"Aha. She’s not Gainando after all."
Yi-Han realized too late and regretted his actions.
No matter how badly the princess wanted to eat the cake, she wouldn't resort to eating a poisoned cake.
But his hand had already moved. Yi-Han knew the best course of action in such situations.
"Indeed. An artifact endowed with poison detection and antidote capabilities."
The silver spoon that touched the poison cake emitted smoke, just like when the detection magic was activated earlier.
Simultaneously, the smoke slowly changed color, a sign that the antidote was taking effect.
The princess blinked several times, recovering from her astonishment, and attempted to speak, her eyelids fluttering.
Whatever she was about to say, it wasn't going to be pleasant.
"We must leave quickly. Let's go!"
Yi-Han moved quickly, not giving the princess a chance to express her cold fury.
Caught off guard by Yi-Han's abrupt departure, the princess's reaction was delayed.
"What the..."
"Hurry!"
Ignoring her, Yi-Han rushed out hastily.
The princess looked after him with disbelief.
Outside the tower, their friends who had entered earlier were sitting in a disheveled state.
Anglago was covered in dust and dirt, and his clothes were nearly in tatters as if he had been beaten up.
Salko looked as if he had been swimming, drenched from head to toe.
The rest of their friends were similarly in a mess.
Among them, Yi-Han and the princess, unscathed, stood out conspicuously.
“...They chose the wrong challenge.”
The skull principal muttered regretfully.
Thinking about it, that kind of poison wouldn't have been effective on the boy from the Wardanaz family.
Lucky for him to have chosen such a thing!
"Wardanaz. What kind of challenge did you take that left you so unscathed?"
Anglago asked with a mix of envy and jealousy. Yi-Han calmly replied.
"It only looks fine on the surface. The challenge I took was quite dangerous. It involved eating poison."
"!"
"!"
Hearing this, the expressions of his friends changed.
A challenge involving eating poison.
Suddenly, their own challenges seemed less daunting.
"That's... I'm sorry, Wardanaz. I spoke out of turn."
Anglago apologized sincerely. Yi-Han nodded as if to say it was alright.
"It's understandable."
"..."
“...”
The princess and the skull principal looked at Yi-Han with astonishment.
Such shamelessness...!
“How about taking up another challenge? You might be up to it.”
"No, Principal. I'm merely honored by your high regard."
'This infuriating fellow.'
'I'm definitely not going.'
On a golden weekend afternoon.
The students of the Blue Dragon lounged in the recreation room, enjoying the rare peace.
Even the princess was there, conversing with her followers.
However, Yi-Han was busy packing a basket with rice balls, cakes, sweet pastries, and several bottles of drinks before standing up.
"Where are you off to? The library?"
Yonaire asked in surprise.
Considering he packed food, it seemed he was either going on an exploration or to the library.
It was strange to visit the library on such a day, but it was plausible for Yi-Han.
"I'm feeding the prisoners."
"..."
Yonaire was at a loss for words.
To that extent...!?
"Do we really need to go to such lengths?"
"It allows us to charge more."
"Yi-Han... you seem too kind."
"Didn't you hear what I just said?"
"Even considering that, you're kind."
Yonaire's words puzzled Yi-Han.
Why was this considered kind?
Clang!
The punishment room exuded a chilling aura right from the entrance. Despite it still being spring, it felt like a different season inside, cold and unwelcoming.
'I really don't want to be here.'
It wasn't just because it was a punishment room. There was definitely a magical reason for this sense of repulsion.
Otherwise, the ominous feeling wouldn't have been so strong.
'Given the skull principal's nature, he wouldn't just let the students escape...'
Being caught in the punishment room meant innocence if one could escape, but that rule wasn't for the students' benefit.
It was for the principal's amusement.
Yi-Han, who had wandered around deep in the punishment room trying to escape to the surface last time, was aware of its considerable size.
Knock-knock.
"Is anyone there?"
Silence.
Knock-knock.
"Is anyone there?"
"...Grrrr. Grrrrrr. Grrrrrrrrrr."
"My apologies."
Yi-Han quickly moved to the next room.
After knocking on several doors in search of trapped students, he soon realized it wasn't going to be easy.
'This is disappointing. They must be deeper inside.'
He knew the punishment room was large, but he had thought the failing freshmen would be closer to the entrance.
Apparently not.
'Too little information about the punishment room. Comparing it with the last escape... that's impossible. Can't call for Ferkuntra for a while either.'
Descending the stairs along the corridor, Yi-Han thought if he couldn't find them this time, he'd have to consider other options.
Knock-knock.
"Is anyone there?"
"Who's there?"
"!"
Surprisingly, a human voice answered from inside. It was definitely a student.
"Are you a student?"
"Hey. I don't know what year you are, but if you don't want to get cursed, stop messing around and get los... wait a minute."
Direth hesitated.
The voice outside sounded familiar.
Suddenly, Direth had a realization.
"!"
The freshman who came to the punishment room last time, telling unbelievable stories in the next cell.
The freshman who visited Professor Mortum in the Darkness Chamber to learn dark magic.
The freshman who naively added classes during the midterm exams, unaware of his impending doom.
These three freshmen merged into one.
"...You! Is that you!? Is it you?!?"
'Is she insane?'
Yi-Han flinched.
Just like before, one couldn't assume that everyone trapped in the punishment room was sane.
Perhaps it was a monster imitating a student...
"You're the freshman from the Wardanaz family, right? The one who chose elemental magic, dark magic, summoning magic, illusion magic for the midterms, and got caught escaping through the underground passage in the first week!"
"!"
Now it was Yi-Han's turn to be surprised.
The mages of the magic academy were indeed remarkable.
'Do the upperclassmen gain the ability to see through others in the punishment room?'
"How did you...?"
"How did I what? I was in the cell next to you last time, and I helped Professor Mortum during the midterms, so I know."
"Ah...! Was it that person?"
Yi-Han recalled the senior from the next cell in the punishment room, a face still unknown to him.
A person who was kind in many ways.
She had informed about the existence of the spire stable (though she had been bribed with snacks), advised to attend lectures moderately (though it went unheeded), and even suggested to treat others casually...
And it was that same person.
"Wait a minute. Have you been trapped here since that time?"
"Are you crazy? Of course, I got out and then came back in."
An awkward silence ensued.
For a moment, Yi-Han wondered, 'What exactly does this senior do to always end up in the punishment room?'
And Direth seemed to have read his thoughts.
"Junior. Are you thinking about what I do to always be in the punishment room?"
"Of course not, senior."
"Why the sudden formality?"
"In fact, I place great importance on manners."
'That doesn't seem likely.'
Considering how the junior had brought food into the punishment room last time, it was highly likely that he was from the Black Tortoise Tower.
'...Wait. The Wardanaz family but from the Black Tortoise Tower?'
Direth tilted her head, puzzled.
Something didn't add up.
"Right. If you're learning dark magic, it's fine to address me formally. And you owe me, junior."
"Thank you for the stable."
"Not that! During the midterms!"
"?"
Direth felt unfairly treated when Yi-Han didn't recognize the senior's sacrifice.
Of course, it was the skull principal's fault, but human feelings weren't so easily compartmentalized.
"Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, junior, didn't I warn you when you were in the punishment room last time?!"
Direth's sense of injustice grew manifold as she remembered.
-With your abilities, several professors will covet you, so it's best to be cautious.-
Hadn't she warned him beforehand in the punishment room?
If this junior had heeded her warning, Direth wouldn't have been dragged back to the punishment room.
"Ah... that warning. Of course, I'm taking it to heart."
"You're taking it to heart and still doing this?!"
Direth was even more baffled.
If that was taking it to heart, what was ignoring? Enrolling for all the courses?
"No, senior. I appreciate your concern, but I've made my calculations and am attending logically."
"...Tell me about these logical calculations. Let's hear it."
Yi-Han calmly explained his choice of fields to his senior.
Firstly, he chose dark magic because it suited him, summoning magic for its utility, illusion magic out of necessity, and he had pondered over enchantment magic but went ahead as it fit his aptitude and Professor Garcia had recommended it...
"Wait, junior. Enchantment magic?? Didn't you start that after the midterms?"
"Ah. I happened to meet the professor earlier."
"Oh... So you're not worried about overworking yourself?"
"Don't worry. I have everything under control."
Despite Direth's skepticism, Yi-Han responded with confidence.
However, to Direth, Yi-Han seemed to be walking the same path as Professor Garcia.
The path of Asura, taking all magic fields from freshman year!
Normally, a rational freshman would think, 'Can I really learn all this? No, it's too much,' and pull the brakes, even if a field matched their aptitude or was useful.
But the junior in front of him was like, 'Can I really learn all this? Well, it suits me and is useful, so why not try this too?'
"Junior. Be really careful. Really, really careful. Really, really, really. Got it?"
"Thank you for your concern, senior."
'This kid won't listen to me.'
Direth had an inexplicable premonition.
"Senior, I've brought some food. Would you like some?"
"What? Food? ...Are you really from the Wardanaz family?"
Direth was astounded by the sophistication of a first-year student bringing food to the punishment room.
What surprised her even more was the quality of the food.
It wasn't the usual hard black bread or the cold, hardened rice balls typically eaten by freshmen.
Instead, there were freshly made rice balls, soft red bean cakes, and crispy sweet pastries.
How on earth...?
'Ah, I ended up giving away the food meant for Gainando.'
Yi-Han decided to make an excuse that the skull principal had taken it.
"...I don't know about others, but the third-year students would certainly appreciate you."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I've seen many juniors, but none quite like you."
Direth took a bite of the cake, hesitating before speaking.
It felt wrong to just let him go after enjoying such a generous and tasty meal.
She might risk extending her punishment period, but she couldn't keep silent.
"Junior, the midterms are over."
"Yes."
"Be careful."
"I'm always cautious."
"...Good. That's a very good attitude. But what I mean is, be extra careful. After midterms, the academy usually goes crazy."
'Can it get any crazier than this?'
The next day.
Yi-Han got out of bed and opened the window of his personal room.
'Why is it so cold?'
Snow had piled up, covering half of the first floor of the tower in a white blanket.
Yi-Han nodded calmly.
"Ah. It can get crazier."
