At that moment, Lee Han turned to look behind him.

—GASP!

—We weren’t thinking anything at all. Guh... Lord Wardanaz.

“??”

Lee Han looked suspiciously at the Death Knights, who seemed far more startled than necessary.

“I was just going to ask how you blocked my lightning magic earlier...”

Before practicing powerful lightning magic, preparing the surroundings was essential.

That was especially true for Lee Han, who had recently damaged Einroguard’s main building because of an unfortunate accident.

His previous level of lightning magic could be practiced in a suitable lecture hall, but if he meant to aim any higher, it was only proper to think about safety measures in advance.

—Ah. What I used was <Magus Ahiman’s Shield>. Student Lee Han, since you’re from the dark magic school, you must have heard of Magus Ahiman, yes?

“Yes. He was a famous dark mage, wasn’t he?”

—That’s right.

“He was so poor and destitute that he turned himself undead...”

—...Of all his many achievements, why that one?

Leaving aside the fact that Magus Ahiman had turned himself undead in his later years after repeated research failures and bankruptcy, he was, in fact, an outstanding dark mage who had left a clear mark on the magical history of the Empire.

Among his works, <Magus Ahiman’s Shield> was convenient enough that even the Death Knights serving the Skull Principal favored it.

—You could call it a crystal of intricately arranged negative energy and dark elements. The shield absorbs and neutralizes the energy and life force around it.

In principle, any being capable of wielding negative energy or dark elements could create similar effects against the living.

A mere touch could drain a living creature’s vitality and leave it exhausted.

What made <Magus Ahiman’s Shield> special was the way it layered and strengthened those effects with extreme precision.

Completed through an exceptionally efficient combination, the spell was revolutionary enough to satisfy even the Death Knights, who were knights from a much older age.

“Could I use it too, by any chance?”

—Of course!

“Thank you! What circle is it?”

—Fifth-circle.

“...”

The joy vanished from Lee Han’s face, replaced by a grave expression.

The Death Knights looked at one another in confusion, unable to understand why their successor had suddenly grown so serious.

—If it’s fifth-circle, isn’t that manageable...

“I’m already preparing to learn fifth-circle magic, and now you want me to add another fifth-circle spell on top of that!”

At their successor’s rebuke, the Death Knights wilted and lowered their helmets.

Seeing this, the insane duplicate coldly lectured them.

Knights are foolish, stupid creatures by nature. What would they know when even their brains have rotted away?

—...

—...When is Master finally going to subjugate that damned bastard?

The Death Knights ground their teeth, but the insane duplicate ignored them and continued the explanation.

Spirits are beings born as the very essence of power. For magic to reproduce a spirit’s authority is nearly as foolish as mortals imitating immortality. And yet mages...

This is bad. The explanation is boring.

As the insane duplicate launched into a lengthy explanation, Lee Han realized it was far more complicated and °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° dull than expected.

Previously, he had stayed alert because he had been tense, never knowing when an attack might come. Now that it was only an illusion talking, drowsiness immediately began creeping in.

Gainando endured this. I can endure it too.

Lee Han gritted his teeth, remembering Gainando struggling not to fall asleep in the lecture hall.

He had scolded and harassed his friend by smacking him on the back. He could not collapse now.

...Therefore, the first step is to increase the power of the lightning.

“Indeed! Wow!”

Relieved that the speech had finally ended, Lee Han reacted with excessive enthusiasm.

Seeing the passion of the disciple, the insane duplicate looked satisfied.

“How much should I increase the lightning’s power?”

Until the surrounding space begins to warp. It needs to reach at least that level for transformation to become possible.

“Ah. I understand. I’ll work hard.”

Finish it within this week.

“You can count on me!”

Perhaps pleased by Lee Han’s attitude, the insane duplicate disappeared without further reproach.

A Death Knight watching from behind asked in confusion.

—But Lord Wardanaz. I’m certain you said you weren’t confident about learning from this insane duplicate. Will you truly be all right? You already have so many other things to do...

“It’s fine.”

—!

The Death Knight was slightly impressed by Lee Han’s confident answer.

As expected, the Skull Principal’s successor was different somehow.

Others would already be suffocating under such a magical study schedule, yet he was adding more to it without hesitation.

It felt like witnessing the miracle of someone recklessly pouring water into a glass that was already full, only for it not to overflow.

“I’m not going to do it anyway.”

—...

Lee Han spoke with complete confidence.

He had agreed only to avoid provoking the insane duplicate’s temper. He had no intention whatsoever of actually learning the magic.

To begin with, it was physically impossible.

It’s only an illusion anyway. Whether it throws a fit or not, I’ll just apologize and say I tried hard but couldn’t manage it.

The insane duplicate was misunderstanding the disciple.

Even from a distance, and even as nothing more than an illusion, the duplicate thought Lee Han would naturally follow along once shown magical secrets beyond anything Einroguard’s lectures could offer.

But Lee Han was someone who could shamelessly avoid anything as long as there was no knife at his throat.

—Actually, I thought Lord Wardanaz would just master it.

“Why on earth would you think something so ridiculous?”

*****

The Skull Principal’s insane duplicate and the ancestor of House Dalcard sent by that duplicate were, in truth, minor incidents when viewed against the whole of club week.

Most students did not even know such things had happened. At most, they spoke of it as, “Apparently some big shot who throws around Imperial gold coins came by this year.”

For the students, club week had only just begun.

Now that they had dealt with the generous sponsors who arrived early, it was time for the troublesome guests to start appearing.

“They’re here...!”

“Damn it. Why do people without money even come?”

Several upperclassmen who recognized the guests’ faces muttered in voices full of complaint.

During club week, Einroguard was usually visited only by people whose identities had been confirmed and who were willing to offer Imperial gold coins.

But there were exceptions to that rule.

External club members who maintained exchanges with clubs inside Einroguard could be invited without meeting such qualifications.

Most of these club members were mages.

And in the Empire, mages could generally be described, without much exaggeration, as “people who are always short on gold coins.”

“Greetings, everyone of Einroguard. We are from the <Wilderness Stone Root Mage Tower>. We came to see and learn about the famine-relief plants improved by Einroguard.”

“Yes... well... are you going to invest?”

“Haha. We poured everything into research last year, so we have no money to invest... If anything, we would be grateful to receive some sponsorship here ourselves.”

“...I’ll show you around the storehouse. Please follow me for a moment!”

Einroguard’s reputation was famous throughout the Empire, so quite a few mages wanted to visit.

Since many of them came only to look around and brought no gold coins with them, the upperclassmen of Einroguard were disgusted whenever they saw mages who looked obviously poor.

“These bastards make the rich ones not want to come! Seriously, damned mages!”

“The magic on this pot is incredible! How on earth did you maintain this form?”

“You’ve seen enough! Move aside already!”

The mages who merely came to look around were still better.

The real trouble came from the mages who arrived burning with competitive spirit.

“Is this the <Iactus Soup Club>?”

“That’s correct.”

“What a grandiose name. I am Batsaden. You have probably heard of me. The one who turned the withered plains green again...”

“I’ve never heard of you.”

“What?! You’ve never heard of me? Einroguard isn’t much either, then. To think you’ve never heard my name. In any case, I came here for a match. Do you see this glass bottle containing my elixir? Let us see who can make plants grow faster...”

“Hmph. Guest, if you’re not here to observe magic, please step aside.”

“Urgh, keugh! Using guards like this is cowardly...!”

From the perspective of Einroguard students, who had to scrape together every penny they could, random troublemakers barging in and disrupting business were bound to make them furious.

“Why does the Principal keep letting people like that in?!”

“I’m sure he’s doing it on purpose. He’s trying to get on our nerves.”

“This won’t do. We need to tell our invited guests to rest for the day. There are too many annoying people.”

As outside mages wandered around the seventh floor, the Einroguard students sighed.

Given the situation, they had no choice but to postpone the wealthy customers for a while and deal with—no, attend to—these guests first.

*****

“We’ve arrived. Is this Einroguard?”

“Yes. That’s right!”

The students of the Valdrogard Gourmet Club nodded again and again. Their eyes blazed with anticipation and a thirst for revenge.

How much humiliation had they suffered when they visited Einroguard last year because of the Kitchen Club?

For the honorable students of Valdrogard, it had been an unbearable wound.

Who would have thought that one of the twin pillars of Imperial magic could be so vile?

However, the honorable students of Valdrogard did not act the same way as their opponents. If one of the twin pillars had fallen into corruption, the other had to preserve its dignity.

And so the Valdrogard students, honorably and nobly, hired an outside mage and visited again.

These damned Valdrogard bastards.

The outside mage, Galar, had to suppress the look of contempt rising in his eyes.

Galar had once been promising enough to conduct research alongside Alshicle Pengerine.

But fate was cruel. No one knew when it would reveal its merciless side.

After three research failures, five accidents, and one attempted assassination of a sponsor—Galar insisted it had been an accident, but the sponsor did not believe him—passed like a storm, Galar was denied proper opportunities for a while.

Because of that, he had been forced to join adventurer parties looking for mages, help guilds urgently seeking mages, and even accept pointless requests from idle Valdrogard students.

The first two were at least tolerable, however difficult they might be.

The current request from the Valdrogard students, however, filled Galar with self-loathing.

Challenge young Einroguard students to a contest and crush their pride.

No matter how good the pay was, he could hardly believe he had sunk to doing such things.

“Where do I need to go?”

“The Kitchen Club. Please compete in magic with the members there.”

“The Kitchen Club... They must be skilled in alchemy or transformation magic. I’ll need to be careful.”

“As expected of Master Galar. You have a keen eye.”

That much is obvious, though...

Assuming that members of the Kitchen Club would be skilled in alchemy or transformation magic was completely natural.

Seeing the students admire him for it made Galar’s vision go dark.

Sigh. No. This isn’t the time to indulge my pride.

Galar shook his head and pulled himself together. This was not the time for useless stubbornness.

“If you see any Einroguard students on the way, feel free to crush their pride as much as you like.”

“Weren’t you humiliated by the Kitchen Club members?”

“The other Einroguard bastards who didn’t stop them and only laughed are just as vile. Look! There’s one right there.”

Spotting a noble boy with statue-like features walking in the distance, the Valdrogard students urged Galar on.

Galar sighed and approached Lee Han.

“Are you a student of Einroguard?” 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

“Are you perhaps one of the insane duplicate’s subordinates?”

“What are you talking about? I’m Galar. I used to be with the Northern Snowflake Mage Tower, though I’m not affiliated with anywhere now... Anyway, I came here after being invited by Einroguard’s Kitchen Club.”

“Ah.”

Lee Han nodded.

This person seemed to be one of those profitless guests he had only heard about.

Wait. Isn’t that Valdrogard?

“There is something I would like to ask you, student.”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me what materials could substitute for juniper, perilla leaves, and talc in Dobrooke’s Shadow Potion?”

“???”

Lee Han was flustered.

This was a custom he had never heard of in his life.

Do Valdrogard people ask questions like this the moment they meet someone?

Galar waited for an answer with a tired face.

He did not feel good about suddenly throwing such a question at a student, but he had no choice if he wanted to satisfy the Valdrogard students.

“Let me think about it for a moment.”

“Go ahead.”

Lee Han turned around and stepped back for a moment. Then he began whispering to his staff.

“Are you there, Master?”