Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 122

‘No. I can’t judge someone based on this.’

Lee Han thought that a slightly twisted sense of humor was a small problem at this magic school.

Lee Han decided to focus on the good things about the professor.

“It was really fun! It was like a breath of fresh air for me, since school is tiring,” he said.

Asan finished the second problem and walked over, but he stopped when he heard Lee Han’s words.

‘What was so fun about it?’ he wondered.

No matter how he thought about it, he didn’t find the exam fun at all.

“Hello, Professor. I’m Asan from the Dalcard family,” Asan said.

Professor Alphen saw Asan. He took out his pocket watch and checked the time. “Hmm,” he said. “I wanted to talk to the students with top grades anyway. Follow me.”

Asan looked unhappy.

He had finally finished the exam and had some free time, but he didn’t want to waste it talking to the professor again.

“I will,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han answered before Asan could make any excuses.

Asan clicked his tongue, disappointed, and started walking.

“By the way, Asan, how did you solve the last problem?” Lee Han asked.

“I couldn’t find the answer, so I guessed from 0 and got lucky… What about you, Wodanaz?” Asan asked, expecting Lee Han to say he had solved it the same way.

Lee Han nodded.

“Of course, I solved it that way too,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han decided to answer like that if other friends asked him.

He didn’t want to seem like he understood the skeleton headmaster too well.

Professor Alphen led them to his room. It was an old-fashioned room, filled with the smell of old paper and something like cinnamon. Books with leather covers lined the walls, standing straight and tall. Not a speck of dust was on them. Everything in the room – pens, papers, and strange glass bottles – had its own perfect place.

“Sit down,” Professor Alphen said, waving his wand. Two teacups appeared on the table, steaming gently. He poured tea into them.

“You two did very well on the exam,” he said. “First and second place.”

“Thank you,” Lee Han said.

“Actually, a friend of mine is visiting the school next week. We became friends when I had an important government job,” Professor Alphen said.

Lee Han’s eyes widened as he listened carefully.

If he was a friend from his time in an important government job, he might also be an important government worker.

“…When my friend visits, he wants to see what the students I teach can do. So, I want to give you a simple task: creating a magic circle. It shouldn’t be too hard, since I’ve talked about it in class,” Professor Alphen continued.

Lee Han was happy, but Asan was not.

Why should he do extra work when he didn’t need to?

His grades were already good enough!

‘I guess I’ll do it,’ Lee Han thought.

Lee Han nodded, seeing that Asan didn’t want to do it.

Lee Han had better grades, and Asan really didn’t want to do it.

It was the perfect chance for Lee Han.

“I think it would be good if Dalcard took charge,” Professor Alphen said.

“…?!”

Lee Han was surprised.

Why?!

“Me… me? Shouldn’t Wodanaz do it instead?” Asan asked, sounding unsure.

It wasn’t just about his skills; he just didn’t want to do extra work.

Lee Han cheered for Asan in his mind.

‘Hang in there, Asan!’

“Well, doesn’t Wodanaz have too much to do right now?” Professor Alphen asked.

“……”

“……”

Lee Han and Asan didn’t know what to say.

It was true!

“I heard he’s so focused on studying that he’s learning from other professors. I can’t bother a student like that, can I?” Professor Alphen said.

“…I understand. I’ll do it…” Asan said sadly.

Asan had a good heart.

As a student from the Blue Dragon Tower, he couldn’t say to Lee Han, who was so busy, ‘Please do it anyway!’

“No, Professor. I will help Asan too,” Lee Han said.

“Would that be okay?” Professor Alphen asked.

“Yes,” Lee Han replied.

“Wodanaz…!” Asan said, tears in his eyes.

He was willing to help with this boring task just because they were friends.

Sniffle-

Asan wiped his tears with his sleeve. He felt like he had been crying more since starting at this school.

“Thank you, Wodanaz,” Asan said.

“It’s nothing, Asan,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han patted Asan on the shoulder and thought, ‘I will definitely impress him!’

No matter who Professor Alphen’s friend was, he would definitely impress him!

After a short explanation, the two students said goodbye and left the room.

Professor Alphen, alone in the room, said sadly, “It’s a shame. I wanted to recommend Wodanaz…”

Judging by his talent, the boy from the Wodanaz family was good enough to be recommended to important government workers later.

He had a great mind and loved to learn.

He would definitely become a good government worker.

But…

‘It’s better to let someone so talented focus on studying instead of government work,’ Professor Alphen thought.

Professor Alphen knew this well.

A good mind is okay for government work, but a truly great mind should be allowed to focus on studying for the future.

Professor Alphen had worked in government for a long time and came to this school to help the future leaders of the Empire.

As a former government worker, he was sad, but as a teacher, he was happy.

‘I will help as much as I can, so you can focus on your studies, Wodanaz,’ he thought.

On Thursday, Lee Han was walking to alchemy class and saw that the students looked tired.

“What time did everyone leave the lecture hall yesterday?” he asked.

“After midnight… the magic didn’t wear off,” someone answered.

“……”

“What was the answer to the last question, anyway?” Yoner asked, still confused.

No matter how he thought about it, the only answer was 720 knips.

“…0 knips,” Lee Han said.

“Huh?” Yoner asked.

“0 knips,” Lee Han repeated.

“Why?” Yoner asked.

“That’s… well…” Lee Han said, carefully watching Yoner’s face, even though he hadn’t made the problem.

A look of anger appeared in Yoner’s eyes.

“Die…! …That’s it. That’s it,” Yoner said, barely calming down.

He couldn’t survive in this school if he got angry about everything.

Riiiiip-

“?”

Lee Han turned his head.

The princess walked by, tearing up a piece of paper with formulas and numbers on it, looking blank.

She had been trying to solve it since yesterday.

“…I feel sorry for no reason,” Lee Han said.

“Why? It’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it,” Yoner said.

The girl from the Maykin family changed the subject.

“I heard you’re creating a magic circle with Dalcard?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Lee Han said.

“…Wouldn’t it be better to let Dalcard do it alone?” she asked.

“Hey… Maykin…” Asan said, walking by and looking upset at Yoner.

Of course, Yoner was right.

Even the other tower students agreed with Yoner.

“Wouldn’t it be better to do it alone?” one asked.

“Dalcard, you should think about Wodanaz,” another said.

“……”

Asan looked at Lee Han, asking for help. Lee Han nodded and answered.

“I wanted to help, so don’t worry,” Lee Han said.

“If that’s the case, then okay…” someone said.

“Can’t you ask that prince for help? He seems to have a lot of free time,” another suggested.

Bang! Bang! Bang!-

Professor Thunderfoot walked into the lecture hall, hitting a pot to make noise.

“Hello everyone. You know what we’re doing today, right?” he asked.

The students looked unhappy.

Even when it was the same quiz, Professor Thunderfoot always made it more annoying.

Professor Thunderfoot chuckled, seeing the students’ faces.

“Now, line up and come inside one by one,” he said.

“?”

The students were surprised by this new test.

They thought they would be making potions at their desks as usual.

“What’s wrong? I said line up and come in,” Professor Thunderfoot said.

“……”

The students looked at Professor Thunderfoot suspiciously and lined up.

They didn’t know what was behind the door at the end of the lecture hall.

“What’s in there?” someone asked.

“Is there a monster?” another asked.

“But it’s an alchemy class,” someone pointed out.

“Then what was it when that crazy monster attacked us on the first day?” another asked.

“…That was also an alchemy class. Damn it. There might be a monster,” someone said.

The students got ready and grabbed their wands.

They thought a monster was likely to appear.

‘I hope a monster doesn’t appear…,’ Lee Han thought.

Lee Han gave candy to his friends, hoping for the best.

“What is this?” someone asked.

“Beer candy. Eat it if you run out of magic power,” Lee Han said.

The friends nodded and took the candy, looking determined.

It was important to have, since they didn’t know how much magic power they would need to fight a monster.

“Wodanaz, come in,” Professor Thunderfoot said.

Lee Han opened the door and went inside.

Luckily, a monster didn’t attack, but Lee Han stayed alert.

“…You can relax,” Professor Thunderfoot said, looking surprised.

It was good to be careful, but why was he acting like he was about to draw a sword for an alchemy test?

Was he here for a swordsmanship test?

“Professor, I trust you,” Lee Han said.

“I’ve said this before, but people who trust you don’t say that. Now, look at the cauldron and the ingredients,” Professor Thunderfoot said.

Lee Han looked at the cauldron and the ingredients. They were all ingredients he had never seen before.

“I saw them,” Lee Han said.

“Then make this potion using only the ingredients in the room,” Professor Thunderfoot said.

“?”

Lee Han paused, looking at the potion in the glass bottle that Professor Thunderfoot was shaking.

It was a potion he had never seen before.

“Did you teach us this potion in class?” Lee Han asked.

“No,” Professor Thunderfoot said.

“Can you tell me what kind of potion it is?” Lee Han asked.

“No,” Professor Thunderfoot said.

“……”

Professor Thunderfoot smiled, enjoying the situation.

A good alchemist can create things on the spot.

They can make a potion similar to one they don’t know, even with new ingredients.

They can do this because they quickly understand the ingredients and their effects.

Of course, Professor Thunderfoot didn’t expect the students to make a perfect potion.

How many of the potion’s qualities could they figure out and copy?

That was the point of the test.

“Now, hurry up! You don’t have forever,” Professor Thunderfoot said.

“Hmm,” Lee Han said, looking thoughtful.

Professor Thunderfoot was confused because Lee Han, one of the best students, was just standing there.

‘What’s he thinking about?’ he wondered.

He should be figuring out the ingredients and the potion, but he was just worrying.

He didn’t understand.

“Professor,” Lee Han said.

“What is it?” Professor Thunderfoot asked.

“Can I use anything in the room?” Lee Han asked.

“Are you going to use the ingredients you have?” Professor Thunderfoot asked, surprised.

He didn’t know what kind of ingredients he had, but they probably weren’t very useful.

If he really had something useful, Professor Thunderfoot would admit it.

If he was that lucky, anything could happen!

“Do what you want,” Professor Thunderfoot said.

“I understand,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han quickly grabbed the potion from Professor Thunderfoot’s hand.

Professor Thunderfoot was so surprised that he stood still for a moment.

“…Hey!!!” he shouted.