“What exactly did you mean just now—”

Lee Han stopped mid-question as the surroundings suddenly began to blur.

This connection ends here. We shall meet again next time, Osu’s disciple.

“Wait! Then what about the small world—”

The Yachaowang looked upon the mage with approval. Even at the very end, Lee Han still clung to his curiosity about magic.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t what Lee Han had actually been trying to ask.

As the dimension rapidly dissolved around him, he screamed inwardly.

...So the initiation really had nothing to do with it after all, didn’t it?!

At this rate, it seemed he could’ve simply stayed still and waited to leave naturally!

***

“Gah!”

“What’s wrong?!”

The upperclassmen flinched in alarm when the junior who had merely been lying quietly in his sleeping bag suddenly bolted upright.

In underground regions like this, nightmares couldn’t be taken lightly.

Sometimes they weren’t dreams at all, but warning signs of malicious creatures or supernatural phenomena.

“Oh. It’s nothing. I just got too absorbed in magic while dreaming...”

“...”

Sigunting and Anpagon exchanged subtle looks of admiration.

Students of the enchantment magic school firmly believed they were the most devoted to magic in all of Einroguard.

And honestly, it wasn’t empty pride.

Otherwise, who in their right mind would willingly study under Professor Verdus?

Surviving Professor Verdus’s lessons alone practically qualified someone to claim unmatched devotion to magic.

But becoming immersed in magical training even while asleep—

He really isn’t normal.

Training magic even in dreams would put enormous strain on the mind. Impressive.

Meanwhile, Princess Yukbeltire quietly approached from behind.

Seeing the concern in her expression, Lee Han waved dismissively.

“I’m fine, Senior.”

“Good. I’ve recently been researching methods of magical training within dreams, so could you explain the situation in detail?”

“Please leave, Senior.”

Lee Han was adapting to the enchantment magic school at terrifying speed.

At this point, sharp and curt replies to seniors were becoming instinctive.

-We came all this way for nothing.

-That’s exactly what I’m saying.

“!?”

The group startled at the voices echoing down from above the cliff.

“Are we being followed?”

“No. They don’t seem aware we’re here. It looks like they located Gangsulgudu through another method...”

-Who’s down there?!

Apparently sensing a presence at last, the voices above suddenly became sharp and wary.

Anpagon replied without lowering his guard.

“Enchantment magic school. Who are you?”

“What? Are you insane? We’re from the transformation magic scho— No, wait. Wardanaz?! Why are you there?!”

The upperclassmen above the cliff finally realized what was happening.

“Ah. Right. Wardanaz takes enchantment magic classes too.”

“Yes... But more importantly, Seniors. How did you find this place?”

The transformation magic upperclassmen hesitated briefly before answering.

If it had only been enchantment magic students below, they would’ve ignored the question entirely. Why bother explaining things to little Verduses?

But Lee Han was there.

“Senior Jarun borrowed our reagents several times and never returned them, so we secretly placed tracking magic on him.”

“...”

Every enchantment magic student present, including Lee Han, was inwardly stunned.

They weren’t the only ones casting tracking magic!

“One of us can transform into an Alicanto, so getting here wasn’t difficult. But how did you all arrive so quickly?”

The transformation magic students sounded genuinely puzzled.

Their group had only managed it because they possessed someone capable of transforming into a bird native to the region.

That shouldn’t have been possible for enchantment magic students.

“...You didn’t force your way through the upper golem cave, did you?”

“...”

Lee Han’s face twisted slightly.

Today, he had learned another important lesson.

Never blindly trust a senior’s tempting proposal.

Damn it. If I’d checked with the transformation magic side first, I could’ve gotten here much more easily.

Who could’ve predicted there would be multiple people placing tracking magic besides Princess Yukbeltire?

Lee Han had underestimated Einroguard upperclassmen again.

“We got lucky. But... Seniors. You found Senior Jarun, right? Then where is he?”

“We found him, but it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“...What?”

“If you’re curious, come up. Wait. Only you come up, Wardanaz.”

The transformation magic students spoke with obvious caution.

Lee Han was one thing.

The enchantment magic students below, however, inspired absolutely no trust.

It wouldn’t even be surprising if they smiled politely before stabbing someone in the back.

“Understood. I’ll come alone.”

Using telekinesis, Lee Han lightly ascended the cliff.

And the moment he saw the distant scene—

“!!”

A familiar dwarf upperclassman was trapped inside a massive green crystal vein.

Senior Jarun’s rigid face remained frozen in pure shock and disbelief.

“Did you Seniors do this?!”

“What? Of course not!”

The transformation magic students denied it immediately.

“...Though admittedly, it does feel satisfying enough that we almost wish we had.”

“Wardanaz. Senior Jarun was already trapped like that when we arrived. We searched the entire area afterward, but there were no veins anywhere nearby.”

After discovering Jarun sealed inside the crystal, the transformation magic students had thoroughly investigated the surroundings.

At first, they had hoped to uncover traces of orichalcum veins.

But there was nothing.

No orichalcum, no secondary veins, not even evidence of excavation or exploration.

After long discussion, they had arrived at a conclusion.

-Senior Jarun fabricated the existence of the vein to secure support funding.

“...No. Even if it’s Senior Jarun, would he really lie about something like this?”

“He’s pulled similar scams several times already. Though admittedly, not on this scale...”

“...”

Once again, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Lee Han realized how badly he had underestimated Einroguard upperclassmen.

At Einroguard, outrageous lies became perfectly acceptable whenever equipment or funding was involved.

And students accustomed to that environment no longer found it shocking.

Still, Lee Han made one final attempt to defend him.

“But an orichalcum vein is on an entirely different scale. Other upperclassmen and even professors are involved now, so surely...”

“Wardanaz. Never judge insane people by ordinary standards.”

...That’s hard to argue against.

His defense collapsed instantly.

At Einroguard, phrases like Surely they wouldn’t go that far were meaningless.

“Real orichalcum veins aren’t discovered that easily. We only came hoping there might at least be some secondary veins nearby, but there’s nothing.”

“Judging by the area, Senior Gangsulgudu probably reserved this place in advance for personal work. Otherwise there would be excavation traces everywhere. We’ve searched thoroughly, so we’re leaving. Wardanaz. Want to head back with us?”

“...Aren’t you taking Senior Jarun with you?”

At Lee Han’s question, the transformation magic students stared at him like he’d said something absurd.

“Wardanaz. Senior Gangsulgudu ignored our greetings, never answered our letters, locked himself in his workshop, and spent all day mining gold alone. We aren’t exactly social ourselves, but there are limits. Even the lunatics from the enchantment magic school don’t act like that.”

No, honestly, they’re pretty similar...

Lee Han kept the thought to himself.

“Besides, we’re not staying around some mysterious crystal vein just for that senior. He’s not going to die. If we leave him, the Death Knights or some professor will eventually retrieve him.”

The transformation magic school wasn’t as cold as the enchantment magic school, but toward certain individuals, they could be merciless.

And Jarun clearly fell into that category.

Perhaps because of the karma he’d accumulated over time, nobody showed any desire to help him.

“So? Coming back with us?”

“...I don’t think I can. I came here with others. And there’s still something bothering me.”

“I see. Then it can’t be helped. One last thing, though—don’t become too obsessed with orichalcum veins. They’re incredibly difficult to find in the first place.”

“No, I’m more worried about Senior Jarun.”

“Ah. Really? Then there’s even less reason to care. Just think of it as unusually shiny ore.”

With that, the transformation magic students prepared to depart.

One student transformed into an Alicanto, while the others climbed onto its back before quickly flying away.

-Wardanaz. May we come up?

“Yes. I think it’s safe.”

As the enchantment magic students climbed up one after another, Lee Han explained everything he had heard.

The three upperclassmen immediately responded coldly.

“Then it’s almost certainly a scam.”

“...Is there really no chance of a misunderstanding?”

“If there were, there would at least be excavation traces nearby. Mining work always leaves evidence. He probably hid equipment or funding inside his workshop and fled down here.”

Sigunting nodded in agreement with Anpagon’s speculation.

“I can even guess why he hid inside the crystal. He probably wanted to avoid being murdered by the people tracking him.”

Lee Han was stunned by the sheer creativity of the theory, but the others nodded seriously.

Even Princess Yukbeltire agreed.

“Judging from his clothing, he was definitely fleeing from something.”

“Maybe he discovered the vein and then had to move because of unavoidable circumstances.”

Princess Yukbeltire shook her head.

“No. If he had truly discovered orichalcum, he would never have left that location alive.”

“Exactly.”

If the vein vanished or someone else discovered it while he was away, the regret would haunt him forever.

A mage like Jarun absolutely would’ve remained beside the vein no matter what.

The fact that he had been found here, without any signs of excavation, was proof enough that the vein never existed.

“...I understand. Then let’s free Senior Jarun and ask him directly.”

“What?”

“Why would we bother?”

“You’re developing Diret’s bad habits. Wasting effort on pointless things.”

The upperclassmen scolded him in order according to seniority.

Lee Han answered firmly.

“I came all the way here. At minimum, I’m getting him out just so I can question him myself.”

And if there happened to be another reason he was trapped, that would be even better.

The upperclassmen, however, remained unconvinced.

“That’s a complete waste of time...”

“If none of you help me, I’ll start blasting magic everywhere and attract every monster nearby.”

“...”

“...Fine. We’ll help.”

A diligent junior suddenly throwing a tantrum was surprisingly terrifying.

Lee Han had worked obediently without complaint the entire time, so when he finally became stubborn, the upperclassmen reluctantly gave in.

...Not because they were intimidated by the threat, of course.

***

Fortunately, Princess Yukbeltire seemed to understand the nature of the crystal trapping Jarun.

“A highly unusual metal. It resembles a naturally formed alloy, but it’s not something commonly encountered.”

“How do we free him?”

“It possesses extraordinary resistance against external force. If we simply smash it apart, Jarun of the Gangsulgudu family would shatter alongside it.”

“Then what do we do?”

“There also appears to be magnetite mixed within. The mana circulation is unusual as well, suggesting some form of absorption property...”

“Senior.”

“Hm?”

“Could you please skip directly to the important part?”

“...Applying mana-infused heat and melting it would be the most effective solution.”

Princess Yukbeltire immediately began sketching an artifact design across the ground.

The artifact would absorb surrounding mana, convert it into heat, regulate the temperature so it wouldn’t spread or cause collateral damage, and steadily melt the ore away.

After examining the absurdly complex blueprint and the even more absurd list of required materials, Lee Han nodded.

“I’ll just melt it with my own mana.”

“...”

For a brief instant, the slightest crack appeared in Princess Yukbeltire’s expressionless face.

But Lee Han had little choice.

By the time they gathered the materials, transported everything down here, and assembled the artifact, an eternity would pass.

They needed a solution immediately.

Fortunately, now that he understood the principle, it seemed possible to brute-force it through sheer magical output.

Convert mana into the fire element, then continuously radiate heat outward.

Compared to Princess Yukbeltire’s artifact, it was crude, wasteful, and horribly inefficient.

But given enough time, it would ultimately achieve the same result.

Watching from behind, Princess Yukbeltire finally spoke.

“Junior of House Wardanaz.”

“Please don’t interrupt me.”

“I’m not interrupting...”

“Setting up your artifact would take too long, Senior.”

“That’s not what I meant...”

“Shh. Then please stay quiet.”

“...”

Princess Yukbeltire quietly closed her mouth.

In truth, the artifact wasn’t what she had intended to mention.

For some time now, a faint phantom of a crown had been flickering above Lee Han’s head.

...What kind of magic is that?