Magic Academy’s Genius Blinker

Chapter 20

Chivalry (1)

The first dungeon practice ended.

A–S classes, a total of 141 students.

39 students were eliminated.

Although Hae Wonryang came in second, he felt an inexplicable sense of defeat and headed straight to the S-class training ground in the evening.

‘Even if Aiselle hadn’t intervened at the last moment… finishing it would have been difficult.’

While Ma Yuseong’s strength was almost depleted, he could quickly recover his stamina with just a brief moment of rest. On the other hand, Hae Wonryang had nearly exhausted his prepared magic and mana, so if the fight had continued, the outcome was uncertain.

‘Is it… impossible for me to defeat him no matter what?’

The wall of talent was that thick and high.

He did everything half-heartedly, only showing interest when he was curious, and tinkered with things casually.

Then? Ta-da!

He would often outperform experts who had been focused on that field for over ten years.

He was always like that. That’s why Ma Yuseong frequently apologized.

‘I’m sorry, I just did it for fun, but I did better.’

It was a sincere apology, without any intention of mocking the other person.

That made it even more frustrating. To never achieve a single victory against someone who didn’t even put in effort.

‘…No. There’s no time to blame myself. I need to push harder.’

Hae Wonryang took out his Staff and scattered magic roughly in front of the giant scarecrow.

From beginning to end, there was no trace of his characteristic calm and ruthless magic that entangled his opponent in his pace.

“Hae Wonryang. Take it easy, will you?”

“…Princess Hong Bi-yeon.”

Hae Wonryang, who had been scattering magic for a long time, barely managed to catch his breath thanks to Hong Bi-yeon speaking to him from behind.

After swinging his magic a few times, his blood circulation was already a mess. No matter how much he trained his stamina, studied magic, and practiced, he couldn’t overcome the limit of his mana capacity.

Standing beside Hae Wonryang, Hong Bi-yeon, who told him to calm down, also scattered fire magic roughly.

Although she couldn’t use multiple attributes or design spells like Hae Wonryang, she could still demonstrate flashy magic at the 3rd-class level thanks to her overwhelming mana capacity and the powerful royal fire succession magic.

“Did you also get defeated by someone, Princess?”

“…’Also’? So, you got defeated too?”

He flinched, making a mistake he wouldn’t normally make. But Hong Bi-yeon didn’t press him. She wasn’t the type to fuss over such trivial matters.

“Yes, I got defeated. Very thoroughly. And by the lowest-ranked student. It’s infuriating.”

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She had plenty of excuses.

The terrain kept changing, her magic was all exposed as she was a famous person, her magic focused on destruction had low accuracy, and the opponent was focused on speed.

But excuses were just that—excuses.

The fact that she lost because she was lacking didn’t change.

And yet, she ended up getting 3rd place by receiving a Point Stick. Though she didn’t achieve 1st place, her mother was somewhat satisfied.

Realizing that even that was thanks to getting a Point Stick back from Baek Yu-seol, Hong Bi-yeon stamped her Staff on the ground furiously.

Boom!! The target in front of her was completely incinerated.

Yes. Honestly, when she handed the Point Stick to Baek Yu-seol out of pride, her heart tightened immensely.

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What would happen if Baek Yu-seol took all the Point Sticks? What if she didn’t even make it to the rankings? How could she face her mother then?

And when he returned it, she felt relieved.

‘Annoying!’

She didn’t hate Baek Yu-seol, but she hated herself for being scared, anxious, relieved, and happy over the actions of a mere commoner.

‘One day, I’ll burn that annoying face of his.’

Imagining the stupid scarecrow’s face as Baek Yu-seol’s face, her magic’s destructive power increased astonishingly.

In addition, Hong Bi-yeon recalled the ‘special lesson’ from a few days ago.

‘…A commoner acting all high and mighty.’

But honestly, it wasn’t ineffective.

Surprisingly, after trying to change her thinking by studying nonsense quizzes, her magical achievements started to increase significantly.

She could handle flames in more diverse ways and thought of more strategic methods to burn her enemies. Although she still couldn’t solve problems like the ‘three difficult questions,’ it was true that she had made progress.

Reflecting on that, her Staff stopped.

He was just a commoner with the lowest grades and the worst personality, but… he was the only boy who knew how to compensate for her one shortcoming.

No royal tutor had ever suggested such a unique method like Baek Yu-seol.

“Princess.”

At that moment, Hong Bi-yeon’s guard mage, Yetherin, approached with a small box.

“Yes, what is it?”

“A package has arrived from the craftsmen. The modification of the Staff ‘Terivon’ is complete.”

“Shall I deliver it to him now?”
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“Uh, yes. That would be better.”

“Then, I’ll go and deliver it.”

As Yetherin was about to leave the training ground, Hong Bi-yeon unknowingly grabbed his shoulder.

“…Why, Princess?”

“Oh… nothing. Leave it here. I’ll deliver it myself. I have something to do on the way.”

“Understood.”

Receiving the box, Hong Bi-yeon sighed deeply.

‘I’ve gone mad…’

She didn’t even know why she volunteered to deliver it herself.

But since she had said she would, she couldn’t take it back.

So, she headed to the ‘First Tower’ where Baek Yu-seol was.

The Stella Academy looked like a very large mansion, but with the 12 main towers and 24 star towers scattered around, it resembled a castle.

The First Tower housed the ‘Stella Magic Knights,’ the principal, vice-principal, and the board of directors, making it the core building of the academy. The Second Tower contained the professors’ offices.

If he went to the Second Tower, it was probably to meet a professor. But why would he need to see a professor this early in the semester?

She pondered but couldn’t figure it out.

“Please write your name in the entry log, Student Hong Bi-yeon.”

Hong Bi-yeon was about to enter the Second Tower when she snapped back to reality.
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‘Why am I doing this myself?’

She could meet him on campus or at the training ground, so why go out of her way to chase after a commoner like this? It was beneath her as royalty.

It hurt her pride.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll be leaving.”

She left the main gate of the tower and sighed.

“That commoner really pisses me off in so many ways…”

“Oh my, Princess. Is something wrong?”

A familiar voice called out, and Hong Bi-yeon smiled brightly as she looked up.

“Ah… it’s been a while, Professor Hameril.”

“Hoho, I’m just a humble professor here.”

Professor Hameril was once her magic tutor in the royal palace. With her gentle demeanor and elegant magic, she was Hong Bi-yeon’s role model.

In some ways, she was her true mentor. Hong Bi-yeon had missed her when she left the palace but was happy to see her again at Stella.

“What brings you to the Second Tower?”

“Oh, I had some business to attend to, but I think I’ll head back.”

“Is that so? Well, the professors in the Second Tower are quite busy right now.”

“Is something going on?”

“Not really, but many magic officials have come because of that student ‘Baek Yu-seol.'”

There it was again, that name. Pretending not to be interested, Hong Bi-yeon asked.

“Hmm, what’s with that commoner?”
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“Well, it’s not appropriate to say, but you’ve dueled with Baek Yu-seol, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“And he didn’t use magic.”

“…Yes.”

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, she lowered her head. Even though he hadn’t been serious, she couldn’t handle him. She felt ashamed to have shown such a poor performance in front of a respected mentor.
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“No need to feel that way. He was serious.”

“What? But he didn’t even use magic.”
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“That’s because of his ‘conviction.'”

“Conviction? What does that mean…”

“After watching today’s practice, the principal said something.”

Hong Bi-yeon swallowed hard. Eltemon Eltrine, the great archmage, had watched the practice and even commented on it…

“Perhaps that student aims to revive the ‘chivalry’ that disappeared in ancient times.”

“Ch-chivalry…?”

Chivalry. It was an ancient term, but modern people still remembered it.

Most fairy tale heroes who rose with a sword to protect the world and fight evil wielded a sword.

Even in this world run by magic, the fantasy of a knight wielding a sword remained… but it was just a fantasy.

People were enamored by it, but realistically, a sword was utterly useless.

In this era dominated by mages who controlled thunder, split the earth, and flew in the sky, swords had no power.

In short, chivalry was considered a joke these days.

She wanted to say it was a joke.

‘…That commoner didn’t use magic against me.’

He wielded the Point Stick like a sword, facing her only with Blink magic. And he did it remarkably well.

In other words, Baek Yu-seol wasn’t playing around but was sincerely preserving his conviction in that situation.

Moreover, he had recently asked the school to modify his staff into a ‘magic sword’ as a reward for a special lesson. Would he ask to modify such a precious mid-to-high-grade staff just for preference? He was willing to forgo all other magic to wield a sword.

And yet, she had scolded him, telling him not to play around.

“Astounding, isn’t it?”

“A little… yes, it is.”

If someone said they dreamed of chivalry, people would laugh it off. Or mock them. After all, who talks about knights these days?

However, a commoner had worked hard enough to enter the world’s most prestigious Stella Academy and even joined Class S, strong enough to achieve superiority over herself, the 5th rank in the grade…

Baek Yu-seol wasn’t joking; he was genuinely pursuing chivalry.

“But… refusing to use magic at a magic school would impose significant penalties, right? He’d get penalty points during magic practice sessions, among other things…”

“That’s right. He chose this path knowing all that. Isn’t that remarkable? He’s pursuing a path others fear and avoid.”

Hong Bi-yeon’s expression grew complex, and Professor Hameril continued.

“Baek Yu-seol has already accomplished the great feat of controlling the uncontrollable Blink magic. Even if he followed the ordinary path of a mage, he would undoubtedly make a name for himself. Yet he pushes himself because… his conviction is genuine.”

Hong Bi-yeon remained silent, and Hameril apologized for taking up so much time before leaving.
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She stood there as if rooted to the spot, and as the sun began to set.

“What are you doing here?”

“Uh…”

Baek Yu-seol walked out of the Second Tower, chewing on something that looked like a root.

With his delinquent gait, he looked nothing like a knight.

‘What knight.’
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Hong Bi-yeon shook her head to banish the earlier thoughts. He was just an unlucky commoner.

“I’m not here because of you.”

“Who said you were?”

“…Take this.”

“Oh, Terivon? Wow. Can I keep the box? It could sell for a good price.”

No matter what Baek Yu-seol said, Hong Bi-yeon turned her body sharply.

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If she stayed there any longer, she felt she would be swayed by that strange commoner’s pace again.

End of Chapter