Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1034

“Stop looking at me like that,” the artist said. “Here, take this.”

The artist made a small silver box appear from nowhere.

The silver box was decorated with beautiful geometric patterns. Lee Han liked reading about money in the newspaper. He looked at the box and thought it must be expensive.

‘Are you planning to give me something valuable to put inside? If so, the item itself is likely to be quite expensive. Surely you wouldn’t put junk in such a box as a prank… But Senior is from Einroguard. It’s entirely possible.’

The artist didn’t know Lee Han was thinking many things very quickly.

“It’s a gift.”

“…Yes?”

“I made these in my free time,” the artist explained. “Just for fun, you know? But they’re worth something. If you need money when you leave Einroguard, bury this somewhere safe. Travel money. And don’t let *him* find out,” he added, lowering his voice.

Inside the opened silver box were various ornaments. They were ornaments crafted directly by the artist.

These weren’t artworks for museums, but rich people would still pay a lot for them.

Lee Han’s eyes widened. “Wow! Senior, I… I don’t know what to say! This is too much! How can I ever thank you?”

“Th-that’s a bit much…? Calm down.”

The artist was surprised by how thankful Lee Han was. It was almost too much!

-Where is he? Tell me!

“What’s that?”

A commotion could be heard from outside.

Shouting, fighting, cries as if searching for someone…

At first, Lee Han thought Headmaster Skull had arrived, but that wasn’t it. Headmaster Skull wasn’t one to attack so noisily.

“Could it be that the professors have exploded?”

“No… Garcia or Voladi wouldn’t do that.”

The artist knew his students, Garcia and Voladi. They obeyed Headmaster Skull because he was powerful. But they wouldn’t make such a loud noise.

Instead… he realized who it might be.

“Oh dear. It’s Ram of the Garrihy family.”

“The Garrihy family… are they knights?”

“That’s right.”

The artist drew a picture of the scene outside the window on the stone wall.

There, a large knight with fiery red hair was seen harassing Petrograd students.

-Where is he!

-I, I don’t know what you’re talking about…

-Shut up! I know everything. You despicable spell-weaving rabble. Hand him over now!?

“How dare he?”

Lee Han felt angry because this knight was being rude to his school. He felt like he had to defend his people.

It was a different story for a knight to come to the magic school’s territory and act rudely.

An Einroguard student could make a mess in Valdrogard territory, but a knight shouldn’t do that.

“If he’s from a knight family, he should know the laws and etiquette, yet he’s acting like this. I must go and stop him immediately!”

“…Wait a moment.”

The artist quickly grabbed the hem of his junior’s cloak.

The artist was no longer acting like a wise, mysterious wizard. Lee Han felt like he had seen this behavior before.

This felt like… Professor Verdus!

To be precise, it felt like Professor Verdus, who had been caught for not doing the work Headmaster Skull had ordered.

It was an absurd situation.

Why was the atmosphere of Professor Verdus felt from a senior of the Skull Headmaster’s faction who was so kind, gentle, and considerate?

“What’s wrong?”

“Well… that is…”

The artist hesitated slightly, not wanting to show an ugly sight in front of the youngest member of the faction.

“Actually, I have a contract with that knight, and something a little… unexpected happened…”

“…Don’t tell me you promised to give him a piece and didn’t?!”

Lee Han was shocked.

Why were all wizards who used enchantment magic like this, even in Einroguard?

“Hmm.”

“……”

“Hmph.”

“……”

“Hmph…”

“Ah! Get lost!”

Gainan got angry.

It was because of Bunarzo, who kept making ‘hmm’ ‘hmph’ ‘hmph’ sounds behind him while he was painting.

Why does he keep doing that instead of just saying he doesn’t like it if he doesn’t like it?

“The painting is good. Have you painted a lot?”

“…What?!”

Gainan was surprised by the other party’s compliment.

To be honest, the painting in front of him wasn’t very outstanding in Gainan’s eyes.

As he came from a wealthy family, Gainan had seen quite a few famous paintings, and of course, he was aware that there was a difference between those paintings and his own.

“You think this is good?”

Gainan sent a suspicious look.

‘This guy doesn’t actually know anything, does he?’

“Of course, the technique is terrible. But I can feel the sincere emotions contained within. Is it a beautiful moon spirit swimming in the pond at night?”

“It’s my cool undead summon emerging from the poison swamp.”

“Indeed. So that’s why I felt the resentment.”

‘This guy really doesn’t seem to know anything.’

Gainan’s gaze deepened with suspicion, but Bunarzo didn’t care.

Students from Petrograd who were good at magic didn’t care about being stared at.

“Especially this purple. It’s mysterious… How did you make the color? Which guild did you buy the paint from?”

“Uh… that’s…”

Gainan was flustered by the sudden question.

Then, he looked around and lowered his voice.

“Shhh! You can’t let others know.”

“Is it a secret? It doesn’t matter. Everyone has secrets. Especially with such good paint. I was just curious how you made such a good color. I’ll definitely keep the secret.”

After much deliberation at the other party’s words, Gainan opened his mouth.

“That’s… I made the color with the poison from the poisonous insects in the graveyard.”

There was a reason why Gainan was worried.

When he was drawing patterns on his coat last year, he secretly brought black magic potions from near the Black Darkness Hall and used them as dyes.

Of course, he was caught by Lee Han and beaten like a storm.

-Don’t! Mix! Random! Elements! Without! Knowing! The! Exact! Ingredients!

-Ack! Ack! Sorry! Sorry!

“Poison…! Amazing…!”

Bunarzo looked at Gainan with a surprised expression.

“D-don’t tell anyone.”

“Tell? Of course not. More than that, there was a respectable fellow in Einroguard.”

“Respectable?”

“You were brave to break the rules to make your painting beautiful.”

“That’s how it is in Einroguard.”

Bunarzo ignored him as if he hadn’t heard. Instead, he looked at another part of the painting and asked.

“Is this blue also perhaps?”

“…That’s made by grinding blue bones into pigment. You really can’t tell anyone? I have to throw it away if I get caught.”

“I understand. I understand. Gainan… I’ll remember your name. Finish it. It will definitely be a good piece.”

“Wait! Then I passed the test, right? Tell me about the great artist!”

Gainan, who had nodded for a moment and was about to start brushing again, belatedly came to his senses and called out to the other party.

“Ah. The artist. Well, it wouldn’t be bad for a wizard like you to meet him once. He is a great enchantment magician and a wonderful artist.”

“What are his weaknesses?”

If he had to rescue Lee Han, he had to know his weaknesses first, so Gainan asked directly.

“He doesn’t have any weaknesses.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Gainan insisted. “Everyone has weaknesses. What are his?”

Thud!

While the two were talking, a large knight appeared.

The moment Gainan and Bunarzo saw the knight, they strongly thought of the color red.

That’s how red everything about the other party was.

Fiery red hair. Crimson eyes, armor and cloak dyed red…

“I am Ram from the Garrihy family. Students. A knight of the Fire Watch.”

“H-hello?”

Ram looked around with beast-like movements.

Then, he looked at the painting Gainan was drawing and nodded.

“It’s quite good. Is it a beautiful moon spirit swimming in the pond at night?”

“No… It’s my cool undead summon emerging from the poison swamp.”

“Indeed. Is this painting supposed to have a hidden meaning, like people from Petrograd often do?”

“No…!”

Gainan was about to jump up and down at the insulting words.

However, the other party was the first to jump up and down. The knight spoke in a voice that sounded like a growl.

“I heard there’s a guy here called ‘Artist,’ do you know where he is?”

“…I don’t know?”

“That’s a lie. You two were just talking about him!”

The knight’s last words exploded in volume, overwhelming the two like a hammer.

Feeling threatened, Gainan did what any Einroguard student would do: he attacked first.

“Everyone!!!”

Wham!

As paralysis and blindness poison burst out like a fog at close range, Ram realized he had made a mistake.

He had been careless, not expecting to be preemptively attacked by a weak Petrograd student.

“Who is it?!”

Einroguard friends who were working nearby rushed over.

Even if Gainan was a troublemaker, he was an Einroguard troublemaker.

Blood is thicker than water, so his friends immediately poured attacks on the knight in front of Gainan.

“Earth, bind his feet!”

“Light will deceive the eyes…”

“H-how dare you…! I am Ram of the Garrihy family, belonging to the Fire Watch. You bastards! Do you know what you’re doing?!”

Ram swelled up with anger and shouted.

Then the Einroguard students paused.

“…We’re from Valdrogard! Come find us anytime if you want revenge!”

“Hey. Run! Run!”

“Anyone have a fog potion?”

The Einroguard students quickly retreated like the wind, taking Gainan with them.

Ram used magic to make himself stronger. He fought off the poison. He broke through the illusion magic. He even shattered the spells holding his feet and hands.

“Ugh! Why are the Valdrogard guys here…”

If he had been less excited, he would have noticed that the magic was flying faster and more precisely than was suspicious for someone from Valdrogard, but the knight was too excited to feel any sense of incongruity.

Instead of chasing the disappeared wizards, Ram grabbed another student nearby.

“Where is he? Tell me!”

“…I definitely didn’t delay on purpose. Please don’t think of me as someone like Verdus?”

As the artist spoke, he felt more and more embarrassed.

He felt like Lee Han looked down on him!

Headmaster Skull enjoyed being despised by his disciples, but the artist certainly didn’t.

“Please believe me!”

“I believe in you, Senior.”

“…!”

The artist felt tears welling up behind his mask.

He was a disciple who was too good for Headmaster Skull.

How could Headmaster Skull have such a disciple not once, but twice…

Thud thud thud thud thud!

-Senior! Senior!

A hurried voice was heard from outside. It was Professor Garcia’s voice.

“…Wait. I’ll open it.”

The artist gave up and opened the door.

Now that an uninvited guest had arrived, he couldn’t keep insisting.

“There’s a knight outside right now, what’s going on?!”

“That is…”

In front of Professors Garcia and Voladi, the great artist retold the story he had told earlier.

Honestly, he was embarrassed, but he couldn’t help it. These juniors were old enough to know everything now.

“I definitely didn’t delay on purpose, but…”

“I believe you, Senior.”

“…!!!”

The artist felt even thicker tears welling up at Professor Garcia’s words.

Even though Garcia had thought he was a traitor before, he now trusted him.

“Thank…”

“Then excuse me! Lee Han shouldn’t get caught up in this!”

Professor Garcia quickly pulled Lee Han and threw him to Professor Voladi.

Whoosh!

Professor Voladi put his disciple on his shoulder and escaped by breaking through the wall. Professor Garcia also quickly escaped with space magic following behind.

Garcia trusted his senior, but he also knew there would be a fight. He couldn’t leave Lee Han here.

“……”

The great artist could only bitterly admire his juniors’ growth.