To Hell with Being a Saint, I’m a Doctor

They enjoyed themselves drinking in the tavern.

The two women were already beyond the point of coherence.

Leaving the tavern and heading back to the dormitory, the man marveled at Lich.

“You sure can hold your liquor, can’t you?”

“Such trifles have no effect on me.”

Lich confidently responded, arms crossed.

How could the highest order of undead be affected by mere alcohol?

If his body reacted to it, it would be a deadly poison.

Unaware of this, the man just laughed heartily.

“Ha ha ha! Gotta admire that confidence of yours!”

It wasn’t confidence; his body was simply made that way, but Lich didn’t bother explaining and remained silent.

However, the dormitory posed a problem.

He had only stolen clothes and was not actually a new student.

Therefore, he couldn’t go to the dormitory with the man’s group.

With no assigned room, where could he go?

Lich closed his eyes for a moment.

‘It’s time to part ways.’

He had mingled only to gather information about the academy.

He felt no hesitation in parting ways.

As Lich was about to speak, the man offered.

“You… reek of alcohol. How about staying in my room tonight? It would be a nuisance for my roommate with that smell. Luckily, I don’t have a roommate. What do you say?”

Surprised by the unexpected offer, Lich smiled slightly.

Could things have worked out any better?

Not only could he stay in the dormitory, but he would also have a room to himself.

Lich pretended to consider, then nodded.

“Very well. Lead the way.”

“Sure. Just need to drop these two off first.”

As he spoke, the man skillfully hoisted the two unconscious women onto his back.

His strong build made it seem effortless to carry them.

Lich watched without much surprise.

After all, the man was a second-circle magician.

Whether the group was aware of his magical abilities was none of Lich’s concern.

The personal affairs of humans were far removed from his considerations.

Safely placing the two women in their dormitory proved quite a task.

They were residents of the female dormitory, which made it challenging for them, as men, to enter.

Fortunately, they managed to entrust the women to some female students from the Medical Academy who happened to be passing by.

Owing to the Magic Academy’s influence, there was an unspoken camaraderie among the students of the Medical Academy.

Despite being strangers, they interacted warmly, a testament to the Magic Academy’s reach.

After ensuring the women were settled, Lich headed to the men’s room.

“Better sleep early, as there’s practice tomorrow,” he mused.

Practice.

The thought of students dissecting pigs came to mind, and Lich allowed a smirk to cross his face.

‘Seems like I’ll finish all my research on black magic in the Holy Kingdom.’

His words carried a tone of irony, but paradoxically, Lich felt something stir within him.

Since his arrival at the academy, his heart had begun to beat with excitement.

Was it possible that he was enjoying human diversions for the first time in centuries?

Even as a Lich, he believed he had forsaken human emotions, yet this lively pulse in his chest wasn’t entirely unwelcome.

---

With the arrival of morning, Lich, still in the previous day’s clothes, accompanied the man to the practice room.

Initially, Lich had intended to depart from the academy at the right moment to search for the Lord’s mana, but now he found himself inexplicably drawn to this place.

He also harbored a curiosity to experience this ‘practice’ at least once.

He was eager to observe the systematic way in which humans learned.

Observing the pig arranged on the practice room table, Lich thought to himself,

‘Once this practice session is over, I must immediately set out to find the Lord.’

However, his plans were soon to change.

A figure entered the practice room and took their place at the podium.

And wasn’t that face remarkably similar to one he had seen in Proxia?

Lich’s typically impassive eyes widened in astonishment.

He had never anticipated such an encounter in this place.

Ray could see Lich’s face too.

At first, he thought he was mistaken and looked several times.

But no matter how many times he looked, the face was a dead ringer for the sorcerer he had thought he killed in Proxia.

Descending from the podium, Ray approached Lich’s seat with an intimidating voice.

“You, you know me, don’t you?”

“…Yes?”

Lich was the one caught off guard.

His response came a beat too late.

Sensing something, Ray released mana around them.

“You know, don’t you? Right? Say you know.”

His mana fluctuated, ready to kill at any moment.

Lich, sensitive to the flow of mana, couldn’t miss it.

He thought to himself, ‘If I admit it, he’ll kill me without needing any explanation.’

Death wasn’t a major issue for him, as he was the No-Life King Lich. As long as his life vessel remained intact, he could simply find Ray again with a regenerated body.

Yet, strangely, he didn’t want to die.

Fear rose slightly even in Lich, seeing Ray’s ambiguous expression, neither frowning nor smiling.

This fear made Lich lie.

“I don’t, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His tone had changed drastically.

The arrogant tone he used with others had turned into one filled with terror.

Ray, looking disappointed, responded.

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

“Bullshit!”

Before he could finish speaking, a suddenly conjured Aura Blade aimed straight for Lich’s heart.

Startled, Lich activated his mana.

“Blink!”

With just an incantation, he invoked fifth-circle magic, convincing Ray.

“Hehehe. You little shit, you’re still alive.”

“Attacking with an aura out of the blue! I’ve never heard of such a barbaric lord!”

“Remember this since I’m here!”

Ray swung the Aura Blade wildly around.

Was it the threat of it all that made it difficult for Lich to predict the Aura Blade’s trajectory as he blinked around trying to evade?

Given Lich’s frantic movements, using a hold spell was challenging.

He couldn’t risk harming the students, and even if he tried to unleash magic in a frenzy, Lich wasn’t certain he could cancel it all.

Despite using magic, Lich attempted to calm the situation.

He quickly put some distance between them and spoke.

“Lo, Lord, please hear me out.”

This was what Ray wanted—pretending to listen while planning to strike at the right moment.

“Fine. Speak.”

“First, I have no intention of fighting! My only wish is to serve the Lord!”

“How can I believe that?”

“A low-circle sorcerer always shows respect to those of higher circles! It’s fundamental for mages!”

“So you’re saying you came to serve me because I’m of a higher circle? I find that hard to believe.”

“Of course, I have ambitions to rebuild the Tower of Magic, but I truly don’t wish to fight.”

His expression seemed genuinely troubled.

Ray pondered Lich’s words.

‘Surely, with Proxia’s fall, he wouldn’t attempt suicide by appearing before me. It would be more convenient to cast large-scale magic from afar. He probably has no intention of fighting…’

If Ray knew this sorcerer was Lich, he might worry about the possibility of suicide. But until Lich revealed it, Ray couldn’t know.

As a high-circle human sorcerer turned Lich, his pure mana resembled magic but was closer to pure mana in essence.

So, in the current situation, it was hard for Ray to recognize him as Lich.

Reluctantly, Ray dissipated the Aura Blade he held.

Still, his mind was filled with conflict.

Should he eliminate this potential threat to the Holy Kingdom, or let him be?

He didn’t seem to be lying, but no one could predict the future.

It seemed necessary to kill him, but too many students were present to do it right there.

Even for someone who had single-handedly defeated the Original Dragon, protecting this many students while fighting was nearly impossible.

So, naturally, he lost the will to fight.

Or rather, he was biding his time.

Ray spoke with narrowed eyes.

“…You, stay in my sight until the practice is over. Hold.”

He cast a spell to immobilize the Lich.

Yet, this was also about building trust in their current relationship, something Ray aspired to achieve.

He intended to remain still as well.

Acting rashly could lead to a second death, so even if begged, he resolved not to move.

‘There was no hesitation in aiming for my heart. The Lord can attack and kill me at any time.’

Engrossed in thought, the students stood petrified.

They knew the young professor as the hero who defeated the Necromancer, but witnessing him effortlessly conjure an Aura Blade during practice was beyond their expectations.

The sheer presence of the Aura Blade, alien to their experience, left them too terrified to even breathe.

And what of the man before them?

Even non-mages understood that Blink was a 5th circle transportation spell.

His ability to cast it without any preparatory incantations struck them as remarkable.

Their brief encounter had already demoralized the students.

With the fear of another unexpected attack looming, none could give their practice the attention it demanded.

Ray assessed the situation.

“…He can’t move, so don’t worry. Groups 1 to 5, begin the practice.”

Despite his attempt to reassure them, the atmosphere remained tense.

With a lunatic and a sorcerer seemingly of the 6th circle or higher present, they struggled to focus on their dissections, their eyes constantly darting between Ray and the Lich.