Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 562

It was quite expensive when I bought it…

Even though he didn’t want to ask, the very thin Headmaster spoke quietly, remembering something.

Your seniors didn’t like it much.

“……”

“……”

Lee Han and Asan quickly began to clear away the items.

They didn’t want to just stand there and listen to another story.

“You’re back!”

The friends, having seen the two returning after checking the storage room, greeted them happily.

Asan sounded very surprised.

“It hasn’t even been an hour since we left…”

“That’s enough time to disappear into the punishment room from here.”

“Well, that’s true.”

While his friend understood, Lee Han explained the tasks the Headmaster had given them.

The students reacted the same way as Asan when they heard it.

“Huh? Seriously? We’re barely making it ourselves, and now we have to worry about the freshmen?” one friend complained.

“Yeah! No one helped *us* when we started. Let them figure it out!” another agreed.

“Exactly!” a third chimed in.

‘How heartwarming,’ Lee Han thought, a small smile playing on his lips. ‘Bright future indeed,’ he thought to himself, but his eyes held a hint of amusement.

“Hey, everyone. Calm down. Still, we can’t completely ignore the new students who will be entering next time, can we?”

Still, Tiziling, being a disciple, felt it wasn’t right and tried to persuade his friends.

As the friends hesitated, Gainando stepped forward.

“No. We can ignore them! Let’s all concentrate and forget about the new students!”

“Didn’t you receive the most help from Wodanaz, Gainando?”

Tiziling reminded Gainando of something true, which made him uncomfortable. Gainando waved his hands in panic, denying it.

“N-no? It wasn’t that much!”

“It’s true, though.”

“You would have starved to death without Wodanaz, honestly.”

“The students from the other towers don’t even know!”

As the students from the Black Tortoise Tower and White Tiger Tower offered their unsolicited advice, Gainando jumped up and down.

He had suffered a lot while studying in the lounge, and these friends knew nothing about it!

“Hmm. In Gainando’s case, it’s true, though.”

“!?”

However, even the friends from the Blue Dragon Tower didn’t particularly take Gainando’s side.

“Come to think of it, the freshmen won’t have Wodanaz, will they?”

“It’ll be a bit tough…”

“Eh, let’s do it. We didn’t receive anything from the seniors, but this much is nothing.”

The students, except for Gainando, discussed it among themselves and readily entered the storage room.

Thanks to the large amount of supplies secured last weekend, the first-year students were now more generous than ever.

Gainando grabbed Lee Han’s coat and whined, his voice rising in pitch. He tugged at the fabric, his face getting redder with each complaint. “Lee Han. Isn’t there anyone who received more help than me? There should be at least one person, right? Someone under me!”

Lee Han sighed, ignoring Gainando’s whining, and pushed open the heavy wooden door to the storage room.

Broken potions and artifacts were placed separately in wooden crates to be carried out, while notebooks, quills, and ink bottles that were still usable were arranged separately…

“Should we leave this for the new students to eat?”

“Wow… you’re really kind. Okay. Then I’ll leave this jar of candy.”

The first-year students subtly hid items here and there for the new students who would be entering.

If they hid them between books or writing utensils, the new students would be able to find them and realize it next year.

“……”

Adenart frowned at the book. *’Magicians Executed for Using Evil Magic.’* Would this scare the new students? Or would it be interesting? She wasn’t sure.

‘Should I remove it?’

“Princess. You don’t have to leave snacks if you don’t feel like it. Gainando didn’t leave any either.”

Lee Han showed consideration for the princess, who had been contemplating for a long time.

In fact, Gainando had inserted a note saying, ‘True snacks are the food you find with your own strength,’ and was getting hit by his friends one by one.

“……”

The princess immediately found her bag and took out a can. And she donated it for the new students.

“But why?”

The princess donated two more chocolates and then walked away. The followers spoke to Lee Han with admiration.

“Isn’t she truly admirable?”

“Well, she is admirable, but there’s no need to force yourself to do something you don’t want to…”

“What are you saying? Of course, it’s because she’s thinking of the new students.”

“Is that so?”

Lee Han nodded for now.

The followers weren’t very trustworthy, but in these cases, they would know better than Lee Han.

‘Well, unlike Gainando, she’s a proper royal, so she must care about her image.’

After finishing the conversation, Lee Han focused on his work. He put the blood-stained, rusty knife in the crate, deactivated the magic on the damaged scrolls, and then burned them…

“?”

Lee Han discovered a letter stuck in a hidden space behind the shelf.

The freshman who reads this, come to the Red Oriole Room on the 4th floor by midnight.

– Written by a kind senior

“What is this?”

“Isn’t it a trap from the Headmaster?”

“It’s good to be suspicious, but suspecting everything in the world as a trap from the Headmaster seems a bit excessive…”

Lee Han and his friends put their heads together and pondered the identity of this letter.

“In the first place, it’s not easy to enter the 4th floor. Telling them to come to the 4th floor is like telling them to die, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. It seems like a mean trick.”

“Gasp…! Okay. I’m going to leave a note telling them to come to the 5th floor…”

Lee Han hit Gainando once and stated his question.

“Isn’t the letter a bit too old? At this point, the senior who left it might have already graduated.”

“Ah. That’s true. That’s a shame. Why would the senior leave something like this? They can’t even make contact in the first place.”

“No. There are ways to temporarily disable the magic the Headmaster has cast.”

“…?”

The friends next to him were about to ask, ‘Wodanaz, how do you know that?’ but stopped themselves.

‘Well, it’s Wodanaz, so he would know.’

Salco tapped the letter, looking for any hidden writing. After confirming that there were no special devices, Salco whispered so that only Lee Han could hear.

“Maybe it’s just something someone lost, not a message from a senior student, Yihan,” Salco said, looking at the strange letter.

“Hmm, maybe you’re right,” Yihan replied, thinking about it. “It could just be something someone dropped.”

The message said “until midnight.” That was strange. Maybe the room gets locked after midnight, and that’s why they left it here. But if a senior student really wanted to meet someone, wouldn’t they find a better way than leaving a letter in a storage room? Anyone could find it, and it’s a room used for classes for new students, so who knows when the right person would even see it.

“So you think it’s just something someone lost?” Salco asked.

“Probably,” Wodanaz replied. “Most likely just an old book or something.”

“Hmm, this is tricky,” Salco said. “We have enough food and stuff already, and exams are next week. I really don’t want to get into trouble. Wait a minute, why are you whispering, Salco?”

Salco lowered his voice even more. “So the White Tiger Tower students don’t hear us. You know they’re always trying to cause problems.”

Yihan sighed. “Still, I think I should go with you to check it out.”

Yihan wasn’t surprised when his friends didn’t look excited. Salco groaned. “The fourth floor? Really? We have tons of food and clothes already. Why risk it?”

But Mina, another friend, argued, “No, we should go! If it’s something from Einrogaard, we need to get it now! Things disappear so fast in this place.”

“That’s exactly why we need to go now!” Yihan said, backing Mina up. “You know even one day can make a big difference for Einrogaard!”

“Oh, come on,” Salco said, rolling his eyes. “If it’s been there this long, a few more days won’t matter. You just don’t want to study for exams, Yihan!”

“Hey! That’s not true!” Yihan protested. “I’m just being responsible!”

While his friends argued, Yoner quietly asked Yihan, “Yihan, what do *you* think we should do?”

Yihan sighed. “I don’t think I can go this week anyway. I’m really busy with work.”

“Busier than studying for final exams?” Salco asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” Yihan said. “Professor Knighton gave me a commission. I have to design a Pocketknife Fortress, and it’s due soon.”

Yoner looked at Yihan with pity in his eyes. He knew Yihan always needed money.

‘Poor Yihan,’ Yoner thought. ‘He’s always working so hard. Will he ever get a break and just be happy?’

Yoner was worried about him, but Yihan was actually quite happy about the Pocketknife Fortress job. Unlike most school assignments, this one came with real money – silver coins!

‘Hmm,’ Yihan thought, twirling his quill between his fingers. ‘It would be amazing if Einrogaard assignments gave silver coins too.’ He chuckled to himself, imagining the Headmaster Skeleton, a tall, bony figure who ran the school, yelling at him if he heard that greedy thought.

Just then, a knock came at the door. “Mr. Wodanaz?” a voice called.

“Professor Knighton,” Yihan replied, putting down his quill and standing up quickly. Professor Alpen Knighton entered the room, smiling warmly.

“Is everything going well with the Pocketknife Fortress?” Professor Knighton asked kindly. “You must be studying for your final exams too. I hope you’re not working too hard, Mr. Wodanaz.”

“Thank you for your concern, Professor,” Yihan said, giving a polite but not very enthusiastic reply. “I’m managing.”

Yihan paused for a moment after the professor spoke. Wait a minute, he thought. Isn’t it *this* professor who gave me this extra work in the first place?

Or was it his own fault for taking it on?

“Yes, well,” Professor Knighton continued, smiling broadly, “I know you’re very capable, Mr. Wodanaz. That’s why I thought of you for this project.”

“Ah. Yes,” Yihan said again.

You shouldn’t be rude to someone who is smiling at you, Yihan knew. But sometimes, he thought with a touch of dark humor, professors could be very annoying, even when they were smiling.

Professor Alpen, still smiling happily, led Yihan into a room. In the center of the room, a large, shimmering mirror-like object stood on a table. It hummed softly and glowed with a faint blue light. The image of several people appeared in the mirror.

-“Professor Knighton, greetings,” one of the figures in the mirror said.

“Good morning, everyone,” Professor Knighton replied. “This is Mr. Wodanaz, the student who designed the Pocketknife Fortress. Are you ready to see his plans?”

-“Yes, we are waiting eagerly,” another voice from the mirror replied.

Yihan stood beside Professor Knighton, his heart beating a little faster. He hoped they would like his design. He had worked so hard on it, but what if it wasn’t good enough for real professionals? What would they say?

The voices in the mirror were from people in the Stonemasons Guild and the Woodworkers Guild. They were the ones building the Pocketknife Fortress for the Empire. Yihan knew that for builders like them, the most important thing was always to do a good job without spending too much money. They were experts at building walls and towers and things like that. But Yihan’s job, as a student from Einrogaard, was different. He had to figure out how much magic power the magical objects inside the fortress would need. He also had to find a way to get that magic power to them and make sure everything was placed in the right spot so it would all work properly. It was a complicated job, even for a small fortress.

“Wow,” one of the guild members in the mirror said. “This is really impressive! Much better than we expected.”

“Is this what all students from Einrogaard are like?” another one asked, sounding surprised.

The guild members were clearly happy with Yihan’s plans. They thought his explanations were clear and easy to understand. They had been a bit worried about asking a student to do this job, especially after dealing with some other wizards who just talked in confusing riddles and made big promises they couldn’t keep. But Yihan seemed different – reliable and practical.

“Excellent,” one of them said. “The way you’ve placed the magical objects is very clever.”

“Thank you,” Yihan said, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

Yihan felt a surge of pride. He remembered the long nights he had spent hunched over his desk, the piles of notes and calculations, all to make sure those magical objects would work perfectly in their places. *This* was the kind of praise he deserved.

“However…”

“!” Yihan’s heart jumped.

Suddenly, the smiles on the faces in the mirror vanished. Their expressions turned serious, even worried.

Yihan’s stomach tightened. What had he done wrong? Had he made a mistake after all?

‘Oh no,’ Yihan thought, his mind racing. ‘Was there a mistake after all? No use making excuses now. This is real work, not just a school project.’

He knew he had to find the problem and fix it, fast.

“What is it?” Yihan asked, his voice trembling slightly.

“Let me see,” Professor Knighton said, stepping forward. He leaned closer to the shimmering mirror, his eyebrows furrowing as he quickly scanned the report that Yihan had sent.

The professor’s smile disappeared, and his expression became just as serious as the guild members’ in the mirror.

“This is… wrong,” Professor Knighton said, his voice serious.

“You see it too, Professor?” one of the guild members in the mirror said. “We think there’s a mistake here.”

“Let’s just double-check,” Professor Knighton said. He turned to Yihan. “Mr. Wodanaz, did you notice anything odd about this? We’re talking about the amount of magic power these objects are supposed to use.”

Yihan’s mind raced. He had worked hard to make the fortress efficient. He had reduced the magic power needed for each object as much as possible, so they wouldn’t need too many power sources. He had used every trick he knew to make them use less magic…

‘Should I have made them even *more* efficient?’ he wondered, feeling a little lost. Real wizards were amazing if they could do even better than this. “I’m sorry,” Yihan said honestly. “Is it still too much magic power?”

“No,” Professor Knighton said, shaking his head. “It’s too *little*. These objects should need more magic power than this.”

“Pardon?” Yihan stared at the report on the shimmering mirror, completely confused. He checked his calculations again. Everything looked right.

“Simple magical objects *can* be made this efficient,” Yihan mumbled, still puzzled. “I don’t understand…”

The guild members and Professor Knighton exchanged worried glances. Something was definitely wrong, and Yihan had no idea what it was.