Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 878

“Umm.”

As his friend fled, Ethan wondered if he had spoken too harshly.

If he wasn’t aiming for the next Headmaster of Einroguard, he was a decent person enough…

‘No. That one flaw is just too strong.’

On second thought, he understood why his friend was scared.

In the meantime, Professor Zorgek, who had proven he wouldn’t kidnap Ethan or take him away to be used as a worker like Professor Verdus, entered the lounge.

Then, he looked at Jowoon with a twinkle in his eye.

“Oh! Great Jowoon Your Highness! Your golden aura is like the sun itself!”

Eek.

Jowoon, being a dragon, instinctively recognized the strange man. After releasing the baby basilisk, he quickly hid behind Ethan and Ehandurde.

Ehandurde looked at Jowoon with a pathetic expression. How could that big guy hide behind them?

“Your Highness! Has Zorgek of the Benmalfa family done something wrong?”

“N-no, it’s not like that. It’s just that Jowoon is shy.”

“?”

“??”

Ethan and Ehandurde stared as if asking what he was talking about, but Jowoon just shook his head, begging Ethan to help him.

Eventually, Ethan stepped in to mediate.

“Professor, what brings you here?”

“A good question, student Wodanaz, from the Wodanaz family, former successor of the school, and the Headmaster’s favorite student!”

‘Did he have to include that last part?’

Ethan was slightly displeased.

“Of course, I’m here to escort Your Highness. Of course, all Einroguard students are gems with outstanding character, but…”

“?”

“??”

“There might be a student among them who accidentally harms Your Highness, wouldn’t there!”

“If the upperclassmen are such gems, shouldn’t you just trust them?”

Gainando, who was picking up the wizard cards, asked with a puzzled expression. Professor Zorgek ignored him as if he hadn’t heard.

‘He’s really something. To go this far to become Headmaster.’

Ethan was inwardly impressed.

Professor Zorgek, having received Headmaster Skull’s permission to ‘do whatever he could,’ wanted to stage a fair and square coup by gaining the support of the students, the professors, and the Emperor.

As such, he was packaging even the beast-like Einroguard students as having outstanding character. It was something Ethan could never do.

“Anyway, you’re here for the escort?”

“That’s right!”

“Thank you for that, then. I appreciate your help.”

The reason Professor Zorgek came was obvious. He wanted to impress Jowoon to gain the Emperor’s support, didn’t he?

Still, he was much better than those who came to steal Jowoon’s scales or claws.

“By the way, student Wodanaz. I heard that you’re going to the professors to pass the exams in advance. This Zorgek is always ready.”

“…That’s a misunderstanding.”

Basically, the professors who helped Ethan protect Jowoon from the evil Einroguard students had a few characteristics.

First, they had to be professors of the lectures Ethan was taking, but this was essentially the same as just being an Einroguard professor, so it wasn’t very meaningful.

Secondly, they had to have some free time. They couldn’t escort if they had to teach.

Of course, there were people like Professor Ben Mohr who were willing to throw away their lectures, risking detention, but those were special exceptions.

Considering these characteristics, it wasn’t strange that Professor Voladi appeared often.

“Hmm.”

The newly arrived Professor Voladi frowned slightly as he looked at Professor Zorgek, and Ethan asked, puzzled.

“Did something happen between you and Professor Benmalfa?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“I remember Professor Zorgek’s teaching method being rather extreme.”

“??”

He wondered if he had mistaken ‘Zorgek’ for ‘Voladi,’ so he looked again, but Professor Voladi was serious.

‘Ah. Professor Benmalfa did start it…’

>Elemental Magic and Its Application> Professor Zorgek, who was in charge of the lecture, eventually took special measures when Ethan failed to properly control the fire element.

He cast >Bargny’s Fire Bull> on Ethan.

Bargny’s Fire Bull sounded elegant, but in reality, it was closer to just setting him on fire and telling Ethan to endure it.

‘…It is extreme, but it doesn’t sound convincing at all when Professor Begreck says it!’

The same words could sound a little different depending on who said them.

Professor Voladi had often criticized other extreme educators, including the mad Doppelganger, and Ethan’s mind would become slightly muddled each time.

“It was a bit extreme to cast >Bargny’s Fire Bull> on me, but thanks to that, I managed to somehow control the fire element…”

“Professor Zorgek declared that he would master Blue Flame within this semester, which is too…”

“Excuse me?”

Ethan paused.

Wait?

“Wasn’t this about >Bargny’s Fire Bull>?”

“It was about Blue Flame. Professor Zorgek set it as a semester goal.”

Once you have some control over the fire element, you can change the properties of the fire element with advanced attributes.

Advanced attributes, which strengthen or change the nature of the burning fire element itself, were a good match for the fire element.

-Even for student Wodanaz, it may be difficult to change and grant separate properties from the beginning…

-You’re wrong, Professor. Wodanaz already knows how to summon White Flame with divine magic.

Ethan remembered Adenart getting angry and defending him during the last lecture, which made Professor Zorgek excited.

Ethan thought to himself.

‘Should I have put a pebble in his sandwich?’

Aside from Adenart’s slip of the tongue, Professor Zorgek was really something.

To try to get Ethan to handle the advanced attribute change of the fire element within this semester.

“That’s really too much!”

“I agree.”

Professor Voladi nodded slightly.

Normally, Ethan should have been happy when a professor agreed with him, but for some reason, he felt a little wronged.

‘Why do I feel wronged even though he agrees with me?’

“There are too many spells you’re currently learning.”

“Professor, please say something sternly!”

“Hmm.”

Professor Voladi hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

Originally, there was respect for each other’s teaching methods among the professors, but Professor Voladi just said what he wanted to say.

“Professor Zorgek.”

“Ah, Professor Begreck! Welcome!”

Professor Zorgek spread his arms wide to welcome Professor Voladi when he spotted him.

To run Einroguard after Headmaster Skull, he needed excellent combat mage professors.

Professor Kirmin Ku and Professor Garcia Kim were also excellent combat mages, but the most reliable was still the vampire professor in front of him.

“I was very disappointed that you didn’t come to the meeting last time.”

“A meeting? What meeting are you talking about?” Lee Han asked, stepping forward with curiosity. He had been listening quietly nearby.

It seemed a meeting for Einroguard professors, of all people. What in the world could that be about?

A meeting to report the Skull Headmaster? Maybe even start a petition? Lee Han thought to himself. Or… could it be about making Professor Zorc the Headmaster of Einroguard?

“…Wait. Was that… a *real* meeting?”

“Real meeting? What are you talking about?”

“It’s nothing.” Lee Han quickly changed the subject.

The meeting he’d just been imagining was actually *real*.

And Professor Zorc was *leading* it? Unbelievable!

“Which professors participated?”

Professor Zorc chuckled. “No professors. They’re all far too busy, it seems.”

“Instead… students went.”

Lee Han’s eyes widened. Students? He blinked, trying to process this. Students at a *professor’s* meeting?

Lee Han had once briefly entertained the idea of Professor Zorc becoming Headmaster himself. But that was before the disastrous Azure Flame incident. He’d quickly learned that all the professors at Einroguard were… well, complicated.

“Students, and… giants too.”

“Excuse me!?”

“Wonderful friends, wouldn’t you say?” Professor Zorc said with a wink, though Lee Han wasn’t sure if he was joking.

“…Professor, by any chance, was there plenty of food at the meeting?”

A sudden, delicious possibility sparked in Lee Han’s mind. He leaned forward, asking cautiously,

“Ah, Wodanaz student! You’ve heard the rumors then? Of course, I invited a proper chef – couldn’t have guests at such an important meeting without proper refreshments!”

‘They came for the food,’ Lee Han thought, a grudging respect for his seniors blooming in his chest.

Attending a serious professor’s meeting just for a free meal? Now *that* was the kind of dedication only true seniors possessed.

“I couldn’t make it, unfortunately,” someone mumbled. Professor Zorc waved a dismissive hand. “Nonsense, nonsense! Einroguard professors are always saving the world, far too important for mere meetings!”

Lee Han, still curious about the real reason for the meeting, turned to Professor Voladi and asked quietly,

“Professor, what reason did you have for not attending? Was it perhaps because of His Highness Jowrin?”

“No. I didn’t want to attend.”

“…Oh,” Lee Han said, a little deflated. ‘I didn’t want to go.’ It was Professor Voladi’s kind of reason – blunt, honest, and utterly unarguable. Lee Han just nodded.

What could you say to that? Some professors, Lee Han realised, were simply forces of nature.

“Professor Zorc, I have something to say.”

“Anything at all, Wodanaz student! I’m all ears!” Professor Zorc beamed, stroking his mustache with a flourish as he fixed his gaze on the young combat mage.

If he were to rise to the position of Headmaster of Einroguard later, he would consider asking for the position of right-hand man.

“Professor Zorc,” Lee Han began, a carefully innocent tone in his voice, “I’ve heard you’ve been teaching Wodanaz something… rather difficult?”

“Huh?” At the unexpected words, Professor Zorc uttered a foolish sound that did not match his usual traditional gentlemanly appearance at all.

Lee Han chuckled lightly, smoothly stepping in. “Oh, Professor, Professor Begreck is just being Professor Begreck, you know? Always so worried about his students. Such a caring soul.”

Professor Zorc, still reeling from the unexpected question, didn’t even seem to notice Lee Han’s odd phrasing. He was clearly preoccupied.

“No… what…?”

“Azure Flame,” Lee Han continued, as if just remembering, “You know, that advanced fire magic?” He added casually, watching Professor Zorc closely.

Professor Zorc blinked, then nodded slowly. “Azure Flame, yes. Of course.”

“Yes. But why?”

“No… Professor Begreck… wasn’t it you who recommended it? That’s what I thought?”

Lee Han stared at Professor Voladi, his mouth slightly open in disbelief. Jowrin and Eandurde, who had been listening intently, exchanged wide-eyed glances. Even the small basilisk, curled around Eandurde’s shoulders, seemed to tilt its head in Professor Voladi’s direction, its reptilian eyes narrowed in curiosity.

Lee Han’s mind raced. Professor Voladi? *Recommending* Azure Flame? It was impossible.

Professor Voladi slowly shook his head with his usual expressionless face. “I never did.”

“Huh?” Professor Zorc blinked, looking genuinely confused. “But… think, Voladi! We talked about it in the professors’ lounge, remember?” He prompted, as if Professor Voladi might have simply forgotten.

Professor Zorc’s brow furrowed as he tried to recall the conversation. ‘First, there was that time,’ he began, his voice thoughtful, ‘when you mentioned completing the Water Prison Bullet…’

“…Sorry, what did you just say you completed?”

“Next is…”

“Next? What do you mean, ‘next’?”

Professor Zorc continued, “Then, there was the time you declared you had mastered 5-circle magic.”

Professor Voladi remained silent.

Professor Zorc went on, “And then, you said, ‘The teachings of the ancient doppelganger are dangerous and harsh… there may be a need to be careful.’

“…Glad it’s not you teaching *that*, Professor. But seriously, doesn’t that bother you at all?”

“We *did* have this conversation, didn’t we?” Professor Zorc insisted, turning to Professor Voladi with a pleading look. Now, even Lee Han was staring at Professor Voladi, a look of wounded disbelief on his face.

Nevertheless, without a hint of wavering, Professor Voladi calmly replied. “I did not recommend teaching the advanced attribute of the fire element.”

“Really? Well, even so,” Professor Zorc continued, “if you can handle water, telekinesis, lightning, ice, and darkness… surely fire magic can’t be *that* much harder, right?”

Professor Voladi actually paused, a flicker of… something – was it uncertainty? – crossing his usually blank face. Lee Han groaned inwardly. *This was all his fault. He’d set this whole ridiculous chain of events in motion.*

It wasn’t fair. Professor Voladi might have started this whole mess with his casual comments in the lounge, but it was Lee Han who was now stuck with Azure Flame lessons. And somehow, he had a feeling this was only the beginning.