"What?! How with a golem?!"

"How in the world!"

At the reaction of the golem summoning mages, the dark mages were puzzled at first, but belatedly realized the situation.

It was clear that they had misunderstood after seeing Yi-Han, an Einroguard student, controlling a golem.

"Ah. That wasn't done by us..."

"Quiet! Be quiet. We... we can figure it out."

"No..."

The dark mages were flustered.

They tried to explain, but the summoning mages refused due to their pride and started pondering among themselves.

"What is it? How is he enduring such waste with a golem? The mana consumption must be extreme?"

"Isn't he collecting the emitted mana and recovering it?"

"How efficient is that! It would be difficult to recover even a tenth of it. Co, could it be that he developed a magic circle of a method we don't know?"

"Dark magic... Is there something like that in dark magic? The rare properties of negative mana..."

"I've never heard of such a thing! If there was something like that, we would have known too!"

"Other methods? Other methods??"

"Don't stare too directly. Isn't it obvious! Take a peek."

The summoning mages groaned and whispered.

They were peeking at the golem due to their pride, but they couldn't figure it out at all.

It wasn't a new magic circle they didn't know, it wasn't using new materials, and it was an ordinary golem on the outside...

How the hell is he operating it to repeat such delicate movements while maintaining mana?

"Could it be that he just put in a lot of mana?"

"...Even if you can't find an answer, do you want to make such a nonsensical joke?"

There were no magic stones or potions around the golem, so such a crude method couldn't be the answer.

"Hey."

"Wait! Just wait a moment."

"No... just explain..."

"Wait!! I said wait a moment!! Ugh!!"

"..."

The dark mages had a displeased expression.

They couldn't feel good about the behavior of those who used to fight every time they saw each other's faces.

They were just trying to inform them...

"Ugh... Ugh... Ugh."

"Ugh... Ugh... Ugh."

"Ugh. Ugh."

The summoning mages kept pondering.

Some summoning mages were so frustrated that they had tears in their eyes.

Not only were they falling behind the dark mages in golems, but they couldn't even guess how.

When the summoning mages sent a gaze of defeat, trembling with humiliation, the waiting dark mages suddenly felt their hearts pounding.

Huh?

"Actually, what happened was..."

"Shh. Wait a moment."

"Why?"

"Let's not tell them. Those guys said there's no need to explain."

"...!"

Not knowing that the dark mages were playing a wicked trick, the summoning mages said, gritting their teeth.

"It's not... it's not over yet. I don't know how you did it, but I will definitely give you an answer before this festival ends. Just wait!"

The summoning mages couldn't stay there any longer, so they hurriedly turned around, enduring the humiliation.

The dark mages had no particular answer, so they just laughed.

"...Kekeke! Kekekeke!"

"Wahahaha!"

"...Just you wait!!"

After the summoning mages left, the dark mages looked at each other with exhilarated faces.

When was the last time they felt this refreshed!

"...Excuse me. Dark mage sirs?"

"..."

When Yi-Han, who was watching what happened from behind, called out, the dark mages finally realized their mistake.

"Why aren't the golem guys preparing and doing that?"

"Who knows? Did some problem occur?"

Other summoning mages were puzzled by the atmosphere of the golem summoning mages.

Among inanimate objects summoning magic, mages specializing in golems had loud voices and great pride.

It was natural since golems were intuitively powerful summons and in high demand in the empire.

But today, the atmosphere was as if someone had died...?

"Are you okay? If you don't prepare, should we go first?"

"...Do as you please..."

"!?"

When the guys who would have normally jumped up and down, saying, 'How dare you covet someone else's turn!' yielded with a pale complexion, everyone was startled.

"Can we really go first?"

"Yeah..."

"You guys who usually look down on sentient items, are you really okay?"

"Yeah..."

"...No. Are these guys really okay?"

"I'm worried about this..."

At first, the summoning mages tried to just pass by, but they started murmuring.

They were starting to seriously worry about the golem summoning mages.

Even ordinary people who didn't know magic had a hard time getting out of the swamp of depression, but mages were especially more dangerous.

Because an exploding mage was several times more dangerous than an exploding ordinary person.

If an accident occurred...

"Hey. I know you've hit a wall. But nothing will change by being gloomy like that."

"That's right. Come here. At times like this, it's better to not think about anything and watch other mages' magic. Right. Einroguard students will show summoning magic, so let's watch that. It's not often you get a chance to see the most orthodox magic. They're disciples of the famous Professor Millei."

"Even if they summon something small..."

"...Can't we just throw these bastards in a pit and leave?"

"Shh. Endure it."

Other summoning mages comforted and soothed the golem summoning mages with the friendship of fellow summoning mages.

In the end, the golem summoning mages got up, pretending to be defeated.

"Phew... How the hell did he do it?"

"I don't know what it is, but stop worrying about it! Let's watch the students' magic."

"Is it a paper bird?"

"Already at that age?!"

"You still can't summon a paper bird?"

"I, I'm not suited for it..."

The summoning mages sat in the spectator seats, chattering this and that.

Among the summoning mages participating in today's festival, there were quite a few who could use higher circle magic than Einroguard students.

However, there were very few mages who had solidly built up all the basics of summoning magic like Einroguard students.

Magic was a narrow and difficult path even for those with chosen talent.

There weren't many mages who could endure and build other foundations while holding back the things they could do right in front of them, and there weren't many environments where that was possible.

As such, the 1st year students of Einroguard didn't look like juniors at all to the mages participating in today's festival.

They looked like the precursor of a huge wave that started rushing in from the distant vast ocean, still small but easily able to cover a small boat once it gained momentum.

"They're starting. It's a paper bird!"

"Clean! Summoning it in one go!"

Admiration and applause leaked out among the summoning mages.

However, some summoning mages were just watching without much change in expression.

They were among the most skilled mages participating in this festival.

As they knew the level of Einroguard, they didn't admire it that much.

"Juniors, please..."

"Shh. The teacher will hear."

The seniors anxiously watched. They could feel Professor Millei getting nervous while pretending not to be.

"Stop right there!"

Swish-

When the paper birds that were flying straight stopped, the applause and cheers intensified. However, the seniors let out a small sigh.

They noticed the minor mistakes made by their juniors.

"They should be able to stop immediately upon hearing the command, but they were a bit late."

"The movements weren't clean either..."

"There was waste when making the magic circle. Mana is leaking, so the movements are shaky like that."

As expected, the skilled summoning mages remained expressionless.

The next paper birds that flew in spat out voices.

Applause and cheers erupted, but the expressionless faces of some summoning mages still didn't change.

"They should have made it sing! They should have made it sing instead..."

"You couldn't even succeed, and you're telling the 1st years to do that??"

"If they had just succeeded, there would have been a standing ovation!"

"Let's just go and threaten them to stand up now. It's better than going to the punishment room."

While the seniors were chattering, a 1st year student belatedly flew a paper bird. It was the student who launched last because the preparation took the longest.

"...Oh, isn't that Wardanaz? The one who was with the dark mages earlier."

"Why was he with the dark mages?"

"Who knows...? Is there anything in dark magic that helps with paper birds?"

The paper bird Yi-Han sent out was ordinary.

It flew up into the air in circles like other paper birds and slowly glided in the air.

Many summoning mages applauded but were puzzled.

'Is he just late?'

'I should applaud so it's not embarrassing.'

Even the seniors were startled and didn't notice right away.

"Is it because he couldn't prepare in time?"

"Did the dark mages hold him back? These dark mages...!"

"No. He's originally a guy who takes dark magic..."

Whoosh!

One of the expressionless summoning mages suddenly stood up from his seat and sent a gaze to Professor Millei.

Professor Millei nodded with a blunt gesture. It meant she allowed what he was about to do now.

Suddenly, a spirit hawk appeared in the air. The spirit hawk that popped out flew fiercely and tried to tear the paper bird apart.

Yi-Han controlled the bird while holding back a curse.

'Are you crazy?!'

Attacking someone else's summon out of the blue while they were demonstrating.

If it were Professor Boladi, he would have immediately shouted, 'Attack the main body.'

It was a rudeness that would have broken a few bones of the opposing mage if it weren't for the festival venue.

Yi-Han gritted his teeth at the opposing mage's vile act of attacking while many eyes were watching and concentrated.

'Evade, evade, evade...!'

Swish!

The paper bird showed unbelievable maneuvers and avoided the attacks.

Once, twice, thrice.

"...!!"

"Th... that?!"

Then, the summoning mages who couldn't recognize it also started to be surprised.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Look at the movements! Those movements!"

The movements of a paper bird summoned with a pre-recorded magic circle had to be limited.

Even if it tried to evade, it was impossible to endure the attacks of a fierce and swift summon like a spirit hawk.

But now, the paper bird was avoiding it with surprising accuracy.

It was clear that the mage was directly connecting his consciousness and controlling it.

Whoosh-

'...Are you really crazy!?'

Yi-Han was enraged when some unknown mage sprayed vision-obscuring fog.

Not only attacking the paper bird but also spraying fog to prevent proper control.

Vowing to see him after it was over, whether it was the punishment room or not, Yi-Han focused on remote viewing.

If he couldn't see with the mage's vision, he would just see with the bird's vision.

'Just endure a little... Done!'

Fortunately, the remote viewing magic worked properly. The paper bird avoided the spirit hawk's attack once again.

Realizing that there was no need for further confirmation, the summoning mage sent the spirit hawk back to its original realm.

And with a dignified gesture, he reached out his hand.

"Congratulations. Professor Millei. You have an excellent disciple."

"I knew Einroguard students were outstanding, but I didn't know it was to this extent."

When the seated summoning mages all stood up and left congratulations, a subtle joy lingered in Professor Millei's eyes. The seniors also let out a sigh of relief upon seeing their teacher's reaction.

"There are still many shortcomings. That magic was also just imitating my magic. He will have to create his own magic soon."

"There's no need to be too hasty. A young mage with that level of skill will soon find his own path."

'Our teacher is really too much sometimes, isn't she?'

'I know, right.'

The seniors clicked their tongues at the sight of their teacher saying her disciple was lacking even in this situation.

She's really too much, no matter what!

Bang!

"Which mage sprayed the fog just now..."

"Ah. This is the mage who impressed us."

"I was moved."

Yi-Han, who was about to vent his anger, quickly grasped the situation after seeing the atmosphere of Professor Millei and the surrounding mages.

"Thanks to the consideration of spraying it, I was able to overcome the crisis."

"What. I never had any ulterior motives. Hahaha!"

'...Didn't that junior look angry just now? Was it just my imagination?'

"No way!!"

"!?"

They thought the commotion was over, but suddenly there was a loud shout from behind.

The golem summoning mages were looking at Yi-Han with a shocked gaze.

"He, he wasn't a dark mage?!"

"Then how the golem... no... what the... paper bird... uh... both...?!"

"Hey. You guys right now..."

The summoning mages next to Professor Millei frowned.

It was good to be confident, but what rudeness was this in someone else's territory?

"No! Please wait a moment! He controlled a golem! A golem! I saw it clearly with my own two eyes!"

"He can also control golems! He controls them amazingly..."

The summoning mages who didn't know the reason frowned, thinking the golem summoning mages were talking nonsense.

What are they saying to a 1st year student who is tired from controlling a paper bird?

Noticing that, Yi-Han whispered to Professor Millei.

"I think it would be better for you to mediate appropriately, Professor."

"You're right. Student Yi-Han."

Professor Millei adjusted her monocle and opened her mouth.

"Let's show golem control as well."

"..."