Lee Han was surprised.
I can’t believe that actually worked.
Even he himself hadn’t been confident when he threw the suggestion out there, so seeing the other person actually react left him genuinely amazed.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah. Right. I’ll guide you there immediately.”
Lee Han answered the insane duplicate on reflex, then belatedly realized the problem.
Come to think of it, while the insane duplicate might want to meet Senior Catten, there was no guarantee Senior Catten would feel the same way.
And if a fifth-year senior who ranked among the strongest in his year ended up holding a grudge, life at Einroguard could become a lot more troublesome going forward.
...I’ll just say he was forced to come along.
***
“J-Junior!”
Catten, a fifth-year student from the White Tiger Tower, looked at Lee Han with tears brimming in his eyes.
They weren’t tears of betrayal or anger, but tears of pure emotion.
“To think you would bring such a great person to someone as worthless as this mage...”
“...I really do like you, Senior. Haha.”
SWOOSH!
Unable to contain his emotions, Catten pulled Lee Han into a hug.
Cat beastmen were generally smaller than humans, and Catten was no exception.
But his strength was beyond imagination. Even Lee Han, who had endured direct blows from monstrous enemies, nearly screamed.
“...Gah! Senior. That hurts.”
“Ah, sorry, Junior. I got too excited.”
Catten hurriedly apologized.
He was simply too overwhelmed by the chance to see the Skull Principal’s projection.
“A chance to receive guidance from the Principal’s projection...”
“Why didn’t you just ask the Principal directly?”
Lee Han was puzzled.
Of course, most Einroguard students weren’t exactly eager to approach the Skull Principal.
No matter how insane Einroguard students were, there were limits.
They would ask professors questions, sure—but why would anyone willingly question a mad Archmage?
Still, from Lee Han’s perspective, with Senior Catten’s particular brand of madness, it wouldn’t have been strange at all for him to seek magical guidance from the Skull Principal.
More importantly, by the fifth year, it was rarer not to have asked the Skull Principal something at least once.
“I used to ask him things often.”
Catten answered in a slightly dejected voice.
“But at some point, he started avoiding me.”
“...”
Lee Han was honestly impressed.
To think someone could be persistent enough to make even the Skull Principal flee.
Amazing!
“He was obviously inside, but he kept saying he wasn’t there...”
“That’s a pretty shameless lie.”
“I knew you’d understand, Junior. That’s why I broke through the wall and forced my way in, but then I ended up in the punishment cells...”
“...”
“But I’m truly happy to have this chance to learn!”
Catten beamed brightly.
At that moment, however, a sudden worry crept into Lee Han’s mind.
If even the Skull Principal had run away because teaching him was unbearable, would this projection really be any different?
...He won’t take his anger out on me, right?
“Please teach me!”
Unaware of Lee Han’s inner anxiety, Catten respectfully bowed his head.
“At least you understand basic manners. Unlike that mage.”
Maybe meeting Professor Verdus first was actually fortunate.
Lee Han let out a quiet sigh of relief at the insane duplicate’s reaction.
Perhaps because he had encountered Professor Verdus first, every other mage afterward automatically seemed reasonable by comparison.
“If you wish to receive instruction, then demonstrate your skill before royalty.”
“Yes!”
Catten answered energetically and drew his sword.
Lee Han had already seen the swordsmanship of Einroguard’s most infamous repeat-failing fifth-year several times before.
It truly was the culmination of every kind of magic that could possibly be crammed into swordsmanship.
In fact, who else in the Empire would even attempt something like this?
When Catten finally manifested a primitive Lesser World, the insane duplicate’s brows twitched faintly.
The surrounding reality distorted around the sword, and the blazing aura transformed into water. The insane duplicate clicked his tongue in disbelief.
Even in ancient times, swordsmen born with this level of talent had been rare.
This wasn’t some ordinary gift, like heightened mana sensitivity or superior bodily awareness.
No—
this was the audacity to throw oneself at the world itself and tear it apart.
Some might call it crude or violent.
But this was precisely the talent a true swordsman should possess.
If mages reshape the world, then swordsmen destroy it.
The problem was—
“Isn’t it amazing?”
“The wastefulness is amazing. Why is he using such inefficient methods despite having this much talent?”
—he kept doing bizarre things with that talent.
If he was truly a swordsman, he should have focused inward. Why forcibly manifest a primitive Lesser World instead?
“Senior is deeply interested in magic.”
“Then the people around him should have stopped him properly.”
“Isn’t it ultimately Senior’s choice? No matter how reckless it seems, if that’s what he wants, all the rest of us can do is offer advice.”
At Lee Han’s words, the insane duplicate paused briefly.
The moment his master fell silent, Lee Han immediately prepared himself defensively.
The defensive magic I can currently use is...
“I see. That’s actually a fairly reasonable perspective.”
“!”
Lee Han was startled when the other person acknowledged his words instead of exploding with outrage.
Is he seriously in an unbelievably good mood right now?
Otherwise, there was no explanation.
“You agree with that?”
“With what?”
“Uh... Senior’s reckless decisions...”
“What do I care? He’s not royalty’s disciple. Though he would make a useful guard.”
The insane duplicate evaluated Catten far more highly than Lee Han had expected.
While powerful mages no longer needed guards after reaching a certain level, they absolutely required protection before reaching that point.
Having a swordsman like Catten guarding you would hardly be a bad arrangement.
“Good. I shall teach you magic.”
“I-Is that truly possible?!”
Catten cried out emotionally. The insane duplicate nodded.
“What kind of magic interests you? Ancient secrets, dark magic, Lesser Worlds, reverse magic, incantations, souls...”
“I want to learn 【Basic Flame Barrier】!”
“...?”
The insane duplicate doubted his own ears and slowly turned toward Lee Han.
Lee Han quietly averted his gaze.
“I want to learn 【Basic Flame Barrier】! Please teach me!”
“...”
Until now, the insane duplicate had only realized that Catten possessed extraordinary talent in swordsmanship.
Discovering that his magical talent was this terrible came as a genuine shock.
No matter what, he had never imagined it would be this bad...?!
***
The insane duplicate’s lessons were profound, mysterious, and impossibly advanced.
And they were far too difficult for Catten to understand.
The longer he taught him, the more the insane duplicate realized just how monstrously gifted his original disciple had been.
“Thank you very much for your teachings!”
“...”
Once the lesson ended, the thoroughly exhausted insane duplicate turned away without another word.
Lee Han cautiously asked Catten,
“Was it at least somewhat helpful?”
“Not at all, Junior!”
“...Sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? I’m very happy.”
Catten looked at Lee Han as if he genuinely couldn’t understand the question.
His history of failure had stretched on for far too long for him to become depressed simply because he failed to immediately understand something.
At this point, he wouldn’t feel disappointed over something like that.
Lee Han found himself slightly moved by his senior’s unwavering mindset.
If it were him, he would have faltered or broken down long ago.
How admirable.
That kind of mentality was probably why Catten could continue training without wavering even inside the punishment cells.
While Lee Han looked at him with newfound respect, Catten casually packed his belongings. As Lee Han watched him store emergency rations and several artifacts, he asked curiously,
“Are you heading somewhere after the lecture?”
“I’m planning to visit the Frost Giants’ dimension.”
“Oh. I recently encountered Frost Giants in a dimension I visited too. What a coincidence.”
More specifically, it was the dimension he had visited during Professor Milei’s lecture.
For this semester’s summoning magic assignment, Professor Milei had instructed the students to explore and map unfamiliar dimensions...
...Lee Han and his group had completed the assignment with absurd ease thanks to Arsil’s assistance, only to get saddled with the additional task of retrieving artifacts possessed by the Frost Giants.
Dealing with powerful and malevolent beings was always dangerous.
And yet Catten intended to head there voluntarily.
It was a rather strange coincidence.
“That’s the same dimension, Junior.”
“...What?!”
Lee Han was startled.
Why would Catten be going to the very dimension Lee Han and his friends had explored?
“Professor Ingledel asked me to. She wanted me to determine whether it would be suitable for final exams.”
“No, wait. How could a dimension filled with Frost Giants possibly be suitable for final exams?!”
Feeling betrayed by a professor he trusted, Lee Han shouted in disbelief.
How could Professor Ingledel, of all people—not even Professor Voladi—prepare something this cruel?
Perhaps sensing his junior’s emotions, Catten looked awkward.
“I don’t really know either... The professor said that second-year students seem to visit extradimensions frequently these days, so rather than stopping them, she wanted to help them prepare properly.”
“What lunatic spread such absurd rumors?!”
As Lee Han shouted furiously, a memory suddenly surfaced.
Come to think of it, he himself had submitted a report to Professor Ingledel about visiting the dimension containing the Pride Duke, the Gwangmok King, and Arsil.
It wouldn’t have been strange for Professor Ingledel to see that report and conclude:
Second-year students are recklessly exploring extradimensions without understanding the dangers.
Could it be—
“Hmm. If you’re truly curious, Junior, I could ask the professor to investigate who spread the rumor...”
“Now that things have already reached this point, what’s the point in finding the culprit? I’ll just face it calmly like a proper Einroguard student.”
Catten looked impressed by Lee Han’s attitude.
Though younger, his junior possessed a composure and courage worth learning from.
Wait. This might actually be a good chance to retrieve those artifacts too.
Lee Han fell into thought.
This week was the insane duplicate’s surveillance week, but there was no telling how long the arrangement would last.
Just like the Skull Principal, that insane duplicate was also utterly eccentric and unpredictable.
Wouldn’t this be the perfect chance to recover the Frost Giants’ artifacts while both the insane duplicate and Catten were present?
“Senior. I’ll come help too. My next lecture period happens to be free.”
“How could that be?!”
“Of course you’re surprised that a mere second-year would volunteer to come along. But my master will also—”
“No. I’m surprised that your next lecture period is free, Junior.”
“...”
Lee Han was left speechless.
“From the way you asked earlier, I thought you wanted to come. You enjoy these sorts of things, Junior.”
“What kind of dimension does Senior think his junior lives in to enjoy things like— ...Never mind. I’ll take that as permission.”
Not wanting to waste any more time arguing, Lee Han immediately gave up.
He still had to persuade the insane duplicate.
“Master. Today’s lecture is over, and my senior...”
When Lee Han explained about the Frost Giants’ dimension and the artifacts hidden there, the insane duplicate listened silently.
Then he spoke.
“To be honest, when you first came to attend this lecture, royalty suspected you were trying to slack off from your studies.”
“!”
How did he know?
Lee Han shuddered at his master’s frighteningly accurate deduction.
Bringing Senior Catten to the insane duplicate had absolutely been partially motivated by Lee Han’s desire to reduce the pressure on himself.
“However, after hearing what you just said, it appears royalty was mistaken. So this was your objective from the beginning?”
“...Exactly. I’ve been planning this for quite some time.”
