Episode 192

“Huh?”

“What do you mean?”

The Blue Dragon Tower students looked at Professor Lightningstep as if they didn’t understand what he was saying.

-We’re friends!

That made Professor Lightningstep even more dumbfounded.

“Look! Isn’t it trembling?!”

“Huh? I thought it was shivering from the cold?”

“……”

Of course, making it obey out of fear was one way to tame it.

If you were in a hurry and didn’t have time to build rapport, you had to make it obey by scaring it.

But now wasn’t the time for that.

And if you tamed it like that, wouldn’t the snow lizard just run away whenever Lee Han wasn’t around?

He’d given it to them to help them get through the blizzard period, but if they lost it after just one day, that would be ridiculous in its own way.

“Get friendly like the Black Turtle Tower students over there. Stop scaring it!”

“That’s strange… I thought we were friends.”

“Weren’t we friends?”

Even as the Blue Dragon Tower students asked, the snow lizard just hiccupped and rolled its eyes.

Unable to watch any longer, Professor Lightningstep shook his head and called Lee Han over.

“You, come here.”

“This isn’t really my fault, though…”

“I know. But sometimes life is unfair.”

Professor Lightningstep knew that Lee Han hadn’t really done anything wrong.

It wasn’t Lee Han’s fault that the snow lizard, sensitive to mana, trembled in fear just from his approach.

But life was sometimes unfair.

Given the situation, Lee Han just had to stay apart.

“Sorry. Next time, I’ll bring a monster that’s insensitive to mana.”

“Oh. There’s such a thing?”

“…There are, but it might take some time to get one.”

“……”

Lee Han looked at his friends imitating the snow lizard with a sullen face.

Professor Lightningstep, feeling a bit sorry, tried to comfort Lee Han.

“Still, isn’t it better not to have to do something that ridiculous?”

“Professor. I can hear you.”

• * *

After the lesson, the students returned to their towers with the now-friendly snow lizards.

Papapapapapap!

The snow lizard instantly made a path through the snow piled up like a mountain.

Still feeling a bit sorry, Professor Lightningstep took Lee Han to the hut.

“Don’t worry too much. You can’t be friends with every monster. Snow lizards are timid and sensitive to mana. If you meet a monster that’s insensitive to mana and not timid, this won’t happen.”

“There aren’t many like that, are there…”

Professor Lightningstep kicked his nephew’s shin under the table. Professor Thunderstep bit his beard and screamed inwardly.

“Go get something to drink.”

“Yes…”

Professor Thunderstep opened the lid of a jar of milk, warmed it up, and mixed in some tea.

With a blank expression, Lee Han quietly slipped a warm scone into his coat pocket.

“The time with the snow lizard won’t last long. Once the blizzard stops, you won’t need it.”

“When will it end? This week?”

“Uh…”

“Hmm…”

Both professors hesitated.

Lee Han suddenly felt uneasy.

Surely he wouldn’t have to brave the blizzard for the rest of the semester just to attend class?

“It’s something the students have to solve.”

“…But they’re upperclassmen, so won’t they handle it well?”

“Well, um…”

The two dwarf professors kept trailing off.

Lee Han still seemed to trust the upperclassmen, but the reality was a bit different.

The higher the grade, the more skilled the students became.

And the quality and quantity of the tasks they had to do also increased.

So what happened if there was a heavy snow accident at school?

-The blizzard is raging, but I’m not too bothered, so I’ll take care of my own work first and look into it later.

-The blizzard is raging, but I’m okay for now, so I’ll do my magic experiment today and worry about it later.

…There was a high chance of this kind of procrastination.

‘No way.’

From the two dwarf professors’ attitudes, Lee Han sensed an ominous sign.

‘Are the upperclassmen putting it off?’

It’s human nature to put off things that aren’t urgent for yourself.

Realizing the truth, Lee Han was angry.

‘Just how many years up did they mess up for them to be so irresponsible!’

“Still, if you wait, won’t it be solved eventually?”

“What if it isn’t?”

“If it isn’t… there’s nothing for it but for you to solve it yourself, right?”

“If you solve it yourself, the supervising professor will probably give you a high evaluation.”

Lee Han was at a loss for words at the professors’ ridiculous comments.

How was a freshman supposed to solve a problem caused by upperclassmen during their exams?

“Are you seriously saying that…”

“Yeah. Even I think that’s a bit much.”

“You agreed just now.”

Professor Thunderstep grumbled. Professor Lightningstep shrugged and said,

“But nothing we said is wrong. If the upperclassmen slack off, the only way is to step up and solve it yourself.”

“Just don’t actually try to solve it. I don’t know what kind of accident the upperclassmen caused to make things like this, but it won’t be easy to fix.”

Professor Thunderstep warned, just in case.

He hadn’t looked into it in detail, but for an accident of this scale, the magic involved must be considerable.

It wasn’t something a freshman should try to fix.

“What do you take me for… Do I look like someone who would recklessly jump into something like that?”

“Yes.”

“You do.”

“……”

Lee Han was a little hurt by the two dwarf professors’ reactions.

Why this misunderstanding?

“I won’t.”

“Alright. I believe you, so pack some snacks and head back. Oh, and don’t get too close to the snow lizard even when you return to the tower.”

“And don’t be tempted by rewards. There’s no reason to jump in just to get a reward from the supervising professor. Just wait for the upperclassmen to solve it.”

“Yeah, I get it.”

Lee Han grumbled as he opened the hut door and left.

The two dwarf professors muttered as they watched his back.

“Doesn’t it seem like he’ll jump in anyway?”

“I think so.”

To the two dwarf professors, Lee Han already looked like a freshman who had devoted about half his life to magic.

Even if he said otherwise, in the end, his curiosity about magic would make him step forward!

‘Should we have stopped him more firmly…’

• * *

Evening.

The students gathered for the extra black magic lesson were busily moving their quills in Professor Mortum’s workshop.

The 2nd circle spell , an advanced version of the 1st circle spell .

And other branches of the 1st circle spell that they learned at first, such as , , , and so on.

That wasn’t all.

In the poison branch, there were many types of poisons besides .

In the summoning branch, not only bones but various undead summons.

They hadn’t even learned necromancy or the essence of negative energy, the darkness branch, yet, and it was already this much.

He could see Gaynando’s eyes spinning next to him. Raphadael was clutching his head and groaning.

“Cough. Of course, I’m not teaching you all this so you can master it right now.”

Gaynando’s face brightened.

“Cough. But if you want to study black magic in earnest next year, it’s good to master one or two of these perfectly. The world of black magic is so broad that you need to choose and focus.”

Gaynando’s face darkened.

“Cough… Ah. Those idiots just had to make the school even colder…”

Professor Mortum coughed and looked irritated.

Lee Han suddenly became curious and asked,

“Professor, do you know the reason for this accident?”

“Cough. Yes. One of my disciples participated in the accident.”

“!”

Lee Han had to work hard to control his expression for a moment.

There was nothing good about showing too much hatred toward a senior from the same workshop.

“I see… How did such an unfortunate accident happen?”

“Because those brats are too greedy.”

Professor Mortum coughed and explained simply.

One black magic major, one summoning magic (elemental spirit) major, one ancient magic major.

-We found a spirit spell in the ruins! It’s incomplete, but if we restore it well, this year’s Imperial Summoning Society will be our stage! We need your help as an ancient magic specialist!

-This looks like the Olodel school style. There’s black magic mixed in. Let’s call in the black magic specialist.

-You called? Wait. This summoning spell is incomplete? Why did you call me for something like this?

-Don’t worry. We completed the incomplete part with a substitute spell. See? It’s stable, right?

-But as an ancient magic specialist, I still think it lacks power. We need amplification. Let’s use an amplification artifact. We have some research funds left.

-Wait.

-What? Don’t tell me you’re going to say it’s reckless like a coward?

-No, it’s just. If we’re going to amplify it, let’s amplify the negative energy too. Looks like the spirit is a mix of cold and darkness, but there’s too little negative energy, so the balance looks dangerous.

-See, I told you it was good to call the black magic specialist. That’s a great idea.

“……”

“……”

The freshmen present wanted to kill the senior they’d never even met.

Even Imirg, who had the kindest image here, now had a fierce look in his eyes.

Because of those crazy people, they were suffering on the weekend?

“Professor, please give them a real scolding!”

“Cough. I already am. I keep telling them to fix it quickly, but they’re not making much progress.”

At Gaynando’s words, Professor Mortum grumbled.

Seeing that, Lee Han’s resentment suddenly faded.

Of course, other seniors might be slacking off, but at least the ones responsible were definitely being scolded by the professors.

Lee Han wasn’t harsh enough to hate such pitiful people.

“Cough. Right. It wouldn’t be bad for the freshmen to see it once.”

“What do you mean?”

Lee Han, who had just forgiven them, was the first to notice the ominous sign.

“The scene of a failed summoning. It’ll be very helpful to see.”

Professor Mortum knew well that there weren’t many students who wanted to learn black magic.

So he also wanted to show the students the appeal of black magic.

Of course, whether that would really show the appeal of black magic was another matter…

• * *

‘So there was a path like this.’

Professor Mortum knocked on the main building’s walls, opened the ceiling, and boldly moved three-dimensionally through the main building.

Lee Han wanted to memorize the route, but gave up. Seeing Professor Mortum chanting spells, it was clear this was not a path Lee Han could find with his own magic skills.

“What floor is this?”

“I-I’m not sure…”

The freshmen had long since lost their sense of direction.

‘This chill…’

As Lee Han exited the corridor, he suddenly felt a hellish cold sweep over him.

It was a cold of a different quality from the blizzard outside.

It was as if the mana itself was spreading with the attribute of cold.

And he could hear the sounds of undead.

-■■■■■…

-■■■■…

“Gasp!”

Gaynando hid behind Lee Han. When Professor Mortum waved his staff, the frozen corpses melted away.

“Why are there undead wandering the main building’s halls?”

“Cough. Because they summoned the spirit wrong.”

If you summoned a spirit with the correct procedure and process, this wouldn’t happen.

An incomplete spell, arbitrary substitutions, amplification with artifacts or other things—what was summoned on this floor was closer to a rampaging monster than a spirit you could communicate with.

A monster that, just by existing, turned the surrounding space into another dimension.

Since the base was a spirit mixed with cold and darkness, it was only natural that undead would appear in the corridor space where the dimension had melted in.

“Can’t you just go in and take care of it?”

Lee Han was impressed by Gaynando’s innocent question.

‘If there were any upperclassmen nearby, they’d want to kill him for saying that.’

“Cough. That’s true. Wait here for a moment.”

Professor Mortum picked up his staff and walked off somewhere. Anyone could see he was going to scold his useless disciple.

Lee Han clicked his tongue in pity and looked down the corridor.

The strange sight of frost and darkness swirling together was honestly spectacular.

‘If only it wasn’t dumping blizzards on the whole school, it would be beautiful.’

-Come in…

“?”

-Come in… you who desire power…

Lee Han paused as someone sent him a telepathic message from the other side of the dimensional corridor.

Then he shouted.

“Professor! Someone’s talking to me from inside the dimension!”

-…What a coward!