Chapter 24
“Ahahahahaha!”
Laughter echoed from the café terrace at the Hall of Beginnings.
Celia, holding her stomach as she laughed, hiccuped and wiped tears from her eyes.
“So? You left magic class after solving just one problem?”
“Are you done laughing?”
Leo drank his fruit juice with a sullen expression.
“Didn’t I tell you? There’s no point in taking the magic major classes.”
Calming herself, Celia lifted her teacup.
“If you’re from the Gerdinger family, you should focus on swordsmanship.”
“I’m not from Gerdinger.”
“If someone learning Phoenix Breath isn’t from Gerdinger, then who is?”
Celia glanced at Leo in disbelief before sipping her tea.
“Anyway, you’re free until afternoon classes, right? Want to train with me?”
“How about some physical training instead?”
“…!”
Celia’s face went pale.
For anyone else, it might be fine, but Leo’s physical training was close to torture.
Thinking back to the hellish week at the Flove house, Celia forced a smile.
“I’ll go practice swordsmanship…”
“You’re not going to back out, are you?”
Leo grinned.
“How disappointed would Uncle Gis be if he heard you ran away because you were scared of physical training?”
“Hey! Is this payback for teasing you about going to magic class, you petty jerk!”
Celia shuddered as she watched her cousin’s wicked smile.
“Come on, let’s go train hard.”
“No. Let go.”
As Leo dragged her by the scruff of the neck toward the training grounds, Celia squirmed in horror.
“Hey! Leo!”
Carl came running over, out of breath.
“What’s up? What about class?”
“Professor Ren is looking for you.”
Celia’s face brightened.
“The professor is looking for you, Leo. You should go.”
“Why’s he looking for me?”
“You got first place in the magic theory test.”
“What?”
Leo and Celia both looked stunned.
Gasping for breath, Carl hurriedly continued.
“Class is in chaos right now! The kid who took first place didn’t show up, and the professor is furious!”
—
When Carl brought Leo back to the main lecture hall, the atmosphere was icy.
The students who’d passed the test stared at Leo as he entered the classroom.
Leo flinched at their gaze.
‘What’s with this mood?’
“Leo, where did you go after the test instead of coming to class?”
Ren’s assistant professor, Anna, asked quietly, and Leo answered with an awkward smile.
“I was at the café.”
“I said class would start right after the test. Why were you at the café…?”
Clap—clap—clap—clap—
Suddenly, there was a burst of applause.
Professor Ren approached with a smile.
“Leo! Your genius truly astounds me. You ignored all the easy problems, picked out only the hardest one to solve, and then left the class. Hahaha! Well, for a genius, my test might have seemed trivial. Especially for a knight major like you!”
Though he was smiling, his eyes were anything but warm.
Knights and magicians had been rivals for ages.
Even now, in one of the greatest human nations, the Rodren Empire, the Gerdinger and Rewallin families led the knight and magician factions in politics.
At Lumeln, there were even students who were extremists, believing their field was the best.
So, for the new class representative, known as a knight major, to enter the magic major class and turn in a blank test except for the hardest problem was bound to cause misunderstandings.
On top of that, Leo hadn’t returned after leaving.
Leo hurried to explain.
“Professor, I think there’s some misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?”
“I thought I’d failed the test. I had no idea I came in first.”
Professor Ren narrowed his eyes and stared at Leo.
Though one of the youngest professors at Lumeln, Ren was not someone a freshman could easily fool.
‘Doesn’t seem like a lie. But why didn’t he solve the other problems?’
“I need to speak with you privately, Leo. Assistant Professor Anna, please take over the class.”
“Yes, Professor.”
Professor Anna bowed and took her place at the lectern.
Professor Ren led Leo to the prep room at the back of the lecture hall.
“Why didn’t you solve the other problems?”
“Well…”
Leo hesitated.
“Did you think the problems were too easy to bother with?”
“No, it’s just…”
Leo looked around awkwardly and muttered to himself.
‘Ah, how embarrassing. I have to admit that I, who was practically an archmage in my previous life, couldn’t solve what teenagers did?’
But he couldn’t lie.
If he kept quiet, his school life could get complicated.
In the end, Leo replied in a small voice.
“They were too hard for me.”
“What?”
He’d solved the hardest problem, but left the others blank because they were too hard? What kind of nonsense was this?
“I studied magic formulas on my own at home, but all we have are really old magic books. So I only learned old formulas. I had no idea modern formulas were so complicated. Like you said, I took the magic major too lightly, and I was too embarrassed to come back to class.”
After finishing, Leo asked with a puzzled face,
“But how am I first? I only solved one problem.”
‘So, he couldn’t work with activation formulas because he didn’t know their structure… and gave up, but solved the last problem?’
Listening to the explanation, Ren began to understand.
If Leo had studied with only old magic books, it was possible he wouldn’t know about activation formulas.
They might be trendy now, but they weren’t part of older traditions.
‘If he’d only trained in formula interpretation, it’s not impossible.’
Professor Ren picked up a piece of chalk and wrote a magic formula on the prep room’s chalkboard.
“Solve this. If you do, I’ll believe your story. And I’ll tell you why you got first place.”
As his anger faded, Ren found himself intrigued.
The younger generation is sensitive to trends.
Activation formulas have already become so deeply rooted among young magicians that they’re not just a trend, but the mainstream.
In that sense, Leo could be considered outdated.
But he has a strength that modern magicians lack.
‘That’s a solid foundation. The essence of magic is ultimately the ability to interpret formulas.’
A tree with strong roots may grow slowly, but it will grow tall in the end.
Professor Ren guessed that Leo was already building his own “magical world.”
There’s only one correct answer for formula interpretation, but there are many ways to reach it.
He became deeply curious about what kind of thinking process this rare type of student would show.
By looking at their problem-solving, you can understand a magician’s philosophy.
‘Let’s see what approach he uses.’
Eyes shining, he watched Leo standing in front of the board.
Without a word, Leo studied the problem Professor Ren had given and reached out toward the board.
Tap—! Tap! Tap!
With each strike of the chalk, Professor Ren couldn’t help but shudder.
When Leo finished writing the answer, he turned around.
Professor Ren couldn’t see Leo’s reasoning.
“I’m done.”
Leo had solved the complicated formula mentally.
—
‘Why isn’t he coming out?’
Assistant Professor Anna glanced toward the prep room, looking puzzled.
She’d expected a warning or expulsion to happen quickly, but it was taking longer than she thought.
Among Lumeln’s magic professors, none were more passionate about magic than Professor Ren.
He wasn’t famous publicly, but in the magical academic world, he was praised as a genius.
Anna herself had applied as his assistant after reading his thesis.
‘But after becoming his assistant, the image was ruined.’
He was usually dignified, but when it came to magic, he acted bizarrely.
Bang—!
As if answering Anna’s worries, the prep room door slammed open.
The students jumped in surprise.
Seeing Professor Ren’s face, Anna looked up at the ceiling and sighed.
‘There he goes again. I just hope he doesn’t embarrass himself in front of the new students.’
Fortunately, Professor Ren left the classroom immediately.
Leo came out of the prep room at a calm pace.
“What did the professor say, Leo?”
“He told me to attend class.”
“Alright, take your seat. I’ll resume the lecture.”
Assistant Professor Anna picked up the chalk, unconcerned.
The students wore odd expressions.
A professor who suddenly storms out in the first class, and an assistant professor who isn’t fazed at all.
Something felt off.
Unlike the others, Leo just took it in stride.
Of course, Leo himself didn’t know why Professor Ren acted that way.
‘But it’s nothing new for magicians to act crazy.’
Leo understood magicians better than anyone.
—
Bang—!
The door to the faculty office in the magic building burst open.
The professors looked up from their work.
When they saw Professor Ren, they just went back to what they were doing.
“Senior!”
Professor Albi turned his head expressionlessly.
“Thank you! Senior! You’ve given me a tremendous gift!”
Professor Albi grabbed his junior’s face and pushed him aside like taking out the trash.
Then, without hesitation, he left the office.
Because getting involved with Ren was nothing but trouble.
Professor Ren, who’d collapsed on the floor, jumped up and followed Albi out.
“What’s wrong with him today?”
“Just leave it. It’s not the first time.”
The other professors just reacted indifferently.
“Senior! I’ll treat you next time.”
“I’d like to know why you’re making such a fuss.”
Facing his junior’s random gratitude, Professor Albi asked, and Professor Ren grinned.
“The student you recommended as class representative, Leo Flove.”
“What about him?”
“Leo is a magic genius.”
“…? That kid’s in the knight department.”
“No. Leo belongs in the magic department.”
Professor Ren spread his arms.
“A magic genius like that in the knight department? Oh, come on. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard. That kid shouldn’t be swinging a hunk of metal. Sending a student like that to the knight department is an insult to magic, senior.”
Professor Ren then passionately recounted everything that had happened in the first class.
After hearing it all, Professor Albi looked genuinely surprised.
“Senior! Leo self-studied to a fifth-year’s level in formula interpretation! If that’s not a genius, what is?”
“What do you want from me?”
Professor Albi asked bluntly, and Professor Ren smiled meaningfully.
“Please do something so that Leo will definitely choose the magic department.”
“Choosing a major is the student’s right. And a student with that much talent will choose magic without us saying anything.”
“I suppose so.”
Professor Ren nodded in agreement.
“If he has that much talent and still doesn’t choose magic, then he’s just a weirdo.”
“I don’t think you have room to talk.”
—
Time passed quickly after the freshmen enrolled.
Before long, the last day of the temporary classes arrived.
After school.
The students were sitting in their classrooms.
Now, the students would choose their majors and start attending official classes.
What they didn’t know was that homeroom teachers had already been assigned to each class.
During the temporary class period, the TA in charge began to explain.
“Now, we’ll start the major and class registration process. As explained, there are no elective liberal arts classes in the first semester of first year. All your timetables are filled with required courses.”
From combat and heroics classes needed to be a hero, to language, math, history, etiquette, and ethics.
There were seven subjects the class would take together, with a set timetable.
They had to register for their majors during the breaks.
Class 5 students quickly filled out the major application forms and schedules.
The TA checked each student’s paperwork carefully at the podium.
And then, after receiving the last form, the TA paused.
“Leo?”
“Yes, TA.”
“You filled this out wrong. You wrote three majors.”
The TA smiled kindly and handed the form back.
Leo handed it right back.
“No, I filled it out correctly.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m taking all three majors.”
For a moment, all his classmates stared at Leo.
Leo spoke calmly.
“I’m an all-class major.”
