Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 53

“What were you doing?”

“I was gathering some bread.”

“Hmm. Bread…” Yoner raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled.

“Yes. Bread is like money here. You can trade about five pieces for a quill, or ten for a sugar cube as big as a matchbox.”

Yoner’s eyes widened. He stared at the bread in disbelief.

Yihan’s tower, the Blue Dragons, ate well because of him. But students in other towers were not so lucky. They were hungry. The hard bread from meals was now used as money to buy things they needed!

“Wow… can I take a look?” Yoner asked, his voice full of excitement.

“Feel free,” the student replied.

Yoner’s eyes darted over the black market goods, his face eager. He was clearly searching for something helpful.

Yihan, drawn in by Yoner’s enthusiasm, also leaned closer. He blinked in surprise.

*Wait a minute. There’s actually quite a lot of useful things here.*

Yihan was surprised. He hadn’t thought the Black Tortoise students could gather so much. There were piles of different items.

Real food was scarce. There were some canned goods (maybe given out when the priests visited), but mostly, it was fake food.

Fake cheese that looked like rubber, watery fake milk, eggs that bounced, fake smoked meat that smelled of chemicals, fake pickled fish that was just salty jelly, fake coffee that tasted like dirt, fake tea leaves that were just dried grass… Yihan frowned. *Isn’t it more work to make food that isn’t real?*

But besides the strange food, there were many useful items. Worn bags, ink quills with bent feathers, thin blankets, flickering lanterns, fishing rods missing hooks, rusty shovels and pickaxes, tents made of patched cloth, lumpy sleeping bags, tangled ropes, broken chalk, and even a few rough bows and arrows.

But then Yihan noticed something truly unexpected.

*Why are there so many artifacts?*

Simple cloth cloaks, worn leather belts, bracelets made of dull stones, necklaces of rough beads. They looked like cheap trinkets, but Yihan could feel a faint magical power coming from them.

He was sure. These were artifacts.

*Even though artifacts are more common at this magic school, this is still amazing.* Yihan thought. *Outside the school walls, even a simple artifact is incredibly valuable.*

In the outside world, artifacts were rare and expensive. People who explored dangerous places, like adventurers and mercenaries, would do almost anything to get one.

Just owning one artifact showed you were experienced and skilled. An artifact that gave you “Dark Vision,” for example, could guide you safely through the darkest caves. An artifact with healing magic could save your life if you were badly hurt.

But this school was different. It was a place where teachers taught students how to make artifacts, and many students were eager to learn.

Of course, because students were still learning, the quality of these artifacts was not always good. Some were powerful, others barely worked. But there were many of them.

And yet, these first-year students from Black Tortoise Tower had found these imperfect artifacts, maybe even from the school’s trash, and brought them here.

Yihan was impressed. They were resourceful and clever to find value in things others threw away.

*Maybe,* Yihan thought, *if I had been placed in Black Tortoise Tower, I would understand these students better. We think alike.*

He imagined himself working with them, gathering every useful item in the school, leaving no stone unturned.

“Looking to buy something?” Ratford muttered, leaning close to Yihan. “Don’t bother. I already checked. Not much good stuff here.”

The Black Tortoise student selling the cloak shot a furious look at Ratford. *Who does this loudmouth think he is, badmouthing my wares!*

But Ratford, as usual, didn’t notice or care. He pointed at a cloak. “That cloak there? They say it protects you from sharp things. But really, it only works about half the time.”

“Wait,” Yihan said, surprised. “Even if it only works half the time, that’s still useful, right?”

“Ha!” Ratford scoffed. “Always looking on the bright side, aren’t you? Like saying a broken pot is still half a pot.”

“Stop talking nonsense, Ratford,” Yihan said, rolling his eyes. He turned back to look at the artifacts more closely.

Yihan could see why Ratford wasn’t impressed. Many of the artifacts seemed to have weak or unclear powers. Some were even losing their magic over time.

The magic used to make them wasn’t lasting. It was fading away.

Still, like Ratford said, even the cloak might be helpful sometimes.

But there was a problem for Yihan.

“Do you take credit?” he asked.

The Black Tortoise student’s eyes widened. “Absolutely not, Mr. Wodanaz! Never!”

*Why are they being so polite all of a sudden?* Yihan thought, surprised.

They could have just said no normally!

Credit was a serious issue for the Black Tortoise students. Students from richer towers had come and tried to buy things and pay later.

Yihan, if someone from his tower didn’t pay, could ask their powerful families to make them pay. But the Black Tortoise students didn’t have that power. They couldn’t go after the rich and important families of the Empire.

So, they could not allow anyone to buy on credit. It was too risky for them.

Yihan understood immediately. “Okay, I get it,” he said, nodding. “That makes perfect sense.”

“Then, no credit,” Yihan said. “Too bad. Well…” He lifted the basket he had brought. “I did bring some things for trade, since you said it was a barter market.”

He suddenly felt unsure. Maybe he hadn’t brought the right things. Should he go back and get more canned food?

*I want to get those artifacts before someone else does,* he thought.

“What did you bring?” the student asked, his eyes curious.

“Just… some fresh fruits and vegetables, and eggs…” Yihan began to say.

Suddenly, the student gasped. “!”

Then, a chorus of excited shouts erupted from the other students. “!!!”

Chairs scraped back, and students rushed towards Yihan, their eyes wide with hunger.

*It turned out,* the narrator says, *the Black Tortoise students were desperate for fresh food.*

Not just the student selling artifacts, but everyone selling anything crowded around Yihan, begging to trade.

“Take this pickaxe and shovel!” one student cried. “They might be made by a dwarf – a really skilled craftsman! You’ll need them someday!”

“I’ll give you fake pickled fish, fake coffee, fake tea, and even this egg!” another offered, pointing eagerly.

“Just one onion! For one onion, you can have this staff!”

While the others pushed and shoved, trying to trade, the student who had sold the cloak for two potatoes was calmly grilling them over a small fire, chuckling at his friends.

“You’re all fools,” he said, shaking his head. “You only make money if you sell good stuff. Begging to sell junk? What’s the point?”

“Quiet!” one of his friends snapped. “You just got lucky finding that cloak!”

Another student asked, “Hey, how much bread for just one bite of potato?”

“Not selling,” the potato-grilling student replied. “Eat your own bread. I’m enjoying this.”

“Potatoes don’t even taste that good anymore, I heard,” another grumbled. “Bread might be better.”

Ignoring his friends’ teasing, the student carefully turned the potatoes in the fire.

When he peeled back the burnt skin of a cooked potato, steam rose, showing the soft, white inside. He blew on it gently, then put it in his mouth.

His eyes widened. “…!!”

Just watching him, Yihan could tell the potato was incredibly delicious, practically melting in his mouth.

Yihan felt a little awkward watching them. *Are they really that hungry?*

He knew a plain baked potato, with no salt or butter, shouldn’t taste this amazing. But their faces showed it did.

“…Everyone,” Yihan said, raising his voice. “Come closer. I’m going to cook something for you all. Yoner, can you give me a hand?”

Yoner nodded quickly. They looked at each other, a silent agreement passing between them.

*Let’s not take bread for this one,* Yihan thought.

*Okay,* Yoner’s eyes seemed to say.

Yihan usually made sure to get paid for his cooking. But seeing how hungry these students were, he couldn’t bring himself to ask for bread.

He also had another reason. *If I give them a good meal before we go into the mountains, maybe I can make friends with the Black Tortoise Tower students.*

He knew he was now enemies with the White Tiger Tower students. But maybe he could still get along with the Black Tortoise Tower.

Yihan quickly chopped the fresh vegetables with his knife and seasoned them simply.

When he sprinkled salt and pepper over the vegetables and mixed them, the Black Tortoise students watched, their eyes wide with surprise.

But the real surprise was yet to come.

Yihan poured oil into the pot and stir-fried the vegetables until they turned a beautiful golden brown. A delicious, mouth-watering smell filled the air.

One by one, the Black Tortoise students crept closer to the pot, drawn by the amazing smell, like moths to a flame.

Yihan opened a can of tomatoes. He scraped every last bit from the can with a spoon, poured it into the pot, piled the stir-fried vegetables on top, and let it simmer.

Soon, a rich, thick tomato and vegetable stew was ready, smelling so good it was hard to believe it was made so quickly.

As soon as it was done, Yihan filled bowls and generously handed them out to the waiting students.

Then, silence fell. The only sound was the scraping of spoons against bowls as students ate every last drop.

When they finished, their faces were filled with gratitude and deep emotion.

*Ah, so this is what real food tastes like!* one student thought.

*We had almost forgotten,* another realized.

“Alright everyone,” one student said, wiping his mouth. “Let’s give a big round of applause for Mr. Wodanaz…”

“Quiet, you,” Yihan said quickly, shoving a piece of potato into Ratford’s open mouth. He knew Ratford was about to say something silly and ruin the moment.

Yihan refused to take anything, but the Black Tortoise students insisted on giving him small gifts, stuffing them into his pockets and bags.

Because of this, Yihan found himself walking away loaded down. He had two backpacks on, a lantern and fishing rod in one hand, and a shovel and pickaxe in the other.

“Wow… you look… really something,” Yoner said, trying not to laugh. “Very… stylish?”

Ratford nodded seriously. “Yeah, like a real adventurer.”

Yihan couldn’t tell if Yoner was making fun of him, or if she was just being strange. Ratford was always like this.

Yihan sighed and dropped one of the backpacks to the ground with a thump. Inside, a chess set, a deck of cards, and dice rattled.

He had gained more than just the friendship of the Black Tortoise students.

Along with the cloak, he had also gotten several useful artifacts.

Boots that made you walk almost silently (Low-grade Boots of Stealth, they were called), chalk that burst into smoke when you threw it (Chalk of Smoke), a bracelet with a stone that sometimes glowed red if someone was watching you (Bracelet of Vision Detection).

*Wait a minute,* Yihan thought. *These were definitely made by older students. Why would they make these things?*

Looking at the artifacts, Yihan started to wonder about the older students who made them in their artifact-making class.

He thought about it. It seemed like they were all trying to sneak around without being seen by the teachers… maybe to skip class?

Clatter, clatter—

“?”

Yihan, who was examining the artifacts, turned as he heard a noise from inside the backpack.

To his shock, a bony hand was moving, pushing its way out of the bag.

“…?!”

For a second, Yihan wondered if the Black Tortoise students were playing a mean trick on him after he had been so kind.

But he quickly realized they wouldn’t be able to make something like this, a magical trap so strange.

Clatter!

The bone hand suddenly flew up and joined with the strange bone Yihan was still holding, the one Professor Mortoom had given him.

The bone, which had grown bigger now, about the size of a forearm, floated in the air in front of Yihan, waiting quietly, like a puppy hoping for a treat.

“…No. No, no,” Yihan muttered, shaking his head.

He tried to ignore it, but the bone moved closer and gently nipped his fingertip, taking a drop of blood.

Suddenly, Yihan felt a strange link in his mind to this… this bone creature.

“Sit,” Yihan commanded, testing. The bone hand twitched. “Stand up.” It wobbled slightly. “Turn around.” It slowly rotated. “Go get it.”

“……”

“……”

Yoner and Ratford watched Yihan, their faces a mix of confusion and worry.

Their friend had just pulled out a bone creature and was now ordering it around, like he was learning dark magic. They weren’t sure how to feel about it.

*That professor really did give him something strange,* Yoner thought. *But then again, why would the professor ever give him anything normal?*

“Maybe… maybe you should just throw it away?” Yoner suggested hesitantly.

Flap, flap!

As soon as Yoner said that, the bone creature trembled and wrapped itself tightly around Yihan’s arm, as if begging him not to.

It was just a hand and forearm made of bone, but somehow, it looked sad and desperate.

“…Ah, no, never mind,” Yoner said quickly, feeling a little sorry for the bone. “Forget I said anything.”