Episode 152

Episode 152
Fortunately, Yumidihus was not a madman like Professor Voladi.
If it had been Professor Voladi, he would have shoved Lee Han deep under the river and said, “Evaporate your way out,” but Yumidihus did not do that.
The purpose of today’s outing was to open the young wizard’s eyes and make him realize the vast world of water magic.
There was no reason to push him so hard.
It was enough to simply let him experience and try out the various properties of water magic.
“The incantation is as follows.”
Yumidihus carefully taught the incantation and gestures for the 1st circle magic, ‹Water Evaporation›.
In fact, ‹Water Evaporation› was an embarrassing spell to call a 1st circle magic.
A representative trap magic
Even if spells were in the same circle, their difficulty varied greatly.
Spells that were much more difficult than others in the same circle were usually called “trap magic.”
‹Water Evaporation› was placed in the 1st circle, but it was a spell of a difficulty that beginner wizards could never learn.
That’s how difficult the evaporation property was.
“Give it a try.”
After a brief lecture, Yumidihus watched Lee Han.
Usually, water element wizards practicing the evaporation property would place liquids to evaporate in front of them and practice.
At first, they would practice with easily evaporating liquids like strong alcohol, then gradually switch to liquids with higher boiling points, increasing the intensity of the magic.
But Yumidihus did not place anything in front of Lee Han.
He meant for Lee Han to practice the gestures and incantation and complete the spell first.
He had just learned it and hadn’t even practiced, so Yumidihus was not harsh enough to say, “Evaporate the liquid right away”
“……”
Lee Han glanced at Yumidihus, then looked again at the river flowing majestically.
‘Is he telling me to evaporate the river right now?’
Because Yumidihus explained so little, Lee Han couldn’t help but misunderstand.
In fact, it wasn’t really Yumidihus’s fault.
Normally, when told to try a spell for the first time, you’d practice the gestures and incantation first—who would try to dry up the river right next to them?
If you had to blame someone, it was Professor Voladi’s fault.
Because of Professor Voladi, Lee Han misunderstood Yumidihus.
‘It can’t be helped. I’ll do my best. If I at least pretend, I won’t get thrown into the water.’
Lee Han instinctively knew what would happen if he kept failing the spell.
He’d probably end up in the river.
“Evaporate”
“No…?”
Yumidihus was startled to see Lee Han, without practicing the gestures or incantation, immediately casting the spell at the river in one go.
No practice…?
Ssshhh
Steam rose over the river.
It wasn’t quite a steam explosion like Yumidihus, but it was a considerable amount of steam.
“……”
Yumidihus was shocked.
‘He really is… a genius.’
Among the Empire’s wizards, the word “genius” was a bit overused.
Everyone and their dog claimed to be a genius.
Even the wizards who came to learn from Yumidihus—except Voladi Baegrek—all claimed to be geniuses.
-Lord Yumidihus. For the future of Imperial magic, you must do your best to teach me magic. I am one of the top geniuses among Imperial wizards.
-Lord Yumidihus. It’s embarrassing to say, but I am a genius at magic. There’s no need to teach me every single spell like this.
-Lord Yumidihus. As someone with genius magical ability, I don’t think this spell is very good. I think it would be better to improve it.
In fact, it wasn’t completely wrong.
The wizards who came to Yumidihus were, in their own way, outstanding wizards in the Empire.
Otherwise, they couldn’t have come in the first place.
But the eyes of a wizard like Yumidihus, who had been through all sorts of hardships, were strict and harsh.
That level of talent was something any wizard seriously studying magic should have; it wasn’t something to brag about.
However…
The boy in front of him was definitely different.
He had an aura that only a true genius could have, completely different from the self-proclaimed geniuses.
He seemed to have all the qualities that would be considered talents, even if he had just one—innate magical power, delicate control, deep and rich thinking ability.
‘The river? Am I going to end up in the river after all?’
While Yumidihus quietly marveled, Lee Han quietly worried.
To Lee Han, it seemed like he had succeeded quite well, but that wasn’t important.
What mattered was how it looked to Yumidihus.
Was it a failure after all?
‘Isn’t this pretty good for a first try?’
Lee Han wasn’t the conceited type, but objectively, the evaporation magic seemed to have gone quite well.
Even compared to other spells, the evaporation property was a good match for Lee Han.
He could picture the image of “evaporation” accurately and concretely…
Above all, ‹Water Evaporation› could be brute-forced with power.
Wizards with less magical power than Lee Han had to control their magic delicately and precisely to complete the incantation, but Lee Han could just brute-force the incantation with his magical power.
For Lee Han, evaporating water was much easier than manipulating water orbs.
“Well done. Very excellent.”
“”
Lee Han let out a sigh of relief inside.
It seemed he wouldn’t have to go into the river after all.
“In fact, I wasn’t telling you to evaporate the river. For your first practice, a flowing river like that isn’t a suitable target.”
Not only was the amount large, but a constantly flowing river was several times harder to cast magic on.
Having accomplished that, the boy in front of him had every right to be proud.
But instead, Lee Han wore a stiff expression.
‘…What did he just say?’
Come to think of it, Yumidihus hadn’t told him to do a real test on the river right away.
He had misunderstood, thinking of Professor Voladi.
“But seeing you do it in one go, I can see why you cast the spell on the river. It’s justified confidence.”
“No… it’s a misunderstanding.”
“Yes. I’m sure it is.”
Yumidihus nodded with a kindly smile on his lips.
“At first, I thought Voladi Baegrek had forced you to do it…”
‘That’s correct.’
Lee Han said inwardly. But it didn’t reach Yumidihus’s ears.
“…Now I see that wasn’t it.”
It wasn’t that Baegrek had forced him, but that the student had learned every spell so quickly.
Yumidihus decided he should cancel at least one misunderstanding about Baegrek.
“Yes…”
Lee Han answered in a voice tinged with subtle sadness.
It was because he couldn’t openly badmouth Professor Voladi.
Lee Han thought that when he graduated, he might go see Professor Voladi before even the skeleton principal.

• * *
  Yumidihus didn’t tell Lee Han to cast more spells.
  Having seen him master it in one go, why would he?
  “I think you need to eat more than I do.”
  Instead, they took a break.
  Lee Han prepared a place for Yumidihus to sit, laid out a blanket, and set out food and drink.
  Yumidihus looked at Lee Han with a gaze mixed with quiet emotion.
  “I didn’t expect to be treated like this.”
  “Uh… Have the other students never done this sort of thing?”
  “They haven’t.”
  “…?”
  Lee Han, puzzled, thought of Professor Voladi.
  And understood.
  ‘That’s perfectly possible.’
  Lee Han made milk tea with the black tea he’d stolen from Professor Thunderstep. The sweet drink, full of sugar, revived his tired brain.
  Even if one had infinite magical power, using magic inevitably reduced concentration and caused mental fatigue.
  If you were a student at the magic school, it was good to recover from time to time.
  Professor Thunderstep would surely be happy to see his drink used this way.
  ‘Are they third years?’
  Yumidihus took a bite of his sandwich and looked off into the distance.
  Judging by their outfits, they were definitely third-year students from Einrogard.
  They looked around as if hiding something and waved their staffs at the ground. The earth rose up, revealing magical materials and reagents inside.
  They had prepared various things to keep it secret, but they couldn’t fool the eyes of a wizard like Yumidihus.
  “Can you see over there?”
  “What are you talking about?”
  “Right. You can’t see it.”
  Yumidihus thought of the skeleton principal.
  As much as he was sincere about separating freshmen, it was only natural to make it unrecognizable by magic.
  “I’ll release it for a moment. It should be fine, right?”
  When Yumidihus waved his staff, Lee Han could see the seniors gathering magical materials and reagents in the distance.
  “Can you see it now?”
  “Yes. I can see it. That is…?”
  “You’ll know when you move up a year, but gathering materials and reagents for your studies is also a wizard’s job.”
  Yumidihus explained calmly, as if it was nothing surprising.
  Seeing them looking around and hiding things, it was certain they had stolen or taken them.
  ‘It’s so sad that even as third years, they have to do that.’
  Lee Han shuddered at the fate that lay before him.
  Couldn’t they just give out materials and reagents generously?
  “Go and try to take them.”
  “…Excuse me?”
  “I want to see how you fight. I think you can win.”
  “……”
  It wasn’t a matter of whether he could win or not, but that he had to attack his seniors.
  No matter how much they had stolen, a senior was still a senior.
  Lee Han looked at Yumidihus in disbelief, but Yumidihus showed no sign of changing his mind.
  “A battle wizard grows by feeding on the blood of their opponents. The sooner and more often you experience real combat, the better.”
  Lee Han shuddered inside at the sight of Yumidihus, who looked like a kind grandmother but spoke so ruthlessly.
  He really was just an older Professor Voladi
  “Lord Yumidihus.”
  “Don’t say you can’t do it. I know for sure you can. Excessive modesty is poison. You’ll soon learn that wizards don’t need to go easy on seniors just because they’re older.”
  “No, it’s not that I can’t… Can I wear a mask?”
  “……”
  Yumidihus was genuinely impressed.
• * *
  Lee Han didn’t recklessly charge in just because Yumidihus told him to.
  If they were third years at Einrogard, they must have gone through several times the hardships Lee Han and his friends had.
  If he messed up, Lee Han could be the one to get caught.
  Lee Han put on a mask and cast an invisibility spell. The mask was essential in case the opponent dispelled the invisibility spell.
  Then, carefully approaching from behind, he cast spells at the two seniors.
  “Ugh”
  “Guhhh?”
  The two ambushed seniors collapsed on the spot.
  Lee Han immediately grabbed the box containing the materials and reagents. The box had a name engraved on it.
  -Osu Gonadaltes
  Seeing that, Lee Han was appalled.
  ‘Are they insane??’
  By third year, do they even rob the principal’s storage?
  No, it was probably more likely that the principal had set them up to steal it, rather than them stealing it on their own.
  Either way, it was hard to believe.
  ‘Ah. This isn’t the time for this.’
  Lee Han quickly left the scene.
  “Well done.”
  Yumidihus was very satisfied when he saw Lee Han return.
  At least Baegrek hadn’t wasted time; it was nearly perfect.
  Ambush, preemptive strike, achievement, withdrawal.
  It was the essence of magical combat.
  “Did it say whose things they were?”
  “I think they’re from the principal’s storage.”
  “Good. Then don’t return them—keep them for yourself.”
  “…?”
  Lee Han was surprised.
  Then he nodded obediently.
  “Yes. I’ll do that.”
  At the sight of his obedient student, Yumidihus looked at Lee Han with warm eyes.