Episode 259

“!”

Morning.

Lee Han nearly fell over in surprise as he entered the classroom.

No, he actually did knock over a chair from the shock.

Crash!

-Is something wrong?

“Nothing at all.”

-Good. Study hard.

The Death Knights walked back out into the hallway.

Regaining his composure, Lee Han reread the writing on the classroom chalkboard.

Class canceled due to professor’s circumstances

-Voladi Baegrek

‘Professor…’

Lee Han was deeply moved by Professor Voladi’s consideration.

There was no one more virtuous than a professor who canceled class when students were busy with other assignments and exams.

Was Professor Voladi actually capable of such kindness?

Of course, it would have been nice if this had been announced somewhere other than the classroom chalkboard, but…

‘Still, this is better than nothing.’

Lee Han had a conscience. He didn’t expect too much good fortune.

To get free time like this.

-Why are you coming back out?

“The professor says class is canceled due to circumstances. Is there any problem with Professor Baegrek?”

Lee Han asked, just in case.

Professor Voladi wasn’t the type to be pushed around, but the quirks of the magic school spared no one, not even the professors.

-Not sure? Haven’t heard anything.

-It’s probably nothing if it’s this quiet. It’s admirable to see a student concerned for his teacher.

“…Haha. It’s embarrassing.”

Lee Han managed his expression and nodded.

-By the way, were you also taking Professor Verdus’s class?

“Yes. How did you know?”

-Professor Verdus was looking for you, Wardanaz.

“……”

Lee Han checked the time.

It was morning.

There were at least six hours until Professor Verdus’s extra class.

“Are you sure you didn’t get the time wrong?”

-Doesn’t seem that way? When I asked, he said the class time didn’t matter.

‘I’d better not go anywhere near the Artifact Tower before class starts.’

Lee Han resolved not to go near the Artifact Tower before class.

• * *

“Why are you so late?!”

Professor Verdus called out to Lee Han affectionately as soon as he saw him.

Lee Han feigned ignorance.

“What? I’m sure I came on time?”

“What does class time matter? If it were me, I’d just stay here all day!”

Professor Verdus, who found imbuement magic the most fun thing in the world, could not understand Lee Han.

If Professor Verdus were Lee Han, he’d have tossed all his other classes aside and spent all his time researching in the Artifact Tower!

“That’s not what’s important. Professor, I brought the assignment.”

Lee Han handed over the shield he had infused with magic before coming.

The friends who arrived late to class inwardly cursed at the sight.

‘That bastard Wardanaz. If you finished that, you should’ve handed it in at the last minute.’

‘Does he have no conscience!?’

“Oh…”

Professor Verdus, who was always indifferent no matter if students slept or danced right in front of him, showed interest for the first time.

“So this is that crude and clumsy shield?”

“Your praise always brings me joy, Professor.”

Ignoring Lee Han’s muttering, Professor Verdus carefully examined the shield.

Ever since he heard the rumors from the Death Knights, he’d wanted to see it, but that wicked, twisted Gonadaltes had gotten in the way, so it was only now he could see it.

“Wow…”

Professor Verdus stroked and knocked on the shield, nodding.

The magic circle and structure were still clumsy and rough in Professor Verdus’s eyes, but…

It was very interesting that Lee Han had simply overwhelmed those shortcomings with sheer magical power.

Dozens of artifacts flashed through Professor Verdus’s mind.

If you could overcharge magic like this, you could make all sorts of artifacts he’d put off until now.

“What year are you?”

“First year.”

“Ah, why!?”

“……”

Lee Han was unfazed.

He already knew the professor was crazy.

The students behind Lee Han, on the other hand, stared at Professor Verdus with a mix of fear and horror.

“Why are you so young… Then you can’t make a spirit sword yet… or a lens artifact… Maybe I should just teach you myself?”

Lee Han felt a sense of foreboding as Professor Verdus muttered.

“Right! I really don’t want to, but I’ll teach you myself… Huh? Where’d he go?”

“Wardanaz? He said he left to get something he left in the tower?”

• * *

Lee Han hoped that, with a little time, Professor Verdus would get distracted by other students’ assignments and forget, but the professor’s focus was greater than expected.

He was grading other students’ assignments one by one, but as soon as Lee Han returned to the classroom, he called out.

“Eighty points.”

“Oh. Did I do well?”

“Hm? No. You did terribly.”

“…Isn’t eighty out of a hundred pretty good?”

“No. The others just did even worse. Ah! Wardanaz!”

‘Damn.’

Lee Han looked up.

“Did you hear what I said earlier?”

“I didn’t hear it well.”

“I’ll teach you a few basic imbuement spells you’ll need.”

Professor Verdus was not the type to hold onto students and teach them one-on-one.

He would leave the students in the classroom like a shepherd with a flock, waiting for them to learn on their own!

He never did anything he didn’t find interesting, and one-on-one teaching certainly wasn’t.

But this time was different.

If Lee Han was to help with artifact production, he’d at least need to know a few basic spells (by Professor Verdus’s standards) that were used frequently.

In Professor Verdus’s memory, his students only started using those spells around third year, so that meant waiting two years.

“During class?”

“No. You have to learn something else in class. We’ll set aside another time.”

“You said they were basic, right?”

“Yeah, basic.”

“If they’re basic, can’t we just learn them during class?”

“Aha.”

It seemed Professor Verdus only now realized what Lee Han was saying.

“They’re basic, but not something you’re supposed to learn now.”

“……”

‘Then they’re not basic…’

Lee Han bit back a curse.

Maybe he didn’t know what “basic” meant?

“Professor.”

“What?”

“Sorry, I’m already taking a lot of other classes. It’s hard to make more time for this.”

“What!??!?”

Professor Verdus looked as if he’d just heard “The world will end in one minute.”

“Why?!??!”

‘Did I explain it weirdly?’

Lee Han reviewed what he’d said.

Was it really so hard to understand that he couldn’t make extra time because of his other classes?

“Isn’t imbuement magic more fun?!”

“Who knows?”

“Imbuement magic is definitely more fun!”

“Who knows…”

“Imbuement magic is so much more fun…”

Professor Verdus muttered, looking completely shocked.

He clearly hadn’t even imagined Lee Han would say no.

“Why is Wardanaz like this?”

Professor Verdus grabbed poor Deorgyu, who was passing by with a box of materials.

“Huh?”

“I said I’d teach him, but he says he can’t make time because of other classes.”

“Uh… isn’t that just what he means…?”

Deorgyu wondered why the professor couldn’t understand that.

“Can’t he just skip the other classes?”

“Wouldn’t the other professors hate that?”

“Is it bad if the professors hate it?”

“…Then the other professors might attack Lee Han, right?”

With the other person spouting nonsense, Deorgyu started to do the same.

And, in fact, it wasn’t even nonsense.

Even the Headmaster attacked students, so it wasn’t impossible for professors to do so…

“That’s too much!”

“Exactly.”

“Isn’t there any way to make more time?”

“Exactly…”

Deorgyu sent Lee Han a pleading look.

He wanted to hurry and bring the materials and study magic, but some crazy professor wouldn’t let him go.

Lee Han spoke to Professor Verdus.

“There is a good way, Professor.”

“Oh? Now you’re interested?”

“No… It’s just that, regardless of my will, there’s not enough time. So we have to make more.”

“How?”

“To gather materials, we have to get them from the merchants.”

To practice imbuement magic, you needed all sorts of materials.

Those materials didn’t come for free. Students had to work to get them from merchants.

“If you provide those materials for us, we’ll have more time.”

“Huh? Me?”

At Lee Han’s words, Professor Verdus hesitated for a moment.

Studying was something students did for themselves.

So, students should also get their own materials—that was Professor Verdus’s philosophy…

“Alright, fine.”

But when he needed something, Professor Verdus could change his mind in an instant.

“Now you have more time, right?”

“Still not enough, Professor.”

“Still?!”

“Yes. We make a lot of mistakes these days. Do you know why?”

“Because you’re all terrible at magic?”

“……”

“……”

The students passing by with boxes glared at the back of Professor Verdus’s head.

“…That too, but wouldn’t a few words of advice from you help a lot?”

“Alright, fine.”

Professor Verdus nodded.

“Now you have more time, right?”

Lee Han was surprised at how obedient Professor Verdus was.

Huh?

‘At this rate, I could probably ask for more?’

Lee Han almost asked Professor Verdus to juggle materials on his head, but held back.

Then, suddenly curious, he asked,

“But Professor, you never say we should cut down on sleep or rest?”

“Huh? Oh, Gonadaltes banned that. Isn’t it too much?”

“…Haha. Exactly.”

• * *

With the professor paying for materials and teaching directly, the students were briefly happy.

“Professor, my mana circuit amplification part is blocked…”

“Draw a line here.”

“…????”

The student blinked at the sight of Professor Verdus drawing a single line over the blocked circuit.

Uh… huh?

“What does this line do?”

“What?”

Professor Verdus looked troubled, as if wondering, ‘How do I explain something so simple?’

Flustered, the professor called out the one responsible for this.

“This won’t do. You explain it.”

“No, Professor. If he’s stuck, I wouldn’t know either… Oh, this is because too much mana is concentrated at the top, so it disperses it. If you leave it, the magic circle’s line will overload and break.”

“Oh… I see!”

Lee Han was pleased his friend understood, but then hesitated.

‘Oops.’

He should have pretended not to know…

Anyway, Professor Verdus was satisfied as long as the student understood.

And whenever someone got stuck, he called for Lee Han.

“Wardanaz.”

“Wardanaz?”

“Wardanaz!”

“……”

Lee Han considered just letting Professor Verdus lose interest in the students again.

• * *

“By the way, I should tell you about the final exam.”

Professor Verdus checked the time while teaching enthusiastically.

“There’s still over a week left.”

“Artifacts take time. You guys are so bad, even with this much time, many of you won’t finish.”

Everyone was moved by the professor’s warm words.

“The final exam assignment is simple. You know the assignment you submitted today? Upgrade it one step and bring it back. That’s how you’ll be graded.”

“Hmmm…”

“Ugh.”

The students pondered how to go about Professor Verdus’s assignment.

“……”

And Lee Han, for the first time in a while, was deeply dismayed.

‘Damn.’

How was he supposed to upgrade it even further here?