The baby basilisk was the first to recover its senses.

-That’s your solution?!

It had expected a professor to know some way to calm down an overgrown mandragon and stop its screaming.

Instead, the answer was We were never here tonight!

Professor Bendozol, however, remained perfectly calm.

“Dragon. While accelerating growth may be possible, there is no method for reversing it once it has grown. Under the circumstances, this is the optimal solution.”

B-But... Jowrin still feels a little... guilty...

Naturally, Jowrin hesitated as well.

Unlike Einroguard students and professors, she still possessed the sensibilities of a normal outsider.

“Dragon. Revealing the truth would also be acceptable. Personally, I would not mind in the slightest.”

-...How could you not mind?

The baby basilisk was horrified once again.

Another professor’s greenhouse had effectively turned into a disaster zone, and yet he was saying he wouldn’t mind?

“But Dragon. If I may dare to speak honestly, you are far too merciful and kindhearted. You even concern yourself with the petty complaints of insignificant students. The mere thought of Your Majesty suffering emotional pain tears this Bendozol’s heart apart!”

Professor Bendozol beat his chest with fanatical devotion.

The baby basilisk whispered in disgust:

-That person is terrifying.

Well... that may be true, but his reasoning does make sense.

-...?!

The baby basilisk stared at Jowrin in shock when her attitude abruptly shifted.

-Why?!

Well... Jowrin... doesn’t want Lee Han to scold her...

Jowrin clasped her front paws together nervously as she spoke.

She didn’t care what the other students thought.

But if Lee Han got angry and said, You! Go back to the capital!, Jowrin felt like her heart might truly stop from sadness.

The baby basilisk found itself speechless before such flawless logic.

-...I feel the same way.

Right?

The baby basilisk sank into deep contemplation.

Should it reveal the truth out of conscience and loyalty?

Or should it follow the suspicious professor’s cowardly suggestion and hide everything?

-Let’s hide it!

The baby basilisk made its decision with the decisiveness worthy of the king of serpents.

Jowrin, who had been agonizing over the matter as well, immediately brightened.

Really??

-Yes! We were never here!

As the baby basilisk wagged its tail energetically, Jowrin flapped her wings in delight.

At the sight, tears welled in Professor Bendozol’s eyes.

Perhaps this was why he remained an Einroguard professor. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

To witness moments this beautiful.

Right! Nobody will ever know we came here!

“Excellent! As for me, I shall personally rip out my own tongue to preserve this secret!”

Professor Bendozol shouted passionately.

Jowrin and the baby basilisk both recoiled in horror.

***

Lee Han woke up the next morning with a frown and headed downstairs.

“What’s wrong, Wardanaz?”

“Nothing... I think I had some unpleasant dreams.”

“I know why,” Asan said confidently. “You slept in a bed instead of your usual chair.”

“...”

Lee Han stared at him as though the idea were ridiculous.

Yet the other students seemed strangely convinced.

“That actually makes sense.”

“Wardanaz. You really should use your bed more often.”

“Private rooms are meant for sleeping, not storing books.”

“You’re all too noisy.”

Lee Han waved his staff.

Freshly baked bread rose from the frying pan atop the brazier, golden-brown and steaming hot.

At the same time, jars of jam, butter wrapped in brown paper, and slices of salted ham floated neatly out of the pantry one after another.

The Blue Dragon Tower students immediately snatched up the bread before calmly admiring their friend for using fifth-circle magic on household chores.

As freshmen, they might have spent mealtimes chatting endlessly.

Now, however, they were proper Einroguard students.

They knew from experience that talking while doing something else usually ended in suffering.

“Wardanaz. How many exams do you have next week? Or did you already finish them all?”

“...No, I did not! Who keeps spreading these ridiculous rumors?”

“Gainando was bragging to the White Tiger Tower students that you’d already finished all your exams.”

That bastard.

Lee Han shuddered as he identified the culprit.

Petty arguments with other towers were one thing.

Spreading nonsense like that was another matter entirely.

“I’ll finish preparing over the weekend. Language lecture, transformation magic lecture... Ah, right. I should stop by the greenhouse too.”

“I’ll come with you. I need to catch some bugs.”

“More importantly, shouldn’t His Majesty be awake by now?”

The students looked toward Jowrin, who was still fast asleep by the fireplace.

“Shouldn’t we wake her? She’ll definitely sulk if we leave without her.”

“But why is she sleeping so late? She’s usually up before all of us.”

Jowrin was still a young dragon.

In other words, her stamina was essentially monstrous.

It was bizarre that someone who normally woke up early and immediately rolled around demanding to go outside was still sleeping soundly.

“Your Majesty. Your Majesty?”

“Mmm... Jowrin didn’t do it...”

“Do what?”

...Lee Han?!

Jowrin abruptly snapped awake.

The moment she saw the gathered students, her face turned deathly pale.

Even if Jowrin said something strange just now, it was sleep-talking! Sleep-talking!

“You didn’t really say anything though.”

...R-Right? Jowrin is innocent!

“...??”

At Jowrin’s blatantly suspicious behavior, Lee Han and the others exchanged confused glances.

“Did Gainando sneak in during the night and poke her with a staff before running away again?”

“Come on. Even Gainando wouldn’t...”

“No, honestly, that sounds exactly like something he’d do.”

Meanwhile, Lee Han scooped the baby basilisk back into his sleeve.

Normally, the creature would already be awake and babbling nonstop by now, yet today it merely drooped sleepily.

What’s this? Did the two of them do something last night?

“Your Majesty. We’re planning to visit the greenhouse. Would you like to come with us?”

Uh... Ah, but you all already went yesterday too, didn’t you? That feels excessive. The Einroguard students are pitiful!

“Your Majesty...!”

The students were deeply moved.

How compassionate!

Several students silently resolved to support the ‘Jowrin for Emperor’ faction after graduation.

Between her dragon bloodline and this level of kindness, she was clearly qualified.

“Even so, we still need to go. I also have to plant these new shoots. It should be finished by now, right?”

-Don’t worry. You’ll be amazed.

Sarataan rubbed its palms together slyly.

After recent events, the once-arrogant and violent spirit had become remarkably submissive.

“Good. I’m counting on you. This spirit said it would help cultivate the mandragons. Your Majesty, come with us too. I’ll show you the plants you didn’t get to see yesterday.”

“Wardanaz. Most of the plants you didn’t see yesterday are dangerous species that attack people...”

“So what? His Majesty would probably find them more interesting.”

Most plants in the greenhouse would struggle to leave even a scratch on Jowrin’s scales.

Knowing her tastes well by now, Lee Han confidently made the suggestion.

J-Jowrin might be a little scared...

“?!”

Lee Han was genuinely shocked.

“Your Majesty. Did something happen? If you’re still uncomfortable because of Einroguard, I can arrange for you to return to the capital at any time—”

No no no! That’s not it!

“Gainando didn’t attack you with magic in the middle of the night and run away, did he?”

Absolutely not... Jowrin wants to visit the greenhouse...

Jowrin glanced enviously at the baby basilisk dozing inside Lee Han’s sleeve.

If only Jowrin could sleep through this too.

***

“You’re not going to change your story later after saying all this, right?”

-Don’t worry. I told you already—you’ll be surprised.

Even while walking there, Lee Han continued interrogating the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° spirit every five minutes.

The other students, unaware of the history between the two, whispered among themselves.

-Isn’t Wardanaz being too harsh on that spirit?

-It must be the Wardanaz family style. You need overwhelming dignity to dominate powerful spirits.

-I see... So that’s why spirits keep running away from them...

Wooooooooong!

A dreadful vibration suddenly echoed from the distant greenhouse.

Every student instinctively clamped their hands over their ears.

...Except Lee Han.

“What’s that?”

“W-Wardanaz! The greenhouse... from the greenhouse...!”

“A mandragon got pulled out!”

Yonair was the first to understand the situation.

If the sound was audible even outside, then among greenhouse plants, only a mandragon could produce something like that.

“Everyone! Drink the potions!”

“Thanks, Yonair!”

“Not you, Lee Han!”

“...I know.”

Lee Han felt oddly offended when Yonair snapped at him to hand the potions to the others instead.

Of course it would be pointless for him to drink one...

Still, Yonair didn’t have to say it like that!

The students hurriedly swallowed mental-protection potions and shoved in mandragon earplugs, visibly relieved afterward.

“Why was the mandragon uprooted?”

“Who knows...?”

As Lee Han approached the greenhouse entrance, he hesitated.

An unfamiliar magical seal had been attached to the greenhouse door.

What’s this? Did Professor Willow put it here?

But if Professor Willow had done it, there was no reason not to tell the students first.

Instead of breaking the seal immediately, Lee Han first peered inside to assess the situation.

“...”

Then he abruptly stepped backward several paces.

“What’s wrong, Wardanaz?”

“...Can mandragons normally grow like that?”

“??”

Confused, the others crowded around the greenhouse windows.

Then they recoiled in shock as well.

Normally, a mandragon’s screaming humanoid body remained buried deep underground, with only its leaves and upper stems protruding slightly above the soil.

But now—

Enormous leaves and stems unlike anything they had ever seen completely filled the greenhouse.

The gigantic leaves alone occupied nearly half the structure.

Students from other towers who arrived late were equally horrified.

“What in the world happened?”

“Can mandragons even grow that large?”

“Wait... if the screaming was this loud outside, then it was still underground the whole time?!”

“I-It’s this loud even through the greenhouse doors...”

“I know what happened!”

Everyone turned toward Siana.

“What do you mean, Priest Siana?”

“I know exactly why the mandragon became like this.”

Siana dramatically pointed forward like a detective revealing the culprit.

Toward Lee Han’s staff.

“The spirit inside that staff is responsible!”

-...????!!!!

Sarataan, who had proudly prepared the new shoots, screamed in utter disbelief at suddenly being accused.

Naturally, only Lee Han could hear the spirit’s voice.

“Think about it,” Siana continued confidently. “Who besides that spirit could have caused a mandragon to grow like that? And it has motive too! It resents Wardanaz. It wouldn’t be strange if it intentionally twisted his orders!”

“Indeed... the spirit’s revenge...!”

“So that’s why it insisted the work would take a full day!”

The students all admired Siana’s deduction.

Powerful beings from other dimensions were notoriously difficult to control, even under contracts.

They constantly searched for loopholes to sabotage their contractors.

-Absolutely not! Absolutely not! Who is that damned little priest trying to frame?! I’ll kill him!

Sarataan bounced around in fury.

Having to defend itself like this felt humiliating beyond words.

Being forced into submission by a young mage was already disgraceful enough.

And now it had to endure false accusations too?!

Unfortunately for Sarataan, Lee Han was already halfway convinced by Siana’s reasoning.

“Come to think of it... didn’t you say I’d be surprised once we got here?”

-...