“You said you wouldn’t get angry...”

“Surprisingly, even the happiest person in the Empire can get angry. Only the most evil mage in the Empire could make such a thing possible.”

The Great Artist swept the broken obsidian flowers aside and spoke nonchalantly.

“Then you must be Lee Han of House Wardanaz. Correct?”

“Yes.”

There was no point in telling clumsy lies to an archmage who had already guessed everything.

Lee Han answered calmly.

“The youngest of House Wardanaz, and a second-year at Einroguard.”

“Yes.”

-A second-year?

-Wasn’t he a fifth-year?

Murmurs came from behind him, but Lee Han did not hear them. He was focused on the person before him.

“The sacrificial lamb who will bear the most tragic and pitiful fate in the Empire. A mage for the burnt offering. A poor soul who will soon burn!”

“...Th-that’s not true.”

The other person seemed to be mistaken.

However, the Great Artist spoke in a powerful voice, as though he had seen the future.

“You think it is not true. But it will happen soon. Unless you run away right now!”

“That can’t be... Wait. Or can it?”

Lee Han, who had been about to deny it, wavered slightly.

Come to think of it, unlike his other friends, ever since he had started learning magic separately from the Skull Principal, his life did feel as if it had become particularly full of hardship.

When the Skull Principal’s youngest disciple proved more open to reason than expected, the Great Artist nodded.

There was still hope for that boy.

Before he went insane, or became corrupted and turned into a professor, or met an even more terrible fate, the Great Artist had to enlighten him and guide him toward the bright path where light shone.

“I have quite a lot to teach you. Follow me.”

At the artist’s words, the Valdrogard students spoke with faces full of envy.

“What luck! To have a private audience with the Great Artist as soon as you arrive, and to learn those truths...”

“You should be grateful, mage of House Wardanaz. Remember this well. Listen to what your soul is telling you. Do not be swayed by what your family demands of you. Even if the Empire forces you to do things for the sake of appearances, ignore them.”

Damn. If this were Einroguard, I would have hit them. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Lee Han cursed the Valdrogard students inwardly as he followed behind the Great Artist.

***

The residence where the Great Artist stayed was smaller than expected, and in some ways even had a modest air.

When Lee Han looked surprised, the artist asked,

“Did you think it would be much more luxurious?”

“A little.”

“I pursue my own pleasure and happiness, but that does not necessarily lead to luxury. In fact, luxury may be a path that leads away from them.”

As he looked around the bleak interior, Lee Han discovered several paintings. Among them, surprisingly, was a familiar figure.

Long flowing hair and perfect features that could only be seen in statues from ancient kingdoms.

It was a portrait of the Skull Principal in human form.

“May I ask you something?”

“Go ahead. I brought you here to teach you in the first place, so I can at least answer one question.”

“Were you truly the Principal’s disciple, sir?”

“No.”

“!”

Lee Han was shocked.

Could he be a magical criminal???

Oh no. How could I have acted so carelessly...!

“I was merely a pitiful Einroguard student deceived by that despicable, evil being.”

“...”

That was still being a disciple!

The other person seemed to have a habit of stating the fact that he was the Skull Principal’s disciple in a roundabout way. It was similar to how Gainando disliked saying directly, “I didn’t study and just played around,” and would instead put it in a roundabout way.

“But why do you suddenly ask that? Didn’t you come here knowing that?”

“Ah. I thought of it when I saw that portrait...”

Lee Han had been about to ask whether he had painted it because he still held some respect for the Principal, but he hesitated.

He might provoke the other person unnecessarily.

“I paint it often.”

“Is that so??”

“Yes. For my pleasure.”

Since the topic had come up, the Great Artist showed him how he pursued pleasure through painting.

Whoosh!

He immediately burned the portrait.

“Watching a painting burn makes even terrible hatred fade a little.”

“...”

Lee Han was genuinely relieved that he had not asked whether the artist respected him.

If he had, he might have burned along with that painting.

“Sit. I have something to tell you.”

When the junior from Einroguard obediently sat down, the Great Artist slowly opened his mouth.

“Where should I begin... Right. You probably do not feel it yet. I mean the story of how unfortunate your fate is, and how you will soon be offered up as a burnt sacrifice.”

“Actually, I have a bit of an idea.”

“?!”

Just learning magic under the Skull Principal could get him caught up in fights when a second projection appeared, when magical criminals showed up, or when anti-magic extremists appeared.

So he could roughly guess what this senior from the same school meant by such talk.

Of course, the Great Artist seemed slightly surprised by Lee Han’s reaction.

It was surprising that someone who was only a second-year would respond like this.

“You have an idea? No! It is far more likely that you are mistaken.”

“Uh, magical criminals, anti-magic extremists, worshippers of evil gods, great demons, dimensional monsters... or having to fight the Principal’s insane duplicate, things like that?”

“...!!”

The Great Artist was even more surprised by the answer, which was far more specific and sharp than expected.

What?

“You know all that, and you still have no thought of running away?”

“Well, there is a bit of a story behind that...”

“Wrong! You still have not come to your senses.”

The Great Artist cut off Lee Han’s words without even listening.

Lee Han grumbled inwardly.

Isn’t that a bit too much just because he’s a senior?

“Do you know who the wisest person at Einroguard is?”

“Professor Garcia?”

“Ha!”

The artist replaced his evaluation with a contemptuous sound. Lee Han grumbled inwardly again and said,

“Then Senior Diret?”

“...Who is that? Since you do not seem to know the answer, I will tell you. The wisest person at Einroguard is someone who never enrolled in the first place.”

“...”

Lee Han was dumbfounded by the unfair question.

Regardless, the artist continued.

“The next wisest person is someone who enrolled, then graduated as quickly as possible and never got involved with Einroguard again.”

“Who is the next wisest person?”

“From the next one onward, honestly, you cannot call them wise. It would be more accurate to call them foolish. The foolish one is someone who seeks teachings from the Skull Principal and receives even a little of that magic.”

He received it too, though...

“However, even amid foolishness, one can find fragments of wisdom. The somewhat less foolish choose to cut the chains of slavery and flee far away.”

“...Wait, does that mean the most foolish person is the professor?”

After listening to the breakdown, only professors remained.

“No. Listen to the end. Of course, professors are indeed even more foolish. Some choose to remain at Einroguard instead of fleeing, taking the yoke of professorship upon themselves. It is a terribly foolish thing to do. But there exists one even more foolish than that, and such a person could truly be called the greatest fool of all.”

Even nonsense became interesting if one kept hearing it repeated.

Lee Han was exactly like that.

There’s still someone left?

If even professors were not the most foolish, then who was?

“Who on earth is that?”

“It is the one who dares to inherit not only the Skull Principal’s magic, but all his positions and duties!”

The Great Artist spoke with genuine conviction.

The obligations and duties carried by that ancient archmage were by no means light.

An ordinary mage would be crushed or burned to death even after inheriting only the tiniest fraction of those burdens.

However, from time to time, among the disciples who learned magic from the Skull Principal, there were those who revealed such ambitions.

Such people could truly be called the most foolish and pitiful of all.

“Indeed! Fortunately, I don’t fall into that category.”

“...”

Is he sane?

For a moment, the Great Artist could not understand what Lee Han was saying and doubted his own ears.

Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the long history of the Skull Principal’s school could clearly see that the boy before him was calmly walking the path of that final case.

Despite being only a second-year, he had accumulated achievements spectacular enough to reach even the artist’s ears. How many more incidents must have occurred within the closed walls of Einroguard?

If a disciple like this did not attempt to inherit the succession, then who would?

“You have no intention of inheriting it?”

“Huh? No.”

“Really? Then...”

Though still not entirely convinced, the Great Artist felt somewhat relieved.

If this youngest disciple truly had no intention of inheriting, persuading him would be easier.

After graduation, he only needed to stay as far from Einroguard as possible and burn any letters asking whether he wanted to become a professor.

However, the artist’s relief was immediately shattered by Lee Han’s next words.

“I was just thinking of helping out a little from the side...”

Crash!

“!?”

In extreme anger, the Great Artist smashed yet another artwork.

“Such complacent nonsense!”

“No, no. Just helping out a bit is...”

“When you should be keeping your distance, you want to help from the side? You have not understood the teaching I just gave you at all!”

Though hidden by a mask and magic, anger blazed in the artist’s voice.

“Do you know what that means? It means sacrificing your entire life for unknown people across this continent instead of pursuing the pleasures and happiness you desire. No matter how it is wrapped in the mysterious secrets of magic, it is absurd. Why should you make such a sacrifice?”

“It’s not quite that extreme...”

“You are either by his side or you are not. There is nothing else! You do not understand. Look at those foolish little traitors.”

“Who?”

“The professors.”

“...”

“Do you think these professors can research their own magic just because they want to? As long as you are by his side, you will be dragged into it!”

The Great Artist had not only logic, but also firm sincerity.

Lee Han could not help being overwhelmed by that sincerity.

There is definitely some truth to that.

Given the nature of the Skull Principal’s work, it would likely be difficult to simply help moderately from the side.

When dimensional gates opened in the back mountain and demons poured out, how could he help leisurely and moderately? He would have to help desperately.

“Do you understand!”

“Yes...”

“Then you will no longer make such complacent remarks. Do you feel like fleeing after graduation?”

“No?”

“...Why???”

“Well, I’ve already received things... I’ll just prepare for it to be harder and help out.”

“...”

Amid his angry concern for his youngest colleague, the Great Artist suddenly felt his mind go distant.

Under the Skull Principal’s command, there had been several disciples who had tried to burn their master, themselves, or the continent, but this type was a first.

How could someone reveal such grand ambitions without a single trace of personal ambition?