Chapter 24

【24】23

“Hahahahaha!”

Laughter echoed through the café terrace at the beginning of the hall.

Celia, who had been laughing while holding her stomach, hiccuped and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

“So? You came out of the magic class after solving just one problem?”

“Are you done laughing?”

Leo, with a pained expression, drank his fruit juice.

“Didn’t I tell you? I said that attending magic major classes would be useless, didn’t I?”

Celia, who had calmed down her laughter, raised her teacup and said,

“If you’re from Gerdinger, you should focus on swordsmanship.”

“I’m not from Gerdinger.”

“Then what are you if you’re learning Phoenix Breath?”

Celia took a sip of her tea, looking at Leo with a bewildered expression.

“Anyway, you’re free until the afternoon class, right? Do you want to train with me?”

“Should I do some physical training then?”

“……!”

Celia’s face turned pale.

While others might not know, Leo’s physical training was almost like torture.

Celia awkwardly laughed, recalling the hellish week she spent at the Flob house.

“I’ll practice swordsmanship……”

“Surely you’re not going to skip it?”

Leo smiled.

“Uncle Gis will be so disappointed if he hears that you ran away from physical training because you were scared.”

“Hey! You’re taking revenge for teasing me about the magic class, you despicable guy!”

Celia shuddered at the sight of her scheming cousin.

“Come on, let’s train hard.”

“No way. Let me go.”

As Leo grabbed the back of her neck and dragged her towards the training ground, Celia panicked and struggled.

“Hey! Leo!”

Karl came running breathlessly.

“What’s up? What about the class?”

“Professor Ren is looking for you.”

Celia’s face lit up.

“Professor is looking for you, Leo. Go quickly.”

“Why is he looking for me?”

“You got first place in the magic theory exam.”

“What?”

Leo and Celia looked surprised.

Karl, panting, continued urgently.

“The class is in chaos! The professor is really angry because the top student didn’t attend the class!”

***

When Karl brought Leo back to the lecture hall, the atmosphere was icy.

The eyes of the students who had passed the exam were fixed on Leo as he entered the lecture hall.

Leo’s face momentarily showed a flinch.

‘Why is the atmosphere like this?’

“Student Leo, where were you during the class?”

Assistant Professor Anna asked quietly, and Leo awkwardly laughed in response.

“I was at the café.”

“The class started right after the exam ended. Why were you at the café……”

Clap, clap, clap, clap

Suddenly, applause broke out.

Professor Ren approached with a smile.

“Student Leo! I am truly amazed by your genius. You didn’t even touch the easy questions and only solved the hardest one before leaving the class. Hahaha! Well, to a genius, my exam might have seemed too easy. Especially for someone majoring in knighthood!”

Although his face was smiling, his eyes were deadly serious.

Knights and mages have been in competition for a long time.

Even in one of the strongest human nations, the Lodren Empire, the knight faction led by Gerdinger and the mage faction led by Lewalin are divided and engaged in politics.

There are even extremists among the Lumern students who believe their field is the best.

Therefore, it was enough to cause misunderstanding when the representative of the new students, known for aspiring to knighthood, entered the magic major class and submitted a blank paper except for the hardest problem.

Moreover, Leo didn’t return to the class after leaving.

Leo quickly said,

“Professor, there seems to be some misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?”

“I thought I had failed the exam. I didn’t even know I got first place.”

With a furrowed brow, Professor Ren stared at Leo’s face.

Although Professor Ren is one of the younger professors at Lumern, he is not someone who can be easily fooled by a freshman.

‘It doesn’t seem like he’s lying. But why didn’t he solve the other problems?’

“Student Leo, I need to have a brief talk with you. Assistant Professor Anna, can you take over the class for me?”

“Understood, Professor.”

Assistant Professor Anna bowed and stood at the podium.

Professor Ren led Leo to the preparation room at the back of the lecture hall.

“Why didn’t you solve the other exam problems?”

“Well……”

Leo hesitated.

“Did you think the problems were too easy and not worth solving?”

“No, it’s not that……”

Leo, rolling his eyes, muttered to himself.

‘Ah, embarrassing. I have to admit that I couldn’t solve problems that even teenagers can solve, even though I was a grand mage in my previous life?’

But he couldn’t lie.

If he didn’t, his school life might become complicated.

Finally, Leo answered in a low voice.

“I couldn’t solve the other problems because they were too difficult.”

“What?”

Solving the hardest problem and saying the others were too difficult? What kind of nonsense is this?

“I studied magic formulas through self-study at home, but the only books I had were very old. So I only studied old formulas. I didn’t know modern magic formulas were so complex. I felt ashamed and didn’t attend the class because I thought I had taken the magic major class too casually, as you said.”

After saying this, he asked with a puzzled look.

“But why did I get first place? I only solved one problem.”

‘So, you didn’t know the structure of the activation formula, which is why you couldn’t solve the combination problems…… and you gave up and only solved the last problem, right?’

After hearing the explanation, it made sense.

Indeed, if he had studied only from old magic books, he might not have known the activation formula.

The activation formula, while a recent trend, is not a very old formula.

‘If he only studied formula interpretation, it’s not impossible.’

Professor Ren picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a magic formula on the blackboard in the preparation room.

“Try solving this. Then I’ll believe Student Leo’s story. And I’ll explain why you got first place.”

His anger subsided, and his interest grew.

Young people are sensitive to trends.

The activation formula has become so deeply rooted among young mages that it can be considered mainstream rather than a trend.

In that sense, Leo can be seen as somewhat outdated.

However, he has an advantage that is hard to find in modern mages.

‘It’s his solid foundation. After all, the basics of magic are ultimately the ability to interpret formulas.’

A tree with strong roots may grow slowly, but it will eventually grow large.

Professor Ren expected that Leo had already begun to build his own magic world.

Formula interpretation has one correct answer, but there are multiple paths to it.

He was strongly interested in how a student of a type rarely seen in modern mages would approach formula solving.

By observing the process of solving a formula, one can also understand the magic philosophy of the mage.

‘Let’s see what kind of interpretation method he has.’

He watched Leo’s back, who stood in front of the blackboard with shining eyes.

Leo silently looked at the problem Professor Ren had given and reached out to the blackboard.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Each time the chalk sound echoed, Professor Ren couldn’t help but shudder.

Leo turned his head after writing the solution.

Professor Ren couldn’t see Leo’s solving method.

“You’re done?”

Because Leo had solved the complex magic formula through mental calculation.

***

‘Why isn’t he coming out?’

Assistant Professor Anna looked at the preparation room with a puzzled expression.

Either a warning or expulsion.

She expected a quick conclusion, but it was taking longer than expected.

Among the magic professors at Lumern, Professor Ren was the most passionate about magic.

Although not famous outside, he is praised as a genius in the field of magic.

Anna also applied for the position of assistant professor after reading his magic papers and becoming a fan.

‘But my image was shattered after becoming an assistant professor.’

He was usually a decent person, but when it came to magic, he exhibited all sorts of eccentric behaviors.

Bang!

The preparation room door was roughly opened, as if responding to Anna’s worries.

The students were startled.

Assistant Professor Anna, confirming Professor Ren’s face, sighed and looked at the ceiling.

‘His seizure has flared up again. I hope he doesn’t act disgracefully in front of the freshmen.’

Fortunately, Professor Ren quickly left the lecture hall.

Leo slowly came out of the preparation room.

“What did the professor say, Student Leo?”

“He said to attend the class.”

“Yes, please take your seat. We will resume the class.”

Assistant Professor Anna picked up the chalk without any concern.

The students’ faces became strange.

The professor who suddenly ran out of the lecture hall on the first day and the assistant professor who didn’t care at all.

Something was off.

Unlike the other students, Leo reacted calmly.

Of course, Leo also didn’t understand why Professor Ren was acting that way.

‘But it’s not like mages acting weird is something new.’

Leo, who understood the nature of mages better than anyone, thought.

***

Bang!

The door of the magic department office was roughly opened.

The professors who were working looked up.

Seeing Professor Ren’s face, they resumed their work with a “that’s expected” expression.

“Senior!”

Professor Albi turned his head with a blank expression.

“Thank you!