Episode 1235
by Cristae‘Kuh. I can’t accept this.’
Lee Han listened to the professor’s lecture, but he couldn’t accept it at all.
Wasn’t that performance worthy of full marks?
Lee Han was certain Professor Baegrek, upset by being stuck in the punishment room, had unconsciously raised the grading standard.
Normally, he’d have given him full marks.
“Sorry, Eandurde. Want to come back down?”
“I don’t mind…”
Eandurde looked slightly awkward.
Hadn’t his senior just canceled the magic as he pleased and then declared full marks on his own?
‘Must be my imagination…’
Their strict senior would never do such things to himself or to other classmates (especially not to someone like Gainando).
It must’ve just been confusion from a hectic situation.
“All right. Let’s go again!”
“Eandurde can do it!”
-I’ll send you secret signals now that the positions have changed!
“Keep it down!”
Joulin was cheering and quickly hushed the baby basilisk.
He’d meant to send signals secretly, but the basilisk was about to blow his cover.
“Your Highness.”
“J-J-Joulin hasn’t done anything yet…!”
“Well done. Just keep it up.”
“!??”
Lee Han started again, signaling their code.
The magic circle was similar to before, but the composition was tweaked; water spheres shot out.
Having failed once, Eandurde didn’t fall for it twice. As the junior broke through the challenge his senior laid, this time Professor Voladi prepared his attack.
Simultaneously using smokescreen and illusions, this attack aimed to confuse vision, smell, and even mana sense.
For inexperienced mages, the moment their main senses are confused, their movements freeze.
Sure enough, Eandurde’s feet stopped. Voladi’s eyes glinted sternly.
Freezing here was the worst option. You had to keep moving, focusing on familiar senses or using others to pick out reality from tricks.
Just then Eandurde moved. Even Professor Voladi was surprised by the uncanny movement.
How could he slip by like that, with no preparatory muscle motion?
“……”
The reason was obvious. Eandurde looked at his senior as if baffled.
Lee Han had used telekinesis to nudge Eandurde into motion.
An amazing feat! In this high-pressure situation, he’d moved Eandurde just enough to dodge.
…And yet he used that skill for cheating!
“Full marks!”
Though totally caught, Lee Han shamelessly clapped. Professor Voladi beckoned again.
Eandurde said awkwardly,
“Uh, senior.”
“What is it, Eandurde? Surprised you got full marks? Don’t be. You totally deserved it.”
“I think… I think it’s better if I just practice with Professor alone…”
“…!!!”
Lee Han gloomily focused on his remaining work.
He looked so gloomy that even the usually strict Yoanen tried to console him.
“Well, Wardanaz, when students grow up, they inevitably leave their teacher’s side. …Although technically as a junior it’s a bit different, but—you get the point, right?”
“Since Professor Baegrek played the harsh teacher, I was just taking the kind teacher role.”
Lee Han grumbled on. Yoanen thought privately,
‘It doesn’t seem that way.’
If you were being precise, Professor Voladi was the proper teacher, while Lee Han was more like a saboteur.
Still, Yoanen had no intention of provoking the dragon contractor, who would one day become a legendary alchemist.
What if Stedal Nago showed up and trashed her workshop?
“I know how you feel. I was sad too, whenever Yoner ignored me in the workshop and did as he pleased.”
“But that’s only because Lady Meikin tried to make him work 25 hours a day. It’s different for me.”
“……”
The red-haired alchemist glared sidelong at this arrogant genius.
Just then, Yoner, back from his short detour for a class, returned.
“I’m back. Are you still not being allowed to join?”
“Yeah. Yoner, could you maybe go argue for me?”
Yoner pretended not to hear.
No matter how strong your friendship, it took guts to beg Professor Baegrek to let Lee Han back in just because he was reflecting.
And honestly, Lee Han would probably just do the same thing again even if let in.
…He really hadn’t repented at all!
“Here, take this. The lecture notes… By the way, what did you do to Professor Thunderstep?”
“???”
Lee Han froze.
What did she mean?
‘Which thing is she talking about?’
“Did he say anything?”
“Well, during this lecture…”
Yoner explained what had happened in Advanced Alchemy for Dummies:
-In this alchemy, the pot material is important, so check it three times.
-Professor, why are you bandaged?
-I tripped.
-That looks like too serious an injury for just tripping…
-Are you in the healing department?!
“I was in the punishment room. What’s that got to do with me?”
Lee Han insisted, sounding genuinely aggrieved.
Suspect someone in the punishment room?
But Yoner shook her head.
“Not that.”
“Oh, I see.”
To Yoner, Professor Thunderstep being bandaged wasn’t the important issue.
Just background.
The real issue came at the end of class. When Yoner asked him a question, Professor Thunderstep paused.
-“Wait, Meikin. Are you taking the lecture notes to Wardanaz?”
-“Yes.”
-“By any chance, do you think… Wardanaz will get help from the Young Headmaster… this time?”
-“Huh??”
-“Never mind. Here, there are also some finals topics. Give them to Wardanaz.”
-“Dovruk’s Chilling Elixir…? Professor, this wasn’t covered at all in class, was it?”
-“This finals will focus on ambushes.”
-“Then why are you telling me now?”
-“Ugh! If I hadn’t wasted so much time dodging Professor Garcia, I could have gotten this all past you! Never mind!”
-“????”
Thunderstep left in a huff.
Yoner was baffled, but could only deliver what she was given.
“He called it a ‘finals topic,’ but never talked about it in class… Seems like a trick…”
“That’s not just a trick, it’s a blatant trap.”
Lee Han tossed aside the professor’s fake exam subject.
He thought he knew why Thunderstep did this.
Last midterm, Lee Han had used the Young Prince’s power to counterevaluate Thunderstep’s exam.
Thunderstep replied, ‘I could’ve used gold too, but you didn’t give me money,’ ‘Expensive reagents are only available because you provide them,’ ‘I didn’t say getting demon beast bones is easy—alchemists just have to do that,’ and so on, but it must have hurt his pride.
This fake exam question was probably a reaction to that.
“Tell the professor this time I’ll take the exam without the Young Headmaster’s help.”
“Okay.”
Lee Han tossed the finals paper aside and focused on the lecture notes Yoner had written.
This substance, -Adamas of Paragranum-, was tricky to make.
If you used a slightly off material for your cauldron, not only would it fail, it could explode or produce backfire…
“This isn’t too hard. Once you get the steps down, it’s one of the easier Paragranum reagents,” Yoanen mused.
Already running her own workshop, she found student projects pretty simple.
Lee Han nodded, accepting that.
“I’m sure it seems easy to you, Lady Meikin.”
“Try shifting the angle of the furnace a bit.”
“Thank you for the advice.”
“It helps to put a bit of reinforcement magic on the pot before use. Professors don’t mention it, but it boosts efficiency.”
“I see…”
“Here, let me do it for you.”
“No, I need the practice…”
“With your skill, you don’t need to practice this much. Give it here.”
“But I should do it myself.”
As he resisted Yoanen trying to take the cauldron, Lee Han realized something.
‘…Wait, is this why Eandurde kicked me out?’
Professor Mortum coughed as pitifully as possible.
But Direte’s expression didn’t change a bit. At that cold look, Mortum sighed inwardly.
‘I should have stopped Wardanaz from getting sent to the punishment room!’
Since his cherished junior got locked up, even this normally good-natured crow beastkin’s heart seemed to freeze.
Otherwise, there was no explanation for not helping at all with the grueling task of submitting an anti-curse potion.
Cough “The Headmaster is unreasonable. He keeps making us work, making up ridiculous excuses.”
“What excuse did he give?”
“He claimed it was the Inspector Prince’s order.”
‘That’s just shameless.’
Direte thought to herself.
Right now, Professor Mortum was toiling alone on the necromancy school’s assignment by the Headmaster’s order.
Normally, it would be done by students, but the Headmaster had suddenly ordered “Mortum, do it yourself” for no reason.
But to hide behind such an outrageous excuse—no one would buy it.
“How’s he ordering you from the punishment room?”
“Cough. Right?!”
Mortum brightened a bit, thinking Direte’s anger was waning.
Maybe she’d help!
“If you’d protest to the Headmaster on my behalf…”
He glanced at her, but Direte remained stone-faced. Mortum gave up and sighed.
“Cough. How about this? Ask Wardanaz…?”
“Go on.”
“There are other professors who want Wardanaz on chores even from the punishment room. If we ask right, we could do it without getting caught.”
“I’m listening. Go on.”
“So if you… cough. Wait, what are you writing?”
Mortum finally noticed Direte’s quill scratching away.
“It’s nothing.”
“…Please! Just don’t send it to Professor Garcia!”
Realizing the situation, Mortum turned pale and screamed.
Unlike Thunderstep, Mortum might actually die if Garcia got physical.
“Cough, I really am in danger! Unlike Thunderstep!”
“Then you should have been more careful. Finish today’s work and I won’t send the letter.”
“……”
Mortum held in his cough and went back to work.
Other necromancy juniors treaded silently around, hardly daring to breathe. Gainando swallowed nervously.
‘If it’s found out I’m friends with Lee Han, I might die. If it’s found out I’m friends with Lee Han…’
“Gainando?”
“Ah. U-uh, you see, I’m not really that close with Lee Han!”
“……”
“……”
Imirg and Raphadael looked at Gainando like he was insane.
What kind of statement was that now?
“…Actually, we’re close…”
“…I’m not mad, don’t get nervous…”
Direte even felt sorry.
Scolding the junior must have spooked the others, too.
“How’s our junior doing?”
“……”
Gainando broke into a cold sweat.
If he said doing well?
-‘How dare you be well-off after I scolded you? Die!’
If he said not well?
-‘How dare you struggle after I told you to rest? Die!’
“U-uhhuuuh.”
“Why! Why are you crying?!”
Direte panicked, trying to calm her junior down.