Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1002

“Did I do okay as a senior?” Lee Han felt proud. He remembered how the older students at Einroguard had helped him. Now, helping the younger students felt even better than he thought it would.

He closed his eyes, trying to remember the seniors who had helped him. Senior Dirette, with his messy hair always falling in his eyes, and… “Hmm, there were others, right?” He’d been so busy recently, it was hard to remember everyone’s names. He decided to just think of it that way.

“Okay, let’s start your exam,” Professor Voladi said.

“Here it is.” He put a white paper on the desk and pushed an ink bottle and a quill towards Lee Han.

Lee Han frowned, confused.

*’Is he serious? Fight with ink and a feather?’*

It seemed like a strange weapon, but maybe it could work. Lee Han quickly thought. *’I could make the ink burst out and create a small Water Orb. If I could turn water into mist, I could block their sight. Is the quill for changing things? Even if I change it, it’s too small and light to be a good weapon. Using magic to throw it like a needle… that would be only good for far away attacks.’*

While Lee Han was planning his ink and quill attack, Professor Voladi said calmly, “Sign here.”

“What?”

Lee Han looked closely at the paper, checking for hidden words like, ‘I agree not to complain to Einroguard if I get badly hurt in this fight.’ But he felt no magic on the paper.

“What signature are you talking about?”

“The signature that says you finished your final exam.”

“…Professor, you too?!”

Lee Han finally understood and was shocked. He jumped back in surprise.

He understood Professor Garcia and Senior Dirette. They were such kind-hearted people, they would pass him easily. But even Professor Voladi was trying to just pass him!

“Is it really okay to just pass me like this?”

“Even if you ask, there is no exam,” Professor Voladi said firmly, raising an eyebrow slightly. Even if he was being very hopeful, the student still needed more rest. Professor Voladi might want a harder fight for himself, but as a teacher, he knew Lee Han needed rest.

“…That’s not what I meant… Oh well, never mind. Thank you.” Lee Han gave up trying to argue. He knew Professor Voladi would just think he was pretending to be shy. Actually, he was grateful for the professor’s kindness in passing him.

*’Maybe Professor Voladi has a hidden kind side,’* Lee Han thought.

“By the way, Professor, we need to persuade the creditors with the Headmaster. Do you have any advice?”

Professor Voladi became thoughtful. “Hmm,” he said, and then thought even more deeply. Lee Han started to regret asking.

“…It’s okay if you don’t have any advice. It wasn’t a serious question.”

“Wait,” Professor Voladi said, making the impatient student wait. He thought one last time. After a long pause (Lee Han got bored and took out his baby basilisk to play with), the professor finally spoke.

“Kidnapping important people in the Empire is not easy. But it’s not impossible.”

*’I asked about persuasion!’* Lee Han now understood perfectly why the Skeleton Headmaster didn’t bring Professor Voladi to meet the creditors.

Yucbeltire finally went to see his annoying friend who had ignored his paper bird message.

“???”

He shoved a thick stack of paper at a confused Dirette. It was a petition, full of all the complaints Yucbeltire had lately.

Dirette, used to his friend’s strange ways, stayed calm. He read the petition and frowned.

“Wait a minute. ‘Small World’ magic? You never asked me about it.”

“…Did I?” Yucbeltire paused, thinking.

The petition said, ‘Dirette hid the younger student’s Small World magic from Yucbeltire.’ But really, Yucbeltire had never asked.

Still, like a true student of Professor Verdus, Yucbeltire said, without shame, “Even if I didn’t ask, you should have told me!”

“No, I did call you!”

“What?”

“I called you! When we were leaving the underground area. I called you because the younger student wanted to ask about Small World magic.”

-Yucbeltire, the junior wants to ask you about magic.

-You answer him. I’m busy.

-What’s so busy? Just answer him!

“…”

Yucbeltire thought back. He remembered ignoring them when they called, saying he wanted to secretly watch the Small World magic from behind.

Looking a bit embarrassed, Yucbeltire took back the petition and tore off the part about hiding the Small World magic.

Dirette smiled triumphantly. “I told you to be nice to the younger students!”

“Don’t jump to conclusions just because of this,” Yucbeltire said. “Anyway, more importantly, where is the junior from the Wodanaz family?”

When the junior told him, Yucbeltire was shocked that Dirette might be hiding the truth. But if he had seen the Small World magic himself, he would have known for sure. If Dirette wasn’t hiding anything and they had asked Yucbeltire for his expert opinion, he definitely would have noticed the magic. Yucbeltire was very knowledgeable about magic, especially Small World magic.

Dirette, reading the part of the petition that said, ‘Why shouldn’t Dirette be angry at Yucbeltire?’ looked up.

“Junior? He’s probably not at school right now.”

“…What do you mean? Vacation is still a week away.”

Starting tomorrow, Einroguard students had a tough final exam week, and then a long, boring summer vacation.

Yucbeltire looked at him suspiciously, wondering if Dirette was tricking him. “You’re not trying to trick me again, are you? Like last time?”

“…That was three years ago,” Dirette said, amazed.

It was when they were both second-year students. Yucbeltire was locked in his room, not eating or drinking, just researching magic. Professor Garcia was worried and asked Dirette for help. Dirette, not knowing what else to do, lied, “Yucbeltire, this week is the Marshmallow Candy Festival! You should join in!”

The kind older students made a fake festival with fake marshmallows and candies. It delayed Yucbeltire’s research for about a week. It was an awful trick that Yucbeltire would never have forgiven, if he wasn’t so generous.

“You ate those melted marshmallows so happily…” Dirette mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing. Anyway, the junior really did leave school. He finished all his exams and went to help the Headmaster.”

“…”

Yucbeltire’s face went pale when he realized his friend was telling the truth.

“Don’t worry too much. It’s not dangerous, just helping with persuasion… Oh. You’re not worried about the junior, you’re worried about your research.”

“Yeah.”

Dirette smirked. “Well, too bad. I can’t help you during vacation. You can complain to the Headmaster.”

“Right. Thanks for the advice.” The fifth-year student from the Blue Dragon Tower quickly made up his mind and turned to leave.

Dirette felt a sinking feeling watching him go. “…Wait, Yucbeltire! I don’t know what you’re planning, but calm down! It’s going to be a bad idea! Come back!”

It was exam week at Einroguard, a time when students were usually focused on magic. A carriage quietly left the school.

“…”

The Skeleton Headmaster, who looked like a human skeleton, was so focused on something else that he didn’t even look at Lee Han sitting across from him. Papers, pens, sealing wax, quills, and ink bottles floated around wildly, making a mess inside the carriage.

“Headmaster.”

“…”

“Headmaster!!”

“I’m listening, I’m listening,” the Skeleton Headmaster replied, sounding like he wasn’t listening at all. At the same time, he kept muttering from a letter.

“I understand your anger… Professor Verdus is not trying to avoid work, but he is very busy teaching his students… I will tell him off, so please understand… Please wait a little longer for the money you invested, and I promise I will…”

*’Wow. Is it okay to lie so boldly?’* Lee Han thought, surprised. There’s a limit to how much you can lie! Professor Verdus not finishing work because he’s busy teaching students? It was such an obvious lie.

After about 30 minutes, the Skeleton Headmaster finally seemed to notice Lee Han again. He looked at Lee Han and nodded slightly.

“Did you finish all your final exams?”

“Yes.”

“Personally, I wanted you to learn more 5-circle magic and build a strong base before you learned the common Small World magic. But you learned Basilios anyway, so well done.”

Magic like Small World Basilios was different from normal Small World magic. It was ancient magic, and the main difference was that it was a special kind of magic, passed down only to certain people who met specific conditions. It was very different from the Small World Pentagrammaton that Dirette learned. The Pentagrammaton was a Small World that any black magic user could learn if they captured five powerful demons. But Basilios could only be learned by a student of the ‘clone’ master.

The Skeleton Headmaster had hoped Lee Han would improve his general magic skills, like other fifth-year students, and then learn the standard Small World magic that was popular in the Empire, instead of taking this different path. That would be more reliable and useful in many situations. But it was too late now.

“You can learn the 5-circle magic in the second semester,” the Headmaster said.

“…” Lee Han was speechless, but he nodded. “I will try hard.”

“What’s wrong? I thought you’d complain.”

“I promised my teacher, so I have to do my best.”

“…Go sit with the driver.” The Skeleton Headmaster, looking annoyed, told Lee Han to go to the driver’s seat. The Death Knight driving the horses looked at his student as if he felt sorry for him.

-You’re having a tough time.

“You go outside just because I tell you to? Why aren’t you coming back in here?” Lee Han turned back at the voice from inside the carriage. The Skeleton Headmaster grumbled, “He acts like he’ll die if he has to do something I say…”

The Death Knights whispered outside. Then, the Skeleton Headmaster sent the knights to the punishment room.

“What did you say to make him punish you?” Lee Han asked when the Headmaster was alone again.

“He joked that he wouldn’t work hard unless he went to heaven,” the Headmaster said, annoyed.

Lee Han was impressed by the Death Knights’ nerve. They were really bold.

“Why? Do you want to joke too?” The Skeleton Headmaster glared at him, as if saying, ‘Try it if you dare.’

Lee Han quickly changed the subject. “Who are the people we owe money to that we need to convince?”

“…They are different kinds,” the Skeleton Headmaster sighed. He looked disgusted. “First, there are the officials. These officials used the Empire’s money to support us.”

“Oh.”

“The problem is, I threatened them a bit too much.”

“Oh…”

“Next, there are the noble families. They also helped us in many ways.”

“Ah, is it because some families whose children study at Einroguard helped?”

“No. I threatened them too.”

“…” Lee Han started to feel worried. *’Did he solve everything by threatening people?’*