slightly interested when even Professor Voladi said so.

Young people were naturally tempted to believe something wasn’t their fault when adults said it wasn’t.

“...What is everyone doing here?”

Professor Willow, who had arrived late after hearing the mandragon’s scream, looked puzzled at the sight of students gathered around a large dragon and comforting her.

***

“It is Professor Bendozol’s fault.”

After hearing the explanation, Professor Willow reached a firm conclusion.

If Professor Bendozol had accompanied her, then the professor should have stopped it or at least cleaned up afterward. What kind of behavior was this?

“See, Your Majesty? Professor Willow says so too.”

Maybe... maybe it really is...

“I don’t dare criticize the Principal’s rules, but I do wonder if someone like Professor Bendozol should stay in the punishment cells longer... Is it truly wise to make someone a professor simply because that person is an exceptional mage?”

Professor Willow spoke in a voice filled with long experience.

Lee Han immediately grew interested.

“Why did Professor Bendozol go to the punishment cells?”

“Previously, Professor Bendozol set fire to the Principal’s pasture... Wait. First, I need to calm the mandragon.”

Lee Han felt inwardly disappointed, but Professor Willow focused on the urgent matter first.

Professor Willow broke the seal, entered the greenhouse, put the overgrown mandragon to sleep, and inspected the plants damaged by its screaming.

The speed was unbelievable for a professor who usually moved so slowly.

After finishing the work like a storm, Professor Willow emerged with a sigh of relief.

“Fortunately, there’s no major problem. More importantly, Your Majesty. You managed to release your breath inside the greenhouse. Even if Professor Bendozol suggested it, that was dangerous.”

Huh?

Jowrin tilted her head.

It seemed the explanation had become slightly distorted after passing through several mouths.

Releasing the breath had been Jowrin’s own idea, so why did everyone think Professor Bendozol had suggested it?

That was Jowrin’s—

“Indeed. Professor Bendozol is truly wicked.”

?!

When Lee Han cut in and drove the point home, Jowrin became even more confused.

She looked at him in surprise, and Lee Han gave a slight nod.

Let’s just say Professor Bendozol did it.

Jowrin was deeply moved.

So this was the survival technique of Einroguard mages?!

“I’ve put the mandragon to sleep, so leave it as it is for now and harvest it once it stabilizes. That should be enough.”

“Will there be any problems?”

Since this was related to his grade, Lee Han tried to confirm the mandragon’s condition.

Professor Willow fell into thought for a moment.

Lee Han tensed at the sight.

Is there a problem?

Jowrin also seemed nervous, clicking softly.

“...It grew almost too well?”

“Haha. Professor, you startled me!”

At the disciple’s complaint, Professor Willow smiled kindly.

“If it grew well, what problem could there be?”

Lee Han’s mandragon had grown rapidly, but there was nothing wrong with its composition.

Because it had been raised with nothing but the pure power of sunlight, rather than elixirs or potions, the growth itself was extremely clean.

Hearing the praise, Lee Han smiled.

Jowrin’s wings fluttered as well.

Hehe.

“Hmm. Come to think of it, young boy, you won’t have anything to do until the final exam now. At this point, it’s fully grown.”

Since the midterm involved checking the mandragon’s growth, and the final involved harvesting it, Lee Han had effectively finished already.

Lee Han spoke with deliberately humble composure.

“I’ll tend the greenhouse and help my friends.”

Acting arrogant here would only result in a harder final exam assignment.

Lee Han was always humble.

But there was one thing Lee Han had misunderstood.

Even if he didn’t act arrogant, harder assignments would come anyway.

“That would be fine too, but wouldn’t it be too boring? Hmm. This works out perfectly. Try submitting it to the <Empire Gardener’s Club>.”

“...”

Lee Han’s expression stiffened at the ominous sense that an unnecessary assignment had just been added.

Noticing this, Jowrin’s wings stopped fluttering.

“Is... submitting something to that club very difficult?”

“Growing the plant is difficult, but submitting it isn’t that hard. I was planning to have the students use their harvested mandragons directly, or let them try selling the leftover amount themselves anyway... Doing it early wouldn’t be bad.”

As previously explained, an excellent mage needed to know how to gather excellent materials excellently.

And Professor Willow was an especially outstanding expert when it came to plants.

One could tell from the fact that Professor Willow was a registered member of the <Empire Gardener’s Club>.

The club’s name sounded simple, but only the Empire’s most authoritative botanists could join.

Normally, mandragons grown by students couldn’t even be submitted to the club’s auction house.

However, the mandragon Wardanaz had grown now was unquestionably special.

If a plant had reached this level of growth, the club members would acknowledge the submission and compete to pay for it.

“They pay money?”

“It’s an auction among members. It would be nice if the other students’ mandragons could be submitted too, but that would probably be difficult.”

“They pay money!”

“...Young boy. Did you perhaps mishear the mandragon’s scream?”

“Ah. I’m sorry. I had something to think about for a moment. I didn’t realize submitting to the gardener’s club meant putting it up for auction.”

“Of course, it will also be recorded in the club’s library. They keep very thorough plant records. At the same time, all the gardener’s club members are extremely greedy for rare plants... Ah. If you want to use it yourself, you can submit only the record without auctioning it off.”

“No. Clubs have traditions and rules. It wouldn’t look good for an outsider to ignore them. Wouldn’t that affect your reputation as well, Professor?”

“What admirable words!”

Professor Willow laughed heartily, pleased by the disciple who even considered a professor’s reputation.

When Professor Willow turned away, Jowrin spoke restlessly.

L-Lee Han. Because of Jowrin, you have to do more work even though you’re already busy, don’t you?

“Your Majesty.”

Lee Han spoke in a solemn voice, without the slightest hint of laughter.

An intense light flashed in his eyes.

“I sincerely thank you. Thanks to you, I’ll be able to make a profit.”

Jowrin had been about to ask, You’re not lying just to comfort Jowrin, are you?

But she was completely overwhelmed.

That absolutely could not be a lie.

I-I see. That’s good... Jowrin is happy too...

“Huhu.”

Why can’t Lee Han give up his greed for gold coins even when he’s already so busy? He’s going to keep living at Einroguard anyway, so there won’t be many chances to spend them.

Thinking the same question that students from the other towers had long wondered about, Jowrin crawled along behind Lee Han.

“Ah. I almost forgot to mention.”

Professor Willow, who had gone back into the greenhouse, poked a head out again.

“What is it, Professor?”

“You’ve become quite close with the spirit. Unlike before, when your relationship seemed awkward. It’s wonderful to see. I’ve thought this for a while, but you really do have the ability to become friends with spirits!”

“Haha. Thank you, Professor.”

-...

Sarataan was so dumbfounded that it couldn’t say a word.

It couldn’t believe it had been thrown into such an unreasonable hell.

Crazy mage bastards!