Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1162

Lee Han stopped, listening carefully. He was in a secret passage, but he wasn’t alone.

This wasn’t near the main entrance of the ruins. To get here, you had to find a hidden way down.

That meant the group of adventurers ahead were not just ordinary people. They knew something important to be here.

Lee Han looked around the damp passage. He could feel the magic left over from a big fight. Faint shimmering trails hung in the air, like heat rising from hot ground.

“Who are these people?” Lee Han thought. “They seem too polite to be simple adventurers.”

He had Saratan with him anyway. There was no need to sneak after other adventurers.

Surprisingly, they were the ones who called out to Lee Han’s group first.

“Wait… Just a moment! Please wait!”

“Are you wizards too? If you don’t mind me asking, who are you with? I am Garco of the Arjo family.”

Lee Han had heard of the Arjo family a few times; they were a wizarding family of some renown.

Giselle nodded, having heard of them as well.

‘An Elf race. And a Transformation wizard, it must be the Arjo family.’

An Einrogard wizard with a keen eye could easily distinguish those from the Transformation magic school.

If someone had various animal furs attached to their clothing, there was a high chance they were from the Transformation magic school.

“Indeed… Should I use the name of Steddle Nago?”

“Didn’t you just agree that he’s from the Arjo family?”

“I think he’s from the Arjo family. But he could be an evil god worshiper from the Arjo family.”

Giselle was shocked. She realised her friend, even though he was from a noble family, was acting more strangely than normal. He was already suspicious, but now he seemed truly frightening.

“Are you perhaps wizards from Einrogard?”

Lee Han was greatly surprised.

He whispered to his friends with a serious expression, “There’s a possibility that we have a spy among us.”

“N-no, not me! Wodanaz! Just because I told you off for not studying magic hard enough, you suspect me…”

“Don’t worry. I suspect Ibinta.”

Ibinta, who was waiting outside, became a spy suspect out of nowhere. It was perhaps fortunate that he was unaware of this fact.

Giselle, unable to watch any longer, asked instead, “Why do you think we’re from Einrogard?”

“Aren’t you Lee Han, a student of the Wodanaz family? Alshikel of the Pengerin family has praised you several times at the academy, so I remember you.”

“…Pengarin must have been the spy.”

“Ah, no. He wouldn’t have done it on purpose!”

The White Tiger Tower students tried to calm their friend down quickly.

Alshikel liked to brag, but they understood why he did it.

When they returned to their families, if the story of Wodanaz came up, they would shamelessly say, ‘Actually, I’m close to Wodanaz.’

The students from White Tiger Tower thought wizard academies were places where people liked to brag. They believed there was no one better to brag about than Wodanaz.

“Even so, I don’t understand how you recognized me right away, having only heard about me.”

“Alshikel of the Pengerin family even drew a portrait while praising you.”

The other wizards didn’t suspect anything, but Alshikel, wanting to prove how close they were, magically drew a wonderful portrait that no one had asked for.

Lee Han cursed Alshikel inwardly.

What kind of embarrassing senior wizard was this?

“…What do you want to talk about? We’re busy exploring the ruins.”

“Wouldn’t you like to exchange information?”

-You can ignore that kind of talk.

Saratan spoke in a dismissive way.

If it was the ruins of Bakhantala, there was no better expert than himself, a spirit.

Why exchange information with a wizard like that?

They could end up losing useful items from the ruins.

-Look at that wizard’s attire. He must have found the passage somehow, but he clearly doesn’t know how to avoid fighting. That’s why they fought so fiercely.

Saratan’s point was indeed valid. Lee Han nodded slightly.

Garco was so upright and composed that it wasn’t obvious, but the adventurers behind him were very blatant.

The adventurers behind Garco looked exhausted. Their clothes were torn, faces pale with dirt and sweat. One was nervously chewing his lip, another kept glancing over his shoulder as if expecting something to jump out.

‘Isn’t that last one a bit much?’

Lee Han was slightly taken aback.

If they were adventurers that a wizard from the Arjo family would hire, they should have some credibility and experience, yet they looked so weak.

“I can also tell you about the ruins guardian that our party just fought!”

-Persistent, aren’t they? Since it’s annoying, just tell him clearly instead.

Saratan said proudly.

Now that he had a chance to play an active role after a long time, this spirit was blind to everything else!

He would crush the insignificant information that the other party knew head-on!

-That guardian definitely had six legs.

“The guardian had six legs?”

Garco’s face wavered for the first time today. He didn’t show it in his polite way, but he was greatly impacted inside.

Wizards only shared information if it was fair to both sides. If one wizard’s information was bad, they couldn’t expect good information in return.

“That’s correct.”

“Does it use its tail as a weapon?”

“That’s also correct.”

“Does it continue to scream loudly until the intruder retreats?”

“You’re referring to the very high-pitched sound. Yes, it does.”

“No. It’s not a very high-pitched sound, just a scream.”

Garco tilted his head. The adventurers also reacted as if something was strange.

“It emitted a very high-pitched sound, though?”

-…That’s a lie! Where did that lie come from! This is why mortal beings are so insignificant and greedy!

Saratan exclaimed, flustered.

However, Lee Han was already giving him a suspicious look.

“Are you mistaken?”

-…H-how could you say that! Have I ever been wrong coming this far!

Saratan was truly wronged.

Who was it that told them the location of the passage that allowed them to go down after passing through the entrance of the ruins?

It was Saratan.

Leihan thought back to Saratan’s words. Saratan had told him, after they had escaped from the upper level, feeling ashamed, that “this room is for trapping spirits trying to get out, so you don’t need to break in.”

It was Saratan who had said that.

And it was Saratan who had given him the password Bakwantallana had prepared, just in case a magical guardian appeared.

It was all Saratan.

But now, after all that help, Saratan was silent and wouldn’t talk to him.

From inside the staff, Saratan’s voice suddenly grumbled, “Mortals! You really can’t trust them. And I thought you were my friend!”

“No, Saratan… I’m sorry,” Leihan said softly. “I do trust you.” He felt bad for doubting Saratan.

Maybe Saratan sensed Leihan’s true apology, even though he was still upset and making sobbing sounds inside the staff.

Then Leihan muttered,

“I thought that over time, even if the clockwork mechanisms remained intact, the chimeras inside might become contaminated or undergo mutations. But then, Saratan, you would have thought of that too, of course. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I formally apologize.”

“Saratan? Are you so hurt that you don’t want to answer? I understand. Talk when you feel like it.”

Saratan’s voice came hesitantly from the staff.

-It’s just… it’s embarrassing to admit, but… I didn’t think about contamination or mutation… Now that I think about it, that Watchman might have changed like that because…

“……”

-Aaaaargh!

A wave of bright blue magic suddenly burst from the staff, making Saratan scream in pain.

To suffer like this again, especially here in Bakwantallana’s ruins! This was the last place he wanted it to happen.

It was a most unpleasant coincidence.

“Indeed. Thank you for the information.”

Leihan looked at Garkoh with a renewed gaze.

Garkoh looked like a fancy man from the city, but his magical skill was quite extraordinary.

A chimera that had changed like that due to contamination was several times more difficult to deal with.

Even a Watchman created by a wizard was a formidable opponent, but having unpredictable qualities on top of that made it hell itself for intruders.

Yet this Garkoh managed to handle it somehow with pure magical skill and without any special information.

Leihan had Saratan’s advice, but the opposing wizard was truly remarkable.

‘Indeed. Just because someone is sociable doesn’t necessarily mean they are bad at magic. That’s prejudice, too.’

Leihan reproached himself.

Leihan thought about the students at his school… no, at *some* magic schools. He thought they might be sociable, but that didn’t mean all friendly wizards were bad at magic.

“Um, excuse me, wizards from Einrogard. If this ruin has been contaminated due to the blasphemous rituals of the evil god worshippers… shouldn’t we seal it off first and then approach it after a purification process?”

The adventurers offered a truly textbook opinion.

Only slightly mad wizards tried to finish everything at once when exploring ruins.

The usual process was to approach and check first, and if it wasn’t as dangerous as they thought, they would continue to enter, and if it was more dangerous, they would retreat and come up with countermeasures.

They couldn’t bring themselves to pressure Garkoh, so they hoped that the wizards from Einrogard would support their opinion.

However, these adventurers were very unlucky.

Of all people, Leihan, burning with revenge, was leading the Einrogard wizards.

“If the energy of the evil god worshippers has infiltrated it, we need to go in even faster and check the state. If, by any chance, it’s something they planned deliberately, shouldn’t we punish them?”

‘…Wizards are all crazy!’

The adventurers screamed inwardly.

Do these wizards not know what fear is?

They were boldly declaring that they would go inside, not knowing what mutations or contamination might have occurred.

Perhaps such boldness was the qualification for those who walked the path of magic.

Garkoh nodded, as if he expected this from Leihan. ‘If you are Leihan, from the brave Wodanaz family, I would have expected you to say that.’

If Alsicl was right, the level of danger they faced today couldn’t stop this bold genius wizard.

Unless the danger was too small and boring for a genius wizard like him.

“?”

Leihan sensed a misunderstanding in the other person’s reaction, but his head was so full of thoughts about the evil god worshippers that he didn’t bother to ask.

“In exchange for the information, I will share one piece of information that I know. Don’t blame me if it’s wrong.”

“Of course.”

“The way to go down from here is to find the Bakwantallana’s emblem. The condition is to recite the password ‘Great Devotion to Magic’ in front of the Bakwantallana’s emblem.”

“!”

“!!”

“!!!”

Not only Garkoh but also Giselle and Caton were greatly surprised.

To think it was Bakwantallana’s ruins!

The White Tiger Tower students stood blankly as if they weren’t interested, but when Leihan and Giselle glared fiercely at them, they shouted loudly.

“Ba, Bakwantallana! To think it was Bakwantallana’s ruins!”

“I couldn’t have imagined it! We’re so lucky!”

“…At least memorize the name properly.”

“Sniffle.”

The White Tiger Tower students, who were scolded from both sides, searched for Bakwantallana’s emblem with pitiful faces.

Leihan said in a disapproving voice.

“If you spent less time talking about unimportant things and more time on magic, you would have received half the scolding from Moradi.”

“But it wouldn’t have been as fun… Ah. No. Good advice. Wodanaz.”

The White Tiger Tower students quickly changed their words.

‘The Watchman is no longer visible.’

-That’s natural. Bakwantallana hated inefficiency, so he precisely placed only a fixed number in each area. The contaminated Watchman wouldn’t have followed those rules and wandered around the area as he pleased, so the other Watchmen would have been destroyed.

‘That’s a relief, at least.’

Frankly speaking, Leihan didn’t want to fight the Watchman that Garkoh mentioned.

Even with Caton, he was a more formidable opponent than he had thought.

If they found the way down, he wanted to check the contamination and then focus only on the goal.

“Ah. Mr. Arjo.”

“Please call me Garkoh. Student Leihan.”

“Thank you. Mr. Garkoh.”

Leihan was quite fond of this wizard from the Transformation Magic school.

His magical skills were excellent, his work was decent, and above all, he had a sociable personality.

A wizard like that was always worth several people.

“How much do you know about Bakwantallana?”

“I’ve heard about him a few times when learning enchantment magic.”