Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 243

“I must have mis… no.”

Giselle’s voice trembled.

Unbelievably, the curare lizards were heading straight for them.

“‘Why?’ she wondered.”

Curare lizards were known to be intelligent monsters.

They usually targeted prey that was either heavily paralyzed or moved slowly. There was no reason for them to chase after threatening wizards.

Why…?

-■■■! ■■■■!

-■■■■■!

The lizards made an even sharper sound than before, firing their paralyzing venom.

Splash! Splatter!

Anyone could see they were completely enraged and full of venom.

“Annoying creatures… Bones, launch! Bones, launch! Bones, launch!”

Bone fragments rained down, hitting the ground and tearing through the undergrowth.

The lizards scrambled to avoid them.

And they howled even louder.

-■■■■■!!

“Ah,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han realized why the curare lizards were abandoning the weaker targets to chase after them.

Giselle realized it too.

“…Just because we hit them a bit, they’re chasing us.”

“Tell me about it,” Lee Han replied.

For a moment, Giselle wanted to curse, but she stopped herself. There was no point in fighting with an ally.

“Wodanaz… Moradi…!”

“For us…!”

The White Tiger Tower students, retreating in another direction, shouted with choked voices.

They clearly misunderstood, thinking Lee Han and Giselle were sacrificing themselves for them.

“Those silly, stupid people, really…”

“What was that?” Giselle asked.

“He says don’t mind them and retreat!” Lee Han answered.

Lee Han wanted to smack them too, but he held back.

Since it had come to this, he figured he might as well take credit for it later.

Thud!

One of the lizards, unable to contain its anger, charged. The lizard collided with the rapidly approaching shield and howled.

Tap tap tap tap tap!

Lee Han attacked strongly. The lizard, bombarded with bone fragments, couldn’t regain its senses and fled to the side.

‘This isn’t good,’ Lee Han thought.

Although this charge was blocked, the fact that the monsters’ patience was wearing thin was not a good sign.

If the ever-increasing number of lizards charged at them simultaneously, it would be difficult even for Lee Han to stop them.

Even if all but one were defeated and that one succeeded in its charge, it would be a loss for them…

Giselle, seemingly thinking the same thing, drew her twin swords and shouted roughly.

“Wodanaz, I’ll buy time! When will your mana recover!?”

Giselle seemed to think that Lee Han’s mana was temporarily depleted.

Otherwise, there was no reason for Lee Han, who had been perfectly capable of thrashing the White Tiger Tower students, to only use black magic.

“It’s not a mana problem!” Lee Han said.

“What?” Giselle asked.

“I’m saying it’s not a mana problem. I’m having trouble with precise control because I stayed up all night,” Lee Han explained.

“…You crazy… Ack!”

Giselle fiercely stabbed the approaching lizard in the mouth and retreated.

“You’re actually saying that out loud?! Why did you stay up all night?!”

Climbing a mountain was an activity that used a lot of stamina.

She couldn’t understand why he would stay up all night before doing that.

Wodanaz wasn’t even a White Tiger Tower student…

“I had too much homework,” Lee Han said.

“……”

Giselle could not speak for a moment.

She could not believe his answer. She could not argue with it.

-Come to the riverbank.

“?!”

Both were surprised by the sudden, deep voice.

-Come to the riverbank. Those lizards hate the stream here, so they won’t follow.

They couldn’t tell who was speaking, but Lee Han and Giselle immediately turned and headed for the riverbank.

They figured they had nothing more to lose in the current situation.

-■■■… ■■■…

As they went into the river up to their waists with splashing sounds, the lizards, surprisingly, only glared resentfully and stopped chasing.

Giselle said in disbelief.

“Can you see that? Why on earth are those lizards doing that? Wodanaz? …Wodanaz!”

Giselle’s eyes widened as Lee Han collapsed forward.

‘Paralyzing venom?!’ she wondered.

Clearly, he hadn’t been hit by the lizards’ attacks, so why?

-He just collapsed from exhaustion.

“…Excuse me?” Giselle asked.

-I said he collapsed from exhaustion. Is he a freshman? Usually, freshmen don’t study until they collapse from exhaustion. How peculiar.

“……”

When Lee Han opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a shield floating in the air.

‘Where am I?’ he wondered.

He was lying on a soft animal hide, so it was clear he wasn’t on the street but inside some kind of cabin.

Turning his gaze, he saw Giselle sitting on a chair. Lee Han reached into his coat pocket and checked for his belongings first.

‘Hmm. Nothing’s missing,’ he thought.

-Worried you might have lost something? Nothing’s missing.

“!”

Lee Han was startled by the voice coming from above and looked up.

A giant he had never seen before was sitting at the entrance of the cave, facing Giselle.

Giselle had her fingers on her temples, staring intently at the table. She was so focused that she didn’t even seem to notice Lee Han getting up.

‘What’s going on?’

The giant didn’t seem hostile, so Lee Han stood up and approached.

Surprisingly, there was a chessboard between them.

‘An endgame,’ Lee Han realized.

Lee Han recognized that the game was in its final stages based on the pieces and their arrangement on the board.

And Giselle was at a disadvantage.

-Are you going to move soon? Nothing will change even if you think about it more. You can recover from mistakes in the opening in the middlegame. You can make up for mistakes in the middlegame in the endgame. But there’s no going back in the endgame.

‘Hmm. Even if I don’t know anything else, he’s got a knack for making his opponent feel bad when playing chess,’ Lee Han thought.

It worked perfectly; Giselle bit her lip so hard it drew blood.

After thinking for a long time, Giselle laid her white king on its side. It meant she had lost.

“…I lost.”

-Don’t feel too bad. There aren’t only stupid giants in the world.

The giant said in a gentle voice.

Of course, it was no comfort to Giselle at all. Lee Han understood how she felt.

A wizard losing to a giant, who was known for being stupid, in chess.

Wouldn’t he feel like this if he lost to Gainan in chess?

“Um… if it’s not too much to ask, may I ask your name?” Lee Han asked.

-That’s not difficult.

The giant told them how long he had lived in this area and how he sometimes enjoyed small conversations or bets when he met magic school students or professors.

“Um, but…” Lee Han started.

-Are you perhaps curious about the source of my un-giant-like intelligence?

“I apologize if it was a rude question,” Lee Han said.

-No, it’s understandable to be curious. But I don’t think I can give a satisfactory explanation. Think of it this way. Aren’t there people who are particularly stupid?

The giant was certainly logical. Lee Han found it hard to argue.

“I understand,” Lee Han said.

-Good. I appreciate your understanding.

“…But why chess?” Giselle asked.

At the question, the giant shrugged.

-I told you I like to bet.

“You’re betting in this situation?” Lee Han asked.

Lee Han was surprised by Giselle’s greed.

How greedy could she be…

Giselle shouted irritably.

“You were the one who collapsed, you son of a bitch!”

According to the giant, he didn’t force bets on people just passing by, even if he spoke to them.

But things were different if a debt or favor was involved.

Since they had brought the collapsed Lee Han to the giant’s cave and nursed him back to health, the wizards had to provide a suitable reward, according to the giant’s logic.

“What kind of reward are you talking about?” Lee Han asked.

-There are a few.

The giant tapped the wall. There were lists written in crooked letters.

-Tasks for wizards who lost bets:

1. Clean the cave basement (make sure to throw away all expired potions and re-label them)

2. Organize the library (I think something is hidden among the books)

3…

-If you choose one of these, there will be no remaining debt between us.

Lee Han scanned the list again.

At first glance, it didn’t seem like it would take long, but Lee Han knew very well how terrible schemes were hidden within the simple ‘to-do lists’ that the professors presented.

‘The basement is likely larger than the cave. The same goes for the library,’ he thought.

-If you don’t like this, you can compete with me in a bet.

“A bet… would something like a mana capacity contest be possible?” Lee Han asked slyly.

The giant smiled and shook his head.

-Bets must be fair to both sides. What fun is there in a bet that only benefits me? Similarly, I don’t accept bets involving strength.

“No… it’s fine…” Lee Han said.

-Tell me what kind of bet you want. If it’s fair, I’ll accept it.

‘A mana capacity contest would be good,’ Lee Han thought.

Lee Han clicked his tongue.

The giant’s unnecessary consideration made things troublesome.

‘I see why Giselle chose chess,’ he thought.

The giant was more formidable than he thought.

He had lived much longer than the students, so he would have more experience and knowledge, and judging by the wise appearance he had shown, he was likely more intelligent as well.

Lee Han looked at the chessboard once more.

Chess was the only thing in the current situation where he could guess the giant’s skill level.

The problem was that he wasn’t confident in chess.

Lee Han had never thought of himself as being good at chess.

He had won against a few opponents after entering the magic school, but that was only because his opponents were bad.

His record when he used to play against the professor was also terrible…

“May I have a moment to discuss this?” Lee Han asked.

-As you wish.

“Giselle. Giselle,” Lee Han said.

“What,” Giselle replied.

“Why did you move the rook here? If you had just fixed it on the third rank and moved only the king to avoid the check, you could have gone for a draw,” Lee Han said.

“……”

There were times when correct criticisms were more annoying than wrong ones.

This was exactly how Lee Han felt right now.

“Why did you move it?” Lee Han asked again.

“Shut up. Please,” Giselle said.

“Was it a mistake? I see. What opening did that giant use?”

-Are you thinking of challenging me to chess again? Not bad. But you should think carefully. You might regret it.

“To make it fair, would you be willing to play with one or two pieces removed?” Lee Han asked.

-We don’t know each other’s skills, so I can’t do that. But I’ll allow you to listen to your friend.

The giant sat back and waited in a relaxed posture.

Lee Han suddenly felt nervous at the composed demeanor that only a master could show.

‘Damn it. From what I hear, he has a very aggressive style. Can I even manage a draw?’ Lee Han wondered.

Lee Han’s goal was basically a draw.

It would be nice if he could win by luck, but if that wasn’t possible, he would aim for a draw and move on to the next bet.

‘If it’s the skill level I heard from Giselle, I think I can do that much,’ he thought.

The problem was if the opponent was hiding his skills.

Lee Han hoped that the opponent had the skill level he expected.

30 minutes later, Lee Han was in shock.

“…No…”

-Ughhhh…

“…I think it’s over,” Lee Han said.

-Just a moment. Give me five more minutes.

“No. It’s over. Even if you move it here, the knight is blocking it, and even if you move it this way, the pawn is blocking it,” Lee Han explained.

-…Just a moment. Still, just five minutes.

“……”

The giant’s chess skills were more… very weak.

As Lee Han firmly blocked and endured, the giant tried to force an attack and self-destructed in vain.

Lee Han looked at Giselle.

‘So Giselle was just bad at it,’ he thought.

‘Why do I feel so unpleasant…?’ Giselle wondered.

-I lost. I lost.

The giant admitted, laying down his king.

Lee Han asked with a sigh of relief.

“Then can we go now?”

-Not yet.

“?”

-You just repaid the defeat of this friend here. The favor of saving you still remains.

“…Have you ever worked as a professor at a magic school?”

Surprised by the giant’s lack of conscience, the question came out of Lee Han’s mouth without thinking.