Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 258

‘Touring the patrol isn’t as bad as I thought.’

At first, it seemed strange that a first-year student should patrol the magic school, but as my pockets got heavier, my thoughts changed somewhat.

Lee Han checked two rooms for food and one for magic ingredients. He quickly and quietly took some useful things while he was there.

It was a sight that Ratford, who was always trying to steal things, would have been amazed by.

“!”

Lee Han tensed.

‘I was sure it was a blind spot.’

-Wodanaz seems hungry; let’s bring him something to eat.

-Ah, right. I keep forgetting that the undead don’t get hungry.

-Youngsters should eat plenty. They’re at the age where they could chew rocks.

With a clanking of armor, the Death Knights strolled to a dark corner of the food storage room. They rummaged in a dusty wooden box, their bony fingers surprisingly gentle as they searched.

-I just grabbed whatever. I hope it suits your taste.

-It’s been too long since I’ve had a meal.

“Th-thank you.”

Lee Han couldn’t help but be taken aback by the Death Knights, who were piling food on him like benevolent grandfathers.

“But is this alright?”

-Haha! Such a diligent student.

-Of course, it’s not alright. But what can we do? We’re eating while working.

The knights from the old kingdom, whose names were no longer passed down, were relaxed about breaking rules.

Shouldn’t one eat when hungry and drink when thirsty?

Especially when helping with school work!

‘Wait. Is that alcohol?’

Lee Han was surprised when he opened the glass bottle.

“Are we allowed to drink alcohol while on patrol?”

-Haha! Of course not. But since we’re the ones doing the work, Wodanaz can have a little drink.

-When we go back, we’ll have to fill our bellies with black bread and cold rice balls again. Eat heartily.

‘Modern knights should learn from these old knights. They are too strict.’

Lee Han was touched by the kindness shown by the Death Knights.

The White Tiger Tower lot should watch and learn from this…

While Lee Han was eating his meal quickly, the Death Knights spoke from the side.

-Originally, finding a rat hiding in the maze takes longer than you think. Wodanaz is young and full of ambition, so I understand why you want to find it yourself, but don’t overdo it.

-That’s right. It wouldn’t be bad to just diligently fill the time the master has given you and then go do your own thing.

“…Wait. I don’t have any ambition, though?”

Lee Han, who was cutting bread and sausage with a pocketknife, paused.

The Death Knights nodded with benevolent faces.

-Yes. True ambitious people often say they have no ambition.

-There’s no truly proper ambitious person among those who say they have ambition.

“No…”

Lee Han wanted to point out that the Death Knights’ words were not making sense, but the Death Knights didn’t listen to Lee Han.

People tend not to listen to young people when they get old.

‘Einroguard needs a rule that sends those who spread false rumors to the punishment room.’

Lee Han gave up and finished his meal.

‘Patrolling isn’t as bad as I thought, indeed.’

Unlike his initial desire to attack the skeleton headmaster, there were many good things.

He was able to become friendly with the Death Knights, borrow items from several warehouses in the meantime, and check out places he was always curious about…

The Death Knights didn’t care much about what Lee Han borrowed from the warehouse.

They all seemed to think, ‘He’s young, he can do a little stealing.’

Lee Han nodded as he drew a map with a quill.

To use the remaining time as efficiently as possible…

“Alright. Let’s go to the lower floor this time.”

-We’ll follow you anywhere!

Zidruf, Duke Icaldoren’s confidant, had to struggle to endure the rising terror.

In fact, anyone would have felt the same.

How could anyone maintain their sanity while hiding alone in the middle of Einroguard, where security was on high alert?

Zidruf, who was known for being calm and collected, was gradually losing his reason.

‘It was a mistake to trust those Maple Serpent bastards. Yes. It was a mistake to trust them.’

They were seasoned adventurers who would do anything for gold and knew how to deal with wizards.

He thought that would be enough to get inside.

Zidruf wasn’t even asking for much.

He was just planning to quietly come in, quietly join forces, and quietly steal and leave…

But those crazy adventurers didn’t just die quietly; they raised the alert with whatever they did.

Zidruf was on the verge of snapping as the evil and great Archmage Gonadaltez went around every night, warning, ‘You die whether you come out or not.’

Click-

Zidruf opened the lid of the bronze pendant.

‘Three times left.’

It was a very powerful artifact, one of the lifelines that had protected Zidruf’s life until now.

A powerful artifact that subtly paralyzed the surrounding magic when activated!

It was a magic school full of all sorts of magical barriers and patrols. Even a great wizard could be caught with one mistake.

Zidruf was quite skilled in stealth magic, but that alone wasn’t enough. He would have been caught long ago without this artifact.

It was a shame that the number of uses was fixed, but…

‘I should start preparing.’

Zidruf took out another artifact.

It was an artifact in the form of a small statue.

“Great Wizard Goltineus, I offer my respect, please transform me!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zidruf’s body turned into a statue without a trace.

A powerful magic that even a high-level transformation wizard could not easily imitate.

This artifact was another of Zidruf’s lifelines.

Like the bronze pendant, he was disguising himself as a statue, moving his location every few days.

Until the alert was lifted.

‘Don’t let anyone in. Don’t let anyone in.’

Bang!

“So, there was a side path behind the stairs at the main entrance on the first floor?”

-That’s right. Oh, and don’t tell the master.

“Don’t worry.”

Zidruf was so surprised when a group of Death Knights entered that his heart nearly froze.

If his body hadn’t been transformed into a statue, he would have definitely groaned, ‘Gasp!’

Those Death Knights, who were minions of Gonadaltez, each possessed formidable combat power and were ready to summon all the surrounding enemies at the slightest touch.

Zidruf just prayed that those Death Knights would get out of there quickly.

“What kind of room is this?”

-Well… the truth is, there are several rooms in the magic school that are newly created and changed as soon as you close and open your eyes. Of course, I can’t close my eyes!

-Ehehehehehe!

-Kehehehehehe!

“…Uwahahahaha!”

Lee Han laughed without delay.

As undead who had no particular joy, the Death Knights had considerable pride in their jokes.

Fortunately, Lee Han had the extraordinary ability to laugh no matter what nonsense the professors said.

-Is it a storage room?

-It seems to be a place to store works of art. Paintings and sculptures.

‘Oh, dear.’

Lee Han was disappointed.

If there were no secret passages, side paths, food, or reagents, wouldn’t that room just be a trash room?

-Don’t be too disappointed, Wodanaz.

One of the Death Knights noticed Lee Han’s thoughts and offered advice.

-Even rooms like this that no one seems to care about are surprisingly useful. Because no one cares, it’s good for storing things.

“!”

Lee Han was tempted by the Death Knight’s words.

‘I definitely need some space these days.’

When he first entered the tower, he never thought he would lack space.

Not only were the private rooms spacious, but so were the lounges.

But as time went by, the number of items gradually increased.

From groceries bought outside to various reagents and materials piled up for assignments, books, and piles of paper…

These days, Lee Han felt like he understood why the seniors secretly hid stolen materials in secret warehouses in the middle of the mountain range.

There was no space inside the tower, and if you just left them around, other tower students might steal them (even students from your own tower).

To become an excellent magic school student, you had to have about three or four secret warehouses that no one else knew about.

‘At this point, I don’t know if I’m a squirrel hiding acorns or a wizard.’

“If I throw a few wooden boxes inside, no one will touch them.”

-That’s right. There’s an old saying that if you want to hide a corpse, hide it in the forest, isn’t there?

“?”

‘Wasn’t the saying, if you want to hide a tree, hide it in the forest?’

Lee Han thought so, but he didn’t point it out out of consideration for the Death Knights.

Maybe that’s how it was in the old days…

-Wodanaz. Are you going to use it as a secret warehouse?

“Yes.”

Another Death Knight chimed in.

-That’s all well and good, but this room has too much junk. I recommend getting rid of about half of it. After all, even if you just pile up light stuff at the entrance, the students won’t come in.

“Indeed…”

Lee Han nodded.

It seemed like it would be good to remove the bulky ones.

“Can I take the sculptures and statues outside?”

-Wodanaz. As I always say, there’s nothing you can’t do in this world. Just do it.

-There are sculptures around the main gate of the main building. Let’s put them there.

“Oh… is that alright?”

-Wodanaz. As I always say…

“I understand. Let’s try to clean it up.”

Lee Han and the Death Knights began to carry the sculptures out one by one.

However, Lee Han and his party did not know.

That one of the sculptures was pale and screaming inwardly!

‘No… no!’

Zidruf felt like his heart was hardening.

In order to escape, the process of undoing the transformation in a place where no one could see and preparing to use the artifact was essential.

But in front of the main gate of the main building?

Wasn’t that a place where all the beings of the magic school were watching with their eyes open?

The moment he undid the transformation, he would die instantly in less than a second.

‘No! No! It can’t be!’

Zidruf couldn’t understand the situation.

And he couldn’t understand who the boy was among the Death Knights.

He looked like a first-year, but why was he walking around with the Death Knights?

There were so many things he couldn’t understand that he wondered if all of this was Gonadaltez’s mockery.

Was Zidruf’s identity already exposed, and was the wicked Gonadaltez doing this to mock Zidruf?

“But what are these sculptures used for?”

-Students make them as a hobby, and there are lectures, right? They use them later when they need them for magic.

-There must be a sculpture club. Wodanaz is still a first-year, so he wouldn’t have been able to join the club yet.

“……”

Lee Han didn’t want to join a sculpture club even if he joined a club.

“Thank you for today.”

-What. We were even happier because Wodanaz did a great job.

-Let’s meet again next time, and go in and study hard!

Lee Han saw off the Death Knights and came inside.

He had homework left to do, so he felt heavy-hearted, but he wasn’t in a bad mood.

‘By the way, where the heck is that intruder hiding?’

He didn’t know who the opponent was, but Lee Han thought the opponent was very determined.

To be able to endure so persistently in the middle of enemy territory.

What kind of person was he?

‘I should pray that I don’t run into him.’

Lee Han prayed that he wouldn’t run into him while wandering around.

An intruder of that type would definitely be a powerful opponent.