Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1015

“He’s dangerous and clever,” Lee Han’s voice echoed in the damp tunnels. “Everyone, be careful!”

Even before he spoke, the exploration team was tense. They were deep underground, in the dark waterways outside the capital city. The air smelled of wet stone and something ancient. They were hunting a monster from another world, and anyone they met down here was sure to be trouble.

“I will take the lead, so support me.”

“Yes.”

A knight in the team poured magic into his sword. The aura gleamed above the blade.

The other team members took out their crossbows, ready to keep the enemy in check.

Faced with that fierce momentum, the evil elf chose a response no one expected.

He immediately raised both arms and knelt down.

“I surrender. I cannot win, having encountered a monster.”

The team members were taken aback, but they didn’t stop. They quickly used magic to freeze him still, then tied him up.

“Alsicle, please interrogate him.”

“Alright. I understand. Frost, forbid intrusion.”

Alsicle cast a mental protection spell on the paralyzed elf.

Evil god-worshippers can be dangerous even when captured. Their madness can spread like a disease.

“You must be an evil god-worshipper. Which god do you worship?”

The muscles near his vocal cords were loosened so he could speak, but the elf said nothing.

Alsicle frowned.

Some evil god-worshippers are crazy and shout nonsense to confuse you. Others are silent and stubborn, lost in their own dark thoughts.

It seemed this elf was the latter. He was much more difficult to interrogate.

“He doesn’t seem like he’ll answer?”

“Right. It seems impossible to interrogate him here. I think we should take him out first.”

“Retreat?”

“Since things have gone wrong, I think we should go back.”

The team member looked at Alsicle with dissatisfied eyes.

They had spent so much time and money chasing a monster from another dimension, but now they were retreating because of one intruder.

The team member who looked at Alsicle was startled. Tears welled up in his friend’s eyes.

Tears of disappointment.

‘…I was foolish. Alsicle must be just as disappointed as I am!’

While the team member and Alsicle were sharing emotions, Lee Han was dumbfounded.

“Ah, no. Are you crying to that extent?”

“I didn’t cry! It’s just… dust from these tunnels!” Alsicle retorted, annoyed.

He was frustrated and disappointed that he couldn’t even see the monster’s tail, but there was nothing he could do.

Lee Han was surprised. ‘Is he really crying over a monster? It might not even be important.’

Lee Han felt a strange pang of sympathy and wanted to help in any way he could, so he spoke to the evil elf.

“If you have any companions with you, please tell us about them. Maybe we can be… *less* rough with you. And if you cooperate, maybe the prison guards will be a little nicer.”

“Alright. The companions who came with me are as follows: The magical criminal Kitarenanum. He is contracted with a powerful demon. That’s why he’s chasing the monster. The separatist Bashirmac. He…”

“??!?”

“????!!!”

The team members were shocked when the names of two wanted criminals suddenly popped out.

“Kitarenanum is here!?”

“Bashirmac, that guy, I thought he had escaped across the sea…!”

“Wait. Why is he suddenly talking?”

Alsicle was the first to sense something was wrong.

Why was a guy who seemed like he would keep his mouth shut until the end of the world suddenly opening his mouth and spilling everything?

“In my opinion…” Lee Han said with a serious expression. Alsicle listened intently, focusing on his words.

It was the boy in front of him who had made this evil elf open his mouth. He must have something in mind.

“…Could it be that he opened his mouth because of the infamous Einrogard prison…”

“…Would an evil god-worshipper care about that!!!” Alsicle shouted with a voice full of dismay.

A normal criminal would fear the Einrogard prison, but evil god-worshippers were different. Weren’t they completely insane?

“Hey! Why are you suddenly talking now? What’s going on?”

The elf closed his mouth again at Alsicle’s question. Then Lee Han asked.

“Answer properly if you want to receive provisions.”

“Alright. The reason I opened my mouth is to avoid provoking the monster.”

“???”

Lee Han was thrown into confusion.

He couldn’t understand the content of the answer, nor the reason for answering.

“Could it be that he answered because I used polite words?”

“You, how did you know that…! No. That can’t be it.”

Alsicle wanted to question Lee Han’s observational skills, but there were too many urgent matters right now.

“Let’s ask about other things first. What monster are you talking about?”

“It’s obviously a monster from another dimension. Why are you asking such useless questions…”

Lee Han was about to scold Alsicle but stopped.

The elf was pointing at him with his chin.

“…No! Is this cunning fellow trying to trick us?!”

“Calm down, calm down! Wizard!” The team members hurriedly stopped Lee Han.

‘Something’s strange.’

Alsicle was lost in thought.

Evil god-worshippers were not good at devising elaborate schemes. Because their way of thinking was tainted by madness, there was always a flaw or a bizarre aspect that was revealed.

There was no way such an evil elf would attempt such a low-level attempt to make us fight.

Then he really did see Lee Han as a monster…

“Are you from the Prahgal Order?” Alsicle asked. The Prahgal Order were known for their hatred of monsters.

Of course, no answer came back. Alsicle sighed deeply and said.

“Lee Han, ask him for me…”

“Are you from the Prahgal Order?”

“No. I serve the Great Prophet.”

“The Great Prophet, then…”

“It’s the Ksaksarigol Order.” The exploration team members frowned.

The Ksaksarigol Order was known for its dangerous obsession with the future.

Those who worshipped this evil god were those who would do anything for perfect foresight.

They wanted to know the future, not to make good choices, but just to know it. They would do anything for foresight.

It was understandable that the team members were disgusted. There were no evil god-worshippers they wanted to befriend, but the Ksaksarigol Order’s principles of action were particularly bizarre.

They were the kind of guys who would set fire to a perfectly fine city and insist that ‘those people were supposed to die anyway’…

“Whether it’s the Great Prophet or not, why am I a monster?”

‘Could it be because I licked the acidic liquid to check its toxicity?’ One of the team members thought to himself.

However, the reason the elf revealed was completely unexpected.

“You are a monster that devours foresight.”

“…Is this guy still trying to trick us!”

“Calm down, calm down! Lee Han! Calm down and ask!”

“…What do you mean by a monster that devours foresight?”

The evil elf explained calmly.

When foreseeing the world, there are opponents who are easy to predict and opponents who are difficult to predict.

And among them, there were bizarre singularities that would twist all foresight once they erupted.

The worshippers feared that as a monster that devoured foresight.

“If I rashly provoke you, up to half a year’s worth of foresight will be completely tangled. I will answer all the questions you want, so don’t go berserk.”

The reason the elf surrendered was simple.

If Lee Han fought him and was provoked, and Lee Han went berserk, all foresight would be tangled!

The reason the elf confessed everything about his companions was the same.

If they moved without information and Lee Han was provoked, and Lee Han went berserk, all foresight would be tangled!

“Isn’t this an attempt to trick us??” Lee Han said, furious, as if he was about to throw him into the acidic liquid pool right away, but Alsicle calmed him down.

“There’s a point.”

“What point are you talking about! Are you taking his side too, Alsicle!”

“Ah, no. That’s not what I meant. It’s an actual concept! And you have so many contracted beings.”

Even a weak animal will fight back when trapped. Who knew what would happen if the wizard from the Wodanaz family in front of him was cornered.

Alsicle had already identified so many powerful beings from other worlds…

“There’s the Spirit King and Gonadaltes.”

“Skeleton? He’s not that strong.”

“…Headmaster. You crazy bastard.”

Alsicle shuddered at Lee Han’s destructive naming sense.

“Ah. Headmaster is not a contract, but…”

“A master-disciple relationship is also a contract. Anyway, what I want to say is, it’s not completely nonsense.”

Lee Han looked at the elf with suspicious eyes.

He was somewhat persuaded, but he didn’t completely believe it.

“If you were so afraid of provoking me, why did you come here?”

“You were more likely not to come here in the first place.”

“Ha! Look at this guy making excuses!”

“Lee Han. Calm down and get some information…!”

“Alright.”

Lee Han eventually gave up on harassing or interrogating the opponent and changed direction to obtaining information.

A magical criminal, a separatist, even a doomsday believer.

It was a tremendous gathering, so much so that the vicious mercenaries who came with them felt like crumbs.

“Is the monster that valuable?”

“He is a monster from the empty space beyond dimensions. If you can control him, his value is higher than any monster in the Empire.”

Everyone, including Lee Han, was surprised.

When a wizard studies the study of dimensions, they learn how to distinguish between safe and dangerous dimensions.

However, there was also a void that existed outside of such dimensional distinctions. This void was the dangerous space outside of all worlds where exploration itself was impossible.

A monster that came from such a void was on a different level from monsters that could be found in general dimensions.

“Shouldn’t we… destroy it instead of capturing it?”

“The monster seems stronger than we expected. We need to report this immediately.”

“They have been defeated.”

The elf suddenly opened his mouth. Lee Han shouted as if he knew it would happen.

“You mean the group here will lose. Alsicle. Did you see? This guy is deceiving people with lies and trying to trick us again.”

“Not you. The other intruders in the underground have been defeated.”

The exploration team was shocked by the news that the big-name criminals they had mentioned earlier had already been defeated.

What????

“The monster is hurrying to move upwards. You must not go berserk.”

“Ha. Didn’t you foresee that your companions would be defeated?”

“That is within the things he expected might happen. It doesn’t matter as long as this monster doesn’t go berserk.”

The elf spoke of Lee Han going berserk as a more terrible disaster than the monster from the dimensional void sweeping through and rampaging through this underground.

Lee Han nodded.

“I think I’ve asked everything. Can I make him shut up again?”

“Please wait a little longer, Lee Han.”

The exploration team stared at each other, stunned. Defeated already?

“We need to move,” Alsicle said quickly. “Now.”