Episode 351
Episode 351
"To think there's someone even ruder than Professor Baggrek..."
Lee Han, who had been speaking without thinking, belatedly realized that Voladi was standing right beside him.
"...Isn't that only natural? Most people in the Empire are probably ruder than Professor Baggrek."
"Are you insane?"
Yumidihus looked utterly baffled.
He was so taken aback that he even shot Professor Voladi a look that seemed to say, 'Would you care to explain this?'
But Professor Voladi didn't even blink as he replied.
"I appreciate the compliment."
"Haha. I was merely stating the obvious."
"......"
Yumidihus was speechless at the sight of this twisted master-disciple pair.
"Even if he's your own teacher, you should at least try to be objective... Whatever. Let's just go."
Yumidihus summoned a carriage from ahead. It was a massive carriage pulled by towering water spirits.
True to a mage's carriage, when the door opened, the interior revealed a far more spacious world than what was visible from the outside.
As befitting an exceptional water elemental mage, the inside was composed of an ocean and winding rivers flowing above it.
Yumidihus casually stepped into the water and leaned back comfortably as it parted to support the non-mage's body.
"What's wrong?"
"Um, Yumidihus. So, in what specific ways is that disciple ruder than Professor Baggrek?"
Hearing Lee Han whisper the question in a small voice, Yumidihus began to suspect that Lee Han might actually be quite objective in his judgment of Voladi.
Nilia and Yoner blew whistles while sucking on their lollipops, and the beautiful song of a mermaid flowed out.
It was easy to see why these Mermaid's Candies were the most popular treats at the confectionery.
"Gainando, you try it too."
"No. Lee Han isn't here."
"Professor Garcia said something came up, so there's nothing we can do."
"Why does he keep getting kidnapped everywhere he goes?"
Gainando grumbled and pushed away the candy Ratford offered him.
Though he wanted to eat it, he was determined to hold back if it meant showing just how displeased he was.
"It's just that Lord Wardanaz has such a wide network and is so favored by the professors..."
"If they favor him, they should cherish him! Why kidnap him?!"
Gainando huffed indignantly, and the other three friends found themselves nodding in agreement without realizing it.
'Well, he's got a point.'
If they truly cared for their disciple, they should let him rest and enjoy his vacation before returning refreshed—not keep trying to abduct him off the streets.
Thanks to this, Gainando, who had come out to have fun only to have his friend snatched away by professors yet again, was left sulking furiously.
"But he'll probably be back soon this time."
"Right. Professor Garcia said it wasn't anything serious."
"Hmph. How can we trust that? Once it's over, they might just change their minds and kidnap him again."
Gainando spat out words that would have made the Einrogard seniors proud—'This junior has already grasped the truth.'
Professors were, by nature, liars.
"If that happens, let's go rescue him."
"Rescue him?"
Gainando perked up at Yoner's suggestion.
"Yeah. The professors do have consciences. If we go to pick him up, they'll probably let him go."
"True... And since we're in the city, they'd be mindful of appearances, right?"
Gainando's face brightened.
Inside Einrogard, professors could send students to the Punishment Hall with a flick of their fingers, but this was outside the academy.
If they started screaming, 'Citizens! A deranged mage is exploiting a noble of the Wardanaz family!', the professors would be too embarrassed and petty to keep him.
Yoner, unaware of Gainando's extreme line of thinking, nodded.
"Right. Let's go rescue him."
"Agreed. I'll pick the lock."
"Then I'll shoot a fire arrow and burn it all down."
"...Wait. I said let's go rescue him, right? I didn't say let's go fight, did I??"
While Yoner was flustered, Gainando let out a scream.
"Th-that!!"
"What?"
"That carriage! That carriage!!"
"What about that carriage?"
"Lee Han's been kidnapped! He's being dragged away in that carriage!"
"...!!"
"That's...absurd...!"
Nilia was horrified.
The professors weren't professors for nothing.
If they stayed inside the city, they could be tracked, so they kidnapped him first to take him outside the city and shake off any pursuit.
Even in the cold northern mountains, imperial criminals would occasionally flee to escape pursuit, but...
'This isn't the work of an amateur kidnapper!'
"Chase! We have to chase them, Nilia!"
"What? That thing?"
"You're that...that...you know! Right! The proud Shadow Patrol, aren't you?!"
Gainando was so desperate that he even praised Nilia, something he never did before.
Ratford chimed in from the side.
"He's right! If not the Shadow Patrol, who else could track that carriage's trail?!"
"...Sigh. Fine. Everyone, follow me!!"
'Should I stop them now?'
Yoner hesitated about when to intervene as he followed his three friends.
Alsicle Pengerin.
A disciple of Yumidihus (though he denied it) and someone even more ill-mannered than Professor Taching Voladi.
Lee Han couldn't believe it.
'Is that even possible?'
"From the first time he came to me, Alsicle said he was interested in ice magic."
"I see."
Lee Han nodded as he listened.
He still couldn't quite grasp it.
"So he wanted to learn water elemental magic."
"It's true that water and ice magic share more similarities than other elemental magics."
"Right. So he asked me to teach him water magic as a foundation."
"Yes. ...Wait, what?"
Lee Han, who had been listening, froze.
'Did I mishear?'
"What did you say he said?"
"To be precise, he said he would grant me the honor of serving as a stepping stone for the great ice magic he would perfect in the future."
"......"
'Is he insane?'
Lee Han was dumbfounded.
When someone wanted to learn magic from another, the proper way was to bow and say, "I humbly ask for your guidance," not "I'll grant you the honor of teaching me."
Even Gainando knew that much.
"Was he... from Einrogard?"
"No. And surprisingly, Einrogard graduates don't act like that."
"Ah... I suppose that's true."
Lee Han agreed.
If someone with that kind of personality had entered Einrogard, they'd probably still be stuck in the Punishment Hall, unable to graduate.
The school had a harsh way of teaching manners even to the most disrespectful students.
"That's... shocking. You still taught him magic?"
"Well, he wasn't untalented... Talent in magic comes first, personality second."
'No wonder he's Voladi's teacher.'
Lee Han's opinion of Yumidihus dropped slightly in his heart.
As the old saying goes, birds of a feather flock together...
"Of course, I made sure he couldn't act arrogant in front of me first."
"Good call. Ah, then perhaps he reflected on his past and changed—"
"No."
"......"
Some people never change, no matter how much they're beaten.
And Yumidihus's disciple, whom they were now going to meet, was one such case.
Not all geniuses in the Empire went to Einrogard.
Some geniuses, for various reasons, attended other magic schools, while others chose self-study instead of enrolling.
Alsicle of the Pengerin family was one such case.
Rather than enrolling in a magic school, he had instructors personally hired under his family's name to teach him separately!
Had he entered a magic school, his personality might have been tempered somewhat, but learning privately made that impossible.
And, to make matters worse, Alsicle's talent was objectively exceptional.
Not attending the Magic School and receiving nothing but praise for excelling in every spell he learned—it was only natural for him to grow arrogant and haughty.
No wonder he had gone to Yumidihus and said, "I'll give you the chance to be my stepping stone."
Of course, he got beaten up for it...
But in any case, in exchange for that beating, Alsicle learned water magic from Yumidihus. And once he achieved some results, he moved on to the next stage.
Like many mages who wished to immerse themselves in research, he built a tower in a place abundant with natural mana and established his own workshop.
A tower deep in the snowy mountain valley.
The location was terrible for transportation, but it was perfect for magical research.
"What brings Yumidihus all the way here?"
Alsicle asked, struggling to push back his long, unkempt hair that had become bothersome from neglect.
The water spirit Yumidihus had sent as a messenger traced letters in the air.
"He says he has a disciple to teach?"
The water spirit nodded.
That answer seemed to put Alsicle in a slightly better mood.
"Well, of course, there's no mage quite like me. I understand Yumidihus's intentions."
The water spirit emitted a disgruntled ripple of emotion, but Alsicle, too absorbed in his own ego, failed to notice.
A great archmage like Yumidihus recommending him as a teacher?
This was nothing short of delightful.
"Fine. Bring them here! But they'd better keep this in mind—my teachings are extremely difficult and profound. If they can't keep up, it's not my fault. If the disciple Yumidihus brings isn't as much of a genius as I am, that's not on me!"
The water spirit made a face like it wanted to vomit before disappearing.
Alsicle burst into mad laughter toward the valley before belatedly snapping out of it and summoning an ice mirror in the air.
"Ugh. What a mess. I should really comb this."
"Surprisingly, he agreed without any fuss."
Lee Han watched in surprise as the ice blocking the valley's entrance parted to make way.
'Do people really need to get beaten up to behave?'
Just how thoroughly had Alsicle been thrashed by Yumidihus to open the path the moment this request came?
"Alsicle himself has been struggling lately."
"Struggling?"
"He hasn't made any progress in his current magical research for years. I haven't heard any news from the Imperial Academy."
Countless mages built towers in remote mountains and valleys, dedicating themselves to research, but few among them ever produced truly meaningful results.
Most either drowned in absurd goals and ideals before abandoning their workshops or, very rarely, lost their minds and tried to dominate nearby territories.
That's how stressful magical research was for mages.
For a mage as prideful as Alsicle, the pressure must have been even greater.
"Teaching another mage might help him take his mind off things."
"Greetings, Archmage Yumidihus."
A penguin beastman walked out, combing his hair.
Lee Han was momentarily taken aback by the adorable waddling gait.
'First Professor Verdus, now this guy—why are all the crazy ones from cute races?'
Outwardly harmless and adorable, they were all the more vicious for it.
How many people had been fooled by that appearance?
"It's a pleasure to—"
Before Lee Han could finish his greeting, Alsicle looked down at him and spoke.
"Let me say this first. You won't be able to keep up with my teachings. I'm telling you this now so you don't despair later. Understood?"
"......"
Lee Han was speechless but nodded instead of getting angry.
Since he already knew the guy was insane, there was no point in losing his temper.
'No need to engage with this.'
"For your information, by your age, I had already mastered 3rd-Circle magic. Understood?"
"I've mastered the 4th Circle here."
"Archmage Yumidihus, please don't make absurd jokes."
"It's the truth."
"...???"
Alsicle looked at Professor Voladi, silently demanding confirmation.
But Professor Voladi nodded.
"He really has mastered the 4th Circle."
"......The Circle isn't what's important anyway."