Episode 983

Episode 983

‘Ah. I spaced out again.’

The conversation happening nearby was so interesting that even a brief glance kept drawing her in like a spell.

Ellendil shook her head and forced herself to focus once more on the Baldrogard student.

‘Kindness… Is he kind? Well… I guess you could call him kind…’

That Wardanaz junior certainly had great social skills and a wide network of relationships.

Ellendil, who only had a few juniors (and was never at ease even with them), instinctively sensed it.

That junior was the complete opposite kind of person from herself!

After all, if you attended every school of magic, it was practically impossible not to have a wide social circle.

It was a little surprising, though, that it applied even to the Baldrogard student…

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: I see. Anyway, I don’t really know that senior. If I find him, I’ll let you know.

‘I doubt she ever will, though.’

Ipheldrem: Thank you!

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Ask Gonadaltes. He’s good at that sort of thing.

Doing her best to reconcile the two with her meager skill, Ellendil suggested Gonadaltes.

Although Ipheldrem was wary of Gonadaltes, the chance to find the sixth-year Wardanaz senior seemed to sway her a bit.

Ipheldrem: I don’t really want to hang out with such a cranky, mean person… but, okay. I’ll think about it.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: As a wizard, you should learn how to get along even with people you don’t want to.

“Another demigod is not permitted.”

“Why not!?”

“Figure out how to handle it. Changing things just because they’re difficult is the act of a coward, not something worthy of a royal’s disciple.”

Just then, nearby was a junior associating with a demigod she didn’t want to get along with.

Seeing that, Ellendil became even more certain of her previous words.

Ipheldrem: That’s good advice! You’re right! I actually had a similar experience—when I joined Baldrogard, I bought a new mansion nearby, but I didn’t get along with the new maids at all. Maybe because it’s the western part of the Empire, and their customs are unfamiliar.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Wow… that must’ve been tough.

Ellendil sincerely regretted that she wasn’t in the necromancy school.

If she’d learned advanced curses, she could curse even people she’d never met.

Ipheldrem: But, with time, I became friends with them. Once I did, I started to see their good points.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Right. I think that’s enough story now, don’t you?

Ellendil tried to bring the conversation to a close.

If they kept talking, she’d just get more and more exasperated inside.

But Ipheldrem wasn’t about to let go of the rare opportunity to chat privately with an Einrogard student.

Ipheldrem: Um, could I ask you a few things about magic?

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Why not ask your Baldrogard seniors or professors?

With a bit of mischief, Ellendil made a snide reply.

If these were truly deep, technical magic questions, Baldrogard’s own magicians wouldn’t be able to answer them easily.

Yet the reply was quite unexpected.

Ipheldrem: All the seniors and professors are away right now, on the Imperial spring flower carriage trip.

“……”

Ellendil felt a surge of killing intent, as if she’d spotted someone destroying the forest.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: …Go ahead. Wait, why didn’t you go?

Ipheldrem: Ah, I stayed because the magic I’m studying now is so interesting!

“?”

Ellendil tilted her head.

Still not understanding, she called out to Lee Han.

“Um, excuse me…”

The mad clone shot her a cold glare for interrupting the apprentice’s spell practice.

Wilting under that glare, Ellendil bowed her head.

“N-no, it’s nothing…”

“Very well. See that it stays nothing.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Ellendil meekly turned her gaze away.

For a Baldrogard student to stop having fun just to study magic…

‘Must be a coincidence… or a misunderstanding, right…?’

Ipheldrem: Right now, I’m designing a compressed magic circle and a layered (stacked) magic circle. Basically, in a closed magic circle, the total mana increase and decrease should balance, right? But here, the mana spikes just at the dodecahedral ruby reagent part. I can’t figure out what mistake I’m making.

“!??!?!”

A compressed magic circle was a technique that engraved ten or more magic circles compacted into a single magic circle.

Even among Einrogard’s enchantment students, this was a high-level technique usually attempted in the upper years!

Layered magic circles were just as difficult. You stack multiple different magic circles vertically and combine their effects—potentially even harder than compressed magic circles.

Yet the Baldrogard student was asking about these.

Ellendil wondered if she was being tricked.

Was the other person actually an Einrogard student pretending to be Baldrogard??

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: What year did you say you were?

Ipheldrem: Me? Third year.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Did any other magic schools try to recruit you when you entered Baldrogard?

Ipheldrem: Huh? How did you know? Petrogard sent me an invitation.

The magic school Petrogard wasn’t just a “so-called” magic school like Baldrogard.

It was famed for producing top magical artifact craftsmen.

If she’d been offered a place at Petrogard, then her level of magic as a third-year at Baldrogard made sense.

A third-year at Petrogard…

‘Even so, she’s amazing.’

At that level, she was probably considered a genius even at Petrogard. Ellendil couldn’t understand and asked again.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Why didn’t you go to Petrogard?

Ipheldrem: All my friends decided to go to Baldrogard.

“……”

Ellendil let out a deep sigh without realizing it.

Imperial officials saw Einrogard as a thorn in their side, but the real thorn was truly Baldrogard.

A hellish place that took potentially talented wizards and left their potential to rot!

“Have you finished persuading her?”

She heard her junior’s voice from behind.

Looking back, the collar of his robe looked terribly scorched, maybe by fire. Ellendil was startled.

“D-did the clone…?”

“Hm? Oh. No. I just got a little too excited practicing magic.”

Ignoring the artificial demigod’s “pathetic” comments, Lee Han focused on training his spells.

Come to think of it, there was no reason to listen to the artificial demigod or mad clone nagging him to learn powerful or evil spells.

He could just do the magic he wanted.

And as a result, he realized something unexpected.

The power of the artificial demigod was far more useful than he’d first thought.

-My success rate really did go up! Amazing!

-So trivial…

-Please keep helping me like that from now on.

-When are we conquering the continent…

There was no need to channel power the way the mad clone did.

As an assistant, it wasn’t even that hard, and was currently far more useful to Lee Han.

It increased the success rate of difficult spells that would otherwise often fail.

The good thing about divinity was that, for a wizard, it could intuitively manifest phenomena that would otherwise take hundreds of steps and theories to achieve.

Thanks to that, Lee Han, caught up in excitement, nearly burned his clothes while practicing a new flame attribute.

“Wh-what a relief… I thought the clone attacked you.”

“Oh, right. I wondered if she’d be angry because I was only practicing easy spells.”

“That’s not what I meant…”

That wasn’t what Ellendil meant at all.

None of the magic the junior was practicing should be considered second-year level in the first place.

“But she actually wasn’t mad.”

“R-really…?”

“Yeah. She said to just do as I wanted.”

“?”

Ellendil tilted her head.

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t believe the mad clone would say that.

“Ah! I get it! If it was sarcasm—”

“So I asked if she was being sarcastic, and she got angry.”

“……”

Ellendil stared at Lee Han in disbelief.

The most inexplicable thing about this junior wasn’t his innate magic power or talent.

It was his bravado in saying such things before the mad archmage’s clone.

How could anyone say that?

“In any case, it wasn’t that. Maybe this is actually the right way to use her… Senior, you should try it too.”

“N-no thanks.”

Ellendil answered immediately, looking appalled.

If she could borrow divine power, she’d rather use it to resurrect and regrow the forest, not risk practicing advanced magic with a suspicious artificial demigod.

Just who, except a magic-crazed maniac, would do such a thing?

“So, senior. Did you talk to her well?”

“Huh? Oh, uh…”

Ellendil quickly summarized what had happened.

She spoke to Ipheldrem, persuaded her, found out she was actually this kind of wizard…

“…What a load of nonsense.”

“It’s true!!!”

When her junior looked at her incredulously, Ellendil was genuinely aggrieved.

There really was a wizard like that in Baldrogard!

• * *

‘My guess is, right now, the teacher is in a very good mood.’

As he walked out, Lee Han thought so.

Otherwise, some of the things that happened lately couldn’t be explained.

Teaching other students in place of the professors, not getting angry even if Lee Han slacked off (at least by the mad clone’s standard) or practiced easy spells…

The only theory that explained all these mysterious happenings was this:

The mad clone was in a great mood!

“…?”

The mad clone looked at her disciple as if something was suspicious.

There was no proof, but he looked like he was having some arrogant and impious thoughts.

Regardless, Lee Han kept thinking.

‘Then, she’d probably understand what I’m about to do next.’

“Teacher!”

“What is it?”

“I’m about to go to the next lecture. Is that alright?”

“…What sort of lecture that you’d feel the need to ask?”

The mad clone really had gained in her understanding of her disciple.

The fact that he’d stop to ask like this meant it was definitely not a normal subject.

“A fencing class, -Sword and Life-…”

“……”

The mad clone’s face twisted at once, and Lee Han realized he’d badly misjudged.

There was no way that aura was coming from someone in a good mood.

‘Damn. I miscalculated.’

He’d gotten bold, thinking she was in a good mood, and ended up worse off.

“You’re taking a fencing class at a time like this? Do you truly not know what’s important?”

“I’ve been taking it from the start…”

“Silence! Even if the other magic was unimpressive, it wasn’t off the path. But swordsmanship is another matter.”

“Doesn’t advanced swordsmanship help with magic as well?”

“That’s an unreasonably roundabout way. Why take such a detour as darkness falls?”

The mad clone didn’t deny that mastery in swordsmanship could have areas of overlap with magic.

After all, both were about harnessing power and changing the world.

But to waste time learning swordsmanship just for that tiny overlap as a wizard was foolish.

“Wait. Didn’t you also train in close combat in the past?”

Lee Han recalled what he’d seen in the past and asked.

How could she say it was a waste of time for her disciple after learning it herself?

“Because I, the royal, tried it for myself and confirmed its pointlessness. Once magic reaches a certain level, such minor skills become unnecessary.”

The mad clone was much more stubborn about this than he’d expected.

Not the slightest wavering, even when he brought up the past.

“…The senior teaching this class is quite a unique person. Aren’t you at least a little curious?”

“Not in the least.”

“She casts all sorts of magic through swordsmanship.”

The mad clone paused for a moment.

Then she spoke again.

“Lead the way.”

“!”