“Who... who?”

Lee Han pretended not to recognize the name.

Yukveltire looked at him as if she couldn’t understand the question.

“You attend transmutation magic lectures too, Junior. How do you not know?”

‘Damn it.’

Only after she pointed it out did Lee Han realize his mistake.

Since he attended lectures from every school, pretending ignorance rarely worked.

He quickly gave up and corrected himself.

“I was just checking whether I heard correctly. You mean Senior Jarun of House Steel Boot, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Why are you asking about him?”

“I’m considering forming a party to track him down. It would be preferable if you joined us as well, Junior Wardanaz.”

Yukveltire spoke in an unusually considerate tone.

For someone who despised moving around with incompetent students, inviting a mere second-year into her party was extraordinary in itself.

It was only possible because she thought highly of Lee Han.

Of course, this was only “considerate” by Yukveltire’s standards. To anyone else, it sounded no different from her usual cold, matter-of-fact proposals.

Lee Han felt exactly the same way.

‘I really, really don’t want to.’

As he had already realized earlier, he had absolutely no desire to explore Einroguard’s underground mines together with Yukveltire.

There were already times he wanted to punch her even in bright, open spaces. He didn’t even want to imagine what would happen in a dark underground tunnel.

Lee Han immediately decided to come up with an excuse and bow out entirely.

If he entered separately and happened to run into Yukveltire’s party underground, things would only become even more troublesome.

“Actually, I’ve fallen behind on a lot of lectures because of club week.”

“?”

Anfargon, standing beside him, looked at his junior as if asking what nonsense he was talking about.

Lee Han had already completed his staff and was practically finished until final exams.

Was he talking about other lectures?

“So I’m planning to focus on catching up for a while.”

At those words, Anfargon answered before Yukveltire could.

“Wardanaz. The lectures will probably be postponed for a few more days anyway because of Senior Jarun.”

“...?”

Lee Han blinked in confusion.

The lectures would be postponed because of Senior Jarun?

Did Senior Jarun possess some kind of magic capable of delaying classes?

‘If there’s a spell like that, I want to learn it too!’

“What do you mean?”

“The professors want the orichalcon vein Senior Jarun discovered.”

Anfargon explained as though it were perfectly ordinary.

At Einroguard, lectures could be delayed, postponed, or outright canceled depending on the professors’ circumstances.

That was unavoidable. Professors occasionally got summoned to the capital, dragged into punishment cells, or disappeared somewhere in the mountains.

But sometimes lectures were postponed for entirely different reasons.

And this was one of those cases.

An orichalcon vein was valuable enough to halt lectures and send students scrambling underground to search for it.

“...You’re joking.”

“I dislike jokes.”

The moment Anfargon finished speaking, a paper bird came fluttering in.

Notice to students enrolled in .

Student Jarun of House Steel Boot has reportedly discovered an orichalcon vein beneath Einroguard.

I will replace the upcoming lecture with participation in the vein-search operation, so I encourage all students to join enthusiastically.

— Professor Milei

“...”

As the rumors spread, more paper birds arrived one after another.

Each letter contained the professors’ determination to obtain orichalcon for their disciples, even if it meant canceling lectures.

“Professor Verdus sent one too. Look.”

“What?! Professor Verdus?!”

Lee Han stared in disbelief.

Professor Verdus was actually pushing his disciples to skip class and go search for ore?

‘...Wait. Come to think of it, he already hated teaching in the first place. Maybe he’s just happy to have an excuse.’

To students enrolled in !

Student Jarun of House Steel Boot found orichalcon!

Hurry up and steal it!

And don’t forget to hand half over to me afterward!

— Professor Verdus

“...”

Lee Han slowly lowered the letter, his face filled with contempt.

The reason was even trashier than he had expected.

After Lee Han finished reading it, Anfargon calmly burned the paper bird to ashes.

There was no reason to keep garbage like that.

“So you can afford to postpone studying for lectures for now. Securing even a small amount of orichalcon ore would benefit you far more, Wardanaz.”

“...”

Hearing even Anfargon say that made Lee Han hesitate.

It was certainly a rare ore with no immediate use, but nobody knew what the future held.

If everyone from upperclassmen to professors insisted it was worth obtaining, there had to be a reason.

After thinking for a moment, Lee Han cautiously asked:

“Senior Anfargon... are you really okay with ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) traveling together with Senior Yukveltire?”

“Not particularly.”

True to the enchantment magic school, there was absolutely no respect for upperclassmen.

Even with Yukveltire standing right there, Anfargon openly admitted his reluctance.

And Yukveltire didn’t care in the slightest.

After all, she also had no particular desire to travel with Anfargon.

“...Then why are you two working together?”

“Because Senior Yukveltire currently has the highest chance of locating Senior Jarun.”

“??”

Lee Han couldn’t understand.

They weren’t even in the same Stonemason Club, so why would Yukveltire be the most likely person to find him?

“Do you have some kind of special method?”

“That’s correct.”

Yukveltire explained in a gracious tone, pleased that the junior had finally shown interest.

Like most talented enchantment mages, Yukveltire naturally took interest in people who gathered and produced materials.

Students like Jarun of House Steel Boot, who constantly mined gold and rare ores, were exactly that type.

So Yukveltire had secretly embedded location-tracking functions into several of Jarun’s artifacts.

“What????????”

Lee Han shouted in horror.

Yukveltire frowned slightly at the sudden outburst.

“What’s wrong?” 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“No, I mean... is it really okay to put tracking magic on someone else’s artifacts?”

“Senior Steel Boot occasionally steals our artifacts too.”

Anfargon answered without the slightest change in expression.

Lee Han was speechless.

Was this supposed to count as self-defense?

He thought he understood the relationships between Einroguard’s schools reasonably well by now, but every time, another shock appeared out of nowhere.

“I-I see. So that’s why you used tracking magic...”

“No. That part is unrelated. I originally added it to monitor mineral locations—”

Lee Han immediately pretended not to hear the rest.

If Yukveltire had done that to Jarun, there was no reason to believe she wouldn’t do the same thing to him.

‘...Maybe she really is the best option.’

After agonizing over it for a while, Lee Han reluctantly admitted the truth.

If he truly wanted to obtain orichalcon ore, joining forces with Yukveltire offered the highest chance of success.

“...Understood. I’ll join you.”

“Good decision.”

“You finally made the sensible choice.”

Hearing the two upperclassmen respond in satisfaction already made Lee Han feel exhausted.

Yukveltire picked up a small earring artifact resting on the workshop table and handed it to him.

“Take this. You’ll need it underground.”

“I see... Did you make this yourself, Senior?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“It was crafted so perfectly and cleanly that I had a feeling.”

Yukveltire normally had no interest in flattery.

But things were slightly different when it came to acquaintances like Diret or Lee Han.

Suppressing a faintly pleased smile, Yukveltire replied:

“You have a good eye.”

‘I’m getting rid of this thing and checking it for magic the moment the expedition ends.’

Lee Han resolved to keep a close watch on the earring.

If Yukveltire could place tracking magic on Jarun, she could absolutely do the same thing to him.

“But Senior Yukveltire. Isn’t Senior Diret coming with us?”

“Diret declined to participate.”

“Ah. Is he busy?”

“No. Diret refused for irrational reasons. He said he wanted to avoid going underground with me.”

Yukveltire shook her head slightly, as if the very thought still seemed absurd.

What kind of illogical excuse was that supposed to be?

“...”

Lee Han’s face paled slightly.

‘Damn it. I should’ve asked first...!’

***

Fourth-year Anfargon.

Fifth-year Yukveltire.

Third-year Sigunting, who joined after finishing work on the lower floors.

And second-year Lee Han.

The four enchantment magic school students quickly completed their preparations and headed toward the nearest underground entrance.

“As far as I know, people usually use the underground passages near Dark Forest or Brook Forest.”

Lee Han deliberately asked the question, hoping to learn something from the upperclassmen.

No answer came back.

All three upperclassmen silently assumed someone else would explain it.

“...Senior Yukveltire. As far as I know, people usually use the underground passages near Dark Forest or Brook Forest.”

“Under normal circumstances, yes. But when rumors spread like this, those routes become dangerous.”

Yukveltire answered curtly while checking Jarun’s location with a bronze compass artifact.

Passages that were usually convenient became easy hunting grounds for cunning, shameless students whenever incidents like this occurred.

People would simply wait near the entrances and tail others inside.

At times like this, it was safer to take a more difficult route.

“This way.”

Yukveltire tapped the ground and cast a spell.

A stone slab rose from the dirt, revealing a hidden entrance leading underground.

Lee Han stared in admiration at the neatly carved tunnel extending all the way into the mines.

“Did you upperclassmen make this yourselves?”

“...”

“...Senior Anfargon. Did you upperclassmen make this yourselves?”

“No. Professor Verdus created this underground passage. We stole it, relocated it, and started using it ourselves.”

Lee Han became extremely curious about how exactly one “stole and relocated” an underground passage, but the atmosphere clearly wasn’t suitable for asking detailed questions.

He quietly gave up and climbed down the ladder.

***

Countless rumors circulated beneath Einroguard.

There were rumors that some insane mage was secretly raising an Unbreakable One underground, rumors that the Skull Principal had imprisoned an ancient archmage somewhere below, and rumors that monsters from other dimensions wandered the tunnels freely.

The truly terrifying part was that those rumors often turned out to be disturbingly accurate.

Among Einroguard’s underground regions, the mining area was considered especially dangerous.

Naturally, Lee Han should have been tense.

...But he wasn’t.

‘...Professor Voladi dragged me underground way too early.’

Even Lee Han himself found it surprising.

No matter how he thought about it, he had already experienced far too many disasters since his first year.

“Rest.”

“Yes.”

The students, who had been advancing cautiously while illuminating every direction with artifacts, immediately stopped and sat on nearby rocks.

Lee Han reached into his six-sided backpack, intending to take out some simple snacks to recover his energy.

But before he could, all three upperclassmen simultaneously pulled out potion bottles and drank them with mechanical synchronization, like puppets moving on invisible strings.

“...What are you drinking?”

“...”

“Senior Sigunting! What are you drinking?!”

“Hm? Nutritional supplement potion.”

The dwarf upperclassman shook the empty bottle while answering.

It tasted terrible, but it could quickly replace an entire meal’s worth of nutrition.

“But if you spent just a little time, couldn’t you eat something warm and actually delicious?”

“Why waste time like that?”

“Hmm. I see.”

Lee Han immediately abandoned the idea of preparing snacks for the upperclassmen.

‘I’ll just let them live like that.’

Unlike his friends, trying to feed these upperclassmen would probably ruin Lee Han’s own stomach first.