Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1017

A very smart student from Einroguard learns even from the worst enemies.

Ihan decided that from now on, when he met bad people, he would try to make them fight each other.

“I will try to deceive them.”

“Understood.”

‘Huh?’

Ihan was a little surprised that his teammates agreed so quickly.

He thought they might say it was too early or try to stop him.

“Are you sure it’s okay? If I mess up, everyone could be in danger…”

“How could that happen?”

“We trust you, Mage.”

The team answered right away, as if they didn’t understand the question. Alshicl, on Ihan’s back, sounded a bit annoyed.

“Wodanaz, after seeing what you’ve done, anyone who doesn’t trust you is not smart enough to be on this team.”

“…Be quiet.”

“Something’s not right.”

Kitarenanum looked around. The giant-blooded warrior sounded annoyed.

“Are more monsters coming?”

“No. Something different… Something bad is going to happen.”

“Use magic to see the future.”

Kitarenanum frowned at the warrior.

“I’m not that kind of mage. How many times do I have to say that a mage can’t do everything?”

Mages who are good at all types of magic are very rare. Mages have weaknesses, and Kitarenanum wasn’t good at magic to see the future.

Instead of trying a magic spell that might not work well, the mage decided to rest.

Whoosh!

The mage took out a small doll that looked like a person and set it on fire.

It was a simple human sacrifice, but it gave him mana and made his magic stronger.

‘I should make my magic even stronger, just in case.’

Kitarenanum made his arm stronger with more powerful magic.

This secret magic was Kitarenanum’s special skill. It let him turn magic into a body. It was good because he could use powerful magic quickly, but he needed to prepare it first.

To be ready for danger, Kitarenanum prepared another human sacrifice. If a fight started, he would use the sacrifices to make his magic even stronger.

“Enemy.”

“!”

The warrior’s words surprised Kitarenanum.

“How close are they?”

“About fifty steps above the small staircase. They feel different from the monsters.”

“Do you think they’ll attack?”

“I don’t know. They don’t seem angry, but those Imperial people are so stupid…”

-Requesting negotiations!

They looked at each other. Kitarenanum quickly tried to use the human sacrifice he had prepared.

But right then, something stopped him.

It was a magic used to stop other mages’ magic: Counter-magic!

Bzzzt!

“???!!!”

Kitarenanum’s eyes widened. His breath caught in his throat. He stared at the staircase, unable to believe what had just happened.

‘What is this?!?!?’

He couldn’t believe it.

Counter-magic was hard even when you were face to face.

Stopping someone’s magic before it’s even used is very hard. It means you need to understand their magic even better than they do.

But to do counter-magic from far away, just by sensing the magic, was unbelievable. Kitarenanum felt a chill run down his spine.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Is there… a very strong mage on the exploration team?”

“No.”

Kitarenanum thought hard.

There was no one he needed to worry about. Maybe a mage from the Pengaerin family or the Green Lapis Lazuli Magic Tower…

Could there be a mage who could play with his magic like this?

The magical criminal felt ashamed and scared, not angry.

It was like when he fought Antagondals, another magical criminal and strong mage, in the past.

-Get a grip, Mage.

-Shut up! Demon! You wouldn’t even understand how amazing this is.

It was like the other mage was playing with him.

Kitarenanum was shocked because he thought that only the strongest mages were better than him.

Of course, Kitarenanum didn’t know that his opponent had practiced stopping human sacrifice magic because he had fought other magical criminals before.

“…Oh, did I choose the wrong thing?” Ihan asked, looking worried.

“No,” Alshicl said quickly, shaking his head. “You did well. Really well.” He paused, then asked, “But seriously, how did you do that counter-magic from so far away?”

“The headmaster made me learn it.”

“That sounds right. This semester must have been really hard.”

“I learned it last year, though.”

“……”

Alshicl stopped talking. The enemy shouted first.

“What do you want! There’s a dimensional rift here, and monsters are everywhere. Are you trying to die? Huh?”

‘That must be the giant-blooded warrior,’ Alshicl thought.

“I am Alshicl of the Pengaerin family. Are there any other mages with you?”

“Alshicl of the Pengaerin family… I’ll remember that.”

Kitarenanum gritted his teeth.

He would get revenge for the frustration and shame he felt today.

“I admit it. I didn’t know you were such a good mage.”

“What? …No. My junior blocked your human sacrifice magic, not me.”

The giant-blooded warrior and the magical criminal looked at each other.

The warrior spoke right away.

“That’s a trick. He’s trying to trick you.”

-Don’t believe him.

“I know.”

Kitarenanum thought Alshicl was even better than he first thought. To try to trick him meant he was not an easy enemy.

During this tense moment, Bashirmac felt worried. He didn’t know when the monsters might attack.

“Hey! Aren’t you spellcasters supposed to be friends! Why don’t we work together instead of fighting? This mage is from the Imperial Magic Academy! He might even be older than you!”

“Nonsense…” Kitarenanum scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Cooperate with *Imperial lapdogs*? Don’t be ridiculous.”

Ihan looked shocked.

“Wo, Wodanaz. Calm down. We don’t know if he’s from Einroguard.”

Alshicl tried to calm Ihan, but it made things worse.

“You know it too, Alshicl. That’s why you said he wasn’t from Einroguard even though no one said the name Einroguard!”

“…Well, yes, but we don’t know for sure!”

Ihan sighed.

Ihan felt ashamed and sad because they were both from the magic academy. But he knew he couldn’t let his feelings stop him now.

‘Right. It doesn’t matter if he’s from Einroguard or not.’

He would meet many magical criminals from Einroguard, so he couldn’t let it bother him.

“Even if you’re from Einroguard, I won’t be easy on you!”

“Valdrogard.”

“What?”

“Not Einroguard, Valdrogard. I’m from Valdrogard. You brats.”

“……”

“……”

A strange, quiet silence fell between the three mages. Only Bashirmac, who didn’t know about the culture of spellcasters, wondered what was happening.

“What? What is it?”

“Shut up, you moron. This is why I didn’t want to say it.”

The most annoying thing about Imperial mages wasn’t when they were angry, hateful, or insulting.

It was that strange, quiet reaction when he said he was from Valdrogard.

And this reaction was even stronger with mages from Einroguard.

-What? You’re from Valdrogard? But how did you become a magical criminal?

-Krooh! You’re strong…! You’re from Valdrogard? How can you use magic like that?

Even when he was losing a fight and bleeding a lot, they would look really surprised and ask, ‘You’re from Valdrogard? How can you use magic like that?’ This hurt Kitarenanum’s pride a lot.

Of course, Kitarenanum wasn’t the only one with pride.

“Spellcaster. Do you want to die? In this distance, will your magic be faster, or will I punch you?”

While the two were arguing, Ihan and Alshicl were also talking.

“Are there criminals from Valdrogard too???”

“Of course, there are… Why are you asking?”

“Ah, no. Well, yes, but… I see. But… Right.”

‘He looks more shocked than when the evil god worshiper attacked the palace,’ Alshicl thought.

Ihan shook his head to clear his thoughts.

It was normal for there to be criminals from Valdrogard, and even more normal for there to be magical criminals.

…It was just too difficult to accept. Valdrogard was supposed to be the academy of honor, not criminals. This felt like a betrayal of everything he believed.

“Let’s think positively, Wodanaz. If he were from Einroguard, he would be much harder to deal with. Since he’s from Valdrogard, we can handle him.”

“That’s… a little comforting, and a little not.”

Thanks to Alshicl’s magic, the others couldn’t hear their conversation.

If Kitarenanum had heard it, he would have fought them to the death, even with the monsters.

“I agree to work together for now!”

The two who were arguing stopped when Ihan shouted.

“Really?”

“Yes. You know the monsters are strong.”

“That’s true…”

Kitarenanum was about to agree, but then he remembered something.

“Wait. Did you touch something? Did you steal something from the monsters…”

At first, he thought the monsters had changed their target because they had found better prey.

But it didn’t seem likely that they would change their target for that reason.

Kitarenanum and Bashirmac were good enough prey.

“What are you talking about?”

Alshicl was confused, so Kitarenanum explained what had happened.

‘I’ll test them.’

If the team had stolen a monster egg, he had to get it back.

“???”

“We didn’t take anything,” Ihan said.

Ihan and Alshicl were both confused.

“Hmm.”

Alshicl, being the smart mage he was, started to figure things out just from the clues.

Ihan looked at Alshicl, hoping he would know the answer.

“I have one idea.”

“What is it?”

“The time when they noticed something strange. It was when we met the monsters.”

“Are you saying someone in our group stole a monster egg!?”

“…How could that happen when we were together? And if that were the case, they would have attacked sooner.”

“Then what is it?”

Alshicl stared at Ihan.

Alshicl thought back to everything Kitarenanum said. The monsters changed direction suddenly… they weren’t after food… they were after *something specific*. And what was new when the monsters changed direction? *Ihan*.

If what the magical criminal said was true, then there was only one possibility now.

That the monster wanted Ihan.

Alshicl couldn’t know what a being from the Void was thinking, but Ihan had a lot of magical power, so it wasn’t too surprising.

“Me? They did rush at me more than usual, but I thought it was because I was annoying…”

Ihan didn’t believe that a monster he had never even seen wanted him.

Then, the baby basilisk, who had been listening very closely, spoke in a sure voice.

-Master.

“Huh?”

-I think that’s right too…!

“…Can you tell me why you think so?”