Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 1198

The hamster squeaked his assessment.

On average, most magical criminals either died, disappeared, or were dragged into the Empire’s dungeons before becoming grand archmages.

Unauthorized magic is very dangerous. The Empire’s knights, as well as other magical criminals, were all potential enemies.

That wizard, Enster, was being quite cautious, but now it seemed he would vanish in a dozen or so years even if the hamster hadn’t deceived him.

To witness such magical power moving before his eyes and yet fail to consider that the artifact might not work…

Of course, it wasn’t easy for an average wizard to think of such things, but that didn’t change the fact that it was a foolish mistake.

‘By the way, is it really just a matter of going downstairs?’

-Indeed. Once we’re downstairs, we can deal with him as easily as twisting a child’s wrist.

Dealing with a wary foe was difficult, but once they descended and approached the magic core of this workshop, they could employ any number of tricks.

After confirming various escape routes, they could plan magic to stop him before he can even react.

Enster was overconfident, presuming that even a magical criminal like Antagondalus couldn’t possibly grasp and reverse engineer the complex internal magical structure after just one visit.

But that’s what a narrow-minded wizard would think.

The hamster was confident he could disable all escape routes with just one visit.

-His level is predictable.

“Wait a minute. But you can’t use magic right now, can you?”

Lee Han felt confused.

Even if the hamster did the calculations, he couldn’t use magic, could he?

-What are you talking about? You’re the one who has to use the magic. I’ll instruct you, and you’ll unravel it.

“…”

Lee Han stared at the hamster on his shoulder in astonishment.

He had been relying solely on the hamster, but suddenly?!

‘Can I really do it?’

-Are you starting again?

‘Huh?’

-That tiresome… ‘I can’t do it’ routine to put others off guard.

“…”

Lee Han was dumbfounded by the hamster’s words.

When had he ever done that?

‘When have I ever done that? I said I couldn’t because I genuinely didn’t think I could.’

-Has there ever been a single instance where you said you couldn’t do something and then failed?

‘…Even if there hasn’t, that doesn’t prove that I’m exaggerating.’

Lee Han felt it was unfair.

Every time he had to succeed in a difficult spell, he felt immense pressure, but this hamster was framing it as if he were just being modest.

Why doesn’t he do it himself!

‘Wait a second. Come to think of it, why didn’t the professors point it out?’

-Those wizards probably thought you were capable enough at your level.

“…”

Lee Han felt anew that there was no one in the world to trust.

To think they had hidden such a heinous intention while discussing the plan so earnestly.

Of course, it wasn’t the professors’ fault. They had simply assumed, ‘He must be able to do it,’ when Lee Han nodded and said he understood.

“I’m curious as to what you’re discussing so much with the hamster,” Enster asked with curiosity.

Normally, magical criminals weren’t supposed to interfere more than necessary with each other.

However, the sight of a powerful magical criminal talking to a hamster piqued the curiosity of even a wizard like Enster.

Just what kind of being was that hamster that they kept talking to?

Was it perhaps a powerful entity from another dimension?

“I’ve always enjoyed talking with hamsters. It’s my only hobby.”

“…Ah! Is that so?” Enster was so flustered that he forgot his pride and used polite language.

The hobby of a wicked magical criminal was talking with hamsters. Well, wizards who lived long lives were basically prone to madness.

The hamster, enraged, shouted, -You cursed little brat! What kind of ridiculous rumors are you spreading!

‘Ah, no. The other party is suspicious…’

-■■■■! ■■■■■!

‘Please don’t curse in incomprehensible ancient languages.’

Enster introduced the golem he would include in the commission.

The golems of Einrogard usually didn’t pay much attention to their appearance. There was no one to impress, and if they had money to spend, it was much better to focus on performance.

However, Enster’s golem was neat, as one would expect from a summoning wizard who did business outside.

Intricately meshed bronze and brass components, with small summoning magic circles and ancient characters engraved upon them.

It seemed like it could be sold for a high price at an auction house, except for one thing: the real heart throbbing and pulsating in its chest.

“This golem is a masterpiece with the still-throbbing heart of an elf embedded inside. And… I’ve added a bit of secret magic as well,” Enster said, hesitating slightly.

Lee Han felt a familiar aura from the golem.

‘Isn’t this the Sanguis Order’s power?’

-How chilling. You’re right. It seems he stole a relic from that order.

‘It’s certainly chilling.’

To use a person’s body parts in magic.

Lee Han shuddered at the sight of powerful, twisted magic infusing the battle doll’s entire body with power.

-What I find chilling is your ability to discern the Sanguis Order’s power just from the nature of the magic, without knowing the magic or its structure. Are you a magic hunting dog?

“…”

The hamster had recognized it because there was a phrase used by the Sanguis Order among the letters engraved on the elf’s heart.

When using power, such traces or evidence were bound to remain.

In comparison, Lee Han didn’t know those letters but simply recognized where the magic came from just from the sensation of the magic.

It was truly a chilling sense.

‘Stop talking nonsense and analyze the magic. Do we need to go further down?’

-No. I’ve found everything.

“!!!”

Lee Han was astonished.

Right now, the two were looking around the corridor where the golems were displayed, not the magic core located deep underground.

In this corridor, where a cool air flowed, the golems were visible between the dim light sources, but there was no sign of any means to escape outside…

-They wouldn’t send us further down from here unless they were complete morons. What, are they going to kindly take out the magic core and show it to us? And wizards tend to think alike.

The hamster explained the method he had discovered as if it were nothing special.

First, it seemed there was a space scroll charged.

There were sections in the corridor where the echo of sound changed, which was because they had created a separate space underneath.

When performing space travel over a medium distance or more, the principle was to clear the surroundings as much as possible to avoid unnecessary interference.

And the other was a dimensional door.

There were traces of the solid wall being strangely warped, as if they had connected a dimension to the wall connected to the inner wall.

It was a common sign when casting dimensional magic on matter.

‘Amazing!’

-I only feel self-loathing when I’m praised for something like this, so stop it.

The hamster squeaked brusquely, but he didn’t seem upset.

-They’ve also prepared a non-magical means. There seems to be an underground passage, but we can just collapse it.

‘How do we stop the other two?’

-First, find the exact location of the scroll and then send space magic towards it.

The hamster said something outrageous as if it were nothing.

Wasn’t he telling him to unleash space magic towards a scroll located in an invisible place?

Lee Han expressed his difficulty.

‘I’m not just exaggerating, but I don’t have the confidence to cast that level of space magic. At least, there needs to be something to sense.’

There was a limit even if he enhanced his senses with space perception magic.

To find a scroll that he couldn’t even see in a situation where it was so far away and there were many obstacles interfering with the magic…

-Hmm. If that’s difficult, there is another way.

‘What is it?’

-It’s impossible for that wizard to create something like a medium-range space travel scroll with his skills. He’s even a summoning wizard. The scroll was probably obtained from ancient ruins.

‘What does that mean?’

-You fool… such things are usually on the verge of breaking. They’re only preserved when they’re inside the ruins.

The hamster’s instructions were simple: Keep sending strong magic downwards, again and again.

It was so simple that Lee Han was taken aback.

‘Will the scroll break with that? It’s not easy for an object to break just because the magic density increases.’

If objects broke easily just because the magic density increased, there wouldn’t be any furniture left in Lee Han’s private room or the Blue Dragon Tower lounge.

-We’re not increasing it to break the object, but to cause the internal magic to malfunction.

‘That doesn’t seem easy either.’

If magic malfunctioned just because the magic density increased a little, the Empire’s various artifacts and magical structures would have collapsed long ago.

In the first place, when casting or installing magic in a specific area, they prepare for various situations…

-Then break it with space travel.

‘Alright. Why are you getting annoyed?’

As the hamster became annoyed, Lee Han nodded as if he understood and sent magic downwards.

It was such a quiet and simple task that he wondered if he was doing it right even as he repeatedly sent it.

How many times had he sent it?

Lee Han and the hamster felt a powerful surge of magic occurring in the basement below the corridor.

-That’s it! Something seems to have malfunctioned. At this point, the scroll must be broken.

Despite the hamster’s confident assertion, Lee Han gradually gave him a suspicious look.

Come to think of it, he seemed to be wrong quite often even within Einrogard…

‘…What’s next? How do we neutralize the dimensional door?’

-Originally, it would be best to snipe the dimensional door with space travel, but you said it didn’t work before, so it probably won’t work this time either. So, do the same thing.

‘Again?’

-Too much magic will confuse the dimensional door and break it. As a result, the escape route will be blocked.

“…”

Lee Han felt like he was becoming infinitely stupid as he sent magic downwards again.

Enster, who had been explaining the golem’s specifications one by one, watched Lee Han continue to talk to the hamster and thought to himself.

‘I didn’t know that Antagondalus was this crazy. He seems much more crazy than I thought. I might have to distance myself once the commission is over.’

People often said ‘crazy wizard,’ but there were fewer truly crazy wizards than one might think.

A truly crazy wizard was a threat to both enemies and allies.

Seeing him constantly talking to the hamster like that, it seemed like his madness was very deep.

“Are you satisfied with the golem?”

“Ah. It’s quite decent. Can I purchase it?”

“You know that’s not possible,” Enster said, revealing his wariness.

Lee Han skillfully waved his hand.

“I was just asking. Don’t be so wary.”

“…Alright. Well, if there was any intention, my magic hearth would have warned me…”

Before he could finish speaking, the dark corridor suddenly brightened, and the golems’ eyes blazed red and blue.

A cold, creeping sensation made the hairs on his arms stand up. It was the unmistakable taint of the Sanguis Order.

‘To subdue him right now…!’

“In, intruders!” Enster, terrified, glared at Lee Han.

Lee Han calmly retorted, “The hearth.”

“…Th, that’s right. Perhaps a tail… No. That can’t be.”

Enster didn’t think that a magical criminal like Antagondalus would have brought a tail.

It was more likely that one of Enster’s enemies had entered.

-Hey. Could it be that the Einrogard guys were worried and came looking for you?

‘Surely the professors wouldn’t come down without even waiting… Well, they might, but I doubt it.’

-……

Ignoring the hamster’s gaze, Lee Han anxiously scanned Enster.

Should he attack first, or not?

Just before Enster screamed, recognizing the identity of the enemy, Lee Han sensed something was wrong.

“Sanguis! Sanguis assassins!”

Lee Han burst into a cry of joy.

“That’s a relief!”

“…Wh, what?”

“I’ve always enjoyed eliminating worshipers of evil gods.”

“…”

Enster shuddered, feeling the madness of this magical criminal anew.