While Lee Han gathered up his scattered friends from across the city one by one, Arien and the trading company staff inspected the warehouse buildings near the north gate.

“The roof’s intact. No missing bricks either.”

“Um... Sir Arien. Will this really be alright?”

The employee assisting Arien lowered his voice cautiously as he read the atmosphere.

No matter how he thought about it, this just didn’t feel right.

...Having students from Einroguard stay in some shabby warehouse owned by a trading company?

Even wandering mages were treated generously wherever they went. But these weren’t ordinary mages — they were students of Einroguard.

From the employee’s perspective, this felt unforgivably rude.

‘Does he perhaps have some grudge against mages?’

“Sigh. I wanted to prepare something better too. But the mages themselves insisted on staying here.”

Arien sighed deeply as he answered.

The employee blinked in shock.

“The mages chose the warehouse?”

“That’s right.”

‘Mages really are all insane in the same way!’

The employee immediately started making assumptions on his own.

Maybe soft beds and warm rooms weakened magical sensitivity or something...

“They’re here!”

As they talked, the students pushed open the main gate leading into the warehouse district and entered.

The moment he saw them — unmistakably mages at a glance — the employee unconsciously checked the buildings again.

‘It’s not that terrible. No bugs. No leaks. A little old, sure, but...’

Then more thoughts surfaced.

‘...There are no beds. No servants. No baths. No reception room. No music room... Wait. Isn’t too much missing?’

The confidence he had barely gathered vanished immediately.

No matter how he tried to justify it, these warehouses were far too crude.

Each building was about the size of a two-story house, and the broad brick construction made them look respectable from the outside. But inside, they were nothing more than storage spaces packed with crates and trading company inventory.

“Gasp!”

One of the students let out a startled cry. The employee hurriedly tried to explain.

“Th-that’s because we had to prepare things in such a hurry...”

“C-can we really stay somewhere this luxurious?!”

“...”

“...”

“Hey. Shut that idiot up.”

“He’s disgracing all of Einroguard.”

“Mmph! Mmph!”

The goat beastkin student carrying a sword like a knight was dragged away by his friends with his mouth covered.

The employee stared blankly before asking again.

“Did you just call this luxurious?”

“We apologize. Our friend occasionally says strange things after failed magical experiments... Ahem. But truly — are we really allowed to stay in such a wonderful place?”

“Salko. Why are you acting like that too?”

“Sorry...”

The students carefully examined the warehouse buildings while discussing who would use which one.

After embarrassing themselves moments earlier, everyone tried their hardest to preserve their dignity.

“Can this palace... no, warehouse... be used for alchemy?”

“The storage space is large enough, so it should work. Let’s use that manor... no, warehouse over there to store incoming supplies.”

“Wardanaz. There are sleeping bags inside this warehouse. Is it perhaps actually an inn rather than a warehouse?”

“What kind of inn would look like this?”

***

Once they had recovered their composure, the second-year students of Einroguard gathered inside the warehouse they had designated as the dining hall.

Their faces were filled with the sort of emotions anyone who escaped Einroguard would naturally feel — relief, happiness, comfort, satisfaction.

Salko sank deeply into a crude armchair made from straw, dirt, water, and magic, then spoke.

“So what’s everyone planning to do?”

“Hm.”

“Well...”

The students exchanged awkward glances.

None of them had genuinely expected to escape in the first place, so nobody had made any real plans.

They had been excited, yes, but—

...now they were overwhelmed by the confusion of not knowing what to do next.

Seeing everyone floundering, Salko decided this wouldn’t do and called out to Lee Han. Surely he would have a plan.

“Wardanaz!”

“Mm?”

Lee Han turned his head while reinforcing and reorganizing the warehouse interior with summoned undead.

“I wanted to ask something!”

“Oh. Give me a moment.” 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Lee Han floated spheres of light throughout the warehouse and completed flame enchantment inscriptions across the floor.

Then he cast <Bivle’s Mana Emission Enchantment>.

It served as an auxiliary mana supply to maintain the magic throughout the warehouse.

He was casually wasting the artifact-making techniques he had learned from Professor Verdus on temporary lodging improvements, but there was ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) nobody present to point that out.

Only Adenart, who also majored in enchantment magic, stared at him in disbelief.

He’s using that spell for something like this...?

“Coffee? Black tea? Cocoa? It’s nice having more choices now that we’re outside.”

“Can I get an ice cream soda too?”

“Sure. Here.”

Angrago eagerly accepted the tin cup.

Inside was steaming hot plain water.

“...Cocoa...”

“Wise choice.”

Angrago learned an important lesson that day.

If he greedily reached for ice cream soda, he might lose the cocoa too.

After handing out the snacks he had bought from the trading company staff member — with Lee Han paying for everything, naturally — Lee Han finally sat down.

“So. What did you want to ask?”

“I’m curious about your plans. Out of everyone here, you’re probably the most experienced when it comes to going outside.”

“Someone listening might misunderstand that. Hmm. First, I’m planning to help Lord Alshicle find his patron.”

“?”

The students tilted their heads in confusion.

What was he talking about?

“After that, I’ll restock supplies, buy additional artifacts and books, and if there’s still time left, I’ll probably complete a few requests before returning.”

“...”

“...Then why did you even leave Einroguard?”

Angrago blurted out without thinking.

Everything Lee Han planned to do outside looked almost identical to what he did inside Einroguard.

Lee Han looked at his friend as though he had just said something absurd.

“You can’t easily obtain supplies and books inside.”

“Th-that’s true, but...! You should spend at least some time doing things for yourself!”

“I said I’d handle requests during my spare time.”

Lee Han looked genuinely confused about why Angrago kept saying strange things.

Is he upset because I didn’t give him ice cream soda?

This time, however, the others sided with Angrago.

“That’s not really personal time, Wardanaz.”

“I don’t think so either...”

“?!”

Lee Han was genuinely flustered.

He had never expected criticism from Salko, Yonair, Nillia, and even Asan.

Adenart hesitated nervously as she glanced around. Honestly, she had thought it sounded like an excellent plan.

‘It sounds productive and fulfilling...’

“What? Then let’s hear your plans. I’m curious how exciting they are.”

The moment Lee Han turned the attack around, his friends became flustered instead.

“Ah, well... I was thinking about watching some jousting matches.”

“I planned to buy a new counting board...”

“Not exactly impressive either.”

Lee Han snorted.

Angrago and Asan protested indignantly.

“Jousting matches are fun!”

“Every workshop has different craftsmanship!”

“Nillia’s probably going to attend some noble banquet, and Yonair will end up working at the workshop anyway.”

“?!?”

Nillia’s eyes widened.

That’s not true?!

Unfortunately, her friend spoke first, causing her to miss the chance to deny it.

“Lee Han’s right, though. I do have several potions I need to finish.”

“Hm. I also need to find grimoires related to the magic I’m studying.”

The mood immediately grew heavy.

All the students had suddenly realized the miserable truth.

Once you entered Einroguard, even occasional trips outside couldn’t free you from that fate.

“St-still, if we’ve finally made it out here, shouldn’t we spend at least a little time for ourselves? Next semester will be even busier, and next year will be worse. Just look at the upperclassmen. They live like slaves!”

Angrago’s words resonated deeply with everyone present.

Mentioning the upperclassmen had been especially effective.

The moment they remembered the exhausted upperclassmen, endlessly crushed beneath schedules and responsibilities every single day, a terrible sense of crisis struck them.

What if today was the last truly peaceful day of their lives?

“Maybe we should all try to find something fun together...”

“Oh. This discarded crate still has reagents inside. I should ask the staff if we can use them.”

“What? Really? What kind?”

“There’s no reason to waste perfectly usable reagents...”

“...”

The moment Lee Han mentioned discarded reagents, everyone gathered around him immediately and began discussing whether they could use them if they were being thrown away anyway.

Angrago’s shoulders slumped.

‘I should probably just buy a few grimoires and head back...’

***

The dried, twisted flamewood roots resembled tangled crimson tree roots.

They were reagents containing concentrated fire energy.

However, the flamewood roots inside the discarded crate had completely lost that power.

“Ah. Those were discarded because something went wrong during transportation.”

“If you’re throwing them away anyway, may we use them?”

“Huh? You’re free to take anything from the discard crates, but I doubt they’ll be useful...”

The staff members looked puzzled.

Magic-related goods were notoriously difficult to transport and manage, so damaged materials accumulated often. Naturally, the warehouses contained many discarded magical reagents.

Still, there was usually no practical use for them. If there had been, the merchants would have reused them already.

“If you need reagents, why not just use proper ones?”

“No. This is fine.”

After receiving permission, Lee Han returned to his friends.

Yonair tilted his head.

“Permission’s one thing, but can these really be used?”

“Indeed!”

Asan exclaimed with admiration.

“??”

“You’re planning to disguise them so they look restored, then sell them to foolish mages! Preferably those Valdrogard bastards!”

“G-genius...!”

Everyone except Yonair looked impressed.

Even Adenart looked impressed.

Fraud was wrong... but if the victims were from Valdrogard, perhaps it wasn’t entirely unforgivable.

“...No. That’s fraud. What are you talking about?”

“It wasn’t?”

“Obviously not. I’m going to restore them properly.”

“That sounds even harder...”

“Wait. Let me ask first. If it’s impossible, then I’ll give up.”

“??”

His friends stared in confusion.

Who exactly was he going to ask?

Lee Han walked behind the warehouse alone, raised his staff, and began speaking to someone.

Maybe it was just their imagination, but the others thought they heard cold curses being spat out in response. Yonair grimaced in disgust.

A while later, Lee Han returned.

“There’s a way!”

“What?! Seriously?!”

The students were so shocked that they forgot to ask who Lee Han had spoken to.

And honestly, what did it matter?

***

“Alpha. The scratch is angled wrong. Rotate it another ten degrees.”

“Ugh. I messed it up again.”

The students divided the work among themselves and began restoring the reagents.

Fortunately, restoring depleted flamewood roots wasn’t particularly difficult.

It was simply exhausting.

First, they had to carve specific patterns into the roots to maximize fire absorption. Then the roots had to be submerged inside a cauldron filled with condensed flame essence and boiling alchemical oil.

Afterward, they needed to prevent the roots from either collapsing entirely or restoring unevenly through precise timing and carefully controlled spells.

“Hmm. Meikin. Could you check the oil?”

“It seems stable... but the viscosity’s slightly low. I think we need another two rounds of enhancement magic.”

-■■ ■■■ ■■■■?

-■■ ■■■■■.

Nillia and Adenart secretly stared at each other’s summoned fire spirits in admiration.

‘Wow. How did she raise her spirits that far?’

‘How did she form contracts with so many spirits?’

Meanwhile, Rowena stood nearby with a pale face, cold sweat dripping down her back.

“...Lord Wardanaz. D-do we really need this much flame?”

“Of course. We’re restoring damaged reagents. This much is the minimum.”

Lee Han strengthened the condensed flame essence boiling inside the cauldron even further.

Blue flames surged violently into the mixture, dramatically increasing the heat and power.

At that moment, Rowena finally understood why reagent restoration techniques had disappeared.

There probably wasn’t a single mage left in the Empire willing to waste this much mana restoring discarded reagents.