Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 889

The little basilisk, surprised, shouted.

“Is *that* what you call it!”

Professors should be able to calm Mandragoras, even big ones, and stop them from crying. But instead, Professor Bendozol is saying, “We were never here today!”

Professor Bendozol, however, didn’t seem worried.

“Dragon Lord, I can only make things grow faster, not reverse it. This is the best course of action right now.”

Jo-Urin felt a little guilty.

Naturally, Jo-Urin also seemed reluctant.

Jo-Urin was not like the students or professors at Einroguard. He still thought like someone who didn’t belong here.

“Dragon Lord, it’s okay to reveal the truth. I, for one, don’t mind at all.”

“…Why wouldn’t you mind?”

The little basilisk was once again taken aback.

Another professor’s classroom is in such chaos, and he doesn’t mind…

“But Dragon Lord, if I may be so bold, you are so merciful and kind that you even heed the petty criticisms of insignificant students. Dragon Lord, it hurts me to think of you being upset by silly student complaints!”

Bendozol pounded his chest with mad loyalty. The little basilisk whispered in a horrified voice.

“-That man is scary.”

Well, yes, but his opinion seems to have some merit.

“-…?!”

The little basilisk was startled by the sudden change in Jo-Urin’s attitude.

“-Why!?”

Well… Jo-Urin… didn’t want to be scolded by Ihan…

With his front paws gathered, Jo-Urin mumbled.

He didn’t care about the other students, but if Ihan got angry and said, ‘You! Go back to the capital!’, Jo-Urin’s heart might stop from sadness.

Faced with such a persuasive argument, the little basilisk was momentarily speechless.

“-I feel the same way.”

Really?

The little basilisk fell into contemplation.

Whether to tell the truth according to conscience and loyalty, or to listen to the sneaky proposal of a suspicious professor and hide it.

“-Let’s hide it!”

The little basilisk made a decision befitting the king of snakes. Jo-Urin, who had been agonizing together, beamed when his friend agreed.

Really??

“-Yes! We never visited!”

As the little basilisk wagged his tail and shouted, Jo-Urin flapped his wings in response.

Professor Bendozol’s eyes welled up with tears at the sight.

Perhaps this was why he worked as a professor at Einroguard, to witness such a beautiful sight.

Yes! No one will know we came!

“Excellent! I will never tell anyone about this secret!”

The two were horrified and distanced themselves as Professor Bendozol got carried away.

Later that morning, Ihan woke up, frowning, and came downstairs.

“What’s wrong, Wodanaz?”

“I just… I think I had a disturbing dream…”

“I think I know why. It’s because you always sleep on the chair and then sleep on the bed.”

“……”

Ihan looked at Asan as if he were absurd, but the other students seemed to agree with Asan’s words.

“That makes sense. Wodanaz, you need to use the bed more.”

“Right. A private room isn’t originally a place to store books, but a place to sleep.”

“You’re all too loud.”

With a wave of his wand, crusty golden-brown bread flew from the frying pan on the brazier. At the same time, glass jars of bright red strawberry jam and dark purple plum jam, butter wrapped in brown paper, and sliced, cured ham arrived in turn from the cupboard.

Before the Blue Dragon Tower students could marvel at their friend’s excellence in using 5th circle magic for housework, they grabbed the bread.

They used to chatter during mealtimes when they were newbies, but now their friends were proper Einroguard students. They knew very well that they would only lose out if they talked and did other things.

“Wodanaz, how many exams do you have next week? Have you already taken them all?”

“…I haven’t? Who keeps spreading these false rumors?”

“Gainando was boasting to the students from White Tiger Tower that you had already finished all your exams. So, I thought that was the reason for the rumor.”

‘That little rascal.’

Ihan shuddered, realizing who the culprit was nearby.

It was one thing to have childish arguments with students from other towers, but what if he spread false rumors?

“I’ll even prepare on the weekends. Language lectures, transformation magic lectures… Ah, right. I should go to the greenhouse.”

“Let’s go together. I need to catch some bugs too.”

“More importantly, why isn’t His Highness awake?”

The students looked at Jo-Urin, who had fallen asleep in front of the fireplace, with puzzled expressions.

“Shouldn’t we wake him up? He’ll definitely sulk if we leave him behind.”

“But why is he sleeping so long? He usually wakes up earlier than us.”

Jo-Urin was a young dragon.

That meant he was practically invincible in terms of stamina.

It was no wonder they were puzzled that someone who always woke up early and rolled around wanting to go outside was still asleep.

“Your Highness? Your Highness?”

“Uhh… Jo-Urin didn’t do it…”

“Didn’t do what?”

“…Ihan!”

Jo-Urin, who belatedly woke up, blinked his eyes as he discovered the students. His face turned pale.

Even if Jo-Urin said something strange just now, it was all sleep-talking! Sleep-talking!

“You didn’t say anything, though.”

“…R, right? Jo-Urin is innocent!”

“…??”

The students, including Ihan, buzzed at Jo-Urin’s strange reaction, no matter how they looked at it.

“Maybe Gainando came at night and stabbed him with his wand and ran away?”

“Nah. Surely not… would he really do that?”

“No, you know how jealous Gainando is.”

Meanwhile, Ihan took the little basilisk back into his sleeve.

He was puzzled by the sight of the little fellow, who usually woke up in the morning and chattered, nodding off.

‘What’s going on? Did they do something at night?’

“Your Highness, we’re thinking of going to the greenhouse. Would you like to come with us?”

“Uhh… uh, we went yesterday, too? It seems like too much. I feel sorry for the Einroguard students!”

“Your Highness…!”

The students were all moved.

How merciful!

Some students vowed to join the royal faction supporting ‘Jo-Urin as Emperor’ when they graduated later.

Judging by the kindness he had shown to the dragon race, he was qualified enough.

“Still, we have to go. We need to plant that new sprout, too. It’ll be finished, right?”

“-Don’t worry. You’ll be surprised!”

Saratan rubbed his palms slyly and cunningly.

This arrogant and fierce spirit was very subdued due to the recent attack.

“Good. I’m counting on you. This spirit said he’d grow the Mandragora for us. Your Highness, why don’t you come with us? I’ll introduce you to the plants you didn’t see yesterday.”

“Wodanaz, most of the plants you didn’t see yesterday attack people…”

“So what? His Highness will find that more fun.”

Ordinary plants could hardly scratch Jo-Urin’s scales. Ihan confidently recommended it because he knew what Jo-Urin liked.

“J, Jo-Urin might be a little scared…”

“?!!?”

Ihan was really surprised.

“Your Highness, is something wrong? If you’re worried about Einroguard even now, you can always go back…”

“N, no! That’s not it!”

“Gainando didn’t come out at night and attack you with magic and run away, did he?”

“Absolutely not… Jo-Urin will go see the greenhouse…”

Jo-Urin looked enviously at the basilisk sleeping in his sleeve.

If only Jo-Urin had been asleep too!

“You’re not going to change your mind later, are you?”

“-Don’t worry. I told you you’d be surprised.”

Ihan tormented the spirit every five minutes on the way.

The friends, who didn’t know what grudge the two had, whispered.

“-Isn’t Wodanaz being too harsh on the spirit?”

“-I guess it’s the Wodanaz family’s way. You need dignity to subdue a strong spirit.”

“-Indeed. That’s why the spirits run away…”

Oooooooong!

The students all instinctively covered their ears at the unpleasant vibration coming from the greenhouse in the distance…except for Ihan.

“What is it?”

“Wo, Wodanaz. In the greenhouse… in the greenhouse…!”

“The Mandragora must have been pulled out!”

Yoner shouted, the first to grasp the situation. If the sound could be heard outside the door, there was only the Mandragora among the greenhouse plants.

“Everyone, take a potion!”

“Thanks, Yoner!”

“Not you, Ihan!”

“…I know.”

Ihan was slightly hurt when Yoner got angry and told him to give it to his friends.

Of course, it wouldn’t mean anything if Ihan drank it himself…

‘You didn’t have to say it like that!’

The students, who had barely taken out the mental protection potion and earmuffs for the Mandragora, breathed a sigh of relief.

“Why was the Mandragora pulled out?”

“I don’t know…?”

Ihan, who had approached the front of the greenhouse, stopped.

He realized that a magical seal he had never seen before was hanging on the greenhouse door.

‘What is it? Did Professor Willow put it up?’

But if Professor Willow had put it up, there was no reason to put it up without telling the students.

Instead of breaking the seal, Ihan tried to check the situation inside first.

And then he was horrified and took a few steps back.

“What’s wrong, Wodanaz?”

“…Can Mandragoras originally grow like that?”

“?”

The friends wondered what Ihan was talking about and brought their faces close to the greenhouse window.

And then they were horrified and took a few steps back in the same way.

Originally, the Mandragora was supposed to have a human-like body that screamed, buried deep in the ground, with only its leaves and upper part slightly exposed.

But now, giant Mandragora leaves, bigger than blankets, filled the greenhouse. They were thick and leathery, blocking out most of the light. A strange, earthy smell hung in the air. The upper parts that they had never seen before filled the greenhouse. The leaves were so large that they covered half of the greenhouse.

Other tower students who arrived late were also surprised to see the situation inside.

“What on earth happened?”

“Can Mandragoras grow like that?”

“More importantly, was it crying underground now? Not that the Mandragora came out?”

“I, if it’s this much even outside the greenhouse door…”

“I know!”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Siana as she shouted.

“What do you know, Siana Priest?”

“I know why the Mandragora turned out like that, Wodanaz.”

Siana pointed her finger with a confident pose like a detective. At the end of that finger was Ihan’s wand.

“The spirit in that wand is the culprit!”

“-…????!!!!”

Saratan, who was waiting with the new sprout, screamed at the sight of the wizard suddenly accusing him. Of course, Saratan’s voice was not conveyed to the other students except for Ihan.

“Who else but that spirit would grow the Mandragora like that? Besides, that spirit has a motive! It’s not strange for him to misinterpret the order because he has a grudge against Wodanaz!”

“Indeed… is it the spirit’s revenge…!”

“So that’s what he meant by asking us to wait a day!”

The students were all impressed by Siana’s reasoning.

Even if powerful and fierce beings from other dimensions are bound by contract, they were not easy to deal with. They were always trying to screw over the contractor by taking advantage of the loopholes in the contract.

“-Absolutely not! Absolutely not! Who is that dog-like brat wizard slandering! I’ll kill him!”

Saratan was jumping up and down.

It felt absurd to even make excuses like this.

It was humiliating enough to be subservient to a young wizard, but now he had to make excuses like this!

However, Ihan was already half convinced by Siana’s reasoning.

“Come to think of it, you. Didn’t you say I’d be surprised when I got to the greenhouse?”

“-……”