Thirty minutes later.

Alshicle barely managed to persuade Erindarvel and obtained a three-story mage villa located in the capital as a gift.

Erindarvel still persisted with a reluctant expression.

“But Lord Pengerine. Giving such a materialistic and insincere gift to a junior scholar who will be responsible for the Empire’s future is far too irresponsible...”

“Wardanaz! Let’s go!”

Pushing the junior mage’s back, Alshicle quickly escaped the scene.

If they stayed any longer, they might have to listen to the Archmage’s self-reflection until tomorrow.

“Alshicle. I respect you.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

When Lee Han spoke with eyes full of respect, Alshicle was puzzled.

“Thank you so much for securing the capital mansion for me.”

“...I appreciate the respect, but couldn’t you respect me for something else?”

The two, hurrying away from the scene, spotted students in familiar attire in the distance.

At first glance, one might think they were a group of beggars wearing rags, but upon seeing their staffs and emblems, one would belatedly go, “Ah!”

They were Einroguard students.

“You guys... what are you doing here?”

Lee Han asked in surprise.

Considering the date, the semester at Einroguard should have ended, but he had not expected all his friends to be in the capital.

Was there perhaps some major event taking place in the capital that Lee Han did not know about?

‘Maybe there’s a magic competition with enormous prize money sponsored by an anonymous patron...’

“We came to rescue you.”

“We heard the Principal took you away, so we came.”

“...Ah.”

At his friends’ answer, Lee Han immediately snapped out of his fantasy.

“Thanks, everyone. But the matter is already finished. It didn’t take very long.”

“What method did you use to finish it so quickly?”

Giselle asked as if unable to understand.

Setting aside exceptions like Gainando’s mother, persuading the Empire’s angry patrons was not that easy.

Especially when it came to matters related to Einroguard, many of them were already sick and tired of it.

“Perhaps...”

“!”

When Giselle trailed off, Lee Han was surprised.

‘Did Giselle notice?’

The Principal’s despicable scheme?

“Did you make a deal involving Professor Verdus?”

“Gasp. You’re smart! I never would have thought of that method.”

“As expected of Wardanaz!”

“...No.”

Lee Han spoke firmly.

Honestly, it was a good method, but he had not used it.

That was a method to save for when he was truly desperate later.

“I’ll tell you how I persuaded them later, but since we’re here, would everyone like to visit the mansion?”

At their friend’s suggestion, the students readily nodded.

It would be more convenient to stay at the House Wardanaz mansion than to split up and find separate accommodations.

‘Huh? But was there a House Wardanaz villa in the capital?’

Yonair tilted their head.

Unlike other great noble families of the Empire, which prepared mansions in each region so they could stay whenever they visited, House Wardanaz, which had almost no external activities, was said to have almost no permanently prepared mansions.

But a villa?

Was the capital an exception?

“Lee Han. Was there originally a House Wardanaz mansion in the capital?”

“Hehe. Good question.”

At Yonair’s question, Lee Han smiled with confidence.

It was a joyful smile, as if he would have brought it up himself even if no one had asked.

“Actually, I received it as payment for this commission.”

“...Could you explain that in a little more detail???”

***

Alshicle looked around the exterior of the mansion and whistled lightly.

“Oh. It’s quite decent.”

“...”

“...”

However, the other students did not seem to agree.

First, the path connecting the main gate to the main building was blocked by plants that had grown thickly enough to resemble a jungle.

In a typical mansion, one would place gardens, courtyards, or greenhouses in the front or back yard to enjoy viewing and strolling through them, but this mansion seemed a little more aggressive.

There was no distinction between the path and the greenhouse at all.

The main building behind it was not particularly intact either.

From the chimney towering above the third floor, whitish evil spirits intermittently popped out along with black smoke, and the second-floor windows surrounded by balconies had shattered to pieces without leaving a trace behind.

If one listened carefully for a moment, bizarre screams of unknown origin seemed to be coming from somewhere inside the mansion.

“...Is this really a villa?”

“M-maybe it’s because it belongs to House Wardanaz.”

Not only the Blue Dragon Tower students, but even the relatively strong-stomached Black Turtle Tower students looked disgusted.

At this point, it would not be an exaggeration to call it a ruined mansion rather than a villa.

“Why is everyone acting like this? This is pretty decent.”

Only Alshicle looked at the Einroguard students as if unable to understand them.

“I haven’t traveled throughout the entire Empire, but I don’t think this kind of villa would be popular anywhere...”

“Huh? That’s true for ordinary villas. But this is a villa that a mage used.”

If it were a villa used by ordinary nobles or wealthy people, aesthetics and convenience would naturally be important.

But a villa used by a mage was simply meant to serve as a substitute for a workshop.

For a mansion that had been used as a mage’s workshop, this was quite decent.

“First of all, the building’s structure has been maintained well, and from the main gate onward, no part of it has transformed into strange creatures. That makes it easy to organize, too. If we clean it up for just a few days, it will become a very useful magic workshop.”

The penguin beastkin mage’s confident attitude was contagious to the students.

Listening to that, it did sound plausible.

Was that so?

“Come to think of it, if we consider this a building within Einroguard territory, it’s quite a decent building.”

“That’s right. Wardanaz might get hurt, so let’s avoid saying anything too harsh.”

The friends decided to avoid badmouthing the family’s villa in front of Lee Han.

No matter how steel-like their friend might be, if the family’s choice became a source of ridicule, it could still wound his heart.

“Wardanaz. This mansion has a very... unique beauty.”

Adenart chose her words carefully so as not to hurt her friend’s feelings.

Lee Han, who had been looking around the mansion with satisfaction, was puzzled by the Imperial Princess’s sudden words.

‘Does Adenart want it too?’

Come to think of it, it was possible.

Since Adenart was also a brilliant friend, wouldn’t she have realized the infinite potential of a mansion located in the capital?

No matter how terrible the mansion’s appearance was, it did not matter. What mattered was its location.

“I’m sorry, Imperial Princess. But I didn’t forcibly extort this. The Archmage forced it on me.”

“...?”

Adenart tilted her head, unable to understand what Lee Han was talking about.

“When you say Archmage, are you referring to the Principal?”

“No? I mean Lady Erindarvel.”

“...Mother gave you this villa?!?!?”

Rarely, Adenart jumped in surprise. It was a reaction hard to believe from a friend who usually acted as emotionlessly as that sister of hers.

At that reaction, Lee Han felt slightly sorry. It seemed Adenart had wanted it much more than he had thought.

“Actually, this wasn’t something Lady Erindarvel irresponsibly gave me. There’s a complicated story involving dozens of lives...”

“Why did Mother give you such a worthless gift? I don’t understand.”

“...It’s not that worthless, is it?”

Perhaps the shock from Adenart’s words was greater than expected, because Lee Han naturally spoke informally.

Completely worthless?

However, the Imperial Princess did not back down from her stubbornness.

“But Mother has always given much more meaningful and significant gifts when giving presents to junior mages. There must have been some mistake, so I’ll go speak to her directly. To think Wardanaz would receive such a mere gift.”

“No, no, no. It’s fine! It has meaning! It all has meaning!”

Worried that Alshicle’s efforts might be ruined, Lee Han hurriedly blocked Adenart’s path.

Adenart opened her eyes wide and asked.

“What do you mean it has meaning...”

Bang!

“Aaaahhhhh!”

Gainando, who had gone down to check the underground food storage, shot up with a scream.

The bounced-out Gainando rolled across the ground.

“What? What happened?”

“Th-there’s some mage ghost underground...”

“!”

Adenart was greatly surprised.

Could this be the meaning contained in Mother’s gift?

‘What on earth could that meaning be?’

***

“So you’re saying that when you opened the door to the underground food storage, some mage ghost appeared and chased you out?”

“Yeah.”

“Undead? A curse?”

“It could also be another kind of magic that looks like a ghost. You can mimic something similar with enchantment magic.”

“The Prince might have been mistaken. There are mages who disguise themselves as ghosts.”

“Why? Why disguise yourself as a ghost?”

Alshicle, who had been quietly listening to the students’ hypotheses, answered instead.

“It’s quite possible. Since they need gold coins, they sell the mansion first, then secretly hide underground to continue their research.”

“...No, no. Are there really people who do things like that?”

“Uh, um, well.”

This time, Alshicle could not answer and fidgeted slightly.

Then he glanced around and said.

“Among the graduates of a certain magic school... there are a few.”

“...”

“...”

The Einroguard students regretted asking for no reason.

Lee Han shrugged and said.

“Let’s finish our work first.”

“Right. Wardanaz. The others and I will take the front, so you... Wait, aren’t we just checking?”

Salco hesitated.

At first, Salco thought Lee Han was suggesting they all gather together and break through the underground, but the direction was strange.

Lee Han was trying to go to the mansion’s first-floor kitchen, not the basement.

“Huh? The basement isn’t urgent right now. We need to clean the kitchen first so we can eat.”

“That’s so like Lee Han.”

Gainando nodded from the side with an admiring expression.

Come to think of it, since this was not Einroguard, they did not necessarily have to get food from the underground storage. They could cook in the kitchen as long as they bought ingredients outside.

Was it because of this kind of cool-headedness that his friends trusted Lee Han?

“No, no...! Aren’t you curious!?”

“If it were evil, it wouldn’t stay underground. It would have come up already. Don’t worry and let’s take care of what’s urgent first. Could you guys clean the reception room?”

“...”

The friends had plenty to say, but kept their mouths shut for now and moved according to Lee Han’s instructions.

Salco muttered.

“Wardanaz seems to have gotten even stranger...”

Giselle unconsciously nodded.

He had originally been bold to the point of recklessness, but after experiencing several more incidents at Einroguard, he had reached a level that could not be followed with ordinary thinking.

At this rate, by third year, even if a dimensional rift appeared in front of him, he might leisurely observe it while drinking coffee.

Unaware that his friends were looking at him suspiciously, Lee Han looked around the kitchen.

The former owner here seemed to have had no interest in cooking, as the kitchen was full of nothing but dust and cobwebs.

‘I should clean the fireplace first.’

Lee Han swung his staff and cleanly cleared the area around the fireplace. There was not much dust that could withstand telekinesis and water-element magic coming one after another.

Then a grayish mage ghost suddenly poked its head out from inside the fireplace.

-Undo the magic I left behin—

Thwack!

The ghost, hit by the spinning water orb, shattered and scattered into pieces.

Lee Han thought, ‘Oops.’

He had reacted too quickly and had not heard what the other person was trying to say at all.

‘Oh no. What was it trying to say?’