Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 840

“Ah, no, that’s not it.”

Caught completely off guard, Lee Han’s denial came half a beat too late.

Professor Garcia grumbled as though he already knew the truth.

“You don’t need to cover for her, Lee Han. Lady Ragesa has always been like that. She thinks it’s no fun unless she’s tormenting students.”

Good grief.

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

If you excluded Professor Garcia, what value did Einroguard’s faculty even have?

It was a dangerous thought to voice aloud, but they might actually be worse than Baldrogard.

“Please ignore that nonsense.”

“I am ignoring it, Lee Han. Now then, shall we begin the test?”

“…Yes.”

“Just kidding. There’s no test.”

The lecture <Understanding Very Difficult and Abstruse Secret Magic (Those Without Confidence Should Not Come)> did not usually hold pop quizzes.

In Professor Garcia’s opinion, this class didn’t need separate tests in the first place.

“Professor!”

“You’re happy, aren’t you?”

“I am, but I’m worried about you, Professor. Won’t the Skull Principal send you to the Punishment Room?”

“…”

Professor Garcia’s heart ached at the sight of a disciple who had already become far too mature for a second-year student.

“I won’t be going there, so don’t worry.”

“Really? Professor Verdus gets sent to the Punishment Room whenever he skips tests on his own.”

Damn it.

Professor Garcia cursed Professor Verdus inwardly.

The man was teaching the student all sorts of useless things.

“As you know, Professor Verdus has his… ah… particular circumstances…”

“You mean «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» his habit of abandoning students so he can focus on researching his own magic?”

“…Thank you for being so specific, Lee Han. In any case, Professor Verdus ends up in the Punishment Room often because he has a long history of prior offenses. I don’t.”

No matter how much the Skull Principal enjoyed throwing people into the Punishment Room, he never did it without reason.

That was especially true for faculty members. The moment one professor disappeared, gaps immediately opened in the lecture schedule.

Which meant the Skull Principal judged these matters according to cold, practical standards.

Professor Verdus skips a pop quiz → Since it’s Professor Verdus, he clearly did it with malicious intent. Off to the Punishment Room.

Professor Garcia skips a pop quiz → Since it’s Professor Garcia, there was obviously a good reason. No issue.

“That’s basically how it works.”

No way. He’s actually fair?

Lee Han found himself slightly impressed.

As expected of the Principal, he was surprisingly impartial in matters like these.

“And if I were sent to the Punishment Room, there would be too many disruptions to Einroguard’s operations… For similar reasons, fifth-year students rarely get sent there either.”

“What about Professor Verdus?”

“The Professor doesn’t leave much of a gap even when he’s gone.”

“…”

Lee Han was speechless.

Just how much work was that professor neglecting?

“Thank you, Professor.”

“Hey. There’s nothing to thank me for, Lee Han. I simply decided a test wasn’t necessary. You’ll be busy enough this week already, so at least relax during today’s lecture.”

Professor Garcia poured freshly brewed coffee.

Rather than teaching a formal lecture today, he intended to spend some time asking how Lee Han had been doing lately.

“Come to think of it, Lee Han. I heard you all visited the Realm of the Spirit King together.”

“Cough.”

Professor Garcia panicked when Lee Han nearly choked.

“Are you alright?! Was the coffee too hot?!”

“Ah, no. I was just surprised. Information really spreads quickly among the professors…”

“Well, educating students is important work, after all.”

That doesn’t feel like something you can explain away that easily.

Lee Han calmed the burning in his throat and lowered his cup.

“Is that the new staff you received?”

“Yes. It’s still unfinished. I need to process the obsidian and fit it here.”

“Lee Han… doesn’t this resemble an ancient-style staff too closely? Did the Principal recommend this design?”

Professor Garcia stared at the half-caduceus-shaped staff in confusion.

Modern Imperial staffs were usually structured around a special core material stabilized by an outer frame of supportive materials.

That configuration allowed magic to be cast both efficiently and safely.

But intertwining two materials directly without forming a proper core drastically reduced stability.

The mage had to exercise much finer control in exchange for greater output.

And using absurd materials like obsidian and sacred wood from the Spirit King’s realm only made matters worse.

“Yes.”

Lee Han answered immediately. He had already been blaming everything on the Black Book anyway.

The moment he admitted it, Professor Garcia became indignant.

“I honestly don’t understand why he keeps recommending old-fashioned staffs! You’re already using dangerous enough magic as it is. Why would he push you toward something even more dangerous?”

He’s not wrong…

Lee Han quietly agreed inwardly before asking casually,

“Can the design still be changed?”

“It would be difficult if there’s already a powerful high-ranking spirit inside, Lee Han. You’d need to awaken it again and subdue it all over—”

Awakening it would already require considerable effort.

Subduing it afterward would be even harder.

Lee Han remembered the rampage Tujeonsseungmogwang had gone on before.

It had backed down after getting beaten badly enough, but it was absolutely the sort of creature that would attack him again the moment it regained its strength.

I guess I’ll just have to accept it.

“Well… every disadvantage comes with advantages too. I’ll try focusing on those instead.”

Lee Han spoke while forcing himself not to grit his teeth. Professor Garcia nodded sympathetically.

“In that case, perhaps we should ask Professor Verdus to— ahem. I mean, request his help.”

“With what?”

“Processing the obsidian. Professor Verdus is good at that sort of thing.”

“Would that work? Ah… through an exchange?”

Professor Verdus was the type who wouldn’t do anything he disliked even under torture, but he was surprisingly open to transactional exchanges.

If Lee Han offered labor in return for processing the obsidian, the professor would probably accept.

“An exchange? What would you even offer him, Lee Han?”

“Helping with his work, maybe…”

“There’s no need for that. I’ve helped Professor Verdus plenty already. It’s only fair that he helps me in return.”

“…Professor…!”

Lee Han was moved by his master’s generosity.

Professor Garcia intended to transfer the debt Verdus owed him directly onto Lee Han’s behalf.

“After class ends, let’s go together… no, actually, it may be better if I go alone.”

“Shouldn’t we go together? It would probably help if he saw the staff in person.”

“Hmm.”

Professor Garcia hesitated.

If he went to see Professor Verdus, harsh words would absolutely be exchanged, and he didn’t want to drag his disciple into that.

—Professor. Last time I patrolled in your place, graded papers for you, prepared assignments for you, crafted replacement artifacts for criminal-use equipment, and even managed materials for you. Could you at least look at Lee Han’s staff?

—Huh? Don’t want to.

—Hey!

…he really didn’t want a second-year student overhearing that sort of conversation.

But Lee Han was no fool. He had already anticipated this.

Professor Garcia is too kind. Someone like Professor Verdus could easily take advantage of him.

If Professor Garcia went to collect a debt and somehow returned after owing even more favors instead, Lee Han might genuinely clutch the back of his neck and collapse.

Suddenly, Lee Han remembered Diret constantly hopping around in outrage.

…Wait. Was that why Senior Diret got angry every time he saw me?

After a moment of thought, Lee Han shook his head.

He was different from Professor Garcia. Unlike the overly kind professor, Lee Han was perfectly capable of acting selfishly when necessary.

I’m definitely different.

“Sigh. Fine then, Student Lee Han. We’ll go together after class. Was there anything else?”

“Hmm…”

Lee Han recalled the conversation he’d had with the Insane Duplicate before coming here.

Aside from the old story about the Skull Principal’s past and the hour-long scolding session, several other topics had come up as well.

—So, brat. You cast a miniature world?

—Yes. With Dendrobium and Basilios…

—Then you should be able to use it now.

—No?

—…

—I’m sorry. I still can’t even cast fifth-circle magic properly yet…

—Do you think apologizing makes impossible magic possible? Hurry up, brat. When are you finally going to display the bare minimum dignity expected of my disciple?

Even the end of the world would come first.

The Insane Duplicate had recommended using the Black Book to repeatedly attempt casting miniature worlds.

Whether he coughed blood or not, forcing high-level magic into his mind over and over often led to sudden enlightenment.

And considering the talent possessed by a boy of House Wardanaz, the possibility was supposedly even higher.

—But if I fail, won’t I go insane?

—You haven’t even cast it yet and you’re already worrying about madness?

—Ah. Right…

Finishing the recollection, Lee Han made a firm decision.

He absolutely could not tell Professor Garcia.

If I tell him, he might collapse from shock.

“Student Lee Han. Are you perhaps trying to hide dangerous matters so I won’t worry?”

Gasp.

“No. Why would you think that?”

“I just suddenly had a feeling…”

“That’s not it. I was thinking about something else. Professor, do you know about the Principal’s past?”

“There’s far too much of it for me to know which part you mean.”

“…Well, back when he was alive. Did you know he used to be the prince of a small kingdom?”

“Of course I know.”

“!”

Lee Han blinked in surprise.

“Ah. Did you read it in a history book?”

“No. The Principal talks about it whenever he gets bored, Student Lee Han.”

Come to think of it, that made sense.

Students might not know much, but the professors spent far more time around the Skull Principal and had probably endured countless hours of bragging already.

“Then have you heard this too?”

Lee Han explained the goal the Insane Duplicate had spoken of.

A goal of removing the poison of the world through magic.

Professor Garcia listened carefully.

“No. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“What do you think?”

“Usually, mages who pursue goals like that end up becoming magical criminals…”

“…”

“Ah— no, sorry, Student Lee Han. I should have thought before speaking.”

“Thank you for being honest…”

To be fair, Professor Garcia’s impression wasn’t entirely wrong.

Wouldn’t mages who chased impossible ideals either become eternal Sisyphus figures or go mad and turn into magical criminals?

“If it were another mage, I’d ignore it. But this is the Principal’s duplicate we’re talking about, and that worries me. If the goal is impossible, then what exactly is he trying to accomplish?”

“Is it really impossible?”

“Well, Student Lee Han, I don’t know everything about magic. In fact, the more I learn, the more I realize how little we truly understand. It may genuinely be possible someday. But rather than whether it’s possible or impossible… shouldn’t we first ask whether the path itself is right or wrong, Student Lee Han?”

“You’re absolutely right.”

Lee Han immediately agreed.

This wasn’t a question of possibility.

It was a question of whether the path itself was correct.

“That duplicate actually told me to continue walking that path. I think he descended because he still had lingering regrets about it.”

“…You should have led with that!”

Professor Garcia burst out angrily.

If Lee Han might one day inherit that burden, how could he mention it so casually?

“Ah, no. Nothing’s confirmed yet. Honestly, I think the duplicate might simply give up in frustration while teaching me.”

“That… doesn’t seem… very likely…”

From Professor Garcia’s perspective, the least believable outcome imaginable was the Insane Duplicate abandoning Lee Han out of disappointment.

No matter how he looked at it, finding another disciple like Student Lee Han would be nearly impossible.

“Sigh. Fine, Student Lee Han. You wouldn’t listen even if I tried to stop you. You’re planning to continue learning magic from him anyway, aren’t you?”

“That’s not… well, it’s not exactly…”