Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 307

People said the Wodanaz family was very important and magical. But when I heard the knight students talking so confidently about fighting, I got confused. If the Wodanaz family was so great, why were these knight students so sure they were better fighters?

They wouldn’t necessarily be better at swordsmanship, and they were still first-year students, so they couldn’t be good at fighting with magic either…

“…I clearly told you. Please remember that.”

“Understood.”

“Is there anything else you would like to add to the record?”

“I have obtained a fire magic permit from the Aphah Order.”

“Is that so? I will make a note of it.”

The clerk looked slightly surprised.

He was a clerk who greeted several Einroguard students every vacation.

He had never seen a first-year student come so prepared.

Of course, he had never seen a first-year student from a great noble family come here either!

Lee Han thought about adding that he had received magical combat training from a crazy professor to his notes, but stopped himself.

He was afraid it might backfire.

“A fire magic permit? When did you get something like that?”

“Fools. We might have to solve requests within the city, didn’t you prepare for that?”

The White Tiger Tower students felt wronged by Lee Han’s scolding.

How could they know that when it was their first time?

“Alright. It’s your first time, so you can make mistakes. Now, who here has found party members?”

About two-thirds of the White Tiger Tower students gathered raised their hands.

They had either decided to go together or had been introduced to party members through their connections.

“I see. The rest of you can join me then. Please take care of me.”

“……”

“……”

“Huh???”

The White Tiger Tower students couldn’t accept the reality for a moment and asked back in confusion.

“H-huh??”

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh, uh. Th-that. Wodanaz. Are we moving together?”

“Yes. Is there a problem with that?”

“Uh, that’s. I mean. Wouldn’t it be dangerous?”

One of the White Tiger Tower students next to him thought, ‘Especially for us!’

“Dangerous?”

“U-uh…”

“Ha! Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself. I came ready for anything.”

The White Tiger Tower student wanted to say, ‘We’re not alright.’

But he couldn’t bring himself to say it and looked around at his friends.

-Help me!

However, there weren’t as many friends stepping forward as he had hoped.

“U-uhm. Then. Wodanaz. I’ll work hard and pay you back as soon as I earn silver coins.”

“R-right, Wodanaz. See you next time.”

The lucky students who had raised their hands to the earlier question hurriedly left.

Now, only the students who were unlucky enough not to raise their hands remained in their seats.

“Then let’s think about what kind of request we should take together.”

“Um, Wodanaz. By any chance…”

“Come to think of it, how much silver do I owe you?”

“…I’ll work hard…”

The students gathered in their seats accepted the truth with gloomy expressions.

They were excited about what kind of request there might be when they were putting on their equipment, but they already felt like they were back in Einroguard.

Lee Han took a slow sip of his green tea. The tea was warm and a little bitter. He sat outside the tea shop, the sun warm on his face. Around him, the White Tiger Tower students looked nervous.

He was happy to have found strong fighters to stand in front of him in a group.

The standard party composition was a sturdy frontliner blocking the front, combatants positioned in the middle launching attacks from behind, and mages or priests in the rear flexibly responding to various situations.

Of course, this was just an ideal example. The world didn’t always work ideally.

In the first place, mages or priests were high-level personnel who were not easy to find even if you wanted to.

“In that respect, we are in a very advantageous position. Don’t you think?”

Not all adventurers or mercenaries were skilled.

Good fighters become good by fighting a lot and almost dying sometimes. Many other fighters are not as good and don’t have strong basic skills.

In comparison, the White Tiger Tower students here were prepared talents who had been trained as knights, including swordsmanship, for over ten years.

Even this much was enough to make them more skilled than average adventurers.

“A sturdy front line and even a mage.”

“……”

“Y-yes, it seems good!”

The White Tiger Tower students, who were exchanging glances and wondering ‘how can we escape,’ hurriedly said.

“But Wodanaz, aren’t we a bit short on members?”

Angalo, who was always the most careful of the group, carefully said.

Deurke, Angalo, Lapardiel, Lee Han.

It wasn’t a very small number, but it was also true that it felt a bit lacking.

Besides, didn’t they also lack experience?

If he were greedy, he would have liked to add two or three experienced veterans.

“There’s no need to worry about that.”

Deurke answered instead.

Deurke had thoroughly investigated by asking the senior knights before coming with his other friends.

“I heard that Einroguard students like us are popular. Enough to find as many other adventurers as we want.”

In some ways, it was obvious.

All the White Tiger Tower students were thoroughly trained and could even use magic.

It was only natural that other adventurers would want to work with them.

“Then that’s good, right? Can we go to the guild and ask them to find some right away?”

“That’s right. But before that, let’s plan what request to complete first.”

Lee Han took out a map.

Lee Han pointed to Bulpareun Hill on the map. ‘I heard the cave there is dark and smells like old dirt. People say you can hear the ghouls moaning even from outside. Let’s deal with these undead first.’

The friends nodded, their eyes shining with excitement. They were ready for a ghoul hunt, or so they thought.

Lee Han explained, pointing to a spot on the map, “The cave is quite far. We’ll need to camp overnight. It’ll be a two-day trip.”

“And,” he added, a thoughtful look on his face, “while we’re there, we can also collect some herbs. Geraniums, snowdrop orchids, and mugwort. There are requests for all three from that area.”

One of the White Tiger Tower students, a boy with messy brown hair, frowned. “…Huh? Wait a minute.”

Lee Han asked, tilting his head, “What is it?”

The White Tiger Tower students blinked. Ghouls and herbs? They looked at each other, confused. Had they heard right?

Another student said slowly, “You said we were going to hunt undead.”

Lee Han tapped the map. “Yes, that’s right. But look, the green areas near the cave, that terrain is perfect for those herbs. It’s smart to do everything together, right? More efficient.”

“…Th-that’s right!”

“Indeed!”

“I also… thought it was terrain where snowdrop orchids and mugwort cakes would be found,” one student added.

Instead of asking further questions, the White Tiger Tower students nodded as if they had known it all along.

They thought they would look too stupid if they asked, ‘How did you know there were herbs just by looking at the map?’

Lee Han said, “Right? I knew you’d know. It was in the books, after all.”

The White Tiger Tower students simply sat quietly, smiling meaningfully.

They thought, ‘If we just keep quiet and listen, maybe we’ll understand some of this.’

Lee Han continued, “And after gathering, we’ll capture Rapella field mice in the nearby forest. There’s a record of them being found there.”

The White Tiger Tower students couldn’t hold back any longer and lost their smiles as undead hunting, herb gathering, and rare animal capture were added to the list.

“What’s wrong?” Lee Han asked.

“That… doesn’t capturing Rapella field mice seem difficult?” one student asked.

Another student added, “That’s right, Wodanaz. Such animal capture requests are usually difficult. Not just anyone can do it. You need an experienced hunter…”

Lee Han said, “I suppose so. There’s no guarantee we’ll catch them, for sure.”

“Right! The schedule is already full enough…”

Lee Han explained, “But there’s a pretty likely method. First, they like Dobruk’s Redolent Aroma Potion. We’ll have Sharkan track their scent, then spread the potion along their path and wait. That way, we can catch them with a higher probability than just searching the forest aimlessly. Furthermore, illusion magic at the choke points…”

The White Tiger Tower students gaped at Lee Han’s explanation.

‘What…’

‘Is he a 10-year veteran adventurer?’

‘Isn’t he the same guy who registered with us?’

Lee Han said, “That explanation should be enough, right? You’ve seen it in the books, too.”

“……”

One of the students said, “…That’s exactly what we were thinking. Wodanaz. Doing many things at once is efficient.”

The White Tiger Tower students threw away all their complaints.

And while they were throwing things away, they decided to throw away their brains as well.

‘I should just do whatever Wodanaz tells me…’

Gu Bon, the adventurer, was very pleased at the clerk’s words. “Einroguard! Are you talking about an Einroguard student!”

His party, which had been active for three years, had disbanded due to the retirement of two vanguards and internal strife between the two attackers, so he was in trouble when he received this offer.

The clerk said, “Yes. Mr. Gu Bon, you have been consistently active and have shown diligence and reliability in most requests. That’s why we’re recommending this connection.”

Gu Bon replied, “Thank you so much. I won’t let you down.”

Gu Bon knew how precious the clerk’s offer was.

There were countless guys who had never even held a sword coming to the city and acting like ‘I’m an adventurer,’ but Einroguard students who came out during vacation were very valuable talents.

Moreover, since they were all from knightly families, they would be excellent in both combat and magic, truly individuals of both literary and military prowess.

There was only one reason why these valuable talents were being connected to him.

‘They must be expecting advice as a veteran.’

Unnamed adventurers rolling around like stones on the street could be searched for anywhere, but if something happened to an Einroguard student, there would be several people who would be in trouble.

Their skills were certain, but their lack of experience was unavoidable.

It was clear that they had attached a trustworthy and experienced adventurer to fill that lack of experience.

Gu Bon said, “I will cooperate to the best of my ability.”

The clerk replied, “That’s reassuring. I’m counting on you, Mr. Gu Bon.”

Gu Bon finished talking with the clerk and headed to the meeting place with one colleague left in the party.

Gu Bon asked, “Einroguard student… what do you think they’ll be like?”

His friend replied, “I’ve never met them either. I’ve heard that most of them are magicians from knightly families, though.”

Gu Bon asked, “Then are they knights?”

The two imagined a powerful knight who was heavily armed and pushed forward like an unshakeable rock.

And on top of that, magic.

“They must be good at fighting,” Gu Bon said.

His friend replied, “Fighting isn’t the problem, it’s something else. They’re inexperienced young students, right? Honestly, I’m a little uneasy.”

Gu Bon asked, “Then should we have refused the offer? Such a good offer?”

His friend said, “It’s not that… Honestly, I wanted to work with a magician, too. I’m just worried they’ll say something ridiculous.”

The two moved with half expectation and half worry.

They weren’t worried about the students’ skills.

They were just worried that they would be too confident and set big goals or make silly mistakes in strange areas.

A handsome boy with a tall and solid build like a magician from a knightly family said, “I look forward to working with you. I’m Lee Han from the Wodanaz family.”

Gu Bon replied, “I’m Gu Bon. This friend here is Bizidek,” as he shook hands with Lee Han.

Bizidek asked, “Wodanaz?”

Gu Bon said, “What is it, Bizidek? Be quiet. We’re in the middle of a conversation.”

Bizidek apologized, “Oh… it sounded familiar. Sorry.”

Gu Bon sat down and carefully asked Lee Han, “Since our party is much smaller, we intend to follow your orders as assistants. But do you have any requests you’re aiming for…”

Gu Bon swallowed nervously, wondering how he should stop Lee Han if he brought up a ridiculous plan.

Lee Han nodded and took out a map.

“Well. I heard that ghouls are coming out of a cave near Bulpareun Hill…”

30 minutes later, Gu Bon stared at Lee Han, his jaw dropping. He had never heard such a detailed plan before. He asked, “Are all Einroguard students like this??”

The White Tiger Tower students subtly avoided eye contact.