Chapter 479

"Don't worry."

Yi-Han comforted the basilisk egg.

At the owner's words, which were as reassuring as mana, the basilisk egg stopped vibrating.

"Objectively speaking, you're still weaker than the wyvern. Even if they pay attention to you, they'll pay more attention to the wyvern."

-...-

The egg made a sound full of wariness again.

"Wardanaz. Catch these flags."

Professor Uregor placed two flags on top of the wyvern.

One was a banner with the emblem of Einroguard engraved on it, and the other was a banner with a sword drawn on top of the Empire's emblem.

Yi-Han asked in puzzlement.

"The Einroguard flag is to let them know we belong to Einroguard... What is this one for?"

"It means that we are carrying out the Empire's official business in the name of His Majesty the Emperor."

"I see. But why is there a sword drawn on it?"

"It means that anyone who obstructs our path will be immediately dealt with."

"...Uh, are you joking?"

"It's not a joke?"

Professor Uregor answered as if asking what he was talking about.

Being inside the school, it was easy to forget, but mages were always high-level personnel, and among them, the mages of Einroguard were the most important personnel.

Since they didn't know what kind of danger might approach outside, it was natural to warn them in advance with flags.

-If you approach recklessly, we will attack immediately!-

Professor Bagrak also nodded his head.

"Attack immediately if an enemy approaches."

"...Are you talking about me too?"

"Yes."

"Professor. I'm still a student..."

Yi-Han spoke with the intention of saying, 'You're the one assigned as an escort, and I'm a student who came on a field trip following the professor's guidance,' but it wasn't conveyed to Professor Bagrak.

"You're a student, right?"

The professor's voice carried the emotion of 'So what do you want me to do about it?'

Yi-Han gave up and sat next to Professor Bagrak.

Seeing Yi-Han and Professor Bagrak sitting on the narrow and shaky neck area instead of the wide and flat back of the wyvern, his friends were already gossiping.

"Is that the professor?"

"I didn't know there were students studying under that professor. Didn't they all leave?"

"Originally, Wardanaz's goal is to take all the lectures."

"Ah. Right. Is that why he's taking it?"

'No. You bastards.'

Yi-Han inwardly cursed his friends who were spreading false rumors about him.

"Look ahead."

"Yes..."

Professor Bagrak immediately started a practical lecture on 'How should a wyvern rider fight in the air?' to Yi-Han.

"...So the diagonal rear and lower blind spots are the most vulnerable for the rider. If you're a mage, you can compensate with magic. Make sure to secure your field of vision first. Fighting in the air starts with the field of vision."

"Uh, Professor Bagrak..."

Professor Uregor, who was passing by, noticed Yi-Han being harassed and asked.

"Do you really need to have Wardanaz sit next to you?"

When they arrived, the students would have to deal with quite a lot of miscellaneous tasks, and among them, the amount of labor that Wardanaz, who had a lot of mana, would have to take on was easily calculated to be several times more.

Considering that, there was no need to harass Wardanaz from the start.

And in the first place, escorting was Professor Bagrak's job, not the student's.

Yi-Han was slightly moved.

'Indeed, Professor Uregor is truly the average of Einroguard!'

He thought it was good enough to be like this.

Professor Bagrak answered Professor Uregor's question with a calm expression on his expressionless face.

"He said he wanted to learn."

"Ah. Is that so?"

"..."

Yi-Han was so dumbfounded that he lost his words.

What kind of nonsensical lie is this without even wetting his lips?

Even the basilisk's egg seemed dumbfounded.

'If I deny it here, will Professor Bagrak push me and make me fall?'

"Then it can't be helped. Wardanaz. Hang in there."

Professor Uregor gave encouragement without getting further involved, as if to prove that he was the average of Einroguard, and left.

Yi-Han inwardly cursed Professor Uregor.

Swooooosh-!

The wyverns that had finished preparing and departed cut through the air like lightning.

The students screamed with joy.

"It's my first time riding a wyvern, Professor!"

"Because it's a rare creature! Taming them is more difficult than you think. You can't even imagine how much trouble I went through to obtain these eggs!"

When Professor Bungaegor shouted cheerfully while wearing flight goggles, the students let their imaginations run wild.

The outskirts of the Empire, the majestic peaks and canyons that seemed to pierce the sky.

And Professor Bungaegor, who explored that place alone, stole the wyvern's eggs, and came out.

"That's right! How angry was the count?"

"He's crazy! He got angry even though he bought them from the black market. I saved his life! If they had hatched as they were, the wyverns would have destroyed the mansion!"

Professor Bungaegor explained how she stole the wyvern eggs from the count's mansion.

The students looked at each other with perplexed gazes at that explanation.

"Yi-Han. Yi-Han. What do you think? Is it okay to do that?" Asan asked.

Yi-Han couldn't answer his friend's question. Professor Bagrak kept harassing him.

"What was the monster that just flew by below?"

"Wasn't it a ghost... a ghost eagle?"

"Wrong. It's an eagle ghost. Remember the difference between the two. Eagle ghosts are..."

"..."

Asan took a step back with a disgusted expression.

When the students who were reading books and playing card games on the wyvern's back were getting bored, and Yi-Han, who had to keep watch on the sky and shout out the names of the monsters he saw around him, was about to collapse from exhaustion, Professor Bungaegor sent a signal.

"That's it for today! We should let the wyverns rest. Landing! ■■! ■■■!"

At Professor Bungaegor's shout, the wyverns began to descend.

A few towns with lights scattered here and there could be seen in the darkening area below.

'Is that the destination? We'll arrive before lunch tomorrow.'

In the distance, a port city burning with brilliant lights, located where it met the sea, could be seen.

It was Isran, one of the most beautiful cities among the southern coastal cities of the Empire.

Since it was a place they would normally visit as a resort, the students also whispered in excited voices.

"But we'll have some time to look around, right?"

"Can't we escape? We can just go to the punishment room, right? Wardanaz. What do you think? You know the most about the punishment room."

"Don't ask such questions..."

Yi-Han, who was already exhausted by Professor Bagrak, answered in a voice full of fatigue.

As the wyverns landed on the grassy hill near the town, the townsfolk ran out from inside, holding torches.

And then, seeing the flags of Einroguard and the Empire, they were surprised and shouted.

"Mages! The mages have come!"

"That's right. Everyone."

Professor Uregor politely greeted the town head.

Inside Einroguard, even if he cursed at the Imperial Duke, the skull principal would take care of the aftermath, but outside, he had to act as gentlemanly as possible.

"We came here in a hurry on wyverns because of urgent official business. These wyverns are fully trained and won't pose any threat, so please trust us. I promise on the honor of Einroguard and the mages."

Yi-Han witnessed Professor Bungaegor punching the bridge of the wyvern's nose, which had been grumbling since earlier, and quietly moved to cover it up.

"Of... of course. We trust the mages. Absolutely!"

The town head shouted in a tense voice, feeling both respect and fear. And to hide the fact that he was feeling fear as much as possible, he bowed with exaggerated gestures.

"Please come to the village! We have prepared a place for you to rest! You, you, you can bring the wyverns with you too!"

The students were ready to move right away.

Although Einroguard students sometimes went out and were misunderstood as 'Do Einroguard students like sleeping outside in the cold dew?' it was definitely not the case.

Of course, sleeping in a warm inn. On a soft and smooth bed...

"No. We will stay outside."

Professor Uregor firmly refused.

"We have already prepared everything. We don't want to cause trouble for the townsfolk."

"Ah, no. It's not a bother! Above all..."

"No. If this many people, and even the wyverns, go in, you won't be able to help but be concerned."

There were a few reasons why Professor Uregor was doing this.

Even if the mages of Einroguard were respected by all the people of the Empire, the townsfolk who didn't know them well could be frightened.

And that was even more so for the wyverns. If they accidentally caused a disturbance, Professor Uregor would have to take responsibility.

Lastly...

-Don't bother people unnecessarily on the way there and back. Don't call the townsfolk and do things like 'We came from Einroguard, so if you could give us some warm bread and drinks...' or something like that.-

-Don't worry. It's not like we're doing this for the first or second time.-

The skull principal didn't really like the mages coming into contact with the common people of the Empire on the way.

"Hmph."

"I thought we would be staying in the town."

The students were sad as they prepared to camp.

If they had just entered the academy, they might have said, 'How can a person sleep outside?' but now, even the students from the Blue Dragon Tower were not very surprised by the idea of sleeping outside.

"Spread some more blankets here."

"Wait. Get rid of the bugs first."

"Spray this potion. It will help repel the bugs."

"Priestess Siana...! Thank you. Wow. The effect is amazing! All the grass died at once!"

"Wait. I gave you the wrong one. Spray this one."

"..."

Yi-Han poured the travel rations his friends had brought into a pot and boiled it.

Hard bread and cheese, salty jerky, and still fresh carrots, onions, potatoes, etc. were added.

"Thank you."

"You'll have to pay me back later for as much as you eat."

"..."

Professor Uregor was dumbfounded but nodded his head.

Indeed, how precious would such rations be to an Einroguard student?

'But the vegetable garden was swept away by the flood, so where did they get the vegetables from?'

Professor Uregor pondered as he gulped down the hodgepodge soup.

Judging by how fresh they were, it didn't seem like they brought them from outside...

Yi-Han separately scooped out the soup boiled with only vegetables for Professor Bagrak and then asked Professor Uregor.

"But Professor. Didn't the Maykin family invite us?"

"That's right."

"Couldn't we have just gone with the Maykin family's procession?"

"Then it would be too slow. You have to attend lectures too."

The students were very disappointed.

If they had moved together with the Maykin family, they might have been able to play for a week or two!

Yi-Han tilted his head and asked again.

"Still, shouldn't the Maykin family at least provide the necessary supplies for the trip?"

"Nah, a family as big as the Maykin family doesn't bother with such trivial things. We'll take care of it ourselves from the compensation we receive later."

"I see. Do we receive the compensation as soon as we finish?"

"Yeah. But it's better not to have high expectations."

"Is the compensation low?"

"No. For this kind of task, the Maykin family is quite generous. However, you won't be able to indulge in luxury with that. Even if you save and save, you'll probably lack research funds for next year's experiments."

No matter how much Einroguard robbed the Emperor's treasury for support and twisted the beard of the Imperial Treasurer to extract a budget, it was impossible to satisfy the greed of the mages.

Mages were a bunch who would shout for more even if all the Empire's gold was offered to them for experiments.

In the end, in order to practice and experiment with the magic they wanted to their heart's content, they had to directly secure investments, extract sponsorships, and earn gold coins themselves.

'It's terrible.'

Yi-Han felt a heart-wrenching pain at the fact that the compensation he would receive for this job would become a gem that would be meaninglessly wasted on experiments.

What kind of waste is that?

Morning.

As soon as they woke up, they rode the wyverns and arrived at the port city, where people from the Maykin family came out to greet them.

"I'm sorry for calling you so urgently. Students. Did you sleep well last night?"

"You don't have to worry!"

"Camping is nothing..."

The students boasted in front of outsiders.

It was something that all Einroguard students ended up doing.

"...Did you camp?"

"Huh? Yes."

"..."

The people from the Maykin family looked at each other with great perplexity.

And then they opened their mouths.

"We, we earnestly requested the nearby towns where you could land the wyverns since you said you were coming on wyverns, but did you not say anything at all?"

"We even paid all the compensation and asked them to treat the students well if they happened to stop by..."

"..."

"..."

The students all turned their heads at once and glared at Professor Uregor.