Episode 858
Episode 858
'This makes no sense.' Stunned, Lee Han began denying reality.
Surely only the Kitchen Club was this kind—the other clubs must be different!
-No? Why are you stepping forward?
-Junior. You're a second-year. Does it make sense for you to be gathering midterm information for yourself?
"......"
But the seniors from other clubs also gave cold-hearted responses.
Lee Han deeply regretted his actions. 'Come to think of it, no one actually told me to follow them.' Upon reflection, Senior Falkrius had told the other seniors to go ahead without specifically calling for Lee Han himself.
Lee Han trembled with indignation.
"Wait. Junior. There is one exam where you should gather information."
Perse, the senior from the Blue Dragon Tower, spoke up as if she had just remembered something.
"So second-years are supposed to do it after all!"
"No. Not that one. Normally, second-years don't, but there's an exception."
"??"
"For the <Understanding Intermediate Combat Magic> lecture exam, could you take some notes?" <Understanding Intermediate Combat Magic> was Professor Voladi's lecture.
If there had been seniors who took it before, they would have left records, but since no one had ever taken it, Lee Han would have to be the one to leave notes.
"We probably won't need it for a while, but someday, another junior might take it."
"...But we do have a new first-year student this time."
"Really?! How many?"
Perse was genuinely surprised.
Who would have thought there'd be new students in Professor Voladi's lecture?
Could it be that Professor Voladi had finally changed his teaching methods a little?
Lee Han tactfully dodged the question. He didn't want to specify that there was only one.
"Anyway, I understand. When I take the exam, I'll leave notes for future juniors to reference."
"Good. No need to go overboard. Just jot down the basics."
"What do you mean? Are you saying I don't have to try too hard because there won't be any juniors taking Professor Bagrak's lectures anyway?"
"Ah, no... I just meant that juniors would already be grateful just to have a senior's notes, so don't waste too much of your time on it."
"Aha. I see." 'I should be careful with my words around this junior.' Perse thought to herself. Just like how one shouldn't mention the number '5' in front of a fourth-year, Einrogard had its own set of unspoken etiquette.
Until now, since Professor Voladi had no students, there hadn't been a need to worry about it. But seeing this junior in front of her, she realized she needed to be more careful with her words. 'But really, how many new students are there?'
"Eandurde. I'm suddenly grateful to you."
"?"
The only first-year student of Professor Bagrak's faction, who was munching on rice cakes given by a senior, tilted her head in confusion.
"No, nothing. More importantly, class is over—shouldn't you be leaving?"
"Want to watch?"
"...You can't attack Professor Bagrak just because he hits me."
Eandurde chewed her rice cake with a disgruntled expression.
If they wanted even a 1% higher chance against a powerhouse like Professor Voladi, shouldn't the two of them team up? 'What a loyal kid.' Lee Han almost teared up but couldn't show it—Professor Voladi was staring right at them.
"Haha. Junior. The purpose of the professor's lecture is to receive his teachings, not to attack him, knock him down, and then laugh at him."
"Is that so..."
Eandurde nodded, puzzled by the oddly specific post-victory scenario.
When Lee Han returned to the lecture hall after giving snacks to his junior, Professor Voladi asked a question.
"Did you learn a lot from Lady Lagesa?"
"Uh..."
Lee Han hesitated at the professor's question.
Did he learn a lot? 'I did learn a lot, but I'm not sure how much of it relates to magic.' He had learned plenty about stealing, looting, raiding, and scamming as a pirate, but magic... 'Well, I did learn Lady Lagesa's secret magic. Even if I blew up the hallway.' Rather than digging his own grave by elaborating, Lee Han decided to keep his answer vague.
"Yes. I learned a great deal."
"You're too greedy. Lady Lagesa's magic has many obscure aspects—there's no need to study it right away."
"......"
Who would've thought 'No, I didn't learn much' was the correct answer?!
Lee Han was inwardly dumbfounded.
Regardless, Professor Voladi began pointing out each aspect of Lee Han's current state one by one. Since his first year, Lee Han had been taking courses across all schools of magic and learning various things, and Professor Voladi had been trying to synthesize all of that into a cohesive whole to perfect his magical combat skills.
But by the time he reached his second year, the breadth and depth of the student's interests had grown to a point where even Professor Voladi couldn't advise him to narrow his focus.
Just this semester alone, wasn't he exploring not only the Water Prison Bomb but also the Thunder Flower of the Spirit King, the dubious ancient doppelganger's secrets, and more?
"Exploring? More like being forced—"
"Hmm?"
"It's nothing."
"At any rate, I recommend you stop expanding and focus on completing one thing. It doesn't have to be the Water Prison Bomb. Choose whatever you want."
Professor Voladi had realized that telling his student, 'Start with the Water Prison Bomb,' was meaningless.
Given this disciple's temperament, he was more likely to snap back with something like, 'Don't arbitrarily dictate my magical studies!' and become defiant.
"...Though I did follow your instructions reasonably well... Were you dissatisfied with the Water Prison Bomb book I submitted last time?"
"No."
'Thank goodness.'
Because Lagesa had arrived midway, he hadn't heard the professor's evaluation of the book he'd been working on.
He'd been worried, but it seemed he hadn't failed.
Professor Voladi continued with an impassive expression.
"But judging from precedent, telling you to develop the Water Prison Bomb further probably won't mean much."
"......"
Come to think of it, every time Professor Voladi brought up the Water Prison Bomb, Lee Han ended up learning some other bizarre magic and bringing it back.
It wasn't intentional, but from the professor's perspective, he couldn't help but feel his student had an excessive interest in other magics.
"Do whatever you want. I'll tailor next week's exam accordingly."
'Wait. Is this actually good?'
At first, Lee Han had been taken aback, but upon reflection, Professor Voladi's misconception wasn't entirely bad.
Wasn't this the professor saying he'd base the exam on whatever topic Lee Han chose?
That meant he could pick the easiest and most familiar magic field.
'No. It won't be that simple. I don't know what the exam topic will be.'
If he confidently declared, 'I'll take it on Psychokinesis!'—relying on his now-completed 5th-circle Psychokinesis—only for Professor Voladi to design an exam deliberately difficult for Psychokinesis users, Lee Han would be in for a world of suffering.
"Professor, if there's anything predetermined about the exam content, could you give me even a slight hint?"
"Hmm."
For the first time, Professor Voladi's usually unchanging expression showed faint hesitation.
'Oh?'
If the answer were truly no, he would've refused outright. Seeing this, Lee Han felt both puzzled and hopeful.
"Professor, I also worked hard assisting with Eandurde's lectures."
"Why bring that up?"
"...Just saying."
Lee Han cursed the professor inwardly.
As expected, professors fundamentally lacked human empathy.
If a student worked hard to help, the proper response should've been, 'How admirable! What do you want?' Not, 'Isn't that expected?'
But Professor Voladi had assumed his student had stepped forward out of genuine interest in teaching.
Thus, he couldn't decipher the intent behind such a sudden remark.
"...Originally, I was asked to keep the exam content confidential."
'It's the Headmaster again, isn't it?'
Lee Han mentally cursed the likely culprit.
For one, Professor Voladi had no friends. Professor Kirmin was around, but he wasn't the type to suggest keeping exam details secret.
"It's fine, Professor. You don't have to honor that request."
"I'm not sure. After seeing the exam's difficulty, I think you should know."
"...?"
Lee Han began to feel a creeping sense of dread.
Recently, Lee Han had been tormented by true lunatics, which made Professor Voladi seem relatively kind and gentle in comparison. But wasn't Professor Voladi originally one of those true lunatics back in their first year?
What on earth had he prepared?
"Professor, please trust me and tell me! I will definitely uphold my honor."
"Very well. The designated test subject is a dragon."
"......"
"Wow!"
Eandurde let out an exclamation mixed with admiration and reverence as she stared at the senior.
'So the seniors of the Wardanaz family hunt dragons by their second year!'
Of course, Lee Han had no mental bandwidth to correct her misunderstanding. With wide eyes, he questioned his professor.
"...Aren't dragons... um... not exactly common in the Empire?"
Even that rare basilisk was nothing more than a least-concern species compared to a dragon.
Dragons were currently a race one couldn't meet even if they wanted to in the Empire. There weren't any publicly known individuals to begin with.
'Well, except for His Majesty the Emperor, perhaps? But surely His Majesty wouldn't come just for an exam...'
If the Skeleton Principal had persuaded the Emperor to come as a midterm exam, Lee Han honestly thought he'd just accept it.
That level of meticulously crafted malice deserved to be endured. How could one possibly resist it?
"Indeed."
"Where and how on earth did you manage to find one?"
"Hmm."
Professor Voladi looked even more troubled than before.
Though he had to provide the necessary information for his student's fair exam, he also had an agreement with the other party.
"Professor, the identity of the dragon is more important than you might think. Please give me a chance to prepare proper countermeasures."
"Hmm. Fine. The opponent is His Highness Jowurin."
"......"
Lee Han's face twisted even more grotesquely than when he had encountered the mad Ancient Doppelganger.
The Emperor's third child—the dragon Lee Han had met when he visited the capital with the Skeleton Principal!
Eandurde stared at Lee Han with eyes so sparkling they couldn't shine any brighter.
"W-wow... Dragon Slayer!"
"Eandurde, that's not it. Calm down."
"Royal Slayer!"
"That's not a good thing at all!"
In fairy tales, titles like 'Royal Slayer' might sound cool, but in reality, a Royal Slayer was just the Empire's most heinous criminal.
Since Lee Han had no desire to become Public Enemy No. 1 of the Empire, he tried to grasp the situation.
"Professor, how on earth did you get in touch with His Highness Jowurin? No—more than that, I think there's some misunderstanding here. His Highness Jowurin is still a young dragon who enjoys playing games. If he visits this wretched, harsh, hellish Einrogard that even demons shudder at, he'll be sorely disappointed."
Eandurde tilted her head in confusion.
Einrogard didn't honestly seem that bad.
"His Highness is more than capable."
"No, it's not about capability, Professor! It's about temperament! You know this too. To become a combat mage, one must be cold and decisive."
The reason Professor Garcia, despite her innate talent, wasn't called a combat mage (though Lee Han privately thought she could qualify) was precisely because her nature was gentle and kind.
Such a person didn't suit the role of a combat mage, who had to cast multiple spells in less than a second to cut off an opponent's breath.
By the same logic, Jowurin was still a young dragon. Not only would he struggle to adapt to Einrogard's harsh environment, but entrusting Lee Han's exam to him was even more unthinkable.
"This is a trap. The Headmaster set this up to put you in a difficult position, Professor."
"His Highness sent a letter himself."
"......"