Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 704

Dirette stopped and looked around. “Wait a minute… this is it? This storage room a senior student gave you is *here*?”

Dirette’s eyes widened. She looked around the dusty room again, then back at Lee Han, disbelief written on her face. She had dismissed it as nonsense when they discussed the artifact last time.

Lee Han looked puzzled, as if wondering why she was making a fuss now.

“I did tell you, remember?”

“Right… right.”

Dirette felt a bit calmer seeing her junior act as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

For Lee Han, it seemed normal. Meeting a graduate in the punishment room and getting a secret base was just an ordinary day.

So, Dirette should remain calm…

‘…No. He’s the weird one.’

Trying to control her increasingly unsettled mind, Dirette examined the artifact.

The former senior who installed this notebook-shaped artifact here must have arranged it this way to secure the amount of magic power needed for its operation.

Artifacts with built-in magic were convenient tools that helped wizards, but they weren’t tools that allowed magic to be used without any cost.

Especially important was securing magic power. Powerful magic needed a *lot* more power. It wasn’t just a little more, but much, much more.

This notebook-shaped communication artifact was simply a way to exchange letters.

However, even that required a lot of magic power. This was especially true since the artifact itself lacked the ability to collect or generate magic power.

Dirette usually had to recharge it with her own magic and special potions to keep it working…

‘It’s connected to the magic flowing inside the secret base.’

Dirette, who had been observing the other senior’s method with interest, realized this belatedly.

“Wait, you don’t have any reason to keep this fixed here, do you? You can carry it around, and it’ll charge on its own, right?”

“Yes?”

“This artifact. It’s fixed here to absorb the magic power in the room.”

“Ah. Can it do that? I just left it alone because it was fixed…”

“If it’s okay with you, I’ll detach it.”

After obtaining Lee Han’s permission, Dirette carefully took out her wand and a thin paper knife. This was delicate work. She had to be precise.

Detaching an artifact connected to the magic power of the space was more complicated than expected.

One had to be skilled in enchantment magic and accurately grasp the flow of magic power in the space. If she made a mistake, the artifact could be destroyed, or magic could explode out, causing who-knew-what kind of trouble.

Lee Han watched Dirette’s work intently, admiringly.

“Wow, you’re amazing! You know enchantment magic too?”

“Not formally, just a little. When you study black magic, you run into a lot of cursed objects. You have to know some enchantment magic to deal with them – to fix them or make them safe.”

“……”

Dirette concentrated on her work.

Sizzle-

With a crackling sound, the book was detached. Dirette carefully checked the spot where the notebook had been connected and handed the artifact to her junior.

“Here. It’s quite a useful artifact, so take good care of it so others don’t steal it.”

“How about disguising it as another magic book?”

“Not a bad idea.”

Lee Han picked up a quill and wrote >On the Great Life and Achievements of Gonadalthes> on the notebook.

Seeing that, Dirette patiently advised.

“Others might not take it, but if you’re caught with that, you’ll be treated like a madman.”

“Indeed.”

Lee Han erased the title and wrote >Bible Verdus’s Diary> anew.

Dirette took the notebook, erased the title, and wrote ‘Whispers of Einrogard’.

“This should do. No one will be interested in this.”

“Thank you, Senior.”

“If anything happens or you need help, contact me. I might not answer right away, but I’ll reply as soon as I check.”

Lee Han nodded, his eyes sparkling with emotion.

Which school senior would take care of their junior like this?

One senior like Dirette was better than a hundred seniors like Yukbeltire.

Dirette then noticed something else. “Wait. This mirror too… Ah, is this the other communication artifact you mentioned last time?”

“Yes, that’s him. He’s… difficult.”

Lee Han sighed, He lowered his voice. “He’s quite rude, actually. He even thinks I’m strange just because I’m from the Wodanaz family!”

Hearing that story, Dirette was furious.

“Which bastard is it?”

“He’s an incredibly rude person. He even thinks I’m strange because I’m from the Wodanaz family!”

“Anything else?”

“…Senior, why aren’t you getting angry about this one?”

Dirette, who was about to gloss over the previous one, realized her mistake.

“That’s really rude!”

“Thank you. Besides that… he heard rumors and tried to get me to participate in his research.”

“Unbelievable. I blocked Yukbeltire for a moment, and now this is happening everywhere…”

Dirette sighed.

Dirette thought to herself, maybe first-year protection should last until the *second* year. These poor younger students needed it!

To Dirette, the junior in front of her looked like a defenseless, fragile lamb.

Outside the fence, numerous senior wolves would be drooling and waiting.

“Don’t worry, Senior. I can refuse.”

“…Right. You’re not easy either.”

“?”

“Be careful when talking to other students. Don’t jump to conclusions. Are you still talking to this person?”

“I talked to him occasionally last year. The information was quite useful…”

Dirette nodded as if she understood.

Cooperating with classmates or seniors at Einrogard wasn’t always because the other person was kind and well-suited.

There were surprisingly many cases where one had to join hands to survive or to proceed with research.

It was better to maintain contact to obtain information, even if the other person was trash.

“Did he find out your real identity?”

“Don’t worry. He doesn’t know who I really am. He just thinks I’m some… rough, rude student in my third year – well, fourth year now, I suppose. That’s the image I’m giving him.”

“He must think you’re from the White Tiger Tower?”

“…That’s right!”

In fact, the other person seemed to think he was from the Black Tortoise Tower, but Lee Han was considerate of Dirette.

Dirette was a student of the Black Tortoise Tower, not the White Tiger Tower.

“Hmm. It might be a decent disguise.”

“Right?”

“Then I’ll move this artifact too.”

Dirette started working on the mirror, her wand moving with practiced ease. Sparks of magic flew as she carefully disconnected the core spell. It was trickier than the notebook, requiring even more focus.

Lee Han, surprisingly, was a very helpful assistant. He seemed to know exactly what Dirette needed, handing her potions and tools without being asked.

“Can you place and stabilize the potion here?”

“Yes.”

“Here, perhaps magic power emission enchantment… No. That’s still too much.”

“I learned it. While helping Professor Verdus.”

Lee Han immediately cast >Bible’s Magic Power Emission Enchantment>.

Dirette was bittersweet, unsure whether to praise or lament his near-perfect skill.

But regardless, the junior next to her was a near-perfect assistant.

No matter what potion she mentioned, he found it immediately without asking again. He could use all sorts of basic magic, and above all, he didn’t need rest.

“This is… fascinating.”

“?”

“It doesn’t seem like such an old artifact? The spells inside are modern magic.”

Einrogard had countless artifacts that were over a hundred years old.

Even the notebook that Dirette and Lee Han were communicating with was something found in an antique warehouse.

These artifacts had traces of age when you examined the magic inside.

Magic changed over time, just like anything else. Someone who really knew magic could tell how old something was just by looking at the spells inside.

Flash!

Lee Han’s notebook glowed brightly, a flash of light as it absorbed a new spell. Dirette quickly calculated the magic power needed and clicked her tongue.

“It’ll need a lot more magic power than expected. You’ll be okay, right?”

“……”

Lee Han knew he would be fine, but he felt a little sad that Dirette wasn’t worrying about him enough.

‘What if I’m not okay?’

If he consumed a lot of magic power unexpectedly…

“Do you have any more artifacts to move in this storage room? Let’s do them all while we’re here.”

“Hmm. I do have a paper artifact…”

Lee Han took out another artifact – a bundle of thin paper sheets. ‘This one is for group messages,’ he explained. ‘It’s supposed to let eight people talk at once.’

Dirette was amazed by the artifact that allowed eight people to talk, not just one-on-one.

“It must get harder each time you increase the number.”

“Actually, I’ve never used this before.”

At Lee Han’s words, Dirette nodded as if that was to be expected.

This kind of artifact would have to be recharged with magic power, and Lee Han’s friends were all first-year students.

It could be more difficult than expected for those students to recharge the necessary magic power.

“Right. So…”

“Wouldn’t it be better to sell it?”

“…I was going to tell you a few ways to recharge it… Huh?”

Dirette and Lee Han looked at each other as if asking what the other was talking about.

“Uh, wouldn’t it be better to sell it? I’ve barely used it?”

“…Even if you’re short on silver coins, it’s better not to sell something like this. How useful is it to be able to contact your friends?”

“I don’t think it was very useful to me…”

Lee Han recalled the messages he had received last year.

Most of the paper birds sent by his friends were annoying and troublesome requests for help.

“Forget it, don’t sell it. I’ll tell you how to recharge it, so pass it on to your friends.”

Dirette put the bundle of paper artifacts into the notebook and explained.

“First, you need to get the rotten blood of an underground creature…”

“Senior. I don’t think my friends can easily catch underground corrupted.”

“…Right. I misspoke just now. Let me tell you an easier way.”

Dirette explained an easier method.

On the night when the moon’s energy is strongest, take out a silver cup, fill it with clear water, and receive the moon’s energy for two hours to condense the magic power deeply…

‘Hmm. Should I just go find an underground corrupted, catch it, and sell its blood?’

Lee Han thought to himself, finding the method more troublesome than he expected.

Dirette smiled warmly. She was always like this, genuinely helpful and kind to younger students.

As befitting someone who would be invited to the awards ceremony if there were an >Einrogard’s Most Excellent Senior> award, Dirette helped with the remaining minor tasks without a single complaint.

Dirette, true to her word, helped with everything. She cleaned the dusty storage room until it sparkled, and then helped carry boxes of supplies to the small hut outside.

‘How did he get a ghost chicken?’

Dirette wondered inwardly.

No matter how she looked at it, it wasn’t an animal that a first-year student could obtain.

“This hut is so well-hidden… what did Professor Begreck build it for?”

“Professor Begreck.”

‘I shouldn’t have asked.’

Dirette regretted it, but she threw out another question since she had already asked.

“For what purpose? You’re not planning to attack people from a place where they can’t see you, are you?”

“Haha. There’s no need to build a new one for that reason since no one comes to the underground lecture hall anyway. This hut was built to raise a basilisk. It hatched and I carry it around, but when it gets bigger, it’ll have to stay here.”

Lee Han said it so casually, as if talking about a pet cat.

It was as light as a bracelet now, so it clung to Lee Han, but basilisks originally belonged to the large monster category.

-?!

Of course, to the baby basilisk, Lee Han’s words were like the sky falling.

The basilisk’s tiny tail, which had been peeking out from Lee Han’s sleeve, suddenly stiffened and then trembled violently. It was definitely shocked.

Dirette said in a fluster.

“Uh… Junior. It looks like the basilisk is shocked.”

“Yes? It must be hungry.”

“No… it doesn’t seem like that…?”