Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 315

“So, the mana of sound acted as a repulsive force, absorbing the vitality from your hand… Why did you swing it around so recklessly?” Lee Han asked.

Derhyeu said, “We were all so caught up in the thought that we had to break it, we couldn’t help it.” The other two friends nodded.

Lee Han wanted to say more, but now was not the right time.

“Still, it’s fortunate it wasn’t a major injury. Let’s heal what we can.”

Lee Han cast the Lesser Wound Healing spell on Angaro’s hand.

Then, he paused, thinking, ‘Oops.’

He realized that using it without a reliable professor nearby wasn’t a good idea.

If the healing magic failed, it could be worse than not trying at all.

Angaro, not knowing Lee Han’s thoughts, was grateful as his wound healed. “Thank you, Wodanaz.”

Lee Han looked away quickly.

“Raphael, do you really need healing magic?”

Raphael didn’t say anything because he was proud. But he looked like Gainan after losing a game – sad and like it wasn’t fair!

Lee Han sighed.

“Don’t look so sad, Raphael. It’s healed now, isn’t it?” Lee Han said, trying not to smile.

“Regret what?” Raphael asked, tilting his head like a confused puppy. “Regret getting healed? That makes no sense!”

“Derhyeu.”

“I’m fine, Lee Han. Stop using magic, it must be tiring.”

“No, it’s not the magic itself…” Lee Han whispered quietly, so only Derhyeu could hear. “…It’s incomplete.”

“What?”

Derhyeu stared at Lee Han, shocked, then looked at his friends’ hands.

If he had been unlucky, his friends’ skin would have stuck to the bandages.

“So, you should hold on a little longer and treat it with a potion.”

“No… my friends did, but I’m the only one…”

“Those guys got lucky and healed, so it doesn’t matter. Just treat it safely with a potion.”

“What are you two talking about?” Raphael asked, puzzled.

He wondered if there was some evil presence left in the cave.

“It’s nothing. Oh, Raphael, I almost forgot, but you reminded me.”

“What is it?”

Wham!

“Who said you could run off on your own?”

“Ugh… that’s… ugh…”

Gu Bon, who had been waiting where the flames had swept through, felt relieved when Lee Han returned with his friends.

It seemed like it had ended well.

“You’ve worked hard! I’m so glad.”

“We all worked hard together.”

Gu Bon and Bizidek were moved by Lee Han’s words.

Which adventurer wouldn’t be happy to be respected by a mage who had shown such great magic?

The mercenaries felt that excitement too, as they came to thank him.

“Thank you, Mage!”

“You saved our lives!! If we had followed Buldahak, we would have died!”

“I really thought we were going to die…”

A flesh-chunk ghoul and a ghoul horde attack, the Ghoul King’s descent, flames raging as if to burn the entire cave…

If it had been a different request, just one of those things would have been life-threatening. They had experienced them all at once.

It was no wonder they felt like they had survived a miracle.

“Thank you, Mage!”

“We sincerely thank you. Please accept our gratitude!”

Gu Bon and Bizidek were surprised by the sincere loyalty of the mercenaries they had just met.

Of course, it wasn’t that they didn’t understand. Even Gu Bon and Bizidek were starting to feel loyal to the young mage.

Even those greedy mercenaries, who were practically criminals, could be moved.

Perhaps this was the true magic.

“Alright. Thank you. I accept your respect. May I have your hand for a moment?”

At Lee Han’s words, a nearby mercenary quickly offered his hand.

He was ready to do whatever errand he was given without complaint.

Clang!

“…??”

The mercenary blinked as the bone restraints were fastened to his wrist like handcuffs. Lee Han, unconcerned, summoned restraints for his ankles as well, and then summoned a bony hand around his neck.

During the battle, he had reverse-summoned them all because of the situation, but now that it was over, it was time to put them back on.

“Alright. Next.”

“Uh… no… Mage…”

“Quiet. Next.”

Lee Han firmly bound the mercenaries and formed a formation as they had come.

Gu Bon asked cautiously, “Did the mercenaries do something unpleasant?”

“Huh?”

“If not, why suddenly…”

“Oh. I need to take them to collect the reward money.”

Gu Bon was speechless.

Except for Buldahak, the rest of the mercenaries here were practically petty criminals.

He would probably only get a few coins, but he was capturing them so thoroughly to get it.

Just what…!

‘Is that a real adventurer? Have I been doing my job too loosely, too carelessly?’

Gu Bon started to think about his own job. He saw how careful and serious Lee Han was, even on his first job.

“Outside!!”

Though they were tied up and dragged out, the mercenaries were happy, taking deep breaths of the outside air.

Even with the light, the damp and gloomy air inside the cave had been exhausting.

Lee Han stretched and said to Gu Bon, “Could you watch these mercenaries for a moment?”

“Yes? It’s not difficult, but is something the matter?”

Gu Bon was worried about Lee Han.

He had fought such a fierce battle, and even a great mage couldn’t be unscathed.

His coat was a mess, which made him even more worried.

Was he perhaps heading to a remote place where there were no people because of the side effects of the evil magic?

“Oh. I’m going to capture Rapella Rats.”

“…I see.”

Lee Han headed into the forest with Sharkan.

Bizidek, who had been blankly watching him leave, said in a startled voice to Gu Bon, “Wait. I told you! That mage is from the Wodanaz family! That prestigious magic family!”

“What did you say… no. Wait. Wait, what did you say???”

He had been too distracted to notice earlier, but what Bizidek had just said was more surprising than the Ghoul King appearing in the cave.

Who was who??

Blancé, the elven clerk with pointy ears and a neat green uniform, sat behind the tall wooden counter of the Granden City Adventurers’ Guild. Dusty books lined the shelves behind her, and the air smelled faintly of old paper and adventure.

She was first surprised to see the mercenaries shuffling into the guild, their faces dirty and tired. They walked slowly, like they had heavy weights on their shoulders, their usual loud voices quiet now.

And she was secondarily surprised to see the Einroguard students reporting with very tired faces.

“What… what are you saying?”

“There was an evil being from another dimension in the Bulparn Hill Cave. It called itself the Ghoul King, and it seemed to have been sealed a long time ago.”

Blancé wrote it down fast. She opened a drawer and took out a paper bird to send a quick message.

The paper birds flew out through the guild window, carrying the news that the imperial officials working in Granden City would rush over.

“I’m so sorry. A subjugation force will be formed and sent there immediately,” Blancé said sincerely.

To send an Einroguard student on their first request without realizing such a dangerous presence.

Even if it wasn’t intentional, she was responsible.

If an accident had happened, how much would Einroguard have complained… no, how much would they have protested?

‘It’s good, even though it seemed bad at first, that they were Einroguard students.’

Since they were clever Einroguard students, they would have sensed the presence of such an evil being and escaped, otherwise they might have been wiped out with a clumsy mistake.

“A subjugation force?”

“Yes. Evil beings from other dimensions may seem weak, but we can never leave them alone.”

“Ah… well, we defeated it ourselves.”

“What?”

“We defeated it ourselves. It was an urgent situation, so we couldn’t help it…”

“What are you…”

Bang!

Daihal, whom he had seen at the Dalcard family, burst into the door.

Then, he tried to suppress his excitement and worry as much as possible and said, “I am Daihal, a special imperial administrator from the Dalcard family. I heard the news that a being from another dimension had been discovered and rushed over. Please explain it accurately once again… Wait, what are you doing here?”

Daihal was surprised to see Lee Han.

The friend of his younger sibling, from the Wodanaz family, was sitting with the adventurers.

“I discovered it.”

“Is that so? It’s lucky in a way that an expert discovered it.”

Daihal sat down in front of Lee Han. Then, he calmly took out a quill.

“What did the opponent call itself?”

“It called itself the Ghoul King.”

“Ghoul King… I can think of about three beings with that title right now, but I haven’t heard any information that all three of them are currently active.”

“That’s possible. The opponent I met seemed to be quite ancient. It wouldn’t be strange if the Empire didn’t have any information about it.”

“Indeed.”

Daihal regained his composure as he talked with Lee Han.

The other adventurers talked in a confusing way. But Lee Han, his younger sibling’s friend from the Wodanaz family, was easy to talk to. He explained everything clearly, step by step.

‘Asan must have made a really good friend at Einroguard.’

Daihal vowed to grab Asan when he returned to the mansion and advise him to be like his friend.

Asan would surely be grateful for such meaningful advice.

“It was trying to possess someone? Oh dear…”

“Yes. And it kept summoning ghouls.”

“We need to send a subjugation force as soon as possible…”

“Excuse me, Administrator?”

Clerk Blancé tried to interject.

It seemed that Special Administrator Daihal was missing something.

“Could you wait a moment? This is an urgent situation, so I will gather information as quickly as possible and then give you a chance to speak.”

“That’s…”

“I’m sorry.”

“No…”

“So, what other abilities did the being who called himself the Ghoul King show?”

“It seemed to disperse its form, emit sound energy, and connect to other dimensions, but I’m not sure about the last one.”

“That’s enough. I’ll send a specialized expert right away…”

Bang!

Blancé slammed her hand on the counter, making the quill jump. “We defeated it! Subjugated! Finished! Do you understand?!” she shouted, her voice echoing in the guild hall.

Daihal jumped back in his chair, quill dropping from his hand. “Subjugated? But… but I thought…” he stammered, completely confused.

“We did subjugate it.”

Lee Han took out the shattered crystal skull. Even broken, it seemed to glow with a faint, cold light. Dark energy seemed to swirl inside the cracks, making the air around it feel colder.

From the eerie energy felt within, Blancé and Daihal instinctively felt what kind of being had resided in this crystal skull.

“It was a being sealed in ancient times, and it seems it escaped through a gap in the seal.”

“So… you really subjugated it?”

“Yes.”

Daihal was speechless.

The tip of the quill, which had been writing fluently, stopped.

Bang!

The guild door opened violently again, and a knight from the Granden City Knights entered.

“Sir Daihal! I heard the news and summoned the knights I could gather. I’ve also contacted the temple, so the priests will join us. We’ll leave right away, so I’ll get the information on the way.”

“Ah, no. We subjugated it.”

“Yes?”

“We subjugated it…?”

The knight saw Special Administrator Daihal losing his confidence and hesitating for the first time.

It was truly a shocking sight.

And the shocking sight didn’t end there.

“Wait. You guys are…”

The knight found familiar faces among the adventurers sitting in front of Daihal.

They were young students from other knight families.

“…Why are you wearing those around your necks?”

They were wearing signs around their necks that read, I will never disobey orders again.