Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 330

Professor Verdus watched Lee Han break another bracelet. He asked, sounding curious, “Can’t you just break them quickly now? It looks faster than taking them apart carefully.”

“No, I can’t,” Lee Han said clearly, as he swept away the broken pieces.

‘I need to keep the last two bracelets for emergencies,’ Lee Han thought. He carefully put away the remaining bracelets.

He imagined using them for a really tough test, or if Professor Voladi joked again about failing him if he didn’t learn something by the end of the day.

Baishada, a hunter from the Shadow Patrol, waited for Nilia in front of the Maykin family’s mansion, having arranged to meet.

As a fellow Shadow Patrol hunter, she wanted to support a student who had entered Einroguard, deliver gifts requested by her colleagues, and…

‘I wonder if I can ask how she got inside the Maykin family’s mansion?’

Baishada looked up at the Maykin family’s mansion with a bewildered expression.

No matter how hard she thought, Baishada couldn’t understand how Nilia was staying in the mansion.

‘Did she… somehow convince them with her amazing archery skills?’ she wondered.

“How on earth is she staying in there?”

Gesse, a hunter from the Wasteland Stargazers, replied as if it were obvious.

“Maybe she has a friend in the Maykin family?” Gesse suggested.

“Don’t be silly,” Baishada replied. “Why would those proud nobles be friends with someone like us hunters?”

“Sometimes there are nobles with the soul of a hunter, aren’t there?”

“What? Is there such a thing? I’ve never seen one.”

“Um, excuse me!”

Some children passing by spoke shyly.

The two hunters looked at them as if to ask what was the matter.

“Are, are you perhaps… Wasteland Stargazers?”

“That’s right.”

Gesse said, nodding. Baishada felt a deep jealousy at the sight.

Apart from the reputation of the Wasteland Stargazers itself, Gesse somehow had a strangely melancholic and profound aura no matter what he did.

Baishada was still confused when the children asked Gesse for his autograph.

“Please, write ‘Wasteland Stargazer’!”

“Here too! Please sign here too!”

“Now, now. Calm down. I’m not going anywhere.”

Baishada glanced at the children.

However, the children didn’t seem to recognize anything from Baishada’s attire.

‘Oof.’

“Thank you!”

After the children left, Gesse said, looking slightly tired.

“I’m happy people know the Wasteland Stargazers, but I feel a bit worried. They expect too much from me, and I still have a lot to learn.”

“That sounds awfully exhausting.”

Baishada muttered. Gesse looked puzzled.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing. Just that I envy the Wasteland Stargazers.”

“Really? I’m more envious of the Shadow Patrol.”

For a moment, Baishada wanted to grab his shirt.

‘Is he making fun of me?’ she thought.

“The Shadow Patrol silently guards the northern mountains without caring about empty fame, don’t they? In comparison, we… I don’t misunderstand the higher-ups’ policies, but there are too many unnecessary visits from irrelevant people.”

“Th-that’s true.”

Baishada was pleased to hear the praise but also envious.

Can’t we just switch?

“Besides, the Shadow Patrol even had a student enter Einroguard. That must mean there are many young hunters with outstanding talent.”

“Ahem, ahem.”

Baishada tried to manage her expression.

Still, it didn’t feel bad to hear him say that.

“Have you been waiting long!”

Nilia ran out from inside the main gate. As fellow Shadow Patrol members, they recognized each other at a glance. Baishada shook her head.

“I haven’t been waiting that long. You’re Nilia, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Here. Take this first. This is a gift Fullam asked me to give you. This is a gift Banda asked me to give you. And this is… Iar, was it?”

“Th-thank you.”

Nilia was deeply moved by the gifts from her fellow Shadow Patrol members back home.

“Who is this?”

“This is Gesse, from the Wasteland Stargazers.”

“Huh???”

Nilia gave him a look that said, ‘Why are you hanging out with someone like that?’ Baishada hurriedly explained.

“He’s a kind and wonderful person. We worked together on a job recently.”

“Ah, yes…”

Nilia nodded in agreement, but her eyes still held a hint of suspicion. Baishada decided to change the subject.

“By the way, how are you staying here?”

“A friend offered to let me stay with them.”

“From the Maykin family?!”

“Yes.”

‘Good heavens!’

Baishada was astonished.

She never imagined there would be a hunter from the Shadow Patrol with such talent.

She had always thought that the Shadow Patrol was just a collection of blokes with poor social skills who couldn’t adapt to imperial society!

“Incr… edible!”

‘Is the world changing?’

Baishada hoped that someday, when the era of young hunters arrived, the Shadow Patrol might become as famous as the Wasteland Stargazers.

Frankly speaking, what was there that made the Wasteland Stargazers better!

“Anyway, you’ve received all the gifts here, right? You’ve checked them? Then we should be going.”

“Ah, please wait a moment. Are you leaving right away…?”

“We’re not really suited to cities.”

Gesse nodded in agreement with Baishada’s words.

This city felt closed in. Everywhere they looked, buildings were crowded together, and people appeared suddenly from around corners. It was too much for hunters used to wide open spaces.

Every time someone walked quickly past, their hands almost reached for their bows.

“Even so, at least…”

“Thanks for the consideration. But it’s really alright. There’s nothing in particular we want to do here.”

“Ah, just a moment. There’s a place where you might be able to find useful artifacts if you’re lucky.”

Nilia recalled the Freisinga Order’s event that Lee Han had told her about.

She had been planning to go today anyway, and seeing the two hunters, she thought it was a good opportunity.

Even if the hunters weren’t particularly interested in the city, the story would be different if they could find useful artifacts.

Indeed, the two immediately showed interest.

“Really? Is there such a place?”

“It’s, um, the Freisinga Order…”

“Ah, the ones who dispel cursed artifacts and give them away.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

“But basically, wouldn’t those artifacts be the possessions of the Order’s priests? Is it alright? If you don’t know anyone…”

“I know someone!”

Nilia shouted, hoping that Lee Han was still there.

“You try dispelling this one now.”

“Seriously…”

Lee Han was speechless at Professor Verdus’s attitude of showing him once and then telling him to try it himself.

If there hadn’t been someone waiting in front, he might have grabbed him by the collar.

‘Hold on. I can’t let the Granden City newspaper run a headline like >Einroguard Professor and Student Collar-Grabbing Incident>.’

Just like Professor Verdus had done earlier, Lee Han carefully approached the curse magic circle, erasing the lines from the outside.

As he gradually dispelled the magic circle without disturbing the stagnant magic power, he felt the power of the curse weakening.

“I did it.”

“Thank you!”

“Good job. Now do this one. I’m going to get something to eat.”

While he was contemplating whether to really grab him by the collar, a familiar face visited.

“Nilia! Oh. Mr. Baishada?”

“Wodanaz!?”

Baishada was also surprised to see Lee Han.

Wasn’t he the student who had shown monstrous prowess among the White Tiger Tower students last time (though she didn’t know why he was there)?

“What are you doing here?”

“I was helping with the Freisinga Order’s work.”

“Ah. So you know each other…”

Baishada looked at Lee Han, then at Nilia, then back at Lee Han, and was aghast.

‘How on earth does he manage to befriend nobles?’

The fastest Shadow Patrol member, the Shadow Patrol member who could shoot the furthest, and the Shadow Patrol member who caught the most prey all felt insignificant compared to the young Shadow Patrol member here.

She couldn’t even imagine how he managed to be so friendly with nobles.

Magic?

“How did you become friends?”

Baishada whispered to Nilia. Nilia answered, flustered.

“Um, just because…?”

“Just because!” Baishada was amazed by this simple answer. It sounded like a secret skill.

She had once asked a great archer, ‘How do you shoot so well?’

Come to think of it, that archer had also answered, ‘Just.’

‘He’s really no ordinary socialite. Amazing. Truly amazing.’

Baishada looked at Nilia with eyes full of respect. Gesse also looked at Nilia with interest.

“To be so friendly with nobles. Impressive.”

“You shouldn’t say that, coming from a Wasteland Stargazer.”

“There seems to be a misunderstanding. It’s not like we get along particularly well with nobles either. Nobles are always difficult to deal with.”

The Wasteland Stargazers were widely known in the Empire, but they were still hunters.

Naturally, they weren’t used to associating with nobles.

Baishada suddenly felt a sense of familiarity at those words.

“But that social skill is interesting… If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear some advice. So that I can deal with them well in the future too.”

“Ah, no.”

Nilia was flustered.

Why was the topic suddenly shifting to ‘Let’s learn Nilia’s outstanding social skills’?

And there was no such thing.

“There’s no such thing. Just be sincere…”

“Ooh…!”

“Ooh!”

While the three were chatting, Lee Han, who had successfully dispelled another artifact, looked up.

‘Was Nilia such a socially adept person?’

Lee Han was puzzled, but he didn’t say anything for the sake of his friend’s reputation.

“Oh, right. Nilia. Did you come to get some useful artifacts?”

It was a casual remark, but Nilia perked up her ears and was grateful. She was so grateful that tears even welled up in her eyes.

Lee Han was rather taken aback.

‘Did she need artifacts that much?’

It wasn’t like she was going to use them for some business, so why?

“Could we perhaps find something useful for these hunters here?”

“Ah, so that’s why… It’s not difficult. Wait a moment. Let’s go find some.”

Lee Han got up from his seat.

And headed towards where Priest Tiziling and Mehrid were.

“Useful artifacts, you say?”

Normally, they wouldn’t allow external leakage, but Priest Mehrid wasn’t so inflexible as to refuse a dedicated student like Lee Han.

And the Order valued cursed artifacts, but they didn’t place much importance on artifacts that had been cleansed of their curses.

“You can choose a few from among these and take them with you.”

“Thank you!”

Nilia tried to focus, though she was bothered by the two hunters in the back having a conversation like, ‘How does he know so many people?’ ‘Is he just really good at talking to people?’

“Nilia. How about this?”

Lee Han lifted a leather water bottle. He turned it upside down to empty the water inside, then stood it up again and waited. The water gradually filled up with a gentle sloshing sound.

It wasn’t incredibly fast, but it wasn’t unusable in a real fight.

Besides, such water bottles were quite useful for hunters. When traveling through the mountains, it was often difficult to find water.

Nilia asked in amazement.

“That’s good, isn’t it? What curse is on this water bottle?”

“I made it.”

While other students struggled to understand even one page of a magic book, Lee Han was capturing wizards, catching basilisks, and even making magical items!

‘I really need to try harder starting tomorrow,’ she thought.