‘Could she have caught on to my bad intentions?’
Yi-han was worried for a second, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
“Just so you know, wearing a priest’s uniform won’t weaken the curse or make your faith stronger…”
Tijiling seemed to have misunderstood and thought Yi-han was under the wrong impression about their uniform.
“Yeah, I know that. I just want it so that I can reflect on my past self for always wearing such comfortable clothes, consequently allowing myself to become lazy.”
“…Um, in that case, won’t your current uniform suffice?”
Tijiling pointed at the clothes he was wearing.
The uniforms that Principal Skelly had given them were rough and crudely made, so much so that it was questionable whether they could be regarded as uniforms in the first place. They definitely weren’t soft or comfortable like the clothes they used to wear.
However, Yi-han pushed on.
“But I insist. I wish to temper myself so that I can come to understand Lord Presinga’s teachings a bit better.”
“In that case…”
After much consideration, Tijiling assented. As a devout follower, she was willing to accept the request.
“I’ll give it to you the next time we meet.”
“Great. Oh, and also, Priest Mehrid asked that I convince you to eat the food that we received.”
“It’s fine.”
Though her voice was soft, it was firm.
“I’m satisfied by the meal that the academy provides us.”
Unfortunately, she was facing a former graduate student, and they never retreated after being turned down once.
If it was the professor’s orders, they would strive to make the impossible possible. Even though Priest Mehrid wasn’t a professor, that wasn’t going to stop Yi-han from trying his best.
“But that would worry Priest Mehrid, and if you keep refusing, he’s going to have trouble sleeping at night. How about this? Let’s have our meals together. I won’t force you to eat food that you don’t wish to have. We’ll simply eat together so that we could lighten his worries.”
His words made sense, and Tijiling thought for a while before finally nodding.
She didn’t wish to worry Priest Mehrid any more than she already had.
“That’s a good idea.”
“Right?”
Yi-han grinned.
‘Once we start having our meals together, it won’t be long until you start eating the food that I recommend.’
A young girl that had grown up dedicating her life to the Order was no match for someone like him.
Something felt amiss, but Tijiling failed to realize the meaning behind his grin.
***
The weekend passed, and a new week began.
The students that had survived the brutal first week seemed to have somewhat matured.
– Fufu. Still having trouble adapting to the academy? Personally, I feel right at home.
– Looking back, it wasn’t all that bad of a week. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble keeping up with classes either.
Having rested during the weekend, the students were once again overflowing with confidence, confidence which was unfounded.
Einroguard quickly put them back in their place by revealing their true colors.
– A young mage is standing on a vertex of a cube. He wishes to connect a magic circle with one that is on the vertex furthest away from him. Calculate the shortest distance between the two points.
– …P-professor? T-this isn’t related to magic at all…
– What a stupid question to be asking. To become a proper mage, simply swinging your staff around won’t be enough. If you wish to cast higher-circle magic, you’d need to know complex theories and perform complicated calculations. Geometry is central to learning magic. Without knowing geometry, you won’t be able to draw magic circles well. Arithmetic is just as important. How are you going to draw magic circles when you don’t even know where to distribute your mana?
– …
– …B-but this…
– Young mages are most susceptible to being tricked into a contract by someone with greater intelligence. Hence, you must learn of the dangers of contracts. Not only that, you must be able to read between the lines and decipher hidden messages. Try solving this. There was once a foolish mage that liked to drink, and whenever he was drunk, he would do foolish things. One day, while he was in a drunken stupor, he summoned the devil and signed an unfair contract. The question is, will he be able to annul the contract once he becomes sober… You over there! The one that’s sleeping. Are you not afraid of losing your soul to the devil? Wake up!
– W-w-what! I wasn’t sleeping, sir!
The mandatory classes that they didn’t have to deal with in their first week were absolutely ruthless and left the students in a daze.
‘Who am I? Why am I here?’
“I don’t think I’m fit to learn magic…”
“Here I was, thinking I had learned magic after swinging my staff a few times… turns out I’m worth less than the trash on the streets…”
By the end of class, the students were left muttering to themselves, their confidence crushed.
Nevertheless, a few students managed to excel even in such a situation.
“In governing and managing the Empire’s affairs, geometry and arithmetic are rudimentary knowledge that we must know,” said Asan Dargard. His family members had served the Empire as its ministers and treasurers for generations.
“…”
There was also Princess Adenart, who was famously talented and had distinguished herself among the hundreds of children of the royal family.
“You want to know how I solved it? Dude, you think that’s what’s important? We need to think of ways to escape!”
Last but not least, Yi-han Wardanaz. His performance was blinding even within the Blue Dragons where all of the Empire’s greatest elites were gathered.
While everyone else was suffering, these three geniuses breezed through the mandatory courses without so much as batting an eye.
‘Never thought I’d get to use the knowledge I learned in graduate school,’ Yi-han thought to himself.1Hope he’s not talking about that geometry question earlier.
The people around him used to ask what was the point of studying so much.
Surprisingly, his effort had borne fruit, though it wasn’t quite as he expected it to…
“Kukuku. Yi-han, look at those beggars from the White Tigers. They’re a mess.”
‘You aren’t doing any better…’
Gainando had been struggling in his classes, but he regained his spirit watching the White Tigers suffer, leaving Yi-han speechless.
‘What a consistent character!’
“Can you teach me later on?” Yonaire asked carefully.
Though she belonged to the brighter end of the spectrum, she had failed to keep up with today’s classes.
She would have to review what they learned later on, and it would be of great help to have someone smart like Yi-han accompanying her.
She had honestly been stunned by his performance in the classes.
Asan belonged to the Dargard Family, so it wasn’t surprising that he excelled in these fields. As for Princess Adenart, she had proven herself countless times before. The fact that Yi-han could keep up with those two was totally unexpected.
“Sure. I also have some questions about alchemy that I’d like to ask you.”
Yonaire’s face became bright when she heard this reply.
‘Since we’re knowledgable in different fields, helping each other out is a win-win situation.’
Connections were quite important when it came to studying.
A peerless genius might not need the help of others to study, but Yi-han wasn’t a genius. By building on each other’s strengths, they could establish a relationship that was beneficial for both sides.
With that in mind, he didn’t think it was a waste of time to teach Yonaire math and logic. In fact, he believed the pros outweighed the cons since he would be able to learn alchemy from her.
“Hey, let me in as well!”
“…”
There was a moment of hesitation. Helping Gainando definitely felt like a loss.
“Sure.”
“What was that pause just now?”
“What pause? Anyway, we were wise not to join too many optional classes. Who would’ve thought the mandatory courses would be this hard?”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Yi-han’s words.
After their first week of class, they had thought “this isn’t too bad”, but such feelings were long gone.
In fact, they wished to withdraw from some of their optional classes.
This was when Yi-han carefully brought up an offer.
“So… anyone interested in joining Swordsmanship, Basic Stamina Training, or Basic Repetitive Training in Magic Combat?”
“Sorry, I’ll pass.”
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
“I still think that’s a terrible idea.”
The students around him who had been listening to the conversation refused to budge an inch regarding this matter.
***
As students occasionally gathered to discuss, so did the professors.
Uregor, the dwarven professor, was sipping on a warm cup of tea.
‘Ah~ as I thought, tea tastes great when you have someone laboring under you.’
There was a dwarven saying which went like this: all things taste delicious when you have a skilled worker beneath you.
In that sense, Wardanaz was definitely a skilled worker. The tea tasted much better than when Uregor used to maintain the hut by himself.
This wasn’t something anyone could achieve, all the more so since Yi-han came from a prestigious family within the Empire.
He was so talented in this regard, it was as if performing chores was in his nature!
“If I may, principal.”
Hm?
“Have you found a professor to take over ?”
The one who brought this up was Darcia Kim, the troll mixed-blood.
Hearing this question, Uregor became confused.
“Isn’t that Professor Bentozol’s class?”
“Oh, you haven’t heard? Professor Bentozol went missing after he left in search of a unicorn. Since he hasn’t returned yet, someone would have to take over his class.”
Worry not, for I’ve already found a substitute.
“Oho…as expected of the principal…”
“We’re in good hands indeed.”
Principal Skelly seemed reliable in the eyes of the professors, and they nodded in approval.
Though he was at times obnoxious, he was one of the biggest reasons why this huge bundle of chaos known as Einroguard could continue functioning.
If not for him, there would be no one to take the helm and manage the academy.
“So who is it?” Uregor asked in wonder.
was a mandatory course. It would be embarrassing if the students couldn’t mount a horse by the time they graduated from the academy. Also, the class gave students an opportunity to familiarize themselves with all sorts of creatures.
For these reasons, the professor in charge of the class had to be a skilled jockey and have a great understanding of various mountable creatures.
Bungaegor Choidal.
“…”
“If it’s her, we can rest assured.”
“An excellent choice, sir.”
All the professors other than Uregor were in agreement with this arrangement.
Bungaegor was a renowned dwarven adventurer, and she had explored various locations, both inside and outside the Empire.
Uregor, however, was very, very unhappy about this.
As it turned out, Bungaegor was his aunt from his mother’s side.2Uregor’s Korean name is 우레걸음, which translates to Thunder Step, and this relative of his is 번개걸음, which translates to Lightning Step. However, it would be weird to have names like that, so I decided to just translate them as they sound in Korean. The more precise translation would be Bungaegorum, but I did away with the “um” at the end for Uregor because it sounded more natural than Uregorum, so for consistency, I’ll be omitting the “um” at the end here as well.
“Why her of all people!?”
If you wish to complain, do so to Bentozol who chased after a unicorn and disappeared. I didn’t think he’d go missing either. You should be glad we found someone suitable on such short notice.
“Urk…”
There was nothing Uregor could say to that.
If was as the principal had said. Finding a suitable professor wasn’t an easy task.
But still…
‘I don’t want to cross paths with her.’
Bungaegor was part of the reason why he disliked eastern dwarves. She was from that region, and every time they met, she would nag him to the point where his soul threatened to leave his body.
‘Do you still stay cooped up in that tiny chamber of yours, fiddling away with flasks and potions?’
‘You should respect your elders more.’
‘You remember our neighbor Mushaedari? He’s already married and has kids!’
Garcia tried to comfort him.
“Don’t be too stressed about it. You’re not going to bump into each other that often.”
“Let’s hope you’re right…”
***
The students had been beaten black and blue by the math and language courses all day long, but their expressions were rather bright.
And that was because of the class they were having next.
!
Horsemanship was a discipline all nobles learned, a skill that all knights trained in, and a luxury that even commoners could enjoy without much burden.
The Blue Dragons had gone around their territories on horseback ever since they were young. The White Tigers had run through mountains and fields on the back of their war horses. The Black Tortoise had traveled far distances in the Empire with but a single horse as their companion. All in all, the students were brimming with confidence.
Naturally, Yi-han also knew how to ride horses, so he wasn’t too worried about the class.
‘After the stick comes the carrot, is it?’
– KURARARARARARARA!!!
“?”
“??”
“?????”
They heard the roar of what could only be described as a monster, and soon, something massive appeared in the sky above.
Before anyone could react, it swooped down and caught Gainando with its beak before flying away.
“UWAAAAAAA!”
