Episode 741
Episode 741
For a moment, Professor Zorjik was taken aback, but as one of the few professors at Einrogard who genuinely cared about students, he quickly grasped the reason.
"Ah, it's because you have too much mana."
"Yes!"
Lee Han's face brightened.
Though the professor had strange interests in peculiar areas, his skills were undoubtedly the real deal.
"How about a mana absorption artifact? Though the concept of a mage wearing a mana absorption artifact might seem unusual..."
"I tried filling one to its limit, but it wasn't very effective."
"Then what about a flame absorption artifact?"
"If I even slightly increase the output, the artifact itself breaks, so it's not a fundamental solution..."
"......"
Professor Zorjik was genuinely flustered for the first time in a while.
He'd heard rumors, but never expected it to be this extreme. 'The rumors actually underestimated the situation!' "Is there... really no solution?"
When the student asked with a slightly darkened expression, Professor Zorjik shook his head vehemently.
Such a question was outright disrespectful to a future headmaster of Einrogard.
"Of course not! A mage's wisdom is infinite, and so are the solutions."
"Ooh."
Lee Han's eyes sparkled with anticipation at the professor's confidence.
True to his reputation as an elemental magic expert, Professor Zorjik seemed different somehow.
And thirty minutes later...
Professor Zorjik was stroking his mustache while staring pensively at the shattered artifacts scattered around him.
"I-I'm sorry."
"Nothing to apologize for, Wardanaz student. Why should you apologize for being an outstanding disciple? I'm grateful to have a student like you!"
"Professor...!"
For a moment, Lee Han considered joining the <Make Zorjik of the Benmalpa Family Einrogard's Next Headmaster> club.
Wouldn't replacing Einrogard's headmaster as soon as possible be for the students' benefit?
"There is one remaining method... Hmm. It's just a bit difficult."
"It's fine, Professor. I believe in you."
"Thank you, Wardanaz student. Yes! With your talent, it should be perfectly achievable!"
After some contemplation, Professor Zorjik nodded as if making up his mind.
"...So that's how you ended up like this?"
Students of the Blue Dragon Tower whispered among themselves as they looked at Lee Han.
At first glance, one might think he was possessed by a cursed flame spirit.
Whoosh!
Every few seconds, flames would erupt violently from Lee Han's body...
"Don't worry, everyone. I'm fine. For now."
"For now?"
Contrary to Lee Han's reassurance, his friends grew even more concerned.
By all appearances, he didn't look fine at all. Gainando was already trying to fetch Professor Garcia.
"Lee Han's going to burn to death!"
"I told you I won't die."
After grabbing Gainando by the scruff of his neck, Lee Han explained to his friends.
After all their fire element training artifacts were destroyed, Professor Zorjik had proposed a rather challenging solution after much deliberation.
-As I mentioned earlier, whether it's <Bagni's Five Forms> or using these artifacts, the ultimate goal is to internalize the sensation of controlling the element.
-I see...
-So even without practice tools, if you can internalize that sensation, the objective is achieved.
-But that's difficult even with tools—how is it possible without them?
-Are you familiar with methods to enhance elemental affinity through sustained contact with the element?
-Yes. Ah—would that work with fire element too?
-No. Wardanaz, your mana is too abundant for that method to work. We need something stronger.
-Like tending to a fireplace daily?
-No. Stronger than that!
-...?
'Trusting the professor was my mistake.' Lee Han looked down at himself with a bitter expression.
The spell Professor Zorjik had cast on him was <Bagni's Flame Bull>.
At first glance, it was hard to guess what kind of magic this was—but it turned out to be a highly lethal fire spell that trapped its target within a bull-shaped inferno.
Unlike lower-tier fire spells that summon and transform fire elements before launching them, this magic required casting directly on the target, necessitating additional advanced properties that made it far more difficult.
Of course, Professor Zorjik hadn't cast this spell to attack Lee Han.
The professor had modified the spell in two ways.
One was an adaptation incorporating illusion magic—removing the fire's physical damage while leaving only the mental torment.
The other was transferring control of the spell to Lee Han himself, allowing him to push back the flames and suppress the fire bull magic on his own.
In other words...
Lee Han had to spend the entire weekend constantly repelling the fire magic clinging to his body to keep it from burning him.
The moment his control slackened even slightly, the fire bull spell would immediately scorch him.
'Ben... I never knew Professor Benmalpa was this insane.'
'The seniors said he was a decent guy, though!'
'I thought so too at first. But once again, I've learned never to trust an Einrogard professor.'
Lee Han spoke with a bitter expression.
From Professor Zorjik's perspective, he'd had no choice but to resort to such an extreme method—but to Lee Han, it didn't feel much different from Professor Voladi's approach.
'Wait... Is Professor Bagrak's method considered standard in the Empire?'
Lee Han shook his head.
No matter how he thought about it, that couldn't be the case.
"Still, Wardanaz. It's the weekend."
"Right! Finally, the weekend!"
His friends cheered, trying to lift his spirits while subtly checking his reaction.
They were worried he might still have weekend lectures.
"I'm resting this weekend too, so don't worry."
"Whew...!"
"See? What did I tell you? Even Wardanaz rests on weekends. Hand over the silver!"
Some students from the Blue Dragon Tower had apparently made bets, snatching coins from their friends.
"......"
Lee Han watched them with a complicated gaze before suddenly remembering something and calling his friends over.
"Right. I have something to tell all of you."
"!"
"D-Don't tell me you're planning to escape already? In the first week?"
"Or the storage room?"
His friends gathered with hopeful expressions, though they doubted it could be true.
Of course, Lee Han hadn't called them for anything like that.
"It's not about escaping or looting. I called you because a dangerous person has entered the school."
"...The Headmaster?"
"No. Not the Headmaster... Or wait, is it? Hmm. Actually, I should tell the seniors too."
Lee Han led his friends to the tower's common lounge.
Fortunately, familiar faces like Perse were there.
"Senior. I have something to report."
"What is it? Something about polo? Did Hormasi bully you or something?"
As a fellow polo club member, Perse took Lee Han's concerns seriously.
Though she hadn't completely shaken off her wariness—after all, he was the Headmaster's personal student—he was still a junior from the same tower and club.
If a lunatic like Hormasi was harassing him, she had to step in.
"No. Senior Hormasi just asked me to join him as an attacker in unlimited matches."
'Isn't that harassment in itself?'
Trying to coax a second-year into unrestricted polo matches was already...
"Then what is it?"
"A dangerous person has entered the school."
"...You mean the Headmaster?"
"No, not that."
Lee Han gathered his friends and the seniors in the lounge and explained what had happened.
The story about the Skeleton Principal's insane clone and an evil magic criminal hiding in the school wasn't something he should keep to himself.
Shouldn't the others be prepared too, just in case?
Once he finished, Perse gasped in shock.
"What? That's serious. Did they enter the main building?"
"No. They're apparently hiding in the outskirts of the domain."
"Ah. That's a relief."
"?"
Not just Perse, but all the other seniors exhaled in relief.
"I thought it had settled on the 7th floor."
"Well, if it had settled on the 7th floor, we would've known by now."
"...Uh, isn't it dangerous even if it's on the outskirts?"
Gainando asked, unable to comprehend the situation. The mere fact that the Headmaster's insane clone existed was terrifying enough to give him nightmares.
"The outskirts of the territory aren't that bad..."
"It's not like Einrogard only has one or two monsters anyway."
However, the seniors' reactions were calmer than expected. If they reacted to every dangerous monster in Einrogard one by one, they'd never graduate. Even if an ancient sealed monster lurked beneath the school, the Skeleton Principal wouldn't delay graduation theses for it.
"Ah, no."
"It's the Headmaster's clone, though?!"
Of course, the juniors found it hard to accept. They were well aware that Einrogard had many monsters—giants and Mountain-Destroying Sheep roamed the mountain ranges, forgotten creatures occasionally crawled up from the underground, and sometimes bored monsters even crossed over from other dimensions!
But unlike these natural disaster-like monsters, the Headmaster's insane clone and the Magic Criminal were threats with blatantly malicious intentions.
"Juniors. In my opinion, the Headmaster's clone is probably less threatening than the Headmaster himself."
"......"
"......"
"This is a joke, but since the Headmaster already knows about it, right? If it were truly dangerous, he'd handle it himself. He's thorough about those things."
"Sorry for bringing it up, but honestly, surviving in Einrogard is easier if you just deal with the monsters right in front of you. If we went hunting every time there was a monster on the outskirts, when would we ever graduate?"
The seniors maintained a firm, if apologetic, stance. They were simply too busy to go monster-hunting every time something appeared.
"I didn't mean to suggest we hunt it. I just wanted everyone to be careful."
"Thanks. But most of us stay near the 7th floor, so we should be fine. First-years might be in more danger, though."
"Pfft. What reason would first-years have to go to the outskirts?"
"......"
Lee Han, who had actually been to the outskirts as a first-year, kept his mouth shut.
'Well, they're not wrong.'
Listening to the seniors actually eased his worries a little.
Compared to the monsters students directly encountered and faced, weren't there far more in Einrogard that they never even saw?
This clone might resolve itself naturally over time, just as the Skeleton Principal had said.
'I should act a bit more calmly too.'
"Hey! There's a fire on the 7th floor!!!!"
A senior burst into the lounge, tearing off his blazing cloak.
The same seniors who had just been calmly and confidently answering Lee Han's questions now screamed and sprinted toward the 7th floor.
"......"
"......"
Fortunately, the fire on the 7th floor wasn't that severe.
A salamander that had escaped from a lab had only blown up about seven or eight buildings, and with the cooperation of nearby students, it was quickly brought under control.
"Isn't this level of damage serious?"
"Pfft. This is actually well-contained."
The second-years looked exasperated at the seniors' words.
Even after the firefighting was done, Lee Han was puzzled when a crowd of students appeared in the distance.
"Isn't the work already finished?"
"Ah, those are the Stonemason Club members. Since buildings burned down, they're here to repair them as per their contracts."
"That's a good thing they're doing."
Having experienced Einrogard's strange clubs before, Lee Han found it quite admirable that they came to repair buildings as contracted.
The approaching Stonemason Club students stopped in front of another perfectly intact building—a two-story magic workshop.
Then they started arguing with the students who came out before suddenly swinging their staffs.
KWA-RUMBLE! BOOM!
"......"
The second-years were horrified as they watched the workshop collapse before their eyes.
"Wh-why are they destroying it!?"
"Must be late on payments. Tsk tsk. This is why you should never delay paying the Stonemason Club fees."
"......"