Most students who entered the magic school saw magic not as a means but as an end in itself.

They didn’t think, “Hey, I’ll learn fire magic to light a campfire and water magic to drink for free when I’m thirsty.” Instead, they usually harbored ambitions like, “After honing the basics, I’ll learn the magic I want and explore new realms to gain enlightenment!”

Because of this, Nylia had little interest in fire magic.

After all, lighting a fire was something she could do without a wand or spells.

Give her a rock and a stick, and she was confident she could start a fire.

She would’ve preferred if her affinity had aligned with water magic, which she had always been interested in...

“Nylia, be grateful for the magic you possess.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure.”

Overwhelmed by the aura emanating from Yi Han, Nylia instinctively nodded.

‘Was he complimenting my magic?’

As a member of the prestigious Wodanaz family, it was clear that Yi Han couldn’t tolerate Nylia belittling her own magic.

Feeling slightly awkward, Nylia turned her head away.

Of course, Yi Han was grumbling internally.

‘If only she could control her mana, she’d be learning fire magic first.

I’m jealous.’

After warming their cold hands and feet, quenching their thirst with water, and eating some warmed bread and cheese, the group’s fatigue had somewhat eased.

‘I should go out and check if the undead are still around.’

Yi Han thought he should go outside to see if the undead were still lingering.

Given the crazy headmaster’s personality, they might still be there.

“Nylia.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Nylia seemed to have guessed Yi Han’s thoughts and quickly stood up.

As they stepped out of the cave, they were greeted by pitch-black darkness.

It didn’t take long for them to realize the situation.

“......”

“Damn it.”

The distant base of the mountain was still glowing brightly, as if a ring of fire encircled it.

It was the undead summons forming a blockade.

“Is that guy really insane?”

“Well... yeah, but can you say that?”

Nylia trembled slightly, afraid of cursing the skeletal headmaster.

“It’s fine. No one’s listening. You can curse him.”

“R-really?”

“Nylia, magic comes from free thinking. The headmaster probably wants us to curse him and think freely.”

Yi Han had a remarkable talent for spouting nonsense with a serious face.

His sculpted features and earnest tone made Nylia, who didn’t know much about magic, start to waver again.

‘Is... is that so?’

“H-headmaster, you bad guy! You bear-like jerk! May the wolves get you at night...”

Rustle—

“Ahhh! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

As soon as she heard a rustling sound ahead, Nylia clung to Yi Han, on the verge of tears.

Yi Han slowly peeled Nylia off his chest like removing a leech and cast a wary glance forward.

“Nylia, be careful. Someone’s here.”

The other party seemed to have noticed Yi Han too, as a voice called out.

“... Who’s there?”

“You first.”

“White Tiger Tower.”

“Damn. Not all of them were caught.”

Yi Han clicked his tongue.

No wonder the undead hadn’t disappeared.

Amid the chaos, some White Tiger Tower students had escaped.

Another rustling sound followed, and the White Tiger Tower students appeared in a completely disheveled state, looking almost like beggars.

“B-beggars?”

“No. They’re from White Tiger Tower.”

- Punishment for students who defied the great headmaster’s orders and fled.

Unlike Yi Han’s group, the White Tiger Tower students who had tried to break through the blockade were met with countless skeletons.

The bone trackers, with their clattering sounds and eerie words, charged at them.

The bone clubs they wielded weren’t fatal, but one hit slowed movement, two hits stopped their feet, and three hits brought them down.

“Ah!”

“These cowards are using numbers... Ugh!”

The White Tiger Tower students, showcasing their refined swordsmanship, managed to take down some bone trackers with wooden swords, but eventually, they too fell one by one.

- Suppression complete.

“... Up! Retreat upward!”

Giselle was the first among the White Tiger Tower students to grasp the situation.

‘This wasn’t made to be broken through!’

While Yi Han didn’t trust the headmaster at all, Giselle had inadvertently believed his words and mistakenly thought they could break through the blockade.

Continuing downward would only lead to capture.

Giselle began leading the remaining students up the mountain.

Fortunately, the bone trackers didn’t pursue them that far.

“Huff... huff...”

“Moradi. Is it okay to run upward? There’s no path.”

“Summons called by mages don’t last long. They’ll disappear over time.”

If Yi Han had been there, he would’ve pointed out, “That’s for mediocre mages. Do you think the headmaster’s summons would be that weak?” But unfortunately, the White Tiger Tower students’ knowledge of magic was severely lacking.

They nodded, thinking Giselle’s words made sense.

“What do we do in the meantime?”

“Wait. Rest and recover our stamina. Light a fire... No, first find a place to rest. Look for a spot sheltered from the wind.”

At Giselle’s words, the White Tiger Tower students began searching their surroundings.

They weren’t as adept in the dark or at navigating mountains as Nylia, but they had stamina.

Despite their muscles aching with fatigue and their throats parched with thirst, they kept moving.

Rustle—

“I heard something over there.”

“A mountain beast?”

“If it’s a beast, let’s catch it. I feel like my stomach’s stuck to my back.”

But the sound wasn’t from a beast—it was human voices.

The White Tiger Tower students looked shocked.

Who else could be out here in the middle of the night?

“... Who’s there?”

“You first.”

“White Tiger Tower.”

“Damn. Not all of them were caught.”

Surprisingly, it was the Blue Dragon Tower students.

“Come in.”

The White Tiger Tower students hesitantly entered the cave.

Their expressions were filled with awkwardness.

It hadn’t been long since they’d fought, so receiving help like this didn’t sit well with them.

“Sit down and eat.”

Yi Han spoke expressionlessly.

Gairnando, beside him, whispered, “We don’t have much food, why...”

“Shh.”

Derku elbowed Gairnando.

The sudden appearance of the White Tiger Tower students, looking like beggars, made it clear how much they’d suffered tonight.

Normally, Yi Han could’ve kicked them out.

Given how they’d treated him, no one would’ve blamed him.

But seeing their pitiful state, Yi Han called them into the cave and shared food and water.

Honestly, it was touching.

‘Yi Han is truly honorable!’

Being kind to allies was easy.

The truly difficult thing was being kind to enemies.

Derku hoped Yi Han’s kindness would lead the White Tiger Tower students to reflect and reconcile.

“......”

Only the sound of chewing filled the cave.

Giselle cautiously tried to assess the situation.

‘How are the Blue Dragon Tower guys here?’

Giselle hadn’t expected Yi Han to have followed her.

Who would’ve thought students from Blue Dragon Tower, not Black Turtle Tower, would do something so underhanded?

Instead, Giselle thought differently.

‘...

They must’ve seen the map too.’

Otherwise, there was no reason for them to be here tonight.

They must’ve come up earlier and hidden in the cave during the commotion below.

Giselle chewed her lip, pondering what to do.

While Yi Han of the Wodanaz family had shown kindness, that was one thing, and this was another.

Since her time in the Moradi family, Giselle had been taught:

- Giselle, as you know, the Moradi family never forgets grudges.

But there’s a hidden meaning to that—it’s that we repay kindness when we remember it.

Those swayed by gratitude were the most despised in the Moradi family.

A Moradi had to be able to coldly reject even a desperate plea from someone who had saved their life.

‘How can I use this? First, I need to win their favor.’

Meanwhile, one of the White Tiger Tower students hesitantly spoke up, trying to ask Derku what was going on.

“Choi, what’s...”

Thud!

“?!”

The White Tiger Tower student who had started speaking collapsed forward.

Derku was startled.

‘What’s this?!’

At first, he thought the student had simply collapsed from exhaustion.

But that wasn’t it.

Thud! Thud!

Other students also collapsed forward as if they’d eaten something bad.

“... Damn it!”

Realizing too late, Giselle shouted sharply and spat out the water she’d been drinking.

But she’d already drunk enough to feel her mind growing hazy.

‘Was there something in the water...?!’

“Too late. You realized too late.”

Yi Han spoke coldly.

Even as her mind blurred, Giselle glared at Yi Han with murderous intent.

Instead of the soft, slender face she’d seen when they first met, his expression was now sharp and menacing, like a blade.

It was a side of Giselle the White Tiger Tower students had never seen.

“Just... you wait. Wodanaz...!”

The last thing Giselle saw was the Wodanaz boy’s sculpted, icy face looking down at her expressionlessly.

With that, she fell into a deep sleep.

‘Did I just make an enemy for no reason?’

Contrary to Giselle’s misunderstanding, Yi Han did feel a bit of regret.

The White Tiger Tower students wouldn’t forget this grudge.

But what could he do? They had struck first.

If someone dislikes you for no reason, give them a reason to!

“W-what, what, what is this, Yi Han?!”

“Was there poison in the water?! I drank it too!”

Derku was so shocked he could barely speak.

Gairnando was the same.

Yi Han had deliberately excluded them from his scheme.

Both Derku and Gairnando were terrible at hiding their expressions, so telling them could’ve caused problems.

“Gairnando, don’t worry. It’s not poison. And what you drank didn’t have it. We’re going to capture them and leave them where the bone trackers are.”

Yi Han hadn’t drugged the White Tiger Tower students’ water out of personal spite.

Who else would the skeletons below be looking for? Clearly, they were after the White Tiger Tower students.

They needed to be captured and handed over quickly!

“But...! Was this really necessary?”

“Derku, think about it. If we’d confronted them head-on, it would’ve been noisy and we’d have been caught. Plus, do you think this Moradi would’ve just stood by? She’d have dragged us down with her.”

Derku was no match for Yi Han in an argument.

Hearing this, Derku felt convinced again.

“But still, this is a bit... Where did you even get the drug?”

Yoner raised his hand with a slightly embarrassed expression.

“I found some sleepweed on the way up.”

Yoner, who could identify most plants, had spotted the white-stemmed sleepweed while climbing.

- Ah, look at this.

- What’s this?

- Sleepweed.

Grind it into powder and mix it in water to make someone sleep.

- Let’s take it.

- Huh?

- Let’s take it.

You never know when it might come in handy.

- Would we ever need this?

Yoner had taken the sleepweed, wondering if they’d ever use it.

Surprisingly, they had.

...

He just hadn’t expected it to be used like this.