Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 541

“Oh. I’m sorry. I…”

Lee Han was surprised. Caretaker? Not student? He quickly said no.

Yacha nodded, not expecting Lee Han to agree anyway.

“Well, there’s no reason for a young wizard to abandon Einroguard’s lineage and bury himself deep in the mountains,” Yacha thought.

Lee Han thought quickly. ‘Money? Connections after school? Yes, that’s important,’ he mumbled, thinking about his future plans.

Yacha doubted his ears, wondering if he had misheard.

Yacha thought it was strange. Students from Einroguard, especially kind ones like Lee Han, usually cared more about magic than money.

“So, who is this troublesome fellow settled in the swamp? Is it perhaps the Purple Swamp Worm?” Lee Han asked.

Lee Han dredged up his knowledge, naming the monster that came to mind.

The Purple Swamp Worm was a monster the size of a bull, and once it settled in a swamp, it would spew poison, killing the surrounding plants, making it a nuisance.

‘But if the giants help, it won’t be too difficult,’ Lee Han thought.

It was annoying because it hid in the swamp, but a race like giants, resistant to poison and with excellent physical abilities, could just push through with brute force.

If they stirred it up in the swamp until it was caught, it would come out on its own.

“Hmm? Purple Swamp Worm? Ah… that little thing. Why would we need to call the giants for that?” Yacha asked.

“It’s pretty big, isn’t it…” Lee Han said.

“It’s a Ghoul Dragon,” Yacha said. “It’s been here a long time, so it’s not just big, its poison is really dangerous.”

Lee Han’s eyes widened. He imagined a huge, terrifying monster. He swallowed hard, feeling a knot of fear in his stomach.

“Ouch!” Yacha suddenly yelled. “Wizard! Why are you pulling my hair? Stop it! This is precious hair, you know!”

Lee Han jumped, realizing he had grabbed a handful of Yacha’s hair without meaning to. His face flushed red with embarrassment. “S-sorry!” he stammered, quickly letting go.

In fact, the Ghoul Dragon had the name ‘Dragon’ attached to it, but strictly speaking, it wasn’t a dragon.

It was a similar subspecies with an appearance reminiscent of a dragon, or rather, not even a subspecies, just something similar.

Some experts argued it wasn’t a real dragon. ‘If every big lizard is a dragon,’ they complained, ‘then drakes are just dragons with legs!’ But most people just called it a Ghoul Dragon because it looked like one.

And Lee Han had no particular complaints about the term Ghoul Dragon.

If it was a monster that could instantly crush Lee Han to death, poison him to death with its venomous breath, or cut him to death with its contaminated claws, it didn’t really matter whether it was a real dragon or a fake dragon.

“Um… should I call the headmaster?” Lee Han asked.

“What? Don’t even think about it, you little whelp. You don’t know the terror of Gonadal Tes,” Yacha said, dumbfounded at Lee Han’s suggestion of calling the skeletal headmaster for such a trivial matter.

No matter how much Gonadal Tes cherished Einroguard’s students, he wasn’t a soft wizard who would accept all unreasonable whining.

“No, I think he would grant this kind of request…” Lee Han insisted.

“That’s where you’re mistaken. A mistake made by your senior, and your senior’s senior, and your senior’s senior’s senior! You’ve barely even spoken to him, what confidence do you have?” Yacha exclaimed.

“Hmm.”

Yacha seemed very sure of himself. Lee Han felt a little unsure because Yacha was so confident.

‘Come to think of it, the skeletal headmaster is a bit of a madman,’ Lee Han thought.

Lee Han was the only one who thought they were close, and if he called, he might throw a fit…

“I understand. Still, I think it’s a bit dangerous to face a Ghoul Dragon,” Lee Han said.

“No, Wizard!”

“Trust us!”

The giants bristled at Lee Han’s reaction.

The wizard was valuing the Ghoul Dragon more than them.

“No, it’s not that I don’t trust you…” Lee Han started to say.

“Guide the way. Yacha old man!” one of the giants said.

“Alright. I understand. I understand,” Yacha replied.

*

*

Balpaltan and Anpagon, freed from the giants’ grasp, headed straight for the summit…

…but instead, they followed the giants.

They were worried about their junior.

Even though their junior had the title of Giant Manipulator, giants were fickle and unpredictable.

There was a chance that the Giant Manipulator could become giant fodder.

“…Wait. Isn’t that Yacha?” Balpaltan asked.

“What? Yacha?! There really is a Yacha?” Anpagon exclaimed, shocked.

He had heard from a senior who graduated a long time ago that ‘there’s a Yacha somewhere in the mountain range,’ but he naturally thought it was a lie to scare him.

“I met Yacha on a heavily snowing day, hic. He lectured me so much, saying I had accumulated bad karma. So, Moradi, you should serve your seniors well… hic. Where was I?”

“Amazing… where are they going?” Balpaltan wondered.

“W… well. Damn it. Send the message again. I think we should get out of here soon,” Anpagon said, his face hardening as the giants and Yacha began to move.

Their orderly movement was ominous.

“They’re not going to eat our junior, are they…?” Balpaltan asked worriedly.

“You barbaric fool. What nonsense are you thinking!” Anpagon burst into anger.

He didn’t believe in superstitions, but he was extremely annoyed by the White Tiger Tower guy who was making ominous noises.

“Who do you think isn’t worried right now? You know how strange those giants are!” Balpaltan retorted.

“That junior is too small for all the giants to eat,” Anpagon said.

“What if he’s like a seasoning?” Balpaltan muttered.

“…Shut up!” Anpagon snapped.

The two quietly closed their mouths and followed.

The giants hummed and pulled out the surrounding giant trees, then began to saw and chop at something.

‘A, are they preparing camp?’ Balpaltan thought, horrified.

Giants prepare camp -> prepare food -> junior becomes food.

“Send the message! We need to prepare to evacuate him immediately!” Balpaltan urged.

“Al, alright. I’m sending it now!” Anpagon also sent a message with a rare pale face.

*

*

“The Ghoul Dragon isn’t a violent or cruel fellow. It’s just that its temperament is troublesome,” Yacha said, checking the hastily made wooden shields by the giants and gesturing.

“It would be nice if it just stayed quietly asleep deep underground, but it occasionally crawls out like this. That’s enough. Anyway, we’re not going to catch it, so that’s enough,” Yacha continued.

“Ah. Are we going to resolve this through conversation?” Lee Han asked.

“The Ghoul Dragon can’t understand words. And even if it did, it’s such a lazy fellow that it would ignore you,” Yacha replied.

Lee Han became dejected.

“The method isn’t that difficult. The young ones go in and push the Ghoul Dragon out with force. If it gets far enough away, it’ll be too lazy to go back to the swamp and will return to its underground cave,” Yacha explained.

“…Is that really all it takes?” Lee Han asked, surprised by the unexpectedly peaceful method.

“Yes. These fellows may not listen, but their strength is tremendous,” Yacha confirmed.

Indeed, even if the method seemed simple, whether it could be put into practice was another matter.

It wasn’t easy for giants of this size to unite and exert their strength.

“Little whelp, you only have one thing to do,” Yacha said.

“I understand. What kind of magic should I use in front?” Lee Han asked, determined, grabbing his staff.

“What are you talking about? There’s no way we’d put a green wizard in front to deal with a Ghoul Dragon. Just give the giants instructions from behind. They don’t listen to me very well,” Yacha replied.

“That’s it?” Lee Han asked.

“No… what did you think you were going to do?” Yacha looked strangely at the young wizard.

Lee Han quickly said, embarrassed, “It seems like I’m not doing much…”

“You’re doing something great enough already. Those fellows don’t listen at all. Good. That’s all. Drag it out!” Yacha exclaimed.

Rumble!

As soon as the order was given, the giants pushed through the forest and made a path.

Then, the swamp that had been hidden and the huge Ghoul Dragon sitting on it revealed themselves.

At first glance, it looked similar to a dragon, but it was much smaller. Distorted in places and adding hideous features, it looked more like a hideous chimera that a wizard had failed to create than a dragon.

“Wooer!”

“Wait, wait! Coordinate with the others!” Lee Han shouted.

“Wooer…”

“To the side! Turn to the side!” Lee Han directed.

The giants really didn’t listen.

Lee Han coaxed, persuaded, and threatened, creating a siege with the giants.

Yacha was very pleased with the sight.

“You’re really good at this. By the way, what grade are you in? I forgot to ask,” Yacha said.

“I’m a first-year,” Lee Han replied.

“Really… what?”

“Yacha old man! Help!” The giants called for Yacha.

The Ghoul Dragon, not wanting to come out of the swamp, began to exert strength throughout its body and resist.

The giants, whose noses and eyes were stinging from the poison it was spewing, screamed.

“I’m going. Going! Lend me some strength for a moment!” Yacha said.

“Yes?”

Yacha put Lee Han on his head. The giant who had suddenly lost the wizard wailed.

“Wait a moment. I’ll return him soon!” Yacha reassured.

As the accumulated karma turned into strength, an incomparably strong force flowed through Yacha’s entire body.

He had felt it from the moment he saw him, but the good karma that this young wizard had accumulated was extraordinary.

“Get lost, you annoying fellow! Go back to where you liked and sleep!” Yacha shouted.

“Yacha old man is doing well!” The giants cheered.

The collision of the giants felt like the entire surroundings were collapsing and shattering.

Lee Han did his best not to fall from the violently shaking Yacha.

‘I’m holding on… I’m holding on!’ Lee Han thought.

At some point, Lee Han realized that he was naturally standing on Yacha’s head.

During the last test, Lee Han learned something important about his magic. Now, as he held onto Yacha, he realized he could use that lesson. He felt his magic working without even trying!

‘It’s done…!’

“It’s being pushed back! Roll it! Roll it!”

“Push it out of the swamp!”

The giants were excited and pushed without knowing the hardships Lee Han was going through.

It was an impact that would shake even a perfectly attached person.

The basilisk in Lee Han’s sleeve cried out as if feeling sorry for him.

How did I end up being dragged around by these giants…!

*

*

“Huff, huff.”

“You’ve worked hard. You young ones have accumulated good karma,” Yacha said sincerely after the work was done.

If it weren’t for the giants, who were covered in mud and panting, he wouldn’t have been able to pull out the Ghoul Dragon alone.

They really did a good job.

“Yacha old man, what did you do!” one of the giants asked.

“Have you forgotten that I ran over because you couldn’t pull it out?” Yacha retorted.

“Yacha old man also did something…”

The giants became emboldened and tried to argue, but then backed down.

“Wizard. Where did the wizard go?” Yacha asked.

“Yacha old man stole him!” another giant accused.

“I didn’t steal him. You young ones,” Yacha scolded the giants and returned Lee Han. Lee Han sat on the giant’s shoulder with a very tired face.

“Wait. Why are you so tired?” Yacha asked.

“It was a bit shaky up here…” Lee Han replied.

“What? With magic… wait. Can’t you use it? Are you really a first-year??” Yacha was greatly shocked.

He knew there were all kinds of students down the mountain, but he never thought there would be a first-year playing with giants.

“You’re really going to achieve great things. You’re really going to achieve great things! A first-year coming all the way here and becoming friends with giants,” Yacha exclaimed.

“It’s not that I wanted to, but the professors forced me…” Lee Han was about to badmouth the professors, but Yacha didn’t listen.

“Take this. If you need this old man’s help when you come around here, pull it and call me. I’ve received help, so I should give help in return,” Yacha handed over a small horn-shaped piece.

Lee Han received it, wondering.

‘Will I ever come here again?’

It seemed like he would never even go near this place once this was over…

“Yes. Thank you,” Lee Han said.

“I wouldn’t have asked for help if I had known you were a first-year, I feel sorry for nothing,” Yacha said.

“No. I’m happy just to hear you say that,” Lee Han answered bitterly, thinking of the professor who sent him here.

“?”

While the giants were excitedly praising each other, Lee Han looked down at the ground.

Several notes that seemed to have been blown away were scattered on the ground.

‘What is it? Were there other people here besides the seniors?’ Lee Han wondered.