Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 309

“Let’s eat.”

The soup in the pot over the campfire bubbled. Yihan had stir-fried fresh vegetables and meat, then simmered them with water and canned spices. It was a surprisingly good meal.

Of course, Yihan had cooked it.

“??”

“????”

Gu-Bon and Bizidek were about to ask, “Why are you doing this?” But Yihan handed them wooden bowls before they could speak. They took the bowls in silence, surprised.

The White Tiger Tower students ate with practiced ease.

“That Wodanaz. His skills are as sharp as ever.”

“He’s as good at cooking as he is at magic.”

Durgyu asked, curious, “But Gu-Bon, do adventurers usually eat like this?” Gu-Bon scratched his head, wondering how to explain.

“Well, if it’s nearby, or on the first or second day of a request, we eat pretty well…”

For requests that were close by or seemed short, adventurers cared about the quality of their food.

But for long trips or big dungeons, that was impossible. Being quick and carrying as little as possible were most important. No one would worry about taste when they didn’t know when their next meal would be.

“I see. So, it’s okay to eat like this for a request like today’s.”

“I thought adventurers only ate jerky.”

“I guess there was some exaggeration.”

“…No, even if we eat well, it’s rare to eat *this* well…” Gu-Bon said, dumbfounded.

‘Eating well’ meant eating the fresh fruit, bread, or rice cakes they brought before they spoiled, not preparing a fancy meal like this.

Just getting water for cooking was hard, and cooking with fire meant using fuel. Few adventurers spent that much energy on a single meal.

“You don’t eat like this?”

“No… water and fire are both precious.”

“I see.”

Yihan nodded and looked at his friends. The White Tiger Tower students quickly shielded their soup bowls, a habit from Einroguard.

“Not… not giving it back.”

“I wasn’t going to take it. You already cooked it. But yeah, without magic, this would be a lot of work.”

Even Yihan thought that doing this without magic would take up a lot of time and energy.

“Then next time, we’ll just have simple adventurer rations…”

“Now, there’s no need to rush into a decision like that, Wodanaz.”

“That’s right. Gu-Bon here said we should eat well when we can.”

Anglough and Rapardel really tried to persuade Yihan.

This was tastier than the meals at the Knights Order dormitory.

Gu-Bon’s companion, Bizidek, tilted his head.

“This soup is surprisingly delicious.”

“Could it be because the ingredients are good?”

“I helped with the cooking, and the ingredients weren’t anything special… Could it be the water?”

“Water? What about the water?”

“The wizard summoned it, didn’t he?”

“Oh. I see. It could be that.”

While the two adventurers whispered, Anglough scraped his bowl clean and started scraping the pot with the ladle, earning a smack from Yihan.

“Stop eating so much. The others need to eat too.”

“Ah… well… it’s a waste if there’s any left…”

When the time came, Yihan quietly got up.

The two adventurers offered to take turns keeping watch, but Yihan refused.

If they got into lazy habits, it could become a problem later when the adventurers weren’t around.

‘Still, the guild really did recommend hard-working people.’

The way they tried to do everything themselves impressed Yihan.

He’d heard that many adventurers weren’t very nice, but it seemed the guild had recommended truly trustworthy people.

“Eyes, pierce the darkness.”

There was no need to be bored while keeping watch.

Yihan cast Dark Vision and began to read his magic book. It was a madness that would make the other White Tiger Tower students shudder.

>Ancient Basic Necromancy – On the Summoning of True Undead< A true necromancer doesn't need to rely on undead from other realms, but must be able to move the dead with pure will alone. Here lies the command of the skeleton… While other necromancers made contracts with undead in the undead realm and summoned them easily, Yihan was stuck with the old-fashioned necromancy of assembling bones and creating them himself, all because Headmaster Skeleton had insisted he ‘learn proper ancient black magic.’ But it wasn’t without its advantages. If there really were no advantages, Yihan wouldn’t have done it, no matter how much Headmaster Skeleton insisted. 'I hope the skeleton warriors’ attacks will be perfected by the end of this vacation.' He could summon the skeleton warriors now, but their movements were quite limited and often failed. If the skeleton warriors could just reach the point where they could attack enemies on their own, it would be easier to deal with Vol… no, enemies. Rustle rustle- " ?" Yihan looked up. He thought he heard the sound of rustling bushes somewhere. 'An animal?' Flash! As soon as he thought that, a light flashed and exploded from below. The intruder prevention magic he’d set up had been triggered. It didn’t have any offensive power, but it was enough to startle the intruder and give them time to respond. Yihan moved quickly, like a seasoned Einroguard student. Thud! "Wake up! It’s an attack!" "H-Headmaster!?" Yihan kicked his friends’ backs, and the White Tiger Tower students jumped to their feet. "It’s not Headmaster!" "Th-Thank goodness." "It’s not good! Everyone, grab your weapons!" The experienced Gu-Bon and Bizidek were very tense. The students were skilled, but in ambushes and melees like this, staying calm was just as important as skill. Of all times for intruders to appear, it had to be when they were out on a request with students. 'Please, let it be nothing serious!' Gu-Bon and Bizidek hoped that the intruders were just shepherds, travelers, or lost adventurers wandering around. "Shields up, heads down." "Protect Wodanaz!" "!?" But the students’ movements were better than the two adventurers expected. The way they immediately got up, grabbed their weapons and shields, and formed a formation the moment the light exploded was very skilled. 'They really are from knightly families!' It wasn’t exactly because they were from knightly families, but the two adventurers’ misunderstanding grew. "Damn it, what are you doing here!" A rough voice shouted from below. The light must have hurt their eyes. 'If we’re going to attack, we need to attack now…' Gu-Bon hesitated. If they were a group of aggressive adventurers, they would have attacked first and asked questions later. But the students here were all from knightly families. They were unlikely to choose such cowardly tactics. "We’re adventurers from Granden City here to complete the request at Bulpareun Hill. Identify yourselves or we’ll attack!" "We came to Bulpareun Hill two days ago. Get lost!" The White Tiger Tower students were confused by the voice from below. They didn’t know much about the usual rules of adventurers yet. Durgyu whispered, "Should we… should we go back?" Gu-Bon frowned, thinking aloud. "Well, usually, yeah, the later group should leave. But it's not a strict rule, and we don't even know *why* they're here…" Before he could finish, Yihan said clearly, "We'll retreat." "!" Yihan’s shout surprised his friends and the adventurers, but they didn’t argue. It was out of respect for Yihan’s authority. "Tch… there’s no need to be considerate of those guys." "Bear with it. It’s more shameful to get into a fight with those guys." While Anglough and Rapardel were disappointed, Yihan spoke again. "We need to make sure that you won’t attack while we retreat. Show yourselves!" "Don’t talk nonsense. How do I know you won’t attack?" "We’ll each send one person out to confirm. How about it?" "...Fine." Yihan said to Rapardel. "I’m counting on you." "Alright. I underst… wait a minute." Rapardel narrowed his eyes, remembering when he went to the undead realm with Yihan. "You don’t mean…" "Don’t get any strange ideas, just move quickly. Tell me immediately if you see anything suspicious." "……" The mercenary, Buldahak, walked out with a frown. Buldahak’s brow furrowed even deeper when he saw Rapardel. 'What’s this? A kid…?' Buldahak didn’t want to shed unnecessary blood, but this was different. A kid who was surprisingly well-equipped. Most young adventurers couldn’t even afford proper weapons, let alone armor, but this kid was the opposite. He must have used family money to dress like that. 'If that’s the kind of group he’s in, they probably aren’t that great.' Buldahak really wanted to signal his men to attack. "Flash." With a quiet murmur, a sharp bolt of lightning struck Buldahak in the back. Bzzzt! "Ugh… Ack?!" Caught completely off guard, Buldahak’s limbs stiffened and his weapon fell. Rapardel was so surprised that he jumped. "Wo… Wodanaz!?" "Flash, flash. Flash." More lightning bolts flew, and the mercenaries hiding in the nearby bushes screamed and tumbled. "It’s a wizard!!! There’s a wizard!" "Find the wizard… Kraaah!" The remaining mercenaries finally realized what was happening and looked around, but they couldn’t see anything. "Light the torches!" "The target…" "You idiot! Wizards can see through the darkness! Light them now!" 'I should stop using lightning magic.' Yihan thought as he moved to a different location. The reason he’d said he would retreat and sent Rapardel out front was to buy time and figure out the enemy’s numbers. As soon as he finished figuring it out, he started attacking from behind. He took down the most threatening ones first with precisely aimed lightning magic. He was invisible, but if he kept using lightning magic, his location could be discovered and he could be counterattacked. Of course, that didn’t mean he couldn’t use magic. "Spring forth." Orbs of water rapidly multiplied and moved in different directions. It was impossible to tell where the attacks were coming from. Thud! "He’s already used a lot of magic! The wizard can’t use any more magic… Ack." The mercenary who shouted collapsed, and when an orb of water struck another mercenary in the jaw, the remaining mercenaries were terrified. "We surrender!" "We surrender, Wizard! We surrender!" Gu-Bon finally snapped out of it and shouted. "Drop your weapons and raise your hands! Anyone who moves even a little will be attacked! Bizidek! Go tie them up!" "We’ll go too." The White Tiger Tower students and Bizidek securely tied up the fallen and surrendered mercenaries. "This guy is… Buldahak! It’s Buldahak!" Bizidek shouted in surprise. "Who is he?" "He’s a wanted criminal with a bounty from the Empire!" "Oh. How much is the bounty?" Yihan released his invisibility and appeared from behind. Gu-Bon asked, curious. "How did you know this guy was Buldahak?" "I didn’t." "Pardon?" "If we were going to fight, it’s always better to attack first, isn’t it?" The White Tiger Tower students nodded in agreement at Yihan’s words. "That’s Wodanaz for you." "He never lets his guard down. We should learn from that." "……"