After trying to corrupt his opponent only to be mocked instead, the hamster flew into a rage.

Back when Antagondals had still been a magical criminal, there had at least been some room for magnanimity. But once a person became a hamster, the heart tended to shrink along with the body.

Even Antagondals was no exception.

“I came to ask about this.”

-Say something that makes sense. You came all the way here to ask that tyrant about spelling?

“Yes.”

-...

Realizing Lee Han was serious, the hamster fell silent. Then it picked up a nearby grape, shoved it into its mouth, and began chewing.

The grape was quite delicious.

“Since you ate the grape, please translate this for me.”

-Ask the tyrant. Even if I teach you, he’ll only get angry. And even if that tyrant does teach you, can you trust the answer?

“It’s fine. I’ll cross-check it.”

The hamster let out a series of squeaks full of irritation and fury.

This young upstart mage, who refused to let even a single word go, was profoundly annoying.

Unfortunately, there was only one thing the hamster could do right now.

“...No. You can’t eat the grape and then do this!”

When the hamster retreated deep into the cage, Lee Han became indignant.

Of course, he could ask the insane duplicate, just as the hamster said, but Lee Han always preferred to prepare for contingencies.

And if he thought about it calmly, there was a real possibility that the insane duplicate might refuse to tell him the spelling at all.

‘Considering how he cut off contact, it’s more than possible.’

In that case, getting the answer from this hamster before leaving was the correct move.

Lee Han took out another grape and tossed it into the cage. Furious squeaking immediately erupted.

-I’ll kill you!

“You said that last time too. Since you ate the grape, please translate it. I’m busy.”

-Just what did House Wardanaz do to raise children like this? Did they melt down the soul of a demon lord and pour it inside?

The hamster lamented bitterly.

Antagondals had made many mistakes in life, but the most recent one regretted most was infiltrating Einroguard in search of magical secrets.

The next most regretted mistake was underestimating this young upstart.

If Antagondals had not underestimated him when captured, things would never have ended up like this.

His magical ability was one thing. That could be accepted as genius.

But what was with this nerve...?

-Fine. I’ll translate it. But you must promise me one thing too, boy.

“What? You ate the grape.”

-...

At the Wardanaz brat’s shameless display of authority over a single grape, the hamster squeezed its eyes shut.

“Translate it first. I’ll hear the request afterward.”

-...Fine. Very well.

The hamster gave in surprisingly quickly.

Not only was Antagondals in an unfavorable position, but translating a fairy-tale-level passage like “Once upon a time, there was a good student at a magic school” was not especially difficult.

Even if the hamster refused, the person in front of the cage would probably manage to translate it eventually.

In that case, it was better to show mercy and settle the debt.

-Once upon a time, there was a good student at a magic school... damn it.

“Does ‘damn it’ go in there too?”

-Would it?

“Please do this properly.”

-...The good student had his staff stolen...

Since it was a fairy tale, the content was neither long nor difficult. Lee Han quickly moved his quill and wrote it down.

“Thank you. Then...”

The moment Lee Han tried to take the translation and leave, a hateful squeal burst from the cage. Lee Han, who had been quietly attempting to slip away, reluctantly sat back down.

“I sat back down properly.”

-My request is simple. Help me escape.

“What insane nonsense are you spouting?”

-...

Lee Han abandoned politeness and immediately turned serious.

It was hard to believe this was the same mage who had been treating the hamster with such courtesy only moments ago.

-At least listen to what I have to say.

“No. I don’t want to. I respect you as a mage, but this is not happening.”

Lee Han did, in fact, respect Antagondals.

Not because Antagondals was a great mage, but because Antagondals might someday come to attack him in the future.

His master had already earned enough resentment. There was no need for Lee Han to add more on top of it.

That did not mean he intended to risk his life freeing Antagondals.

The insane duplicate was a hundred times more frightening than Antagondals.

“Are you asking me to die with you? Do you want a hamster accomplice that badly?”

-You won’t become a hamster.

Unlike Antagondals, who was being treated as less than a slave by the insane duplicate, Lee Han was treated as a proper disciple.

Even if Lee Han burned down the workshop, went down to the village, and killed several people, he probably still would not be turned into a hamster.

-And it isn’t even difficult. You don’t have to do anything. Just open the cage door while that tyrant is temporarily extinguished.

“???”

Not while away.

While extinguished.

Lee Han paused at the unsettling choice of words.

“What do you mean, extinguished?”

-Exactly what I said. Don’t tell me you thought I would stay trapped here forever.

The hamster spoke with the dignity of an archmage.

It looked like a master chess player revealing a hidden move.

Lee Han tensed as well at that confidence.

Could it be that, while Lee Han knew nothing, this hamster — no, this magical criminal — had prepared some kind of scheme?

“Tell me.”

-I have subordinates outside. If something happens and contact with me is cut off, they are set to come in.

“...”

Lee Han remembered the intruders who had already been nearly wiped out and almost mentioned it, but held back for now.

He wanted to hear the rest first.

“Even if those subordinates are skilled, they couldn’t defeat Master, could they?”

-Correct.

The hamster admitted it readily.

That tyrant was in a different class, even among archmages. There were few archmages who possessed such a vast number of forgotten ancient secrets.

No matter how experienced the adventurers were, they would be annihilated the moment they met that tyrant’s eyes.

-But even tyrants have weaknesses.

The hamster explained calmly.

That tyrant was arrogant because there were no rivals, but no being in this world existed without weakness.

That tyrant’s greatest weakness was precisely the fact that the tyrant did not belong to the world. A mana thought-form rejected by the world itself.

The world — or dimensions, as people commonly called them — embraced beings born within it and rejected beings from outside.

Demons from other dimensions had to borrow power through all sorts of complicated contracts to descend upon the continent for this very reason.

The Skull Principal’s duplicates, separate from the main body, were also mana thought-forms that should originally have been pushed out by the world.

However, each possessed such powerful force that they could break through the world’s rejection and periodically descend upon the continent.

“Isn’t that roughly like a natural disaster? I heard about it before.”

Since he already knew, Lee Han was not particularly surprised.

Just as toxic substances did not easily disappear and continued to affect the environment, an {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} archmage’s supreme realization also continued to influence the world.

The appearance of the Skull Principal’s duplicate was a similar phenomenon.

-...

The hamster momentarily lost all words at the sight of a mage’s supreme realm being compared to toxic waste, but soon recovered and continued.

-I hid magic inside my subordinates’ souls. When their bodies are destroyed, the magic flows out from within their souls.

“What kind of magic...?”

-Magic that banishes thought-forms!

By amplifying their connection to the world, it temporarily banished mana thought-forms that were essentially foreign substances.

The principle was simple, but the execution was absolutely not. It was advanced grand magic of the highest difficulty.

Lee Han shuddered as he intuitively grasped both the principle and the level of difficulty.

To think Antagondals had hidden such magic in subordinates’ souls as a precaution.

From the way the hamster spoke, it seemed the subordinates themselves did not even know. Hearing the magical criminal’s meticulous plan sent a chill down Lee Han’s spine.

If the insane duplicate carelessly turned the intruders into hamsters, wouldn’t that hidden poisoned dagger spring out and stab right into that carelessness?

‘I need to contact him immediately.’

Lee Han betrayed Antagondals in less than a second and prepared to contact the insane duplicate.

From the magical criminal’s perspective, this might have been disappointing, but Einroguard’s academic culture had always been rather free when it came to broken promises and lies.

Most of the intruders had been captured already, but the remaining ones could still be dangerous. He needed to tell the insane duplicate to leave them to the giants or other mages—

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Caught one! I caught one! I caught the last one!

Klzenbereg: Congratulations!

Iactus: Grrk! I’m jealous. Congratulations. Did you find the principal’s treasure?

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: What? This one says there isn’t any. Says they never stole anything like that.

Iactus: What? Do you not know how to interrogate people?

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Who do you think you’re treating like a first-year? Of course I know how to interrogate. But they say they didn’t steal anything.

Iactus: Aha.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Why? Do you have some idea?

Iactus: You’re trying to hide the fact that you found the treasure, aren’t you?

Baquantalana: Indeed.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: There you go with that “indeed” nonsense. I was an idiot for sharing news with rotten wood like you people. Just go die.

‘Oh.’

Before Lee Han could even relay the message, the members of <Einroguard’s Watchers> delivered the news themselves, leaving him flustered.

What would happen if all the intruders had been caught before he even met the insane duplicate?

“Uh, I have something to ask.”

-Wise. I knew you would understand.

The hamster spoke in a relaxed tone.

There was a simple reason Antagondals had revealed this information despite knowing Lee Han might betray the secret immediately.

If Lee Han told the tyrant, then that tyrant would personally move to catch the intruders, if only out of pride.

The mages of the present Empire were proud and stubborn too, but the mages of the ancient kingdoms had been on an entirely different level.

For a master to receive concern from a disciple would feel like humiliation.

-When the tyrant is banished, the magic restraining me will soon be released as well. There will be more than enough time to escape before that tyrant returns. However, I don’t want to return inside this narrow cage, so just open the door. You don’t want to clean up scraps of flesh and clots of blood after I burst out, do you? Do that, and I swear I will forget the grudge between us cleanly.

The hamster showed rare magnanimity.

Normally, this would have been an unforgettable grudge, but considering Lee Han was from House Wardanaz and had ties to the lord of Einroguard, there was nothing to gain from making an enemy of him.

Once Antagondals escaped, they could simply go their separate ways and never meet again.

“That wasn’t what I was going to ask.”

Lee Han felt slightly awkward.

Come to think of it, the hamster was right. Considering the insane duplicate’s pride, contacting the duplicate carelessly might actually make things more dangerous.

‘I should word it differently. That was close.’

-Sob, sob. Master. One of the Einroguard students insulted me by saying, “Your master doesn’t even have subordinates, so he personally goes around catching intruders?”

-How dare they! From now on, you shall handle all menial tasks.

That approach would be better.

‘No. That’s not good either.’

On second thought, that contact would only bring Lee Han losses.

-Then what is it? What were you going to ask?

“Well, what happens if all the intruders are caught by other people? For example, by students, knights, or giants.”

-...That possibility is slim. At least one will be caught by the tyrant. And why are giants included?

“...”

Lee Han could not answer and hesitated.

From that reaction, the hamster sensed an ominous sign.

Even after becoming a hamster, Antagondals’s trained instinct for divination magic had not disappeared so easily.

-Don’t tell me.

“Well... um... they say all of them have been caught.”

-Don’t spout nonsense, you little brat! That can’t be true! Did every mage in Einroguard come out and chase them down?

“That’s what I’m saying. I don’t understand it either.”