Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1037

Professor Garcia tilted his head, listening. “Did you hear that? What’s that rumbling sound from the basement, Lee Han?”

*Space magic again?* Professor Garcia wondered to himself. Lee Han was a surprising student. He learned quickly, sometimes *too* quickly. Connecting the basement to subspace magic was very advanced for someone at Lee Han’s level. But with Lee Han, anything seemed possible. Maybe he *had* done it without even telling Professor Garcia.

Lee Han sighed dramatically. “Oh, *that* noise? It’s all because of that crazy wizard, Noenchenph!” he grumbled, sounding very annoyed. “That Noenchenph and his weird magic… it’s causing trouble for everyone, even junior wizards like me!”

Professor Garcia blinked, surprised. “Wait… so the noise isn’t *supposed* to be happening? It’s not something you *meant* to do?”

“…Right?” Lee Han said, looking at Professor Garcia with a raised eyebrow.

“Ah, right, of course!” Professor Garcia said quickly. He suddenly felt a bit silly for even thinking Lee Han might have done it on purpose. He cleared his throat and changed the subject. “So, Lee Han, maybe we should just destroy the basement after all…”

“!”

Lee Han looked at Professor Garcia with an incredulous expression. How could Professor Garcia, not even Professor Voladi, suggest such a violent solution?

“Well, my boy, it seems to me that the ghost is lingering in a gap between dimensions,” the young prince in the painting said.

He reacted negatively to Professor Garcia’s solution. Given Lee Han’s current state, it wasn’t easy to bother him by possessing or cursing his soul. So, the most likely explanation was that it was wandering in the dimensional gap and flowing out whenever Lee Han cast space magic. Since space magic is fundamentally deeply related to multiple dimensions, it was entirely possible for a ghost wandering between dimensions to cause such a phenomenon.

“But, Headmaster, destroying the basement solved all the problems in the other mansions.”

“But the owners of those mansions didn’t have the same problem as our student here, did they?” the young prince calmly said to Professor Garcia. Since the owners of the other mansions hadn’t been chosen by the ghost, destroying the basement solved all the problems. However, in Lee Han’s case, the ghost was wandering in the dimensional gap and being pulled out. Destroying the basement was unlikely to solve the problem.

“But… Lee Han didn’t do anything, so he could be chosen by a ghost… I suppose it’s possible.”

“…”

Lee Han stared at Professor Garcia as if he were dumbfounded.

“What?! No, weren’t you supposed to deny it? Why are you suddenly understanding it on your own…”

“He could be chosen.”

“It’s possible,” the young prince chimed in.

Lee Han suddenly felt lonely as even Professor Voladi and the young prince chimed in. Being alone among the great wizards was difficult for an ordinary wizard to keep up with.

“Then, Headmaster, what would be a good solution?”

“I think the basement is fine. Hang it in the basement.”

“Yes? Uh, shouldn’t we solve it?”

“It’s not a problem that can be solved right away. If it’s an unsolvable disaster, it’s not a bad idea to use its power. Now, hurry up,” the young prince urged Lee Han.

Lee Han reluctantly stretched out his arm and hung the painting on the basement wall. The ghost’s bewildered voice echoed from inside the backpack.

“What… a painting…”

“Ah, so you’re the ghost. Nice to meet you. Would you mind if I borrowed this place for a while?”

The ghost’s answer didn’t really matter. The prince in the painting moved as he pleased. After grasping the spatial distortion inside the basement, he seized control with his own power.

“My boy, can you hear me?”

“Ah, yes. I haven’t closed it yet.”

“You don’t have to worry too much while I’m here.”

Originally, this wizard ghost’s plan was to implement a space with infinite possibilities in the basement. Because that plan failed and the space fell out of control, it appeared all over the empire. That space labyrinth was difficult for Lee Han’s current level to solve, but the phenomenon of moving to the original basement inside the labyrinth because of the ghost could be used separately. It was an uncontrollable curse, but if it could be controlled, wouldn’t it be a kind of subspace warehouse?

“There. Now you can visit whenever you want.”

“No… then. The magic… when…” Even in his confused state, the ghost seemed to realize something was wrong. He wasn’t solving the magic he was asked to solve, but he was going to use this basement as a warehouse?

“Be quiet,” the young prince said.

The young prince folded the ghost up and locked him in a basement box. Lee Han could feel anew who the other party’s younger self was in that ruthless appearance.

After the knight disappeared, Bunarzo and the Einroguard students resumed their work elsewhere. When the work was almost finished, Bunarzo praised them, quite pleased. These Einroguard students all had more talent than he had thought.

“Hmm. It’s pretty good.”

“Thank you.”

“Master, if it’s okay with you, how about selling this painting? Nobles will be visiting on the weekend, and I’d like to make them an offer then,” Tiziling asked.

Seeing Bunarzo making an offer to Tiziling, Gainando asked, his eyes shining, “What about me? How’s mine?”

Gainando felt a thrill. Already in his head, he could hear the sound of ‘His Highness Prince Gainando’s work, [My Wonderful Undead Summoning Beast Walking Out of Doknop], was sold for 1,800 Imperial gold coins!’ at the Imperial Noble Auction House. ‘If it sells like that, I’ll use 1/3 for wizard cards, 1/3 for snacks, and 1/3 for Lee Han’s gift. I’ll buy gifts for my friends with the rest.’

Bunarzo’s words came to Gainando’s ears as he was doing an Einroguard-style calculation. “…I don’t think it’ll sell.”

“What!? Why!?! Why!??!”

Bunarzo wore a troubled expression for the first time that day. He didn’t want to hurt the budding artist.

“Well, the nobles who come to buy works prefer traditional art…”

Most of the people who came to Petrograd to buy works preferred ordinary, good works. Petrograd wizards liked extraordinary and ingenious works, saying, ‘Finally, I’ve opened my eyes to a new realm!’, but people reacted like, ‘Hang this in my mansion? I wouldn’t even hang it in the stable?’

“Here, Master’s painting naturally makes people feel reverence and faith, as expected of someone from the Freisinga Order,” Tiziling said.

As expected of a priest, Tiziling’s painting was full of reverence and faith. Of course, the depiction of hungry people resembled Einroguard students a bit, as expected of someone from Einroguard, but no one would notice that.

“Isn’t my painting cool too!?”

“It’s, it’s cool, but I don’t think anyone would want to hang an evil undead summon on their wall… unless they’re a black magician…” Lafaedel, who was listening from the side, was disgusted.

“Even black magicians don’t hang up paintings like that. Do you think black magicians are crazy?”

Even black magicians drink warm black tea and enjoy beautiful paintings in their homes; they don’t drink poison and blood.

Yoner asked slyly. “Can’t we change the title and sell it? As [Beautiful Moon Spirit Swimming in the Pond of Night]…”

“How can you say that!? Are, are you even an artist!?”

“I’m not an artist,” Yoner said.

Yoner tried to hit his cousin, but he remembered that they were from different schools and held back. He was acting like a master, judging from the way he was talking about the subject he had just picked up for the first time that day.

“Gainando. I understand your heart,” Bunarzo said.

Bunarzo grabbed Gainando’s shoulder and comforted him. “You don’t have to waver even if the idiots of the Empire don’t recognize you. Yes. I’ll recommend this painting to the people who visit here.”

“Bu… Bunarzo!”

“It’s nothing. Surely there will be one person who recognizes the value of this painting.”

‘I don’t think there will be.’

‘What kind of madman would buy that?’

‘I don’t think even Professor Mortum would buy it.’

The Einroguard students all had similar thoughts, but they didn’t say it out loud. Meanwhile, Lee Han and the professors and the red-haired knight walked out from the other side.

Bunarzo was startled and tried to run away, but the Einroguard 1 students gestured that it was okay.

“No. That’s okay.”

“What do you mean it’s okay?! It’s the knight who was rampaging earlier!”

“The professor is behind him.”

“Ah.”

Bunarzo breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Professor Garcia standing behind the knight, he was definitely relieved.

“It’s really reassuring. Did you say that person’s name is Professor Garcia Kim?”

“Huh? No. I was talking about Professor Begreck next to him. Professor Garcia can’t even kill a bug.”

“…Are you making fun of me?!”

Lee Han’s party arrived while they were talking. Ram, the knight of the Garrihi family, apologized honestly. “I’m sorry. I lost my temper for a moment and caused trouble.”

“!”

The Einroguard students whispered at the knight’s attitude, which was so different from what they had expected.

“Could Professor Garcia have used his fists too?”

“Maybe…”

They had expected Professor Voladi to subdue him, but they wondered if Professor Garcia had to step in to change his attitude like that.

“Humph. Even so, such violence on the sacred grounds of a magic school. Is that what you call a knight?” Bunarzo said.

Bunarzo didn’t let it go easily. An outsider, a knight at that, was causing trouble. This was not something that a Petrograd student could easily overlook. The Einroguard friends, who had become a little closer in the meantime, agreed.

“That’s right. It’s not right for a knight to cause trouble here when he’s not a wizard…”

“I heard that the knight asked for a portrait of the deceased, but the Petrograd wizard broke his promise and ran away, so he came to find him,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han quickly explained before his friends got into an irreversible situation. His friends immediately changed their attitude.

“How could a person do that?”

“Bunarzo! I’m disappointed!”

“Professor Verdus wouldn’t do such a thing… but are you guys on the same level as Professor Verdus?!”

“Ah, no… strictly speaking, he’s not a Petrograd wizard…” Bunarzo stammered an excuse.

Bunarzo, cornered, stammered an excuse. He never imagined that the great artist would have such a story.

“…I’m sorry. I was rude because I didn’t know about that…”

“No. It was my fault. To cause trouble to the wizards who must be responsible for the future of the Empire. Was the work damaged? If so, I’ll compensate you,” Ram said with a smile.

“It’s okay. It’s perfectly fine! Would you like to take one with you? I’ll buy it for a fair price when it’s finished.”

After speaking, the knight looked at Gainando’s painting again carefully. “It’s a powerful painting, even when I look at it again.”

“…Huh. Are you interested? Do you want to buy it?” Gainando asked.

Gainando was ready to sell it for even one gold coin. The market price had fallen a lot in the meantime.

“No. It’s okay. I think the servants would be scared.”

“…If you hang it in the stable…”

“I think even the horses would be scared.”

“At the front gate…”

“Stop it, you,” his friends said.

His friends, unable to watch any longer, pulled Gainando away. Lee Han regretted a little that he should have just insisted that he was a Valdrogard student until the end.

“Still, I’m glad the knight seems to have calmed down. I still had a lot to ask the artist,” Bunarzo said.

“…Huh?”

Lee Han paused at Bunarzo’s words. Did he not know that the great artist had run away yet?

Lee Han, embarrassed, looked at Professor Garcia and whispered. “Do you think he’ll come back?”

“No… he got all the inspiration he needed from Lee Han, so he probably went somewhere else…” Professor Garcia whispered back.

“That’s right!” Lee Han nodded in agreement.

‘The reason for his disappearance must be kept a secret.’

He didn’t want to be on the list of wizard names that Petrograd students hated, along with Professor Verdus.