Episode 121
Episode 121
The talking book seemed to realize belatedly what its words implied and quickly backtracked.
"Of course I didn't mean you should keep getting hurt. I just meant you should visit often."
"Ah. I see."
Lee Han pushed aside his unease and opened the pouch.
Inside were hard, rock-like fragments.
"Griffin gallstones."
"Oh...!"
Lee Han recalled the books he'd read.
According to what he'd learned in alchemy texts, griffin gallstones were definitely...?
"They have powerful mana recovery properties?"
"Correct. You're quite knowledgeable."
Lee Han's expression darkened.
'Pretty useless.'
He'd already experienced firsthand in Professor Thunderstep's class that mana recovery potions had little effect on him.
Mana reduction potions might work, but recovery effects...
The talking book was taken aback by Lee Han's reaction.
Not knowing what these were would be one thing, but this reaction while knowing their value made no sense.
Unless he was raising griffins himself...
"They're precious, you know? Genuine griffin gallstones."
"Thank you. But I've rarely ever been short on mana..."
"Ah."
Only then did the talking book understand Lee Han's reaction.
Now that it thought about it, a freshman with that level of mana would never experience mana deficiency.
"Hmm... I know a few demons with mana absorption abilities among my acquaintances. But they're too dangerous to introduce you to."
"I appreciate the thought."
Lee Han subtly stepped back as he spoke.
As expected of a demon summoned by the Skeleton Principal, getting too friendly with it seemed ill-advised.
"You must visit often! Let's chat about Gonadaltes together!"
Unaware of Lee Han's true feelings, the talking book fluttered its pages in farewell.
Durgyu remarked admiringly:
"Even though it's a demon summoned and bound by the Headmaster, it treats you so kindly, Lee Han. It clearly recognizes your talent."
Demons naturally favor talented individuals.
There was no doubt it was being kind to Lee Han because of that.
"I think it's a bit different than that..."
But from Lee Han's perspective, their conversation had been far from that.
This was more like...
'Probably because it has no one else to complain about the Headmaster with.'
Who would dare badmouth the Skeleton Principal?
There were far fewer candidates than one might think.
Realizing this, Lee Han suddenly felt a pang of pity for the talking book.
To be stuck dealing with the Skeleton Principal!
<Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic>.
Just as mathematics forms the foundation of all disciplines, this course was critically important.
From mana calculations to magic circle construction and new spell development, as magic advanced, intuition and senses alone became insufficient.
Thus students understood this course's importance and studied diligently, but...
'Did someone cast a sleep spell?'
Lee Han glanced around.
The students were already completely wiped out. Gainando was nodding off, snoring softly.
The only survivors were Ashan (who was stabbing his own hand with a quill), Adenart (expressionless, though Lee Han had witnessed the Princess casting an anti-sleep spell on herself), and Yoner.
Lee Han took out some coffee.
When he handed it to Yoner, the latter accepted it as reverently as a mountaineer receiving their first coffee after months stranded in snowy peaks, sipping it gratefully.
"So sleepy..."
Lee Han nodded in agreement.
Whether it was his imagination or not, the classroom air seemed to be growing thinner.
After finishing his doodle of a water bottle on a geometric shape, Yoner turned his head to refresh himself.
Somehow Lee Han seemed even more upright than usual.
'He must have pulled an all-nighter?'
"Not sleepy?"
"I can't possibly... sleep during this sacred lecture. Yoner."
"????"
When his friend suddenly said something strange, Yoner was bewildered.
What was wrong with him?
'Must make a good impression.'
Lee Han's eyes widened.
To be honest, the professor's voice was making even Lee Han—who possessed a will of steel—feel drowsy.
The voice with its peculiar rhythmic quality was hypnotic, lulling people to sleep as if casting a spell.
Had he not known the professor's identity, he might have suspected the man of being a master of Mental Magic.
Alpen Nythen.
The professor in charge of <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic>, who had originally served as a high-ranking imperial administrator.
The imperial official who had tried slashing the research budgets of countless mages, earning him widespread resentment!
He had wielded his budgetary axe so ruthlessly that even now, professors at the Magic School still held grudges against him.
But Lee Han was different.
'I have to make a good impression...!'
A high-ranking imperial administrator was one of the rarest positions within the empire's bureaucracy, wasn't it?
Someone who had held such a position couldn't possibly lack connections.
What if he managed to impress this professor?
-"Wardanaz, my boy. A talent like yours is exactly what the empire needs. After graduation, come to the imperial capital! I'll personally recommend you."
-"Thank you, Professor!"
Compared to the exhausting master-apprentice relationships forged through shared suffering in workshops, this clean-cut recommendation system—where one could simply receive a referral and never meet again—was Lee Han's ideal vision of a true master-apprentice relationship.
To achieve this, he needed to make a good impression on Professor Alpen Nythen.
'But he really doesn't seem interested in students at all.'
Lee Han pondered.
Professor Alpen Nythen was the quintessential "I'll walk my own path—you'd better keep up" type.
Whether students followed his lectures or not, he simply did his own thing.
Being thoroughly satisfied with himself only made him more difficult to deal with.
'Similar to Professor Voladi, but demanding in a different way.'
Professor Voladi wasn't entirely indifferent to students—no, to a certain student.
If anything, he was too interested, which was the problem.
And it was true that he would wait for students to catch up.
Though he waited from too far ahead...
"What are you brooding about?"
"I was thinking about how to get into the professor's good graces."
"...Isn't what you have enough??"
Yornell asked in a bewildered voice. Lee Han tilted his head in confusion.
"What do you mean, 'enough'?"
"It's not like there's anything wrong with getting attention from professors, but if you get too much, it might become... difficult for you..."
Yornell offered cautious advice.
Before coming to school, he never could have imagined giving such advice to a friend.
"Don't get too much attention from professors"—what kind of advice was that?
But looking at this boy from the Wardanaz family now, he couldn't help but say it.
He was genuinely worried!
"It's fine, Yornell. This much is manageable. And Professor Alpen Nythen is different from the other professors."
"Mm... If you say it's fine, I won't stop you, but..."
For some reason, Yornell felt uneasy.
Why did it feel like his friend was digging his own grave?
"...We'll stop here. Memorize this equation—you'll absolutely need it when calculating mana."
Meanwhile, Professor Alpen concluded the lecture.
Gainando, who had been dozing, miraculously jerked his head up upon hearing "we'll stop here."
"It's over? It's over??"
"In that case, we'll now take a short quiz."
"...It's over for me..."
Gainando clutched his head as he realized it was over in a different sense.
Looking around, he saw that all the previously collapsed students had regained consciousness and were now drowning in despair.
"How fortunate."
"What do you mean, 'fortunate'?!"
Gainando gasped at Lee Han's muttering.
Had his friend gone insane while he wasn't looking?
Ignoring Gainando, Lee Han thought to himself:
'This pop quiz will definitely get me noticed by Professor Nythen.'
If nothing else, when it came to mathematics, he couldn't possibly lose to any other freshman in this lecture hall.
He would absolutely prove himself!
Rustle—!
Space opened up between the seated students as test papers began materializing before them.
Lee Han lightly tapped his desk.
Professor Alpen's transparent barrier was blocking the space. When he tried to peer through, his vision blurred.
'Cheating would be tough without magic.'
Ever since entering the magic school, it seemed like the first thing he considered whenever he encountered magic was how to bypass it.
As Lee Han was lost in thought, the professor's voice reached his ears.
"If you've finished solving everything, you may submit and leave."
'That makes sense.'
"If you haven't finished solving everything, you may not leave."
"...?"
The words were tacked on so naturally that Lee Han almost missed them.
But upon hearing them, something felt off.
'If I don't finish, I can't leave?'
The fact that such an obvious statement was added separately felt strange in itself.
Apparently, Lee Han wasn't the only one who thought so, as someone raised their hand and asked.
"Professor, you mean we can't leave until we've filled in all the blanks?"
"Correct."
"Phew."
The students sighed in relief—until the professor's next words dropped.
"...with the correct answers."
"Uh... What happens if the answers aren't correct?"
"You'll have to keep solving until they are."
Professor Alpen stared at the student bluntly, as if the question were trivial.
Only then did the students realize the gravity of the situation, their faces turning pale.
'We can't leave until we get everything right??'
'Wait... uh...'
Instinctively, the students turned to look out the window.
They had planned to enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening once this lecture was over, but suddenly, the situation had changed.
There was no telling exactly how long Professor Alpen intended to keep them confined, but...
'Surely he wouldn't keep us here until night?'
'Do you still not understand this school?'
'He wouldn't keep us here until tomorrow... would he?'
Scritch-scratch!
Lee Han began scribbling frantically with his quill.
Now, it wasn't a matter of whether he could impress the professor or not.
It was a matter of whether he could escape this lecture hall or not.
'I think I've mostly finished...'
Lee Han stared at the circles inscribed on his test paper, lost in thought.
Since the test was enchanted, a circle appeared each time he answered correctly.
But the last problem was tripping him up.
One day, Gonadaltes received 3,892 Imperial Gold Coins from the Emperor for the construction of the Vilteron Ballroom. The following magics were used in the Vilteron Ballroom...
(Omitted)
...After accounting for these magics and reagents, how many Imperial Gold Coins remained with Gonadaltes?
'No matter how I calculate it, the answer should be 720.'
Lee Han couldn't understand it.
He checked the magic circles again and again, verified the amount of reagents required, even recalculated the labor costs...
Yet, no matter how many times he rechecked, the answer remained the same.
Why?
Glancing around, he noticed some of his friends had finally caught up to him, setting down their quills and glaring at the last problem.
They were all stuck on the same question.
'Is this a problem that requires prior knowledge beyond what's given? Or is there another way to approach it?'
Lee Han pondered.
Gonadaltes was the Skeleton Principal's name.
If the Skeleton Principal had received gold coins, would he have kept them or returned them to the Emperor?
'Probably not.'
Lost in thought, Lee Han absentmindedly wrote "0" on the answer sheet.
Since there was no penalty for wrong answers, he figured he might as well take a shot in the dark.
Swish—
But a circle appeared on the test paper. Lee Han was stunned.
'What the...??'
Professor Alpen, noticing Lee Han had finished, turned his gaze toward him.
"Faster than I expected. Well done. Full marks, Wardanaz."
Though he had received the praise he'd wanted, Lee Han wasn't happy. If anything, he was bewildered.
"P-Professor."
"What is it?"
"May I ask about the last question?"
"Ah."
A faint smile crossed Professor Alpen's stern face as he replied.
"Seems like you found it amusing. I wanted to give the students a laugh after tiring them out with the test."
"...Oh..."
Lee Han wondered if he needed to revise his plan to get on the professor's good side.