Yonaire expressed her doubts upon hearing that the White Tiger students had kidnapped Yi-Han. She wondered if it was even possible.
Ratford, who had been among the Black Tortoise students, tilted his head in confusion and said, "It seems difficult, doesn't it?"
"No, it's possible," Nillia said with a face full of worry. Her long ears drooped down to either side, weighed down by concern.
"The cleverest of beasts can fall into traps."
"But Yi-Han is not a beast..."
"What if the cowardly White Tiger had set a trap on the path Wardanaz walks? Or poisoned the water Wardanaz drinks? Or drugged the bread Wardanaz eats? Or..."
Yonaire and Ratford pondered how to dissuade Nillia.
Were they planning Yi-Han's grave in advance?
The bigger issue was that the students of the Blue Dragon began to take Nillia's words seriously.
"If a hunter from the <Shadow Patrol> speaks like this, there's a high chance he was really kidnapped..."
"According to my calculations, there's a 90% probability that the White Tiger bastards kidnapped him."
"These scoundrels, I'll kill them!"
"Everyone calm down. Let's calmly plan how to kill them."
Yonaire sought other students in an attempt to calm the situation.
'The princess...'
But to her dismay, the princess was already among the students, seriously planning an attack on the White Tiger.
Yonaire hung her head low.
Without Yi-Han, there was no one in the tower who made any sense.
'Please come back...!'
On Monday morning, the atmosphere in the <Basic Magic Character Education> class was far more menacing than usual.
Normally, the class was far from being in good spirits.
Everyone always had a gloomy aura, as if they were dragged to a grave.
But today was different.
The students of the Blue Dragon glared as if they were ready to attack at any moment, sparks flying from their eyes.
"Can't you say where Wardanaz is?"
"How can you spout such nonsense, you Blue Dragon fools! Do you think we would do such a thing? We don’t do such acts!"
"You dare gang up three against one!"
A White Tiger student's face reddened when their sore spot was hit.
A student from the Blue Dragon menacingly waved his staff, as if ready to cast a curse.
"Tell us where Wardanaz is!"
"We’re also confused because two of us have disappeared. Didn't you kidnap them?"
The Blue Dragon students were infuriated by the response of the White Tiger students.
They dared to insult the honor of their noble lineage.
"Us? Us?? Do you dare speak like that knowing our family's honor?"
"People who sneak into others' dorm towers at night have no right to talk."
Jijel said mockingly.
This time, it was the Blue Dragon students who were hit in their sore spot.
However, there was an unexpected opponent, Gainando.
"We've never done that."
"..."
"Do you have proof? If you have proof, bring it. Show us the evidence that we did it."
"Is that guy really royalty?"
The White Tiger students murmured among themselves. Even among the Black Tortoise students, there was no one as shameless as this.
"I don't think it's my place to interfere, but if you really kidnapped Wardanaz, wouldn't it be better to return him and reconcile? Class is about to start soon."
In the Black Tortoise, the dwarf, no, the elf student Salko Tutanta opened his mouth.
The White Tiger students frowned as if wondering where he came in, but the Black Tortoise students behind Salko stood their ground.
Each of them, with their rough backgrounds, was not easily intimidated, even by students from knightly families.
The students of the Immortal Phoenix also spoke up. Priestesses Siana and Tijiling cautiously said, "If you have kidnapped Mr. Yi-Han of the Wardanaz family, it would be better to return him..."
"No, we didn't!"
Being suspected by students of all three towers, the White Tiger students could not hold back their frustration.
They too had lost two of their own and had spent the night wondering, 'Was it Wardanaz who kidnapped them?' 'Were there really two missing?' 'But we lost even when three of us attacked...'
The cunning students of the Blue Dragon were stirring the atmosphere strangely.
Jijel stepped forward to manage the situation.
The leading elf of the White Tiger students, chewing her lip as if displeased with the whole situation, said, "I swear on the name of my family, we did not lay a finger on Wardanaz. If you don’t believe me, ask the other students here. Some of them have ties with your side."
There were others in the White Tiger like Rowena, a follower of Princess Adenart, and Dolgyu, considered somewhat reliable.
As all eyes turned to them, Rowena carefully replied, "Your Highness, from what I see... there seemed to be no plan of kidnapping."
At her words, the students of the Blue Dragon's gaze shifted to the princess, who shook her head coldly, clearly not believing them.
"Your Highness?! Your Highness?!?"
Rowena felt as if the sky was falling, shocked that the princess she served did not believe her words.
The students of the Blue Dragon became emboldened.
"See, she doesn't believe it!"
"Indeed, hiding some suspicious schemes. Dolgyu of the Choi family! We'd like to hear your opinion. What do you think?"
Jijel, determined not to be outdone, also pressed Dolgyu.
"Go on. Tell us what you think."
Dolgyu realized that Jijel's voice could not get any colder, a sign of extreme anger.
Had it not been for the presence of other tower students, curses and dual swords might have been drawn.
"In my opinion... I haven't heard of any kidnapping plans."
"There, you see!"
"But I'm not finished yet!"
Mixed reactions followed. Jijel turned to Dolgyu and asked, "You don’t doubt my word when I've sworn on my family's name, do you?"
Dolgyu hesitated slightly.
Before entering the magic academy, Dolgyu would have replied, 'If you say so, then I must believe you.' But his thoughts had changed after joining the school.
If Yi-Han of the renowned Wardanaz family could misuse his family name so freely, there was no reason Jijel couldn't.
"...Choi! You really...!"
Just as Jijel was about to argue in an almost horrified voice, the temperature in the classroom dropped.
Everyone could feel it.
“Good morning! What were you doing?”
"Nothing at all."
"Just exchanging greetings."
Despite their anger towards each other, the students were not foolish enough to confess everything in front of the skull principal. In this hellish school, there were certain unspoken rules. One of them was to keep silent in front of the skull principal.
"Were you fighting just now? Don't you want to fight more?"
"It seems there has been a misunderstanding."
"How well do we get along?"
The skull principal clicked his tongue, apparently disappointed.
The students, who had been glaring at each other as if ready to kill, now seemed inclined to reconcile.
"Boring lot. Alright then. Did anyone bring the leave permit?"
An awkward silence followed. The skull principal spoke as if he had expected this.
"Such a disappointment. No one! Your seniors always completed these tasks on time."
If Yi-Han were here, he would have probably said, 'Don't fall for such nonsense.' Unfortunately, Yi-Han was already on the island for advanced studies.
The students were disheartened and looked dejected.
"Can't be helped. This time, I'll give you a chance. Stand up, everyone. Walk to the lake!"
The students were taken aback by the unexpected generosity of the skull principal.
Of course, they didn't know what awaited them on the island.
As Yi-Han always said, one should be suspicious when the skull principal is kind.
The skull principal watched with glee as the students walked towards the lakeside.
The lake was initially too difficult for the freshmen to cross on their own.
The skull principal hadn't really expected the students to complete the task.
He started with a task knowing that if he suddenly said, 'Cross the lake to the island,' during class, someone might suspect or run away.
By giving them an impossible task and then seeming to generously allow them to cross the lake, even the smartest freshmen couldn't suspect anything.
How long had the skull principal been teaching students at this magic academy?
The freshmen could never escape from the palm of his hand.
'Wait a minute. Where did that brat of the Wardanaz family go?'
Thinking of a nickname Yi-Han would find annoying, the skull principal rotated his floating head 360 degrees.
Still, Yi-Han was nowhere to be seen.
The Principal wondered if Yi-Han had already crossed the lake.
Although Wardanaz was a freshman, he was no ordinary mage. It wouldn’t be strange if he had tried to cross.
But even if he had, the moment he set foot on the beach, he should have been transferred to the underground dungeon.
Even if he was lucky enough to avoid it...
Giorvan the Second, waiting on the sandy beach, would have caught him.
'If he skipped class for some other reason, he’s lucky. But if he's already on the island, that's unfortunate.'
Since the trial in the dungeon wouldn't start until students from different towers arrived together, it was meant for them to fight, or rather, to bond.
What if someone crossed the lake over the weekend?
They would just have to sit in the underground and wait.
Tinkle!
With a twinkle in his eyes, the skull principal created a path of ice on the lake. The students marveled at the feat of raising thick ice over the lake with just a glance.
"Surely none of you will be too frightened to retreat now? Especially not in Einroguard, where only the empire's finest are gathered? Pair up and start."
"Do we have to pair up?"
A student asked, to which the skull principal kindly replied.
"If you'll all go up together, you’ll break the ice and just feed the monsters under the lake."
"...We'll go in pairs."
The reason for not sending them in groups was simple.
If that had happened, one or two might escape the sandy beach unscathed.
The students were sent in pairs to prevent any from escaping.
This was the educational philosophy of the skull principal, who oversaw the empire's premier magic academy.
The students crossed the lake, two by two, on a path made of ice.
However, as the first students set foot on the sandy beach, the skull principal felt a sharp sense of unease with his keen instincts.
This unease soon became a reality. The students did not sink into the sandy beach as expected.
The skull principal felt a pain as if his non-existent soul was being torn apart, seeing his carefully planned lecture going awry.
“Why?!”
"What?!"
The students nearby were startled by the Principal's anguished voice.
They had never heard such sorrow in his voice before.
“Why! Giorvan the Second, I gave you a name and you dare to be so insolently lazy…”
Just as the skull principal was about to call his summon, he realized that Giorvan the Second had been unsummoned.
The missing boy from the Wardanaz family, the disobedient sandy beach, Giorvan the Second unsummoned.
All these signs pointed to only one conclusion.
When the impossible is excluded, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
The skull principal felt he hadn't been this shocked in centuries.
“Wardanaz! Wardanaz, you rascal!!”
As if answering his call, Yi-Han appeared in the distance from deep within the island, his face tired and pale.
