Episode 983
Episode 983
'Ah. I spaced out again.'
The conversation happening beside him was so fascinating that even a brief glance made him stare as if entranced.
Ilendil shook his head and focused back on the Baldrogard student.
'Kind... is he? Well... I suppose you could say he's kind...'
That junior from the Wardanaz family was certainly sociable and had a wide circle of friends.
As someone whose relationships extended only to a few juniors (and even those interactions weren't particularly comfortable), Ilendil could instinctively sense it—
That junior was the complete opposite of him!
Given that he was taking courses across all schools, it was only natural his connections would be broad.
Still, it was a bit surprising that even applied to Baldrogard students...
Beaver
Penguin
Fox:
"Indeed. Anyway, he's a senior we don't really know. If we find him, we'll let you know."
(Though you'll probably never find him.)
Ipelldrem:
"Thank you!"
Beaver
Penguin
Fox:
"Ask Gonadaltes. Gonadaltes would know about that sort of thing."
To reconcile the two, Ilendil did his best with his limited social skills.
Though Ipelldrem was wary of Gonadaltes, the mention of possibly finding the sixth-year Wardanaz senior seemed to sway him slightly.
Ipelldrem:
"He's eccentric and unpleasant, so I don't really want to associate with him... But fine. I'll think about it."
Beaver
Penguin
Fox:
"As a wizard, you must learn to get along even with people you dislike."
"I cannot permit another Demigod."
"Why not?!"
"Learn to handle it properly. Changing it just because it's difficult to control is the act of a coward—not something befitting a royal disciple."
Just then, he spotted a junior who was getting along with someone—no, an Artificial Demigod—he disliked.
Seeing that only strengthened Ilendil's conviction in his own words.
Ipelldrem:
"That's excellent advice! You're absolutely right! Actually, I've had a similar experience. When I enrolled at Baldrogard, I bought a new mansion nearby, but I just couldn't get along with the newly hired maids. Maybe because it was in the western Empire, their customs were a bit unfamiliar."
Beaver
Penguin
Fox:
"Wow... That must have been really tough."
Ilendil genuinely regretted not being part of the Black Magic school.
Had he mastered high-level curses, he could have easily cursed someone he didn't even know.
Ipelldrem:
"But over time, we got closer. Once we did, I started to see their good points."
Beaver
Penguin
Fox:
"Right. Can we stop talking about this now?"
Ilendil was about to wrap up the conversation.
Any more, and he felt his stomach would churn even more.
But Ipelldrem had no intention of letting go of this rare chance to talk with an Einrogard student.
Ipelldrem:
"Um, by the way... could I ask you a few things about magic?"
Beaver
Penguin
Fox:
"Why not ask a Baldrogard senior or professor?"
With a hint of spite, Ilendil retorted sarcastically.
If it were truly an in-depth question about magic, Baldrogard wizards wouldn't be able to answer easily.
But the response he got was unexpected.
Ipelldrem:
"Right now, all the seniors and professors are on the Empire's spring flower-viewing carriage tour."
"......"
Ilendil felt a surge of violent killing intent rise within him, as if he had just spotted outsiders ruining the forest.
Beaver
Penguin
Fox:
"..."
"Ask away. Wait—why didn't you go?"
Ipelldrem:
"Ah, the magic I'm researching right now is just too interesting!"
"?"
Ilendil tilted his head in confusion.
Unable to understand, he called out to Lee Han.
"Uh, excuse me—"
As he interrupted the disciple who was diligently practicing magic with the Artificial Demigod, the Crazy Doppelganger shot him a cold glare.
Under that gaze, Ilendil flinched and bowed his head.
"A-ah, it's nothing..."
"I see. Then continue making it nothing."
"Y-yes, sir."
Ilendil quietly averted his gaze.
'A Baldrogard student stopping because magic is fun? It must be a coincidence or a misunderstanding...?'
Ipelldrem:
"Right now, I'm personally designing both a Compressed Magic Circle and a Stacked Magic Circle. Basically, within a closed magic circle, the sum of mana increase and decrease should be equal, right? But here, only the dodecahedron ruby reagent section is causing the mana to spike inversely. I can't figure out where I made a mistake."
"!??!?!"
A Compressed Magic Circle was a technique that condensed and engraved over a dozen magic circles into a single circle.
It was an advanced, high-difficulty technique that even Einrogard's Enchantment Magic students usually only began learning in their upper years!
The same went for Stacked Magic Circles. They involved vertically layering different magic circles to create synergistic and amplifying effects—if anything, they were even harder than Compressed Magic Circles, never easy by any means.
And yet, here was a Baldrogard student asking about them.
Ilendil wondered if he was being deceived.
Was this person actually an Einrogard student pretending to be from Baldrogard?
Beaver
- Penguin
- Fox:
"Wait, what year did you say you were in again?"
Ipelldrem:
"Me? I'm a third-year."
Beaver
- Penguin
- Fox:
"By any chance... did you receive offers from other magic schools when you were enrolling in Baldrogard?"
Ipelldrem:
"Huh? How did you know? I did get an invitation from Petrogard."
The magic academy Petrogard was absolutely not a place that merely pretended to be a magic school like Baldrogard.
It was an institution that nurtured outstanding magical item craftsmen.
If he had received an offer from such a place, it made sense that he could demonstrate magic of this level despite being a third-year at Baldrogard.
If he were a third-year at Petrogard...
'No, even then, that's impressive!'
At that level, he was likely one of Petrogard's top geniuses. Unable to comprehend, Ilendil asked again.
Beaver
- Penguin
- Fox:
"Why didn't you go to Petrogard?"
Ipelldrem:
"All my friends decided to go to Baldrogard."
"......"
Ilendil let out a deep sigh without realizing it.
The Empire's bureaucrats might have seen Einrogard as a thorn in their side, but the real thorn was undoubtedly Baldrogard.
A hellish place that took in potentially talented mages and rotted their potential away!
"Are you done with the persuasion?"
A junior's voice came from behind.
Turning around, Ilendil saw that the collar of his uniform was badly singed, as if it had been hit by flames. Startled, he asked,
"D-did the doppelganger...?"
"Huh? Oh. No. I got too excited during magic practice and messed up."
Ignoring the Artificial Demigod's complaints, Lee Han dove back into his magic training.
Come to think of it, there was absolutely no reason to listen to the Artificial Demigod or the Crazy Doppelganger when they insisted on learning powerful and evil magic.
Lee Han could just practice the magic he wanted to.
And in doing so, he realized something unexpected.
The Artificial Demigod's power was far more useful than he had thought.
"The success rate really went up! Amazing!"
"So boring..."
"Please keep doing it like this!"
"When are we conquering the continent...?"
He didn't need to draw out or wield power as extremely as the Crazy Doppelganger did.
If he just used it as supplementary support, it wasn't particularly difficult and was far more useful to Lee Han at the moment.
It increased the success rate of the difficult spells he was currently attempting, which had a high chance of failure.
The Divine
One of its advantages was that, with magic, even phenomena that would normally require hundreds of steps and complex theories could be intuitively realized.
Thanks to this, an excited Lee Han got carried away practicing a new fire attribute spell and nearly burned his clothes.
"Th-thank goodness... I thought the doppelganger attacked you."
"Ah. Well. I thought you'd be mad at me for practicing such reckless magic too."
"That's not what I meant..."
Ilendil hadn't meant it that way.
In the first place, the spells his junior was practicing now were all far beyond what a second-year should be capable of.
"But surprisingly, you didn't get angry at all."
"Oh, really...?"
"Yes. He told me to do as I pleased."
"?"
Ilendil tilted his head in confusion.
No matter how he thought about it, those were words he couldn't believe came from the Crazy Doppelganger.
"Ah! I get it! If it was sarcasm..."
"So I asked if he was being sarcastic, and he got angry."
"......"
Ilendil stared at Lee Han with eyes full of astonishment.
The most mysterious thing about this junior wasn't his innate magical power or his natural talent for magic.
It was the sheer audacity to say such things in front of a Crazy Doppelganger of a Grand Archmage.
How could anyone possibly say something like that?
"Anyway, it wasn't that. I think this is actually the right way to utilize it... Why don't you try using it too, Senior?"
"N-no, I'm good."
Ilendil immediately refused with a look of disgust.
If he could borrow divine power, he'd rather use it to revive and restore the forest than practice high-level magic by making suspicious contact with an Artificial Demigod.
Who in their right mind would do something like that unless they were crazy about magic?
"So, Senior. Did you manage to persuade him well?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah..."
Ilendil briefly summarized what had happened.
He'd spoken well to the other party, persuaded them, and upon closer inspection, it turned out they were this kind of mage...
"...What kind of ridiculous lie is that?"
"I-it's true!!!"
When his junior looked at him incredulously, Ilendil felt genuinely wronged.
There really is a mage like that at Baldrogard!
* * *
'My guess is that the Master is in a particularly good mood right now.'
As he walked out, Lee Han thought to himself.
If that weren't the case, some of the recent events wouldn't make sense.
Teaching other students in place of the professor, not getting angry even when Lee Han ignored his instructions to practice easier magic (by the Crazy Doppelganger's standards, at least)...
There was only one theory that could explain all these mysterious phenomena.
The Crazy Doppelganger was in an extremely good mood!
"...?"
The Crazy Doppelganger looked at his disciple with suspicion.
There was no evidence, but he could sense that his disciple was having some insolent and disrespectful thoughts.
Regardless, Lee Han continued his train of thought.
'In that case, he should be able to fully understand what I'm about to do now.'
"Master!"
"What is it?"
"I'm about to go to my next lecture. Would that be alright with you?"
"...What kind of lecture requires special permission?"
The Crazy Doppelganger had indeed gained a better understanding of his disciple.
The very fact that he was asking meant it wasn't a normal lecture.
"Swordsmanship lecture, <Sword and Life>..."
"......"
The way the Crazy Doppelganger's face immediately twisted made Lee Han realize he'd misjudged the situation.
That was absolutely not the aura of someone in a good mood.
'Damn. I misjudged.'
Thinking his master was in a good mood, he'd boldly spoken up, only to end up losing everything.
"You're attending a swordsmanship lecture at a time like this? Do you really not understand what's important right now?"
"I was already attending it before..."
"Silence! Other magics might be trivial at your level, but at least they don't stray from the path. Swordsmanship is a different story."
"Doesn't high-level swordsmanship also help with magic?"
"That's an absurdly roundabout path. Why take a detour when night is falling?"
The Crazy Doppelganger didn't deny that high-level swordsmanship shared some common ground with magic.
After all, both involved wielding power to change the world.
But it was foolish for a mage to waste time learning swordsmanship just because of those similarities.
"Wait. Didn't you also learn close combat, Master?"
Lee Han recalled the memories he'd seen from the past and asked.
How could he call it a waste of time when he'd learned it himself?
"A royal who's experienced it firsthand is telling you it's unnecessary. When magic reaches a certain level, such petty skills become redundant."
The Crazy Doppelganger was far more stubborn than expected.
Not even bringing up the past could shake his resolve.
"...The senior teaching this lecture is quite an unusual person. Aren't you curious?"
"Not curious."
"He casts all sorts of magic through swordsmanship."
The Crazy Doppelganger paused for a moment.
Then he spoke again.
"Lead the way."
"!"