Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 327

The rewards for black wizards working in the cemetery were always good.

A black wizard was simply a wizard suffering from unfounded rumors and prejudices, not someone easily pushed around. People feared them or misunderstood them.

If the pay wasn’t good, why would any black wizards want to do that job?

Lee Han thought, ‘Even if you’re doing the same job, it’s great when the pay goes up.’

“No, Dalcard-nim,” Lee Han said. “We were just dedicated to the city.”

“If people who work hard for the city don’t get rewarded, who will? I will talk to the city councilors and get more money for this,” Dalcard-nim replied.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Lee Han coughed again.

“Cough. Cough…”

“Oh dear, please rest. It seems like the magic you used in the last battle hasn’t come back yet,” Dalcard-nim said with concern.

“Thank you…” Lee Han replied.

Lee Han pretended to stumble and put his arm over Gainan’s shoulder. Gainan looked confused for a second, then pretended to help Lee Han walk.

“They are truly wonderful wizards,” Dalcard-nim said.

Feeling Daihal’s eyes on his back, Lee Han left the cemetery.

Dirette had been watching quietly, trying not to laugh at his junior’s performance. Once Lee Han and Gainan were gone, he leaned closer and asked in a low voice, “Hey, Lee Han. What ‘last battle’ were you talking about?”

Lee Han started coughing dramatically, “Cough, hack, cough!”

Dirette rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright, enough acting.”

Lee Han stopped coughing instantly. “Yes, Senior.” He grinned sheepishly.

“…So, some young knight students, who are too proud, are saying they will try to catch that creature again. Aren’t they crazy? I don’t understand why the Knights don’t teach them manners,” Lee Han said, sounding angry. But Dirette wasn’t really listening.

What Lee Han had said before was too shocking.

“No, you should run away from that, but why…” Dirette mumbled.

“Isn’t that because of the White Tiger Tower guys?” Lee Han asked.

“U-uh, yes. Right,” Dirette replied.

His junior looked so wronged that Dirette couldn’t say anything more.

‘Professor Mortum will be quite annoyed if he finds out…’

To have found an ancient, evil creature not even written about in history.

If Professor Mortum knew, he would be excited and start all sorts of investigations.

And his student would have to prepare for the investigation, and the person who knew the most about it would be…

That junior fit both roles.

“Senior, thanks for helping me today. Let’s have dinner together,” Lee Han said.

“Hmm,” Dirette replied, hesitating a little.

He didn’t like going to rich family mansions because they made him uncomfortable, but it was different if his junior asked.

“Alright. I can’t say no if my junior asks. But junior,” Dirette said.

“Yes?” Lee Han asked.

“Isn’t that the professor?” Dirette asked, pointing to Professor Verdus.

Seeing Professor Verdus sitting blankly in front of the mansion’s main gate, Lee Han felt a little sorry.

“Wow, doesn’t Wodanaz eat?” Gainan asked.

“Lee Han likes studying more than eating,” Dirette replied.

Gainan was pretending to know, of course. Lee Han would have hit him on the head if he were there.

“…Juniors. Why is Professor Bible here?” Dirette asked.

“Oh. He just came to visit?” Gainan replied.

“He just came to visit?” Dirette repeated.

“Yes,” Gainan said.

“Someone who does what he wants without asking… well, that’s true,” Dirette said.

Dirette understood right away without needing to ask.

Professor Verdus was someone who would do that.

“But still, I think you should let him rest for a bit,” Dirette said, putting down his strawberry madeleine.

Lee Han had just struggled to catch an undead chimera, so shouldn’t he get a break? Dirette thought it was too much to take him away without letting him rest.

“Don’t you think so? No matter how long he’s been waiting. It’s only been a few hours at most,” Dirette added.

“Oh. No?” Gainan said.

“No?” Lee Han repeated.

“He’s been here since last night,” Gainan said.

It had been almost a whole day since it was evening now.

“He’s been here since last night… wait. Wait a minute,” Dirette said, confused.

It was strange that he had come last night, but maybe the professor and student were just close.

“You’ve been here since last night, so why did you guys go to the cemetery?” Dirette asked.

“Lee Han told us to run away in the morning, so…” Gainan explained.

“……”

Dirette was speechless and put down his coffee cup.

…Is this karma?

“Have you been waiting long? I’m sorry,” Lee Han said with a fake expression.

The other person was a professor, after all.

But Professor Verdus didn’t care at all, as expected.

“Oh? No. Let’s just work. Oh, I replaced the helmet,” Professor Verdus said.

“Ah. Thank you!” Lee Han said, truly happy.

‘I can sell it!’

“How much would it cost at this level?” Lee Han asked.

“Price?” Professor Verdus repeated.

“Yes,” Lee Han confirmed.

“Who would buy something like that? It’s a dangerous magic item,” Professor Verdus said.

“…Uh… now that it’s fixed, isn’t it safe if the user is careful?” Lee Han asked.

“Well, that’s true. But it’s dangerous if you’re not careful. No one buys things like that,” Professor Verdus replied.

“……”

Lee Han glared at the helmet. The Helmet of Wisdom spoke carefully.

Now that it’s like this, maybe I should unleash the wisdom within me…

“Shut up,” Lee Han snapped.

Lee Han stopped paying attention to the helmet. Now that he knew it wouldn’t make money, there was no reason to care about it.

“Professor, I have a question,” Lee Han said.

“What is it?” Professor Verdus asked.

“Can I make and sell magic items?” Lee Han asked.

“Impossible, right?” Professor Verdus answered right away.

Since each magic item was expensive, the maker’s reputation was very important.

If you were new to making magic items, you had to work as an assistant to other makers to get experience, make connections, and then show off your own items to become known in the Empire.

‘Sounds like a story I’ve heard a lot.’

Every job is hard for newcomers. Lee Han frowned, hearing that it would take more than ten years.

“Wait. What about this? Make them cheap and sell them cheap,” Lee Han suggested.

Even Einroguard had broken, failed magic items lying around.

They were the things that older students had made, failed, and thrown away.

Of course, if these items were sold at the right price, the Empire would hunt you down, but they weren’t completely useless.

Even adventurers would want them if they could get magic items for a low price, even if they were broken.

“What? That’s a waste of magic,” Professor Verdus said, disagreeing with Lee Han’s plan.

A wizard’s magic was limited.

You had to save every bit of magic to make a great item, so why waste it on cheap things?

And even if you only thought about money, selling one great item was better than selling many cheap ones.

“I see. So, the only problem is wasting magic?” Lee Han asked, ignoring Professor Verdus’s other points.

What if you waste some magic?

And what if it’s not cost-effective?

‘It’s better to earn money now than to work for ten years to get experience. And anyway, you’re going to fail when you practice,’ Lee Han thought.

Lee Han quickly made a plan in his head.

To make magic items with the most useful abilities and sell them all the time…

“Alright. Let’s start!” Lee Han said.

Professor Verdus, not knowing Lee Han’s plan, started to get out the equipment.

Chisels, hammers, small welding wands, glasses, and so on.

“Professor. There’s something I want to try,” Lee Han said.

“Oh? What is it? What is it?” Professor Verdus asked, excited.

“I want to make a water creation magic item or a dark vision magic item,” Lee Han said.

“What? Why make such trash? It’s a waste of time, magic, and materials!” Professor Verdus said.

Just because he was excited didn’t mean he would agree with Lee Han. Professor Verdus was very strict when it came to magic items.

Water creation and dark vision magic items were boring items that any wizard could make with time and effort, without much trouble.

Professor Verdus would never want to waste materials on them.

“Professor. I’ve realized something while studying magic,” Lee Han said.

??

“Since I have so much magic, I need to waste some to loosen up my hands,” Lee Han explained.

“Really??” Professor Verdus asked.

“Yes. But if I use other magic, I can’t switch to enchantment magic right away. I think I can loosen up my hands if I practice with enchantment magic,” Lee Han said.

“Why are you so untalented?” Professor Verdus asked.

“Sniff. You’re telling me,” Lee Han replied, pretending to be sad. Professor Verdus felt sorry for his student’s lack of talent.

“What should I do? So, you can do enchantment magic well?” Professor Verdus asked.

“Ah. Should I stop then?” Lee Han asked.

“That’s not allowed,” Professor Verdus said.

‘Damn it.’

Lee Han clicked his tongue, seeing that Professor Verdus wasn’t completely fooled.

“Okay. If that’s the case. It’s a boring, unrewarding, and time-wasting magic item, but…” Professor Verdus grumbled and took out the materials from his pocket.

Lee Han paused, seeing him take out a blue gem, aquamarine, and put it on top of the spirit whale skin.

Even though Lee Han didn’t know all the materials yet, he knew that those two were very expensive.

“Wait. Wait. Professor,” Lee Han said.

“Why?” Professor Verdus asked.

“Are you using aquamarine and spirit whale skin?” Lee Han asked.

“Yes,” Professor Verdus replied.

“Uh… is that needed for a water creation magic item?” Lee Han asked.

“Needed, right?” Professor Verdus said.

Lee Han felt that he had to ask Professor Verdus in a different way.

“So, if you don’t have that, will the water creation magic not work at all?” Lee Han asked.

“That’s not true. But it will be very weak. It’s already a weak magic item, so if it’s too weak, it’s meaningless,” Professor Verdus said.

“But it’s too wasteful to use these materials for practice,” Lee Han said.

‘And I can’t even make back the money.’

Lee Han, who was trying to find the best way to make things, couldn’t make a magic item out of aquamarine or spirit whale skin.

“But if you take that out, it becomes too weak,” Professor Verdus said.

“How much?” Lee Han asked.

“If you use this leather water bottle, it will take a week to fill it,” Professor Verdus said.

“!”

Professor Verdus’s words made sense.

‘A week is… too slow.’

It took a week to fill a leather water bottle that you could wear around your waist.

Lee Han felt again that a wizard’s magic was amazing to those who couldn’t use magic.

That much preparation was needed for someone who couldn’t use magic to use magic.

“Is there no other way? Like putting in a lot of magic,” Lee Han asked.

“It’s possible, but… the magic item won’t last long,” Professor Verdus said.

If you made it with cheap materials and used too much magic, the item would break quickly.

Besides, it was a waste of magic.

“It’s okay! It’s getting better anyway!” Lee Han said.

“Well, that’s true, but…” Professor Verdus said, looking at his excited student.

Why does he like that?

‘Does he like making trash?’

Deer skin, Koyak silk, copper ring.

These were the materials for the water creation magic item, the portable leather water bottle.

Lee Han wasn’t one to be impressed by his own skills, but he felt proud when he made this leather water bottle.

‘I did it!’

He had made a magic item that made water with cheap materials.

Professor Verdus, who had been dozing off next to him, yawned and asked, “Are you done?”

“Yes,” Lee Han replied.

“Your hands are loosened up, right? Alright. Then,” Professor Verdus said, spreading out a long, complex blueprint on the table.

“…What is this?” Lee Han asked.

“Airship,” Professor Verdus said confidently, taking out a project that Lee Han wouldn’t even try for a hundred years. Lee Han seriously thought about faking being sick again.