Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 298

“What’s wrong, Yoner?”

“Ah… it’s nothing, Sister. Oh, right. We were just about to head out…”

Yoner’s voice trailed off. Jo-Anen’s eyes sparkled behind her amethyst glasses.

“Heading out?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Where are you going?”

“To see friends.”

“When will you be back?”

“Well… I’m not sure…?”

“And this friend… from the Wodanaz family, is it?”

“L-Lee Han is busy… Why?”

“He seemed interested in alchemy.”

“Oh, no. Not that interested.”

“But isn’t he the top student in alchemy?”

Yoner glared at Lee Han and Raetford.

He thought, ‘Why did they have to say that so quickly!’

‘I’m sorry,’ Raetford thought.

He just wanted to show Yoner’s sister that Lee Han was an amazing person…

“Yoner… surely you don’t think I would treat your friend like the other alchemists in the workshop? I wouldn’t do that, would I?”

“No, you wouldn’t.”

“Right? I would never do that.”

Lee Han wanted to ask, ‘How do you treat the other alchemists in the workshop?’ but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“If you’re a magic school student, you’ll be studying during the holidays… Is my workshop not a suitable place to learn alchemy?”

“No, no. Your workshop is the best in Granden City…”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“But Lee Han is really busy…”

When Yoner kept trying to refuse, Jo-Anen turned to Lee Han.

“Wouldn’t you like to visit the workshop sometime?”

“Thank you,” Lee Han said.

“So, when are you free to come by?”

Lee Han thought, ‘Wow, she’s just like Professor Verdus!’

Lee Han had to admit defeat at her skill in immediately setting a specific date.

Jo-Anen, sensing Lee Han’s wariness, changed her approach.

“I don’t know what Yoner has said, but it’s a bit of an exaggeration. There are times when I’m busy, and it just so happened that Yoner came to the workshop for a look around at that time.”

“Ah, I see.”

Anyone else would have been fooled by Jo-Anen’s kind expression, but not Lee Han.

The devil always smiles kindly.

“My workshop is still not a bad place to study alchemy during the holidays. You can use high-quality materials without holding back, and the people who work there receive generous daily wages. Many of the city’s outstanding alchemists visit often, so it’s a good place to make connections.”

Yoner desperately wished, ‘Here we go, Lee Han. Just a little more refusal and my sister will…’

Despite Yoner’s wish, Lee Han responded immediately.

“Do the alchemists receive a salary as well?”

“Of course. Aha. Are you perhaps interested in a salary? As an Einroguard student and my sibling’s friend…”

Jo-Anen subtly held up three fingers. Lee Han’s heart pounded at the sight of the fingers encased in white gloves.

Three times as much!

“Lee Han…!” Yoner whispered in despair.

Jo-Anen smiled as if she knew what Lee Han wanted and held up one more finger.

“…I really wanted to learn alchemy during the holidays anyway.”

Jo-Anen gracefully took Lee Han’s hand and shook it.

“Welcome. Come anytime. Oh, one moment. Could I have a word with my sibling separately?”

After Lee Han and his friends left, Jo-Anen turned to Yoner.

Yoner said with a gloomy face, “If I lose a friend, it’s your fault…”

“I really won’t let him collapse. Promise. More importantly, he’s quite an unusual person, isn’t he?”

“Ah. Yeah. He’s unusual.”

“I thought he would refuse, but he accepted because of the salary. Surely, he doesn’t like gold coins despite being from the Wodanaz family. Does he perhaps have debts?”

“No. He just likes gold coins.”

“I’m a little worried about going to meet Gainando.”

Lee Han was important enough to visit most noble families easily, but the imperial family was different.

Basically, there was no good to be had from getting involved with them.

The nobles of the empire were divided into three groups: the loyalists who supported the outstanding members of the imperial family, the aristocratic faction who didn’t think the imperial family was anything special and opposed them, and the neutral faction who didn’t belong to either of those groups.

The Wodanaz family was a representative of the neutral faction. In fact, the Wodanaz family was so neutral that they could be called reclusive or loners.

But if Lee Han officially visited the imperial family’s residence, rumors would spread like ‘Lee Han of the Wodanaz family supports Imperial A?’

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. If we all go together, it’ll just look like friends hanging out.” Yoner understood Lee Han’s concerns.

In times like these, having a good reason was important.

“Actually, that’s a problem that can be solved by going with you guys, so I wasn’t too worried about it. I’m more worried about the people who will be at Gainando’s residence.”

After visiting the Dalcard and Maykin families, he could see it.

The mansions of noble families were more different than he thought.

Now, he wouldn’t be surprised no matter what strange things happened at Gainando’s residence.

“What’s the atmosphere like at Gainando’s residence?” Lee Han asked.

“Gainando’s residence? It’s normal. There’s no testing or anything like our family. The number of guests is also small.”

The guests who visited Gainando’s residence came not so much to see Gainando, who was a member of the imperial family, but because of Gainando’s mother.

First of all, Gainando’s mother’s family, the Kraha family, was an incredibly wealthy family in the empire.

With that much wealth, even non-existent abilities would arise. Naturally, guests were desperate to visit.

However, there weren’t that many guests at Gainando’s residence.

“Gainando’s mother doesn’t really like welcoming guests.”

“Why? It would be good to make Gainando more famous if many guests visited… Hmm. Never mind.”

Welcoming guests can spread good rumors about your family and make you famous. But sometimes, it can also spread bad rumors.

Lee Han changed the subject.

“What is Gainando’s mother like?”

If she was another kind Professor Verdus, he might postpone the visit a little.

“She’s kind and gentle. And…”

“And?”

“She’s really, really beautiful.”

“Oh, is that so.” Lee Han was taken aback by the sudden remark.

“When you first meet her, you probably won’t be able to look directly at her face.”

“Why?”

“She’s so beautiful that light seems to shine around her. To the point where you can’t look at her.”

“…Isn’t that just because she has some spirit or angel blood mixed in?”

“That’s right. I heard she has some blood from the spirit of light.”

Lee Han wanted to ask, ‘How do you know if she’s beautiful if you can’t see her face because of the light?’ but he didn’t ask any further because Yoner seemed to respect her so much.

What did it matter anyway.

“Oh, right. Do you really get pocket money if you’re close to Gainando?”

“Yeah.”

“Even from an objective point of view, I’m the closest, right? What do you all think?”

Raetford and Nilia looked at Lee Han as if he were ridiculous.

“Please wait just thirty minutes.”

“Ah. Is there a guest already here?”

“I… I’m sorry. Please wait just thirty minutes.”

Lee Han and his friends tilted their heads in confusion in front of the dazzling, luxurious main gate of Gainando’s residence.

He could understand waiting for a while if a guest was already there, but waiting outside the main gate was not common.

Unless there was something inside the mansion that they couldn’t show…

“What is it?”

Bbam-bba-bba-bba-

Bang! Pop pop pop pop!

Magical fireworks lit up the sky along with the sound of a huge wind instrument ensemble.

Passersby looked surprised, wondering if some kind of festival was being held.

“What…”

“What on earth is this…”

“Welcome to the residence!”

“Welcome to the residence…”

“Welco…”

“Welcome…”

“Welcome…!”

The sound of a choir came from inside.

Lee Han suddenly wanted to go back to the dorm.

“What is all this commotion?”

“It seems the prince is welcoming guests at the Kraha family’s residence.”

“Goodness. Is there really a need to be this extravagant?”

“They must be friends he hasn’t seen in a long time.”

The faces of Lee Han and his friends turned red at the sound of people chattering with interest.

“…Hide us, cloak.”

“L-let’s go in together! Me too!”

The four of them used the magic they had learned at Einroguard to enter.

Gainando, who was on the huge marble staircase, waved his hand as soon as he saw the four of them.

“Over here! Over here!”

“Quick, stop the song!”

“Huh? Why? Only the first movement has been played.”

“Just stop the song!”

“Please stop it quickly!”

Gainando, dumbfounded by his friends’ anger, gestured.

Then the performers who had been waiting on the grounds of the mansion took their hands off their instruments.

“Why? Was the song not good?”

“It’s not the song. Let’s go inside quickly.”

Lee Han and his friends dragged Gainando into the mansion.

Gainando grumbled as he was dragged along.

“Hey, why did you stop the music? We could have heard the whole song!”

“We’ll listen to it later.”

“Really?”

“…Sometime. More importantly, Gainando, how have you been? Anything happen?” Lee Han asked.

Gainando thought for a moment before speaking.

“Something did happen.”

Lee Han was surprised.

Could it be that Gainando was being treated badly by the talented members of the imperial family, just like Asan had been by the Dalcard family’s talented brothers?

“Did someone pick a fight with you?”

“No. I lost even though I put in a new magician card yesterday.”

Yoner momentarily raised his hand to hit Gainando on the back of the head.

If Nilia hadn’t hurriedly grabbed his wrist, there would have been a ‘smack’ sound.

Lee Han nodded as if he understood and asked again.

“Anything else happen besides the magician card? Did anyone come and pick a fight with you?”

“Huh? No one came.”

Hearing him say that no one had come made him feel a little sad.

Lee Han and his friends exchanged a quick, pitiful glance.

“It’s okay since we came like this.”

“That’s why I prepared a performance, but you guys stopped it halfway.” Gainando grumbled again.

When Yoner raised his other hand, which wasn’t being held, Nilia hurriedly grabbed that hand too.

“More importantly, Lee Han, let’s go play during the holidays.”

“What are you thinking of doing?”

“Let’s go around to stores and buy some new cards, look around for some toys, and buy the magazines we’ve been missing while going to school…”

Lee Han shook his head.

To live such an extreme consumption-oriented life.

It was a lifestyle that could easily lead to becoming a beggar.

“Gainando. That’s good too, but there’s something more fun.”

“What? Really?”

“You’ll find out if you follow me. Let’s go together later.”

There was nothing as enjoyable as the silver coins earned by sweating. Lee Han decided to let Gainando know that joy.

Yoner whispered, “I don’t think Gainando would like doing that kind of thing.”

“It’s okay. I’ll tell him when he’s in a situation where he can’t escape.”

“Oh, right. I need to pay back the money I borrowed.”

Gainando called a servant. Lee Han was surprised by the unexpected sight.

“I didn’t expect you to remember it first.”

“My mom said I’m trash if I don’t pay back money.”

“Oh, is that so.”

Gainando’s room was large enough to fit several carriages. They each scattered and played with things that looked interesting.

Lee Han, who was reading a serialized novel in a magazine with interest (the dog-like beast detective Toberiz was finding the culprit with precognitive magic), noticed that it was noisy outside.

“Do you have any appointments today?”

“Huh? Oh… Ah. That’s right. Other members of the imperial family are visiting.”

“…If that’s not a big deal, then what is?”