Episode 741

Professor Jorzik was momentarily flustered, but as one of the few professors at Einrogard who actually took interest in students, he quickly figured out the reason.

“It’s because you have so much mana.”

“Yes!”

Lee Han’s face brightened.

Professor Jorzik was unusually interested in strange things, but his skill was the real deal.

“What about a mana absorption artifact? The idea of a mage wearing a mana absorption artifact might feel unfamiliar, but…”

“I tried maxing it out, but it didn’t really help.”

“Then what about a fire absorption artifact?”

“Even with a little power boost, the artifact itself breaks, so it’s not a fundamental solution…”

“……”

For the first time in a while, Professor Jorzik was at a loss.

He had heard the rumors, but didn’t realize it was to this extent.

‘The rumors actually underestimated him!’

“Is there really no way?”

Lee Han asked, looking a little downcast, and Professor Jorzik shook his head firmly.

To a mage who would one day be Einrogard’s headmaster, such a question was an insult in itself.

“Impossible! Just as a mage’s wisdom is infinite, so too are the solutions endless.”

“Ooh.”

Lee Han looked at the professor with hope sparkling in his eyes.

As expected of an elemental magic expert, Professor Jorzik was clearly on another level.

And 30 minutes later.

Professor Jorzik, twirling his mustache, looked worriedly at the shattered artifacts scattered around him.

“I’m… sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for. Wardanaz. Why apologize for being so outstanding as a student? I’m grateful to have students like you!”

“Professor…!”

For a moment, Lee Han thought he might have to join the -Make Jorzik of House Benmalpa Headmaster of Einrogard- club.

Wouldn’t changing the headmaster as soon as possible be for the students’ own good?

“There is another possible method… but, hmm. It’s a bit difficult.”

“I’m fine, Professor. I trust you.”

“Thanks, Wardanaz. Right. A student of your caliber should handle it just fine!”

After pondering, Professor Jorzik nodded as if he’d made up his mind.

• * *

“So that’s what happened to you?”

The Blue Dragon Tower students murmured as they saw Lee Han.

At first it looked like he’d been possessed by a cursed fire spirit.

Whoosh!

Every few seconds, fire flared up around Lee Han’s body…

“Don’t worry, everyone. I’m alright. For now.”

“For now?”

Instead, Lee Han’s words just made his friends whisper even more.

No matter how you looked at it, he did not seem fine. Gainando was even about to run off to call Professor Garcia.

“Lee Han’s gonna burn up!”

“I told you I won’t.”

Grabbing Gainando by the scruff, Lee Han explained to his friends.

After every fire-element training artifact he owned had been destroyed, Professor Jorzik had offered a rather difficult solution.

-As I said before, the purpose of these artifacts, starting with -Bagnee’s Five Forms-, is to internalize the sensation of elemental control.

-I see…

-So if you can internalize the sensation without the training or the tools, then the purpose is achieved.

-But it’s hard to do that even with practice and tools, how is that possible?

-Do you know the method of increasing elemental affinity by constant, repeated exposure to the element?

-Yes. Oh, could I do that for fire, too?

-No. You have so much mana, Wardanaz, that you’ll never get used to it that way. You’ll need something stronger.

-Like tending a fireplace daily?

-No. Much harsher than that!

-…?

‘It was my mistake to trust a professor.’

Lee Han looked down at himself with a bitter face.

The spell Professor Jorzik had put on Lee Han was -Bagnee’s Flame Bull-.

At first, from the name, you couldn’t guess what kind of spell it was: in truth, it was a powerful fire spell that trapped the target in a bull-shaped mass of flame.

Unlike lower-level spells that summoned fire element, transformed it, and fired it off, this one was cast directly on the target, requiring much deeper technique and much greater difficulty.

Of course, Professor Jorzik hadn’t cast the spell to attack Lee Han.

He had modified it in two ways.

One was to remove the flame’s damage and leave only the mental pain, using illusion magic.

The other was to transfer control of the spell to Lee Han.

So Lee Han would have to control the spell himself, keeping the flames from burning him.

In short…

Lee Han would spend the entire weekend struggling to keep the burning flame spell from overwhelming him.

If even for a moment his control slipped, the Flame Bull spell would immediately start burning him.

“Who knew Professor Benmalpa was this crazy.”

“The senior said he was one of the good ones!”

“I thought so too at first. But I see you can never trust an Einrogard professor.”

Lee Han spoke with a bitter look.

Of course, Professor Jorzik had chosen such an extreme method because there was nothing else for it, but to Lee Han it felt about as harsh as Professor Voladi’s teaching.

‘Is Professor Baegrek’s method actually normal in the Empire?’

Lee Han shook his head.

That couldn’t possibly be true.

“But hey, Wardanaz. It’s the weekend.”

“Yeah. Finally the weekend!”

The friends cheered to encourage Lee Han.

At the same time, they glanced at him with concern.

They were worried he might be taking weekend classes.

“I’m taking the weekend off too, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Phew…!”

“Hey, see? Didn’t I say even Wardanaz would take weekends off. Pay up, silver!”

Some of the Blue Dragon Tower students started collecting silver coins, apparently having made a bet.

“……”

Eyeing them off with a sour look, Lee Han suddenly thought of something and called his friends over.

“Right. I do have something to talk about.”

“!”

“You… you’re planning an escape first week?”

“Or a warehouse raid?”

His friends gathered, half-expecting some wild plot.

Of course, that wasn’t why Lee Han had called them over.

“I didn’t call you here for escape or looting. I wanted to warn that a dangerous person has entered the school.”

“The Headmaster?”

“No, not the Headmaster… Or maybe? Well, either way, I should tell the upperclassmen too.”

Lee Han led his friends to the tower’s shared lounge area.

Luckily, he saw some familiar faces like Perse.

“Senior, may I have a word?”

“What is it? Something about polo? Did Hormasi bully you or what?”

As fellow members of the polo club, Perse worried seriously for Lee Han.

Though she still felt nervous around him, as a student directly taught by the Headmaster, he was still a junior from her own tower and club.

If a madman like Hormasi was pestering him, she’d have to step in.

“No, Senior Hormasi just wanted me to join an unlimited exhibition as a striker.”

‘Isn’t that bullying, though?’

Trying to drag a second-year into a no-limits polo match was…

“Then what is it?”

“A dangerous person has entered the school.”

“You mean the Headmaster?”

“…Not that.”

Lee Han gathered both his friends and the seniors in the lounge and explained the situation he’d experienced.

It wouldn’t do for only Lee Han to know about the Skull Headmaster’s rogue clone and the evil mage criminal wandering around the school.

Others should know, just in case.

After hearing everything, Perse exclaimed in shock.

“What? This is serious. Did they get into the main building?”

“No. Supposedly they’re hiding on the estate outskirts.”

“Ah, well then.”

“?

Not only Perse but other upperclassmen let out sighs of relief.

“I thought you meant they took up on the seventh floor.”

“If they’d settled on the seventh floor, we’d already know.”

“…Isn’t it still dangerous even out on the edge?”

Gainando didn’t get it and asked.

Just knowing the Headmaster’s rogue clone was out there was terrifying enough to give him nightmares.

“If it’s on the outskirts…”

“It’s not like Einrogard doesn’t have monsters all over.”

But the seniors seemed calmer than expected.

If they got worked up over every monster at Einrogard, they’d never graduate.

Even if there were ancient monsters sealed under the school, the Skull Headmaster would still expect your thesis.

“No, but—”

“But it’s the Headmaster’s clone?!”

Of course, the underclassmen still had a hard time accepting it.

They all knew there were plenty of monsters in Einrogard.

There were giants and mountain-destroying sheep in the range, forgotten monsters sometimes crawling up from underground…

Sometimes random dimensional gates opened up and more poured out!

But unlike such calamity-type monsters, the Skull Headmaster’s rogue clone and mage criminal were direct, overt threats.

“Juniors. I actually think the Headmaster’s clone is less dangerous than the Headmaster himself.”

“……”

“……”

“Joking aside, the Headmaster knows all this too, right? If it gets really dangerous, you can count on him to deal with it. He’s strict about those things.”

“Sorry to have caused a fuss. But really, the best way to survive at Einrogard is to focus on the monster in front of your nose. If you go after every one out at the edge, when are you ever going to graduate?”

While apologetic, the seniors were also firm.

They were simply too busy to go hunting every monster that appeared.

“I didn’t mean let’s go hunting, just to be careful.”

“Thanks. But most of us stay up near the seventh floor. It’s the first-years I’d worry about.”

“Eh, what would a first-year be doing on the estate’s outskirts?”

“……”

Having been to the estate’s outskirts as a first-year himself, Lee Han held his tongue.

‘Well… they’re not wrong.’

Listening to the seniors, he felt somewhat less worried.

There must be even more monsters at Einrogard than the students actually encounter or are threatened by.

Maybe, as the Skull Headmaster suggested, the rogue clone will just sort itself out in time.

‘I should try to react a little more calmly, too.’

“Hey! There’s a fire on the seventh floor!!!!”

A senior burst into the lounge, tossing a blazing cloak.

All the seniors who’d just given Lee Han such calm and bold advice screamed and rushed for the seventh floor.

“……”

“……”

• * *

Fortunately, the fire on the seventh floor wasn’t too serious.

A runaway salamander blew up about eight buildings, but thanks to the cooperation of nearby students, things were soon under control.

“Isn’t that kind of a big deal?”

“Nah, we handled it well.”

The second-years gave the seniors tired looks.

Even after the fire was out, Lee Han was puzzled to see so many students pouring in from afar.

“I thought you finished already?”

“Oh, those are the stonemasonry club kids. Since a building burned, they’re here to fix it as per contract.”

“That’s pretty helpful.”

Having experienced some of Einrogard’s bizarre clubs himself, Lee Han liked that the stonemasons showed up as contracted to repair things.

But the stonemasonry students went and stood in front of a completely undamaged building—a two-story magic workshop.

Then, after a shouting match with the students inside, they raised their staves.

Boom! Crash! Bang!

“……”

The second-years were horrified to see the workshop collapse before their eyes.

“Why… Why are they demolishing it!?”

“Must’ve been late on payments to the stonemason club. See? Never, ever delay paying the stonemasons.”