Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 786

Leehan liked seniors who shared their gold. He did not like seniors who used juniors for free work.

How could a senior at Einroguard be so cheap?

“Ah, no. Junior. Jarun is originally a person crazy about gold. He’s always been like that.”

Carnella, a bit embarrassed, stepped forward to defend Jarun as the junior glared coldly.

Jarun wasn’t good at gathering money just because he kept mining in his spare time.

If that were the case, other students doing magical research could earn even more.

Jarun was special because of his unwavering thriftiness that no one else could match.

Not a single penny wasted!

-Jarun, the kitchen club menu is good today. Go and eat.

-I don’t need it.

-Why? It’s noodles with plenty of serpent meat for one gold coin. Who knows when a day like this will come again? Do you want to buy a stone bread with salted meat for one gold coin?

-Hmph. If I don’t buy it at all, it won’t cost me a single gold coin.

There were many more stories about Jarun being cheap.

-Jarun, stop being stubborn and buy the reagents! If you don’t buy them, you won’t finish this semester!

-I’d rather go to the punishment room than buy this with money!

For example, he refused to buy magic ingredients. He even refused to move his wand too much, worried it would wear out! Instead of wearing gold jewelry, he just hung it up to look at.

These were strange things that any student in the Transformation Magic department would know.

Carnella’s voice got louder as she spoke, as if she was overwhelmed with injustice.

“Do you know what it was like when I came to pick him up last time? The chair was gone, the chair! When I asked, that damned senior had gotten rid of the chair! He said it was a waste because it would wear out when I sat on it!”

“Hmph. Chairs cost money, you know!”

Jarun grumbled.

Even now, he was upset that Carnella had used the chair and made it old.

‘So that’s why there are no chairs.’

Leehan finally understood why there were no chairs in this workshop.

“Senior Hormashi, I understand that Senior Jarun is a thrifty person.”

“Hey, this isn’t thrift, it’s madness.”

Leehan pretended not to hear and said what he had to say.

“But that’s that, and this is this. I have always been paid for what I have done. Even by Professor Verdus.”

“…!”

Carnella was shocked.

She knew that this junior had a genius-like talent for magic, but she never knew that he had even been paid by Professor Verdus.

‘Amazing! How!’

Carnella, who was from a department unrelated to Professor Verdus, was so interested that she wanted to see how he had done it.

“That’s amazing… but as I said, Senior Jarun doesn’t bleed a drop even if you stab him. He’s the kind of person who uses transformation magic to put it all back in because he feels sorry for the blood.”

Carnella had actually stabbed Jarun with a needle, going beyond a simple metaphor.

She had attacked Jarun with the students from the Transformation Magic department.

Even in that chaotic situation, Jarun was so sorry for his own drop of blood that he stubbornly put it back in with transformation magic and ran away.

If it’s that kind of person, then surely…

“I should have just rejected your offer.”

“Ugh…”

“?!”

Carnella was startled by the groan she heard from behind.

“Ugh…”

Jarun was groaning with a pained expression, as if he had a serious illness.

“What’s wrong, Senior Jarun? That’s why I told you not to skimp on food! The kitchen club food has been good lately!”

“It’s not that I’m hungry, you idiot! I’m in pain!”

“You’re probably sick because you don’t eat!”

“My heart hurts!”

Jarun snarled and got angry.

It was because of the junior’s cruel proposal to dare to pay gold.

The proposal itself hurt, but the reality that he couldn’t refuse was even more bitter.

He needed a competent assistant to carry out the research he was currently working on.

‘Progress is too slow. I started it for the first time today, but at this rate, it’s impossible to complete. I need an assistant…’

And the junior in front of him was indeed a hard-to-find talent.

Not only had he perfectly mastered all kinds of necessary magic, but he had also assisted in the production of Dobruk’s Soul Reversion Potion in the alchemy workshop.

It was hard to find such talent anywhere. Especially since the upperclassmen at Einroguard were all busy with their own research.

‘What if I think of it as an investment to carry out the research? Ugh. That’s ridiculous. How can I deceive myself with such a contradiction? But I need an assistant. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.’

“Junior, you might as well just leave. I think Senior Jarun is broken.”

“I understand. I’ll come back next time…”

“…Wait!”

Jarun stopped Leehan with a desperate voice that sounded like metal clashing against metal.

“I’ll… give you… compensation…!”

“Is that really such a painful thing to say?”

The dark elf student shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it.

The negotiation started at three and a half gold coins per hour. Each time the gold coins went up, Jarun screamed desperately, and they had to stop for a moment.

Still, Leehan pushed forward with the negotiation without changing his expression.

No compromise!

‘I think I’ve grown up too.’

Leehan felt a little more mature for the first time since entering his second year.

He had always been tricked by professors, but for the first time, he had enforced his own argument.

“…Look at this.”

Jarun said in a hoarse voice from screaming.

His heart was aching, but the faster he proceeded, the better. Now that he had paid the gold coins, every minute and every second was precious.

“My current research, this… Gold, come out, 뚝딱 is…”

“…You mean the Dimensional Transformation Gold Observation and Collection Research?”

“Why?”

“Senior, listen to the junior. I think that’s better. The current name is so bad that no one would care about it.”

Jarun grumbled a little and changed the name of the research. Meanwhile, Leehan and Carnella carefully watched the research as students of the Transformation Magic department.

Then, unlike the shock they had felt when they first saw it, the flaws in the research came into view.

“Isn’t the speed at which this transforms the connected dimensions getting slower and slower?”

“That’s right. You saw it properly. And this supporting device… looks too weak. It’ll probably break if you run it for another hour or two.”

“To get gold, you need to connect many more dimensions, increase the transformation speed, and collect more.”

“But can you afford the cost if you do that?”

“You both said it well.”

Jarun sighed.

“This research, called ‘Dimensional Transformation Gold Observation and Collection,’ is too slow. Also, the machine uses too much energy. I started it for the first time today, but it will stop soon. Now that I’ve checked the speed… I need to make it more stable and increase the speed.”

“How are you going to increase it, Senior? Is there a way?”

Carnella, who had been asking back, clapped her hands as if she had remembered something.

“Ah, let’s change the supporting device here to Paldar Lezi’s Gold. Then it will withstand the impact of dimensional transformation much better.”

“D-Don’t say crazy things!”

Jarun looked like he was having a heart attack at the junior’s words.

Paldar Lezi’s Gold.

He couldn’t even guess how much of the gold piled up here he would have to spend to get it.

“Why? It’s gold too.”

“That’s just a saying, you crazy idiot! How is that gold!”

‘Hmm, I shouldn’t make jokes about gold in front of my senior.’

Leehan thought to himself as he watched the two of them talk.

Jarun, who had been angry for a while, barely calmed down and opened his mouth.

“I have been constantly thinking about this method because I needed it. Until now, I’ve been going around the workshops of Einroguard, picking up and recycling waste.”

“……”

‘This is so embarrassing.’

Carnella glanced at Leehan as she listened.

It seemed like there was no place as embarrassing as this, even among all the departments of Einroguard.

“But it seems like there are limits to recycling waste, so I’m going to make a few new materials.”

“Isn’t that more trouble than it’s worth?”

Changing the properties of a material to create a new material was the forte of transformation mages.

Armor made of flowing river water.

A book made of hell’s air.

Of course, this was never easy.

Changing the properties for a moment was quite difficult, but finding the properties of a stable area that would last permanently was much more difficult.

If you find these properties and create a new material that stays transformed…

‘…I think it’s right to take a graduation project in that direction.’

“It’s not easy, but I have a few ideas.”

Jarun’s inelastic rubber

Jarun’s surface lava

Jarun’s…

“!”

Leehan was interested in the list of new materials for research that Jarun was looking for.

He was researching materials that were more useful than he thought.

In the case of Jarun’s Inelastic Rubber, it was a material that maximized some other properties after removing the elasticity of the rubber. Once it touched something, it spread like a swamp and wrapped around it.

‘What if I use this in a trap?’

It was a trick that even experienced wizards would find embarrassing if they were caught off guard.

“What you have to do is keep experimenting in this direction, cast magic, and write down the results.”

“Senior, sorry to break your excitement, but it’s not you guys. It’s just this junior.”

“…What you have to do. Got it?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Leehan nodded after noting Jarun’s words.

“Okay, Senior, I get it. I’ll do it that way.”

“Okay. Please h…”

Knock knock knock-

“?”

Jarun paused at the sound coming from outside.

“Who is it, Senior? Do you have another guest?”

“I don’t. More than that… I’ve restarted the magic since you guys came in. Who is it?”

“It looks like someone came to steal your gold, Senior. Shall we show them what’s what?”

“How dare they!”

Flames of greed flashed in Jarun’s eyes. Jarun, grabbing his hammer-shaped wand, ran to the door in anger.

Clunk!

“Come on! You thief!”

“……”

Standing in front of the door was Professor Yonramo of the Lezi family, who was in charge of transformation magic.

The professor looked at Jarun and asked.

“What are you doing instead of lecturing?”

“…Uh, that’s, Professor.”

Jarun rolled his eyes and quickly tried to close the door.

At that moment, Professor Yonramo’s cloak seemed to ripple and change. Dozens of black tentacles shot out, like thick, living shadows, and wrapped around Jarun in a flash.

Gulp!

The professor sighed deeply.

“I wondered what he was doing instead of lecturing. I don’t know why all the students are like this. Don’t you think so, you two?”

“…Yes!”

“I agree, Professor!”

Leehan and Carnella quickly answered, worried that the professor’s anger would spill over to them.

They were worried that he would ask why they weren’t brought along and what they were doing here separately.

“But what were you two doing here?”

“Oh, I was helping with magic.”

“Hormashi? That’s unexpected?”

“No, I was.”

“……”

Professor Yonramo stared intently at Leehan.

He had thought that this Wodanaz family boy was being pressured by the headmaster and some other professors because of his innate talent, against his will…

‘Maybe he just really likes magic?’

He was slightly suspicious that maybe that was the case in reality, even though he just wouldn’t admit it.

Professor Yonramo shrugged and said.

“Then go back to studying. Today’s lecture will be canceled anyway.”

“Oh…”

Leehan wanted to say, ‘Shouldn’t I get up because my senior disappeared and I won’t get any gold coins?’, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it because he saw the professor’s cloak that had just turned into tentacles.