Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1144

“You should be happy when a student does well, not angry!” one of the visitors from the Stonemasons Guild muttered, looking confused.

Actually, they didn’t seem truly angry, more like they were finding the whole situation very strange and wanted to say something to Professor Verdus.

A slight annoyance had been in their faces since they arrived, watching the unusual lesson.

“Even if you teach the same way, each student achieves different things, yet he complains like that. Tsk tsk.”

Professor Verdus wasn’t really teaching. At least, not in a normal way.

One of the visitors, a Death Knight, mumbled to himself.

He stopped quickly, as if he almost said too much.

Professor Verdus had never truly taught anyone. His students learned on their own, especially the most important secrets!

Lee Han felt proud for the first time in a while.

‘Maybe this is why people study.’

Knowing the principles of the world and growing stronger was good, but seeing the professor’s frustrated face was also a pretty good reason to study.

If he could see Professor Verdus making that face, he might even try 5-circle magic or the microcosm…

‘No, that’s not right.’

Lee Han quickly came back to his senses.

He realized he was enjoying Professor Verdus getting angry a little too much.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Professor Verdus, not giving up, glared at the tower, trying to find something wrong with it.

Seeing that, the other seniors looked at the professor with disdain.

‘He usually doesn’t try hard when teaching.’

‘He barely glanced at the students’ work during lessons…’

He usually just glanced over everyone’s work during lessons, but now he was so focused. It made them want to smack him.

“Professor, why don’t you try finding fault with the mana consumption?”

“Are you stupid?! Mana consumption means nothing to Wodanaz!” Professor Verdus snapped at the student whispering beside him.

Nevertheless, the student smiled without panicking.

“Oh dear. Then there’s nothing I can do.”

“……”

Lee Han stared at his senior in disbelief.

What was even more absurd was that the other seniors were regretting it, thinking, ‘I should have said that.’

How many chances would they get to tease Professor Verdus like that?

“This is… well made.”

In the end, Professor Verdus gave up and surrendered. He was so disappointed that it was hard to believe he was the always bright and cheerful professor.

At that moment, cheers exploded in the lecture hall as the seniors swarmed around Lee Han.

“Wodanaz! Wodanaz!”

“The hero of Einrogaard!”

The seniors cheered, tossing Lee Han into the air.

“I knew you’d take down Professor Verdus someday! You rascal!”

The knights whispered to the confused members of the Capital Stonemasons Guild.

-They are usually much more docile and diligent students.

“Ah… yes.”

While the seniors were busy throwing their junior up and catching him, Professor Verdus looked away.

“I’ll look at the next work.”

“…Wait.”

The students, who had been caught up in the excitement, snapped back to their senses as if cold water had been thrown on them.

They quickly put their junior down and rushed back to their seats, trying hard to fix their work.

“Kugh.”

“Waaah…”

As the noisy scene changed as if it were a lie, the knights whispered to the guild members again.

-They are usually much more cheerful and bright students.

“……”

Lee Han, back on the ground, quickly blocked Professor Verdus’ path. It wasn’t difficult to block his way since the professor was still walking on all fours.

Glancing back, he could see his seniors still desperately trying to fix their work.

‘I need to buy time.’

Usually, the senior would protect the junior, but Lee Han didn’t even have such thoughts right now.

He had to protect his seniors from the evil Professor Verdus!

“Professor. Please take another look at my work.”

“What? Why?”

“Well… it’s because I want to improve it even more.”

It was just a random remark, but it sounded believable. Lee Han nodded and continued.

“Come on. Don’t just skip over it because it’s a hassle. Tell me what needs improvement.”

“I told you it’s well made??”

“No, you must. You can’t be out of ideas already, can you, Professor?”

It was a sharp tease, but it didn’t work on someone as confident as Professor Verdus.

Professor Verdus answered firmly.

“What improvements? It’s perfect.”

“…Is that so? That’s disappointing. Senior Yukbeltire pointed out improvements as soon as he saw it.”

“?!!”

Professor Verdus was shocked.

“?!!!!”

And Yukbeltire was even more surprised.

“When did I?!”

“Shhh. Be quiet. We have to control the professor who’s gone mad.”

If they left him alone, Professor Verdus would bite everything in the lecture hall and make the atmosphere terrible.

At least they had to put a chain on him.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Hearing that Yukbeltire had found improvements, Professor Verdus started concentrating again without a shred of doubt.

He was so focused that it seemed like he could burn down the tower with his mind alone, without any magic.

“Professor, if you can’t think of any improvements right away, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Wait!”

“No. Please find them later. Shouldn’t we have the lecture first?”

“I said wait! I can’t let this go!”

Professor Verdus struggled and was dragged to the front of the lecture hall. The knights wrapped iron chains around the professor’s neck to help Lee Han.

-Use this.

“Thank you.”

For a moment, Lee Han wondered if it was okay to do this, even if it was Professor Verdus, but he decided to worry about it later.

“The tower again…”

“Alright. Anyone have any questions? The professor will answer them!” Lee Han shouted loudly to lighten the mood.

The seniors gave him a look that said, ‘Do you think anyone would want to ask questions in this atmosphere?’

However, Lee Han felt like he had gone too far to stop now. He couldn’t back down now that he had come this far.

A senior student raised his hand. He seemed to feel sorry for the younger student, or maybe a little guilty.

It was Erlde, a senior who knew Lee Han and was from the same Marcan family of the tower.

“Professor, I’m actually constructing a wooden tower that can be used even in areas where stone cannot be used. I’d like to ask about the list of trees that can be combined at this time. My combination is like this, but what combination do you think…”

“Was there a problem with the rubber magic? No, there wasn’t?”

“Pardon?”

“The rubber magic was cast perfectly…”

“…Professor, the junior tower already finished earlier.”

“Oh? Oh, right.”

It seemed like Professor Verdus had two minds. One was still thinking about the student’s tower. The other was answering questions. But no, he was just daydreaming.

“If you’re making a wooden tower! What combination! Are you going to use!”

“Oh… here. This combination.”

Professor Verdus quickly wrote down the names of several spirit trees. Erlde and the other seniors were intrigued by the sight.

Normally, Professor Verdus would have wasted a lot of time with useless words like, ‘Figure it out yourself,’ ‘Think about it,’ ‘Can’t even do that.’ But today, he was answering right away.

“Professor! I have a question too!”

“Was the part that Uccbelltire pointed out earlier the foundation of the tower?”

Professor Verdus couldn’t let go of his curiosity and slyly asked Lee Han.

Lee Han answered coldly.

“If you answer the senior’s question first, I’ll answer you too.”

“Huh? Did someone ask something?”

At the junior’s gesture, the seniors quickly poured out their questions.

Students quickly asked questions they usually couldn’t. Professor Verdus answered right away, without stopping to think.

“Professor, I want to control it using the power of spirits, but what level should it be…”

“It should be at least at the level of claiming to be a noble. Look for it in the rock spirit side. But is there a problem with the flight enchantment magic?”

“Professor, about what you said about backflow earlier, what if I additionally install magic to distribute the power to the edge of the tower?”

“In that case, it’s better to install lightning induction magic divided into the edges from the beginning. Is the problem lightning magic, not flight enchantment magic?”

The seniors were all moved by the newly changed appearance of Professor Verdus.

To answer questions so directly like this!

Of course, he did add one useless question at the end, but even this much was a step up.

In the first place, Professor Verdus usually didn’t say dozens of useless things?

“Hey. Send a paper bird and tell them to quickly let us know if there are any questions they couldn’t ask normally.”

“I already sent it. Heh heh. Who knew the day would come when Professor Verdus would change like this.”

“…But this is originally what the professor should be doing…”

When I thought about it, this was basic for people like Professor Garcia.

I was happy that he answered the question, but I felt a sense of injustice.

Still, Professor Verdus diligently finished the lecture for the remaining time. It was a Q&A session that even the stonemason guild members from the capital had to acknowledge.

“Thank you for your hard work, Professor Verdus.”

“Don’t you have any hints? Is the improvement about cost rather than magic?”

“…Anyway, thank you for your hard work!”

The guild members flinched slightly.

They felt pressured by the sight of Professor Verdus, who kept muttering as if possessed by something.

The knights who were watching the scene began to worry.

‘What is he trying to do?’

Apart from the fact that the knights disliked Professor Verdus, they respected his magical skills.

Can he persuasively explain the improvements that Professor Verdus couldn’t find?

“Thank you for your hard work, Professor.”

“What’s the improvement?!”

-Professor Verdus. Don’t you have any pride? Asking your disciple…

“I don’t! What is it!”

The knight who was trying to help Lee Han was speechless.

Well, there was no way that telling someone crawling on all fours that they had no pride would work.

“Professor.”

“Yeah!”

“I’m sorry. It was a lie.”

Lee Han left those words behind and ran out, using all his magical power.

“…Th, then goodbye!”

The stonemason guild members from the capital and Uccbelltire, who had been blankly standing there, quickly greeted him and ran out after understanding the situation.

“……”

The knights, who felt a little sorry when they saw Professor Verdus’s blank face, said.

-We will treat you to a special meal today.

Lee Han ran like crazy. He thought he shouldn’t go to the area where Professor Verdus appears for a while.

‘…But I’ve never seen Professor Verdus angry.’

Unlike other professors, it was hard to imagine an angry Professor Verdus.

Does he bite with his front teeth?

Anyway, whatever he looked like, it was not good to approach him. Lee Han firmly resolved once again.

“Woah, Wodanaz student! Wodanaz student!”

“!”

Lee Han thought he had created enough distance, but when he was called from behind, he realized he had made a mistake.

‘Still making such naive mistakes!’

“Wa, wait a minute! How are you so fast…”

The stonemason guild members were on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. This was because Lee Han ran out too quickly than expected.

‘Hmm. These people are unlikely to have been bought by Professor Verdus.’

After thinking of a very rude thought, Lee Han opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry. I have a habit of running when the lecture is over.”

“……”

It was obviously because of Professor Verdus, but the guild members didn’t bother to point it out.

“That’s a very good habit. More than that, I came here to make a suggestion. Would you be interested in participating as an advisor in creating magical structures?”

“I don’t think I can.”

“I thought you’d be interested… Huh?”

The guild members were embarrassed.

For wizards who are interested in this kind of thing, the offer just now was a difficult offer to refuse.

Why?

“If you don’t mind me asking, may I ask why? Did Professor Verdus give you some ridiculous order…?”

The stonemason guild members suspected Professor Verdus.

Originally, when something happens, the person you hate is the first to be suspected, but even excluding that, Professor Verdus was suspicious.

Isn’t he a professor of enchantment magic?

“That’s…”

Lee Han answered with a very troubled expression.

“…I’m in a state where I’m getting too many requests right now…”