Published at 3rd of April 2026 8:39 am

Chapter 1022

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

30 minutes later.

Alsicle barely managed to persuade Erindarvel and obtained a 3-story mage villa located in the capital as a gift.

Erindarvel still persisted with a reluctant expression.

But Lord Penguerin. Giving such a materialistic and insincere gift to a junior scholar who will be responsible for the Empires future is too irresponsible

Wardanaz! Lets go!

Pushing the junior mages back, Alsicle quickly escaped from the scene.

If they stayed here any longer, they might have to listen to that archmages reflections until tomorrow.

Lord Alsicle. I respect you.

Why all of a sudden?

When Lee Han spoke with eyes full of respect, Alsicle was puzzled.

Thank you so much for obtaining the capital manor for me.

I appreciate the respect, but couldnt you respect me for something else?

The two who were hurriedly walking to escape the scene spotted students in familiar attire in the distance.

At first glance, one might think they were a group of beggars wearing rags, but upon seeing their staffs and emblems, one would belatedly go Ah!

They were Einroguard students.

You guys what are you doing here?

Lee Han asked in a surprised voice.

Considering the dates, the semester at Einroguard should have ended, but he hadnt expected all his friends to be in the capital.

Was there perhaps some major event taking place in the capital that Lee Han didnt know about?

Maybe theres a magic competition with enormous prize money sponsored by an anonymous patron

We came to rescue you.

We heard the principal took you away, so we came.

Ah.

At his friends answer, Lee Han immediately snapped out of his fantasy.

Thanks everyone. But the matter is all finished. It didnt take very long.

What kind of method did you use to finish it so early?

Giselle asked as if she couldnt understand.

Setting aside exceptions like Gainandos mother, persuading the Empires angry patrons wasnt that easy.

Especially when it came to Einroguard-related matters, many of them were fed up.

Perhaps

!

When Giselle trailed off, Lee Han was surprised.

Did she notice?

The principals despicable scheme?

Did you make a deal involving Professor Verdus?

Gasp. Youre smart! I never would have thought of such a method.

As expected of Wardanaz!

No.

Lee Han said firmly.

Honestly, it was a good method, but he hadnt used such a method.

That was a method to save for when he was truly desperate later.

Ill tell you how I persuaded them later, but since were here, would everyone like to visit the villa manor?

At their friends suggestion, the students readily nodded.

It would be more convenient to stay at the Wardanaz family manor than to split up and find separate accommodations.

Huh? But was there a Wardanaz family villa in the capital?

Yoner tilted his head.

Unlike other major noble families of the Empire who prepared manors in each region so they could stay whenever they visited, the Wardanaz family, which had almost no external activities, was said to have almost no permanently prepared manors.

But a villa manor?

Was it an exception because it was the capital?

Lee Han. Was there originally a Wardanaz family manor in the capital?

Hehe. Good question.

At Yoners question, Lee Han smiled with confidence.

It was a joyful smile as if he would have brought it up himself if no one had asked.

Actually, I received it as payment for this commission.

Could you explain in a bit more detail???

***

Alsicle looked around the exterior of the manor and whistled lightly.

Oh. Its quite decent.

However, the other students didnt seem to agree.

First, the path connecting the main gate and the main building was blocked by plants that had grown thick like a jungle.

In a typical manor, one would place gardens, courtyards, or greenhouses in the front or back yards to enjoy viewing and strolling, but this manor seemed a bit more aggressive.

There was no distinction between the path and the greenhouse at all.

The main building situated behind it wasnt particularly intact either.

From the chimney that towered above the 3rd floor, whitish evil spirits were intermittently popping out along with black smoke, and the 2nd floor windows surrounded by balconies were shattered to pieces with no trace visible.

If one listened carefully for a moment, it seemed like bizarre screams of unknown origin could be heard coming from somewhere in the manor.

Is this really a villa manor?

M-maybe its because its the Wardanaz family.

Not only the Blue Dragon Tower students but even the relatively strong-stomached Black Turtle Tower students looked disgusted.

At this point, it wouldnt be an exaggeration to call it a ruined manor rather than a villa.

Why is everyone like this? This is pretty decent.

Only Alsicle looked at the Einroguard students as if he couldnt understand.

I havent traveled throughout the entire Empire, but I dont think this kind of villa would be popular anywhere

Huh? Thats true for ordinary villas. But this is a villa that a mage used.

If it were a villa manor used by ordinary nobles or wealthy people, aesthetics and convenience would naturally be important.

But a villa manor used by a mage was just meant to substitute for a workshop.

For a manor that had been used as a mages workshop, this was quite decent.

First of all, the buildings structure is well maintained, and from the main gate onward, no part has transformed into strange creatures. This makes it easy to organize too. If we clean it up for just a few days, itll become a very useful magic workshop.

The penguin beastman mages confident attitude was contagious to the students.

Listening to it, it did sound plausible.

Was that so?

Come to think of it, if we think of this as a building within Einroguard territory, its quite a decent building.

Thats right. Since Wardanaz might get hurt, lets all avoid saying anything too harsh.

The friends decided to avoid badmouthing the familys villa manor in front of Lee Han.

No matter how steel-like a friend might be, if the familys choice became a source of ridicule, it could wound his heart.

Wardanaz. This manor has very unique beauty.

Adenart chose her words carefully so as not to hurt her friends feelings.

Lee Han, who had been contentedly looking around the manor, was puzzled by the Imperial Princesss sudden words.

Does Adenart want it too?

Come to think of it, it was possible.

Since Adenart was also a brilliant friend, wouldnt she have realized the infinite potential of a manor located in the capital?

No matter how terrible the manors appearance was, it didnt matter. What was important was its location.

Im sorry, Imperial Princess.But I didnt forcibly extort this. The archmage forcibly gave it to me.

?

Adenart tilted her head, not understanding what Lee Han was talking about.

Are you referring to the Principal when you say Archmage?

No? I mean Lady Erindarvel.

Mother gave you this villa?!?!?

Rarely, Adenart jumped up in surprise. It was a reaction hard to believe from a friend who usually acted emotionlessly like that sister of hers.

Lee Han felt slightly sorry at that reaction. It seemed she had wanted it much more than Lee Han had thought.

Actually, this isnt something Lady Erindarvel irresponsibly gave me, but a complicated story involving dozens of lives

Why did Mother give such a worthless gift? I dont understand.

Its not that worthless, is it?

Perhaps the shock from Adenarts words was greater than expected, as Lee Han naturally spoke informally.

Completely worthless?

However, the Imperial Princess didnt back down from her stubbornness.

But Mother has always given much more meaningful and significant gifts when giving presents to junior mages. There must have been some mistake, so Ill go speak to her directly. To think Wardanaz would receive such a mere gift.

No no no. Its fine! It has meaning! It all has meaning!

Worried he might ruin Alsicles efforts, Lee Han hurriedly blocked Adenarts path.

Adenart opened her eyes wide and asked.

What do you mean it has meaning

Bang!

Aaaahhhhh!

Gainando, who had gone down to check the underground food storage, shot up with a scream.

The bounced-out Gainando rolled around on the ground.

What? What happened?

Th-theres some mage ghost in the underground

!

Adenart was greatly surprised.

Could this be the meaning contained in Mothers gift?

What on earth could the meaning be?

***

So youre saying when you opened the underground food storage door, some mage ghost appeared and chased you out?

Yeah.

Undead? A curse?

It could be other magic that looks like a ghost. You can mimic it similarly with enchantment magic.

The Prince might have been mistaken. There are mages who disguise themselves as ghosts.

Why? Why disguise as a ghost?

Alsicle, who had been quietly listening to the students hypotheses, answered instead.

Its quite possible. Since they need gold coins, they sell the manor first, then secretly hide underground to continue their research.

No, no. Are there people who do such things?

Uh, um, well.

This time Alsicle couldnt answer and fidgeted slightly.

Then he glanced around and said.

Among graduates of a certain magic school there are a few.

The Einroguard students regretted asking for no reason.

Lee Han shrugged his shoulders and said.

Lets just finish our work first.

Right. Wardanaz. Me and the other guys will take the front, so you wait, arent we just checking?

Salko hesitated.

At first he thought Lee Han was suggesting they all gather to break through the underground, but the direction was strange.

He was trying to go to the manors first floor kitchen, not the basement.

Huh? The basement isnt urgent right now. We need to clean the kitchen first to have meals.

Thats so like Lee Han.

Gainando nodded with an admiring expression from the side.

Come to think of it, since this wasnt Einroguard, they didnt necessarily have to get food from the underground food storage. They could cook in the kitchen if they just bought ingredients from outside.

Wasnt it because of this kind of cool-headedness that his friends trusted Lee Han?

No, no! Arent you curious!?

If it were evil, it wouldnt stay underground but would have come up. Dont worry and lets take care of urgent things first. Could you guys clean the reception room?

The friends had much to say but kept their mouths shut for now and moved according to Lee Hans instructions.

Salko muttered.

Wardanaz seems to have gotten even stranger

Giselle unconsciously nodded.

He was originally bold as if his liver had swollen, but after experiencing several more incidents at Einroguard, he had reached a level that couldnt be followed with ordinary thinking.

At this rate, by third year, even if a dimensional rift appeared in front of him, he might leisurely observe while drinking coffee.

Unaware that his friends were looking at him suspiciously, Lee Han looked around the kitchen.

The former owner here seemed to have no interest in cooking, as the kitchen was full of only dust and cobwebs.

I should clean the fireplace first.

Lee Han swung his staff to cleanly clear the area around the fireplace. There wasnt much dust that could withstand telekinesis and water elemental magic coming one after another.

Then a grayish mage ghost suddenly poked its head out from inside the fireplace.

-Undo the magic I left behin

Thwack!

The ghost hit by the spinning water orb shattered and scattered into pieces.

Lee Han thought oops. He had reacted too quickly and hadnt heard what the other person was trying to say at all.

Oh no. What was it trying to say?

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