Even though the spirit had shown some rudeness and violence before, Lee Han had always been polite.
But now, he was furious, and Perkuntra was startled.
"Ah... no. You didn't ask..."
"Don't you know what's most important for students while dealing with students attending school?!"
Perkuntra tried to defend himself, feeling wronged.
He had been here long enough to roughly understand how mages were taught.
They gathered in classrooms and listened to professors talk about various things.
Missing a class or two didn't make much difference.
Magic required consistent effort and a flash of talent, not whether you attended one or two classes...
"You have to assign homework. No late submissions allowed."
At Lee Han's words, Yonell nodded with determination, her fiery eyes burning.
Her red hair swayed back and forth.
Most of the magic school's lectures were shameless, but the <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic> lecture was particularly shameless.
-This is the magic circle design proposal I submitted to the empire in my youth.
Calculate how much it cost to produce this design.
The insane professor assigned an insane task: calculate how much money was spent on this thick magic circle design proposal by next week.
Lee Han and Yonell gritted their teeth, cursed the professor, and stayed up all night.
Having finished the assignment, they absolutely couldn't fail to submit it.
Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to sleep for weeks out of frustration!
...
Are you really doing this over one assignment??
When Perkuntra asked, sounding wronged, Lee Han and Yonell sharply turned their heads.
It's said that when a usually kind person gets angry, it's scary.
The young mages, who had been obedient, glared at Perkuntra, making him flinch.
"Ah, yes. Assignments can be important. Sorry."
"Just tell us the time."
After hearing the time from Perkuntra, Lee Han anxiously looked up at the ceiling.
There was only about an hour and a half left until the <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic> lecture started in the morning.
"Let's hurry. Mr. Perkuntra, guide us out."
"No... I can't."
The two young mages glared at him with real malice.
Perkuntra hastily explained.
"I made a promise!"
"What promise?"
"To stop the students trying to escape this punishment room and the mage who summoned me! I can't show you the way out. I was planning to seal myself here temporarily and let you go."
Lee Han was dumbfounded.
He didn't know how complex and bizarre the structure of the school's underground punishment room was.
Without Perkuntra's help, there was no guarantee they could escape in time.
Anxious, Lee Han failed to control his emotions.
"Ah, why are you so useless! Then why did you make the contract?!"
......
Perkuntra's pride was slightly hurt.
Neither battles with dragons nor demons, nor the bloody fight with the Lich Principal, had wounded Perkuntra's pride.
But the words of a young contractor hurt his pride.
Perkuntra unconsciously started babbling excuses.
"It's just because of this special situation in the punishment room. If you summon me outside later, my abilities..."
"Got it. So how do I seal you?"
...
Just order me to stay trapped here for a while.
Lee Han did as Perkuntra instructed.
With that command, Perkuntra was unable to leave this forgotten punishment room for a while.
"Let's go, Yonell."
"Don't forget to summon me once you're out! My abilities aren't just this!"
"Yes, yes. Got it!"
"Don't forget! Don't forget! Are you listening? Don't forget..."
Despite the urgency, Lee Han and Yonell tried their best to stay calm.
They moved up and down stairs, through corridors, and drew a map.
"It's blocked."
"Turn back. This corridor is completely blocked."
"We need to go down two floors and try again."
Clack!
A bone summon came running from afar.
Lee Han asked.
"Was there a path?"
Clack clack!
The bone summon actively expressed its opinion.
There was no path.
Lee Han clicked his tongue.
Even with the bone summon helping, progress was slow.
This punishment room was like an ant's nest.
Among the stairs in the corridors, it was impossible to tell which ones led upward.
Some stairs led to dead-end punishment rooms, some spiraled downward, and some just made you go in circles.
As he walked, Lee Han somehow thought of the Skeleton Principal's face.
It might have been his imagination, but he suspected the Skeleton Principal had designed this place himself.
"Let's go back to that corridor... Wait. What did you bring?"
Lee Han was startled.
In his haste, he hadn't noticed that the bone summon, which had only had front limbs before, had grown significantly in size.
What was it carrying...?!
Clatter!
The bone summon collided with itself, rolled around, and eventually assembled correctly.
Broad ribs, a long tailbone, and even hind leg bones.
Though it was missing a skull and one foot, Lee Han could recognize the familiar shape.
It was a leopard.
'Was it a leopard's bones??'
He had always assumed it was human...
Thinking about it, even if the Dark Magic professor wasn't popular, he wouldn't give a freshman human hand bones.
'I'm embarrassed for thinking they were human hand bones.'
The bone summon—no, the leopard bone summon—confidently tapped its foot.
Its confidence seemed to have grown with its size.
But without a skull and one arm, that confidence looked a bit bizarre.
"Did Professor Mortum hide the bones in the corner of the punishment room?"
"Yeah."
Lee Han nodded, but he felt a sense of self-loathing.
Yonell was looking at him with worried eyes.
The meaning in her gaze was simple.
-Are you sure it's okay to keep learning Dark Magic under that professor?
"... It'll be fine. Probably."
Lee Han turned his attention to the leopard bone summon.
At least it was bigger now, so it should be faster.
"Go that way and check all the paths. Got it?"
"That way is a waste of time."
"!!"
Lee Han and Yonell were startled and looked around.
Then the voice spoke again.
"Over here. This way."
A tapping sound came from inside a door.
Surprisingly, there was a student in the cell next to the corridor.
"You've been making a lot of noise coming and going. Why did you come to the punishment room if you don't know the way?"
"It's a long story. Why are you in the punishment room?"
"I have a long story too. What year are you?"
"I just started this year."
"......"
Suddenly, silence fell in the cell.
Lee Han was puzzled.
What's this?
"Are you the freshman who got dragged to the punishment room last time? The one who tried to escape through the underground passage and got caught?"
"Then are you the senior who got caught raiding the principal's secret warehouse...? What did you do this time?"
Lee Han was surprised.
That punishment room buddy was here.
"Can't you keep your voice down? What's there to brag about?"
"What's there to be ashamed of? I ended up here after raiding a professor's warehouse."
"......"
The student in the cell was at a loss for words.
It was hard to imagine what he had done to end up here after raiding a professor's warehouse.
A mere freshman had escaped through the underground passage last time and now ended up in the punishment room after raiding a professor's warehouse...
Next time, he might even fly out of the school.
Yonell whispered to Lee Han.
"Who is he?"
"A senior who was in the next cell last time. He likes to be treated casually."
"It's not that he likes to be treated casually... Never mind. What are you doing in the corridor?"
"Looking for a way out."
"... Not surprising. Did you find it?"
Lee Han couldn't answer.
The student in the cell smiled as if he had expected this.
"It won't be easy. The way up from here is usually complicated."
"Senior. How about we let you out and escape together?"
At Lee Han's suggestion, the student in the cell burst out laughing.
"Idiot! You've never escaped from inside, so you say that. Do you even know what's behind this door?"
"A lightning spirit?"
"... What are you? How did you know??"
The student in the cell stammered, flustered.
"We met it coming up from below."
"......"
The student in the cell staggered, dizzy.
He couldn't imagine how they had escaped it.
"You... really... Never mind. Anyway, sorry, but I don't plan to escape."
"Why not?"
"I'll be released in six hours."
"......"
Lee Han had no choice but to accept that reason.
"Then can you at least give us some advice on how to get out?"
Lee Han's question received a similar answer to before.
The student in the cell spoke in a mocking voice.
"Why should I tell you that?"
"... We're doomed."
"??"
"Last time, we bribed him with food, but this time we don't have any."
Lee Han looked at Yonell with a defeated expression.
"Bribed! What do you take me for!"
The student in the cell, overhearing, flared up.
It was supposed to be a senior's guidance for a junior, but saying it like that made it sound like he had just given in out of hunger.
Clack clack!
While they were talking, the leopard bone summon nudged Lee Han.
It wanted its next command.
"Wait..."
"Hold on."
The student in the cell spoke up.
"Is that a bone summon?"
"Yeah."
"... Are you learning Dark Magic under Professor Mortum?"
"Yeah...?"
"......"
An awkward and heavy silence fell.
A moment later, a piece of paper slid out from under the door.
A hastily drawn, simple map showing the way out from here.
"... Take it. Good luck."
"......"
Even with the map, Lee Han wasn't happy at all.
He had a bad feeling about the future.
'We're late!'
Lee Han gritted his teeth.
Far down the corridor, the professor was coming out of the lecture hall.
Even after running, they were still late.
The professor wasn't one to check attendance, but considering his strict nature, if they went and said, "We're late, professor, but we've done the assignment," he would likely respond, "If you can't even keep time, how can you submit assignments?"
Yonell exhaled heavily, her face filled with despair.
She was out of breath from running all the way here.
"Lee Han... no. No. No."
Yonell, about to call Lee Han, urgently grabbed his arm.
Lee Han had taken out his wand and was aiming at the professor's back.
"You can't do that!"
"Do what?"
"Attacking the professor is dangerous!"
"I'm not trying to attack him. I'm aiming for that."
Lee Han pointed with his finger at the pile of assignments floating beside the professor.
It was the pile of assignments collected from students during this lecture.
"I'm going to slip it in there."
"... Is that even possible?"
"Yeah."
Lee Han spoke firmly and raised his wand.
All the hardships he had endured under Professor Voladi might have been for this moment.
Hardship makes a mage grow.
At this moment, Lee Han fully embodied the teachings of the magic school.