Episode 1101

Episode 1101

“If the baby Bagueste tries to bite you, just let it. Its teeth are poisonous, but you can detoxify later…”

Professor Bendozol, who had been imparting aggressive teachings to the students, paused.

Einrogard’s most enviable student was holding something in his arms.

What is that?

“…You! What are you holding?!”

-!

The baby Bagueste, startled by the shout, jumped down. Lee Han looked at Professor Bendozol as if dumbfounded.

“Why are you shouting? The Bagueste got scared.”

“How did you already tame it?! I haven’t even fed it the potion yet!”

“…!”

Only then did Lee Han realize, belatedly.

Come to think of it, was Giselle not picking a fight but pointing out that Lee Han was already holding the baby Bagueste?

“Why do you talk so unclearly and make people misunderstand?”

Lee Han immediately scolded Giselle.

A person should speak accurately and specifically, but instead, she was using ambiguous body language.

“……”

Having quietly stood by and getting scolded for no reason, Giselle stared at her friend as if he were crazy.

‘What the hell is this guy?’

She wanted to explode with anger, but before that, Professor Bendozol moved first.

As he approached to check the startled baby Bagueste that had just jumped down, the monster let out a low growl. It was a blatant threat.

“Damn it, it’s scared!”

“It’s because of you, Professor.”

“I know! It can’t be helped. Here.”

Professor Bendozol pulled out a thick riding crop and handed it to his student.

Lee Han looked at the professor with a ‘what am I supposed to do with this?’ expression.

“Why are you giving me this?”

“Take it and hit me!”

“…What??”

At the sudden instruction, Lee Han wondered if his real intentions had been discovered.

Could this be a sting operation?

But Professor Bendozol was serious. Annoyed by the student’s nonsense, he shouted again in a voice filled with irritation.

“You have to show that the one it likes is overpowering me, so the thing feels safe and shows itself again!”

“Ah.”

Finally understanding, Lee Han took the whip. He gave it a light swing.

“Hey.”

“…Do you think Baguestes are stupid like you? You think it’ll fall for something like that? Do it properly!”

“But Professor, you might get hurt…”

“Do it right! I’m withstanding it by magic anyway!”

“Hey. Understood.”

Professor Bendozol forgot that his opponent was a monster who could physically dominate even students from the White Tiger Tower, and wouldn’t lose out in any knight order.

As Lee Han infused magic power, the whip vibrated without even being swung.

Crack!

“Gah!”

Even with reinforced skin and muscles tensed to absorb impact, Professor Bendozol screamed unconsciously at the blow that penetrated to his bones.

Lee Han didn’t stop and continued swinging the riding crop. It sounded more like clubs clashing than a whip being used.

“Ow, ugh, ack, gah!”

‘Professor’s acting is no joke.’

Lee Han was impressed by Professor Bendozol’s performance as he rolled on the floor.

Was his deep love for monsters infusing his acting with soul?

The frightened baby Bagueste, who had been hiding, timidly crawled back out and climbed into Lee Han’s arms.

“Professor! Look! It came back out reassured!”

“Good, good.”

Professor Bendozol staggered to his feet. His body felt like it was creaking all over.

He wanted to shout at his student, ‘You crazy bastard, you’re ridiculously strong!’ but next to him was a dragon watching.

When his eyes met Wuman’s, the professor forced a smile, to show that the lesson was proceeding perfectly.

‘Hmm. Professor Bendozol is a brilliant wizard, but also quite an eccentric. I should keep my distance when dealing with him.’

Wuman thought to himself.

He knew there were no ordinary lessons in Einrogard, but wasn’t this excessively weird?!

While the dragon was thinking what would’ve made the professor sob, Lee Han asked again.

“Is this one unusual?”

No sooner had he finished speaking than another baby Bagueste escaped its pen and clung to Lee Han.

Professor Bendozol twitched his lips with burning jealousy.

“Professor Bendozol. May Wuman say a word?”

Wuman asked cautiously for permission.

It was never good for an outsider to talk much when the professor was teaching. No matter how eccentric he was, etiquette must be observed.

“As much as you wish! What would you like to say?”

“In Wuman’s opinion, this baby Bagueste probably approached, overwhelmed by pure magical power.”

Being a dragon, Wuman was well aware of phenomena where certain monsters submit or obey.

Pure magical power often inspired awe.

“Indeed… That’s quite likely.”

-Why, why are you looking at me?

The baby Basilisk, sensing Lee Han peering at it through his sleeve, asked back.

Surely its relationship with Lee Han was that of a close child and parent, independent of magical power?

“If Professor Bendozol brought the baby Bagueste to teach that, that’s very subtle. If it were a fully grown Bagueste, it’d try to resist rather than submit.”

“Th-thank you!”

Professor Bendozol nearly burst into tears.

To think a lesson he thought doomed could be revived this way.

“Then Professor Bendozol. Would you now show the students how to tame the baby Bagueste with potions and magic?”

“…Yes! Yes!”

The professor looked around at the gathered students. Now that it had come to this, he was determined to succeed.

“Now. You idi…”

About to threaten them all with a beating if they failed, Professor Bendozol hesitated.

He realized that the dragon might dislike him if it heard such words.

“Y-you… excellent… students… Ugh. Wardanaz!”

In the end, Professor Bendozol called Lee Han.

He simply couldn’t think of anything appropriate to encourage the students.

• * *

Luckily, the lesson ended successfully.

It was all thanks to Professor Bendozol’s secret methods and the hard work of one student who had run here and there throughout the class.

Wuman docked some points in a few areas (the professor’s eccentric personality and overworking a single student), but outwardly praised the professor and took his leave.

“…Come here, will you.”

After the dragon left, Professor Bendozol called Lee Han.

Lee Han, who was hugging and playing with the baby Bagueste and his friends, showed a blatantly annoyed expression.

“Pretend you didn’t hear. Wardanaz.”

“Act like you’re chatting with us. That man’s just out for revenge because the inspector left.”

“Hey. Wardanaz. Didn’t you hit too hard earlier? I thought I heard bones breaking.”

Some of the White Tiger Tower students expressed confusion over Lee Han’s earlier blow.

No matter how you looked at it, it had been far too destructive for a demonstration.

“That’s because the professor told me to do it that way?”

“But still, the sound was just…”

“Don’t talk nonsense. The professor was defending himself with magic. He didn’t take any real damage.”

“Really?”

Friends tilted their heads but accepted it for now.

In magic, Wardanaz’s insights were far more precise.

‘Well, the one who actually did the hitting should know best.’

“Hey! I told you to come here!”

Unable to hold back, Professor Bendozol stomped over, and Lee Han replied, pretending to be startled.

“Professor! I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you at all.”

“Do you take me for some idiot like Professor Verdus? Take this.”

The professor forced a rolled-up paper into Lee Han’s hand.

Lee Han, casting a wary glance, didn’t open it right away.

“What is it? For the record, if it’s a cursed scroll, it won’t work on me anyway.”

“……”

Suppressing the urge to whack him with the whip, Professor Bendozol snatched the paper back.

He opened it himself and handed it over. To Lee Han’s surprise, it was a commission.

“It’s a commission sent to me from the Cancer Farm.”

Einrogard students considered Professor Bendozol something of a madman (not entirely wrong), but outside, he was treated as an expert on all kinds of animals and monsters.

Of course, he didn’t care about that and ignored most requests.

If it was a plea to rescue an injured or sick wild monster, he would sprint there for free, but how many requests were like that?

Most requests came from imperial breeders wanting advice on how to raise something. And with his personality, Bendozol never liked others raising animals.

“This commission… Even your seniors coveted it. Go in my place and get it done.”

Even a certain White Tiger Tower student named Ka Mo had wanted this commission; that Cancer Farm was famous in the empire.

Even if you were not pursuing work related to mounts, just visiting and seeing the animals there would provide much to gain.

‘Tsk. Now that I actually hand it over, I really don’t like it.’

Professor Bendozol regretted it a little.

He’d never planned to go himself, but entrusting it to a student was another matter entirely.

No matter how excellent that student may be, how could he give away the chance to meet all the rarest imperial animals?

He wouldn’t do it even in his worst jealousy.

That had always been Professor Bendozol’s stance, and yet here he was, changing.

And to the very student he was most jealous of…

“Wow. Thank you, Professor.”

“…Is that it?”

Professor Bendozol was flustered by the dull response.

He hadn’t expected Wardanaz to cry or be moved like in some meaningful teacher-student drama, but thought at least he’d be a little surprised.

“Actually, I have something to tell you, too.”

“What is it?”

“I have a lot of commissions at the moment, so I can’t guarantee I’ll definitely get to this one…”

“…Get lost right now!!!”

• * *

‘Is that really something to get so angry about?’

Lee Han shook his head at the rude attitude he’d just witnessed from Professor Bendozol and walked off.

What could he do about having so many commissions already? That wasn’t his fault.

‘Maybe this is why dragons don’t like him.’

Thinking as sharply as a knife, Lee Han arrived at the lecture hall.

Basement level one, Professor Voladi’s classroom, a place he could now walk to with his eyes closed.

“?”

Opening the door, Lee Han was puzzled.

Normally, the classroom was always transformed in various ways to harass—no, train—him.

But today’s classroom was very…

‘Ordinary?’

It looked like a standard classroom with desks and chairs.

Lee Han readied his senses, wondering if there was an ambush or trap, or if Professor Voladi had trained a mimic to look like a desk.

“Take a seat.”

Professor Voladi gestured to his student. Lee Han, not hiding his suspicion, caution, and skepticism, sat down slowly.

‘Is this a trap that triggers when I sit?’

“I heard you’ve received several commissions this semester. It’ll be hard to fit things into your schedule.”

“Ah, yes.”

Most commissions were not short, fast jobs. Especially in Lee Han’s case, with so many invitations, it was even worse.

Someone with room in their class schedule could squeeze them in, but Lee Han’s open slots were fewer than the blanks on one of his usual answer sheets.

“I was planning to catch up on missed lectures separately, like last semester.”

Professor Voladi nodded and then said:

“The -Understanding Intermediate Combat Magic and Applications- class will proceed flexibly instead of on fixed time slots.”

“…Professor!”

Lee Han was startled.

He’d never expected Professor Voladi to show such considerate flexibility.

“Wait. Did someone order you to do this?”

“Professor Garcia asked me as a favor.”

“Ah.”

Once he understood the truth, Lee Han immediately accepted it. He was still moved, even if it was slightly less so.

That Professor Voladi would cut his own class to free up time for him…

‘Wait. Does this mean I’ll have to listen to lectures while I’m out on assignments?’