Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 428

Nigisor Priest asked, “Is there really anything to gain by going this far?”

Ihan replied quickly, “Are you serious? Of course, there is! Where do you think this delicious stew came from? Could we make something this good with that hard, tasteless bread and those icy rice balls Einrogaard gives us?”

The priests who had enjoyed the meal were quiet. They looked at their empty bowls, remembering the rich taste of the stew.

Even though the priests lived simple lives and didn’t spend much money, they quickly got used to eating warm, tasty meals regularly.

At first, they had protested. “You shouldn’t do this,” they’d said. “We don’t eat such rich meals.” Some even said, “If you insist, I’ll just have a little bread.”

But soon, they were saying things like, “Thank you for the meal,” and “Thank you always.”

“I… I’m sorry if that’s the case,” one priest mumbled. “You didn’t have to go to so much trouble…”

“No, don’t be sorry,” Ihan said. “I wanted to make it, so I did.”

Ihan saw they felt bad, but he didn’t stop there.

“But I want to talk about something else,” Ihan continued. “We need to do something, not just wait around. What if Guinan, from the Blue Dragon Tower, goes hungry and can’t even stand up?”

“I’d share my bread.”

“Okay. But what if there are two? Three? What if it’s the whole tower?”

Siana Priest, who was listening from the side, tilted her head.

“What happened at the Blue Dragon Tower that would cause all the students to starve to death?”

Ihan pretended not to hear Siana and kept talking.

“The important thing is, one priest can’t fix this alone, even if they are kind and want to help.”

If they were priests from the Black Tortoise Tower or the White Tiger Tower, they would have ignored him, thinking, “What nonsense!” But these priests were kind, so they listened carefully.

Also, what Ihan was saying was something they cared about.

“Indeed…”

“That makes sense.”

“Right? So, what’s the solution to this problem?”

“Well…” Nigisor Priest said, hesitating a little. He wasn’t usually so unsure of himself. “Since one person can’t fix it, maybe if all the priests worked together and shared their food…”

Ihan’s intense way of talking had made Nigisor Priest a little scared.

“No.”

“Oh, no?”

“Then it wouldn’t solve the problem if even the White Tiger Tower or Black Tortoise Tower guys were on the verge of starvation.”

“???”

Siana Priest, who was listening, became even more confused.

Just what happened that would cause all the students from the three towers to starve to death…?

“Then what?”

“The answer is to raid Einrogaard’s warehouse now and bring in food from outside to store up. Then we can get through this crisis if it happens.”

“……”

“……”

The priests were bewildered, but Ihan kept talking seriously. His voice became more and more convincing, like magic, starting to sway the priests.

“It’s not like you’re raiding the warehouse and bringing things in from outside just to spoil yourselves. You can also raid the warehouse and bring things in from outside to help your friends.”

“Indeed… now that I hear it, it makes sense,” one priest agreed.

“It’s true,” said another. “It’s hard to help if you want to but have nothing to give. Even if you want to make potions to help people, you can’t if you don’t have the ingredients.”

Nigisor Priest, who was known for his bold ideas, and Siana Priest, who was very practical, were quickly convinced.

Tijiling Priest, standing next to them, stared at the two priests, completely confused.

*Is that… really okay?* he thought.

“I understand,” one priest said firmly.

“Tell the other priests later, too,” Ihan said. “It’s not just for luxury, but to do good things. It would be good if everyone started doing it soon.”

“I will definitely tell them!” the priest replied with determination.

The three wizards looked at each other, their eyes full of determination.

*If the Phoenix Tower priests help, the Einrogaard black market will have much more to offer,* Ihan thought.

*Since they are better at sneaking around at night than students from other towers, if they get involved, more supplies will appear in the black market. This will help control prices, and all the students will be happy.*

Of course, there was a problem of right and wrong with making the priests steal. But Ihan decided it was okay.

*This is self-defense,* he thought. *Even the gods will agree with it.*

In Einrogaard, everything is self-defense!

* * * * *

Nigisor Priest lightly set small fires here and there to check for traps. Siana Priest poured strong acid on the walls to see if they were real. Even though Ihan had already used the Light of Truth spell to check, Siana was still excitedly trying to find a secret passage with her acid. Ihan started to regret bringing her.

They kept searching, and finally, Tijiling Priest discovered something. Tijiling Priest, who was using the cursed artifact he wore to look beyond the wall, suddenly called them over.

“There’s a path here!” Tijiling called out.

“Finally, we found one!” Ihan exclaimed.

Ihan, who had been watching Nigisor and Siana from behind to make sure they didn’t cause trouble, ran over, looking delighted.

Nigisor Priest looked disappointed.

“Oops… I should have set fire to that wall,” he mumbled.

“Blast!” Siana said. “I couldn’t check because I was saving my potions.”

“……”

Ihan ignored them, pretending not to hear, and pushed the wall.

*Rumble-*

Luckily, the wall opened easily, and a hidden underground staircase appeared behind it.

“Time to see in the dark…” Ihan muttered.

As Ihan was about to cast a Dark Vision spell, Nigisor Priest spoke up, thinking he knew what Ihan was going to do.

“Is that the spell?” Nigisor asked. “The one that makes you super strong but gives you terrible muscle pain afterwards?”

“Oh, that one!” Siana said. “I’ve heard of it too!”

Ihan stopped in his tracks, surprised by what Nigisor and Siana said.

“It’s not?” Ihan asked, confused.

“…It’s not?” Siana repeated, also confused.

“No, it’s a different spell…” Ihan said. “But more importantly, how do you two know about *that* spell?”

“The White Tiger Tower people talk about it a lot,” Nigisor explained.

“…”

Ihan thought, *When I see those White Tiger Tower guys again, I’m going to grab them by the collar and call them ungrateful gossips!*

*His enhancement magic had strong side effects, but he had cast it to help the White Tiger Tower students, and they were talking about it like that!*

*Ungrateful gossips. I can’t forgive them,* Ihan thought angrily.

“That spell is magic to make you physically stronger,” Ihan explained, trying to change the subject. “We don’t need that now. And besides, the muscle pain is really bad, so it’s not something you use lightly…”

“Oh, dear…” Siana said, sounding disappointed.

“I was prepared.”

“……”

Ihan and Tijiling Priest looked at each other. The two priests were clearly disappointed.

*Are those two actually excited about that painful spell?* Ihan wondered.

*…It seems so,* Tijiling thought, looking equally confused.

Maybe because they had convinced themselves it was right, the two priests were actually excited about stealing things and moving them somewhere else. They had never done anything like this before in their lives.

Ihan understood a little.

*It’s true that being a good thief is a bit enjoyable,* Ihan thought.

*When you think about it, it’s almost like a job, but it would be a lie to say it wasn’t fun.*

*The joy of finding the headmaster’s warehouse and stealing all those valuable supplies!*

*The joy was even greater because he knew he was fighting against an evil archmage.*

*Is this why thieves who steal for good reasons exist?* Ihan wondered.

Thinking about this, Ihan began to walk down the stairs.

Using his green vision to see through the darkness, Ihan noticed humid air rushing towards them.

It was the damp smell of water.

“Be careful, everyone,” Ihan warned. “There’s water ahead.”

“Don’t worry. We won’t fall in.”

“No. I’m worried about monsters coming out.”

“!!”

Nigisor Priest immediately tensed up, his body becoming stiff.

Ihan’s words had made him stop feeling so relaxed and safe, even though they were still inside the school.

Tijiling Priest whispered softly.

“Are they really coming out? You’re lying, right?”

“No… they really come out.”

“……”

I was worried that Tijiling Priest would start to dislike these night trips, but I had to tell him the truth.

With a lake this big, it was very likely that monsters were hiding somewhere.

“A lake…!” one priest gasped.

“Oh my!” another exclaimed.

The priests who came down the stairs gasped in surprise.

When the stairs ended in the basement, a vast, dark blue lake stretched out before them in the darkness.

It was so large they couldn’t even see the other side.

“Why is this inside the school…?”

*Now that you mention it, it is strange.*

It really was strange.

Was this lake outside or inside Einrogaard? Was it a real place or some kind of magical space? They couldn’t know. But in Einrogaard, nothing was really surprising anymore.

The important thing was what was in the lake and where it led.

*It would be amazing if this lake led to the outside world,* Ihan thought. *But I shouldn’t have such crazy hopes.* He had been in the first year at Einrogaard for so long now, he knew better than that.

*I wish there was a warehouse hidden somewhere,* he thought instead.

Siana Priest carefully scooped some water from the lake, put it in a potion bottle, and checked the water.

She couldn’t sense any poison or magic left in it.

“The water is fine…” Siana said. “What are you doing!?!”

“Huh?” Ihan asked, turning around.

Siana Priest yelled in alarm when she saw Ihan splashing into the water.

“You’re going into the water?!” she cried.

“Check for poison!! You have to check for poison!! What are you doing!!”

“Ah. I checked by putting my hand in.”

“……”

The three priests stared at him, their eyes wide with shock at his clueless answer.

Ihan realized the atmosphere had changed and quickly made an excuse.

“Um… I’ve gotten used to these rough ways from hanging out with the White Tiger Tower guys,” he said quickly. “I’ll have to be more careful in the future.”

“Y-yes,” Siana stammered, still shocked.

In fact, the White Tiger Tower had nothing to do with it. Ihan had just gone into the water because he believed in his own magic and thought, *It’ll be okay even if there’s poison.* But of course, he couldn’t admit that to the priests.

Ihan quickly cast a water breathing spell and went under the water.

*Bubble bubble-*

“Let there be light!” Ihan chanted.

A ball of light filled with magic appeared above his wand, and light began to spread through the dark lake water.

Even though he had Dark Vision magic, it couldn’t see clearly through the dark water.

*Wait, there are no monsters?* Ihan thought, surprised.

He couldn’t believe there were no monsters in such a big place.

And then he was surprised again.

*I’m surprised that I’m surprised there are no monsters,* he thought.

*Maybe there really aren’t any monsters here!*

He realized he had gotten too used to the dangers of Einrogaard.

When Ihan came out of the water, Nigisor Priest immediately started a fire. It wasn’t really cold, but he would probably feel cold after being in the water.

“I can cast a spell to warm you up,” Siana offered.

“No,” Ihan said. “Let’s save our magic. We don’t know what might happen. I’ll cast…”

“Wait!!” Tijiling interrupted.

“Please wait!”

“I’ll just cast it!”

“……”

Ihan grumbled and stopped moving.

*This is the first time people didn’t trust his magic so much,* Ihan thought, slightly annoyed.

“Since there are no monsters in the lake,” Ihan said, changing the subject, “I think we can make a boat and go out a little further.”

“A boat, a boat…!”

“That kind of…!”

The faces of Nigisor Priest and Siana Priest brightened.

Even though they tried to act like they weren’t, their eyes showed they were clearly excited.

“Are we going to find wood to build a boat?” Nigisor asked.

“I saw reeds growing near the lake earlier,” Siana said. “We can weave them together to make a boat!”

Ihan just smiled and pulled water from the lake, shaping it with his magic.

Water was one of the elements he was best at controlling. He could shape it easily, almost without thinking.

Then he cast the ice magic he had learned from Alsicle.

“Freeze!” Ihan commanded.

The power of his 1-circle ice creation magic wasn’t strong enough to freeze a whole boat this size at once.

In fact, only the edges of the water boat were frozen at first.

But Ihan didn’t care. He kept casting the spell again and again. Quickly, layers of cold air built up, and an ice rowboat started to form.

*Thump thump thump-* Ihan tapped the ice boat a few times, checking how strong it was.

He nodded, satisfied. “This should be strong enough,” he said. “Ready to get in?”

“…Okay.”

“Hmph.”

“???”

Ihan was confused when the two priests suddenly looked unhappy.

“Is it because it’s an ice boat?” Ihan asked. “I know it looks like ice, but it’s really strong. You don’t have to worry about it breaking.”

“That’s not the problem,” one of the priests mumbled.