Yi-Han's expression turned serious.
'Something is strange about this.'
Did Priestess Tijiling really find an outing permit?
It was possible.
What if students from other towers, even those from the White Tiger Tower, found the same?
That would have been acceptable.
But Gainando...
'It's a trap!'
Yi-Han's intuition screamed.
This must be a trap!
The skull principal was not one to distribute outing permits so freely, especially not to Gainando.
'But... why? Why the outing permits?'
He was certain it was a trap, yet the reason for such generous distribution eluded him.
'I have to be even more cautious.'
"Why so serious?"
Noticing Yi-Han's grim face, other students from the Blue Dragon Tower asked with concern.
"Isn't it suspicious how easily we got these outing permits?"
"Indeed...!"
"So, is this just an excuse to snatch the permit from Gainando's hands?"
"What if we just take it now and return it later?"
"..."
Yi-Han shook his head disapprovingly at the sight of his overly excited friends.
'I must stay alert, even if I'm the only one.'
Gainando was sitting in Professor Mortum's tent, the instructor of dark magic.
While other professors chose passionate and talented students for tasks, Professor Mortum did not.
After all, the number of freshmen interested in dark magic could be counted on one hand.
All freshmen studying dark magic had to attend.
Ymirg and Raphael, too, sat beside Gainando, silently watching ahead.
"..."
"..."
A heavy silence.
With Yi-Han absent, the freshmen in dark magic, not friendly with each other to begin with, grew even more silent.
All three were different in tower, origin, race, and temperament...
Gainando fiddled with his clothes, feeling as though the air was suffocating.
'Is this because of the negative mana?'
To break the stifling atmosphere, Gainando finally spoke up.
"Hey there!"
His sociable greeting elicited an enthusiastic response from the other two students.
"..."
"Don't pretend to be friendly, Prince. It's annoying."
One remained silent, the other scolded, but Gainando was surprisingly pleased.
"Did you just call me prince?"
"What... What's with you? Why are you happy about that, you weirdo?"
Raphael, an angel mixed-blood, looked at Gainando with disgust.
Apparently, no sane person chose to learn dark magic.
Happy even when insulted...
"Say it again! What am I?"
"Get lost, will you!?"
"Um, um..."
Ymirg, a half-giant, hesitantly spoke up.
"Shouldn't we call some guests over...?"
"Who would be interested in dark magic anyway?"
'You're learning it too...'
Gainando and Ymirg looked at Raphael with disbelief.
But Raphael stood firm.
"It's actually good that people aren't interested in dark magic. I am..."
"Is everything going well?"
Upon Professor Mortum's arrival, Raphael immediately bowed.
"Good day, Professor!"
"Yes, cough cough. Is it going well?"
"..."
They exchanged glances.
'Going well' was subjective, but by any standard, zero guests was not a good sign.
Professor Mortum's face darkened.
"Doesn't anyone show interest?"
In truth, Professor Mortum had prepared quite diligently, especially compared to other professors.
A large table covered in a black cloth…
And there, placed upon it, were magic circles, grimoires, and artifacts.
It was a thoughtful arrangement by Professor Mortum, intended to recommend suitable dark magic spells to any visitors.
To compare Professor Mortum's dedication to Professor Boladi, who had asked Yi-Han to throw water beads at guests' faces, felt almost like an insult.
...But dedication doesn't always guarantee success.
Fundamentally, few festival-goers were interested in seeking out gloomy dark mages.
"Professor, I have a question."
"Cough. What is it?"
"Why didn't you bring Yi-Han?"
"..."
"..."
Ymirg and Raphael glared at Gainando as if he were trash, even though they were from different towers.
Even they had heard rumors about Wardanaz.
-Wardanaz is helping Professor Alpen with magic circles.-
-He's talented, so that makes sense.-
-Wardanaz is assisting Professor Bagrak. Looks like he's attending the class.-
-Why would he...? I don't get it, but if he's attending, it's natural to help. Especially since there's hardly anyone else.-
-Wardanaz is running errands for the principal.-
-He's talented, after all.-
-Wardanaz is even making magic fireworks.-
-He's talented, but... wait. Isn't Wardanaz doing too much? How is he not collapsing?-
Exceptional grades come with great responsibility, but Wardanaz's case was extreme.
Even students from other towers looked at him with concern.
And here was Gainando, from the same tower, showing no concern and instead asking the professor, 'Why didn't you call him?'
'What a piece of trash!'
Raphael looked at Gainando with contempt.
"Cough. Wardanaz... has other tasks to attend to, so I left him be."
"Still, it would have been nice to have Yi-Han here."
"He's probably too busy..."
"Yi-Han would be fine!"
"Cough. Well... I'm not sure."
Unable to watch any longer, Ymirg and Raphael intervened.
"It's, it's okay. We'll manage on our own."
"We'll be fine without Wardanaz."
"We'll be fine? You're useless!"
As they debated whether to scold Gainando, Yi-Han appeared with other friends.
"Have you been here?"
"Yi-Han!!"
Gainando was overjoyed.
Finally, he could escape this suffocating atmosphere.
"Help us!"
"With what?"
"This dark magic..."
Before Gainando could explain, Yi-Han's friends from the Blue Dragon asked first.
"But Gainando, didn't you get an outing permit?"
"Yes."
Pride and arrogance bloomed on Gainando's face. His friends regretted asking.
'Should have just snatched it without asking.'
"Where did you get it?"
"I found it."
"...Found it?"
As Yi-Han asked in disbelief, Gainando protested with a voice filled with injustice.
"Really, I found it! Walking down the road, there was a box in the bushes nearby. I opened it and... look! It's real!"
Gainando pulled out the outing permit with innocent eyes, not suspecting for a moment that Yi-Han might snatch it.
The other friends from the Blue Dragon looked at Yi-Han with tense faces.
-Now's the time, Wardanaz!-
-Do it now!-
‘...’
Even without telepathy magic, he could hear his friends' thoughts.
Yi-Han checked the permit and returned it to Gainando.
"It's real."
"See!?"
'But it's even more suspicious now.'
Now, he was certain.
Yi-Han resolved to never let his guard down until he used the outing permit.
"Hey, Yi-Han. Help us."
"With what?"
Gainando rambled on about his time with Professor Mortum.
The professor had called his talented students for a task, so they had prepared various things, but then no one showed up...
'What nonsense is Gainando spouting?'
Yi-Han wondered inwardly.
Ymirg and Raphael were looking at Gainando as if he were garbage.
Raphael always despised dark magic, but Ymirg was a relatively kind student.
Unless Gainando had done something terrible...
"Alright. I'll help."
"!??"
"!!!"
Both were shocked, not expecting Yi-Han to actually agree.
"Why are you surprised?"
"Just thought you'd be too busy..."
"Ah. I finished my urgent tasks today. I was planning to enjoy the festival."
Asan, sensing something ominous, spoke up urgently.
"Wardanaz. You're not planning to skip the festival today too, are you? There's not much time left!"
"I can enjoy it tomorrow."
"Oh... no...!"
The students from the Blue Dragon Tower glared at Gainando.
It's his fault that Wardanaz is staying!
'I can't just leave with Professor Mortum here.'
Of course, Yi-Han's decision to stay wasn't due to his friendship with Gainando.
It was because Professor Mortum was right there.
Even if Mortum said, 'Cough, go and have fun,' he was a narrow-minded person not to be trusted.
If Yi-Han actually went to have fun, he might later hear something like, 'Really, you went to have fun? Cough, impressive.'
There was nothing good about being marked while learning dark magic.
"I will help."
"Why...?"
Professor Mortum looked at Yi-Han, puzzled.
Having heard from other professors, Mortum knew how hard Yi-Han worked.
"I'm learning dark magic, after all."
"...!"
Not just Professor Mortum, but other students were moved too.
Even Raphael's heart wavered.
'Though he's just a dark magic student, his honor is impeccable...'
"Yi-Han!"
'As for that lazy prince...'
Unaware that Raphael was cursing him, Gainando asked.
"So, how will you bring people here?"
"Just need people to come?"
"Yes?"
Yi-Han asked the students from the Blue Dragon Tower.
"You guys, line up."
"...Us too?"
"Shh. Wardanaz said to line up."
Though they came to hang out, the Blue Dragon Tower friends ended up being roped into the dark magic tent, lining up for friendship's sake.
"Asan. If you have friends from other towers, call them over."
"Don't worry. Wardanaz."
Asan nodded, ready to do his best, indebted as he was to the magic circle.
Shortly after.
Asan returned with students.
Not just from their tower, but others too.
"Wardanaz, do we just stand here?"
"Yes."
"Wardanaz, it's a bit off to make the princess interested in dark magic, isn't it? I'll stand in her place, so the princess can..."
"There."
Yi-Han handed a candy to the princess's palm.
Without a word, the princess lined up. Rowena was shocked.
"No...?!"
"Wardanaz, I brought more people."
Asan, who had disappeared after bringing the first group, returned with guests from Baldurguard.
"...?"
As Yi-Han looked puzzled, Asan explained excitedly.
"They said they wanted to help as soon as they heard your name."
"That's... good. Well done."
Asan disappeared again.
Then, he returned with a few priests and imperial officials in tow.
"...How did you manage to bring them?"
Yi-Han could understand the involvement of fellow students and guests from Baldurguard.
They owed him favors.
But how did he manage to bring priests and officials?
'Is it the influence of the Dargard family?'
"They wanted to help when I mentioned your name."
"...???"
Yi-Han was baffled.
Why?
"I've never seen Professor Mortum so happy before."
"Haven't you only known the professor for a few months?"
"That's true."
Yi-Han walked back to the dormitory with Gainando. They had stayed to help clean up until evening, and it was already dark.
"Do you want to play cards when we get back?"
"I have to decipher some magic."
"After you're done with that, how about a game of cards?"
"It will probably be dawn by the time I finish."
Gainando, seemingly obsessed with card games, was not easily dissuaded.
"Then, at dawn... cough!"
Suddenly, something flew out of the darkness, attacking Gainando.
At first, Yi-Han thought it was a robber aiming for the outing permit.
"Gainando! Don't let them steal the outing pass... wait, it's a monster!"
