Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 918

Ian stared, mouth open. Skeletal figures walked among living people, and the air hummed with strange energy. “So,” he whispered, mostly to himself, “*this* is what those old books meant by the ‘age of madness’.”

He’d read about it – tales of chaos and wild magic from long ago. But books were one thing. Seeing it with his own eyes was another. It was… unbelievable.

Below them in the clear water, sirens and merfolk bowed low to the young skeletal headmaster. Some held out small shells filled with tears, offering them up like precious gifts. Tears? In this strange, unsettling place, even tears seemed to have a different meaning.

“Surely, in ancient times, sirens and merfolk were much kinder.”

—■■■!

One of the merfolk swimming below the surface spotted Ian and suddenly snarled, trying to attack.

Then, the young skeletal headmaster stretched out his arms and stopped them.

“Stop! Merfolk! This one is my student. I will not tolerate anyone harming my student. Attack me instead!”

The merfolk who had tried to attack apologized for the misunderstanding and quickly retreated.

The young skeletal headmaster checked if Ian was hurt and said,

“Merfolk don’t like intruders. You should be careful. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine. …My heart might be a little wounded, though…”

“???”

After that, no enemies appeared to bother the young skeletal headmaster’s journey.

Everyone, from the sea below to the sky above, seemed to respect the young skeletal headmaster.

“Did you use some kind of special magic before I got here? Are the sirens and merfolk confused?”

“Ian, don’t deny what’s real!”

Professor Garcia shouted, trying to get Ian to focus.

Professor Garcia was also very surprised by what he saw. It was shocking to see such aggressive creatures show so much respect to the young skeletal headmaster.

However, a wizard should accept reality, no matter how shocking, and come up with new ideas, not ignore reality and run away.

“The confusion idea is possible…”

“It’s not possible.”

“Then, it seems the creatures are acting like that because the headmaster is… good… goo… good… good.”

Ian hesitated, finding it hard to say the word ‘goodness’.

Professor Garcia nodded slowly, as if it was also very difficult for him. He understood in his mind, but his body didn’t want to believe it.

“Then why is the headmaster acting like that now?”

“…Time changes many things, Ian. Now, let’s go help the headmaster.”

Ian knew Professor Garcia was changing the subject, but he didn’t say anything.

Honestly, Ian would have said the same thing.

No matter how great Professor Garcia was, what could he say about the skeletal headmaster’s change?

“How much did those people from the kingdom anger him? No, even if they did, I can’t believe he would change this much…”

“Oh dear.”

The young skeletal headmaster stopped walking when they got back to the harbor.

“What is it?”

“The well in the lower part of the city is destroyed. If this keeps up, the people nearby won’t have any water…”

Because there were often attacks from outside, the things inside the city were often damaged.

Important things for the people were often destroyed, and unless nobles or wizards nearby helped, it took a long time to fix them.

“I will help fix it.”

“Repairs might not be enough, I’m afraid. Look.”

The young skeletal headmaster waved his robe and pointed forward.

Merchants from other places were already shouting loudly, saying they were selling clean water.

“They probably saw that the well was destroyed and got permission to sell water here.”

The merchants selling water here had to pay a lot of money to get permission.

There was no way the merchants who had paid so much would want the well to be fixed. If no one was watching, they would destroy the well right away.

“Indeed. Then…”

Ian was starting to guess what the young skeletal headmaster would do.

He was sure he would beat up those water-selling merchants, and the question was whether he would throw them into the sea afterward.

However, the young skeletal headmaster didn’t do any of the things Ian expected.

He took out jewelry with gems from his pocket, broke it apart, and gave it to the merchants.

“????”

Before Ian could stop being surprised, the young skeletal headmaster cast a spell.

Then, the shape of the statue next to him changed into water. What had been a normal statue turned into a fountain.

Professor Garcia’s eyes widened.

Turning a statue into water was a type of magic, and Professor Garcia could do it too, but casting a spell to keep that form almost forever was not something a person could do.

Especially in such a short time!

“Impossible…!”

“What?!” “What!”

Professor Garcia realized that Ian had shouted the same thing and looked at him. Looking at Ian, he seemed to have similar questions.

“Ian also has the same question as me. You’re wondering how I cast that spell, right?”

“Huh? I was asking why you gave out the jewels.”

“……”

The young skeletal headmaster smiled and calmed his students.

“Calm down, everyone. I will explain everything. The reason I turned the statue into water is because the statue belongs to the nobles.”

Fixing the well wouldn’t work because other people would secretly destroy it, but things were different for structures built by nobles, like statues.

Even the people here couldn’t easily damage it.

Knowing that, the young skeletal headmaster didn’t bother fixing the well and instead turned the statue into a fountain that would always spout water.

People nearby could take water from here if they wanted.

“I wasn’t asking about the water; I was asking how you cast the spell…”

“I was asking why you gave out the jewels.”

The young skeletal headmaster was a little surprised by his students’ reactions.

Was this not very interesting?

“The reason I gave out the jewels is because those merchants also had problems. Even though they paid money to get permission, they will lose everything if they don’t earn any money.”

“!”

Ian was surprised by the unexpected reason.

He never thought that he would even think about the situation of the merchants selling water here.

“The way I cast the spell is not very hard. It’s simple. First, magic, starting with Dynamis…”

“Indeed… I see!”

Professor Garcia carefully took notes.

Now that he heard it, it really wasn’t a difficult method.

Wasn’t it said that amazing things are found in the ordinary?

If he followed the young skeletal headmaster’s explanation, Professor Garcia felt he could do it too.

“What’s so simple about it?”

Of course, Ian was wondering what the two of them were talking about. Ian complained and said to Professor Voladi,

“How can that be simple? It doesn’t make any sense, does it?”

“……”

Professor Voladi remembered Ian often saying to his friends, ‘Like this! Why can’t you do something this simple!’ but he didn’t say anything.

He was a student who had a lot to learn here anyway. He had to support him now.

After finishing the water statue, the young skeletal headmaster immediately started working on the city gate without resting.

The lapis lazuli and merfolk tears were already partly prepared with the right mix. He had prepared it on the way back from the short trip.

“The city gate work is a little different from the water statue work.”

“Different in what way…?”

“It means there are many eyes watching.”

The young skeletal headmaster smiled sadly.

He was working for the people of this city, but he shouldn’t stay here for long or do anything noticeable.

As soon as he did, the city’s wizards or knights would realize something was wrong and find him.

“As soon as we finish, we have to leave. Otherwise, we will have to fight unwanted battles near the city gate.”

“Understood.”

Ian no longer asked questions like ‘Why do you have to go that far?’ or ‘Is it worth it?’

Such questions were only useful to ask someone who might change their mind.

The young skeletal headmaster was not someone who would ever change his mind, no matter what Ian said.

All Ian could do was help.

“I need to finish this quickly and learn the Falling Star.”

Ian decided to help the young skeletal headmaster and finish as quickly as possible.

He seemed to have gotten used to the young skeletal headmaster. He was able to respond calmly no matter what he said.

“Then, I’ll ask you to guard the area…”

Boom!

Before he could finish speaking, there was an explosion in the distance.

Unlike Ian and his friends, the young skeletal headmaster knew what had happened just from the sound.

“Esadojiqwa! The Duke of Wrath’s minion is here again!”

“Is it an attack by demons?”

“It seems so. We must stop them!”

The young skeletal headmaster stopped working on the city gate and quickly got ready to move.

Ian and his friends hurried after him. Considering how strong the demon forces were when they first arrived, it was hard to imagine how much damage they would cause.

“Follow me!”

With a spell, the young skeletal headmaster quickly flew into the air. Ian and his friends followed him, using the power of magic.

Ian, who had become more relaxed, looked at the scenery. They quickly got closer, and he saw the demon forces.

“That is…?”

Ian’s eyes widened at the unexpected sight.

He saw enemies surrounded by the demon forces, but they didn’t look like ordinary people.

Expensive battle robots and escort knights.

And even wizards with more fancy clothes than Ian’s old coat!

The wizards’ robes were decorated with silk, gold thread, and jewels, so anyone could tell they were nobles of this city.

“We caught you, wizards! I am Esadojiqwa, chief helper of the Duke of Wrath!”

The great demon laughed, seeming happy.

“The Hall of Tides? Compared to my master’s power, it’s nothing.”

“The Hall of Tides!”

“You chimera makers. Your toys are just small things compared to the demon race.”

“Even the ‘Pit of Change’?!”

Ian realized that all the magical nobles of the city were surrounded here.

There were a few more, but the young skeletal headmaster had already taken care of them last time…

“Everyone, please step back.”

The young skeletal headmaster pushed Ian and his friends back and hid himself with magic.

Ian carefully said,

“Headmaster, shouldn’t we just leave them alone and let them fight each other? If they see you, they’ll cause trouble.”

Based on what he had heard, the city’s magical nobles were not the type to be thankful if saved.

Instead, they would probably attack, saying, ‘Oh, you helped us, we’ll make you our slaves.’

The young skeletal headmaster agreed with Ian.

“That’s right. That’s probably what would happen.”

“Then, if we wait…”

“But then many people there will die or be hurt. I’m sorry, disciple. I don’t choose who to save based on my feelings. I understand if you’re upset.”

Before he could finish speaking, the young skeletal headmaster attacked the demon forces with many copies of himself.

And a storm of magic hit the forces.