No matter how much he disliked the position of emperor, such a reaction to being called kind was a bit too much.
Being kind meant pitying all things in the world, and if so, he might have the qualifications to be emperor...
"And they're not particularly kind either."
The ruthless lich mercilessly trampled on the gold dragon's hope.
"I saw them stealing food from other tower students last time."
"No, that's fair competition..."
Yi-Han unknowingly defended Gainando.
"And the White Tiger Tower students also stole a lot of Gainando's food."
"I wasn't talking about Gainando."
"...What???"
At the shocking words, Yi-Han doubted his ears.
But the skull principal seemed to not want to talk any more about the students' lowly food acquisition competition and changed the subject.
"It's still far away."
-But isn't there an outstanding mage here?-
"Your Majesty..."
The skull principal was pleased with the sudden praise.
"If you think so, please give us more support funds. The 4th-year students need a pure gold golem to use as a reagent. The height should be at least 15m and the weight should be over 20 tons..."
-The dragon wasn't talking about you...-
The emperor blinked and pointed at Yi-Han.
-Since you're here, even those kids who are only kind will be able to grow more.-
"What kind of nonsense are you saying? Do you grow just by being next to an outstanding mage?"
-Why not? You also made that... Eaktus, was it? You made that child grow.-
"Are you deliberately insulting me? That guy only did what I told him not to do!"
-Be quiet. It's good if they grow.-
The emperor snorted as if he was annoyed by the skull principal constantly chattering.
-Anyway, I enjoyed our conversation today. Os. To think your disciple is close to you. In fact, in a way, this is the most surprising thing... The dragon must be getting old too. I've become able to accept it calmly.-
"..."
"...It's not to that extent."
As if signaling the end of the conversation, the emperor looked at Yi-Han with wise eyes.
-I have high expectations for you. Even if you don't make your friends grow, grow well and become a good mage.-
"Yes. I will become a good mage and serve the empire as a bureaucrat with loyalty."
Yi-Han watched for an opportunity and swiftly launched a flattery like lightning.
How many chances would he get to face the emperor like this?
He had to leave a remarkable impression at a time like this.
However, the emperor's reaction was more puzzled than impressed.
-Bureaucrat...?-
It felt strange for Os' disciple to bring up the topic of bureaucrats.
'Ah. Was it about the Mage Advisor?'
-To think you already want to share the imperial task that Os is carrying.-
Despite his teacher's eccentric personality, he was a truly remarkable disciple.
Come to think of it, it was unbelievable that such a mage was the son of Wardanaz.
It felt like just yesterday when Os came with the divine object and put the dragon into a cursed fate...
The dragon closed his eyes.
Recalling the memories made him feel anger rising rather than being immersed in sentiment.
He wanted to increase the imperial tasks that the head of the family would take on, but considering the personality of the head of the Wardanaz family, it would be a meaningless thing to do.
The emperor, who calmly suppressed his anger, said with a smile.
-I'll be waiting.-
"Yes!"
***
"Good work."
The skull principal spoke with sincerity.
It wasn't just empty words, this disciple truly played a very big role.
If he had offended the emperor, it would have been a headache all winter.
Yi-Han was dumbfounded.
Did he really attack them?
"No matter how much you attack us, we can't give you any more budget."
The bureaucrats trembled but held each other's hands tightly and spoke. The skull principal sighed.
"Can't you at least listen to the story? Here are the plans written by the young mages of the empire. Listen a bit. It might pique your interest."
"...Yes..."
The bureaucrats nodded their heads with an expression that clearly showed they didn't want to listen. If the other party wasn't the skull principal, they would have immediately issued an order to expel him.
The research proposals put forward by Einroguard students were always mostly absurd and expensive.
Even now, a huge budget was already going into Einroguard by the emperor's order, so if more budget went in here, how much of a sense of deprivation would other sound magic towers and mage guilds feel?
Perhaps blocking these proposals was the very mission of the Imperial Treasury.
"Now, listen. First, regarding ..."
"..."
The bureaucrats became serious from the start.
Just hearing it made them afraid of how they were going to conduct that research.
***
"It's not easy."
The skull principal clicked his tongue and left the room.
The bureaucrats who heard about grimaced and tried not to give in at all.
In Yi-Han's view, this definitely didn't seem easy either.
"What will you do?"
"I'll have to persuade some more bureaucrats."
"What about directly contacting the higher-ups?"
"First, I need to win over a few useful ones among the lower ones. The higher-ups are even more stubborn."
When trying to secure this kind of additional budget, he had to persuade and bring along at least a few people from below, and there was little effect in suddenly pushing it to the higher-ups.
In the first place, they were the ones who had already made up their minds not to give a budget when the skull principal spoke.
"They'll be hiding now that the rumor has spread. Let's give them some time to let their guard down."
"..."
Yi-Han looked at the skull principal at a loss for words, but the skull principal nonchalantly checked his pocket watch.
"Follow me."
"Where are we going this time?"
"The printing house."
"Ah. Are you going to print the books needed for next year?"
"You're quick-witted. Yeah. That's right."
The skull principal left the palace and went down the streets of the capital.
The printing house, which had a strong smell of ink and hot paper being printed, appeared deep in an alley.
"How have you been?"
"Your Excellency Gonadaltes! It's an honor. You came again this year!"
"Yeah. I'm glad to see you're healthy."
Yi-Han was amazed to see the dwarf printer taking off his hat and welcoming the skull principal.
Come to think of it, if he wasn't a bureaucrat, there was no reason to fear the skull principal so much.
Moreover, if it was a printing house, wouldn't the skull principal be a kind of big customer? Anyone would be happy to have such a customer come.
"Is this person your disciple?"
"That's right. Is what I mentioned prepared?"
"Yes. Of course. Hey! Prepare it!"
The dwarf printer and his employees began to compose metal types.
The magic-imbued metal types were composed in order as if they were alive and quickly took shape.
The skull principal grasped the entire content just by skimming through it once and nodded.
"Proceed."
With a clanking sound, the prepared paper began to turn into pages of a book.
The skilled printers moved the completed pages and asked the spirits on the magic circle to touch them up additionally.
Yi-Han, who was watching the scene with a proud feeling even though he hadn't prepared it himself, suddenly became curious and asked.
"By the way, what kind of grimoire is this?"
The skull principal read one of the completed books and answered.
"It's a grimoire with a fake map. To scatter throughout the empire and deceive your juniors."
"..."
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