Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 283

Baishada’s mouth dropped open. Professor Ingardel was completely wrong!

No…

“I really didn’t give any advice…”

“Not at all. Mr. Baishada’s teachings have been a great lesson to us.”

Baishada’s eyes widened at Lee Han’s words. He was grateful, but also quite embarrassed.

But more than anything, Baishada thought, ‘They did it before I even helped!’

Of course, it wasn’t that Baishada hadn’t given any advice at all. He had gone hunting with Lee Han and his group before and given them various teachings. But that was teaching necessary for hunting, and it had nothing to do with the giant’s hair. Anyone listening would think they had cut off the giant’s hair thanks to Baishada’s advice.

“There’s no need to be so modest, Mr. Baishada.”

“That’s right. I’m truly impressed.”

Professor Ingardel, as well as Gesse, sent him looks of respect. Secretly stealing a giant’s shoes was a completely different story from cutting off a giant’s hair. Getting giant’s hair was very hard. You had to fight a giant to get it. And yet, the freshmen had done it. It was only natural that Ingardel and Gesse would send him looks of respect.

He had wanted to receive a look of respect from Gesse. But definitely not like this!

‘My feelings are complicated…’

Baishada didn’t know whether to be happy or not.

Meanwhile, in another part of the school…

Having submitted his assignment and received his evaluation, Lee Han tightly fastened his bootlaces. Then, he cast an enhancement spell on himself.

Deorgyu was surprised by his friend’s sudden spellcasting.

“What’s wrong? Lee Han?”

“Deorgyu, I’ll see you later.”

Lee Han shot out like an arrow. He ran so fast that Deorgyu and Giselle just stared as Lee Han ran off. They were too surprised to understand.

“What on earth…”

“Deorgyu! How could he not even tell us!”

‘Oh no.’

Only when other White Tiger Tower students approached with betrayed expressions did Deorgyu realize why Lee Han had run off. Lee Han wasn’t in the same tower as the White Tiger Tower students, so if he avoided them, he wouldn’t have to meet them. There was no reason for him to stay and deal with them.

“That little rascal…”

“He probably didn’t mean anything bad.”

The midterm exam week was already halfway over.

‘Soon, everyone would look like zombies.’

Lee Han thought as he looked at his friends. His friends were now so gaunt that they were hard to distinguish from skeleton warriors, save for the skin on their bones.

“Lee Han, the coffee’s gone.”

Yonel whispered sadly, like he was announcing a disaster. “The coffee is gone.”

Of course, saying such things while holding an empty coffee can didn’t make it sound solemn.

“I see.”

“The sugar’s gone too… There’s more gone than I thought.”

“Hmm.”

Lee Han knew as well, as he also managed the Blue Dragon Tower’s food storage. Of course, there were still plenty of food ingredients for meals, canned meat, and various seasonings and vegetables. Lee Han didn’t want to eat the meals coming out of the school either, so he had managed those first. But coffee, tea, and other treats were a different story. There wasn’t as much of those as other foods, and the students had been eating them like crazy since the exam period started… Even though he had recently raided a candy store, it was running out so fast.

‘Well, it’s no wonder it’s running out when all the students in your tower are eating it at once.’

“Lee Han, now that it’s come to this, let’s take out the delicious chocolate cake celebrating the end of the semester. The living must live. We can’t starve to death.”

Ignoring Gainando said seriously from the side, Lee Han said to his friends.

“Isn’t the only option to endure it? If we just eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner…”

Lee Han didn’t think the situation was that bad, but the Blue Dragon Tower students were half in a panic.

“Heavens!!”

“Oh, God! How could this happen!!”

“This is definitely the headmaster’s conspiracy!”

‘These guys need to experience how the students in other towers live.’

“Woah, Wodanaz. Is there no coffee? If I don’t have sweet, strong coffee, piping hot and full of sugar, my exam will be ruined.”

“How about using chicory or dandelion roots as a substitute?”

If you roast the roots of other plants and boil them in water, you get a drink that tastes similar to coffee. The Black Tortoise Tower students actually enjoyed doing that. However, the Blue Dragon Tower students were greatly shocked by Lee Han’s words.

“C-Can we really eat something like that?”

“Are you kidding?”

Gainando asked from the side.

“Can’t we just not share with the other tower students anymore?”

“But we can’t not give it to them (when they pay money).”

Gainando looked slightly touched by Lee Han’s words. Gainando was okay with sharing with the Black Tortoise Tower students. But he didn’t understand why they shared with the White Tiger Tower students, who he thought were unlucky. Lee Han was definitely broad-minded. To readily extend a hand to those unlucky guys.

Gainando wiped the corner of his mouth.

‘I should follow his example.’

“Okay. You’re right, Lee Han.”

“Oh.”

Lee Han looked at Gainando in surprise. Lee Han thought he would throw a fit, saying, ‘Even if they pay, don’t give it to those jerks!’

“Then what should we do, Lee Han?”

“I told you earlier. Just endure it.”

“Huh? Endure what?”

“Just endure and study.”

“…Okay…”

“Mr. Wodanaz. I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

Lee Han, who was fiddling with his shield for Professor Verdus’s midterm exam, was puzzled by Radford’s visit.

“Is there something you want to ask? Which lecture are you stuck on?”

“Ah. It’s alright.”

“Have you already finished studying?”

“No. But there are many things more important than exams in the world.”

” ? ”

Lee Han tilted his head. Are there?

“More than that, please take a look at this.”

Ratford pulled out a map from his cloak. It showed a location on the second floor of the main building.

“This is… the kitchen?”

“Yes, it’s the kitchen connected to the food storage,” Ratford said, his eyes gleaming.

“Let’s raid this together, Ethan.”

“Ratford…”

Ethan had just been thinking, ‘He’s just trying to avoid studying.’ But Ratford’s thoughtfulness surprised him.

He couldn’t believe Ratford had found the school kitchen because he knew the Blue Dragon Tower was running out of snacks.

“Thank you. I didn’t expect you to be so thoughtful, knowing our tower is running out of snacks.”

“Pardon? You’re running out of food?” Ratford stared at Ethan, surprised.

Ethan was also surprised. “You didn’t know? Then why did you bring this map?”

“Well… now I know where it is, I gotta raid it before someone else does, right?”

“……”

Ethan was impressed in a different way.

Like a mountaineer climbs a mountain simply because it is there, a true thief steals simply because there is something to steal.

It didn’t matter if it was exam period or not.

If he felt like doing it, he would just do it!

“The second floor… isn’t bad, I suppose.”

If it were the third or fourth floor, Ethan would have hesitated. Above the second floor of the magic school, the layouts changed every time you visited, which was annoying.

But the second floor had fewer changes.

If he knew the way, he could quickly go in, raid it, and come out at night.

“Alright. Shall we go tonight to clear our heads?”

“Good thinking. Someone else might take it.”

“Someone else? Who knows?”

“Ah, Salco and his friends know. They’re probably aiming for it too.”

“Really? Did they find it together? What a coincidence.”

“Not really. I stole the information from Salco.”

“…Let’s leave right now.” Ethan decided to leave immediately instead of waiting for nightfall.

He felt that bumping into students from the Black Tortoise Tower at night would only lead to misunderstandings.

Yoner asked, puzzled, “Shouldn’t we bring more people?”

“First of all, there’s no need to bring a lot…” Besides, the semester was ending, so there wasn’t much need.

“…and it’s not good if it leaks out.”

“??” Yoner tilted his head.

“Is that how it is?”

“Yes.”

“Wait, Ratford, match your pace. The invisibility will wear off once we go outside.” Ethan was amplifying the invisibility magic.

He had discovered a method while fighting the Rock Drake: casting the invisibility spell along with the Spire Keeper’s Necklace increased the range of the invisibility magic.

Of course, it wasn’t perfect. The invisibility would wear off immediately if they strayed even a little from the area.

Click!

Ratford quickly picked the lock and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, a warm, sweet smell drifted out. Ethan breathed it in. “We found it,” he whispered. It smelled like cookies and maybe hot chocolate.

Jackpot! he thought. A food storage room, right here on the second floor. No guards, no magic alarms. They were incredibly lucky.

‘Well, after all that hardship, I deserve this much.’

“Eyes, pierce the darkness.” Ethan cast Dark Vision magic and stepped into the kitchen.

In the inner corner, there was a door connected to the adjacent food storage. Ethan quietly opened the door and quickly began to raid it.

From cans of coffee powder to sugar, condensed milk, honey, tea leaves, and other necessities, the items steadily piled up in his backpack.

As he felt the heavy weight in his backpack, Ethan could understand Ratford’s feelings.

‘It’s definitely more enjoyable to sneak in and steal at night than to buy it with money.’

Moreover, the joy doubled when he thought that these groceries were bought with Headmaster Skull’s money.

“I’m done.”

“I’m finished too.”

“Me too.”

“Let’s go!”

If there was one thing he learned at the magic school, it was that one should not linger after achieving their goal.

Ethan turned around without hesitation.

As he was about to leave the kitchen and walk into the hallway, familiar faces appeared from the opposite side.

Ethan felt a little sorry when he saw Salco and his gang.

‘But there’s still plenty left, so it should be fine.’

Thanks to his fairly conscientious raiding, there were still plenty of groceries left for Salco and his gang to take.

Besides, Ethan and Yoner had swept through the place like professionals under Ratford’s direction.

Salco, who arrived late, wouldn’t even notice that someone had been there before them.

Whoosh-

Thanks to the invisibility magic, Salco and his gang didn’t notice Ethan’s group and went straight into the kitchen.

At that moment, a strong flow of magical power was felt from inside.

Clunk!

“!!”

“?!”

The kitchen door closed with a heavy sound. They seemed to have noticed something strange inside and hurriedly tried to open it.

However, the door only made a loud noise and wouldn’t open.

‘There was a trap!’

Ethan felt a chill down his spine.

He was relieved because there was no special surveillance or magic on the second floor of the main building, but he never expected there would be such a trap.

As expected, one should never let their guard down in Einroguard.

“Why did it activate?”

“It seems to be a trap that activates when the number of intruders gets too high.”

It was a mean trap!

A trap that doesn’t notice when two or three people enter, but traps them the moment they bring their friends!

Ethan briefly stopped the invisibility magic and approached the door. Ratford cautiously asked, “Are you going to help them?”

“No. I’m just checking.”

Sorry, but if he tried to help them now, he might get caught too.

Ethan just wanted to know what kind of magic it was before running away, so he could respond if he encountered it again.

‘The flow and structure are roughly…’

Clunk!

The door opened the moment he brought his hand close to it.

He made eye contact with Salco and his gang, who were trying to open the door from the inside.

“……”

“……”

Ethan said firmly, “I came to save you.”