Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1166

“That’s knights for you! They haven’t a clue what’s important!”

“Grrrr (Agreed).”

“Keep your voice down. This is the North, and a den of knights at that.”

Among the dark wizards who had come here, the most moderate were those from Collarogard.

Of course, if the Moradi family were to blockade the North, they would pretend to be unwilling and join in, saying, ‘Well, what can we do?’

If the knights are blockading the North, it’s not right for us dark wizards to take charge. We should respect the knights here.

“How can we persuade the head of the family?”

“To blockade the North, you say? That’s surely impossible…”

“This is why I said we shouldn’t call those Collarogard lot! They’re like a bunch of feeble children!”

“Grrrr (That’s right).”

The dark wizards of the Empire were largely divided into two categories.

One group was relatively normal, timid, unsociable, and prone to muttering about ‘why the Dark Arts faculty is unpopular and poor,’ but they didn’t cause much harm.

Occasionally, they might dig up graves to steal corpses or create unauthorized illegal chimeras, but considering the average wizard, that wasn’t too bad.

And the other group strived to uphold the traditions and spirit of the old Dark Arts, timid, unsociable, and muttering about ‘why the Dark Arts faculty is unpopular and poor,’ while also causing major incidents.

There were different kinds of dark wizards here. Collarogard and the Obsidian Tower were one type. The Heirs of Ahrac and the Oondorgu Legion were another.

Naturally, the dark wizards belonging to the latter group were displeased with the moderate words of the former.

They should be uniting and pushing more aggressively!

“Actually, the Collarogard dark wizards have a point. And don’t forget that we’re the ones cleaning up after your messes.”

“Hmph. Who asked you to take responsibility?”

“Grrrr (Indeed).”

“Ha. The one who’d weep and beg if they were told to rot in an Imperial prison for life is putting on airs…”

“Sa, say that again! I may have apologized in front of Gonadaltez, but I never cried. That’s just a rumour! A rumour spread by Gonadaltez!”

“Hee hee hee (Still funny after all this time).”

“Enough! Please, everyone, stop it!”

Professor Taswhan, who had led the Collarogard dark wizards, waved his arms, trying to stop the quarrel.

Taswhan wasn’t exactly someone who would be snubbed at a gathering of dark wizards, but the situation was unfortunate.

All the dark wizards present had far more experience than Taswhan.

The Oondorgu Legion, entirely composed of undead, was a given, and the Heirs of Ahrac were all monsters who had lived for over a century…

“What do you mean, stop? Is this young pup looking down on me? Even if Gonadaltez does, are you going to look down on me too?”

“Grrrr (Insolent).”

“Professor Taswhan, they were just rude to us. We don’t need to stop arguing.”

“……”

In the end, the dark wizards argued for about twenty more minutes.

After insulting and criticizing each other to their hearts’ content, the dark wizards, with the rationality befitting wizards, returned to the main topic.

“So, blockading the North is impossible? Really? Does everyone understand that we absolutely must contact that old hag? A blockade is essential for that!”

The third of the Heirs of Ahrac (they distinguished themselves by numbers instead of names) spoke in a subdued voice.

However, there was no wavering in his attitude. He still felt the determination to find what they wanted, even if it meant blockading the North.

The exact name of the being the Heir of Ahrac had just mentioned was ‘The Wisest and Most Eccentric Hag’.

The extra-dimensional being that all the dark wizards wanted to meet, and the most likely cause of the current tumultuous situation in the North.

“Surely, the hag’s item has fallen somewhere in the North. Otherwise, these monsters and phenomena can’t be explained.”

Monsters overflowing at the wrong time and bizarre natural phenomena.

Even just seeing these results, excellent wizards could analyze the cause.

These monsters and magical phenomena must be related to the hag, who knew all the most mysterious and bizarre dark magic!

…Or a runaway magical criminal dark wizard was causing trouble somewhere.

The dark wizards present hoped it was the former.

The former meant they could ask the hag for the secrets and wisdom of dark magic they desired, but the latter meant they were more likely to be pelted with rotten eggs by the people of the North for being dark wizards.

“What if an ordinary person who knows nothing finds that mark and takes it to another part of the Empire? How much damage would that cause? And in the worst-case scenario, another wizard could get their hands on it and ask the hag for the secrets of other magic instead of dark magic.”

“……”

“……”

The dark wizards from the Obsidian Tower and Collarogard decided to pretend they hadn’t heard what was just said.

Every time they heard such things, they understood why the people of the Empire disliked dark wizards.

‘Damn it! That’s unfair. I hate that person too.’

To somehow change the subject, Taswhan forced himself to speak.

“By the way, everyone. Have you prepared a way to ask the hag questions?”

As mentioned, the hag’s exact title was ‘The Wisest and Most Eccentric Hag’.

Among the beings from other dimensions, many of whom were fundamentally eccentric and strange, to be called eccentric meant one’s personality had to be truly bizarre.

When dealing with such a being, returning the lost mark wouldn’t prompt them to say, ‘How admirable, ask what you wish’.

Finding and returning the mark was merely the right to make contact.

From then on, the dark wizards had to use their own skills to persuade and coax the hag to answer their questions.

In fact, just being able to make contact was a sufficiently great and rare privilege.

The hag generally did not allow audiences with mortals.

And if it weren’t a great and rare privilege, the dark wizards of the Empire wouldn’t be gathered here, arguing about whether or not to blockade the North.

They would have prepared offerings and gone to find the hag themselves…

“Prepared.”

“Grrrr (Of course).”

“We have also prepared, for now.”

“…?!”

Taswhan and the Collarogard wizards were taken aback.

Huh?

‘Are we the only ones who didn’t prepare?!’

The reason they hadn’t prepared was simple.

They had heard something from Headmaster Skull in the past.

-How can you ask the hag a question?

-Yes.

-Don’t ask.

-……

-You worked hard to prepare offerings to make a good impression, didn’t you?

-Yes… I did.

-Don’t do that.

-……

-I’m serious. She wouldn’t even meet a greenhorn like you anyway. If you ever get involved, be polite and courteous, and don’t act too bold by asking questions. Only wizards like me are kind enough to answer stupid questions; not all archmages are like that.

-Ah. Yes. Yes.

-Say ‘yes’ only once. I’ll put a curse on your soul that makes you sneeze every time you speak.

-…I’m sorry.

Regardless of his unpleasantness, Headmaster Skull never gave wrong advice on magical or dimensional matters.

So, the Collarogard wizards had only intended to return the hag’s lost mark in this situation and hadn’t even considered negotiating…

Seeing his students looking at him with confused eyes, Taswhan shook his head.

“Everyone, don’t waver. There’s no need to prepare for negotiations when we haven’t even found the mark yet, and the hag isn’t someone you can meet so easily. We must focus on finding it first.”

“The young one is lazy and feeble.”

“Grrrr (I don’t know why he’s even a dark wizard if he’s going to be like that).”

“Wouldn’t it be better to prepare from now on?”

“……”

Taswhan wanted to throw the towel and just leave.

Dark wizards, honestly!

“Wait. Now that I think about it, didn’t you say a guest from Einrogard was coming?”

“A guest might come. So what?”

The second Heir of Ahrac retorted curtly.

“Could they be dark wizards from Einrogard? Arriving late…”

“No.”

“Why not? They might have changed their minds late after receiving the invitation.”

“The Einrogard dark wizards weren’t invited.”

“……”

“……”

“Grrrr (What nonsense is that)?”

The dark wizards present were dumbfounded by the words of the Heirs of Ahrac.

What on earth was going on?

“Su, surely you said you sent an invitation…”

“That was a lie. We didn’t.”

“Why did you lie about that?!”

Taswhan shouted with a serious expression.

This was not something to simply gloss over.

The Imperial dark wizards were poor, criticized, and sometimes fought among themselves, but they still cooperated fairly well compared to other schools, without deceiving each other, and to break that harmony with such a petty method…

No matter how greedy they were for the hag’s wisdom, they shouldn’t have done that. What would the Einrogard dark wizards think?

“That bastard Mortum keeps bragging about his disciple!”

The second Heir of Ahrac shouted in an angry voice.

“I clearly contacted him to let him know. But all he does is talk about how great his disciple is, how comfortably he’s living these days thanks to him, wouldn’t that annoy anyone? Tell Einrogard to have that brilliant disciple of his study dark magic! We’ll meet the hag among ourselves!”

The atmosphere in the room instantly became solemn.

Surprisingly, the others were somewhat sympathetic.

“Grrrr (Mortum has been a bit much lately).”

“Ah, even so…”

“Be honest. You’re affiliated with the magic school too, aren’t you? Haven’t you ever felt a bubbling jealousy at Mortum’s words? Haven’t you ever wondered why you don’t have a disciple like that!”

“No… no! Everyone, don’t misunderstand!”

Taswhan quickly calmed his students. The students behind him looked at their teacher with suspicious eyes.

The answer seemed a little late…?

Giselle said, “The head of the family will be receiving you soon, so everyone, rest appropriately.” She was about to leave when she turned to Ethan.

“Wodanaz, I recommend you don’t wander around. Especially avoid contact with the knights.”

“It’s not my fault the knights are getting stronger in the Einrogard way…”

“Moradi is already gone, Wodanaz.”

Ethan grumbled and went inside the lodgings.

The Moradi family’s fortress was built on a huge, steep mountain. It was full of buildings and always looked amazing to visitors.

However, this time there was no time to admire the scenery of the North. Ethan took out a stone tablet from his backpack.

Caton, who was sharing a double room with him, looked at him with sparkling eyes.

“Are you planning to do magical research?”

“Ah. Yes, I am.”

“May I help?”

“That would be an honour.”

Ethan had taken out the stone tablet not only to save time but also because he was curious.

If it was a wizard like Bakwantallana, Ethan knew he was a great wizard, so why dark magic?

‘Oops. That was too rude. Senior Diret will be sad.’

Ethan shook his head and reflected.

As a member of the Dark Arts faculty himself, he had to break free from the habit of naturally disparaging dark magic.

“Could you tell me which characters you can read here?”

“Bakwantallana’s, dark magic.”

“…Those are the letters I wrote.”

There were few people who couldn’t read standard Imperial characters.

“It seems there are no others…”

When Caton’s ears drooped, Ethan hurriedly shouted.

“It’s alright! I’ll interpret it, so please watch from behind, Senior.”

Watching Caton smile brightly again, Ethan felt a sense of déjà vu.

‘Somehow, I felt like Gainan when I was teaching him assignments…’

Can… you… he…ar…

“?”

Ethan looked around. He felt like he had heard a faint hallucination.

Like an old woman’s voice…

‘Am I imagining things?’