Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1070

“But you just said he was inside…”

“Just say you misspoke!”

“What’s the bet? And who would fall for such a lie? Only students from Baldrogard, a rival magic school, would believe that.”

“It’s nothing much.”

Professor Verdus then explained what had happened with his student, Yukbeltire.

“That method is absolutely impossible! We don’t have a high-purity adamantite plate. He also didn’t find ancient magic to fix the missing parts of the magic circle. Honestly, Yukbeltire is such an idiot!”

The Death Knights were silent.

“Shouldn’t you teach your disciple if he doesn’t know something?” one of them finally asked.

“Shhh. You’d have better luck talking to the wall,” Professor Verdus replied.

The Death Knights were speechless at Professor Verdus’s unusual teaching style.

The knights wanted to say that if a disciple is lacking, you should teach them, not bet against them while calling them an idiot who can’t do it. But they held back. After all, no one would listen anyway.

“If it’s impossible, there’s even less reason not to meet, especially since it’s your own disciple.”

“That’s… true, but…” Professor Verdus hesitated.

With so many enemies, this beaver-kin wizard had a keen sense of danger.

Even if Yukbeltire was an idiot, he wasn’t as foolish as a Baldrogard wizard. Would he really bring something unfinished and make up such an obvious lie that would be easily seen through?

“Then I’ll open it. He’s here!” one of the Death Knights declared.

“W-Wait…!” Professor Verdus protested.

Before Professor Verdus could say anything else, the Death Knights quickly opened the carriage door.

Yukbeltire, leading the Einrogard students, waited outside. They had fierce faces and smiles, like rebellious farmers.

“Senior, you’re not angry, are you?” Yukbeltire asked.

“I’m not angry at all, so there’s no need to worry. I don’t even know why you’re asking such a question in the first place. It’s a very pointless question,” Professor Verdus replied.

‘He is angry,’ Lee Han thought to himself as he spoke to his senior.

He wasn’t quite at Dirett’s level yet, but he was starting to understand what the senior in the tower was thinking to some extent.

If he started talking that long, it was safe to say that it was definitely either anger or sadness.

In fact, he understood how his senior felt.

The conversation between the Death Knights and Professor Verdus had been audible from outside.

‘-It’s absolutely impossible with that method! It’s not like we have a high-purity adamantite plate, nor did he find ancient magic to fix the missing parts of the magic circle. Honestly, Yukbeltire is such an idiot!’

‘-……’

‘-Senior, Professor Verdus was at fault for not telling you that, honestly. How would you know that there were damaged parts in the magic circle and that ancient magic was the only way to fix them?’

There were few Einrogard upperclassmen who weren’t proud of their magic.

Especially Yukbeltire, as the top student of the Blue Dragon Tower, his pride must be several times stronger.

Naturally, the fact that he had missed that was bound to be humiliating.

“Professor, come outside,” Lee Han called.

Professor Verdus leaned back against the chair inside the carriage and said, “I can’t because of the assassination threat.”

“You have the knights here protecting you. What nonsense are you talking about? Even Professor Begreck came.”

“What? Why?!” Professor Verdus exclaimed.

‘-Are they really here to attack us?’ The Death Knights whispered with serious expressions.

Lee Han was already being seen as someone who might take over from the skeletal headmaster (the leader of the Death Knights), and now Professor Voladi had come along too.

They were seriously worried that it might be a retaliatory attack.

“Why did you bring him?” Professor Verdus asked.

“He came along in case we ran into any bad people,” Lee Han replied smoothly.

“What bad people would there be when you’re all swarming around like that? They’d run away at the sight of you.”

“Enough, just come out quickly. I have something to show you.”

Lee Han went into the carriage, pulled Professor Verdus out of the chair, and dragged him out. Professor Verdus was dragged out with a face that showed he really didn’t want to go.

“Why…” he mumbled.

“Look at this plate here. It has engravings of the Bakwantallana rod, shimmering with dimensional magic, and the Ahiman refraction, bending light in strange ways,” Lee Han said.

“Don’t lie. There’s no way,” Professor Verdus denied.

But when he saw the plate that Yukbeltire held out, he closed his mouth.

“……”

“?”

“There’s no way my calculations could be wrong? Did someone make this for you?” Professor Verdus asked.

“Wow. What a jerk,” one of the hot-blooded knights muttered.

His disciple had completed it without his teachings, and instead of shedding tears of joy, he was disparaging him like that?

But surprisingly, it was true. Lee Han shuddered inwardly. ‘As expected of Professor Verdus. I can’t let my guard down.’

He might find traces of the young prince’s magic if he looked closely. Lee Han urged him sternly.

“Don’t change the subject, Professor Verdus. Baldrogard wizards are the ones who do things like that. Are you perhaps a Baldrogard wizard?”

“But it really doesn’t make sense…” Professor Verdus mumbled.

“Just admit it already!” Lee Han exclaimed.

“That’s right. Just admit it!” Even the Death Knights joined in. The students also chanted in unison to admit it.

Alsicl also chimed in excitedly. “Admit it! Boo!”

“It doesn’t make sense… it really doesn’t make sense… there’s no way Yukbeltire could…”

“Just get down on all fours already,” Lee Han said.

“This is strange…” Professor Verdus grumbled, but he did as he was told.

With the completed high-level magic in front of him, he couldn’t deny it.

When the students saw Professor Verdus crawling on all fours, they burst into loud cheers. Passersby who saw the scene were horrified and turned their carriages around.

“They’re crazy wizards! Run away!” one of them shouted.

“They’re Einrogard wizards?” another asked.

“Can you still say that after seeing that?”

Blocking the carriage, dragging the person inside out, and making them crawl on all fours was certainly not a pretty sight.

And that was the case for the Death Knights as well.

“Ah, no. Why are you making Professor Verdus crawl on all fours?” one of them asked.

“I explained it earlier, didn’t I? It was part of the bet,” Lee Han replied.

“……”

The knights pondered.

Their job was clearly to safely escort Professor Verdus until his work was done.

Should they stop Professor Verdus from crawling on all fours at this moment?

“Hmm. Crawling on all fours should be fine. It’s the freedom of the person being escorted,” one of the knights said.

“As expected, you are truly wise. I look forward to your continued guidance and encouragement,” Lee Han said smoothly.

“Haha. What’s with all this!” the knight replied.

The Death Knights were very flexible. They respected Professor Verdus’s free will and put him back in the carriage.

“Why don’t you go outside? It’s cramped in here,” Lee Han suggested.

“Understood, Professor,” Professor Verdus replied.

It was truly a strange thing.

Seeing Professor Verdus lying on all fours on the floor of the carriage, they felt much more lenient even though he was acting the same as before!

‘I hope you continue to crawl on all fours in the future,’ one of the knights thought.

Professor Verdus’s outing wasn’t just a big deal for the escorts. It was a big deal for the people he met as well.

Puyo, a wood spirit hybrid wizard who was known as an excellent artifact craftsman and staff expert, checked his surroundings several times. He was worried that he might have been followed.

Thud thud thud-

Puyo stood in front of a shabby three-story building located at the edge of the southern district of the capital and carefully knocked on the door.

The door was made of wood and painted a bright green, but the paint was cheap and faded. It looked old and ready to break. When Abalkeigen opened it, it groaned loudly.

“You’ve arrived, teacher. Please come in,” Abalkeigen said.

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?” Puyo asked as he stepped inside.

“I’ve been well. There’s no one tailing us, right?” Abalkeigen asked worriedly.

“No,” Puyo confirmed.

“You haven’t told anyone, have you…” Abalkeigen continued.

“Do you take me for such a clumsy wizard?” Puyo asked, slightly offended.

“I apologize. I’m sorry,” Abalkeigen said, bowing his head.

This wizard’s name was Abalkeigen. He was an excellent artifact craftsman who inherited the lineage of Abalkain, a famous enchantment wizard from hundreds of years ago.

Even though they were both recognized craftsmen and wizards in the empire, there was a reason why they were being so wary and cautious.

…The person they were meeting today was Bible Verdus.

If the fact that they were meeting Professor Verdus were to leak out…

‘-What? You met that wizard? Why didn’t you tell me? You know how much gold that guy cost me!’

‘-Haha. I understand you. So write another letter. If you just catch that professor, I’ll give you a thousand gold…’

There were so many people who held a grudge against Professor Verdus that they could form a line from the western end of the empire to the eastern end.

If the truth were to leak out, they couldn’t even imagine how much trouble they would cause by coming to find them.

And that wasn’t all.

“I met a Petrogard wizard the other day, and when he saw someone related to Professor Verdus, his face hardened,” Abalkeigen said.

There were many fellow wizards who held grudges as well.

No matter how skilled the two craftsmen were, they didn’t want to have a label on their backs saying ‘Person who recently met Professor Verdus.’

“We must be careful. Very careful… But who is that wizard?” Abalkeigen asked.

“He’s my disciple,” Puyo replied.

The reason why the wizards were gathered here was for cooperation.

Even if they were each excellent enchantment wizards, it wasn’t easy to handle everything alone.

If they helped each other in their respective fields of expertise, it would be much more efficient.

Puyo was an excellent staff expert.

Abalkeigen was an expert in interpreting and improving ancient artifacts.

Professor Verdus was just Professor Verdus.

“Are you sure it’ll be alright? Professor Verdus isn’t easy to deal with,” Abalkeigen asked worriedly.

“I guarantee my disciple’s skills,” Puyo replied confidently.

“Since you guarantee it, he must be skilled, but he’s such a picky fellow…” Abalkeigen muttered.

Puyo, who knew Professor Verdus’s personality well, expressed his concern.

Since he had such a discerning eye, there was a high possibility that he would reject even a decent wizard.

In the first place, the reason why the wizards were gathering here wasn’t for such a soft reason like friendship.

The purpose of this meeting was to hide the fact that they were meeting, quickly exchange only what they needed from each other, and then part ways.

As such, if his disciple’s skills were lacking, Puyo couldn’t stop Professor Verdus either.

“…What if your disciple attacks Professor Verdus?” Abalkeigen asked, half-jokingly.

“Wouldn’t Verdus be able to defend himself?” Puyo countered.

“I suppose so. He can take care of himself,” Abalkeigen conceded.

Thud thud thud-

While the two were sitting at a round wooden table and boiling water in a kettle, someone knocked on the door.

“It seems he’s here,” Puyo said.

“I’ll open it,” Abalkeigen replied.

Abalkeigen carefully opened the door. But there was nothing in front of him.

“???”

“He’s below,” a voice said.

“?!!” Abalkeigen was shocked by the voice coming from below. Professor Verdus was on all fours below.

“Get out of the way quickly. You’re blocking the path,” Professor Verdus grumbled.

“Ah, no. Why are you crawling?” Abalkeigen asked, bewildered.

“I lost a bet,” Professor Verdus replied simply.

“Professor! Why are you running ahead!” A voice came from the alleyway. It was like the voice of an owner who had lost his dog’s leash and was running after it in a hurry.

“Here. Let’s go in, Professor,” Lee Han said, arriving at the door.

“Can’t you come a little faster?” Professor Verdus complained.

“Haha. I didn’t know you were so fast on all fours, Professor,” Lee Han chuckled.

The wizards were surprised when Lee Han came inside. Professor Verdus had come with his disciple?

No matter how they looked at it, Lee Han was an Einrogard student.

“What brings you here?” Puyo asked.

“I came along to supervise whether he’s crawling properly… no. As the Professor’s disciple, I wanted to help with the magic,” Lee Han lied shamelessly.

“It’s one thing to have an escort or a colleague, but bringing an inexperienced disciple is a bit much. This isn’t a social gathering,” Abalkeigen said disapprovingly.

“Shall I tell him to leave then?” Professor Verdus asked back with a hopeful voice.

However, Puyo, who recognized Lee Han’s face, stopped Abalkeigen.

“That boy’s skills are sufficient,” Puyo said.

“Is that really true?” Abalkeigen asked, surprised.

“Yes. I heard he’s been in charge of Professor Verdus’s work since he was a freshman,” Puyo confirmed.

“You’ve been making him work since he was a freshman?!” Abalkeigen exclaimed.

“……” Professor Verdus subtly hid behind Lee Han, to get out of range in case the other party kicked him.