Unaware that the people from the religious orders had watched from afar and left, Lee Han spoke with the knights.

“Let us gather information first.”

-Successor. Information is not what matters right now. An inspector covered up an accusation for a mage. The sun may set in the opposite direction this evening, and the continent may sink beneath the sea tomorrow morning!

“...I-I do not think it is quite that serious.”

“That is right. Lord Wardanaz is friendly with officials too.”

Siana and the other priests took Lee Han’s side.

Considering the achievements Lee Han had accumulated during vacations, it would not be strange at all for officials to take his side.

Why else would the Skull Principal have taken Lee Han along and made him negotiate in his place?

-Tsk, tsk, tsk.

However, the knights clicked their tongues and shook their heads.

Having lived for so long, the knights had deeply rooted preconceptions. It was difficult for them to accept such a radical opinion.

-You only say that because you do not understand officials. Listen carefully. Imperial officials are disgusting humans who are always trying to grab mages by the ankles and drag them into a swamp. Demons and monsters are kinder by comparison.

“......”

“......”

-Especially if you are a mage from Einroguard, you must be even more wary of officials, Successor. Even if officials treat you kindly, you must never trust them...

“I will go greet the inspector. Please handle the interrogation in my place.”

Lee Han let the knights’ words go in one ear and out the other, then moved with his friends.

He did not know the reason, but there was no harm in expressing his gratitude.

And if there really was some sinister conspiracy, as the knights claimed, he would only know after meeting the inspector.

-You cannot! That official bastard may have prepared an evil trap...!

***

Of course, there was no such trap.

When Lee Han went to meet the inspector, he received only a mild warning.

“You should be careful from now on. Wicked people do not glance around even once when they commit wrongdoing, but when something happens to them, they spread rumors and appeal to the law.”

“Ah. Yes. I will be careful.”

“Good. The examiners are very worried about you. Have you had no particular problems while staying at Einroguard lately? Has Lord Gonadaltes perhaps made unreasonable demands of you...?”

The inspector was interested in a different kind of accusation.

The inspector did not care if the boy from House Wardanaz knocked around a few criminals, but did care if the Skull Principal knocked around the boy from House Wardanaz.

Even the other officials in the Imperial capital were the same.

“Mmph. Mmmmmph!”

Siana regretted being unable to speak.

If only she could speak, she would eagerly report every occasion when the Skull Principal had tormented her friend.

“What is it?”

“Ha ha. It is nothing. I am fine.”

Since Lee Han was already acting as he pleased after borrowing the knights, he could not completely ignore the Skull Principal’s reaction.

Even if he reported the Skull Principal to the capital, he had to do so later, when he no longer needed anything.

Lee Han gestured for Siana to calm down.

“In any case, thank you once again. You were not swayed by the slander of wicked people and made the correct judgment...”

“It was only what I should have done, so there is no need to thank me. The treasurers are also very worried about you. There truly are no particular problems at Einroguard, are there?”

'...Are there not too many officials worrying about him?'

Siana thought inwardly.

At first, she had assumed that only a few officials cared about Lee Han, and all his friends could understand that.

But as the conversation continued, it did not sound like there were only one or two.

Just what...?

“Yes. I truly am fine.”

“Come to think of it, His Excellency the bishop visited earlier.”

“!”

The faces of Lee Han and the priests stiffened slightly.

Had they been caught?

Running around with a friend at night and beating up criminals was not exactly something priests of a religious order were supposed to do.

Of course, Einroguard students possessed the noble spirit of Einroguard, which took precedence over Imperial law or the rules of religious orders, but whether the bishop would understand that...

“His Excellency asked me not to be deceived by the slander of wicked people.”

“Phew!”

The priests let out sighs of relief. Nigisor spoke with a proud expression.

“It seems our effort in preparing the lie thoroughly was worthwhile.”

'Is this really something to feel proud of...?'

“Khugh. I am simply overwhelmed by His Excellency’s consideration.”

“The people here should be the ones thanking you. Do not forget to greet His Excellency the bishop. Though someone like you would never forget.”

“Yes!”

Lee Han’s group safely left the inspector’s office.

As Wardanaz consulted Tiziling about what sort of gift would be good to bring the bishop, Siana suddenly became curious and asked.

“But Lord Wardanaz. Does that mean you will not clear out criminals tonight?”

Many people had already come to the mansion to turn themselves in, and there were eyes watching them, so surely today...

“No? I am going to.”

Lee Han asked back as though wondering what she was talking about.

An evil-god worshiper might be taking advantage of the fact that criminals were surrendering in droves and holding out alone.

“I-I do not think that would happen. I doubt the other criminals would leave someone like that alone while they all...”

Never overlooking even a remote possibility.

That was the lesson Lee Han had learned while dealing with evil-god worshipers.

And Lee Han truly kept his word.

Until the commission ended and they returned, Lee Han went around the city every single day without exception, turning over and shaking down every suspicious place.

To the criminals of Vepaim, this was a greater disaster than the heatwave. More than dozens of them could not endure it and abandoned the foundations they had built before fleeing to other regions.

And it left deep psychological scars on the criminals who remained in Vepaim.

Even after Lee Han’s group left, they were so deeply shocked that they referred to what had happened as .

The owner of the tavern that had been raided first even hung a new notice on the wall.

Tezareku, one of the few remaining officers of the Sanguros Order and a faithful fanatic, frowned at the report.

The western region of the Empire was currently in considerable chaos because of the sudden natural disaster.

And such chaos was also the best time for evil-god worshipers to expand their influence and seek opportunities.

'Yet they have failed again and again like this? Useless trash!'

Tezareku believed that the god he served was the fairest and most righteous of all gods.

Unlike other gods who gave no answer even after thousands of prayers, this fair Regent always granted believers the proper reward for the offerings they made.

Of course, some of those offerings required staining one’s hands with blood, but that was not much of a problem for a vampire like Tezareku, who came from an ancient western house.

There were countless underlings nearby who could sacrifice their lives in their place.

Tezareku closed his eyes and recalled the past. The Order’s golden age, when the Regent’s power had been at its strongest, had truly been a time of abundance.

The god received the believers’ offerings and poured powerful Authorities upon them like welcome rain, and believers once again gathered like clouds before that omnipotence.

Even the quality of the Order’s members had been on an entirely different level.

Nobles from distinguished western vampire houses, such as Juzen and Tezareku, had gathered to lead the Order’s strategy. Socializing with others of matching refinement had itself brought great pleasure.

But now...

So many important figures of the Order from that time had died, and its core forces and territories had been mercilessly destroyed, so recovering the organization required time.

Even after recovering slightly, the quality of its members left much to be desired compared to the past.

If this had been the old days, they would never have failed repeatedly like this.

Was the order to infiltrate several cities in the western region and establish hideouts really so difficult?

“The m-mercenaries are behaving hostilely toward suspicious outsiders. Not only the mercenaries, but the thieves, smugglers, and fences as well...”

Suspicious criminals operating in the Empire’s underworld often cooperated with evil-god worshipers.

There was no need even to invoke the old saying that the enemy of one’s enemy was a friend. What each side wanted was simply too obvious.

The criminals wanted money, and the evil-god worshipers wanted people. The two could be exchanged freely.

Even when no exchange took place, people like these generally did not report evil-god worshipers to the Empire. Why make an enemy of someone they might cooperate with later?

Yet for some inexplicable reason, these bastards were now driving away or expelling every outsider who looked even slightly suspicious.

It was a fatal change for evil-god worshipers attempting to infiltrate the area.

“Has there still been no word from Juzen?”

“No.”

“Even if the fire giants are the opponents, this is taking far too long. Understood. Gather the remaining people again and... send them to Vepaim. The disaster there is severe, so it should be easy to knock on doors.”

Tezareku decided to focus first on secretly bringing a single city into the Order’s sphere of influence.

Vepaim would be a fairly good choice.

However, the vampire failed to realize something.

Because the Order’s information network had weakened, Tezareku had not received the report that Vepaim had already recovered considerably from the disaster.

Nor did Tezareku know that countless criminals there had suffered all manner of hardship because of evil-god worshipers and now held grudges that had risen all the way to the tops of their heads!

***

The Skull Principal harshly criticized Uman for “grinning unpleasantly,” but the students viewed Inspector Uman’s recent transformation into someone full of energy positively.

Of course, the rules were still somewhat suffocating, but they had improved for the moment, and the contrast was even greater because the Skull Principal had never shown any willingness to change. Most of all, the sight of this dragon personally traveling throughout the school grounds and resolving problems earned considerable goodwill.

If he tormented only the problems within the territory and not the students, who could possibly complain?

However, Jowrin thought differently.

'Perhaps the gloomy Uman from before was better.'

Sister! Sister, please break and grind the trees in the forest. This Uman will neutralize the poison!

When Uman, transformed into a massive black dragon, shouted from the sky, Jowrin muttered again.

“Jowrin thinks it would be better to simply leave the forest alone...”

The side effect of Uman becoming energetic.

It was that he dragged Jowrin outside as well and practically forced her to participate in the work of improving the territory.

Of course, Uman did not order her by force. With Uman’s personality, he would never commit such blasphemy toward a sister as exalted as the heavens.

Instead, Uman brought her work with a pure heart.

He had arbitrarily concluded that noble Jowrin would naturally accept such work with joy.

Because of the dignity expected of someone above him, Jowrin ultimately could not escape. Her mind was filled only with the thought that she should have forced herself to follow Lee Han on his outing.

“I think Gonadaltes may have said that an appropriate amount of poisonous energy helps improve the students’ ability to respond...”

Pardon? What did you say?

“...It was nothing...”

Jowrin, growing dejected because of her younger brother, prepared to transform into a gold dragon.

Just then, the sound of carriages entering in a rush came from Einroguard’s main castle gate. Jowrin noticed it with her superhuman hearing.

“Ah! The contractor has returned! Then Jowrin shall be going!”

Sister! It is not good to interfere with the contractor’s work...

Pretending not to hear, Jowrin flew away with a whoosh.

At the sight, Uman unconsciously marveled. It seemed the physical abilities of his respected sister had risen another level.

Whoosh!

When a massive golden light fell from the sky, the priests were startled.

However, Lee Han greeted her calmly.

“Greetings, Your Highness.”

'What? Has she become even faster?'

The knights unconsciously flinched at the golden meteor.

Her speed definitely seemed far more terrifying than when they had seen her before.

If Jowrin went on a rampage or rolled from side to side, they would be the ones required to restrain her, so the growth of this gold dragon made the knights flinch.

“Lee Han!! Jowrin wishes to hear what happened outside!!!”

“Ha ha. Nothing much happened.”

Lee Han answered with the honest smile befitting a contractor. Jowrin tilted her head to the side, then looked at the prisoners trudging out of the carriage at the very rear and asked.

“Who are those people?”

“Criminals we happened to pick up along the road.”

“......”

Jowrin cast a suspicious gaze at her contractor.