Episode 137

Lee Han felt something was off.

Arguing that he had no talent in this situation was a bit strange, but Lee Han did his best to defend himself.

“Making a magic circle this way, relying only on lots of mana, isn’t that just a simple method?”

“And humble, too. That’s a rare virtue among mages.”

“No…”

“Wait. Did you mean that seriously?”

Kendry was puzzled.

He had, of course, thought Lee Han’s words were just a sign of humility.

There were two types skilled at making magic circles.

One was the intellectual type.

Those who excel in theory and structure, who completed thorough study and fully understood the circle in their head before beginning.

The other was the intuitive type.

Those who constructed the circle through feel and intuition, perhaps lacking calculation or understanding but pouring magic power in as guided by their senses and instincts.

At first glance, the latter might seem simple or ignorant, but it was actually harder.

A magic circle wasn’t made just by having lots of mana.

All the rest had to be supplied by the mage.

Anyone who called it mere simple repetition didn’t know what magic was.

Unless one was born with natural instinct, no matter how much mana one had, you couldn’t create magic circles that way.

‘It’s the first time I’ve ever felt so unexcited to be praised for being suited to something.’

Even after being told he had talent for making magic circles, Lee Han was more embarrassed than pleased.

“Even the latter… would fit imperial office work well.”

After listening to the explanation, Lee Han tried a passive protest.

But Kendry looked at Lee Han as if asking what nonsense he was spouting.

“You’re both.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re both, I said. No matter how good your instincts are, a freshman finishing a circle like this means your mind is working at full tilt.”

Intuition had its limits.

For a freshman to complete this at such speed proved he had a good theoretical understanding beyond just intuition.

Even being good at only one showed potential for imperial service.

But if you had both?

Then you had to dedicate yourself to magic for the future of the empire.

‘As expected of a friend of the professor—he’s impossible to talk with.’

Lee Han gave up quickly.

Given this kind of reaction, it would be faster to convince someone else if he ever wanted to aim for a post in government.

Not all imperial officials could be like this!

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Sure. Thanks for praising our officials. Mages usually don’t like them.”

“I actually like them…”

“Hahaha! You joke, too.”

‘I’d like to punch him.’

Lee Han seethed inside at Kendry’s condescending attitude toward freshmen.

“Anyway… I’ve seen something good. I’ll be rooting for you. Maybe Gaonadalthes isn’t as bad as I thought, if he brings up students like you.”

‘He can be seen as bad.’

Lee Han swallowed the words. Who knew where the principal’s ears might be lurking.

“If you ever need help, contact me. Supporting mages like you is exactly what we officials should do.”

“!”

Lee Han’s face brightened.

“I’ll try to support any kind of research at least once.”

“……”

Lee Han’s face darkened again.

That wasn’t the kind of help he wanted.

‘Would you support a business startup for young mages instead of research?’

“There’ll be some more outside guests this week, so don’t get distracted—focus. Understand?”

“You mean, there will be others besides the priests?”

“That’s…”

Kendry hesitated, unsure if he should tell a freshman.

Lee Han lied instantly, not even pausing for breath.

“The principal told me—it wasn’t a joke, then.”

“Oh, you’ve heard? Really, Gaonadalthes… Well. Sorry. I shouldn’t badmouth a teacher in front of a student.”

Thinking the principal had mentioned it first, Kendry opened up.

“Probably because it’s festival season, people interested in Einroguard are coming. Folks from other magic schools, too… Einroguard’s reputation is famous, after all.”

‘Other magic schools?’

Lee Han paused.

He hadn’t expected guests like that.

He figured just the priests would come…

“I’ll tell others what I saw of you today.”

“No… It’s fine.”

“Why? The sooner you earn a reputation, the better. It’ll help your research later on.”

“Really, it’s fine.”

‘Astonishingly humble for someone from the Wardanaz family.’

Kendry found it remarkable, but nodded.

There was nothing wrong with a brilliant mage being modest.

One reason mages had notorious reputations among officials was their arrogant big mouths.

• Your estimate needs more explanation, please rewrite it…
• You don’t understand this estimate? That’s because you’re a low-IQ loser! You’re just jealous of my overwhelming talent! You’re only jealous because you lack talent, right!? My overflowing talent?!

Thinking of that made Kendry see Lee Han’s attitude as even more impressive.

‘Hope he grows up just like this.’

He hoped that Lee Han would become a great mage while staying just as he was.

All the worldly messes could be handled by other imperial officials.

• * *

When the sun had set completely, Lee Han stopped working and fed the students dinner.

Starved for energy after using up all their mana, the students devoured the grilled meat as soon as it was ready. The grease sizzled as it dripped into the fire.

“Yoner, how did the potions go?”

“I managed to identify some of them!”

Yoner replied brightly.

Thanks to help from the priests of the Firemaeng Order, he’d managed to figure some potions out.

“One turned out to be alcohol.”

“……”

Lee Han was a bit dumbfounded.

‘Why would they put not just one but several bottles of alcohol in a potion box?’

Well, he could understand.

Being in a magic school like this, seniors would naturally be drawn to alcohol.

“What about the others?”

“A transformation potion. I’ll have to check more closely to see what it turns you into, but it’s probably an animal type.”

‘Not bad.’

They didn’t know what animal it would be yet, but an animal transformation potion could be very useful.

If it was a winged animal…

‘I don’t know what’s in the school’s sky, but it could be worth a try.’

“Right—and the one Gainando drank before was the confidence potion.”

“Knew it.”

“And there’s a potion for curse removal. They say it’s very strong. Oh, besides the confidence potion there was a composure potion, too.”

“…!”

Students nearby showed interest.

“Composure potion? If you drink that, then…”

“Isn’t it dangerous if a professor finds out?”

“You should plan not to get caught.”

Blue Dragon Tower students were rapidly adapting to the magic school.

They’d started thinking of exams not as a battle with themselves, but as a battle with the professors.

“I’ll check the rest of them next week. I want to finish while the priests are still around.”

“Thanks, Yoner. You must be busy.”

“Not more than you… Professor Uregeoreum said he’s worried about you.”

“?”

Lee Han paused.

“Worried about what?”

“He wanted to call you but just couldn’t bring himself to.”

Professor Uregeoreum, who’d been forced to help prepare something for the festival, had called the students who were good at alchemy.

Yoner, of course, was summoned.

The called students were curious that Lee Han wasn’t there.

-Isn’t Wardanaz coming?

-I just couldn’t bring myself to call him.

“…Wait a minute.”

Lee Han felt a chill.

Could the principal really be trying to summon him?

‘Wait. Professor Uregeoreum isn’t the type to skip work just because of the principal.’

If it wasn’t just one…

Suddenly, the image of a vampire professor flashed through Lee Han’s mind.

“Uwaaaaah!”

A Blue Dragon Tower student entering the lounge ahead screamed. Lee Han started in surprise, raising his head.

“Is it the principal’s return attack!?”

“No, it’s not!”

“Thank goodness!”

‘Is that supposed to be good?’

So thinking, Lee Han walked on.

The lounge looked a mess, as if a thief had broken in.

Tables and chairs were knocked over and scattered in the corner, books from the shelves lay on the floor.

The friends turned to Gainando.

“Did you do this for food by any chance…?”

“You maniacs! You were with me!”

“Oh, right.”

The culprit was quickly revealed.

Sharkan, left in the lounge for the magic circle work, was growling with something clenched in his mouth.

Lee Han spoke sternly to Sharkan.

“Sharkan!”

At his master’s angry voice—one he’d never heard before—Sharkan cowered in fear. The powerful magic energy caused the summoned creature to shrink back.

But there was no choice, for the sake of the unjustly suspected white horse.

Clutching the curse removal potion carefully in his mouth, Sharkan growled.

“Sorry, everyone. I should have kept Sharkan with me.”

“It’s not your fault. We all doted on him, too.”

“Who’d have thought Sharkan would do that… Hey! Wardanaz! Sharkan’s running for it!”

Instead of reflecting, Sharkan seized the opportunity to dash out. The Blue Dragon Tower students, caught off guard, let him slip away.

‘I miss when he was a skeleton!’

Lee Han grumbled inwardly as he took off in pursuit.

When he was just bones, he never caused trouble, but after regaining his body, Sharkan had started acting up.

It was better than trying to kill his master, but these tricks were still a headache.

“Yoner! Sharkan stole a potion! Which one is it?”

“Hold on…!”

Yoner stared at the potion in Sharkan’s mouth as he ran.

Bright green.

It was either the curse removal potion or the animal transformation potion.

“Not sure! There are similar-looking potions…!”

Meanwhile, Sharkan darted away and reached the stables.

As soon as he entered, a ruckus echoed from inside.

The horses suddenly started screaming like they’d all been terrified at once.

‘What the heck is going on!?’

Lee Han rushed in, tense with fear and worry.

Once inside the stable, he immediately figured out what potion Sharkan had stolen.

“…It was the transformation potion.”

Yoner, catching up, gasped with surprise.

A griffon was inside the stable.

“It turned into a griffon…!”

“Yeah. Guess it was a griffon transformation potion.”

Turning into a griffon that eats horses made that chaos inevitable.

Yoner whispered to Sharkan,

“Maybe the horse asked him for help? Monsters like Sharkan are very smart.”

“Asked him to find a transformation potion?”

“Yeah. Maybe so. Or, you know, he might have wanted to show off his abilities to you.”

Lee Han immediately understood what Yoner meant.

Some prideful animals, when ignored, would do anything to show off their abilities.

Of course, that behavior was typically seen in monsters; rarely, a white horse might have such pride.

As Yoner said, maybe the white horse—frustrated by Lee Han’s lack of faith—had asked Sharkan to find something to make him stronger.

“I apologize. I doubted you too much.”

The white horse, now turned back (no, returned) to its normal self from a griffon, raised its forelegs with pleasure at Lee Han’s words.

Bang!

As the potion’s effects wore off, the griffon turned back into a white horse. The curse was too strong for the potion to solve it completely.

Still, the griffon was satisfied.

Now Lee Han would finally realize his true identity!

Yoner tried to soothe the griffon.

“You’re smart. I believe in you.”

-…Puhihing??

“But Yoner, is it possible it wasn’t a transformation, but actually a real griffon?”

-Puhihing! Puhihihing!