Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 297

Lee Han braced himself, a sense of foreboding washing over him.

The silence suggested the infamous, eccentric magical family of the Empire was reacting exactly as one might expect.

“You come from a very distinguished family, I see.”

“!”

Lee Han’s face brightened at Yoner’s words.

“I am merely ashamed that I cannot live up to my family’s reputation.”

“Nonsense. Even the Wardanaz family would be hard-pressed to find such talent.”

They were having a pleasant conversation, but Lee Han couldn’t decipher Yoner’s true thoughts.

Yoner was thinking, ‘To be so considerate, despite being from the Wardanaz family…’

It was truly astonishing.

‘I thought they were all just magic-obsessed lunatics…’

“Then, let’s go meet Yoner. Follow me.”

Yoane left the workshop first. As Lee Han and Raetford were about to follow, Kaljune called out to Lee Han.

“Excuse me…”

“?”

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I’ve had a great realization.”

The alchemist Kaljune spoke earnestly.

After confidently creating a potion and showing it to the wealthy Maykin family, he understood what he really wanted to do.

If not for Lee Han’s advice on the basics of alchemy, Kaljune would never have realized it.

Of course, to Lee Han and Raetford, Kaljune was just a slightly perplexing person.

‘What is this guy talking about?’ Lee Han wondered.

‘I have no idea either,’ Raetford thought.

What realization could one possibly gain from being dragged to a strange place after standing in the wrong line?

Nilia inwardly groaned, a sound no proper noble would ever make, as she was attended to by the maids.

The maids skillfully dressed Nilia, layer by layer.

‘I’m going crazy, really…’ she thought.

At first, when she was invited to Yoner’s mansion, Nilia was thrilled and full of anticipation.

It was her first vacation, her first time visiting a friend’s house, and her first time entering a noble’s mansion.

It was something she had dreamed of since traveling through the northern mountains with the Shadow Patrol.

“What will be in the nobles’ mansions?” she had wondered.

“Hmm! I once visited a mansion and saw a huge monster head and skin. It was a fantastic taxidermy.”

“…Not that… Something out of a fairy tale… Aren’t only the nobles like that?”

“What are you talking about? Nobles all love hunting.”

“That’s right, Nilia. It can’t be just the North. Other regional nobles will also display their prey.”

“Not that! Paintings or sculptures! Music or snacks!”

“Didn’t you see it when we visited the mansion last time? A painting of a very scary hunt…”

“Wasn’t the hunting drum performance good?”

“Ah! Not that, really!!!”

“Why is Nilia like that?”

“It’s definitely because you ate the eyeballs first. You should give the eyeballs to the children first.”

The people of the northern Empire had no dreams, but Nilia was different.

Surely, somewhere in the Empire, there were nobles straight out of a fairy tale.

And that life was…

‘Suffocating!’ she realized.

It was more bothersome than she had imagined.

At first, she enjoyed entering the mansion.

She enjoyed watching all sorts of people bustling about, strolling around the mansion grounds with Yoner, and indulging in a dinner full of dishes she didn’t even know the names of.

And then, things slowly started to get strange.

“We will assist you with your bath, Miss.”

“What? No! I can do it myself!”

“Did… did we do something wrong…?”

“…Okay… Just do it…”

Nilia’s heart wasn’t cruel enough to refuse the maids who looked at her with shocked expressions, as if asking, ‘What did we do wrong?’

But that was just the beginning.

“We will sing to you until you fall asleep.”

“Are you trying to scare away any sleep I might have with that horrible noise!?”

“Did… did we do something wrong…?”

“…Just do it…”

Sleep service.

“Have you woken up? We will assist you with your morning washing.”

“Ptooey ptooey. Ptooey ptooey ptooey. Huff huff.”

Dressing service.

“We will dress you.”

“Is there a reason to dress like I’m going to war?”

“Hahaha! You’re so funny!”

“You’re indeed a mage!”

“……”

Meal service.

“We will cut it for you.”

“Ah, no. I’ll cut it myself. Besides, you weren’t standing next to me like this last night.”

“Yoner-nim specifically requested it…”

“Th-Then, can’t you make a special exception today too?”

“Did… did we do something wrong…?”

“……”

Nilia gave up and accepted the meal service.

The maids gasped when Nilia reached for the roasted chicken with her bare hands. Another maid nearly fainted when Nilia stood up to get water herself. And when a tiny drop of gravy dared to splash onto Nilia’s cheek, they looked like the world was ending!

She couldn’t tell if it was a meal or a maid training session.

“When is Yoner coming?”

“Yoner-nim is still sleeping. Perhaps a cough…”

“Ah, no. Let her sleep.”

And at the end of the meal, another dressing service.

“We will change your clothes.”

“But I did that this morning!?”

“Yes? Lunch clothes… Did… did we do something wrong…?”

“……”

And now.

Knock knock-

Nilia opened the door, staggering with a deathly pale face. Yoner was standing there.

“Sorry. I overslept…”

Nilia burst into tears and hugged Yoner tightly. Yoner was taken aback.

“?!”

After hearing all the explanations, Yoner felt very sorry.

“I should have told them.”

“No! I… I was kind of enjoying it!”

“Really?”

“Y-Yeah.”

‘I should just tell her,’ Yoner resolved inwardly as Nilia avoided eye contact and said she was enjoying it.

“What’s the schedule for today? I have things to do.”

“!”

Nilia’s ears perked up.

She absolutely did not want to be alone in this heavenly mansion.

“Can… can I join you?”

“Hmm? You can, but… it might be boring?”

“No! Anything is fun if I’m doing it with a friend!”

Nilia shouted desperately. Yoner nodded with a slightly pleased expression.

“If you say so.”

In conclusion, it was indeed a very boring task.

“I will now announce today’s topic. We are discussing problems with flower farms in the south because of trouble there. How should alchemists respond to the political instability in the southern coastal region of the Empire, the area where Sangoria flowers are grown?”

“……”

For a moment, Nilia thought the nobles were speaking a different language.

“Wh… wha… what…?”

“The Maykin family does this often,” Yoner kindly explained.

The Maykin family, which was actively involved in commerce and patronage among the great noble families, pursued constant competition even internally.

One of the most representative examples was this kind of topic.

Anyone working within the family could write and submit solutions to this topic.

“There are rewards if your idea is chosen.”

“…Y-Yeah.”

Nilia looked around.

Everyone was solemnly holding quills and staring intently at the paper, and it wasn’t an atmosphere where she could say, ‘Can’t we just go hunting?’

Nilia sighed inwardly and grabbed a quill.

Let’s write something!

There are many unemployed hunters in the North, so send them to the southern coast… They can attack from a distance, so they will be good at dealing with monsters… If the monsters are caught well, people will be happy and political instability will decrease… I’m sorry…

“Yoner.”

Nilia and Yoner both looked up at the same time.

Someone who looked like Yoner’s older sister was calling her.

“Your friend is here.”

“!!!”

Nilia’s face brightened.

“My friend is here! Let’s go see them!”

“Nilia. You didn’t want to do this, did you…”

“Ah, no. It’s not that…”

Lee Han was a little taken aback by how happy Nilia was to see him, even though it had only been a few days.

“Was there something difficult at the Maykin family’s mansion?”

“Huh?! No! What! How could you say that… Someone might misunderstand!”

Nilia jumped up and down, denying it.

‘So there was something,’ Lee Han thought.

“I don’t think Yoner would have bullied you… Ah. Perhaps they were overly attentive and made you uncomfortable?”

“How did you know!?”

Nilia was genuinely surprised. Lee Han smiled wryly, as if he understood.

Lee Han himself had experienced it before.

“You should just talk to them about it.”

“Every time I say something, they start to cry, so how can I say it strongly…”

“But you said you weren’t uncomfortable.”

“……”

“There’s a way to say it indirectly. I’ll tell you later.”

“You’ll stay for a long time, right? Stay for a long time. Don’t leave quickly.”

Nilia grabbed Lee Han and Raetford’s sleeves and whispered in a weak voice.

Lee Han felt sorry for inviting Nilia.

“We have to go to other places too… Would you like to come with us then?”

Nilia nodded quickly.

Yoner, who came out with a silver coin pouch, asked curiously.

“What were you talking about?”

“We were talking about going together when we visit other places.”

“Ah. So it was boring after all?”

“No?! It was fun!?”

Nilia was startled and waved her hands in denial, but Lee Han and Yoner looked at Nilia as if they knew everything.

“What were you doing?” Lee Han asked.

“Presenting solutions to the topic that the family periodically releases. Today’s topic was: How should alchemists respond to the political instability in the southern coastal region of the Empire, the area where Sangoria flowers are grown? In the end, the reason for the instability is the decrease in fish catches.”

“That’s right. The guilds there are overfishing seafood, which is making the sea’s magic rough and enraging the spirits.”

“It would be good to negotiate with the guilds to have a rest period, but that won’t be easy. It would be good for the Empire to support the mages to restore the sea’s magic to its original state, and to prioritize persuading the pro-Empire guilds among those guilds.”

“I thought so too.”

“……”

Nilia, who was listening to Lee Han and Yoner’s conversation, kept turning her head in confusion.

‘Is this really a conversation between students of the same age?’ she wondered.

Yoner, who was talking, realized something was wrong and asked.

“Wait. Why did Yoane-unni come?”

Usually, if someone came formally, the servants would come and say, ‘Your friend has arrived,’ right?

“I stood in the wrong line.”

“Huh?”

Lee Han explained what had happened simply.

“I’m glad she’s a kind person.”

“…Oh. Wait a minute.”

Yoner was unusually flustered. Lee Han was puzzled by the reaction.

“Why?”

“You made a potion in front of Unni?”

“Yeah.”

“And Unni saw it?”

“Yeah.”

“Lee Han. Do you remember Professor Bible Verdus? Professor Verdus is the strictest teacher in the school! If she saw your potion, she will judge you very harshly!”

“…What nonsense are you talking about, Yoner.”

Lee Han felt a chill down his spine and denied reality.

How could someone who seemed so kind be Professor Bible Verdus?

And in the first place, a kind Professor Bible Verdus could not exist.

Isn’t that a complete contradiction?

Like a sociable Professor Volardy, or a conscientious Headmaster Skull…

Yoner said seriously.

“It’s best to leave the mansion quickly. Let’s go.”

“Really?”

“I’m not joking about this. Quickly. Nilia, get ready to leave too.”

Lee Han and his friends hurriedly began to prepare to leave. Nilia wanted to change into comfortable clothes, but Yoner stopped her.

“Sorry. There’s no time for that. We have to leave quickly.”

“Hmph.”

Knock knock-

“Are you done talking?”

“Hick!”

Yoner almost hiccuped at the sight of her sister peeking her head through the door. She was looking nervously at the door, whispering urgently.