Episode 406

Episode 406

“Cough. Why did the sound stop?”

Professor Mortum went inside, leaving his students behind.

He was worried that Lee Han might have made a mistake.

If it had been another kind of magic, he wouldn’t have worried so much, but this bone explosion magic was especially dangerous for Lee Han…

Fortunately, the inside was fine.

The prepared shock absorption magic circle and explosion dispersion magic circle were still maintained, and plenty of bone fragments for practice remained in the box.

Professor Mortum asked, not understanding.

“Perhaps your mana ran out?”

“That’s not it.”

“Well, I guess that can’t be it.”

“…It’s just that I heard I needed to prove something at the festival…”

Lee Han thought surely not.

Wasn’t this related to the summoning magic class in the first place?

No matter what Professor Millei assigned, the standard probably wouldn’t be easy, and he’d have to invest quite a bit of time and effort…

On top of that, taking on the pride of black magic was just too much for all Lee Han had to do.

“Ah, you mean that. Cough.”

“Professor. I really have too much to do right now.”

Lee Han, who enjoyed lying in front of professors, felt confident only in moments like this.

Even now, he had to take care of the basilisk’s egg as soon as class was over.

“I know. All the professors probably know.”

“Really? From what I see, there seem to be more who are unaware…”

“Cough. And you don’t especially have anything to do at the festival.”

“??”

Lee Han was bewildered by the professor’s words.

After telling him to prove the pride of black magic, now he says there’s nothing special for him to do?

‘What is this? A trick?’

“I don’t really understand?”

Professor Mortum replied, coughing, as if it was obvious.

“Well, with your personality, you’ll try to prove it on your own even if no one tells you to. Cough. I trust you.”

“…No, I won’t!”

Lee Han shouted in indignation for the first time in a while.

Why these misunderstandings!?

• * *

If there are professors who try to take in a worthy student to continue the scholarly lineage, there are also professors who, without such ambitions, simply want to devote themselves to their own research.

The professor who taught transformation magic—Professor Doppelganger Reji—was exactly that kind of professor.

Even while the renowned lunatics—no, professors—of Einrogard were fighting over Wardanaz, Professor Reji did the opposite.

It’s the way of things to melt when you get too close to the sun.

There was no need to drag Wardanaz along. Professor Reji wanted only his own peaceful routine to continue.

“…You studied steel transformation in the first semester. You probably tried to handle and understand steel a lot. I’m sure you all did.”

Professor Reji slowly explained, fingers interlaced.

When in professor mode, Professor Reji had an air so dignified that even the empire’s high nobility would not compare.

Compared to when he transformed into a fake Gainando and got hit by Lee Han, it was unimaginable.

“Even if you haven’t perfected it yet… that’s fine. No need to be intimidated. Mastering any material takes time.”

‘…Weren’t we supposed to master it before the second semester started?’

Lee Han, who’d learned steel transformation while being beaten by Professor Voladi, was inwardly perplexed.

“As you continue learning different magic, the stuck parts will gradually resolve. Remember, the goal this semester is… to work on transforming various materials and discover what suits you.”

If you learned the easiest and most common steel transformation and its applications in the first semester, in the second semester you dealt with all sorts of materials to select those suited to the mage’s aptitude.

Outstanding transformation mages always carried compressed reagents, transforming them into familiar materials as needed in emergencies.

They’d turn compressed reagents into mercury to rapidly increase volume for offense, or into compressed fine sand for a solid sand shield.

Such methods weren’t used only in combat. They could transform required materials for alchemy or change their appearance to fool monsters.

Today too, Professor Reji closed the class with pride, farewell the students with elegance, and turned away.

…Until Lee Han followed him.

“Professor?”

“Hic.”

Professor Reji hiccuped at the unexpected visit from the monstrous student.

“Are you alright?”

“Of… of course I’m alright.”

Professor Reji calmly hid his hiccups, maintaining his dignity. As a professor, he could always keep calm.

“What brings you here?”

“I have something to ask.”

Lee Han, aside from receiving holy magic invitations from the clerics of the same tower, was also working on something alongside attending lectures and running odd errands.

That was taking care of the basilisk’s egg.

But as notorious as the monster itself, the basilisk’s egg was troublesome to care for.

Building a dedicated hut was only the beginning.

After feeding it and setting the right temperature, the next task began right away.

After stuffing the egg for days until it won’t eat anymore, prepare a new nest that suits the egg’s taste. Basilisks from the Western Empire basically prefer soft bird feathers, those from the East prefer hard rocks, but it’s not absolute. The safest way is for a transformation mage to stand by and match the basilisk’s whims…

At this absurd requirement, Lee Han asked Professor Voladi who visited the hut.

-Professor. How can I match its whims with limited materials available now?

-Learn transformation magic. Lucky you. I was going to make you learn more anyway.

-……

It was nonsense, but a transformation mage was definitely needed.

Lee Han asked Professor Reji.

“Could you possibly help me take care of the basilisk’s egg?”

“There’s… no reason I couldn’t.”

“Thank you!!”

Though he didn’t want to get involved, Professor Reji couldn’t refuse.

It was his sense of responsibility as a mentor, but more than that, he worried that this ambitious monstrous student might hold a grudge if turned down.

If things are already this way, Lee Han might even become a professor or principal upon graduation.

‘He’s really so kind.’

Unaware of Professor Reji’s inner thoughts, Lee Han was touched.

Pop!

When Professor Reji used a doppelganger’s ability to transform his appearance, Lee Han was a bit taken aback.

Because the opponent…

Was Gainando.

“Uh… Professor? Why Gainando?”

“Just because.”

“Ah. I see.”

Lee Han didn’t really understand, but decided to just accept it.

If the professor was helping him, what did it matter if it was in Gainando’s form or as the skull principal.

…Although a little bothered if it had been the skull principal.

‘Even if other professors see, they won’t recognize him.’

Professor Reji didn’t want to get involved in the other professors’ fights.

If later, in the faculty lounge, he heard ‘Where was Wardanaz that day? I think Professor Reji was with him,’ it would be so awkward.

But as Gainando, the other professors wouldn’t notice even from a distance.

• * *

“Hey. Gainando. Stop messing around and let’s go. We’ve got a lot to do. We have to finish our assigned chores today.”

“Don’t worry. Don’t worry! Even if we go in a bit later, I can still finish it!”

As Gainando dawdled in the main building instead of going to do the assigned dormitory duty, his friends clicked their tongues.

“That guy’s not listening without Wardanaz around.”

“Gainando. You’re going to get in big trouble at this rate.”

“Hmph. With Wardanaz gone, who’s going to scold me…”

As Gainando spoke, he suddenly grew wide-eyed at the sight of himself passing by in the distance.

“Gh—Ghost! It stole my form! A sh—shapeshifter!? When did it take my shape!?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“There! Look over there!!”

Gainando shouted, but Lee Han and Professor Reji had already gone past.

His friends looked at Gainando as if he was talking nonsense.

“Hey. Let’s stop fooling around and just go.”

“Stop with the weird excuses.”

“I’m serious! Really…!!”

Gainando shouted with a voice full of frustration, but his friends didn’t believe him.

“I’m telling you, a monster that stole my form just passed by…!”

“A monster has nothing better to do than steal your form?”

• * *

“I have a question.”

Gainando—no, Professor Reji—asked cautiously.

“Go ahead, ask anything.”

“…Why are you taking care of a basilisk’s egg? Isn’t that not a task for a first-year?”

“There’s a long and sad story behind that…”

Entering the hut, Lee Han trailed off as he sat down.

Professor Reji stared intently at the basilisk’s egg in the center.

He wasn’t an expert on rare animals, but he could roughly gauge the state of this basilisk egg.

‘It’s in really good condition.’

Thanks to being properly nourished and having a solid bond with its caretaker, the basilisk was psychologically very stable.

Honestly, it was amazing a first-year had raised it so well.

‘Students from Blue Dragon Tower shouldn’t be good at taking care of things.’

Though they always excelled at magic, Blue Dragon Tower students had a weakness.

When it came to caring for animals or plants, they were as clumsy as White Tiger Tower students.

“You’ve taken care of it very well. Now let me take a look.”

‘Unbelievable. That Gainando could look reliable!’

Lee Han was surprised by the sense of trust he felt as Professor Reji spoke in Gainando’s form.

It felt so strange to hear those words from Gainando’s face.

Shrrrrk!

With a spell, Professor Reji’s magic began. In the blink of an eye, the basilisk nest was transformed into dozens of different materials.

Copper, clay, sand, maple branches, hot amorphous liquid (Lee Han had no idea what potion that liquid was), gold, lava…

Seeing the gold flash by, Lee Han asked unintentionally.

“If we make the nest out of gold, wouldn’t the basilisk like it?”

“I already checked, but no. Basilisks don’t all like gold like people do. Which is for the best. If gold was the answer, it would take tremendous mana to maintain.”

‘Tsk.’

Lee Han was disappointed but had to admit the professor was right.

The rarer and more valuable the material, the harder it would be to maintain it.

“Found it.”

Professor Reji stopped and said. Lee Han asked with delight.

“What is it? What material seems to work best, Professor?”

“Mercury.”

“…Ah. Will you do it for me, Professor?”

“I’ll do it once, but after that, you’ll have to keep doing it to maintain it, so you need to learn.”

Professor Reji spoke plainly about the situation.

Transformation magic wasn’t permanent.

And with tasks like raising a basilisk, the mage had to endure steadily by its side.

“But Mercury’s not something I can handle with transformation magic.”

“That’s true… you probably haven’t mastered steel yet either.”

“…Hmm… well…”

Lee Han dodged Professor Reji’s words.

“Then I’ll…”

Just as Professor Reji was about to offer to come help each time, the door opened and Professor Voladi entered.

Professor Voladi raised an eyebrow at Gainando, then asked,

“Professor?”

“…Yes. That’s right…”

Pop!

Professor Reji wilted and returned to his original form.

Caught by Professor Voladi, of all people.

Wasn’t he the stubborn, uncompromising one?

“What were you talking about?”

“Wardanaz… wants to learn mercury transformation, but says it’s difficult. Because it’s tough, I thought he should master steel first and then…”

“I can already handle steel.”

“Really?!”

“Yes.”

Professor Voladi looked at Lee Han as if to say, wasn’t I right.

Now it was Lee Han’s turn to wilt.