Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1187

“Strictly speaking, it’s not entirely absent.”

It might be misunderstood as jealousy, but surprisingly, this kind of thing happened quite often when learning magic.

A phenomenon where one spell interferes with the execution of another.

The reasons were various.

Sometimes it was because one spell was harder than the other. Sometimes it was because of strange magic rules. And sometimes, learning one magic could get in the way of learning another.

“To transform into a dragon, you need to be recognized by the dragon race itself. So, there might be some conditions for the magic as well.”

“Isn’t that a bit… petty?” Carnella asked, sounding dumbfounded.

Of course, Jarun’s guess made some sense, but it didn’t exactly sound un-petty.

A restriction that you have to master dragon transformation before other transformations seemed a bit much for a dignified, complete race.

“Strength and pettiness are separate things. You can see that just by looking at the headmaster. Old dwarf records show how petty dragons can be.”

‘Honestly, isn’t that the fault of the dwarves who went down to mine right under the dragon while it was sleeping…?’ Carnella thought to herself.

The last time she actually said that out loud, she almost broke off her friendship with her senior forever.

Jarun, being an excellent miner, was also knowledgeable about the mining records left by the old dwarves, and as such, he was well aware of the incidents caused by the dwarves.

And whenever he had the chance, he would tell the story of those incidents and claim that ‘the dwarves are wronged.’

But in Carnella’s view, it seemed like the dwarves were at fault for noisily digging right under the dragon while it was sleeping…

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you thinking something else?”

“Ah, no. What are you talking about, senior? The dragons were really too much!” Carnella hurriedly made excuses. Jarun was giving her a suspicious look.

“…Well, maybe the dragons didn’t interfere with the magic. It could just be due to the magical structure.”

“Structure?”

“That kid has so much magical power. So, when he transforms, he might not adapt well to the typical forms.”

“!”

Carnella gave him a look of admiration at the plausible story.

Other wizards might say, ‘What on earth are you talking about?’ but from the start, her junior’s amount of magical power wasn’t exactly ordinary, was it?

She had to think with standards that matched that.

Generally, when casting transformation magic, the wizard tries to match the standards of the transformation target…

…sometimes the transformation target has to match the wizard’s standards.

In that respect, constantly transforming into a dragon was understandable enough.

It’s easy to lose control over magical power during the transformation process, and at this time, one instinctively chooses the form that is most familiar and easiest to withstand the magical power.

In the case of her junior, that was probably the dragon.

“You said you could transform parts of your body into things like basilisks? Once you get used to dragon transformation to some extent, you can practice other transformations then.”

“Why didn’t you say that from the beginning! It sounds much more plausible than jealousy!”

“I think the dragons’ jealousy sounds more plausible?” Jarun looked at his junior as if she was talking nonsense. Carnella quickly changed her words.

“Actually, I also thought the dragons’ jealousy sounded more plausible. Those dragons, really.”

“So, what’s the reason?” Leehan asked in a tired voice.

He was frustrated because they were just whispering and not telling him.

“It’s highly likely due to the dragons’ jealousy.”

“Huh?”

“Shocking, but senior is right, junior. You have to accept it.” Carnella nodded in agreement and quickly mouthed, ‘The dragon form might be more comfortable because of the amount of magical power.’

Leehan started to say something but stopped. He was quite tired due to the continuous transformation attempts.

‘I should just ask other people next time, really…’ He had no idea what the two of them were doing.

Fortunately, Leehan succeeded in maintaining the form before he collapsed from exhaustion.

“About 30 minutes? It’s best not to push it beyond that. Actually, it’s better to do even less than that when you first learn it,” Jarun gave advice to his junior, who had transformed into a dragon.

It was best not to overdo it when you didn’t have much experience with transformation magic yet. You had to gradually increase the time.

“I don’t recommend transforming into other animals until you get used to it to some extent.”

-Even basilisks?

The baby basilisk cried out pitifully, but the wizards didn’t hear it. Leehan heard it, but he was too tired to do more than nod.

“Hmm. Still, it’s a truly beautiful creature,” Jarun muttered in a low voice. Carnella was surprised by the words and asked.

“Wait, senior. Weren’t you supposed to have a grudge against dragons?”

“Having a grudge is separate from the truth. Dragons are powerful and beautiful creatures.”

“That’s right! Look at those beautiful wings and scales. If you go to the Quidditch tournament, you’ll be able to trample all the creatures.”

Although she couldn’t send Jaurin, there might still be a possibility with her junior.

Carnella’s eyes burned with ambition.

Jarun, who didn’t realize the ambition his crazy junior had, continued to mutter.

“Look at those jet-black scales. No jewel could ever create that color.”

…Wait, why a black dragon?

Leehan, who was resting while maintaining his form because he was exhausted, suddenly became curious and asked.

It was a little funny that he was asking as the transformed version of himself, but he hadn’t been thinking about the color of the dragon when he transformed.

But the transformed dragon was clearly a jet-black dragon.

Why?

“Didn’t you used to be close with a black dragon among the dragons?”

“No? The dragon junior is close to is definitely a gold dragon,” Carnella said, puzzled.

Jaurin, who followed junior around so much, was definitely a gold dragon.

“How do you know that, Hormash? There might be another dragon he’s closer to.”

“Is that so? That could… that could be.” Carnella nodded at Jarun’s nagging.

Come to think of it, friendship was originally hard to know from the outside.

Maybe he’s closer to the black dragon who came as an inspector this time than Jaurin…

‘Come to think of it, he also played the role of my right-hand man?’

Absolutely not!

Leehan was horrified and shouted, forgetting his fatigue.

No matter how tired he was, this was a conversation he couldn’t just let pass. He couldn’t even imagine what kind of reaction Jaurin would show if he heard it.

‘Maybe he won’t attack Uman? …Still, he’s his younger brother…’

“It’s originally hard for people to know their own hearts. People tend to feel more favorable towards dragons who help them than dragons who bother them.”

Leehan blew air out of his nose, sending Jarun flying backward. The dwarf senior rolled down the underground slope.

“Hey!”

Stop spreading false rumors.

“It was just one opinion! You hasty brat…” Jarun grumbled and climbed back up.

If it wasn’t because of friendship, there were other reasons.

“Have you been handling a lot of dark elements recently, or hanging out with big shots related to black magic? If so, you might have been unconsciously influenced by that.”

Yes!

Leehan answered with a delighted expression.

He had met black magicians with high reputations in the Empire, and the witch they worshipped.

Leehan sighed in relief at the understandable explanation.

However, Jarun was unimpressed.

“Aren’t you mistaken? It’s not easy to influence a transformation unless they’re a pretty great existence.”

I met some of the most renowned black magicians in the Empire and a big shot from another dimension that those black magicians worship. Is that enough?

‘He’s lying.’

‘Isn’t he too bad at lying?’

The two seniors frowned at the blatant fabrication.

Even so, how could he come up with such a story and expect them to believe it…

But the two seniors nodded with smiling faces. It was their junior’s words, and more than anything, their junior was still transformed into a dragon.

It was a rule of transformation wizards not to provoke their companions when transformed into a powerful animal.

Especially if that junior had just transformed into a dragon for the first time.

“Indeed. If that’s the case, it’s understandable why you transformed into a black dragon.”

“I really understand, junior?”

…Okay. More than that, can’t I change the color?

“The color? Is there a reason to be obsessed with the color?”

Color didn’t have much meaning to the dragon race.

Some enthusiasts claimed that the color of a dragon’s scales revealed the difference in their inner nature and authority, but it was closer to the dragon’s own taste and choice.

Wouldn’t it be better to practice something else during the time you spend practicing that?

It’s very necessary. I especially need to be able to transform into a golden color.

“O-okay. I understand.”

The two seniors flinched as Leehan stared at them seriously. When he transformed into a dragon and emitted magical power, the energy was truly overwhelming.

“If it’s golden… spend more time with gold dragons…”

Is there anything else besides that?

Leehan was disgusted.

The only gold dragon he could spend more time with right now was Jaurin, but Jaurin had a very sharp intuition in strange areas.

If he found out that he could transform into a dragon, things would become very troublesome.

‘And if it’s a black dragon, who knows what will happen.’

-Hmph. You should be grateful just to be able to transform into a dragon.

The baby basilisk grumbled.

No matter how much of a friend he was, he couldn’t help but feel jealous.

“…Are you really friends?”

“Shh. Their relationship might have gotten a little worse. Senior, let’s not pry too much.”

The two seniors looked suspiciously at Leehan, who was avoiding contact with Jaurin.

He transformed into a black dragon, and come to think of it, are they not that close?

“Um. Another method is… to play with gold a bit and get used to its properties…”

“Oh! Senior can lend me some gold!”

“Are you crazy?” Jarun immediately became serious.

Jarun wouldn’t give out gold even if his parents came looking for it.

But to his junior?

“I’m just saying lend it to me. Who said give it to me.”

“That’s the same thing!”

“I heard junior stole Professor’s artifact too.”

“…That’s…!”

Strictly speaking, I have never officially acknowledged that fact.

“O-okay.” Carnella was slightly embarrassed by her junior’s meticulous answer.

Plop!

Leehan, who had returned to his human form, brushed the dust off his hands and legs.

The dragon’s power was definitely strong, but it seemed like he still had a long way to go to properly control and use that power.

-Hing. When do you think I’ll be able to transform into a basilisk?

“…I’ll try my best. Sorry I don’t have the talent.”

“……”

“……”

Jarun and Carnella looked at their junior with shock and disgust.

He transformed into a dragon in a day, and is that what he’s saying now?

‘What kind of unlucky bastard is that?’

Jarun realized why he hadn’t called his juniors in the first place.

Juniors were just troublesome burdens that only caused pain.

“I’ll find and handle the gold myself.”

“Come on. How much could you have even collected, junior? Just ask senior.”

At Carnella’s words, Jarun muttered in old dwarvish.

“■■■■ ■■.”

‘I don’t know what it means, but it’s definitely a curse.’

In any case, Leehan shook his head.

Unlike before, Leehan had quite a bit of gold saved up now. It was all thanks to working hard without rest.

“I have some saved up too.”

“How much?” Carnella became curious and approached her junior, asking him to tell her in a whisper.

“So… this much…”

“What… that much…?!”

Carnella, after hearing the story, widened her eyes and looked at her junior once, then looked at Jarun once.

And finally, she gave Jarun a look of pity and sympathy.

‘He suffered so much underground, but only…’

“What’s with that look?!”