【24】23
“Hahaha!”
Laughter echoed through the café terrace at the Gate of Beginnings.
Celia, holding her stomach and laughing, began to hiccup before wiping away the tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
“So? Did you come out of Magic Class after only solving one problem?”
“Are you done laughing?”
Leo, with a dumbfounded look on his face, sipped his fruit juice.
“Didn’t I tell you? I said that attending Magic Major classes would be useless.”
Celia, calming down, raised her teacup and said,
“If you’re from Zerdinger, you should focus on swordsmanship.”
“But I’m not from Zerdinger.”
“If the person practicing Phoenix Breath isn’t from Zerdinger, then what are you?”
Celia took a sip of tea, shaking her head in disbelief at Leo.
“Anyway, are you free until the afternoon classes? How about some training with me?”
“Well, I could do some physical conditioning.”
“…!”
Celia’s face went pale.
It wasn’t like physical conditioning was torture for anyone else, but when it was with Leo, it bordered on cruel punishment.
Celia forced an awkward smile, recalling the hellish week at the Flob household.
“I’ll practice sword technique…”
“Surely you’re not backing out, are you?”
Leo smirked.
“Uncle Giese would be so disappointed if he heard you ran away because you were scared of physical conditioning, wouldn’t he?”
“Hey! Are you really going to take revenge like this for teasing me about coming to magic class, you despicable guy!”
Celia shivered at the sight of her cousin’s cunning smile.
“Alright, let’s train hard then.”
“No! Let go of me.”
As Leo grabbed her by the nape and started dragging her towards the training grounds, Celia panicked and struggled.
“Hey! Leo!”
Kal came running breathlessly.
“What’s up? What about class?”
“Professor Ren is looking for you.”
Celia’s face lit up at this.
“Professor’s looking for you, Leo. Go check it out quickly.”
“Why would the professor be looking for me?”
“You got first place in the Magic Theory exam.”
“Huh?”
Leo and Celia exchanged surprised glances.
Heck heck – Kal, breathing heavily, hurriedly added,
“The class is in an uproar right now! The professor is extremely upset that the top scorer didn’t even attend the class!”
When Kal brought Leo back to the lecture hall, the atmosphere in the classroom was icy.
The students’ gazes, who had passed the exam, fell upon Leo as he entered the door.
For a moment, Leo wore a flustered expression.
‘What’s with the atmosphere?’
“Student Leo, where exactly did you go instead of attending the class?”
As Associate Professor Anna asked quietly, Leo answered nervously with a smile,
“I was at the café.”
“Didn’t we say that class would start right after the exam? Why were you at the café….”
Clap-clap-clap-clap
Suddenly, clapping echoed from somewhere.
Professor Ren approached with a smile.
“Student Leo! I’m truly amazed by your genius. Ignoring the easy questions and picking out only the hardest to solve before leaving – hahaha! Perhaps to a genius, the exam I set felt too easy. And since you’re specializing in knighthood, it’s even more understandable!”
Though his face smiled, his eyes were dangerous.
Knights and wizards had been rivals for a long time.
Even among the human nations, one of the superpowers, the Rodren Empire, was divided into knight factions led by Zerdinger and magic factions by LeWalyn, engaging in politics.
There were even extremists among Lumeran students who believed their own fields to be the highest.
Therefore, it was enough to spark misunderstanding when the freshman representative, known for aspiring to the Department of Knights, entered a magic major class and submitted a blank except for the hardest problem.
And Leo didn’t even return to the class after leaving.
Leo quickly explained,
“Professor, it seems there’s some misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?”
“I thought I had failed the exam. I didn’t even know I was first.”
At this statement, Professor Ren furrowed his brows and stared at Leo intently.
For all his youth among Lumeran professors, Ren was not a man easy to fool, especially not by a newly admitted freshman.
‘It doesn’t seem like he’s lying. But why didn’t he solve the other questions?’
“Student Leo, I need to have a brief discussion with you. Professor Anna, could you take over the class for me?”
“Understood, professor.”
As Annah bowed her head and took her place on the podium, Ren led Leo to the preparation room at the back of the classroom.
“Why didn’t you attempt the other exam questions?”
“Well…”
Leo hesitated.
“Did you think they were too easy to solve and thus worthless?”
“But no… it’s just….”
While glancing around nervously, Leo muttered to himself,
‘Ah, this is embarrassing. Do I have to confess that I couldn’t solve problems that teenagers can solve because I was a grand wizard in my previous life?’
But lying wasn’t possible.
If he didn’t clarify this, his school life could get complicated.
Eventually, Leo answered in a timid voice,
“I found the other questions too hard to solve.”
“What?”
Solving the hardest problem and saying the others were too difficult to solve? This was absurd nonsense.
“I studied magical incantations alone at home, but the only books available were extremely old magic books. So, I ended up only studying ancient formulas. I didn’t realize that modern magical incantations had become so complex. It seems I took the magic major course too lightly, which made me feel too embarrassed to attend class.”
After saying this, Leo asked doubtfully,
“But how did I end up in first place? I only solved one question.”
‘So, because you didn’t know the structure of the activation formula, you couldn’t do the cumulative problems and eventually only solved the last problem?’
Upon hearing his explanation, Professor Ren understood to some extent.
Indeed, if Leo had self-studied only using old magic books, it was possible he wouldn’t know activation formulas.
Though activation formulas were part of the latest trend, they were not deeply rooted in history.
‘I guess it’s plausible if he had only studied the interpretation of formulas.’
Ren picked up the chalk and wrote a mathematical incantation on the blackboard in the prep room.
“Try solving this. Then I’ll believe your story. And I’ll also explain why you got first place, Student Leo.”
As anger subsided, interest piqued.
Younger generations are sensitive to trends.
The activation formula had so deeply ingrained itself into young magicians that saying it became a mainstream trend would not be an exaggeration.
In that sense, Leo could perhaps be considered outdated.
But, there was an advantage among today’s generation of wizards that Leo possessed.
‘And that’s a solid foundation. After all, the foundation of magic is essentially the ability to interpret formulas.’
A tree with strong roots grows large, even if its growth seems slow.
Professor Ren expected that Leo had already begun constructing his “own magical world.”
While interpreting formulas might have only one correct answer, there were multiple ways to reach it.
Ren was highly curious to see how this student, rare in modern times, reasoned through formula interpretations.
Through the process of solving the formulas, one could also glimpse the wizard’s philosophy of magic.
‘So let’s see what kind of interpretation style he has.’
With shining eyes, Ren observed the back of Leo who stood in front of the blackboard.
Silently, Leo stretched his hand towards the board while looking at the problem Professor Ren had set.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Each time the chalk sound resonated, Professor Ren couldn’t help but shiver.
After Leo wrote the answers down completely, he turned his head.
Professor Ren couldn’t see Leo’s answer method in time.
“Did you finish?”
Because Leo had solved the complicated magical formula through mental calculation.
‘Doesn’t this guy come out?’
Associate Professor Anna looked curiously toward the lecture preparation room.
Warning or expulsion.
She had anticipated a quick decision, but this was taking longer than expected.
Among Lumeran magic professors, Professor Ren was the most passionate about magic.
Though not particularly famous externally, he was celebrated by the magic community as a genius.
Anna herself respected his magic papers and volunteered to become an associate professor under him.
‘Albeit, my image was somewhat ruined after becoming his assistant.’
Normally a composed gentleman, he engaged in all sorts of eccentric behaviors whenever magic was involved.
Bang-!
As if to validate Anna’s concerns, the lecture room door was sharply opened.
The students gasped in shock.
Confirming Professor Ren’s face, Associate Professor Anna sighed as she looked up at the ceiling.
‘The seizure has struck again. He really should not display such improper behavior in front of the freshmen.’
Fortunately, Professor Ren quickly exited the classroom.
Leo slowly stepped out of the preparation room.
“What did the professor say, Student Leo?”
“He told me to attend class.”
“Yes, please take your seat. Let’s continue the class.”
Without paying any attention, Anna picked up her chalk.
The students’ faces grew strange.
The professor abruptly leaving the first class, and the indifference of the assistant professor, something was definitely off.
Unlike the puzzled students, Leo reacted impassively.
True, Leo didn’t understand why Professor Ren acted that way.
‘But isn’t it common for wizards to do crazy things?’
No one knew better than Leo the peculiarities of wizards.
Bang-!
The office’s of the magic department was harshly opened.
The professors busy with their paperwork looked up.
Recognizing Professor Ren’s face, they went back to their work with an “oh well” expression.
“Senior!”
Professor Alby turned his emotionless face.
“Thank you, Senior! You’ve given me an amazing gift!”
Alby grabbed the face of the rushing junior firmly and threw him off as if discarding trash.
Then, with no regrets, exited the office.
Because he understood that entanglement with Professor Ren would only cause fatigue.
The fallen Professor Ren got up immediately and followed Professor Alby out.
“Why is he like that today?”
“Let him be, it’s not the first time.”
The colleague professors responded nonchalantly.
“Senior! I’ll treat you to a meal soon.”
“I’d like to know the reason for this sudden gratitude.”
As Professor Alby asked, Professor Ren smirked.
“Senior who recommended the freshman representative, Leo Flove.”
“What about him?”
“Student Leo is a magical genius.”
“…? But that guy was for the Department of Knights, right?”
“No. Student Leo belongs in the Department of Magic.”
Professor Ren extended both arms broadly.
“A magical genius in the Department of Knights? Oh. Oh. There’s no joke like that. That kid is not a vessel meant to swing steel around. Sending such students for knighthood is a sacrilege to magic, Senior.”
Then Professor Ren went into a detailed explanation of what happened during the first class, spitting saliva as he spoke.
After hearing the whole story, Professor Alby too exhibited a look of awe.
“Senior! That Leo student has developed the formula interpretation skill of a fifth-year student through self-study! If that’s not genius, then what is?”
“What exactly do you want from me?”
The direct question by Ren smiled meaningfully.
“Senior, please use your influence to ensure that Leo definitely chooses the Department of Magic.”
“The choice of major is a student’s freedom. And if someone with such talent does not automatically opt for magic, I believe they’ll do it without my advice.”
“True, indeed.”
Professor Ren seemed convinced.
“Anyone with that much talent choosing against magic would be a quirk, right?”
“That’s not something you should say.”
Time passed since the freshmen entered.
It was soon the last day of the temporary classes.
After school.
The students were seated in their respective classrooms.
Now, the students would select their majors and proceed earnestly with their classes.
The students did not know but the homerooms were already assigned.
The assistant professor, in charge of student supervision during the temporary class period, began his explanation.
“Starting now, we’ll commence selecting majors and registering for courses. As explained before, in the first semester, we’ll fill the curriculum with mandatory subjects only, and there will be no optional liberal arts courses.”
From battle to heroism needed to become a hero to languages, math, history, etiquette, and morality, the courses listened by all classmates totaled seven, with the schedule already set.
In between these, one must apply for the major courses.
The students of Class 5 quickly filled out the major application forms and the course registration schedules.
The assistant professor, standing behind the podium, diligently checked the documents the students handed in.
And upon taking the last document, she paused briefly.
“Student Leo?”
“Yes, Assistant Professor.”
“You’ve written the major wrong. You’ve filled in three majors.”
She smiled kindly and handed back the document.
“No, I’ve correctly applied.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll attend all three majors.”
Instantly, the classmates’ gazes centered on Leo.
Leo nonchalantly responded,
“I’m an all-class attendee.”
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