Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1176

However, none of the descendants of Ahrak dared to step forward and say, “I am the right person for this job!”

They all knew they were easily tricked by smooth talk.

This was a problem because there were no new members in the group. It was always the same old group, so there was no one new to send when trouble arose.

“I’ll go and try to persuade him,” one of them said.

“Don’t be stupid, Ninth,” another replied.

“Don’t even go outside. Just stay here in the catacombs.”

“If you go out, I’ll kill you.”

The ninth descendant of Ahrak was surprised by the sharp reaction from his comrades. Their words were as sharp as a blade.

“…Why, why! I’m the only one here who can persuade that young one!”

“Persuade, you say? If that’s persuasion, then stealing is just borrowing without asking.”

“Ninth, remember the Emperor’s favors. Don’t risk losing them. Behave yourself.”

“Understood.”

A moment of silence hung in the air.

Then another descendant spoke.

“Has that bloke gone outside yet?”

“He definitely has.”

“…Contact the Second and Third and tell them to stop him. Just make sure he doesn’t cause any trouble.”

Professor Mortum coughed repeatedly as a cold wind blew through the courtyard. The students of the Dark Arts group gave him suspicious glances.

“Isn’t he just pretending to be sick again?” one student asked.

“There’s a good chance. He definitely did it last time…” another added.

“What…! You wicked students,” Professor Mortum said, pretending to be offended by his students’ doubts.

Of course, Professor Mortum had used various tricks to get out of troublesome tasks.

-Cough, suddenly the old wound from Ahrak’s red poison…

-Oh dear. We’ll take care of the corpse disposal!

-Cough, this time it’s the curse I suffered during the mold plague…

-…Oh dear. Then we’ll check the expiration dates on the poisons in the storage room.

-Cough, cough.

-Sigh. We’ll do it. What is it this time? Grading?

-This time, I just coughed!

However, these tricks stopped working after only a year or two in the Dark Arts group. Unless they had a personality like Dirette, everyone couldn’t help but look at their teacher with disdain, no matter who they were.

Oguldos was the same.

“Professor, I’m only saying this because I truly care about the group. Please, try to keep the pretending to a minimum…”

“Cough, I told you I’m not pretending! Stop suspecting me. I took on the work last time and handled it, why can’t you remember that?”

“That was because His Majesty forced you to do it.”

“No, I was going to take it on anyway. Cough. Oh, a letter has arrived.”

Professor Mortum quickly changed the subject as his students were starting to look angry, and he could feel their complaints about to explode. He wasn’t a professor for nothing.

“Didn’t you prepare the letter in advance?”

“Garcia sent it!” Professor Mortum shouted loudly enough for all his students to hear, and quickly unfolded the letter. He needed to read the letter’s contents quickly, if only to avoid his wicked students’ misunderstandings.

To Professor Mortum,

Dark wizards from the ‘Descendants of Ahrak,’ the ‘Oondorgu Legion,’ and the ‘Obsidian Magic Tower’ have arrived at the Moradi family’s fortress and are trying to invite Ihan. I thought you should know.

Garcia Kim

“!??!” Professor Mortum’s legs momentarily gave way, and he staggered. His students chided him again at the sight.

“Professor, if you’re going to be like that, just go inside and rest.”

“What’s really wrong with you?”

“You… you foolish lot…”

Another letter flew towards the staggering Professor Mortum.

To Professor Mortum,

I’m sending this as an addition because I left something out. It would be better for Dirette to come than for you to come, Professor. The dark wizards seem to hold a lot of resentment towards you.

Garcia Kim

“???” Professor Mortum was once again taken aback by the letter’s contents.

If he was taken aback by the betrayal of the dark wizards just now, this time he was truly bewildered. Meanwhile, curious students came over and read the letter.

“Wodanaz got scouted!?”

“It would be strange if he didn’t get scouted, actually. If only the Professor didn’t pretend to be sick so much…”

“…Cough, that’s not the important thing. The fact that these dark wizards hold a grudge. That’s what’s important.”

Professor Mortum couldn’t understand. Why on earth would those old dark wizards hold a grudge against him?

“Professor, perhaps…”

“Cough. If you bring up the pretending illness story again, I’ll turn you into a ghoul.”

“…No, sir. Haha.”

The Dark Arts group student, who was about to bring up the pretending illness story again, stepped back awkwardly. Oguldos asked, puzzled.

“Could it be because we’ve become a bit wealthier recently?”

“……”

“……”

“…Oguldos. I don’t think that’s it.”

The students were shocked by the silly idea. Of course, the Einrogard Dark Arts group’s economic situation had improved slightly, but it was nowhere near enough to inspire jealousy. If anything, it would inspire sympathy…

“Did we do too well in the Dark Arts presentation? But the Descendants of Ahrak also presented good dark magic…”

“Are they envious of us living outside the graveyard?”

“That’s not it. They prefer living inside the graveyard. I don’t understand.”

Professor Mortum thought for a moment, then shrugged. Dark wizards were all strange to begin with. Moreover, these dark wizards usually lived in seclusion among themselves, so their strange behavior was even stronger.

“Cough, there must be some misunderstanding. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“That seems likely.”

This time, even the students defended Professor Mortum. Of course, the Einrogard Dark Arts group professor often pretended to be sick and deceived his students, but he wasn’t the type to go around rudely picking fights with people. If anything, he’d cough and try to gain sympathy!

“You should go quickly and stop them.”

“Cough. There’s no need to rush so much. It’s not like Wodanaz is going to join another dark magic guild.”

“You should go quickly and stop them.”

“……”

Professor Mortum felt a slight pang of disappointment at his students’ cold reaction. Would it hurt them to say, even as just something nice to say, ‘No, Wodanaz respects you, Professor, so he won’t go anywhere else’?

“Alright. Alright. I’ll have to go and call Dirette.”

“I’ll go and get him. He’ll be in the dormitory tower…”

“Cough. No. He’s in the library.”

“Yes? Why?”

“…There’s a newly discovered dark magic, and I’m comparing how similar its structure is to the structures of existing magics.”

“Senior Dirette added another new research topic?!” The students were astonished. Even though Dirette was known as a dedicated, even obsessed, student, adding another research topic was surprising.

Professor Mortum suppressed his embarrassment and replied.

“Cough. That’s a dark magic that I discovered.”

“……”

“……”

The students present momentarily thought. Wodanaz might really go to another dark magic group!

The Hag asked, sounding bewildered, “What are you all doing?”

Unpleasant dark wizards (some of whom were actually corpses) with the stench of corpses were gathered in Ihan’s lodgings, engrossed in magic as if they were about to bury their noses in the table.

Ihan apologized politely. “Ah. I’m sorry. We were just discussing magic.”

Having been forced to give up the Eye of Ahrak, these descendants of Ahrak were very angry. Of course, it wasn’t really forced, and was closer to them giving it away as they pleased, but the truth didn’t matter to the strange dark wizards.

-You lot, show us some magic!

-Grrrr (Why should we)?

-Ha. Are you perhaps scared? Scared that you’ll master it faster than the Eye of Ahrak? Well, your magic is simple, after all.

-Grrr (How dare you say that)?!

The other dark wizards immediately fell for the provocation. They immediately began to select the most difficult and challenging magics from those they had put into this masterpiece.

-I’m not interested in that magic…

-Grrr (Master it)!

-Not interested? Even better! Master it quickly!

-No, I’m saying I’m not interested…

The dark wizards, their eyes glazed over, didn’t listen to Ihan and clamored for him to master the magic quickly. In the end, Ihan gave up and began practicing the dark magic developed by the Oondorgu Legion.

And he succeeded in mastering it.

-…Haha! Hahahahaha! Look! I mastered it faster than the Eye of Ahrak!

-Grrr (The structure itself is simple, and the magic that bloke mastered from Gonadalthes)…

-Quiet! Anyway, I mastered it faster than the Eye of Ahrak, so your magic is simple! Now. You’re next!

-What are you even saying? I’m paying for this myself! I’m not using Obsidian Magic Tower secrets for your silly bets.

-Grrr (Are you scared)?

-Hmph. Even if you say that, I won’t do it.

-That’s it. That kind of persuasion won’t work on that bloke. Listen carefully, young one. If you don’t participate properly, we and the Oondorgu Legion will join forces and spread the word to all the wizards that the Obsidian Magic Tower’s magic is terrible. We’ll even have to report to His Majesty the Emperor. We’ll have to say, can we really give the authority of the Magic Tower to blokes like this?

-…Don’t lie.

The Obsidian Magic Tower’s wizard ignored the other party’s threat. No matter what, there was no way they would really do such a thing. Because of such a trivial reason, those lazy blokes would travel all over the Empire, spreading the word about ‘why the Obsidian Magic Tower’s magic is terrible’?

Even in front of the Emperor and officials?

-Look into my eyes. Does it look like I’m bluffing?

-Grrr (I’m definitely doing it).

-…You damned old blokes!

In the end, even the Obsidian Magic Tower’s wizard joined the bet. The Hag listened to the explanation and gave a look full of contempt.

‘I thought they were foolish blokes, but I didn’t expect them to be even more foolish than I thought.’

“Oh, and this bloke crawling around on all fours…”

They must have made a bet. I’m not curious.

The Hag replied coldly. “Wizards crawl around sometimes. It’s nothing new.”

“So, how did the negotiations go?”

“Yes, that’s what I wanted to talk about. Good! Congratulations, young one. You’re lucky.”

The Hag cackled and congratulated Ihan. Certainly, the wizard before her seemed to be followed by powerful luck. Something that could be called divine favor, or even destiny. Otherwise, there was no way that the evil god worshiper would have his authority taken away and be played with in the palm of her hand simply because he was involved.

“Did it go well?!”

“Yes. If we find the Sanguinross blokes, we can make the two clash. Just imagining them fighting and tearing at each other already makes me happy, doesn’t it you?”

“Not to that extent.”

“What a boring bloke. You’ve already become cold to this old woman now that you’ve gotten what you wanted.”

“No, ma’am. Would you like some tea?”

“…That’s a novel suggestion? More importantly, call those dark wizards over here. They’re just fledglings, but they’re awfully arrogant.”

The Hag was someone who valued etiquette. She could never tolerate the dark wizards ignoring her when she appeared.

“I’m sorry. They’re not usually like this, but they’re currently looking for difficult dark magic to win a bet… Oh, and they usually respect you, Hag.”

What couldn’t one say with their mouth?

“It’s not just empty words, they really came here because they had questions for you, Hag. They were looking for that stone tablet…”

! The Hag made a spiteful expression at those words.

A very wicked revenge had come to mind.

“Then there’s no need to call them. Tell them after this old woman leaves.”