Whoosh!

A different kind of heat erupted outward.

Flames carrying condensed destructive force, fundamentally different from ordinary fire.

Ordinary flames /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ were created through combustion — matter combining with air to produce heat. Blue flame, however, was magical fire in which the very concept and informational property of “burning” had been compressed and concentrated.

A flame capable of burning even fireproof equipment and materials that should not have been combustible in the first place.

By the time Lee Han passed the second and third stages, Professor Jorzik’s delight had reached its peak.

In his mind, he could already hear the voices at future gatherings insisting that the person who raised such a disciple deserved to become the next principal of Einroguard.

“Excellent!”

“Are there any flaws you’d like to point out?”

Lee Han asked while maintaining his concentration.

If there was anything imperfect, he intended to correct it immediately.

“If there were flaws, I would’ve pointed them out already. Perfect score, Student Wardanaz!”

Pop!

Lee Han released the blue flames he had been sustaining and let out a quiet breath of relief.

The constant practice had paid off. Just as expected, he had passed cleanly.

“Then I’ll take my leave now, Professor.”

“Oh? Ah, yes. Go ahead.”

“I’ll see you next time!”

After a quick farewell, Lee Han immediately rushed out of the lecture hall.

He had finished so quickly that the upperclassmen taking the exam after him had not even arrived yet.

Watching his disciple disappear, Professor Jorzik muttered to himself.

“I was going to ask why he was rushing through the final evaluations so quickly... but perhaps there’s no need.”

Come to think of it, asking a student like Wardanaz for a reason might itself be foolish.

Nobody asked a bird why it flapped its wings.

Just as mages naturally pursued knowledge, that boy too must have been racing forward toward greater heights.

Professor Jorzik watched his disciple’s retreating figure with eyes full of anticipation.

He was already eager to see what kind of accomplishments his disciple would show him this year.

***

Focused solely on clearing exams as quickly as possible, Lee Han completely failed to notice the ominous undertones in Professor Jorzik’s reaction.

Instead, he immediately threw himself into the next test.

“Professor. Here is the dimensional map.”

“Excellent. However...”

Professor Milei adjusted her monocle and frowned slightly.

The exam for <Ancient Artifacts and the Tragic History of Summoning Magic> required students to personally enter another dimension and complete a map of the area.

With Arsil Wardanaz’s assistance, Lee Han had naturally finished the map faster and more accurately than anyone else in any year.

But...

Frost Giant Artifact (check this)

Frost Giant Artifact (don’t skip this)

Frost Giant Artifact (seriously, absolutely don’t forget this)

Strange notes had been scribbled all across the map.

And not just once, either.

Repeated notes marked “Frost Giant Artifact” were scattered everywhere.

The handwriting looked like someone who absolutely did not want to go there but had forced themselves to write it down anyway.

Remembering how students had previously been excitedly talking about “artifacts guarded by Frost Giants” and “ways to steal them,” Professor Milei asked suspiciously,

“This... wouldn’t happen to be the artifact those students were discussing before, would it?”

“That’s correct.”

“I don’t recall assigning anyone to search for artifacts. The assignment was simply to complete the map.”

Professor Milei spoke in her usual dry tone.

For a moment, she wondered whether the Wardanaz student had misunderstood the exam entirely.

“Yes. These are just personal notes. I’ll need to investigate them eventually.”

“You marked down the locations of Frost Giant artifacts for future investigation?”

“Yes.”

“...”

Professor Milei slowly raised an eyebrow. Then her quill began moving rapidly across the paper.

“Is there some issue with the map?”

“The map itself is flawless.”

While writing her evaluation, Professor Milei recalled something Professor Thunderstep had said earlier.

Apparently Wardanaz had seemed slightly insane lately.

At the time she hadn’t understood what he meant, but now she finally did.

To calmly plan future thefts involving artifacts guarded by Frost Giants...

There were entirely different kinds of concerns that came with teaching students who were too talented.

Professor Milei was suddenly reminded of the worries she used to have while teaching Professor Garcia and briefly removed her monocle to massage the bridge of her nose.

‘No. This is even worse than Garcia.’

“Professor. Then I’ll be going now.”

“Do you still have exams remaining today?”

The sun was already setting, so she had assumed there would be no more exams scheduled for the evening.

That was why Lee Han’s answer caught her off guard.

“Senior Jarun of House Ironboot said I could submit early if I was confident.”

“...?”

Professor Milei understood a beat later.

Jarun of House Ironboot was a fourth-year apprentice under Professor Yonramo.

Which meant the exam Lee Han was talking about now was undoubtedly the transformation magic evaluation.

And as for “submit early if you’re confident”...

‘Surely that wasn’t meant literally?’

Professor Milei was about to point this out, but by then her disciple had already finished bowing and left the lecture hall.

The professor sighed softly and shook her head.

***

Despite moving through exams at a pace that could have become part of Einroguard legend, surprisingly few people actually noticed what Lee Han was doing.

Unless you were a professor, it was difficult to grasp the full situation.

Most upperclassmen simply reacted with thoughts like:

‘Wardanaz is running around busily again?’

‘Well, he studies every school of magic, so that’s normal.’

A handful of people like Diret, who frequently assisted professors and paid close attention to underclassmen, did sense something strange, but Lee Han was moving too fast for anyone to stop him and ask questions.

“Yukbeltire. Doesn’t something feel off?”

“Mm.”

“It’s exam week. Why is he running around like that? Did I misunderstand the schedule? There’s no reason for him to be heading that direction, right?”

“Mm.”

“...You are listening to me, correct?”

“Mm.”

“Can I hit you once?”

“Mm.”

Smack!

“?!”

Leaving behind a bewildered Princess Yukbeltire clutching the back of her head, Lee Han sprinted toward his next exam.

The professors were thinking:

‘Is Wardanaz finally pushing himself to his absolute limit?’

But in reality, Lee Han had his own reasons for hurrying.

Some tests could be cleared immediately.

Others could not.

And surprisingly enough, there were exams that even Lee Han found genuinely difficult.

Professor Rozine’s <Imperial Languages That Become Flesh and Blood> midterm was exactly that sort of test.

‘What in the world is this script?’

“All right! Your assignment is to decipher this by the end of the week!”

“That’s unreasonable, Professor!”

“■ ■■■■■?”

“...Pardon?”

“I said I can’t hear you! Now then, I’ll be cheering all of you on!”

The exam required deciphering a document written in the script of some obscure minor kingdom that likely would not even appear in history books.

Even Lee Han, the relentlessly hardworking top student of his year, could not solve something like that instantly.

It was the sort of task that demanded endless grinding — identifying characters one by one through sheer time and effort.

“Wardanaz. Let’s go to the library together— wait, where did Wardanaz go?”

“W-who knows?”

The students searching for Lee Han were bewildered by the sudden disappearance of the top student of their year.

Naturally, they had assumed he would already be buried in books at the library.

But Lee Han had left for a reason.

‘I’ve got it.’

A way to instantly bypass this miserable time-consuming exam had occurred to him.

He simply needed to ask someone who was likely familiar with ancient scripts.

-Wardanaz!

The giant crouched beside the mountain pass spotted Lee Han and immediately stood up.

“Good day.”

-Why here? Come see sheep?

“No. I came because I had a question related to an exam.”

Thinking about it logically, asking ancient beings about ancient languages was the most efficient solution.

The moment the idea struck him, Lee Han immediately contacted the insane duplicate through the Echo Stone.

-Master. I have something I want to ask.

-What magic?

-Can you read this document?

-...I can read it, but the contents are bizarre. It looks like the sort of sample text used on children’s examinations...

-That’s right. It’s my exam. But it seems difficult, so I thought I’d ask— Master? Master?

The insane duplicate mercilessly cut off communication through the Echo Stone.

But Lee Han did not give up.

After all, sincerity could melt even frozen hearts.

The giant seemed deeply impressed by Lee Han’s approach.

-Wardanaz smart! Asking knowledgeable people very wise!

“Haha. Thank you.”

-Go inside!

As the giant stepped aside, Lee Han entered the workshop once more.

The first person to greet him was the head attendant, Intarendals.

“Lee Han of House Wardanaz. Welcome. What brings you here today?”

“I came because I had something to ask Master.”

“!”

Intarendals’ face immediately brightened.

The disciple from House Wardanaz possessed exceptional talent, but unfortunately lacked sufficient passion.

That had been a constant concern for Intarendals’ master.

Yet now the disciple had personally come seeking guidance.

Surely the wisdom and character of a great master were finally influencing the disciple. Did not great masters naturally produce great disciples?

“Please, come in! What are you curious about?”

“An ancient script appeared on my exam, and I couldn’t understand it very well. I tried asking through the Echo Stone, but he refused to answer.”

“...”

Intarendals’ expression immediately turned displeased.

This was the sort of trivial question that even a low-ranking scribe could answer.

It was admirable that the disciple had come eagerly seeking knowledge, but the level of the question itself...

“...Surely you could solve this yourself? Lee Han of House Wardanaz should be fully capable of handling something this simple. Even the sentences look easy.”

“How can you say that? Questions don’t have ranks or levels. If someone gets discouraged from asking simple questions, then asking difficult ones becomes impossible later.”

“Even taking that into account, this still seems far too simple.”

Even Intarendals, who was normally quite tolerant, could not hide his disbelief because the question was simply too basic.

The content of the document made it even worse.

Once upon a time, there was a good student at a magic school. The good student cried because someone took away his wand. Then a good professor appeared and said...

“And Master Gonadaltes has stepped out briefly.”

“He didn’t leave because he didn’t want to answer my question, did he?”

“How could that possibly be?”

Even after such outrageously disrespectful suspicion, Intarendals answered calmly without showing anger.

Truly the perfect head attendant.

“Master Gonadaltes regularly inspects and maintains the magic surrounding this area. Since the magical formations are—”

-That damned brat came back.

A voice rang out that sounded like a hamster being forced to imitate human speech.

Lee Han turned.

Inside a cage, a hamster was glaring at him with murderous fury.

“No way. Did you actually learn human language while trapped in there?”

-If I still had my magic, I would’ve turned you into a hamster long ago.

“Wait. None of this is my fault.”

Lee Han protested, but the former magical criminal — now current hamster — clearly had no interest in listening.

After all, disciples inherited the sins of their masters too.

“I’ll give you grapes, so please calm down.”

-Why did you come here this time?

“I came because I had a question.”

-Is it magic? If it’s magic, I can teach you.

The hamster spoke in a sinister tone.

Naturally, he had absolutely no intention of teaching proper magic. His goal was obviously to pass on ruinous knowledge that would destroy promising mages.

“Oh. Really?”

-...?!

Lee Han’s reaction completely exceeded the hamster’s expectations.

“Then please translate this for me.”

-...Once upon a time at a magic school...

The hamster’s whiskers trembled violently.

-What kind of bullshit are you pulling this time, you damned brat?!