Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 252

Professor Garcia, a truly excellent professor, explained everything briefly, simply, and accurately, focusing only on the most important points.

But sometimes, no matter how well you explain something, it’s hard to convince someone else.

Especially when what you’re saying sounds completely unbelievable!

“So, what I mean is,” Professor Garcia continued, “there’s this student, Ihan, from the Wodanaz family. As I mentioned before, he’s taking a lot of courses. And now, he’s showing so much talent in every class that all the professors really like him. So, Professor Alcasis, please don’t ask him for help too much just because he’s good at healing magic. Please be considerate of the other professors. They want to teach him too.”

Professor Alcasis sighed, sounding very tired. “Don’t do this to me, seriously,” he mumbled.

“Pardon?” Professor Garcia asked.

“I said, don’t do this. Who told you to come here? Was it the Headmaster?” Professor Alcasis was sure the skeletal Headmaster was playing a prank.

Only the skeletal Headmaster would joke around like that with Professor Alcasis, the most tired and busy professor at Einrogard.

The other professors couldn’t play such pranks; they might actually die from the stress.

“No, no, no… It’s not a prank!” Professor Garcia insisted.

Professor Alcasis frowned, feeling a headache coming on. Professor Garcia asked with concern, “Should I cast a spell to relieve the pain?”

“Too many spells aren’t good… So, you’re saying this isn’t a joke?”

“Yes,” Professor Garcia replied.

Professor Alcasis tried to understand what he was hearing.

A student taking too many courses? It wasn’t common, but it did happen sometimes.

Professor Garcia himself had taken too many classes when he was a student, hadn’t he? He remembered regretting it later.

Of course, this student was on a completely different level…

“How many courses is he taking again?” Professor Alcasis asked.

“Summoning magic, illusion magic, enchantment magic, divination magic, transformation magic…” Professor Garcia listed.

“And dark magic too, right?”

“Oops. That’s supposed to be a secret from Professor Mortoom…”

“Do you think I have time to go and tell him? Anyway, you’re saying he’s getting good grades in all those classes?”

‘He’s at the top of the class…’ Professor Garcia almost said, but stopped himself.

It wasn’t a lie, but it felt like one for some reason.

“Yes…” he answered.

“…Is that even possible???”

“I know, right…” Professor Garcia agreed.

Professor Garcia thought about it again. When he saw Ihan doing amazing things little by little, it seemed normal. But saying it all out loud to Professor Alcasis? It sounded unbelievable, even to him.

“The Wodanaz family, you say…?”

“What does the Wodanaz family have to do with it? Haven’t you met anyone from the Wodanaz family before?” Professor Garcia asked.

Professor Garcia became gloomy, remembering being scolded by Professor Alcasis when he was a student. He felt himself shrinking.

‘This isn’t my fault, though,’ he thought.

“Hoo. I understand. I get it. Yes. Sometimes, a genius like that does appear,” Professor Alcasis said.

“Isn’t ‘sometimes’ a bit too generous…?” Professor Garcia muttered.

“Quiet,” Professor Alcasis said sternly.

“Yes, sir,” Professor Garcia replied.

“But what’s this about being considerate?” Professor Alcasis’s eyebrows furrowed even more.

Treating one student specially was something Professor Alcasis could never accept, not even if that student was royalty.

“Ah, that’s… Other professors have a lot to teach too, but if Professor Alcasis keeps him for too long or… even takes him outside… you know,” Professor Garcia explained.

All magic took time to learn, but healing magic, in particular, was like a monster that devoured time because of the amount of knowledge and the variety of fields it touched.

If Professor Alcasis kept the student all to himself, determined to quickly make him a useful healing mage, the other professors might get angry.

Besides, for healing magic, they often took students outside to real-world situations.

“Is that even something to worry about?” Professor Alcasis was utterly dumbfounded.

No matter how short-staffed they were, he had no intention of taking a first-year student out. It had nothing to do with talent.

Even if someone had amazing talent, would he take a first-year student to a place where people’s lives were at risk?

“Professor Garcia, you should know. Even doing this right now…” He was semi-forcibly making students learn healing magic, but Professor Alcasis knew very well that those who didn’t want to learn wouldn’t learn no matter how much he pushed them.

It was obvious. There were no people as stubborn as wizards. Would they keep learning a magic they weren’t interested in just because they were told to?

It was just that if he taught them by force, they could be called upon to help when they were short on people.

A wizard who knew nothing about healing magic and one who had learned a little were completely different.

Of course, he wasn’t expecting them to play a key role.

Expecting them to play a key role after teaching them by force like this would be truly shameless. He was only expecting them to play a supporting role when problems arose….

“I don’t even expect those who are forced to listen to do the work of one person. If they do half a person’s worth, they’re doing well. So, what’s with this ‘keeping him for too long’ or ‘taking him outside’ nonsense?”

He was trying to teach the bare minimum to solve the manpower shortage, but he was hearing things like, ‘Don’t treat him like a star pupil because there are other professors too.’ It was no wonder Professor Alcasis was dumbfounded.

“Right? Sorry. I guess I was worrying about nothing,” Professor Garcia apologized, feeling sheepish.

He was worried because every time the professors saw Ihan, they would grab one of his arms or legs and drag him to their magic tower.

People usually get torn apart when they’re dragged like that.

“The professors keep…”

“I understand, so don’t worry. And I’m sorry to say, but that Wodanaz doesn’t have much talent for healing magic,” Professor Alcasis said.

“Pardon?” Professor Garcia tilted his head.

‘He was doing well earlier, though?’ he thought.

Professor Alcasis gave a subtle wink. “He’s just pretending. His magic power isn’t decreasing.”

“…Ah, that’s, well, you see…” Professor Garcia decided to finish explaining the last part he had left out earlier.

“…That’s what it is! Not very surprising, right?” He had already said the really surprising thing first, so he thought this much would be okay.

However, Professor Alcasis didn’t respond.

“Professor?”

“Professor??”

“How much magic power does he have, exactly?”

“Professor, you said you weren’t interested earlier…”

“…I was just asking,” Professor Alcasis changed the subject.

“But this is a bit unfair. I was busy and not there when the other professors were talking.”

“Oh, come on, seriously,” Professor Garcia said, trying to forget the image of Ihan’s arms and legs being dragged away.

“And Ihan isn’t even that talented in healing magic.”

“…Try it with this,” Professor Alcasis removed the rope in front of Ihan and threw a bone.

The other students were horrified, but Ihan, already used to dark magic, accepted the bone without a second thought.

Crack!

Ihan broke the bone and immediately reattached it.

It was astonishingly fast, showing his understanding of bones, innate magic power, and delicate control ability.

He would need to teach him more to know for sure, but just looking at that, he couldn’t deny that he had an exceptional talent for healing magic.

“It’s because Ihan is studying dark magic diligently,” Professor Garcia made an absurd excuse.

“Professor Garcia, you know how beneficial a lot of magic power is.”

“Professor Verdus said that yesterday, Professor Krauer said it the day before, and Professor Mortoom said it the day before that…”

“…Anyway, disregard what I said earlier,” Professor Alcasis said.

“Oh, come on, seriously!”

“It was fun except for the dissection, right?” one student asked.

“Actually, wasn’t the dissection a little fun too?” another student admitted.

“…Y-yes, yes. Don’t come closer,” a student replied nervously.

When the lecture ended, the students’ evaluations were better than expected.

Considering that they were forced to learn and that they dissected a person during the lecture, it was a very positive result.

“Those who want to learn more healing magic… this way…” As soon as the lecture ended, Professor Alcasis hurried away, disappearing into the upper spire. The upperclassmen learning under the professor stayed behind and called out to the first-year students.

Even if many students were forced to listen, there would be quite a few among them who were genuinely interested in healing magic.

It was the role of the seniors to help such juniors.

…Actually, it was originally the professor’s job, but Professor Alcasis was too busy.

“Please take care of me, seniors!” a student said energetically.

“Hey…” a senior replied.

“Y-yes?” The student, who had greeted them energetically, was taken aback by the senior’s lukewarm response.

‘Did I do something wrong?’ he wondered.

“Lower your voice… I can’t sleep, so my head feels like it’s splitting…” the senior mumbled.

‘Even the students who were going to listen to healing magic will run away,’ the student thought.

“Ihan of the Wodanaz family,” a priest said.

“Tizling, priest,” Ihan replied.

“Are you alright?”

“What are you talking about?” Ihan asked.

“Even listening to healing magic…”

“Ah,” Ihan paused for a moment.

Actually, he was more surprised that the Phoenix Tower students knew about it than he was by the lecture itself.

“What difference would it make if I added one more now? And since I have to listen to it by force, I’ll only lose out if I don’t study,” Ihan explained.

“I’m seriously worried about your health…” The Phoenix Tower priests whispered as they walked past Ihan.

-Shouldn’t someone stop him…

-He has the honor and pride of a noble, how can we…

-A person’s life is more important!

‘These guys should say it without me hearing. Why are they making me feel uneasy?’ Ihan thought.

Ihan felt uneasy for no reason.

The priests were seriously worried about Ihan’s lifespan as they chattered, making him feel anxious even when he wasn’t before.

However, it wasn’t just the Phoenix Tower priests who were whispering about Ihan.

“That’s… the one the professor was talking about… right?”

“Yeah… the advantages… of healing magic… we need to… let him know… and draw him in…”

They would use both rewards (carrot) and punishments (stick) to teach magic.

The upperclassmen majoring in healing magic, who were already seeing their workload increase due to the high number of dropouts, were willing to sell their souls to the devil to attract juniors.

And even the words that Professor Alcasis had hurriedly left behind before leaving:

-Ihan of the Wodanaz family. Got it? Ihan of the Wodanaz family. If you raise him well, he’s capable of doing the work of ten people. Make him interested in healing magic.

-But Professor… how? The first-year students these days are clever and will have noticed everything.

How could they feel any advantages when even the professor looked like he was about to collapse and die from exhaustion?

-It’s alright. Everyone prioritizes different values. From what I can see, he’s not the type to value comfort or a comfortable life. He’s like Professor Garcia, seeing as he’s taking all those lectures. Burning with academic zeal. Got it?

-Ah. I think I understand.

-Good. Convince him well with that. I don’t need to say it explicitly…

-Of course, Professor. We want juniors more than you do!

“Are you… cough. Hack. Cough, cough. Interested… in healing magic?” a senior asked.

“…Are you alright?” Ihan couldn’t help but be taken aback when the senior spoke to him with a face that looked like he was about to die.

“Ah, no. It’s just… dry. It’s just because it’s dry. Anyway! You must be interested in healing magic. That’s why you’re here, right?”

“Well… I still don’t know much, so I’m just curious,” Ihan spoke carefully, not wanting to offend the other person.

However, the two seniors immediately replied as if they weren’t offended at all.

“That’s exactly what interest is.”

“It’s an amazing thing. To be so interested in healing magic. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.”

“Pardon?” Ihan looked at the priests behind him.

…No matter how he looked at it, compared to the interest shown by the priests back there, Ihan’s interest was like a firefly in front of the full moon…?