Episode 236

“Wait. What is this?”

“Yes?”

“Is this really a cloak?”

“Ah. I transformed it.”

Lee Han answered nonchalantly. Like the other students, Lee Han had also succeeded at -Steel Cloak Transformation-.

Of course, the result was a bit different from the other students.

“When?”

“I think it’s been a few minutes…”

“…Didn’t you notice anything strange?”

Professor Yonramo Leuzi asked, dumbfounded.

But Lee Han just smiled as if it was nothing special and answered.

“Professor. The duration of my enchantment magic is also long.”

“That’s right. Lee Han’s spell durations are long because of his magical power.”

Yoner, standing nearby, also smiled as if it was no big deal and chimed in.

Professor Yonramo was flustered.

…Their reactions were just too peaceful.

‘Am I the only one surprised? Am I the only one amazed?’

Both enchantment magic and transformation magic tended to have short durations.

But if you compared the two, transformation magic was much shorter than enchantment magic.

Casting a spell on top of a material to change its properties, versus casting magic into the material itself to change its properties.

The latter consumed more magical power and, as a result, the duration had to be shorter.

For a first-timer to maintain transformation magic for several minutes—within this discipline, that was an earth-shattering talent…

“Wardanaz. Mind if I test it?”

“Go ahead.”

“Alright. Hold it tight.”

“You know what’ll happen if you miss by mistake, right?”

“…Saying that makes me suddenly nervous.”

The other students didn’t seem surprised at all.

They were even testing whether their magic had worked by using Lee Han’s cloak.

Professor Yonramo looked at the princess and asked,

“Don’t you feel anything seeing Wardanaz’s magic?”

“Not really. Is this the right motion?”

“Counterclockwise is probably better than clockwise… You really don’t feel anything?”

“???”

The princess looked at the professor as if he were strange.

For a moment, Professor Yonramo felt as if he was the only strange person.

In a land of fools, the normal one is the fool.

“Professor Garcia… Where did Professor Garcia go?”

“Professor Garcia stepped out to get a cloak that’s good for magic practice, Professor.”

Lee Han spoke very politely.

Since he had broken the professor’s nasal bone earlier, he wanted to earn some points.

Of course, Lee Han’s goodwill came across a bit differently to Professor Yonramo.

“I… I see… Thank you.”

Professor Yonramo slowly edged away.

The old saying never lied.

Birds of a feather flock together.

People of the same group naturally stick together.

Now that he thought about it, the people close to Lee Han were…

People like the skeleton principal or Professor Voladi.

Of course, from Lee Han’s perspective, he would have been outraged, thinking, ‘What kind of ridiculous slander is that? I just meet them because I take their classes, how does that make us the same group?’ But at least to Professor Yonramo, that’s how it looked.

Getting close to weirdos like the skeleton principal or Professor Voladi was already something to watch out for, but what Lee Han had just shown was the clincher.

Such insane talent, and humble and polite on top of that?

There was only one answer.

Tremendous ambition!

It could only be explained if he had ambition enough to aim for the position of principal of Einrogard.

Think about it.

Talented but arrogant geniuses weren’t much to be afraid of. Those people were the same inside and out.

But a genius who was talented, humble, and got along with all the professors—including the skeleton principal—at other magic schools…

That level of person was walking ambition itself.

Of course, this wasn’t a bad thing.

It wasn’t bad to have grand goals when you’re young.

The problem was that, for Professor Yonramo, whose motto was ‘live long and quietly,’ Lee Han was a rather burdensome student!

If he got too close, he might get requests like, ‘Professor, please support me in the meeting so I can become a magic school assistant,’ ‘Professor, please support me so I can become a professor at the magic school,’ ‘Professor, I want to become principal, could you help me with a coup…’

‘Just thinking about it makes my stomach tingle.’

Professor Yonramo resolved not to get too close to that ambitious student.

…And to be extra careful, since keeping too much distance could breed resentment!

• * *

“Didn’t it seem like the professor was avoiding me?”

“Did it?”

“Maybe you’re imagining it?”

Lee Han’s friends looked puzzled at his words.

“It’s probably because you did well. Top of the class!”

“Yeah. He was probably impressed.”

“…?”

Even with their reassurances, Lee Han felt uneasy.

‘Is it because I punched him?’

That was entirely possible.

No professor would like a student who broke their nasal bone.

“See you next time, Wardanaz.”

-Yes. See you next time, Wardanaz.

“……”

Lee Han ignored the friendly greeting from the Death Knight standing by the hallway and waved to his friends.

‘Hmm. I was proud of my experience, but… this situation is tough.’

He thought he’d prepared for every situation as a student training under a professor, but this situation was hard for Lee Han too.

How do you get close again to a professor whose nose you broke?

“Hello.”

Professor Voladi gave a small nod and pointed ahead. It was a sign to sit quickly.

Seeing that, Lee Han suddenly felt wronged.

‘I even get along with professors who try to break my nose.’

Shouldn’t professors also forgive students for breaking their nose?

“You fought with the -Snake of the Maple Tree-?”

“Yes.”

“You were lucky.”

Lee Han didn’t deny Professor Voladi’s words.

It was definitely a fight where luck played a part.

If the opponent hadn’t been under a strange illusion or misunderstanding and had gone all out from the start, who knew what would have happened.

“I survived thanks to luck.”

‘Wait. Did he mean I was lucky just to meet them?’

“What did you feel?”

At the professor’s question, Lee Han answered reflexively.

“Veteran adventurers are strong. More than just combat power, I felt that even combat wizards need to prepare for many different situations.”

The -Snake of the Maple Tree- adventurers weren’t strong just because they could wield swords well and emit aura.

When facing a wizard, they knew the wizard’s weaknesses.

When facing a hunter, they knew the hunter’s weaknesses.

Veteran adventurers who’d been through all sorts of situations carried all kinds of tools to prepare for the unexpected.

Lee Han was only able to withstand their attack thanks to luck; with ordinary magical power, he would have collapsed when the scroll went off.

“You analyzed it well.”

Professor Voladi spoke with a faint look of satisfaction.

Seeing that, Lee Han realized.

‘Damn. He’s proud.’

Come to think of it, what Lee Han had just said could easily be interpreted as, ‘Professor Voladi, I always thought your teaching methods were right, please keep teaching this way!’

‘It’s Professor Voladi’s nose that should get broken…’

“Wizards become arrogant because of magic. But don’t forget. On the battlefield, enemies always target the wizard first.”

“Yes. I realized that this time. Still, I’m lucky you taught me well. Thanks to you, I endured.”

“……”

Lee Han was flustered when Professor Voladi suddenly fell silent.

‘Was I too obvious with the flattery? Did he think I wanted an easy lesson today?’

I thought it would be fine, but he caught me.

Maybe my flattery skills have gotten rusty from hanging out with students my own age.

“!”

When Lee Han looked up, he was shocked.

Professor Voladi was smiling.

He’d seen faint smiles before, but it was the first time seeing him smile like that.

He was such a cold-looking person that his smile felt more like a warning from a mad wizard, but…

A smile was still a smile.

‘…Did it work?’

“It makes me happy to hear that. Let’s start the lesson.”

With that, Professor Voladi swung his staff.

Suddenly, spears of flame Lee Han had never seen before rained down from midair.

“?!”

“I opened the wrong one. I wasn’t supposed to take these out now.”

Professor Voladi put the flame spears back into the pocket space where they belonged.

Of course, for Lee Han, that was more than enough to be terrified.

‘Didn’t he just say he wasn’t supposed to take those out now?’

Then when is he supposed to take them out?

“My apologies. I made a mistake out of satisfaction.”

“Not at all.”

Lee Han vowed never to flatter Professor Voladi again.

If he flattered him twice, the professor might take him to the demon realm out of pride.

• * *

To organically connect different schools of magic and respond perfectly to every possible situation.

…It sounded like nonsense, but anyway, that was the state Professor Voladi (forcibly) set as Lee Han’s goal.

So today’s lesson was about transformation magic.

“When you’re hit with an unexpected attack, transformation magic, along with enchantment magic, is one of the schools that can respond flexibly. The difference is, since enchantment magic takes time to cast, it’s usually prepared in advance. Transformation magic is the opposite. It demands quick reflexes.”

Lee Han took notes with his quill and asked,

“Do you know Professor Yonramo Leuzi?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what he likes?”

“No.”

“Then do you know anyone relatively close to Professor Yonramo Leuzi?”

“No.”

After answering, Professor Voladi paused in thought.

Then he spoke.

“Maybe the principal is close with him.”

‘Hmm. I shouldn’t have asked this guy.’

After hearing Professor Voladi’s crazy answer, Lee Han snapped back to his senses as if doused with cold water.

He was someone you should never ask.

“Did you learn -Steel Cloak Transformation- or -Steel Scarf Transformation-?”

“I learned -Steel Cloak Transformation- first.”

Professor Voladi nodded expressionlessly.

If the students were ahead, they learned -Steel Cloak Transformation- first; if they were behind, -Steel Scarf Transformation-.

In any case, that wasn’t the important part…

“You’ve mastered it, right? Let’s move on.”

“How can you be sure?”

Lee Han was so dumbfounded he retorted.

“Have you not mastered it?”

“I have, but…”

“Then let’s move on. The cloak.”

Lee Han handed his cloak to Professor Voladi, who then waved it and made it disappear.

“!?”

“Don’t use transformation magic only on familiar objects.”

A completely new cloak Lee Han had never seen before flew in from midair.

Professor Voladi began to form sharp, dagger-like magical energy in the air.

“…Wasn’t it supposed to be a sphere?”

“Spheres are inefficient when dealing with cloaks.”

“It seems efficien… Turn to steel, cloak!”

Lee Han answered, but didn’t let his guard down.

Sure enough, daggers began flying at him.

“Don’t dodge, block them.”

Lee Han didn’t answer Professor Voladi.

In fact, he hardly had the leisure to answer now.

Whoosh!

‘Damn. What is this cloak made of?’

Transformation wizards were, by default, well-versed in the materials and items they carried.

You had to know every detail to cast transformation magic quickly.

But Professor Voladi wanted Lee Han to be able to use transformation magic by intuition, without checking.

That level of conscience was almost criminal.

“Shield, spread out…”

Lee Han tried to buy time with a water shield. Professor Voladi immediately dispelled the shield.

Lee Han tried to use an invisibility cloak as a distraction. Professor Voladi immediately blocked the casting.

Lee Han tried to summon skeleton warriors. Professor Voladi’s eyebrow shot up.

…Did I teach him to be too versatile?

He’s not blocking with the cloak like I said…