Maybe it was just Lee Han’s imagination, but Diret’s eyes seemed to be saying, You’re a fifth-year, and you’re making a junior treat you? Just tell him to go die on his own.

Princess Yukbeltire also seemed to be saying something with her eyes, but Lee Han wasn’t especially interested, so it didn’t come through clearly.

“Your arm is... badly shattered.”

“That’s because the magic you showed me was so powerful, Junior.”

Caten smiled with deep satisfaction, even though one of his arms was twisted and mangled like the candy Gainando liked.

Lee Han nearly hit him, then held back. If he did, the other two seniors might take it as a signal and attack Caten.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“It hurts. But I’m used to pain. I trained in the punishment cells.”

Did he go to a different punishment cell than I did?

Lee Han wondered inwardly.

Maybe after failing enough times, or after growing strong enough, a person entered a higher-difficulty punishment cell.

Otherwise, there was no explaining how anyone could train until they could endure an arm shattered like this.

“May I ask about that magic?”

“Please be quiet. I need to concentrate.”

Lee Han considered how to repair this ruined arm using the healing magic and alchemy he had learned.

Unaware of his junior’s thoughts, Caten kept chattering excitedly about the magic from earlier.

“Junior, did you perhaps cast that with incantation shortening?”

“...It was incantationless. Hey, Jahan. Shut up. The junior is concentrating.”

Diret finally stepped in and silenced Caten.

Of course, anyone who actually shut up when told to would never have survived to fifth year at Einroguard. Caten turned to Diret, pleased.

“Then you can tell me, Diret.”

“...It’s fifth-circle telekinesis magic. Satisfied? It’s specialized for instant incantationless casting.”

“Ooh...!”

Hearing of magic that had reached completion through a comprehensive understanding of its field—not simple repetition, but a spell shaped by the caster’s purpose and nature—made Caten’s eyes sparkle.

“Don’t move!”

Lee Han snapped when Caten tried to start taking notes.

Diret sighed, unable to watch any longer, and offered advice.

“It might be better to call someone from the healing magic school. This is beyond a compound fracture.”

“I feel bad calling healing school seniors for something like this...”

“That’s literally their school’s work.”

Lee Han nodded at Princess Yukbeltire’s words.

Then he continued as if he hadn’t heard.

“It must be exhausting work, so I feel sorry for them.”

“I said that’s their school’s work.”

“Yes, yes. That’s why I tried to handle it myself, but it really isn’t easy.”

“...How about using this?”

Princess Yukbeltire took out the stone mirror artifact she had used in the earlier battle.

Lee Han looked startled.

“You want me to burn off the broken arm?”

“That would be a little much.”

Caten shook his head awkwardly.

Even for him, losing an arm was a bit much.

“Yukbeltire’s stone mirror wasn’t originally made for combat. It can be used that way, of course, but its original purpose is investigation.”

Diret explained on behalf of the friend.

There was a faint sense of crisis that, if left alone, Princess Yukbeltire might one day collapse from clutching the back of her neck too hard.

“It can examine not only the internal structure of objects and artifacts, but also the human body. It can also receive commands. Help repair the arm.”

At Diret’s command, the mirror-shaped artifact began tracing lines of light while precisely reflecting the shattered arm.

“...Attach.”

Following its instructions one by one, Lee Han was amazed.

He had been skeptical at first, but the stone mirror really did seem to know how to treat Caten’s arm.

The arm had been so badly shattered that Lee Han hadn’t even known where to begin, yet it gradually improved with each spell he cast.

Did they even include divination magic? Like the Calendarium. Impressive.

Moved, Lee Han looked at Diret and said,

“This and the bronze golem from before really are incredible.”

“Right?”

Diret looked pleased for no particular reason at the praise for a friend.

Caten, standing beside them, also smugly rubbed beneath his nose.

“That’s right. Yukbeltire is excellent...”

“Why are you acting proud?”

“We’re in the same year.”

Princess Yukbeltire, who had been listening quietly, spoke.

“Artificial dimension magic is several times more advanced than this...”

“I’m not interested in that.”

“...”

Seeing Princess Yukbeltire’s fingertips tremble again, Caten whispered to Diret.

“She seems angry.”

“She is angry.”

***

After about an hour of work, Caten’s arm had recovered to some degree.

“For the rest, you should be fine if you keep taking healing potions for about a week.”

“Hey. You really made the junior work for this. If you have any conscience at all, keep that in mind.”

Diret scolded Caten.

An exceptional healing mage like Professor Alcasis could have visualized the complete recovery at once and healed the whole injury with a powerful spell.

But the junior was, after all, still a second-year.

So Lee Han had no choice but to borrow the power of the stone mirror and repair the injury stitch by stitch with lower-level healing magic. If his mana hadn’t been overflowing, he would have collapsed long ago.

“I know. Hm. Junior. Next time, whatever request you have, call on Caten of House Jahan. I’ll help you sincerely.”

“Senior...!”

Lee Han was slightly moved by the reliable way Caten thumped his chest.

With this cat beastkin senior beside him, he felt like there would be nothing to fear, no matter what the request was.

“What nonsense. You’re always in the punishment cells. When would you help?”

“By probability, it seems more likely that even if you wanted to help the House Wardanaz junior, you wouldn’t be able to.”

Unlike Lee Han, Diret and Princess Yukbeltire were not fooled.

They knew perfectly well that this friend would spend even more time in the punishment cells once the semester began in earnest.

Caten seemed flustered by the sharp criticism and stammered.

“Th-this semester, I’m going to try hard not to go in...”

“If you were capable of that, you {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} wouldn’t have gone in so often in the first place.”

“I remember you declaring you wouldn’t go in last year, and the year before that as well. What guarantee is there that this year will be different?”

Diret and Princess Yukbeltire denounced Caten without mercy.

Caten’s ears drooped dejectedly.

Unable to watch any longer, Lee Han stepped in.

“This year might be different.”

“Right... right. This year, the House Wardanaz junior here is also helping me with magic.”

“You’re saying that proudly? You shameless trash.”

“Is it acceptable to steal the junior’s time like that?”

“...”

Diret, who had been condemning Caten just as fiercely, looked at Princess Yukbeltire for a moment.

...That really isn’t something you should say, is it?

Perhaps noticing the look, Princess Yukbeltire tilted her head.

“??”

“It’s nothing. Look ahead.”

“Of course... I am taking up Junior’s time... but I’m also teaching swordsmanship... and now that he’s awakened aura, I’ll be even more useful...”

“That’s true. It will be useful.”

“You think so too, Junior?”

Diret glared with displeasure at the White Tiger Tower friend beaming joyfully from behind Lee Han.

Even after Caten promised to teach swordsmanship next time and left, Diret kept glaring.

“Senior. He’s gone.”

“I was glaring in case he came back to say more nonsense. Junior. I heard you even awakened aura, and maybe I’m not the one to say this, but... don’t forget that having too many talents can become troublesome.”

“I’m aware.”

“Of course you are. It’s hardly new at this point. Let’s move this duke barrel.”

“Wood barrel?”

“Huh? Ah. Wood barrel. Your Grace Duke. ...Whatever it is. Let’s move it. Quickly.”

Fortunately, no new attacks came this time.

The three hurriedly transported the wood barrel to the underground workshop of the Dark Tower.

Diret cleared the throat and waved the staff.

The toad demon spat out the wood barrel.

“Now. I’ll return His Grace Duke to normal, and as for who will do the talking...”

One was sociable, but still a second-year.

One was a fifth-year, but was Princess Yukbeltire.

Diret quickly gave up and made the decision.

“I’ll talk. We did receive permission, but we still kidnapped him and brought him here, so let’s show some courtesy. Understood?”

“...”

Lee Han looked around the Dark Tower’s underground workshop.

Prison bars that had once held undead.

Bloodstained cuffs and chains.

Restraining tools used to subdue demons.

I think we’re already a little too far from courtesy...

It was certainly a place where they could avoid the eyes of students trying to steal the duke again.

Though even allies would find it terrifying.

“Senior Yukbeltire. He is still His Grace Duke. Isn’t bringing him to a place like this a bit much?”

Not wanting to add to Diret’s worries, Lee Han asked the other senior instead.

Princess Yukbeltire answered immediately.

“There’s nothing dangerous here. Why?”

“Haha. Right. Of course.”

I shouldn’t have asked.

That single answer told Lee Han he had chosen the wrong person.

POP!

With the spell, the wood barrel returned to Duke Ikalderen.

Duke Ikalderen was still trembling, as if the memory of the toad demon’s dark, sticky stomach had yet to fade.

“Your Grace Duke...”

“You insane mages! All mages should be wiped out! Now I understand why anti-magic extremists exist!”

“...”

Diret looked embarrassed.

Honestly, there was no easy rebuttal.

“I apologize for our students’ rudeness. However, we had unavoidable circumstances.”

“No magic school in the Empire could be as rude and wicked as you people!”

“Your Grace Duke. Regarding the sponsorship funds...”

“Sponsorship funds!? You dare bring up sponsorship funds—”

“Senior. Should we just call the Death Knights?”

Lee Han, unable to watch any longer, intervened.

It had been another student who turned the duke into a wood barrel, yet Duke Ikalderen was taking his anger out on the innocent Diret.

Even if he was a duke, wasn’t this too much?

“What did Senior do wrong for you to act like this?”

“Well, strictly speaking, I did imprison him in a demon’s stomach...”

“We had permission for all of this. If you keep acting like this, I think calling the Death Knights is the correct choice.”

“...”

The duke stared at Lee Han, eyes filled with shock, horror, dismay, and despair, trembling all over.

The threat of calling the Death Knights pierced Duke Ikalderen’s heart more sharply than anything else.

“You... you... you’re the House Wardanaz boy.”

“...Yes. That’s right.”

“I, I knew it...! You were hiding your true intentions and suspecting me from the beginning...!”

“That’s not true.”

Lee Han tried to explain.

His encounters with Duke Ikalderen outside the school had been pure coincidence.

And hadn’t both of them enjoyed themselves in their own ways?

Of course, the duke had acted a little eccentric, but both Lee Han and the duke had gotten what they wanted...

“You expect me to believe a disciple of the Principal visited me without any ulterior motive? Th-this conversation must be another attempt to deceive me. Isn’t it?”

“No...”

Duke Ikalderen flinched as if realizing something, then clamped his mouth shut.

He looked completely convinced that no matter what he said, Lee Han would only toy with him.

When the other person refused to listen, Lee Han thought for a moment and made up his mind.

“Your Grace Duke.”

“...?”

“Just hand over the gold coins.”

“A-all right...!”