Talent-Swallowing Magician - Chapter 2
2 The
Mervinger Family’s Shame
“….”
Sean quickly glanced around for a moment and spoke with a serious expression only after confirming that no one was interested in this area.
“You be careful what you say. Do you think the exploration team was launched for no reason? “Dozens and hundreds of papers were presented, discussed, and reviewed in academia, and then the possibilities were determined.”
“know.”
“Someone you know says that? Here?”
Sean, who had raised his voice, quickly whispered.
“Do you know how many professors participated here? “You’ve messed with all those old bastards.”
“But what if it’s true?”
As Elric shrugged his shoulders, Sean narrowed his eyes.
I knew Elric’s genius.
However, I did not understand why hundreds of renowned scholars would draw a line over years of research.
“Explain.”
As if Elric had been waiting, he pointed with his index finger to a point on the map attached to the plan.
“Here at this point. It is a crack caused by a collision between strata. You could say it’s a cliff that falls down. Geological surveys show that it was built at least 100,000 years ago, so I would have thought that if there was a dragon’s nest, this was the only place.”
A huge amount of mana is generated when two layers collide.
It must have settled and condensed between cracks over thousands of years.
The theoretical basis was sufficient.
-From high to low.
The crack was well below ground level.
So deep that there is no end in sight.
-From hot to cold.
Since the sun never reaches it, it will be much colder than the ground.
-From a wide place to a narrow place.
The end of the gap had to be very narrow.
The magicians who discovered the traces of the dragon eliminated the impossible ones one by one based on all hypotheses, and finally only one place remained.
So it was declared.
There is a dragon’s nest here.
“But this gap has one element that violates the law of the mana stream.”
“Don’t drag your horse.”
“The area is hot.”
Sean frowned.
“what? There are no volcanic areas here. “It’s 300 meters underground, where not even sunlight can reach.”
“But there is very hot groundwater flowing from the volcano’s lava fields.”
“volcano? “Where on earth is something like that here?”
Elric took a picture of a place on the map.
Sean frowned again.
The place Elric pointed to was Akran Volcano, located in the ‘Ring of Fire’, a northern forbidden area very far from the dragon’s nest located at the southern tip of the continent.
Elric began pouring out words at rapid fire.
“Water originating from the Akran volcano passes under the continent without passing through the sea due to the unique topography of the ‘Ring of Fire’. One of them is Yongcheonhyeol, which is used as a source of drinking water in villages built along the eastern coast. So…”
Every time Elric pointed out the terrain one by one, Sean’s eyes followed suit.
And little by little, my complexion became whiter.
“So, considering all these conditions, this is the only area where groundwater can go down with a lot of tangled water.”
Elric drew a large circle around the area where the dragon’s nest was with a pen.
“…But if you look at the last page, you will see that we were able to successfully harvest the dragon’s magic waves in this area.”
Elric chuckled at Sean’s rebuttal.
“Didn’t I say there wouldn’t be a nest?”
“what?”
“There will be. clearly. In any case, it is a spirit element in which mana as a whole cannot be concentrated. “Here.”
“Then where do you think the nest is?”
“here.”
Elric pointed to an unnamed cave far west of the original location.
“It must be here.”
His voice was very firm.
* * *
“…shit. “How on earth do I tell this to an old guy?”
Sean had to nervously scratch the back of his head the whole way back to the lab.
The more I thought about what Elric had told me, the more I became convinced that it was not wrong.
And even the fact that there would be a real dragon’s nest in the last designated location.
So it was more of a problem.
From now on, it was up to him to deal with the professor.
Sean’s advisor is a powerful man who is even mentioned as the next president.
I liked playing politics more than researching, and I loved fighting more than writing papers.
The reason he forcibly brought Sean under his command was to make his family look good.
To that extent, the advisor was extremely averse to tarnishing his authority.
Considering that he took the lead in planning this exploration, it was obvious that he would be furious when he heard that there was no nest.
‘Are you just going to pretend not to notice and ignore it?’
However, this opportunity was also the most important to Elric.
If it were known that Elric had discovered the location of the real nest, would a repeat grade be a big deal? I might be able to get my name listed in a professional journal.
‘Let’s give it a try.’
Sean wandered around in front of his advisor’s room for a while, then made up his mind and knocked on the door.
* * *
“hmm! “Sean, what you’re saying now is that the nest will be in a completely different place?”
Advisor Verux looked at Sean with an expression of blatant displeasure.
“That’s not it, I’m asking for the professor’s opinion because I think there’s a possibility that it might be here.”
Sean tried to speak in a way that did not offend Professor Verlux as much as possible.
Verex’s eyes were already so hot that they would have boiled him several times if it were possible.
‘shit! ‘This is why I didn’t want to come!’
If it wasn’t for Sean’s background, I would have thrown the ashtray right away.
“Now you will have to convince me why you made that judgment. “If not… no matter how much you are a descendant of the Neresta family, I can never ignore you.”
Sean’s mouth felt dry, but since he had already protested, he continued his explanation slowly with his fists clenched.
just as expected.
Unlike the beginning, Professor Verlux’s expression gradually changed strangely as the explanation continued.
“…I’m guessing like this.”
After all explanations are over.
Knock.
Knock.
Professor Verlux silently tapped the desk with his index finger.
It was a habit he always had when he was worried.
The furrow between the eyebrows was getting deeper.
“Whose opinion did you say this was?”
“This is Elric Mervinger from the War Department of Elemental Magic!”
“You mean the shame of the Mervinger family? “Then there’s no need to think about it any further.”
Professor Verlux let out a chuckle.
“Professor….”
“It’s definitely a reasonable guess. Because I too was tempted for a moment. “This is insight and insight that is difficult for a single student to provide.”
“but…!”
“but! That’s it. Don’t you even think about the loss that occurs as groundwater flows to the southern end? Moreover, all the evidence provided is just speculation, right? Without any evidence whatsoever. “It is nothing more than a plausible patchwork of various papers published in the world.”
Professor Verlux snorted lightly and continued speaking.
“From what I heard, the Mervinger family is in danger of receiving an academic warning again and being expelled? “You won’t be able to pass the additional test with a body like an idiot that can’t even store magic power, let alone condense it… I guess you just came up with a trick.”
You idiot.
Sean’s fist tightened at those words.
I don’t know if I know Sean’s reaction.
Professor Verlux waved his hand as if he didn’t want to hear any more.
“It seems like they were trying to trick you into something innocent, but you can’t avoid my eyes.”
“What if…”
“Hmm?”
“What if… But Elric Mervinger’s guess could be right, right?”
Sean asked in a tone as if he was pressing something.
Professor Verrux was about to tell Sean to stop saying something ridiculous, but he looked Sean up and down and suddenly smiled kindly.
“Of course, in the world of things, there are times when you get caught walking backwards. “As dean, I can’t just ignore the opinion of a cadet who hasn’t even been expelled yet.”
“then…!”
“If you do it, do it like this.”
“…What do you mean?”
At that moment, one corner of Professor Verlux’s mouth twitched sharply.
“How about making a bet that the department will give you a chance?”
* * *
“bet? good. call.”
Elric nodded when he saw Sean, who had rushed to the dormitory and was chatting with his advisor about what had happened.
Sean frowned and shouted.
“hey!”
“Oh, my ears are falling off. I can hear you next door. “Speak softly.”
Sean paid no heed to Elric’s scolding.
“Aren’t you even angry!”
“what?”
“The dean is saying that he will take something that is no different from a family heirloom from a student…!”
Sean still couldn’t forget Professor Verrux’s last bet.
-I will give you full authority to form an exploration party. Elric Mervinger’s guess was very plausible, so what’s the harm in checking it?
-However, as you all know, the department’s budget is not very generous. We need plausible evidence to persuade the budget department. Something to complain about when the exploration fails…
– That’s what I’m saying. I heard that Elric Mervinger always takes great care of the first president’s belongings. How about depositing it?
Usden Mervinger, the first president who founded Usden Academy, became Elric’s grandfather.
He had never seen his grandfather in person.
Because he died early before he was even born.
However, because Elric left such a huge mark on continental history, people knew his face through statues and his achievements through sagas even though they had never seen his face.
There was the only memento that my grandfather left to the family.
No, to be exact, it was an heirloom passed down from generation to generation to the head of the Mervinger family.
A necklace in the shape of a swastika whose light has faded.
Also known as ‘Magic Light’.
Because I always wore Elric, I sometimes forgot its importance.
It was bound to have a special meaning to those who followed Wudden Mervinger and revered the magic inscription.
Professor Verrux is telling us to present this very thing.
Although it was said that it was placed under the pretext of ‘deposit’, it was as obvious as seeing whose hands it would fall into afterward.
It was an insulting suggestion, but it wouldn’t have been surprising if other nobles who put their family’s honor above all else would have been stabbed right away.
Eat.
Elric just laughed.
“That guy has been coveting this for more than a day or two.”
“You’re saying that right now…!”
“Thank you, though. “In the end, you stood by my side until the end, right?”
“Fuck.”
Sean flopped down in his seat.
I’ve been angry on behalf of the person so far, but if the person concerned reacts this way, will I only lose more strength?
In fact, Elric looked at his friend with satisfaction.
“…So what are you going to do now? Are you really going to pack your bags?”
Professor Verrux set a condition that if a nest was indeed found at Elric’s guessed location, he would be exempt from repeat grades.
In the end, it’s all or nothing.
“uh. “It has to be cheap.”
“ha! In the end…”
“But one thing is missing.”
“…?”
“This side is betting on heirlooms, but that side is only betting on paid exemptions? That’s why the scales don’t fit.”
“then?”
At that moment, Elric smiled as evilly as Professor Verlux in Sean’s eyes.
“Isn’t it a bit too much for the dean to risk his life as a dean?”
“…!”
Only then was Sean able to remember.
In addition to the nickname ‘Shame of the Mervinger family’, there is another nickname for Elric that is secretly spread among the cadets.
The bastard of the Mervinger family.
Wizard who swallowed talent