The exam this time was meant to test mastery of the spells they had previously learned: <Lower Body Time Extension>, <Lower Time Deceleration>, and <Lower Time Acceleration>.

<Lower Body Time Extension> was a second-circle spell that extended the length of time perceived by an individual.

It was not flashy, but in time magic—a difficult field requiring extensive calculation—it was an essential foundation.

<Lower Time Deceleration> and <Lower Time Acceleration> were third-circle spells cast directly on objects.

Since the difficulty of casting time magic on living beings rose sharply, practicing on inanimate objects first was indispensable.

“Please check it, Professor.”

“......”

And Lee Han succeeded cleanly with all three.

His casting was stable now, entirely unlike the unstable attempts he had shown last time.

Professor Garcia hid his displeasure and asked,

“Student Lee Han, didn’t you say last time that this was difficult?”

“That’s why I practiced.”

“I see...”

Professor Garcia suddenly remembered his own school days.

Back then, he had pitied the friends who were jealous of his magical talent. Looking back now, however, perhaps he had borne at least a tiny bit of responsibility himself.

‘Did I look like this too?’

“Professor?”

“Ah. It’s nothing. Student Lee Han, perfect score. I don’t know why you complained so much last time when you can do this well...”

“I really did think it was difficult last time.”

“But it works once you practice, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Did you perhaps realize something from the conversation we just had?”

“That the world of magic is vast and profound, so I must never grow arrogant?”

“...Not that. Never mind. Forget it.”

Professor Garcia gave up trying to teach his disciple confidence.

In the end, this sort of thing was part of a person’s nature. It was not something that changed overnight.

Professor Garcia suddenly imagined Lee Han becoming a professor someday and still complaining, “New magic is difficult.”

“In any case, it’s a perfect score. You worked hard.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

“Wait. Professor Lightningstep should still be busy right now.”

Professor Garcia checked the time and realized the mistake.

Come to think of it, this was when Professor Lightningstep would be teaching students.

“Then I’ll wait a little. Oh, Professor. Could you perhaps give me some advice? You seem like you’d have a lot of experience with this kind of thing.”

At his disciple’s question, Professor Garcia froze with his back turned.

“...What do you mean, Student Lee Han? A lot of experience? Are you implying that I illegally brought large rare creatures into Einroguard and raised them?”

“Huh? No... Did you?”

Lee Han was slightly flustered.

He had no idea why Professor Garcia had suddenly become so serious.

“Of course not! Ha, haha. It was a joke, Student Lee Han. A joke!”

“Ah. I see. It was a difficult joke, so I didn’t understand it. By experience, I meant your experience counseling students.”

“Ah... that experience?”

Professor Garcia’s voice rose slightly, and the stiffness left his expression.

The troll-blooded professor coughed and spoke modestly.

“Other professors would have far more experience with that than I do.”

“Who?”

“...Student Lee Han. Asking about things like that one by one is impolite.”

Since Professor Garcia could not think of any such professors either, he pressed on with authority.

Lee Han thought to himself.

‘Who exactly are these professors? Are they retired?’

“Still... I’m glad Student Lee Han relies on me. I may be lacking, but I’ll try to squeeze out what wisdom I can.”

Professor Garcia rummaged through the bookshelf and pulled out an old book.

“Oops.”

The professor muttered, “I forgot to erase the cover,” then waved a staff.

The words <Unbreakable One Breeding Diary> faintly disappeared.

“Let’s see. When being stubborn... when being stubborn...”

“What kind of book is that?”

“A record written by a mage who once raised a large rare creature. I obtained it a long time ago.”

“There are books like that? Could I borrow it too?”

“...It’s still too advanced for you, Student Lee Han! I’ll interpret only the necessary parts.”

‘Is it about ancient evil creatures?’

Professor Garcia flipped through the book, then let out a small “Ah.”

“Obedience potion. They tried that approach too.”

“There’s such a thing as an obedience potion?”

Lee Han grew interested.

Would it work on Gainando too?

“It wasn’t very effective. Originally, that sort of potion is practically meaningless against creatures with strong resistance.”

“I see.”

“Corporal punishment using electric shock...”

“That sounds too cruel.”

Lee Han frowned.

Perhaps because it was a book about ancient evil creatures, the disciplinary methods were far too harsh.

How could he shock Jowurin with lightning?

Besides, considering a dragon’s resistance, it probably would not work well anyway.

At his disciple’s words, Professor Garcia suddenly began coughing.

“Cough, cough! I’m not telling you to do this, Student Lee Han. It’s merely written here. The mage who wrote this book also deeply regretted it, as you can see. The creature ate his research, so he lost his temper.”

“Oh dear. But Prince Jowurin doesn’t do things like that.”

“......”

At the faintly boastful tone, Professor Garcia felt a slight irritation.

So Prince Jowurin had a good personality, while the Unbreakable One had a bad one?

‘Hmph. It’s only a species difference. If the Unbreakable One had been a dragon, it would have been much more docile.’

“Let’s move on. Cane...”

“Hitting scales probably wouldn’t do much damage.”

“They used a special cane capable of inflicting physical pain on large creatures. Of course, this wasn’t very effective either.”

Professor Garcia continued listing several more methods.

Electric shock, cane, meal deprivation, kneeling and standing, copying old texts to cultivate character, and so on.

“What do you think?”

“They all seem rather poor.”

Lee Han answered honestly.

Among them, very few seemed likely to work on Jowurin.

Professor Garcia nodded as though he agreed.

“That’s right, Student Lee Han. As I read through these methods, I also thought each one was ineffective. But this large rare creature eventually came to understand the mage’s intentions. I believe the reason was trust.”

“!”

Looking back on past memories, Professor Garcia now realized what had been missed then. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

At the time, everything had been so frantic and exhausting that only resentment remained. But eventually, the Unbreakable One had matured and come to understand Professor Garcia’s intentions.

Even though it could easily have escaped elsewhere.

It must have felt the trust Professor Garcia gave it, and returned that trust in turn.

The trouble and accidents they caused each other were ultimately trivial in hindsight.

As long as there was trust, such things would naturally be corrected.

“......”

“Are you dissatisfied because it isn’t a magical solution, Student Lee Han?”

When Lee Han remained silent, Professor Garcia asked cautiously.

However, the magic-obsessed disciple slowly shook his head.

“No. I think you’re right, Professor. I don’t think I trusted His Majesty enough.”

“It isn’t entirely your fault. Who could have known he would produce a dragon stone like that?”

“Exactly! I told him not to do it...”

“Still, Student Lee Han, you are fortunate. His Majesty Jowurin didn’t devour all your research or destroy your private room.”

“His Majesty Jowurin isn’t a slime. Why would he do something like that? His Majesty Jowurin is very intelligent.”

“......”

Professor Garcia’s fist clenched tightly for a moment before relaxing again.

“When I return, I should apologize to His Majesty for getting angry. I should trust his promise not «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» to do it again.”

“So are you going to take the exam now?”

“No? Confinement is confinement. I’m keeping him confined for the rest of the week.”

Professor Garcia was honestly impressed by such an unwavering answer.

Who could be that consistent in front of a dragon?

***

“Thank you, Professor!”

“You all worked hard too. Go rest... no, go study for your next exam.”

“......”

The first-year students cursed inwardly at Professor Lightningstep’s words of encouragement.

“Maybe the original professor would’ve been better. Who was it again? Ben... Benderjul? Professor Benderjul.”

“I used to respect him because he showed up in the Imperial newspapers all the time as an adventurer, but it was a total scam!”

At his friends’ grumbling, Alhild of House Pengerine quietly said,

“We don’t even know Professor Benderjul. Professor Lightningstep’s teaching may be harsh, but it might be necessary to keep up with Einroguard’s standards. Complaining is fine, but afterward, let’s all work hard together.”

The students felt ashamed at the words of their friend, who never put down his books despite being the top student of their tower.

If someone usually arrogant had said that, they would have swung their staffs immediately. But Alhild had never been like that.

He was truly admirable.

“Pengerine. Sometimes I think you should have gone to the Phoenix Tower.”

“I heard rumors before that Pengerine was arrogant, but I don’t know what bastard spread that nonsense. Just look at him.”

Even under his friends’ praise, Alhild shook his head.

“No. The rumors were true. I was an arrogant and conceited mage.”

“This guy...! How can you be so honorable?”

“Blue worms. Move.”

At the words spat out by the White Tiger Tower students behind them, the Blue Dragon Tower students’ expressions hardened.

“How dare you?”

“How dare what? Move.”

“Fine. We’ll move. But first, try enduring this laughter curse—”

“Hey! Ulgan! Ulgan’s coming!”

At someone’s whisper, the White Tiger Tower students went pale.

Despite being from the same tower, they were clearly afraid.

“You people! You’re not fighting, are you?!”

When the large student came running from afar and shouted, the White Tiger Tower students frantically denied it.

“Wh-what are you talking about, Ulgan? Us, fighting? We weren’t fighting. Right?”

“Of... of course. We weren’t fighting.”

Surprisingly, the Blue Dragon Tower students agreed as well.

They knew perfectly well how dangerous Ulgan could be when standing in front of them.

-Stop! Stop fighting!

-Get lost, Ulgan! Either fight with your own tower or leave!

-Ulgan! Are you just going to stand there after hearing that?! Help us!

-I said stop fighting! Please stop! ...I told you to stop!!!

-Gack! Ugh!

-Argh! Guh!

The students who had once been beaten half to death as punishment for starting a fight in front of Ulgan, who hated fighting, had learned a painful lesson.

Ah. Don’t provoke someone who hates fighting!

“That’s a relief. I thought you were fighting.”

“Ha, haha.”

“Hahaha.”

After an awkward round of laughter, Ulgan spoke as though remembering something.

“Oh, right. Eandurde is handing out food over there, so hurry up and get some.”

“What? Again?! Where is all this food coming from? Did only Black Turtle Tower discover some hidden warehouse?”

“I heard a Blue Dragon Tower senior gave it to him?”

“No way. What crazy senior gives food to juniors who aren’t even from the same tower?”

The students were puzzled, but they ran to line up anyway.

First-years were always hungry, and with these distributions, if they ended up at the back of the line, nothing would be left.

“Hello, everyone.”

“...Priest Karle. Please don’t come closer.”

“Why? Why would you say that?”

“Because you’ll steal something if you come close!”

“How rude...! What did I do wrong...”

Like beaver beastkin or penguin beastkin, squirrel beastkin could manipulate people’s guilt with nothing but their expressions.

Even after being robbed several times, the White Tiger Tower students somehow felt as if they had done something wrong.

“I also received this basket for you. Here.”

“Th-thank you...”

“Not at all. Helping others is a priest’s natural joy.”

Inside the food basket, a paper magic beetle quietly fluttered its wings.

Priest Karle smiled at the sight.

At last, the locks on the White Tiger Tower students’ storage would be opened.