"Professor, let's make up."
An incident loud enough to echo for weeks broke out in the first-floor lobby of the Magic Academy.
Professor Meldini—famous for his eccentric temperament—had gone head-to-head with a hot-topic freshman!
The incident unfolded like this.
A freshman came to the school to submit a party formation report, when the professor suddenly grabbed the kid by the wrist and shouted:
"Freeze! Are you a possessor? You just bound three new spellbooks using possessor knowledge, didn't you? Do I look like some clueless idiot to you, you bastard?"
Ah.
He'd taken the bait.
Checking the hourglass faster than a hand, faster than the eye, the student shot back:
"Do we really have to draw blood to settle this? Fine. I'll stake my free citizen status and my life on the fact that I'm not a possessor. If you're scared, then drop dead!"
The so-called 'Mel-Devil of Sohen'—said to inherit the lineage of Gyeongsang's crooked ears and Jeolla's ravenous jaws—turned red, then blue, then red again.
"Bind them both!"
They tied them both up with a lie-detection spell.
With all professors and students present as witnesses.
Alright then, let's verify!
Jjararan, jjararan, kung-jjajjak, kung-jjajjak.
They flipped the cards—
Huh?
A free citizen?
A free citizen!
Pfft.
Insane jokes started popping into my head.
Meldini, you know…
If you're not sure, don't gamble the match. Didn't you learn that?
[Academy Emergency Magic Treatment Room]
I was lying in a bed in a place called that.
It's where you get emergency treatment and recover when accidents happen during magical experiments.
If the injury is serious, you get transferred to a temple—but for someone like me, lying down and taking a nap does the trick.
"Caleb."
When the rash had mostly subsided, Professor Ishirov entered.
Ishirov, who'd been on his way to eat when he got caught in this massive incident, looked like he'd aged several years in just a moment.
"Feeling okay?"
"Yes. The magic seems to have worn off now."
The sensation in my tongue had fully returned.
"Hoo… that really scared me."
"I'm sorry for worrying you."
"Every professor and assistant outside is in an uproar. They're saying that kid's no ordinary hard case. He didn't back down an inch even against Professor Meldini. Even grad students are scared of Meldini, you know. That temper of his—it reminds me of myself when I was young."
"You can regret taking me in as a club member now, but it's already too late. You can't kick me out."
"Haha."
Ishirov laughed and gently patted my forehead.
"Why would I? A mage needs the courage to stand up to their superiors to protect their pride. If anything, I like you more for it."
At first, he'd kept his distance and spoken formally to me, but now Ishirov had completely dropped the honorifics—like he'd firmly decided I was his club member and his student. Honestly, this is more comfortable for me too.
"To be honest, at first I also wondered if you might be a possessor."
Of course.
Just how deep in the danger zone had I been, exactly?
"But to think there's not even a risk of you being disliked by the other professors—feels like I picked up an uncut diamond."
Thank you, Professor.
From now on, I'll hold you up like a nuclear umbrella and polish myself hard underneath it.
"What about Professor Meldini?"
"He skipped his meal and locked himself in his lab."
"..."
"He may be eccentric, but among skilled mages he's a respected professor. I respect him too."
Ishirov continued,
"He'll probably come apologize today. And he'll properly compensate you as well."
I thought for a moment, then replied.
"I'd like to apologize to Professor Meldini too."
So then, what exactly is a legendary-grade item?
It's an item classified as a treasure, but judged to still possess unidentified abilities.
What those abilities are, however, remains unknown.
Legendary-grade items exceed the appraisal capabilities of the Magic Academy.
"This compass guides you to treasure chests within labyrinths."
That was the compass's first-stage ability.
"But this compass should have other abilities as well. Perhaps someday, you'll be able to draw out its true power."
"..."
Ah.
Fuck—this isn't some kind of trap too, is it?
In the original game, something like that is an item you don't get until well into the midgame at the earliest.
The reward is so big it's actually stressful. I'd been expecting something modest, like an accessory with a few points of Wisdom tacked on.
Even if he admits he was at fault, is it really okay to just hand a legendary magical tool to a student? Even professors can't have many of these, right? Giving away a treasure like this just because he feels bad?
"Caleb."
But now that I looked closer, that wasn't the reason.
"This is an item I truly want to give you."
This wasn't compensation for a mistake. Right now, Meldini was—
"You are going to become the greatest mage the Magic Academy has ever produced."
He's started harboring some very strange delusions about me!
He despises possessors and loves upright native mages.
In his mind, there are only two kinds of mages.
Type one: possessor mages who deserve to be beaten to death.
Type two: good, non-possessor mages.
And now that I'd abruptly U-turned from an out-of-control type one into a goddamn genius type two—
"My expectations for you are enormous!"
Meldini had turned into my most fervent supporter.
"Twelve years ago, due to the labyrinth eruption, the Magic Academy fell into an unprecedented slump. We lack mage manpower, and the faculty has grown too old. But now! I can say this with certainty. You will become the new beacon of the Magic Academy!"
Uh—hold on a second—
"When I first heard from my assistants about what you did in the labyrinth, there was one thing that stood out in particular. The incident in the Venomic Spider exit room."
The professor continued,
"Ten thousand gold worth of coins, plus the chance to immediately exit the labyrinth, become a free citizen, and transfer to a higher-ranked party. And you threw all of that away to stay beside a companion you'd known for barely a day? That's not an easy decision to make!"
It really was difficult at the time.
"That shows tremendous trust. Now I finally understand how that dwarf adventurer must have felt back then. And after an incident of this magnitude, you came directly to me and apologized first? You are more than qualified to become a first-rate mage in character as well! This—this is the caliber and leadership of a true great mage!"
"..."
"I'll support you with everything I have from now on. More than Professor Ishirov ever could! It doesn't matter that you're not in my club! As long as we can protect the Magic Academy and the city of Sohen from possessors and the labyrinth eruptions they cause, I'm on your side!"
Spit flew from the excited halfling professor's mouth.
"So take that compass! I only ever lent it out to my assistants on rare occasions, but giving it to you outright doesn't feel like a waste at all! Use it to steadily uncover treasures and grow into a powerful mage! I'll be watching you, Caleb!"
"Th-thank you..."
It was a bit overwhelming, but I could tell he was sincere.
After accepting the compass and saying goodbye, I left—but the professor followed me out, showering me with encouragement.
"If you run into trouble, come talk to me!"
"Yes..."
"If anyone gives you a hard time, come tell me!"
"..."
"If you need help with magical research or training, come to me!"
Please stop! This is too much pressure!
The Mel-Devil didn't take my wrist, but instead handed me an insanely powerful legendary tool.
Of course, its abilities unlock in stages, so it's not immediately efficient.
Still—
"Anyway, this turned out better than expected."
Now then, shall we move on to the final task of the day?
If you walk about one kilometer south from the Adventurers' Guild in the labyrinth city of Sohen, pass the bank, and duck into the alley beside the restaurant district, you'll find rows of tightly packed houses.
He lives in one of them.
The unfortunate monk party leader whose party lost two members and had another turn into an exit boss—forcing him to disband the party in tears.
Aimus Renic.
That middle-aged man, soon to celebrate his forty-sixth birthday, received a rather absurd proposal.
From me.
"Let's live together for a while!"
"L-live together…? Starting today?"
"Yes. That's okay, right?"
I glanced at his wife, who was listening in over his shoulder.
"We can sync our skills, work out strategies. Have a drink, see who snores when they sleep. Once we enter the labyrinth, we'll be camping together anyway, right? Think of it as getting used to each other's rhythm ahead of time."
Normally, of course, people don't rehearse sleeping together like this.
But I had my reasons.
Monk bro!
I need to see your stats!
Based on my experience with Yernil in the slave quarters, and when I crashed in the library overnight, if we're too far apart, I can't see the status window.
It probably treats us as having disbanded the party.
So I have to take the monk with me today. Otherwise, how am I supposed to plan strategies starting tomorrow?
"Let's just do it for one night."
"Hm."
The monk hesitated, glancing at his wife. She spoke up.
"Does it really have to go that far? You're taking my husband out to stay overnight with you?"
Ma'am, please—
The way you're phrasing that makes it sound like I'm some young punk asking to take your daughter on an anniversary trip.
"To be honest… I thought my husband would fail when he applied to that party. I don't really understand it myself, but isn't the mage recruiting supposed to be someone really famous?"
"That mage would be me."
"Huh… really?"
She looked extremely skeptical. Yeah, I get it. After seeing a dependable bear of a monk every day, it's hard to trust a skinny anchovy who looks like a kid.
"Just one night. We'll live together, throw a light party-formation party, and I'll return him safely tomorrow morning. I promise."
"..."
After some thought, Renic's wife asked,
"Are there women there?"
"There… is one, but don't worry. She sleeps in a different room."
No one besides you is interested in a forty-six-year-old muscle-packed monk (married, two sons and one daughter).
"And there's also one undead."
"Undead?"
Her expression plunged even deeper into anxiety and confusion.
"What kind of party did you even join…?"
Honestly, even I think our party is kind of bizarre.