Chapter 24
Editor : Amethyst00
“Ahahahahaha!”
Laughter rang out on the café terrace at the Hall of Beginning.
Celia, clutching her stomach as she laughed, hiccuped and trembled before wiping away the tears at the corners of her eyes.
“So? You left magic class after solving just one problem?”
“Are you done laughing?”
Leo, with a sullen expression, drank his fruit juice.
“See, what did I tell you? I said there’s no point in taking magic major classes.”
Having calmed her laughter, Celia raised her teacup.
“If you’re from Zerdinger, you should devote yourself to swordsmanship.”
“I’m not from Zerdinger.”
“If someone practicing Phoenix Breath isn’t from Zerdinger, then what are they?”
Celia gave him a disbelieving look and sipped her tea.
“Anyway, you’re free until afternoon classes, right? Want to train with me?”
“Then how about some physical training?”
“……!”
Celia’s face turned pale.
If it were anyone else, maybe. But Leo’s “physical training” was closer to torture.
Recalling the hellish week at House Plov, Celia forced an awkward smile.
“I was thinking of practicing swordsmanship…”
“You’re not planning to back out, are you?”
Leo smiled brightly.
“How disappointed would Uncle Zeiss be if he heard you ran away from physical training because you were scared?”
“Hey! Is this payback for teasing you about going to magic class, you petty bastard?!”
Celia trembled as she looked at her cousin’s wicked grin.
“Come on, let’s train hard.”
“No way. Let me go.”
As Leo grabbed her by the scruff and dragged her toward the training grounds, Celia panicked and struggled.
“Hey! Leo!”
Carl came running, panting heavily.
“What’s going on? What about class?”
“Professor Len is looking for you.”
Celia’s face lit up.
“The professor’s asking for you, Leo. You'd better hurry.”
“Why’s he looking for me?”
“You got first place in the magic theory exam.”
“What?”
Leo and Celia both wore stunned expressions.
Carl, gasping for breath, hurriedly added,
“Class is a mess right now! The student who came first didn’t show up for the lesson, and the professor is furious!”
When Carl brought Leo back to the lecture hall, the atmosphere was icy.
The eyes of the students who had passed the exam fixed on Leo as he entered through the door.
Feeling their stares, Leo flinched inwardly.
‘What’s with the mood here?’
“Student Leo, why didn’t you attend the class after the exam?”
Anna, Professor Ren’s assistant, asked quietly. Leo replied with an awkward smile.
“I was at the café.”
“I said class would start right after the exam, didn’t I? Why go to the café…”
Clap—clap—clap—clap—
Suddenly, applause echoed.
Professor Len approached with a smile.
“Student Leo! I truly impressed by your genius. To ignore the easy problems, solve only the hardest one, and then leave class—hahaha! Well, I suppose to a genius, the test I gave may have felt trivial. I suppose it's only natural especially for a knight major like you!”
Though his face smiled, his eyes were anything but friendly.
Knights and mages had long been rivals.
Just look at the Lordren Empire, one of the strongest empires of mankind, where politics was divided between the knight faction, led by Zerdinger, and the mage faction, led by Lewellin.
Even at Lumene, there were extremists who considered their own field superior.
Thus, the fact that the incoming freshman representative who is known to be aiming for the Knight Studies had turned in a nearly blank paper, solving only the hardest problem, was more than enough to cause misunderstanding.
And Leo hadn’t even come back to class afterward.
Leo quickly spoke.
“Professor, I think there’s some misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?”
“I thought I’d failed the exam. I didn’t even know I came first.”
Professor Len narrowed his eyes and stared at Leo’s face.
Though he was among the younger professors at Lumene, he wasn’t naïve enough to be fooled by a freshman’s lies.
‘It doesn’t seem like he’s lying. But why didn’t he attempt the other problems?’
“I need to have a word with you, Student Leo. Assistant Anna, please take over the class.”
“Yes, Professor.”
Anna bowed and stepped up to the podium. Professor Len led Leo to the preparation room at the back.
“Why didn’t you solve the other problems?”
“Well…”
Leo hesitated.
“Was it because they were too easy and not worth your time?”
“No, it’s not that… it’s…”
Leo darted his eyes around and muttered to himself.
‘Damn it, this is embarrassing. Do I really have to admit that me, a former archmage, couldn’t solve problems kids in their teens are solving?’
But he couldn’t lie.
If he did, his school life might spiral into trouble.
Finally, Leo spoke in a shrinking voice.
“They were too hard, I couldn’t solve them.”
“What?”
He had solved the hardest problem, yet claimed the others were too hard? What nonsense was this?
“I self-studied magic formulas at home, but all I had were really old tomes. So I only studied old formulas. I didn’t realize modern formulas were this complicated. Like you said, I think I took the magic major too lightly, and I was embarrassed, so I didn’t come back to class.”
After saying that, he asked with a puzzled face,
“But how does that make me first place? I only managed to solve one problem.”
‘So, he couldn’t do the activation formula problems because he didn’t know the structure… gave up… and only solved the last problem?’
Hearing that, it made some sense.
If he’d only studied with old tomes, he might indeed not know activation formulas.
Activation formulas were relatively new compared to the deeper history of magic.
‘If he only studied formula interpretation, then it’s not impossible.’
Professor Len picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a formula on the board.
“Try solving this. If you can, I’ll believe you. And I’ll also explain why you came first.”
His anger had given way to curiosity.
Young mages lived by trends.
Activation formulas had spread so deeply among them, they weren’t just a trend anymore but the mainstream.
In that sense, Leo could be seen as outdated.
But he had a strength where modern mages lacked.
‘A solid foundation. Magic, at its essence, is the ability to interpret formulas.’
A tree with strong roots might grow slowly, but in the end, it grows tall.
Len suspected Leo was already building his own “magical world.”
Formula interpretation had only one correct answer—but many paths to reach it.
He was deeply curious to see how such a rare type of student would solve a formula, and what philosophy of magic his approach would reveal.
‘Let’s see what kind of interpretation he has.’
Ren’s eyes glimmered as he watched Leo at the blackboard.
Without a word, Leo studied the problem, then reached out.
Tack—tack—tack—
Each stroke of chalk sent shivers through Len.
When Leo finished, he turned his head.
Len had seen nothing of his solving process.
“You're done.”
Because Leo had solved the complicated formula entirely in his head.
‘Why’s they're not coming out?’
Associate Professor Anna glanced toward the prep room with a puzzled look.
She had expected a quick conclusion—whether a warning or an expulsion. But it was taking longer than expected.
Among Lumene’s magic professors, none was more passionate about magic than Len.
He wasn’t famous publicly, but within academia, he was hailed as a genius.
Anna had applied as his assistant after reading his papers and growing to admire him.
‘Though since becoming his assistant, that image has… cracked.’
For all his dignity, whenever magic was involved, he would act like a madman.
Bang!
Right on cue, the prep room door burst open.
Students flinched in surprise.
Seeing Ren’s face, Anna lifted her eyes to the ceiling in dismay.
‘There he goes again. Please, don’t embarrass yourself in front of the freshmen.’
Fortunately, Len didn’t linger, he stormed straight out of the lecture hall.
Leo slowly stepped out of the prep room.
“What did the professor say, Student Leo?”
“He told me to attend class.”
“Alright, please take your seat. We’ll continue the lesson.”
Anna picked up the chalk without a care.
Students’ faces turned strange.
A professor storming out mid-class, an assistant who wasn’t fazed at all—something about it felt off.
But unlike them, Leo was unbothered.
Of course, he didn’t know the exact reason behind Len’s behavior.
‘But mages acting like lunatics? That’s nothing new.’
No one understood the species called mage better than Leo.
Bang!
The office door in the Magic Department slammed open.
The professors inside looked up.
Seeing Len's face, they merely shrugged and returned to their work.
“Sunbae!”
Professor Albi slowly turned his head with an expressionless face.
“Thank you! Sunbae! You’ve given me a tremendous gift!”
As his junior rushed at him, Albi grabbed Len’s face and shoved it aside like tossing out trash, then left the office without hesitation.
He knew better than to get entangled with Len. It would only be exhausting.
Len, sprawled on the floor, sprang up and hurried after him.
“What’s with him today?”
“Leave it. It happens all the time.”
The other professors barely reacted.
“Sunbae! I’ll treat you soon, I swear!”
“Mind telling me why all this fuss?”
Albi asked as Len ran up, grinning broadly.
“The freshman you recommended as class representative, Leo Plov.”
“What about him?”
“Student Leo is a magic prodigy.”
“…? He’s with the Knight major.”
“No. Leo belongs in the Magic Department.”
Len spread his arms wide.
“A prodigy like him, wasting away with swordplay? No, no! That boy isn’t meant to just swing metal. Sending him to the Knight Department is an insult to magic itself, Sunbae.”
Len then eagerly recounted everything that had happened in class.
When he finished, even Albi’s face showed surprise.
“Sunbae! That student Leo, he’s self-taught formula interpretation at a 5th-year level! If that’s not genius, what is?”
“So, what do you want from me?”
Albi cut straight to the point.
Len smiled meaningfully.
“Please use your influence so that Leo will surely choose the Department of Magic.”
“Department choice is up to the student. And if he’s that talented, he’ll pick magic without me saying anything.”
“Well, true enough.”
Len nodded, convinced.
“With that kind of talent, if he doesn’t choose magic, then he must be a madman.”
“You’re not the one to talk.”
Time passed since the freshmen’s admission.
The final day of provisional classes had arrived.
After school.
Students sat in their classrooms.
From now on, they would choose their majors and begin formal lessons.
Though the students didn’t know it, homeroom teachers had already been assigned to each class.
During the provisional period, the assistants who had been supervising gave instructions.
“From now, we’ll begin major selection and course registration. As already explained, in the first semester of the first year, there are no elective general courses. Your schedule will be filled with required courses.”
From combat and hero studies, essential for heroes, to language, mathematics, history, etiquette, and ethics.
Each class had seven fixed subjects they would all take together. In between those, students would register for their majors.
Class 5 students quickly filled out their major application forms and timetables.
The assistant carefully checked each form as they were submitted.
But when they picked up the last one, they froze for a moment.
“Student Leo?”
“Yes, assistant?”
“You filled this wrong. You listed three majors.”
The assistant smiled kindly, returning the paper.
Leo handed it right back.
“No, I filled it correctly.”
“…What?”
“I’ll be taking all three majors.”
The gazes of his classmates locked on him.
Leo said it matter-of-factly.
“I’m an all-class, after all.”