Episode 360

Episode 360

“In truth, isn’t it that Professor wants to join the dark magic meetings?”

Not all professors in the world were like Professor Voladi.

Among professors, there were more cases than you’d think of those who wanted to hang out with students (obliviously).

Especially in less popular fields like dark magic.

It must have been difficult to get along with other professors in Einrogard, so the loneliness was all the more severe.

“What?”

But Direte looked utterly surprised at Lee Han’s words.

“That’s not it. He’s not the type.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ve invited him myself a few times, but he always politely turned me down.”

“Hmm.”

Lee Han made a thinking sound and fell silent for a moment.

Direte was an outstanding dark wizard and a fine senior, but he wasn’t a crafty disciple like Lee Han.

Especially at the professor level, it wasn’t uncommon for them to say A with their mouths but B with the rest of their body language.

You had to learn to interpret this professor’s code to become a crafty disciple.

“Do you remember how he turned you down?”

“Huh? He said, why would I join that, I’d only disturb the students’ gathering.”

“I see.”

Lee Han nodded as if he understood.

That was a classic false rejection.

“And did he add something like, ‘But if you need help with your magic research, call me’ afterwards?”

“…!”

Direte’s eyes widened.

“Is that divination magic?!”

“It’s not divination, senior—just prediction. If you don’t mind, I’d like to visit Professor Mortum’s workshop now and invite him directly.”

“I don’t mind, but… are you sure it’s okay? He might get annoyed about being bothered about something he’s always refused.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“No.”

Lee Han stopped Direte.

With a disciple like Direte—who had worked under Professor Mortum so long—at his side, the professor might get stubborn out of embarrassment.

“I’m enough on my own. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay then, take care—…wait! Hey! Junior! What was that about professors fighting in the street!?”

But by the time Direte remembered and shouted after him, Lee Han had already disappeared down the street.

• * *

A professor of Einrogard’s caliber was a master mage, so they each had a mansion or workshop in Granden City.

And Professor Mortum’s workshop was located in the central noble district.

…next to the cemetery in the district.

‘Is this really okay?’

Of course, it was a far more elegant space than some nameless public cemetery at the city’s edge.

Since this was a noble family’s cemetery, beautifully carved marble headstones and neatly bundled flowers were placed fresh and tidy everywhere…

…Yet the tomb keeper’s tower serving as a workshop still exuded an eerie vibe.

At this point, it seemed the issue was not the cemetery, but the dark magic itself.

“Professor Mortum, are you in?”

“Cough. I told you, it’ll be ready by next week. Push me one more time and I’ll mix up your innards… Wardanaz, is it?”

Professor Mortum, who had opened the door so grimly, looked surprised when he saw which student it was.

“A surprise!”

“Do you have another appointment?”

“Cough. No, it’s not that… So many professors went after you, I figured by now you’d be in pieces.”

“……”

Lee Han nearly cast a curse then and there.

If you knew, you should’ve warned me!

‘Calm down. Professor Mortum is still one of the better ones.’

From Lee Han’s standpoint, a professor who just did his own thing and only occasionally invited you was better than one who chased you down and tried to drag you off.

Both were like overgrown children, but the latter at least…

“Who were you just talking to?”

“Ah, cough. Someone hired me, keeps pestering me for results.”

A noble had died, and it seemed his family wanted Professor Mortum to track down the deceased’s hidden legacy.

A few divination wizards had taken the job but failed for lack of clues.

Now they figured they should try to retrieve fragments of memory from the dead using dark magic.

“So you take that kind of commission too!”

Lee Han felt once again just how broad a mage’s job prospects could be.

Maybe one day he could have skeletons do delivery jobs or perform street shows—not a bad idea.

“It’s not a great commission, cough. But a dark wizard is better off accepting these kinds of jobs.”

“For networking with noble families?”

“No, cough. Because jobs this expensive rarely come.”

“……”

“So… what brings you here? If you want me to fend off the other professors chasing you, forget it. It’s more than I can handle.”

‘I know that.’

“Of course not. And it’s an honor for me that the professors care enough to visit and seek me out. It’s more than I deserve as an unworthy student.”

“Cough. You have a good attitude for a dark wizard. If it were me, I’d have poisoned everyone. To a student’s vacation…”

Lee Han caught himself just in time and forced himself not to nod along.

“I’m here today because I’d like you to attend our club meeting, Professor.”

“…Meeting?”

Professor Mortum answered a beat late. That was enough for Lee Han to know he was aware today was the dark magic club meeting.

“The meeting where senior dark magic students share knowledge with juniors.”

“Ah. Ah… cough. That meeting?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll pass.”

Professor Mortum waved his hand.

“Cough. If you get stuck on research, come ask me questions, but… well… no one does.”

A flash of disappointment flickered across Professor Mortum’s eyes for a moment.

Lee Han spoke firmly.

“Professor!”

“…Why are you suddenly shouting?”

“The seniors always want to ask you questions, sir. But they hesitate because they know how overworked you always are.”

“…!”

“No matter how much you say it’s fine, if you don’t show up in person, they’ll never bring themselves to ask.”

“What cowards…”

“I’m sorry, but please understand.”

His tone was curt, but Professor Mortum’s face relaxed a little.

“Me and Gainando, and Raphadael—we all wonder about the wisdom you’ve gained as a dark wizard. During the semester, we’re too busy with lectures to ask, but we hoped we could during the break. When you weren’t there, everyone was disappointed.”

“Is that so…?”

“Yes. When we were disappointed, the seniors asked what was wrong, so I told them honestly, and they said, ‘We wish we could invite him too, but we’d feel too bad to impose’.”

“Oh…!”

Professor Mortum sighed.

He’d known the students were timid, but hadn’t realized they were this timid.

There was absolutely no need to be so scared.

“So I summoned up courage and came to ask in person. I thought being a first-year, you’d be more forgiving.”

“Cough. Of course. What kind of wizard loses his temper over a first-year’s mistake?”

Lee Han thought of the bone principal right away, but kept silent.

“…All right. Cough. If you put it that way, I have no choice. Can’t have the few newcomers disappearing.”

“Exactly. If you attend the meeting, no new students will defect to other disciplines.”

Professor Mortum grabbed his staff and stood up.

He patted Lee Han’s back as they walked.

“Cough. Wardanaz, I really do have a fine student in you.”

“Not at all, professor. I’m just embarrassed.”

Lee Han swallowed the smile of a hunter who’d made a successful catch.

‘If only the other professors were this easy.’

If only all professors would feel this good, life would be so much simpler.

Why is it that when a professor is happy, it always means ‘I’ll teach you more magic’…

• * *

“My goodness. I’ve never seen Professor Mortum in such a good mood.”

“Did you drug him?”

“No, it’s a curse. A laughter curse, an intoxication curse, what else would make him this happy?”

Some seniors were shocked to see grumpy, coughing, ever-complaining Professor Mortum looking genuinely content.

Direte was the same.

“W-what in the world…”

“Senior, he just wanted to attend our gathering, that’s all.”

“…!”

Direte stared at Lee Han with awe.

This first-year junior, who hadn’t been here long, suddenly felt like a reliable comrade.

He felt as if he could entrust his back to this junior when facing a crazy professor.

‘Am I crazy? Trusting a first-year…?’

“Cough. The bandits held out stubbornly inside the fortress. So I turned the captured bandits into undead and sent them charging. Along the way, as we captured more, I turned them into undead and charged again. After a while, they surrendered.”

“Truly an instructive story!”

“I’d like to try that myself!”

Without Lee Han needing to prompt them, the dark magic club students showed keen interest in Professor Mortum’s long story.

Thanks to that, the professor was thoroughly satisfied and took a break after his talk.

“So… you’re a prince, huh?”

“Yes!”

By then, the seniors’ interest had shifted from Lee Han to the other juniors.

“A member of the imperial family studying dark magic—won’t that get you in trouble?”

“Oh? Really?”

“……”

Lee Han casually chimed in.

“Tell them how you used dark magic in front of the nobles when the basilisk showed up.”

“But Lee Han, you stopped halfw—”

Lee Han pinched Gainando’s wrist. Gainando got it immediately.

“When the basilisk appeared, I protected the nobles with dark magic!”

“!”

“Oh…”

The seniors were surprised at Gainando’s words.

To use dark magic in front of nobles, with no hesitation or calculation—

“If a person is proud and honest about their magic, what do things like status or society’s opinion matter? Is that your view?”

“Status? Society?”

Lee Han pinched Gainando again. Gainando got it.

“Yup!”

“This year’s first-years really are amazing.”

The seniors whispered in astonishment.

But their attitudes were now very favorable.

You couldn’t show conviction like that without being genuinely committed to dark magic.

“So. You from the White Tiger Tower—why are you here? That tower is very rare in dark magic.”

“Don’t tell me you’re here to learn dark magic countermeasures?”

“……”

Raphadael felt cold sweat running down his back.

“Well, um, it’s…”

“Raphadael gets misunderstood because he’s from a knight family, but honestly, no one’s more devoted to dark magic than he is.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Every time we explored the undead realm, he always led the way.”

“Isn’t that just… perverted?”

The seniors looked at Raphadael, amazed for an entirely different reason.

What’s so great about the realm of the undead?

“He probably just likes the undead and wanted to set an example.”

‘Isn’t that the very definition of a pervert?’

Raphadael stood silently, face red, unable to do anything.

Maybe interpreting it differently, the seniors stopped asking.

“Yeah, well. You’re all oddballs, but at least you’re passionate about dark magic.”

“We’re glad to have juniors like you join the club. …Of course, one of you has odd tastes, but we’ll respect that.”

“Nobody’s asking about Imirg?”

“She’s Black Turtle Tower.”

“Right.”

“……”

Gainando gaped in disbelief.

What was with these petty seniors…?

When the seniors’ barrage of questions ended, Lee Han lightly patted Raphadael’s shoulder.

Raphadael glared at Lee Han for a moment before speaking.

“…I’ll just say thank you.”

One way or another, it was true that Wardanaz had covered for Raphadael.

Otherwise, he might not have gotten out of that situation unscathed.

“Okay, never mind thanks, just pay me back in silver coins.”

“…Are you out of your mind, you lunatic?!”