Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 885

Jo-Woo-Rin looked at Lee-Han, a triumphant sparkle in her eyes, as if to say, “I told you so!”

Lee-Han wanted to explain it wasn’t like that, but the senior standing before him was more important at the moment.

“Senior, what is the meaning of this?” Lee-Han asked.

“Meaning?” Yucbeltire seemed confused by Lee-Han’s firm question.

He wondered what Lee-Han was talking about.

“You said it was the Magical Algebra and Esoteric Geometry exam,” Lee-Han stated.

“No, that’s not what I meant. Why do I have to take the exam first?” Yucbeltire replied.

Yucbeltire frowned slightly at Lee-Han’s statement.

He couldn’t understand why Lee-Han was wasting time with pointless questions.

“I still don’t understand, but I’ll explain it to you,” Yucbeltire said.

“Just so you know, I don’t enjoy taking exams early,” Lee-Han mentioned.

“What?” Yucbeltire asked, puzzled.

“No… I just wanted to say how I feel,” Lee-Han clarified.

Seeing that Yucbeltire didn’t understand, Lee-Han quickly stopped talking.

‘Did he come because he heard the rumor that I take exams early?’ Lee-Han wondered.

At least Yucbeltire didn’t seem to be misunderstanding like Jo-Woo-Rin.

Yucbeltire picked up a thick stack of papers from the table and spread them out. The top paper had an ominous title: “Proof of the Mana Emission Space Theorem Using the Mana Emission Plane Theorem.”

Lee-Han felt uneasy.

‘Isn’t that stuff we didn’t learn last time?’ he thought.

“Wodanaz family junior, you took a different exam alone during Professor Knighton’s lecture last year, right?” Yucbeltire asked.

“Yes,” Lee-Han replied.

Lee-Han frowned, remembering the past events.

Who knew that Professor Alpen, whom he thought was normal because he was from outside, would do something so crazy?

Even now, the memory hurt.

“Normally, you take a separate exam when the material is different. The time needed is different, and so are the preparations,” Yucbeltire explained.

“…??” Lee-Han was confused as the conversation took a strange turn.

“A different exam? What are you talking about? I’m not the only one taking a separate exam again, am I?” Lee-Han asked.

Yucbeltire stared at Lee-Han without answering. Lee-Han could see the answer in his cold face.

“…I’m the only one taking a different exam!” Lee-Han exclaimed.

“Yes. Now, take out your magic textbooks,” Yucbeltire said, thinking Lee-Han understood.

But Lee-Han didn’t understand at all. He protested strongly.

“You don’t have the right to decide that, Senior! I’ll take the exam the professor assigned!”

No matter how much authority Yucbeltire had to teach and supervise exams for Professor Alpen, this was too much.

Yucbeltire couldn’t just make him take a different exam, could he?

Yucbeltire tilted his head at Lee-Han’s strong protest and said, “This is the exam Professor Knighton assigned to you, Wodanaz family junior… What are you talking about?”

“……”

Professor Alpen, who came from the imperial high officials, was very hardworking, as expected of a bureaucrat.

Even while rushing to the capital to help the Skull Headmaster, he didn’t forget the student taking his lecture.

Lee-Han, happy to get special attention, sat down.

“Can we start the exam?” Yucbeltire asked.

“Yes…” Lee-Han replied.

Three hours later…

“Full marks,” Yucbeltire said.

Yucbeltire didn’t say anything else. He took the exam paper, turned, and left.

Lee-Han leaned back in his chair. He felt angry, tired, and empty. He was too tired to even curse the professor.

Jo-Woo-Rin was worried about Lee-Han and watched him closely.

She thought she could have helped Lee-Han with the exam…

“…No. That’s not right,” Lee-Han said to himself.

He had been tempted to cheat, but he quickly came to his senses.

Einroguard’s exams allowed all sorts of cheating as long as you didn’t get caught, but he couldn’t let a young member of the imperial family take the exam for him.

Lee-Han still had some conscience left.

“Ah, I almost forgot,” Yucbeltire said.

Yucbeltire, who had left, opened the door and came back. Lee-Han looked puzzled.

“Did you leave something behind?” Lee-Han asked.

“Wait… Ah, here it is. You did well on the exam. Impressive, Junior,” Yucbeltire said.

Yucbeltire took out a small note and read it. Jo-Woo-Rin looked at Yucbeltire with disgust.

How could anyone praise like that?

But Lee-Han didn’t care. It might seem rude, but if you thought of him as Professor Verdus, it was different.

If Professor Verdus came with a note and said thank you like that, it was touching!

“Thank you, Senior. Please tell Senior Dirette that I’m very grateful too,” Lee-Han said.

“Why Dirette? He wasn’t involved in this exam,” Yucbeltire replied.

“Haha, just because. Oh, take this with you. Keep it next to you when you study and drink it,” Lee-Han said, handing over coffee with melted chocolate in a bottle and some snacks in a basket.

After Yucbeltire took it, Jo-Woo-Rin tilted her head and asked, “Lee-Han, I’m curious about something.”

“What is it?” Lee-Han asked.

Why was Yucbeltire, who was older, being taken care of by Lee-Han? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

“…!” Lee-Han was surprised by the sharp question.

Looking at his growth rate, he might become the next emperor in a few months if he stayed in Einroguard.

“That’s…” Lee-Han started.

“That is?” Jo-Woo-Rin asked.

“It’s like the mystery of Einroguard that no one can answer,” Lee-Han said.

“???” Jo-Woo-Rin was confused.

“Well, I have to study. Here’s a book for you to read,” Lee-Han said, handing her a fairy tale book.

Jo-Woo-Rin thought Lee-Han was avoiding the question, but the fairy tale book was fun, so she moved on.

The story of the great dragon Azirmo was always interesting.

There weren’t many dragons, and most of them stayed away from others, so their names weren’t as well-known as you might expect.

Azirmo, who left his name among the dragons, was unique.

Jo-Woo-Rin decided to become a great dragon like Azirmo and make her name known in history.

Oh-Soo often joked that she would become lazy like other dragons when she got older…

“Lee-Han, I’ve read it all,” Jo-Woo-Rin said.

“Ah, just a moment. I’ll finish this and find you a new book,” Lee-Han replied.

“Jo-Woo-Rin wants a fun book!” she exclaimed.

“There’s the Toberies series that Gainando collected. He said he got a rare copy from the library a while ago, so I’ll give you that,” Lee-Han offered.

“Wow!” Jo-Woo-Rin exclaimed happily.

Then, she crawled over and watched what Lee-Han was doing.

Lee-Han was writing: “Senior Illeg, I read your letter. Thank you for letting me pass the music magic exam. It was a great help…”

‘Hmm, Lee-Han should take the midterm first,’ Jo-Woo-Rin thought.

Lee-Han denied it, but the results proved it.

Wasn’t he talking about the exam with the senior who was teaching the lecture?

Lee-Han continued writing: “If you ask me what should be on the music magic exam, I think the current exam is too easy…”

“???” Jo-Woo-Rin’s eyes widened.

Lee-Han noticed her and turned around.

“What’s wrong, Your Highness?” Lee-Han asked.

“Uh… Lee-Han… what letter is that?” Jo-Woo-Rin asked, forgetting to be polite.

If she wasn’t wrong, Lee-Han was setting the exam content.

He wasn’t taking the exam, he was setting it!

“Ah, you might not know, Your Highness. It’s Senior Illeg,” Lee-Han explained.

He explained that Senior Illeg was a 5th-grade student in the Phoenix Tower, a spectacled bear beastkin who was strong but kind and liked books. He was interested in music magic and created lectures.

“I was lucky to do well in music magic, so the senior let me pass this exam too,” Lee-Han said.

“Yeah, I saw that too… But weren’t you setting the exam content?” Jo-Woo-Rin asked.

“Haha, it’s not like that. Senior Illeg sets the exam content. I’m just giving my opinion when he asks,” Lee-Han said with a smile.

He smiled as if Jo-Woo-Rin was misunderstanding.

But Jo-Woo-Rin still thought it was strange.

He had passed the exam early.

He was only a 2nd grader, but he was being asked for his opinion on the exam content.

Why was Lee-Han seriously replying to the letter?

“Jo-Woo-Rin is confused… Isn’t this what a professor should do?” she wondered.

“Your Highness, when you’re in 5th grade, you do half the things a professor does,” Lee-Han said.

There was no 5th grader around, Lee-Han said rudely.

“I’m not talking about the 5th grader, I’m talking about Lee-Han!” Jo-Woo-Rin exclaimed.

“Your Highness, this is just advice. Preparing and submitting an exam is different,” Lee-Han explained.

‘Is Jo-Woo-Rin strange?’ she wondered.

Jo-Woo-Rin felt dizzy.

Promising to ask the Emperor if this was right when she returned to the capital, Jo-Woo-Rin nodded.

“I understand… But Lee-Han seems to be writing the reply too seriously… Why should the difficulty be raised?” she asked.

“Ah, that’s necessary. Music magic is hard and not practiced much. Also, you need to be good at it. To get into this magic, we have to set the goal high, even if it’s hard. If not, it’s a waste of time,” Lee-Han explained.

When he started the music magic lecture, Illeg prepared a magic tower.

It was hard to get into music magic.

He picked a score for each student and made it their goal for the year.

Lee-Han moved the quill without stopping.

“The scores you gave out last time are interesting. It’s hard to put magic into words or sounds, but some people are doing well depending on their feelings. The score should be playable by the time of this exam. It would be sad if you practiced all year and got nothing. Senior Illeg should be strict,” Lee-Han wrote.

Lee-Han hadn’t mastered his score yet, but he had music magic he could play.

So, he could tell Senior Illeg to make the others work harder.

Lee-Han stopped writing.

‘Am I being too aggressive?’ he wondered.

The seniors might have other lectures and not have time for music magic.

Maybe he should give them a break…

‘No, this is right. It’s for the seniors,’ he thought.

Lee-Han finished the letter.

Jo-Woo-Rin watched and thought, “He’s strict with other magicians, like Oh-Soo!”