“What? You came in person?”
Diret, who had just stepped outside the mansion for a moment, frowned upon seeing the friend in question.
Usually, Yukbeltire would not come even when invited, yet always chose to appear in person at times like this. It was so very like her.
“Is that mage someone you hired?”
“Huh? Well... something like that. Actually, the thing is...”
“You should fire him immediately.”
Yukbeltire spoke decisively.
Such a rude mage.
He would surely behave rudely toward Diret as well.
“...”
Diret, who had been about to reveal the junior’s new identity, hesitated.
‘...Since he’s being annoying, maybe I just won’t say anything?’
Lee Han, standing behind them, apologized with his eyes.
‘I’m sorry. I got too immersed in the role.’
‘No, no.’
Diret changed course.
Come to think of it, it would probably be better not to tell Yukbeltire.
That way, the junior could at least catch his breath by disguising himself whenever things became difficult.
“I can’t do that.”
“...Huh?”
Yukbeltire was flustered by Diret’s firm response.
Why not?
“Mr. Stedal of the Nago family here is an excellent combat mage and an experienced demon hunter.”
“...If you need a guard, there’s also a junior from House Wardanaz in the capital.”
Diret was furious at Yukbeltire’s brazen suggestion to call a second-year junior and use him as a guard.
Of course, Lee Han felt the same way. He cursed inwardly.
‘I should have spat when I came in earlier. Does she have no conscience?’
Diret signaled to the junior. It was a sign that it was all right to give Yukbeltire a hard time.
“???”
Lee Han did not understand immediately and tilted his head.
What was he supposed to do?
When the junior hesitated, Diret spoke up.
“Oh. Yukbeltire. I think Mr. Stedal wants to say something.”
“Wh... what?”
“He seems rather angry? Oh my. Please speak freely. Free expression of opinion is important for all of us as mages.”
Lee Han spoke cautiously, wondering whether he had understood Diret’s signal correctly.
“Unable... to even guard... yourself... calling for... juniors... your skills must be... pathetic?”
“!!!”
‘Well done.’
Yukbeltire’s pale face stiffened slightly at the unexpected rudeness, but Diret was delighted and gestured approvingly.
How refreshing!
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
However, Yukbeltire quickly recovered from the shock.
Becoming a fifth-year Einroguard student was not something just anyone could do. Forced nitpicking of that level had no effect on Yukbeltire.
“The virtue of an enchantment mage does not lie in combat or guard duty, but strictly in the purpose of the school. Do you not know that?”
“Hmph... perhaps... you can’t even... do enchantment magic... alone... so you called... juniors...”
“!!!”
Yukbeltire’s eyes shook violently.
While “you can’t even guard yourself” had been forced criticism, this struck directly on target.
Since Yukbeltire had actually received help from the junior—though, technically, from the junior’s master—to complete unfinished magic, the shock was inevitable.
Originally, the prouder a mage was, the more violently that mage reacted when a painful weakness was struck.
“...Just...”
“Just what?”
“...you wait and see!!”
Tap tap tap!
Leaving behind words that sounded quite pathetic, Yukbeltire hurriedly ran into the mansion.
Diret nodded in satisfaction at that retreating figure.
Yukbeltire, whose pride had been wounded and who had become dejected like this, would turn into an obedient friend who listened well for a while.
Diret had not expected this much, but it was an unexpectedly good result.
“Wow. Well done, junior. I only told you to give her a hard time because she was annoying, but I didn’t expect it to work this well.”
“Sh-shouldn’t you go comfort her??”
Unlike Diret, Lee Han was extremely flustered.
Thanks to that long friendship, Diret was confident about Yukbeltire’s condition, but Lee Han had no such assurance. He immediately thought he might have gone too far.
“It’s fine. It’s fine. After acting like that, Yukbeltire will get over it by researching magic on her own. That state is easier to handle too.”
“...”
Diret, who had been happy, realized that the junior was looking over with slightly frightened eyes.
“No, no. I only do this to Yukbeltire! I don’t do this to other people!”
“I... I see.”
But perhaps it was imagination. Diret felt as though the junior had somehow become a little more distant. Maybe the distance between their hearts had grown.
Diret hurriedly changed the subject.
“Oh, right. Junior. I’m curious about something.”
“Yes.”
“How much did you actually help with Yukbeltire’s magic? From her reaction, it seems like you helped a little more than you said last time. You didn’t do more than what you told me about then, did you?”
Even while saying this, Diret thought it might be a misunderstanding.
Of course, it was a little strange that Yukbeltire had taken such a blow to her pride, but the junior here was not stupid either.
Knowing Yukbeltire’s habits, which were more persistent than a leech, there was no way he would dig his own grave by helping more than what they had agreed on in advance...
Tap tap tap!
Instead of answering, Stedal Nago hurriedly ran into the mansion.
Diret stared blankly at that retreating figure, then trembled, hands shaking.
...These people really...!
***
“Senior Yukbeltire. There’s an outsider here. Is that all right?”
Dirimpa asked cautiously, reading the mood.
Dirimpa had seen that crazy fifth-year’s difficult personality before while helping with Diret’s work.
—I cannot allow outsiders to attend. If there are mages with insufficient skill, problems may arise during mana release.
—Yukbeltire. These are mages from Kalarogard!
—So? What magic have they completed?
—They haven’t completed any magic yet, but they’re properly learning the orthodox way...
—So you’re saying there is nothing to prove.
—Hey. Come outside for a moment.
—I can’t do that. If I leave my position...
From that incident, the dark magic school students realized something.
Yukbeltire was not being disrespectful to other students. She was showing this much respect precisely because they were Einroguard students!
If Einroguard students were treated like this, they could not even imagine how outsiders would be treated.
“...It’s fine.”
Yukbeltire nodded with a dejected face.
Not only Dirimpa but all the other students were startled.
“Why is she acting like that??”
“Did one of her research investments explode or something?”
“Even if it exploded, she wouldn’t be like that. Maybe Senior Diret scolded her earlier?”
“For what reason?”
“Who knows. There could be over a hundred reasons.”
Koholti unconsciously nodded in understanding.
Come to think of it, considering what Diret had been through, it would not be strange if Diret randomly smacked Yukbeltire on the back of the head just for breathing.
“If there’s an angel nearby, we can make contact with this magic.”
Once everyone had gathered, Yukbeltire took out a celestial detection artifact.
It consisted of six candlestick artifacts arranged in a hexagram formation.
Lee Han was amazed by the magic concentrated inside it.
‘It finds beings from other dimensions, makes contact with them, and even bypasses detection so it won’t be traced?’
Seeing this made the interdimensional visits and approaches he had learned in his first and second year feel primitive by comparison.
If the lower-year Einroguard students’ method was to open doors and wander around directly until beings from other dimensions that were interested in them appeared, Yukbeltire’s artifact sent magical detection signals across dimensional barriers to locate those beings.
On top of that, it even contained magic that confused opponents by moving back and forth between dimensions to prevent reverse detection. It was truly astonishing magic.
‘With that artifact, I might be able to find spirits and approach them first!’
Lee Han stopped at his own first thought.
And felt deep self-loathing.
‘...What am I thinking? There’d be no point in approaching them that way anyway.’
Even if he hid his appearance and only sent signals to summon them, the spirits would still be frightened once they saw him, making the method meaningless.
Unless he forcibly captured them...
Lee Han firmly shook his head. No matter what, he did not want to become a mage with a heart like the Skull Principal’s.
Whoosh!
Flames lit on the six candlesticks. Yukbeltire chanted an incantation and opened a very localized dimensional passage.
It was practically an energy passage, one that human souls could not pass through. Only magical signals could move through it.
Suddenly, the flames flickered. Yukbeltire spoke.
“We’ve made contact. What should I say?”
“Tell the angel we’re mages of the Empire. We’ve captured the demon being chased, so we’ll manage it.”
Though it might sound rude, it was a natural statement for a mage.
There was no reason to yield to outsiders in the Empire’s own dimension, not in some other dimension.
/All abilities are dangerously evil/
A dark magic school student spoke in a surprised voice.
“Is that angelic language?”
“No. Yukbeltire set it up backward, so the letters are coming out reversed.”
“...”
/You are a dangerous demon with no ability to control yourself/
The dark magic school students, now reading it properly, cautiously exchanged opinions.
“The angel doesn’t seem hostile, does it?”
“Hostile angels are difficult to find in the first place. They’re beings who focus only on their own purposes.”
“Is collecting demons the purpose?”
—Young master. Please...! Don’t hand me over!
Orlagh, who had been watching, spoke in a desperate voice.
If it had to serve as a slave, it would rather serve House Wardanaz than be dragged away by some crazy angel it did not even know.
“Young master??”
Stedal—no, Lee Han—glared at Orlagh as if he would kill it.
Orlagh tactfully shut its mouth.
—Gulp.
‘Did the Nago family also command demons?’
‘Surprising. I’ve never heard of it. Well, if he’s a mage of that caliber, his family must be extraordinary too.’
The dark magic school students did not show it outwardly, but they were very surprised inside.
It seemed the Nago family had commanded demons in the past, and there were not many families with such abilities.
“For now, answer like this. We’re from Einroguard’s dark magic school, so we have both the experience and the ability to manage demons.”
The reply soon came back.
/Most mages who let demons escape were dark mages/
“...”
The students felt slightly indignant.
Of course, it was usually dark magic school mages who caused incidents related to demons. Since they dealt directly with demons, accidents were bound to happen.
But most of those incidents were caused by low-level dark mages.
Those who had no knowledge of magic, but were full of desire for power.
“Doesn’t the angel know about Einroguard?”
—Well, it is an angel, after all.
“...Demon. Be quiet.”
—S-sorry...
Orlagh became intimidated again and shut its mouth.
Both the Pride Duke and Arsil of House Wardanaz had praised Orlagh’s eloquence, but it did not seem to work on these people.
“What should we do, Senior? Should we just cut off contact and use force?”
“Wait. Let’s try sending one more message.”
After thinking deeply, Diret grabbed the artifact this time. The others wondered what message Diret intended to send.
What could it be?
/Then I will acknowledge it/
“!!!”
Everyone present was greatly surprised.
They all stirred and chattered about what had happened. Lee Han asked in an admiring voice, just loud enough for Diret to hear.
“What exactly did you say?”
“I said there’s also a mage from House Wardanaz here.”
“...”
No way...!
