Ch.206206. Seorabeol Mages Association (3)

The Seorabeol Mage Society members considered themselves mere mortals compared to their master Bahamut, but in truth, they were an eccentric group of scholars who had embraced the entirely new discipline of magic without hesitation, despite its radical departure from conventional academic systems.

To be fair, they were only being compared to extraordinary benchmarks like the Dragon Priestess and Bahamut himself. Considering their achievements, they had grown at a remarkable pace in just one year since the apocalypse, functioning effectively as South Korea’s only mage society.

When these scholars heard about the project being conducted in the Dragon God’s name, they immediately assumed it was all part of Master Bahamut’s grand design and began working with unbridled enthusiasm.

“The Dragon God predicted this! Projects that were previously difficult are being resolved instantly! Everything is starting to normalize!”

When this elite group of brilliant but eccentric scholars set their minds to it, numerous projects that had previously been stalled began to progress smoothly, with improvements in work efficiency and rapid completion of necessary calculations.

Normally, they remained secluded in their research institute, obsessively studying Bahamut’s magic like reclusive eccentrics. The Seorabeol cabinet had never found a way to coax them outside to make use of their talents.

Whenever the cabinet requested their cooperation, the head of the school would declare that researching the magic passed down by Master Bahamut took priority over cooperation! They were a group that simply received Seorabeol’s support while living obsessed with their research.

Now that they had finally emerged from their laboratories and started proving their worth, Seol-hwa began praising Bahamut’s foresight, wondering if he had anticipated this situation all along.

‘I don’t know about that. It’s scary. Those research nerds finally came outside? Is the sun rising from the west?’

As readers know, Bahamut had no such deep calculations and hadn’t anticipated this situation at all.

The sudden hyperactivity of the Seorabeol Mage Society was something Bahamut himself never expected, making him want to ask Seol-hwa what on earth was happening.

As far as Bahamut knew, they were magic-obsessed researchers who would never leave their laboratories in their lifetime as they studied his magic.

He had only intended to dispatch some personnel to help with Seol-hwa’s project, not trigger this kind of frenzy!

“Purification! Purification! Purification! Purification!”

“We’ve already prepared mana recovery potions! It’s impossible in the short term because it’s been polluted for so long? Then we’ll establish a long-term project!”

“A project to restore the polluted downstream areas with our purification magic… This will surely lead to numerous papers and experiments! It’s an absolute must-attend festival for purification mages!”

“Let’s follow Master Bahamut’s deep strategy! If he personally requested the Dragon Priestess, this project must have significant meaning for us!”

Contrary to Bahamut’s expectations, they voluntarily participated in the pollution purification project, with some schools even spending their entire budget on this project.

Some crazed researchers were literally dancing with joy, calling it a festival, while other schools were trying to organize it as a long-term project, claiming it was a golden opportunity to advance their purification magic skills.

They insisted all of this was part of Bahamut’s grand strategy, declaring that following this project was nothing short of destiny for the Mage Society.

‘I never thought that at all! What? What? Everyone’s overreacting! I was just thinking of outsourcing to change to a different job.’

Somehow, everything had transformed into the Dragon God’s master plan?

Bahamut wanted to tell them he had no such thoughts at all.

Though he couldn’t say anything because of the godly dignity he had built up until now, he could only swallow his frustration.

“Thanks to them, the downstream purification work is finally progressing. The Pohang residents were aware of the problem but couldn’t solve it, so it had become a persistent headache.”

“Well, it’s an industrial area. The pollution must be serious.”

But objectively speaking, their enthusiasm was steering the Seorabeol pollution purification project in a positive direction.

They could finally complete projects that had been repeatedly postponed, gaining the support of Pohang residents and influencing future projects.

If they could purify all the river pollution, they could use the fish in the Hyeongsan River as food, or if clean water was needed for business, they could use the purified water for new ventures.

“Yes. They’re experimenting to see if mages’ purification magic can process waste. If possible, they say purification magic could be applied to industry.”

“For recycling?”

“Yes. Waste is normally unusable, but if purification magic removes the contaminated parts, theoretically it could be reused as recycling material.”

And these schools weren’t just thinking about pollution purification.

Some schools were experimenting with whether purification magic could purify factory waste based on the idea that the cause of pollution was Pohang factory waste, so they should eliminate the source!

Since there were already successful applications, if they continued their research, it could greatly help prevent pollution in industrial areas, making it worthy of investment as a national project.

“That’s good, but…”

It was certainly a good thing.

But there was an equally significant problem.

“…it’s not something that can be done overnight.”

“Yes. It’s a project that has mobilized all purification mages affiliated with the Mage Society. Not only that, but the Seorabeol cabinet is showing interest, as well as environmental protection groups and various civilian organizations. Even mages from other schools not related to purification are voluntarily participating in the project. As the Dragon Priestess governing Pohang, I’m also providing substantial financial support for this project.”

The scale had grown too large.

Not just in Pohang, but throughout Seorabeol, and even civilian organizations that had heard the news were getting involved, with the Dragon Priestess directly managing and providing financial support.

Even schools that couldn’t use purification magic were voluntarily participating in the project, making it impossible to estimate how high the stakes had become.

This could be a concerning issue from Bahamut’s perspective, but…

‘Well, it reduces my workload. It’s not particularly bad. Though it feels like I’m dumping my problems on others because I’m lazy.’

At the same time, since various interest groups were participating to gain benefits, everyone would wish for the project’s success, so Bahamut didn’t need to worry.

Bahamut was just one person, and he had many other concerns.

However, since his priestess Seol-hwa was also participating in this project, he couldn’t completely ignore it.

“If there are any obstacles, come consult with me then. I’ll provide as much assistance as possible.”

While this was a casual offer from Bahamut’s perspective, it was an eye-popping proposal for the Mage Society, and Seol-hwa unwittingly passed it on.

“Indeed! We can receive assistance from the Dragon God himself…! I’ll let them know they have this opportunity!”

“S-Seol-hwa!?”

Seol-hwa expressed her genuine delight and quickly conveyed Bahamut’s generous offer to the Seorabeol Mage Society with good intentions.

And soon this news spread to all schools within the Seorabeol Mage Society.

“Bahamut is showing interest in this project? There’s a chance to receive his assistance? Chairman! I can’t hold back! Our school will put its name on this project!”

“Me too!”

“So will I! It’s a project that Bahamut himself is keeping an eye on! Only a fool wouldn’t put their name on it!”

The scale of the ongoing project began to grow uncontrollably.

The excessive enthusiasm for project participation was like watching a bubble economy rapidly inflating, to the point where even Association Chairman Jo Gwang-jin, who had initially encouraged this fervor, felt a sense of crisis about the dangerous state of affairs.

“P-please calm down, everyone.”

“How can we calm down about this news?! The Dragon God Bahamut’s attention! If we’re lucky, it’s a golden chance to be chosen by him! An opportunity to learn magic from the one called the God of Magic! Can you resist this? I can’t! As a mage, I want to see the ultimate limits of magic!”

“I want to analyze the magic that Bahamut has demonstrated overseas, as well as the magic he’s been using until now!”

Unfortunately, these crazed researchers, whose eyes had already glazed over at the news that they could receive Bahamut’s assistance, were loudly proclaiming that they would achieve merit in this project and meet with Bahamut.

It was now beyond the chairman’s authority to stop them, so he summoned the heads of the schools that had suddenly joined the project to deliver a warning message to each school.

His judgment was that if they had gone into a frenzy because of Bahamut, then they should also be stopped in Bahamut’s name.

“As mages, I understand intellectual curiosity… but I’m concerned about being disrespectful to Bahamut. I’ll restrict participation to only those mages who are related to purification magic.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll just learn purification magic!”

“No, are you thinking of wasting that precious time?”

Unfortunately, such threats had no effect on researchers obsessed with magical research in their laboratories.

Rather, they were voluntarily stepping forward to learn purification magic so they could become relevant participants, making the chairman wonder if they were wasting their time.

“Wasting time? This could be an opportunity to receive teachings from the Dragon God! How can you call this a waste? It’s more meaningful to hear even a single phrase from Bahamut, who is practically the incarnation of magic, than to spend all day experimenting with and researching a single spell!”

‘I can’t deny that!’

It was a hundred, no, a thousand times more beneficial to participate in this project and receive Bahamut’s advice than to stay cooped up in a laboratory focusing only on research.

After all, if they could achieve merit in the project, they could indeed meet with Bahamut, couldn’t they?

The time and money spent participating in the project could be more than compensated for by meeting Bahamut, with change to spare—they had already done the calculations.

“Moreover, even without the Dragon God’s teachings, the Dragon Priestess Seol-hwa is both the client and sponsor of this project! If we’re lucky, we might even receive teachings from the Dragon Priestess!”

‘That makes sense…!’

Even the chairman himself was starting to be persuaded by their logic.

“The Dragon Priestess is his representative! She has naturally received more wisdom and magic from him than we have. That’s an undeniable fact! Have you seen the Dragon Priestess fighting the undead aboard ships in the East Sea? I saw that spectacle firsthand. I attended the East Sea front and fell in love at first sight with the beautiful magic she used!”

“So don’t stop us, Chairman! The knowledge of dragons! The wisdom of gods awaits us!”

The Mage Society, which had already begun its frenzy, would not stop exploring until all affiliated schools were satisfied.

Even if the project was completed, they were experienced research slaves who would voluntarily become laboratory slaves just to catch a glance from Bahamut or the Dragon Priestess.

‘These, these magic-obsessed fanatics… It’s my job to bow my head to the Seorabeol cabinet.’

Of course, Chairman Jo Gwang-jin, who would now be responsible for their frenzy, was starting to feel a burning sensation in his stomach.