Episode 724
Episode 724
"Senior. Senior."
"Hmm?"
The senior who had been preparing their own work in the meantime raised their head at Lee Han's call.
"Something seems strange. I'm a second-year, but this lecture is for third-years."
"What? Did the professor forcibly assign you the lecture?!"
The senior asked in surprise.
Lee Han didn't fully understand the implication of the question but denied it nonetheless.
"That's not it. I chose it myself. With the help of the Calendarium... Wait. Why are you asking if the lecture was forcibly assigned?"
"Ah. Don't mind it. It's just an old rumor I heard, so I asked just in case."
The senior waved their hand as if to say not to worry about it.
It was one of those legendary rumors about Einrogard that circulated when they first enrolled.
The rumor said that if a student's abilities were too outstanding, from that point on, it wouldn't be the student choosing the lectures—instead, the lectures would come seeking the student!
The senior and their friends had worried, 'What if I'm so good that a professor forcibly invites me?' after hearing that rumor, but such a thing never happened.
The Einrogard professors were far more cold-hearted than they'd imagined.
"......"
Unaware of Lee Han's stiffening expression, the senior continued explaining.
"If the Calendarium helped you, then that lecture must be the best fit for you, right?"
"But I'm a second-year, and this is a third-year lecture."
"It is strange. But sometimes, exceptional people take one or two lectures from the year above. Senior Yukveltire did that too."
"Is that so..."
Seeing the senior's more moderate reaction than expected, Lee Han wondered if he'd overreacted.
"Then lectures like <Terribly Beautiful Creatures>, <Elemental Magic and Its Linkage>, or <Poison, Bone, and Blood> aren't particularly strange either?"
When Lee Han listed a few of the lecture names from his schedule, the senior paused. There were too many third-year lectures...
Normally, even exceptional geniuses only took one specialized lecture from the year above, right?
"Don't people usually just take one? This seems a bit much..."
Another senior, who had been quietly sharpening equipment on a whetstone nearby, chimed in.
"He's... well, him."
"Ah. Right. My bad. Even as a third-year, I still have these stereotypes."
"......"
Lee Han reminded himself not to lash out at the seniors and asked again.
"It is strange, right?"
In fact, Lee Han still had lectures he hadn't even mentioned yet.
No matter how he looked at it, the names of these lectures seemed far more suited for third-years than second-years.
"It is strange, but you'll do fine. Hang in there. The Calendarium must have handled it well."
"But a mage is the master of artifacts, not their slave, right? What if I change the lectures now? If I switch to lower-level ones?"
"Ah. That won't work."
The senior sharpening equipment nearby answered instead.
"I tried to take a second-year lecture this year, and the professor kicked me out."
"......"
The Einrogard professors might seem indifferent, but they were thorough in certain areas.
Students had to take lectures suited to their level—they wouldn't tolerate anyone deliberately choosing easier ones. 'There's no freedom at all!' Lee Han once again grew indignant at Einrogard's deception.
They claimed to teach magic freely, yet there wasn't a shred of actual freedom.
While Lee Han seethed, this time, the seniors had questions of their own. They were just as curious as he was.
"Wardanaz. There's something I'm wondering about..."
"Ah. Yes. Go ahead."
"Why were you with Professor Verdus earlier?"
"...?"
Lee Han was baffled by the bizarre question.
"It was lecture time, wasn't it?"
"What? Wait. Did you... arrive right when the lecture started?"
"???"
Seeing their junior's confusion, the seniors kindly explained.
"You don't need to come right at the start time for Professor Verdus's lectures. He doesn't care whether we're here or not anyway."
"But don't we need to listen to the lecture content?"
"What lecture content?"
Lee Han turned to look behind him.
There was clearly nothing there.
Come to think of it, Lee Han hadn't actually learned anything specific since arriving at the start of class either.
"You just come when you feel like it and leave when you want."
"Bring your own work and do it here. I came over after working somewhere else too."
The Einrogard students were making good use of Professor Verdus's indifference.
If the professor didn't care about the students, then the students could just study on their own.
"But what if you get stuck?"
"That's when you have to learn by yourself. Like this."
Just then, one senior who seemed to have hit a snag in their work groaned and got up from their seat.
They walked forward and started loitering near Professor Verdus's workbench. Naturally, the professor in his focused state didn't notice.
Snatch!
The senior grabbed one of Professor Verdus's projects and bolted out of the classroom like a madman.
At this, Professor Verdus also sprang up and chased after the senior.
"Stop right there! You vile, filthy thief!"
"I'll learn from it and return it!"
At the echoes coming from outside the classroom, the other seniors nodded approvingly.
"That's how you do it."
"......"
Lee Han didn't ask 'Can't we just ask questions?' because he already knew the answer.
Rather than asking questions, stealing Professor Verdus's work to learn from it was clearly much faster.
"Come on. Let's go too."
"Go where?"
Rustle rustle—
The seniors swarmed toward Professor Verdus's workbench and quickly began copying and transcribing.
"Aha. So that's how it's done..."
"He really is exceptionally skilled."
"That's why he's still alive. Did you know there are assassins waiting in the city near Einrogard trying to kill Professor Verdus? Nobles who got cheated out of their gold coins hired them."
"Damn. Isn't there any way we can help those people?"
Lee Han quietly followed the seniors' lead and copied the work.
Professor Verdus's workbench looked like a giant pile of junk due to all the miscellaneous items, but hidden within were all sorts of insights.
Just salvaging a few artifact blueprints or magic circles scribbled on crumpled paper would be a major breakthrough for students.
Before long, Professor Verdus returned after retrieving his work. The senior who had stolen it was nowhere to be seen.
Professor Verdus huffed and shouted,
"There are too many thieves in this school!"
The students all pretended ignorance and sat back down.
"...Where did that senior go?"
"Professor Verdus may be crazy, but he's not cruel. He probably just subdued them."
Since Professor Verdus only cared about retrieving his work, he didn't inflict additional retaliation or send the student to the punishment room.
The missing senior had likely just taken a few hits and would recover on their own before returning.
However, even after some time passed, the senior didn't come back.
"They're not coming back?"
"Must've gotten hit pretty hard. Don't worry about it and focus on your own work, junior."
'No wonder they're students attending Professor Verdus's lectures—their personalities are just as cold as the professor's.' Lee Han inwardly spat out this vicious remark cold enough to make the seniors' blood run cold.
Professor Verdus called Lee Han over again. He needed an assistant for his work.
Seeing this, even the seniors who had been absorbed in their own work felt puzzled.
'Now that I think about it, they only asked why he came early, but we never found out why he was with Professor Verdus in the first place.'
Coming early and being in the classroom was understandable since he didn't know Professor Verdus's lecture style, but being near the professor's workbench was definitely unusual.
Fundamentally, Professor Verdus wasn't the type to allow other mages near his workbench.
To be honest, there was nothing particularly strange about it. For most mages, their research spells were secretive domains, and workshops or workbenches were places that strictly prohibited outsiders from intruding.
Of course, if a professor barred even students from approaching, that would be somewhat problematic...
'Is it really okay to get that close?'
The seniors stopped their work and stared at Professor Verdus and Lee Han with curious gazes.
Since this was the <Staff Materials and Magic Amplification> lecture, there were also students from the Enchantment Magic faction present, who cautiously took on the role of commentators.
"It's very strange... very strange. For Professor Verdus to call someone like that."
"Maybe he needs help with some tedious grunt work?"
"Professor Verdus doesn't even assign grunt work."
Professor Verdus was already plenty mad, but when it came to matters related to his magic, he became even more so.
Even minor preparatory tasks or simple work that others might let slide had to meet his exacting standards—otherwise, he wouldn't tolerate them.
Naturally, he never called students over for mere menial tasks.
"Hey, don't we have to prepare the material mixtures today?"
"Let's just watch for now."
The students, divided by their respective towers, cast intrigued glances. One student even sent a Paper Bird to a friend who hadn't arrived for the lecture yet, urging them to come quickly.
"The delivery for the Green Jade Magic Tower is done for today!"
"Oh. Then..."
"Let's move on to the next one!"
"......"
Lee Han stared blankly at the back of Professor Verdus's fluffy head.
"Shouldn't I be working on my own tasks too, since I'm here for the lecture?"
"Just do this first! You'll finish your own work in no time anyway!"
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
As Lee Han turned to ignore him, Professor Verdus slammed the floor, opened a hidden compartment, and pulled out special wand materials before thrusting them forward.
Lee Han nodded.
"You didn't have to go that far—I was already willing to help. Let's proceed with the next task."
"Remember the Mana Emission Enchantment?"
The exact name was <Vible's Mana Emission Enchantment>.
It was one of the spells Professor Verdus had forcibly taught him last year.
"Yes."
Crash! Clatter! Bang!
"?"
When Lee Han turned his head, the seniors quickly righted their chairs and gestured for him to continue.
"Don't mind us."
"The floor's slippery from the classroom's mana. Carry on!"
Though puzzled, Lee Han returned his attention to the workbench as Professor Verdus whined beside him, urging him to focus.
"You'll need to learn a few more spells similar to that one."
"Oh? Which spells?"
"Absorption, Amplification, Mass Increase, Acceleration, Detonation, Curvature, Conversion..."
"Do you perhaps not understand the meaning of 'a few'?"
Grumbling, Lee Han sat down obediently and began learning the spells instead of stealing Professor Verdus's work and making a run for it.
<Vible's Mana Emission Enchantment> was a spell that altered the nature of mana, causing the material imbued with it to emit mana.
What made it special was that it didn't enchant the material itself—it enchanted the mana within it.
'Applying various processes to the mana inside an artifact to amplify it.'
Rather than consecutively enchanting the material to create chain effects, consecutively enchanting the mana within the magic circle yielded more precise results.
It was a spell befitting Professor Verdus, who crafted artifacts with near-insane precision and intricacy.
Lee Han, well aware of the advantages of this method, had agreed to learn it willingly...
'It's impossible to master them all, but it's good to learn whenever the opportunity arises. Each one I learn makes preparing other enchantment spells much easier.'
Lee Han started with Absorption. Fortunately, since it was the opposite of Emission, the theory itself wasn't too difficult.
"Are you done yet?"
"Please wait a moment."
"Are you done yet?"
"Just a second."
"Are you done yet? Are you done yet? Are you done yet?"
"Just... it's done."
Crash! Clatter! Bang!