Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 521

Lee Han’s eyes flickered for a moment.

Fortunately, Professor Lightning Gait didn’t notice.

“I don’t know who it is, but they’re really bad people! To steal such a rare creature.”

“It’s fine. If we need to blame someone, it’s the headmaster. He always makes things hard for the students.”

Professor Lightning Gait continued to grumble, but he wasn’t seriously angry about the students stealing it.

From the start, Einroguard’s rules encouraged such theft.

They kept pressuring them to steal if they had the ability, so how could students who had undergone harsh training just stand still and not steal?

“Do you have any suspects?”

Lee Han asked Professor Lightning Gait carefully, trying to find out more.

If the other party had any suspicions, he planned to deal with it as quickly as possible.

“Well, probably one of the third-year students? The fourth-year students are too busy to steal and raise a ghost chicken now.”

Professor Lightning Gait said, repairing the fence with a hammer.

Professor Lightning Gait sighed, the sound lost in the *clang, clang, clang* of his hammer as he fixed the wooden fence. Splinters of wood flew with each hit, and the air smelled of fresh sawdust and old wood.

In the professor’s view, the third and fourth-year students preparing for the upcoming final exam seemed interested in the Skull Headmaster’s garden.

There were several rare beasts, but the two hydras that had been brought in recently were the ones that students were most directly interested in.

Among them, the fourth-year students probably didn’t have the time to care about the ghost chicken since they had a lot to prepare, so the culprit was likely among the third-year students.

‘That’s a relief.’

Lee Han breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

If the third-year seniors were taking the suspicion instead, Lee Han was safe.

The seniors might have a slightly harder time, but isn’t it the role of a senior to voluntarily shoulder the pain of their juniors?

Professor Lightning Gait sighed, shaking his head. “Honestly, that ghost chicken… such a picky creature to steal!”

“Picky?” Lee Han tilted his head, pretending to be confused. “Really? It seemed pretty easy to catch yesterday.” *Too easy*, he thought to himself.

He remembered grabbing the bird. At first, it had squawked and flapped, but as soon as he threw a cloth over it and held it firmly, it went completely still. Almost *too* still.

“Oh, yes,” Professor Lightning Gait insisted. “Its temper is usually nasty. Unusually nasty!”

Lee Han frowned slightly. Could he have grabbed the wrong bird? Or maybe…

“No. Its temper is nasty, but it’s more troublesome because it’s fearless.”

“……”

Lee Han resolved to check the ghost chicken again after the lecture was over.

Maybe its docility yesterday was a misunderstanding…

“Besides, it’s a monster that spews curses.”

“Ah. I know that.”

Lee Han didn’t care much about the curse.

Other third-year students would be worried about the curse spewed out when dealing with such a monster, but Lee Han didn’t need to care much.

Even when the ghost chicken tried to peck Lee Han with its beak while spewing curses yesterday, it had no effect.

-Cluck cluck… Cluck cluck!!

In fact, the ghost chicken, which initially showed its temper and tried to peck with its beak, became very docile when it was caught and realized that the curse didn’t work.

“The curse it spews changes depending on its food or the surrounding climate. It’s a unique creature. So I thought it would be good for learning how to deal with curse-type monsters…”

Feeling slightly guilty, Lee Han made a slight excuse.

“Instead, how about practicing reading the flow of magic power and identifying what kind of curse it is?”

“…?”

Professor Lightning Gait looked at Lee Han as if he were slightly crazy.

Identifying what kind of magic it was just by looking at the appearance of the magic required the talent to feel the structure of the magic even from a distance without casting it himself, and the knowledge to recall what kind of magic it was by looking at that structure.

“If that were possible… you wouldn’t be a first-year, would you?”

‘Huh?’

Lee Han was slightly embarrassed by Professor Lightning Gait’s gaze.

Lee Han had often read the flow of magic power and remembered the patterns to identify them first.

If he didn’t do that, he couldn’t hold his own without giving the initiative to powerful enemies.

‘Was I being weird?’

“If it’s that violent, wouldn’t the ghost chicken wander around and attack students?”

Lee Han prepared to ask a few more questions.

The stolen ghost chicken was released in the old Basilisk shack.

In a remote location, with magic that made it difficult for intruders to come, there was no better place to raise dangerous beasts like the shack.

“It’s not the type to attack like that. It’s closer to a territorial animal. It won’t leave its territory easily.”

“Then what kind of food does it like?”

“It usually eats chicken feed well, but to strengthen its curse power, it needs raw meat dripping with blood, or materials with some magic power… wait a moment.”

Professor Lightning Gait was talking, but then he stopped. He looked like he realized something wasn’t right.

Lee Han felt his heart sink.

‘Was I being too obvious?’

“I see.”

Professor Lightning Gait raised his eyebrows and glared at Lee Han slightly.

“You. You’re thinking of finding a ghost chicken and raising it. Right?”

“…You really can’t be fooled, Professor.”

When Lee Han readily admitted it, Professor Lightning Gait grumbled and replied.

“You’re always so greedy. I don’t recommend it. It’s such a nasty and picky creature that even if its eggs or feathers are expensive, the medical bills will be higher.”

Sometimes there were alchemists who tried to raise ghost chickens to stably collect their eggs or feathers.

Most of those attempts were miserable failures. Alchemists who didn’t have the ability to handle dangerous monsters were pecked, scratched, and cursed by the ghost chicken, and then called Professor Lightning Gait.

‘…Is it really going to be okay?’

Lee Han suddenly became worried.

He was worried that the ghost chicken, which was docile and left in the shack, might have smashed the shack and escaped the barrier while Lee Han was away.

‘If that’s the case, I won’t forgive it.’

If it used such a trick, Lee Han thought he might never trust monsters again.

The baby basilisk, sensing Lee Han’s emotions, trembled in his arms.

“Instead of catching and raising it, it’s more likely that you’ll find its nest and bring back its eggs or feathers. Oh, and if you find them, take them to the professors. They’ll probably buy them at a high price.”

“Oh… thank you.”

Lee Han looked at Professor Lightning Gait with respect.

How many people in Einroguard would think of their students like this?

“Then are we resting today?”

Gainan came from the stable, shaking straw from his hair. The air around him smelled of hay and horse sweat, and bits of straw clung to his clothes.

“No. We can’t do that. I was originally going to do it next week, but I decided to move it to this week. It’s about time they arrived… Ah. They’re here.”

“!”

The students gathered around turned their heads in unison.

Soon, the sound of hooves and paws grew louder. A line of riders appeared, coming towards them. Dust kicked up from the ground as horses snorted and wolves padded silently, each rider in bright uniforms with the Granden City emblem shining on their chests.

Students arrived on all sorts of animals! There were horses, wolves, even ostriches, mountain goats, and turtles!

Asan and Angalo shouted at the same time.

“Granden City Jousting Club!”

“…What? Is there such a thing?”

Lee Han asked, puzzled.

Then the two friends asked back in even greater shock.

“You don’t know?!”

Asan gasped, his eyes wide. Angalo looked equally stunned. “Wodanaz! How can you not know? It’s like… like not knowing about flying brooms!”

-??

The baby basilisk was bewildered by the students’ words.

When did I catch something?

“Was I supposed to know?”

“Of course. Wodanaz. The Granden City Jousting Club is a prestigious gathering that any noble in this area would want to join.”

“But it’s our knights who are performing well.”

“Nonsense! The striker who received the award last time was from a noble family!”

“That was just a one-time award! Originally, knights…”

“Hey. Be quiet.”

Lee Han made his two friends shut their mouths.

Lee Han, who only looked at the economic business section in the Imperial Newspaper, had no interest in how successful or prestigious the jousting club was.

“So anyway… it’s a successful group, right? But why did you call them? What does jousting have to do with mount training?”

“Oh dear. Wodanaz. Jousting is incredibly helpful for mount training.”

Lee Han considered hitting Angalo at Angalo’s triumphant words.

Even if he had muscle pain, if he had the skeleton warrior grab Angalo’s shoulders…

“Alpha is right. Wodanaz. Jousting is not only helpful for mount training, but it can also be called the flower of it.”

“…!”

Lee Han looked at Professor Lightning Gait with betrayed eyes.

Given Lightning Gait’s easygoing personality and disregard for the eyes of the world, he thought he wouldn’t be interested in what the Imperial Jousting Club was doing.

But even such a person was interested in jousting.

“No, why do we have to do jousting when we can just train?”

“Because it can be more fun and more interesting…? No, Wodanaz. Do you dislike jousting? I thought you would be good at it.”

Professor Lightning Gait was even more taken aback.

It was more unusual not to be interested in jousting, given that he was from a noble family and skilled at riding horses.

Jousting was not only a fierce sport for knights but also a social accomplishment for nobles.

“I don’t dislike it, I just wasn’t interested in it.”

“That sounds like you dislike it… Anyway, it’s amazing. It’s amazing that a social guy like you has no interest in jousting.”

Lee Han was stung where it hurt.

Well, he practiced dancing and singing to improve his social skills, so there was no reason not to practice jousting.

If the high-ranking officials of the Empire liked jousting, Lee Han should also practice jousting and show an active attitude like, ‘I’m a member of the Granden City Jousting Club, haha.’

“…I’m going to try to take an interest in it this time.”

“That’s great, Wodanaz!”

“Yeah. We’ll show you the charm of jousting!”

Asan and Angalo put their arms around Lee Han’s shoulders and shouted excitedly.

Lee Han whispered quietly to his friends.

“Both of you, put your arms down if you don’t want to get hit.”

“…Th-there’s no need to get angry…”

Jousting was close to soccer on mounts.

It was a sport where you ride a mount and hit a ball with a long pole in your hand to put it in the goal.

But the simpler the rules, the more complex and profound the outcome.

The people of the Empire, who were crazy about jousting, had been using all sorts of complex means and strategies to win.

“Mounts are basically free, but they must not exceed the size or mass limited by the Imperial rules. Wodanaz. Your Ponryg will be fine, so don’t worry.”

‘Can I ride a griffin…?’

Lee Han wondered if he could ride a transformed monster, but he skipped it because Professor Lightning Gait didn’t say anything.

“You must not hit or cut the opponent’s shoulder with the pole. You must not stab them, and you must not cast magic to knock them down.”

“……”

“…Who does that?”

When the students asked as if they were dumbfounded, Professor Lightning Gait answered nonchalantly.

“Your seniors. The ones who can’t do it always get angry. You must not cast magic before entering… Don’t do it if you think it’s not allowed. They’re guests from outside. But *do not lose*! Einroguard students are the best!”

The students laughed at Professor Lightning Gait’s words.

The players belonging to the Granden City Jousting Club have been playing together for a long time and have been working together.

It wasn’t an opponent that they couldn’t lose to just because they were told not to lose.

However, Professor Lightning Gait was serious. He took out a huge piece of paper, floated it in the air, and said.

“Now. Look. You’re at a disadvantage, but you can definitely win if you catch them off guard…”

There was no hint of a joke in his eyes, only a very serious desire to win.

The students who saw Professor Lightning Gait’s eyes belatedly realized the situation.

The professor really wanted the students to win!