Even while Lee Han silently resolved to “live only for myself from now on,” the upperclassmen paid him no attention whatsoever.

That remained true even after he pulled out hot black tea from a thermally enchanted glass bottle and started eating a sandwich filled with pork cured in salt and spices.

‘Amazing.’

Even though he had just sworn not to care, Lee Han still found himself inwardly impressed.

Whenever food appeared, Gainando and the other second-year students would immediately stare at it like hungry baby basilisks. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

At Einroguard, warm and delicious food was practically a siren’s temptation.

Resisting it was nearly impossible.

But the enchantment magic school upperclassmen remained entirely focused on their own tasks.

They hadn’t survived under Professor Verdus for nothing.

For a brief moment, Lee Han felt an inexplicable irritation.

Though he didn’t realize it himself, it was the pride of someone who had practically ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ acted as Einroguard’s caretaker for over a year.

How dare they show so little interest in the snacks he prepared?

‘...What am I even thinking?’

Lee Han shook his head.

This should have been a good thing. Why was he disappointed?

That really was a ridiculous thought.

“...What is Senior Sigunting doing?”

“Inspecting artifacts.”

The dwarf upperclassman replied while examining a crossbow radiating multiple flows of mana.

Now that they were underground, even non-combat mages had to remain cautious.

At Einroguard, survival depended on protecting yourself.

“I see. There are quite a few spells layered onto it.”

The bolt loaded into the crossbow carried enemy-tracking and guidance magic.

It looked capable of turning even an amateur mage into an expert marksman.

The fletching attached to the short bolt was enchanted with acceleration and penetration enhancement magic.

With this level of mana and spell composition, even a grazing hit could punch straight through a steel shield.

The bow frame itself also carried darkvision and enhanced-sight spells, while the loading mechanism contained calculation-assistance magic, drafting-assistance magic, and confidence-enhancement magic...

“...?”

Lee Han looked again, wondering whether he had misread something.

He had not.

“Senior. Does this crossbow happen to contain calculation-assistance and drafting-assistance magic?”

“...That’s right!”

Sigunting looked genuinely surprised.

To identify the enchantments without explanation—

It wasn’t for nothing that other mages praised Lee Han so highly.

“Amazing. How did you figure that out?”

“Why would a crossbow need calculation-assistance or drafting-assistance magic? The aiming enchantments already handle that part...”

From Lee Han’s perspective, it would have been more efficient to cram in another combat spell instead.

But Sigunting stared at him as though looking at a battle-crazed combat mage.

“What are you talking about? The combat capability is already sufficient. The remaining enchantments should obviously be useful in daily life.”

“In daily life...?”

“That’s right.”

Lee Han was about to ask when exactly someone needed drafting assistance during everyday life, but then he glanced to the side.

Yukveltire and Anfargon were both using the break to draw artifact blueprints with complete concentration.

“...I see. My thinking was too shallow.”

“It happens. Wardanaz. You should carry artifacts like this as well. It saves time.”

“I understand...”

After receiving advice from his upperclassman, Lee Han quietly put away the thermally enchanted bottle and sandwich wrapper.

Watching the upperclassmen study so diligently for no apparent reason made him feel oddly embarrassed.

“Understood, Senior. Then what other combat artifacts did you bring besides this?”

“That’s all.”

Sigunting looked confused by the question.

Unless someone was a combat-crazed mage, ordinary mages didn’t carry around multiple combat artifacts.

Magic existed for research and the pursuit of one’s goals, not for fighting.

“...Wardanaz. Do you perhaps carry several combat artifacts?”

“I-I only have one too. Hahaha.”

Lee Han hurriedly dodged the subject.

Strictly speaking, since he cast all sorts of spells through a single staff, it technically counted as one.

Though he doubted the others would see it that way.

“Then I’ll go speak with the other upperclassmen!”

‘Excellent talent, but always wasting time on strange things.’

That was Sigunting’s honest evaluation.

Still, nobody could be perfect in every area.

***

Many monsters roamed the underground mining region beneath Einroguard.

There were Kuka—half-human, half-crocodile monsters capable of primitive magic.

There were Alicantos, birds that cried while searching for rare metals.

And there were even wild golems naturally formed when mana accumulated inside contaminated soil and ore.

Clever Einroguard students generally avoided fighting such creatures.

Nobody handed out medals for killing mine monsters.

Avoidance was usually the wisest option—

-GRRRRRK!

The Kuka, waving around a three-pronged branch decorated with skulls and scrap metal, let out a terrified howl and fled.

The curse it had cast on the mage had failed completely.

Instead, retaliation came instantly.

Its movements were bound by telekinesis, and a vicious water projectile capable of smashing through mud walls shot toward it.

At that moment, the Kuka realized it had chosen the wrong target.

“Should we chase it down? ...Actually, what was I saying earlier?”

“That avoiding conflict is the best strategy... No. I don’t think we need to worry about that.”

Yukveltire calmly revised his earlier statement.

After witnessing Lee Han’s combat ability firsthand, he no longer saw any reason to avoid enemies.

He had invited Lee Han partly for escort purposes and partly for emergencies, but he hadn’t expected the junior to fight this well.

“Let’s proceed directly to the southern cave.”

“But Senior Yukveltire. There are almost no traces of people here. Are you sure this route is correct?”

Lee Han asked in confusion.

After spending so much time training with Nillia and the Northern Mountain Shadow Patrol, he had grown quite skilled at tracking signs and terrain.

Even in Einroguard’s dark underground, the techniques used by patrol units still applied.

The western slope winding off to the side clearly showed traces of students having passed through recently.

The southern cave, however, looked almost untouched.

Was it really safe to go that way?

“Of course. Junior Wardanaz. Don’t you trust my judgment?”

“What? I do.”

“I knew you trusted me. Then let’s continue.”

‘I definitely only said “I do.”’

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

He had never agreed that he trusted Yukveltire’s judgment, yet somehow the answer had been twisted into exactly that.

And one hour later—

“Huff... huff...”

The students emerged from the opposite end of the cave, breathing heavily.

Among them, Lee Han looked especially exhausted.

That was inevitable.

He had spent nearly the entire battle at the front, blocking the enemy assault almost by himself.

The southern cave had proven far more dangerous than he expected.

Dozens of Kuka charged at intruders from every direction, while wild golems dropped from the cave walls above.

Lee Han endured curses hurled directly at him, restrained enemies with telekinesis, and fought the golems in close combat using swordsmanship.

-Senior! How much longer until the wide-area spell is complete?!

-Which senior?

-...Senior Yukveltire!

-Ah! Senior Yukveltire, how much longer?!

-Twenty-eight seconds.

-Then could the others at least provide covering fire?! There are too many of them! I don’t even have time to cast properly!

-I’ll summon a small fortress first. Wardanaz, take cover behind— wait, did you kill all of them already?

The enemy assault had been fierce enough that if even one among mana, telekinesis, or swordsmanship had been lacking, the entire line would have collapsed.

After putting away his staff and sword, Lee Han approached Yukveltire.

Part of Yukveltire’s bag had apparently been torn during the battle, and he was checking the contents inside.

“Senior Yukveltire. May I ask something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Normally, would you never have chosen this route? Did you only come this way because I was with you?”

It sounded arrogant even to Lee Han himself, but he couldn’t help being suspicious.

No matter how he looked at it, this route was far too dangerous to be considered normal.

And these upperclassmen weren’t combat mages.

It wasn’t as though they were Professor Voladi Bagreg. Why deliberately choose a more dangerous route?

“That’s correct.”

“...So you chose it because you believed I could handle monsters like those with my magic resistance and close-combat ability?”

“Yes.”

“And naturally, it never occurred to you that something might go wrong or that this could be dangerous?”

Yukveltire looked puzzled by the continued questioning.

“I calculated the probability of success. And we succeeded. Why do you keep asking?”

Lee Han deeply regretted not asking Diret beforehand.

Demonic proposals always looked sweet and tempting.

And he had fallen for one perfectly.

“It’s nothing.”

Crunch!

Fortunately, he had already vented quite a bit by smashing golems earlier, so he managed to restrain himself from swinging his sword at his upperclassman.

Meanwhile, Yukveltire finished inspecting the bag.

“...The potions broke.”

“!”

Everything from mana-recovery potions to nutritional supplement potions had shattered.

For enchantment magic school students, who generally lacked physical stamina and disliked bodily training, those potions were extremely important.

Yukveltire’s expression darkened slightly.

“Couldn’t the others share some? They should have brought plenty.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Neither do I.”

Anfargon and Sigunting refused immediately.

Lee Han stared at them in shock.

“N-No. At least give me a reason.”

“There’s no reason to give them away.”

“We’re from the same school...”

The two upperclassmen looked at Lee Han as though he were the strange one.

So what if they belonged to the same school?

At that moment, Lee Han once again realized that he was the only normal person among lunatics.

“Wardanaz. I think you misunderstand something. Think about it the other way around. If I had lost my potions, would Senior Yukveltire have shared?”

“Of course she would.”

“I wouldn’t.”

“...”

Hearing Yukveltire answer from behind him only made Lee Han’s expression darken further.

That response was completely unhelpful.

“Why not?”

“Managing one’s potions properly is also a mage’s responsibility.”

“...That may be true, but we’ll also have problems if Senior Yukveltire can’t continue.”

Lee Han immediately ignored Yukveltire and turned back to the two upperclassmen, who somehow seemed slightly more reasonable.

“Isn’t Senior Yukveltire the only one capable of tracking Jarun?”

“She can hand over the tracking method and return to the surface.”

“There’s no way Senior Yukveltire would agree to that kind of compromise—”

“I would.”

“...”

CRACK!

Sigunting jumped when a rock outside the passage suddenly split apart.

Could Lee Han really shatter stone from that distance using <Wardanaz’s Telekinetic Force>??

“...Why again?”

At Lee Han’s question, Yukveltire calmly answered:

“Because this expedition was my proposal.”

The destroyed potions were Yukveltire’s responsibility.

And gathering the students together had also been Yukveltire’s decision.

A rational enchantment magic school student of Einroguard would naturally hand over Jarun’s location information and withdraw alone under such circumstances.

“...I’ll just share mine. You can pay me back after we return.”

Anfargon and Sigunting stared at Lee Han as though unable to comprehend him.

“Why would you do that?”

“Is it because Wardanaz has excessive mana reserves?”

“Even with excessive mana reserves, why waste potions on an upperclassman?”

“Indeed...”

‘I want to beat all of them to death.’

Ignoring the voices behind him, Lee Han pulled several potions from his backpack.

Yukveltire accepted them before asking:

“There are no nutritional supplement potions?”

“...I’ll just cook something instead, so eat that.”

Yukveltire was about to say, “But that wastes too much time,” before abruptly stopping.

Instinct warned him not to say it.

Sometimes disciples surpassed their masters.

Despite the disgraceful nickname “Little Verdus,” Yukveltire was unquestionably more perceptive than Professor Verdus himself.