The tower that Professor Mortum used as his workshop was still as gloomy as ever.
"If we want more students to come, we should probably improve the surroundings first," Han thought to himself.
Skulls, bones, tombstones, and boxes of deadly poison were scattered around, making it a place most people would avoid.
From Han's perspective, it seemed like he and Gainando would be the only ones among the new students who would come to learn dark magic...
"??" Han was surprised.
There were other new students in front of the Black Tower.
Two of them, in fact.
"Hey... why are those guys here to learn dark magic?"
"Is there a reason to look so serious?" Han was puzzled by Gainando's reaction.
Gainando replied as if it were obvious.
"The professor said I was the only one with talent!"
"......"
But you said you hated dark magic?
Han was about to say something but decided to drop it and changed the subject.
"Gainando. Even if they don't have as much talent as you, they might still want to learn dark magic."
"Well, that's true."
Gainando seemed to reflect a bit on Han's words.
Thinking about it, maybe he should be a little more generous.
"Hey, everyone..."
"Don't act all friendly with me. You scum from the Blue Dragon Tower."
"......"
Gainando was so angry he almost swung his staff at them.
Han grabbed his arm to stop him.
"You're from the White Tiger Tower, right?"
"Yeah."
The other student's eyes faintly glimmered with a golden light.
Han noticed something off about his features and realized he must be of mixed blood.
"Are you part angel?"
"Yes. I carry the glorious blood of my ancestors."
'For someone so proud, the blood seems quite diluted.' Compared to Tizling, a half-demon whose blood was so thick it was obvious just by looking at him, the White Tiger Tower student in front of him was hard to identify.
If it weren't for Han's keen senses, he might not have noticed.
"If you carry the glorious blood of your ancestors, why are you following the orders of the Moradi family?" Han immediately tried to sow discord.
The fewer White Tiger Tower students who followed Giselle's orders, the more comfortable life would be for Han and Derku.
"Don't get the wrong idea, Wodanaz. I, Raphael, don't follow Moradi's orders."
"What? You don't follow Moradi's orders, so why are you so... uh... aggressive..."
Han couldn't find the right words and just ended the question.
"Why are you acting like this?"
"Are you asking because you don't know?" Raphael looked at Han as if he were unbelievable.
It was ridiculous that Han was pretending not to know.
Gainando whispered from the side, "Was it because we sent those White Tiger Tower guys to the punishment room last time?"
"Just because of that?"
"Or maybe it was because we stole their flag in the lounge."
"Just because of that?"
"...???" Gainando was confused.
Wait, wasn't that enough of a reason?
Raphael narrowed his eyes and said to Han, "Derku of the Choi family! You can't pretend not to know. That's the name of the honorable friend you've been manipulating so evilly."
"......"
Han was at a loss for words for the first time in a while.
Gainando stepped in to defend him.
"No, Derku is our friend."
"Even your excuses are cowardly... You attacked him with magic and knocked him out, and you still call him a friend!"
"......"
Gainando looked at Han for help.
"We treated Derku the same way because we didn't want him to be hated by the White Tiger Tower guys."
"Is that what you call an excuse?" Raphael reacted as if it were absurd.
Han shrugged as if he had expected this.
Some misunderstandings just couldn't be cleared up.
"Wait. You're from the Gral family, right?" Gainando suddenly remembered Raphael's family.
The Gral family, a southern knight family, was known for their strict sense of justice and pride in their angelic bloodline.
Judging from his words...
"Yes, you evil scum."
It seemed Raphael had already labeled Han and Gainando as the axis of evil.
Han felt a little remorseful. 'But most of it is because of the Wodanaz family's image.' If it weren't for the Wodanaz family's insane reputation, Han wouldn't have been misunderstood like this.
At least, that's what Han thought.
"Wait, why is someone from the Gral family learning dark magic!?" Gainando argued as if it made no sense.
Why would someone from a family that produced so many holy knights come to learn dark magic?
Raphael declared proudly, "If I learn dark magic, I'll be better at dealing with dark mages."
"......" 'The professor is going to cry.' Han was speechless.
Out of the four students who came, one was a dark magic hater...
"I see. Gral, I hope you learn dark magic well so you can deal with dark mages. I thought you were going to team up with Giselle of the Moradi family and stab me in the back."
"Don't compare me to that Moradi scum!" Raphael was furious.
Just as Han manipulated Derku like a puppet, Giselle, who controlled the other White Tiger Tower students like her own limbs, was equally despicable.
"So you won't team up with Giselle of the Moradi family and stab me in the back?"
"Of course not!"
"Not even with her gang?"
"Of course not! What are you asking?"
"Then that's settled."
Han walked away as if he had said all he needed to say.
As long as Raphael didn't attack from behind or team up with Giselle, it didn't matter what he said upfront.
Raphael was left dumbfounded, blinking in confusion.
He felt like he had been tricked, but what exactly had happened?
As he followed Han, Gainando thought to himself, 'He's my friend, but he really does seem like an evil archmage...'
Having been tricked by Raphael once, Gainando became quite hostile.
He spoke to another student in a voice devoid of any kindness.
"Why did you come to learn dark magic?"
The student stood up from his seat.
Only then did Gainando realize the other had been sitting on the floor.
"......"
Han was tall, but the other student was even taller, easily over 2 meters.
'A half-giant!' Overwhelmed, Gainando quickly became polite.
"Y-you can learn... if you want. My apologies."
"H-hi. Nice to meet everyone."
The student was from the Black Tortoise Tower.
He looked around nervously as he greeted them.
"M-my name is Imirg."
"I'm Han. This is Gainando. But can I ask why you're looking around?"
"M-my friends don't like me hanging out with Blue Dragon Tower students..."
"!" Han was surprised. 'Well, it's not that strange.' Except for the Phoenix Tower, students from the towers usually stuck together.
It was only natural that students from the Black Tortoise Tower, who were mostly not from noble or knight families, wouldn't want to mingle with students from the White Tiger Tower, dominated by knight families, or the Blue Dragon Tower, dominated by noble families.
Still, Han wanted to make sure.
"You're not avoiding me because you think I'm an evil archmage, right?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Never mind. As long as it's not that."
Thankfully, it was just because he was a noble.
Han felt relieved.
"I... I'm interested in dark magic, so I came to learn. I want to get along with the friends who are also learning dark magic."
"Hmph! That won't happen!" Raphael, who was behind them, responded strongly.
He had no intention of getting close to students who wanted to learn dark magic.
Imirg looked at Raphael with a sad expression.
Raphael flinched, perhaps a little scared.
"Well, outside of here, we might not get along, but while we're learning dark magic, let's be friendly."
Han extended his hand.
Imirg seemed like an easy person to befriend.
After meeting so many strange people at school, Han was grateful for someone like him.
Imirg happily shook Han's hand up and down.
In that moment, Han had to quickly release his magical energy to withstand the force. 'Ugh!' Han managed his expression so as not to hurt Imirg's feelings.
The strength was overwhelming.
"Nice to meet you too!" Gainando, unaware, also extended his hand.
Han tried to stop him, but Gainando had already grabbed Imirg's hand.
Crunch!
Professor Mortum hummed a happy tune as he looked at the increased number of new students.
Han felt a pang of guilt. 'I shouldn't feel sorry for the professor.' Stockholm Syndrome was a dangerous condition.
"Ahem. Welcome, everyone. I didn't expect so many students to be interested in dark magic. Next year, we can expect even more."
"Please take care of us!" It seemed Professor Mortum hadn't noticed Raphael's evil intentions.
He turned to Han and asked, "Have you found any bone summons yet?"
"Not yet, but..."
"Ahem. Try looking in darker, gloomier places."
Professor Mortum winked at Han as if giving him a gift.
It wasn't very romantic.
'Summons running loose, and he tells me to look in the school's dark and gloomy places...
That's practically suicide.'
"Ahem... Everyone must be waiting for today's meeting, so let's start the lesson. Do you remember what we learned about curses last time?"
"Yes, of course."
Raphael took out paper and a quill, ready to take notes.
Professor Mortum looked pleased.
Of course, knowing Raphael's true intentions, Han could only feel sorry for the professor.
Would he attack the professor first later?
"Honestly, curses are more fun than summoning magic!" Gainando said honestly.
"Today, we'll take our time to study curses and improve our understanding... Wait a minute."
Professor Mortum paused.
"Did we learn summoning magic this week?"
"Yes."
"Ahem. How did the students react?"
"Everyone liked it. Except for us, everyone went to the workshop to hear the stories."
Han wanted to smack Gainando's mouth, but unfortunately, he couldn't.
Professor Mortum declared firmly, "... Instead of curses, today we'll teach undead summoning."
"Yay!" 'Is this really okay?' Han felt uneasy.
It seemed like they had skipped several steps in the curriculum...
"Ahem. Undead summoning is the flower of summoning magic. It's the most beautiful, complex, and delicate magic..."
"Where do dark mages usually get corpses?"
"Good question, Raphael. In the past, we used graveyards, but nowadays, we purchase permitted corpses."
"I see... But illegal dark mages still use graveyards, right?"
"Probably."
"Thank you."
Raphael excitedly took notes.
Professor Mortum tilted his head, sensing something off.
"But you all are still... too early to perform complete undead summoning. A complete undead can kill the mage if mishandled."
It was one of the most common dark magic accidents—a clumsy dark mage summoning a skeleton warrior that stabs its master to death.
Gainando, who had almost been killed by a magical quill, nodded.
"We'll start with the easiest, something that can't kill you. The bone hand."
The students focused intently on the professor's words.
Whoosh! Bone hands appeared in front of the students.
"First, get familiar with the bone hands. At first, they won't listen to you, but..."
"...?" Han thought for a moment that the bone summons and bone hands had switched places.
The bone hands were bowing respectfully in front of him.
'Is this a trap?'