"So, you're saying Professor Mortum gave you this bone?" Wodanaz asked.
"Wodanaz, I may not know much about magic, but in our line of work, there's a saying: never associate with dark mages," one of his friends pointed out coldly.
"......"
The two friends had bluntly pointed out the reality.
No matter how you looked at it, that bone summon was a rather creepy gift.
To think there was a professor who would give such a thing...
Ihan found himself instinctively defending it.
"Well, it's not entirely useless, is it?"
"That may be true, but it's still creepy," Ratford said loyally, though his words weren't exactly loyal.
Yonell, sensing Ihan's complicated feelings, tried to find some positive aspects of the bone summon.
"At least it doesn't need to be fed, it's loyal, and it can do a lot of things..."
"What can it do?" Ratford asked.
Yonell ignored Ratford's question and continued, "... And if you think about it, it might even be kind of cute, right?"
"Thanks, Yonell. But hearing you say that makes me realize how strange this really is," Ihan admitted.
He had wanted to believe that the gift was useful, but he could no longer deny the reality.
The bone summon was indeed strange.
"Why would someone give a bone summon as a gift?" Ihan wondered aloud.
"Well... I'm more curious about why they gave you a bone in the first place," Yonell replied.
"Maybe it's a hint to collect more bones scattered around the school and combine them?" Ratford suggested.
Yonell laughed as if the idea was absurd.
"That's ridiculous... Wait, it is ridiculous, right?"
"......"
But Ihan couldn't laugh.
Ratford's words made too much sense. 'Could that really be the reason?' If not, why would the bone from the Black Turtle Tower student stick so perfectly to this one?
Of course, from a normal perspective, one might think, 'Who would enjoy collecting bones like that?' But as everyone knew, professors didn't think normally.
They probably thought, 'The students will have fun collecting these bones, right?'
'That's terrifying,' Ihan shuddered.
The bone summon itself was one thing, but the twisted way the professors thought was even scarier.
It was a horrifying mindset that no normal person could follow!
"Wodanaz! Are you done with the black market? ... Wait, what's that bone?!" Asan Darkar, who had returned late, was startled by the bone summon hovering around Ihan.
What on earth was going on?
A large number of students had gathered in front of Professor Ingeldel.
Not just from the Blue Dragon Tower or the Black Turtle Tower, but also from the Phoenix Tower and even the White Tiger Tower.
All the students taking alchemy classes needed materials, so it was only natural.
If they missed this opportunity to gather materials with the professor, it would be difficult for students of their level to find what they needed in the mountains.
Once all the students had gathered, Professor Ingeldel slowly began to speak.
"First and foremost, safety. Second, safety. First, gather with students from your own tower. Then, make sure to recognize each other's faces and remember the number of people in your group. We'll periodically check to make sure no one has gone missing."
"......"
"......"
Professor Ingeldel had a knack for making students nervous.
Already, their faces were tense with anxiety.
'But it's better to be nervous,' Ihan thought.
It was better to be overly cautious than to treat this like a casual outing and end up in a disaster.
The Blue Dragon Tower students all knew each other.
Ihan, Yonell, Asan, and even the princess were all familiar faces.
Asan asked curiously, "Wodanaz, I heard from the Black Turtle Tower students that the stew you made was really delicious."
"That's an exaggeration. It was just an ordinary stew," Ihan replied, thinking the Black Turtle Tower students were overstating things.
After all, anything tastes good when you're hungry.
The stew Ihan had made was simple—just vegetables chopped on the spot, cooked with oil, salt, pepper, and tomato sauce.
"No, it really was delicious."
"It truly was delicious."
"?"
Ihan was puzzled.
Ratford's reaction was one thing, but he hadn't expected Yonell to react like that too.
"There wasn't even any meat in it. Wasn't the food in the dormitory better?"
"No, it was different. Maybe because we all ate it together outside? It felt much tastier."
'Was it the ingredients?' The only reason Ihan could think of was the freshly harvested vegetables used in the stew.
They had grown suddenly in Professor Thunderstep's cabin, so perhaps the professor had sprinkled some special potion on them.
'Oh no.
What if the professor used some rare elixir, and I unknowingly took it?' Ihan felt a pang of regret.
But then he thought, if that were the case, Professor Thunderstep would have left a note telling them not to touch the garden.
Besides, wasn't that Ihan's garden?
'No matter how I think about it, it's not my fault.' If he had known the stew would be so well-received, Ihan would have tasted it himself.
What could it have tasted like...?
"Wait, you're from the White Tiger Tower, right?" Asan Darkar said to an elf with long black hair.
It was a student from the White Tiger Tower he had spoken to before.
The unusual thing was that instead of moving with the other White Tiger Tower students, this student had pledged loyalty to the princess!
"I've already gotten permission from my fellow tower members. I will serve the princess," the student said.
Looking around, Ihan noticed that several students from other towers had already gathered around the princess.
It was an astonishing display of loyalty.
In comparison...
Ihan glanced around.
Then, a student from the Black Turtle Tower quietly approached him.
"Do you also dislike the White Tiger Tower students? Should we gather some people and pick a fight with them?"
"......"
What do you all think of me?
"This seems like a good spot. Everyone, go and gather your materials," Professor Ingeldel said after walking for several hours through the mountain paths.
The professor stopped upon finding a flower field and watched as the students split into small groups to move around.
The elf professor wore a pleased expression.
Contrary to his worries, the students were moving in an orderly manner.
They too had realized that to survive in this school, they had to stick together.
'They're all doing well,' the professor thought.
Every tower had a few students who naturally took on leadership roles.
Their personalities and methods varied, but there was no denying that these leaders were a great help to their friends in times of crisis.
The boy from the Wodanaz family was one such leader.
With the icy charisma befitting a noble family, the boy had a strong influence not only over the Blue Dragon Tower but also over students from other towers.
It was fortunate that despite his cold and aloof demeanor, his heart wasn't wicked.
If he had been malicious, the tower would have been in chaos.
'It's natural for a leader to emerge, but this one is on a different level,' Professor Ingeldel thought, slightly misunderstanding Ihan.
Ihan didn't have any delusions like, 'I was born into a magical noble family, so it's my duty to rule and dominate others.'
Chirp chirp chirp.
"?"
Professor Ingeldel, who had been sitting, turned his head at the sound of birds coming from behind.
Poof!
In that instant, Professor Ingeldel vanished.
"W-Wodanaz," Ihan called out as he placed cloud mushrooms and dwarf hammer mushrooms into a basket.
He suddenly realized something was wrong.
From a distance, a few Black Turtle Tower students approached, their faces pale with fear.
"What's wrong?"
"The professor... the professor...! He's gone!!"
"?!"
Ihan was shocked.
Several thoughts raced through his mind.
Could Professor Ingeldel have disappeared on purpose to teach the students a lesson after lulling them into a false sense of security?
'No, I trust Professor Ingeldel. ...
Well, trusting a professor might not be the best choice statistically, but still...'
Ihan shook his head.
Then, could it be that some anti-magic extremists from the Empire had secretly infiltrated and kidnapped the professor?
'That doesn't make sense either.
After the last attack, security must have been increased several times over.
If they managed to get through that, then the headmaster would be incompetent.'
If not that, then the next thought was...
'Did a monster get him? But Professor Ingeldel is a master on par with Alarong.
How could such a master be taken down by a monster without making a sound? And would such a monster even appear in the outer regions of these mountains?'
Thinking about it, it wouldn't be surprising if any monster appeared near this magic school, but Ihan still believed in Professor Ingeldel's abilities.
He wasn't the type to be taken down so easily.
"What do we do? What do we do?"
"Everyone, calm down. Professor Ingeldel might have just gone somewhere else for a moment," Ihan said, trying to stay composed, though he didn't really believe it himself.
The important thing now was to calm the other students.
'No monsters have appeared, and we haven't gotten lost.
There's no need to panic.
We just need to head back the way we came.'
Though everyone thought of the mountains as wild, untamed land, there were actually paths here and there, created by seniors who had walked these trails before.
The students had walked for quite a while, but since they had followed the path in, they could just retrace their steps and...
Whoosh!
"......"
"......"
Suddenly, a heavy rain began to pour down, and Ihan started to seriously suspect that this whole situation was a trap.
Ihan and a few students took shelter under a nearby cliff to avoid the rain.
Nillia, looking pale, shook off the water and said, "Finding our way in this situation is impossible. We'll definitely lose our sense of direction. And the bigger danger is losing body heat or running into monsters. Meeting a monster in the rain is a nightmare within a nightmare."
At Nillia's words, the friends wore expressions of despair.
But Nillia continued, "But don't worry. We're in a safe spot now. We just need to wait out the rain..."
"We should take the risk and try to find our way. If the rain gets worse, it'll be even harder to find the path."
"No, just wait..."
"The Phoenix Tower and White Tiger Tower students are missing. How are we supposed to find them in this rain?"
"That's why we should wait..."
"We need to find the professor! Let's find a way to call for the professor."
Nillia gave up and sulked.
Ihan waved his hand, signaling for Nillia to come over.
She scurried over and started gathering wood next to Ihan.
Meanwhile, the students continued to argue about what they should do—find the path, regroup with the others, or find the professor.
As they argued, Ihan lit fires in various spots.
The bone summon moved through the rain, gathering more branches.
"So we should move on our own first!"
"We need to find the other students! The more of us there are, the better our chances!"
"We should find the professor first!"
The students' arguments grew more heated.
Realizing that their opinions were at a stalemate, the students turned to Ihan for a decision.
"Wodanaz!"
"Wodanaz, what do you think?"
"Huh?" Ihan, who had been lighting the fire, was startled when the attention suddenly turned to him.
"We should wait until the rain stops, right?"
"... Yeah, that makes sense."
"Right. We should wait."
"......"
Nillia glared at her friends.
When I said it, you all ignored me...!