Episode 792
Episode 792
"Next week is Club Week..."
"Ah. Wait a moment, Professor. I think time just slowed down a bit."
"I told you it wouldn't work that quickly."
"Hmm!"
'Maybe I really should hit him.'
Of course, if she hit him wrong, it could cause fatal injuries, but if left like this, the boy from the Wardanaz family might end up burning himself out with knowledge like a mage who flew toward the sun with wax wings.
Wouldn't it be better to break a few bones and learn a lesson now rather than having his soul burn up from knowledge?
"Got it, Professor! I think I've got it now!"
"?!!!!"
Professor Garcia accidentally crushed the pocket watch she was holding to check the time.
She was that surprised.
"Uh, Professor. Did something make you angry?"
"Don't mind it, Lee Han. I just got surprised and this happened."
"Professor, do you have trouble controlling your strength when you're surprised?"
Lee Han asked seriously.
Since he would have to learn under Professor Garcia often from now on, this was a matter of survival.
On stormy days or in areas haunted by spectral monsters, he might need to keep his distance from Professor Garcia...
"Stop asking useless questions and try the magic already."
"Yes. From thought to moment, from moment to instant!"
With the incantation, Lee Han could clearly feel his perception of time stretching.
To be honest, this magic alone wasn't that effective.
First of all, it wasn't a spell that extended the mage's entire timeline—only their perception of time.
Humans often feel like time slows down in moments of crisis.
This magic created a phenomenon similar to that sensation.
Naturally, his limbs and staff couldn't keep up with the speed of thought and moved sluggishly.
'This is hard to adapt to.'
Pop!
Professor Garcia quickly conjured a problem in the air.
Even if the body couldn't keep up with time, the accelerated consciousness alone provided enough advantage.
A mage arrives in a village and measures the area of a field. In the following diagram, the number that minimizes the sum of the regions enclosed by curves and straight lines is...
'Did I make it too difficult?'
She thought it would be enough to just test his perception of time, but utilizing accelerated thinking was more important than expected.
This magic would be used more as a foundation or link for future time magics rather than for its own applications.
To train the ability to accelerate thinking rapidly, problems much harder than usual were better.
They needed to be difficult enough that he couldn't solve them within the time limit, forcing him to keep thinking.
But as Lee Han stayed too still, Professor Garcia grew slightly concerned.
If it felt so hard that he couldn't even approach it, she might have chosen wrong...
"Professor."
Meanwhile, Lee Han, whose spell had ended, spoke up.
"Was the problem too difficult?"
"No. It's not that. This was a problem Professor Knighton gave last year."
"Huh? Why did Professor Knighton give this last year?"
Professor Garcia tilted her head in confusion.
This wasn't a first-year problem.
"He gave it to me separately to solve something harder."
"......"
Shock and horror.
Stunned by this unexpected fact, Professor Garcia was at a loss for words.
Not Professor Verdus, not Professor Bagrak—even Professor Knighton!
'I trusted him because he came from bureaucracy...!'
Clearly, Einrogard's air drove even sane outsiders mad.
"Professor, by the way, what were you saying earlier?"
After training with another problem (this time measuring the position of a charging troll captain), Lee Han remembered Professor Garcia's earlier words and asked.
"Next week is Club Week, so many outsiders will come, and you, Lee Han, will likely be called to many places."
"...Why on earth would there be such a week?"
Lee Han stared at Professor Garcia with eyes full of despair and betrayal.
The sheer desperation in his gaze was so intense that Professor Garcia almost mistakenly believed she had been the one to create Club Week.
"...I didn't organize it, Lee Han!"
"Why would seniors waste their magical lives on such pointless activities when they could be doing research?!"
'P-Principal?!'
Professor Garcia was startled by the familiarity of Lee Han's grumbling—it was the exact same demeanor she had witnessed from the Skeleton Principal during her own school days.
"Lee Han, I understand you might dislike outsiders coming to Einrogard, but these events are necessary. Remember the festivals last year? There are things we can only learn when outsiders visit."
The Skeleton Principal wasn't particularly fond of outsiders visiting for leisure, but objectively speaking, they were an essential presence for Einrogard.
How else could one extract gold coins from people with hefty coin purses?
The answer was simple: invite them under a plausible pretext and dazzle them with flashy research.
The Empire's citizens, invited by various clubs to visit Einrogard, often ended up willingly investing in research—whether through persuasion, excitement, or occasionally coercion and fear.
"And Einrogard students need to interact more with outsiders. If they keep isolating themselves, they'll just go mad."
"......"
Professor Garcia's words were scathing, but they were hard to refute.
Even Lee Han had to admit that when Einrogard students were left to themselves, they didn't exactly bring out the best in each other.
It wasn't for nothing that the Black Magic faction, when crafting Venom Curses, would stuff a jar full of venomous insects and let them fight it out.
In a confined space, the last surviving insect would be the most vicious and powerful...
'Wait. Did the Principal perhaps get the idea for Einrogard from Venom Curses?'
"I understand, Professor. But I can't help worrying because I'm in so many clubs."
"Hmm. Maybe you could try shifting your perspective."
"Since I'm in many clubs, I can secure more sponsorships and investments?"
"...No, I meant you should tell your seniors, 'I'd like to reduce my workload a bit.'"
"Professor, I say that every time."
Lee Han spoke with a tone of grievance.
To an outsider, it might seem like he had dug his own grave.
But in truth, Lee Han had rejected every unreasonable demand from his seniors.
Of course, he had accepted a few proposals—partly out of consideration as a junior, and partly because they benefited him personally.
"...Aren't you just making exceptions by saying 'I had no choice' and then excelling at them anyway? Like just now—you could've learned that spell at a reasonable pace, but you forced yourself to master it quickly."
"Huh? Did I do that?"
Professor Garcia clenched her fists.
Fortunately, Lee Han didn't notice. If he had, he would've already put some distance between himself and the classroom.
"You'll forget about it, right? Haha. Lee Han, shall we move on to the next spell?"
"Professor, you seem a little angry..."
"Not at all. Now!"
The next spells Lee Han learned were 3rd-circle: <Lesser Time Deceleration> and <Lesser Time Acceleration>.
Both were spells cast on external objects rather than the mage themselves, granting the power to accelerate or decelerate an object's time.
Despite being cast on objects rather than the caster, these spells required complex incantations and processes—necessitating the <Lesser Internal Time Dilation> Lee Han had just mastered as a foundation.
The sheer computational load was so immense that a mage had to extend their own thought-processing time just to complete it.
'Now that I'm in my second year, Professor Garcia seems to be pushing me harder.'
Lee Han pondered this as he walked.
It felt a little odd how Professor Garcia kept asking, "Do you think you can complete this today?" and "You're really trying to finish this, right?"
"Could it be indirect pressure?"
-Clang!
'What was that sound?'
Lee Han, who had descended to the basement floor, was puzzled by the sound of someone screaming as if they were being hit.
It was a rather familiar voice.
-Clang!!
"......"
Lee Han's face stiffened as he took another step.
The screams were coming from Professor Bagrak's <Understanding Intermediate Combat Magic> classroom in the basement.
-Master. Why must we attend lectures?
"You have a point."
Lee Han couldn't deny that the baby basilisk's question had hit the nail on the head.
Why must students attend lectures and endure suffering?
Perhaps it was a dilemma he might never find an answer to in his lifetime.
'Maybe mages should explore this fundamental question before delving into higher truths.'
-I don't want to go in there. Waaah...
The baby basilisk, genuinely terrified of Professor Voladi, started whining as Lee Han tried to open the door.
Of course, Lee Han had done it a great kindness by taking it in and providing a nest, but even considering that, Professor Voladi had done far too many things to lose points.
"Do you want to go back to the dorm?"
But the baby basilisk shook its head vigorously.
Being separated from its master was scarier than facing the mad professor.
Lee Han opened his mouth to comfort the baby basilisk.
"Well... Professor Bagrak isn't an entirely terrible person. He's more decent than Professor Verdus or the Headmaster."
-Are there no other options?
Indeed, the baby basilisk was clever. It immediately realized that the comparison wasn't exactly flattering.
But Lee Han couldn't delay any longer. He opened the door to attend the lecture.
"O cloak, swallow me whole."
After chanting the spell and stepping inside, just as expected, a junior was groaning as they struggled against the spirit stone beads.
Professor Voladi didn't even glance at him as he spoke.
"Since you have permission, you can dispel your invisibility."
"Eh? Really?"
Lee Han was surprised but did as told.
Originally, Einrogard seniors weren't supposed to interact with first-year students, but there were exceptions to this rule.
They could be mobilized when professors needed assistance in teaching.
And there was the unavoidable circumstance that Professor Voladi had no other disciples.
Of course, Lee Han was the only one who could step up, but...
'He actually got permission. The Headmaster is surprisingly kind to Professor Bagrak.'
If Professor Verdus had tried to use Lee Han as well, the Skeleton Principal would likely have sent him to the Punishment Room.
Wasn't it outrageous to try and drag a second-year student into this when there weren't even enough seniors?
But Professor Voladi...
'Even I would've probably allowed it...'
"Eandurde."
"!"
The Gorgon half-breed junior, startled, looked up at Lee Han—only to lose control of the flying spirit stone bead and get hit squarely.
Eandurde let out a pitiful clang and tumbled to the floor.
"Professor, isn't it a bit early to start attacking?"
Lee Han cautiously spoke up.
Normally, Lee Han wouldn't dare criticize Professor Voladi's actions, but seeing a junior get hit was a different matter.
Professor Voladi replied with an expressionless face.
"I'm not attacking."
"...?!"
Only then did Lee Han realize that Eandurde had been practicing psychokinesis magic on her own.
She had been trying to move the spirit stone beads in a specific pattern but lost control and ended up hitting herself.
"Ah. My apologies. I didn't realize we were at that stage yet. Junior, the lecture is over."
Despite Lee Han's call, Eandurde shook her head stubbornly and tried to regain control of the beads.
Watching this, Professor Voladi's expressionless face showed a hint of concern as he spoke.
"I'm worried you might be pushing yourself too hard."
"...Huh???"