Chapter 1144
“If your disciple is outstanding, you should be grateful. Why are you getting angry!”
The members of the capital’s stonemason guild became angry as well.
In truth, rather than genuinely being angry, they simply wanted to shout at Professor Verdus.
They had already been angry from the beginning...
“Even when taught the same way, every disciple achieves different results, yet you complain like that. Tsk, tsk.”
-Strictly speaking, Professor Verdus did not actually teach... Hmm. Never mind.
The Death Knight muttered, then stopped.
Even so, they could not reveal too many of the school’s secrets to outsiders.
Especially the truth that, strictly speaking, Professor Verdus had never taught anything and the successor had learned everything independently!
While they talked behind him, Lee Han felt proud for the first time in a while.
'Perhaps this is why people study.'
Understanding the principles of the world and broadening one’s capacity were good reasons, but seeing the face of a professor stomping in frustration as though dying of rage was also quite a good reason.
If he could see Professor Verdus make a face like that, perhaps he could even challenge more fifth-circle magic or a small world...
'No, that is not right.'
Lee Han immediately came back to his senses.
It seemed he had become far too excited by the sight of Professor Verdus getting angry.
“Urgh... Urrrgh...”
Unlike usual, Professor Verdus did not give up and glared at the tower, desperately trying to find some fault with it.
The other seniors looked at the professor as though the sight were pathetic.
'If only the professor worked that hard during lectures.'
'The professor never even looked properly at anything we made...'
Seeing someone who normally gave only a cursory inspection no matter what they brought to class concentrating so intensely made them want to smack the back of the professor’s head.
“Professor. Why not criticize the excessive mana consumption?”
“Are you stupid?! Mana consumption means nothing to Wardanaz!”
Professor Verdus snapped angrily at the student whispering from the side.
Even so, the student did not become flustered and smiled.
“My. Then it cannot be helped.”
“......”
Lee Han looked at his senior in disbelief.
What was even more absurd was that the other seniors were watching regretfully, thinking, Ah, I should have done that.
How often would they ever get an opportunity to mock Professor Verdus like this?
“This... is well made.”
In the end, Professor Verdus gave up and declared surrender. The professor looked so dejected that it was hard to believe this was the same person who was always cheerful and happy.
At that moment, the seniors rushed forward with cheers loud enough to shake the lecture hall.
“Wardanaz! Wardanaz!”
“Hero of Einroguard!”
The seniors tossed Lee Han into the air and shouted.
“I knew you would defeat Professor Verdus one day! You bastard!”
The knights whispered to the bewildered members of the capital’s stonemason guild.
-Normally, they are much calmer and more diligent students.
“Ah... I see.”
While the seniors enthusiastically tossed their junior into the air and caught him, Professor Verdus turned away.
“I want to see the next work.”
“...Wait.”
The students, who had been caught up in their excitement, returned to their senses as though cold water had been poured over them.
They quickly lowered their junior, hurried back to their seats, and began desperately thinking of ways to fix their work.
“Urgh.”
“Ughhh.”
When the noisy scene from moments ago changed as though it had all been a lie, the knights whispered to the guild members again.
-Normally, they are much more cheerful and bright students.
“......”
After returning to the ground, Lee Han quickly stepped in front of Professor Verdus. Since the professor was still walking on all fours, blocking the way was not difficult.
Glancing behind him, he saw that the seniors were still desperately trying to fix their work.
'I need to buy them time.'
Normally, seniors protected juniors, but that thought did not occur to Lee Han at the moment.
He had to protect the seniors from the wicked Professor Verdus!
“Professor. Please look at my work a little longer.”
“What? Why?”
“Because... I want to improve further.”
He had thrown out the words carelessly, but they sounded surprisingly plausible. Lee Han nodded and continued.
“Come now. Do not just let it pass because it is troublesome. Tell me what can be improved.”
“I said it was well made??”
“That will not do. Professor, could it be that you cannot think of anything to improve?”
It was a sharp provocation, but it did not work on someone like Professor Verdus, who had absolute confidence in personal ability.
Professor Verdus answered firmly.
“What improvements are there if it is perfect?”
“...Is that so? How disappointing. Senior Yukbeltire pointed out an improvement the moment she saw it.”
“?!!”
Professor Verdus was startled.
“?!!!!”
And Princess Yukbeltire was even more startled.
When?!
“When did I?!”
“Shh. Please be quiet. We need to control the professor before the professor goes mad and runs wild.”
If left alone, Professor Verdus would tear apart everything visible in the lecture hall and turn the atmosphere into hell.
At the very least, they needed to keep the professor chained.
“Urrrgh... Urrrrrrrrgh...”
At the claim that Princess Yukbeltire had found an improvement, Professor Verdus began concentrating again without a trace of doubt.
The professor focused so intensely that it seemed possible to burn the tower down through sheer mental force without using any magic.
“Professor. If you cannot think of the improvement immediately, it cannot be helped.”
“Wait!”
“No. Find it later. You still need to teach the lecture first, do you not?”
“I said wait! Let go of me!”
Professor Verdus thrashed while being dragged toward the lectern at the front of the lecture hall. The knights wrapped an iron chain several times around the professor’s neck to help Lee Han.
-Use this.
“Thank you.”
For a moment, Lee Han wondered whether it was acceptable to do this even to Professor Verdus, but decided to finish thinking about it later.
“The tower again...”
“Now, does anyone have a question? The professor says questions are welcome!”
Lee Han shouted loudly to refresh the atmosphere. The seniors gave him looks that said, Would you want to ask a question in this atmosphere if you were us?
However, Lee Han had already crossed the river. Now that he had come this far, he could not retreat.
“Does anyone have a question!”
“...All right. All right. I will do it.”
Perhaps feeling sorry for the junior, or perhaps feeling guilty, one of the seniors raised a hand.
It was Alde of House Markang, a senior from the same tower whom Lee Han recognized.
“Professor. I am currently designing a wooden tower so it can be used even in regions where stone cannot be used, and I would like to ask about the list of woods that can be combined in that situation. My combination is this, but the combination you would suggest is...”
“Was there a problem with the rubber magic? No, there was not.”
“Pardon?”
“The rubber magic was cast perfectly...”
“...Professor. The junior’s tower was finished earlier.”
“Huh? Ah.”
Professor Verdus seemed as though the personality had split in two. One personality was still thinking about the disciple’s tower, while the other was answering the disciple’s question...
...or rather, was not answering and was simply staring blankly.
“If you were making a wooden tower! What combination! Would you use?!”
“Ah... Here. This combination.”
Professor Verdus quickly wrote down the names of several spirit woods. At that sight, not only Alde but the other seniors became interested.
Normally, the professor would have wasted several times as much time with useless remarks like, “Figure it out yourself,” “Think about it,” or “You cannot even do that,” yet now the answer had come immediately?
“Professor! I have a question too!”
“Was the improvement Yukbeltire pointed out perhaps related to the tower’s foundation?”
Unable to let the matter go, Professor Verdus subtly questioned Lee Han.
Lee Han answered coldly.
“If you answer the senior’s question first, I will answer yours too.”
“Huh? Did someone ask something?”
At the junior’s gesture, the seniors quickly poured out their questions.
Questions they had never been able to ask before flooded in, but Professor Verdus immediately gave answers without the slightest hesitation.
“Professor. I want to use the power of a spirit for control, but what level would it need to be...”
“At minimum, it should be powerful enough to call itself a noble. Look among rock spirits. But is there a problem with the flight enchantment magic?”
“Professor. Regarding the reverse flow you mentioned earlier, what if we install additional magic around the edges of the tower to disperse the force?”
“In that case, it would be better to divide the lightning-guidance magic and install it along the edges from the beginning. Is the problem not the flight enchantment magic, but the lightning magic?”
All the seniors were moved by Professor Verdus’s newly changed behavior.
To think the professor answered questions so immediately!
Of course, the professor added one unnecessary question afterward each time, but even this was already something.
After all, the usual Professor Verdus would add dozens of useless remarks.
“Hey. Send out paper birds and tell everyone to hurry and send in any questions they usually could not ask.”
“I already did. Hehe. To think the day would come when Professor Verdus changed like this.”
“...But this is what a professor is supposed to do in the first place...”
Come to think of it, this was basic behavior for someone like Professor Garcia.
Feeling delighted merely because a professor answered questions suddenly seemed unfair.
Even so, Professor Verdus diligently finished the remainder of the lecture. Even the members of the capital’s stonemason guild had no choice but to acknowledge the quality of the question-and-answer session.
“You worked hard, Professor Verdus.”
“Do you have any hint? Was the improvement related to cost rather than magic?”
“...In any case, you worked hard!”
The guild members flinched slightly.
They felt pressured by the sight of Professor Verdus continuously muttering as though possessed by something.
Watching the scene, the knights gradually began to worry.
'What is the successor planning to do?'
Separate from their dislike of Professor Verdus, the knights respected the professor’s magical ability.
Could Lee Han convincingly explain an improvement Professor Verdus had failed to find?
“You worked hard, Professor.”
“What is the improvement?!”
-Professor Verdus. Do you have no pride? Asking your disciple...
“I do not! What is it?!”
The knight who had tried to help Lee Han was left speechless.
Then again, there was no chance that asking someone crawling on all fours whether there was no pride would have any effect.
“Professor.”
“Yes!”
“I am sorry. It was a lie.”
After leaving those words behind, Lee Han mobilized the full extent of his magical power and ran away.
“...Th-Then farewell!”
The members of the capital’s stonemason guild and Princess Yukbeltire, who had been standing there blankly, quickly understood the situation, hurriedly said goodbye, and ran out as well.
“......”
Seeing Professor Verdus’s stunned face, the knights felt slightly sorry and spoke.
-We will serve you a special meal today.
***
Lee Han ran insanely fast. It seemed he should avoid any area where Professor Verdus might appear for a while.
'...Come to think of it, I have never actually seen Professor Verdus angry.'
Unlike the other professors, it was difficult to imagine an enraged Professor Verdus.
Would the professor bite with those front teeth?
Whatever form it took, there could be nothing good about approaching. Lee Han resolved that once again.
“W-Wardanaz! Student Wardanaz!”
“!”
Lee Han thought he had opened up enough distance, but when someone called him from behind, he realized his mistake.
'I still make careless mistakes like this!'
“W-Wait just a moment! How in the world are you so fast...”
The members of the stonemason guild were on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. Lee Han had run far faster than they had expected.
'Hmm. There is no chance these people were bribed by Professor Verdus.'
After first entertaining that extremely rude thought, Lee Han spoke.
“I apologize. I have a habit of running after a lecture ends.”
“......”
Anyone could see it was because of Professor Verdus, but the guild members did not point it out unnecessarily.
“That is a very good habit. More importantly, we came because we have a proposal. Would you consider participating as an adviser in the construction of a magical structure?”
“I do not think I can.”
“We thought you would be interested... Hm?”
The guild members were taken aback.
For mages interested in this kind of work, an attractive proposal like that was difficult to refuse.
Why in the world?
“If it would not be rude, may we ask the reason? Did Professor Verdus give you some absurd order...?”
The members of the stonemason guild suspected Professor Verdus.
Normally, whenever something happened, the most hated person was suspected first, but even setting that aside, Professor Verdus was suspicious.
Was that not a professor of the enchantment magic school?
“Well...”
Lee Han answered with an extremely troubled expression.
“...I currently have far too many commissions coming in...”
“......”
The guild members’ eyes widened at the completely unexpected answer.