Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1045

“Wait a minute,” Ihan said, scratching his head. “There’s no way Ean Durde would do something that silly, right?”

“Indeed,” Professor Voladi replied calmly.

“You knew?!” Ihan’s eyes widened. He was surprised by the professor’s reaction.

Professor Voladi was a master wizard at the school. He had seen many things and knew people well. So, it wasn’t surprising that he could judge Ean Durde correctly.

‘But if you knew,’ Ihan thought, feeling a little annoyed, ‘why didn’t you stop me?’

“Then why did *you* come rushing to find him?” Professor Voladi asked, raising one eyebrow slightly as he looked at Ihan.

Professor Voladi didn’t often show his feelings clearly. But Ihan had learned to read the small signs. That raised eyebrow was a question. It was saying, ‘What are you even talking about?’

Wasn’t Ihan the one who had made a big deal about Ean Durde disappearing?

“Oh,” Ihan mumbled. His face turned red with embarrassment.

Now that he thought about it, he was the one who had made a fuss, saying, ‘Ean Durde went to the underground arena! We have to save him quickly!!’ after only hearing Alheid’s words.

From Professor Voladi’s point of view, even if he doubted it, he had no choice but to accompany his junior, who was so worried, to look for him.

“…I’m sorry. I should have thought more carefully.”

“No. It’s good that you care so much about your friends at the school.”

‘Even though there are only two of us.’

If there were only two people in the school, Guinan and Angarodo would probably become close too.

Leaving the slum area with the professor, Ihan thought about what happened again.

He promised himself that he would always check the facts before acting so quickly in the future.

Professor Garcia looked at his student, unsure if he should praise him or not.

Ean Durde shook the old gold coin pouch with a proud face.

He had heard one of the former slave traders say that he had hidden gold coins in the closed arena. He had remembered it, never knowing he would use it like this.

It was true that knowledge is power.

“That’s not exactly how that saying is used… Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe…”

“Shouldn’t we tell him that Ihan went looking for you?”

“Shhh. He might feel bad for no reason, so be quiet.”

The second-year students who had gathered after hearing the news whispered from behind. Alheid asked, wondering what was going on.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh? Oh… we were talking about how much the Bulhacho potion affects the power when casting dark magic.”

Guinan quickly made up an excuse.

Alheid looked at him with respect because of the excuse. He was so interested in magic even during vacation.

‘The second-year seniors are really something else.’

His friends were very different. They were enjoying tasty food and books now that vacation had started. Guinan’s hard work was much more than theirs.

“Hey. How did you figure that out?”

“Shhh. I just followed what the senior was researching.”

While his friend looked at Guinan with pity, Ihan and Professor Voladi returned.

Ihan, seeing the wizards gathered in front of the hall, felt relieved.

“I’m sorry for being late, Professor.”

“No. I’m glad you both returned safely. Did anything happen?”

“Yes. Nothing happened.”

At Ihan’s answer, his friends nodded as if they thought so.

However, Giselle tilted her head. There was a bloodstain on the upper part of Wodanaz’s left shoulder that she hadn’t seen before.

‘Isn’t that blood?’

She felt a little worried, but before she could ask, Ihan called his friends together.

“Everyone, gather here. A senior who graduated a while ago left you a gift.”

“What? Really?”

The friends were surprised by the unexpected words.

He wondered who had piled up so many gift bundles, and now he knew it was a gift for them.

“I thought Wodanaz bought that with his own money.”

“Is Wodanaz making up a fake senior after buying it with his own money?”

The friends, who didn’t trust Einrograd, whispered.

Looking back on the alumni they had met so far, there was no way they would have given such a gift.

“Why would I do that? Come quickly and line up.”

‘It’s even more suspicious because he’s not strongly denying it.’

The second-year students were suspicious.

Considering Wodanaz, who came from a noble family and constantly took on requests even during the semester, that level of wealth wasn’t strange.

“Well, Wodanaz doesn’t really care about gold coins.”

“…What?!”

Yoner was shocked by the voice of another tower student next to him.

Why such a misunderstanding?

“Why do you think so?”

“What, what is it, Maykin? Do you have a problem with Wodanaz?”

“Ah, no… it’s not that. I’m just curious why?”

“He cooks for us without getting paid.”

Yoner was speechless for a moment.

It was hard to argue with that. Yoner could only say:

“He… he gets paid.”

“Huh? Ah. Silver coins? That’s nothing compared to what the seniors pay.”

“That’s… well… never mind…”

Yoner sighed deeply and gave up, wondering how to clear up the misunderstanding.

Even if he said that Ihan was more interested in gold coins than he thought, he didn’t think they would listen.

“Yoner. Here’s the [Triangular Flask of the Mulmasan Mountain Tower>.”

Ihan handed a magic flask to his friend from the alchemy school. Yoner’s eyes widened as he read the description.

“Ingredient identification, replication, purification, transformation? Doesn’t it have too many functions?”

Yoner looked at the flask, puzzled.

You might think that there’s no problem with having many functions in an artifact, but it actually was a problem.

The difficulty and cost increased greatly each time magic was added.

From the problem of magic colliding with each other to the problem of mana supply and the addition of reagents for stability…

It would be better to just use several artifacts with different functions. There was no need to force everything into one.

“Yeah. So the wizard who made it was punished. Another wizard brought it to the auction house for him.”

“…Th, thank you. I’ll use it well.”

Ihan nodded. Seeing his reaction, he was sure that he had chosen the right gift for his friend.

Asan got an astrolabe made of crystal (Asan, who received the gift, embarrassed Ihan by saying that he didn’t need any older or younger siblings), Derkyu got a leather gauntlet with a force field shield, Ratford got a new lockpick and a magic worm to explore the inside of the keyhole, Nigisor got a lantern that reacted with fire spirits to create fires of various types…

“Wait. Wodanaz. Were you the one who went around the hall earlier and bought everything before the auction started?”

“It wasn’t me, it was a senior who graduated…”

“Indeed.”

‘I think there’s another meaning in there?’

Ihan felt a sense of doubt in his friend’s answer, but he didn’t ask and moved on.

There was no time to give out anything useful among the things he bought today.

“Okay. Nilia. Here.”

“Th, thank you?”

Nilia was embarrassed as she received the [Cursed Red Spear>.

She didn’t understand why he was giving this as a gift, but she thought that Wodanaz must have a reason.

“…No. Why are you taking that?! The gift is the quill next to it!”

Ihan, who was surprised, took the spear and pointed to the quill.

This quill, which helps with writing according to the owner’s instructions, was an artifact for Nilia, who would write hundreds of invitations needed for social events in the future.

‘…The spear seems more useful…’

Nilia thought to herself and received the quill. No matter how she thought about it, it seemed like Spear>Quill.

Ihan continued to hand out gifts.

Raphael got a thick book summarizing the undead creatures that a dark wizard could make a contract with (Raphael grumbled but eventually thanked him), Siana got a monocle of wisdom, Salco got a dark shovel with disassembly magic…

“Moradi. This sword is…”

“I already have a sword I’m using.”

Giselle answered, a little embarrassed.

She didn’t want to refuse the gift, but she already had a family sword that she used.

“Listen to the end. This sword looks like a sword, but it’s actually a magic artifact with hidden throwing stars. A famous dueling wizard used to use it a lot. If you pretend to draw the sword like this and activate it, a compressed bullet of wind will come out of the hilt…”

Giselle was shocked at Ihan’s excited explanation.

It was a much more pathetic gift than she had thought.

‘It’s even more absurd because it sounds believable!’

Giselle was slightly ashamed of herself for being interested in that explanation.

Ihan became a little sulky when she didn’t react.

“Don’t you like it? I thought it was a really good weapon.”

“Ah, no. It’s not bad… …I think it’s good… Thank you…”

Giselle, who received the gift, wore it around her waist. If anyone asked why she was carrying three swords, she was going to smack them.

He gave the Cursed Red Spear to Tiziling (Nilia looked at him with a slightly envious gaze), the Blessed Picnic Basket to Adenart (Adenart tilted his head after receiving it), the Water Elemental Magic Horn to Sharukal, and then Ihan called Guinan.

“Guinan. This ink bottle is an artifact for wizards who lack focus. If you sit at your desk and do something else, it will shoot ink on your face.”

“…I, I think only my gift is weird…”

“And here’s a bonus wizard card. I got it at the auction house.”

Ihan handed over a thick bundle of cards.

Guinan, seeing the familiar list of cards, was moved to tears.

“This is a miracle!!!”

“…I don’t think it’s that much??”

Ihan, who had returned to the villa mansion with his friends, called Ean Durde separately.

It was to talk about when to meet Jaurin.

“Should we go meet him after buying only your gift?”

“That seems like a good idea. But…”

Ean Durde hesitated, which was rare. Ihan was slightly surprised.

‘What’s wrong?’

What was making Ean Durde like that?

‘Is he short of gold coins?’

“I have a question.”

Ean Durde raised his hand and hesitated several times before speaking.

He turned around and said it indirectly, but in the end, it was this:

If being friends with someone and respecting a senior are in conflict, which one should you choose?

‘That guy…!’

Ihan was touched and called Yoner.

“Yoner. Yoner.”

“Huh? Why?”

“It seems like Ean Durde has made a lot of friends already.”

Ihan, who called Yoner, explained what he had just heard.

Apparently, Ean Durde was wondering whether he should spend the rest of his vacation with his seniors or choose to hang out with his friends.

“?”

Yoner tilted his head.

‘Something’s wrong?’

He had a strong feeling that wasn’t it, but Ihan was already speaking.

“Of course you should choose friendship with your friends. Ean Durde. You can use your seniors however you want and then forget about them.”

“…Hey…”

Yoner looked at Ihan with a complicated expression.

We’re seniors too!

“…Is that so?”

“Of course! Do you have plans with a friend?”

Ean Durde shook his head.

Then he said with a determined face:

“I will go meet His Highness tomorrow!”

‘Is that something to say so firmly?’