Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1138

The master shouted angrily. His men quickly nodded, pulled a lever on the wall, and ran into a passage. This passage led to the sewers under the city.

Crazy knights were outside, walking around. The men needed to contact their friends in the city. So, they had to use the secret passage.

“-Going to deliver the message? Hurry. Tell them everything. Don’t forget anything.”

The thieves were terrified. In the sewers, a place they thought was secret, death knights spoke to them calmly.

It was even scarier that the knights spoke as if they were just guards on patrol, talking without a care.

“-Good. Hurry up! We are busy, and our heir is even busier. If you don’t find him, even we don’t know what he will do!”

“‘Crazy wizard bastards! Crazy evil god worshippers!’ one thief thought, his heart pounding in his chest.”

Cursing everything, the thieves ran through the damp, dark sewer passage.

Why couldn’t they fight outside the city? Why bring this trouble here?

— Scene Change —

The nightmare in Bepaim City did not stop at the tavern.

If even one person was caught, they had to tell everything about the city’s hidden places to be freed. Because of this…

…many ordinary people in Bepaim City, who were secretly doing illegal business, faced trouble.

“Is this the place?” a knight asked, his voice cold. “Yes! Yes! Please, let me go!” a voice pleaded. “We’ll see if we let you go. First, we check. If the person we’re looking for isn’t here, you’re coming with me to Einrogaard.”

The smuggler looked like he was seriously thinking about drinking poison right then and there.

A long time ago, some of his friends had been taken to Einrogaard and never returned. Everyone knew the stories.

“Tell everyone inside to come out,” Lee Han said. The apothecary protested loudly. His shop, marked by a brass mortar hanging as a sign, sold not just potions but also stolen goods. This place was different from the tavern they had visited earlier.

Because it was in a busy part of the city, nobles and rich people protected this shop. The apothecary, knowing this, mentioned the name of the baron he paid the most money to.

“Are you crazy?! Do you know where you are? Baron Waltaha…” the apothecary sputtered. “Did you hear him? Go and bring this Baron here,” Lee Han said calmly. “Yes, sir,” a knight replied.

The knights left in a group, speaking in relaxed voices, like shopkeepers getting items from a shelf. Watching them, the apothecary froze, as if hit by ice magic.

This scene scared the apothecary more than any threats, shouts, or curses.

“Hmph… Don’t try to scare me. You can’t just arrest a baron in Bepaim City like that. Do you even know who the baron is?!”

“I don’t care. I’m going back to Einrogaard anyway,” Lee Han replied, sounding bored.

Lee Han thought to himself, being from Einrogaard was often useful. Especially because if he caused trouble and went back to Einrogaard, even the Empire’s laws couldn’t easily reach him.

Of course, he might get punished by the angry skeleton headmaster under Einrogaard law, but that was probably better than being punished by the Empire.

‘Maybe that’s why the older students caused trouble outside?’ Lee Han wondered.

“Hmm, that’s interesting,” one knight said. “I was wondering if that man really worships evil gods.”

Another knight asked, “Why do you think that? Is it because he looks scary?”

“No,” the first knight replied. “I became suspicious when I heard a criminal was living such a very ordered life.”

“Ah, I see!” the second knight agreed.

Baron Walta watched the knights talking and coughed, a dry, weak sound. His pajamas looked silly and did not make him seem important at all. He tried to sound strong, clearing his throat, “Ahem. Ahem.”

“Oh! Baron,” the knight said, hesitating slightly. He almost called him by the wrong name. “Is something the matter?” He quickly changed what he was going to say, not wanting to be rude by guessing the wrong name.

“Now that the business with that rude apothecary is finished, can I go home too?” Baron Walta asked.

“Yes,” a knight replied. “We will go with you.”

“Are you offering to protect me on the way?” the Baron asked.

“Protect you?” the knight repeated. “Ah… yes, that’s right. We need to go with you, and also, we need to look at your house.”

“… …” Baron Walta stopped moving, his feet suddenly feeling like they were stuck to the floor. *Did he just say ‘investigate’?* he thought, his heart pounding. “I… I must have heard wrong,” he stammered. “Why would you investigate my house?”

Lee Han answered for the knight, “We need to check your house because you took money from the apothecary. We think someone who worships evil gods might be there.”

Baron Walta became angry. “That’s ridiculous!” he shouted. “What proof do you have? Show me proof!”

“You said you got money from the apothecary,” Lee Han said calmly.

“So what?!” the Baron yelled. “Lots of people in this city got money from him!”

“Then tell us all their names,” Lee Han replied, his voice still even.

“… …” Baron Walta felt like he was arguing with a stone wall. *Who is this guy?* he thought, feeling helpless. “I will not allow you to search my house!” he declared.

“And what will you do if we search your house anyway?” the knight who had walked with the Baron asked softly.

Baron Walta stopped breathing. The knight’s question reminded him of the scary words he had heard earlier. *’By the way, Baron,’* the knight had said in a friendly voice, *’Do you know where the food and supplies for Bepaim came from? From Count Buillon’s house.’*

“The Baron is confused,” Lee Han had quickly added, his voice smooth. “We didn’t steal them. It’s because someone was stealing the help supplies…”

But Baron Walta was no longer listening to Lee Han. He was remembering the knight’s cold voice: *’Baron, we don’t warn people many times. We’ve warned you twice already. Do you think we are weak like those useless knights of the Empire?’*

Baron Walta remembered stories from when he was a child, stories in the newspapers about these knights. They were known to be cruel and destroy everything when Headmaster Skull told them to. He swallowed hard, his mouth dry. “…No,” he whispered. “No, I don’t.”

“Then be careful what you do,” the knight said, his eyes seeming to shine in a strange, scary way.

Lee Han smiled gently at the Baron. “If you help us, everything will be fine.”

“… …” Baron Walta was actually more scared of the calm wizard than the scary knights. *To control these undead knights and be so calm… that’s truly frightening!* he thought.

The night passed, and when morning came, many angry letters started arriving. Of course, the people who had been robbed the night before couldn’t send letters. But the people who had not been robbed yet were very scared and were the first to complain. They couldn’t just wait, not knowing if they would be attacked next. The first people they contacted were the bishops of the Order. The bishops were close by because Bepaim had been through so many terrible disasters.

“Bishop! Please, you must listen to us!” one man cried. “No matter why they came here, can they just ignore all the laws and rules of the Empire and do whatever they want? There are rules for everything!” These rough people, who usually ignored laws, were now talking about rules. That’s how terrified they were. *A crazy wizard and knights of death attacking people…*

But the bishops did not react as they expected at all. “Isn’t the wizard from the Wodanaz family helping with the disaster in every way he can?” one bishop asked sternly.

“If you are trying to say bad things about this young wizard because of Count Buillon’s problem, the Order will not agree,” another bishop said firmly.

“Ah, no…!” the man stammered. “It’s not about Count Buillon…! It’s just…!”

The bishops and priests in this area thought so highly of the wizard that no bad words against him worked. Some bishops even shouted at them, “How dare you say such ridiculous lies, you evil people!”

Feeling angry and helpless, the rough people looked for someone else to complain to. They thought of the wizards from other magic schools in the Empire. They weren’t very reliable, but a magic school was still a magic school…

“Great archmages of Valdrogard!” they called out. “Please, look at the terrible things this wizard is doing…”

“Hmph! I know everything!” a wizard from Valdrogard scoffed. “You evil people are trying to cause trouble between Valdrogard and Einrogard. Do you think we are stupid? Even if Wodanaz is a bit extreme, it won’t work!”

*’A bit extreme?’* a younger wizard from Valdrogard thought, unsure. But the older wizard in charge was very sure.

When no one listened to their complaints, the rough people gave up again, feeling like they could cry. “Is there no justice in the Empire?!” they wailed.

Finally, they decided to do the last thing they wanted to do: report to the government officials. There was a supervisor who had been sent ahead of the bishops because of the disaster.

The Imperial supervisor was very thin and tired from working too much. He frowned as he looked at the ruined farms and saw the group of rough people rushing towards him. He knew some of them were involved in shady deals.

“What is happening?” he asked, sounding tired.

“Your Excellency!” one of them pleaded. “Please help us with our problems!”

Imperial officials and Einrogard wizards did not like each other at all, especially the high-ranking officials. Even if it was for justice, it wouldn’t be surprising if the supervisor got angry and wrote a letter right away when he heard that Headmaster Skull’s followers were causing chaos in the city without any rules.

“Wodanaz? Did you say the Wodanaz family?” the supervisor asked, his frown deepening.

“Yes! Yes! The Wodanaz family from Einrogard!” they confirmed eagerly.

“I see,” the supervisor said slowly. “I understand. I will write a letter and send it to the Emperor. Now, go home.”

“Thank you! Thank you!” the rough people cheered, happy to finally be heard. But as soon as they left, the supervisor burned the paper he had been writing on.

*If a truly evil archmage had caused this problem, I would have reported it right away,* he thought. *But if it’s that young man from the Wodanaz family, it’s different.* The Emperor and the other officials would not punish a young wizard they liked just because of some complaints from these kinds of people. *They must have done something wrong to deserve this.*

Headmaster Skull would have been extremely jealous if he could see this, the supervisor thought with a small smile.