The students of the Blue Dragon Tower, who arrived late, looked around the noisy lounge with confusion and asked, "What's going on?"
"Wodanaz suggested raiding the White Tiger Tower to steal their flag!"
"... Wow! I've been waiting for this!"
Every new student who arrived cheered upon hearing the situation.
"Don't you think an exchange would be better?" Gainando muttered, still not convinced.
Ihan, curious, asked, "Why do you think that?"
It was quite rare for Gainando to voice his opinion like this.
"Because with an exchange, we can solve the task safely and stably without any danger."
"That's true. But we concluded it wouldn't work because we can't trust the White Tiger Tower guys."
"The White Tiger Tower seems trustworthy this time."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because the White Tiger Tower students gave me bread and milk and spoke kindly to me..."
"......"
Ihan was shocked.
In a situation where even their own food was scarce, giving away bread and milk was definitely not just simple kindness.
At best, giving half a loaf of bread could be considered kindness, but anything beyond that surely had ulterior motives.
'Were they trying to bribe Gainando?'
Why him...?
'Well, thinking about it, Gainando is a pretty good target.'
Given his status, he had some influence (though the White Tiger Tower students probably didn't know the exact dynamics within the Blue Dragon Tower), and he seemed just careless enough to be an easy target...
After roughly understanding the situation, Ihan pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Alright, Gainando. Before we raid them, let's try it your way first."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yeah. Go tell the White Tiger Tower guys that I've changed my mind."
"Shouldn't we tell the others?"
Gainando was puzzled.
Shouldn't they inform the friends who were excited about the raid that the plan had changed a bit?
"They won't accept your brilliant plan even if you tell them."
"Well, that's true. I'll go tell them and come back!"
Gainando confidently set off immediately.
Yonell, who had been listening to their conversation, looked worried.
Ihan nodded, understanding Yonell's concern.
"Don't worry. Even though the White Tiger Tower guys have a nasty temper, they won't harm Gainando in this situation."
"No, I'm worried Gainando might betray us."
"... Gainando isn't the type to do that, is he?"
"But you never know with these things. It would be great if there was a potion to prevent betrayal."
"......"
Ihan felt slightly scared of Yonell.
Besides, Gainando is your cousin!
"Is it done?"
"It's done."
The White Tiger Tower students were satisfied with the impressive flag they had made.
Surprisingly, the White Tiger Tower students were seriously considering exchanging flags.
...
A fake flag, that is!
Using a fake flag to get the real one from the opponent was quite a clever idea.
Of course, it wasn't easy.
They had to deceive all the sharp-eyed Blue Dragon Tower students.
To achieve this, the White Tiger Tower students had gone to the Black Turtle Tower's black market and traded the precious rabbit meat they had caught over the weekend for cloth and dye.
It was a painful loss, especially since everyone was hungry, but they had no choice.
"Moradi! It's done! That prince guy has agreed! He wants to set a time and place for the exchange! We decided to meet in front of the main building tomorrow when the sun is overhead!"
Angrago, the goat beastman student from the White Tiger Tower who had gone to meet Gainando, shouted excitedly.
"Great job, Angrago!"
"We ate such precious food, so we had to do at least this much!"
Everyone clapped and stomped their feet, but Giselle still looked uneasy.
The dwarf student next to her, Duke Ma, asked, "What's wrong, Moradi? Is there a problem?"
"I still don't know if that prince is useful..."
Giselle had her reasons for being uneasy.
In any group, the leader always had a unique aura.
Even if you didn't want to admit it, you could see it in Ihan of the Wodanaz family.
Even if someone wasn't the leader, if they held a certain position within the group, it would show...
But strangely, that prince Gainando didn't give off that vibe.
"Moradi, trust Angrago's judgment. That prince will definitely be a useful lever."
"Right, I think so too."
As Duke Ma sided with Angrago, the other students joined in.
'What does that guy with no skills but full of confidence think he's doing?'
Of course, Giselle wasn't swayed by her friends' camaraderie.
Objectively speaking, Angrago wasn't that capable.
If he were, he wouldn't have run away crying when three of them went to confront Wodanaz!
But Giselle didn't say anything more.
Even though Giselle acted like the leader of the White Tiger Tower, she couldn't do everything her way.
The friends who followed her orders, trusting in her abilities and family, were still human and had emotions and complaints.
If she pushed her commands too much, things could go wrong.
Sometimes, she had to show that she was listening to her friends' opinions.
Being knights, they were very sensitive to such pride.
"Alright. If Angrago says so, it must be true."
"Hehe."
Angrago scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed.
'Even if it fails, it's just a fake flag.'
If the deal failed or the opponent prepared a trap, they wouldn't suffer any loss.
At worst, they'd just lose a useless fake flag.
Giselle nodded, thinking that.
"Alright, everyone, let's disperse. We'll try the exchange tomorrow."
"Got it!"
In the night, when everyone was asleep, Ihan and his friends sneaked out of the tower under the cover of darkness.
Surprisingly, it wasn't just the Blue Dragon Tower students.
There was also a student from the Black Turtle Tower among them.
It was Ratford, the professional thief.
"Follow me."
Since Ihan wasn't wandering alone, he needed the professional thief's perspective.
Fortunately, Ratford readily agreed to Ihan's request.
"Gasp."
Yonell gasped in surprise, making Ihan tense up.
What's wrong?
"Why?"
"... We should have called Nylia too...!"
"!!!"
Ihan also realized his mistake belatedly.
Of course, they didn't need Nylia's abilities for the theft, but if she found out later, she would definitely...
"Ratford, if Nylia asks later, I never called you."
"Understood?"
"... No, it'll probably reach her ears anyway."
With so many people, it was unlikely that Nylia wouldn't hear about it.
'I'll explain later.'
"That's the White Tiger Tower."
In the darkness, the tower stood tall under the moonlight.
Ihan nodded and slowly approached.
Having been there a few times, it wasn't too unfamiliar.
"Everyone remembers the plan, right? Stick to the plan."
The Blue Dragon Tower students nodded with tense expressions.
In fact, there wasn't much of a plan.
Ihan and Ratford would infiltrate the White Tiger Tower first.
The other friends would hide nearby and enter when Ihan called them, or wait if he told them not to.
But that didn't mean they weren't nervous.
Especially since they were all from prestigious families, this kind of night raid was a first for them.
"Rat... Ratford, should I put a branch in my mouth to stay quiet? I read about it in a novel."
"There's no one patrolling, and our numbers are small, so you don't need to do that."
"Ratford, I wrapped my shoes in cloth to stay quiet!"
"It might be slippery at night, so it's better to unwrap them."
Somehow, Ratford ended up giving a crash course on thievery.
Ihan gestured to Ratford.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
Ihan and Ratford stood in front of the White Tiger Tower's entrance.
They looked as natural as if they were entering their own tower.
Ashan, who was clutching his sweaty palms behind them, suddenly wondered.
'Ratford is one thing, but why does Wodanaz seem so familiar with this...?'
Ihan held his breath and placed his hand on the tower.
He tried to read the magic embedded in the tower.
"...!"
For a moment, Ihan almost collapsed.
When trying to absorb too much knowledge and information at once, one could feel dizzy.
What Ihan felt now was similar.
Countless spells were embedded in this tower.
Moreover, Ihan's mana sensitivity was exceptionally high.
Other students might have noticed one or two simple spells nearby, but Ihan could sense even the higher-level ones.
"Are you alright?!"
Ratford whispered in alarm, seeing Ihan sweating.
"I'm fine. I'm fine. I was just a bit startled. It's indeed not easy."
"A mage's tower isn't an easy place to enter. If it's too much..."
"No, let's do it."
Ihan focused, trying not to read the entire tower.
After all, they only needed to break through the magic blocking the entrance!
Whoosh—
"...!"
A massive surge of mana began to gather.
Even the relatively insensitive Ratford could feel it.
'Is this... okay?'
Ratford was worried.
With that much mana, if something went wrong, Ihan could get seriously hurt.
'No, if it's Wodanaz...'
Boom!!!!!!
"!!"
"!!!!"
The Blue Dragon Tower students behind them were also startled by the massive mana wave.
And then Ihan shouted.
"The entrance is open! Everyone, come in!!"
"Let's... let's go!"
-Master, the White Tiger Tower's magic has stopped.
Those anti-magic guys, did they do it again?! How did they get past the walls?
The skeleton headmaster, who had been researching magic deep in the underground workshop, was startled for the first time in a while.
-It seems the freshmen stopped it.
Ah, if it's that, then it's possible.
They must be working on the task I gave them.
They should do it early.
The skeleton headmaster quickly regained his composure.
Wait.
Freshmen shouldn't be able to deceive the tower's magic...
Did they get an artifact? Did some careless guys drop an artifact? Ah, no.
There's another way.
Muttering, the skeleton headmaster quickly found the answer.
There was one freshman who could temporarily stop the tower's magic.
Did they hit it with brute force? How barbaric...
But where did they learn such a method?
The skeleton headmaster was slightly puzzled.
Such a barbaric method was practically useless and dangerous, so it wasn't taught in books or by the school's professors.
To dispel magic, you need to understand its structure and find a gap, not just hit it with brute force.
-Should we find out?
No, you stupid skeleton.
I wasn't talking to you.
But even if they broke through the entrance, there should be other defensive spells.
What happened to those?
The White Tiger Tower's magic wasn't just at the entrance.
There were all kinds of anti-intrusion spells inside the tower as well.
-Most of the other defensive spells have also stopped...
...
The skeleton headmaster paused again.
They didn't just break through the entrance; they stopped other spells too?
'What kind of brute force is this...!'
How hard did they hit to stop the other spells?