Chapter 484

"Ha."

Professor Uregor scooped a spoonful of rice, put it in his mouth, and sighed.

"Hoo."

Professor Uregor chewed on the salted radish and sighed.

"...Why do you keep sighing? It's making me lose my appetite."

Professor Bungaegor asked her nephew as if it was absurd.

If he had worked hard all day, shouldn't he eat with a good mood?

The mansion's chefs had even prepared a separate meal to suit the tastes of those from the East...

Professor Uregor answered with a groan.

"It's because there are so many things to do."

The students were exchanging harsh words like 'Today was really tough' and 'Professor Uregor enjoys tormenting us, just like he's close with the principal,' but Professor Uregor also had his own troubles as a professor.

The students just had to work hard on the tasks they were given, but Professor Uregor had to manage the overall schedule and finish the request within the given period.

What if they couldn't finish the request within the set period?

-Professor Uregor. Did I perhaps overestimate you too much? Not being able to finish the request within the set period. Will you take responsibility for the students' academic loss caused by that?-

It would be fortunate if it was just a little late.

What if they couldn't perfectly complete the request?

-Professor Uregor. Do the students perhaps dislike studying magic? Even if you work hard from now on, they will steal from my treasury with the excuse of lacking research funds, so why are you hindering them from receiving compensation?-

...Although the skull principal respected the professors very much unlike the students, there were occasional exceptions.

Just look at how Professor Verduus went to the punishment room...

"My. But I know today's work went quite well."

"That's true, but the problem is that the schedule is quite tight."

Professor Uregor glared at the paper with the list of things to do and shoved a dumpling into his mouth.

Fortunately, thanks to the Shadow Patrol actively working hard today, whether it was hunting or magic, the identification of the routes and the creation of the map were almost finished.

If things went as expected, it would be done by tomorrow.

'Ah. I unconsciously thought of Wardanaz as a member of the Shadow Patrol.'

Professor Uregor had a thought that Yi-Han would have shouted if he had heard it.

He had unconsciously grouped the two together because they got along so well.

The students currently in the mansion's workshop were diligently working on stock classification, standard setting, and collection education...

'This will be finished by tomorrow, or the day after at the latest.'

Although he didn't tell the students for fear of them losing their tension, the current 1st year students were above average.

Even excluding the exceptionally crazy guy like Wardanaz, there was at least one student excelling in alchemy in each tower, so they could flexibly respond to any situation.

It seemed like the work would go smoothly even if he let the students rest for a bit, but...

'No. That's not for the sake of the students.'

Professor Uregor decided not to tell the students until everything was finished.

If they loosened up and the schedule was delayed, wouldn't the students suffer?

Being strict in this aspect was also part of a professor's job.

'The remaining problem is mediation.'

The friction between the guilds in this area, and the conflict between the guilds and the residents.

If they wanted to stably harvest the flowers, they had to mediate their problems before leaving.

In a way, it could be an even more annoying problem than creating the routes and clearing the monsters.

'We need to resolve it by tomorrow if possible so that the schedule doesn't get messed up.'

If they finished the clearing and route creation by tomorrow and contacted the related parties to hear their demands and consider solutions...

Professor Uregor unconsciously raised his head and looked at the professors next to him.

After looking at Professor Bungaegor and Professor Bagrak in turn, Professor Uregor let out the deepest sigh among the sighs he had exhaled today.

"Hoooo..."

"What? That last sigh felt a bit unpleasant. Did you perhaps curse me in your mind?"

"Ah, no."

Professor Uregor was startled, his inner thoughts exposed.

But it was clear that the two professors would not be of any help in this mediation.

Professor Bungaegor would only be helpful if monsters were released at the negotiation table, and Professor Bagrak would only be helpful if assassins barged into the negotiation table...

As Professor Uregor was pondering over what demands the guilds and city residents would make and what solutions they would accept, he noticed Yi-Han passing by and spoke to him.

"Wardanaz."

"Yes?"

"I'm glad you're here at least."

"...What are you trying to make me do?"

At Yi-Han's distrustful gaze, Professor Uregor slightly reflected on behalf of Einroguard.

The next morning.

Yi-Han left the mansion with the professors to finish the route creation and clearing.

The Shadow Patrol hunters seemed to have come out since dawn, riding small boats and nimbly traversing the sea, knocking down monsters one by one.

"They say that when a Shadow Patrol hunter enters a mountain peak, the monsters on that mountain peak go extinct. Indeed, the rumors are not wrong."

Professor Bungaegor admired them, but Yi-Han had a different thought.

Judging by how the Shadow Patrol hunters were slightly flustered and avoided eye contact when their eyes met with Yi-Han's, they...

'They came early to catch the prey before we arrived and told them to catch only what was necessary.'

Everyone was fooled by the atmosphere exuded by the Shadow Patrol hunters, but Yi-Han was not.

The Shadow Patrol hunters had a subtle side similar to Gainando.

"I will finish checking this side, so Professor Bagrak, please take care of the opposite side."

Professor Uregor headed towards the area where the route creation was not yet completed, along with Professor Bungaegor.

Professor Bagrak sent a gaze to Yi-Han with an expressionless face. Yi-Han resigned himself and said.

"Let's go clear the remaining monsters on the reef."

"Yes. Don't rush."

Yi-Han thought about pushing Professor Bagrak off the small boat, but he refrained since there were many hunters watching.

Swooosh-

As the boat moved, Yi-Han recalled the conversation he had with Professor Uregor yesterday.

-What are you trying to make me do?-

-...No! That's not what I meant...!-

-Yes. That's not what you meant.-

-I swear on my beard that's not what I meant! Listen!-

Professor Uregor was so wronged that he rambled on about things Yi-Han didn't even ask.

He said that in order to cleanly resolve everything in the remaining two days, maintain Einroguard's reputation, allow the students to receive compensation, and make Professor Uregor happy, the remaining tasks were quite tight.

The tasks assigned to the students had quite some leeway (Yi-Han conveyed this fact to his friends as soon as the conversation ended), but considering the matters that needed to be mediated, it was a headache, according to Professor Uregor.

At first, Yi-Han thought, 'What does that have to do with saying you're glad to have me?' but after seeing Professor Bungaegor and Professor Bagrak, he immediately understood.

'Hmm. Indeed. Compared to those two, I'm better.'

Yi-Han was not a confident person, but he was confident that he could win if he went up against those two professors in the social realm.

Apart from that, he was worried about whether Professor Uregor could mediate well.

Since the other two professors wouldn't help, Professor Uregor would have to think about it with the people from the Maykin family, and if things got complicated...

'The compensation will decrease, and if the compensation decreases, the students' research funds will also decrease, and then the angry students will rebel and Einroguard will be destroyed.'

"What are you thinking about?"

Professor Bagrak asked, perhaps because Yi-Han was thinking too deeply.

"Ah, I was pondering over the mediation plan."

"You don't need to worry about that. It's something Professor Uregor will take care of."

"..."

Originally, it should have sounded like a good meaning of 'Students should do students' work and leave the professors' work to the professors,' but strangely, it sounded more like a bad meaning of 'Is it my business?'

'It must be my imagination.'

"Let's land."

"Yes."

"This time, try utilizing ice magic."

"Yes..."

The Shadow Patrol hunters next to him asked.

"Are you sure you don't need help? If the vanguard doesn't block in front..."

Professor Bagrak nodded.

"It's not necessary. We will overcome it with magic."

"With magic! Indeed...!"

The hunters' eyes shone.

They had thought that mages would have a hard time moving recklessly if there was no one blocking in front, but seeing this, it was truly a prejudice.

Fasher, the head of the city's fishermen's guild, glared at the sea with a dissatisfied gaze.

"I won't yield even a bit. You guys should keep that in mind too."

"Yes!"

"If there are any young ones thinking of negotiation or compromise, keep that shallow thought in your own stomach!"

Although his hair had turned white and his physique was skinny, this old fisherman still knew how to exude authority.

The young fishermen nearby couldn't dare to talk back and bowed their heads.

"The alchemist bastards, adventurer bastards, and city council bastards are all no different from thieves. Where did the license for fishing rights bestowed by His Majesty the Emperor come down to? It came down to our guild!"

The issue of 'who should harvest the Sangoria flowers' was an older problem than one might think.

Long ago, the fishermen's guild had been granted a license for fishing rights by the Emperor of the Empire, allowing them to harvest nearly dozens of types of marine products.

At that time, there was no problem. The city people respected the rights of the fishermen's guild and purchased the marine products caught by the fishermen's guild.

However, as time passed and the Sangoria flowers suddenly began to appear in the surrounding area, the story became complicated.

The alchemists who recognized their value argued that they should collect the Sangoria flowers, and in the process, the fishermen's guild received help from the alchemists to learn about the flowers they were seeing for the first time.

Naturally, there was bound to be a dispute over who had the right to harvest the flowers.

On top of that, the city's adventurers' guild, which had set out to collect the flowers at the request of the alchemists, also began to interfere.

They continued to argue about who was greedy and who was shameless, and then they reached a compromise by paying a certain amount to each other whenever they harvested the flowers...

But the situation completely changed when the harvest of Sangoria flowers was about to be cut off due to this coastal disturbance.

The Imperial bureaucrats were disgusted by these guilds that only checked each other and wasted time when they should have joined forces to solve the problem.

-In the end, this temporary measure has escalated the situation like this. Make sure to sort out this problem too!-

Since the order came from above like this, the guilds were also firmly determined.

They would never back down.

They would definitely persuade the people who came from outside and prove that their guild's logic was reasonable!

And that was the same for the fishermen's guild.

"It's because those bastards who don't even know such history shamelessly interfered that this whole situation erupted."

'I think we should negotiate or compromise...'

Some young fishermen showed a troubled expression.

The attitude of the Imperial bureaucrats was unexpectedly stubborn.

How incompetent were they that the Maykin family, an outsider, stepped up to resolve it?

It was natural for the bureaucrats to be angry since they did that even though they had no direct benefit.

Then the city's guilds should also reconcile with each other for now and show that they won't do that in the future, but everyone was saying, 'The moment we propose negotiation or compromise, we're showing weakness, don't do anything that can be used against us'...

"Those are the Shadow Patrol hunters who came from outside."

Fasher nodded at the fisherman's words.

Although he was angry and spiteful, there was no point in showing a bad side to those who came from outside.

Fasher was going to go and greet them and confidently assert his claim.

"...Why aren't they coming up and doing that?"

"I don't know? Ah. The mages are coming down over there. It seems the mages hunted. Come to think of it, the fishermen said 'Even the mages are hunting,' so I think that's..."

"...Isn't he still a student?!"

Fasher was startled to see Yi-Han coming out while shaking off the blood of the monsters.

Considering the number of monsters and the vastness of the sea, there couldn't be enough manpower, but still, for a student to fight like that.

Was the shortage of hands that severe?

"That... seems to be the case."

"Why?? For what reason?"

"Well, I think it's probably because the other guilds in the city refused to help..."

"..."

Fasher suddenly felt his face getting hot.

It was shame.

A student who came from outside was doing his best to solve the problem like that even in a situation where he couldn't get any help from the city...

What was he himself doing, having lived in this city all his life?