Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1136

A powerful voice boomed from a stage in the town square, echoing across the open space. The speaker was talking about the recent disaster, his words filled with urgency and concern. Caught up in the emotion of the moment, Jandanney started clapping loudly.

His junior, a Baldrogard student standing beside him, nudged him nervously. “Um, Senior Jandanney,” he whispered, his face turning slightly red. “Are we… are we supposed to be clapping?”

Jandanney stopped clapping and looked at him, surprised. “Why not?” he asked, with a confident shrug.

The junior, Jangbir, hesitated. He knew students from Baldrogard were expected to be serious and reserved in public. Clapping felt… wrong, somehow. But Jandanney looked so sure of himself.

“Well… isn’t it against the rules?” Jangbir mumbled, unsure if he remembered correctly.

Jandanney chuckled. “Do you really think the rules are there to stop us from showing support?”

“…What nonsense… Ah, sorry,” Jangbir apologized. He was a third-year student from the Laban family at Baldrogard. Jandanney, however, was too excited to notice his junior’s apology.

“Um, senior. Aren’t the rules made to prevent things like this?” Jangbir asked, confused.

“No, rules are originally made to help people,” Jandanney stated firmly.

“…If you put it that way, Count Buillon is also protected by the rules.”

“That’s…” Jandanney hesitated, caught off guard. Jangbir pressed his advantage.

“If someone raided your family’s mansion, would you react the same way!?”

“If something like that happened to our family, we’d offer our wealth first!” Jandanney retorted.

“P-Please, you two. Don’t argue.” The acolytes intervened, trying to calm them down.

It wouldn’t be a laughing matter if the wizards who came to help were fighting over such a trivial reason.

Jandanney, acting like a proper senior, apologized first. “I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry,” Jangbir replied.

“But I think such boldness… might be the reason for Einrogard’s reputation,” Jandanney said seriously.

Baldrogard and Einrogard were the two leading magic schools of the Empire, but most people considered Einrogard to be superior.

Jandanney believed that one reason for this was their difference in boldness. While Baldrogard students hesitated, Einrogard students acted first and asked questions later.

Jangbir, initially lukewarm, began to waver at his senior’s words. “…Maybe there’s a bit of truth to that.”

“Right? Let’s go and see how they’re doing things. We’ll observe and learn from their good ideas,” Jandanney suggested.

‘How exactly are we supposed to learn from attacking a mansion and confiscating property?’ Jangbir wondered as he followed Jandanney.

No matter how he thought about it, it seemed difficult…

The scene was chaotic. People crowded around, some with bandages, some crying, all reaching out for help. Yihan and his friends quickly handed out bottles of potion and bags of food in the dusty square.

“The healing potions are over here! Take them with you!” someone shouted.

“Don’t give out the greasy food right away! It could make things worse!” another voice warned.

By the time the Baldrogard students arrived, Yihan and his group had already finished one round of work. They collapsed on the spot, exhausted. Even Professor Garcia looked tired.

“Hello, Professor,” Jandanney greeted her.

“Ah. You are…” Professor Garcia immediately recognized the Baldrogard students. Their attire, made of high-quality fabrics that shone brilliantly even from afar, was hard to miss.

“So, you’ve come from Baldrogard to help!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, that’s right,” Jandanney confirmed.

Professor Garcia turned to her students and whispered, “No asking why they came, no saying they should have just sent money, just… say nothing at all.”

“…We didn’t say anything, Professor,” Yihan and his friends replied, dumbfounded. They had just been trying to catch their breath.

Seeing their bewildered faces, Professor Garcia softened her expression and apologized. “I’m sorry, everyone. The Einrogard students tend to start fights whenever they see Baldrogard students.”

The previous classes had caused so many problems that Professor Garcia felt the need to intervene preemptively.

Yihan nodded in understanding. “Those older students, really… We’re different, so you don’t have to worry, Professor.”

Siana tapped him on the side. “Mr. Wodanaz.”

“?” Yihan tilted his head in bewilderment. “What’s wrong?”

“Actually, I was going to say ‘they should have just sent money’…” Siana admitted.

“…I’m really grateful you didn’t,” Yihan said, nodding deeply at his friend’s honesty.

‘From now on, I need to keep a close eye on Siana whenever I see Baldrogard students,’ he thought.

“Ah! Wodanaz!!!” Jandanney spotted Yihan and greeted him enthusiastically.

He couldn’t believe he would see the sixth-year Einrogard student he had met last time here!

“Do you know him?” Jangbir asked.

“He’s my friend. I told you about him before,” Jandanney replied.

The acolytes all stared at Yihan, listening to Jandanney’s words. Yihan answered in a reluctant voice. “That’s just his one-sided claim.”

“It’s really nice to meet you, Wodanaz. To think we’d meet like this,” Jandanney said cheerfully.

“Ah. Yes. It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Jandanney…” Yihan replied.

“Just call me Jandanney! Haha!”

“It’s even nicer to see you here, Mr. Jandanney,” Yihan repeated, pointedly using the formal title.

With so many eyes watching, he didn’t want rumors spreading that ‘Einrogard’s Wodanaz and Baldrogard’s Alzadk are so close.’ He would be mortified.

As Jandanney continued his blatant display of friendliness, Siana whispered from behind, like a snake, “You know, he’s not that bad…”

Siana struggled as two priests pulled her away from Wodanaz. “Really? Dragging me like this?” she complained loudly. “You could have just sent money! Why do we always have to get involved?”

Wodanaz waved a hand dismissively. “Tisseling, Nigisor, deal with her. Keep her busy.”

The priests, Tisseling and Nigisor, chuckled nervously as they hauled Siana down the dusty street. Siana’s grumbles echoed behind them. “You’ll regret this, Wodanaz! I’m telling you!”

Zandanni approached Wodanaz. “I heard a rumour on my way here that Count Bouillon’s assets had been seized.”

“Ah. Yes.”, Wodanaz replied.

“That’s really true?!” Zandanni exclaimed, looking shocked when Wodanaz readily admitted it.

Zandanni’s junior, Jangbir, who was standing next to him, was equally shocked. Hearing a rumour was one thing, but having the person involved admit it was quite another.

“I was surprised to hear the rumour, but when I thought about it, not many Einrogard students would be able to do something so bold. As expected of Wodanaz… I’m impressed. I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Ihan felt a sense of unease. It was as if these Valdrogard students were under some strange misunderstanding.

“You don’t think we just went into the mansion and forcibly seized the assets, do you?” Ihan asked.

“Eh? Isn’t that what happened?” Zandanni asked.

Ihan exclaimed, looking dumbfounded. “Of course not!”

Ihan thought, *These people can’t think clearly. That’s why these false rumours are spreading everywhere.*

“Absolutely not. This is the result of following legitimate procedures.”

Suppressing his exasperation, Ihan explained the details of the situation to the Valdrogard students. “Originally, this Count was in charge of relief supplies, but it was discovered that he had been embezzling them… Do you understand?”

Zandanni looked uneasy. Jangbir asked him, “Senior. What’s wrong?”

“Something’s strange. It’s not easy to get caught for corruption with those kinds of relief supplies.”

Count Bouillon’s region was administratively separate from the disaster-stricken areas, so supplies hadn’t been mobilised yet. So, the only people who would be checking this would be imperial officials on patrol or priests from the Order on inspection.

Zandanni continued, “The fact that busy Einrogard wizards had checked this feels strange. Didn’t they receive a tip-off?”

Jangbir responded, “If they had received a tip-off, they would have gone to the officials or priests first, not to the busy Einrogard wizards passing by. How many officials and priests are there right now because of the disaster?”

“Indeed. Wait. Then what does that mean? Could it be…” Zandanni paused.

“Maybe they beat him up first and then found a plausible reason later,” Zandanni finished.

Zandanni guessed almost right. Jangbir felt a chill. Even if he was eccentric, to storm into the Count’s mansion, beat everyone up, and then look for a reason…

Jangbir wondered, *If there wasn’t a plausible reason, what on earth were they planning to do? Isn’t he a madman?*

“Hmm. Still, he’s an impressive madman,” Zandanni said.

Jangbir exclaimed, “If he’s crazy, he’s crazy…! Senior, don’t you know the saying: don’t get involved with the Wodanaz family?”

“That’s just nonsense from people who don’t know magic,” Zandanni replied.

“Magicians say that too!” Jangbir insisted.

Ihan overheard their voices and guessed what they were talking about, but he didn’t bother to intervene. Rather, he hoped that the junior would persuade Zandanni. It would be annoying if a Valdrogard student (even a senior one) kept chasing after him.

However, Zandanni was stubborn. It wasn’t for nothing that he had visited Einrogard.

“It’s not true friendship to distance yourself from a friend just because they’re violent and eccentric. Wodanaz is my friend,” Zandanni declared.

“That’s true, but…” Jangbir mumbled.

Ihan was about to tell the junior not to give up, but he restrained himself. Instead, he gave up and changed the subject.

“Of course, we were in a hurry, so we acted as quickly as possible, but we don’t want to make Count Bouillon look worse than he already does. So, please don’t go around talking about it.”

“I understand. But…” Zandanni hesitated.

Ihan was puzzled. What was this Valdrogard student, who seemed to have no worries at all, hesitating about?

“Actually, my friend in Valdrogard sent me a letter earlier. He asked if it was true that a wizard from the Wodanaz family had robbed Count Bouillon…”

Ihan spun around, his eyes wide with shock. Then the knights frantically waved their hands.

The knights said, “It wasn’t us! Honestly, how could there not be someone to spread the rumour when there are so many people in that area?”

“Still, just don’t go around talking about it anymore,” Ihan said.

With those words, Ihan turned away abruptly. Professor Garcia watched his disciple’s back, which seemed even more deflated, and thought, *Student Ihan, you’ve given up…*

The air of resignation, as if he had half given up on how the rumour would spread, was felt from his disciple’s back.

Night fell. While everyone was fast asleep, Ihan got up and called the knights. “Well. Even if we give up on the rumour, I have no intention of giving up on the search.”

The knights thought, *He’s still angry about the rumour spreading.*

Regardless of his anger about the rumour spreading, Ihan had not abandoned the idea of preemptively searching for the evil god worshippers wherever he went. *Just you wait until you show up!*

The knights thought, *Perhaps his anger about the rumour spreading has shifted to anger towards the evil god worshippers…*

Professor Garcia would have stopped him immediately, but the knights were different. Originally, when people get angry, they should take revenge. Even Professor Garcia wasn’t qualified to lecture his disciple on that point. He lived through his rebellious phase just fine…

“Mr. Ibinta. Please guide us to all the places in Bepaim City where suspicious people might gather,” Ihan requested.

Ibinta’s eyes sparkled, finally getting a chance to be active. “Yes! I understand!” The Skull Principal had assigned him for this reason, but it seemed like he had been doing other things since the request came in.

“But wouldn’t this many people be too conspicuous, even if we go into a bar?” Ihan asked.

Ihan paused. “I have a plan. We’ll disguise ourselves as travelling merchants and divide the group… Wait.”

He could hear the voices of his friends, who should have been sleeping in the lodgings upstairs in the mansion, coming from among the knights.