Episode 280

Episode 280

A vicious cycle caused by a wrong question.

For a divination mage, it was a nightmare of a situation.

And the best way to prepare for such a situation was…

‘Don’t stick your foot in the situation at all.’

It was a slightly absurd answer, but it was the correct one.

Instead of immediately attempting divination magic, it was about noticing the trap contained in the question and reacting to it.

He didn’t even expect freshmen to leave a secret mark for themselves in the divination to escape the cycle, or to forcefully shift the point of divination even further into the future or ahead—these were advanced techniques.

Just noticing and responding to the trap in the question alone was enough to deserve a high evaluation.

By contrast, the worst response was to immediately attempt divination magic.

A freshman, unprepared, had jumped headlong into a trap question and would inevitably be caught in the cycle, flailing until their mana ran dry and they fainted.

That’s clearly what would have happened…

But Lee Han, as if nothing was wrong, kept swinging his staff, attempting divination magic again and again and again.

Even Professor Paselete was so taken aback that she couldn’t grasp the situation for a moment.

‘What on earth…?’

• * *

Unaware of the professor’s bewildered gaze, Lee Han once again cast divination magic.

But he couldn’t see a proper future.

Seeing no visions before his eyes, Lee Han tilted his head and canceled the spell.

It was a natural escape, as easy as breathing.

Of course, a fair bit of mana was spent in the process, but it didn’t affect Lee Han.

‘Was this not the way to approach the problem?’

“Uuuuaaargh.”

“!”

Lee Han perked up at the pained groan he heard from nearby.

Though the professor had cast a veil of illusion so he couldn’t see his friends, he could still hear the sounds.

No matter how you heard it, this noise was the kind heard only when magic had gone terribly wrong.

“Urk.”

“Keeeeeeck.”

Thump!

The miserable groans didn’t stop there—they were followed by the sound of bodies collapsing to the floor.

Thanks to the harsh training he’d received from Professor Voladi, Lee Han could use his other senses to deduce the situation, even when his vision was blocked.

Hearing the dragging sound and the silence after, Lee Han thought…

‘Did they get eliminated during the exam?!’

He couldn’t understand.

Sure, it wasn’t an easy problem, but it wasn’t a Voladi-style exam either—getting knocked out was extreme.

‘No way…’

Lee Han quickly assessed the situation.

It seemed this time, the divination magic problem wasn’t just an exam, but one about identifying a hidden trap in the question.

If you didn’t spot the trap and charged in, you could end up like his friends—carried out after collapsing.

…Of course, Lee Han had already tried several times!

‘I just got lucky. I held out because I had a lot of mana.’

Lee Han let out a breath of relief.

Considering the mana consumed by the divination magic, it was no wonder other friends had collapsed.

He had to approach things more carefully from now on.

‘Did he realize?’

Professor Paselete raised her brows when Lee Han stopped casting magic.

It was a bit late, but based on his reaction, it was clear he’d understood the true intent of the exam.

‘Right. Now stop using divination magic, and point out the trap in the question… No!’

Lee Han cast divination magic again.

Professor Paselete looked even more flustered than before.

Why!?

He knew it was a trap, so why keep doing that?

‘Come to think of it, I don’t need to save my attempts.’

Lee Han’s reason for casting divination magic again was simple.

He realized there was no need to approach the problem cautiously.

He had plenty of mana!

Lee Han continued to cast divination magic, pondering if there was any way to break through this cycle.

It was true he could have just thought about the puzzle without casting more magic, but Lee Han, with mana to spare, naturally kept trying.

Realizing the situation at last, Professor Paselete was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t help but laugh.

‘What a brute…’

It was good that he’d realized the problem, but to try to break through it with brute force instead of another approach?

What was he doing?

“Professor. I think I’ve found the answer.”

“!”

Finally, after repeated attempts, Lee Han spoke.

Professor Paselete, surprised, nonetheless got ready to hear his answer.

“Go ahead.”

“I think the answer was to spot the trap in the question. Questions like that shouldn’t be attempted with divination magic.”

“That’s correct.”

Professor Paselete nodded.

It was a good answer.

The problem was…

‘Then why on earth did he keep casting divination magic?’

Normally, he should have answered right after realizing it, but since he kept using magic before answering, Professor Paselete’s curiosity was piqued.

Unable to resist, Professor Paselete asked.

“So, how exactly did you find the answer? Was it logical deduction?”

“I did use some logical deduction, but… I used divination magic.”

“And, how?”

Professor Paselete’s voice became a bit exasperated.

“I thought it would be hard to get the answer from the given question, so I set the point of prediction at a more distant future. I divined after the exam was over and found the answer.”

“……”

Professor Paselete was speechless for a moment.

She hadn’t actually expected that he’d really use that method.

Escaping the cycle or looking further into the future for clues to deduce the answer from beyond the loop—these were possible methods…

But they were not skills expected from a freshman. No matter how talented, it was nonsensical.

The further the future, the less reliable the prediction became.

Plus, since it was the future unrelated to the exam, it was extremely difficult to find clues and work back to the answer.

It was a trick only seasoned diviners could pull off…

‘No way…!’

Professor Paselete realized.

Why Lee Han had kept using divination magic even after realizing the trap.

“Did you…did you keep casting divination magic until you got the answer?”

“That’s correct.”

Lee Han replied with an innocent look, as if purely in admiration of the professor realizing his method.

She really was a true professor.

The ability to deduce how Lee Han got the answer, after just a few exchanges.

“……”

Professor Paselete felt a headache, wondering where to start with this impossible student.

What an absurd…

Meanwhile, the principal party was just standing innocently, with a face that said, ‘Is something wrong?’, which worsened her headache.

“Hoo… well done. You did well…but there are a few more things you need to learn.”

“Ah. Is that so.”

“Next week…”

“But next week is vacation.”

Lee Han suddenly felt a sense of dread.

There was no way she’d tell him to come to magic school during vacation, right?

‘If she does, I might really have to send a petition to His Majesty the Emperor.’

“…Then, next semester.”

“Ah. Yes. That’s fine.”

“You must attend.”

“Yes, understood.”

“I mean it, you must attend. Swear it again, sincerely.”

“……”

Professor Paselete didn’t notice, but Lee Han’s gaze subtly shifted as he looked at her.

‘Does she have no students?’

Professors like Mortum—no, professors with few students—were very sensitive to their new disciples running off.

If a student decided to drop the class at the start of a new semester, there was little a professor could do.

Sure, they could use threats or persuasion, but once a mage made up their mind, they weren’t easily swayed.

Professors with many students could afford to take it easy: ‘Don’t take my class if you don’t want to, I don’t care.’ But those with few students really might find themselves abandoned completely.

There were some professors who’d brazenly sit in the classroom even if they had no students, but those were exceptions.

‘Since I’ll take the class anyway, I should be considerate.’

If he was taking the class anyway, there was nothing bad about considering the professor’s situation.

Lee Han replied kindly.

“Don’t worry, Professor. Why wouldn’t I attend?”

“After all, I’m already taking Black Magic, Summoning Magic, Illusion Magic, Imbuement Magic, Transmutation Magic, and Healing Magic.”

Lee Han was speechless.

Truly, she was as sharp as a remarkable divination mage should be.

‘She’s right!’

• * *

Direte swung his staff, stifling a yawn.

He had to make thorough preparations for his juniors’ upcoming Black Magic final exam.

His classmate Koholti swung his staff as well.

“All done?”

“All done. But aren’t there too few bones? Shouldn’t we bring more? And the number of poison vials also seems low.”

“It’s fine. This year, there aren’t even five freshmen learning Black Magic.”

“……”

Koholti had a complex expression at Direte’s answer.

Having a lot of juniors wasn’t necessary, but if you had too few juniors learning your own magic, that felt strange in its own way.

“Why is nobody interested in Black Magic?”

“Isn’t it because you summoned the Frost Giant King in the hallway last time?”

“T-that was a problem with the artifact, not Black Magic!”

Koholti’s face went red.

Of course, Direte knew exactly why Black Magic wasn’t popular.

‘It would be weirder if it were popular.’

If Direte saw an article in the Imperial newspaper like: -Young Black Mages Increasing… Is Black Magic the Trend in Imperial Magic?- he’d think, ‘Is the Empire about to collapse?’

Just about every aspect of Black Magic didn’t lend itself to popularity…

“Oh. They’re coming in.”

As the freshmen arrived one by one, the fourth-year students quickly retreated to the back of the classroom.

It was an area covered by a magic circle of reduced perception, so the first-year juniors couldn’t see them.

“Isn’t this a bit too hard?”

Seeing the freshmen, Koholti started to worry.

This Black Magic final covered everything learned in the first semester.

Curses, poison, bone.

It was a test to check mastery in all three basics.

It sounded simple, but such exams were, in truth, harder.

They had to face three fields of Black Magic head-on; if even one was lacking, there was no way to make up for it.

“This should be fine. We agreed on this with the professor, why worry now.”

“I mean… There are barely five, and what if the number drops further…”

“……”

That was certainly true.

Direte was surprised that Koholti had made a rare valid point.

Though it was too late to change anything now…

Clack—

The door opened and a student entered.

The student immediately knocked down the curse-magic scarecrows with curses in rapid succession, then grabbed bone fragments from the desk and cast bone magic.

A storm of bones raged in the wide center of the classroom, knocking the bone-magic scarecrows all over.

Crash, crash, crash, crash!

All that within a matter of seconds.

Koholti watched, eyes and mouth wide in astonishment.

‘What the heck???’

The freshman didn’t stop there. Without resting, he conjured poison in midair and bottled it.

The prepared poison reacted with the vial, emitting smoke. The better the poison, the thicker the smoke, and the poison vials fumed so heavily it filled the entire classroom.

“W-was it too easy…? Huh? That’s strange? Are the freshmen this good…?”

“No, it’s just that one guy.”

Direte, belatedly recognizing the familiar junior’s face, answered coolly.