Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 650

“Is that so? Everyone has unexpected sides to them.”

Lee Han wouldn’t have been surprised if Voladi had created it.

Perhaps Voladi had gone through a turbulent period in his youth.

“There’s a limit to how unexpected things can be.”

“The Headmaster was quite the handsome man in his day, you know.”

Lee Han learned this. He started to think differently.

There were no limits in the world, and magic was infinite.

“…That was… a very long time ago. Begreck isn’t that old!”

Alsicle had to defend Voladi’s honor, even though he didn’t consider him a close friend.

After repeated persuasion, Lee Han accepted the idea that Professor Voladi might not be responsible.

“Well, maybe not… perhaps a magical criminal sneaked into the school and left it behind.”

“Hey, just because I said Begreck didn’t do it doesn’t mean you have to say something silly like that.”

Alsicle got angry at Lee Han’s attitude, clearly thinking Voladi was the culprit but dismissing it.

“And more important than who the owner is, is the magic inside it.”

“I agree.”

Lee Han nodded.

Who the owner was didn’t really matter.

What mattered was obtaining such an artifact.

As Lee Han agreed, Alsicle looked at his junior with a pleased expression. In these moments, they thought alike as fellow wizards.

They both spoke at the same time.

“First, try to learn the magic inside it. Then you might be able to meet the owner.”

“Since it’s a pretty useful artifact, carry it around and use it when it’s dangerous, and if things get tough, sell it… Huh?”

“?”

“?”

Alsicle and Lee Han looked at each other. Alsicle flapped his wings to clear the air.

“Wait. My suggestion was to learn the magic inside it. If you ever get the chance to meet the owner, you might learn new Vision magic.”

“Yes.”

“Your suggestion… I don’t know what nonsense you’re spouting.”

‘That’s too much.’

Lee Han protested at the senior wizard’s icy reply.

“It’s hard enough to find the owner of such an item, so what chance is there of meeting them? It’s more common to just use it as an artifact.”

“Don’t you know that magic calls to magic? You never know when you might meet them. How disappointing would it be if you met the owner but couldn’t learn the magic? You’d be missing out on a chance to learn magic!”

Like a born wizard, Alsicle didn’t want to miss any opportunity to learn magic.

Moreover, it wasn’t just any magic, but the work of someone skilled enough to engrave time magic into a pocket watch.

Such a skilled person must have created several unique and extraordinary spells of their own.

He had to be prepared for that someday.

And wasn’t there an old saying that magic calls to magic?

Once learned, fate might lead him to the owner.

“In my opinion, the saying that magic calls to magic is about revenge. If the students of the White Tiger Tower use magic to attack the Black Tortoise Tower, the students of the Black Tortoise Tower will use magic to attack the White Tiger Tower.”

“……”

Alsicle clicked his beak in displeasure at the way he interpreted a proverb symbolizing fate bringing people together because of magic in such a practical way.

“And Alsicle, there’s a major problem with your plan.”

“What is it?”

“I might not be able to learn the magic engraved here.”

Lee Han said seriously.

From the start, this was the biggest problem.

Time magic was a very difficult type of magic.

Even a spell like >Limited Time Acceleration> engraved on this pocket watch would surely take a tremendous amount of time to learn.

Moreover, Lee Han had to study other magic at the same time.

Rather than being played around with by an artifact created by some madman, it might be a wiser choice to simply use the artifact itself effectively.

“Wodanaz.”

Alsicle sighed deeply.

“Yes?”

“You can learn it.”

“How do you know that, Alsicle?”

“You can learn it, you little rascal. Got it? You can learn it. Stop talking nonsense and just learn it. Learn it by today.”

‘He’s really violent today.’

Lee Han grumbled inwardly at Alsicle’s unreasonable insistence.

Derkyu rode slowly.

He didn’t ride in a fancy carriage, or on a horse that was too skinny and old.

Riding a well-built warhorse and proudly showing the family crest on his chest was the knight’s way of traveling.

‘Huh?’

In the distance, on the hill above, he saw a group of mercenaries surrounding travelers and making a fuss.

Derkyu, who was passing along the Imperial Road, immediately grabbed his sword.

He could have just passed by, but Derkyu had no intention of doing so.

Protecting travelers walking on the Imperial Road was a knight’s duty.

Even if it wasn’t his family’s land. Derkyu spurred his horse forward.

“Oh, my sins are too deep. Can I ever turn back? Can I atone even now?”

Nod.

“Really? These blood-soaked hands?”

Nod.

“Oh… oh!”

“I will atone… I will atone!”

“I will lay down my sword and return home…!”

“?”

Derkyu wondered if some evil god worshippers had arrived.

The rough and fierce mercenaries were weeping and repenting like gentle lambs.

What on earth was this ridiculous situation?

‘Is it mind magic?!’

Arsil, who was standing among the mercenaries, patted them on the shoulder as if understanding.

Then he gestured for them to follow him. The mercenaries followed Arsil, weeping.

“…Wh-what did I just see?”

Derkyu regained his senses and belatedly tried to chase after them, but surprisingly, the mercenaries had disappeared.

It felt like he had been possessed by a ghost.

“Are you Derkyu of the Choi family?”

“Oh. Priestess Siana.”

Derkyu turned his head at the familiar voice coming from a carriage rolling in the distance.

He saw the flag and carriage of the Flemen Order, and priests.

As expected of one of the leading orders in the Empire, the carriage was large and sturdy, if not luxurious.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“What a terrible joke… It’s, it’s nothing.”

Derkyu rode down the hill.

No one would believe him even if he told them what he had just seen.

He wasn’t even sure himself, as if he had dreamed it…

“May the wisdom of Flemen lead you to perfection.”

“Ah. May we show even more extraordinary wisdom through that perfection.”

Derkyu replied, trying hard to recall the proper response.

The priests of the Flemen Order wore pleased expressions at the appropriate answer.

Not many knights could give polite greetings suitable for the Order. Even less so if they were young knights.

“The knight of the Choi family is truly refined.”

‘I learned it from following Lee Han around.’

Derkyu asked Priestess Siana.

“You’re heading to the Wodanaz family’s mansion, right?”

“Yes, yes. We were thinking of stopping by since there’s a village ahead.”

“All of the Order members…?”

“Not quite. The other priests are here because of the village.”

The priests of the Flemen Order often toured the Empire making potions.

Excellent alchemists were rare in remote areas.

The high-quality potions made by the priests of the Flemen Order were very useful to these people.

Udamhwa Village was neither a remote place nor a place with a Flemen Order temple, but the priests decided to make the village their destination to accompany the young Priestess Siana.

“People like it when we go to the village and give out potions.”

“Hmm. That’s a great thing to do.”

Derkyu nodded.

He had seen the Flemen Order priests doing such good deeds in the North as well. It was an even more important act of kindness in the cold and harsh northern regions than in other areas.

“The villagers will be touched.”

“Really? Should we build them a temple too?”

“W-well, that’s…”

Derkyu looked troubled.

Unlike Lee Han, Derkyu felt awkward when he was around other Tower students.

How would Derkyu know what the priests liked?

He couldn’t talk about hunting or northern monsters…

“…Oh, right. Did you know that Lee Han visited the North this time?”

“!”

Priestess Siana looked at him with great interest.

Derkyu was relieved inside, having found a good topic.

“He visited the Moradi family. I heard about it in a letter from other friends.”

“Wow. The Moradi family?! Weren’t the two of them on terrible terms?”

“Priestess Siana.”

One of the senior priests of the Flemen Order shook his finger as a warning.

Although her skills had greatly improved after entering Einrogard, there were times when he worried that her personality had become too impatient.

He couldn’t understand why she was like that, even though there were other priests in Einrogard.

“Sorry. Weren’t they on terrible terms?”

‘I don’t think making it smaller is the issue here.’

Derkyu wondered if a priest should be like this, but he decided not to interfere in the affairs of another order, which wasn’t his family’s business.

“Actually, they seem to bicker, but they’re quite close.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. They took swordsmanship classes together for a year and joined forces, so there’s no way they wouldn’t be close. Just think of them as friends who seem to be on slightly bad terms on the surface.”

Derkyu defended them enthusiastically.

He was always saddened to see the two of them, who had fought shoulder to shoulder, arguing.

Surely there was camaraderie built up between them, even if it wasn’t visible!

Of course, it was an unwanted defense that neither of them desired.

“Oh…”

Priestess Siana scribbled excitedly with her quill.

She had a story to use when sending letters to the student priests of other orders.

“So this visit was also…?”

“That’s right. A token of friendship.”

“But he didn’t visit the Choi family’s mansion, did he?”

“……”

Derkyu, caught off guard, was flustered.

“It’s not like you have to visit to be close…”

“But based on this alone, doesn’t that make Giselle of the Moradi family closer to Lee Han than Derkyu of the Choi family?”

“…Actually, Moradi isn’t that close to Lee Han.”

“?”

Cornered, Derkyu threw the knight’s honor to the side of the road and began to slander Moradi.

“Didn’t you just say they were close?”

“I said they were relatively close. They fight often. I’m closer to him.”

‘Can I trust this person?’

Priestess Siana narrowed her eyes and looked at Derkyu.

The smell of bluffing was strong in what he had just said.

Just like the words of the Blue Dragon Tower’s prince…

“In my opinion, Lee Han’s visit this time is probably a consideration to repair his damaged friendship with Moradi even a little. Moradi isn’t a bad friend, but isn’t he stubborn and sharp? So it’s not like Moradi is necessarily closer…”

“O-okay.”

Priestess Siana couldn’t bear to watch any longer and stopped Derkyu.

“And I’m visiting Lee Han’s territory directly. I’m closer to him.”

“Yes…”

The village came into view in the distance.

But something was strange. People were out on the road in front of the village.

“Oh, are you the priests of the Flemen Order?”

“That’s right. Do you need help?”

“Oh, no! W-would you mind waiting for a moment?”

“Yes?”

“I-in the village, someone… knocked over a haystack, and the square is a complete mess. We have to clean it up!”

“We’ll help you.”

“No, no, no!! We can’t ask travelers to do that! Just wait a little bit!”