Chapter 34: The Knight Hates Magic Freaks (2)

After 120 minutes had passed, the dean finally finished his long speech. The other faculty members gave out their heartfelt applause, as they were finally able to leave the hall as this meeting had ended.

Before long, most of the faculty members dispersed, leaving the dean who had a satisfied look on his face. There were few who gathered together to form a group, though.

This was because they were from different departments, so it was difficult for them to meet in normal circumstances. That was why they used this opportunity to talk with each other.

Lee Han thought that he would be ostracized from this kind of gathering, but fortunately, the guy he made a connection with—Hans—was a kind guy; kind enough to introduce him to other useful guys even.

“My name is Dorothy. I’m a lecturer from the Fine Arts Department, my major is religious painting.”

“Call me Kam. I’m a lecturer in statistics. Also, I’m just a fallen noble, nothing more.”

“I’m Dan from the Architecture Department. A proud professor! Overly proud even! Hahaha!”

“My name is Alain de Wagner. I’m just another boring professor from the History Department. Please just call me Alain.”

They were all Hans’ acquaintances. Although they acted as if they were nothing special, Lee Han knew that they were all big shots.

He barely read the newspaper, but whenever his only friend in the Knight Order mentioned something about the newspaper, their names would almost always come up in his stories.

“It’s an honor to meet the rising star of the world of arts. I’d be honored to buy any of your works, even if it’s a scrapped painting, Dorothy.”

“Oh, my?”

Dorothy, the rising star with the most promising future among all the young female artists.

“I don’t think I can just treat someone who has refused countless royal calls as a mere fallen noble, Kam.”

“Oho.”

Kam, a young and capable scholar who even the royal family coveted.

“I’ve also long heard about the master who led the royal capital’s reconstruction project, Dan. And it would be crazy of me if I were to ignore the legendary archeologist who went out of his way to risk his life to excavate Britains’ relics, Professor Alain.”

“Haha, you’re making me embarrassed!”

“Unlike how you look, you are actually quite knowledgeable.”

Those two specifically, were big shots who were famous even before Lee Han was born.

They were all people that even most nobles would find hard to build connections with. After all, when one had attained such expertise and fame in their own field, one’s nature would turn aloof. Not to mention that their respective guilds would do their best to protect them from those nobles.

“Thank goodness. it seemed like it was worth it introducing them to you.”

Even Hans, the one who introduced all these people to Lee Han, was a big shot among the craftsmen.

Birds of a feather flock together, huh…

He once again realized that the old saying was actually true.

The group in front of him was literally a dream team that would make people shake their heads in awe.

“Everyone’s stature is too high for a mere soldier who only knows how to swing a sword to even talk with.”

“Haha, says who? Only lunatics would call a knight of the Silver Lions a mere soldier!”

“Agreed.”

“What was that about you buying my picture? No, I’m going to give you one. Take it as a token of my goodwill.”

And likewise, to them, a knight was a big shot. Especially Lee Han, a knight of the Silver Lion, who was basically a knight among knights. While they had heard rumors about him becoming an instructor because of a demotion, none of them looked down on him.

Besides, they had seen with their own eyes how he completely overwhelmed the vice-commander of the Paulet Family’s Knight Order, who was famous for their expertise in swordsmanship.

Aside from that, they themselves were kind and amiable people. None of them really cared for fame or power, as they were just trying to do their best in their respective fields—they just somehow became famous at one point. This was why they showed excessive goodwill to him when Hans, their acquaintance, introduced him to them.

Unless Lee Han was the one who hit them in the back of their head first, they wouldn’t look at him through tinted glasses.

…I owe this guy a lot, then.

The fact that they were honest and kind people was the thing that Lee Han liked more than the fact that they were big shots. This was why Lee Han felt that he owed a great debt to Hans, as he was the one who introduced him to them. After all, even though someone could buy things with money, money still couldn’t buy the friendship and goodwill of others.

I need to pay him back someday.

Even if he often acted like a fucker whose morals were worse than a gnoll, he still should treat good people kindly.

That was why he decided to go to a cafe together with them for a quick tea time after they were done introducing themselves to each other.

By the way, though they were called cafes, there was no cafe in the kingdom that sold iced coffee; only espresso or black tea filled with herbs.

Of course, he could just ask for one, but the last time he did that, everyone in the cafe would give him contemptuous looks, so he stopped doing it.

As he was lamenting about that…

“Excuse me for a moment.”

“Oh, Lord Odwal.”

“I will assume you gave me permission.”

“Ah…”

A bastard forcefully joined them, acting as if they had permitted him to do so, and ruined the atmosphere. Even at a glance, Lee Han could tell that this guy had a bad temper. It was also clear from his attitude that he wasn’t someone who’d listen to other people’s words.

The teachers didn’t hide their expressions when they looked at him, but he didn’t even notice the changes in their expressions.

That was how tactless this motherfucker was.

He then looked at Lee Han before he…

“Don’t do anything stupid to that pure genius, Irene Windler. This is not a request or advice, it’s a ‘warning’. Add even a little impurity to her talent… Who knows what I’ll do to you.”

Made such a polite ‘threat’. He didn’t even bother to hide his hostility towards Lee Han as if he found it insulting for him to talk to a knight.

And to him who was acting like that…

“Look here, you old magic freak.”

“!!?”

“Why don’t you say that to me again? How the hell am I supposed to understand what the hell you’re yapping about when you just came to me without explaining anything, huh? Don’t think you can just make a fuss because you’ve already come to conclusions on your own.”

To Lee Han, a mage who spat out such foul words while not bothering to hide his ‘contempt’ was no less than an enemy.

“Wait, explain it to me from a distance. I don’t want to see your dirty teeth. Seriously, when was the last time you brushed your teeth, huh?”

“!!!”

“What? Want a fight?”

He provoked the guy again, secretly wishing that he’d bite this bait.

C’mon, take out your staff…

If you do…

I’ll let you catch these hands. It must’ve been a while since the last time someone punched you in the face, right?

Man, wouldn’t it be nice if I get to beat up a mage just like this?

Just thinking about it already made Lee Han happy. Because of that, he let out a very bright smile at the mage.

…Of course, his opponent didn’t feel the same way as him.

Unfortunately for Lee Han, the mage just left without doing anything.

He had a feeling that the mage would bite if he provoked him a little more, but he decided that he should just bear with the disappointment for a bit and stop for the sake of his new acquaintances.

Currently…

“You shouldn’t look down on Lord Odwal so much…”

They were looking at him worriedly.

After they arrived at the cafe, they kept on throwing worried glances at him. They weren’t worried about their own safety, but instead, they were worried about him.

We met for the first time today and yet they’re treating me like this…

What an amazing group of people…

It wasn’t a waste for him to treat them to tea and dessert. He thought that this would be a good way for him to apologize for making them experience that awkward atmosphere.

As Lee Han continued to drink the hot chocolate he bought for himself to replenish his sugar intake, he told them a few things to calm them down.

“Don’t worry, I will take full responsibility. Whether we could solve it with a single fight or if our conflict ended up escalating even more, I’ll make it so that there will be no harm coming to you.”

“No, that’s not what we meant.”

“Yes, I know that everyone is worried about me, but really, you don’t need to. I’m quite strong myself, you see?”

“…That old man won’t just bend his back towards you just because you’re strong, you know?”

Both of them were actually talking about different kinds of strength, but there was no way that Hans was aware of it. That was why he could only let out a sigh after hearing Lee Han’s words.

“What will Sir Odwal plan to do next, I wonder…?”

Odwal Bernard. That was the name of the mage who had approached Lee Han a while ago as if picking a fight. He was also a teacher that all the other teachers were uncomfortable with.

Why so?

Because he was a [Mage].

Mage. Those who were chosen to wield magic power—which could also be said as those who had an innate talent for magic. They were beings who defied common sense by forming a ‘world of spells’ through magic power and manipulating the laws of nature itself.

This ability to defy common sense was the reason why people feared them. After all, no one could guess what kind of trouble they might get into if they were to get involved with them.

“Although, the instructor’s words back there were quite refreshing to hear.”

Scary things were scary, and that held true, that was why only a few people had positive feelings about mages in general. They were a bunch of people who could practically do whatever they wanted, after all.

“That old man is bad-tempered, to say the least.”

“While it’s inappropriate to gossip about others behind their backs, it’s hard to deny that.”

“Calling him bad-tempered doesn’t cut it, he is fiery-tempered if anything.”

Mages tended to ignore and despise those who couldn’t use magic and they always wanted to be treated as something special. They would even dismiss nobles and royalty, and even worse, they wouldn’t even think twice to insult the gods.

Although, if they were hated enough by everyone, those mages would just disappear without a trace.

While Odwal might not be the same kind of mage as those mentioned above, he still possessed the arrogant attitude unique to a mage.

For example, there was one famous incident about him…

“During the Entrance Ceremony six years ago, he caused an incident where he shot fireworks and ran wild. The cause? Because a regular cadet coughed during his introduction.”

“…Ah, so he’s my senior.”

“No, Sir Totle’s case is different. What he did was just unadulterated violence.”

Unlike Lee Han, Odwal caused such an incident without proper justification. He just did it because he didn’t like something.

Back then, not only did several cadets get injured, half of the auditorium was also burned down because of him.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he just straight-up committed a crime.

“I know it’s weird for me to say this, but why is that guy still in the Academy? Like, he should be locked up instead of leisurely teaching others.”

“…Um…”

After Lee Han threw that question, everyone went silent for a moment. They were all thinking the same thing, though.

“Huu… You see, mages are precious resources, they’re irreplaceable. While their personalities are bad, as long as they don’t end up killing anyone, everyone will do their best to cover their crimes.”

That explanation sounded convincing at a glance, but Lee Han could only shake his head.

“Sure, that’s the official reason, but what’s the real reason?”

“…Has someone ever told you that you’re smarter than you look?”

“Actually, I hear that often.”

“Hahaha!”

The knight’s honest remark sounded so refreshing to Hans.

Maybe it was because he wasn’t a knight of noble birth, but there were no thorns hidden in his words and they were all very direct.

It made Hans feel like he was dealing with a craftsman from the guild.

Guess it was a good decision to make a relationship with him.

Even though he has a rough side, he knows how to keep the line.

“…There are many nobles who support Sir Odwal. Also, among those who support him, there are many who pay a huge amount of yearly donations to the Academy. That’s why they can’t just throw him away.”

“What a funny old man.”

Isn’t he supposed to despise those who couldn’t use magic? Why is he still accepting their sponsorship?

The nobles who supported him were funnier though.

Seriously, is there something wrong with their heads?

“In any case, Sir Totle, please be careful. I’m aware that you’re strong, but that doesn’t change the fact that Sir Odwal is dangerous. He’ll probably try to threaten you in some ways…”

The advice that Hans gave Lee Han was sincere.

While Lee Han wanted to tell them not to worry about him, he wasn’t a tactless bastard who’d respond half-heartedly to those who gave him such sincere advice.

“Thank you for the advice. I’ll definitely keep that in mind, however…”

“?”

“You see, my friends, I have a hidden talent. Please keep it to yourself as there aren’t many people who know about this.”

“What are you…?”

“My hidden talent, it is…”

Lee Han genuinely felt that this talent of his was unmatched by anyone.

“The talent to make any lunatics behave themselves.”

“??”

“Hahaha, that’s all I can say.”

Do they know?

There’s a trick that could turn a madman into a proper human being.

That trick is none other than…

Making them stop breathing. They’ll definitely behave themselves.

Actually…

It will work even better if their heart is the thing that’s stopped.