Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 826

“Fine. Let’s go.”

“Are you sure that’s all right?”

Only after asking did Lee Han realize the obvious.

“Ah. You’re going there to attack him.”

Now that he thought about it, that was not a bad idea.

Ragesa would get her revenge, and Lee Han and the upperclassmen would get to watch Professor Verdus be attacked.

A happy time for everyone.

Why did I try to stop this?

The <Wand Materials and Magical Amplification> lecture would be filled with rare laughter and applause.

“What are you talking about? I’m not doing that.”

Contrary to Lee Han’s expectations, however, Ragesa rejected the idea.

“What? You’re not going to attack him?”

“No matter how badly I want to tie an anchor to that bastard Verdus’s ankle and throw him into the sea, I’m not going to interfere with a student lecture. Being trapped in Einroguard is miserable enough. It’d be too cruel if their classes were disrupted too.”

“…”

At the kind pirate’s words, Lee Han thought to himself.

She’s being considerate in exactly the wrong place.

The students would actually want their lecture disrupted.

Especially the enchantment magic school students.

“You can attack him. The upperclassmen would love it.”

“What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Even if I want to beat that bastard Verdus half to death, there are lines I won’t cross!”

Ragesa knew Einroguard fairly well, but even she could not have predicted Professor Verdus’s extreme free-form approach to teaching.

How could she possibly guess that the lecture itself consisted of stealing the professor’s research materials?

“I’m serious… Then why are you going?”

“Is attacking all you think about, kid? I’m going to observe. I want to see how that bastard Verdus teaches. If he teaches well, maybe my anger will cool a little.”

Ragesa clicked her tongue in displeasure as she spoke.

Even now, just thinking about Professor Verdus made her stomach burn from all the wasted Imperial gold, but seeing him teach his disciples might make her feel a little better.

At least then she could tell herself that her gold had not been completely useless.

She’s going to attack him.

Lee Han was certain.

The moment they reached the lecture hall, Ragesa would strike.

“Ragesa. Do you really think Professor Verdus will teach well?”

“I know exactly what you’re thinking, brat. But I’m not expecting that bastard Verdus to teach like Garcia! That would be too much to ask. I just want to see whether he’s improved since the last time I saw him.”

Ragesa’s standards became surprisingly generous where Professor Verdus was concerned.

Lee Han guessed that being stricter would only give her a headache.

“What was he like the last time you saw him?”

“Last time, he said he didn’t want to lecture and sent his disciples to other schools.”

“…”

***

Surprisingly, however, Lee Han’s prediction was wrong.

Professor Verdus was not in the lecture hall.

“Where did Professor Verdus go?”

“He’s not coming today because of assassination threats. With this many outsiders around, there really might be assassins. Senior Yukbeltire will lecture instead.”

A nearby upperclassman kindly explained.

Lee Han was a little impressed.

No wonder he’s survived this long!

One of Lee Han’s long-standing questions—how Professor Verdus was still alive despite having so many enemies—had just been partially answered.

Who would have thought he would skip class in anticipation of Ragesa’s attack?

“That slippery bastard!”

Of course, from Ragesa’s perspective, it was absurd.

She had come to see how he taught, and he had skipped the lecture entirely.

If he had that much creativity, he ought to use it in his research instead of avoiding class.

“It’s all right, Ragesa. The lecture will run fine even without the professor.”

It might even run better.

“Of course it’ll run fine. Any one of these students would teach better than that bastard Verdus!”

“Who is this person saying such wonderful things?”

One of the upperclassmen whispered to Lee Han.

At first, the student had wondered why a pirate had entered the lecture hall, but her encouraging words were very pleasant to hear.

“This is Ragesa, daughter of Torgerd, Admiral of the Southern Privateer Fleet.”

“Oh?! The person who invested in Professor Verdus?!”

“…She has plenty of other impressive titles. Why remember her by that one?”

The moment Lee Han finished speaking, the students in the lecture hall swarmed over.

“Greetings, Ragesa. I’m Barglios of House Elvali…”

“I’ve been working on some research…”

Reading the fierce greed in the students’ eyes, Ragesa growled a warning.

“Any brat who came over thinking I’m easy prey just because I invested in that bastard Verdus gets a smashed skull.”

“…”

All the students scattered at once.

Ragesa took a sniff of tobacco and spat out a curse.

“I swear, coming to Einroguard never puts me in a good mood!”

“Well then, let’s begin the lecture.”

Princess Yukbeltire, who had been checking the time, finally spoke.

Unlike when Professor Verdus was present, the students eagerly raised their hands.

“Senior, I have a question. I’m trying to use a ruthenium alloy in my staff, but whenever I cast spells, the magic keeps bouncing off. Why is that…”

“When using metal in a staff, you need a perfect understanding of that metal’s properties. Metals have poor compatibility with certain categories of magic. If the magic bounced off ruthenium alloy, it was most likely wind-element magic. Either place restrictions on the spell, or add another metal to mitigate the effect.”

“Senior. What do you think is wrong with my staff? I asked Professor Verdus several times and barely got an answer, but all he said was that it was trash.”

“The design. You’re accumulating mana at the bottom and dispersing it at the top. The structure contradicts itself.”

What?

Lee Han was shocked.

He had expected Princess Yukbeltire to teach like Professor Verdus, but she was a much better instructor than he had imagined.

Even when his friends said, “Senior Yukbeltire teaches pretty well, doesn’t she?” Lee Han had firmly believed there must have been some mistake.

Amazing. No, actually, Professor Verdus is just that strange.

Perhaps Professor Verdus was so insincere that even Princess Yukbeltire’s ordinary answers seemed impressive by comparison.

To be fair, Princess Yukbeltire was not like Professor Garcia, taking warm personal interest in each student.

But at least answering juniors’ questions was already impressive enough for Einroguard’s enchantment magic school.

Indeed, the other upperclassmen were firing off questions from every direction, as though determined to learn properly today.

“I see…! That makes sense. Senior, I made a prototype for now. Could you evaluate it? How is it?”

“Poorly made.”

“…”

The student’s face filled with shock after a masterpiece made with heart and soul was dismissed in two words.

Friends who knew Princess Yukbeltire well whispered from the side.

“Hey, idiot. Only ask that senior necessary questions. Otherwise you’ll just get insulted.”

“Just because she answers questions properly doesn’t mean she’s Professor Garcia. Think of her as Professor Verdus with extra features.”

Isn’t that a little harsh?

Lee Han thought to himself.

Of course, he could not entirely deny that Senior Yukbeltire was like a smaller Professor Verdus, but still, “Professor Verdus with extra features”…

…It doesn’t sound completely wrong either.

“Ask your question.”

Princess Yukbeltire stopped in front of Lee Han and gestured for him to speak.

She was currently proceeding according to the lecture outline she had prepared in advance. The next junior needed to ask in the proper order.

“Ah. Yes. Hello, Senior. I’m currently preparing a staff that can release the seal on a high-ranking spirit and withstand even stronger output. I’m also considering metal materials, and so far I’ve reached this point…”

Lee Han took out a sheet of paper with staff blueprints drawn on it.

The Frost Giant King’s blue gemstone, ore from the teleportation statue, and an Echo Stone were marked in sequence, with the wood spirit’s authorities written in various places.

Authority of Recovery (Mana Recovery) — What if I add black stone so I can consume more mana?

Authority of Life (Plant Growth) — Need rare wood. Check Professor Verdus’s storehouse.

Authority of Resilience (Staff Durability) — Says I need to fight stronger enemies. Insane.

“…”

“Hey. I told you to ask only necessary questions.”

A nearby senior whispered anxiously.

Given Princess Yukbeltire’s personality, if someone rambled on about “my research” like this, insults would come flying immediately.

—I told you to ask a question, not recite your life story.

—Why are you talking about things no one asked?

With Princess Yukbeltire, you had to ask only what was necessary, as precisely as possible. The moment unnecessary words slipped in, personal attacks began.

“But I need advice…”

“Ask us instead, unless you want your entire life negated.”

“So?”

“?!”

The students beside Lee Han were startled by Princess Yukbeltire’s reaction.

They had expected her to immediately start attacking ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ his intelligence, but instead she had asked, “So?”

“I wanted to ask for overall advice.”

“Adding black stone could be considered an interesting attempt. Normally, putting mana-absorbing material into a staff is close to taboo, but there are exceptions. This gemstone was given to you by the Frost Giant King?”

“Yes.”

“How did you receive it?”

“That story would take a while.”

“…Then tell me later. Who made this Echo Stone?”

“That’s…”

Unlike usual, Princess Yukbeltire patiently listened to her junior’s explanation.

Naturally, this was because the story was far more interesting than usual.

Princess Yukbeltire, however, interpreted it differently.

Diret. I’m taking care of my junior like this.

She was showing kindness to her junior, just as Diret had told her to.

From Princess Yukbeltire’s perspective, this was an enormous concession.

If Diret heard about it later, gratitude should bring tears to those eyes.

“Try making a prototype with this combination.”

Princess Yukbeltire swiftly moved her quill and proposed a method.

It was quite a radical proposal for a staff.

Using black stone, a mana-absorbing stone, as the base, it created a vessel that could endure even when a powerful ancient spirit awakened.

The problem was that it would consume a tremendous amount of mana, but Princess Yukbeltire was not particularly worried about that part.

Her junior would handle it on his own.

“Thank you, Senior.”

“Yes. You should be grateful.”

“…”

As Lee Han’s expression soured, Ragesa nodded from behind him and rose to her feet.

“It seems I misjudged someone. I was prejudiced because she was Verdus’s disciple. This is much better.”

“Hello, Lady Ragesa. I’m pleased that you’ve finally realized it.”

Princess Yukbeltire answered calmly.

The other students in the lecture hall were amazed.

She really isn’t an ordinary lunatic!

Maybe she was actually being nice to us.

Because Princess Yukbeltire had no interest in them, she had only spoken to her juniors to that extent and stopped there.

Seeing her speak like that in front of an outside investor was simply astonishing.

“…Right. A master’s affairs are the master’s affairs. They have nothing to do with the disciple!”

“Correct. Then let me tell you once more what I need…”

“Senior, Senior! I’ll speak on your behalf, so please tell me first!”

Unable to watch any longer, Lee Han finally stopped Princess Yukbeltire and blocked her path.