“Maybe we’ve been thinking too badly of the priest.”

“Maybe. Though the priest did steal all the wheat, rice, and rye from those sacks last time. Along with the dried fish and pickled sardines. The wheel cheese, sausages, salted meat, oil...”

“Th-there’s no proof the priest actually did it. It could’ve been those Blue Worm bastards.”

‘They’ve still got a long way to go.’

Professor Thunderstep clicked her tongue as she walked past.

Professor Verdus was proof enough that beastmen with cute appearances were the ones you especially couldn’t trust. Sometimes they were even more dangerous because of it.

Those first-years would eventually learn after getting swindled a few more times.

‘The more expensive the lesson, the deeper it sticks.’

Thinking that, Professor Thunderstep continued on her way. Several thick books were tucked beneath one arm.

The worn covers bore titles such as <How to Appease Disobedient Griffins> and <Unicorn Raising Methods Even Villains Can Use>.

After hearing that her disciple was having trouble with large rare creatures, Professor Thunderstep had gone to the library and borrowed additional reference books.

‘But should that Wardanaz kid really be worrying about griffins and unicorns during exam season?’

Professors could spare time for other matters during exams, but students were different.

No matter how outstanding the top student was, this still felt excessively confident.

“...Gasp!”

Professor Thunderstep was a veteran explorer who had survived every kind of hardship imaginable.

Yet even she froze at the sight before her.

Professor Bendozol and Professor Voladi Bagreg were sitting silently side by side without exchanging a single word.

‘Is this some kind of trap?’

She had no idea what sort of trap it could possibly be, but that was the first thought that came to mind.

“...What are you doing here?”

“What?”

Professor Bendozol answered curtly.

“You know exactly what I mean. Why are the two of you sitting in front of the students’ dormitory?”

Blue Dragon Tower students were whispering nervously while taking huge detours around them.

“I’m protecting His Majesty.”

“I-I see... Waiting for her to come out?”

Professor Thunderstep finally remembered Jowrin’s visit. However, Professor Bendozol shook his head.

“His Majesty is under house arrest.”

“House arrest?”

“Hah. House arrest means—”

“No, you lunatic. I know what house arrest means. Who put His Majesty under house arrest?”

Professor Thunderstep snapped irritably.

No matter how much she tried to treat him as a fellow professor, Professor Bendozol had an unmatched talent for irritating people.

“Who else? That impious Wardanaz bastard.”

“...I-I see.”

It was absurd on every level, yet somehow she found herself believing it.

Oddly enough, once someone said the Wardanaz boy had done it, it immediately sounded plausible.

“You showed admirable restraint for once. I honestly thought you’d storm in and rescue her.”

“I tried.”

“...And?”

Professor Bendozol gloomily jerked his chin toward the side. Professor Voladi Bagreg sat there expressionlessly.

“...”

Now that she looked carefully, Professor Bendozol was in terrible condition. Since he normally dressed like a beggar anyway, she hadn’t noticed at first, but his coat and pants were even more tattered than usual.

It looked very much like someone had ambushed and beaten him down.

Professor Thunderstep pretended not to notice.

“I have absolutely no idea who could possibly have done such a thing!”

“...”

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

“Take care.”

Not wanting to get caught between the two professors, Professor Thunderstep hurried away. As she left, a thought crossed her mind.

‘To think I’d actually miss the Skull Principal.’

Usually he was just an eccentric mage who tormented the professors, but absence really did make itself felt.

Though even if the Skull Principal had been present, one particular professor attacking Professor Bendozol probably still would’ve happened...

‘...At least he would’ve mediated.’

-Release the spell.

-No.

-...Then let’s settle this properly. No ambushes this time!

-No.

‘I heard nothing.’

Professor Thunderstep quickened her pace. She had no desire to hear any more of the conversation behind her.

***

“Professor!”

Lee Han was genuinely touched that Professor Thunderstep had come all the way to the tower to help him.

The professor waved dismissively, sounding annoyed.

“Right. So what is it? A griffin? A unicorn? Some other creature I’ve never heard of?”

“...Pardon?”

“I heard you’ve been having trouble lately with large rare creatures.”

...

Jowrin, who had been sitting beside the fireplace, looked around anxiously with watery eyes. Lee Han quietly brewed tea, set a cup before the professor, and answered.

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I’ve never been troubled.”

Jowrin brightened immediately.

“What nonsense? I heard you’ve been sighing constantly.”

Jowrin wilted again. Professor Thunderstep stared in disbelief.

“Wait. So it wasn’t a griffin or unicorn...?”

The bizarre house arrest. Lee Han’s strangely cautious behavior.

Professor Thunderstep shivered as the puzzle pieces suddenly clicked together in her head.

Lee Han, however, calmly feigned ignorance.

“I’m not sure what you mean. His Majesty and I only had a small disagreement. We reconciled immediately afterward.”

That’s right!

Jowrin cried out happily.

Hearing him say it himself, it really seemed Lee Han’s anger had subsided.

In fact, before Professor Thunderstep arrived, Lee Han had already returned first and apologized.

-I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I lost my temper.

-Waaaaahhhhh! Jowrin was wrong!!!

-...I trust you really won’t do it again.

-I absolutely won’t!!!!

-All right. Then let’s make up.

-Ah. Then does that mean the house arrest is over too?

-No. Absolutely not.

-...Are you really... not angry anymore...?

Since the house arrest still hadn’t been lifted, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Jowrin had been unable to tell whether Lee Han had truly forgiven her.

But hearing him say it out loud finally reassured her.

-I’m the only one suffering here.

The baby basilisk wrapped around Jowrin’s neck grumbled.

Even after they reconciled, it was still forbidden from returning to Lee Han’s sleeve until the house arrest ended.

Jowrin pretended not to hear, displaying the composure expected of a dragon.

If she carelessly asked Lee Han to take the baby basilisk back and he became angry again, the loss would be catastrophic.

“I’m glad you made up. So? Have the griffin or unicorn caused any trouble lately?”

“No...”

Jowrin drooped again.

The griffin and unicorn behaved perfectly well without causing any incidents, unlike Jowrin...

“...Of course they have. They’re incredibly troublesome.”

“Hey. Are you forcing yourself to—”

Lee Han shot the professor a desperate look that clearly said, Please play along.

Professor Thunderstep was dumbfounded.

She had come all this way to help, and now this ridiculous situation was unfolding in front of her?

But when she glanced sideways, the young dragon was staring at her with shining, expectant eyes. She looked seconds away from bursting into tears if someone admitted the griffin and unicorn had never caused any accidents.

“...R-right! Now that I think about it, I did have a feeling they’d eventually cause trouble.”

“Exactly.”

Tell me more! What kind of accidents?

“...”

“...”

Faced with Jowrin’s sparkling gaze, Lee Han was forced to invent incidents on the spot.

Fortunately, he had recently heard something from Professor Garcia he could recycle.

“They trashed a private room and destroyed all the furniture.”

Oh my!

Jowrin voiced sympathy, though the satisfaction on her face was impossible to hide. Professor Thunderstep hesitated briefly.

‘She’s still a dragon... but is it really healthy for her to feel validated by hearing about beasts causing even more trouble than she does?’

She suddenly found herself wondering whether this counted as proper character education.

More! Tell me more accidents!

“Uh... once they even ate all of my research materials.”

-Mr. Phoneig did that once too?

The baby basilisk sounded bewildered.

No matter how you looked at it, the griffin was far too old for pranks like that. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

After all, it had already been fully grown when Professor Thunderstep first brought it...

“You can never truly understand a griffin’s heart. You deceived me too and stole my reagent pouch.”

-...

Having gained absolutely nothing from speaking up, the baby basilisk shrank back down and buried itself in Jowrin’s arms.

Still, the basilisk is much nicer than that griffin. We’re both much nicer!

“I’m glad you seem to be in better spirits now. Haha.”

“Yes... I suppose that is fortunate...”

Professor Thunderstep took a sip of tea.

Naturally, the innocent griffin who wasn’t even present had become the scapegoat, but as a mature creature far older than these two, it would surely understand.

“Well, since things seem resolved, I’ll be going now. Ah, but before that.”

The professor crooked a finger. Lee Han leaned closer in confusion.

“I heard His Majesty is under house arrest. Is that true?”

“Yes.”

“Keep it up for too long and it might backfire.”

Dragons were not a species suited for confinement.

Of course, no species in the Empire particularly enjoyed house arrest, but dragons were especially ill-suited to it.

They were arrogant, prideful, and naturally gifted.

Students endured confinement because they lacked the means to escape, but dragons quickly realized they could break out if they seriously tried.

If confined for too long, they could become openly rebellious.

“His Majesty won’t do that. And there’s no need to worry. I intend to stay with her personally.”

“Right. Surveillance... wait. Don’t you have exams this week?”

Professor Thunderstep had been about to praise the idea before suddenly blinking in confusion.

How could a student stay in the dormitory around the clock during exam week?

“I’m planning to finish them as quickly as possible and come back immediately.”

“...Don’t take this the wrong way, but sometimes I genuinely think you’re insane.”

***

‘Even if it ended up being a wasted trip, wasn’t that unnecessarily rude?’

Lee Han grumbled inwardly about Professor Thunderstep’s harsh comment while making his way onward.

Naturally, since Professor Bendozol and Professor Voladi Bagreg were still stationed in front of the dormitory, he took a detour.

Professor Jorzik of House Benmalpa greeted him warmly, proudly flaunting a seagull-like mustache that looked especially magnificent today.

“Student Wardanaz! Excellent timing! Come in quickly.”

“Good afternoon, Professor.”

“You’re the first to arrive. Though for a student like you, that’s only natural, isn’t it?”

Professor Jorzik taught <Elemental Magic and Its Applications> and had extremely high expectations for the Wardanaz student.

High enough that he had made blue flame, an advanced fire-element property, the semester goal.

For an ordinary second-year, it would’ve been absurdly demanding, but considering the fire-element control and applications Lee Han already handled, Professor Jorzik believed it entirely achievable.

If Lee Han mastered blue flame this semester, Professor Jorzik fully intended to spend the entire break boasting to other mages about the glorious relationship between master and disciple.

“So? The midterm exam. Blue flame?”

“You remembered. Correct! It may sound difficult, but Student Wardanaz can absolutely accomplish it. Now then, for this exam...”

Since time was limited, Lee Han immediately focused.

Though specializing deeply in fire while simultaneously mastering numerous other elements sounded ridiculous, fortunately the shock had worn off somewhat. He had already heard about it beforehand.

Because he had practiced steadily on his own, the results appeared quickly. The flames hovering in the air gradually changed color.

Soon, a blue flame emerged.

It was a complete color transformation — the first gateway into blue flame.

“Student Wardanaz! Excellent work! A perfect pa—”

“Professor, wait a moment!”

As his concentration trembled, Lee Han hurriedly stopped him.

It might’ve seemed rude, but interruptions were disastrous when handling magic this difficult.

Professor Jorzik had been about to announce that Lee Han had perfectly passed the prepared exam.

Instead, he was deeply moved.

‘He’s going straight for the final evaluation?!’

He had wondered why Lee Han hadn’t rushed to take this exam first like the others, but apparently his disciple had been preparing something far more impressive.

Professor Jorzik stroked his mustache proudly, delighted by the spirit worthy of the top student of the year.