Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1122

The hamster trembled, its tiny body shaking with fury. It was so angry, it couldn’t even squeak a reply. Orlahr watched, a small smile playing on his lips. He had expected a powerful wizard, but this? This was just a fluffy ball of rage. *This little rascal,* Orlahr thought. *All that talk, and it was just a bluff.* He found the hamster’s pathetic anger rather amusing. Orlahr felt even more pleased with his choice to follow Lee Han.

Thanks to his time working for the Wodanaz family, he wasn’t fooled by such shallow lies. Any other demon would have been tempted and fallen for it.

“Well, I don’t have anything to give you, but here are some seeds as a snack…”

The hamster was now foaming at the mouth and making a gurgling sound. It seemed too wronged and infuriated to even speak.

Even though the hamster was still angry, Lee Han’s offer of seeds seemed to have a small effect.

The hamster realized that getting angry was useless.

“…Alright. I’ll believe you were busy.”

“Of course you should believe me!” Lee Han snapped. “I told you, I was busy!”

Come to think of it, he really had been busy and out of his mind all vacation, and now he was being suspected like this.

“Want me to take care of the hamster? Get rid of it somewhere?”

The demon rubbed his hands together, eager to please. The hamster gripped the seeds he was holding tightly.

*To think I was going to collaborate with that demon!*

“-So, what were you busy with?”

“Uh… well…”

Lee Han recalled the events that had occurred during the vacation.

He was definitely busy, but when he tried to recall it, it felt strangely embarrassing to talk about in front of outsiders.

Persuading the magic tower wizards and nobles for the Einroguard grant, going to other magic schools to meet seniors…

Fortunately, Lee Han managed to find things that were relatively less embarrassing and more plausible.

“Evil god worshippers! That’s right. I was busy tracking down evil god worshippers. They were very vicious and despicable fellows.”

“-Evil god worshippers? Indeed…”

A normal wizard would have reacted with, ‘What evil god worshippers would a second-year student chase during vacation? Don’t lie!’ but the hamster didn’t think it was strange.

It wasn’t strange at all for the boy from the Wodanaz family in front of him. Even if he did find it strange, it would only be to the extent of, ‘The Skull Headmaster is indeed raising his disciples harshly.’

“-Which evil god worshippers? Prahgal?”

“Sanguiros.”

“-Weren’t those guys destroyed?”

When the hamster wondered, Lee Han slowly shook his head.

“Your information from the outside is quite delayed.”

“-……”

The hamster hesitated, about to throw the seed.

“-Right… delayed. Because of someone.”

“It seems they have secretly become active again this time.”

Hearing that, the hamster squeaked sarcastically.

“-That’s good. Chaos and discord should spread across the continent… Ack! What are you doing!”

“Why are you talking like that?”

Lee Han used telekinesis to pick up the seeds and shoot them. The hamster rolled around with curses.

“-Then am I supposed to cheer for Einroguard!”

“You asked me to undo the curse, didn’t you? If you want my magic level to rise quickly, you should wish for the cultists to disappear. That way, I won’t be disturbed and can concentrate.”

“-Well… I don’t know if I can trust that…”

The hamster mumbled quietly.

He was worried that if he spoke loudly, he might get hit by the seeds again. Becoming a hamster had weakened his courage little by little.

Having received the vision from that crazy doppelganger, it was true that he had initially placed expectations on this guy.

But as he spent the vacation squeaking and munching on seeds in this dark and chilly warehouse, the hamster started to think more calmly.

*…Can I just wait for his magic skills to become good enough to undo the curse?*

Just waiting like that didn’t suit the hamster’s temperament. Especially in a situation where the other party might have forgotten.

That’s why he tempted the demon to prepare the potion and magic, even knowing it was dangerous.

“-How much of the inherited spirit book have you deciphered?”

The hamster suddenly became curious.

This boy from the Wodanaz family was very annoying, arrogant, despicable, and petty, but he couldn’t deny that he was a magical genius.

How much of the white magic book left by the Skull Headmaster’s strange double had he interpreted?

If he had even caught a clue to undoing the curse, he might have some expectations…

Hearing the question, Lee Han looked a little sad and answered.

“I haven’t heard the book’s voice since then.”

“-……”

“But if I work hard in the future, won’t the book open?”

“-…Please, can’t you gather the potion and magic?”

“Are you saying that again? If I forcibly break the curse, your soul will be damaged.”

“-I’m okay! I said I’m okay!!”

The hamster squeaked desperately.

Whether he did or not, Lee Han sternly said no and moved his steps towards his seniors, taking Orlahr with him.

His seniors were already waiting patiently.

“Senior. Here’s a demon. Ask him anything you need.”

“…You two seemed to have a very long conversation just now, are you acquainted?”

Ogoltos asked in a confused voice.

Ogoltos knew that asking a junior, ‘Are you acquainted with a demon?’ was a strange question, but he couldn’t bear not to ask.

“No. We met for the first time today. The long conversation was because of that hamster over there.”

“That’s right! I am a clean demon with no connection to the Wodanaz family!”

Orlahr also diligently agreed for the young master’s sake.

At those words, all the students of the black magic school thought to themselves.

‘He must be a demon related to the Wodanaz family.’

‘He must be a demon who has been caught by the Wodanaz family.’

While the seniors were asking Orlahr questions they had always been curious about, such as what places in the demons’ dimension were worth raiding or attacking, Dirette quietly called her junior.

“Junior. Junior.”

“Yes?”

“Tell me honestly.”

“…Alright. I did use the inspector’s authority for personal gain. But I am confident. The balance of each school…”

Dirette was confused as her junior started talking quickly about something else.

“Wait. Just wait a minute.”

“?”

“What I asked was what you were talking about for so long with that hamster and the demon.”

“Ah… I was talking about the curse on the hamster. My magical achievement is slower than I thought.”

“I see. I understand. Then what was that you just said about using the inspector’s authority for personal gain?”

“……”

Lee Han deeply reflected.

Even though he thought he had been trained to some extent in Einroguard, he still had a long way to go.

To think he would reveal that he wasn’t as clever as he thought in this area…

“…Actually, I became the inspector’s right-hand man.”

“……”

“Senior Dirette?” Lee Han asked.

Dirette didn’t answer right away. Lee Han felt a little nervous and asked again, “Senior?”

“Sorry,” Dirette finally said, looking thoughtful. “I heard you, but I didn’t understand what you meant, so I was trying to figure it out.”

“It will make sense if I explain from the start,” Lee Han said.

“I doubt it…” Dirette replied, raising an eyebrow.

Lee Han saw her suspicious look and quickly tried to explain everything as simply and clearly as he could.

“…and that’s how it happened.”

“Wait, so the professor suddenly saying he’d write the report himself, that was also…?”

“That’s just Professor Mortem… having a change of heart, maybe? Yes, that’s it.”

“And Yukbeltire volunteering to handle the Nightmare Echo Forest countermeasures?”

“It could be a coincidence… but actually, no, you’re right about that too.”

Dirette stared at Lee Han in surprise.

She had suspected something was up, but to think he was manipulating the Inspector at will!

‘Could he perhaps be born with a special ability to gain the trust of dragons?’

Charming one dragon might be a fluke, but charming two was starting to raise serious suspicions.

“Senior, please don’t try to take the work back…” Lee Han said cautiously.

He felt it would be terribly unfair if Dirette were to reclaim the tasks now that he had managed to delegate them to Professor Mortem and Senior Yukbeltire.

“I won’t. Don’t worry.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Do you think I’m some kind of fool who only does good deeds for others?”

‘A little bit.’

He could never say out loud that he thought she was a little bit of a fool.

“It’s not like Professor Mortem or Yukbeltire can’t handle a bit more work. Thanks. But…”

“Thank you, Senior! I will use the Inspector’s authority to drastically increase the budget for the Black Magic Department!”

“…that’s what I was going to tell you not to do.”

Dirette sighed deeply.

She was going to tell him not to increase the budget, but then he immediately gave her an example of why he wanted to.

“I appreciate you helping me with my work, but that’s where it ends. Department budgets should be increased fairly, according to established rules. Forcing it will only lead to trouble later on.”

“But compared to other departments, we have fewer members and receive fewer requests. How can we increase it fairly?”

“Quiet.”

Dirette, who usually answered her juniors’ questions head-on with a confident attitude, this time forcefully shut him down with her authority as a senior.

It was because she had no answer.

“Anyway, I’ve warned you, okay? Please don’t do it, okay? And here. This is a list of the spells we’ll be covering in the lectures. Read it in your spare time. Ask if you don’t understand something.”

The lecture for this semester was called . It was about how to protect yourself from forbidden magic.

Since the Black Magic Department often dealt with somewhat dangerous magic or mysteries, it was appropriate to practice countermeasures in advance.

Lee Han, having received the list, tilted his head.

Lee Han looked at the list. Some of the spells seemed very familiar.

Countermeasures against the Evil Spirit Creation Art…

…

…

Countermeasures against the Poison Domain Diffusion Art…

…

Countermeasures against the Catoblepas Summoning…

…

Lee Han saw spells that he had learned or been forced to learn last semester.

He looked at his senior with a puzzled expression, and Dirette nodded slightly.

Her nod was a secret message: ‘Don’t tell the Headmaster.’

As a lecturer, giving such breaks was something the skeletal Headmaster would never allow.

Even if the student in question was busy all semester.

However, Dirette didn’t care. She only followed her own conscience.

If one was afraid of the skeletal Headmaster, they couldn’t become a fifth-year student at Einroguard in the first place.

“Senior.”

“Yes, speak.”

“Some of the spells I’ve already learned are duplicated here? I think you need to fix it.”

“……”

Returning to the dormitory with the hamster cage, Lee Han was lost in thought. Why was Senior Dirette so angry?

“Lee Han!”

“What is it?”

“The Inspector…”

“Impossible.”

“?!!”

Gainando was surprised.

How did he know what he was going to ask?

“Wodanaz!”

“What is it?”

“The In…”

“Not you either.”

“?!!”

Asan wore an expression of disbelief. He could understand Gainando, but even his inner thoughts?

“There seems to be a rumor going around that I’m manipulating the Inspector at will, but that’s absolutely not the case. I’ve only given her appropriate advice.”

“Like how you manipulated Prince Zowrin?”

“Which one of you said that? Come out here.”

The students of the Blue Dragon Tower fell silent. Gainando quickly kicked the backside of the friend who had just spoken.

The pushed-out student glared at Gainando with resentment.

“Hey! Watch it!”

“Hey, don’t call me a traitor.”

“And things are much better than before.”

Lee Han told the student who had come forward to hold a bucket full of water.

Certainly, thanks to Lee Han’s advice, Uman’s policies were relatively more lenient.

In fact, even the seniors had praised it, saying, ‘Hmm, this is about the same as or even better than the skeletal Headmaster.’

“It’s better than before, but it’s still terrible compared to our original lives!”

“Absolutely don’t say that to the seniors…” Lee Han advised his friends.

Some of the seniors were already realizing that the second-year students were living too comfortably, and it wouldn’t be good for more rumors to spread.

“And I won’t even be able to meet the Inspector for about two days. After hearing all the advice, she went to move separately.”

“What about after two days?”

“After two days, I’m going out to solve the next request.”

The students suddenly became somber. Someone muttered, ‘That’s why I told you not to bother Wodanaz.’