Episode 357

“It’s done.”

“What!?”

Alsicle was startled.

While he was talking with Yumidihus, Lee Han had finished organizing everything.

“Already!? All of that?!”

“What have you been doing?”

Yumidihus looked at Alsicle disapprovingly.

To think a first-year student could sort out that much material so quickly when Alsicle just stacked it up and neglected it.

“N-no… I was going to organize it too… but… there was a kind of complexity that made it impossible…”

“Stop making excuses and come on. Let’s prepare together.”

Yumidihus and Alsicle sat down and began to go through the organized materials.

The paperwork was important, but it was also essential to show the inspector an experiment.

They needed to pick the most promising and decent experiment to demonstrate to the inspector.

“This twenty-third experiment looks good.”

Experiment 23. Why did I even start ice element magic in the first place? Wouldn’t it have been better to do fire element? To create extreme cold, I cast spells on all the heat sources in the area. Don’t forget to order three boxes of sardines. Observation: Noted objects falling in the vicinity had their descent slowed.

‘So many scribbles…’

“If you confirmed that objects were slowed when falling, that’s quite a result.”

“But that one needs the horn of a Frost Stag.”

“…Then, what about experiment forty-four? The one where bricks lost their shape and transformed on their own—that’s a meaningful result, isn’t it?”

“But that one needs something from Frozen Cold Mountain.”

“…Who told you to waste the reagents!”

An enraged Yumidihus made a club of water and smacked Alsicle on the back.

Alsicle groaned and made excuses.

“How was I supposed to know the inspector would turn up… And even with the reagents, there’s no guarantee the experiments would have succeeded. More often they failed.”

“You have to show results soon, and you just keep saying good things. How wonderful.”

Yumidihus sighed.

Even as he said this, it wasn’t as if Yumidihus bore no responsibility for Alsicle’s predicament.

“If you don’t have what you need, you’ll have to make do. This Yellow Snow Pellet is probably meant to control surrounding moisture and increase stability when maintaining cold. I’ll handle it.”

“Th-thank you.”

“The eternal snow… must be to amplify the power of the cold element, right?”

“Yes.”

“No choice, then. Wardanaz, can I borrow some of your mana?”

“???”

“Yes. That’s fine.”

“?????”

Alsicle was flustered by the exchange between Lee Han and Yumidihus.

Huh?

“Wait, Sir Yumidihus…”

“Just keep quiet, Alsicle. There’s no time.”

“But…”

The eternal snow set out in the magic circle was a powerful reagent that amplified cold element power dozens of times over.

It might not be impossible to substitute mana for it, but by any estimate, it was far more than a young first-year student could handle.

‘Is he tormenting him?’

“The Frozen Cold Mountain was used to fix the amplified cold, right… Voladi Baegrek.”

“Yes.”

When Yumidihus called for Voladi Baegrek, Alsicle was relieved.

Unlike with Lee Han, he didn’t feel bad using that guy.

“I’ll control the amplification, so can you use Wardanaz’s mana to fix it?”

Professor Voladi nodded.

Of course, Alsicle glared with wide eyes.

“Sir Yumidihus!! This REALLY isn’t—”

“Keep him quiet. No time.”

Yumidihus couldn’t be bothered to explain how much mana Lee Han had, so he just gave an order to Professor Voladi.

• * *

“My goodness! Now I can see why Your Highness has so many followers!”

“Heh heh.”

Gainando was having a great time with the inspector.

“Lightning spirit cards are overrated, you know. They avoid battles and drain the magician’s stamina. Cowardly, right?!”

“Absolutely. I’ve always thought the same.”

The two magician card enthusiasts warmed up as they shared opinions on card rankings.

“By the way, Your Highness, what sort of deck do you use?”

“I mostly use bla… Ack!?”

Gainando suddenly screamed.

His friends had stepped on both his feet from either side.

“What’s the matter?”

“Gainando mainly uses honorable knight cards.”

“Ooo. As expected.”

Gainando wanted to say, ‘Why would I play something that boring,’ but his feet hurt too much to protest.

“Inspector, the experiment is ready.”

“Ah. It’s already that time…! Sorry. I was just enjoying the conversation so much…”

“It’s fine.”

“?”

The inspector felt that something was odd.

Lee Han hadn’t exited the tower or moved, but was instead standing absolutely still.

‘Focus.’

Lee Han shuddered as he sensed the massive flow of mana.

No matter what magician it was, the flow of mana moving in the lab right now would be awe-inspiring.

At first, Alsicle had resisted, but once the magic circle was set and the mana started flowing, he became desperate and did his best to cooperate.

“You okay? You’re really okay, right? You’re not just saying that because you’re being threatened? Seriously?”

“……”

Lee Han couldn’t answer, busy concentrating.

In fact, Alsicle was distracting him, making it harder to focus.

Professor Voladi noticed the mana around Lee Han was destabilizing, and kicked Alsicle’s leg. Alsicle shrieked.

“I told you to focus, Alsicle!”

“Y-yes…”

Yumidihus’s voice made Alsicle avert his gaze.

Right now, from Lee Han’s left, Yumidihus, and from his right, Voladi Baegrek—each was absorbing and channeling mana into the magic circle.

When they’d first said they’d substitute eternal snow and Frozen Cold Mountain with a first-year’s mana, Alsicle had thought Yumidihus had gone mad while no one was looking, but the magic circle was working just fine.

‘Is it really okay? For real? It’s okay for now, but… How is this possible? Is he going to start spitting blood and collapse?’

“Miss Alsicle Pengerin?”

“A-ah. I’ll begin.”

Worrying about a thousand things inside, Alsicle now raised his staff to the inspector’s words.

The neatly organized research journal flew to the inspector. He was impressed.

“Impressive! Few magicians organize their work this well.”

“Of course—it’s a matter of responsibility.”

With Yumidihus and Voladi staring right at him, Alsicle blushed.

“The observed phenomena… Oh! Great! That’s significant progress.”

Alsicle kept to himself how those phenomena surfaced maybe one in dozens of experiments.

“At this level, the investors will surely be satisfied. What sort of result will you demonstrate?”

“I think… it’s best you see it for yourself.”

Alsicle dodged a specific answer.

They’d improvised, removing whatever reagents were lacking; since he didn’t know exactly what would happen, he couldn’t say for sure.

“Understood! Please, show me.”

“Mana, circulate and amplify as ordained. Circulate and amplify. Circulate…”

Alsicle began to chant the incantation in a deep, powerful voice.

Battle magicians valued short, concise spells, but for most magicians, that didn’t matter.

Magicians sought the completion of the magic, not battle.

No matter how long the chants, precision was more important.

“Cold, expand… In place of the eternal snow. Its amplification…”

‘Did we have eternal snow?’

The inspector tilted his head.

He was sure it hadn’t been in the magic circle.

“Cold, remain. In place of…”

RUMBBBBBLE!

At the center of the lab magic circle, the densely compressed mana now began to warp space itself.

It was reminiscent of when the skeletal Headmaster would overwhelm incoming students with mana during enrollment.

But today, the purpose was different.

The mana was being converted to cold, dropping the temperature to the very extreme.

Click, clack—

“Oooooooh!”

An icicle in the shape of a sword formed at the heart of the magic circle.

Pure mana, with no loss, was imbued into the icicle.

The inspector, watching the vivid flow of mana along the blade, nodded excitedly.

To imbue a spell with no mana loss at all as an enchantment—this was a material all enchanters dreamed of.

“So this was what you wanted to show!”

“This makes no sense!!”

“???”

“N-nothing.”

Alsicle, surprised, cried out beside the inspector, then quickly regained his composure.

This was the best result he’d ever had from any experiment so far.

‘What the…?’

Sssss—

“Look! The snowflakes aren’t falling!”

“Are you joking around right now?!”

“??!”

“I, I must have gotten sick researching magic alone for too long.”

“Oh… I see.”

From phenomena that used no mana to time-stopping effects.

Originally, these required tons of reagents just to glimpse for a moment each.

But here, two different phenomena at once, and for several seconds, no less.

He was both happy and moved, yet also bewildered.

‘How!? How on earth?!’

Clap clap clap clap clap—

The inspector applauded. Alsicle was beginning to feel terrified.

“No way…”

“Look at the droplets inside! The water’s properties are changing!”

“………”

“Miss Alsicle Pengerin, you’re a genius at magic! To manifest three phenomena at this length!!”

“No… I’m nothing.”

“And so humble!”

“I keep telling you, I’m not…”

• * *

The inspector excitedly recorded the results. Three phenomena, and maintained for 7 seconds at that.

If investors saw this, they’d declare, ‘Genius really is different,’ and approve more funds on the spot; the cold element mage society would decide, ‘A prodigy’s done it again,’ and arrange a study visit.

But the true genius who had accomplished this great feat was groaning, lying on the inner floor.

“Are you alright? Did the experiment take too much of a toll…”

“Maybe it’s a sickness of the mind.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s nothing. At least they’re satisfied, that’s a relief.”

“Yes! Today my eyes have truly been opened. I already knew Miss Alsicle Pengerin was an amazing magician, but to this extent! If someone asked me who the greatest young magician in the Empire is today, I’d say Miss Alsicle Pengerin without hesitation!”

From the inner room, Alsicle’s mournful coughing could be heard over and over. Yumidihus decided to send the inspector away quickly for his student’s sake.

“That’s enough. Thank you. I hope we meet again.”

“Yes! Goodbye!”

Yumidihus and Lee Han approached the penguin beastman magician lying down.

Alsicle turned away with a dejected face.

“I can’t believe something this simple took me so long…”

“It wasn’t simple, Alsicle. All those trials and errors—you could do it today because of them. Think positively. You could have wandered even more.”

Despite Yumidihus’s comforting words, Alsicle burst into tears.

“That’s enough! Cold element must have been unhappy with me studying it. If Wardanaz had researched it, you could have revealed the truth much faster.”

“Cold element isn’t even a person, what are you talking about.”

“I’m going to write to all the cold element magicians as soon as I get up… Tell them I’ve wasted my life, and Wardanaz will inherit my research.”

“…?”

Lee Han, who had listened quietly, paused.

Wait—what?

“What kind of nons—no, that’s ridiculous, Miss Pengerin.”

Lee Han had thought that if he just kept quiet, Alsicle would come to his senses, but with talk like this, that wasn’t the case.

“My research should go to a genius like you…”

“No, Miss Pengerin! That’s nonsense! This magic circle and all the preparation was done by you. If anything, we barely threw in a pinch of salt at the end!”

“Is that really the right metaphor…”

“Frankly, who can’t pump in this much mana! You could do it with mana stones!”

“Impossible.”

“Impossible.”

“………”

Trying to offer comfort with logic beside him, and having Yumidihus and Voladi competing over magical accuracy, Lee Han felt a surge of emotion.