Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 545

‘Is he giving these away for free?’ Nilia wondered, feeling a little silly for even asking.

She thought about it. Wodanaz was selling the things they made for very little money.

Her friends had a different idea about why Wodanaz did this. They said things like:

“Do you think Wodanaz is trying to make money?” one friend asked.

“No, silly! It’s because some people are too proud to just take things for free,” another replied. “He’s making it like they are buying it, so they don’t feel bad.”

“Wodanaz is so kind,” a third friend said. “We could just give things to them! Right, Wodanaz?”

“No,” Wodanaz said firmly. “Pay up. Stop talking nonsense.”

“Haha, we know, we know!” the friend laughed.

Nilia liked giving things away for free, like when she lived in the mountains. But maybe Wodanaz was right. Maybe her friends would feel strange if she just gave them things.

“…Maybe you’re right,” Nilia said to Leehan. “Maybe my friends wouldn’t want to just take things. Right?”

“What are you talking about?” Leehan asked, looking confused.

He wanted to make good things and sell them for a good price. Nilia’s words made no sense to him.

“Well… I was thinking about giving things to friends… for free…” Nilia mumbled.

“Nilia,” Leehan said, “I’ve told you before. You are good at getting money and turning it into something useful.”

‘Oops,’ Nilia thought.

She knew she had made a mistake as soon as Leehan started talking like that. He sounded like he was going to talk for a long time.

Last time, she had just said, “I shared the food I hunted with my friends because they were hungry.” Wodanaz and Yoner had caught her and lectured her for thirty minutes! They had said, “Nilia, how will you survive in tough Einrogard if you are like that? We are so worried!”

“Hey, no, that’s not it!” Nilia said quickly. “Get money! Get money! I wasn’t thinking clearly!”

“Really?” Leehan asked, looking closely at her. “Do you really think that?”

“Yes, of course!” Nilia said. Her eyes darted back and forth.

Leehan looked at her suspiciously, then nodded slowly. “Hmm. Okay.”

Just then, Rowena finished her work and wiped sweat from her face. “Oh, Nilia! Thank you so much for the leather gloves you gave me! Because of them, my hands are warm today while I work.”

Leehan stared at Nilia, his eyes wide.

Nilia quickly picked up the chest and ran out of the room towards the lecture hall.

*Sssssh-* The smell of burning leather filled the air.

“Gasp!” Angaro jumped back, horrified. He looked around the lecture room.

Professor Verdus sat in the corner, fixing an old object. He didn’t even look up as he spoke. “Pour the liquid to stop the burning next to it… Wait. Too late. Get another piece of leather.”

“…S-sorry, Wodanaz,” Angaro mumbled, feeling bad for ruining the leather.

Leehan spoke softly, but his voice was firm. “It’s okay. You will pay for it anyway.”

“…Huh? Pay? I thought it was free?” Angaro asked, confused.

“It’s free if you do the work right,” Leehan explained. “If you fail, you have to pay for the materials.”

“That’s right, Alpha,” Salco said, shaking his hammer like a teacher. “You need to learn the value of things.”

“That’s the problem with students from knight families,” Tutanta added. “They just swing swords around. They don’t know how hard it is to make things and they waste materials.”

“Yeah,” Salco agreed. “Are you wasting materials because you didn’t get them yourself? Typical White Tiger Tower students.”

‘Ugh, these guys,’ Angaro thought angrily.

The Black Tortoise Tower and the Blue Dragon Tower were not friends, but they always agreed when it came to making fun of the other towers.

*Snap!*

Salco groaned.

The gold thread he was using to make a magic pattern broke. He had used too much magic.

“Haha! Tutanta, you idiot!” Salco yelled.

“Wasting materials! Wasting materials!” Tutanta shouted back. “Wodanaz worked hard to get those materials!”

The White Tiger Tower students jumped up, as if they had been waiting for this. “Apologize to Wodanaz!” they yelled. “Tell him you’re sorry!”

“The gold thread isn’t even from Wodanaz!” Salco argued.

“Shut up!” Salco shouted back. “Even if I apologize, it won’t be because you told me to!”

“Yeah, and the material *you* collected isn’t…” Leehan started to say, trying to stop the fight. But he got annoyed. He picked up his staff and whacked his friends.

*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*

“Ouch! Aargh!” Students cried out.

“Stop it!” Leehan said angrily. “You are wasting time and delaying the work!”

The students went back to work. But they still watched each other, ready to argue again if they got the chance.

“Ah!” Nilia sighed.

The leather tore in her hands. She had been trying to make the edge perfect. Tears welled up in her eyes.

The White Tiger Tower students noticed Nilia’s sad face. They looked at her quickly. The Black Tortoise Tower students saw this and got ready to defend their friend, Nilia.

But then, the White Tiger Tower students looked away. They pretended they hadn’t seen anything.

They remembered all the kind things Nilia had done for them. They couldn’t make fun of her now. She had been too generous to them.

“Are you serious?” Salco whispered loudly, surprised the White Tiger students didn’t tease Nilia.

“Hey, be quiet,” Tutanta hissed back.

“S-sorry, Wodanaz,” Salco mumbled, realizing he was being too loud.

‘Hmm,’ Leehan thought. ‘The older students kept armor for a reason.’

He remembered Anpagon and Balpatan, the older students. They had given him armor for the work he did for them last time.

Leehan now had lots of cloth and sets of armor. He had wondered if there was going to be a war. But then he realized, Einrogard was a dangerous place, even when there wasn’t a war. Armor was always useful.

As he made new clothes, like coats, he understood why defense was important.

“Make this part thicker,” Leehan told Angaro. “It needs to stop arrows.”

“Arrows too?” Angaro asked.

“Yes, arrows too!” Leehan said, sounding annoyed. “It’s good if it can stop them. Can you see every arrow coming and dodge it? Even arrows with many layers of magic? What are you, arrogant? If there is a trap with magic arrows outside your room, will you just die?”

“…” Angaro didn’t say anything else. He picked up his tool again, feeling scolded.

He thought he was doing well, but Wodanaz wanted everything to be perfect.

‘What is he even making…?’ Angaro wondered.

He glanced at Wodanaz’s work.

He was shocked.

Inside the coat, magic circles were layered on top of each other. They were so complex, Angaro couldn’t understand them at a glance.

Wodanaz frowned, thinking hard. He seemed stuck.

“The magic to make it strong isn’t working,” Wodanaz muttered.

“Hey, aren’t you asking for too much?” another student asked.

“Really?” Leehan looked up, thought for a moment, then shrugged.

“No,” he said. “We are using good materials. We have to make it this good.”

“Too much magic, huh? Make it less powerful. You’re lucky it didn’t blow up!”

Professor Verdus walked past, glanced at Ihan’s coat, and his words were sharp like ice.

Ihan felt sad and quickly made the magic weaker.

Nearby, Angaro thought, ‘That professor is crazy…’ He decided it was safer to just keep making warm coats and looked away, focusing on his work.

“Oh, right. Finals are in two weeks, aren’t they?”

Students, who had been mindlessly crafting clothes, all looked up at the same time.

When Professor Verdus told them about the exam, they were all interested.

“We’ll be making things right away, right here.”

“Should we get the materials ready ahead of time?”

“What are we supposed to make?”

“Hold on.”

When students asked questions, Professor Verdus reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of paper.

“Let’s see… Bible, if you ignore me and do your own thing again, I’ll hang you upside down in the punishment room… Ah. No, that’s the back.”

“……”

Professor Verdus flipped the paper over and read. Everyone could see the exam rules were from the Skull Headmaster.

“‘You must use the materials that this year’s students have already used and thrown away.”

“Excuse me?”

“How are we supposed to do that??”

People say good craftsmen don’t blame their tools, but that’s not true.

The better the craftsman, the more they care about their tools.

Professor Verdus was a good example.

He didn’t care if people insulted him, but if someone touched his equipment, he would use all his magic items to attack.

And now, they had to use discarded materials.

“This… this isn’t leather anymore, it’s charcoal.”

Angaro checked the leather he had burned and thrown away.

Make something out of this?

The other students felt the same way.

They realized they had ruined their materials all year, and their faces turned pale.

Ihan, however, didn’t worry.

He immediately picked up a carving knife and started cutting a good piece of leather.

‘If I make more waste now, that will work.’

“‘Wodanaz. Don’t try to make more waste that can be used. I’ll be checking and taking it away.”

“……”

Ihan looked shocked and confused at the professor because of the Skull Headmaster’s warning.

He had guessed it!

‘Damn it. I’m not ready yet.’

Professor Verdus, having read the whole note from the Skull Headmaster, >How to make the finals easy! An easy final exam even Professor Verdus can do,> looked at the students and said,

“Good, isn’t it? No need to get materials ready.”

“……”

“Kraaah!”

One of the White Tiger Tower students got angry and charged at Professor Verdus.

Professor Verdus looked puzzled and simply blasted the student out the window.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Some students sometimes go crazy.”

Professor Verdus nodded as if he understood Ihan’s words.

“I see it every year.”

“I see.”

Ihan clicked his tongue, thinking about older students and their past.

If you’re going to attack, do it more carefully!

* * *

“Everyone, come and get your clothes.”

“Wodanaz. This is too small for me.”

“There are bigger sizes in the back. Ymirg, your robe is custom-made, so take that one. Gainando, you idiot. Don’t just pick a color, see if the size fits.”

“Ah, no? This fits me perfectly?”

Gainando waved around pants that were about three sizes too big for him.

The wrinkles looked like a skull, which he liked a lot.

“If you hold up your pants again like last time, I’m taking your card away.”

The Phoenix Tower priests, who were helping, asked, puzzled,

“Don’t you have a belt?”

“He lost his belt while gambling with his card last time.”

“……”

“…Maybe you should take it away…”

Gainando grabbed his pants and hurried away.

Ihan was giving out winter clothing with the help of the Phoenix Tower students.

It seemed easier than making them, but it was still a little difficult. Ihan had to check if they worked well and if they fit.

“Thanks for all your help.”

“Of course, we have to help you with such a good deed.”

“Huh? I’m selling them for money, though?”

“…Oh…”

The priest looked at Nilia.

He was clearly told that he was giving it away?

Priest Siana said, as if telling him not to worry.

“Selling it much cheaper than the market price is the same as giving it away.”

“I, is that so?”

“Of course, it is.”

‘As expected of the Fremen Order.’

Ihan felt more positive about the Fremen Order.

The students, dressed in new clothes from head to toe, looked much more relieved.

Angaro, looking proud, asked for feedback on the clothes he had made. Then, he saw the pile of luggage Ihan had behind the stall and asked, puzzled,

“Wodanaz. What’s that?”

“Ah. A tent and sleeping bag made from leftover materials.”

“…Why?”

“You never know when you might need it.”

“?”

Angaro didn’t think camping equipment was needed.

Of course, it would be needed if he went into the mountains, but who would go camping in the mountains in this winter?

* * *

“The final exam will be spending a day in the mountain range.”

“……”

“……”

The students looked at Professor Ingeldel with betrayed expressions.

The elf professor was embarrassed by their reaction and asked,

“Don’t all knight families do this kind of camping training?”

“That’s…”

“…That’s true…”