Professor Garcia pretended not to hear what had just been said and calmly ignored it as he transformed the patrol guards into hamsters.

The moment companions were shoved into the cage, the hamster squeaked as though it were dying of joy.

“I’ll leave the interpretation to you.”

-Shut up.

After all the patrol guards had been locked inside the cage, Professor Garcia cast the transformation spell again.

The appearances of the three mages immediately changed into perfect replicas of patrol guards.

“Let me check the insignias... Good. It doesn’t look awkward, does it, Student Lee Han?”

“Professor’s skill is flawless.”

“It’s nothing special. Ah, right. One more thing. Ask the patrol guards whether there’s anything we should be careful about inside the city.”

Hearing the request, Lee Han relayed it to the hamster.

The hamster squeaked at the patrol guards. The patrol guards squeaked back in refusal. Then the hamster beat them up.

A short while later, the answer came back.

-They say never act weak or humble. If someone asks why you returned without capturing any slaves, say, “Shut up before I sell you too.” If it’s a superior officer, say, “I’ll capture some slaves soon and offer them to you.”

“...”

Are these people obsessed with slavery or something?

Lee Han thought that inwardly, but nodded for the moment.

Since they were entering another era and another kingdom, they had to respect local customs as much as possible.

***

“E-excuse me...”

“Shut up before I sell you as a slave!”

“Eek! M-my apologies!”

“Shut up before I sell you as a slave!”

As they approached Isran City, people who recognized the patrol guard uniforms occasionally tried speaking to them.

Every time it happened, Lee Han drove them off with the lines he had carefully memorized.

“Phew. This isn’t easy. I didn’t sound awkward, right?”

“N-not at all, Student Lee Han. You were excellent.”

Professor Garcia praised his disciple while quietly thinking to himself.

Isn’t he adapting a little too well?

Seeing Lee Han naturally threatening strangers as though born for the role left Professor Garcia strangely unsettled.

To the side, Professor Voladi Bagreg gave a faint nod of approval. He seemed thoroughly satisfied with his disciple’s performance.

...Am I the strange one here?

“Let’s keep moving. We need to find mages inside the city.”

The reason they had deliberately entered such a dangerous place was simple.

Cities were the easiest places to gather information.

In isolated villages far from civilization, even basic questioning rarely produced reliable answers.

And right now, the people most likely to possess outside information were the city’s mages.

Though this worries me a little.

While continuing to drive away anyone who approached them—whether to talk or attempt suspicious back-alley dealings—Lee Han sank into thought.

This ancient Three Kingdoms Era truly was a lawless age where strength ruled everything.

A brutal period where social classes were absolute and nobles controlled their subordinates through fear and violence.

And in this era, mages were nobles.

There were occasional slaves capable of using magic, but those were exceptions. Without the proper bloodline, most people could not even learn magic in the first place.

Nobles were mages, and mages were nobles.

Their personalities are probably unbelievably rotten...

Even the patrol guards immediately talked about enslaving outsiders for profit. Lee Han could barely imagine how terrible the personalities of actual ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) mage nobles must be.

Surely they couldn’t possibly compare to his Blue Dragon Tower friends.

Maybe I should’ve dressed more like a noble. No... it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

He briefly regretted the shabby, ragged state of his Einroguard uniform, wondering if that was why people immediately mistook him for a slave.

But even if he had disguised himself as a noble, he still knew nothing about the city. He would have been exposed quickly.

In the end, there was only one practical solution.

Even after we find the mages, we’ll probably have to rely on Professor Bagreg’s method of persuasion...

It felt strange that they had entered this past dimension to solve problems, yet somehow kept resorting to increasingly violent methods.

Still, this era itself was barbaric.

“I’ll capture slaves soon and offer them to you!”

Lee Han respectfully bowed toward a passing knight while delivering the greeting.

The knight looked thoroughly satisfied.

This patrol guard understands proper etiquette.

The hamster squeaked derisively.

-You’re a natural-born patrol guard.

“Oh. Thank you.”

-If that sounded like praise to you, your ears are completely rotten.

I even gave him companions. Why is he still this nasty?

Thinking that, Lee Han continued navigating through the city.

According to information obtained from the patrol guards—and additional information gathered inside Isran City itself—there were three groups of mages worth investigating.

First were the mages operating the near the harbor.

They were descendants of the wicked captains who had once commanded the kingdom’s magical fleets, using sea-borrowing destruction magic to devastate enemy coastlines.

Second were the mages researching magic at the near the castle gates.

These mages had originally defected from another kingdom decades ago. They had become famous after presenting a chimera composed of no fewer than twelve species, astonishing the kingdom’s nobility.

Finally, there was the near the inner castle.

Compared to the other two groups, these mages were supposedly less destructive and less openly cruel.

However, they did possess the disturbing habit of periodically capturing slaves and turning them into statues.

Professor Voladi Bagreg immediately chose the third option.

“We’ll go there.”

“Because they’re only secretly evil?”

“The structure is vulnerable to surprise attacks.”

“...”

Professor Garcia instantly regretted asking.

Still, objectively speaking, the really was ideal for an ambush.

Very few people passed through the surrounding area, and there were no visible guards.

Aside from the eerily lifelike statues positioned throughout the grounds.

“Professor Garcia. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes.”

Professor Garcia lightly waved his staff as though no further explanation was needed.

The formulas, structures, and magical systems differed from those used in the modern Empire, but truly exceptional mages could still understand them.

And Professor Garcia was exceptional even among great mages.

Defenses of this level posed little challenge.

Lee Han quietly admired the professor’s work.

As expected. The statues are enchanted. They’re part of the intrusion defenses.

“Student Lee Han. Come over here and look carefully. I’ll explain it to you.”

“Ah. Do I need to dispel it too?”

“Hm? No. I’ll handle the dispelling myself.”

“??”

Lee Han almost asked, Then why are you teaching me this? but restrained himself.

When a professor was teaching, interrupting with questions like that was hardly appropriate behavior for a disciple.

“...The structure works like this. Understand? Once we return later, if you’re curious, ask me again and practice it yourself.”

“...Professor. Are you teaching me this because you think I’m going to secretly practice it later?”

“W-what are you talking about, Student Lee Han? It’s not like that at all. I’m simply teaching my disciple as a professor should.”

Professor Garcia stammered awkwardly.

That alone told Lee Han everything.

What an outrageous accusation.

Still, the ancient magic itself was fascinating. Its structure felt completely foreign compared to modern Imperial magic.

Lee Han carefully memorized everything.

“We’re going in.”

“Yes.”

After securing the surrounding area, the three entered the corridor.

And immediately locked eyes with a mage who looked strangely familiar.

“...”

“...”

The mage resembled an ancient statue brought to life, blood dripping from both hands.

Bodies lay scattered throughout the corridor. Judging from their clothing, they were clearly mages belonging to this place.

“I have no choice. My apologies.”

Caught in the middle of the scene, the young Skull Principal apologized quietly while preparing to attack.

The sheer destructive pressure behind that movement made Lee Han tense instinctively.

“Wait! We’re not enemies!”

Words alone would never convince him.

Lee Han hurriedly dispelled his disguise spell as well.

The patrol guard uniform vanished, revealing the shabby clothing beneath.

Only then did the young Skull Principal hesitate.

“You’re not from this city?”

“Yes. We’re... visitors from another dimension! Please hear us out!”

“Hmm.”

After a brief moment of consideration, the young Skull Principal lowered his hands.

Then he looked toward Professor Voladi Bagreg.

“You can stop hiding and come out.”

Professor Voladi Bagreg calmly dispelled his concealment and stepped forward.

The young Skull Principal tilted his head slightly.

“That magic resembles my family’s techniques...”

“That’s correct. I learned it from you.”

“??”

“I’ll explain everything after we clean up these corpses first.”

At Professor Voladi Bagreg’s words, the young Skull Principal’s face flushed red.

“I didn’t kill them out of greed...”

“I know. These bastards must have acted arrogantly toward you, right?”

Lee Han answered sympathetically.

The Skull Principal might have been royalty, but he had still come from a relatively small kingdom.

Naturally, mages from a major power would have treated such royalty dismissively.

Lee Han assumed the young Skull Principal had visited quietly for magical business before finally snapping under the insults.

“That’s not what happened.”

“Huh? No?”

“I came here to rescue the innocent people imprisoned inside.”

The young Skull Principal looked genuinely confused by Lee Han’s assumption.

Killing people because they acted arrogantly?

What kind of nonsense was that?

“...Who exactly are y—mmph!”

Professor Garcia hurriedly clamped a hand over Lee Han’s mouth before he could blurt something disastrous out.

“Haha! Please disregard that just now!”

“???”

***

After disposing of the bodies and settling inside the corridor, Lee Han’s group began explaining the situation to the young Skull Principal.

-So in our dimension, you become an archmage remembered throughout history. Later, you establish a magic academy, and we are disciples from that academy...

“Amazing... Truly amazing!”

The young Skull Principal trembled with excitement, cheeks flushed bright red.

“To think even someone as inadequate as me could have such a future full of possibility!”

As someone deeply familiar with divination magic, the concept of another-dimensional selves or future selves was not difficult for him to accept.

The young Skull Principal seemed deeply moved by the fact that some future version of himself was raising disciples in a distant age.

Right now, all he did was ambush and kill evil mages.

Yet someday, that inadequate version of himself might actually guide proper disciples.

“What kind of place is this academy? Is it warm? Filled with kindness and affection?”

“...”

“Ah, well...”

Neither professor could answer immediately.

In the end, Lee Han had no choice but to lie.

“It’s extremely warm and overflowing with love. There’s even a school song. ‘Einroguard, Einroguard, wonderful Einroguard. Warm meals and soft beds await us there. Einroguard.’”

“That sounds truly comforting.”

The young Skull Principal answered with heartfelt happiness.

Right now, he was only capable of ambushing evil mages in secret.

But perhaps someday, he too could raise mages devoted to unconditional goodwill.

That thought alone seemed to fill him with renewed energy.

It looked as though he could continue ambushing evil mages for quite a long time.

“...Did we come to the wrong place?”

“Pull yourself together, Student Lee Han. We definitely came to the right place.”

Professor Garcia himself felt dizzy, but barely maintained composure through sheer professional responsibility.

This absolutely was the young Skull Principal.

As impossible as it was to accept...