Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1173

That’s a fair point. It’s no wonder they fell from grace.

Hoping for such an opportunity to arise someday, the hag demurred.

If you want their heads, I’ll chop them off for you. It’s hardly a difficult task.

If only the others were as spirited as you. This old woman’s contractor will be pleased.

Contractor?

The bishop of the evil god’s cult was greatly surprised.

That hag is lending her power to a mortal?

Either that mortal is exceedingly to her liking, or those Sanguis fellows have truly insulted her.

‘The latter, I suspect.’

The hag was a powerful being, but possessed a temperament far too eccentric to simply take a liking to a mortal.

Clearly, she had chosen him as a pawn in her game against those Sanguis fellows.

The bishop surmised that the contractor’s fate would end tragically. A truly insignificant destiny it was.

Why, am I not allowed to make contracts?

No, you are.

The more kindly the hag spoke, the more dangerous she became.

Having learned the name of his enemy, the undead decided not to provoke her further.

You may tell your contractor that I am willing to cooperate when it comes to severing their heads.

The undead never imagined that the contractor could be a student at a magic school.

Having made a contract with a hag, he assumed that the contractor would at least be a magical criminal or a doomsday prophet.

Having obtained what she wanted, the hag grinned slyly.

‘Such an easy fellow.’

How refreshing. Very well, I understand!

What sort of being is this contractor? A doomsday prophet, perhaps?

The hag pretended not to hear the last question and popped the toad.

“By the way, junior.”

“Yes?”

After the hag had departed, Lee Han was once again focused on the blueprints as if nothing had happened.

Catton, feeling a renewed sense of awe at his junior’s concentration, continued.

“I heard that you intend to continue stealing the evil god cult’s authority, is that correct?”

“Yes? Yes. I’m especially planning to steal about ten of the Sanguis cult’s authorities.”

“…Is that so?”

Catton shuddered at the meticulousness of having already decided on a number.

“Well, junior. You probably know more about magic than I do. The cult’s authority is divine magic, so it’s the same. But I’m a little worried about you stealing their authority.”

“Worried? In what way?”, Lee Han asked, puzzled, turning his gaze.

Theoretically, to Lee Han, the evil god cult’s authority was no different from ordinary magic, as long as he could steal it.

It required mana in return, which Lee Han had in abundance.

“When wielding a sword, there are times when one becomes obsessed with secret techniques that are beyond one’s current capabilities.”

Catton recounted an anecdote from his past when he had just awakened his aura.

Awakening one’s aura meant that a warrior could wield their own mana as naturally as their own limbs.

Naturally, Catton was excited and tried out every secret sword technique he had never used before, one by one.

But that was a premature notion.

Just as having limbs did not mean one could perform every movement naturally, awakening one’s aura did not mean one could perfectly master every secret sword technique.

Greed soon led to tragic consequences. Catton wore a deeply regretful expression.

“I still regret it. Failing to control the power contained in my sword, I accidentally…”

“Su, surely you didn’t cut down another student?”

“…I destroyed a pasture that the giants were tending. The sheep inside all ran away.”

“……”

Lee Han, who had been tense, glared slightly at his senior.

You startled me!

Of course, it was quite a feat for those large sheep to have escaped. The giants would be furious if you told them it was nothing.

“Everyone makes mistakes in life, don’t they?”

“The story doesn’t end there.”

“Yes?”

“No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t shake the secret technique from my mind, so I went back the next day and tried again. And again, I lost control…”

“……”

“I destroyed the newly repaired pasture. The sheep that had been recovered ran away again.”

Catton repeated this for about a week.

So much so that the giants gave up on the pasture and left for another place.

“Was there a reason you had to do it there?”

“To verify the power of the secret technique, I needed at least two large cliffs nearby, and it wasn’t easy to find such a place.”

Catton said with a voice full of regret.

Lee Han wanted to ask what kind of sword technique required two large cliffs, but he refrained.

“Anyway, junior. I learned a lesson that day.”

“Don’t practice great magic near pastures?”

“That too, but that if you become too obsessed with power, you actually become weaker.”

Catton was serious.

If it were just training magic, it would be fine, but constantly stealing the evil god cult’s authority was a different story.

The path of power that one built up oneself and the power that an evil god bestowed were clearly different.

Even if there was no price to pay, could there really be no influence?

Catton was skeptical in that regard. He was especially worried because his junior seemed to be focusing even more on power these days.

“…Indeed.”

Lee Han took his senior’s words seriously. Hearing his concerns, he realized there was a point.

‘Certainly, the structure of divine magic’s authority is quite alien.’

Others offered faith and borrowed that power, but Lee Han himself interpreted it as offering mana and borrowing it in return.

If the former was worship, the latter was equivalent exchange.

Lee Han couldn’t explain exactly why this was possible.

Whether it was because of the amount of mana, because he was skeptical of faith and approached it practically, or because of his innate sense…

But one thing was certain: he was using mana as a price.

Even if it was a being without an ego, a mass of unconsciousness, was it wise to pour mana into an evil god?

On a total scale, it might be like adding a drop of water to the ocean, but it was still unsettling.

‘And apart from that, Senior Catton’s words are fundamentally correct…’

Power itself was not a sin, but blindly pursuing power would inevitably narrow one’s vision.

Recalling his memories, there were several times when Lee Han had almost fallen to corruption.

Mostly when he was trying to harass Professor Verdus or Professor Verdus’s star pupil…

“I understand what you mean, Senior.”

“That’s a relief, then.”

Catton said with a slightly relieved voice.

He had been worried that his junior might reject his advice.

Wizards were generally not good at listening to others. Especially the more skilled they were.

“I should be careful about using it unless it’s really necessary.”

“That’s a good thought, Junior.”

“And I’ll also reinterpret the stolen authority into magic and launder it.”

“I, I hadn’t thought of that…”

Catton almost recoiled in horror.

Catton thought of himself as being quite serious about magic, but when he talked to his junior, he often felt, ‘I still have a long way to go.’

Isn’t this what a real wizard should be like?

Lee Han asked, puzzled.

“Isn’t it better to bring it over with my magic than to just seal it away forever?”

“…That’s right! You’re right, Junior. Haha.”

Catton was about to say, ‘Normally, you’d just think about sealing it away, not about recreating it with magic; only a madman would do that,’ but he stopped himself.

He should encourage his junior; there was no need to dampen his spirits.

-Are you inside?

“Come in.”

Lee Han personally opened the door at the familiar voice from outside. Professor Taswhan of Kallarograd entered as if to say thank you.

“Thank you so much for welcoming me.”

“Don’t mention it. Kallarograd and Einrograd are fellow magic schools of the Empire.”

At the warm words of support, Taswhan smiled faintly.

“Did you bring something to ask the hag? I’ll tell you in advance, there’s no guarantee she’ll answer.”

“That alone is enough.”

Lee Han placed a warm honey tea in front of him as a sign of welcome. Taswhan took a sip and exclaimed.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had such delicious tea before!”

“Never?”

Taswhan nodded, sipping. Lee Han glanced at Catton for a moment, then shouted fiercely.

“Senior, attack!”

As a fifth-year senior, Catton didn’t ask why. He immediately rushed at his opponent and beat him fiercely.

The attacks targeted the larynx, wrists, and staff first, to seal off the movements needed for magic. Taswhan, screaming, fell to the ground and reverted to his original form.

“Wait, stop! Stop! I’m not a suspicious person!”

“……”

“……”

The one who shouted, with blood streaming from his nose, was surprisingly a descendant of Ahrak.

He had brazenly come disguised as Professor Taswhan.

“Move and I’ll cut you down, assassin.”

As befitting someone from a knightly family, Catton did not stand on ceremony in this situation. With his ears and beard bristling, he exuded a murderous aura.

Before his senior could reduce the number of Imperial black mages by one, Lee Han hurriedly stopped him.

“Senior. Calm down. He probably came to ask about the hag, not to assassinate me.”

“Tha, that’s right! Why would I assassinate you, you little brat!”

The black mage of the descendant protested at the truly absurd misunderstanding.

But Catton didn’t even pretend to listen.

“You have many enemies, Junior, so it wouldn’t be strange if someone was bribed to come.”

“…I don’t want to admit it, but thank you for your concern, for now.”

While the two were talking, the black mage wiped his nose, sniffling.

To be ambushed and beaten up like this by a young whippersnapper at my age.

“How? How did you recognize the disguise?”

This was no ordinary disguise. The descendants of Ahrak did not use the obvious disguises that ordinary wizards did.

Because they themselves were excellent wizards, they knew well the reasons why they were easily discovered.

One of the biggest reasons was the mana pattern emitted by living beings, and the next was the shape of the soul.

Ordinary wizards only changed the outer layer and imitated the shape, but excellent wizards could see inside.

So this descendant had prepared very meticulously.

He had forged his mana to match the reagent pouches and artifacts that Professor Taswhan carried, and he had also transformed the shape of his soul so that there was no difference on the surface.

If one investigated deeply or lost their composure, the sense of incongruity would be revealed, but there was rarely a need to go that far in ordinary situations anyway.

It was indeed the essence of over a hundred years of black magic experience: a subtle and cunning disguise.

‘But how was I discovered?’

“Professor, you haven’t had honey tea for the first time.”

Lee Han explained calmly.

When the professor and the Kallarograd students visited the school before, Professor Mortuum had arbitrarily served Lee Han’s honey tea to the guest.

It was tea that had been made for Senior Dirett and the other seniors.

“Even now, I still think it’s… really, to arbitrarily bestow that on someone else, it’s truly absurd.”

‘…Pe, petty!’

Catton exclaimed inwardly.

To still remember such a minor incident from the beginning of the year so vividly…!

He was so petty that it was hard to believe he was the wizard who had just demonstrated such magical abilities.

The black mage seemed to think so too, as he looked dumbfounded.

“So, so I was discovered for such a reason?! That… wait, so if you have any complaints about the Einrograd Black Magic School, come to the Descendants of Ahrak! I’ll give you enough ingredients to fill a bathtub with that honey tea!”

If the other party accepted, it would be a truly absurd deal that would go down in the history of black magic.

A black mage who would go down in history transferring affiliations because of a cup of honey tea.

Catton, nervous, watched with bated breath. Finally, Lee Han answered.

“No, thank you.”

“Why?!”

“A place that tries to extort questions by disguising themselves as other black mages is a bit…”

“……”

The black mage was speechless at the irrefutable truth.