Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1028

“What? Really?? Where???”

Siana watched Gainando quickly look around and whispered with admiration, “Sir Gainando is very good at helping his friends.”

Siana was surprised Gainando would pretend to believe such an obvious lie.

Usually, people wouldn’t be so obvious, even if they wanted to help. Tizilling hesitated beside her, wondering whether to mention the cloud or not.

But Gainando spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“What are you talking about? Where’s the wyvern-shaped cloud?”

“…Ah! There’s a griffin-shaped rock over there!” Siana changed the subject again. Gainando, again, believed it and turned to look.

“Wow! Look over there!” The Prince pointed with surprise, startling Siana.

‘Huh? Was there really one?’ She had said it casually, but there happened to be a griffin-shaped rock outside?

However, Gainando wasn’t surprised by the griffin-shaped rock. He was surprised because there was a ‘corpse’ lying on the grassy slope of the hill.

“Isn’t that a corpse???”

The Petrograd mages smiled. People from other schools often misunderstood the free-spirited mages of Petrograd. This ‘corpse’ was a good example.

“It’s not a corpse? Corpses aren’t that color,” one mage said.

“That’s right. Prince, how can you not recognize a corpse when you’re in the black magic school,” another added.

“Ah, oops. Keep it a secret from Ihan.”

“…That’s not a corpse, it’s a student from Petrograd.”

“What? No, why are they lying on this hill at this hour instead of being in school?”

“Haha. Shall we hear it directly? Bunarzo!” Dalserre, the mage who acted as a professor but insisted he wasn’t one, called out to the student.

The student, lying like a corpse, opened his eyes, looking annoyed.

“What?”

“Come over here for a moment. These guests have something to ask you.”

“No.” Bunarzo closed his eyes again and lay down.

The Einrogard students, without thinking, gave a standing ovation.

“……”

“S-Sorry. My hands suddenly…” Professor Garcia, hearing the students’ excuses, covered his face, wishing the ground would swallow him whole.

Dalserre said, as if not surprised, “It can’t be helped. Let’s go to them.”

As the carriage approached, Bunarzo got up, looking annoyed.

“Bunarzo. It’ll only get more annoying if you don’t answer.”

“…Alright, I’ll do it, geez. Professor. What are you curious about?”

Benjamin, listening from the side, sternly lectured him, “Bunarzo! Watch your words!”

“…Alright, alright! I just won’t call you Professor! What are you curious about!”

Ihan, listening to the conversation, didn’t understand and asked Professor Garcia, “Uh, why are you angry now?”

“He called him Professor, student Ihan. That’s a title that goes against Petrograd’s freedom.”

“……”

Ihan thought that forcing them not to call him Professor was just as unfree, but he didn’t say anything. They were there to help the Petrograd students, not to cause trouble.

“What were you doing here?”

“I was making a piece.”

“????”

The Einrogard students whispered. Adenart asked, not understanding, “I don’t see any equipment, workbench, or materials…”

Creating magical items required a lot of time, effort, and equipment. Even the students of Einrogard Enchantment Magic School couldn’t avoid that. Even though older students at Einrogard didn’t like Professor Verdus, they still worked in his magic tower because it was necessary for learning.

But here was a student working without any of that. Perhaps the Petrograd students had a new way of working?

“Aren’t you sending your soul to another dimension to work?”

“Doing such crazy things… It’s not like he’s Wodanaz.”

“Hey.”

While the guests whispered, Bunarzo tapped the side of his head and said, “I was looking for the most important thing.”

“Materials? Reagents?”

“Necessary magic? Design?”

“No. Artistic inspiration.”

“……”

“……”

The Einrogard students reacted as if they were barbarians hearing the word ‘art’ for the first time.

“Art…”

“Artistic… inspiration…?”

“Oh, is that a magic name?”

“No. I think he’s talking about real art, like music, painting, and poetry.”

“I-Is that so. …Why is that necessary for a magical item?”

“Isn’t he making a work of art, not a magical item?”

Bunarzo looked at the Einrogard students with disgust. “I’m making a magical item, alright. You fellows. Don’t you even know what art is?”

The Einrogard students were taken aback. “How dare you say that? We know what art is too!”

“We go out to see plays, and even compose songs! Dalcard! Show them!” Asan was about to sing the ‘Einrogard Einrogard is so great’ song, but Ihan quickly stopped him.

If he sang it, Einrogard’s reputation would be ruined, and Professor Garcia might have to hide where he came from for a while. Fortunately, Bunarzo hadn’t heard the song and had a slightly different reaction.

“You compose songs too? That’s amazing. But I don’t know why guys who can do that are asking such stupid questions. You should know what’s most important in a magical item, right?”

“Magic… isn’t it?” Everyone nodded at Ihan’s words. But Bunarzo sighed deeply.

“No.”

“Is it the deadline?”

“That’s the least important thing. The most important thing is beauty. Look at this.”

Bunarzo took out a small necklace. Inside the dodecahedron-shaped blue jade, complex magic swirled.

‘Is it a cold control magic?’ Ihan recognized the magic at once.

But something was strange. There were many unnecessary parts. For example, the pure gold decoration around the blue jade.

The pure gold decoration in the shape of an angel seemed to increase control over the cold, amplify the elements, or sense spirits. But there was no need to make it in the shape of an angel. If it were Ihan, he would have wrapped it in gold, engraved a simple magic circle, and then added the magic power.

‘Why sculpt it like that?’

“What do you feel?”

“I don’t really know.”

Bunarzo sighed deeply. “This necklace blocks the cold and can summon blizzards.”

“I know that. The pure gold is for controlling the cold and increasing the resonance with spirits.”

“!!” Bunarzo was startled.

He didn’t expect anyone to understand the decoration’s role just by looking at it.

“But why sculpt it? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to wrap it in gold and engrave a magic circle?”

Bunarzo’s expression changed, as if he had heard something disgusting. “Such an ugly method… That’s not beautiful at all!”

“S-So, this sculpture is just for how it looks?” Adenart asked, not believing it.

“It also has magical effects.”

“But it’s more efficient to do it that way…”

“I said that’s not beautiful!”

The Einrogard students began to whisper, saying things like ‘idiot,’ ‘fool,’ and ‘dumber than Verdus.’

But Ihan was slightly impressed. ‘I’ve been so caught up in Einrogard that I’ve forgotten my original intentions.’

He used to worry about selling artifacts for a high price, but now he only worried about making them good. Perhaps constantly facing threats had made him forget the important things.

‘That’s right. It sells better if it’s pretty, regardless of performance. I forgot about that.’

“I understand. Beauty is important too.”

“Exactly. I knew you’d have an eye for things. Then go. Don’t disturb my peaceful thought.” The Petrograd student closed his eyes again and lay down, waiting for the form of the work he wanted to come to mind.

Gainando’s face flushed red as he watched Bunarzo. He pointed a shaking finger. “That lazy good-for-nothing! He’s just lying there like he’s on holiday! Shouldn’t he be working? Waving his staff, hammering at something, *anything*?!” Gainando’s voice rose with each word, his usual calm shattered.

“The Prince is right for once. That’s not the right attitude for a mage.”

“It’s worse than what Professor Verdus does!”

As the students’ reactions grew stronger, Professor Garcia stepped in to calm them. “Everyone, calm down! Petrograd’s method may seem unique.”

“It’s not unique, it’s wrong?” The Einrogard students glared with hostility, as if saying those kinds of mages shouldn’t exist.

“…But if there are ten thousand mages, there are ten thousand ways of magic. That’s Petrograd’s spirit, so respect it. Everyone understands, right?”

“……”

“……”

“Everyone understands???” As Professor Garcia squeezed his empty fist, the students quickly shouted, “Yes!”

“We, the honorable Einrogard students, always respect other magic schools!”

“Thank you. Petrograd students are free artists, so don’t think of it like Einrogard.”

“We should have just visited Kalarogard…” One of the second-year students muttered.

It was the school of black magic, unpopular in the Empire because it was in a dark, gloomy, and smelly place, but it felt best to the Einrogard students.

As the carriage left, Dalserre laughed at the students’ shock. “The Einrogard students always react the same way.”

“I have a question, but does the work even get done like that?” Ihan asked, curious.

Because he had learned in Einrogard, Ihan couldn’t imagine such a method.

“Of course, it’s slow, and many students don’t make any progress.”

“Then isn’t Petrograd in trouble?”

“What do you mean? It’s the student’s choice.”

“!”

Petrograd wasn’t like Einrogard, which transformed students with pressure. It freely accepted students with a certain skill level and let them live freely. Even if a student couldn’t create anything and starved, it was their choice.

Of course, the number of works varied, but the occasional masterpieces were responsible for Petrograd’s reputation.

“Ihan. Ihan.”

“Why are you calling me?”

“Let’s crush those guys’ noses with music magic. With ‘Einrogard is so great’…”

“…At least let me play a song like .” Ihan listened and ignored it.

But Professor Garcia paused. ‘Huh?’

The school most interested in the music magic they were researching in Einrogard was Petrograd.