Of all the bewildering things Diret had experienced today, this was by far the most bewildering.

Was she seriously saying something that ridiculous?

“W-Well... who knows why?”

“Hm.”

Princess Yukbeltire sank into thought.

For now, the two of them shared quite a few similarities.

Both were fifth-year students, and both belonged to the same school as the Junior of House Wardanaz.

I really don’t understand. Why is it like this?

With that many similarities between them, it wouldn’t have been strange at all for the junior to treat them equally.

“...Think a little harder.”

“There’s the difference between the Blue Dragon Tower and the Black Turtle Tower.”

“That doesn’t seem especially relevant... No, continue.”

“Could it be because I’m part of the Imperial Family? Perhaps the junior’s family belonged to the noble faction...”

“...”

“Diret? Diret?”

By the time Princess Yukbeltire finally lifted her head again, her crow beastman friend was already walking far away in the distance.

Princess Yukbeltire felt a bit sorry about Diret’s rude behavior.

Fortunately, she herself was a generous person. Another mage would probably have gotten angry already.

That sort of rude attitude won’t do Diret any favors either...

***

Together with the other divination magic school students, the fourth-year Bronze Golem watched the professor anxiously.

Because of the nature of the school itself, Professor Paserlet was already prone to periodic bouts of madness.

Divination magic was a deadly poison that corroded the minds of mages. The longer one practiced it, the easier it became to lose one’s sanity. There was a reason the professor’s personality had fragmented into several different personas.

But today was especially severe.

“It’s coooooming! It’s coooooming!”

“...Did the professor always have a personality like this?”

“Well...”

“More importantly, Senior. Are you planning to stay in golem form forever?”

“Hm? Yeah.”

“Isn’t it uncomfortable?”

The juniors all understood why their senior had transformed into a golem.

It was a way to withstand and avoid dangerous misfortune.

The enemies of divination mages weren’t limited to approaching madness alone.

Twisted futures warped by observation, the resulting disasters caused by those observations, and even bureaucrats who occasionally appeared demanding predictions for the Empire’s agricultural output next year—those were all enemies of divination mages as well.

The Bronze Golem senior was a student who had pushed divination magic aggressively with exceptional talent, and as a result, had paid countless prices and suffered endless misfortune.

It wasn’t strange that he had eventually transformed himself into a golem to shield against all that.

...Except for the fact that he had stayed that way far too long.

“It is uncomfortable. That’s why I changed the material. From bronze to brass.”

“...I-I see.”

Even among divination mages, there were levels to madness.

The juniors wisely changed the subject instead of asking further questions.

“But Senior, why is the professor acting like that? Is it a new personality?”

“No... It looks more like he witnessed an extremely ominous future.”

“The apocalypse is coooooming!”

Professor Paserlet screamed as he buried himself deeper into the armchair.

No matter how anyone looked at it, this resembled temporary insanity caused by seeing a catastrophic future far more than the emergence of a new persona.

“Did he perhaps foresee the destruction of the Empire?”

“The professor wouldn’t casually look that far ahead.”

Even someone like Professor Paserlet required enormous preparation, effort, and funding to predict the distant future.

There was no way he would suddenly attempt something on that scale now. At most, it would’ve been a short-term future spanning a day or two.

“Could something really happen within one or two days that’s this terrifying?”

“I’m not sure. But the future is unpredictable...”

Even the Bronze Golem senior had no idea.

What could possibly happen in the next couple of days that would horrify the professor this badly?

“Maybe the Empire’s funding is getting cut?”

“Even if it is, they’d cut the dark magic school first, not us.”

“Then maybe it’s something personal? Like his professorship at Einroguard getting extended...”

“Our school barely has enough replacement mages as it is. The professor would’ve known that from the start. There’s no reason to panic now.”

The students each proposed their own theories, but none seemed particularly convincing.

At that moment, the Bronze Golem senior clapped his hands.

“Everyone. Prepare for class. I’ll be conducting today’s lecture.”

“Can’t we just rest if even the professor collapsed?”

“No. Absolutely not. I glimpsed the future myself. If we skip today’s lecture, the juniors fail.”

At the strict response, the students grumbled but obediently sat down.

Creeeak—

“Sorry I’m late.”

“No, class hasn’t started yet. Take a seat, Junior.”

The Bronze Golem gestured reassuringly toward the hurried junior entering through the door.

“The professor isn’t feeling well today, so I’ll be teaching instead.”

“Oh dear. Is he alright?”

“He should recover soon. Apparently he saw some strange future and keeps shouting that the apocalypse is coming—”

“The apocalypse is coooooming!!!”

The Bronze Golem senior suddenly screamed in terror upon seeing the figure entering behind Lee Han.

The Skull Principal, in human form, had stepped into the classroom.

“Wow. Senior, your imitation is amazing.”

“Did the professor really scream like that?”

“Yeah. That was almost perfect.”

While the juniors chatted casually without understanding the situation, the Bronze Golem screamed again.

“The apocalypse is coooooming!”

“Senior, you can stop now.”

“Why are you doing it twice...?”

“L-Look behind you!”

“Hm?”

The divination magic school students turned around.

Most of them still failed to grasp the situation even after seeing the insane duplicate. The Skull Principal’s human appearance was rarer than expected.

But one student who had coincidentally seen the Skull Principal’s true appearance before immediately screamed as well.

“The apocalypse is cooooooming!”

“???”

“W-What kind of magic is this? Why is everyone reacting like that?”

“...I’m sorry.”

Lee Han apologized on their behalf.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t Lee Han’s fault that the insane duplicate kept following him around everywhere, but someone had to apologize, didn’t they?

After Lee Han did his best to explain the situation—while naturally embellishing certain details—the seniors slowly nodded.

So it wasn’t actually the Skull Principal, but rather something like the Skull Principal’s projection, and this projection had become deeply interested in Einroguard’s magical education and had suddenly come to observe classes...

Now I understand why the professor lost his mind!

The students suddenly felt tempted to scream that the apocalypse was coming too and pretend to go insane.

What practical difference was there between the Skull Principal and the Skull Principal’s projection anyway?

Having an Archmage sitting there watching the lecture was terrifying either way.

“What are you doing? Begin.”

“...Ah, yes.”

The Bronze Golem senior stiffened under the pressure.

He awkwardly turned toward the blackboard, only to stumble and collapse.

Thud!

“Was that because of bad luck?!”

“N-No. I just tripped because I was nervous.”

“...”

Lee Han reflected deeply upon himself.

I’m sorry!

“More importantly, Junior. What happened with that prophecy from last time? Did it help you avoid misfortune?”

Seeing Lee Han again reminded the Bronze Golem senior about the earlier incident. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Last time, Lee Han had received an extremely powerful prophecy intended to alter the future.

A prophecy warning him to avoid involvement with the Imperial Family.

As the Bronze Golem recalled that prophecy, another thought naturally followed.

Hadn’t Lee Han originally received that prophecy after escaping from the insane duplicate?

And yet that very same insane duplicate was sitting in the back of the classroom right now.

Clearly the prophecy hadn’t worked particularly well.

“...I don’t think I followed it very successfully.”

“I-It certainly doesn’t look that way.”

The complicated emotions flashing briefly across Lee Han’s face revealed that countless things had happened since then.

Underclassmen often encountered dangerous situations at Einroguard, but what Lee Han displayed now was on an ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) entirely different level.

What in the world had happened to him?

“Anyway, let’s begin the lecture... Last time, we discussed astronomical magic.”

Astronomical magic—or celestial magic—was a branch of magic that borrowed and utilized the power of stars.

Divination mages inevitably became interested in it.

After all, if they tried to predict the future through spirits or demons instead, they wouldn’t survive long enough even with a hundred souls and bodies.

“The stars move according to celestial law. Skilled mages can borrow power from those movements to glimpse fragments of the future. Observation like this reduces strain on the mage and helps prevent madness. If one wished to pursue greater heights, it would even be possible to form contracts directly with stars themselves, but there’s no need to discuss that today. Surely no one here is greedy enough to want to contract with stars already?”

The students burst into laughter at the senior’s joke.

Two people, however, remained completely expressionless.

Lee Han and the insane duplicate.

Lee Han looked deeply gloomy, as if chewing on something bitter, while the insane duplicate spoke in visible dissatisfaction.

“What cowards. To remain satisfied merely by observing movements.”

“...Then perhaps Master should give them a proper lecture too? Explain how they should contract with stars themselves.”

“There’s no reason to interfere unnecessarily with mages who are not disciples of royalty.”

Tch.

Lee Han clicked his tongue inwardly.

Looks like he couldn’t drag his seniors into star contracts after all.

“Today’s lesson will involve observing the movement of stars and attempting to glimpse the future. Even if you fail to perceive anything, don’t force yourselves.”

Divination magic was never something one could brute-force through sheer effort.

Astronomical divination especially depended heavily on compatibility and aptitude.

One mage might observe the movement of the Blue Star and immediately receive inspiration regarding the future, while another mage might spend years studying that exact same star and gain absolutely nothing.

Finding a star aligned with one’s own spirituality came first.

Only after that did signs, divinations, and rules begin to matter.

“How... was it?”

After finishing the explanation, the Bronze Golem senior respectfully approached the insane duplicate.

Whether it was the Skull Principal himself or merely his projection, a Principal was still a Principal.

Naturally, the senior couldn’t help being nervous.

“It was acceptable.”

“Th-Thank you!”

The Bronze Golem senior looked delighted enough to jump.

“However, there are still problems. Your attitude toward teaching students is excessively complacent.”

“...I apologize.”

The senior immediately deflated again.

“Still, considering the level of these mages, such complacency is understandable. Not everyone has the privilege of learning under royalty.”

“Th-Thank you?”

“Even so, continuing like this without improvement is something you should reflect upon as a mage.”

“...Forgive me, Archmage, but I’m not certain what exactly I should change.”

“I’ll explain simply.”

The insane duplicate answered readily.

“You may teach other mages lazily and complacently if you wish, but do not treat this disciple the same way. Teach with the passion of a newborn star’s flames.”

“U-Understood!”

The insane duplicate magnanimously laid out his expectations.

Since this disciple had already formed a contract with the Guest Star Arna, he would surely possess exceptional aptitude for reading the movements of other wandering stars as well.

In that case, memorizing the trajectories of one or two easily observable comets or novae right now would be beneficial.

The more varieties of divination magic a mage mastered, the easier it became to prepare meticulously for future disasters and misfortune.

Of course, that was only by the insane duplicate’s standards.

Lee Han personally would have been perfectly happy simply studying the movements of the moon together with the Blue Star and Red Star alongside his seniors.

“...”

Dragged into disaster despite quietly minding his own business, Lee Han remained silent.

Then, while the insane duplicate wasn’t paying attention, he quietly whispered to the Bronze Golem senior:

“Senior... is there any divination magic capable of predicting what Master is about to say in advance?”