075 – Teacher

Mikhail’s magical aptitude was originally for abduction and espionage.

That’s why the doppelganger, cloned from Mikhail’s body in the past, continuously planted doppelgangers within the Magic Kingdom…

‘Mikhail had a talent for necromancy?’

The kidnapper had another, utterly broken, magical talent?

‘…Huh?’

However, upon actually using the magic, something felt a bit off.

Whirr- whirr-

Seeing the corpse trying to move this way and that, following the direction of my pointed finger…

It wasn’t so much necromancy, bringing the dead to life, but more like I was directly controlling the body.

This ability to manipulate someone implanted with my aether…I was certain it hadn’t existed before.

Which meant…

‘The new aether core I created today had a different magical talent, it seems.’

I could now understand that creating a new aether core for using magic within the body led to the birth of a new magical talent.

Then…

‘If I created ten aether cores in my body, could I use ten different magics?’

What if I churned out new aether cores in my body like a factory?

Grand Magus Mihaen, possible?

Me, Mihaen, no longer stuck with just one trick, but a flurry of firepower?!

Plop…

“Ah, it broke.”

While I was lost in thought, playing at being a necromancer…

The aether core wasn’t fully developed yet, so the corpse manipulation ended in a half-baked, neither-here-nor-there state.

“Hmm…”

The data wasn’t sufficient for a perfect analysis, but…

I could vaguely sense that my magical talent wasn’t solely about controlling corpses.

“Nephira.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Let’s go catch some escapees.”

“Understood.”

It seemed we would need to conduct a bit more human experimentation with the escapees who fled the imperial dungeons.

…

“…”

I walked toward the man who was staring at me in silence.

Sensing something amiss, the man subtly began to pick up the axe that lay beside him.

But.

“You’d be wise to put the weapon down.”

“What?”

The man, of course, did not know, but I was currently under the protection of Nephira, ruler of all vampires, and…

Isabella-ssi, the primordial progenitor of all vampires.

So, making foolish moves with a weapon would only result in…

“If you throw that weapon at me, you’ll die right the-“

*Thwack-*

*Crack-*

“-re… Oh dear…”

This escapee, too, moved his hands before hearing me out, and his head was cleaved in two by the very axe he’d tried to wield, reclaimed by Nephira.

“…”

“Are you alright, my Lord…!”

“Ah, uh… yes, thank you. Glad not a drop of blood landed on me.”

That was the sixth one already.

Using a weapon is a bad idea -＞ A criminal ignores my warning and uses a weapon -＞ Nephira reverses the situation and kills them.

This was the sixth escapee to die that way.

Of course, from my perspective, wanting to play an active role… one might think I could simply order Nephira to defend only, and not attack.

“It is an honor! This Nephira will ensure that not a single hair on our Lord’s head is touched.”

“Ah… yes, reassuring…”

To these vampires, overflowing with loyalty, harming their Lord was an unforgivable offense, a reverse scale that triggered uncontrollable rage.

How could I possibly issue such an order…

To put it in terms easily understood by our perspective.

Imagine having to order someone to stand idly by while another person assaults their parents.

And on top of that, I was here to show my mother, watching from heaven, ‘Look how well I fight! I’ve grown up well, haven’t I?’

“I shall lead you to the location of the next escapee.”

“Yes… let’s go.”

Following behind Nephira, who marched forward with a look of utter satisfaction at having protected her Lord.

I prayed that the next opponent would at least listen to me first, so I could play an active role.

“…”

“I’ll stop here. Let’s at least talk first…”

*Swish-* *Crack-*

Honestly, look at these guys, acting like they’re criminals broken out of the Imperial Palace, actions speaking louder than words.

Mother… are you watching?

Your son commands such capable subordinates.

“…”

He looked up at the dark, empty sky and thought.

Perhaps… Mother wishes to see her son safe like this, even more than seeing him accomplish great deeds.

No, that was definitely it.

Our mother would prefer her son to be absolutely, unequivocally safe.

“Alright. Change of plans. Nephira.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Within the next hour, I want you to capture as many escapees as your efforts can reach.”

“I will bring you results that will satisfy you, my Lord.”

“Me too! Me too!”

“Seol, this is an order.”

“Okay!”

“Behave yourself so you can get a nice pat on the behind.”

“Ehhh… why only me…”

Whatever. He’d already shown his mother a glimpse of her son’s capable leadership, so he decided to be content.

While Nephira went to capture the escapees, he began practicing corpse manipulation through the Aether, all while patting Isabella’s bottom.

“Raise the blue flag. Raise the white flag. Don’t raise the blue flag, raise the white flag.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m conducting an experiment to see if mindless corpses can follow commands without confusion.”

“Oh…”

“That’s just a plausible excuse, though. Doesn’t it look fun?”

“Yeah!”

He continued his magic practice, which wasn’t showing any real progress, when suddenly.

“Um… Isabella.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“From now on, relax all the muscles in your body.”

“Hwaaah… steal it.”

After he gently injected his Aether into Isabella, who had gone limp,

he decided to try controlling a living being instead of a corpse.

“Hand.”

“Hand.”

“No, no, Isabella, you need to be relaxed.”

“Ah-ha.”

“Shall we try again?”

“Yeah…steal strength..”

“Hand.”

“Hand!”

“Let’s ditch this.”

“Okay!”

Okay.

Experiment abandoned.

This experiment shall be revisited next time, perhaps when Isabella or someone else is asleep.

“Everyone, up and at ’em. Move.”

I roused all the slumped corpses of the escapees, and we started walking towards the carriage.

…

“Can’t exactly put ’em in the carriage…”

If only I could’ve loaded these corpses into the carriage, one by one.

Thankfully, possessing some semblance of common sense, I couldn’t bring myself to such an unreasonable act.

“..What is that?”

“Luggage.”

I began loading the individually wrapped corpses of 11 men into the carriage.

“Co..mmon sense?..”

Ignoring Isabella’s whisper in my ear.

As I loaded each of the escapees, packaged in a way that screamed ‘corpse’.

“…”

I could see the coachman watching me with an unreadable expression.

‘Would he believe me if I said these were just realistic dolls?’

‘Haha~ These are actually adult toys! You know, realistic dolls?’ I toyed with the idea of reassuring the coachman with some witty banter.

But after seeing a trickle of red blood seeping from a sack containing what looked like a human-shaped doll.

I became convinced that unless I wanted to launch into some gory-doll humor, it was best to just stay silent.

“I’ll pay for twelve.”

Therefore, calculating the fare as if each corpse was a person, I offered to pay for twelve.

“Where to, sir?”

Indeed, there was nothing money couldn’t solve.

“Can you take us to the Imperial Palace as is?”

“Let’s go.”

…

If the other party couldn’t be swayed by money, one ought to question whether the amount offered was insufficient…

“Magic Investigator!! Over here!! Here!!”

Apparently, the fare for twelve was not enough to satisfy the coachman.

’24 servings are too expensive.’

“He loaded corpses into my carriage! And wants to go to the Imperial Palace like that…!”

“Where are they?”

“In the carriage!”

“Understood.”

Of course.

“Freeze! You’re under arrest!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Uh… why? Why are you arresting *me*…!”

“Report! All secure and accounted for, Mihan-nim.”

Thankfully, the magic investigators were all familiar faces.

“The coachman did nothing wrong. He was only doing his job, so let him go.”

“Release him at once!”

“Yes, sir!”

Mother…

Are you watching?

Your son is now the kind of impressive man who has the police at his back.

…

While waiting at the magic precinct…

I could see the Imperial Knights arriving to take custody of the escaped convict’s body.

Among them…

“Hmm?”

“Arben Theo-nim?”

Arben Theo-nim, the Vice-Commander of the 5th Knight Order, was also there. He was one of the people who had taken my magic lessons.

“Mihan-sensei! You were here?”

In fact… the Vice-Commander of the Imperial Knights openly referred to me as “sensei” in front of everyone.

“Senior… it seems Mihan-nim trains the Knights.”

“Just how strong must he be, for the Vice-Commander to call him ‘sensei’…”

“Indeed… to be on good terms with His Majesty, one must possess this level of skill.”

The master of slumber and sleep spells, the one who didn’t even know the ‘b’ in battle, had somehow become someone who taught the Imperial Knights.

‘…Why do *you* look so proud?’

In that situation, even I, the person in question, hadn’t said anything.

But after hearing the admiring murmurs around him, Arben Theo-nim…

“Mihan-sensei, who single-handedly subdued the Succubus Queen, has now captured a large number of criminals!”

Blurted out the praise loud enough for everyone to hear.

‘Uh oh oh…?’

Of course… the embarrassment was entirely mine to bear.

‘I should have just left… should have kept my nose out of it…’

I had been waiting at the magic precinct to inform them of the remaining escapees’ locations, as reported by Nepira…

But how was I supposed to handle this humiliation…?

…

Somehow, after confirming the escaped convict’s identity to the Knights who had come to take custody, I was about to send them on their way.

“Ah, right, Mihan-nim. I have something I need to tell you, though it’s highly confidential.”

“No, no… why would you tell *me* something highly confidential?”

Suddenly, Arben Theo-nim leaned in and began to whisper an Imperial secret to me.

“The kidnapper, Mikhail, is said to have resumed his activities.”

“…Is that so.”

“You must be careful. Reports indicate his abilities… are far stronger than before.”

Yeah… that Mikhail is me.

Looks like that Clear-something Duke ratted everything out to the Imperial Family.

“…I shall keep that in mind.”

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the Client Estate, scheming to use the Empress, would contact the Imperial House.

Perhaps Mikhail’s existence was revealed needlessly? I was pondering this, when—

‘The only people who know Mikhail’s identity are Ella and Isabella, so I probably don’t need to worry too much, right?’

“Um…”

“Yes?”

The Knight Order having vacated the premises, the arcane investigator, hesitant, approached me…

“…If it’s not imposing too much, would we also be able to receive instruction from Mister Mihen?”

“…Pardon?”

“I-If we could learn from Mister Mihen, who instructed the Knight Order…! We, too, could put even greater effort into protecting the Magocracy…!”

He began requesting guidance from me.

“…”

“Of course…! It’s not as though we’re expecting to learn for free…!”

“I’m sorr—“

Am I crazy, giving lessons here?

No matter how much money they offer, to someone who hasn’t even fought properly…

“Sixty thousand shillings…! I only have sixty thousand shillings on hand, but…!”

I am Mihen.

In terms of Arcane Campus experience, I’ve practically reached the ending.

Combat? I’ll teach them exactly what it is.

“I’m sorry. You’ll have a hard time walking out of here in one piece.”

“Thank you!”

If money fails to persuade someone, you have to wonder if the sum offered is simply insufficient.