Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 556

“Is everyone ready? I’m going in,” Yihan said, his voice quiet but firm.

Too many students wanted to go through the dimensional gate at once. It was impossible.

Yihan quickly split them into small groups. The first group, the one going now, needed to be quick-thinking and good at dealing with anything.

Of course, Yihan was in this first group. He knew Salco and Giselle would start arguing the moment things got difficult if he wasn’t there to keep them calm. He sighed inwardly. *This was going to be trouble.*

“According to my calculations, it should stay open. If it closes, don’t even think about coming here. Go back to the dorm and pretend you didn’t see anything.”

“Woah, Wodanaz. Still, how can you say that…”

“Those who live must live on. There’s no choice.”

Yihan spoke firmly to his friends, who were surprised and worried.

If the dimensional gate closed, the students who had gone through would have to find their own way back to school.

How could the students at the school possibly save them?

“Then… I’m going.”

Pop!

Yihan stepped into the shimmering gate. It felt like the other times he’d traveled to the Spirit Realm and the Undead Realm – a strange pull, a sense of shifting between worlds. It was a dizzying moment, feeling like it lasted forever, but then, just as suddenly, it stopped. He blinked and found himself standing in a hallway. It was a mansion, but not one he knew.

“Wodanaz.”

“…Everyone arrived safely, I see.”

The friends who had entered before him nodded, their faces tense.

No student could remain completely calm after entering the Skull Headmaster’s mansion, no matter what.

“Everyone, stay calm.”

“I-I’m calm, though?”

“M-Me too. I’m calm, Wodanaz.”

‘They’re shaking…’

Seeing even friends like Salco and Giselle trembling with tension, Yihan felt he needed to ease the atmosphere.

“If we follow the plan, we won’t get caught. Alright, everyone, take a deep breath. We need to quickly check the layout of the mansion, change our clothes, and then get out.”

“Are we really leaving the things inside the mansion alone?”

“No way. That’s insane.”

Ratford looked sad. Surprisingly, not only Ratford but also several other students were openly expressing their regret.

It wasn’t just because they wanted the treasures in the mansion.

“But Wodanaz, if we don’t do it now, we might never get to loot the Headmaster’s mansion…”

“That’s right. If we’re going to the punishment room anyway, shouldn’t we loot it first?”

They felt desperate because this might be their only chance to steal the Skull Headmaster’s treasures.

And they were determined to be prepared to go to the punishment room since they had already jumped into this.

It wouldn’t be surprising if several students thought, ‘Since it’s come to this, I’m going to inflict as much damage on the Skull Headmaster as possible.’

But Yihan remained calm.

“No. Everyone, stick to the plan. Ignore what the seniors said. We’re going in the direction with the least chance of getting caught. Got it?”

As the one with the most escape experience here, Yihan knew very well that there was nothing more dangerous than acting emotionally during an escape.

‘We need to figure out the layout as quickly as possible and get out of the city. The longer we stay, the more dangerous it becomes. Besides, if the treasure disappears…’

“Yeah. Listen to Wodanaz. He’s the one who’s escaped the most around here. No one can match his cunning.”

“I’ll admit Wodanaz’s criminal skills, if nothing else.”

“Thanks, everyone. …Wait. Did you just insult me?”

Salco and Giselle shook their heads at the same time at Yihan’s question.

“No, I didn’t.”

“No way. There’s a misunderstanding.”

“I think you did… Anyway, let’s move. Everyone, stay close.”

Yihan, who was gathering his friends and preparing to cast an invisibility spell, froze.

Mercenaries had appeared at the other end of the hallway.

People in the Empire who didn’t like mercenaries thought they were no different from criminals.

They believed that during the day, mercenaries would follow orders, but at night, they would steal from their clients.

Of course, the mercenaries strongly disagreed with these ideas.

-What a terrible thing to say about soldiers who are dedicated to justice, from the cold mountains in the north to the hot deserts in the south!

-Okay, one of my friends was caught attacking a client, but that’s not common!

-That’s right! My friend was caught robbing someone the other day, but that almost never happens!

Unfortunately, the mercenaries caught by the Death Knights who worked for the Skull Headmaster were those rare cases.

They used to follow the law, but because of some problems, they seemed to have committed crimes.

So, they protested loudly when the Death Knights caught them.

-Let me go now, or I’ll hurt your master, you undead thing!

-You nasty spell-caster, you dark magician who steals from graves!

When the Death Knights said who they worked for, the mercenaries protested more politely.

-…Still, this is too much!

-If I had to fight a magician, I could do it right now! Just stick an arrow in their neck, and a magician is…

When the Death Knights locked the doors and pointed their weapons at anyone who fought back, the mercenaries’ protests became much quieter.

-H-How much more do we have to do?

-Do we need to prepare more than this? Any magician would be easy to beat with this much training. If you just stick an arrow in their neck…

Of course, no matter how quiet their protests became, the Death Knights didn’t let the mercenaries go easily.

-Be quiet. It’s not enough yet. Some of the magicians you’re going to fight are better than you think. Train harder.

-Ah, no…!

As time went on, the Death Knights chose only the mercenaries who were good enough and moved them to the mansion.

Even though they had passed the test, the mercenaries were still worried.

-What are they going to do with us? Are they going to have us kill another magician?

-If it’s a murder, they won’t let us live even if we do it!

-The ones who failed might have been cursed by the magician and turned into statues…

Even someone who is trapped will try to fight back.

So, the violent mercenaries who had been caught after committing crimes started planning to escape without being told to.

But escaping was not easy.

-You stupid rat. You’ve picked ten thousand locks, and you can’t open one simple door?

-Try it yourself! I can’t open it no matter what I do! It’s like they’ve hammered iron into it!

-I-I climbed over the wall and jumped, but I bounced off as if there was a barrier.

-That magician must have put a spell in the air. Crazy person!

-Let’s dig! We’ll escape by digging through the ground.

The mercenaries were trapped. “The ground is blocked too,” one grumbled. “That crazy wizard even put magic underground!”

The mercenaries found every possible escape route blocked.

The Death Knights came every evening. They did not care if the mercenaries dug up the ground or scratched the gate.

They checked how well the mercenaries were doing and punished them if they did not improve.

“Practice instead of doing useless things! You trash!”

“Why don’t you understand that with your current skills, you can’t even break through the wizard’s summons!”

The Death Knights were harsh. The mercenaries suffered a lot. This made them want to escape even more.

“Who knows what will happen if we stay here any longer!”

“Let’s search the mansion. The wizard might have forgotten something.”

“Find everything. Start behind the mirrors and go under the beds. Search every nook and cranny!”

“Is it okay to go in here? I think the Death Knights told us never to enter…”

“They won’t be back for a while. Go in! We’re dead men anyway.”

So, the mercenaries bravely went into the forbidden area of the mansion and started searching.

That brave search had a silly ending.

A group of Einroguard students was waiting in the hallway at the top of the stairs they had climbed.

“……”

“……”

Both groups were surprised and confused. They had secrets, so they just froze.

‘Have we been discovered!? Who are those people? Are they the Headmaster’s henchmen?’

‘Have we been discovered!? Who are those guys? Are they that wizard’s underlings?’

The students wondered if they should go back to the dimensional gate or get ready for punishment and try to escape the mansion.

The mercenaries wondered if they should back down or capture the wizard’s underlings and use them as hostages.

Ihan was the first to act.

“Attack!”

“What?”

“I said attack! Unleash the lightning of Perkuntra!”

As lightning struck the hallway from Ihan’s spell, the mercenaries realized they had made a big mistake in their confusion.

They made a big mistake by letting the wizard attack first!

‘This is bad!’

“Grab those bastards and use them as hostages… Ack!”

A mercenary, who was a little late in announcing the attack, was hit by lightning and fell. He was shaking and could not get up, showing he had been badly hurt.

“Shield bearers to the front!”

“Sh-shield bearers! Right. Shield bearers to the front!”

The mercenaries panicked because the wizard attacked first. But they still moved like they were well-trained. This was funny because the Death Knights had made them practice so much.

They had been trained to fight wizards, so they could move without thinking even in this situation.

The mercenaries had strong wooden shields that were treated to resist magic. They stepped forward and quickly made a shield wall.

The mercenaries behind them got ready to attack from a distance. They loaded crossbows and took out daggers covered in poison.

Ihan’s face became serious when he saw this.

‘So, they are trained!’

“Wodanaz, is it really okay to attack so recklessly like this?”

“They’re just criminals the Headmaster caught. Attack!”

“What? How do you… I-I understand. Attack! Attack!”

Ihan attacked first for a simple reason.

He had seen those mercenaries at the warehouse outside the city before. They were criminals the Skull Headmaster had brought in to attack the new students.

He knew who they were, so he did not hesitate to attack. They were going to fight at the school anyway.

“Scatter, O mist! Arise, warriors made of bone!”

Ihan quickly waved his staff, creating a mist in the hallway and summoning skeleton warriors to move forward.

The mercenaries felt pressure as the dark skeleton warriors lined up and moved through the mist, making it hard to see.

The situation had quickly changed again!

“Th-this is…”

“H-how…!”

The mercenaries thought the Death Knights were just being difficult when they criticized their tactics.

“Slow and clumsy. And you only have one method prepared? You’re going to fight a wizard with just that!”

As experienced mercenaries, they had fought wizards before.

Usually, wizards were not strong in a fight that started quickly.

They were slow to cast spells. They did not protect themselves well. They were slow to react when attacked.

The mercenaries thought that once they blocked a spell, they could quickly attack and defeat them.

But the wizard in front of them was not giving them any chances.

The mercenaries put up shields and waited. But the wizard quickly changed his plan to fight them. He was ready for a long fight.

Seeing the skeleton warriors moving through the mist, the mercenaries felt confused.

‘Should we fight? How strong are these guys?’

‘Can we break through this and reach those spell-casting bastards?’

At that moment, the students started casting spells.

The students had finished their spells while Ihan was waiting.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Kraaah!”

“Kroooooh!”

Even though they were defending against the magic, they could not avoid the spells being fired by more than a dozen wizards.

Shields were broken, and mercenaries were thrown back by the force of the spells.

Giselle saw the mercenaries fall. She looked quickly at Ihan.

‘Are they really criminals…?’

She wondered if Wodanaz had called them criminals to make it easier to attack them.

‘…No, probably not. I can’t know for sure if they are really criminals right now.’

“They’re running away!”

The students shouted as they saw the enemies at the end of the hallway quickly running to the stairs.

Ihan gave a cold order.

“Catch them! Don’t let a single one escape!”

“…Wodanaz. They are really criminals, right?”

“I said they’re criminals! Salco, why do you keep asking pointless questions?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Forget about it.”