Yi-Han could not fathom why the squires were applauding. He thought to himself, 'Nor do I want to know.'
With a desire to leave quickly, Yi-Han turned around. To the eyes of the squires, his demeanor appeared as the pride of a noble from a distinguished family, seemingly indifferent to his own honorable actions. True pride, they thought, is when one acts honorably not for praise or reward, but because the act itself is honorable.
The applause grew louder. Yi-Han, shuddering, shook his head in dismay.
"Aha, so that's why."
It was only after Dolgyu explained that Yi-Han understood. Dolgyu looked perplexed at his reaction.
"Why are you surprised, Yi-Han? Didn't you break your own sword to help the opponent who was injured due to an excessive technique?"
"It was just an accident. I was trying to break his sword, but mine broke too."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
"What do you mean pretend? I was just trying to break his..."
"Look! The squires are coming. Let's go greet them!"
Dolgyu interrupted Yi-Han. The squires and the students of the White Tiger, influenced by Yi-Han's honorable actions, had begun to dissolve their previous tensions. Some truths, perhaps, need not be known.
Sizzle-
"Huh?"
Yi-Han and the White Tiger students looked at the squires in confusion as they started to grill meat over a fire. Yi-Han asked Bikelintz, "Excuse me, but what are they doing?"
"They are grilling game they caught themselves," Bikelintz replied, nodding his head in satisfaction. It was a custom among knights who roamed the vast empire to treat others with monsters they had subdued or hunted. It was a gesture of courtesy and a gift from a knight.
"Sprinkle more spices."
"Why? This is enough."
"They're from the magic academy, remember? The gamey and wild smell will make it hard to eat."
Not all game, even when hard-earned, was delicious. In fact, tasty monsters were rare. Furthermore, the squires were not adept at butchering or cooking, so strong spices were their preferred method of preparation. With the right mix of empire's varied spices, the meat became quite palatable.
"Oops, it's all gone."
"Any left? Check around."
As they spoke, the meat was ready. The waiting White Tiger students began to skewer and eat the meat.
"Is it...?"
"It's well-cooked. Not bad."
The students chewed the meat heartily, swallowing without hesitation. Their manner was almost combative.
The squires were shocked. They hadn't even sprinkled the spices yet, and the students were eating so freely.
'We misunderstood...!'
'Yes, a knight is a knight, no matter where they are.'
With this realization, the squires reflected on their behavior. They had been wrong to look down on their fellow knights, thinking they were living comfortably while they themselves suffered.
"Sorry."
"What?"
"We thought you were resting comfortably while we suffered."
Upon hearing this, the White Tiger students scowled. What a thing to say…
"But I realized that it's not important. Whether it's our rugged and shabby training ground on the outskirts of the city or your comfortable and cozy bedrooms at the magic academy, what matters is that we are all knights..."
"Do you really want to get stabbed in the back?"
"No, why would I?!"
While the knights bickered, Yi-Han bit into a skewer of meat and evaluated it coolly.
"The gamey and wild smell isn't covered well. Dolgyu, try sprinkling this on it."
"It's a bit awkward to do it alone..."
The squabbling knights seemed to have reached some sort of reconciliation and resumed devouring their meat. The students of the White Tiger, having painfully learned the lesson of eating whenever possible since their admission, quickly finished off the meat even before it was fully grilled.
"Wait, I have something to say."
"Go ahead. Munch."
"Yeah. Gulp."
The squire was dumbfounded by the response of the White Tiger students. It wasn't bad that they were enjoying the food, but shouldn't they listen when someone is speaking?
"...This is about how we caught this Iron Boar."
It was customary for knights to boast about how they had caught their game when serving it to others. The squires eagerly began to recount their tale.
-So we split into tracking, driving, and hunting teams. The trackers chased it, the drivers herded it, and then we even used traps to drain its stamina…-
"Chomp chomp."
"Gulp."
"So? What happened next?"
“...”
But Yi-Han was the only one who even pretended to listen. The other White Tiger students were too focused on the meat, seemingly indifferent.
The squires felt a surge of frustration. They were trying to reconcile, and this was their attitude?
"...Have you guys caught anything recently?"
One of the squires, unable to hold back, asked. A student from the White Tiger thought for a moment before responding.
"Colossal Hungry Ghost."
"Don't talk nonsense! How could you catch a Colossal Hungry Ghost!"
"We did catch it."
"Right. We caught it."
Yi-Han stared intently at the White Tiger students.
'Since when did 'we' include you?'
Feeling his gaze, the students turned towards him.
"Tell us in detail!"
"Yeah, let's hear the details!"
The squires watched intently, ready to catch any bluff in their story.
"Wardanaz cast a spell..."
"And then?"
"He kept casting it..."
"And then?"
"Until it fell."
The squires were at a loss for words. It sounded implausible...
But somehow, that made it feel more genuine.
"Wait. So it wasn't you who caught it, but Wardanaz?"
"We were there, so it counts as us catching it together!"
"Let's ask Wardanaz. Wardanaz, what do you think?"
"Just eat your meat and stop talking..."
Yi-Han muttered wearily.
After such an intense fight in the morning, he wanted to rest. But the other classes wouldn't wait.
When <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic> started in the afternoon, Yi-Han regretted wasting his energy unnecessarily in the morning.
'All because of those knights...'
Only Professor Ingurdel and Sir Bikelintz seemed satisfied, while the students suffered from fatigue and muscle aches. Some students of the White Tiger were already brazenly asleep.
Yi-Han looked at them with a sense of disdain.
"These crazy fools... Gainando, wake up."
Yi-Han smacked the back of Gainando's head. It wasn't right to scorn someone else's tower.
Startled, Gainando woke up.
"Did someone hit me?"
"It must have been a bad dream. No one hit you."
"Really?"
While everyone else was hurriedly reading various books and muttering to themselves, Gainando and Yi-Han sat calmly, not engaging in such activities. At first glance, they seemed similar, but Yonaire knew that their situations were the exact opposites. One was overly prepared, and the other, not prepared at all!
"Everyone, put away the items on your desks."
As Professor Alpen Knighton appeared, the students drew in despair-laden breaths. With a wave of his wand, the books and papers on the desks flew into the bags. The rules and the duration of the test began to appear on the classroom's blackboard.
"Those who finish early may leave. Now, begin."
Within five seconds, the test papers appeared in front of the students. They gripped their quills, looking as if they might vomit any moment.
'This isn't too hard.'
Yi-Han, thinking a thought that would have earned him a bottle of ink to the head had others heard, quickly began solving the problems. For him, these mathematics and geometry problems were a breeze, even without studying.
The problems with magical elements, like 'Calculate the number of mana stones needed for this magic circle' or 'Complete the missing parts of the magic circle,' were a bit trickier, but not too difficult if one knew how to apply the concepts.
With a flourish, Yi-Han rapidly filled in the blanks. The expressions of the students behind him turned to horror.
'Wardanaz...!'
'Shouldn't Wardanaz be taking tests in another classroom, conscientiously?'
Just his mere problem-solving was enough to drive other students to despair. They grumbled inwardly. Wardanaz's excessive studying might raise the average grade of the class, elevate the professors' expectations, and even increase the standards of their families.
Selfish guy...!
"Don't look around," warned Professor Alpen, making the students lower their heads.
Yi-Han stood up. Professor Alpen was not surprised.
"Finished?"
"Yes."
"Submit it and leave."
Yi-Han left the classroom without looking back. The students watched his back with a mix of envy and jealousy.
Thud!
Gainando also stood up. Professor Alpen, surprised this time, asked.
"Finished?"
"Yes!"
"Submit it and leave."
Gainando too left the classroom without a backward glance. The students watched his back with a mix of pity and admiration.
'Such a fearless kid.'
'You're the best, Gainando!'
"Burn brightly!"
Normally, 'Don't use magic in the lounge! What if someone gets hurt!' would be the refrain, but tonight was different.
Even Gainando was practicing with his staff.
Thursday was the most hellish day of this midterm week, with Professor Garcia's <Basic Magic Understanding> exam. For a mage, low grades in other arts or miscellaneous courses could be excused with 'What does a mage need with such knowledge?' or 'A mage needs to be good at magic, not petty calculations. I'll be a mage who excels with intuition.' However, <Basic Magic Understanding> was an inescapable core subject for the students of Einroguard.
"Gainando, did you take dark magic?"
"Yeah, so I have to review it with you. Sigh. It's really tough."
"I also have to study summoning magic. It's harder for me."
The importance of this lecture was immense, as how one sowed seeds and bloomed flowers determined the course of the next academic year...
...and with that importance came difficulty.
The area one chose to focus on and learn about during lecture time came with the obligation of an additional exam.
"Are you making light of dark magic now?! Do you know how difficult curses are?"
"Compared to summoning magic, dark magic is easy!"
"Hey, those who don't know illusion magic, stay quiet."
"Shouldn't you guys focus more on basic elemental magic? That seems to be the hardest."
"Wardanaz, you decide. What do you think is the hardest magic?"
Unable to reach a decision among themselves, the friends called for Yi-Han.
Yi-Han lifted his head from among the mountains of books piled around him. Books on various magic fields were stacked haphazardly.
"What did you say?"
"...Ah, it's nothing."
"Keep up the hard work, Wardanaz!"
"Let's sit down and study quickly, too!"
