Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1098

The Great Hall was quiet now, the noisy feast finished. Students shuffled out, their smiles looking strange and forced. Ethan blinked, wondering if he was seeing things. No, he wasn’t imagining it. They *were* smiling. But it was Uman’s smile, not their own. Uman had *made* them do it.

Uman had forced them to smile, saying:

“-Students of Einrogaard. The meal is over. But your bodies are not yet fully rested. Now, everyone, smile.”

“-…Yes?”

“-Come on! Laughter makes both the soul and body healthy.”

The students wanted to protest that there was no way they could laugh after eating such a meal, but before they could, Uman pulled out a booklet titled .

As the first joke appeared, the students began to laugh to survive.

“I don’t want to hear any more!”

“Haha, hahaha. Hahahahaha.”

“You can stop laughing now that it’s out, Gainan.”

“Hahaha… Haha… Hooo!”

“Don’t cry while laughing… it’s scary.”

Gainan wasn’t the only one. Many older students were also crying.

“How can it get even worse here? Those who graduated before us didn’t have to go through this. Why only us?”

“If I had entered just one year earlier, I wouldn’t have had to see this…”

The Death Knights, who had been waiting in the hallways and on the stairs, called out to the students, saying:

“-There are instructions for the students.”

“What is it?”

“-As you already heard in the banquet hall, cooking food within the territory as you normally do is prohibited. Instead of dirty and unhealthy food, you will be served His Highness’s healthy food every meal.”

The students wore expressions like they couldn’t breathe because of this ‘love’ from the Dragon.

“Th-that goes against the spirit of Einrogaard!”

Someone shouted, and everyone nodded. Ethan frowned, his stomach twisting. ‘What is the spirit of Einrogaard?’ he wondered.

He had talked to older students and professors, but Ethan still didn’t really know what the Einrogaard spirit was. Roughly, it seemed to be about camping out and somehow making meals with whatever ingredients were available…

The knights showed their annoyance even with their fleshless faces. Already tired because of the external inspector, these knights didn’t want to convince the students at all.

“-The following actions are also prohibited: making meals for friends, selling them cheaply, bartering…”

“??”

“Does anyone even do that?”

The older students were dumbfounded, wondering what they were talking about. It sounded as silly as a rule like ‘It is forbidden to be kind to Valdrogard students.’ Even if there were no rules, who would be kind?

However, the second-year students looked greatly taken aback. Ethan was the same.

‘No. How could Uman, an outsider, know?’ This was clearly a rule specifically targeting Ethan.

In fact, the knights were staring intently at Ethan.

‘Could it be that the Skull Headmaster snitched?! Highly likely.’ Ethan shuddered.

He was the one who mismanaged things and brought the inspector, yet he was acting so petty. It was hard to believe someone could be so petty.

“-Anyway, be war… no, students who usually do these things should be careful.”

Did he almost say someone’s family name just now? Ethan became even more convinced. This was definitely aimed at Ethan.

“-In addition, the following actions are prohibited: receiving more help than necessary from friends, teaching magic…”

“Why are you prohibiting that?” Ethan asked.

Why on earth would they prohibit that?

The knights replied in tired voices:

“-A certain great wizard who cannot be identified advised us. Receiving more help than necessary from one classmate would be unfortunate for that student and for other students as well.”

Gradually, not only Ethan but also the other second-year students seemed to realize the danger of these new rules.

If the new rules were implemented, the older students would suffer a little. Because they were already suffering a bit, they had gotten used to it.

But the second-year students were likely to suffer as if they had fallen into hell, especially since they had been living relatively comfortably!

“Why are the knights making such rules?”

“I don’t know. Did they drink the wrong drink?”

In fact, the older students were just listening blankly to the rules. Except for a few quick-witted older students, they didn’t seem to know why the rules were being made.

‘There’s no need to help more than necessary anyway, so why would they make such a rule?’

“This is ridiculous!”

“-What’s ridiculous is that you guys keep living happily just because you chose a good year to enter. Frankly, is that Valdrogard or Einrogaard?” One spiteful knight replied.

Ethan knew that the Skull Headmaster resented the second-year students, but to use the visit of an external inspector to deal with them like this…

It was an admirable piece of work as a subordinate. Indeed, not just anyone could become a great wizard.

“-It’s best not to think about helping secretly by deceiving others. Uman is more thorough and persistent than you think.”

One of the knights whispered to Ethan. Normally, the Skull Headmaster would usually allow students getting their own supplies and cooking, but Uman was different.

Uman was the kind of person who would persistently monitor and chase after them, lecturing them every step of the way.

Ethan replied with a sullen attitude:

“-But why are you only telling me this…?”

“-What? Just because I looked at you? Ha!” The Death Knight blinked his blue eye lights and winked. Ethan understood the meaning behind that gesture.

‘I’m the prime suspect.’

Seeing a relatively friendly knight whispering like that, it seemed Ethan was properly targeted. Well, among the second-year students, he was the only one who would help others…

‘Even so, doesn’t he have any pride?’ Ethan felt dumbfounded by the Skull Headmaster’s sowing of discord.

He had complained so much when Uman came, but how quickly he turned around and used him.

Lee Han paced in his room, a frown on his face. Death Knights stood silently nearby, their dark armor gleaming in the dim light.

“Hmph. His Majesty Uman and the Headmaster seem to have forgotten one thing.”

A knight tilted its helmeted head slightly. “What fact are you talking about, Wodanaz?”

“The fact that I can also send letters outside the school!” Lee Han declared, a spark of defiance in his eyes.

The knights exchanged glances. One muttered, “What are you planning to write?”

“That His Majesty Uman and the Headmaster are being mean! They are stopping me from helping my friends with their homework and making them good food…” Lee Han started to explain, but then he paused, a strange feeling creeping over him.

‘Wait a minute,’ he thought. ‘That sounds kind of silly when I say it out loud.’

The knights seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Wodanaz,” one of the knights said, using the name Lee Han preferred. “To be honest, that letter… it might not work very well.”

Lee Han had no choice but to admit that he had been refuted by the Death Knights.

No matter how much of an emperor he was, he wouldn’t look at such a letter and think, ‘This skeleton has finally gone mad! Immediately order Wodanaz to help his friends with their assignments and make meals!’

“Frankly, Wodanaz, while the master may have started this to torment the second-year students, isn’t it a pretty good thing for you? It seemed to us that you were overworked.”

“I won’t completely deny that I was busy, but this goes against the spirit of Einroguard!”

Although he lost the argument, Lee Han stubbornly clung on, feeling somehow resentful.

And as he became more insistent, the spirit of Einroguard naturally flowed from his mouth.

The knights exchanged glances instead of answering.

‘Surely the new rules weren’t made well, were they?’

‘That’s right. If we hadn’t done it that way, the successor would never have rested.’

“Are you listening? The spirit of Einroguard is…”

“Yes, yes.”

“I also think it goes against the spirit of Einroguard.”

‘I don’t really know what that is, though!’

The second-year students of the Blue Dragon Tower gathered in the common room. Shadows stretched long across the stone floor, and the air felt heavy with worry. Students sat slumped in armchairs, their faces pale. It was gloomier than a funeral home.

Lee Han spoke first to break the silence. “Oh, right. Everyone, take what you entrusted to me.” He wanted to get this done quickly.

Right now, the young prince’s basement was filled with smuggled goods from his friends. He needed to give them back before His Majesty Uman found out anything. ‘Dragons are powerful,’ he thought, worried. ‘Could they even know I’m making meals?’

“L, Lee Han.” Gainando stepped forward, his face even paler than usual.

“Why?” Lee Han asked.

“I… I didn’t bring much food this time…” Gainando mumbled, looking down at his feet.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I, me too,” another student whispered.

“Actually, me too…” others echoed.

Lee Han watched in surprise as student after student admitted they hadn’t brought much food. They had all relied on him!

Gainando stared blankly at the small chocolate box in his hands. Inside was another, smaller chocolate box, and inside that, another. “This… this book!” he cried, his voice rising in panic. “Because of this book! We’re going to starve because of these stupid books!”

Lee Han quickly put a hand on Gainando’s arm. “Calm down. I’ll find a way somehow. There must be a way to get food.”

“No. There is no such way.”

Lee Han turned his head, annoyed by the familiar voice. Senior Yukveltyre was walking towards them, a thoughtful look on his face.

“What is it, Senior? If you’re not going to help, please go away.”

Yukveltyre stopped in front of them. “Didn’t you want to know about Dragon magic?” he asked, his eyes glinting with curiosity.

“!” Lee Han and the second-year students stared at him, surprised.

“Do you know how His Majesty senses it?” Lee Han asked quickly.

The senior nodded slowly.

Lee Han sighed. “Here we go again,” he muttered. Adenart, standing beside him, looked puzzled.

“Why are you sighing like that?” Adenart asked.

“How much more is he going to bother people with that research stuff?” Lee Han grumbled. “Haa… How great would it have been if Senior Dirette was in the same tower.”

“…He, he wouldn’t do that…” Adenart said quietly, defending his cousin.

Lee Han ignored him. “He’ll probably tell me to participate in research again and block dangerous magic with my body.”

“His Majesty Uman has the ,” Yukveltyre said, ignoring their side conversation and getting straight to the point.

Adenart listened intently, but Lee Han just rolled his eyes. “He’ll ask me to give something up later,” he repeated stubbornly.

“…” Yukveltyre paused, then continued, “This … it’s passed down among the dragons. It’s a very old and powerful artifact, from fairy tales and legends. They say…” He lowered his voice slightly, “it can bind someone’s soul.”

“Bind a soul?” Lee Han asked, finally paying attention.

“Yes,” Yukveltyre nodded. “It places the soul on these magical scales, the Scales of Balance, and makes them confess everything.”

“What nonsense…” Lee Han said, but he was clearly intrigued. “Such an artifact really exists?”

Yukveltyre nodded again. “According to legend, it comes with all the rights of the Magician Card.”

“The Magician Card rights… never mind,” Lee Han waved his hand. “Assuming it’s real, does he actually have it? And he’s using something so powerful for something so small?”

“I just went to see it myself,” Yukveltyre said. “I asked to see it, and he showed me.”

“You *saw* it?” Adenart gasped.

Yukveltyre nodded. “Uman said he would use it to correct the students’ corruption.”

“……” Lee Han was speechless for a moment. Then, he threw his hands up in the air. “Send me to Baldrogaard!! Just send me to Baldrogaard!!!”