READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 17 - New Student
Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: KYSOIWDI
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[ Chapter 17: New Student (3) ]
[Kim Chae-min – S Class (Grand Mage)]
[Type – Druid]
[Mentor – Kim Kang-yeon (Father)]
[Apprentice – None]
[Unique Magic – Blooming Rose Vine (Stage 3)]
[Died in battle with a Siren on July 9, 2024]
* * *
“Oh my, it really is a school! Do they have uniforms too?”
“Of course.”
“I heard the rumors… You were serious?”
“I don’t joke about things involving kids.”
“That’s obvious.”
Kim Chae-min smiled brightly.
Wearing a bright dress fitting the sunny weather, Kim Chae-min walked alongside Hong Seok-young, meticulously using a parasol.
Like a principal boasting about how excellent the students of his school were, Hong Seok-young introduced every corner of the pilot high school to Kim Chae-min. Come to think of it, he really was the principal.
…With only three containers, I had no idea what he was boasting about.
“Hong Hunter mentioned it, so I came…”
“Have you thought about my proposal?”
“Is that the first thing you ask?”
Kim Chae-min laughed softly.
“I can teach the kids some basic magic operations, but you know I can’t do much more than that, right?”
“You don’t have any apprentices, do you?”
“That’s true, but…”
Kim Chae-min glanced at the two young wizards under the parasol, pretending not to be interested.
“Like other magic, my magic particularly requires the right affinity. Those two don’t seem to have the right aptitude for it.”
“Can you tell that right away?”
“At their level, it’s obvious.”
Kim Chae-min pointed at Park Seo-hyun.
“And that girl is Teacher Park No-kyung’s granddaughter, right? Then she probably already knows most common spells.”
“Seo-hyun? But she’s still an inexperienced wizard. I don’t really know how to teach a wizard…”
“In her case, there’s not much I can teach her, but if handling magic power is okay…”
“That alone would be a great help.”
Kim Chae-min shook her head, exasperated.
“You mentioned something related to the Ark… Is this why you called me to the school?”
“It’s a good opportunity, isn’t it? And it’s not unrelated.”
Hong Seok-young looked at me. Only then did Kim Chae-min notice my presence, widening her eyes.
“Oh! You’re that person who was on the roof!”
“Oh, yes. Hello.”
“Oh my, why were you there? And… are you working here?”
“…It turned out that way. I’m Woo Hee-jae, teaching those kids over there.”
“Those kids…?”
Kim Chae-min tilted her head, likely because I pointed at the young wizards under the parasol.
“Um… Are you a wizard? At Myeong-dong, weren’t you holding a sword…?”
To be exact, I don’t use a sword either. Although swords and spears share some commonalities, magic is a completely different field.
“Teacher Woo isn’t a wizard.”
Hong Seok-young interrupted with a smirk.
…Somehow, this felt unsettling. Why was he smiling like that?
“Pardon? Then how can you teach wizards… what do you teach?”
With a confused look, Kim Chae-min glanced back and forth between me and the young wizards. I remained silent, unable to grasp Hong Seok-young’s intentions.
Hong Seok-young’s smile grew even more ominous.
“Mr. Woo knows something even more amazing.”
“More… amazing?”
“Yes. Something only a mage can do.”
Kim Chae-min’s eyes widened.
“Are you talking about unique magic?!”
While it was true that only mages could perform that….
Hong Seok-young didn’t answer and just gave a mischievous smile.
Being on the receiving end was unpleasant, but watching was quite entertaining.
Since he had planned to reveal it anyway, he had told Hong Seok-young to use it if he wanted. However, he hadn’t expected him to bring the mage directly like this.
Though unexpected…
Hmm.
It was fine. Not bad at all.
A crisis could turn into an opportunity.
Kim Chae-min was already at the top of his list. He had only been focusing on Park Seo-hyun, who was right in front of him, because he had no immediate way to contact Kim Chae-min.
It was a blessing to have him delivered like this.
Besides, he had also mentioned the Ark, right? Must be one of the Hunters he had talked about calling, and a Grand Mage would be more than sufficient.
Wait, could he expect even more?
Surely, Kim Chae-min wouldn’t be the only one he called. There must be others, all outstanding Hunters.
“It’s not unique magic.”
He corrected Kim Chae-min’s misunderstanding before it grew.
“I am teaching those kids runes.”
“…Runes?”
Kim Chae-min faltered, almost breaking down.
Considering the current standing of runes, the fact that he didn’t openly ridicule them spoke volumes about Kim Chae-min’s character.
This was also a pass.
Character was important.
“Uh… Mr. Hong, you might not know this because you’re not a mage….”
Look at him trying to choose his words carefully to avoid hurting anyone. This was the epitome of a true Hunter.
“Are you saying runes are trash?”
“Oh, no! Not trash, but….”
But they weren’t very useful either.
He shrugged. That was a fair assessment.
“It would be faster to show you. Just a moment…. Park Seo-hyun! Choi Jin-woo!”
Park Seo-hyun and Choi Jin-woo jumped, lifting their heads.
“Bring the drawings.”
Both of them hurriedly gathered the papers scattered on the parasol table.
Park Seo-hyun, who had been awkward, was now quite comfortable showing him the runes. Though she still flinched when their eyes met….
He finally understood why Park Seo-hyun had initially acted strangely. Hadn’t she said she was raised by her grandparents? Her grandfather must have been stingy with compliments. Besides, wasn’t he also awkward at giving compliments?
It made sense that they were both flustered.
If he kept praising her, Park Seo-hyun would get used to it.
“Are these… runes?”
Kim Chae-min was astonished as he looked at the runes they brought.
The runes Kim Chae-min knew were primitive.
However, the runes he had taught the kids, from that excessively kind French Grand Mage, were elaborate, complex, and extraordinarily bizarre.
He selected a few and gave the kids brief feedback.
“This one, Choi Jin-woo, you drew it, right? I told you to avoid extending this part. Don’t let it become a habit.”
“Yes.”
“Park Seo-hyun, you….”
Praise! Praise!!!!
“Well done. I can see the increasing precision. But as I mentioned this morning, be confident in your lines.”
“Yes, yes….”
The sustain rune was the first question on the midterm exam for Runes Theory at the Hunter Academy. Since the creation of the Runes Theory course, this question had never changed. It was a testament to the rune’s importance.
He hadn’t thought they would be able to draw such high-quality runes within a week. According to Lee Seung-yeon, they practiced diligently even after school.
It’s not ideal for mages to focus too much on runes. After all, a mage’s main job was still magic.
Well, they were still just kids.
“The drawings all pass. Just be careful about what I mentioned earlier. Now, shall we verify them?”
“Yes!”
The children responded energetically. Kim Chae-min, bewildered, asked from the side.
“What are we verifying? What kind of rune is this? I’ve never seen such a complex rune before….”
“Just wait a moment, Hunter Kim.”
The students, having become accustomed to the rune lessons over the past few days, naturally moved to the corner of the clearing and took their positions.
Park Seo-hyun and Choi Jin-woo placed the runes they had drawn on the ground.
Choi Jin-woo moved his hands quickly. It was one of the common spells. Creating a spark to light a fire, but with a few additional formulas….
Whoosh!
…He could easily create a pillar of fire.
“W-what is this? Why fire?!”
Kim Chae-min was the only one panicking.
The ground where the runes had been placed was ablaze. Since it was an ordinary fire and only Hunters were present, there was no one in danger of getting hurt.
Next was Park Seo-hyun.
Her formula was much shorter. However, its power was not lacking.
Water began to fall on the fire that Choi Jin-woo had ignited. What started as a small drop soon turned into a downpour. The water pooled on the ground, becoming a wave that swept across the clearing, extinguishing the fire.
In the clearing, now scoured by fire and water, only the rune-inscribed papers lay scattered.
He wiggled his fingers. Choi Jin-woo and Park Seo-hyun quickly collected the runes.
“Next.”
Choi Jin-woo and Park Seo-hyun stuffed the dripping wet runes into their uniform pockets. Normally, this would ruin the runes.
However.
“W-wait, just a moment!”
Choi Jin-woo and Park Seo-hyun created small lights at their fingertips. The glowing orbs, like fireflies, made it hard to tell if they were actually lit.
But it was magic.
Magic used mana.
Therefore, there should have been a detectable mana presence from Choi Jin-woo and Park Seo-hyun.
“What is this? Why can’t I feel any mana? How did you do this?!”
But there was no hint of mana from the two of them.
Hong Seok-young chuckled as he pulled the rune papers from Choi Jin-woo’s pocket. Kim Chae-min’s eyes, which seemed like they couldn’t get any wider, did just that.
“That? That thing?!”
“It’s a rune.”
“A rune?”
“Mr. Woo calls it a mana concealing rune.”
“Mana concealing?”
“Yes. It works exactly as its name suggests.”
“……”
Kim Chae-min snatched the rune paper from Hong Seok-young’s hand. It was crumpled, but the rune itself was intact. Kim Chae-min stared at the paper intently with a fearful expression.
Then he looked at me.
“Um… Mr. Woo Hee-jae, right? Did you make this?”
“No. Someone I know made it.”
“………But you knew about it and taught it to the kids, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Taught them… Do you know any other runes? Ones similar to this?”
“The effects are different, but I do know others.”
Kim Chae-min looked back and forth between the rune paper, my face, Hong Seok-young, and the two mages.
“Hunter Hong.”
“Hmm?”
“This is a school, right?”
“Hmm.”
“Do you accept new students?”
“……Hmm?”
Hong Seok-young blinked blankly.
Kim Chae-min grabbed Hong Seok-young by the collar.
“I want to enroll here.”
“What?”
“Then I can learn those runes too, right?”
“What?”
* * *
“I didn’t think it would be this effective.”
Hong Seok-young handed me a paper cup of instant coffee.
“So, you aimed for this?”
“Of course. If I want to use it in the dungeon, I need a reliable mage, and Hunter Kim is perfect.”
“You didn’t just think he would be good for teaching other mages because he has no disciples?”
“That was also a factor.”
The effect was just too good.
I had no objections. It was like a pumpkin rolling into my lap on its own; why object?
In fact, things were going so well it was almost worrisome. Usually, when things go this smoothly, something tends to go wrong somewhere.
Hong Seok-young handed a few sheets of paper to Kim Chae-min, who was still staring intently at the rune paper next to me. I caught sight of the heading on the documents.
Employment Contract.
Of course, they couldn’t accept Kim Chae-min as a student, so he joined as a magic teacher.
…It seemed even a Grand Mage couldn’t escape such a binding contract.
“Hunter Kim, read this, and let us know if there’s anything you want to change.”
I didn’t get such an offer.
“Hunter Kim? Hunter Kim Chae-min?”
“…Yes? Oh, it’s okay. Just let me attend the rune lessons. Or, Mr. Hee-jae can draw me a rune each time.”
“What about your salary and other conditions?”
“Oh, I’m not short on money. It’s fine. Just use it to help with the kids’ education costs.”
…?
“Is that really okay?”
“Mr. Hee-jae, I mean, Mr. Woo just needs to teach me the runes.”
“Is that so? Then we count on you, Mr. Woo.”
“……”
I sighed deeply and gulped down the instant coffee.
I decided to think of it as an investment for the future.
When else would I have the chance to have a Grand Mage as my disciple?
“Nice to meet you!”
“……Nice to meet you.”
Wait, shouldn’t we renegotiate my salary? How is my teaching supposed to replace a salary?
If that’s the case, they should give me his salary!