Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 204

To be honest, I was curious about what would come after dealing with the worst students, but hearing it would only sour the mood.

Lee Han poured warm coffee into a dented pewter cup and placed it in Professor Voladi’s hands.

“Delicious.”

“Thank you.”

Seeing Professor Voladi sipping the coffee, Lee Han suddenly snapped back to his senses.

‘Wait. Now that I think about it, I didn’t need to stop him, did I?’

Whether Professor Voladi treated the White Tiger Tower students as students Professor Voladi didn’t like or not had nothing to do with Lee Han.

It was because of his instinct to step forward and solve problems whenever the professor caused trouble.

“Wodanaz. Are we leaving now?”

“Are you really coming with us? It’ll be dangerous, you know?”

“Hmph. Danger is merely a virtue that should be given to a knight.”

‘What utter rubbish.’

Lee Han thought about whether he should have thrown the snowball harder, then stopped himself.

Well, if they were going to learn the hard way, what could Lee Han say to stop them?

Even if Lee Han didn’t say anything, they would face the consequences themselves.

“Alright. Let’s go, then!”

“Moradi. Why aren’t you taking your sword?”

“????”

Giselle, who was eating grilled fat between bread slices, paused.

What?

“What are you talking about?”

“We’re all going to the upper floors together, aren’t we?”

Giselle was horrified.

She had let the other White Tiger Tower students talk nonsense, and now she was in trouble too.

“Why would I…”

“Isn’t Moradi scared?”

“What nonsense… Do you think Moradi is like you? Moradi has to lead us since we’re going to a dangerous place. Don’t make her angry for no reason.”

“……”

Giselle regretted not shutting Angaro up when he had brought up the story earlier.

She should have shut him up back then!

Lee Han passed by with Professor Voladi and said in a low voice.

“This isn’t my fault.”

“Shut up…”

Koholtie glanced at Dirette and whispered to Kumandas.

“So, when do you think that freshman will come?”

“Well, I’m trying to get close to him now, but…”

“You can’t be that slow! Can’t you see Dirette right now!?”

Even if you didn’t know much about the Ravenkin, you could tell that someone was furious when their feathers were standing on end.

That was exactly what Dirette looked like now.

Having to come every day and patrol the hallway for something she didn’t even do!

At this point, even friends in the same year could end up in a murder case.

“I can’t do this. I’ll go and send another note.”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous? The Headmaster…”

“Don’t you know that we might be found dead before we even get to the punishment room?”

“W-well, that’s true, but…”

The sound of footsteps began to be heard in the distance. It was the opposite direction from where the dimensional accident had occurred.

Koholtie raised his head, just in case. Even though he knew it was impossible.

But a miracle happened before his eyes.

“!!!!”

The freshman from the Wodanaz family, whom they had been trying so hard to bring, was walking down the hallway.

“It’s the freshman!”

“What?! Really!?”

“I told you! Sincerity gets through… Wait.”

The two who had been rejoicing paused.

Huh?

At first, they were happy just seeing the freshman from the Wodanaz family, but after that…

“……”

“????”

As the professor and other freshmen swarmed in, their expressions hardened.

‘What on earth is going on?’

‘More importantly, isn’t that Professor Begreck?’

There was a joke that even the Skull Headmaster didn’t know the exact number of professors at the magic school.

Let alone the students.

If a professor wasn’t related to their major, there were many cases where they wouldn’t even have a single conversation with them until graduation.

But the students here were fourth-years. They knew quite a few professors.

Besides, Professor Begreck was…

‘It’s the No-Disciple Professor.’

Professor Voladi was known as the ‘No-Disciple Professor’ because no student ever wanted to learn from him. That’s how scary he was.

Think about it.

Even professors who made you think, ‘Who in their right mind would learn under that crazy person?’ had a few disciples.

Even black magic, which was so unpopular, had students learning it.

But to have no disciples meant…

…it was truly, very, extremely dangerous.

The faces of the fourth-year students who recognized Professor Voladi were filled with fear.

Even though they were older students, fourth-years, they were still scared of Professor Voladi.

‘I heard that one of the third-years tried to take his class last time and collapsed from mana exhaustion, right?’

‘What kind of lecture does he give, anyway…’

“G-greetings, Professor.”

The fourth-year students swallowed their fear and greeted him. Professor Voladi nodded.

“Are you the ones in charge?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

Professor Voladi tried to walk forward without saying anything more.

Naturally, the fourth-year students were bewildered.

“???”

“Professor, please allow me to explain.”

Seeing Professor Voladi talking to invisible seniors, Lee Han sighed and spoke.

Actually, it wasn’t even a conversation just now.

It was a unilateral notice! Professor Voladi just told them what was happening, without asking them anything.

When Professor Voladi temporarily released the Skull Headmaster’s magic on the seniors, the fourth-year students’ appearances were revealed.

The White Tiger Tower students behind them were startled, but Lee Han was indifferent.

He had experienced too many things to be surprised by this now.

“Seniors, allow me to explain.”

“O-okay.”

Lee Han explained simply.

Professor Voladi was trying to solve this cold problem.

That’s why the first-years were here to help.

“!”

Kumandas’s eyes trembled with emotion as he listened to the explanation.

‘He was seriously considering the proposal we sent!’

He had been ignoring them so much that they thought their intentions hadn’t been conveyed, but this junior had already noticed.

He must have been pretending not to know in order to avoid the Skull Headmaster’s fierce surveillance.

“Junior. Thank you! I knew you would respond to our proposal!”

“Yes?”

“…Our proposal?”

Dirette, who was listening from the side, asked with a serious expression.

Could these guys be…?

“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”

“You guys, by any chance…”

“No, I’m telling you? We didn’t make contact! Really!”

Dirette paralyzed Kumandas with a curse and asked Lee Han.

“These guys didn’t make contact? Really?”

“Yes. They didn’t, but.”

Dirette stared intently into Lee Han’s eyes.

There wasn’t even a hint of a lie.

‘So it was true.’

Dirette tilted her head. Considering that, the other fourth-year students’ attitudes were particularly suspicious.

Were they just feeling guilty for no reason?

‘Junior… thank you…! I’ll definitely repay this favor later!’

The paralyzed Kumandas sent Lee Han his gratitude with his eyes.

He was grateful that he had come, and even more so that he had noticed Dirette’s murderous intent and lied for him.

He was truly a commendable junior.

‘I don’t know why that person is acting like that.’

Of course, Lee Han, who didn’t know what was going on, was just dumbfounded.

The fourth-years seem a bit strange…

…Is it because they’ve been at the school for too long?

“O-okay, let’s proceed anyway. So. Junior. Do you know what this artifact is?”

Kumandas took out an ancient artifact that looked like a giant harpoon.

The fourth-year students were currently creating holes throughout this distorted dimensional corridor space to leak mana to the outside.

No matter how many layers of dimensions were stacked inside, how distorted the space was, or what was summoned, the area itself couldn’t be maintained for long if the mana decreased.

If all the mana was exhausted, the distorted dimension would disappear and the corridor would return to normal.

…The problem was that it would take too long.

“This artifact is a very expensive ancient artifact with space-piercing magic built into it. It consumes a tremendous amount of mana, but once it’s activated…”

“Just get to the point.”

“…Anyway, we’re going to use this to pierce through the spaces in the corridor and increase the leakage.”

Kumandas finished speaking while glancing at Dirette. Lee Han nodded.

As expected of fourth-year students, they were skilled at explaining and their methods were reasonable.

In fact, the fourth-year students seemed to be better at explaining than the professors.

‘Not bad.’

“I understand. I comprehend.”

“!”

Kumandas’s heart welled up.

Even if he had a lot of mana, activating such an ancient artifact as a freshman required an enormous amount of resolve.

The resolve to squeeze out every last drop of his mana.

To step up so responsibly when it wasn’t even his fault.

‘A wonderful freshman has arrived…’

Dirette glared at Kumandas as if she was utterly pathetic. It was a look that would have been accompanied by several harsh curses if the professor and freshmen hadn’t been there.

Kumandas coughed, as if he felt the gaze.

“Ahem. Shall we begin, then?”

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

Kumandas was flustered when Professor Voladi opened his mouth.

‘Is there something wrong with my calculations?’

“If you use that method, most of the monsters inside will disappear.”

“Yes… Right? Because the dimension can’t be maintained if the mana scatters?”

“Then I cannot allow it.”

“……”

Lee Han squeezed his eyes shut.

Of course!

“Let’s go.”

Professor Voladi turned towards the distorted dimensional corridor. Lee Han and the White Tiger Tower students followed behind him.

Kumandas was dumbfounded, unable to understand the situation.

“D-did I do something wrong?”

“Of course you did. You idiot. What professor would allow you to activate an artifact by borrowing mana from a first-year student in front of them? Just follow us.”

Dirette scolded her friends and raised her wand. The friends followed behind with embarrassed expressions.

Professor Voladi pursued practical experience, but he wasn’t someone without a sense of safety.

He cast various enhancement spells in preparation for the battle in the distorted dimension.

Lee Han pointed to the White Tiger Tower students and whispered.

“You should cast them on those guys too.”

“Why?”

It sounded like he was asking why he should cast them on the worst students, but Lee Han calmly gave his reason.

“…Without enhancement magic, they might scatter chaotically and hinder the fight while trying to escape?”

“That’s true.”

Professor Voladi cast the enhancement magic. The White Tiger Tower students wore confident expressions as they felt the surging power.

“Junior. Don’t worry.”

“Thank you.”

Lee Han slightly bowed his head at the words of the fourth-year students next to him.

To think the day would come when he would feel the reliability of a senior in this magic school.

Professor Voladi looked at Lee Han and asked.

“Have you mastered the Floating Frost Shield spell?”

“…I haven’t completed it yet.”

“I see. Be careful of projectiles.”

“?????”

The fourth-year students couldn’t believe their ears.

Did he just say the Floating Frost Shield spell?

…Isn’t that a fourth-circle spell?

“What did you just s…”

Kumandas wanted to ask what the conversation meant, but he couldn’t.

Monsters had begun to appear in front of them.

It was a giant winter wraith with a hazy, foggy form that scattered sleet every time it moved.

“How much mana did you feed it to make the winter wraith this big?”

The fourth-year students lowered their heads with embarrassed expressions at Dirette’s muttering.

“We’ll take care of it.”

“Of course we have to take care of it. Don’t say it so dramatically like you’re doing something great.”

Dirette raised her wand. The fourth-year students also raised their wands.

But before they could even prepare their magic, countless small flames began to explode over the winter wraith.

Whirr!

“…??”

“????!”

Junior?!