Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 677

“Oh no!” Lee Han said, his voice worried. “The professor looked after him so well…”

The skeletal headmaster answered in a cold voice, “Things change. Don’t think a unicorn will be loyal like a person.”

Professor Bendozol was kind, but the unicorn needed to find the best place for its baby.

The headmaster had seen the foal get scared of Professor Bendozol before. He knew he had to think carefully.

Even with great magic and care, the foal had to like him first.

“The professor will be sad when he knows,” Lee Han said, sounding worried.

“I doubt it,” the skeletal headmaster replied. “Professor Bendozol will probably just think the unicorn is very smart.”

Lee Han thought about this and nodded slowly. *Yes, that sounds like Professor Bendozol. He always lets the unicorn do whatever it wants!*

The unicorn seemed to think for a moment, then made a soft, sad sound.

The skeletal headmaster listened, his bony hand on his chin.

“What is it asking?” Lee Han wondered.

“Nothing much,” the headmaster said. “It’s asking for something. And I will give it. It’s easy.”

Lee Han was confused. “What does it want?” he asked.

The headmaster smiled slightly. “It wants *you*, Lee Han, to look after it. I said you would.”

Lee Han was so surprised he couldn’t speak. Then, he found his voice. “Why *me*?!”

“Because you will anyway,” the headmaster said simply.

“What?” Lee Han asked, confused.

“Don’t act like you don’t know. You’ll be studying with Professor Bendozol next term. And if you study with him, you’ll be looking after all the strange creatures he keeps. So, you’ll look after the unicorn too, right?”

“But the professor can look after it! And he doesn’t even like me!” Lee Han argued, trying to get out of it.

The skeletal headmaster answered in a cold voice, “Even if the professor tries, the foal won’t like him. It will want you. Professor Bendozol’s feelings don’t matter. You just have a way with some monsters.”

Guinan, still hanging upside down, his face red, asked, “What kind of monsters?”

“Monsters that like you because you are strong and magical. They come closer to you, instead of running away.”

Lee Han didn’t like the sound of that at all. He saw the hunters nodding and felt annoyed for no reason. *Why do they agree with him?* he thought.

“Didn’t Professor Bendozol say good things about you?”

“He kept complaining,” Lee Han said. “He said he didn’t understand why monsters liked someone like me.”

“That *is* praise!” the headmaster said, sounding amused.

With a wave of his hand, the headmaster lifted the unicorn’s enclosure and sent it into the black pillar of power.

Before leaving, the unicorn foal hesitated and cried out to the skeletal headmaster.

The two unicorns rode the pillar and moved to Einrogaard.

“Professor Lightning-Walk, it seems the work is done. Shall we go to Einrogaard together?”

“I would appreciate it.”

“What about the hunters here?”

“If possible, they should return to their own mountain range…”

“It’s a hassle, but it can’t be helped.”

The skeletal headmaster used the pillar of black power to prepare to send Professor Lightning-Walk and his party back.

Before leaving, one of the nameless hunters who had assisted Lee Han this time approached.

“Thank you for your help.”

“I am grateful too. Take this.”

” ? ”

The hunter held out an old arrow.

“It is a token of the nameless hunters. If there is a nameless hunter in any mountain range, you can ask for help.”

“Thank you!”

“Since you have embarked on a hunt together, you are also a hunter. There is nothing to be thankful for. And if you are interested in the oath, listen to the words of the token.”

“What is that…”

The hunter, as if he had no intention of explaining further, left with his companions on the black pillar.

Poof!

The skeletal headmaster yawned lightly and asked, “What about you all?”

“Please return us to Flaherty City.”

“Understood. See you next semester.”

After sending all his friends away, the skeletal headmaster looked at Lee Han last.

“So, how do you feel?”

“Yes?”

Lee Han tilted his head at the sudden question. He had no idea what he was asking.

“Um, I feel more proud because I caught the professor and got a bounty.”

“…Not that feeling…” The skeletal headmaster contemplated hitting him but held back and said, “I heard you faced the Gluttonous?”

“Ah. Professor Bendozol did all the fighting, and I only blocked the clone. It’s a unique monster.”

“It’s a fellow with several annoying attack methods. You’ll see more monsters like that as you go around Einrogaard in the future.”

He didn’t know why he would see more monsters like that while attending Einrogaard, but Lee Han just shut his mouth and listened.

“Maybe you and the Gluttonous just don’t match well,” the headmaster said. “Maybe that’s why it wasn’t very strong? It only used curses and dark magic, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But if it could fight in a more direct way, you would have had more trouble.”

Lee Han knew the headmaster was right. The Gluttonous was scary and dangerous, but its attacks just didn’t work on him.

Curses didn’t hurt him, and even dark magic to stop his own magic failed. *The Gluttonous must have been so confused!* Lee Han thought.

“I think so.”

“What do you think you should do to subdue it more easily?”

“Hmm.” Lee Han pondered the easy yet difficult question.

“Should I learn stronger magic?” Lee Han asked. “Magic that can hurt monsters like the Gluttonous more, or magic to trap them?”

“That’s partly right,” the headmaster said. “You will learn stronger magic this year.”

“Yes, maybe a few more spells of level three magic…”

“Forget level three!” the headmaster interrupted. “Learn ten spells of level five!”

Lee Han blinked, surprised. *Level five?* The headmaster kept talking, not noticing Lee Han’s shock.

“With that many spells, you can enter the Small World. It’s a special state of magic. Once you learn how to use it, monsters like the Gluttonous will be much easier to fight.”

“I think it will be difficult…”

“It’s okay. I’ll talk to Professor Begreck.”

“I’ll do my best!” Lee Han answered urgently. He didn’t know what the Small World was, but he had to live first.

But the absurdity didn’t disappear.

*Is ten 5-circle spells even possible?*

5-circle magic was usually at the level where 4th graders, or even the most outstanding students among 3rd graders, learned it in a limited way.

Hearing that he had to learn ten of them, Lee Han couldn’t help but think of a trick, along with the absurdity.

*If I fill it with the easiest ones and then somehow say I’ve learned them…*

“Ah. Headmaster.”

” ? ”

The skeletal headmaster, who was about to move Lee Han to the pillar of black power, turned his gaze.

“What about the disciple or clone you mentioned earlier?”

“Anyone who lives long enough is bound to have ungrateful disciples or clones born from cut-off emotions. Anyway, be careful. But don’t use the ring recklessly.”

“What on earth are you tal…”

The skeletal headmaster, as if he had no intention of answering further, moved Lee Han to the city.

The sight of the skeletal headmaster waving goodbye was the last scene Lee Han saw in the Bitter Mountains.

“Huff… huff.”

“I feel sick…”

“Ugh.” The students who had arrived in a field near Flaherty City stumbled and groaned.

Magic that moves people through space, called dimensional gate magic, gets much harder and costs much more magic power when the distance is far.

Moving them from the Bitter Mountains was incredibly difficult, but the skeletal headmaster did it easily.

But the students felt terrible afterwards. They had strong magic motion sickness.

For wizards who can feel magic in their bodies, the feeling of magic shaking and pulling them around was awful.

“Lee Han… help me…” Guinan groaned, still hanging upside down.

Lee Han looked around and saw the invisible magic holding Guinan. It was the headmaster’s magic!

Lee Han quickly used a spell to stop it and let Guinan fall gently to the ground.

“Lee Han, are you alright?”

“I think so,” Lee Han said. “And Guinan, you’re talking to a tree, not me.”

Guinan was still confused. Lee Han turned around. He was lucky. He didn’t feel sick at all, maybe because he was resistant to magic.

“Let’s go back to the mansion and rest,” Lee Han said. “You all had a rough time in the mountains.”

But his friends were lying on the ground, too weak to move. Lee Han knew he couldn’t pull them. He needed to find a ride.

“Excuse me,” Lee Han said to a coachman driving a wagon full of hay. “Could you give us a ride in your wagon? I will pay you.”

The coachman looked at Lee Han, his mouth open in surprise. *This boy looks like he’s from a rich family. Why is he asking for a ride in my old wagon?* the coachman thought.

“Are you serious?” the coachman asked.

“Yes,” Lee Han said.

“Who will be riding?” the coachman asked, looking at Lee Han’s friends. He could tell they were from noble families.

The dark elf girl, even though she was swaying on her feet, still looked like a princess. *Maybe she’s from a very important family,* he worried.

Looking at them again, the coachman shook his head firmly. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Yes? Why not?”

“Are you serious? This is… a cargo wagon.” The coachman held back his bewilderment and explained.

He was going to put the children of noble families in a cargo wagon that was currently running full of rough hay.

It was an act that he didn’t know what kind of abuse he would suffer later.

“You’re saying that because you don’t know how rough and dirty this place is.”

“Ah, no. We can ride. We’re from Einrogaard.”

“What does being from Einrogaard have to do with being able to ride in a cargo wagon? No! I’ll get in big trouble!” The cargo wagon coachman didn’t budge.

He was worried that if he gave them a ride because of the price, the nobles would later find fault with him, saying, ‘How dare you put us in such a dirty place!’

“We can even sleep on the streets and camp in the mountains…”

“Even if you lie like that, it’s not going to work. I’m sorry!” The coachman answered and ran away.

He was clearly afraid of being caught and suffering a terrible fate.

Lee Han sighed and approached other wagons, but most of the cargo wagons similarly rejected the offer outright.

“S, sorry. Lee Han. For being born so nobly…”

“Are you laughing right now?”

“Ah, no?” Guinan spoke while trying to hold back the smile that was coming out, then flinched. Lee Han was glaring at him.

“I think we’ll have to borrow a different wagon than a cargo wagon, but I don’t know if it will work.”

A light outing wagon for 2 or 3 people was not enough for all his friends to ride. Lee Han looked around, waiting for a slightly larger wagon to come.

Finally, a wagon of a suitable size appeared. Lee Han quickly called the coachman.

“I have a favor to ask. Could you give us a ride in your wagon? I will reward you when we arrive in Flaherty City.”

“Do you know who is in this wagon?!” The coachman said in a small, frightened voice. He seemed afraid of how the person inside would react if they heard.

“Who is it?”

“It’s a wizard!”

“We’re wizards too.”

-What’s going on?

A haughty voice came from inside. The coachman hurriedly answered.

“Ah, no. There was someone who asked for a ride!”

-I am a wizard. Will you still ride together?

“I’m a wizard too.”

The wizard in the wagon was silent for a moment at the unexpected answer. Then he spoke again.

-Which magic tower or guild are you from?

“I’m from Einrogaard.”

Thump! Crash!

There was the sound of someone falling and something breaking inside the wagon. After a while, an answer came back.

-Co… Come in!