Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 383

Professor Volardi finally left. Headmaster Skull grumbled. He had stayed until the very end!

Headmaster Skull thought, “If only everyone was like Professor Garcia!”

Professor Garcia smiled. “You are too kind, Headmaster. But when will you start the next task?”

Headmaster Skull sighed. “Just… a short break.”

Professor Garcia waited a moment, then asked again, “And the task? When will it begin?”

Headmaster Skull shuddered. “I’m going! I’m going now!”

Professor Garcia looked normal. It was easy to forget he was unusual. He tried to go to every class in the whole school, Einroguard!

Headmaster Skull thought sadly, “If only we could find a *normal* professor for this school!” It was so hard to find someone who was both a great wizard and also sensible.

Headmaster Skull sighed. Education in the Empire was in a bad state.

Headmaster Skull tried to relax after a long day. *Hoo…* He heard a sigh. *Haa…* Another sigh. *Sigh…* It was Professor Garcia.

“Professor Garcia,” Headmaster Skull said, “Please, stop sighing! You’ve been doing it for ages!”

Professor Garcia looked surprised. “Oh! Sorry, Headmaster. I’m just… worried.”

Headmaster Skull was annoyed that Professor Garcia was *too* helpful. He was *too* worried!

Headmaster Skull wished he could send Professor Garcia away to Einroguard, just to get some peace. But he knew he couldn’t. Professor Garcia was too important here.

“Wardanaz will be fine,” Headmaster Skull said firmly. “The magic told me so. He’s safe.”

“Ah, yes, Ogodos,” Professor Garcia said. “I’m worried about him.”

Headmaster Skull stared at him, confused. *Shouldn’t you be more worried about the *younger* student?* he thought.

“Of course, I was worried about Leehahn too!” Professor Garcia added quickly. Headmaster Skull raised an eyebrow. *Really?* he thought.

“Of course! If they are trapped, food is the biggest problem,” Professor Garcia insisted. Headmaster Skull thought, *Traps and monsters are the problem, not snacks!* But he just sighed.

“Don’t worry about food,” Headmaster Skull said. “Wardanaz always carries enough food for an army, wherever he goes.”

Professor Garcia smiled, looking much happier. “That’s good! Then Ogodos will be safe with Leehahn.” Headmaster Skull just stared. *Does he even hear himself?* he wondered.

“Tell them,” Headmaster Skull said, sounding tired, “if they bother me again, I’ll turn them into garden gnomes! And watch them closely. Adventurers always cause trouble. They never follow rules.”

“But… food?” Professor Garcia asked again. “Will they have enough?” Headmaster Skull sighed. “They have enough food to last until I arrive. Trust me.”

Professor Garcia smiled, looking much happier. “That’s good! Then Ogodos will be safe with Leehahn.” Headmaster Skull just stared. *Does he even hear himself?* he wondered.

“Senior. We need to conserve food in case of unforeseen circumstances, so today’s dessert is just one slice of cake.”

“…Hey, I’m an Einroguard student too.”

Ogodos was dumbfounded as he received the chocolate cake.

For students at Einroguard, this cake was a real treat!

Regardless, Leehahn began to strike the bedrock again.

Even the King of Ghouls, who had laughed at first, now seemed worried. He tried to stop Leehahn with silly tricks.

You’ll never be able to break through that way.

Think again! What if it collapses?

Doing that won’t do any…

Ogodos was newly impressed by Leehahn.

He had been impressed by this junior several times before, but this was a little different.

How could he so thoroughly ignore what people said?

Ogodos knew he would have argued back. He couldn’t just ignore someone like that!

But Leehahn ignored the King of Ghouls as if he didn’t even exist.

The King of Ghouls screamed and yelled like a child throwing a tantrum.

Tap tap tap-

Seeing the falling stone dust, Leehahn carefully checked the distance he had dug.

Thanks to madly hammering magic in front of this bedrock for most of his waking hours, he had managed to dig quite a distance.

Leehahn thought, ‘It’s true what they say – even water can break stone if you keep at it.’

He levitated water orbs, rotated them, and shot them.

As he continued to repeat this simple process, Leehahn was gradually becoming more skilled.

Even if he couldn’t immediately summon a perfect rotation…

Bang!

‘Oops. I was too hasty.’

Leehahn made a ‘tsk’ sound. The water ball exploded! He had tried to spin it too fast, too soon.

He either had to spend more time or be satisfied with an incomplete rotation by lowering the speed.

“Fine!” the King of Ghouls yelled, his voice cracking with anger. “I’ll tell you what’s inside!” He was losing his patience as Leehahn kept digging.

Leehahn ignored him completely. It was like the King of Ghouls wasn’t even there. Leehahn could easily hear him if he wanted to, even if he pretended not to.

Leehahn thought to himself, ‘Just like Professor Binns droning on in history class. Easy to ignore.’

“Ten thousand demons are sleeping in there!” the King of Ghouls shrieked. “Stop! You’ll unleash them! It’s dangerous!”

The sealed door hid a terrible secret. It was a prison for defeated souls, trapped so they could never return to life.

Ogodos’s eyes widened. He looked at Leehahn, his face pale. *If that’s true,* he thought, *this is really dangerous.*

“Leehahn,” Ogodos said, his voice quiet. “Maybe we should stop and think?”

“Do you believe him?” Leehahn asked, not stopping his digging.

“Maybe… it sounds like it *could* be true, even if he’s lying,” Ogodos admitted.

Imprisoning a threatening adversary in such a manner was exactly the sort of thing a powerful undead would do.

Lee Han growled in fury.

“To dare… to pass off something like that as treasure!”

‘It is treasure, though.’

Ogeldos thought to himself.

Powerful souls like these were valuable. They could be used for strong magic or to make magical objects. So, calling them treasure wasn’t wrong.

But Lee Han wasn’t thinking about using the souls for magic right now. He wasn’t even trying to open the door to the treasure room at this moment.

“What’s wrong? Senior?”

“Y-yes. To call something like this treasure. That ghoul! He’s really going too far!”

Ogeldos quickly replied.

A subtle anger still lingered in Lee Han’s voice.

“If that’s true, it’s truly the worst, Senior.”

“T-the worst? Isn’t that a bit much? We could just wait for rescue…”

“To have to study without being able to salvage more treasure in the remaining time…”

“……”

Ogledos shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t understand Lee Han’s anger about ‘treasure,’ but the dark look in his junior’s eyes kept him silent.

Bzzzzzt!

The air crackled with magic. The very stones of the palace seemed to tremble, and the magical energy around them pulsed like a heartbeat gone wild.

The magic protecting the depths erupted outwards, roaring like a trapped beast.

“Ugh…!”

Ogledos fainted from the overwhelming surge of magic.

It wasn’t a direct attack, but the torrent of magic in this manner was powerful in itself.

Kaaaaaboom!

“Isn’t that a bit of a rough method?!”

Wardanaz will be fine, so stop worrying, Professor Garcia. Wardanaz! If you’re alive, prepare for detention…

“No. I meant student Ogeldos.”

Ah.

The skeletal headmaster was silent for a moment.

He won’t die.

“You mi■ un■■■ jeong■■ na■■-!”

A student is listening, Professor Garcia. Stop cursing.

“Professor. I’m here.”

Upon realizing Lee Han was there, Professor Garcia stopped cursing and rushed over. Just looking at his expression, one could tell how worried the professor had been.

“Student Lee Han…!”

“I’m sorry for causing you concern, Professor.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s the person who brought a first-year student in here who’s at fault.”

‘I was the one who insisted on coming.’

As the one who stubbornly insisted on the dream of a quick fortune, Lee Han felt slightly sorry for Professor Mortuum.

“Student Ogeldos is… alright. That’s a relief.”

He had fainted for a moment, but his complexion was fine, indicating he had been safe and sound until then.

Professor Garcia sighed, the tension visibly leaving his skeletal frame. He looked around the makeshift living space. It was a bizarre mix: discarded scraps lay near sturdy stone tables, and dusty magical books were piled beside what looked like half-eaten meals. They had clearly made themselves at home.

This might shock others, but the skeletal headmaster and Professor Garcia were not surprised.

Studying during break time was only natural.

“You’ve decorated it quite comfortably.”

“Thank you.”

“But what is that?”

The skeletal headmaster asked, pointing to the Ghoul King trapped inside the magic circle.

The Ghoul King instinctively sensed the extent of the skeletal headmaster’s great magic and lowered his body.

“That’s the Ghoul King.”

Lee Han, having spoken, added an explanation, worried that the opponent might seem too weak to be the Ghoul King.

“Even though he looks weak now, he was more powerful before being trapped, and the title of Ghoul King can also be self-proclaimed, so…”

…What are you even trying to explain??

The skeletal headmaster was dumbfounded.

Anyone with eyes could tell that was the Ghoul King.

After hearing the explanation of what had happened, the skeletal headmaster sighed.

‘I should tell Mortuum to avoid Professor Garcia for a while.’

He thought he was just trapped, but he was trapped after fighting the Ghoul King.

Professor Garcia’s fist was already clenched tightly, and the vein next to his temple bulged and twitched. If there weren’t any students present, he would have broken several wands.

‘But it’s his job to handle it.’

The skeletal headmaster decided to worry about Professor Mortuum only to that extent.

If he’s that old, he should be able to take care of his own life.

“That guy is truly vile and wicked.”

Lee Han complained as if he was disgusted.

The skeletal headmaster was puzzled by his appearance.

Wasn’t Lee Han strong-willed enough to calmly overcome being bullied by guys like Beggrec or Verdus?

But he was complaining like that.

Was the Ghoul King that threatening and violent?

“He said he would tell me the location of the treasure, but he made me waste my time!”

……

The skeletal headmaster was speechless, looking at the nearly pierced bedrock.

He knew he had a lot of magic, but it was a different story that he tried to pierce that huge bedrock during his remaining time by making the most of that magic.

Who would have imagined such a thing? It was an act that completely transcended the common sense of a wizard.

He is a wicked guy. Undead are usually like that.

“He deserves nothing less than the torments of hell.”

Why are you, a member of the Wardanaz family, so greedy for material possessions…?

The skeletal headmaster, as if giving up, silenced the Ghoul King, who was spewing curses, and floated away.

Then, he completely pierced through the bedrock and devoured the souls of the demons inside in one fell swoop.

…!

!!!

It was a scene so intense that even Lee Han and the Ghoul King were astonished.

The skeletal headmaster emitted a blue glow and bound the swallowed souls as they were. Then, he compressed and confined them into a single bone.

“Take this.”

The skeletal headmaster made a bracelet out of the bone and threw it to Lee Han.

It was a rare and unusual artifact containing the wicked souls defeated by the Ghoul King.

He doesn’t usually give such special favors to students, but this much should be alright.

Lee Han looked at the skeletal headmaster with a slightly touched expression.

“Headmaster…!”

“Yes.”

“But shouldn’t artifacts like this originally have a jewel in them? It’s not that I have any ulterior motives for asking, I’m just curious about the stability aspect…”

……