Chapter 480
"...I'm sorry. Everyone. It wasn't intentional."
Professor Uregor apologized with sincerity.
Of course, the Einroguard students were not so easy to forgive just because he apologized sincerely.
It was all thanks to them faithfully learning the teachings of Einroguard.
"Do you think this is something you can just gloss over with an apology!"
"That's right! Professor, did you perhaps pocket the money separately?!"
"You, you little..."
Professor Uregor looked flustered as he glanced at the people from the Maykin family.
It would have been fine inside the school, but outside the school, he couldn't help but be conscious of his reputation.
If a strange misunderstanding spread and a rumor like 'I heard Professor Uregor of Einroguard embezzles the students' silver coins' reached the ears of the skull principal...
"Do you think I would do such a thing!? As you can see, I didn't enter the town either. There was even less of a chance to pocket the silver coins!"
"Then why did you stay outside!"
"Because that's the original rule!"
The people from the Maykin family, who were watching the unsightly quarrel between Professor Uregor and the students, were perplexed.
"Um, people from Einroguard. Please calm down."
"That's right. It's our fault for not clearly specifying. We should have clearly told you to take a break in any town on the way."
"...Let's get back to talking about work."
Professor Uregor cleared his throat.
The people from the Maykin family nodded their heads and quickly explained the situation.
"The hunters from the north arrived a week ago and are currently hunting. They are really fast!"
"Because of their name, Shadow Patrol, we thought they wouldn't come out of the north, but they agreed more readily than we expected. We are truly grateful."
When a person from the Maykin family greeted Nillia, Professor Uregor tilted his head.
"What are you thanking her for?"
"They must be thanking us for flying here quickly."
Yi-Han answered without blinking an eye.
"No, they just thanked..."
"So, what are the remaining problems now?"
"Ah. You must be from the Wardanaz family, right?"
"Yes. Have we met during the last vacation?"
"No. I heard about you from Lady Yoanen Maykin a few times. She said you were a talent she definitely wanted to hire for the workshop."
"Oh. Did she also mention the conditions?"
The people from the Maykin family burst into laughter at the witty joke made by the boy from the Wardanaz family.
When everyone just laughed, Yi-Han slyly spoke again.
"So about the conditions..."
Yonaire grabbed Yi-Han's sleeve and shook her head.
Professor Uregor took notes on what the people from the Maykin family were saying and asked.
"It's truly fortunate that the hunting is progressing quickly. Then, the things we have to do are...?"
"First, please confirm the location of the Sangoria flowers. Since the harvest has been cut off for a long time and due to the disturbance of monsters and spirits, we need to create a new map."
Professor Uregor stroked his beard, indicating that he understood.
"Currently, the stock of Sangoria flowers is piled up in the warehouses of the nearby alchemy guild and fishermen's guild, but due to the prolonged chaos, we cannot trust the quality of this stock. We would like an outstanding and credible alchemist to newly establish standards and classify the stock."
The students behind let out a shallow sigh.
Just listening to it made it feel like the work was piling up.
Who would do that classification?
"I understand. What else?"
"As friction has grown due to this incident, conflicts have escalated between guilds and between guilds and residents. We would like you to mediate this issue."
Professor Uregor flipped to the next page of the paper densely filled with text.
"The hunters belonging to the Shadow Patrol are showing excellent performance, but since their numbers are limited, they cannot fight indiscriminately. After identifying the routes and locations, please separately designate the monsters that need to be taken down. We will drive away the remaining monsters in a way other than hunting."
"If it's alright with you, we would also like you to provide education on how to collect Sangoria flowers. Due to the decrease in skilled fishermen, there are quite a few inexperienced people."
'There's a reason they're giving a lot of gold coins.'
Yi-Han felt overwhelmed by the dense list of tasks.
Indeed, gold coins cannot be earned easily!
"Wait. Professor."
Yi-Han, who had been calculating, suddenly had a part he couldn't understand, so he asked.
"Can we finish all those tasks within the remaining days?"
"What a foolish question."
Professor Uregor lit his pipe and exhaled.
"We have to finish them no matter what."
"..."
It was no joke.
As soon as the conversation ended, Professor Uregor started working the students like a madman.
"This is the western gate of Isran City, which is the pride of Isran. It's a gate made of lapis lazuli, and there's a romantic legend that it was made with the tears of mermaids..."
"We don't need such explanations, just guide the students to their accommodations."
"Oh. The Kwadma family, one of the city's families, has lent their mansion. This mansion is located on a hill, so if you step out of the mansion's main gate, you'll see the Water Statue Street, which is one of the prides of Isran City..."
"You don't need to explain. They won't have time to go out anyway. Bring the tools I'm about to mention right now. We will head straight to the workshop."
The servants were perplexed by Professor Uregor's words.
"But a meal is prepared at the mansion..."
"Just pack the meals that can be eaten comfortably and bring them to the workshop."
"..."
"..."
The students looked around Isran City with gloomy faces.
The southern city that had been so beautiful earlier now suddenly seemed dull.
"Everyone, take a seat. I will now teach you how to classify the quality of Sangoria flowers. First, the color of the leaves..."
A skilled alchemist had a tenacious attention to even the smallest details.
Once he started working, Professor Uregor drove the students so hard that they couldn't even breathe.
"I said light red! That's dark red!"
"You failed to notice the traces of insects eating the stem!"
"Is this the time to stuff bread crumbs into your mouth? I said I would give you time to eat later!"
'He said that an hour ago too.'
Yi-Han thought inwardly as he moved his hands.
The students became haggard, but fortunately, progress was made quickly.
Thanks to the harsh instructions, the students who started to get used to the work classified the flowers accurately.
"This should be enough. Alchemy ranks 5 to 10. Follow me."
Professor Uregor got up from his seat, giving the next instructions without stopping.
The students who were designated by the professor stood up with puzzled expressions.
"Where are we going?"
"Perhaps to rest...?"
"Don't say nonsense. You will learn how to collect flowers. You will have to teach the collectors and adventurers."
"..."
"..."
Professor Uregor, who had taken the unfortunate students out, soon returned.
"Alchemy ranks 2 to 4. Follow me. I will give you the old collection map and routes, so put them in your head. You need to draw a new map."
"..."
"..."
Yi-Han, who was watching Professor Uregor leave, suddenly felt puzzled.
'Wait. What about me?'
Shouldn't he have been included when they went to make the map earlier?
The returning Professor Uregor immediately resolved Yi-Han's question.
"Wardanaz. Let's go directly with me to confirm the location of the Sangoria flowers."
"...No...!"
Yi-Han walked to the port with the professors with a disgruntled expression.
While working earlier, he had thought, 'I want to get some fresh air,' but this wasn't what he had wished for.
"To confirm the location of the Sangoria flowers... are we going out to sea?"
"Yes. We will be going out on a boat. Don't worry too much. With this lineup, there won't actually be much danger."
"...Then can't I just stay inside?"
At Yi-Han's words, Professor Bagrak shook his head as if to say no.
"This is a good opportunity."
"!"
Yi-Han realized why Professor Uregor had deliberately brought him out.
Could it be...
'Was it this person who suggested bringing me out?'
Come to think of it, even though Professor Uregor squeezed the students, he didn't have the hobby of deliberately bringing out a student who was doing well inside to experience thrills outside.
Realizing the truth, Yi-Han looked at Professor Bagrak with eyes filled with shock and fear.
'There really is no one to trust in this world!'
Not only did he give him a hard time inside Einroguard, but even outside like this...
"Oh. Are you the mages?"
At the port, there were people in completely different attire from the sailors.
Anyone could guess that they were hunters from the north.
It was the Shadow Patrol.
"That's right. You must have had a hard time."
"No... well... there was nothing to do in the mountains, so it was good. The compensation is generous, and the support is generous..."
"To be honest, we can't really use such expensive arrows in the mountains. When will we ever use something like this again?"
The hunters were very satisfied with the generous support from the Maykin family.
Each arrow was enchanted with magic, or potions were generously distributed just before battle.
All of this was an abundance that could not be seen in the cold northern mountain ranges.
"Can we keep these magic arrows if there are any left over?"
"Tsk. Have some dignity, don't say such things."
"What dignity... I've seen you pick up and use arrows before."
'It's a good thing Nillia didn't come.'
Yi-Han thought it was fortunate that Nillia didn't come.
If Nillia had come, she might have jumped into the sea out of embarrassment.
The hunters, who were chatting about what they had caught on the boat, suddenly clapped their hands and asked.
"Ah, right. Professor. I have something to ask."
"Go ahead and ask."
Professor Uregor wondered what the other party was going to say.
"That... isn't there a student from our Shadow Patrol? Was it Nellia?"
"Nollea. You're even more stupid than this crow."
"It's easy to get confused. She's not from our area but from the eastern area, so I got confused!"
Yi-Han quietly answered.
"It's Nillia."
"Ah. Right. Nillia! Yes. It was Nillia!"
"Is Nillia doing well?"
The Shadow Patrol hunters asked the question as if they were trying to show as little interest as possible.
However, their eyes burned with a desire for praise.
Since she had entered Einroguard as someone from the Shadow Patrol, the hunters had high expectations even if they didn't show it.
"Uh... she's an excellent student."
Professor Bungaegor also noticed the hunters' intentions and gave the answer they wanted.
"She's in the top ten in the alchemy lecture."
"Ooh...!"
"Amazing!"
The hunters were impressed.
Honestly speaking, the hunters didn't have high expectations for Nillia's grades.
How advantageous would Nillia be, who went there after holding a bow in the mountains, compared to the others who went there after holding books in the city?
But to hear such an answer.
"How are her relationships with friends?"
"Uh... I think it would be better for Wardanaz here to answer that. Wardanaz. Tell them."
'Cowardly passing it on to me.'
Yi-Han inwardly cursed the professor and opened his mouth.
"Nillia is very popular in the tower."
"Ooh...!"
"I told you. She's a bit different from us, she's sociable. I said she would get along well."
"I'll have to ask her later how to make friends outside. When I go down to the town, the guys run away."
"That's because you go down covered in blood."
As the hunters' reactions were good, Yi-Han continued a bit more.
"Not only the students from the Black Tortoise Tower but also the students from the Blue Dragon Tower really like Nillia. Last vacation, she was invited to stay at the Maykin family, and the Maykin family was so moved that they asked her to stay longer..."
"..."
"..."
The hunters listened blankly and then chuckled.
"The mage here must be saying such things to make us feel good!"
"Thank you for this. But still, don't make such nonsensical jokes!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"..."
Yi-Han suddenly felt sorry for Nillia, whose actions had turned into lies.