Meanwhile, Professor Garcia, who was staying at the inn 【All Sorts of Schemes】, was growing increasingly anxious.

Originally, the students were supposed to gather every evening to discuss the events of the day, but one second-year student still had not returned.

Of course, absences could happen depending on how a request was progressing, but this time the situation felt different.

“Long live the vigilante! Long live Uap, buried upside down!”

“To think Granden City had a hero like this!”

“...”

Professor Garcia’s expression darkened as the adventurers behind him noisily slammed their beer mugs together.

He had hoped the rumors would gradually die down with time.

Instead, they were spreading even faster.

“Did you hear? That bastard captain of the western district guard got scared and increased his escort.”

“Too late now. The vigilante’s definitely coming for him next.”

“But who’s actually behind all this? I heard it might be a mage.”

“Isn’t it someone from Einroguard? It’s nearby, after all.”

“What? Einroguard mages are talented, sure, but they’re all eccentrics. They’re not the sort to do this kind of thing.”

“Maybe only eccentrics could pull something like this off...”

“...I really don’t think this is something an Einroguard mage would do!”

“Oh!”

The adventurers jumped slightly when the troll hybrid mage suddenly joined their conversation.

At the same time, they instinctively checked themselves to make sure they hadn’t said anything offensive. Nothing good ever came from antagonizing a mage.

“Sorry. We were being too loud.”

“No, no. It was an interesting rumor, so I ended up listening too.”

“I knew it! You’re curious too, Master Mage!”

The adventurers were delighted.

They had already been curious, and now an actual mage had joined the discussion.

“That vigilante really is a mage, right?”

“Ah... probably.”

Professor Garcia sighed inwardly.

The adventurers were not idiots. Denying something that obvious too aggressively would only make things stranger.

“To break through magical defenses that powerful so effortlessly... no matter what artifacts an adventurer carried, it wouldn’t be easy. The most reasonable explanation is that the vigilante is a mage as well.”

“Exactly!”

“Did everyone hear that?! The vigilante’s a mage!”

At the adventurer’s shout, cheers and applause erupted throughout the inn’s first floor. Someone even stomped loudly against the wooden floorboards.

“To commemorate this, I hereby name this newly brewed liquor 【The Vigilante of Granden】! One cup for everyone!”

“Wooooah!”

Professor Garcia shot a resentful glance toward the inn servant, Maphara.

Normally, the man’s talent for reading the mood and pleasing customers was admirable.

Unfortunately, today that talent was making everything worse.

At this rate, people would keep talking about it forever.

“Master Garcia. Please, have a drink.”

“Thank you...”

Professor Garcia forced a smile as Maphara poured quality liquor into a pewter cup with a generous splash.

“What’s happening?”

“Hey! They’re giving out free cups of 【The Vigilante of Granden】 at 【All Sorts of Schemes】 today!”

“Long live the vigilante! Long live the liquor!”

Even people passing outside heard the shouting and flooded into the inn.

Completely unaware of Professor Garcia’s growing headache, the adventurers enthusiastically pressed him again.

“Master Mage! Then what kind of mage do you think the vigilante is? Someone from Einroguard after all?”

“I already said no!”

“I say yes!”

“...I don’t believe it’s an Einroguard mage. As everyone knows, Einroguard mages are... somewhat eccentric.”

“...”

Maphara, who knew exactly who the culprit was, stared at him in disbelief, but Professor Garcia stubbornly kept his mouth shut.

The servant simply shook his head, wiped down the counter, and continued ladling thick meat stew into bowls.

‘From my perspective, all Einroguard mages seem eccentric.’

“True. Einroguard mages are a little strange.”

“Shh! Aren’t you scared? Don’t you know about that adventurer who kept insulting Einroguard and got turned into a toad?”

“That’s obviously just a rumor! Do Einroguard mages seriously have nothing better to do than chase adventurers around and turn them into toads?”

“...Anyway, we’re all agreed that it’s not an Einroguard mage, right?”

Everyone nodded at Professor Garcia’s words.

After a few drinks, there weren’t many people in Granden City reckless enough to openly argue with a troll hybrid mage.

“I think the vigilante must be at least a hundred years old.” 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Right! Don’t mages get stronger the older they are?”

“And he must have an incredibly destructive and violent personality.”

“That part definitely fits. Just look at what happened to the people he targeted.”

Professor Garcia quietly relaxed.

At this point, there was no way people would ever correctly identify the vigilante.

“If it’s a violent, destructive mage over a hundred years old, who could it be?”

“Maybe someone from the Lava Bird Mage Tower? You know, that mage whose head’s always on fire.”

“What about Master Gargajun? He’s over a hundred and notoriously violent.”

“Isn’t that person imprisoned somewhere in the Empire?”

While the debate grew louder, more liquor was ordered, and Maphara smiled happily at the booming business, the inn door opened.

A boy ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) with refined noble features stepped inside.

Lee Han looked around at the inn, now practically overflowing with excitement, then quietly asked Professor Garcia,

“...Is there some kind of festival today?”

“...Come upstairs immediately!”

***

“No. Why didn’t you stop me?!”

“...”

Professor Garcia seriously considered pinching both cheeks of the shameless disciple whose first response, after hearing everything explained, was a complaint.

“That was me stopping you, Lee Han!”

“But why are they so enthusiastic about this?”

“I suppose the people of Granden City found it extremely satisfying... Whatever happens, never tell anyone that you were involved.”

The citizens of Granden City might be delighted, but there was no telling what kind of resentment the victims would harbor.

Lee Han was still an incomplete mage. There was no need for him to start collecting enemies already.

“I understand. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. You simply had terrible luck... although was it really bad luck? Or good luck? Hm...”

Professor Garcia muttered to himself, then paused when he noticed the thick stack of books Lee Han was carrying.

“Lee Han, are you seriously studying even after coming all the way here? You could relax once in a while.”

“Ah. It’s not magic-related. They’re books on famous Imperial plays, along with the legends, folktales, and stories connected to them.”

Professor Garcia let out a short cry of shock and nearly dropped the pewter cup in his hand.

Lee Han instinctively caught the falling cup with telekinesis before it hit the ground.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was just shocked that student Lee Han is actually trying to enjoy himself for once!”

“...”

Lee Han grumbled inwardly while returning the cup to his professor.

“It’s not that. This is preparation for a request. There’s a place I need to infiltrate.”

“You beat people up that thoroughly, and there are still requests left?”

Professor Garcia looked genuinely puzzled.

“...Are the upperclassmen bullying student Lee Han?”

Lee Han pretended not to hear.

The Theater Club escape request was not something he could explain to anyone.

“I need to act like I know something about theater, but it’s harder than I expected.”

Lee Han pulled out a thick leather-bound book titled 【Imperial Theater for Nobles】.

“Ah. That book. Professor Krinbal helped supervise its binding.”

“...”

As expected of a famous high-society dancer.

“I helped as well.”

“Professor, you know a lot about theater too?!”

“Hm? Of course. I often attend performances with Professor Krinbal.”

‘That’s impossible!’

Lee Han was genuinely shocked.

Professor Garcia was certainly a cultured person, but fundamentally he was someone who had devoted his entire life to magic.

How could someone like that also spend time watching theater?

‘Is this possible because he mastered time magic?’

Completely unaware of his disciple’s confusion, Professor Garcia asked,

“How far have you read, student Lee Han?”

“I reached 【The Origins of Ancient Theater】.”

“...That’s the first page.”

Professor Garcia stared blankly.

This massive book, and he had stalled on the very first page?

“Ugh. The book’s difficult...”

“It’s not difficult at all.”

Someone who could instantly grasp magic a hundred times more complicated was complaining about theater?

Professor Garcia pushed the book back toward him.

“Come on. Read it properly. You said you needed this.”

“...Understood.”

Lee Han reluctantly opened the book again, as though he were touching a cursed grimoire coated in poison.

Then he froze once more.

“...Student Lee Han. Could you continue?”

“...Fine.”

Thanks to Professor Garcia’s help, Lee Han gradually learned how modern Imperial theater worked, which plays were currently popular, what kind of magic actors studied for performances, how mages earned money through theater productions, and many other things besides.

“Now then. Explain the plot of the most popular play.”

“The heirs of two hostile families fall in love, but because they cannot overcome the opposition surrounding them, they ultimately choose death.”

“Correct. And what happens afterward?”

“A great lich appears and revives both of them... although honestly, wouldn’t the story be cleaner without that part?”

“What are you talking about, student Lee Han? That’s the highlight. The great lich’s solo performance there is magnificent.”

‘Ugh. This is exactly why art is difficult.’

Lee Han sincerely felt that Imperial art was far harder to understand than Imperial magic.

With ordinary artistic sensibilities like his, it was difficult to keep up with such things.

“Still, with this level of knowledge, nobody will think you’re strange.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

Lee Han offered heartfelt gratitude to the master who had earnestly helped such an incompetent disciple.

Without Professor Garcia, he might truly have failed the infiltration mission.

How could anyone possibly memorize that absurd amount of information alone?

“Then I should get going.”

“I’ll be cheering for you, student Lee Han!”

Lee Han nodded and left the inn.

The moment he stepped outside, several people who had been waiting nearby approached him.

“Has Mister Stedal Nago arrived?”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

“...”

Please come up with a better alias than that...!

***

Arien spoke in an unusually stern voice.

“This time, you absolutely cannot beat anyone up.”

“...Why would I beat someone up?”

“I know, young master. But you absolutely cannot beat anyone up.”

‘He really doesn’t trust me at all.’

Lee Han thought resentfully.

Arien claimed he trusted him, but clearly still doubted him deep down.

From Lee Han’s perspective, who only ended up fighting because of unavoidable circumstances, this felt deeply unfair.

“Now then. Repeat the plan for me one more time.”

“Meet the nobles, introduce myself, build friendly relations with them, travel together to the palace to watch the performance, then make contact with the Einroguard students.”

“Good. And who exactly is Stedal Nago?”

“A noble from the southern Empire who was captured by pirates and later rescued by Ragesa, daughter of Torgerd, commander of a privateer fleet. While imprisoned among the pirates, he discovered a treasure map and amassed a great fortune. Afterward, he devoted himself to alchemy, created several successful potions, and accumulated even greater wealth...”

“That’s far too detailed, and I don’t think you need to explain exactly how he became rich... although being prepared won’t hurt.”

Arien looked slightly flustered by the unexpectedly elaborate backstory, but eventually nodded.

He had only intended something simple like “a noble from such-and-such region.”

‘Still, detailed is probably better than vague.’

“During the Imperial Boneflesh Flower speculation crisis, Stedal Nago remained calm and expanded his fortune even further.”

“All right, I understand, so please stop now.”