At her disciple's trashy words, Eumidiphos clicked her tongue.

Of course, it didn't reach Alcicle's ears. Alcicle had the ability to ignore words that insulted him.

'Such ugly words.'

Of course, magic wasn't all about circles.

Circles were the most convenient unit, not the most accurate one.

But the audacity of him bringing up circles first, then changing his words when he was losing...

'That's why he still hasn't come to his senses.'

If it were someone else, they would have been shaken by embarrassment, but Alcicle was as solid as an iceberg.

He immediately changed the subject and threw a question.

"What's more important than circles is the breadth of that magic. At your age, I had mastered not only cold element magic but also transformation magic and summoning magic. Understand?"

"I think it's best you stop, Alcicle."

Eumidiphos spoke up for her disciple.

She wanted to make Alcicle come to his senses, but she didn't want to do it too harshly.

What if Alcicle threw himself off that glacial cliff out of humiliation?

However, Alcicle misunderstood Eumidiphos' words.

"No. Lady Eumidiphos. We must address this. Otherwise, the young mage of the empire might get his feelings hurt."

"..."

It was even more surprising that the other party sincerely thought that way, not just putting on an act.

'He won't be hurt to that extent.'

There were many more hurtful things after entering Einroguard.

"I'm saying this because Wardanaz here has mastered a wider range of magic than you, Alcicle."

"...Don't lie!"

Alcicle shouted, waving his short penguin mixed-blood arms.

However, when Eumidiphos glared at him, he immediately corrected his posture and changed his words.

"D-Don't lie, please."

The memory of being beaten was still vivid in his body.

"How can he have mastered a wider range of magic than me? It's impossible. What has he mastered?"

"Let's see. Dark magic, summoning magic, illusion magic, enchantment magic, divination magic, transformation magic, healing magic..."

"So which one of those has he mastered?"

Alcicle asked in a slightly curt voice.

"I'm telling you what he has mastered now."

"...Pardon?"

Alcicle was so shocked that he stood still for a few minutes.

Unable to watch any longer, Yi-Han whispered,

"Is it okay to leave him like that?"

Professor Bagrak nodded silently and answered,

"Penguin mixed-blood are resistant to cold."

"No... That's not what I meant."

It wasn't a question of whether he would freeze to death, but whether he was mentally okay.

Fortunately, Eumidiphos stepped in to sort things out.

"Alcicle!"

"..."

"Do you want to get beaten up again?!"

"No! No!"

The dazed penguin mixed-blood mage's face regained his senses.

"What does it matter who was better when young? What's important is what magic you're doing now. Wardanaz here has come to learn cold element magic from you. So stop saying useless things and teach him cold element magic."

"But who was better when young is a very important issue..."

"..."

Eumidiphos suppressed her subtle anger at Alcicle, who was deliberately holding her back even when she was trying to move on in a good mood.

Professor Bagrak spoke up.

"I'll give you the answer."

"What?"

"Wardanaz here is better. That should be enough now."

"..."

"..."

Seeing Boladi adding fuel to the fire in a burning tower, Eumidiphos thought to herself,

'I should have left Boladi Bagrak behind.'

"B-Better than me? Boladi Bagrak, are you serious? Seriously!? Haven't you gone crazy from overworking at Einroguard?!"

Yi-Han was slightly surprised at the penguin mixed-blood unexpectedly hitting the truth.

How did he know?

"In both circles and breath, Wardanaz is better, isn't he?"

"Uh... Uh... Application! Advanced application attributes will be different!"

Alcicle shouted after pondering for a while.

Since he couldn't compete in breadth or circles, he was going to compete in the mastery of applying magic.

"At that age, I had mastered shape transformation of water elements! Boladi Bagrak!"

"...Can't I just say I lost?"

Yi-Han, tired of this fight, whispered, but Professor Bagrak ignored him and answered.

"Wardanaz has mastered shape transformation."

"He's currently mastering spin and evaporation attributes."

"..."

Shocked by the two mages' ruthless truth attacks, Alcicle covered his head in disbelief.

Then he tried to run towards the cliff, wailing.

"Impossible! A genius greater than me... It can't be!"

"He's at it again!"

Eumidiphos summoned a water whip, grabbed Alcicle's ankle to make him fall, and then bound him.

Once the situation was sorted out, Eumidiphos apologized to Yi-Han.

"I'm sorry. Alcicle is a bit emotional."

'It's alright.'

"I think it's more than a bit."

His true thoughts accidentally came out the opposite way. Eumidiphos sighed as if she understood.

The inside of Alcicle's magic tower was filled with cold.

It felt even colder due to the barren appearance with no particular furniture or equipment.

Yi-Han was puzzled by the sight, which was a bit different from the workshops he had seen at Einroguard.

"Does one need to minimize belongings to master cold magic?"

"No. He probably sold the things inside to cover research expenses because his research is stuck. It's a common sight in magic towers built by mages."

It wasn't for nothing that mages who built towers to see the end of magic sometimes went mad and tried to dominate the surroundings.

That's how tough and difficult magic research was.

If the research ended quickly as expected, that was fortunate, but if it dragged on, the costs piled up, the mind became exhausted, life became difficult...

It became even more painful when fellow mages sent letters asking, <How is your research going?>

Then, thoughts like 'Can't I just occupy the nearby villages? If I do it well, no one will find out, right? If I occupy them and just complete the magic...' would creep up.

"Sob sob sob sob sob."

Alcicle wept sorrowfully, shedding chicken poop-like tears.

Sitting inside the magic tower, bound by Eumidiphos' magic, he looked like a mage subdued by bandits.

"To think there was a mage more talented than me. I was nothing."

"Alcicle. Didn't I say it's not about early achievements, but..."

"Lady Eumidiphos, who rose up with effort without talent, doesn't understand my feelings!"

"..."

"..."

Eumidiphos gestured for Yi-Han to go outside for a moment. Yi-Han nodded and tried to go out.

"Professor. Come out."

"Why?"

"...Just come out for a bit."

Yi-Han tried to grab Professor Bagrak's collar but grabbed his wrist and dragged him out.

Then, dull sounds echoed from inside.

-I was wrong! I was wrong, Lady Eumidiphos!-

"You can come in now."

"Yes."

Yi-Han came in and stood as if nothing had happened.

"Sob sob sob..."

"Now that you've been beaten a lot, come to your senses and teach cold element magic."

"Waah waah waah! Waah! Waah!"

Normally, Alcicle would have listened here, but today, perhaps because the shock was particularly great, he just kept crying and ignored Eumidiphos' words.

Seeing that, Eumidiphos regretted giving him too much of a shock.

Alcicle had an immense pride in his own talent.

These days, with his magic research being stuck, his stress must be high, and now even his remaining pride was shattered, so the shock to Alcicle's personality would be several times greater.

"This won't do. Go out again."

"...Uh, are you going to beat him again?"

Yi-Han was slightly startled.

Yi-Han didn't know Alcicle well, but he knew that the problem now couldn't be solved by beating him.

"It's not beating. I prefer the expression of magical teachings."

"...Whatever it is, I think we should try to persuade him with conversation now."

"Wardanaz."

Eumidiphos looked at Yi-Han with pity.

"Sometimes in the world, there are people you can't communicate with."

As she spoke, Eumidiphos glanced very slightly at Boladi.

Yi-Han also glanced very slightly at Boladi.

"Still, will you give me one chance to persuade him?"

"Well. You are learning under Boladi Bagrak too."

"...I don't think that has anything to do with it..."

Yi-Han was slightly concerned that Eumidiphos seemed to think of him as some kind of <disciple expert>.

"Mr. Pengerin."

Alcicle didn't answer, crying and sobbing.

"Whether you mastered 3rd circle magic or 4th circle magic in your first year, what does it matter? Even Lord Gonadaltes said what's important is not the circle of magic, but..."

"You're only saying that because you're more talented than me! Right? You're looking down on me!"

"..."

Shocked by Alcicle's condition, which was more severe than he thought, Yi-Han was appalled.

However, Yi-Han was someone who had dealt with many people crazier than Alcicle.

He never wavered at such provocations.

"Mr. Pengerin. I'm so sad."

Yi-Han suddenly covered his face with his hands and reddened his eyes.

If the other party came at him with tears, he was going to fight back with tears too.

"Do you know why Lady Eumidiphos brought me here? It's because I earnestly begged her several times that I wanted to learn from you, Mr. Pengerin."

"????"

"?"

Eumidiphos and Boladi looked at him as if asking what nonsense he was spouting, but Yi-Han continued, laying down an iron plate.

"I heard about Mr. Pengerin's amazing achievements many times. Do you know how I mastered 4th circle magic? It was in an attempt to follow even a fraction of what you've achieved, Mr. Pengerin."

"T-Then that magic too?"

"Yes."

Alcicle, who had regained his energy and was listening intently, tilted his head.

"...Isn't that too much, even so?"

"..."

Yi-Han hesitated to slap Alcicle's fluffy cheek once while he was tied up, but he endured.

"I thought I had to do at least that much to reach you, Mr. Pengerin."

"But it still seems like you're learning too much."

"...Anyway, that's how much I respected you. But to think you'd use such a trick because you don't want to teach me."

"A trick?"

Alcicle asked, dumbfounded.

"If it's not a trick, there's no way Mr. Alcicle would show such a sight, is there? It must be because you don't like me."

"...I've been found out!"

Alcicle blurted out without realizing it, his energy fully restored.

Eumidiphos had to hold back her desire to slap her brazen disciple's face.

"It's really amazing. To see through my acting."

"No matter how much you act, Mr. Pengerin, it's not easy for a genius to act like a fool."

"Alright. Since I've been found out, it can't be helped. Wait there! I'll teach you some cold element magic."

As Alcicle regained his energy, stood up, and waddled inside, Eumidiphos quietly said to Yi-Han,

"I see why you can be Boladi Bagrak's disciple."

"...Did I make a mistake?"

Alcicle laid out reagents on the floor and had Yi-Han stand on top of them.

Eumidiphos, who had been watching without much thought, was startled to see the reagents laid on the floor.

Each one was too expensive.

No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like they were prepared for research...?

"Is it okay to do that?"

"Pardon?"

When Boladi asked back, Eumidiphos pointed out the price of the reagents.

"Alcicle needs to do research too, so if he uses all those reagents..."

"It's fine."

"Ah. Did you check the stock? Using those..."

Professor Bagrak shook his head and answered,

"It's Alcicle Pengerin's business, isn't it?"

"...Wait! Wait!"

Regretting that she was foolish for even listening to Boladi Bagrak's words for a moment, Eumidiphos tried to stop Alcicle.