The white horse was caught off guard. Wasn't the mood supposed to be different at that moment?
There was a history of distrust between griffins and humans. Wasn't it a touching moment when human dedication was about to erase the griffin's long-standing distrust, with the griffin finally acknowledging Yi-Han as its master?
Heehee, heehee.
The white horse once again bowed its head and nuzzled against Yi-Han. Yi-Han remained unemotional.
"I told you, I won't undo either the bracelet or the belt."
......
The white horse felt a surge of anger.
No way!
Neigh! heehee!!
"Just as I thought, showing your true colors! Did you think you could fool me?" As the white horse snorted in defiance, Yi-Han retorted as if he had anticipated this reaction.
The white horse, enraged, nudged Yi-Han with its head.
No!!!
"Are you okay?!"
"I'm fine. Seems like it's angry because I touched it without permission."
"It's not about the horse talking!"
Yonaire and the students rushed over in a panic. They were worried that Yi-Han might have been seriously injured.
Rowena looked at Yi-Han incredulously. It was unbelievable that he had emerged from the raging rapids carrying the white horse.
...In such a situation, wouldn't it be better to be a knight rather than a mage?
"It's really okay, don't worry," Yi-Han said, shaking off the water.
The other students of the tower felt sorry about the sudden accident during Yi-Han's turn, but Yi-Han didn't blame them. It was Professor Bungaegor's evil and twisted scheme that was the problem.
"What... what happened?" Tutanta and friends from the Black Tortoise arrived belatedly, shocked.
Yi-Han, suppressing his anger, explained calmly, "Be careful everyone. There's a trap set by Professor Bungaegor."
"…!"
Tutanta and his friends were appalled upon hearing the explanation.
"She did that?! Even the horse’s life is at risk?"
"How excessive, even for a test!"
Unlike other professors, Professor Bungaegor was a famous adventurer in the empire. The students, who had admired her since childhood after reading her exploration stories, felt betrayed.
"Let's protest when we get back. We can't participate in such a test."
"Right. This horse is like a friend to me now. How can I put a friend's life in danger?"
Moved by the response of his friends from the Black Tortoise, Yi-Han thought, 'Perhaps the future of this academy isn't so bleak.'
Then, suddenly, Professor Bungaegor arrived, riding a thunderbird from the sky. The thunderbird, landing smoothly, hissed at Yi-Han, apparently still holding a grudge from being tricked by him before.
Professor Bungaegor, along with Nillia, dismounted from the thunderbird.
The Black Tortoise students, determined, approached and said,
"Professor, we can't participate in this test!"
"Rather than risking a friend's life, we'd accept an F..."
Instead of getting angry at the students' defiance, Professor Bungaegor nodded.
"I know. The river spirit is being capricious, right? I came to stop it. Just wait a bit."
"..."
"..."
Huh?
The students from the Black Tortoise looked at each other in confusion.
Was it not Professor Bungaegor's trap after all?
"Wasn't it prepared by you, Professor?"
"What?"
"The... rising river waters..."
"Trying to sweep away a student..."
"Why would I prepare that?! Are you insane?"
Professor Bungaegor exclaimed in disbelief.
"Why would I set up such a dangerous trap that could kill a horse?"
"That... that's how it is," acknowledged one of the students.
"Come to think of it, that's true," another agreed.
'Shouldn't the first thought be the students' potential death?'
Professor Bungaegor was known for her deep affection for animals, perhaps even more so than for his students. It was unthinkable that such a professor would send animals into a potentially dangerous situation.
"But why did you suspect me when the river spirit was acting up?" the professor questioned, puzzled.
The students felt sheepish. They realized that they had become overly distrustful of the professors, possibly due to the influence of the skull principal.
Professor Bungaegor clicked her tongue in disappointment, shaking her head, thinking, ‘The education here seems to improve the students' magic skills but ruins their character.'
It was Nillia who had informed Professor Bungaegor that something was amiss with the river.
Nillia, the first to arrive at the scene.
The water spirit, contracted by Nillia, had sensed the discord and sent a signal. Realizing something was wrong with the river, Nillia had left a mark used by the <Shadow Patrol> for Yi-Han and Yonaire to see.
-Danger. Do not approach.-
She then hurried back to Professor Bungaegor. Given the urgency, she had run in a straight line instead of following the path.
-“Professor! The river spirit is being capricious!”-
-“The horses must be in danger! Lead the way!”-
...That's how they had swiftly arrived.
After hearing the situation, Yi-Han felt slightly sorry for suspecting Professor Bungaegor.
'I blamed an innocent person because of the skull principal.'
"No. But why did you foolishly enter without waiting in the meantime?" Professor Bungaegor was incredulous, seeing the students' wet clothes.
Ordinarily, upon seeing a river behaving wildly, one would think 'this is dangerous' and avoid it, not 'oh, it's a test' and jump in. But the students felt unfairly treated. The recent outrageous acts of the skull principal were still fresh in their minds.
"We really thought it was part of the test!"
"We thought it was a trap since the principal had prepared an underground dungeon under the beach last time!"
"Shouldn't you have properly checked the river first, Professor?"
"Yeah, yeah. My apologies."
Professor Bungaegor calmed the students with a wave of her hand holding a pipe. It wasn't the students' fault. The fault lay with the magic academy.
"But how did you manage to water the horses despite the river spirit acting up? Did you succeed in persuading it?"
"We tied ourselves with ropes and went in."
"..."
Professor Bungaegor was dumbfounded. Of course, persuasion wasn't the only solution when a spirit was angry. Like now, using ropes to physically overcome the challenge was a valid approach… It's just that ordinary students don't usually bring ropes to classes!
"You brought it, right?"
"Why would you think it was me?" Yi-Han protested confidently, his face so forthright that Professor Bungaegor inadvertently apologized.
"Ah. Was it not you, Wardanaz? My apologies."
"I did bring it."
"..."
Professor Bungaegor restrained herself from throwing her pipe.
Listening in, Nillia tilted her head and asked, "But why did you go in when I left a warning not to approach because it was dangerous?"
"..."
"..."
Yonaire's face turned slightly pale. Yi-Han's face also paled, but it wasn't as noticeable due to his complexion.
'Damn. From now on, I must check the signs while walking.'
Nillia had taught them, and Yi-Han had learned diligently, but they hadn't been checking every sign while walking. Yi-Han resolved to always check for signs wherever he went in the future.
"Could it be that you didn't see it?" one student queried.
"No, I saw it. But the others kept insisting on going," Yi-Han quickly deflected responsibility. Conveniently, Rowena was standing far away with the princess.
"Typical of those from the White Tiger, stubborn to the core. There was no way to change their minds."
"That's really how it was," another student confirmed.
Nillia was incensed by their words. It was always the nobility and knights causing problems. Even when she was in the mountains, tourists who came for fun did things they were told not to do, much to her annoyance.
Ignoring the safety rules set by the hunters working on the field!
"Such arrogance, right? Even the princess must be disappointed!"
"Knights are always like that. Don't be too hard on them, Nillia. We've already given them a stern talking to." Yi-Han had effectively prevented any further probing. Nillia nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, the waiting white horse approached again, nibbling and pulling at Yi-Han's sleeve.
"Getting along, aren't you?"
"Not getting along. It's all a trick."
Pffft! Haahee! Pffft!
"See? It's getting angry. You shouldn't be fooled."
"...?"
Nillia looked at the white horse, not understanding. As someone who had become friendly with animals in the mountains, she could tell. The white horse seemed to genuinely like Yi-Han. Wasn't that behavior akin to 'Please notice me'?
Nillia cautiously spoke up, "It seems to me like you've gotten closer..."
"What are you talking about?" Professor Bungaegor, having calmed the lecture's water spirit, joined the conversation and was startled upon seeing the white horse.
‘It recognizes him as its master?’
Surprisingly, the griffin, or rather, the white horse, was acknowledging Yi-Han as its master. Considering what a griffin was – a creature with the wings of an eagle and the claws of a lion, prideful as the sum of those two – it was remarkable. Normally, it wouldn't submit to anyone unworthy or evil, even at the cost of its life. For such a creature to acknowledge Wardanaz as its master was unheard of.
Professor Bungaegor rubbed her eyes in disbelief and looked again. She asked, "What... what happened here?"
"Huh?" Yi-Han was on guard at the professor's question. He quickly denied it, "Professor, I didn't steal the rope."
Of course, the students from the Black Tortoise might have!
"...I'm not interrogating you; I'm just curious! Answer me! Do you think I'm Gonadaltes or something?" Professor Bungaegor was slightly irate. She's not some principal to be feared! "I'm asking because you seem to have gotten close to this white horse. Normally, it's difficult to befriend such a ferocious creature."
"Ah."
Yi-Han nodded in understanding and then said, "It's using tricks on me. A very cunning creature."
"..."
‘Are you the professor?’ Professor Bungaegor held back her thought and asked again, "What exactly happened?"
"Really, nothing special happened. I would have mentioned it if there had been."
With Yi-Han insisting to this extent, Professor Bungaegor had to step back. The boy from the Wardanaz family was known for his diligence and sincerity. He was not one to lie needlessly.
Yonaire, listening on the side, whispered, "You saved it from the water."
"Oh. That... The river spirit was acting up, and the horse fell over. I just helped it up and brought it out."
Yi-Han spoke as if it was nothing significant. Professor Bungaegor thought about it and then hesitated.
"Wait a minute. The horse fell over because of the river spirit, but how did you help it out? There wasn't enough time. Surely you haven't already learned <Intermediate Control> magic...?"
"Yes, so I carried it out. I cast a water shield to buy some time," Yi-Han explained.
"..."
Professor Bungaegor had to grip her pipe tightly between her index and middle finger. It was to prevent herself from throwing it at the exceptional student in front of her, who seemed unaware of the magnitude of his own actions.
'That's a big deal! What else would be, if not that?'
Now it all made sense to her. The act of risking one's own life in a potentially fatal situation to save another. It was this courage and honor that had led the griffin, or rather, the white horse, to recognize him as its master.
As her astonishment subsided, Professor Bungaegor felt an unexpected surge of pride. Many arrogant mages often mistook their vast knowledge and formidable magic as the key to taming animals. But in Professor Bungaegor's view, true talent lay somewhere deeper.
It was the heart that cared more for others than for oneself.
That heart was the real key. How could she not be delighted to see her student demonstrating such a simple yet vital principle?
Neigh.
"I said I won't let you go. Go away."
Heehee! Haahaa!
"Don't get angry. I won't let you go just because you're upset."
"..."
Eventually, Professor Bungaegor couldn't hold on any longer and dropped her pipe.
