Chapter 36: The Knight Hates Magic Freaks (4)

This wasn’t a new revelation, but Lee Han hated mages.

Why?

Well, back when he was young, he was turned into a mage’s ‘experimental subject’ and had to endure that hell for a whopping ‘ten years’, so it wasn’t strange that he came to hate them.

Ten years. Ten whole years. Converted to days, it would be 3650 days.

He would’ve never forgotten the pain he received back then no matter how much time had passed.

Children that were discarded due to failed experiments every day. The experiments that became more and more intense as time passed. On top of that, the wounds, scars, and pain that result from it.

No one would know the pain of having their blood drained, their flesh cut apart, and their body burned, unless they experienced it themselves.

That’s why Lee Han couldn’t forget it.

If he were to tell a priest who worship the Light of Brilliance about this, they probably would say something like:

This is but a trial from God. You are who you are today because you’ve succeeded in overcoming that trial. Throw away your memories of that time.

Then Lee Han’s answer to that would probably something along this line:

What a load of bullshit.

If those guys were to say that after experiencing the same thing themselves, he’d probably acknowledge their words, but where would he find a crazy person who was still alive after being tortured for ten years?

So, even if someone told him that his hatred was meaningless, he would still look at the mages with tinted glasses.

Of course he knew that he shouldn’t generalize mages. After all, not all mages conduct human experiments.

But…

All the magic freaks I’ve encountered so far are just psychos!

It had been three years since he became a knight. Among the countless suspicious cases he investigated so far, he’d always find a mage being involved in it.

The moment he witnessed with his own eyes that other ‘people’ were also experiencing the same thing he had experienced as a child, or even worse at times, he became even more convinced.

Good magic freaks? Of course they exist.

Dead magic freaks are good magic freaks.

And he felt the same way for Irene Windler.

Despite him knowing deep down that she was a good, normal girl, the fact that she was a mage alone made him repulsive against her.

One could even say that his aversion toward mages in general was like an obsession. An obsession that made him hate any mages he met.

And now…

He succeeded in confirming that this obsession was not wrong at all.

Case on point, the guy in front of him.

“How dare you make a fool of me, you sword freak?! How dare you look down on my orders, you lowly wretch—!”

What kind of bullshit is this fucker on about?

To this, Lee Han…

“So you came here to be killed by this lowly wretch, huh, you old magic freak?”

“!!!”

Willingly decided to become a lowly wretch.

Silence descended upon the training hall of the Swordsmanship Department. It wasn’t just a simple silence though; it was calm before the storm, the kind of dizzying silence that appeared when a powder keg nearby could just explode at any moment.

At that moment…

“Hmm.”

After rummaging around, Lee Han took out his hatchet.

“Alright, first, let’s have some talk.”

“…What kind of talk do you intend on having with a weapon on hand?”

“Let me be clear to you, I have no intention of tolerating your bullshit when you’re clearly interrupting my precious class time. Besides, I know for sure that every single word that comes out of you magic freaks’ mouths is bullshit, yet here I am, giving you a chance to listen to what you have to say. But, if you waste my time and spout out any more bullshit, I’m going to bury this hatchet inside your body.”

“…You lowly sword freak.”

“Let’s see what will happen to you when this sword freak hits you with this axe.”

“…!”

Lee Han playfully shook his axe, not bothering to pay any attention to whether the old man was upset at him or not. As if he would accept any kind of trouble the man could bring to him.

However, he wasn’t joking. If anything, Lee Han’s mood was the worst right now. Because even though yesterday, he had warned him in a polite and respectful manner, he still invaded his ‘territory’ anyway.

Moreover…

Why else would he come with such a large group if it isn’t to pick up a fight with me?

Behind him was a group of mages, coming in like a gang.

There were about seventeen of them; proof that he came here to show off their power.

For Lee Han, who already had an extreme aversion to mages, this situation was extremely unpleasant. This was why he felt a sense of duty to slap the old mage with the harsh reality and raise his spirit.

“…You ignorant sword freak.”

However, the audacious old mage, Odwal Bernard, suppressed his own spirit in response.

Though his eyes still looked fierce, both he and his disciples didn’t take out their staffs; an action akin to a knight not drawing their sword.

I guess he’s aware that fighting a knight at such a close range is a suicidal move.

But still, it’s surprising. A magic freak who’s able to keep his calm? Well, I guess that’s probably why he could work as a professor here, huh?

Still, this didn’t mean Lee Han could just let his guard down. After all, mages were like an active volcano that could erupt at any moment. Some of them even had dual personalities—which made them prone to resort to violence depending on their mood.

Sure enough…

“You don’t know…”

“…About what?”

“You don’t know just how delicate a mage is…!!”

The old mage, who had been calm until just now, suddenly shouted at him, as if having a mood swing.

“You lowly sword freak! What kind of trick did you use to fool that genius to make her neglect her magic training! You’re the worst villain in the world! You—!”

“Get that finger out of my sight before I cut it off.”

“You’re definitely the cause of it! You definitely said something weird to her! That’s why she became such a…delinquent—!”

“I’ve warned you.”

Whatever those two were doing, it definitely wasn’t a conversation. At best, they only hurled what they wanted to say with each other.

One thing was clear, though. Neither of them had any intention of backing down, and neither of them even had any intention of having a proper conversation.

After all, the old mage was someone who despised knights—no, all those who couldn’t use magic, while the knight was someone who had a deep-rooted hate against mages. There was just no way a normal conversation could happen between the two.

In the end, all that was left for them was a fight.

But, in that kind of tense situation…

“I-Instructor, please calm down!”

“You can’t just fight him here!”

The cadets of the Swordsmanship Department gathered to stop Lee Han. Even though they only had met him for a short period of time, they had already figured out his personality to some extent, so they knew that if Lee Han said he would do it, he would really do it.

Meanwhile, the group of mages…

“Professor! You said that you’re going to resolve this through proper conversation, didn’t you?”

“Please, Professor, you can’t do this here!”

“Please, at least for the sake of our faces!”

Apparently, the seventeen cadets of the Magic Department didn’t come here to demonstrate their power, but to prevent Odwal from causing trouble. Just like the cadets of the Swordsmanship Department, they also knew of their professor’s temperament very well, so they did the exact same thing as the other group did.

Ironically, the knight and the mage who were caught by their cadets had no choice but to calm down.

And then…

“First, I think it would be best for you two to calm down.”

A man walked out from the crowd, and acted as the mediator.

“Y-Young Master Roen…”

When Lionel’s powerful successor—who possessed both noble bloodline and aura, exuding mysterious air around him—spoke out like that, even the fierce Odwal couldn’t help but stammer his words.

It seemed like he had not expected the young master to step forward.

After he felt that he managed to control the situation to some extent, Roen then…

“Both of you are too drowned in your own emotions, that’s why you are both just saying what you want to say rather than trying to deescalate the situation.”

His deep and dark gaze, which looked like a black pearl, was directed at Irene.

Flinch-!

Though he could clearly see Irene’s body stiffened, he kept on maintaining his cold gaze as if it was none of his business.

[Arin, did you do something wrong to that handsome guy?]

I-I don’t think so…?

She briefly felt a sense of unease in his cold gaze, but unfortunately, she didn’t have the time to recognize the source of that unease since Roen already continued his words.

“Professor Odwal Bernard. Calm down and talk. Explain clearly why you trespassed into another department with your forces, and explain what it is that you want to say about Irene Windler.”

His tone was calm and polite, but it was filled with arrogance that rejected any kind of refusal.

On the contrary, he was radiating a different kind of charisma.

The dignity of the so-called overlord.

It was the dignity of the northern ruler, Lionel.

“Hmm….”

In front of such dignity, even Odwal could not act recklessly.

Even though he looked down on all humans except mages, he was not a man who would treat someone with that kind of dignity recklessly.

When Odwal straightened his collar and tried to calm himself down…

“You are a disappointment, old freak. I thought you would attack like a man, but you’re willing to just explain shit with your mouth and leave?”

“This bastard—!!”

No one knew when his desire to pick up a fight was refueled, but Lee Han taunted the old freak again without hesitation.

Because of that, Odwal went wild again, and the cadets of the Magic Department were forced to stop their professor’s tantrum while sending Lee Han a glare.

“…Instructor.”

“What? Look, it’s better to solve this kind of thing with your fists than words. Don’t worry, there’s no way I’m gonna lose.”

“…”

As soon as the situation calmed down to some extent, a cadet from the Magic Department came out as a representative and told the cadets from the Swordsmanship Department the story behind Odwal’s anger.

It was quite a long story, and the circumstances were a little complicated, but…

“To summarize, he came to question our instructor on why he limited Irene’s usage of ‘telekinesis’?”

Hearing Arno said so, the magic cadet felt a little reluctant to agree to him because he summarized his story a little too much, but in the end, he just nodded his head, trying not to show any discontent in his face.

“T-That’s right. I-I guess that’s what it would be like if I were to summarize it roughly.”

So, what happened here was, Lee Han told Irene to do some exercise for the sake of her health—or rather, for the sake of her ‘survival’. As he did that, he also restricted her from using telekinesis—the magic that she could use as naturally as breathing. Of course, he didn’t tell her to stop using it altogether, he just told her to reduce its usage as much as possible during her daily life.

He did this out of consideration for her so that her stamina would last a little longer and he became healthier, but…

The problem here was that the mage supremacist, Odwal, deemed this as an extremely unpleasant thing.

“Professor Odwal often says, ‘Telekinesis is the basis and essence of all magic, and it is the [instinctive power] of a mage’. As he says, restricting telekinesis also means restricting a mage’s ability to increase their strength. To give an example, it would be like telling knights not to do strength training.”

“Is that last part also the teaching of the old man?”

“…That’s just my personal opinion.”

“As expected.”

“Haha…”

There’s no way that’s the teaching of that old man.

However, just as everyone had something in common, Lee Han acknowledged that there were statements that he had to acknowledge even if he didn’t want to admit them.

Telekinesis is the most basic ability of a mage. It was like their muscle strength or stamina.

Just as exercise needed to be done consistently to be effective, magic power also needed to be trained by constantly using telekinesis. However, Lee Han restricted Irene from using her telekinesis, of course it didn’t sit well with the old mage.

From a mage’s perspective, what Irene was doing was something that completely went against their teaching, and Lee Han was the one who forced her to do it.

Even though he was the kind of guy who caused a whole accident just because a cadet coughed during his introduction at the Entrance Ceremony, this was the first time he caused real trouble since then. Which meant, at the very least, he had a semblance of good character and set of values.

“…Tsk, you should have said that from the start.”

His argument was reasonable. Had he said something like that from the start, Lee Han wouldn’t have been so confrontational against him.

Of course, Lee Han didn’t feel sorry at all.

What’s the point of feeling sorry for a magic freak?

Lee Han snorted.

“I-I’m sorry, instructor. It’s because of me that this happened…”

“It’s not your fault, Chick Number 2.”

“B-But.”

“Let me ask you this. Have you ever neglected your magic training after taking my class?”

“Never! I have never!”

He could feel her sincerity in her voice, as she said that.

[That’s right, I nagged her all the time, so she never had a chance of skipping training!]

Indeed, because of the ghost girl’s nagging, Irene had never missed her magic training. Of course, it was also because of her nagging that she was able to limit her telekinesis usage in her daily life.

“I still use it except when I am working out. Like when I don’t want to get out of bed, or to get a glass of water, or when I was doing my hair.”

“…Hearing all that, I feel envious now…”

“Hehehe.”

She had both diligence and laziness(?) to keep working hard to kill two birds with one stone.

While listening to her explanation…

“You hear that? There should be no problem with this arrangement, so why the hell are you making such a fuss, huh, Old Man?”

Lee Han said so while nodding to the old mage as if to say, ‘That settles it, no?’.

Because of that, Odwal trembled and retorted.

“You punk, that’s not the problem! Magic should be pure! Her genius shouldn’t be mixed with any impurities!”

“…How the hell is her effort to try and become healthy be considered as impurity?”

“Tell me, why is it necessary for a mage to be healthy in the first place, huh?! As long as we have telekinesis, or rather, ‘magic power,’ ‘we’ can live healthily! It’s more efficient for us to train magic power than to accumulate useless impurities through exercise and physical strength—!!”

“…This crazy bastard.”

His reasoning was a little extreme, it was something that everyone who heard it could never agree on.

It was no different from saying that a human won’t have any health problems even though they didn’t eat normal meals as long as they just eat nutritional supplements.

Only a lunatic would come out with that kind of reasoning.

“Old Man, let me tell you this, your reasoning is…”

“You! Old man this, old man that! Don’t call me that! I’m still twenty-eight!!!”

“…Huh?”

…I didn’t hear that wrong, did I?

Lee Han blinked for a moment before glancing at the cadets around him.

He thought he had heard something strange, that was why he scoured through his surroundings with a questioning look, wondering if the other guys had heard it too.

However, they also…

“…Twenty-eight? Kunta is still not familiar with the common languages. Kunta heard something strange. That old man looks older than Kunta’s grandma, the great priestess.”

“You didn’t mishear, Kunta. You heard him correctly.”

“Then why…”

When he realized that he didn’t hear it wrong, Kunta’s words trailed off. Meanwhile, Lee Han looked at the old man—or rather, the old looking mage, in shock.

…He’s two years younger than me?

Could it be…

“You… You didn’t sell your lifespan to the devil, did you…?”

“You bastard…!”

That was when Odwal finally lost it and grabbed Lee Han by the collar.

Crack-!

“Kuaaaaak!”

However, he was quickly suppressed by Lee Han.

Meanwhile, while looking at the appearance of the old mage… No, the young mage, Irene Windler…

[Arin. We have to workout diligently and stick to the diet the instructor gave us!]

…Mm, I was going to do that anyway.

Made up her mind to live a more diligent life.

Indeed, a living example was a good driving force behind one’s reason for self-improvement.