Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 800

The members of the Einroguard Watchers Club listened closely. They all shared the same thought.

Could this person really be Headmaster Skull?

Ethan, who called himself Gonadaltes, didn’t seem worried. Hadn’t people suspected him of being Headmaster Skull many times before? He was used to it.

“How do I know things?” Gonadaltes asked, his voice calm. “Because I pay more attention to what happens in this school than all of you.”

Iactus: “For example, by sending students to the punishment room?”

Gonadaltes: “Iactus, don’t talk nonsense. If I were Headmaster Skull, why would I be here talking to you like this? Why would I waste my time here? Have I ever asked to meet you?”

Baquantalana: “That’s a valid point. I have to admit that we are being overly suspicious because of Gonadaltes’ alias.”

The members honestly admitted it.

If the new member’s alias was something like ‘Dapper Fourth-Year,’ they probably would have been less suspicious.

However, as long as he was using the alias Gonadaltes, even ordinary words felt suspicious.

‘Damn it. This is tough on me too.’

‘Is he really not Headmaster Skull?’

‘What kind of crazy student is he?’

Rationally, they all knew that Headmaster Skull wouldn’t bother with such boring tasks.

There were also some contradictory circumstances if they assumed Headmaster Skull had infiltrated.

But…

Every student at Einroguard felt it to the bone.

Headmaster Skull’s madness was something beyond their comprehension!

What if all of this was a grand plan Headmaster Skull was planning, and they were just being played?

Who could say that possibility was entirely impossible?

Gonadaltes: “Honorable members of the Watchers! As wizards, shouldn’t we judge coldly and rationally instead of being frightened by incredibly low probabilities? If we keep pushing each other like this, only distrust will grow in the club, and quality information won’t be shared.”

Iactus: “You’re right… I’m sorry. I was just spouting nonsense.”

Starfish: “Yeah, I agree. And there’s no way a professor would be here. That’s just ridiculous.”

Once everyone seemed to be calmed down, Ethan drove the point home.

Gonadaltes: “I happened to witness Duke Icardoren this year. I heard he was caught trying to steal Einroguard’s treasures.”

Baquantalana: “What’s the possibility it was someone else? Even so, imprisoning an imperial archduke in Einroguard…”

Starfish: “Headmaster could do it… he could.”

Iactus: “I agree. It’s so unbelievable that Headmaster Skull would imprison a Duke, but because he’s so unpredictable, it actually seems possible. So, Duke Icardoren is participating as a guest? Why?”

Starfish: “As far as I know, he’s using gold coins as a way of making up for what he did.”

‘Hang on. Who is this senior?’

Ethan was quite surprised by Starfish’s information.

The other seniors hadn’t noticed, but Ethan knew very well that Duke Icardoren’s information was quite secretive even within Einroguard.

Even if this senior had accidentally seen him imprisoned, as Ethan had claimed…

…how could he know the reason for his participation as a guest?

‘Could this senior be in continuous contact with Duke Icardoren? It’s not impossible.’

Ethan himself had befriended the punishment room management spirit and secretly received a free pass, hadn’t he?

Even though Einroguard’s rules were strict, there were exceptions if you became friendly with the guards.

If this senior had found the place where Duke Icardoren was imprisoned and figured out how to approach him…

‘He’s amazing. If it’s a duke, Headmaster Skull must have put in place considerable security. How did he approach him?’

Iactus: “If it’s a way of making up for what he did…”

Baquantalana: “He’s probably reducing his sentence in exchange for spending money on the students. Typical of the headmaster.”

Gonadaltes: “Thanks for the compliment.”

Iactus: “……”

Baquantalana: “……”

Gonadaltes: “I was just joking. Sorry.”

Iactus: “Don’t ever make a damn joke like that again.”

‘These seniors have no sense of humor.’

Ethan grumbled inwardly.

To react so violently to a light joke thrown out to change the atmosphere…

Baquantalana: “Thanks for the good information. So, the duke is participating.”

Starfish: “Everyone, since we’re honorable Watchers, you’re not going to kidnap the duke or persuade him with violent methods, right? Promise me you won’t.”

Iactus: “Starfish, even if you didn’t say that, I was going to kidnap him, so you didn’t need to tell me.”

Starfish: “Hey!”

Gonadaltes: “Is it okay to kidnap him?”

Iactus: “What else could it mean for the headmaster to release him for a while?”

The students of Einroguard had an exceptional talent for understanding Headmaster Skull’s true intentions.

As soon as they heard that Duke Icardoren was participating as a way of making up for what he did, the members understood, ‘Ah, Headmaster has given us permission to get money from the duke.’

Of course, they couldn’t know if that was really his intention…

‘In that case, I can’t not do it either.’

Ethan made a note to not forget to kidnap Duke Icardoren as well.

He couldn’t let the seniors have all the good things for themselves.

“Senior, is it true that the Kitchen Club invited people from the Capital Baking Guild and the Butchering Guild this time?”

“Phew! How did you know?!”

The large, pot-bellied senior, Falcrius, looked around in surprise.

“It’s a secret. If the other guys find out, they’ll try to snatch them before they even get to the 7th floor here!”

“Could I possibly receive some support for my research as well?”

“Hmm.”

Falcrius, who had been cheerfully boiling plain water soup, seriously pondered his junior’s question.

“That’s… difficult for me to answer. Getting gold coins as gifts from others has always been a difficult task.”

Senior Falcrius, who was cheerful even when throwing punches and wielding kitchen knives at other club seniors, became very serious when the topic of gold coins and support came up.

As a wizard, Falcrius had a lifelong task to bear.

“There were times when I was 100% sure I would get gold coins but didn’t, and there were times when I thought I was completely wrong but received gold coins. The psychology of a guy with gold coins is too difficult. It’s harder than grand magic.”

“I agree, Senior.”

Ethan nodded in great agreement.

Originally, getting support from other people’s money as a researcher was a really difficult task.

Money was limited, but the guys trying to do research were overflowing, so they had no choice but to fight fiercely among themselves.

“Phew. There’s only one thing I can tell you. If you sincerely prepare for your research…”

“…the people who come will definitely understand, right?”

“Huh? No. If you sincerely prepare for your research, people won’t be interested, so you have to trick them with flashy tricks.”

“…Thank you. I’ve learned something.”

“Phew heh heh. That’s a relief!”

Ethan came to his senses at Falcrius’ words.

When he thought about it, there was nothing as foolish as trying to use the usual method against guys with gold coins.

‘That’s right. I have to sell flashiness.’

Ethan was lost in thought.

How could Ethan, who was learning magic without any proper research, use flashy tricks?

Ethan’s classmates were puzzled to see him sitting at the Kitchen Club’s dining table, scribbling with a quill.

“Why is Ethan doing that?”

“He said he’s preparing for next week.”

“Ah, Club Week!”

Gainando’s face brightened slightly before darkening.

It was fun to have guests from outside, but the club Gainando currently belonged to was not the club he wanted.

“Gainando, who’s coming to your club?”

“I heard some famous collector is coming… I don’t know. I don’t care.”

“Why don’t you care? It would be good to get close to them and receive support for magic research.”

“Waaah. I don’t want to receive dirty money earned with wizard cards…”

“……”

“……”

The Blue Dragon Tower friends exchanged glances. One of them tapped his head with his finger.

‘Is he crazy?’

‘Leave him alone. Wodanaz will scold him himself.’

Ignoring Gainando, the friends approached Ethan.

“Wodanaz, what are you doing now? Can we help you?”

“Ah, I was preparing a self-introduction to use as a greeting when outside guests come next week. It’s roughly finished, would you like to listen to it once?”

“Oh…!”

“Self-introduction is important.”

The friends nodded.

When meeting someone for the first time, a wizard had to introduce who they were. Even more so if there were gold coins to be squeezed out of that person.

Which school they belonged to, who they learned under, what achievements they had…

In the end, the people of the Empire liked numbers.

‘I’ve been studying the change in skin color when casting the troll transformation spell for a month!’ was less effective than ‘I’m the vice-chairman of the Transformation Magic School!’

As expected of Wodanaz, he seemed to be already preparing before the weekend even started.

“I am Ethan of the Wodanaz family…”

-I want to give him points for that.

-But the Wodanaz family can feel a little dangerous, can’t it?

-It’s dangerous, but it’s worth revealing. There will definitely be people who expect something from the name of a magical family.

The friends coldly scored him. Yoner thought inwardly.

‘He doesn’t usually use the family name.’

It hurt to see his friend, who usually didn’t care about the family name, bring it up as soon as it came to matters related to gold coins.

He really seemed to be thinking of using any means necessary.

“I am the top student of the second year of Einroguard.”

-It’s a little annoying, but I’ll give him extra points for this too.

-Everyone has no choice but to acknowledge this.

The Blue Dragon Tower friends added points with a bit of jealousy.

“Not only that, but I am taking all the schools of Einroguard.”

-Doesn’t that feel a little unrealistic?

-But there’s a lot of evidence for that, so it’s okay. And it only feels unrealistic to wizards, it’ll actually work for ordinary people.

-Indeed.

“I also took first place in every school…”

-……

-……

“Last year, I helped with work at Fuyo Artisan’s wand workshop, Yoanen Maykin’s alchemy workshop, and so on.”

-…Maykin. What kind of work did you make your friend do? Isn’t Yoanen Maykin that person? The one who drove fourteen alchemists crazy…

-I think there’s a misunderstanding. First of all, it’s not thirteen, it’s fourteen, and Ethan…

Ethan frowned as his friends talked unnecessarily.

“Can’t you focus?”

-S, sorry.

-I’ll focus. Continue.

“Last year, I faced the following enemies: a Rock Drake, the King of the Frost Giants, the King of the Ghouls, a Basilisk, a Sea Serpent, and so on…”

-……

-Wait. Just a moment.

“Huh?”

Ethan was puzzled as his friends stopped him.

“Is there a problem?”

“Just now was a bit too…”

“…far-fetched? Sounds like a lie? Exaggerated?”

“Y, yeah. It sounds like it’ll sound a bit strange.”

“But it’s really all things I’ve experienced.”

Ethan felt a little wronged.

He hadn’t even started exaggerating yet, and he was already hearing these words.

“W, we believe you, Wodanaz. We believe you!”

“Actually, it’s hard to believe when you hear it summarized… Anyway, it sounds like it’ll be a bit shocking to outsiders.”

Ethan wavered as his friends spoke seriously without backing down.

“Really? Then which parts should I fix?”

“Rock Drake, King of the Ghouls, Basilisk, Sea Serpent.”

“You want me to leave only that?”

“No. Let’s take all of that out. Just having the King of the Frost Giants alone seems shocking enough.”

“……”

Ethan made a dissatisfied expression, but he took it out according to his friends’ advice.

“I passed the trial by facing the King of the Frost Giants last year. This is the proof.”

-Good!

-Neat and excellent!

“And this year, I met the magical criminal Antagondals, and the mad clone of an old ancient archmage…”

-……

-……