Report
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 17
"Kaylen, one of Mr. O’Connell’s students, seems to have used some remarkable magic. Princess Violet has asked you to look into it, sir."
"Remarkable magic, you say?"
When O’Connell first heard this from the maid, he found it hard to believe.
He knew a bit about this student named Kaylen.
No outstanding talent.
No passion for effort.
Lazy and gluttonous.
A failing student who barely managed the 2nd Circle—if that even.
Even though Jane had personally testified that she was blown away by Kaylen’s 1st Circle Wind Magic…
"Knights are always useless. Now they’re even spouting nonsense."
O’Connell didn’t believe it easily.
The Kaylen he knew was just that much of a failure.
"Princess Violet said that if he shows significant ability, she’d even provide him with an Intermediate Mana Stone. If he’s hesitant to disclose information, she’s willing to give up to three Mana Stones as compensation for accurate details."
However, the princess seemed to think differently, going as far as offering three Mana Stones.
"Three Mana Stones?"
O’Connell’s thoughts shifted.
"I know that Kaylen kid well enough." The student he observed in class.
A feeble kid who’d spill everything under the pressure of his teacher’s authority.
"Though I can’t outright threaten him. I need a legitimate reason."
O’Connell decided on a test as his justification.
If he framed it as a condition for advancing, Kaylen would have no choice but to comply.
"I’ll get the information from him and make use of those Mana Stones myself."
Now, O’Connell hoped Kaylen had some worthwhile information.
Only then would the princess provide the Mana Stones.
O’Connell was already excited about getting his hands on them.
However…
"I refuse to take the test you mentioned, sir."
"What…"
"I can use magic. I see no reason to follow such an order."
When O’Connell visited the next day, Kaylen confidently informed him.
"You’re refusing the test?"
"Yes. And I’ll be attending classes again starting tomorrow, so there’s no need for you to visit me anymore."
With that, Kaylen politely bowed to O’Connell.
"Now, I need to pack my things. Please leave, sir."
"You… Kaylen. Even with your stupidity, you don’t understand the implications of what I’m saying?"
"Oh, I understand perfectly."
As O’Connell growled with a threatening tone, Kaylen began stepping closer.
"A teacher, who calls himself my advisor…"
Step. Step.
Kaylen approached.
"…visiting a student recovering in the infirmary…"
His body, once laughable due to its uncontrollable weight, had transformed.
While still large, it no longer evoked ridicule but rather an imposing presence.
"Using advancement as a pretext to intimidate me..."
Kaylen stepped forward, closing the distance by a single stride.
Gone were his formerly vacant eyes.
His golden eyes now shone with a sharp brilliance, exuding a piercing gaze.
Along with that gaze, an overwhelming intensity emanated from him.
It wasn’t the aura of a mage but that of a ferocious beast, like a bear approaching its prey.
Unconsciously, O’Connell took a step back.
His body shuddered as goosebumps spread across his skin.
"Isn’t this what you meant, sir?"
Kaylen’s voice was calm but firm.
"I’ll see you in class tomorrow. Please leave now."
Is this kid defying me?
I’ll make sure he never dreams of advancing!
How dare this country bumpkin…!
Those words swirled in O’Connell’s mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to say them.
Because…
As much as he hated to admit it, he was scared. It felt like he had defied someone he should never have crossed.
'Damn it, what’s wrong with my body?!'
Kaylen hadn’t done anything extraordinary.
He had merely risen from his bed and walked over.
Yet O’Connell was completely overpowered by Kaylen’s sheer presence, unable to move or speak.
"Fine. We’ll see… about this."
Grinding his teeth, O’Connell forced his trembling legs to step back.
But his unsteady body quickly lost its balance.
Thud!
O’Connell fell flat on his back.
Kaylen smirked at the sight.
"Your lower body seems weak, sir. Perhaps you should exercise more."
"You…!"
What an embarrassing display.
O’Connell couldn’t believe what had just happened.
Kaylen hadn’t physically harmed him.
He had merely walked toward him, yet O’Connell had been so overwhelmed by his aura that his body trembled uncontrollably, and he fell over on his own.
"I’ll see you tomorrow."
Kaylen’s words hung in the air as O’Connell, his face flushed red, scrambled to his feet and fled the room.
'This bastard…!'
Watching O’Connell’s retreating figure, Kaylen chuckled softly.
"I just wanted to scare him a little. I didn’t think he’d crumble so easily."
"That… was only a little scare?"
Standing nearby, Alkas, who had been observing the entire scene, spoke in disbelief.
"I thought that mage was going to wet himself. Your aura was terrifying."
Flustered, Alkas asked back, "If he's a mage, shouldn’t he be able to withstand at least this much? If he quakes like that, how would he survive on a battlefield teeming with arrows?"
"Lord, he’ll remember this humiliation and likely continue to interfere with you. It could become quite bothersome..."
"It’s fine. I have my ways," Kaylen replied, lying back on his bed as he glanced at Alkas.
"Let’s just focus on packing."
Meanwhile, O’Connell, still fuming from the humiliation of being overwhelmed by Kaylen, stormed through the academy grounds.
Kaylen’s actions hadn’t involved any direct violence.
It was simply that O’Connell, crushed under the weight of Kaylen’s aura, had toppled over on his own.
But no matter how much presence someone exuded, could a mage, not even a knight, produce such an overpowering aura?
As O’Connell pondered, he arrived at a conclusion.
"That brat… Did he have a knight hidden behind him?!"
If that were the case, it would explain the tremor he had felt earlier.
The distance between him and the knight might have been considerable, but…
The knight must have been exceptionally skilled.
The thought only fueled O’Connell’s anger.
It felt as if Kaylen had deliberately schemed to make a fool out of him.
"Did you find out anything?"
At that moment, Jane, the maid, approached and asked. O’Connell tried to calm himself but still couldn’t hide his bitterness.
"Miss Jane, that boy… doesn’t seem to be worth all this attention."
"Really? Is that so?"
"Yes. He only rambled incoherently when asked about magic, unable to provide proper answers. I don’t think he’s worth Princess Violet’s concern."
"But the Wind Magic he used that day was quite powerful..."
"It seems it was just a one-time fluke after the incident. When I asked if he could replicate it, he fumbled and avoided answering."
O’Connell lied through his teeth, badmouthing Kaylen without hesitation.
Jane tilted her head slightly in doubt but didn’t press further.
"Is that so…? The magic he displayed at the time was certainly impressive, though."
Still, she figured a mage like O’Connell would have a better eye for assessing such things. She didn’t suspect he might harbor a grudge against a mere student and quickly accepted his words.
"Either way, it seems unnecessary for the princess to waste her energy on that boy."
"I see. Then we won’t need the Mana Stones either."
At the mention of the Mana Stones, O’Connell flinched slightly.
Though blinded by anger and resentment, he hesitated to let the Mana Stones slip away so easily.
"Just in case, I’ll look into him further. Even if it’s not about the magic, he might have some connection to the Florence family."
"Alright. Let’s proceed that way for now. The princess will soon be busy preparing for the tournament, so I’ll leave this matter to you, Mr. O’Connell."
"Understood."
Having been entrusted with the matter of Kaylen, O’Connell smirked slyly.
"I’ll use every bit of my authority to ruin your life as a mage."
While a teacher at the Magic Academy didn’t wield limitless power, they could make life miserable for a student without connections. With help from his fellow instructors, taking down a student like Kaylen would be effortless.
If his career was completely destroyed, Kaylen wouldn’t maintain that insolent attitude for long.
"Whatever he’s hiding, he’ll eventually kneel and beg me for mercy, offering up his secrets," O’Connell thought smugly.
At that time, his confidence was unwavering.
Two weeks after the incident, Kaylen returned to his studies.
Although his sudden weight loss briefly caught some attention, that was the extent of it.
Most students at the academy were too busy with their own work to pay him any heed.
One noticeable change, however, was Lina approaching him, biting her lip nervously.
"My father is curious about how the experiment is going," she said.
"So, your patron is already showing interest," Kaylen replied indifferently. "It’s still in the early stages. Tell him to wait."
"…That’s it?"
"Yeah."
Lina knew exactly how much her father had invested in this endeavor—one high-grade Mana Stone and five mid-grade Mana Stones, equivalent to a staggering 75,000 gold.
Despite receiving such a substantial investment, Kaylen’s dismissive response made her seethe with frustration.
"Leave."
At Kaylen’s curt command, she bit her lip again, unable to say anything further, and turned away.
Watching Lina retreat silently to her seat, the surrounding students began to whisper among themselves.
"Wasn’t Kaylen basically Lina’s lapdog?"
"Something’s changed between them."
"That guy’s acting differently now."
Of course, their interest didn’t last long.
"Let’s begin the class."
When their homeroom mage, O’Connell, entered, the students quickly returned their focus to their studies.
After all, Kaylen was just a backwater student, a 2nd-circle mage with subpar grades.
No matter how much he changed, to them, he was simply a classmate they wouldn’t see again after this semester.
However, it didn’t take long for Kaylen to draw their attention again.
It happened during O’Connell’s "Introduction to 3rd-Circle Magic" class.
"Kaylen, what’s the meaning of what I just said?"
"Kaylen, come to the front and solve this problem."
"Kaylen."
Kaylen’s name echoed through the classroom at ten-minute intervals.
At first, the students thought he was called randomly, but as the pattern continued, they realized the truth.
Kaylen had been targeted by their teacher.
"What’s with him? What did he do to get singled out?"
"Seriously, the teacher keeps calling him."
"And all the questions are ridiculously hard."
Before Kaylen’s recent hospitalization, O’Connell had barely acknowledged his existence.
To O’Connell, a student’s worth was determined by one of two things: their family background or their exceptional talent.
Kaylen, who had neither, didn’t meet O’Connell’s standards in the slightest.
Kaylen had once been ignored entirely, but now it was painfully obvious to the entire class: their teacher was fixated on him.
Even the top-performing students would struggle with the kinds of questions O’Connell posed, but Kaylen’s reactions were downright infuriating.
"I don’t know."
"Not a clue," Kaylen would answer, shrugging his shoulders.
Though his responses were polite, there was something about his demeanor that was subtly provoking.
It was as if he was toying with O’Connell, and everyone in the room could sense it.
‘Oh, he’s definitely doing this on purpose,’ the students thought.
"This is disappointing. How can a student not know this?"
"Are you even paying attention in class?"
"With this level of understanding, there’s no way I can give you a passing grade in Introduction to 3rd-Circle Magic. It’s like you’re not even trying!"
O’Connell didn’t hesitate to use grades as leverage, blatantly threatening Kaylen.
The other students, watching this unfold, couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.
‘What’s wrong with him? Is this really about class performance?’
Still, they kept their heads down, unwilling to get involved.
‘Better not get dragged into this mess.’
‘I can’t afford to be on the teacher’s bad side.’
O’Connell’s vendetta against Kaylen became clear when, at the end of class, he addressed the group.
"I’ve never had such a disappointing student in all my years here. I hope the rest of you are careful about the company you keep. You know what I mean."
With that, O’Connell left the room, leaving an awkward silence in his wake.
What did Kaylen do to deserve this? Did a teacher have the right to act like this?
These were the questions on everyone’s minds, but none dared to ask Kaylen directly.
It was the second semester of their second year—a critical period for any aspiring mage. Crossing the wrong teacher could ruin their future prospects, so it was better to stay uninvolved.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t just O’Connell.
"Kaylen, is that you? Answer this question," demanded another professor during a subsequent class.
"Tsk, tsk. How can you call yourself a mage if you don’t know this?"
Again and again, instructors posed absurdly difficult questions, criticizing Kaylen relentlessly when he didn’t provide the correct answers.
Several even hinted that his grades might suffer if he continued to "perform poorly."
By the end of the week, nearly half of the academy’s faculty had joined in this campaign of targeted harassment.
‘Wow, this is insane. It’s like they’ve all teamed up against him.’
‘Did he insult O’Connell or something?’
As if that wasn’t enough, Kaylen’s classmates avoided him entirely, not wanting to risk associating with him.
Five days passed like this.
Kaylen, however, remained unfazed. His unyielding demeanor baffled everyone, especially his tormentors.
The Swordmaster who had returned after a millennium refused to bend.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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