Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 400

Lee Han immediately refused.

“I think the Headmaster is being unfair,” Lee Han said. “It feels like special treatment.”

The skull Headmaster spoke, sounding surprised. “Are you drunk?”

Lee Han ignored the Headmaster’s annoyed question and asked something else.

“Headmaster,” Lee Han asked, “do you know about the Paragranum Guild?”

*The Headmaster thought, ‘He refuses special treatment, but then asks for a favor?’*

The skull Headmaster was surprised by Lee Han’s boldness. He answered, not believing what he was hearing. “I know them well. But why should I tell you?”

“The Phoenix Tower priests are fighting because of me, right? Think of my question as payment for that,” Lee Han said.

*The Headmaster was impressed, even though he was annoyed.* “You are unbelievable!” he said. “Fine, I’ll tell you.”

*The Headmaster was actually impressed by Lee Han’s nerve.* Such brazenness!

What are you curious about?

“The professors invited them,” Lee Han explained.

“I’m worried I won’t pass their tests.”

“They are very strict people.” The skull Headmaster conceded.

The Headmaster knew the Paragranum alchemists were very stubborn. Their tests would be very hard.

It would be difficult to pass without exceptional skill.

“But like I said, even if magic is perfect, magicians are not.”

“You don’t get it, do you?

the Headmaster said.

I mean you should impress them in a different way.”

“…Oh,” Lee Han said slowly, thinking back to how he impressed others. “Like… throwing them in the lake and saving them?”

For a second, the Headmaster wondered if he had taught Lee Han the wrong things.

*’No,’ the Headmaster thought quickly. ‘It must be the other professors’ fault.*”

The skull Headmaster, having quickly rationalized, replied.

“Not crazy ideas like that! I mean… nicer ways. Like how you impressed the other students before.”

“…Oh, I see…” Lee Han said, starting to understand.

“Aha, I understand,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han was about to ask, “Do you mean like beating them with a wooden sword and then saving them?” But the Headmaster spoke quickly, cutting him off.

“But is that okay? Shouldn’t it be about doing well in alchemy, honestly?”

“That’s silly,” the Headmaster said. “How can a new student beat these alchemists fairly? You have to win by getting their secrets, any way you can.”

*Professor Thunderfoot ate with the alchemists and thought, ‘Was inviting them a mistake?’*

*He thought, ‘There are other alchemist groups in the Empire, not just Paragranum.’*

*’Maybe I should have invited a different group,’ he worried. ‘Paragranum once tried to take over buildings and burn them down in the capital!’*

Professor Thunderfoot cleared his throat. “These are all excellent students.”

“Yes,” one alchemist replied. “Einroguard students are very good, for sure.”

The Paragranum alchemists picked at the ceviche with sauce, frowned, and pushed their plates aside.

Professor Thunderfoot was too busy looking at the student potions to see this.

“Really? Is that so?” Professor Thunderfoot asked, pleased.

“Yes,” the alchemist said. “It’s clean, no bits floating in it, and the colors are clear. It’s a good potion.”

“So, do you think any of the students will pass?”

“No,” the alchemist said simply.

Professor Thunderfoot looked unhappy. ‘Did I really make a mistake inviting them?’ he thought.

He had told his students firmly, “You must impress these alchemists!” But like any professor, he wanted his students to do well.

Professors are proud when their students do well. But if all his students failed, he would be upset.

But these alchemists were even stricter than he thought they would be.

“If they made it this good, you’d think they would say it’s good…”

“No, that’s not possible,” the alchemist said. “Professor, you know our guild rules. Only people who make a brand new potion can join.”

‘These guys are crazy! That’s their joining rule?’ he thought, shocked.

He felt faint thinking about testing new students with rules for joining the guild.

“Then what about this potion? It’s quite an improvement, isn’t it?”

“It’s a very good potion. But changing silvergrass to waterdrop flowers is too… normal. It’s not special enough, I think.”

Soon, students started knocking, one after another, bringing their potions. Each time, the alchemists quickly said “No,” “Impossible,” or “Try again.” The air in the room became heavy with disappointment.

“I’m sorry!! I’ll do it again!!”

“Wait! Wait a minute!” Professor Thunderfoot called out, but the student had already run away, shouting.

“Next time, tell us before you bring a student in,” one alchemist said, not even looking up.

“Yes, of course,” Professor Thunderfoot mumbled, embarrassed.

The most infuriating thing was that the Paragranum alchemists didn’t seem to find anything strange about what had just happened.

The alchemists continued to discuss alchemy among themselves, regardless of the student running out.

“So, using a new ingredient there…”

“In my opinion, it’s better to start over from scratch.”

“That would be an inefficient method, so why bother…”

“Ah. Are you perhaps trying to give us advice?”

“…Apart from that, don’t you have any advice for the student who just came?”

The alchemists paused for a moment, lost in thought.

And then they spoke in unison.

“Make it again?”

“…Never mind.”

After that, students who had made potions came one by one, only to be turned away.

When the visits stopped altogether, Professor Thunderfoot realized that word had spread.

‘Ugh…’

He understood why the students were afraid to come.

But if things continued like this, the students would suffer a great blow to their pride, and Professor Thunderfoot himself would also lose face…

“Is anyone there?”

Professor Thunderfoot’s eyes lit up when he heard Lee Han’s voice.

His best student had arrived.

“Lee Han, you’re here!”

“…Yes? It’s me, but why…”

“Come in, come in!” Professor Thunderfoot rushed to open the door.

Lee Han gave him a very wary look at the sudden welcome.

Lee Han knew from experience that when professors were *too* nice, it usually meant trouble.

“Here, the top student in the alchemy class!”

“Oh.”

“Indeed.”

“Impressive.”

The alchemists of the Paragranum Guild were very bad at pretending to be interested.

Lee Han thought to himself.

‘Even Gainando, who listens to the exam content, would show more interest than that.’

“Alright. Take out the potion you brought.”

“Yes? I didn’t bring one.”

“What?” Professor Thunderfoot looked confused.

“Why didn’t you bring one?”

“I didn’t come to submit a potion, but to help you with your work, Professor.”

Lee Han was really there to see what the alchemists were like, but he said this to be polite.

Professor Thunderfoot felt grateful.

Professor Thunderfoot thought, ‘Lee Han is a special student.’

‘Which other student would think of helping their professor like this?’ he thought.

‘That boy…’ Professor Thunderfoot thought, smiling slightly.

“Were you having a meal?”

“Meal… I don’t even know if I ate anything. Those alchemists are draining my energy.”

“Then why did you invite them?”

“Don’t say things that annoy me.”

Lee Han, who entered the workshop with Professor Thunderfoot, looked around the table where the alchemists were sitting.

It seemed they had barely touched their food and had been talking about alchemy the whole time. It was a common sight among professors, so Lee Han wasn’t surprised.

“Shall I prepare something?”

“No, don’t bother.”

“It’s alright.”

“No. Really, don’t bother. I don’t want to feed those guys any more. If they’re hungry, they’ll ask the kitchen to bring them something else.”

Lee Han was surprised by how cheap Professor Thunderfoot was being.

‘It’s unbelievable he’s acting like this after inviting them,’ Lee Han thought. ‘Most people wouldn’t do that.’

“But what’s that?” Professor Thunderfoot asked, looking at the luggage Lee Han was carrying.

“Ah. I made some meatless meatloaf with my friends from the Black Tortoise Tower,” Lee Han said, showing a wrapped package. “I was going to give it to my friends in the Blue Dragon Tower.” He explained that it was like regular meatloaf, but without the meat. Students at Einroguard sometimes made food like this.

“If you really want to offer something, you can offer that.”

“Yes? I don’t want to.”

“I’ll let you take as many ingredients as you want when you go back.”

“Use as much as you like.” Lee Han handed it over without hesitation.

Professor Thunderfoot was still surprised. “Are you sure? You worked hard on it, and… well, you put your heart into it, right?”

“Do you make potions while thinking about such things, Professor?”

“I don’t know whose student you are, but you’ve learned well.” Professor Thunderfoot grumbled, took out the meatless meatloaf, cut it, and offered it.

“You all seem to have eaten too little, so have this while you talk.”

“Thank you.”

‘Are they going to be angry?’ Lee Han worried.

He thought, ‘If they’ve eaten good food, they might think we’re insulting them with this.’

Lee Han braced himself for a bad reaction. But then, something unexpected happened.

Lee Han whispered in a low voice. “Why did you offer them something like this?”

“It’s very interesting.”

Lee Han and Professor Thunderfoot looked at each other in response to the unexpected reaction.

The alchemists continued, showing interest.

“Using ingredients that people don’t usually use on purpose… that’s a new idea.”

“It’s much more interesting than the food from earlier.”

Lee Han cautiously ate a bit of the remaining ceviche.

Professor Thunderfoot was an excellent alchemist, which meant he was also an excellent brewer and cook.

The ceviche, made with generous ingredients and a perfect process, was fresh and tangy. It couldn’t be compared to the fake meatloaf.

‘Is my tongue broken?’

“Is there a reason you chose these ingredients?”

“Oh… yes. Well, as an alchemist, you should always make fresh attempts when cooking… Professor taught me that.”

The alchemists made sounds of surprise and looked at Professor Thunderfoot and Lee Han, impressed.

And Professor Thunderfoot also looked at Lee Han as if he couldn’t believe it.

“But is it really delicious?”

“You don’t eat food for the taste, but to get nutrition.”

“You don’t enjoy the taste, but the new attempts contained within it.”

‘I made food for *them*?’ Professor Thunderfoot thought, feeling annoyed.

He regretted not just pouring beer into a boot and presenting it as a new dish.

“Excuse me, can I ask the student’s name?”

“Lee Han of the Wodanaz family.”

“Lee Han!” The alchemists looked surprised.

Lee Han thought the other party was surprised to hear the name of the Wodanaz family.

‘Are they related to the Wodanaz family?’

“We’ve heard great things about you from Yoaneen Maykin. Didn’t you work in his workshop a few months ago?”

“…I did, but…”

“It’s great to finally meet you. We wanted to meet you after hearing what Yoaneen Maykin said.”

“…What exactly did he say?”

‘Honestly, I’m curious too.’

Professor Thunderfoot thought as he listened from the side.

Just how many things did this guy do during his vacation?