Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 365

That young rascal, Ethan, wasn’t here to trade with me, but to manipulate me.

Duke Icardoren felt a cold sweat trickling down his spine.

“……”

“Are you alright, sir?”

The guards, alarmed by their master’s sudden change in condition, cried out in concern.

It was extremely rare for the Duke, protected by all sorts of expensive magic, to show such a state.

What on earth was happening?

“It’s nothing. I’m just… not feeling well.”

“I’ll summon a priest immediately.”

“No need. I’ll be better after a little rest. I’m sorry. I’ll take my leave first.”

Duke Icardoren rose from his seat.

He needed time to think about what just happened. It was all very confusing.

It was truly unbelievable.

That the Duke himself would be so frightened as to retreat first.

He, Duke Icardoren, had never been this scared, not even when facing the head of the powerful Wodanaz family.

‘What kind of monster have you created, Wodanaz!’

As the Duke rose from his seat and left the banquet hall, Ethan frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

“That’s strange. There’s no way someone like the Duke would suddenly feel unwell.”

He was in a position to shower himself with potions and magic scrolls with just a flick of his finger.

Duke Icardoren, who wore artifacts worth well over the price of a castle, would never skimp on magic.

“Y-you’re certainly right.”

Rowena was amazed by Ethan’s insight.

She had simply thought the Duke was unwell, but this boy from the Wodanaz family had noticed something.

“There’s only one reason.”

“What is it!”

“He seemed very eager to get rid of us quickly… maybe he didn’t want to give us anything. He’s pretending to be sick because he doesn’t want to give out souvenirs.”

“…Huh?”

Rowena was taken aback, having listened with great anticipation.

“There’s no other reason, is there?”

“…I’m not sure…?”

Even Rowena, who respected Ethan’s insight, found this hypothesis a little hard to accept.

Unaware that Ethan was harboring such rude suspicions in the banquet hall below, the Duke was taking a rest.

The magic circles in his study helped him feel better and clearer, but he was still worried. The reason for his worry was still there.

‘Should I withdraw from Einrogard?’

At this point, he was beginning to wonder if he should have ever touched Einrogard in the first place.

He had probed, trusting in his own power, but the more he delved, the more he felt like he was sinking into a bottomless swamp.

He would have seriously considered it if he had only managed to retrieve the subordinates he had sent…

“Master.”

A cautious voice was heard from outside.

Those who had served the Duke for a long time could tell that his mood had turned foul.

Everyone was very careful. They were afraid of making him angry, even just by bringing him a message.

“The Knights have arrived.”

“…What are you talking about.”

The Duke’s voice dropped even lower. A chilling coldness permeated the air.

“Was there a Knightly Order scheduled to visit this mansion today?”

“W-well… it seems the Knights made a mistake with the date and visited early…”

“……”

A cracking sound came from the armrest of the chair the Duke was sitting on.

“Hick!”

“Are all those knights morons? Can’t they even count?”

Originally, it wasn’t something to get this angry about.

Visiting on the wrong date wasn’t that big of a mistake.

The Duke didn’t care if they visited a few days early or late, as long as the invited party was important.

However, the events of today were exhausting the Duke’s patience.

In the morning, students from a beastly knight family had made a mess, and in the afternoon, knights who couldn’t count had come on the wrong date.

“Shou… Should we send them back?”

“…No. They won’t be fixed by scolding them. Prepare to receive them. I’ll rest a bit and then go out.”

Still, the Duke calculated coldly.

He thought it was better to be nice to the knights, even if they were early. Making them feel bad would cause problems. It was better to give them food, let them leave, and then say good things about them.

It was also the duty of a great noble to treat invited guests well.

A little later.

A servant came to the Duke, who was resting with his eyes closed.

The servant was trembling all over, as if he really didn’t want to deliver the message.

“The knights say they want to see Your Grace in person to thank you…”

“…Tell them to sit still and eat before I kill them.”

“……”

The servant waited, unable to bring himself to deliver the message. The Duke sighed softly and said.

“Make sure to tell them I’ll be out after resting more. If anyone comes to call me again, I swear I’ll bury them. Understand?”

“…Yes!”

The White Poplar Knights were known for traveling the Empire. They helped people in need and were brave knights who cared about honor. But, they were actually quite different from other knight groups.

Who would enjoy traveling around the Empire without any reward? Even for knights, it was a difficult and painful task.

Most knight groups in the Empire were more interested in comfort and helping themselves. They were often started by local knight families to protect their area or just to be friends.

The Beech Tree Knights belonged to the latter.

The knights of the Beech Tree Knights, who were active in an area a little away from Granden City, were very excited about the Duke’s invitation.

“Being invited by Duke Icardoren, a great noble, was a big deal. The Beech Tree Knights thought it was because they were so famous.”

“Bastards who don’t do anything…”

“Glory, my foot. They probably just gathered and played wizard cards.”

“Shhh. Be quiet.”

The young apprentice knights of the White Poplar Knights, who were moving with the Beech Tree Knights, grumbled.

The older knight warned them to be careful.

“I will not forgive you if you are rude to the knights of other knightly orders.”

“But aren’t those guys too arrogant…”

“I told you to stop!”

When the regular knight showed his anger, the apprentice knights shut their mouths.

The regular knight couldn’t help but understand their feelings.

The Beech Tree Knights were rich, like many knight groups with money. They acted more like nobles than real knights.

They should have been respectful to the White Poplar apprentice knights. But instead, they looked down on them because of their clothes and weapons. This made the apprentice knights angry.

“Wait a minute. Why are you guiding us this way?”

One of the knights of the Beech Tree Knights noticed something strange and asked.

The Duke’s mansion in the city was large and spacious, with several spaces that could be used as banquet halls.

However, the most central banquet hall was the hall located in the center, as anyone could see.

But wasn’t the place the servants were guiding them to the banquet hall on the left?

“There are guests already here.”

“Guests?”

The knights buzzed.

It was surprising that there were guests who had arrived before them, but they were even more upset that they were occupying the better banquet hall.

They didn’t feel very good.

“Who are they?”

“They are students from Einrogard.”

“……”

Discontent filled the knights’ faces.

If important family heads were here, it would be understandable. But they were being pushed out by just students from a magic school!

Of course, if they thought about it calmly, they could calculate what the average status of these magic school students would be, but instead of calculating, the knights began to argue.

“Did Your Grace the Duke assign it to them?”

“There’s no way.”

The servants couldn’t make excuses for the Duke. They were too afraid of getting in trouble.

“Then how did this happen?”

“We don’t know either…”

“It seems the students entered first.”

The knights understood the servants’ cautious answer in a different way.

“They’re still young, so they might be mistaken.”

“Wouldn’t it be okay to just use the banquet hall on the left?”

The White Poplar knight cautiously opened his mouth.

The White Poplar knight knew the Einrogard students were probably important. He didn’t want to fight over a room.

Then the knights of the Beech Tree Knights flared up and replied.

“Why should we give up the banquet hall that we should rightfully use?”

“We shouldn’t let students do whatever they want! We need to teach them manners. Maybe the White Poplar apprentices are okay with this, but we are not!”

“……”

The regular knight’s eyebrows twitched at the blatant disregard for the apprentice knights.

The Beech Tree Knights saw the White Poplar knight look angry and serious. They realized they had made a mistake and changed the subject.

“Go and tell them. It seems there was a misunderstanding.”

“That Wodanaz bastard ruined a fun party.”

“That’s right. It was such a good time!”

“If there are any more guys muttering, I’ll shove them upside down in a barrel of alcohol, so shut your mouths and eat.”

Ethan warned as the awakened White Tiger Tower students grumbled and ate their food.

Just thinking about what they had done earlier made him feel like it was a waste to even give them food.

“Um, Mr. Wodanaz.”

“??”

Ethan was puzzled as a servant ran up and whispered with a pale face.

What is it?

‘Don’t tell me they’re saying I have to receive silver coins or something.’

It was a truly ridiculous thought, but that was how low the Duke’s evaluation had already fallen in Ethan’s mind.

“The knights…”

“…?”

Ethan tilted his head, unable to understand after hearing the explanation of the situation.

His friends, realizing that something was wrong, gathered around, buzzing.

“Why are the knights here? And today of all days?”

“That’s strange?”

Students from noble families knew very well that multiple groups were not invited on the same day.

“Could it be that they came on the wrong date?”

“No way. Are they that crazy?”

“Look at the White Tiger Tower guys. They’re stupid, but not that stupid.”

“Tutanta. Do you want to die!”

“Shut up. You’re the ones who got drunk and passed out at someone else’s banquet.”

“I didn’t pass out, I was knocked out by that Wodanaz bastard!”

“Hey… Say it quietly, it’s embarrassing…”

While his friends were chattering, Ethan asked the servant.

“So, are they saying we have to give up the banquet hall now?”

“Absolutely not! Wodanaz!”

“That’s crazy!”

The White Tiger Tower students reacted the most fiercely.

They were bound to be sensitive because they had a lot of experience gathering with knight families.

Unlike gatherings of noble families, gatherings of knight families often involved violent nerve wars.

Trying to enter a banquet hall that someone else was already using was one of them. As members of knight families, they could never give in.

“Can’t we just give it up? We’re done eating, aren’t we?”

“I told you, no, Wodanaz!”

“Get a grip! You’re not usually like this! You were the kind of guy who would break the bones of anyone who messed with you!”

“…I see what you guys think of me.”

Not only the White Tiger Tower students, but also his other friends showed a negative reaction.

Then Ethan didn’t say anything more and readily agreed.

“Alright. If you guys don’t want to leave. Tell them we refuse.”

The servant, who was caught in the middle for no reason, bowed his head so low it was pitiful, and then ran out.

And he came back and said.

“Um, Mr. Wodanaz. The knights are wondering if you might lightly compete to decide…”

‘Is there honey smeared on the banquet hall or something?’

Ethan couldn’t understand the knights’ obsession with the banquet hall.

Does some kind of magical vein flow through here?

Why are they going so far?

“Heh… Hehehehe! They’re digging their own graves, those morons!”

“Those Beech Tree Knights. They don’t know how vast the Empire is yet! You’re all dead today!”

“????”

The servant who delivered the message was taken aback by the reaction of the White Tiger Tower students.

He had expected them to refuse such an absurd and rude proposal.

‘What…?’