Yi Han felt a moment of worry, but fortunately, it seemed his thoughts hadn’t been discovered.

"Wearing priestly robes won’t deepen your faith or weaken any curses..."

Tiziling seemed concerned that Yi Han might be misunderstanding something.

"Of course, that’s true. But wearing priestly robes might help me reflect on myself, as I’ve been too lazy and comfortable in my usual clothes." "... Uh, isn’t that outfit enough?" Tiziling pointed at Yi Han’s clothes.

The skeletal headmaster had only given the students rough and crude uniforms (if you could even call them that), which were far from comfortable or soft.

But Yi Han remained firm.

"No, I need the priestly robes. To better understand Priest Freesinga’s will."

"If you say so..."

Tiziling hesitated but eventually relented.

For the devout Tiziling, a reason tied to faith was impossible to refuse.

"I’ll bring them for you next time we meet."

"Good. Oh, and the priest asked me to make sure you eat properly."

"It’s fine," Tiziling replied softly but firmly.

"I’m satisfied with my current meals."

If Yi Han had backed down immediately after being refused, he wouldn’t have the makings of a graduate student.

When a professor tells you to do something, you make the impossible possible.

Of course, Priest Mehrid wasn’t a professor, but...

"But the priest is worried. If you don’t do something, he’ll keep worrying. How about this? Let’s eat together. You don’t have to force yourself to eat much. Just sharing a meal will ease the priest’s concerns, won’t it?" Seeming to find Yi Han’s reasoning plausible, Tiziling nodded after some thought.

She had already felt guilty about Priest Mehrid’s constant worry.

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Right?" Yi Han grinned. 'If we just eat together, I can make her eat as much as I want.' Manipulating a girl who had grown up in the church, praying all day, was all too easy.

Sensing something suspicious in his smile, Tiziling tilted her head in confusion.

The weekend ended, and a new week began.

The students who had survived the brutal first week after enrollment now looked strangely more mature.

"Hmph. You think Einrogard is tough? It feels like home to me now."

"After a week, it’s manageable. I think I can keep up with the magic classes."

The students, having rested over the weekend, were brimming with unfounded confidence.

But Einrogard revealed its true colors to them without mercy.

- "A young mage stands at one vertex of a cube. He wants to connect a magic circle from his vertex to the farthest vertex. Calculate the shortest distance the young mage can connect."

- "... Professor? Isn’t this... not magic?"

- "Don’t ask stupid and foolish questions. A mage who relies on instinct and only knows how to wave a wand will never achieve greatness. The higher you go in magic, the more essential it becomes to understand complex calculations and laws. Geometry is one of the core elements of magic. Those who don’t understand geometry can’t properly draw magic circles. Similarly, arithmetic is also a core element of magic. How can someone who doesn’t know how to distribute mana draw a magic circle?"

- "......"

- "... This... this is..."

- "One of the greatest dangers for young mages is being tricked into a contract by a being more intellectually advanced than themselves. Therefore, mages must learn to read the dangers of contracts and the ambiguous meanings hidden within them. Now, let’s solve this problem. Here’s a drunk, foolish mage. This mage always does something stupid when drunk, and one day, while drunk, he summoned a demon and made an unfavorable contract. Can this mage nullify the contract when he sobers up...? Those sleeping now must not value their souls at all. Wake up!"

- "Gah! I wasn’t sleeping!"

The students, who hadn’t encountered such ferocious mandatory courses in the first week, now looked as if half their souls had left their bodies.

"What... did I just listen to?" "Maybe... magic isn’t for me..."

"I thought waving a wand meant I understood magic... I’m worthless trash..."

The students muttered, their confidence completely shattered.

Yet, among them, there were a few outstanding individuals.

"Geometry and arithmetic are just the basics of imperial governance and management."

—Asan of the Dalkard family, who had held the positions of Imperial Chancellor and Imperial Treasurer for generations.

"......"

—Princess Adenhardt, renowned among the countless royals for her exceptional talent.

"How did I solve it? Hey, is that important right now? We need to find a way out first."

—Yi Han of the Wodanaz family, the most prominent among the elite students of the Blue Dragon Tower.

These three were the geniuses who had weathered the suffocating assault of mandatory courses without batting an eye. 'I never thought my time in graduate school would come in handy,' Yi Han thought to himself.

Everyone around him had always said, "What’s the point of studying so much?" but surprisingly, studying had its uses.

He just hadn’t expected it to be useful in this way...

"Kukuku. Yi Han, look at those guys from the White Tiger Tower. What a mess." 'You couldn’t solve it either...' Yi Han marveled at Gainando, who, despite struggling himself, regained his energy by looking at the White Tiger Tower students.

People really don’t change!

"Can you teach me later?" Yoner asked cautiously.

Even Yoner, who was quite smart, found it impossible to fully keep up with today’s class.

He’d have to go back and review before trying again.

If he did that, having a smart friend like Yi Han to help would be a huge advantage.

Honestly, Yi Han’s performance earlier had been impressive.

Asan came from a family famous for such things, and Princess Adenhardt had already proven herself multiple times, but who would have thought Yi Han could keep up with them?

"Of course. I’ll ask you about alchemy later too."

At Yi Han’s response, Yoner’s face brightened. 'Having friends who are good at different things makes studying easier.' Surprisingly, connections were helpful for studying.

Geniuses who didn’t need help from others didn’t need connections, but Yi Han wasn’t that kind of genius.

Having relationships where you could help each other was advantageous in many ways.

Yi Han didn’t think teaching Yoner math or logic was a loss.

In fact, he considered it a gain since he could learn alchemy from Yoner.

"Ah, then me too!" "......"

Yi Han paused for a moment.

Teaching Gainando definitely felt like a loss.

"Of course."

"Did you just hesitate?" "Must be your imagination. Anyway, seeing how tough these mandatory courses are, I’m glad I didn’t take too many electives."

Everyone nodded at Yi Han’s words.

The confidence they had felt after the first week, thinking, "This is manageable," had long since disappeared.

They were seriously considering dropping some courses.

Yi Han casually added, "How about it? Any thoughts on taking swordsmanship, physical training, or repetitive magic combat practice now..."

"Sorry."

"No thanks."

"I don’t think that’s it."

The students, who had been listening attentively to Yi Han, were very, very firm on this point.

Just as the students gathered periodically, so did the professors.

The dwarf professor, Thunderstep, sipped on freshly brewed tea. 'Hmm.

It’s true that having a capable worker makes the tea taste better.' There was a dwarf saying: "With a skilled worker, everything tastes better."

Indeed, the boy from the Wodanaz family was a skilled worker.

The tea leaves had improved significantly compared to when Thunderstep managed the cabin alone.

This wasn’t something just anyone could do, especially not someone from an imperial noble family.

A talent for menial tasks!

"By the way, Headmaster."

"Hm?"

"Which professor is teaching the <Basic Mount Training> class?" asked Professor Garcia Kim, a troll hybrid.

Thunderstep replied, puzzled, "Huh? Isn’t Professor Bendozol teaching it?"

"Oh, didn’t you hear? Professor Bendozol went to find a unicorn and went missing. Since he hasn’t returned yet, we’ll need to find another professor."

"Don’t worry. Of course, I’ve prepared for that."

"As expected..."

"We knew we could count on you."

The professors all nodded at the reliable skeletal headmaster’s words.

For all the complaints, the headmaster’s strength was crucial in keeping this massive, uncertain magic school running.

Who else could manage and lead this school if not the skeletal headmaster?

"So, who is it?" Thunderstep asked curiously.

<Basic Mount Training> was one of the mandatory courses.

It wasn’t just to prevent students from graduating without knowing how to ride a horse, but also to familiarize them with handling various unusual beasts.

As such, the professor needed to be knowledgeable not just about riding but about all kinds of mounts.

"Lightningstep Chodar."

"......"

"Oh. If it’s him, we can trust him."

"That’s an excellent choice."

All the professors except Thunderstep seemed satisfied.

Lightningstep was a famous dwarf adventurer, renowned for exploring and investigating remote areas both inside and outside the empire.

Of course, Thunderstep was very, very unhappy.

Because Lightningstep was his aunt.

"Why him of all people?!" If you’re going to complain, direct it at Bendozol, who went missing looking for a unicorn.

Did I know the professor would disappear? You should consider it lucky that I found a suitable replacement so quickly.

"Ugh..."

Thunderstep couldn’t argue with the headmaster’s words.

Finding the right professor wasn’t easy.

But... 'I really don’t want to see her.' Thunderstep’s dislike for eastern dwarves was partly due to Lightningstep.

She was from the eastern dwarves.

Every time they met, she would tear into his soul with nagging like, "How long are you going to fiddle with flasks and potions in your little room?" "Listen to your elders."

"The Ironleg family next door has already started a family."

That was Lightningstep!

Professor Garcia tried to console him.

"Don’t be too upset. You won’t have to see her often."

"I hope so..."

Though the students had been battered by math and language all day, their faces were surprisingly bright.

It was because of the class they were about to attend.

<Basic Mount Training>!

In the empire, horseback riding was a noble’s refinement, a knight’s skill, and a luxury that wasn’t too difficult for commoners.

The students of the Blue Dragon Tower, who had ridden horses around their territories since childhood, the students of the White Tiger Tower, who had driven warhorses through mountains and fields, and the students of the Black Turtle Tower, who had traveled the empire’s long roads on horseback, were all confident.

Yi Han, of course, knew how to ride a horse and wasn’t particularly concerned. 'Well, if you keep whipping someone, they’ll collapse, so there should be a carrot-like class too.'

- KRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

"?"

"??"

"????"

With a monstrous roar, something massive flew down from the sky.

And then, it grabbed Gainando with its beak and flew upward.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"