The Genius Tamer of the Academy

Chapter 30

In terms of significance, the lab explosion episode is more of a stepping stone for the next major plot point.

It was just one of those one-off episodes meant to showcase the abilities of the protagonist, Lee Han.

I remembered that Lee Han managed to handle the situation without it escalating, but that wasn’t the point.

The situation was briefly described in “Slakadami” in just two lines:

[Except for the two students who were in the lab at the time, there were no injuries. Thanks to our amazing protagonist, everything was resolved safely.]

Of course, it wasn’t written exactly like that, but the gist was the same.

But hold on a second.

*Except for two students?*

Why were they excluded?

They’re just as much Ardel Academy students as anyone else, aren’t they?

The reason I’m so upset is simple.

One of those two students is likely to be me. So, to avoid becoming one of those unfortunate extras, I needed to think fast.

First, I could go to the professor’s office right now and dramatically refuse the graduate school offer.

Second, since I don’t know the exact date of the explosion, I could leave work on time every evening without fail.

Third, I could just quietly escape.

But none of these options were particularly good.

That leaves me with only one alternative….

I didn’t really want to get involved in the main episode, but…

Well, it’s just a side episode, so it should be okay.

I have no choice.

I need to survive, after all.

Why think only about avoiding it?

I could just stop it from happening.

***

“This is Betty, a student who helps out in my lab. And this is Han Siha, who joined us for the first time today. He’s a second-year.”

After Professor Ernst’s brief introduction, he left the room, and an awkward silence settled in.

Betty seemed too shy to start a conversation, clearly struggling to speak.

From what Professor Ernst said, she was a fifth-year student, so I gave her a polite bow.

“Please take care of me, senior.”

“O-Oh. Yes!”

Betty stammered as she returned the greeting.

“Y-Yes, let’s do our best.”

“Thank you.”

“A-And… um….”

The conversation halted again.

Betty swallowed nervously, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She fanned herself with her hand, trying to calm down.

“I-I’m sorry!”

She was clearly very shy. I wondered if I should step aside for a bit to give her some space.

Her gaze fell on Basilus, who was following me around, and she finally added a delayed comment.

“…He’s cute.”

“Thank you. Basilus, say hello.”

“Koo! Koo!”

Look at this guy, acting all cutesy.

Basilus rolled his large eyes and leapt onto Betty’s lap.

“Ah!”

Thanks to him, the stifling silence was broken. Betty finally took a deep breath and began to speak more freely.

“I was just a little surprised since it’s the first time we’ve had a new student… Professor Ernst is very particular, as you might know.”

If a student didn’t meet his standards, he wouldn’t even let them into the lab.

Given that the Magic Department has fewer applicants compared to other subjects and that the professors are pickier, it seemed Betty hadn’t had any juniors before.

After a moment of hesitation, Betty finally calmed down and began to show me around the lab.

“We’re currently researching the relationship between the concentration of magic and combat power, and over here is where we store blood samples. This is….”

On and on she went.

I appreciated her dedication to explaining the structure of the lab, but unfortunately, my mind was elsewhere.

Where could it be?

Where did they hide it?

“Oh, just a moment!”

Betty, who had been guiding me around the lab non-stop, suddenly stopped with a surprised look.

“Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“The professor asked to see me at three… Oh no…! Just a moment! Please wait here and look around a bit more!”

Works for me.

“Take care!”

I’ll just cause a bit of trouble while you’re gone!

As soon as the door clicked shut, the polite smile I’d been wearing vanished.

There’s no time to waste.

I need to find it as quickly as possible before Betty comes back.

The ticking time bomb that could blow up Professor Ernst’s lab.

Obviously, it’s not that someone planted an actual bomb that will cause the lab to explode.

It’s that magical word that explains everything in “Slakadami”: *mana*.

A monster that would later be dubbed Ardel’s Frankenstein.

The explosion was triggered by a sudden amplification of the mana within a stitched-together experiment—a monster created by piecing together parts of various other monsters.

Ultimately, Frankenstein escapes from the lab, two extra students die in the explosion, and two hours later, the monster is completely taken down by Lee Han, according to the original storyline.

Well, the protagonist will handle the aftermath.

My job is to find the experiment hidden in the lab and remove it.

That’s the only way to prevent an explosion here.

Let’s see…

“Basilus!”

“koo!”

“Can you find the mana?”

Nod, nod.

Basilus, brimming with confidence, leapt up and carefully maneuvered around the lab’s machinery before lowering himself to the wooden shelves.

Even if I couldn’t sense it as a human, Basilus’s keen instincts wouldn’t miss it.

Sniffing around the lab floor, Basilus suddenly stopped after a moment.

“Is it there?”

Swish.

A wooden plank in the corner of the lab, covered in dirt.

Given how dangerous the experiment is, I figured it would be sealed away, but I didn’t expect it to be buried underground.

“It’s under here, right?”

“koo!”

It seems unreasonable to rip up the entire floor; the scale is too large, and it could be buried at a considerable depth.

As I pondered how to unearth it, I slowly reached for the rusted plank.

“Ouch!”

A sharp pain pricked my fingertip.

At the same time, the wood turned black. The plank, creaking as if rusted through, was uncomfortably discolored.

“Damn it.”

Instinctively, I stepped back.

I knew they were harboring some monstrous experiment in this lab. I also knew that this was an officially sanctioned project by Ardel Academy.

But why do I sense dark magic here?

There’s no way Ardel Academy would have approved something like this.

The plank, which had quickly drained some of my mana, writhed as if it were alive.

Sensing the ominous aura, Basilus raised his guard, ready to attack.

“Wait a minute…”

Are you telling me the Frankenstein that Lee Han so easily defeated was a monster created with dark magic?

“This isn’t good.”

Now that I knew the truth about the experiment buried below, this wasn’t something I could just mess around with.

“Adela.”

I needed help from an expert in this field.

***

“There’s an experiment in Professor Ernst’s lab? And it’s enchanted with dark magic?”

“Yes, surprisingly.”

“Do you expect me to believe that…?”

It was the reaction I expected.

Honestly, I wouldn’t believe it either. The idea that there was an illegally researched experiment hidden inside a well-guarded place like Ardel Academy, especially in a professor’s lab, was hard to swallow.

So, I didn’t really think she’d agree to help.

It was only natural for Adela to ignore something this dangerous.

I had only asked her on the off chance she might help, given her expertise in earth magic.

“Let’s check it out.”

Surprisingly, Adela nodded without hesitation, her eyes filled with resolve.

Late at night, while fifth-year Betty was away, I snuck Adela into the lab.

“…It’s here.”

Oh, there really is something here.

Adela stared down at the charred wooden plank, tainted with dark magic, and sighed.

“Don’t touch it.”

“Ow!”

Oops.

I told her not to touch it.

Adela let out a small scream and quickly covered her mouth, her fingers burning from the searing pain.

“Ow…”

It was the middle of the night, not a soul in sight. If we caused too much of a commotion, our plan to secretly remove the experiment could be ruined.

“So, your plan is to smuggle this thing out? To the forest behind the academy?”

“Isn’t that the safest option?”

“And if it wakes up?”

Well, in that case…

*That’s not my problem; there’s someone else who can deal with it.*

I couldn’t exactly say that out loud, so I smiled and offered a vague explanation.

“It’s better than waking up in the middle of the academy. We have capable professors and upperclassmen here, so it shouldn’t be a big issue.”

To be honest, I didn’t have the confidence to deal with it myself.

Leaving it to Adela would be inconsiderate, and besides, it would be more fitting for the protagonist to have his moment to shine.

I rationalized it internally, convincing myself with some pretty shameless logic.

Adela hesitated for a moment but then stepped back without arguing.

“…I’ll do my best.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the wooden plank, which had been pulsating with an ominous energy, suddenly snapped with a loud *crack.*

Then the plank next to it, and the one below. It was like watching a spectacular demolition show in a carpentry shop, and I couldn’t help but gape.

It was impressive enough that she managed to do this without touching anything, but what really amazed me was the ease and confidence in her expression.

“Hmm.”

Crack!

Without using much effort, Adela had already lifted six wooden planks into the air and smiled at me.

“Not bad, right?”

Uh, yeah, very impressive.

It’s good that you’re skilled, but…

Seeing Adela smile like that made me a bit uneasy, remembering how she’d once beaten up Han Siha in the past. Maybe I should be relieved that we’re on the same side now.

Buzz…

Adela had cleared away the dirt behind the planks and crouched down, intrigued by what she saw.

The protective barrier, infused with dark magic, was stronger here.

And beneath it was—

“Ugh…”

Even at a glance, the experiment lying there was grotesque.

A massive ogre’s body, Odopteon’s fangs, kobold legs…

No wonder they called it Ardel’s Frankenstein, given how it was stitched together from various parts.

Adela frowned deeply and let out a heavy sigh.

The grotesque appearance aside, she seemed to be struggling with how to move it, given the dark magic involved.

If only we had Solia’s purification magic.

“I think I can dispel this with basic purification magic.”

It seemed they hadn’t expected anyone to dig this deep, so the protective barrier wasn’t that strong.

Thanks to the basic spellbook I had acquired from the Demon’s Tree dungeon, I could now cast a second-class level purification spell.

Taking a deep breath, I brought the tip of my staff close to the tightly bound Frankenstein.

“Flos.”

Flash…

A stream of white light emanated from the tip of my staff, slowly driving away the swirling black energy.

“Ugh…”

The tension was so intense that my fingers trembled.

I had guessed it would be challenging, but I didn’t expect it to be this tough.

One more time.

“Flos.”

Bang!

As I cast the spell, the recoil knocked me backward.

“Oof!”

“Are you okay?”

Damn it.

My shoulder throbbed painfully from slamming into the wall.

Am I okay?

“…I think so?”

“What?”

“I think the barrier is down.”

“Huh? Oh, you’re right!”

Adela’s eyes widened in surprise.

“What? How did you do that?”

She looked at me as if I had undergone a miraculous transformation, recalling how I had once struggled to take down even a single slime in the dungeon.

It was the result of my improved magical control, thanks to the enhanced quality of my magic and the training I’d been doing.

Feeling a bit cocky, I shrugged with a smirk.

“I’ve been practicing.”

“…”

Adela’s normally prickly demeanor softened as she gazed at me with those large, round eyes.

“What?”

“I’m just a little suspicious if you’re really the Han Siha I used to know.”

As our eyes met, her emerald green ones shining brightly, I cleared my throat and changed the subject.

“We don’t have much time left.”

It wasn’t just a guess—the experiment seemed on the verge of awakening.

I urged Adela to hurry.

“Let’s move it quickly.”

—

Rate us on Novel Updates.