Episode 543

Episode 543

‘Is that really something to get so excited about?’

Professor Kirmin watched as Lee Han and Ratford excitedly dismantled the box, feeling puzzled.

Of course, as a professor, it was delightful when a student showed interest and passion for the lecture content, but no matter how much he thought about it, getting this fired up over such a dull topic was rather baffling.

“Professor, do you have any more difficult boxes?”

“Wardanaz. You’re not planning on going somewhere to steal, are you?”

Professor Kirmin spoke in jest.

Lee Han’s pupils wavered ever so slightly.

“W-what do you mean? It’s purely academic curiosity about illusion magic.”

“Yeah… that’s right. There’s no way it could be for anything else.”

“It’s a joke. Just a joke.”

• * *

Unlike some professors who liked whips and even more whips, Professor Kirmin preferred the soft approach of carrot and stick.

Since the students had wrestled with boring, tedious boxes, the next step needed to be something interesting to keep things balanced.

“You all worked hard disabling those boring boxes.”

“No, it was fun.”

At Lee Han’s words, his friends glared daggers at him from behind.

Since they couldn’t glare at him in front, they had no choice but to glare at him from behind.

This is why the top student is…!

“Then, shall I continue explaining the magic I taught last time? Everyone remembers, right?”

“Yes, Professor!”

The students’ faces brightened.

With the tedious analysis and disabling finished, they now had a lecture that was closer to real combat.

The professor called one student and spoke.

“Alright. Try it.”

“…B-bend, be deflected!”

The student who cast the -Projectile Deflection- spell also cast a magic missile, and the blue sphere, which should have flown straight, instead appeared to come in from a different direction than the actual one.

It was an illusion magic that confused and concealed the actual trajectory of magic cast by a wizard.

“Whoa…!”

As it looked like the magic missile might hit the professor right in the face, the student who cast it made a flustered sound.

Lee Han watched with slightly expectant eyes.

Of course, Professor Kirmin didn’t let himself get hit. The instant the magic burst, the professor’s double disappeared as if collapsing.

“!”

“…!!”

A chill ran down the spines of the gathered students.

The professor they’d just been talking to had actually been a double. They hadn’t even noticed when it was switched.

“Good job, good job. But you’re too straightforward. You need to learn to use a bit more trickery.”

The best illusion mages were always skilled in trickery.

If there came a need to attack a fortress, an enhancement mage would charge in head-on like a knight clad in heavy armor, deflecting incoming attacks and crushing foes.

But an illusion mage would assassinate the commander before anyone noticed, then pose as the new commander of the fortress themselves.

In stark contrast to head-on confrontations or flashy battles, surprise attacks and tricks were essential in illusion magic.

“Okay. Let’s pair up. One attacks, one defends. The one attacking has to try every means to deceive and subdue the opponent. Got it? Wardanaz, where are you going? You’re partnering with me. You did last time, too.”

“Yes…”

Lee Han gloomily returned to Professor Kirmin’s side.

The other students offered the professor a respectful greeting tinged with awe. Professor Kirmin waved in understanding, as if he knew that feeling well.

“Honestly, Wardanaz, I’d feel sorry for those kids if you sparred with them.”

“Not really?”

Professor Kirmin pretended not to hear Lee Han’s words. After serving as a professor at Einrogard, he had developed the skill of ignoring anything unfavorable to himself.

“If you were taught by Professor Baegrek, the regular students wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“I haven’t learned much from him.”

“Have you erased the time you pretended to be dead and attacked me out of your memory?”

Professor Kirmin looked at Lee Han in disbelief.

Last lecture, Lee Han had suddenly pretended to collapse from a heart attack. When the professor approached, he immediately cast a spell—how dumbfounded the professor had been!

He was sure that that Professor Baegrek was behind such suspicious tricks.

“Alright, enough nonsense. Let’s begin.”

“Yes. Multiply!”

Lee Han spoke the -Projectile Multiplication- spell.

It was similar to -Projectile Deflection-, but a slightly more advanced illusion magic.

It was an illusion placed on the staff that increased the apparent number of projectiles the mage cast.

“Water, fly!”

Lee Han sent a water glob flying toward Professor Kirmin, its trajectory shaken erratically.

Since they were just practicing illusion magic, there was no need for actual force to knock out the opponent.

Professor Kirmin spoke in disbelief.

“You only pretended to use illusion and actually fired several real ones, didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Oh yes, you did.”

The professor waved his staff. All the flying water orbs split and fell to the ground.

They were all, in fact, real water orbs.

It was a deception worthy of high marks. Of course, not just anyone had the mana to waste it like that…

‘Must be fake?’

Lee Han focused intently on the Professor Kirmin before him.

It wasn’t just a guess from experience—there was actually a very slight awkwardness in Professor Kirmin’s presence.

It wasn’t that his appearance was awkward.

It was that tiny difference inevitably felt when magic was used.

A regular mage wouldn’t have noticed, but those as attuned to magic as Lee Han could sense it.

“Hm.”

Lee Han suddenly jabbed a student from the White Tiger Tower, who’d been dueling illusions with Ratford, with his staff.

“Ouch!”

“Sorry. Thought you were the professor.”

“Did you just say…”

“Wardanaz. It’s commendable that you noticed, but that method is not acceptable.”

Professor Kirmin rapped the floor with his staff, as if to forbid it.

If an illusion mage ever hid in a village, you couldn’t attack all the villagers, could you?

Lee Han looked around again.

Since he had no way of knowing where in the room the professor might be hiding, he considered using an area attack…

“Wardanaz. No area spells, either.”

Lee Han stared at the professor in front of him in frustration.

“If nothing’s allowed, what do you want me to do?”

“This is an illusion magic class, not Professor Baegrek’s class, right?”

It was certainly true.

Slightly chastened, Lee Han sent a water orb at the professor. The professor easily blocked it.

‘I need to find the discrepancy.’

The abnormal flow of mana that was distinctly different from the flow found in nature.

This was usually a clue that let one detect a mage’s spells.

The problem now was that spells were flying all around the classroom from the other students.

With spells flying in all directions, the mana flow was extremely erratic.

“Fog, spread.”

“!”

Professor Kirmin watched as Lee Han cast -Ogonin’s White Fog- and was, for a moment, overcome with emotion.

For a mere first-year student to so cleanly cast a 3rd circle spell, and Ogonin’s secret spell at that.

Even though Lee Han often broke class magic circles or equipment with his mana, seeing things like this proved there were few students as commendable as Wardanaz.

‘I must hide myself first.’

Lee Han acted just as he’d been taught.

Even though he was on the offense, if Professor Kirmin kept observing him, Lee Han would inevitably be at a disadvantage.

He needed to disrupt their line of sight, if only for a moment.

“Cloak, swallow me…”

‘He’s good.’

Professor Kirmin marveled as Lee Han’s form became completely invisible within the swirling mist.

There was a reason this student was known as -Voladi’s Only Disciple-.

To think he’d already become this proficient after only a few lessons in illusion magic duels.

‘Right. You need to hide yourself even when attacking.’

Clatter!

Suddenly, the window closed and the curtains were drawn.

Even students who’d been swinging their staffs and kicking at each other’s shins paused and turned their gaze.

Professor Kirmin, on a hunch of ill omen, shouted without meaning to.

“Hey, wait…!”

Crash!!

Lee Han unhesitatingly smashed the magic lamp on the classroom ceiling.

The artifact, which had sprayed out light, broke with a loud noise, and the classroom was instantly plunged into darkness.

The professor felt both a desire to praise him and an urge to call Professor Baegrek and complain, ‘Can’t you stop making him weirder?’

‘He really broke that!’

But the room wasn’t totally dark.

Light seeped in through the curtains, and the students’ spells left lingering afterglow.

“Darkness, pour out!”

“…!”

Seeing him even block out that rare dark element with persistent intent, Professor Kirmin could only grin wryly.

He was thoroughly relishing his privileges as the attacker.

“So, Wardanaz? Calling darkness was a good idea, but doesn’t it make it even harder to find the real one?”

“No. I’ve found you.”

Lee Han stopped behind Imirg, then released his invisibility spell and gently tapped his back with his staff.

Immediately, Imirg’s form turned into Professor Kirmin. As the classroom brightened, the nearby students screamed in surprise.

“How did you find me?”

Professor Kirmin truly hadn’t expected it.

Wardanaz had been heading in the right direction, but he was still a long way from the answer.

So how?

“I cast the invisibility spell and also cast -Ogonin’s Empathy Detection- spell at the same time.”

“Ah. -Ogonin’s Empathy Detection-? That’s a really clever move.”

“Uh… yes. Lord Ogonin.”

Lee Han furtively tacked on ‘Lord’ after checking the professor’s mood.

It seemed before Professor Kirmin, he’d have to be more careful about the honorifics.

The reason he’d used -Ogonin’s Empathy Detection- was simple.

If Professor Kirmin was hiding as one of the students, he’d display emotions different from the others—namely, calmness.

The professor, pleased with Lee Han’s quick thinking, clapped his hands.

“Right. You noticed right away? Did seeing the spell bounce off give you a clue? Imirg does have strong magic resistance, but not enough to block all such detection magic.”

“Uh… well, the spell itself did succeed…”

Professor Kirmin looked flustered at Lee Han’s answer.

Given they weren’t in a battle situation, Professor Kirmin wasn’t walking around the school with all sorts of defensive spells up.

But as an illusion mage, he did habitually keep up some spells for security…

And Lee Han had just broken through and seen right through them?

“Geez. No wonder Professor Baegrek is so fond of you.”

“Eh???”

Lee Han, for the first time in a while, put on a deadpan expression.

• * *

Originally, Professor Verdus would call for Lee Han whenever he was bored, but lately the calls had decreased dramatically, and Lee Han didn’t care at all.

He knew well that if he went looking for him and asked, ‘Professor, are you alright?’, he’d only end up getting sucked deeper into the clutches of Professor Verdus.

He was content simply to enjoy the peace that a senior had made for him, who was surely in the underground prison right now.

‘Thank you, Senior Kettle.’

But he couldn’t avoid Professor Verdus forever.

Most notably, during lecture hours.

“Wardanaz. Why do you look so happy when this is an enchantment magic class?”

Angrago didn’t understand.

Wasn’t Wardanaz even the one who had to fetch the professor!

Just thinking about it would get Angrago’s stomach churning…

“Ah. It’s just pleasant thinking I only have to see the professor during lecture hours now.”

“……”

Giselle, passing by, looked at Lee Han as if he were insane.

“Professor?”

Before class began, Lee Han knocked on Professor Verdus’s workshop.

From afar, Professor Verdus opened the door with a wave of his hand and beckoned him in.

“Oh. Were you in the middle of something? Should I come back later?”

“No. Gotta go to class. Said they’d kill me if I didn’t.”

Lee Han didn’t bother to ask ‘Who?’. He just smiled serenely.

Grumbling, Professor Verdus quickly wrapped up his work.

“What a pain! Which crazy bastard smashed the classroom magic lamp?”

“……”