Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1178

A low growl rumbled from the shadows at the edge of the table. “Grrr… Knights again, is it?”

Dirette’s usual polite smile vanished. His voice sharpened like a honed blade. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what this is about. Of course, it’s about *you* lot!”

The dark wizards present were taken aback by this.

The Empire’s dark wizards weren’t usually on the best of terms, but there were some ideas they shared.

One of these was the evaluation of future scholars who would lead the next generation of the Empire’s dark magic school.

A steady influx of outstanding talent was essential for maintaining the lineage of the school and ensuring its prosperity.

In that regard, a wizard like Dirette joining the dark magic school was a stroke of luck that even stubborn traditionalists like the Descendants of Ahrak couldn’t deny.

And yet, here was such a junior losing his temper.

“What in the world are you going on about? What are *we* supposed to have done?”

“Stop lying. It won’t work. You all know very well what you’ve done yourselves.”

The dark wizards finally wore ashamed expressions.

On reflection, it was only natural that Dirette was so angry.

They hadn’t invited the Einrogard dark magic school to the Northern crisis.

“Grrrr… That’s the Descendants of Ahrak for you.”

“…Sorry. Mortum was being too obnoxious… But we still should have invited you.”

Dirette felt a moment of bewilderment.

“What is this about an invitation? I thought we were discussing the matter of forcibly taking my junior.”

“What invitation…”

“That’s what we were talking about. Yes! That’s what it was!”

“Kruk! Right!”

The dark wizards answered quickly. Dirette felt something was amiss, but he let it go for now.

“If you’re thinking of forcibly taking my junior, I will formally raise the issue.”

“There seems to be a misunderstanding. Of course, we made a suggestion! But we were talking about something else entirely!”

“Grrrr… We were talking about something more important!”

The dark wizards pointed to the magical documents scattered haphazardly on the table, as if they were truly wronged.

Of course, they had talked about inviting a wizard from the Wodanaz family.

But that was only for a moment, and after that, they had been steadily discussing magic.

“A discussion about magic?”

“We were discussing the magic needed for the commission to reinforce the Moradi family’s fortress.”

Catton explained kindly. Dirette’s expression softened slightly at those words.

So, they weren’t trying to forcibly drag away his junior, but were having a constructive discussion for the sake of a local family.

Perhaps Dirette had been too harsh in his assessment of the Empire’s responsible dark wizards.

“What’s this? Is this also a magical design?”

“Those are spells that the wizards have each written down to bet on how far your junior can master them.”

Dirette’s expression hardened again. The dark wizards glared at Catton.

“Grrrr… It’s a long story to explain…”

“You don’t need to explain. You happened to teach him one spell, and because he mastered it so well, you all became competitive about how much he could learn, right?”

The dark wizards were astonished.

‘Is there a spy among us?!’

Fortunately, Dirette didn’t realize that they were making such a fuss by deliberately taking the commission his junior had completed and making it more difficult.

If he had, he wouldn’t have been able to maintain his composure.

“You should all be ashamed of yourselves! Forcing a second-year student to learn something like… The Eye of Ahrak?!”

“Grrrr… He’s already been taught that…”

“Can’t you shut up?”

The Descendant of Ahrak chided the undead next to him.

What an oblivious fool!

In the meantime, the wizard from the Obsidian Magic Tower opened his mouth.

“May I say something?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Choosing the Obsidian Magic Tower over the inferior Einrogard dark magic school is a rational decision, not exactly coercion.”

In the end, despite his friends’ dissuasion, Ethan revised the completed design once more.

“It seems to have improved quite a bit.”

“It’s perfect! Let’s absolutely not fix it.”

“It seems too excellent. Ethan. If you touch this any more, it might actually get worse.”

Angalo and Derqyu praised him with a fuss and then looked at Giselle. Giselle looked absolutely disgusted, as if to say she definitely didn’t want to.

‘Are you crazy?’

The two looked at Giselle again with earnestness. It was several times more burdensome when guys who didn’t usually act like this did.

“…I also think it’s excellent, so let’s stop touching it. Wodanaz.”

“Hmm. If even Moradi is like that, it must be really good… Oh. Senior Dirette?”

Ethan paused, spotting the familiar wings of his senior in the distance.

Why was his senior here?

“What’s Senior Dirette doing here?”

“I don’t know. Isn’t it because the senior also came since the dark wizards gathered?”

“That’s not it. The dark wizards ostracized the Einrogard dark magic school and didn’t invite them.”

The White Tiger Tower students were silent at the unexpected sad story.

How are we supposed to react to that!

In the meantime, Dirette arrived at the spot. Ethan asked, puzzled by his panting, as if he had been running non-stop.

“Did something happen?”

“Ah, I didn’t fight, did I?”

“Nothing happened. Nothing at all!”

“But what brings you here, senior…”

“I came because there’s a gathering of dark wizards!”

“Wasn’t the Einrogard dark magic school not invited?”

“What!?”

Dirette then realized the meaning of the conversation the senior dark wizards had.

Those petty and shameless bastards…!

“…Even if I’m not invited, I can still find out about gatherings of dark wizards. Don’t ask how.”

Ethan stopped, about to ask, ‘How did you participate?’

“Since I’m here, I thought I’d stop by to see the commission you’ve been working on, junior. Can I take a look? How far along is it?”