Mel's birthday (part two) (continued)

Everyone wore expressions of horror.

Mel frowned. "Without reaching level six in the current public level assessment, how dare you call yourself a mage with such terrible magic?"

"All of you," I said calmly, looking at them, "You'll all have to go back to university. Just get into the Royal Magic Academy, that'll do. Mel and I will be visiting professors, so you'll all have to come to our classes and catch up on your studies!"

"Aaaaaaaahh..."

A deafening wail echoed outside my mage tower.

Hmm... I'm a little frustrated. Three years ago, I was hailed as the new century's national heartthrob online, but now, when I search for "Ciprins," the first thing that pops up is...

"The most evil, terrifying, depraved, and heinous black sorcerer in the world today!"

I... I don't think I've done anything wrong. In these three years, I haven't burned my teacher to death in a grand manner, nor have I blown up the mothership in a spectacular fashion, nor have I killed any innocent dragons. Why is it that suddenly my reputation has become the same as that of the legendary evil black mage?

Is it because... I'm now in charge of designing the annual graduation exams for the magic academy?

Last month, the Five-Star Old Man won the election and became the Prime Minister of the Federation. Then he invited me and Mel to join his cabinet. I'm the Minister of Education, Mel is now the Dean of the Research Institute. I only just proposed a new magic education reform this month, and my reputation online has already become... well...

"The most terrifying dark mage in history, bar none!"

Hmm...

Speaking of which, my teacher is "the strongest dark mage in history, bar none." As his student, although I haven't surpassed him academically yet, I seem to have already gained the upper hand in terms of reputation...

So I'm angry, even though I was doing it for their own good.

Seeing that I was unhappy, Mel quickly hugged my waist, pressed her forehead against mine, and comforted me, "Xipei, you're the best. You know, yesterday Reynold told me that since you took over the Federation's magic education, the Federation's overall magic level has improved significantly. The Royal Magic Academy went to compete against the Leinayaro Academy and won easily. You know, for centuries, our Federation's Royal Magic Academy has been overshadowed by the Leinayaro Academy."

I leaned on his shoulder, patted his hand on my waist helplessly, and sighed, "Only you think so, right? Everyone else says I'm 'terrifying'..."

Mel smiled. "No, Xipei, the horror here is not what you think!"

"Master," Damala suddenly leaned closer silently, "I must say, if Master Hailianna heard of your current reputation, he would be overjoyed. Master Hailianna loves seeing people trembling with fear yet utterly helpless."

Forehead...

Mr. Hailianna's hobbies truly befit the leader of the evil camp... Indeed, many students are overwhelmed by the exams, yet they are helpless against me because they can't beat me!

"Look!" Mel kissed the corner of my mouth. "Xipei, you need to be more confident. Trust me, everyone loves you. Don't believe what they say online. If people were really afraid of you, they wouldn't dare to speak at all. But look—"

He handed me his phone, and the headline read, "Leinayaro and the Royal Magic Academy join forces for the first time; a large-scale delegation from major magic academies around the world will soon lodge a protest against the Flame of Fury of Ciprins!"

Why?

"Your Excellency, we've come to discuss this matter..." Keweite pointed outside, looking aggrieved, "... They're already here..."

Ah?

While I was still in a daze, suddenly, all sorts of mages sprang up like mushrooms after rain. Some were hidden in the shadows, some used Invisibility Spell, and some were quite arrogant, floating in mid-air with large fireballs around them... Uh, that's a warlock... What are you doing here, warlock?

Before we could react, the young mages expertly prepared their spells, and then one of the girls, unable to contain herself any longer, shouted:

"Evil dark mage! Your plot to make us fail our courses and not graduate has been exposed! Take this!"

Then whoosh--

I lazily used my Mage Hand to catch what the girl threw at me...

Um?

A box of heart-shaped chocolates? And on top of that... well, a report card with perfect scores and an application for assistant status submitted to me?

With her leading the way, suddenly a whole bunch of chocolates, candies, roses, and spellbooks came raining down on me... Hey sorcerer! I saw you! You threw a golden slime at me?

Before Mel and I were buried by these things, we Teleportation to a high place. I floated much higher than these young children, so I could look down at them.

In my view, a boy holding a cat gave an awkward smile, put the cat on the ground. The big black cat had a cute pink bow around its neck. He stretched, yawned, looked around for a while, twitched his nose, smelled the aroma of food coming from the tower, and then slipped into my tower.

I...

"Protest! Protest the high-pressure teaching policy!" The students began to scream in unison. "Protest! We demand compensation! We demand compensation! We want autographed photos as compensation!"

"Wow, my idol is so handsome... He's getting more and more wicked!"

"When he tested your department's advanced spell memorization skills, didn't you think he was cool?!"

"Waaaaah, I don't care! Even if the forbidden spell kills me, I'll still think my crush is handsome!"

"Look at me! I'm Leinayaro, the top student in this year's advanced fire-type training course!"

"Get lost! Didn't you get thrashed and run away with your tail between your legs by my Royal Academy?"

"You motherfucker, how dare you block my idol's view of me!"

"Nonsense! The Great Demon King was there to see me!"

Wait... who is this "Great Demon King"?

No, no, I'm really not the Demon King! You all want to be heroes, but I don't want to be the Demon King. I'm a law-abiding and good mage!

"Down with the evil demon king!"

Someone yelled at the top of their lungs.

I finally couldn't help but laugh. These rebellious young people... Well, I did say in my speech last year that challenging senior figures in academia helps one realize how big the gap is between one's current level and that of their predecessors—when I debated with Professor Hailianna, I deeply realized this gap, and it generated tremendous motivation...

But you've come this far to my mage tower, children. If I let you go back so easily, won't I be overwhelmed by "heroes" from all over the world?

That won't do.

So I said to them, "Not bad, it seems I haven't fought in a long time, so much so that you've forgotten how strong I am."

I heard the children let out a suppressed scream, so I immediately opened my fingers, and my bone staff appeared in my hand. I waved it, Damala, holding a long sword and carrying a banner, appeared beside me. The great lich raised his long sword, tilted his head back, and let out a hollow, deep roar. The earth boiled, skeletons crawled out of the ground, and banshees circled down from the tower, emitting piercing laughs.

Wow... the White Bone Goddess Choir...

"Brainless fans, go home and chase your idols! This isn't a concert!"

"Come on! I've been practicing at home for ages!"

I pointed my staff at the excited young faces and said to them, "Come on."

Well...

An hour later, the headline read, "Black Mage Brutally Beats Visiting Student; Scene is Brutal and Outrageous!"

Nonsense! You reporters are taking pictures of students lying on the ground with excited expressions; you're the ones who are truly outrageous! So, as usual, Mel and I angrily turned the reporters into sheep and went back inside. The banshee and Damala were loading the students, who were under various curses, onto the bus— Damala has even learned to book rides online now, so I had her book a hotel room for her. After all, I couldn't just leave a bunch of wailing students at my doorstep; that would be ridiculous.