Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 310

The two adventurers stumbled back, their minds racing. *This is supposed to be a magic school*, they thought. *What are they teaching these knightly kids?* Their eyes were wide with disbelief as Ihan approached the fallen mercenaries.

Buldaak groaned as he woke up. His eyes snapped open, and he recoiled from Ihan as if burned. He remembered the flash of light, the crackling air – he knew who had brought the storm.

“You…”

“Sharkan.”

Ihan summoned Sharkan to watch over the mercenaries.

The mercenaries were tied up tightly, but Ihan wanted to be sure they stayed put. But Buldaak didn’t seem to care about escaping anymore. When Sharkan materialized with a soft *poof*, his emerald eyes gleaming in the dim light, Buldaak looked away, his face pale with pure terror.

“Name,” Ihan said, his voice sharp.

“Bul… Buldaak,” he stammered, his voice barely a whisper.

“Murder, transport carriage assault, intimidation…” Ihan continued, listing the crimes as if reading from a scroll. “So, you’re the one with the Imperial bounty on his head?”

Buldaak could only nod, his throat too tight to speak. Ihan, a smile flickering across his face, turned to Gubon.

“It’s him.”

Gubon blinked, surprised. “…Forgive me, but you seem rather pleased…”

Ihan grinned. “There’s extra silver in it for us, isn’t there?”

Gubon and Bijidek exchanged wide-eyed glances, clearly taken aback by Ihan’s practical approach.

“Well, yes… but…” Gubon hesitated.

“Don’t worry. I’ll share the bounty as we agreed,” Ihan reassured him.

“It’s not the money,” Gubon said, shaking his head. “It’s just… strange to find Buldaak here.”

Gubon, with years of experience reading faces and situations, felt something was wrong. They had been taking easy jobs near Granden City – safe quests that used Ihan’s magic and paid decently. Not the kind of work that would draw a big bounty hunter like Buldaak. Why would someone chasing a huge reward be interested in *this*?

“Indeed,” Ihan agreed, his voice thoughtful. “We need to interrogate him.”

“I understand,” Ihan said. “But do you think he’ll really tell us the truth?” he asked, tilting his head slightly, *pretending to be worried*.

“He seems quite frightened at the moment. He was greatly shocked by your magic, Wizard. If you interrogate him now, he might spill the truth.”

Einroguard students were used to magic, but for most people in the Empire, it was still terrifying. Ihan’s magic had been swift and brutal, leaving the mercenaries shaken and confused.

“Buldaak. Explain why you’re here,” Ihan demanded, his voice leaving no room for argument.

“…Treasure… in the cave,” Buldaak mumbled, his eyes darting nervously towards Sharkan.

Buldaak knew better than to lie to someone who could wield magic like that. Stubbornness would only bring pain.

Ihan nodded slowly, *pretending to consider Buldaak’s words*. Then, leaning closer to Gubon, he whispered, “That man is clever. He’s even got a lie ready for when he gets caught.”

” ? ”

Gubon and Bijidek, who had been pondering the treasure in the cave, were taken aback.

“That’s a lie?”

“Of course, it is. Do you really think a bounty hunter like that would answer truthfully after just one question?”

“Perhaps… he’s just frightened of the Wizard…” Bijidek ventured cautiously.

Considering what they had just experienced, and with an emerald-eyed beast growling beside them, even a mercenary with a bounty several times larger than Buldaak’s might give up and tell the truth.

“Magic isn’t all-powerful. I need your help.”

“How so?”

“Interrogate him using your adventurer skills.”

“Ooh…”

The White Tiger Tower students stared at Gubon and Bijidek with anticipation.

The White Tiger Tower students watched intently. *Knights were trained to fight, not to question prisoners*. What would these adventurers do?

Gubon and Bijidek exchanged a worried look. A bead of sweat ran down Gubon’s temple. *We have to do this right*, Gubon thought to Bijidek. *Understood*, Bijidek replied with a tight nod.

“Confess!” Gubon yelled, his face red.

“Tell us everything!” Bijidek roared.

“You can’t hide anything from wizards!” They continued their interrogation, using all their ‘veteran adventurer’ techniques.

Buldaak groaned and twisted in his bonds. “I told you! Ask them!”

*Crack!* Bijidek slammed his fist on the table. *Crunch!* Gubon stomped his foot on the ground.

Ihan and the White Tiger Tower students watched the interrogation with serious expressions.

Anglaga whispered, his eyes wide. “They are very… forceful. It seems adventurers have a different way of getting information.”

Rapardel nodded seriously. “Indeed. As the seniors said, we can learn much from them.”

When Buldaak fainted, Gubon and Bijidek wiped the sweat from their brows and sighed in relief.

Ihan handed them a pewter cup filled with cold water he had summoned.

“Take your time.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

The two adventurers, invigorated by Ihan’s encouragement, turned their attention to Buldaak’s henchmen.

The henchmen were trembling pitifully.

And thirty minutes later.

The two adventurers spoke with great embarrassment. “We’re sorry. With our skills, we can’t…”

“Wizard. We apologize for daring to ask for your magic, but is there perhaps a way for you to extract the truth from him?”

“Hmm. Unfortunately, I don’t know any magic like that either. I did try to sense his emotions, but…”

“Is that so? …Eh?”

The two adventurers stopped, their faces blank. Gubon frowned. “Wait… you can sense emotions?”

Bijidek’s eyes widened. “But… if you can sense emotions… can’t you tell if someone is lying?” They stared at Ihan, realization dawning.

“Has he been lying all along?”

“No. His emotions were close to the truth.”

“…Uh… W-Wizard. I don’t know much about magic, but doesn’t that mean Buldaak was telling the truth?”

Lee Han shook his head, chuckling as if to say, “What are you even talking about?”

“You can lie while controlling your emotions, you know.”

“……”

“…Magician, Buldaak isn’t that low. Absolutely…”

It was clear that the two adventurers knew very little about magic.

If Buldaak was a mercenary of that level, the Emperor’s Royal Knights, not bounty hunters, would be after him!

“You bastards, you will be cursed forever!”

Buldaak, consumed by anger, cried with tears streaming down his face.

He had told the truth because he hated the pain, yet he was still being interrogated; it seemed truly unfair to him.

“Ah, I said I was sorry. Just shut up.”

“……”

Buldaak immediately shut his mouth.

Lee Han had just said it, but Buldaak heard it as, ‘If you keep blathering, I’ll rip out your tongue.’

“So, you’re saying there’s treasure in that cave…”

The original job was to defeat the ghouls coming out of the cave near Bulparn Hill.

These ghouls were not only coming from the cave but also wandering onto the nearby roads, threatening innocent travelers.

It wasn’t just about defeating the ghouls, but also about finding out why they were appearing, making it a difficult job for adventurers without the right knowledge or skills.

That’s why it was a good job for Einroguard students, including wizards, to take on.

However, Buldaak’s story was a bit different.

According to the Thief Guild, and some people who had gone into the cave and come out, there was definitely an undiscovered ancient artifact inside.

“What are you waiting for, Wodanaz? Let’s go in!”

The White Tiger Tower friends were very excited. Even Dergyu, who was usually calm, had sparkling eyes.

There were few professions as interested in ancient ruins, dungeons, and artifacts as wizards.

Magic or knowledge lost in the past was worth more than a thousand gold pieces.

However, Lee Han was skeptical.

“Isn’t this guy just stupid?”

The testimonies were like this:

-I got lost in the cave, and there was a black light coming from one side! It’s definitely the light of an artifact!

-It was a light that could never occur naturally.

-When I tried to approach it, the ghouls suddenly became ferocious and attacked, so it must be an artifact!

Lee Han sighed and looked at his friends.

“That’s why you guys keep falling into the Headmaster’s traps. You’re swayed by such flimsy rumors.”

“Keuh…”

“W-Well, there’s no need to talk about that now.”

‘Headmaster?’ ‘Trap?’ The two adventurers were puzzled.

Gubon cautiously shared his opinion.

“But Magician, among adventurers, that’s valuable information.”

Usually, many people would go even if the rumors were much more vague and absurd.

With rumors like that, even Gubon would have been curious enough to gather people and try to explore it.

The fact that a mercenary like Buldaak had prepared so thoroughly and come this far proved the rumor’s value.

“This isn’t the outskirts of the Empire, so I don’t think there will be any useful artifacts left…”

“No. Dungeons and artifacts often appear near cities more often than you think.”

Due to natural events, or the magic of the dungeons or ruins, they often changed the area and popped out.

If that happened, the adventurers who discovered it could become rich.

“Alright. We had to defeat the ghouls anyway.”

“So, we’re going in?!” Anglaga exclaimed, very excited.

“No. The sun hasn’t fully risen yet.”

It was dawn, but it was too early to go in now.

“…R-Right.”

Anglaga was speechless at Lee Han’s calm behavior even now.

‘This guy isn’t even looking forward to it.’

“There’s something to do in the meantime.”

“What is it, Wodanaz?” Raphael listened closely.

Wodanaz didn’t say nonsense when it came to magic.

He must be about to tell them what they needed to know before facing the ghouls.

“Since we’re up, let’s gather some things. Raphael, get the Seollak grass. Anglaga, get the geranium flowers. Dergyu, get the Jamsuk. I need to find traces of the Rapella field mouse.”

“……”

“……”

As Lee Han and his friends left, Buldaak looked at Gubon and asked, “What the hell are those crazy magicians?”

Thanks to Lee Han’s help, his friends easily finished gathering.

-Is that the Seollak grass? What are you using your eyes for? Can you even tell the difference between a skeleton and a ghoul?

-Is that how you gather flowers? Do flowers look like monsters to you? Don’t tell me you’re going to say you caught a monster when you get back, that’s why you’re breaking them like that?

“Everyone worked hard.”

“……”

After finishing the gathering, the day had fully dawned.

It was finally time to enter the cave.

“But Magician.”

Bijidek whispered so the mercenaries couldn’t hear.

“What are you going to do with those guys? If we leave them here, they might run away or stab us in the back.”

The best thing to do was to drag them to a nearby city, but everyone except Lee Han was too interested in the treasure.

“We’ll take them with us.”

“Yes?” Bijidek paused.

Take them with us.

He couldn’t possibly mean to cooperate like they were clearing it with another party…

“They might run away or cause a ruckus inside. It won’t be easy to control them.”

“I’ve thought of that too.”

Lee Han said that and took out a bone fragment.

Raphael was starting to guess what was about to happen.

“Bone, capture the enemy. Bone, capture the enemy. Bone, capture the enemy…”

Clank, clank, clank, clank!

Bone restraints appeared on the mercenaries’ ankles and wrists.

It didn’t end there.

A bone hand appeared around the mercenaries’ necks, holding on tightly. Lee Han could strangle them with just a gesture.

“Good. I think this will be enough.”

“You’re… really… unbelievable…” Raphael said in a horrified voice.

There was a powerful black magician in front of him, like something out of a fairy tale.