Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 186

Lee Han pushed the cake towards the Princess with a smile. “Here you go.” Then he saw her face properly. “Oops. Wait, you’re not Guiana Doe.”

Lee Han realized his mistake a moment too late, and he already regretted it.

Even though the Princess hated sweets, she wasn’t stupid enough to eat poison.

But it was too late to stop. Lee Han knew what to do when things went wrong.

“Yes,” Lee Han said quickly. “This spoon is special. It can find poison and remove it.” This spoon was magic, made to show if food had poison and then remove it.

When the silver spoon touched the cake, smoke rose up, just like when he used magic to check for poison before.

At the same time, the smoke slowly changed color. This showed that the poison was being removed.

The Princess blinked, confused. She opened her eyes wide and tried to talk.

Lee Han knew she was going to say something angry.

“We need to get out of here quickly. Let’s go!”

Before the Princess could get really angry, Lee Han turned and ran, not giving her time to speak.

The Princess was too slow to react. Lee Han quickly changed the subject and walked away before she could understand what was happening.

“What are you…”

“Quickly!”

Lee Han acted like he didn’t hear her and rushed out.

The Princess stared at his back, completely confused.

When they came out of the tower, they saw their friends. Their friends had gone in earlier and were now a mess.

Angaro was covered in dust and dirt. His clothes were ripped, like he had been in a fight.

Salco was soaked from head to toe, as if he had been swimming.

Most of their other friends looked just as messy.

Lee Han and the Princess were the only ones who looked clean and fine. They really stood out from the messy group.

‘…I picked the wrong challenge,’ the Skeleton Headmaster said quietly, sounding very sorry.

‘Now I remember,’ he thought. ‘Poison doesn’t really hurt that boy from the Wodanaz family.’

‘To choose poison by accident! What bad luck!’

“Wodanaz,” Angaro asked, sounding jealous and a little envious. “What challenge did you do? You look completely fine!”

Lee Han said calmly, “I might look okay, but my challenge was very dangerous. I had to eat poison.”

“Oh… I’m sorry, Wodanaz,” Angaro said, sounding very sorry. “I was rude.”

Lee Han nodded, like saying it was no problem. “It’s okay,” he said. “I understand.”

The Princess and the Skeleton Headmaster stared at Lee Han, not believing what they heard. ‘He’s so bold!’ they thought.

‘Maybe you should try another challenge on a different floor?’ the Headmaster said. ‘You might be good at it.’

“No, Headmaster,” Lee Han said. “Thank you for thinking I’m so good.” *‘What a sneaky guy,’* the Headmaster thought. *‘He’s definitely not going.’*

It was a beautiful golden afternoon on the weekend. Sunlight streamed into the lounge of the Blue Dragon Tower. Students were relaxing everywhere, enjoying the quiet. Some were lying on sofas, others were reading in chairs, and a few were chatting quietly. It was a rare peaceful moment in the busy school.

Even the Princess was chatting with her followers.

However, Lee Han filled a basket with rice balls, rice cakes, and sweets, packed a few bottles of drinks, and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Yonel asked, looking confused. “The library?”

With all that food, Yonel thought Lee Han must be going on an adventure outside or to the library for a very long study session.

Going to the library on a nice weekend day was odd, but Yonel knew Lee Han sometimes did strange things.

“I’m taking food to someone in detention.”

“……” Yonel didn’t say anything for a moment, surprised. *‘He’s even taking food to detention?!’* he thought.

“Isn’t that… a bit much?” Yonel asked.

“That’s how you can charge more.”

“Lee Han… you’re actually kind of nice,” Yonel said.

“Didn’t you hear what I just said?”

“Even if you say that, you’re still being kind,” Yonel said.

Lee Han frowned, confused by Yonel’s words. *‘Kind? Why does he think this is kind?’* he wondered.

Clunk! The heavy door to the detention room closed behind Lee Han. Even before he stepped inside, a cold feeling hit him. It was spring outside, warm and sunny, but here it felt like winter. A chilly, strange aura came from the entrance.

‘I really don’t want to go in there,’ Lee Han thought. He knew it wasn’t just because it was detention. There was something magical making him feel uneasy.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have this strong feeling that something bad was going to happen.

‘The Skeleton Headmaster is tricky,’ Lee Han thought. ‘He wouldn’t make it easy to escape.’ Lee Han remembered hearing that the Headmaster had a rule: if *he* was put in detention, he could get out by escaping. But that rule wasn’t for students. It was just something the Headmaster did for fun.

Lee Han knew how big the detention room was. He had once tried to escape from deep inside it, trying to get back to the outside world.

Knock knock-

“Is anyone there?”

Silence.

Knock knock-

“Is anyone there?”

“…Grrrr. Grrrrlrk. Grrrrrrrrlrk.”

“My apologies for the intrusion.”

Lee Han immediately moved on to the next room.

He knocked on door after door, trying to find the students in detention. But it was taking longer than he thought. ‘This is harder than I expected,’ Lee Han thought. ‘They must be far inside.’

He knew the detention room was big, but he thought the students who failed would be kept near the entrance. It didn’t look like that was true.

‘I don’t know much about this detention room,’ Lee Han thought. ‘I can’t even use the notes I made when I escaped before. And I can’t ask Perkhunt for help right now.’

Lee Han walked down the stairs in the hallway. He thought, *‘If I can’t find them soon, I’ll have to try something else.’*

Knock knock-

“Is anyone there?”

“Who is it?”

“!”

Surprisingly, a person’s voice was heard from inside. It was definitely another student.

“Are you a student?”

“Hey. I don’t know what year you are, but if you don’t want to meet me later and get cursed, don’t mess around and go away, or you’ll regret it! Wait a minute.”

Dirette paused.

The voice coming from outside sounded quite familiar.

Dirette’s eyes snapped open, a sudden realization hitting him.

“!”

He remembered the transfer student from the detention room. He was in the next cell, talking nonsense. He also remembered the student who wanted to learn dark magic from Professor Mortoom. And then, he thought of the student who added too many courses during the midterms, tricked by the professors’ kind words. Suddenly, Dirette understood. These three students were the same person.

“…You! It’s you!? It’s you?!??”

*Is he mad?*

Lee Han blinked, surprised.

Just because someone was in the detention room didn’t mean they were normal.

Maybe he was a monster disguised as a student…

“You’re a transfer student from the Wodanaz family, right? The one who took exams in elemental magic, dark magic, summoning magic, and illusion magic before the midterms? And who escaped through the underground passage in the first week and got caught!”

“!”

This time, Lee Han was surprised.

*The wizards here are amazing.*

*Do they learn to see through people, even from inside the detention room?*

“How on earth?”

“What do you mean, how? I was in the cell next to yours last time, and I helped Professor Mortoom during the midterms, so I know.”

“Ah…! Was that you?”

Lee Han remembered the upperclassman from the next cell, whose face he didn’t know.

He was kind.

He had told him about the spire’s stable (for snacks), advised him to take fewer courses (but he didn’t listen), and told him to relax around him…

That person was *that* person.

“Wait a minute,” Dirette said, his eyes widening. “Have you been stuck in here… since the last time?”

Lee Han blinked. “Stuck? Are you kidding? Of course not! I got out,” He paused, then added, “And came back.”

Silence hung in the air, thick and a little uncomfortable. Lee Han couldn’t help but wonder, *What does this guy even *do* to end up in detention all the time?*

Dirette narrowed his eyes, as if he could read Lee Han’s mind. “Hey, Junior,” he said slowly. “Were you just thinking about why I’m always in the detention room?”

Lee Han quickly shook his head. “No, Senior! Not at all.”

Dirette raised an eyebrow. “Senior now, is it? Why the sudden politeness?”

“Oh,” Lee Han said, trying to sound sincere. “I just… I believe in good manners.”

*Manners? Coming from the guy who smuggled in a feast? Right.*

Considering he brought outside food into the detention room, this junior was likely from the Black Tortoise Tower.

*…Huh? Wait. From the Wodanaz family *and* the Black Tortoise Tower?*

Dirette tilted his head.

Something was strange.

“Alright. If you’re learning dark magic, you can call me ‘senior’. And you owe me one, Junior.”

“Thank you for the stable.”

“Not that! During the midterms!”

“??”

Dirette felt unfairly wronged when Lee Han didn’t realize his sacrifice.

It was Headmaster Skull’s fault, but people didn’t see it that way.

“Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, Junior, I warned you in the detention room, didn’t I?!”

Dirette felt even more wronged as the memory surfaced.

*With your abilities, professors will want you, so be careful.*

Didn’t he warn him like that in the detention room?

If Lee Han had listened, Dirette wouldn’t be in detention now.

“Ah… that warning. Of course, I’m taking it to heart.”

“Is *that* what you do when you ‘take something to heart’?”

Dirette was dumbfounded.

If that was taking it to heart, what was ignoring it? Taking all the courses?

“No, Senior. Thank you, but I’m making smart choices based on my own plans.”

“…Tell me about that smart plan. Let’s hear it.”

Lee Han calmly explained his choices.

He chose dark magic because it suited him, summoning magic because it was useful, illusion magic because it was needed, and enchantment magic because he liked it and Professor Garcia recommended it…

“Wait. Junior. Enchantment magic?? You don’t take that until after the midterms??”

“Ah. I met the professor by chance.”

“Oh… are you worried about working yourself to death?”

“Don’t worry. I’m managing.”

Despite Dirette’s sarcasm, Lee Han was confident.

But Dirette thought Lee Han was following Professor Garcia’s path.

The path of taking all magic fields from the first year!

A normal freshman would stop and think, *Can I really learn this? Hmm. No. It’s too hard.*

But Lee Han was like, *Can I learn this? Hmm. But I like it and it’s useful, so should I learn it?*

“Junior. Be careful. Really careful. Really, really careful. Got it?”

“Thank you, Senior.”

*I don’t think he’ll listen.*

Dirette had a bad feeling.

“Senior. I brought outside food. Want some?”

“What? Outside food? …Are you *really* from the Wodanaz family??”

Dirette was surprised that Lee Han could bring outside food to detention.

And the food was good.

Not the hard bread or cold rice balls that freshmen ate.

There were rice balls made with fresh rice, soft red bean cakes, and crispy puffed rice snacks.

*What on earth…?*

*Oops. I gave him the food I was going to give Gainan.*

Lee Han would say Headmaster Skull took it on the way.

“…Even if I don’t know anything else, I know the third-year students will like you.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I’ve seen many juniors, but never one like you.”

Dirette took a bite of the rice cake and hesitated.

It was too good to let him go.

Even if his detention was longer, he had to tell him.

“Junior. The midterms are over.”

“Yes.”

“Be careful.”

“I’m always careful.”

“…Good. Very good. But be a *little* more careful. The school gets crazy after the midterms.”

*Can it get crazier than this?*

The next day, Lee Han woke up and opened his window.

*It’s cold?*

Snow was piled up to the middle of the tower’s first floor.

Lee Han nodded.

“Hmm. It could get crazier.”