Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 39

It was said that when a person loses one sense, the other senses become stronger to make up for it.

But even with that in mind, the warehouse keeper’s senses were amazing.

He could catch Lee Han and Ratford even though he was blind.

“Hearing? No, they didn’t make a sound. Smell? Even if he could smell them, there’s so much junk here. Could it be… a magical detection ability?”

Lee Han was thinking about whether to fight or run away when the warehouse keeper spoke again.

“Ah, Headmaster. I’m sorry.”

“???”

The warehouse keeper didn’t even come closer. He just turned around and walked away.

Ratford was terrified, but Lee Han was trying to understand what was happening.

What was that all about?

‘Why did he think I was that crazy skeleton Headmaster?’

Other students might panic. They could make mistakes because the situation was so strange. But Lee Han thought carefully.

‘It’s the magic!’

A magical detection ability.

If the warehouse keeper found Lee Han and Ratford because of a magical detection ability, it made sense.

Lee Han’s magic was, as the professors said, very strong.

Maybe the blind warehouse keeper felt that it was similar to the Headmaster’s magic.

‘But does that make sense? Even so, the Headmaster…’

Lee Han wasn’t completely sure, but he decided to believe it for now.

He couldn’t stay there.

“Hey, wake up.”

“Uh, uh. What just happened? How…?”

“That’s not important right now.”

There wasn’t time to explain, and Lee Han wasn’t even sure himself.

But Ratford heard it differently.

This boy from Ratford’s family had found a way to trick the underground warehouse keeper!

‘He’s… he’s a big deal! This person is a real big deal!’

Ratford thought the rumors about Lee Han were not strong enough. Lee Han was even more amazing than the rumors said!

Lee Han was a freshman with the magical skill to trick the warehouse keeper.

“Y-yes, I understand,”

“What?”

Lee Han was confused by Ratford’s sudden politeness, but he didn’t have time to think about it.

“Let’s go. Don’t touch anything here.”

“Right… touching anything might alert him, and that guy memorized all the numbers. There’s even an alarm spell on it.”

Lee Han was also a little sad he couldn’t touch the things in the warehouse.

But after seeing the Headmaster’s plan, it was clear that this warehouse was a trap to catch new students who came this far.

In a week or two, some students would come all the way here, get caught, and be dragged away!

‘Don’t be fooled and keep moving. I have to find a way out.’

Lee Han decided to find a passage to escape instead of focusing on the warehouse.

If he could just find a passage out…!

“This way!”

Ratford put his ear to the floor and found the direction where he could hear footsteps.

It was called a warehouse, but it was so big that it felt like a giant maze.

In that situation, Ratford’s ability to hear sounds was very helpful.

“Very good.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“But why are you being so polite…?”

“Please, follow me.”

Ratford hurried away.

Who knew what might happen if they stayed in the warehouse too long!

Lee Han might not be afraid, but Ratford was scared every moment he was there.

‘Was it definitely this way…?’

But Ratford had to stop because he was confused.

He had definitely come in the direction where he heard the sound, but instead of a passage, there was just a wall.

“Was it definitely this way?”

“Yes… it was…”

“I think I know what’s going on.”

“?!”

Unlike Ratford, who had only picked similar locks, Lee Han was from Earth. Because of that, he could imagine more things in situations like this.

“Look here. There are fingerprints on the wall. Touching them will probably open it.”

“…!”

Ratford was surprised again.

He was surprised by the secret door that opened like that, and also by the boy from the Wodanaz family who noticed it.

How did he…!

Creak!

When he touched the parts with fingerprints, the bricks slid to the side, and a path appeared.

It was a long passage with no end in sight.

It was wide enough for two or three carriages to pass through, and seeing the light shining on the walls and ceiling, he was sure he had found the right place.

‘Finally!’

The workers of the trading company who brought supplies to the magic school had several rules.

Never tell anyone how to enter the magic school.

Never talk about what you saw at the magic school.

Never speak first inside the magic school.

Besides these, there were other rules like, ‘Be careful not to break the glass bottles when moving them,’ ‘Don’t misplace the scrolls,’ etc., but the most important rules were those.

The workers followed these rules very carefully.

They didn’t want to be trapped in a wizard’s workshop and turned into a frog for breaking the rules.

It wasn’t a joke. One mistake and you might be trapped in the magic school forever.

That was what made the magic school scary.

There was a reason why the people in the nearby villages respected and feared the magic school.

That’s why the workers didn’t say anything when a priest and a beggar appeared from the other side of the passage.

Well, it seemed like they appeared!

“……”

“……”

Lee Han and Ratford were embarrassed.

There were carts at the end of the passage, and the workers were busy loading and unloading goods from those carts.

Even though they ran into these people so openly, the workers were pretending not to see them.

What was happening?

‘Is it a rule, maybe?’

Lee Han quickly guessed what was happening because the workers were avoiding eye contact.

A place like a magic school would definitely have strict security.

It made sense that the workers entering such a place wouldn’t show unnecessary interest.

‘Stay calm. If I stay calm, they won’t notice.’

Only a few freshmen had managed to escape the school.

The chance of the workers seeing Lee Han or Ratford and thinking, ‘Huh? Are those freshmen escaping?’ was very low.

If Lee Han didn’t make a mistake because he was scared…

‘The calmer I am, the better I’ll do.’

Lee Han calmly said without changing his expression.

“Can we go out now?”

“I’m sorry, Father. Please wait 30 minutes. There are a few more items to load.”

“I understand. We can ride along, right?”

“Oh, of course.”

The worker thought Lee Han was a kind and polite priest. He could have just sat quietly in the carriage, but he even asked for permission.

He never imagined that Lee Han was a freshman who had just entered the school.

Lee Han was too natural and had a dignified presence to be a new student.

No worker suspected Lee Han.

“……”

Ratford looked at Lee Han with respect.

If he had used force or magic, he wouldn’t have been this respectful.

He tricked them so naturally and got what he wanted.

No long and complicated words, no heavy bribes were needed. A true thief could trick people with just his eyes and posture.

‘I still have a long way to go!’

Ratford was thankful for learning about a new level of thievery today.

Sometimes, a single experience can teach you more than 10 years of training.

This was one of those moments.

Rattle-

The work was done, and the carriages started to leave. Lee Han and Ratford were in the last of the six carriages.

Even after finishing loading the goods, the workers didn’t say a single word. Lee Han realized again how scary this school was.

‘If they control the outside workers this much…’

When you think of a place for educating the empire’s talented people, you think of a warm and friendly place, but Lee Han knew that things in the world weren’t that simple.

This magic school was a symbol of the empire and the wizards. And whether it was the empire or the wizards, they had enemies.

How bad would this magic school look to those enemies?

Even if you didn’t think about those enemies, there would be many people who wanted the treasures inside this magic school.

In some ways, this level of security was normal.

‘Of course, that doesn’t make it okay to trap freshmen and stop them from leaving.’

No matter how he looked at it, it was just the Headmaster’s hobby.

The carriage in front stopped for a moment. Lee Han leaned out of the carriage to see what was happening.

“…!!!”

Surprisingly, a familiar face was getting on the first carriage.

It was Professor Troll, Garcia Kim.

‘Have we been caught?’

Lee Han’s heart sank.

But when he thought about it, they hadn’t been caught yet.

If they had been caught, the carriage would be surrounded, and Lee Han and Ratford would have to come out with their hands up.

So, the reason the professor got on that carriage was…

‘Damn it. This is terribly twisted!’

Lee Han guessed what had happened.

A professor was still a person, so they would go out sometimes. It just happened to be today.

“O-outside, could it be…?”

“Shhh.”

Lee Han told Ratford to stay calm.

“We haven’t been caught yet. We’re going as planned. The town is big, and it’s dark outside, so if we get off carefully, we won’t be caught.”

Ratford nodded at Lee Han’s words.

And then he was a little embarrassed.

‘But who’s the thief here?’

Wasn’t Ratford supposed to be telling Lee Han about this?

The stopped carriage started again with a rattle.

Lee Han focused to remember as much as possible.

Even if they failed…

‘I will never give up.’

Lee Han clenched his fist and then felt embarrassed.

…Running away from school late at night, why am I acting like this…

Professor Garcia carefully took the package he received from the Headmaster with both hands.

-When you go outside, the Emperor’s eunuch will be waiting, so give him this finished artifact.

Professor Garcia wasn’t going to the village to have fun.

The magic school seemed peaceful, but it was actually very busy.

It made sense, since it was a place where the empire’s best wizards were gathered.

Creating and delivering the artifacts the Emperor wanted was one of the things the magic school’s wizards had to do…

Professor Garcia was chosen to quietly deliver the finished product this time.

People who didn’t know would think, ‘Why are you delivering it quietly when it’s being given to the Imperial Family?’, but that was silly.

There was no point in showing it off.

It would only attract attention.

A wizard should be practical.

Thud-

“Eep!”

“Hukk!”

The workers next to him froze and stood up straight when they bumped into Professor Garcia.

He was scary because he was a magic school professor, and he was also a troll.

It was hard to say which was scarier.

Professor Garcia chuckled. He saw it every time, but the workers’ reactions were funny every time.

“…Everyone, get your weapons!”

“??”

Professor Garcia was confused by the worker’s shout.

Even if they were scared, wasn’t that too much?

“Professor! There’s a suspicious guy in front! Please get inside the carriage!”

“…!!”

Only then did Professor Garcia realize that something strange was happening ahead.

‘Who are they?!’