Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 419

Dimensional incursions were always risky. No one knew what to expect.

Sometimes, even when dimensions touched, nothing changed. It was like a near miss.

Other times, creatures from worlds beyond imagining could spill into their own.

It was the Empire wizards’ job to stop these things before they happened, to patch up the tears in reality.

If wizards found an incursion early, they could usually fix it quickly. But if they were too late, creatures from another dimension could enter their world, and no one knew what might happen then.

In some ways, they were lucky. They had found the incursion before it fully opened.

If they had more time, they might have been able to close it completely or resolve the collision, but there was no time for that…

“Let’s get ready first!”

Wizard 1: “Wait, are we sure? Maybe we’re wrong.”

Wizard 2: “I studied this in Einrogard. My warnings are usually right. Trust me!”

“Lord Wodanaz…”

The black wizards looked at Lee Han with slightly touched expressions.

Lee Han had to resist the urge to punch the black wizards, who were wasting time when he was already on edge.

Lee Han sighed. *In Einrogard, if I wasted time like this, someone would have already knocked me on the head.*

“Of all things, a collision. I thought it was just a temporary build-up of magical power.”

“I will prepare the summoning.”

As it was a gathering of summoning wizards, the wizards tried to prepare for the situation by summoning various forces.

Lee Han was a little surprised to see this.

“Wait. Wait. Everyone. Isn’t there something you’re forgetting?”

“Yes?”

“Ah!”

One of the black wizards smiled and looked at Lee Han.

“Are you saying you’ll prepare with us? Understood.”

“…That’s not it, there are knights here.”

The wizards exclaimed ‘Ah’ as if they had just realized it.

Lee Han could imagine how much trouble the Empire’s officials had managing the relationship between wizards and knights.

“But wouldn’t it be inconvenient to work with a bunch of dimwits?”

“They’re not dimwits, they’re knights. And since this is a knight order’s encampment, shouldn’t we tell them what’s going on! I’ll tell them.”

“But wouldn’t it be inconvenient to work with wizards?”

“……”

Lee Han was dumbfounded when the knights repeated exactly what the wizards had said.

“Ah. Of course, I’m not talking about Lord Wodanaz. Lord Wodanaz is from a knight family, so…”

“Hey. What are you talking about.”

“Ah, oops. I was mistaken because you’re so close with the other students.”

This Beechwood knight was very good at annoying Lee Han and his friends.

“The wizards who came here are different from ordinary wizards. They know how to respect and honor knights. Do you know what the wizards said when this situation arose? ‘It’s a blessing in disguise! We have strong knights by our side!’”

“?”

“???”

The White Tiger Tower friends looked at Lee Han as if he were crazy, but the knights of the Knight Order were pleased with the words and wiped their noses.

“Well… it’s not quite that much…”

“Knights always protect wizards, right? We’re the shield of the weak, the shield of the Empire!”

1 minute later.

The knights ran off with happy faces to prepare for battle.

And as soon as the knights disappeared, Lee Han returned his expression to normal and muttered in a cold voice.

“What a bunch of bothersome people.”

“……”

“……”

“By the way, Moradi. The Beechwood Knight Order is… well, you know.”

“?”

Giselle frowned, wondering what he was talking about. Lee Han checked to make sure no one was listening and whispered.

“Skill. Are they skilled?”

“Ah.”

Giselle immediately understood what he meant.

Giselle thought, *After seeing real knights like the Poplar Order, these Beechwood knights seem more like nobles playing dress-up.*

“This should be enough. They’re knights, after all.”

“…Is there no other trustworthy reason besides that?”

“Hey, you! What do you think of knights!”

The other friends who were listening next to him got angry, but Giselle understood perfectly.

Giselle thought, *Maybe it’s wrong to just trust knights without question.*

“There’s one more thing. The vice-captain is here. It’s Jangcliffe of the Jangkleen family, a renowned knight.”

Lee Han: “What kind of renown?”

Giselle, getting annoyed: “The kind you get for being good with a sword, you idiot!”

Giselle finally snapped and cursed.

‘If he’s a vice-captain, he must be a skilled knight.’

“But where is the vice-captain?”

“…He must be somewhere. Surely.”

“?”

When Giselle showed a nervous expression, Lee Han called a knight who was passing by, wondering.

“Where is the vice-captain?”

“The vice-captain said he was going to visit Philone Village for a moment to say hello, but he left?”

“……”

Lee Han turned his gaze to Giselle as if demanding an explanation.

Giselle sighed deeply and said.

Giselle: “He’s… very friendly. He likes to talk to people.”

Lee Han: “Hopefully, he’s not *too* friendly right now.”

Fortunately, the people on the scene succeeded in repelling the threat without any casualties.

A strange monster appeared. It looked like a mix of fish and frog, and no one had ever seen anything like it before. But it couldn’t break through the defenses they had set up.

The summoning wizards’ creatures, golems, magic items, and weapons attacked with bright flashes and bursts of fire. The black wizards’ undead also joined in, fighting fiercely with chilling magic.

Other wizards who weren’t busy used magic to trap the monsters. They used elements like earth and water, poison, and curses to hold them in place.

And Lee Han also worked hard on magic…

…rather than using it, he was busy running around.

-No! Are you spreading poisonous fog right now? Even so, poison is a bit… Please tell them it’s not necessary!

-…They said they’re sorry if they offended the knights, but poison magic is all they know! If they can’t use it, they’ll have to hit the monster with their sticks!

-Th, that’s… Understood.

Blocking the knights’ protests.

“These knights are in the way!” I thought. “They stay too close to my magic, and I can’t cast spells easily. Could someone please tell them to get lost?”

One of the knights responded, “We are very sorry! We are really embarrassed that we are making it hard to do magic. Magic is amazing, after all! But this is the best we can do with our skills. We hope the mages can understand.”

“Hmm. If you put it that way… Very well!” a mage replied.

Lee Han calmed the mages down too.

Lee Han ran back and forth, trying hard to stop them from arguing and blaming each other.

And he learned one thing.

“…I must never do this again!” he exclaimed.

Even if he got a good job in the Empire, he should never agree to manage different groups!

He was already tired from dealing with this small group. He felt scared thinking about doing this with a bigger group.

He absolutely had to find a comfortable job without such annoying tasks.

“Everyone, you’ve worked hard,” Lee Han said.

“We didn’t even need to use potions, because there were fewer enemies than we thought,” someone said. They seemed happy because they felt respected by the other side during the fight.

Of course, Lee Han, who had been in the middle of it all, was completely exhausted.

“Have you finished the investigation?” Lee Han asked.

Gu Bon and the adventurers looked surprised at Lee Han’s tired face.

“Are you alright?” Gu Bon asked.

“I’m perfectly fine. Well, now that the request is done, I’ll be leaving,” Lee Han said.

Lee Han carefully took his reward and quickly got ready to leave.

“Why don’t you stay a bit longer?” Gu Bon asked.

“No, thank you. Oh, and please keep the fact that I was here a secret,” Lee Han said.

“Why would we do that?” Gu Bon asked.

Lee Han replied, “We know you are being modest, but don’t be *too* modest!”

The mages and the knights started talking loudly, which made Lee Han’s head hurt.

“Well… my skills are not perfect yet, and I don’t want to ruin the reputation of Einroguard. Please understand,” Lee Han explained.

“Hmph…” one of them said.

“Such…” said another.

“Then, farewell!” Lee Han said.

As Lee Han hurried away, the White Tiger Tower students whispered, not understanding.

“Wodanaz,” one student said. “We need to get ready to go back, sure, but the sun is still up! Why are you rushing?”

Lee Han replied, “You fools. A dimensional problem just happened. Do you think Einroguard won’t send someone? I need to get out of here quickly.”

“…A horse!! Please lend me a horse!!!” Lee Han shouted.

The students were surprised.

While Lee Han hurried back to the village, gathered his things, and got ready to return to the spire through Amur’s stable, the skeletal headmaster floated over and arrived at the campsite.

…Why is he here? Lee Han wondered.

The Death Knight, a loyal servant, answered, “Yes. It seems the knight order has set up camp.”

…Why did the knight order set up camp here instead of staying in the village? Lee Han thought.

The Death Knight replied, “Since they have been allowed into Einroguard, they are trying to get here as fast as possible.”

…Damn it. This is why I hate patrons, the skeletal headmaster grumbled.

He remembered that a knight order had said they would visit and spend time with the students.

Did those troublemakers have to make such a mess? he wondered.

The Death Knight said, “The White Tiger Tower students who haven’t been caught probably ran this way.”

The skeletal headmaster thought, “The problem with those knights is that they always favor other knight families. But still…”

The skeletal headmaster looked around the campsite with his intense eyes.

The campsite was in good condition, with tents and a fire pit. The air smelled of woodsmoke and food, and he could hear the crackling fire and quiet talking.

It can’t have been too serious. They seem to have dealt with it themselves. I just need to check everything and close the rift, he thought.

The Death Knight said, “Yes. That is what I will do.”

The skeletal headmaster had flown over after feeling the energy from a dimensional problem while catching runaway students. He was relieved that the situation didn’t seem as urgent as he had thought.

Well, if it were urgent, I would have been contacted right away, he thought.

Someone shouted, “Open the gate! Lord Gonataltes is here!”

The skeletal headmaster and the mages were surprised.

The mages who had been at the festival were with the knights.

“You were here too?” the headmaster asked.

“Yes!” they replied.

The headmaster asked, surprised, “You stopped it together?”

“How did *you* manage to stop it together?” he asked.

“Is… is that so surprising?” one of them asked.

The headmaster said, “Of course, it’s incredibly surprising! You worked with the knights? If you can work together so well, why did you ignore my warnings during the festival?”

“…I don’t think it was that bad…” one of them mumbled.

“Are… are you angry?” another asked.

The headmaster replied, “I’m not angry. I’m just amazed.”

The skeletal headmaster was truly amazed.

These mages were usually not friendly. They were the type to think they were smarter than everyone else, especially knights.

Of course, the knights were no better.

For these two groups to work together and stop the dimensional problem…

Was something about to appear that would destroy the Empire?

“No, sir,” someone replied.

Truly amazing… truly amazing, the headmaster thought.

The skeletal headmaster continued to check the situation. The mages had cleaned up everything, all the monsters were gone, and no one was seriously hurt.

It was clear they hadn’t just pretended to work together. They had really helped each other.

The skeletal headmaster’s eyes swirled.

Truly amazing…, he thought.

The Death Knight said, “Master, you must also find the students.”

The headmaster replied, “Ah. That’s right. Have you seen any students here?”

“Yes?” someone asked.

The headmaster said, “It’s nothing much… I just have some urgent news to tell the students. Did the students ask you to hide them? Don’t worry. I ignore small misdeeds sometimes. I’ll just tell them the urgent news and leave.”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” someone replied.

Look at this? the skeletal headmaster thought.

The skeletal headmaster’s eyes gleamed strangely.

Usually, people would have answered right away. But today, the air felt strange and something seemed wrong.

What on earth had happened?