Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 2

Royalty. Princes. Princesses.

Usually, when you hear the word ‘Royal,’ you think of power and respect.

But in *this* Empire, things were a bit different.

There were… many, many royals.

‘Doesn’t the current Emperor have over 100 children?’

Even if being royal was important, the Emperor had over one hundred children. That was a problem.

It meant that if Yihan walked into the Emperor’s Palace, the Emperor might think he was one of his own children!

Just as Yihan was being punished for being born later than his brothers by having to live his life diligently, the Emperor’s children were the same.

If you weren’t born first…

You got nothing.

In some ways, it was more cruel than Yihan’s situation.

At least the head of the Wodanaz family remembered his children’s names and took care of them.

But the royals had to manage their own lives without such attention.

Even a prince who wasn’t important still had more power than normal people because of his royal blood.

But the people here were from very important and powerful families in the Empire.

They didn’t need to bow down to a prince they had never heard of.

Yoner Maykin alone was probably better off than most royals.

So, why was Yoner so eager to accompany the prince?

‘…Is he a bit dim?’

Yihan thought something that Yoner would have been furious to hear.

Indeed, looking around, there were several young men and women sneering at Yoner.

Their sneers asked, ‘Why is he helping a prince when he is a noble himself?’

The pride of the Imperial nobility was no less than that of the royals.

In fact, the Emperor couldn’t treat the great nobles carelessly.

“Alright. I understand.”

‘Can’t hurt.’

It was Maykin who was being ridiculed, not Yihan, who had received the offer.

And even if the prince didn’t have much influence, there was no need to pick a fight from the very first meeting.

In life, anyone could be helpful later if you became friendly with them.

“…Thank you! I’m so glad!”

Maykin smiled like bright sunlight. Yihan was puzzled by how pleased he was.

“Why?”

“Three people have already rejected my offer.”

“……”

Yihan slightly regretted whether he should have rejected Maykin’s offer.

The prince, Gainando, was the 97th prince.

There were several siblings born around the same time, so there was talk that he was actually the 101st, but Gainando strongly insisted that he was the 97th. He clearly didn’t want to go up to three digits.

Aside from that, Gainando was quite an immature royal.

Fifteen was considered adulthood, but not everyone matured at the same rate.

He clearly hadn’t realized that the value of a royal wasn’t that great in this school.

“Did you hear? Yihan?? That guy rejected my offer, can you believe it?”

“Yeah, yeah. I heard.”

“How dare he??”

“He probably doesn’t know how noble you are, Gainando.”

“What’s ‘noble’?”

Gainando looked at Yihan as if he was puzzled.

Yihan stared at Gainando, then nodded with a gentle smile.

At that moment, Yihan’s evaluation of Gainando dropped a level, but Gainando didn’t notice.

“Noble means having a high and precious status.”

“Ah. That’s a word that suits me.”

“Indeed.”

“Anyway, he rejected my offer and is talking to Adenarte! It’s really insulting…!”

Adenarte.

The student Gainando pointed to, Adenarte, was also a royal. Probably the 43rd or 44th princess.

‘The atmosphere itself is different.’

Long, flowing silver hair and clear blue eyes. An intelligent and elegant face.

The princess naturally exuded a dignified atmosphere that made her respected by the noble-born students.

Besides, Adenarte probably…

‘Wouldn’t have had someone call them over like Gainando did.’

Even if the noble children were proud, they wouldn’t be so rude as to ignore a royal who spoke to them directly.

If Gainando had just gone and talked to them himself and acted friendly, he would have gathered a lot of people.

“Will you take care of him for me later?”

Gainando said, looking at Yihan.

Yihan was taller and more robust than others of his age.

It was only natural since he had been learning swordsmanship.

Although they had gathered to become wizards, fists were stronger among the young boys and girls who hadn’t properly learned a single spell.

Of course, Yihan had no intention of fighting anyone for Gainando’s pride.

“Gainando.”

“Huh?”

“A noble being doesn’t ask others to bully people.”

“It’s not bullying, it’s punishing…”

“Anyway. A noble being doesn’t do that. Think about it.”

“Hmm.”

At Yihan’s words, Gainando made a troubled expression. Now that he thought about it, it did seem a bit undignified.

“Then Yihan, what do you think I should do?”

“Forgive him generously.”

“…Besides that?”

“Challenging him to a duel is also an option.”

“Hmph. I should forgive him generously.”

Gainando made a quick decision, as if he didn’t want to duel.

Yihan realized something about Gainando then: he was simpler than he first seemed.

“Wow. You’re amazing. You even changed Gainando’s mind.”

Yoner spoke with a surprised expression. Yihan asked as if he was curious.

“Why are you moving around with Gainando?”

“He’s a relative. A cousin.”

“Even so, you don’t have to listen to everything he says, do you? The Maykin family is…”

Before he could ask further, a booming voice echoed through the hall.

-Have you all talked enough? You iron-heads! You can stop now. You’ll have years to chat in the future.

“!”

The same voice that was heard at the main gate earlier echoed, and a giant skull floated in the middle of the hall.

A skull with burning eyes, scattering tremendous magical power.

‘A Lich!’

A being who became undead to overcome death.

That was a Lich.

Yihan had only heard rumors, but this was his first time seeing a Lich. The other students were also chattering, curious.

-I’ll give you one question. Why do you think I call you iron-heads?

Adenarte raised her hand. Gainando glared as if he was displeased.

-Speak.

“…Because the symbol of us new freshmen is steel.”

-Excellent. I’ll give your dormitory 10 points!

“Is there such a thing?”

-Of course not. If you want to become a wizard, learn how to see through lies first.

Adenarte realized she had been tricked and her face turned red.

-Alright. Your symbol as freshmen is steel. Just like the symbol of the sophomores is bronze. Steel is hard, its quality varies depending on how it’s made, and it’s a useful material with various uses. Truly a metal that suits you freshmen.

“Ooh…”

“Indeed.”

The boys and girls gathered in the hall were impressed by the skull headmaster’s words.

-You’re being tricked again! You fools. Your symbol being steel is because you have nothing in your heads. That’s why you’re iron-heads! If you don’t believe me, knock on your heads. You’ll hear a very nice sound.

“……”

“……”

The atmosphere in the hall instantly turned cold.

There were many people here who had never been subjected to such insults.

But no one could argue.

That was how tremendous the skull headmaster’s presence was.

‘Impressive.’

Yihan took a breath in and out.

As soon as the skull headmaster appeared, the magic in the air became very strong, making it hard to move.

It felt like being deep, deep underwater, with pressure all around.

‘Still… I feel like I can move. Yes. I’m somehow able to move.’

As Yihan wriggled his body, the skull headmaster turned his gaze to look at Yihan.

-…?

A look of seeing something interesting.

Yihan immediately straightened his posture and stood up straight.

He had come here to get a diploma and connections, so he couldn’t afford to be targeted by the headmaster from his freshman year.

-I think I may have said too harsh words to the future of the Empire who have come a long way.

The skull headmaster’s voice softened. Some were slightly relieved by those words, but Yihan wasn’t fooled.

‘He’s definitely a bit crazy.’

People said you lose something when you become a Lich, and this skull headmaster seemed to have lost a lot of his mind.

Yihan was reminded of the professor in the lab next door during his graduate school days in his past life.

That professor’s eyes looked just as crazy as the skull headmaster’s…

‘No. That Lich seems better than that professor.’

Thinking that way, the skull headmaster seemed surprisingly manageable.

-Now! The best chefs in this academy have been preparing a banquet for you since yesterday. I hope you enjoy this banquet, though it may be lacking, and relieve the fatigue from your journey. After the meal, warm blankets and beds await you in the dormitory…

At those words, a couple of chubby boys drooled.

He wondered what kind of food they would get. Maybe roasted chicken with spices, or a creamy pasta dish?

With how he felt now, he could just eat thick cheese and butter spread on white bread.

Or maybe grilled fish with spicy sauce, like they ate in the East?

They didn’t eat noodles much in eastern cuisine because they were considered cheap food, but because he was so hungry from the long journey, he felt like he could eat them well if they were served now.

However, there was no food on the huge tables in the hall.

“???”

-You’re tricked again! You fools! When will you ever learn? How will you ever become wizards?

‘Isn’t that guy crazy?’

Some of the more sensitive freshmen teared up at the skull headmaster’s abusive language.

-Now. I’ll tell you the rules. This academy is the cradle of wizards. And the greatest driving force for raising wizards is desire!

Along with the words, thin, rough cloaks the color of mud appeared, along with staffs that looked like broken branches.

-This is the uniform you will be wearing.

As soon as those words were finished, black, hard bread and cold rice balls appeared in the air.

-This is the food you will be eating.

“That’s, that’s too much…!”

As someone shouted without realizing it, the skull headmaster said in an excited voice.

-Yes! That’s the reaction I wanted! Does that food look too unappetizing? Master magic quickly and get food with your own hands! Do those clothes and staffs look too trashy? Master magic and get new clothes and staffs with your own hands! You can get as much as you want in this academy!

“……”

Yihan was shocked.

He had only heard rumors that Einroguard was harsh, but he didn’t know it would be this bad.

Basically, the school rule was: if you are unhappy, become a better wizard!

‘Is this even allowed?’

“Hmph. I can just bring things in from outside.”

One student with an arrogant posture muttered with a choked-up expression.

The skull headmaster shouted even more excitedly.

-Yes! That’s the reaction I wanted too. Freshmen are forbidden from going out! Don’t even think about asking upperclassmen to get things for you! You won’t be able to meet the upperclassmen for a while anyway!

“……”

“……”

-Dismissed! Good luck, you iron-heads! May you become good wizards!

Yihan thought he heard someone mutter ‘son of a bitch’ for sure.

The skull headmaster didn’t say anything about that either.

As soon as the skull headmaster vanished, Prince Gainando stomped his foot like a child and his face turned red with anger. “This is unbelievable! How *dare* they treat someone like me like this? Yihan! Aren’t you furious? Look at these clothes – even beggars would refuse to wear them! And this food… it’s pig slop!”

“Huh? Well, doesn’t it seem alright?”

“……”