novelraw Chapter 70 : A New Sculpture (1)
Chapter 70 : A New Sculpture (1)
Chapter 70: A New Sculpture (1)
Rezi was soaked in alcohol, slumped over the table.
The place where he was drinking was the only tavern in the Underworld located right on the border between the Mage’s District and the Swordsman’s District.
When he used to come to the Underworld during vacations while teaching Class 0 at the Ed Branch School, he had never even glanced at this place.
But that was a year ago.
After he was suddenly expelled, he began to investigate alone to uncover the truth behind the unjust expulsion.
However, he found nothing.
In that entire year, he hadn’t managed to discover a single thing.
Now, it was the end of winter, as the new year had passed.
Every summer and winter vacation, Rezi would find himself missing his days as a Class 0 teacher, longing to return to the academy.
But recently, the Underworld had undergone yet another change—the division of the land into the Mage’s District and the Swordsman’s District.
By coincidence, his current residence was within the Swordsman’s District.
According to the new agreement between mages and swordsmen, he should have been expelled from that street and sent back to the Mage’s District, but he had already lost his status as a mage.
The swordsmen didn’t bother with him, so they hadn’t driven him out either.
But Rezi still held pride in himself as a mage.
He had thought about moving to the Mage’s District, but since his expulsion a year ago, he was no longer recognized as one.
And so, no matter how much he acted alone, there was nothing more he could uncover.
Then one day, he learned that this tavern was the only place on the border between the two districts—and he began to frequent it.
He believed that by sitting here, he might find some kind of clue.
However.
If the world ever went the way people wanted it to, then what need would there be for worry?
Contrary to Rezi’s expectations, no one ever came to this border tavern.
Drinking cup after cup in frustration, he eventually became utterly drunk.
This lifestyle had already lasted more than a week.
“Sir… the world is really screwed up. Puhuhu…”
The only one he ever spoke to was the tavern owner, a middle-aged man with white hair.
Half out of his mind from the alcohol, Rezi just spat out random words.
“Hearing a young man who’s been coming here for over a week, drinking himself stupid, say the world is screwed up… that’s something.”
The tavern owner replied with a tone that was more pity than anger.
He didn’t even glance at Rezi, simply wiping glasses with a white cloth as he spoke.
“Wow, you’re actually replying today? I thought you couldn’t hear me since you never answered before.”
“You’re still young with your whole life ahead of you. That’s enough for today—go home.”
“No. There’s something I absolutely have to find.”
“I don’t know what you’re looking for, but you can’t find anything unless you’re sober. What are you planning to do in that state?”
“Damn it…”
Whoosh!
Rezi suddenly grew irritated and lit the half-filled glass of alcohol on fire.
He wasn’t trying to threaten anyone—it was simply a drunken attempt to reclaim some sense of self-respect.
“Sir, I’ll have you know, I reached the 6th Circle, alright? Do you know how hard it is for a commoner to reach the 6th Circle? I even taught at the Ed Branch School… I really did…”
At that moment, the tavern owner’s hand stopped polishing the glass.
“The Ed… Branch School, huh. What class did you teach?”
“Class 0. It was rewarding teaching those pure and adorable students…”
“So you’re telling me all this because you were expelled.”
“Wow… you’re not a commoner, are you? How do you know that so well?”
Rezi blinked several times, his drunken eyes half-shut and dull.
“At my age, I’ve heard and seen enough. It’d be stranger if I didn’t know.”
“How old are you anyway? I’m a mage—I might even be older than you.”
“…Let’s not talk about that.”
When the topic turned to age, the man held his tongue.
“Ah, it all evaporated…”
Rezi looked regretfully into the glass he had set on fire earlier.
“One more drink, please.”
“That’s enough.”
“Please.”
“I said I’m not selling.”
“I said give it to me!”
Rezi slammed his fist on the table like a petulant child, far from acting like an adult.
“Good grief…”
If it were up to him, the tavern owner would’ve smacked the kid with a spell, but what good would that do against a drunk?
He just shook his head and poured him the strongest drink he had.
Truthfully, it was more like saying “drink it and pass out.”
“Ugh…”
As expected, after one sip, Rezi stuck out his tongue, looking ready to vomit.
The tavern owner looked away again and resumed cleaning the glasses.
But Rezi slumped over the table once more and began to complain again.
“When I reached the 6th Circle… I was so happy. I felt like I could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Archmage.”
At the word Archmage, the tavern owner’s hand paused once more.
His lips tightened slightly, an uncomfortable look flickering across his face.
“And which Archmage are you talking about, the one you admired?”
“The current Archmage, of course. He’s amazing… The one who saw through his master’s corruption and led the world onto the right path. How could I not respect him?”
“…”
‘If even a 6th Circle Mage believes like that, then that damned man’s brainwashing must truly be exceptional.’
“But you know… I kept failing the 7th Circle test, and I was about to be expelled. It felt like the sky was collapsing.”
“The sky doesn’t fall that easily.”
“Yes! Just like you said! But something miraculous happened! They told me that if I taught as a Class 0 teacher for five years and graduated a certain number of students, I’d get another chance to take the test.”
“So you were expelled because you couldn’t graduate enough students.”
“No! I graduated fourteen of them!”
“I don’t know if that’s supposed to be impressive.”
“But the school went back on their word. They told me I just had to graduate students, but the Vice Headmaster said the condition only counted if I expelled them. In the end, they expelled me instead. Vice Headmaster, Headmaster—if I ever see them again, I’ll ram right into them.”
“…”
Knowing every detail and circumstance behind that, the tavern owner found this conversation unbearably uncomfortable.
When Rezi had first come in, he could tell from his aura that he was a mage of some circle, but he hadn’t imagined he was once a Class 0 teacher at the Ed Branch School—something he only learned today.
‘Be grateful you’re still alive, common-born 6th Circle. Those Vice Headmaster and Headmaster you curse—they’re the very reason you still have your life.’
He could only swallow those words down.
“Why do they have to shatter every bit of hope into pieces…? The people who live only for that one hope end up losing everything. Ha, it’s embarrassing, really. I even told Professor Mel so confidently that I was going to the main school…”
By now, Rezi’s words were no longer directed at him—they had turned into a soliloquy of complaints.
‘Mel? Is she talking about Mirne Mel? So even the faculty is slowly being consumed now, it seems.’
“Something’s definitely wrong. Think about it! A school is supposed to teach students, so why are they trying to drive them out?”
Rezi suddenly shouted at him.
“How would a commoner like me know?”
“But it’s just too unfair… If only I’d had a bit more power, I could’ve changed things! I wouldn’t have had to suffer like this!”
‘Change things? You, a mere 6th Circle of the Fire Element? Impossible. But… I like that spirit of yours.’
Rezi’s voice had now turned into one filled with rage and resentment.
But for the first time, the tavern owner looked at Rezi’s face directly.
Something about his words stirred something deep in his chest.
The reason was simple—there hadn’t been a single mage who dared to question this world before.
At least, not among the ones he had seen.
Yet the young man before him not only questioned it but was trying to uncover the truth all on his own.
He simply hadn’t found anything yet.
Such determination and initiative were things to be valued. Results weren’t everything.
“Young man.”
“What.”
“Among the things you said, you mentioned breaking hope into pieces.”
“…Yes.”
“If there’s someone who breaks it, then there’s also someone who gathers those pieces. Just like how, when trash rolls down the street, someone eventually picks it up.”
“…What are you suddenly talking about?”
“It means someone will pick up the broken pieces of your hope. And do you really believe this world is wrong?”
“To be precise, not the world—the school…”
“For mages, the school is the world, isn’t it?”
“…That’s true.”
“Then. Do you believe it’s wrong?”
Rezi blinked slowly again, thinking about how to answer.
He didn’t understand why the man was fixated on that point.
“Of course. A school meant for education turning into one for expulsion—it’s absurd.”
“Is that so?”
The man smiled with satisfaction, nodding before turning his gaze away from Rezi.
“Why are you asking that all of a sudde—ugh…!”
Whoosh—
Thud!
The moment the man turned his back, Rezi’s body suddenly shot up into the air, his head hitting the ceiling before dropping straight down to the floor, unconscious.
The tavern owner had deliberately used the Flewd Element to knock him out.
“I’ll have to talk to him once he sobers up.”
The tavern owner grabbed Rezi by the ankles, dragged her across the floor, and put her in the tavern’s secret basement for the time being.
“I’ll need Lord Etar’s permission… but he did tell me to act on my own for now, so it should be fine.”
“Phew! I’m exhausted!”
“Artel, you’re going to burn out at this rate. Let’s stop here for today.”
Our sparring had continued until nightfall.
It was all for Hei and Kiena to improve their magic proficiency.
After the intense training, both of them collapsed onto the floor of the training hall, drenched in sweat.
Lying side by side, staring up at the ceiling, they spoke to me.
“Artel, you’re not even sweating a drop?”
“Artel, you fought both of us at once and you’re not tired?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
For me, this level of sparring wasn’t even a warm-up.
But for them, it must’ve been as exhausting as running a marathon.
I sat down beside them, taking a break as well.
“Still, Kiena, you’re doing well trying to summon two Relics at once.”
“Yeah, remember that special break before graduation? I spent those five days reading every book in Banshi’s Cave. I still remember what I read, so I think I just need a bit more practice.”
She couldn’t summon two at once perfectly yet.
But given Kiena’s gift for comprehension, I couldn’t help but expect she’d soon be able to control both.
“Hey, you should start memorizing that book from today.”
“Uh… yeah, I think so too.”
Hei had already mastered Fire Shroud and Fireball back in 1st Class.
However, the limited number of spells he could use also meant his offensive options were restricted.
And I’ll say it again—this was Class 3 now.
If 1st Class duels focused on fundamentals, Class 3 duels demanded application.
“All right, that’s it for today. Get some rest. I’ll head in first.”
After Artel left for the dormitory, Kiena and Hei remained lying there, locking eyes.
“Artel… doesn’t he seem kind of scary today?”
Hei spoke first.
“Yeah… scary.”
The two of them both felt a strange sense of unease at how drastically Artel’s demeanor had changed since entering Class 3.