Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1049

While Jo-ooh-rin looked closely at a trap in the dungeon, one she didn’t even know existed, Lee Han quickly wiped away the writing on it.

The dragon who made this treasure chest wrote that they should wait about 71 years to open it.

This was because the jewel inside would only become fully bright again after that time.

‘I must stop her from opening it,’ Lee Han thought.

It would be better for Jo-ooh-rin to get the jewel when it’s ready, rather than opening it now and being sad.

“What’s over there?”

Jo-ooh-rin, now bored with the treasure chest, pointed to a newly appeared fountain at the end of the path.

The fountain looked old, like it was from a time long ago. The room it was in didn’t feel dangerous.

It looked a bit like a quiet room in an old house.

However, Lee Han was not going to be careless.

“Could be trouble,” Lee Han said, squinting at the fountain. “Might be a nasty creature hiding in there. Like a siren, maybe.”

Jo-ooh-rin’s eyes widened. “A siren? Really? I heard there were sirens in Einrogard too!”

“Oh, you know about them, Your Highness?” Lee Han nodded. “Wicked things, sirens. Very wicked indeed.”

Sirens, who sometimes played tricks on students during exams for the professors, were clever and mean creatures.

Lee Han had almost been tricked by them a few times, so he knew it well.

“I will check it out.”

Leaving Jo-ooh-rin, who was nodding, Lee Han approached and checked the inscription on the fountain.

The inscription read:
‘Rest Area Number 21 (Not Finished Yet – Needs Decorations)’
* ‘Must add a big bath for playing in the water’
* ‘Must add a large magic music player’
* ‘Make the ceiling higher so you can fly…’

“……”

It was strange that there was a rest area like this in the dungeon, but it was even more surprising that it was still unfinished.

Lee Han tried to ignore the feeling that this was all getting a bit silly and covered the inscription again.

‘No, I can’t relax yet. This is still a dungeon. Other dragons might be putting monsters here to make Jo-ooh-rin happy.’

Trying to hide his feelings, he gestured to the back, and Jo-ooh-rin and Ean Durthe quickly ran over.

“Don’t get close to the fountain, Ean Durthe! A siren might appear!”

“Hmph. Even if one does…”

“Come here!”

Jo-ooh-rin grabbed Ean Durthe, who was approaching the fountain aggressively, tightly with her front paws.

Bubble bubble-

“?!?”

Lee Han was startled.

Suddenly, bubbles began to rise on the surface of the fountain. Jo-ooh-rin and Ean Durthe began to make a fuss, saying that a siren had appeared.

“I knew it!”

The baby basilisk lifted its tail high and looked angry at Jo-ooh-rin from above.

Then, along with the spray of water, an elemental appeared. It felt very powerful, so it was definitely an important elemental.

The important water elemental shook its watery body and got ready to work.

Starting with managing the rest area, it had to check if any of the dungeon’s drinking water was dirty, and if there was a problem, it had to start cleaning it. To do what the dragon wanted, it had to work hard…

……

-……

The elemental stopped moving when it saw Lee Han. It felt almost like a creature of ice, not water.

“Is it an enemy elemental?”

Jo-ooh-rin asked Lee Han.

Elementals were not always kind and gentle. There were many mean and rude elementals.

Also, in a small space full of magic like a dungeon, elementals could become even stranger. In fact, adventurers exploring dungeons would be careful when they saw an elemental inside.

However, Lee Han felt that the elemental in front of him was different.

First of all, he didn’t feel any anger or danger, and most of all…

‘It’s panicking!’

He could feel that the elemental was nervous. He had even learned soul recognition magic, so he could understand the situation without talking.

“…Were you brought here to look after the dungeon? Did you make an agreement with another dragon?”

-!

The frozen water elemental was very surprised.

-Y-yes, that’s right. Did you know about it before coming in?

“Not exactly, but…”

-…Please, have mercy! The secret must be kept.

The water elemental begged.

The agreement with the dragon was to look after the dungeon regularly, but to never be seen if someone visited later.

Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if a cleaning elemental was found in a dangerous dungeon?

…Was that what it was?

Jo-ooh-rin was a little sad when she realized that the other dragons had been secretly overprotecting her, even more than just making the dungeon nicer.

She had come down to have exciting adventures with her friends, but it was just like walking around a mansion.

Wait. Could it be that the treasure chest from earlier wasn’t a trap either?

Lee Han was a little worried as he saw Jo-ooh-rin getting smarter every day.

It might be really hard to trick her if things kept going like this.

“More importantly, Your Highness, you need to deal with the elemental first.”

“I will keep the secret…”

The water elemental was nervous because Jo-ooh-rin looked sad.

Even though it had an answer, it was still worried.

What if the dragon who had asked it to look after the dungeon noticed something strange and complained…

-Wait. Magician, are you Lee Han of the Wodanaz family? The younger brother of the Butterfly Prince?

The water elemental moved as it looked at Lee Han, and then shared its thoughts as if it had noticed something.

Lee Han nodded.

“That’s right. …Wait. How did you know?”

At first, he thought it had guessed because he was a magician from Einrogard traveling with Jo-ooh-rin, but then he realized it was strange.

Even few people in the Empire knew about that. How could an elemental know?

‘Ah.’

Lee Han finally understood.

“It’s because of this.”

Among the emblems he had received, there was the emblem of Uphinum, an elemental who called himself the Tribune of the Great Sea and Storms.

Because it was a water elemental, it was probably how it recognized him.

-Yes? Ah… Is that the Tribune’s emblem!? I-I didn’t know!

“?”

The water elemental was surprised to see Uphinum’s emblem.

To think that it would see the emblem left by the Tribune of the Great Sea and Storms here.

This strong and scary elemental was feared even by other elementals.

“…Uh, then how did you recognize me?”

-I felt a threatening sense of overwhelming power.

“……”

Lee Han’s face became serious when the elemental said rude things in a polite way.

‘Is this elemental serious?’

“Just because you feel overwhelmed by magic doesn’t mean it’s me, does it? How many magicians in the Empire have a sense of overwhelming power… Well, even if there aren’t many, there are monsters too…”

“Lee Han…”

Jo-ooh-rin looked at her contractor, who was rambling, with pity.

Who would have thought that Jo-ooh-rin’s always-calm contractor would act like this?

-I-I’m sorry. I made an unnecessary assumption…

“…It’s nothing.”

Lee Han stopped the elemental’s apology with a bitter look.

Deep down, he wanted to write down all the rumors elementals were spreading, but he couldn’t ask.

-Lee Han of the Wodanaz family, please be kind to me. If you are, I will never forget it.

“Hmph. All elementals will avoid me anyway, so why bother?”

‘I will try my best to make them like me.’

Lee Han realized he said the opposite of what he was thinking as soon as he spoke. The water elemental was even more nervous.

“Please forget what I just said. More importantly, Your Highness is already disappointed… Um. Is there a less managed area inside?”

-If the dragon gets hurt, all the elementals helping with this dungeon will be in big trouble!

The water elemental shook as if the thought was scary. Even though the elemental didn’t have a face, you could feel its emotions.

‘The overprotection is much worse than I thought.’

Meanwhile, Jo-ooh-rin was getting more and more sad. So much so that even Ean Durthe, who had been disappointed with her, was trying to cheer her up.

“Jo-ooh-rin chose poorly…”

“A-ah, no. It’s not that bad!”

-That’s right! I like this comfortable and pleasant dungeon too!

While they were talking, a ‘thud’ sound was heard from deep within the dungeon.

It was different from a normal sound. Lee Han, being a magician, knew it was magic.

“Wait! Maybe that noise was a monster from another world attacking us!”

-No. It’s magic energy. It’s from the magic item getting stronger as it takes in magic.

“…Are you being a bit rude?”

* * *

“Is Professor Voladi with you?”

“Yes.”

The Skull Headmaster, who had come to see Professor Garcia after finishing his work, was surprised by the news.

“If I had known that, I wouldn’t have been so careful. I was worried he would attack the Imperial Palace.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing.”

The Skull Headmaster waved his hand.

They were sitting at a small table outside a cafe, the afternoon sun warm on their faces. Nobles in fine clothes strolled by, and several of them stopped short when they saw the Skull Headmaster. Even in his human form, with his dark hair neatly combed and wearing simple robes, there was something about him that commanded attention. They looked startled, bowing quickly and murmuring polite greetings.

“Lord Malyungguan!”

“I don’t know such a person.”

“…Aren’t you Lord Gonadaldes?”

“Don’t know him? Who is he?”

“???”

The nobles, looking scared, walked away.

After everyone had left, Professor Garcia covered her face in embarrassment and said.

“…Please don’t tell such lies.”

“Why?”

“It’ll be embarrassing if they find out you lied! Won’t you be embarrassed when you see them again and they’re giving us money?”

“It doesn’t matter. I can just say that he’s my old self.”

“……”

Professor Garcia couldn’t believe it. The Skull Headmaster waved away the people who thought he was an actor from a nearby theater, and then asked.

“Where’s Wodanaz? Is he bothering Professor Voladi again to learn hard magic?”

“Ah. No. He went to see Her Highness Jo-ooh-rin. He took Ean Durthe with him too.”

“!”

The Skull Headmaster was shocked.

“What? Where did he go?”

“To Her Highness’s house…”

“Professor Garcia! How could you leave him alone!”

The Skull Headmaster scolded her for the first time in a while.

Professor Garcia blinked, surprised that she was being lectured by the person in Einrogard who cared the least about students.

“Ah, no… Why? Isn’t it one of the safest places in the capital?”

“It’s one of the safest places. But it’s the most dangerous place for Wodanaz. Let’s go.”

The Malyungguan stood up.

Jo-ooh-rin was not a mean dragon, but it was hard to know how a dragon would grow up. The Skull Headmaster knew this well from when he had trained under dragons long ago.

It wouldn’t be surprising if a dragon who had been playing with magician cards until yesterday suddenly said, ‘I want to change the sad fate of the world’ today.

“Are you worried that Her Highness Jo-ooh-rin might hurt Lee Han? Other dragons might, but Her Highness Jo-ooh-rin wouldn’t do that.”

“Wouldn’t she? She’s definitely a dragon who would do that.”

His lack of trust was amazing. Professor Garcia hesitated.

Had she been wrong about Jo-ooh-rin?

“I think Her Highness will tie Wodanaz up and not let him out until the end of the vacation. Hmm. It would have been nice if Peng-Erin was here. Is Peng-Erin in the capital?”

“W-well?”

Professor Garcia looked away.

She had not come back from Petrograd yet.

“Why that person?”

“If I trade Peng-Erin and get Wodanaz back… No. That wouldn’t work.”

He couldn’t trade for 1 Peng-Erin now.

It was like not being able to buy gold just because a stone on the street looked a little cute.

“Get out of the way!”

-I knew you’d find out…!

The Skull Headmaster pushed the knights aside, opened the gate, and went inside.

Then, a cave appeared inside the house. And chains hanging on the wall, which were obviously made by a dragon…?

“!!!”

“I won’t say ‘I told you so’.”

‘After you’ve done everything.’

Following the chains, they found the entrance to a dark dungeon.

Professor Garcia screamed.

“Did Her Highness make this dungeon to trap Lee Han?!”

“…T-that can’t be.”

The Skull Headmaster was surprised by his former student’s imagination.

“Oh.”