Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 990

‘I worried for nothing.’

Jiselle decided to ignore Wodanaz, even if he started complaining about being ‘tired of dealing with crazy spirits,’ ‘tormented by mad demons,’ or ‘annoyed by insane giants.’

Everyone, after all, sometimes says things they don’t truly mean.

Didn’t students everywhere, when told about a surprise party before a big test, often say, ‘Oh, I don’t want a party now,’ but secretly be happy about it?

Perhaps Wodanaz was in a similar situation.

“It seems this lecture is about how we learn,” Lee Han said.

“?”

Lee Han sat before the Mad Doppelganger and tilted his head, confused.

The Mad Doppelganger was reading books about magic algebra and secret geometry.

“Magic algebra and secret geometry…”

“They had different names long ago. Also, what they teach now is much better than before,” the Mad Doppelganger said.

“!”

Lee Han’s face lit up.

If the Mad Doppelganger was right, then this lecture might be easier.

The names would have been different in the old days, not as detailed, and without the easy formulas they have now.

If that was true, the Einroguard students were learning more than he thought.

“Yes. Should we just skip this lecture?” the Mad Doppelganger asked.

“But some things are too relaxed. Students should not just remember the formulas. They should prove them and understand them,” he added.

‘Uh oh.’

Lee Han had a bad feeling.

It was like a feeling he had learned from being a good student for years.

Could it be?

“Call the other wizards. I will start the lecture like a king would give,” the Mad Doppelganger said.

“…Yes…”

As he went to call his friends, Lee Han thought to himself.

‘It’s lucky that the magic algebra and secret geometry lecture is for second-year students.’

Sharing the trouble with friends would make it easier.

…Of course, his friends might not feel the same way…

* * *

“Wizard. Using only a stick and a compass, make a cube that is twice the size of this box,” the Mad Doppelganger said.

“What?”

Gainando, who was sitting with his friends in front of the headmaster (the Mad Doppelganger), was surprised by the sudden order.

“I… I can’t!”

“I thought so,” the Mad Doppelganger said.

Even though they had problems, his student’s friends knew the basics well.

The question the Mad Doppelganger had asked was impossible to answer.

“This problem cannot be solved without magic. It has been a famous problem for a long time. Twenty-three wizards have died trying to solve it…”

“Wow. How did you answer so fast?”

The friends from the Blue Dragon Tower were a little impressed.

They knew the problem, so it was possible to remember it. But Gainando had answered right away.

Was Wodanaz’s teaching finally working?

“I just said I couldn’t do it because I didn’t know,” Gainando said.

“……”

His friends looked at him with dislike and turned away. Gainando felt unfairly treated.

He had just said he didn’t know because he didn’t know…

“Just remembering that something is impossible is not the same as understanding why. A wizard should want to understand why. You wizards should be able to explain it,” the Mad Doppelganger said.

The students listened closely to the Mad Doppelganger’s explanation. Then, they asked Lee Han.

“Wodanaz. Wodanaz.”

“What is it?” Lee Han asked.

“Is this going to be on the final exam?”

This semester’s magic algebra and secret geometry class was strange.

The professor was gone, so Yukbertire, a senior student, was teaching the class.

Yukbertire’s class was more normal than they expected (or more normal than Professor Bermo’s class). The students had been confused by the professor’s disappearance, but now they were used to it.

But the Mad Doppelganger was teaching something different from what Yukbertire had been teaching.

What was this?

“Uh, I don’t think so. The master wouldn’t know what’s on the final exam,” Lee Han said.

“…Then why is he teaching this?”

“Hmm. That’s a good question,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han nodded and raised his hand to ask.

“Master.”

“What is it?” the Mad Doppelganger asked.

“Isn’t our final exam on spirit polynomials? If the class is going as planned…”

“That is not important,” the Mad Doppelganger said.

“?”

The students started talking to each other.

He says that’s not important.

“Does that mean he’s canceling the exam?”

“Is that even allowed?”

“Well, he’s the headmaster’s doppelganger, so he might be able to…”

The Mad Doppelganger spoke without changing his expression, even though the students were talking.

“It is important for you wizards to find and think about the beginnings of what you are learning,” he said.

“……”

“……”

“I will start again. The purest parts of secret geometry are the straight line and the circle. Great wizards could do many things with just these two. Even though they have found many tools, spells, and rules since then, the old ideas are still valuable…”

“Wodanaz. What are we going to do?”

“Isn’t this a big problem?”

“Quiet. Stand up,” Lee Han said.

“!”

The Mad Doppelganger pointed out some students who were whispering and made them stand up. Gainando was one of them.

“Explain why you can’t make the shape I just asked about,” the Mad Doppelganger said.

“Uh. That’s… Without magic… that’s… hard… why is it hard…” Gainando said.

“To do that, you need to make irrational numbers with only straight lines and circles, but that’s not possible. Numbers you can make are…”

“!!!!”

The students who had stood up with Gainando, and the other students, were surprised that Gainando could say it so well.

“Did Wodanaz teach you that?”

“No way. He’ll be teaching rocks how to sing next,” Gainando said.

When Gainando finished his explanation, the Mad Doppelganger waved his hand. The students sat down.

“It’s not perfect, but you understand the main idea. I will forgive you this time. If you bother the lecture again, you will be punished. Wizards, pay attention,” the Mad Doppelganger said.

The friends who sat down thanked him and asked in sign language.

-How did you answer?

Gainando replied in sign language.

-Lee Han told me.

-What? How? When did he have time to do that?

-He used telekinesis to stick a piece of paper to my hand when I stood up.

“……”

The students were amazed.

It wasn’t the prince’s magic that was getting better, but Wodanaz’s magic.

‘That guy is amazing. How could he do that so fast…’

‘Can he use telekinesis so well?’

‘It’s even more amazing that he did it without anyone noticing while he was talking.’

While his friends were amazed and the Mad Doppelganger was lecturing, Lee Han was thinking about something else.

‘Am I the only one taking a different exam this time too?’

Knighton, the professor in charge of the magic algebra and secret geometry class, liked to give different exams based on the students’ level (or just one person).

Because of that, Lee Han had been solving harder problems by himself since last year. It was truly unfair.

Still, he thought it might be better this time since the professor wasn’t at school and the Mad Doppelganger was helping…

‘Hmm. It seems to have gotten worse instead,’ Lee Han thought.

He was listening to the Mad Doppelganger’s lectures on old history and the ideas of secret geometry during the time he would have been studying for the exam. He wondered if this was right.

As he was thinking, the Mad Doppelganger called Lee Han.

“Student, you must teach the other wizards,” the Mad Doppelganger said.

“What?”

“They don’t understand. You need to explain the lecture in a way they can understand,” he added.

Lee Han looked up and saw his friends staring at him with sad faces.

It seemed the Mad Doppelganger’s questions had been too hard for them.

“…Ah. So that’s me,” Lee Han said.

The Mad Doppelganger nodded as if to say, ‘You finally understand.’

Lee Han complained to himself and stood up.

‘It’s definitely gotten worse,’ he thought.

* * *

Intarendals, the chamberlain serving the Mad Doppelganger, left the mountain workshop because his master told him to. He was going to Einroguard.

The Skull Headmaster was gone, so he didn’t have to worry about the Death Knights.

If the Skull Headmaster was there, he would never go near the main building during the day.

‘More than that… is Master acting a little strange?’ Intarendals thought.

Intarendals had been feeling uneasy lately.

Only a chamberlain who had been loyal to his master for a long time could feel this way.

Who was his master?

He was someone who tried to fix the problems of the world with magic.

He had lost his body and become a thought that was forced out of the world because of an accident, but that was just a test for the great archmage.

He had found a student to teach and was sharing his ideas. Only someone special could do that.

But…

‘Shouldn’t he be teaching magic more strongly?’ Intarendals wondered.

His master was trying to save his student so he could pass on and finish the wish that he couldn’t do himself.

He didn’t know why his master was waiting when the Skull Headmaster was gone and quiet.

-Master. Things seem calmer now, so I will get ready to teach high-level magic.

-Good. Wait.

-Then the microcosm…?

-No. We don’t need that.

-???! Intarendals was confused.

-Wait. The royal family has a plan.

Intarendals wondered if it was because of what had happened last time, when the evil inside him had woken up.

It was surprising, but that was all it was.

The Mad Doppelganger and Intarendals knew that could happen. They just didn’t know when or how much it would happen.

To lose your body and become a thought that is forced out of the world meant that.

A life of being rejected by the world, never knowing when trouble would come.

…Then shouldn’t he be pushing his student harder? Intarendals thought.

If his master was worried about being summoned back, then this easy teaching didn’t make sense.

He should be teaching more strongly so that his student would be ready when he came back.

But he was taking it easy. Intarendals didn’t understand.

Intarendals wondered if he should give advice, even though it wasn’t his place.

‘It doesn’t seem like there’s any reason to give these things to Lee Han right now either…’

Intarendals was carrying things from the workshop that the Mad Doppelganger had told him to bring.

They were things to make a workshop and set up magic after he came back.

And some books written by the Mad Doppelganger.

They were valuable, but he thought giving them to the student would make him too relaxed.

“Strange… Even though the royal family taught him, there’s more left over?”

“Isn’t that because the master keeps adding things that won’t be on the exam!”

“!?”

Intarendals almost fainted.

What was happening?