Episode 350

Episode 350

Lee Han wiped his tears with a handkerchief. Strangely, his vision was blurry.

‘Is it raining?’

“…You should eat something, at least. I’ll go buy something.”

“No, we should treat you.”

“If we take your silver coins for ice cream when underclassmen barely show up as it is, they’ll stop coming for good.”

The seniors sat Lee Han down in front of the fountain and walked toward the ice cream cart.

-…I said I don’t want it…

-…I can’t yield on this either…

“??”

Lee Han was bewildered as he watched the seniors arguing with the ice cream vendor.

‘What is that? Did they fail to haggle the price?’

If that was the case, Lee Han figured he should go help.

“What’s going on?”

“Ah… The vendors we know won’t accept our silver coins.”

“!”

-I can’t accept it. I won’t accept it.

-Heavens. You healing magicians are the last people who should pay us. Just thinking of all you’ve done! Please, no.

-That’s right. Here, I just made some crepes; please, have some.

-What’s that? Are the healing magicians of Einrogard here?

As the argument dragged on, nearby vendors started to flock over.

Recognizing the students of Einrogard, vendors brought armfuls of snacks, piling them up for the students.

The seniors, flustered, didn’t know what to do.

-It’s alrigh…

-Heavens, you’re so thin, I can see your bones!

-That’s a prejudice…

-It’s true! You need to eat more!

-We’re healing magicians, so that’s nonsense…

-Take this, too!

The seniors, thoroughly wrung dry by the swarming vendors, returned looking half-soulless.

They unloaded mountains of snacks onto the table.

“Eat up, junior.”

“…You’ll eat too, right?”

“Yeah. But we worked so much we’ve lost our appetite. You have to eat more for us.”

“……”

Lee Han resolved to eat until he burst.

‘At least their popularity is good, thank goodness.’

Black mages also sometimes had vendors refuse to take their coins, but that was a bit different.

Here, the healing magicians truly wanted to treat them out of kindness, taking no silver.

The seniors each grabbed an ice cream cone, sat and watched the fountain, played magician card games, or rolled dice on the board for demon-rising.

Everyone’s face was filled with peaceful happiness…

Rumble!

“What was that sound?”

“Must’ve been an accident in the guild district! Isn’t that the new building they’re putting up…?”

“Look at the smoke—did something catch fire?!”

“……”

The seniors silently stared at the ground, then stood up.

“Seniors… Don’t tell me…”

“Sorry, Wardanaz.”

“You never know. The professor might need our help.”

“Thanks to you, today was wonderful. We’re glad to have a junior like you.”

“No…!”

Before Lee Han could stop them, the seniors, a donut each in their mouth, ran toward the accident site.

“With the headmaster there, things will be fine…!”

Lee Han called anxiously, but the seniors just waved and left.

With only a mountain of snacks left, Lee Han sighed.

‘Even the kindest people would get cranky after a few years of living like that.’

Since even the vendors had gone to watch the accident, the square grew quiet.

Then a voice sounded from behind.

“Why are you eating alone like this?”

“…!”

At the familiar voice, Lee Han turned.

Standing there was an old magician, with a kindly grandmother’s demeanor.

“Yumidihus, ma’am…!”

“It’s been a while.”

Yumidihus, the water element mage whose name was renowned in the empire, sat in front of Lee Han and gestured toward the waffles.

“Of course you can have some.”

“Thank you.”

Though she hadn’t moved at all, the syrups on the table rose gently and coated the waffle.

After a bite, Yumidihus looked at Lee Han and asked,

“Why are you so tense?”

“Well…”

Yumidihus herself was a reasonably crazy mage, but what mattered was the mage who always appeared after Yumidihus’s entrance.

“…Didn’t Professor Baegrek come to see you to prepare something for the second semester?”

“Ah. Yes, that’s true.”

Yumidihus nodded.

“You were worried Voladi Baegrek might not find me.”

“…Ah, yes.”

Lee Han carefully controlled his facial muscles as he replied.

Yumidihus continued, as if to say, ‘Don’t worry.’

“He found me just fine, so you have nothing to worry about.”

“Yes…”

Crunch.

“By the way, I’d like to see some water element magic. Can you show me?”

Lee Han grabbed his staff. Yumidihus spoke in a gentle but firm voice.

“Let’s see you cast.”

“Spring forth!”

“Transform the form.”

“Become a wall!”

“It’s about time you did it all at once. Try doing it in one go.”

Lee Han’s spellcasting speed was near the best among other mages.

Naturally, since he had been harshly trained as a battle mage.

As such, it wasn’t much trouble to break up water element magic into distinct stages as he cast it.

But Yumidihus was telling him it was about time he graduated from that.

Do it like a great mage—all at once.

Lee Han nodded.

‘I suppose it is time.’

Of course, if his friends had heard, they’d have said, ‘Wardanaz, get your head straight. You’re still a first-year; what do you mean “it’s time?”’, but Lee Han’s concepts had been somewhat shattered by his professors.

“Water, shield!”

He summoned water and transformed it into a shield all at once, neatly compressing everything into a single spell and gesture.

“Excellent.”

“I was lucky. I’m most familiar with this element…”

“That familiarity comes from your hard work, so don’t call it luck.”

With a wave of her hand, Yumidihus summoned water from the fountain, raising it into a wall.

“Let’s see your rotational attribute. Can you penetrate this wall?”

“I’ll try.”

Among the advanced attributes of water element, the rotational property was something Lee Han had practiced steadily since his first semester.

But it wasn’t easy.

He’d used it against armored demon ghouls a few times with limitations, but it always took a lot of time.

At Lee Han’s current level, to handle rotation properly meant either sacrificing some power for a moderate spin, or spending extra time on it.

Yumidihus was curious to see how far he’d overcome this issue.

Of course, for an average student, it would take effort well into their second or third year, but the student before her was a special case.

Splash!

“?!”

Yumidihus was surprised.

Lee Han had summoned dozens of water orbs.

‘What is he planning?’

“Spin!”

At the command, several of the water orbs lost their form and disappeared.

Because the rotational attribute was applied poorly, they lost form and canceled out.

Lee Han focused on the orbs that had properly absorbed the rotation.

As the spin quickened, some more orbs disappeared. Lee Han ignored it and kept accelerating the rest.

“……”

Yumidihus was honestly impressed.

She wasn’t amazed at Lee Han’s magical talent anymore—she’d already acknowledged that before.

What impressed Yumidihus was his way of thinking.

No matter how much mana one had, there were few magicians who’d dare use it as he did.

To perfect a spell, he sacrificed dozens of others as offerings.

Other magicians would call it an absurd waste, but for Lee Han it was nothing.

Within minutes, he completed a single fiercely spinning water orb.

Pop!

That orb easily pierced the wall Yumidihus had erected, and the old mage applauded.

“Well done. I must admit, I was surprised.”

“Really?”

Lee Han looked pleased.

Truth be told, he’d worried Yumidihus might say, “This is as far as you are?”

But seeing her so satisfied, he felt relieved.

“Of course you did well. Why are you surprised?”

“I still have many shortcomings…”

“Because of Voladi Baegrek, you’re unable to evaluate yourself fairly. You’re doing very well.”

“Thank you.”

It always felt good to hear someone curse out Professor Voladi.

Lee Han bowed his head.

“If you were stuck, I was going to give you some advice, but… with a method like that… there’s nothing for me to say.”

“Huh? Please, do advise me.”

Lee Han felt wronged.

There’s no way that method—floating dozens of orbs—was the best approach.

Advice from a great mage like Yumidihus would certainly be more effective than such brute force…

“No, you’re doing just right.”

Yumidihus thought Lee Han’s method was very good.

There was no royal road to magic.

Especially for subtle, sense-dependent magic like the rotation attribute, nothing beat experiencing and accumulating instinctively.

The method of sending dozens of orbs spinning like a madman, as Lee Han just did, was very effective.

If he kept it up, he’d soon gain a full understanding of the rotation attribute.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

As Professor Voladi approached, Lee Han’s heart sank.

His robes looked as tattered as if he’d come straight from a battlefield.

‘What did he go hunt down?’

Since Lee Han would have to face whatever Voladi brought in the second semester, a wave of dread rose in his soul.

“Why are you late?”

“The other professors requested my help to deal with the accident scene.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t refuse them.”

“Gonadaltes also requested it, so I couldn’t refuse.”

“Gonadaltes?”

Yumidihus was surprised.

The skeleton headmaster wasn’t the sort to step in personally for that kind of thing.

Usually, he’d just delegate to his students or other professors…

“Was it really that serious?”

“Not especially. I think it was just so the students could get some rest.”

Unable to contain himself, Lee Han asked,

“Did the students end up participating?”

“No. Professor Garcia let them rest.”

Lee Han was moved.

Yumidihus nodded and said,

“Rest is important. Honestly, the young healing magicians at Einrogard are suffering from overwork.”

“Yes. Rest is important.”

“???”

Lee Han stared at Professor Voladi.

Did someone who knew that have to act the way he did until now?

“Now that Voladi Baegrek is here, let’s get to the main point. I came because I heard you have an affinity for the cold element.”

Lee Han looked at Professor Voladi again.

Seeming to understand what that look meant, the professor gave a small nod.

Lee Han had no idea what that nod was meant to convey.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an affinity…”

“If you can even summon it, that’s affinity. With rare elements, it’s hard to summon them at all without affinity. Anyway, the cold element is closely related to water, and learning to use them together is very helpful. So for the second semester, I’ll… Ah, I’m not supposed to say the name, am I?”

Professor Voladi nodded again.

Lee Han stared longingly at his professor’s collar, feeling a sudden urge to grab it.

“You caught that thing, and then came to find me?”

“Thank you.”

Lee Han had no real complaints about Yumidihus’s proposal.

Unlike the other professors, Yumidihus taught in a relatively normal, sensible way.

If he could stay at her estate and learn cold element magic, that would be all right.

‘And it’ll be a good excuse when other professors drop by.’

“Shall we go, then?”

“Ah. We’re not learning at your estate?”

“It’s a little awkward to do it there. Another mage, who owes me a favor, has a tower where we’ll stay.”

“Is the mage your apprentice?”

“Not an apprentice, but they learned a few things from me.”

‘Isn’t that basically her student?’

As Lee Han mused, he stopped.

Come to think of it, wasn’t Professor Voladi also Yumidihus’s apprentice?

“By any chance, is that person similar to Professor Baegrek?”

“No.”

“Ah, I see.”

Lee Han was relieved.

At least until Yumidihus’s next words came.

“He’s an even ruder fellow.”

“……”