…To give just the conclusion, Yi Han and Odwal were called in by the dean and scolded.
In Yi Han's case, for breaking Odwal's wrist.
However, since Odwal had grabbed him by the collar first and it occurred accidentally when Yi Han tried to pull free, mitigating circumstances were applied.
In Odwal's case, he was severely scolded by the dean.
Not only for arbitrarily invading another department's territory, but the fact that he caused a disturbance was not something that could be viewed favorably by any means.
In the end, Odwal received a 6-month pay cut.
'That's not even a punishment for a guy with massive sponsorship money.'
Yi Han, who had long heard the news that an enormous sponsorship sum—making a regular instructor's monthly salary seem like pocket change—was deposited into his pocket on a weekly basis, knew that this penalty was not much of a blow.
The dean probably knew it too.
Yet the dean still imposed this disciplinary action.
'Did this old man take money too?'
Yi Han couldn't help but harbor such suspicions.
However, he quickly realized this was a misunderstanding.
"The dean is not in a position to worry about nobles' opinions."
"The dean's family is wealthy. One of the top five in the kingdom. Even if five massive merchant guilds pressured them, they wouldn't budge."
"If there are nobles who try to offer backdoor money, he's the kind of person who'd send them to the guillotine tomorrow, haha."
…Turns out he's an even more outrageous person?
Yi Han blinked as he heard facts he didn't know from the instructors he had newly befriended.
"Then why did that man give only that level of punishment?"
"Isn't it to protect Sir Turtle?"
"Me?"
"Yes. Sir Turtle surely wouldn't be afraid of Lord Odwal, but the other people. I mean, wouldn't it be troublesome to deal with even the nobles sponsoring Lord Odwal?"
"…?"
Me?
Such words had risen to his throat, but for now Yi Han decided to keep listening.
"Probably the dean made that judgment to prevent Sir Turtle from being harmed by the nobles."
"No matter how strong Sir Turtle is, fighting with nobles would come with many problems, wouldn't it?"
"They're a headache, nobles are."
They showed a somewhat bitter expression.
They probably had experience being disliked by nobles.
Well, they were commoners or fallen nobles, but with exceptional abilities, various troubles must have arisen because of it.
"Well, the dean made a wise judgment. Sir Turtle, please calm your anger too. Without considerable backing, wouldn't it be foolish to mess with Lord Odwal?"
"Mm."
It was their genuine comfort, and Yi Han slowly nodded.
At this, the instructors smiled brightly.
He was just a bit like that at the entrance ceremony, but he wasn't simply a violent person, rather an intellectual knight.
……However.
'Did they say backing?'
That night, Yi Han unusually took out a sheet of letter paper, wrote a single sentence on the blank paper, sealed it, and handed it to the maid overflowing with empty-headed charm.
And a few days later.
"…It's you! It's you…! It can only be you…!!"
Odwal threw a fit again and disrupted the Swordsmanship Department's classes, and Yi Han merely.
"What?"
Shrugged his shoulders at such a mage.
As if he knew nothing.
He just.
'I only did a [worry consultation] with someone I know, why is he like that?'
Yi Han looked at Odwal as if seeing a crazy person, and eventually the man collapsed clutching the back of his neck.
Half a day later, the news that the nobles sponsoring Odwal had cut their sponsorship spread secretly and threw the academy into an uproar.
Fight poison with poison (以毒制毒).
Just as poison must be subdued with poison, the powerful must be subdued with the powerful.
…Though he felt he might have used too strong a poison.
*
*
*
The academy recently had no room for boredom.
No, to be precise, topics that focused attention occurred in succession, and people were busy chatting about them.
-Professor Odwal picked a fight with a knight from the Swordsmanship Department.
-A Swordsmanship Department instructor broke Odwal's wrist.
-Professor Odwal and the Swordsmanship Department knight are competing for Duke Galahad's adopted daughter.
-Actually, the Swordsmanship Department knight is being favored by a grand noble.
Rumors of the "I heard that" variety always exist regardless of the era.
For the vigorous young students who were always hungry for entertainment, fun, and stimulation, a fight between a mage and a knight was the perfect entertainment.
They wondered who would win between the two, and found it simply fascinating.
And a certain grey-haired student who heard these uproarious topics was consumed with worry.
"No, this shouldn't be happening…"
The grey-haired student wasn't worried for the childish entertainment of betting on who would win between the mage and the knight like others.
…It was because of the clearly changed 'story.'
'Odwal is definitely one of the main villains who helps the villainess corner the protagonist, but he's already appearing on stage?'
Originally, there was still half a year left until the [Main Story] began.
But the progression was already unusual, and the grey-haired student's head became endlessly complicated as the information he knew kept turning out to be wrong.
'If this continues, everything I know could become meaningless.'
The grey-haired student was smart, and the speed of his thinking was no joke.
Therefore, after confirming what obstacle was involved in all the events that had occurred, he reached a conclusion.
'…The Swordsmanship Department instructor.'
Yi Han Turtle.
The center of the topic, and the out-of-place [character] whose existence he alone hadn't known about.
The boy pondered as he recalled the instructor with the somehow familiar name.
Wondering if he should meet him once.
Because if he could just have a conversation with him, he might be able to resolve some of his questions.
…However, the problem was.
"Hey."
"!!?"
"Oh my? What's wrong?"
"Ah, no. I, I was just startled."
The boy had an extreme communication disorder that made talking to people very difficult.
Not only that.
"Right, hmm? By any chance, do you have a cold? Why is your face so red?"
"Th-that's…"
"……Oh my."
As the beautiful female student who appeared to be a noble lady approached, the boy's face turned redder, and the female student grinned at his incredibly fresh reaction.
It seemed the playful girl had noticed the boy's condition, and the boy, realizing this, squeezed his eyes shut and inwardly recited a magic spell.
'E, the East Sea and Baekdu Mountain, until they dry and wear away…'
The boy not only had a disability regarding communication, but also had zero immunity to the opposite sex.
From a rural elementary school with only five boys and male teachers, to a boys' middle school, boys' high school, engineering college, military, and a male-dominated gaming company.
This was the boy's life tech tree, and he had never had a proper conversation with the opposite sex in his life.
The boy tried to calm himself by reciting up to the 4th verse of the spell, but still.
"What's your name?"
"…!!"
This playful girl apparently had no intention of leaving the boy alone.
The lilac flower scent, too stimulating for someone with zero female immunity, overwhelmed him, and the boy immediately turned his back and fled.
"Hey, he… a-already went that far?"
The grey-haired boy was incredibly fast, and seeing this, the girl blinked.
It wasn't because she was surprised by the boy's unusual speed.
It was just that her sensitive ears had caught the words the boy had let out, making her blink.
"Did he say [Acceleration]?"
Unfortunately, the boy who could answer the girl's question had already fled far away long ago.
* * *
Smack!
"Pick it up, sword-swinger!"
"……So you've finally gone mad."
For the past four days, the relationship between Odwal and Yi Han had formed a hostile relationship worse than sworn enemies, with an increasingly turbulent atmosphere developing.
Well, in most cases, Odwal picked a fight with Yi Han and ended up on the receiving end, but
Even an earthworm will writhe when stepped on, so how could that prideful mage endure the humiliation of being bested by a knight?
The mage, having lost his sponsorship and suffering all kinds of humiliation and disgrace, seemed to have finally lost his reason, coming to throw a gauntlet at Yi Han.
A custom popular among nobles.
Throwing a gauntlet meant requesting a 'match' or 'duel.'
Yi Han alternated between looking at the gauntlet thrown on the ground and the spellcaster, scoffing.
"Have you given up on living?"
Shring.
Instead of picking up the gauntlet, he pointed his wooden sword.
There was no reason to be intimidated just because a wooden sword was pointed at him, but for a moment, Odwal felt a chill.
It was a shabby old wooden sword.
But why did he feel like a sharply honed spearhead was about to pierce him the moment that wooden sword was aimed at him?
Odwal wiped the sweat beginning to bead up and waved his hand.
"N-no, there was a misunderstanding. Of course, I'm not saying I'll fight you, sword-swinger."
"Are you spouting bullshit? What are you…"
"I mean a match between my students and your students!"
"…What?"
He thought it was some nonsense for a moment, but the guy quickly spat out an excuse as if it wasn't just nonsense.
"I, I also find it unfortunate, but fights between instructors are not permitted at the academy. This is a decree directly issued by the royal family."
"……."
"Ahem."
When Yi Han finally lowered his wooden sword and listened without a word, Odwal continued.
"W-what I'm trying to say is this. While matches between instructors are impossible, matches between students are not much of an obstacle. Rather, competition is encouraged."
"Hmm."
Infinite competition-ism.
The academy's principle that people grow through competition.
Well, there was nothing particularly strange about it.
There were plenty of cases where wisdom and skills were contested, and the fact that the category of competition was 'martial prowess' wasn't strange either.
However.
"So you're saying you want a 'proxy battle'?"
"That's right."
"…Pathetic guy. Since you think you can't win yourself, you're throwing your students at me…"
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like he was dragging students in because he saw no hope of winning against him directly, which was ridiculous.
Yi Han clicked his tongue and shook his head, and Odwal flared up and shouted.
…He shouted, but.
"You brat!"
"You said you're younger than me. Who are you calling brat! You insolent brat."
"……."
He was suppressed in an instant.
"This young punk, where do you think…"
"Y-young punk is…"
"Ahem! How dare you talk to your hyung like that!"
"……."
"Smack!"
"……."
Before the power of Confucianism that had lain dormant within Yi Han, awakened for the first time in a truly long while, a mage was indeed powerless.