“Lee Han of House Wardanaz. What in the world is happening here?”
At Intarendals’s near-scream, Lee Han answered as though the timing could not have been better.
“Perfect timing, Intarendals. Please talk some sense into Master.”
“Wh-what?”
The already half-fainting chamberlain suffered another shock from the disciple’s utterly irreverent words.
“Master said he was going to help me prepare for the exams, but instead he spent the entire day giving lectures unrelated to the test material.”
“I don’t understand a single part of that sentence...”
Intarendals answered in a pitiful voice. The situation before him was simply too absurd to comprehend.
Every second should have been used to cram as much knowledge as possible into the disciple. Yet instead of that, this kind of wasteful leisure was happening?
Have I misunderstood something?
Perhaps his master had more time remaining than expected.
Otherwise, this level of relaxation made no sense.
“You’ve arrived. Did you bring it?”
“Yes, Gonadaltes. However...”
Intarendals hesitated just as he was about to ask his question.
A loyal chamberlain could understand his master’s intentions from a single glance.
And the command conveyed through that glance was silence.
“What did you bring?”
“Disciple, go teach the other mages. Finish the remaining material.”
When Lee Han immediately showed interest, the insane duplicate waved him away irritably.
Lee Han, who had just spent hours force-feeding unrelated material into his exhausted friends because of his master, naturally became irritated.
“But if you were going to do this anyway, wouldn’t it have been better to let me teach them from the start instead of making me explain all that other stuff first...?!”
Naturally, whether the disciple was angry or not had no effect whatsoever.
The insane duplicate casually flicked his hand and sent Lee Han flying away.
“Now we can speak.”
“...Master. May I dare offer some frank advice?”
“Intarendals. If a chamberlain such as yourself cannot speak frankly to royalty, then who can? Speak freely.”
The insane duplicate’s tone was unexpectedly humble, completely different from the attitude usually shown in public.
Rather than feeling moved, Intarendals felt his unease deepen even further.
To think that his master—always flawless and absolute—was showing weakness like this.
He could not help suspecting that there truly was not much time left.
“...Is the world rejecting you again, Master?”
“That is correct.”
“I apologize. I knew it could not be... If that were true, then surely... What??!”
Intarendals reacted several beats too late.
Even after asking the question himself, he had never truly expected to hear an affirmative answer.
“Has a kalpa or kalpa-fire struck? Or dimensional collapse—”
“Not yet. But judging from the future the disciple witnessed, it is nearly certain.”
The insane duplicate answered calmly.
A truly exceptional mage did not rely solely on personal magic.
And one rejected by the world had even greater reason to remain cautious.
No matter how brilliant an Archmage might be, there were always things impossible to foresee alone.
Fortunately, however, the future glimpsed by his disciple had provided several clues.
“The reversal phenomenon from before is repeating itself. And the disciple confronted royalty again. It will happen soon.”
“Then I shall prepare methods to prevent it.”
The chamberlain answered immediately, his voice resolute.
The magic surrounding the mountain workshop had not merely been created to avoid the attention of the Skull Principal and the Death Knights.
One rejected by the world had to constantly defend against the abnormal phenomena inevitably drawn toward them.
Otherwise, even an Archmage could be reverse-summoned in an instant.
If another reversal was approaching, then they simply needed to prepare another countermeasure.
It would be difficult, but if necessary, they could strip this entire region bare and supplement the missing materials from the treasury of House Dalcard—
“No. The cycle has become too short.”
However, the insane duplicate slowly shook his head.
Avoiding kalpa-fire through magic only worsened the next occurrence.
Now that madness had returned twice in such rapid succession, the third time would arrive even faster—and far more violently.
“Then we simply prepare each time it happens.”
“Forget it. At that point, reverse-summoning would be the wiser option.”
“...But...”
Intarendals hesitated.
True, his master could descend again someday after being reverse-summoned.
But even for an Archmage, the timing of such a return was impossible to predict.
Would it not be better to stop the disaster somehow rather than rely on such uncertainty?
Intarendals could not understand why his brilliant master had chosen this path.
Yet loyalty prevented him from questioning further.
“...Understood. Then how do you intend to proceed?”
“There is a reasonably skilled alchemist. I received an elixir. When reversal occurs, I intend to use it for reverse-summoning. You, meanwhile...”
Though called an elixir, something powerful enough to reverse-summon the insane duplicate was effectively a deadly poison.
Emotions surged within Intarendals as he listened.
“...Yes. Until the moment you are reverse-summoned, I shall complete all remaining tasks.”
“Good. I leave it in your hands. Deliver the remaining books and materials to the disciple, and dispose of everything that should be disposed of...”
“What about the hamster?”
“That trash? Wouldn’t it be simpler to get rid of it?”
“Lowly though he may be, he was once an excellent mage. It may be better to pass him down as well.”
Had Lee Han heard this conversation, he would have recoiled in disgust and shouted, Please don’t give me something like that.
Unfortunately for him, the discussion was taking place entirely behind his back.
The insane duplicate frowned thoughtfully for a moment before eventually nodding.
“That is true. One more small pet would not be a bad thing. The disciple seemed rather fond of it as well.”
“That is correct. Lee Han personally fed it.”
Intarendals agreed without hesitation.
The royal disciple had indeed shown affection toward the hamster.
The fact that the creature had once been a dangerous magical criminal was hardly important. Even in ancient times, such pets had been considered fashionable.
“It’s Dahangsik! Dahangsik! Are you pretending you forgot because I didn’t let you play with me last time?”
“N-no! I really forgot, Wardanaz!”
“Wardanaz. That bastard never read the magic book he promised to read.”
“Thanks, Moradi. You bastard. So that’s why you forgot. Get over here.”
“M-Moradi! We’re from the same tower! Why are you betraying me?!”
Watching Lee Han drag the other students around like mice caught in traps, Intarendals slowly turned his head.
Then he spoke carefully.
“...Master. Since I have already committed the disloyal act of speaking frankly today, please permit me one more opinion. In my humble judgment, it seems you should spend the remaining time teaching Lee Han more directly...”
Even if he could compromise on everything else, this was one thing he simply could not understand.
How could his master leave the disciple in such a state at a time like this?
The insane duplicate fell silent for a moment.
“It may appear that way. However, royalty has a plan.”
“!”
Intarendals’s face brightened instantly.
As expected, his wise master had already foreseen everything.
“May I ask what that plan is?”
“When the time comes, you shall know as well, Chamberlain.”
At the gentle refusal, Intarendals lowered his head.
This was where loyalty mattered more than curiosity.
“If you can’t even solve a single magic equation, what exactly did you do all last year? You, come forward too!”
“Wardanaz! That bastard got it wrong too and just changed the answer afterward!”
“You come forward too, you bastard!”
“...”
A complicated expression crossed Intarendals’s face.
...There absolutely had to be a plan.
A vast and extraordinary plan beyond even the chamberlain’s imagination.
***
Tap tap—
“Mmm...?”
Late at night, with the weekend nearly over, Yonair opened his eyes at the sound of a paper bird pecking against the window of his private room.
“...If this is Gainando, I’m putting tongue-numbing poison in his food...”
Fortunately, it was not from his cousin.
Night walk planned. Anyone participating, come to the common room.
-Lee Han
Is he planning to steal something again?
After reading the message, Yonair hurriedly got dressed and gathered his equipment.
Compared to first year, the amount of gear he carried had increased considerably.
A small bronze bell for detecting hostile presences. A newly replaced staff. Portable scales and measuring spoons for rapidly checking potion ingredients when caught in suspicious situations. A potion belt capable of vaporizing selected potions into mist clouds...
After checking everything carefully, Yonair headed downstairs.
Even while descending, he continued trying to guess the purpose of the outing, but nothing came to mind.
They still had plenty of supplies, and they were not particularly short on reagents either.
Could this be about exams?
That seemed plausible.
Lee Han had always been talented when it came to obtaining exam-related information.
“Ah. Yonair.”
“What’s going on?”
“Professor Thunderstep seems suspicious lately, so I want to investigate.”
Lee Han quickly explained what had happened earlier.
Recently, the insane duplicate had clearly been hiding something.
And one of the suspicious incidents involved a conversation with Professor Thunderstep.
The insane duplicate underestimated Einroguard students far too much.
When something looked suspicious, sneaking into a workshop in the middle of the night and searching through it was simply the Einroguard way.
“Lee Han!”
Just then, Gainando came running downstairs as well, still wearing a nightcap.
“Gainando. You’re wearing a nightcap.”
“Huh? This is an artifact. I wanted to test it tonight.”
“...”
“...”
The two who had assumed their friend had accidentally wandered out still wearing sleepwear quietly reflected on themselves.
Lee Han asked:
“Do you know why we’re heading out tonight?”
Probably snacks.
Yonair silently reached that conclusion.
“Isn’t it because Professor Thunderstep seems to be plotting something behind your back, so you want to investigate? You’ve been worried about it all day.”
“...?!!!”
Yonair stared at Gainando in complete shock.
No way.
“Y-you...”
“??”
“N-never mind. I thought you came because of snacks.”
“I already got snacks earlier.”
“Quiet. Shut up.”
Lee Han firmly stomped on Gainando’s foot.
He had secretly given him some because the idiot would not stop whining, and now he was immediately spilling the secret.
“Anyway, let’s go. Everyone we need is here.”
“What about the others?”
“We don’t need many people this time, so I only called you two. I called Yonair because we need to get into Professor Thunderstep’s workshop, and Gainando... well... because he’s reliable.”
You called him because he’d definitely come.
Yonair understood the truth immediately but wisely kept silent.
The three quickly left the tower.
Having snuck out countless times since first year, they could practically navigate the grounds blindfolded by now.
“Wait. It’s time for the Death Knight patrol.”
“Should we distract it with sound or light?”
“We used sound last time. Let’s use light tonight.”
A burst of light flared in the distance, and the approaching Death Knight immediately changed direction to investigate.
Lee Han and the others nodded and continued moving.
“But Lee Han.”
“What?”
“How exactly are we getting into Professor Thunderstep’s workshop?”
Gainando asked curiously.
The professors of Einroguard were not fools. Naturally, their towers were covered in magical security measures.
And since this was supposed to be stealthy, simply smashing their way in was not an option either.
Swish—
Lee Han and Yonair each produced a key simultaneously.
Keys to Kaksu Hall, Professor Thunderstep’s workshop and tower.
“...Y-you stole them!?”
“No. The professor gave them to us. We help manage the reagents and greenhouse herbs.”
“Why didn’t Professor Mortum ever give me keys like that?”
As Gainando grumbled resentfully, Lee Han quietly tucked the rest of the keyring back inside his robe.
Among those keys, one black key to the Dark Hall—the dark magic school’s workshop—glimmered ominously.
“...Professor Mortum is suspicious and stingy.”
“That’s true. He probably didn’t even give keys to Senior Diret.”
