Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 262

As it was late, Lee Han went straight to bed after finishing his meal and tidying up.

He thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep because he was so upset, but he was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Lee Han had a nightmare about Professor Volardi bringing a dragon.

“-This is not true. I will appeal to His Majesty the Emperor.”

“-His Majesty has also permitted it.”

“-That’s ridiculous!”

Lee Han woke with a heavy sigh. The nightmare about Professor Volardi and a dragon still felt too real. He dragged himself to the small kitchen area and poured himself a cup of coffee from the kettle. The dark liquid smelled bitter, just like his mood.

Professor Volardi emerged from his room, his usual calm face unchanged. He paused, his eyes flicking to Lee Han’s coffee cup.

“Tea, Professor?” Lee Han asked quickly.

Professor Volardi nodded once. Lee Han simply reached for the tea leaves and a clean cup. *Always be ready,* he thought to himself.

Amur wandered in, yawning. “Morning! Oh, coffee?” He glanced at Professor Volardi’s tea. “Actually, maybe I’ll have coffee too.”

“No problem,” Lee Han said, already reaching for the milk. “Or would you prefer warm milk with your coffee, Amur?”

Amur blinked, surprised. “Uh, maybe? But how did you know?”

Lee Han just smiled faintly, pouring milk into a glass. “Just prepared.”

Amur stared, confused. Professor Volardi, who had been quietly drinking his tea, finally spoke. “Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

“Good luck.”

Amur said to Lee Han. Lee Han nodded and thanked him.

“Thank you.”

“Good luck.”

“…Thank you.”

“Seriously, good luck.”

“…You can stop now. Thank you.”

Lee Han’s shoulders slumped as he walked out with Professor Volardi. He looked defeated.

“By the way, Professor. Where are you planning to buy such a rare monster?” Lee Han asked Professor Volardi.

Philone Village wasn’t as bustling and vast as a city, but it was one of the largest and most prosperous villages.

As the Empire’s best magic school was nearby, all sorts of related people were coming and going from the village.

But even considering that, there weren’t that many places that sold rare monsters. In the first place, there weren’t any places like Amur’s stable in a normal village.

‘Is it a place I don’t know about?’ Lee Han had a rough idea of Philone Village, as he had been out and about a few times.

Is there a place that sells rare monsters that Lee Han doesn’t know about?

“I called the seller.”

Professor Volardi hadn’t just been resting.

On his days off, he had sent messages all over the Empire saying that he was looking for rare monsters.

Among the adventurers and explorers located in various parts of the vast Empire, there were those who specialized in carrying out only these kinds of requests.

Probably quite a few of them had already arrived in Philone Village with the monsters they had captured.

Lee Han cursed inwardly after hearing the explanation.

‘It’s no wonder adventurers get a bad rap.’

Adventurers just want money. They don’t think about *why* someone wants a monster. They should think more!

What if a crazy wizard throws that monster at his student!

‘I won’t forgive them.’ Lee Han once again resolved to call off this deal.

“Hey! It’s here, it’s here! Wizard! Nice to meet you!” An Orc adventurer waved his hand from afar. He was an Orc adventurer dressed in a way that seemed to shout, ‘I’m experienced’ from head to toe.

Behind him was a huge metal cage. It was tightly covered with a black cloth, but one could guess what was inside.

“Hello. My name is Kilbedek, as I mentioned in the letter. Wait. Who is this person next to you?”

“My student.”

“Ah, I see.”

Kilbedek paused, but continued as if he didn’t care much.

“First, let me tell you about the monster I captured. Please forgive my rudeness in explaining without removing the cloth.”

The two wizards nodded. The Orc adventurer paused for a moment and raised his voice.

“The monster I captured is… a Basilisk!!”

Lee Han was surprised.

And he wondered if attacking the Orc adventurer in front of him would be self-defense.

“Basilisk! Wizards would know, of course. The king of snakes and a monster with a terrible petrifying gaze. Unaffected by fire, water, and lightning, and with the agility to run from one end of the earth to the other in the time it takes to flick its tongue…”

“Stop talking nonsense!” Lee Han interrupted firmly.

He couldn’t let it go on like this. He had to make the other person feel bad somehow and make them go away.

“Your intentions are obvious. Out of all the many powerful monsters, you specifically chose a Basilisk! You needed an excuse to cover it with a black cloth. You must be insisting that people around you could get hurt if you remove the cloth! If he caught a Basilisk, why couldn’t he cover its eyes? It’s dangerous to bring it here uncovered! There must be a fake of similar size inside!”

“Wh… What are you…!” Kilbedek stuttered, taken aback by the absurd accusation. Lee Han felt sorry but didn’t stop.

“Look at his hands! Too clean! A real adventurer would have scars. He’s pretending!”

Lee Han started making things up as he saw them.

In fact, you could be an experienced adventurer even without scars or wounds on your hands. They could have been healed with healing magic, or they could have been so skilled that they didn’t get hurt.

But the important thing was the atmosphere.

He had to keep finding fault until the other person got angry and said, ‘I can’t do this deal!’

“…I’m sorry! Sniff sniff!”

Lee Han was speechless. Meanwhile, Professor Volardi praised him from the side.

“Well done.”

“…Thank you.”

“Be gone.”

Professor Volardi didn’t impose any sanctions or retaliation on Kilbedek and just chased him away. Lee Han asked, puzzled.

“Did you know that he was a con artist?”

“No. But I thought it was highly likely.”

Professor Volardi didn’t trust adventurers much in the first place.

That’s why he sent letters everywhere and passed on requests to gather as many sellers as possible.

No matter how many he called, nine out of ten would be con artists.

“I, I see.”

“Let’s call the next person.”

‘I hope they’re a con artist.’ Lee Han suddenly felt hopeful.

If all the adventurers are like this…!

“What do you think?”

“Yes?”

“I asked what you think.”

“Well… aren’t they virtuous Imperial adventurers?”

Perhaps because Lee Han’s initial pointing out of the Orc adventurer’s suspiciousness was so outstanding, Professor Volardi asked Lee Han for the same thing even when the next adventurer came.

Of course, Lee Han didn’t have that kind of ability.

‘Damn it. I just threw it out there.’ How would Lee Han know that all the fault-finding would be real?

“Do you really think so?”

“They seem… a bit suspicious.”

“In what way?”

“…First of all, since they brought a rare monster, that adventurer has no reason to be anxious or worried at all. However, they keep looking around and showing signs of anxiety.”

Of course, they might just be anxious about dealing with wizards or they might need to go to the bathroom urgently, but Lee Han ruthlessly found fault.

“Damn it! This is why I hate wizards!”

Another adventurer abandoned all their belongings and ran away.

And after that, three more adventurers were chased away for trying to scam (one of them brought an ordinary rabbit and insisted it was an Almiraj, a monster feared even by demons).

It was a good thing for Lee Han, but at this point, Lee Han began to doubt the ethics of the Imperial adventurers.

‘Is the Empire really okay?’ He even thought that adventurers should come to Einroguard during the vacation period and receive ethics education from Headmaster Skull.

Lee Han’s expression hardened.

He felt an indescribable sense of unease from the adventurers who had come this time.

‘What is it?’ A strange sense of unease that seemed to be gently touching his nerves.

Lee Han frowned because he couldn’t figure out what it was.

Professor Volardi said from the side.

“It’s bloodlust.”

“Yes?”

“What you’re feeling now. That’s bloodlust.”

Lee Han raised his head.

Unlike the con artists from before, the adventurers approaching now were emitting a strong scent of blood.

‘Are they crazy?’

This place wasn’t that far from the magic school, and they should know how other wizards would react if they messed with a wizard from Einroguard.

But the adventurers in front of him were far from that kind of logical thinking.

The wizard who came to get a rare item must have a lot of gold, so they would take it by any means!

‘Aftermath’ or ‘retaliation’ weren’t in their minds. Their only thought was to make a big score and not get caught.

“Wizard. Come over here.”

“You have to come closer to check the monster.”

The two adventurers’ slightly hoarse voices rippled with undisguised greed.

Lee Han clicked his tongue.

“Foolish bastards.”

“Do you even realize who Professor Volardi is?”

It was as good as certain what the future held for those adventurers, as their opponent was Professor Volardi, unlike other wizards.

“Who are you supposed to be?” The adventurer’s voice became rougher as he realized that the situation was flowing in a slightly strange direction.

Professor Volardi put his hand on Lee Han’s shoulder. And he said.

“Take care of it.”

“Yes?” Professor Volardi gestured with his chin. He meant to take care of it.

Lee Han suddenly felt embarrassed.

‘No…’ He was going to say to the other person, ‘Do you know who you’re dealing with?’ and then watch Professor Volardi fight, but if it turned out like this, wouldn’t he just be a crazy guy saying, ‘Do you know who I am?’

‘Do you really have to make me do this?’

“I asked who you are?”

“You don’t need to know.”

Lee Han drew his wand as he spoke. At the same time, the adventurers also drew their weapons.

They were already suspicious of each other.

Doig and Guido, the two brothers, feared the power of wizards, but at the same time, they weren’t afraid to face them.

The important thing was speed.

Magic was the most powerful force in the Empire, but that powerful force was meaningless if it couldn’t be manifested.

If they stabbed a blade into the wizard’s body before the wizard could use magic, that was the end of it.

The two adventurers drew their weapons. They were brutal hidden weapons made by a dwarf blacksmith with a bounty on his head in the Empire.

Hidden weapons that shot poisonous daggers with the power of fire and wind.

Not only was the poison simply stopping the wizard’s entire body, but the blade of the dagger was also made of turquoise that could penetrate defensive magic.

How many times had they seen wizards with defensive artifacts clutching their chests and collapsing with unbelievable expressions?

Doig and Guido had no doubt that it would happen again this time, but they tumbled down with the shock of their entire bodies burning.

Lee Han was flustered when the other person just tumbled down from a single lightning spell.

‘What? Is it a trap?’

“Shine, shine, shine!” Lee Han didn’t let his guard down.

What he learned from going through dungeons with Professor Volardi was that you should never stop attacking when a monster falls.

He didn’t need to save mana anyway, so Lee Han cast spells in rapid succession.

“You can stop now.”

“…Ah. Were they really down?”

Professor Volardi nodded.