Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1088

Dirette stared at the broken soundproofing charm, pieces of shimmering dust still floating in the air. “Did you really *mean* to break it?” he asked, his voice a mix of surprise and disbelief.

*Surely not,* Dirette thought. Even if his junior was a bit… enthusiastic, could he really be such a *violent* wizard?

“Huh?” Lee Han blinked, looking genuinely confused. “Well, how else was I supposed to hear what they were saying if I didn’t break it?”

Dirette’s jaw dropped slightly. He really *had* meant to break it!

Dirette wondered if pretending to be Steddle Nagoro had made his junior act tougher.

No, there must be another reason.

Dirette glanced at his friend standing blankly beside him.

Dirette thought maybe his junior’s friend or the school professors were influencing him more than the disguise. He doubted the disguise was the main reason.

“Hmm. If we don’t break it, there’s no good way to…”

“Actually, you don’t have to listen.”

“Ah. I’ve thought of a good way.”

Lee Han immediately ran towards the stairs. Then, he brought Jouren, who was playing chess with Eandurde (a chess game with a gold dragon that could move in any direction, diagonally, and use breath attacks).

Jouren sighed in relief.

“Phew. That’s a relief! Jouren was losing!”

Lee Han was confused about losing the chess game, but he quickly remembered why he was there.

“Your Highness. I want to hear the conversation inside. Could you help me?”

“Yes!”

Jouren nodded readily.

Showing usefulness to his contractor was a pleasure for any dragon.

“I think they might be talking about Uman visiting the school.”

Lee Han, who was trying to bypass the soundproofing magic with Jouren’s power, paused.

Did he just hear something strange?

“Hehe. Jouren wants to visit the lake when the new semester starts!”

“There are Krakens there, Your Highness. More importantly, Uman… are you talking about Uman, Your Highness?”

“Yes.”

Jouren, transformed into a human girl with golden hair that shimmered with magic, explained the role her younger sibling would take in the upcoming semester.

Acting as an inspector on behalf of the Emperor, she would monitor the Skull Headmaster and the professors for a semester.

The students who were listening were so shocked that they couldn’t react immediately.

They couldn’t tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

“…Is this really okay? What if it gets worse?”

“Can Einrogaard even get worse? I think it sounds good, no matter how I look at it. If a dragon is watching, the Headmaster won’t be able to do anything absurd.”

The students’ conversation was heated, as they couldn’t predict how Einrogaard would change.

Lee Han also pondered with a serious expression.

‘No wonder he was so generous with the gold, even though it wasn’t his business. He had this plan in mind.’

In the meantime, one of the students cautiously opened his mouth.

“Your Highness. Will the new Imperial family member interfere with our magical training?”

“You don’t have to worry about that! Uman would never do that.”

Jouren confidently guaranteed, standing tall and looking directly at the students.

One of Uman’s principles was ‘Don’t interfere with the students of Einrogaard,’ so even if she came as an inspector, she wouldn’t interfere with their studies.

Rather, the students would avoid contact so much that they wouldn’t even see Uman.

“Is that so?”

Lee Han, who was listening from the side, was amazed.

It was a little different from what he had expected.

“Then I won’t be able to meet Your Highness and will have to work separately…?”

“What are you saying? Of course not!”

Jouren answered immediately in her usual, unceremonious tone.

Where did you get such a terrible idea?

“Lee Han is an exception. He’s my contractor!”

Lee Han tilted his head.

Why is that an exception?

‘Is it a law of the Dragon race? It’s too difficult.’

Clang!

The reception room door opened again. The Skull Headmaster shouted from inside.

“Wodanaz, why aren’t you trying to bypass the soundproofing magic? I’ve been waiting!”

The Skull Headmaster, who had confidently told the other professors, ‘Wodanaz will try to bypass it soon, watch carefully,’ and then felt embarrassed, scolded his disciple.

Then he closed the door again.

“Should Jouren go and be angry for you?”

“Please don’t.”

Uman’s arrival in the new semester didn’t change much of what Lee Han had to do.

“Hello, Master.”

-Welcome, Disciple.

Behind the towering stacks of dusty wooden boxes, smelling faintly of old parchment and forgotten magic, he heard the welcoming voice of the young prince.

Currently, the basement of the Dimensional Labyrinth was so full of stacked luggage that it was difficult to even set foot inside.

As the owner of the basement, he might have felt unpleasant, but the young prince didn’t care at all. Rather, he was considerate of Lee Han.

-There’s space on top of that box, so it wouldn’t be bad to put it up there.

“Oh. That’s a good idea.”

-I’ll cast an expansion spell, so how about putting those crafting tools in the bronze jar? The wizard cards are well-packaged, so they won’t get damaged.

“…There were wizard cards in the bronze jar? Gainan, that rascal…”

Lee Han searched the jar in anger.

Indeed, the wizard cards were cleverly hidden.

He had hidden them in the black magic reagent packaging to avoid detection magic!

‘That rascal. His skills are getting better and better in useless areas.’

-But Disciple, aren’t you taking any items for yourself?

“Do you have anything you’d recommend?”

Lee Han asked back, moving the box to the corner with telekinesis.

In fact, it wasn’t that Lee Han wasn’t taking his own things.

He had already packed the food, various seasonings, reagents, and magical tools that had been consumed during the first semester.

But in the young prince’s eyes, his disciple had too little personal desire. Weren’t those even items that other wizards used, not just himself?

Sacrifice and dedication were good, but it was also important to enjoy life before youth faded away. The prince didn’t want his disciple to sacrifice his life entirely.

-Are you not interested in wizard cards?

“No.”

-I see…

The young prince became slightly dejected at the immediate answer. His shoulders slumped a bit.

It looked fun!

-What do you do in your free time?

“I mostly study magic I haven’t learned yet.”

Lee Han tried to add ‘that the Skull Headmaster forced me to do,’ but stopped himself.

He wanted to tattle, but it didn’t seem right to do it to the person himself.

-Disciple, the free time I’m talking about is the time you have left over, excluding studying magic.

“Huh? Is that what you meant?”

Lee Han was greatly surprised.

Was that how you were supposed to calculate free time?

“If you exclude that… um… I calculate the gold I’ve collected.”

-What do you do with it?

“After calculating it? I calculate which workshop I can rent in the Imperial capital or a large city.”

When the amount of gold was only a few dozen coins, Lee Han’s imagination was quite modest, but after the amount he collected exceeded four digits, his imagination became quite aggressive.

If he rented a wand workshop in the capital, hired a manager separately, and made and delivered goods in his spare time, it would be profitable as a side job…

‘Hmph. I don’t necessarily have to participate directly. A great businessman can dominate the capital’s wand workshop industry even if his body is in Einrogaard.’

He couldn’t leave Einrogaard immediately because he had inherited that will from the embodiment of his desire for honor, but that didn’t mean he had completely given up on his dream.

A wise wizard always has a secret plan.

Tears welled up in the young prince’s eyes. He felt a pang of pity for his disciple.

-It might be too late for you to enjoy other things…

“Yes?”

-It’s nothing. Anyway, I understand that you’re only interested in magic.

“That’s not true.”

Lee Han protested, but the prince ignored him and continued.

-Then take an artifact before you go in. It’s a coat I often wore when I was young, and it has pretty good defense.

Lee Han was surprised to hear about the unexpected treasure.

An artifact that the young prince used to wear.

Wouldn’t that be an ancient relic now? He couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Is it still around?”

-I think there’s a good chance it’s still around since it’s not an easy item to take. Oh, and could you take out that notebook artifact?

Lee Han was momentarily confused, but then he realized what the prince was talking about. It was .

A communication artifact used to communicate with the Watchmen Club, Dirette, and his second-year friends.

“It’s here. Why this…?”

Flarak!

Suddenly, the notebook opened and was fixed to the Watchmen Club’s page.

And a new font began to be written.

Hello everyone. Nice to meet you.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Who are you?

Iffeldrem: Wow! A new member?

Bakwantallana: Wait. How did they get in? We don’t have an artifact connected to that side right now?

The members of the Watchmen Club showed different reactions. Among them, Bakwantallana, who was acting as the manager, was greatly embarrassed.

If someone new came in, there would be traces of which artifact they used to access it, but this new member suddenly appeared as if they had fallen from the sky.

Could it be that they were a wizard so skilled that they could completely deceive Bakwantallana’s eyes?

‘No way! That can’t be possible!’

Lee Han, who belatedly came to his senses, called out to the prince in embarrassment.

“M, Master. This is a secret club.”

-Ah. I’m sorry, Disciple. I need to talk outside this basement to find the artifact, but there aren’t many ways to communicate.

was a well-made artifact, and the Watchmen Club was especially convenient.

Since it was made up of the magic of different participants, it was perfect for the young prince, who couldn’t use magic from the outside, to borrow that power at will.

“You could just use my magic…”

-I can’t do that. I’ll borrow it only until I finish this.

Bakwantallana: Everyone, be careful. I don’t know how this new member got in, but they’re definitely not friendly…

Bakwantallana’s writing was blocked. Lee Han realized that the young prince had blocked the other person’s right to speak.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: What? What is it?

Starfish: What’s going on?? Who came in?

The prince blocked the right to speak once again when other wizards kept talking in the space. Not only that, but he also took away the right to read.

-Now that everyone can’t see, we can talk here, Disciple.

“…I really shouldn’t get caught.”

Lee Han was a little worried.

Will I get kicked out of the club if I get caught?

“Wait. Now that I think about it, Master. If you took away their authority… can you also get information about other members?”

The Watchmen Club was a secret society that had been passed down within Einrogaard. Bakwantallana had only inherited the role of manager, and was not the founder.

Even if she was the founder, she wouldn’t be able to find out the identities of the members at will. In the first place, magic was structurally cast so that they couldn’t know each other’s identities.

However, the manager was able to obtain some relatively limited information.

Which artifact the other person came in with, which artifact they were talking with…

It was unavoidable because it was impossible to perform the role of manager without this information.

-What are you curious about?

“Could you tell me which artifacts the members who are talking now are using? And…”

-I see. Disciple. You took away their authority, so you’re telling me to impersonate another member and approach them.

“…I never thought of that.”

Lee Han was amazed by how wise his master was.