“owexcessivelycruel!”

Aftereeantattledonthem,thensaneDoppelgangerconfiscatedeverylastwaxmemopadtheFrostiantspossessed.

aturally,noneofthegiantsdaredcomplaindirectlytohim.

heyonlygrumbledquietlyamongthemselves.

“Sinceancienttimes,wisekingshaveneitheroppressedtheirpeoplenorsilencedtheirsubjects.”

“hat’sright.”

“Quiet.”

heFrostiantsinstantlyfellsilentlikefrightenedmice.

hemomenteveryoneshuttheirmouths,Cattenseizedtheopportunityandbroughtuptherealmatter.

“herehavebeenvariouscomplications,butletmefirstexplainmyproposal.hesemagesrequireatrialtoprovetheirqualifications,andwouldlikeyourassistanceinpreparingit.”

heWhiteigerowerstudentsflinched.

hentheydesperatelybegancommunicatingwiththeireyes.

‘Refuse!’

‘ellthemtorefuse!’

owcouldaproudwarriorraceassistwithsomeacademyexamformagicstudents?

hatwoulddamagetheirhonor.bviouslytheyshouldrejectit.

“...Understood.Weshallassist.”

“!!!!”

heWhiteigerowerstudents’expectationsshatteredinstantly.

heFrostiantsfearedthensaneDoppelgangerfarmorethantheyhadimagined.

Cattenbrightenedimmediately.

“Juniors!histurnedoutwonderfully!neverexpectedthegiantstoagreesoeasily!Professorngledelwillbedelighted!”

“Wow...”

“ah...We’rethrilled...”

eeanandiselleansweredwithpainfullyfakesmiles.

Cattentiltedhisheadsuspiciously.

“Aren’tyouhappy?’msensingasomewhatawkwardatmosphere...”

“o.We’rehappy.aha.”

“Absolutelythrilled....Wardanaz,doyouhappentohaveanyofthatpoisonedliquorleft?”

“Damnit.shouldn’thavethrownitawayearlier.”

eeanandisellesighedheavily.

adtheyknowntheywouldendupfightingFrostiantsagain,theywouldneverhavediscardedthepoisonliquor.

“You’renotplanningtomakeusfightthemwithswordsalone,right?Magicisallowedtoo...right?”

“Probably.houghhonestly,havingFrostiantsasanexamalreadyfeelsinsane.”

Asthetwowhisperedquietly,thensaneDoppelgangerurgedthemimpatiently.

“urryup.Whatareyoustandingaroundfor?”

Fromhisperspective,hisdisciplewaswastingtimechattinginsteadofretrievingtheFrostiants’artifact.

aturally,thatannoyedhim.

WhyweretheymakingsuchafussoverafewFrostiants?

isdisciplestilllackedproperdignity.

eeanclearedhisthroatandlookedtowardthegiants.

“henshallpresentmyproposal....”

Justashebeganspeaking,hehesitated.

Cometothinkofit,althoughhehadfullyintendedtorecovertheFrostiants’artifactonceanopportunityarose—

Moreaccurately,stealit—

ehadneverplannedtoannouncethatintentionopenly.

WasitreallyfinetosaythisdirectlyinfrontoftheFrostiants?

“Whatproposal?Speakquickly.”

“Stopdraggingthingsoutandspeak.”

BoththeFrostiantsandthensaneDoppelgangerpressuredhimatthesametime.

Unabletododgetheissueanylonger,eeanfinallyconfessedhonestly.

“...cameheretoobtaintheartifactyou’researchingfor...”

“...”

heWhiteigerowerstudentsbehindhimcouldonlystareinadmiration.

heyhadalwaysknownWardanazwasbold.

Butthis?

‘ncredible,Wardanaz!’

‘eactuallysaidthatinfrontoftheFrostiants...!’

Declaring“cametotakeyourartifact”directlytoaraceofmurderousgiants.

oonehadexpectedevenWardanaztosaysomethingsoreckless.

heFrostiantsthemselvesalsofellspeechlessforamoment.

Apparentlyeventheywerestunned.

Fortunatelyforeean,however,thensaneDoppelgangerwasstandingrightbesidehim.

“Didn’tyouhearmydisciple?Answerhim.”

“...Understood.Youmaytaketheartifact.”

errifiedofthensaneDoppelganger,theFrostiantsansweredhesitantly.

heWhiteigerowerstudentswereshockedalloveragain.

‘hatactuallyworked?!’

‘getitnow,Wardanaz.YouintendedtousethePrincipal’sprojectionfromthebeginning!Whataterrifyingbastard!’

omatterhowlonginroguard’shistorywas,WardanazwasprobablythefirststudentevertoexploittheSkullPrincipal’sprojectionthisthoroughly.

heWhiteigerowerstudentsshudderedathisterrifyingcunning.

eeanhimselfwasshudderingtoo.

‘hiseasily?’

venintimidated,hehadexpectedatleastsomeresistance.

nstead,theysurrenderedimmediately.

Atthispoint,maybehecouldpushthingsfurther.

“Pleaseswearthatyouwon’tchallengemetopointlessduelsinthefuture.”

“...Understood.Weswear.”

“Andnoloudlygrumblingnearbyeither.Sweartothataswell.”

heFrostiantslookedstartled.

owhadthischallengerreadtheirthoughtssoaccurately?

‘sitmagic?’

“...Weswear...”

“toldyounottowastetimeonpointlessnonsense.”

hemomentthensaneDoppelgangerspoke,eeanimmediatelysenseddanger.

ehadgottengreedy✪оvеlіgһt✪(fficialversion)tryingtoexploithismaster’sauthoritytoomuch.

“apologize.”

“nough.etroyaltysettlesuchmatters.YoulikelyintendtousetheseFrostiantsassubordinatesanyway.”

“Yes...Yes?!”

eean,whohadansweredabsentmindedly,nearlyscreamed.

What?

“o,...”

eean’sactualgoalhadbeenfarsimpler.

emerelywantedtoavoidgettingharassedbyFrostiantsdemandingduelseverytimehevisitedanotherdimension.

eabsolutelydidnotwantgiantwarriorsswarmingaroundhimofferinglifelongservicewheneverhecrosseddimensions.

Unfortunately,thensaneDoppelgangerinterpretedhisintentionsdifferently.

ikeathoughtfulmaster,heperfectlyunderstoodthoughtseeanhimselfhadneverpossessed.

therwise,whywouldhisdisciplespeakinsucharoundaboutmanner?

“YouFrostiantsstilloweroyaltyadebtfromagespast.Repayithere.”

“...Understood.Weswear...”

“...”

Beforeeeancouldinterrupt,theoathwascomplete.

Fromnowon,iftheymetagaininanotherdimension,theFrostiantswouldapparentlycomechargingovertofightonhisbehalfwhilestakingtheirhonoronit.

“Wow,Wardanaz.Recoveringtheartifactwasonething,butneverimaginedyou’dmaketheFrostiantsserveyouafterward.”

“...Can’tyoushutup?”

“W-whyareyougettingangry?!”

heunfortunateWhiteigerowerstudentpanickedafterbeingsnappedatmerelyforexpressingadmiration.

Whatdidevendowrong?!

***

inroguardibrary.

hehistoriclibraryhadgatheredtogethermostofthesecond-yearstudentsfromeverytower.

venforaweekend,itwasunusualtoseestudentsfromdifferenttowersgatheredinoneplacelikethis.

owever,bynow,second-yearsnolongerfoundsuchthingssurprising.

nstead,theirattentionfocusedelsewhere.

“W-whatthehellisthat?”

“hat’sthePrincipal’sprojection.hearditfollowsWardanazaroundlikesomecursedspecter.”

“o,knowthatalready.meanthoseidiotshammeringmetalbesidehim.”

“Ah.heWhiteigerowerstudentsmust’veacquiredoresomewhere.hey’reforgingequipment.”

“...nsidethelibrary?”

Regardlessofthestaresandcomplaintsfromstudentsofothertowers,theWhiteigerowerstudentscontinuedpumpingbellowsandhammeringaway.

obeginwith,inroguard’slibraryhadnevertrulybeenaplaceofsilenceorpeace.

fithadbeen,therewouldhavebeennoreasontoconstructtemporaryfortressesandwagesurvivalbattlesinsideitlasttime.

Atthispoint,whatdifferencedidabitofforgingmake?

“Rowena.ow’stheswordcomingalong?”

“hisshouldturnoutquiteuseful.Wecanprobablyfinishthreemoretoday.”

“ehe.Allthatsufferingwasworthit.”

heWhiteigerowerstudentsnoddedasmemoriesofmininginanotherdimensionresurfaced.

Afterenduringsomuchhardship,thefinishedequipmentfeltevenmorevaluable.

“Wardanaz.hanksfor—”

hestudentstryingtothanktheirfriendhesitated.

AnyonecouldtellWardanazwasinanextremelyfoulmood.

Didn’thelooklikethisafterreturningfromthedimensionlasttimetoo...?

“Why’sWardanazactinglikethat?”

Whileeveryonepuzzledoverit,Bartrekproposedaconvincingtheory.

“sn’titbecauseexamsarecomingup,there’stoomuchtoprepare,andeverything’sabsurdlydifficult?”

“ndeed.”

hatwaswhystudentsfromvarioustowershadgatheredinthelibrarytobeginwith.

AndaslongasWardanazremainedaninroguardstudent,hecouldn’tescapeexampreparationeither.

Consideringthesheernumberanddifficultyoftheclasseshewastaking,itwouldhonestlybestrangerifhewereinagoodmood.

“thinkit’sbecausesomepeoplegotsenttothepunishmentcells.”

ormallyquiet,Raphaedelunexpectedlyofferedhisownopinion.

hattheoryalsosoundedplausible.

Severalfamiliarfaceswereindeedmissingaftercausingtroubleandgettingdraggedofftopunishment.

“...ButwouldWardanazreallybeangryjustbecausesomeonegotsenttothepunishmentcells?”

nestudentsuddenlynoticedtheflawinthatlogic.

Wardanazwasn’ttheWhiteigerower’ssupervisingprofessor,afterall.

Whywouldhereactthatstrongly?

heWhiteigerowerstudents,however,nolongerfoundanythingstrangeaboutit.

“What’sstrange?e’salwaysbeenlikethat.”

“Right.heidiotswhogotsenttherearetheonesatfault.”

“...owthatyoumentionit,thatdoesmakesense.Moradi,isWardanazupsetbecauseofthepeoplewhogotsenttopunishment?”

Whenuncertainaboutthissortofthing,theWhiteigerowerstudentsinstinctivelysoughtoutareliablefriend.

Passingnearby,iselleansweredwithanexpressionthatclearlysaidwhyaretheseidiotschattinginsteadofstudying?

“e’sprobablystillannoyedabouttheFrostiants.ewantedtoavoidgettinginvolvedwiththem,butgotdraggedintoitanyway.”

“uh?Butwouldn’thavingFrostiantshelpyouinotherdimensionsbeuseful?”

“Atthesametime,itmeansgettingtangledupwithcountlessotherFrostiantshenevermadeagreementswith.maginehowexhaustingthatwouldbe.”

“ButWardanazwasalreadyongoodtermswiththegiantslivinginthemountainrangebehindtheschool.WhatchangesjustbecauseFrostiantsgotadded?”

“...”

Foramoment,isellefoundherselfspeechless.

Shehadn’texpectedsuchadevastatinglylogicalargument.

“...hengoaskWardanazyourself.”

“Ah,no.Maybenot.”

ventheWhiteigerowerstudentsunderstoodthatsaying“youwerealreadyfriendswithgiantsanyway”tosomeonecurrentlyangryaboutFrostiantswasprobablyunwise.

Meanwhile,eeanlightlytappedatinymetalflaskhangingfromhisneck—acontainernolargerthanalocket—withhisstaff.

‘Asexpected.Stillwon’topen.’

heWhiteigerowerstudentshadproducedallsortsofbrillianttheories,butnoneofthemwerecorrect.

herealreasoneeanwasirritatedwasbecausetheFrostiantartifactrefusedtoopen.

“ereitis.hisliquor.hisiswhatwecamesearchingfor.”

“...Poisonliquorlikebefore?”

“Somethingfarmorepreciouslieswithinit.Wisdom!”

“!!!”

eeannearlyjumpedattheFrostiant’sexplanation.

iquorcontainingwisdom.

veryinroguardstudentdesiredintelligence-enhancingpotions,andeeanwasnoexception.

otafailedproductthatturnedpeopleintobabblingprophetslikelasttime.

Agenuinewisdompotion.

fitwasaFrostiantartifact,maybeittrulyexisted.

heproblemwasthatnomatterwhathetried,theflaskrefusedtoopen.

“owdoyouopenit?”

“Wedon’tknoweither.hat’swhatwe’vebeentryingtofigureout.”

“...!”

hetinyflask,barelylargerthanafist,wasabsurdlydurable.

iquidsloshedinsidewhenshaken,butanymanaeeanpouredintoitwasdispersedwithincredibleprecision.

‘Damnit.Someoneevendesignedthisthingtoresistmanahammering!’

eeancouldn’tcomprehendwhythecreatorhadgonetosuchridiculouslengths.

“Wardanaz.Youdon’treallyneedtoworrysomuchabouttheFrostiants.”

“uh?”

eeanlookedstartledwhenisellesuddenlyspoke.

“Dimensionsarevast.Youprobablywon’trunintoFrostiantsveryoften.”

“Uh...thanks.Butwhyareyousuddenlysayingthat?”

“?”

isellehesitated.

Wasn’theupsetbecauseoftheFrostiants?

“Comeoverhere.We’refinishing【AdvancedMagicalMathematicsandsotericeometry】today.”

heimpossibledeclarationcamefromthensaneDoppelgangerstandingbehindthem.

eean’sexpressiontwistedonceagain.

‘...Ah.Soitreallywasn’ttheFrostiants.’

Cometothinkofit,Wardanazhadalwaysgottenalongsuspiciouslywellwithgiants.

Frostiantswerestillgiantsattheendoftheday.

aturally,hewouldprobablybecomefriendswiththemquicklytoo.