"Yes. Tell the other followers to stay inside the magic tower."

"No, there aren't any..."

When even Yi-Han started spouting nonsense, his friends became more flustered.

"Mr. Pengerin. Let's hurry and go find the prince! If the prince goes missing, the empire's high noble families who are close to him will be very worried."

"O-Okay! Wait!"

Alcicle waddled and hurriedly walked out.

As Alcicle himself was from a prestigious family in the empire, he could imagine how renowned a royal family member would be to be close to the empire's high noble families.

How troublesome would it be if such a royal family member went missing near Alcicle's magic tower?

He absolutely couldn't ignore it.

Yonaire whispered to Yi-Han while brushing off the snow stuck to her hair.

"Are there high noble families close to Gainando?"

"Hmm. If I had to say, maybe the Wardanaz family and the Maykin family?"

"..."

Yah!

Yonaire was dumbfounded seeing her friend skillfully deceiving the mage with wordplay in a short moment of less than a second.

"So how did Gainando end up in distress? Wait. More importantly, why are you guys here?"

"...We thought Wardanaz, you were kidnapped..."

Nillia hesitantly explained what had happened.

Now that she thought about it, it didn't seem like he was kidnapped.

Hearing the explanation, Yi-Han tried to clarify.

"I wasn't kidnapped."

"That's right."

When Professor Bagrak agreed from the side, Yi-Han momentarily flinched.

'Wait. Was I kidnapped?'

Sometimes, when a disciple stayed under a professor for a long time, they would develop Stockholm syndrome.

Then, even when being kidnapped and dragged away, they would say things like, 'Haha, the professor must need my help. It's no big deal, so don't worry everyone.'

"...No? Was I kidnapped?"

"To be honest, we're not that different from other professors."

Eumidiphos spoke with a slightly remorseful face.

However, Eumidiphos also had an excuse.

"I knew the professors at Einroguard were vicious, but I didn't know they harassed students by chasing them around during the break. If I had known, I would have left you alone to rest."

"Yes. They should let them rest during the break."

When Professor Bagrak agreed with Eumidiphos' words, Yi-Han unconsciously widened his eyes.

"Professor?"

"Why are you doing that?"

"No... It's nothing."

Yi-Han swallowed the shout he was about to make.

Professor Bagrak must have thought that his teachings were different from the teachings other professors chased students around to give.

Maybe he thought it was like a restful teaching...

Of course, it was a ridiculous delusion. The two were the same.

"This way! He disappeared from here!"

Hearing Nillia's shout, Eumidiphos swung her staff and stopped the carriage.

As the water spirits pulling the carriage stopped, Alcicle immediately jumped out.

Pat!

The falling snow suddenly began to rise back up as if time had rewound.

Alcicle swung his staff to clear away the snowstorm and immediately stepped on the air. Then, an ice platform appeared in the air, and Alcicle's body soared upward.

Mages didn't need to rummage through the valley below while being hit by a snowstorm.

Moreover, for a mage like Alcicle who had reached a high level, even more so.

"Ice, disappear! Snow, hide your appearance!"

Alcicle cleared away the ice and snow covering the valley below the snowy mountains.

The mountain that had been so white instantly turned dark gray.

'Amazing!'

As a fellow mage, Yi-Han couldn't help but admire Alcicle's skills.

To clear away ice and snow of this scale at once.

"Spirits, find the living being! Is it this way?"

"Yes!"

"This is big trouble! Big trouble! If the prince gets hurt, what will the people of the empire think of me? They'll think I'm a fool who can't even properly take care of a guest who visited the front yard of my magic tower!"

"Calm down, Alcicle. Prince Gainando is a mage, so he has the ability to protect himself."

Eumidiphos tried to soothe Alcicle, but Alcicle shook his head as if he didn't want to hear it.

Meanwhile, Yi-Han talked with his friends.

"He disappeared from here?"

"Yeah. When I looked back, he was gone."

Nillia and her friends had ridden horses to chase after him for a quick pursuit.

If Professor Bungaegor had seen it, she would have been pleased, saying, 'You all learned properly in the first semester,' at their excellent horsemanship.

However, Gainando, who was in the rear, had disappeared by the time they arrived at the magic tower.

"Why did he disappear?"

"Could it be that a monster appeared or he was possessed by an evil spirit?"

"If a monster or evil spirit had appeared, you guys would have noticed... Could it be that he found someone collapsed?"

At Yi-Han's words, all his friends answered at the same time.

"There's no way that's the case."

"Mr. Wardanaz. Does that make sense?"

"It would be more likely to say he found a mage card dropped on the ground..."

"..."

Seeing his friends' cold-hearted reactions, Yi-Han felt a little sorry for Gainando.

"This won't do. Doppelganger, help me!"

Alcicle took out the magic he had been saving due to mana.

The ice doppelganger took shape and transformed into a form that looked exactly like Alcicle.

Among doppelganger magics, one that created a doppelganger indistinguishable from the mage was of a very high level and difficult.

Seeing him complete such a doppelganger with the already challenging ice element, Yi-Han was amazed once again.

"Amazing..."

"Do you like that magic?"

"Pardon?"

Yi-Han was startled by Professor Bagrak's question.

He had let his guard down by mistake when the professor was next to him.

"No..."

Before he could stop him, Professor Bagrak approached Alcicle and said,

"Teach the magic you just used."

"...What are you babbling about?! Why should I teach this?!!"

Of course, Alcicle jumped up.

He was busy as hell, and suddenly he was told to teach his secret doppelganger magic.

What mage would agree to that?

"He wants to learn it, doesn't he?"

"Do I have to teach everything someone wants to learn?!"

"I taught everything though?"

When Eumidiphos spoke from the side, Alcicle flinched.

Indeed, Eumidiphos had taught everything without hiding it from people who came to learn.

"T-This magic is difficult, so it's not time for him to learn it yet. He needs to build a stronger foundation..."

As he spoke, Alcicle recalled the magic Yi-Han had shown today.

There didn't seem to be any foundation that needed to be further strengthened.

"...He needs to master more intermediate magic instead of the basics..."

"Didn't I say earlier that he needs a challenge?"

"Is this what you meant by that?!"

They had definitely had a conversation when only Eumidiphos and Boladi Bagrak were present.

-He's learning a bit faster than I thought.-

-A bit??-

-Eat your sardines. If he masters it this quickly, his motivation might weaken, so I should consider giving him a task with some difficulty. Mages tend to become stronger when they have a desired goal.-

The basics were certainly important, but it was also dangerous to have a mage with outstanding talent practice only the basics.

They might lose interest.

After all, mages needed a grand goal.

A strong goal for which they could cross any thorny path!

...So he had been pondering what cold element magic to set as a goal, but this wasn't it.

This was a magic he really cherished...

"It's alright, Mr. Pengerin. You must not find me satisfactory in your eyes."

Yi-Han smiled bitterly while pretending to stop him.

Feeling guilty at that smile, Alcicle hesitated and eventually shouted,

"Fine! This can be the next goal! Boladi Bagrak, you bastard!"

"Why are you getting angry?"

"Shut up!"

While the two kept arguing, Nillia shouted,

"It's nice that you're all fighting, but there's smoke rising over there!!"

"?!"

As Nillia said, smoke was rising from a place far from the valley.

"Th-Thank you, Your Highness."

"It's something I should naturally do as someone born with the duty to be noble."

Gainando still didn't know what 'noble' meant, but he had no hesitation in using it.

The noble with a broken ankle nodded with a moved expression.

"If it weren't for Your Highness, I don't know what would have happened... Moreover, I was surprised that Your Highness knew how to do even this."

"...It's something any Einroguard student can do."

"And humble too!"

"It's not humility."

Gainando put a splint on the noble's broken ankle and pushed him into the cave.

Although he couldn't perform healing magic like Yi-Han, Einroguard students had no choice but to learn at least how to put on a splint.

When Gainando rummaged through his bag and took out cookies, the noble declined, saying he was fine.

"I'm fi-"

Crunch crunch-

"Huh? What did you say?"

"N-Nothing at all."

It was close to a miracle that Gainando found the unconscious noble.

He had fallen off his horse, rolled down next to the valley, and lost consciousness, and a snowstorm was falling.

If it weren't for the mage card the noble had dropped, Gainando wouldn't have even glanced over.

"By the way, Your Highness. Moving to a cave to avoid the snowstorm was... a wise decision, but... um... will your companions really come to find us?"

"Ah. You don't need to worry."

Gainando tapped his chest confidently.

"I told them before I left. They'll definitely call others and come to help."

Of course, Gainando's shout of 'Just a moment' wasn't heard at all because the snowstorm was fierce and the sound of horse hooves overlapped.

"Gainando!!!"

"See?"

Gainando nodded proudly. The noble's face also brightened.

"That's a relief..."

Smack!

"Ack!!"

"Why did you disappear without saying anything and make your friends worry?"

The noble was startled and blinked, seeing the prince's friends hitting and scolding him as soon as they arrived.

'Are they not... friends?'

"I-I did say it! I did! Those guys are lying!"

"Did you perhaps just say something, then change direction without checking?"

"..."

Gainando, at a loss for words, fidgeted.

Yi-Han sighed and said,

"Still, it's a relief you're not hurt."

"D-Did you really save someone?"

"Shh. Ratford. Gainando will hear."

His friends were very surprised.

To think he really got into distress while trying to save someone.

Gainando asked, not knowing his friends' wicked thoughts.

"You followed the markings I left, right?"

"What markings did you leave?"

"I drew arrows on the ground as I came."

Yi-Han sighed, wondering how to scold this friend who drew arrows on the ground while a snowstorm was coming.

"Your Highness! Are you hurt...!"

Alcicle, who landed after Yi-Han, hurriedly ran over.

Then, seeing Gainando's face, he tilted his head.

"I'm seeing you for the first time. Who are...?"

"I'm Gainando."

"Uh... You don't seem to be even twenty years old...?"

Alcicle looked at Yi-Han in confusion.

He definitely thought the prince would be in his 30s or 40s...?

"He's our friend. Thank you, Mr. Pengerin."

"Uh, uhh? Y-Yeah. That's true, but... um..."

Alcicle felt he had been deceived but tilted his head, not knowing exactly how he had been deceived.

Meanwhile, the collapsed noble got up from his spot.

"Alcicle Pengerin. It's an honor to meet you like this."

"...Hic!"

Alcicle hiccuped and avoided eye contact.

Yi-Han was curious to see Alcicle so surprised.

'What is it? Is the other person an assassin?'

"Who is it?"

"Ah... This is bad."

What was surprising was that even Eumidiphos had a worried expression.

"Judging by the attire, he's an inspector."

"An inspector?"

"An inspector sent by the investors who invested in Alcicle's magic research. He came to check the progress."

"..."

Yi-Han could sincerely empathize with Alcicle's pain.