Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 594

The sound of needles and thread filled the common room. Lee Han walked in, rubbing his tired eyes after a long study session, and stopped in surprise. His friends were all sitting together, bent over pieces of cloth, looking annoyed.

“What are you all doing?” Lee Han asked, confused.

“Sewing,” grumbled one of his friends, not looking up. “Thanks to that Gainan!”

Another friend sighed dramatically. “I should have used illusion magic on him. Then he wouldn’t have bothered us with this silly idea.”

Of course, even clothes made as sturdy as possible would fray, tear, and sometimes even burn in the harsh life of Einroguard.

But it was rare for his friends to be sewing together like this.

Besides, from the looks of their sewing, they weren’t just mending tears, but rather, adding patterns onto their cloaks…?

“Are you guys trying to add magic to your clothes? You can’t just sew the thread on carelessly like that. You’ll have to enchant it first.”

“Oh, we’re just doing it because it looks pretty.”

“…Huh?”

“You know, Professor Greenbelt’s exam.”

The Dance and Social Etiquette final exam was like a beacon of light for the first-year students enduring a difficult and exhausting life.

An exam where you could win simply by going and having fun, without needing to study or prepare in any way.

Of course, there were opinions like Wo Mo’s, who thought that ‘an exam should test something real,’ but they were very few and far between.

In any case, the students had very high expectations for this exam.

So much so that some students were deliberately decorating their clothes to look more fancy, even though it had nothing to do with their grades.

“So, you’re telling me that even though it has nothing to do with your grades, you’re adding patterns to your cloaks just to look more fancy when you dance?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Han looked at his friends like they were being very silly.

Realizing the atmosphere had soured, his friends hurriedly began to make excuses.

“Ah, no. It’s just nice if it looks pretty.”

“And the patterns help with magic too.”

As one could see from magic circles, geometrically constructed patterns played a role in assisting magic.

Of course, that was for meticulously calculated patterns, not something like the Prince Who Defeats the Lich pattern that Gainan was attaching.

It was just for show.

“Have you all finished studying for the exams?”

“I’m all done.”

“Me too.”

“……”

Lee Han was shocked to learn that most of his friends, except for him, had finished their final exams.

Was the difference that great?

“O-oh, I see. Well, good luck.”

“Isn’t Wodanaz finished yet?”

“Shhh. Of course, he wouldn’t be. Don’t ask things like that.”

A few considerate students covered their friend’s mouth.

Lee Han sat down with a shocked expression and checked the remaining exams.

Surprisingly, there weren’t many exams left.

Excluding Dance and Social Etiquette, there was Professor Voladi’s exam, Professor Alcasis’s exam…

“Wait a minute. You guys have the healing magic exam left, right?”

“……”

“……”

The friends paused.

“Gainan?”

“Well, I was just going to give up on that anyway, so it’s okay… or is it not?”

Gainan, who had been speaking, glanced around and quietly put away his cloak.

It seemed he couldn’t bear to watch the pattern he had worked so hard to create being torn off.

The students of the White Tiger Tower and the Black Tortoise Tower stared at Gainan’s cloak with shocked expressions in the temporary ballroom.

“That damned prince…!”

“Good heavens, look at that.”

The pattern of the Prince Who Defeats the Lich, embroidered on that cloak, was so magnificent and cool.

So much so that it was impossible for anyone who saw it to look away.

One of the White Tiger Tower students, trembling with jealousy, muttered.

“That guy must have wasted his time doing that instead of studying.”

“…That’s right! That must be it.”

But the voices of the White Tiger Tower students were filled with a sense of defeat.

They themselves were aware of what they were saying.

Any price or loss seemed insignificant in the face of that magnificent pattern.

If only they could have that cloak!

“Yonel. Is there some kind of magic on that that I don’t know about?”

“Aren’t they just liking it because it’s pretty?”

“It doesn’t seem to be just that.”

Lee Han looked around in disbelief.

He couldn’t believe that the other tower students were looking at Gainan’s cloak with eyes burning with jealousy and greed.

Was that pattern so desirable?

‘Should I add patterns and sell them from now on?’

But he couldn’t help but feel repulsed.

He barely had enough time to find new materials and make more items, and now he had to add useless patterns?

I don’t want to make such useless things!

Lee Han was surprised to realize that he had an unexpected sense of pride as an artifact craftsman.

“Student Gainan! Why are you walking so slowly over there? Come in quickly!”

Professor Krinbel, who was inside the ballroom, called out to Gainan, clicking her heels.

Gainan, who had been walking slowly as if someone had put a spell on him to slow him down in front of the ballroom, finally returned to his original speed.

As Gainan approached, Professor Krinbel was taken aback.

“I swear on the shoes of a dancer! That cloak is incredible! I’ve never seen anything so beautiful, even in the fanciest parties!”

“Hehe. Thank you.”

Gainan adjusted the collar of the cloak he had made with blood, sweat, and tears, and went inside.

The inside of the ballroom was as fantastical as if it were not Einroguard.

Lights were refracted and scattered, scattering various colors like mist, and the illusion magic installed in various places made the surroundings even more beautiful.

Asan, who was checking the music being played, discovered Gainan and said.

“Gainan. Will you be my practice partner?”

“No.”

“Just one turn… what?”

“I said no.”

“Why?”

“Look at this outfit.”

Gainan pointed to the pattern on his beautiful cloak, which seemed to have had the entire exam period poured into it.

Asan was startled when he saw it.

“T-this is… did you buy it from outside?”

“Buy it from outside? I made it myself.”

“O-oh, really.”

Asan nodded, waking up from his thoughts. He answered quickly,

“But what does practicing have to do with that?”

“It means I can’t practice because I can’t risk damaging this coat.”

“You are a complete idiot.”

“Hmph. You’re just jealous of my coat. Even if I am an idiot, I’m an idiot with a coat. You’re Asan, the coatless one!”

Asan was momentarily speechless, overwhelmed by Gainando’s bluster. He was even more shocked by his own reaction.

Good heavens, he was losing a verbal sparring match with Gainando! It was preposterous. He must be overwhelmed by the sheer magnificence of that coat.

“Just… you wait, Gainando!”

“Haha! Hahaha!” Gainando laughed loudly.

Meanwhile, Yihan, having finished a light practice dance with Yoner, approached. He’d become curious, what with everyone who saw it exclaiming, ‘Ack! That coat! That coat!’ and making such a fuss.

“Gainando, I know you stayed up all night making that thing, but…”

“Oh, really? Prove it!”

Gainando answered, his voice unusually stiff. The coat was giving him courage.

Yihan expressionlessly raised his wand. Gainando immediately threw his arms up and cried,

“I’m sorry! I’ll go to bed early from now on!”

The coat might have given him courage, but there were limits. The sight of the wand instantly restored Gainando to his senses.

“What’s this made of? This purple is so bright, it almost glows!”

Yihan knew a lot about the paints and dyes first-year students used, even the ones bought secretly. He seemed to know everything that was going on in the school because news always reached him.

The paints and dyes used by the first-year students were either ‘borrowed’ from Einroguard’s classrooms or made directly, and most were simple, single-color shades. He had bought some of these materials when he went out recently, but since they were less important, he hadn’t acquired a wide variety of colors. Besides, this purple had a more mysterious and subtle glow than any purple sold outside. Where did Gainando get this?

“…You’ll keep it a secret, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“…You really will, won’t you?”

“Gainando.”

“Ah, alright. You could have just asked.”

Gainando looked unsure. He really didn’t want to tell, but finally, he spoke.

“You know the Black Iron Hall?”

The Black Iron Hall, Professor Mortum’s workshop and magic tower, was a familiar place for students majoring in black magic like Yihan.

“Behind the Black Iron Hall were old graveyards, with leaning stones and twisted trees. Near the back, there was a fenced-off pit where they threw away dead poisonous insects. It smelled strange and sharp, even from far away… and when I saw the color, I thought it was pretty, so…”

Yihan could scarcely believe his ears.

Was he saying…?

“You dyed your clothes with the poison from poisonous insects!?”

“It sounds weird when you say it like that!”

“That’s because it is weird.”

Yihan was dumbfounded. The place where they dumped poisonous insects behind the Black Iron Hall was a place where they were mixed and discarded without any particular rules. Naturally, the poison produced there would be so complexly mixed that its components couldn’t be identified. They should have waited until the poison smell went away, but he used it to dye his coat because he liked the color. He was either fearless or mad. Or both.

“I checked it over and over. It was really okay.”

Gainando made excuses, watching Yihan warily. He had done all sorts of checks in his own way. Besides, the biggest proof was that nothing had happened to him while wearing this coat, wasn’t it?

“Wait a minute. This blue is also a bit strange. What’s this?”

“There was a blue bone in the Black Iron Hall, so I ground it up and made it into pigment… Ack! Ack! Yihan! No! The pattern will get ruined!”

When Yihan couldn’t hold back and swung his wand, Gainando flailed his arms and begged. He was more afraid of the coat being ruined than of the pain in his body.

“Gainando, even in alchemy…”

“I don’t take alchemy?”

“…Anyway, randomly mixing elements without knowing their exact composition is not a good thing.”

Yihan worried that mixing poisons like this might have created something dangerous in Gainando’s coat. Of course, it could just be that the coat was really cool and that’s why people were reacting, but Gainando might have accidentally created a cursed coat.

Gainando, understanding the meaning behind Yihan’s warning, reacted strongly.

“If you’re going to take this coat, you’ll have to peel it off my corpse!”

“Alright.”

As Yihan prepared to peel it off his corpse, Gainando immediately revised his strategy.

“Please, Yihan! I’ll study hard from now on, work hard on my duties, and I won’t steal desserts! Just let me wear it until this exam!!”

“…Do you really have to go that far?”

Gainando nodded repeatedly. Yihan stared at him, then sighed.

“Fine. Wear it. Wear it, you brat. But tell me right away if anything feels strange.”

“Yes!!!”

Yihan shook his head and turned away.

As he walked out, Adenart cautiously beckoned to Yihan.

“What is it?”

“……”

Yihan was puzzled by Adenart’s hesitation. ‘What’s this about?’

“Is there a dance you’ve forgotten the steps to?”

Adenart shook his head. Then, blushing slightly, he hesitated before finally opening his mouth.

“Um, Yihan,” Adenart asked shyly, “how… how did you make that amazing pattern?”

“……”

Yihan turned away sharply without even listening. Adenart stared at Yihan’s back with a shocked expression, like an abandoned puppy. Why?!

The vampire moved cautiously, seeking the familiar direction of magic. There were far too many powerful individuals in this school who exuded a strong presence. In particular, the lesson of almost being subjugated by the Death Knights had left a very strong impression on the vampire. Even after sleeping in a sarcophagus for hundreds of years, one mistake could be the end. Everything had to be secretive and cautious.

The more it moved, the more it felt like it was approaching infinite magic. The vampire listened to the sounds coming from inside the ballroom. Through the open gap, it could see students chatting happily and dancing. But the vampire had no interest in them.

As the vampire turned its gaze in search of infinite magic, one student finally caught its eye. It was a student wearing a coat that shimmered with purple and blue patterns, like a night sky full of stars. Regardless of the magic, the vampire was captivated by the coat.