Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 156

Lee Han’s expression turned serious.

Something’s not right.

Could even someone like Priest Tissling get an outing pass?

It was possible.

If students from other towers, even the White Tiger Tower, had obtained outing passes?

He could accept that too.

But Guinan…

It’s a trap!

Lee Han’s intuition screamed.

This was definitely a trap!

Headmaster Skull was known to be very strict with outing passes. Giving them out easily now felt very strange.

But… why? Why outing passes?

He knew it was a trap, but he couldn’t understand *why* they were giving out outing passes.

I have no choice but to be more cautious.

What’s wrong?

The other Blue Dragon Tower students, noticing Lee Han’s serious expression, asked with worried voices.

Isn’t it suspicious that we can get outing passes so easily?

Indeed…!

So, you’re saying we should use that as an excuse to snatch the outing pass from Guinan?

What if we take it, saying we’ll return it later?

Seeing his friends already excited, Lee Han shook his head.

I must keep my wits about me, even if I’m the only one.

Guinan sat in the dimly lit tent. The air was thick with the smell of old books and something else, something faintly like burnt sugar. Black cloth hung on the walls, making the space feel smaller than it was. This was Professor Mortoom’s tent, the professor who taught dark magic.

Other professors picked enthusiastic and talented students to help them, but Professor Mortoom didn’t.

In the first place, the number of freshmen interested in dark magic could be counted on one hand.

All the freshmen learning dark magic had to attend.

Imirgue and Raphaelle were also sitting next to Guinan, staring blankly ahead.

A heavy silence hung in the air, thick and uncomfortable like a woolen blanket on a hot day.

With Lee Han absent, the dark magic freshmen, who weren’t close to begin with, became even less talkative.

All three were from different towers, different backgrounds, different races, and different personalities…

Guinan tugged at his collar, feeling like the air in the tent was too thick to breathe. *Was it the dark magic making it feel so heavy?* He decided to break the silence that pressed down on them.

“Hello everyone!” Guinan said, trying to sound cheerful.

Raphaelle turned to him, her brow furrowed. “Don’t try to be friendly, *Prince*,” she said, the word sounding like a small insult. “It’s just annoying.”

Imirgue remained silent, staring at a point somewhere past Guinan’s head. But Guinan, strangely, felt a little bit happier just to have someone speak to him.

“Did you just call me Prince?”

“Wh-what? Why are you happy? You weirdo.”

The half-angel, Raphaelle, looked at Guinan with disgust.

As expected, there wasn’t a sane person among those who wanted to learn dark magic.

To be happy even when being insulted…

“Say it again! Who am I?”

“Can’t you just leave me alone!?”

“U-um, excuse me.”

Imirgue, the half-giant, hesitated before speaking.

“Shouldn’t we bring in some guests…”

“What? Who would be interested in dark magic? There’s no one that twisted.”

‘You’re learning dark magic too…’

Guinan and Imirgue stared at Raphaelle as if he were ridiculous.

However, Raphaelle remained steadfast.

“It’s better that people aren’t interested in dark magic. I…”

Professor Mortoom, with his long, black robes and tired eyes, looked sadly at the empty space. “Ahem, cough, cough. Any… any guests graced us with their presence?”

As soon as Professor Mortoom appeared, Raphaelle bowed immediately.

“Good day, Professor!”

“Yes, cough cough. Is it going well?”

The three exchanged glances.

The criteria for ‘going well’ might differ from person to person, but zero guests wasn’t ‘going well’ by any standard.

Professor Mortoom’s face clouded over.

“No one’s interested?”

In truth, Professor Mortoom had prepared quite diligently compared to the other professors.

A black cloth spread over a wide table.

On the table, a grimoire with a cover made of rough, dark leather lay open, its pages filled with strange symbols. Next to it, a small, silver knife glinted in the dim light. Magic circles and artifacts were also arranged on top of it.

It was Professor Mortoom’s heartfelt arrangement to find and recommend dark magic spells suitable for any guest who came.

Comparing him to Professor Volardy, who told Lee Han to splash water droplets on guests’ faces, felt like an insult.

…But things in the world don’t always go well just because you put in effort.

Basically, among the guests who came to the festival, there weren’t many who would deliberately seek out gloomy dark magicians.

“Professor, I have a question.”

“Cough. What is it?”

“Why didn’t you bring Lee Han?”

Imirgue and Raphaelle glared at Guinan even more than the professor did, as if he were trash.

Even though they were from different towers, rumors about Wodanaz had reached their ears.

-Wodanaz was helping Professor Alpen create magic circles.

-He must be talented, that’s why.

-Wodanaz was helping Professor Begreck. He seemed to be attending his lectures.

-Why…? I don’t understand, but if he’s attending the lectures, it’s natural he’d help. There probably aren’t any other listeners anyway.

-Wodanaz was running errands for the Headmaster.

-He must be talented.

-Wodanaz was summoned to make magical fireworks too.

-He must be talented… Wait a minute. Isn’t Wodanaz working too much? How is he not collapsing?

A great responsibility comes with great grades, but Wodanaz was going too far.

Even students from other towers were looking at him with concern, so there was nothing more to say.

And yet, a friend from the same tower wasn’t worried at all, and instead asked the professor, ‘Why isn’t he here?’

‘What a piece of trash!’

Raphaelle glared at Guinan with contempt.

“Cough. Wodanaz… I left him alone because he had other things to do.”

“Still, it would be nice if Lee Han were here.”

“He must be too busy…”

“Lee Han will be fine!”

“Cough. Well… I’m not sure.”

Imirgue and Raphaelle, unable to watch any longer, stepped forward.

“I-it’s okay. We’ll do it ourselves.”

“We don’t need Wodanaz.”

“What do you mean it’s okay! You guys are useless!”

While the two were debating whether to beat up Guinan, Lee Han appeared with his other friends.

“Were you here?”

“Lee Han!!”

Guinan was overjoyed.

He could finally escape this suffocating atmosphere.

“Help me!”

“With what?”

“This dark magic…”

Before Guinan could explain, the Blue Dragon Tower friends who had followed Lee Han asked first.

“By the way, Guinan, I heard you got an outing pass?”

“Yeah.”

Gynan Dole’s face puffed up with smugness, like a toad about to burst. A wide, arrogant grin stretched across his lips, making his friends instantly regret asking. Asan nudged Rapardel, rolling his eyes. “Should have just grabbed it,” Asan muttered under his breath, “would have been less painful than listening to this.”

Rapardel just grunted in agreement. Lee Han, however, decided to play along. “Found it?” Lee Han asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. “Just… found it?”

Gynan Dole’s eyes widened in mock offense. “I really did! Honestly! I was walking down Merchant Street, you know, near the fountain? And there was this box, tucked right into the bushes by old Widow Willow’s bakery. Curiosity got the better of me, and well… look!” He dramatically pulled a crumpled piece of parchment from his pocket, holding it up with a flourish. “Real as can be!” He blinked at them with what he clearly thought were innocent eyes, but Lee Han saw only smugness shining through.

Gynan Dole’s eyes showed that he didn’t think for a moment that Lee Han would take it away.

The other Blue Dragon Tower friends looked at Lee Han with nervous faces.

-Now’s the time. Wodanaz!

-Right now!

Even though he hadn’t learned telepathy magic, he could almost hear his friends’ telepathic messages.

Lee Han checked the permission slip and returned it to Gynan Dole.

“It’s real.”

“Right!?”

‘This is even more suspicious.’

This smugness made it certain that Gynan Dole was hiding something.

Lee Han vowed never to let his guard down until he used the permission slip.

“Oh, Lee Han. Help me.”

“With what?”

Gynan Dole babbled on, explaining what had happened with Professor Mortoom. The professor had called his best disciples to assign them a task, so he prepared this and that, but the people didn’t come…

‘What nonsense is Gynan Dole talking about?’ Lee Han wondered inwardly.

Imirgue and Rapardel were looking at Gynan Dole as if he were utter trash. Rapardel was originally like that, as much as he hated black magic, but Imirgue was a pretty good student. Unless Gynan Dole had done something…

“I see. I understand. I’ll help you.”

“!?!?”,

“!!!”

The two of them looked at Lee Han in surprise. They really didn’t expect him to help.

“What’s wrong?”

“I, I thought you might be busy…”

“Ah, I finished my urgent work today. I was originally going to look around the festival a bit.”

Feeling an ominous sign, Asan said urgently.

“Wodanaz, you’re not going to skip the festival again today, are you? There are only a few days left!”

“I can enjoy it tomorrow, can’t I?”

“Oh… Oh dear!”

The Blue Dragon Tower students glared at Gynan Dole. Because of that guy, Wodanaz is!

‘I can’t just leave with Professor Mortoom right in front of me.’ Of course, Lee Han didn’t stay because of his friendship with Gynan Dole. It was because Professor Mortoom was right in front of him.

Even if Professor Mortoom said, ‘Cough, it’s alright, you go and have fun,’ you could never trust the professor, a petty being. If he really went to have fun, later on, words like, ‘You really went to have fun? Cough, how impressive,’ might come back to him. Now that he was learning black magic, it was not good to be targeted.

“I will help.”

“No… Why?”

Professor Mortoom looked at Lee Han as if he couldn’t understand. Professor Mortoom knew very well how much Lee Han was suffering because he had heard the other professors talking.

“I am learning black magic, after all.”

“…!”

Not only Professor Mortoom but also the other students were moved. Even Rapardel’s heart was shaken.

‘He may be learning black magic, but his honor is truly impeccable…’

“Lee Han!”

‘In comparison, that prince is…’

Gynan Dole asked, unaware that Rapardel was insulting him.

“But how are you going to bring people?”

“Do we just need people to come?”

“Right?”

Lee Han asked the Blue Dragon Tower students.

“You guys. Line up.”

“…U, us too?”

“Shhh. Wodanaz told you to line up.”

The Blue Dragon Tower friends, who had come to hang out with Lee Han and were suddenly caught in the black magic tent, lined up for the sake of friendship.

“Asan, if you have any close friends among the other tower students, bring them over.”

“Don’t worry, Wodanaz.”

Asan nodded. He intended to do his best, as he owed a debt for the magic circle.

A little later, Asan brought students. There were students from the same tower as well as students from other towers mixed in.

“Wodanaz. Is this where we stand?”

“Yes.”

“Wodanaz-nim. Isn’t it a bit much to get the princess interested in black magic? I’ll do it instead, so the princess can…”

“Here.”

Lee Han placed a candy in the princess’s palm. The princess lined up without a word. Rowena was shocked.

“No…!?”

“Wodanaz. I brought more.”

Asan, who had disappeared after bringing the students, returned again. This time, he brought guests from Valdrogard.

“…?”

Lee Han was puzzled, and Asan explained in an excited voice.

“When I said your name, they said they definitely wanted to help.”

“O-oh, well done.”

Asan disappeared again. Then, this time, he brought some priests and imperial officials.

“…How did you bring them?”

He could understand the students or the Valdrogard guests because they owed Lee Han a favor. But what about the priests and officials?

‘Is it the Dalcard family’s connections?’

“When I said your name, they said they wanted to help?”

“…???”

Lee Han didn’t understand. Why?

“I’ve never seen Professor Mortoom so happy.”

“Haven’t you only seen the professor for a few months?”

“That’s true.”

Lee Han walked back to the dormitory with Gynan Dole. After helping with the cleanup until evening, the surroundings were already dark.

“Want to play a round of cards when we get back?”

“I have to decode magic.”

“Want to play a round of cards after you finish decoding?”

“It’ll probably be dawn by the time I finish.”

Gynan Dole was so crazy about playing cards that he didn’t give up easily.

“Then at dawn… Ack!” Something flew out of the darkness and attacked Gynan Dole. At first, Lee Han thought it was a robber after the permission slip.

“Gynan Dole! Don’t let them take the permission slip… No, it’s a monster!”