Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1025

After Alsicle listened to Ethan explain, he understood why Ethan was angry.

Imagine someone just telling you to do magic to find a specific place in space and time. Wouldn’t you be angry?

If someone said that to Alsicle, he would have been very annoyed.

“M-my apologies.”

“I was going to ask Professor Garcia, but I thought he might be busy. So, I thought asking the Headmaster would be a better idea, right?”

The friends from Black Turtle Tower and Phoenix Tower looked confused. They frowned and tilted their heads, unsure what Ethan meant.

Siana whispered to Tizling.

“Do people usually ask the Headmaster even if they don’t know something?”

“Shhh, Siana. I can hear you, even when you whisper…”

Alsicle spoke clearly to Ethan, who was younger than him. ‘It’s definitely better to ask Professor Kim. I’ll send him a message.’

“Why is that? Ah. Now that I think about it, the Headmaster is also busy…”

“No. I just don’t want Headmaster Greystone to come here.”

Ethan was surprised by this strange reason, but Alsicle looked very serious.

Alsicle quickly wrote a letter. Wizards could send messages over long distances using paper birds. They had special magical items that helped these birds find their way to the right person. These items used magic to guide the birds.

Because Alsicle had sent paper birds to Professor Garcia before, he knew how to send this one quickly. The paper bird fluttered out of the window, carrying his message.

“Let’s wait 3 days… no, 4 days! Wodanaz, you can go to the market in the meantime!”

“Eh. There’s nothing to buy right now, so it feels like a waste of time.”

*(Alsicle just told the priests to go sightseeing in the capital market!)* Salco thought to himself, surprised. *He’s like a crazy person obsessed with magic!*

“Okay, I understand. While waiting, I’ll check the remaining parts of the mansion…”

*Whoosh!* Everyone jumped in surprise as the paper bird suddenly flew back into the mansion, just moments after Alsicle sent it.

What is it?

“Is it another paper bird?”

“No… it’s definitely from Professor Kim? What is it? Is he in the capital?”

Alsicle, looking surprised, opened the letter. It read: ‘To Alsicle of the Pengarin family!! I heard from the Headmaster!!! You went with Ethan to track an monster from another dimension! If the other professors find out, they will be furious…’

*Fwoosh!* Alsicle quickly used magic to burn the first page of the letter, trying to hide it. “Why are you burning it?” the students asked, looking confused.

“Why are you burning it?”

“Professor Kim, Professor Kim told me to burn the first page.”

Alsicle looked away from them and quickly read the rest of the letter. *Good,* he thought, *Professor Garcia was only angry at first.* The rest of the letter was normal.

“…I am in the capital city right now, dealing with some school business. If Ethan needs help, tell him to come meet me at the Rock Spirit’s Apple Jam Cafe…”

“The professor says to come to the Rock Spirit’s Apple Jam Cafe?”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“…But is Ethan’s problem really impossible to solve? Tell him to try one more time before he comes, just in case.”

‘I should pretend I didn’t see this.’

Alsicle burned the last postscript as well.

If Ethan saw it, he might be jumping with anger.

“Then I’ll be on my way. Alsicle.”

“Okay. Take care!”

After seeing Ethan off, Alsicle felt strongly that he was missing something.

What could it be?

‘What is it? Why do I feel strange…’

Alsicle started to look around the mansion, trying to figure out what was bothering him. The wizard ghost in the basement was still quiet, just as Ethan had asked. The Einrogard students were working hard, and the mansion was almost back to normal.

“Alsicle!” someone called out. “You have a guest!”

“Is it Erindalvel?” Alsicle wondered aloud. “Oh dear, he should have checked the mansion more carefully before letting me have it. It might be okay for Wodanaz, but it’s still too much…”

“No,” the voice replied. “It’s Professor Begrek.”

Alsicle froze. “…!!!!!!” Suddenly, he understood what he had forgotten. From the very start, he had wanted to keep Ethan close because of Voladi Begrek!

* * *

“Wow,” one wizard said, “this stone soup is really delicious!”

“Indeed,” another agreed. The wizards from Petrograd Magic School were very impressed with the soup. This simple stone soup, made by a rock spirit, had a surprisingly deep and rich flavor.

*Creak.* A rock spirit walked by, looking a little shy. One of the wizards whistled to show he liked the soup.

“Professor Kim is here!” someone announced.

“Hello everyone!” Professor Garcia walked into the cafe, a little late. He smiled and greeted the wizards from the other magic schools.

Professor Garcia had invited these wizards because he needed their help with something. So, he was being extra friendly and welcoming.

“You look thinner than the last time I saw you,” said a wizard. He had a mustache, wore a hat and a fancy silk vest, and looked like a gentleman from a royal court.

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

“If Professor Kim gets sick, who will we talk to in Einrogard?” another wizard added. This wizard was dressed very differently from the first one. While the first wizard looked very formal, this one wore very casual clothes.

Actually, ‘casual’ was too kind a word. If you were being honest, his clothes looked more like what a student from Einrogard might wear – or even a beggar! He had a cloak made of old, patched-up pieces of cloth.

“What… it’s not that bad at all. How many good professors are there in Einrogard?”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Who?”

“……”

Professor Garcia subtly changed the subject.

“So, you two. Have you considered the exchange or tournament proposal?”

Magic schools in the Empire didn’t often exchange students or have tournaments.

It wasn’t always bad for them, but each school had its own reasons for not participating.

In Einroguard’s case, the reason was that most of the professors simply weren’t interested.

And Petroguard… well, they were often too busy traveling to settle down for exchanges.

“The proposal is an honour, Professor Kim. But I don’t think our wizards would agree.”

“I think so too.”

The two wizards replied apologetically.

Both held Professor Garcia, an exceptional wizard, in high regard, but they couldn’t arbitrarily decide on matters between schools.

“Maybe you could send Professor Verdus to our school? If you did, we would be very grateful and do anything for you. We could even make and send you double the magic items you requested last time.”

“Th-that’s a bit…”

Professor Garcia clenched his fist tightly, trying not to waver. He was trying to stay calm.

One of the greatest temptations outside Einroguard was the offer from the suspiciously wealthy people of the Empire to purchase Verdus.

-Bring only Professor Verdus’s head, and I shall bestow upon you enough gold to fill an entire castle!

And the magic school Petroguard was no exception.

The Petroguard wizards were still angry about all the times Professor Verdus had tricked them before.

“But this is a really good opportunity, everyone. You know how important it is to increase exchanges between magic schools and to show the entire Empire what role wizards play.”

Professor Garcia wanted to revive the exchanges between the various magic schools that had dwindled for some time.

Officially, it was to show the people of the Empire (especially the officials) the value of magic schools, and privately…

“His Majesty has also promised substantial support.”

“Hmm.”

“We did receive that.”

Unlike the officials who gnashed their teeth at the sight of magic schools, the Emperor highly valued wizards and magic schools.

As such, he consistently supported the magic schools and tried to ensure they were well-placed in the Empire.

The problem was that the magic schools were terribly uncooperative.

Professor Garcia’s visit to Einroguard showed how difficult it was to get schools to cooperate.

‘Gonnadaltes probably ignored His Majesty’s words…’

Petroguard, not lacking anything, had ignored the letters suggesting exchanges or friendly tournaments, so it was obvious what the situation was with Einroguard’s more unruly Headmaster.

“It can’t be helped. Sigh. If it’s hard to persuade Petroguard, it will be even harder with other magic schools…”

“What! You don’t mean those Valdrogard blokes rejected it!?”

The wizard, having rejected it himself, was furious that Valdrogard had rejected Einroguard’s proposal.

Professor Garcia answered in surprise.

“Ah, no. The Valdrogard people always say yes.”

“That’s a relief. Of course, they should!”

At the vehement reaction, Professor Garcia thought to himself.

Even so, wasn’t that a bit harsh on Valdrogard?

“Anyway, I understand. Thank you both for coming all the way here today…”

“Ah, no. Professor Kim. Surely we wouldn’t have called you all the way here just to reject you? We have a proposal too.”

Professor Garcia suddenly looked wary.

“You can’t have Professor Verdus.”

“…That’s not it!”

“Do you really think we would deceive Professor Kim and steal Professor Verdus?”

The two Petroguard wizards strongly protested. But Professor Garcia remained suspicious.

Until now, those who wanted Professor Verdus’s head had employed all sorts of cunning schemes.

“Actually, we have a High Wizard visiting Petroguard right now.”

“Oh! Who is it?”

Professor Garcia was pleased.

Most of the High Wizards known in the Empire had obscure whereabouts.

Lord Gonnadaltes and Lord Erindalvel were exceptions, and High Wizards usually moved mysteriously throughout the Empire, as well as beyond and across dimensions, because of the secrets they pursued.

But for such a High Wizard to be in Petroguard. Professor Garcia couldn’t help but be interested.

“Well… their magic skills are definitely like a High Wizard’s… but they are a bit suspicious.”

“…Are they a magical criminal?”

Professor Garcia tensed.

There were magical criminals among the High Wizards.

If that were the case, he had to approach carefully so that the Petroguard wizards wouldn’t get hurt.

“That’s not it! Well… since we don’t know their identity, they might be a magical criminal…? Well… to be honest, we suspect they might be an old disciple of Lord Gonnadaltes.”

“What!?”

Petroguard was a wandering magic school that moved throughout the Empire instead of having a separate, fixed school estate.

One day, a wizard came to such Petroguard. With extraordinary skill and an eye for beauty, the wizard quickly captivated the Petroguard wizards.

-Amazing! This magic I’ve never seen before…

-It’s nothing.

-Lord Gonnadaltes seemed to use this kind of magic, are you perhaps related?

-…Don’t you dare say that in front of me!

Crash!

-???!

A High Wizard with suspiciously outstanding magical skills, proficient in ancient magic hard to find in the Empire, and extremely furious when Gonnadaltes’s name was mentioned.

This was either a magical criminal in a lucky case, or an old disciple of the Skull Headmaster in the worst case.

“No matter how much we looked, there was no one among the magical criminals who fit the description. So we tried to subtly send them away…”

“They refused?”

“Yes. They said they would stay until they wanted to leave.”

Thanks to that, the Petroguard wizards were divided into two factions.

The ‘Are you crazy to keep someone presumed to be an old disciple of the Skull Headmaster in the school?’ faction and the ‘It’s not certain yet and they might be a magical criminal, so isn’t it okay to keep them in the school a bit longer?’ faction.

These two were naturally the former.

“At first, we thought of calling Lord Gonnadaltes, but it seemed like it would backfire.”

“…That’s true…”

Professor Garcia immediately understood.

If it was an old disciple of the Skull Headmaster, that is, Professor Garcia’s senior, they would likely fly into a rage just at the sight of the Headmaster.

“But aren’t the Lord’s disciples fond of each other? Please, Professor Kim, persuade them! Then we will do our best to carry out your proposal!”

“Well… if they’re a senior, they might pity their junior… but I’ve already become a professor at Einroguard, so they’ll probably treat me like a lackey of the Headmaster…”

Professor Garcia trailed off, then noticed a boy from the Wodanaz family walking towards them in the distance.

If it really was his senior, it was the youngest disciple of the Skull Headmaster’s school who they would most purely feel sorry for.