Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1132

The knights had been worried that Professor Beggrec’s escape might cause a huge problem, but thankfully, it seemed a magical criminal hadn’t appeared – at least not yet.

Lee Han received the Skull Headmaster’s reply, read it quickly, and tossed it into the bonfire.

“Too much useless information.”

Lee Han had fought many dangerous enemies, even powerful creatures from other worlds. So, the Skull Headmaster’s insults didn’t even make him blink.

Lee Han decided to deal with the Skull Headmaster’s revenge later and thought about the reply again.

“…It’ll be alright, won’t it?”

If it were truly dangerous, the Skull Headmaster would have acted immediately instead of sending such a pointless reply.

He would have given Lee Han instructions on what to do…

The fact that he wasn’t doing so meant the situation was still under the Skull Headmaster’s control. Thinking that way, this sarcastic reply was actually reassuring.

‘Right. The professors are correct. Professor Beggrec’s despicable fighting style is something even the evil god worshippers can’t easily handle.’

When it came to fighting dirty and foul, Professor Volardi was one of the best in Einrogaard. As a student who had experienced it firsthand, Lee Han was certain.

-Heir, are you alright?

“Yes? I said I was fine earlier.”

Lee Han was puzzled by the knights’ concern.

The shock from Professor Volardi’s escape had been somewhat managed, so why were they suddenly asking again?

-Well, you see… usually, in these situations, disciples who receive letters from their masters have a high probability of additional desertions…

“…If you know that, try to stop it.”

Lee Han was almost afraid to ask just how many seniors had deserted.

Nigisor frowned, his brow furrowed like a snake coiling itself. While his friend, Lee Han – or Wodanaz as he was now known – was talking to the professors about Professor Beggrec’s sudden disappearance, Nigisor was lost in his own thoughts.

*What was that spirit?* he wondered. *A spirit that powerful wouldn’t help someone for no reason.*

“Nigisor? Hey, Nigisor, you okay?”

“Are you still going on about me calling Wodanaz ‘Hey, Wodanaz’?” Nigisor’s friend grinned, practically bouncing on his heels with excitement. “I bet he didn’t even hear me!”

“…Not that!” Nigisor hissed, narrowing his yellow snake eyes at his friend. *Honestly, sometimes his friend’s memory was too good for his own good.*

“Listen,” Nigisor said, lowering his voice. “That ‘Hey, Wodanaz’ thing? That’s a secret, got it? If you breathe a word of it to anyone, I swear I’ll tell Inspector Umbridge you were the one who started that fire in the potions lab last week.”

“Relax, Nigisor! I’m not stupid enough to say anything.” His friend waved a dismissive hand. “So, what’s really bothering you then?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Nigisor rolled his eyes. “It’s Professor Beggrec, of course.”

Tijilling stepped in to mediate, worried they might grab each other by the collar if left alone.

“Professor Beggrec, you say?”

“What else would it be? More than that, honestly, I didn’t know Wodanaz would be so sad?” Siana said honestly.

In fact, there weren’t many professors in Einrogaard that students would be sad about if they disappeared.

It was easy to understand if you took Professor Verdus or Professor Vendozol as examples. Professor Vendozol had actually disappeared, and to be honest, no one missed him. He wasn’t a very popular professor.

Siana thought Professor Beggrec wasn’t exactly…

‘It looked like he was getting beaten every time I saw Wodanaz?’

“T, there must have been a relationship between master and disciple that we couldn’t see from the outside.”

Tijilling also secretly thought so, but she held back.

Lee Han looked too depressed.

“Actually, I was surprised too, but…”

“Sorry to keep you all waiting. What were we talking about?”

“Hic.”

Siana, who was the most surprised, started to hiccup. Lee Han asked, puzzled.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m very, very alright. Hic.”

‘She looks just like someone caught doing something they shouldn’t.’

Lee Han thought for a moment, but stopped suspecting.

Priest Siana wasn’t Gainando, and there was no way she would do such a thing. It was disrespectful to his friend.

“I was worried about the spirit. I felt a strange spirit helping me when I was fighting earlier…”

“Hic. Wasn’t it a misunderstanding?”

Siana reacted negatively to her fellow tower friend’s words.

Siana and Tijilling, being priests, were usually well-liked by spirits. They were known for their kindness and gentle natures, so spirits rarely disliked them.

But even considering that, Nigisor’s statement was quite unusual.

A spirit who hadn’t even made a contract was showing kindness without even revealing its appearance?

Knowing a lot about spirits, he knew just how absurd that was.

“Hic. Unless it’s a spirit drawing up a huge plan, I don’t think it would do something like that.”

“Actually, it’s a spirit drawing up a huge plan. Sorry. It’s a spirit called Hwacheon General, and it keeps chasing me.”

“……”

Siana’s hiccups, who was in shock, were immediately cured. While Siana was stammering, Nigisor asked in surprise.

“Wait, if it’s a powerful spirit like Hwacheon General… was the Witch Hazel Magic Tower’s request really to suppress the spirit?”

“Is that so?”

Siana, as well as the other two priests, stared intently at Lee Han.

Surely, when they first asked, ‘Was the Witch Hazel Magic Tower’s request a spirit suppression request?’ he had insisted, ‘No! The Witch Hazel Magic Tower’s request was just to… to recruit me!’

‘It was a spirit suppression request after all!’

Even so, would the Witch Hazel Magic Tower, with its name, have summoned an Einrogaard student for such a shabby reason?

It was clearly a spirit suppression request.

“…Originally, the Witch Hazel Magic Tower really called me to recruit me, but Hwacheon General was released in an accidental accident.”

“……”

‘Damn it. It sounds like a lie even to me.’

Feeling defeated, Lee Han changed the subject.

“That’s not important. Anyway, Nigisor. This spirit is very evil and despicable, so even if it treats you well, you should never trust it. Ignore it even if it tries to coax you into a contract.”

It was a statement that Hwacheon General would have been furious to hear.

He had been following Lee Han around because of his strange tastes, but Hwacheon General was originally a spirit who didn’t even have contractors.

What was so good about a young priest like Nigisor that such a violent spirit would make a contract with him? That statement was an insult to Hwacheon General.

“Wodanaz, that’s not exactly the best way to convince him.”

“You don’t have to say all that…”

Siana and Tijilling stopped Lee Han at the same time. It was an attitude that showed no faith in their friend.

Nigisor protested, as if dissatisfied.

“I don’t know why you shouldn’t tell me.”

“Why else? All the priests except Nigisor know the reason.”

“Ah, I’m just a little… worried that you might act rashly…”

While his two priest friends were harshly criticizing him, Lee Han opened his mouth again.

“No. I trust Priest Nigisor.”

“Yes? Really? Think about it again?”

“…That’s also true, and if I don’t tell you, you might be swayed when the spirit coaxes you.”

Lee Han whispered, and Siana finally understood. She certainly hadn’t thought of that.

Of course, Hwacheon General wasn’t thinking about that at all…

Nigisor, who was slightly choked up, shouted loudly.

“Hmph! I promise, even if that spirit contacts me, I will never give any answer.”

“Even if it coaxes you by saying it will give you flames?”

“Of course!”

“Even if it coaxes you by saying it will give you the power of truly great and powerful flames? Even if it’s the power of flames that burns endlessly like Wodanaz’s magic power?”

“Priest Siana…”

Lee Han looked at his friend with a sullen expression.

Why did his name have to come out there?

“U, ugh. Of course.”

Even Nigisor, who heard that, even hesitated for a moment. Lee Han sighed, but decided to trust his friend anyway.

…He refused for now…

“Okay. I’ll trust you. We’ll be leaving again soon, so will everyone be alright?”

“We’re fine, but Wodanaz…”

“Don’t worry. Priest Tijilling. I’m completely fine too.”

‘He doesn’t look fine at all.’

‘Honestly, I’m a little worried.’

Siana and Tijilling exchanged glances and nodded.

Wouldn’t it be better to just go back to school and let him rest?

“Ah.”

Lee Han, who was about to turn around, stopped again and looked at his friends.

“If you see any suspicious guys on the way, be sure to tell me first. Got it?”

“…F, for what reason?”

Siana, who felt a strange murderous intent, asked, slightly frightened.

“What reason… after something like this happened, we should be more careful about safety when doing requests in the future. Why, do you want to tell the professor first instead of me?”

“Ah! I thought…”

“Thought?”

“…It’s nothing! Haha. Haha… Hic.”

Siana, who was about to say, ‘I thought you were going to find the evil god worshippers first and grind them to dust,’ closed her mouth.

“You’re hiccuping a lot. Are you perhaps tired?”

“O, of course not.”

“Then that’s good.”

With those words, Lee Han really left to report the situation to the professors.

The three priests looked at each other.

“…Shouldn’t we really send him back? If he’s going to find the evil god worshippers and attack them first…”

“…S, surely he wouldn’t do that.”

After finishing things in the village and persuading the fire giants, the heat decreased noticeably quickly.

With the people’s gratitude, Lee Han and his party set off again.

-Here, have some drinks while you go. It’s ice mixed with fruit juice and sugar.

“Thank you… I am?”

The knights’ strangely kind attitude was a bonus.

It was hard to believe that there was a rule that students shouldn’t eat snacks outside that violated school rules when they went out on requests.

“Wodanaz, I heard from the mercenaries earlier that if you go about 30 minutes in this direction, there’s a restaurant that serves amazing mushroom quiche.”

“No… I’m alright.”

“W, why?! Do you dislike pie?”

“Because that village didn’t suffer any damage.”

Lee Han answered as if he was the one who was dumbfounded.

He was out on a request, not to enjoy the cuisine of the western empire.

Ibinta realized his mistake at those words. The knights next to him clicked their tongues as if displeased.

-You idiot. What did you learn when you were stealing if you can’t even flatter someone?

-If the heir changes his mind because of you and reports the mistake, are you going to take responsibility?

Ibinta, who was happy that he had survived even after making a mistake earlier, cursed the knights in his heart.

It wasn’t just his fault, but those knights were only scolding him.

‘Honorable? More like sneaky thieves!’

Perhaps those guys were thieves in their previous lives. Or at least their conscience was a thief.

Professor Garcia spoke to Professor Kirmin, who was sipping chilled apple juice with a reed straw.

“Should we buy Lee Han something when we arrive at the next village?”

‘He’s not a kid, so I don’t think he’ll feel better about something like that…’

Professor Kirmin thought so, but nodded.

Perhaps that would be better. Not for Wodanaz’s sake, but for Professor Garcia’s sake, who was worried about Wodanaz.

“You don’t have to worry too much. Professor Kim. Wodanaz is a strong enough wizard not to be shaken by this situation.”

“I guess so?”

-Stop!

In the distance, they saw a checkpoint ahead of a wooden bridge. Soldiers were waving them down, shouting.

The professors were puzzled when the checkpoint told them to stop, even though they had the magic school’s flag on the carriage, which had passage rights anywhere in the empire.

“What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you! Get out of here quickly!”

“What’s wrong with those…”

-Are they crazy?

While even the knights were dumbfounded, Lee Han suddenly leaned out of the carriage.

Then he waved his wand and immediately cast a spell. The soldiers were horrified and rolled their bodies.

BOOM! The outpost and barricades exploded.

The soldiers guarding the checkpoint were shocked when the outpost and even the barricades were destroyed.

They never expected the opponent to act like this.

“How dare you…?!”

“Judging by the fact that they are acting in disregard of the imperial law, they seem to be evil god worshippers. Let’s subdue them first?”