How long had it been since the last attack by the Bone Dragon?

Probably about fifteen years.

That was also when the Dark Cult began its activities in earnest.

There were other groups of dark wizards, but the ones causing terror were mostly from the Dark Cult.

In other words?

The Bone Dragon was a symbol of dark wizard terrorism.

Though it was said to be a replica, only a few, like me, knew that.

So the world focused on two things.

One was the appearance of the Bone Dragon itself.

The other was…

[Who is the mysterious figure that defeated the Bone Dragon?]

This headline summed it up well.

Who brought it down?

Of course, I knew the answer.

Since I was the one who did it, it would be strange if I didn’t.

If I were to step forward and claim that I was the one who defeated the Bone Dragon…

I might gain a lot of wealth and fame.

And that’s precisely why I decided to keep it a secret.

That it was just a high school teacher like me who took down the Bone Dragon.

‘Becoming famous overnight…’

That would be troublesome.

The media’s attention, the academic world’s interest.

To reiterate, the magical academia is filled with people more sensitive to dark magic than even the principal.

That’s why I can’t afford to become famous right now.

‘This is different from casually showing off dual magic.’

Dual magic is impressive, sure.

But I’ve only ever demonstrated it casually at school, never formally presented any results.

There’s no footage, either.

When people hear about dual magic, their reactions are always the same if they haven’t seen it themselves.

– What? A high school teacher using dual magic? Why, did the deceased Min Hae-jun reincarnate or something?

…The latter part was a bit unsettling.

But it made me realize how much value my past life’s name holds in modern magical studies.

So, nothing happened.

The full moon two days after defeating Baran passed so peacefully that it felt foolish to have been tense.

Aside from Liz, Hana, Bae Jae-ho, and Shin Hae-ryeong, no one knew I was the one who dealt with the Bone Dragon.

Everything was fine.

…Until the Holy Company folks started hanging around the school.

***

Three days after the Baran incident.

I headed to the principal’s office early in the morning and had to wait for quite a while.

The reason was simple.

Modern media had quickly spread the news of the recent events nationwide.

And Korean parents were notoriously overprotective, unmatched globally.

“…The school’s security is robust…”

– How can we trust that!? What if the children get hurt? Are you going to take responsibility, Principal? Do you think we pay all this money to send them to school for nothing!?

“…There were no casualties from the Bone Dragon…”

The principal was having a hard time dealing with the parents’ association’s calls from the morning.

The voice of the parents’ association head was so loud it felt like it was tearing my eardrums even from a distance.

“We successfully repelled the Bone Dragon before anything happened…”

– Who did it!!! Who was it!!! They say a Gold Dragon appeared too, is it true that the school repelled it!?

“…”

The principal looked at me with sad eyes, mouthing for me to wait a bit.

Despite his fiery personality, dealing with parents seemed to be stressful for him.

Come to think of it, his hair seemed a bit thinner than before…

– Then bring that person to the school! Is that so hard?

“Well, that is…”

– Are you saying you don’t know? That someone we don’t even know defeated the Bone Dragon?

Ah.

‘It’s because of me.’

If there was someone at the school capable of defeating the Bone Dragon…

Perhaps the parents wouldn’t be this dissatisfied.

They might even be eager to entrust their children to such a powerful wizard.

Who defeated the Bone Dragon?

The information I was hiding was putting more pressure on the principal.

‘I feel a bit guilty…’

It’s not like I can suddenly say, ‘Actually, it was me. I’m the wizard who defeated the Bone Dragon.’

‘Hmm. Better to stay quiet.’

I can always buy him some hair loss treatment later.

Hang in there, Principal.

– Are we being unreasonable? Is it too much to ask for safety measures?

“I never said that…”

– Then find a solution! Whatever it takes!

“Sigh…”

The principal sighed after momentarily taking the receiver away from his mouth.

“I fully understand your concerns. That’s why we’ve decided to hire a private company. Before you called, we had already requested campus security from a company specializing in dark wizard protection.”

– …A private company?

At this point, the voice of the parents’ association head softened a bit.

And the one who felt a sudden pang of anxiety was me.

‘No way.’

A private security company.

If I were just an ordinary teacher, I wouldn’t have reacted.

The problem is… I’m a dark wizard.

‘They’re hiring a private company specializing in dark wizards?’

The industry itself is about catching dark wizards.

In terms of capturing dark wizards, it might be worse than announcing to the magical academia, ‘I killed the Bone Dragon!’

‘The magical academia folks don’t stay at the school!’

But as I thought about it, a realization struck me.

There are dozens of private companies specializing in dark wizards.

Some might catch me in an instant…

But most don’t have great dark wizard detection technology.

They’re more about post-incident response.

‘Unless it’s the Holy Company.’

The Holy Company is an exception.

A separate corporation established by the ‘Heavenly Church,’ which worships celestial beings as gods.

Their sole mission is to root out dark wizards and banish them from the human realm.

‘No way.’

The Holy Company isn’t idle.

They usually handle security for VIPs or government agencies…

Would they really come to a mere school?

‘As long as it’s not them…’

Honestly, as long as it’s not the Holy Company, I was confident I could keep my dark magic hidden.

Soon, I’ll be able to contract with Gemut, and with Cynthia and Gemut together, there’s no way my dark mana would be detected.

Let’s stay calm.

As long as it’s not the Holy Company…

“It’s the Holy Company.”

“?”

I turned to the principal in shock.

What did he just say?

“Yes, it’s the Holy Company. Of course, ma’am. For the children’s sake… money is no object. The chairman has already approved it.”

Oh…

“Yes, I’ve requested as many personnel as possible to be stationed. No dark wizard coming to the school will be able to hide their identity. Please trust me.”

The voice on the other end of the line was no longer audible.

It seemed to have calmed down.

But on the contrary…

– Thump, thump.

My heart began to race wildly.

What did they just call in?

“Don’t worry. The Holy Company has agreed to send their best team, Team One.”

The principal’s voice regained its composure.

And I lost whatever composure I had left.

…

Why is this happening to me?

***

A boy passing through the gates of Shinhwa High School had a large lollipop in his mouth.

He didn’t look like he belonged in a high school.

But no one paid him any attention.

Not only did they not pay attention, but it was as if they didn’t even realize he was there.

Concealment magic.

To perceive him, one would need to have mana levels at least on par with the principal of Shinhwa High or be someone like Lee Jae-sang, who had an overwhelming understanding of magic and could break it.

For an ordinary student, his level of magic was undetectable.

A world-renowned grand wizard and magical engineer, he was respectfully called by many as…

The Old Man.

A name that didn’t suit his youthful appearance at all.

‘Where could he be?’

He looked around, seemingly searching for something.

‘I should’ve cast the concealment spell a bit lighter.’

He had cast the spell to avoid being surrounded by students, but now it was awkward to ask anyone for directions.

As a result, the Old Man was wandering around the school.

‘Where on earth is Lee Jae-sang? If he called me, he should’ve given proper directions… tsk.’

He thought he’d find him quickly.

He hadn’t imagined a high school could be this absurdly large.

His usual clients were professors, so he had no ties to high schools.

‘Maybe I should lower the magic a bit.’

The spell he had cast was one of the third-tier mental theme spells, Concealment.

If he lowered it to a second-tier mental theme spell like Disguise, some talented students might be able to see him.

‘Let’s do it.’

The boy took out a donut-shaped magical tool from his pocket, ready to lower the spell’s level.

But then.

“Hey! Hae-ryeong! Look over there! There’s a really young kid at school!”

Startled by the sudden voice, the boy quickly put the magical tool back in his pocket.

‘Lower the level, and they talk to me right away.’

He turned his head without thinking.

And his eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

‘Oh my god. That’s a dragon!’

A high school girl with golden hair approaching him.

Her seemingly defenseless appearance looked to him like a terrifying Gold Dragon.

‘Why is there a dragon in high school…!’

Unaware of his thoughts, Liz approached him cheerfully and smiled.

“Hi! I’m Liz. Are you lost?”

“Lost? Lost? What is this foolish dragon talking about?”

“…Huh?”

A moment of confusion flashed across Liz’s face.

“Well, that’s good to hear. Do you happen to know where Jaesang Lee’s lab is?”

“Huh? Mr. Jaesang? Oh, it’s over there in the faculty building…”

“Ah, so that’s the faculty building. I was wandering around lost even though it was right under my nose. What a fool I am.”

“Fool? What’s that? Sounds kind of cute… Wait, how did you know I’m a dragon?”

“With a face as fierce as yours, how could I not?”

“Fierce!?”

Liz touched her face, looking shocked.

Just then, a girl with brown hair approached.

“Hold on, you seem suspicious.”

Shin Haeryeong eyed the boy with suspicion.

He looked like a boy, but his way of speaking was odd… and he recognized Liz as a dragon right away. He couldn’t be an ordinary person.

“Who are you to be looking for the teacher?”

She had learned just two days ago that a dark wizard was targeting Jaesang Lee. She didn’t want to send a dangerous person his way.

“…This is quite surprising.”

Instead of answering, the boy looked Haeryeong up and down, murmuring to himself.

‘To have this much mana without being a dragon…’

He knew that Shinhwa High was a place where the most talented aspiring wizards gathered. But even so, the amount of mana this girl had was extraordinary. Not on par with a gold dragon, but for a human? It was immense potential.

“I asked you a question. Who are you?”

“You speak formally to someone who looks like a boy.”

“You don’t look like a boy to me. Besides, with so many Shinseong Company employees around, no ordinary boy could just walk in here.”

“Ah, the dogs of the Sky Church. Those white uniforms.”

The boy glanced around at the Shinseong Company employees, then furrowed his brow.

‘Hmm?’

He had lowered the level of his concealment magic. Otherwise, this brown-haired girl wouldn’t have been able to spot him. So why hadn’t the Shinseong Company employees noticed him?

‘Could it be!’

As the boy quickly pulled out a magical device, Haeryeong readied her mana stone. But the boy seemed uninterested in her threat, examining the donut-shaped device instead.

‘…It’s still at level three.’

He thought he had lowered it, but no. The concealment magic on him was still at a level that only the headmaster of this school could see through. In other words…

‘This girl?’

The brown-haired girl’s mana was at a headmaster’s level. It was hard to believe someone with Jaesang Lee’s level of magical understanding could be so young.

“You.”

Haeryeong took a cautious step back.

“There’s no need to be so wary. I mean no harm.”

“…How can I trust that?”

“Being suspicious is indeed a quality of a good wizard. You’ll make an excellent one.”

“Answer my question. Who are you, and why are you here? Why are you looking for the teacher?”

Haeryeong was tense, ready to activate her mana stone if this person posed a threat to her teacher.

But then—

“Ah, you’re here early, old man.”

The tension broke with Jaesang Lee’s arrival.

“Teacher?”

“Oh, Haeryeong, you’re here too.”

“Do you know him?”

“Well, yes, sort of.”

Haeryeong finally relaxed and put the mana stone back in her pocket.

“Hmm.”

“Old man, she’s a high school girl. You’ll get in trouble for looking at her like that.”

“…Unbelievable. We’ve only met twice, and you’re already so relaxed around me?”

“Come on, old man, everyone knows you’re a bit of a softie. You even gave me that Draconix for free.”

“Hmph.”

The boy shook his head and pointed at Haeryeong.

“Is she your student?”

“Yes, one of my more talented ones.”

“I see. What’s her name?”

Haeryeong hesitated, glancing at Jaesang’s face. He couldn’t be a suspicious person, right?

“Shin Haeryeong.”

“Got it. I’ll remember that. You might become my client someday. Or perhaps my student.”

“If you’re trying to recruit her, your lines are terrible. And you’ll get in trouble.”

“…What do you take me for?”

“A quirky merchant.”

“Hmph. You’re rude. If your skills were lacking, I’d have dismissed you immediately.”

The boy sighed and looked at Haeryeong.

“Well, Shin Haeryeong, I look forward to seeing what you do. Lead the way, Jaesang, to your lab.”

“Ah, the lab’s a bit… Let’s head over there. Haeryeong, Liz, I’ll see you in class later.”

With a short reply from Haeryeong, Jaesang and the boy disappeared into the distance.

‘What on earth… who is he?’

He looked like a boy, but he wasn’t. The pressure she felt for a moment was like that of a wizard greater than the headmaster.

‘What exactly is the teacher hiding?’

Haeryeong pondered, watching Jaesang’s retreating figure with a complex expression. Why was he targeted by a dark wizard? What secrets was he keeping?

She decided she’d find out eventually if she continued learning from Jaesang.

“Ha-Haeryeong!”

A sudden urgent voice called out. It was Liz.

Could it be that the boy was actually dangerous, and now his accomplice was threatening Liz…?

“?”

Turning her head, she saw Liz pressing her cheeks with a desperate look, her lips comically puckered.

“Do I… do I look fierce?!”

“Well… your eyes are a bit sharp.”

“What…!”

“And your fangs are kind of pointy.”

“What…!!!!”

Crying out in disbelief, Liz plopped down on the spot.