Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 499

Ratford was still angry. Ethan left him and went to the mirror.

Ethan wondered, *Will this mirror get a new owner?*

“Hmm,” Ethan mumbled.

He remembered Dirette’s advice. *How do I talk to a senior student from Einroguard who I don’t know?*

Ethan thought about what not to say. For example, he shouldn’t say something like: “Of course, a new owner. Did you think I’d keep it for years and suddenly remember to open it now? Why would you even ask such a thing? Honestly. It’s a good thing this is a school; if it were the guild, I’d have you hanging upside down immediately.”

Ethan wanted to show he was from the Black Tortoise Tower.

“Oh. Is it working?” Ethan asked.

Ethan pressed on, seeing his trick was working.

Ratford watched Ethan write on the mirror, looking displeased.

“Is that guy just crazy?” Ratford wondered.

Ratford thought Ethan was crazy. *Even the Thieves’ Guild wouldn’t be this reckless,* he thought.

Ethan imagined the other person saying: “Don’t you dare try to test me, you rude fool. I’ll send my men to throw you in the punishment chamber.”

“Understood. Let’s proceed with the transaction,” Ethan said.

Even though it was just words, Ethan could feel something about the other person.

Ethan thought the other person was cold and composed.

Ethan noticed that even though he was acting recklessly, the other person stayed calm and only said what was needed.

“A senior student, maybe from the Blue Dragon Tower or the Phoenix Tower?” Ethan guessed.

He might be wrong, but Ethan thought it was likely.

“I need Azure Radiance Fortification Herbs. At least three pouches. Do you know where to find them?” Ethan asked.

The person on the other side of the mirror waited for an answer with a cold gaze.

Azure Radiance Fortification Herbs weren’t super rare, but they weren’t common either.

Upperclassmen often used them, so second- or third-year students usually didn’t have them.

The person on the other side asked about Azure Radiance Fortification Herbs because they needed them and to test Ethan.

If Ethan knew where to find them, he was probably a fourth-year student or higher, or at least a third-year.

Judging by their gruff way of speaking, they were likely from the Black Tortoise Tower, specifically the Stonemason Guild.

The person on the other side said: “I know.”

Ethan thought, *So, they’re a Black Tortoise Tower student in at least their third year.*

The person on the other side thought quickly.

The Black Tortoise Tower student was rude, but they didn’t care.

They didn’t expect politeness when using this kind of magic item.

What mattered was if it worked.

Besides, the ruder someone was, like this Black Tortoise Tower student, the more mistakes they’d make.

That made them a better trading partner.

The person on the other side said: “If we match, I’ll trade. What do you want?”

Ethan replied: “I need a spell to effectively subdue the giants of the mountain range. Do you know any?”

The person on the other side was surprised. *Fourth year or higher? Surely not a fifth-year,* they thought.

They were looking for a way to subdue giants!

*What are they planning?* the person wondered.

*Is there an escape route on the mountain side? Even so, why target that area?*

Giants had strong magic resistance, making them a mage’s nightmare.

You could use all your magic and it still wouldn’t be enough, so it was best to avoid them.

The person on the other side couldn’t think of a spell to subdue giants. Giants couldn’t be tricked.

The person on the other side said: “Too bad. I don’t know any.”

It was a little embarrassing, but they admitted it. The Black Tortoise Tower student was silent, then replied:

“Incompetent. In our guild…”

The person on the other side frowned.

They knew guild students were loyal, but hearing it directly was annoying.

*What does that loyalty mean for a mage?* they thought.

*They should focus on their own magic…*

The person on the other side asked: “Anything else?”

Ethan said: “There’s a golem in the school that uses spatial displacement. I need a spell to subdue it. Do you know any?”

The person on the other side stared at the letters, surprised.

Every question was shocking.

They wouldn’t normally ask this, but they were so surprised that they asked without thinking:

“If there’s a golem that uses spatial displacement, wouldn’t it be better to avoid it?”

Ethan said: “Is that why those who haven’t worked hard in a guild… run away from difficulties?”

The Black Tortoise Tower student kept lecturing.

The person on the other side admitted their mistake and listened.

Ethan asked: “Understood. If you don’t know, there’s nothing I can do. Do you know how to obtain the following materials?”

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief. *I’m somehow managing to trick them,* he thought.

Luckily, the other person didn’t realize Ethan was a first-year student.

Now, he couldn’t get caught.

He would meet upperclassmen in his second year, and he didn’t want his school life to be complicated from the start.

*Azure Radiance Fortification Herbs…* Ethan thought.

It was a reagent used in harder magic, not easier magic.

It was mainly used in enchantment magic, alchemy, and similar things.

The person on the other side didn’t realize they were revealing clues about themselves.

They didn’t know that Ethan was taking classes in all types of magic.

*Upperclassman specializing in enchantment magic, alchemy… or even transformation magic if I guess more broadly…* Ethan thought.

Since he had guessed they were an upperclassman, the fact that they were asking for Azure Radiance Fortification Herbs made Ethan’s guess more likely.

The luckiest thing was that Ethan knew a lot about Azure Radiance Fortification Herbs.

A first-year student probably wouldn’t know the location, but Ethan had seen a box of them in Professor Thunderstride’s magic tower, the Gaksu Pavilion, on the third floor.

It was in Laboratory 17 of the third-floor maze!

The lab where water flowed from the desk to the ceiling because of spatial distortion.

He had clearly seen Azure Radiance Fortification Herbs among the reagents there.

Professor Thunderstride would never guess that a first-year student would remember the reagents in the corner of his third-floor laboratory.

*But are subduing giants or golems that difficult?* Ethan wondered.

Of course, it was a question he had chosen to impress the other person without revealing he was a first-year student.

But the other person’s reaction was a little different from what he had expected.

It was as if Yihan was asking a ridiculous question.

‘I knew Professor Voladi was asking for something strange, but seeing the reaction like that…’

He felt a little bitter. No, it was more than a little. It was very bitter.

Then, the voice from the mirror spoke again. “Blue Meanil flower, Donghaso… I know where to find them.”

“!”

Yihan’s face broke into a wide smile, his eyes shining with excitement.

Those were the ingredients! The ingredients for the potion to see the future better. Yoaneen from the Maykin family had told him about this potion.

He hadn’t been able to make it before the midterm exams because he didn’t have enough time, but he was going to try again this time.

‘Considering the difficulty of the midterm exams, seeing the future is very important in this school.’

Even though Yihan was good at what he did, it wouldn’t be easy to keep going without help. He needed something to help him fast.

-Let’s trade.

Will you go first?

-Alright.

Yihan decided to take the risk that the other person would take the ingredients and run.

If they took the ingredients and ran, he was planning to report them to Professor Uregeoreum immediately.

However, Yihan’s bold attitude left a different impression on the other person beyond the mirror.

‘Bold and fearless. If there’s a new student making potions among the Black Tortoise Tower students with such a cheerful and daring personality…’

The other person beyond the mirror didn’t usually show unnecessary curiosity, but this opponent was a little different.

They were curious to know what kind of student would ask the kinds of questions they had asked earlier.

-What you want is in Laboratory 17 of the 3rd floor maze of the Gaksugwan.

“!”

The other person beyond the mirror was even more surprised.

How did this Black Tortoise Tower student find out where to get the herb? Especially on the deep 3rd floor of Gaksugwan?

‘They must be a student deeply involved in the Alchemy School.’

Are they a professor’s favorite student?

-Think what you want. Now. Tell me what you promised.

The other person beyond the mirror thought that this Black Tortoise Tower student, whoever they were, was truly cold-hearted.

Being cold-hearted was a basic quality that every Einroguard student should have, but even considering that, it was rare for a professor’s favorite student to readily sell information.

They were clearly a cold-blooded person who would do anything for what they wanted.

Yihan, having ended the communication with the mirror, organized his notes and stood up. The mirror disappeared, and Yihan turned his attention to other things.

Talking to this unknown person was very different from talking to Dirette. This conversation made him feel tired and stressed.

But there were gains to be had. The preparations to make the potion to see the future better were complete.

‘It will be completed before the finals, I hope.’

“Wodanaz-nim. I have a question.”

Ratford, who had been openly watching from the side since the middle of the conversation, asked cautiously.

“What is it?”

“Where did you learn that tone from? I don’t think even our guild members talk like that… Didn’t the other person suspect anything?”

“I copied Salco?”

“……”

Ratford was shocked.

Was Tutankha such an image!?

‘I should never tell him that.’

It was even more surprising that it worked on the other person.

“I should ask my White Tiger Tower friends to bring it.”

Yihan prepared to ask his friends to do it, just in case.

In case there was a trap or false information, his White Tiger Tower friends would gladly sacrifice themselves.

After finishing all the work and leaving the base, he saw his friends hanging around on the first floor.

Students on duty were allowed outside. But normally, if you walked around at night, you would definitely be sent to the punishment room.

Yihan, puzzled by the sight of his friends hanging around so openly, asked.

“What are you guys doing there?”

“Hick! …Ah, it’s Wodanaz. …Gasp!”

‘Didn’t that guy just get surprised again?’

He understood being surprised thinking it was a ghost or an attacker, but why were they surprised again after knowing it was Yihan?

“I came out because of duty. Don’t suspect anything strange.”

“If you were assigned a task, you should be doing it, why are you here? It doesn’t seem like it’s because of duty?”

“……”

“……”

The students exchanged glances with very guilty expressions.

Eventually, one of the White Tiger Tower students, having given up, whispered to Yihan.

“Wodanaz. Keep this just between us. They say… a guest is coming today.”

“What?!”

Yihan was genuinely surprised.

A guest was coming on the weekend.

Of course, quite a few outsiders visited Einroguard, but if the students were waiting for a guest to this extent, there was only one person it could be.

“Is it an official from the Empire coming to investigate the state of Einroguard?”

“…No? Why would we wait for that?”

The White Tiger Tower student looked at Yihan as if he was talking nonsense.

There was no reason to hang around here all night waiting for an official from the Empire to come.

“Then who is it?”

“Ipadur!”

Not only the White Tiger Tower students but also the Blue Dragon Tower students all cast very expectant glances at Yihan.

As if they were expecting Yihan to hear the name and be shocked, saying, ‘Gasp! That person is coming!?’

Of course, unfortunately, Yihan didn’t. Yihan was flustered.

“Who is that?”

“……”

“…That… um… the famous singer… Ipadur… you don’t know? He’s famous… He’s in the Imperial newspaper too…”

“I don’t really read that section. Sorry.”

Yihan soothed his gloomy friends. Asan spoke with a very expectant face.

“I was going to show him a song I wrote.”

“…?”

Yihan tilted his head.

If it was a song Asan wrote…

-Einroguard. Einroguard. It’s so nice. A place with warm meals and a fluffy bed. Einroguard.

‘Isn’t that a terrible song that should be against the law?’