Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1011

The Death Knight, sitting high on the coach, quickly looked at the wizards who had come to greet them.

‘Lava Clan Magic Tower, Snowflake Magic Tower, Water Vein Mountain Range Magic Tower… Why are those Paragranum Guild fellows here? Even the Obsidian Magic Tower…’

Just a quick look showed many magic towers were there.

It seemed Erindalbell had told the news she’d heard to many different magic towers.

The Skull Headmaster, realizing this, spoke with an annoyed voice.

“If Erindalbell heard about the Small World,” the Skull Headmaster grumbled, “she should have kept her mouth shut! Why tell *everyone* in the Empire?”

Thinking practically, the Skull Headmaster was right.

If the Skull Headmaster had heard about a wizard with amazing talent, he would have immediately stopped the rumors.

What good would it do to have more competition?

But this foolish Archmage had shared the news with many magic towers.

-As a responsible Archmage, Lady Erindalbell seems to have believed that the wizards of other magic towers should also know…

“So, you’re saying I’m an irresponsible Archmage?”

-……

“……”

The people with him, including his student, went quiet. The Skull Headmaster was just being grumpy.

The Skull Headmaster knew that getting annoyed wouldn’t help, so he sighed.

“Everyone is making things difficult…”

“What should we do now?”

The Skull Headmaster nodded, like he was waiting for the question.

“From now on, when you go out, disguise yourself and hide who you are. If you meet a wizard, check if they belong to a magic tower, workshop, or guild first. If they are from a big organization, don’t even sit with them.”

“…I meant something else, not that far-off future.”

“It’s not a far-off future at all. Since they came to see the sights, we should show them around.”

“The Small World I’ve learned is Basilios, and I can’t just show it to anyone.”

To use this crown from the doppelganger in another world, you need to be dedicated and care about others.

It was impossible to just show it to the wizards from the magic towers.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“?”

“Even if you only show them things other than the Small World, it’ll be more than enough.”

The knights nodded at the Skull Headmaster’s words.

Just talking about the magic he had learned or the list of contracts would be enough to make the wizards faint.

“……”

Lee Han felt a little awkward. The Skull Headmaster then read the last part of the letter he hadn’t noticed before.

…Yukbertire is planning to sue Your Excellency in the Imperial Court for having his research agreement stolen…

“Do you know what this is about?”

“I promised to help Senior Yukbertire with his research during the vacation.”

“Ah. I see.”

The Skull Headmaster snorted and burned the letter.

“…Uh, he said he’s going to sue in court. Is that okay?”

“Tell him to work hard. He’s still got a long way to go.”

The Skull Headmaster, acting like he was doing a good deed, wanted to teach the student a lesson.

If you want to do research with a wizard, you have to hold on tight.

If you’re too relaxed just because of a promise, you’ll get robbed like this.

“Tsk tsk. He doesn’t even realize it after seeing what his professor does.”

The Skull Headmaster felt sorry that he didn’t realize this obvious truth, even though he was Professor Verdus’s student.

Some wizards could never be controlled by Imperial law!

When dealing with such wizards, you have to grab them by force!

Lee Han felt a knot in his stomach. He couldn’t show them the Small World, the amazing magic he was learning. *What would they think?*

But the Skull Headmaster and the knights were right.

The wizards from the different magic towers were happy even without seeing the Small World.

“If it’s advanced lightning magic, then maybe… [Wodanaz’s Lightning Flower]?” Lee Han spoke the words softly, as if tasting the magic on his tongue.

“Hoo-eok!”

“Are you talking about Celestial Magic? I did make a contract with a star, but…”

“Hoo-uh-uh-uh-eok!”

“Excuse me…”

“Hoo-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-eok!”

“…I haven’t said anything yet.”

“Ah. Sorry.”

The wizards were embarrassed because they were trying to be surprised before anything even happened.

They were so used to being surprised that they reacted with amazement before they even knew it.

“What were you going to say?”

“Ah. It’s nothing much, but I was wondering how much more magic I have to use.”

“Oh dear! We haven’t been considerate of the young talent. Let’s stop here.”

The wizards said with apologetic smiles.

Of course, Lee Han didn’t say that because he was going to stop. It was just a question.

He hadn’t even mentioned the Skull Headmaster’s debt yet.

“I can do more, though.”

“No, no! There’s no need for that.”

“That’s right. Einroguard is hard on wizards, but we don’t treat them that way in our Snowflake Magic Tower.”

“Anyway, Einroguard is a terrible and evil place. Don’t you think?”

“?”

Lee Han sensed something strange in the wizards’ conversation.

What is it?

“Well… it’s hard, but it is a terrible and evil place… it is…”

“That’s right! You’ll become very twisted if you stay there for a long time. If I remember correctly, Professor Verdus was there too, wasn’t he?”

“That’s right! Professor Verdus was there. Haven’t you ever thought that if you stay there for a long time, you might become a wizard like Professor Verdus?”

“……”

Lee Han had a hunch.

So, right now…

Are they having this conversation to try to invite me to their magic tower?

‘No. Would the Imperial wizards really do something so obvious?’

“Are you trying to give me a bad impression of Einroguard right now?”

“Wh-what?”

“No? We were just talking about the obvious facts about Einroguard.”

“Did you know that statistically, wizards who graduated from Einroguard are more likely to become magic criminals?”

“Don’t act so shabby.”

The Skull Headmaster suddenly poked his face out and cut off the conversation.

The wizards jumped back, eyes wide. They looked like they’d just seen a real monster, a scary lich from the darkest dungeon!

“If you’re wizards, you should invite them fairly with magic. What kind of magic does the magic tower have, what kind of vision does it have…”

The wizards from the magic towers responded eagerly to the wise Archmage’s advice.

“Is that why you locked Professor Kim up in Einroguard?”

“Only wizards who are qualified to speak can talk about fairness.”

“Why don’t you release Professor Verdus?”

“…I didn’t lock up Professor Garcia! He chose it himself!”

The Skull Headmaster strongly denied the first point, even if he couldn’t deny the others.

That was a really mean lie.

“Ha. I’m sure.”

“Aren’t all the students at Einroguard happily doing magic on their own will?”

“I think they’re locking them up in the punishment room and threatening them.”

“……”

The Skull Headmaster knew he wouldn’t get anything back from the angry wizards if he said any more.

This was going to happen anyway since he had tricked them with Professor Garcia.

“…Still, you’ll grant my request for the sake of my disciple’s face, right?”

“Of course. We’ll erase the debt completely.”

“The artifact you asked for last time, would you like to take it now?”

“Haha. I don’t need it.”

The Skull Headmaster gently poked his disciple’s back.

It meant that he had gotten everything he wanted, so he should quietly leave now.

Lee Han, who was used to dealing with wizards with crazy looks in their eyes, nodded and silently backed away.

The wizards didn’t even notice that the disciple had disappeared while they were talking to the Skull Headmaster because of his perfect stealth.

-You’ve worked hard.

The knights, who had been watching nervously, also sighed in relief.

-We were worried that the wizards might go crazy and try to kidnap you.

“Even so, they’re all part of magic towers, would they really go that far?”

-Back in the days of Professor Kim, they actually attacked and burned down the master’s villa…

“…What did you say about how I should act from now on?”

Lee Han felt he needed to remember the advice he had ignored earlier.

When you go out, disguise yourself, hide who you are, and if you meet a wizard, check if they’re from a magic tower or…

-Still, don’t worry too much.

“Right? Wizards from the Empire’s official magic towers wouldn’t be so unreasonable…”

-Ah. That’s not what I meant. I meant that the heir is an excellent combat wizard, so he’ll be able to handle it even if the wizards try to kidnap him.

“…Wow… I’m really happy.”

The knights were all happy with the heir’s answer.

It seemed to be a little comforting.

While walking down the tower’s hallway with the knights, a wizard he had never seen before appeared in front of him.

He was a wizard with silver hair and blue eyes. Lee Han whispered to the Death Knights.

“Is that Lady Erindalbell?”

-That’s right. She looks like your friend, doesn’t she?

The knights thought that Lee Han had recognized the other person by their looks.

“Ah. She does. She definitely looks like her.”

-Yes? Then how did you recognize her?

“The magic structure of the staff she’s using is similar to Senior Yukbertire’s…”

-…It’s better not to say that in front of the magic tower wizards.

“?”

Lee Han was confused by the knights’ reaction.

Was there some mistake in his guess?

“Welcome, Wodanaz-nim. We welcome your visit.”

“Greetings, Erindalbell-nim.”

The two wizards greeted each other politely.

The Archmage’s welcome was a bit strict and stiff.

But Lee Han was relieved that the other person didn’t criticize Einroguard or talk about how good it was to come to their magic tower after graduating.

‘She might be a good person.’

His expectations had dropped a lot because of the wizards he had met recently.

“Thank you for the magic demonstration you showed us during today’s visit. It must have made a deep impression on the other wizards as well.”

“No. I’m just embarrassed because it’s not enough magic.”

-Not enough?

The Death Knights muttered as if they were shocked, but Lee Han told them to be quiet.

“More than that, I heard that Senior Yukbertire sent a letter, but I’m sorry. Because of the Headmaster…”

“Are you talking about Yukbertire’s research?”

“Yes.”

“About Yukbertire’s research,” Erindalbell said, her voice still polite but now firm. “Honestly, it’s not a very good study. Don’t waste your time. Focus on *your* own work, Wodanaz-nim.”

“…Senior Yukbertire’s mother is right!”

“?”

“Ah. I’m sorry. It’s nothing.”

Lee Han realized it was rude and quickly corrected himself.

“It didn’t seem like a very good study. If you can create an artificial dimension even locally…”

“When researching magic, you must think about both the chance of success and how useful it will be. In Einroguard terms, it would fail. Plus, it’s causing trouble for a friend.”

“Friend? Who…”

-The Black Magic School! I’m talking about the Black Magic School!

One of the knights whispered desperately. Only then did Lee Han understand.

“Ah! You mean Senior Diret! I was confused because I have so many other friends.”

“.?.?”

Erindalbell looked at the wizard from the Wodanaz family like he was strange.

Could there be two Yukbertires in Einroguard?