Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 348

30 minutes later.

Professor Garcia rushed back, panting for breath.

“I… I’m sorry, everyone. Did I keep you waiting long?”

“??”

Lee Han started to feel that something was wrong.

Professor Garcia was panting as if he’d been in a scuffle.

‘Maybe he fought the troublemakers? But Professor Garcia was too kind for that.’

“P-Professor. Please, have some of this.”

As the students offered a teacup, Professor Garcia gulped it down. He seemed parched.

“Ah. I’m sorry, everyone. Did you order any refreshments while waiting?”

“Tea was sufficient.”

“No, no. The refreshments here are quite delicious. The fruit slices are especially good…”

Professor Garcia stopped talking, looking lost in thought.

The students couldn’t help but suspect.

“…I’ll be right back.”

*Flurry of footsteps!*

As Professor Garcia rushed out again, Lee Han’s face hardened.

“I can’t let this go on. I’ll go check on him.”

This wasn’t just once. He kept leaving and coming back, and as a student, Lee Han couldn’t help but worry.

“Wait. Isn’t it dangerous? What if you go and just get in the way…”

Nilia wondered if she should follow.

She understood the desire to help.

But she also knew that sometimes, help from someone who didn’t know what to do could make things worse.

Nilia knew this well from her experiences among hunters.

The students going to help Professor Garcia might also be like that…

“No. Professor Garcia is clumsy in a fight, so he might need help in an emergency.”

“??”

“??”

His friends were taken aback by Lee Han’s words and couldn’t react.

In the meantime, Lee Han turned and quickly dashed out the door.

“Wait a… Hold on! What is going on!?”

Among the professors of Einroguard, Alkasis Lagrinde, who taught healing magic, was relatively easy to find.

If you passed a group of people all with the same pale and exhausted faces, they were usually either undead or Alkasis’s students.

Professor Garcia gasped for breath.

“Lagrinde… Professor.”

“Professor Garcia.”

Professor Alkasis gave a short nod to say hello.

But Professor Garcia didn’t want to be polite or chat.

‘How many professors are out here?’

He had just sent one back, and now another professor appeared.

It was as if there was a professor meeting around here that only Garcia didn’t know about.

“May I ask what brings you here?”

“I came to find a student.”

“Perhaps Lee Han of the Wodanaz family?”

At Professor Garcia’s words, Alkasis moved his usually expressionless face, seemingly slightly surprised.

“That’s right. Since you know, I suppose we can get straight to the point.”

“Well, you see, Lee Han is a first-year student, isn’t he? And he’s studying so many subjects that he’s not quite skilled enough to learn healing magic directly yet…”

“He single-handedly performed emergency treatment on the knights who were blown away in an accident while raiding the Crimson Forest. Isn’t that qualification enough?”

Professor Garcia thought to himself about Lee Han, feeling worried.

‘Where did you sell all the things I told you during the semester?’

He had emphasized so much to be careful, as the moment it became known that even basic healing magic could be used from the first year, a path of hardship would be wide open!

Professor Garcia sighed.

But he couldn’t blame his student.

He couldn’t just stand by while someone was injured in front of him, just for his own comfort.

Seeing Professor Garcia’s restless appearance, Professor Alkasis let out a heavy sigh. You could hear how exhausted he was.

“Professor Garcia. I know Lee Han is a student you cherish. But look at my students.”

Professor Garcia inadvertently turned his head and regretted it.

Alkasis’s students were there. Their faces were pale and tired. Some were swaying on their feet, almost falling asleep standing up. They looked like they hadn’t slept in days.

“My students have slept for only one hour in three days. Wizards from other schools can make plans. But my students can’t do that. You know that.”

“No… that’s…”

Professor Garcia had no words. Alkasis’s reason was right.

He needed help to save people’s lives…

“Lend him to me for just five days. Probably, in five days, most of the urgent patients will be taken care of.”

“…But even after that, you’ll come and borrow him whenever it’s urgent, won’t you?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. But if an accident happens, there’s no choice. We need even one more person.”

Professor Alkasis spoke, and the swords at his waist made a small sound as he moved. The dark elf professor’s voice was full of a weary resignation.

“So, where is the Wodanaz student?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Professor!”

Professor Alkasis looked at him, his eyes hard but also begging for help.

“What can I do if I don’t know?”

“Is that so… I understand. Find him.”

“Yes…”

The healing magic students went to find Lee Han. They looked unsure. Were they really going to ask a first-year student for help? But maybe, if he was good, they could finally get some sleep.

Professor Garcia prepared to send a note to the teahouse.

He was planning to tell the students to lock the teahouse door and never come out.

‘Never find…’

“Oh, I found him!”

“…What are you doing?! Lee Han! Are you crazy!?”

Professor Garcia, finding Lee Han making eye contact with a healing magic student right next to the alley, became furious.

“…I’m sorry.”

Lee Han apologized.

But this couldn’t be helped. The situation was too sudden.

‘From now on, I need to get into the habit of preparing invisibility magic at all times.’

Lee Han bitterly regretted it.

Einroguard wasn’t the only battlefield.

Outside Einroguard was also a battlefield!

A battlefield where a moment’s carelessness could cost you your life!

“We finally meet.”

Professor Alkasis said in a slightly hoarse, rough voice, weary with fatigue.

“I couldn’t finish what I was saying last time because of Professor Verdus, but take my hand. I will unlock your talent.”

Lee Han was torn between trusting Professor Garcia and running away, or simply obediently following Professor Alkasis.

The former could result in being hit by Professor Alkasis’s sword if he failed to escape, and the latter could result in being dragged away and, if unlucky, training in healing magic until the end of the vacation.

‘The latter is the only option.’

Lee Han immediately made up his mind.

The moment Professor Alkasis’s concentration wavered even for a moment, he would cast all the magic he had and run away!

“You…”

Professor Alkasis’s eyes narrowed. Even without words, Lee Han’s thoughts were conveyed.

The Skull Headmaster was the best at catching students who tried to escape in Einroguard, but Professor Alkasis was also a hidden master.

A professor majoring in healing magic needed not only healing magic but also the ability to catch students who ran away.

That’s why he could tell just by looking at the posture.

‘Is he really a first-year?’

Professor Alkasis couldn’t help but be astonished by Lee Han’s flawless posture.

How could a student who wasn’t even from the White Tiger Tower show such a solid, impeccable posture?

He had heard that he showed outstanding talent not only in healing magic but also in other fields, but he didn’t know it would be to this extent.

Judging by the aura he was emitting, he wouldn’t be surprised if he was an experienced combat mage.

‘But…’

Professor Alkasis got ready to use his magic, staying very still.

No matter how talented the opponent was, he was still an untamed beast.

In a wizard’s duel, an experienced wizard had an absolute advantage.

Professor Alkasis saved his magic power and prepared to subdue him as quickly as possible.

‘Since he has a lot of mana, directly acting suppression magic is unlikely to work. I’ll summon from the outside and bind him.’

‘Immediately cast a fog, then invisibility, and then enhancement magic to escape.’

The two wizards just stared at each other silently. The air was taut with tension.

Lee Han instinctively felt that he was at a disadvantage.

‘Damn it. I can’t tell what he’s trying to do…’

He couldn’t tell what magic the opponent was trying to use. Moreover, Professor Alkasis knew that Lee Han had a lot of mana.

“…You idiot! What are you doing! Run away! Run without looking back! Arm, wither!”

“!?”

At that moment, two of Professor Alkasis’s students, who had been watching from the side, jumped out and cast magic at their teacher.

It was Phil and Chil, seniors who knew Lee Han.

Professor Alkasis was neither surprised nor angry that his students were attacking him.

He simply waved his staff as if he was annoyed and tired, deflecting the magic.

“Run away! Vigor… Ack!”

Phil was subdued by the professor’s wave.

Professor Alkasis used his magic to quickly heal Phil’s throat in a strange way. It healed too much and blocked Phil’s breathing for a moment.

Phil tried to undo it somehow, but the professor’s skill was as solid as a tailor’s stitching, and it couldn’t be easily touched.

“Study about the throat again when you wake up. You stupid brat.”

“Eyes, block the light!”

Chil, undeterred by his friend’s fall, aimed at his teacher’s eyes again.

After all, healing magic students didn’t go to the disciplinary room even if they tried to escape or rebel because they had too much work.

Professor Alkasis knew this well, so he didn’t get angry or punish them.

Tap!

The professor blocked Chil’s magic with an annoyed gesture.

It was a simple movement, but Lee Han and Chil could see how advanced the technique hidden in that movement was.

He quickly understood how Chil’s magic worked. He touched his fingers together and stopped Chil’s magic easily.

Chil gritted his teeth and shouted.

“Aren’t you ashamed! You’re going to take a freshman and grind him like us! Aren’t you ashamed of that!”

“…Damn it, you’re right, Chil!”

The healing magic seniors, who had been hesitating next to him, threw down their cloaks and picked up their staffs.

They couldn’t decide. Should they be selfish and hope Lee Han could help them? Or should they be good students and protect a younger student?

Professor Alkasis’s eyes darkened and gleamed more deeply.

“I don’t mind you attacking, but I’ll kill anyone who wastes mana unnecessarily.”

“Don’t lie! Master will make us work instead of killing us!”

“Attack!”

“With what number?!”

“This time with number 11! Move in formation number 11!”

‘How many times have these seniors attacked?’

The healing magic students had rebelled more than once or twice, and they quickly formed a formation and attacked Professor Alkasis.

‘Okay! This is enough…!’

Chil was relieved.

Of course, the students would be miserably subdued, but they could still buy time for their junior to escape.

However, Lee Han did not run away.

“…??!”

Chil was horrified when Lee Han ran to his side instead.

“What are you doing! Are you crazy!”

“Senior. How can I run away alone, leaving you all behind?”

“…You…!”

Chil’s eyes welled up. Tears streamed down his face without him realizing it.