Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 589

Nigisore spoke seriously, and his friends beside him were surprised.

“Burning them with fire is a bit much, don’t you think?” one friend asked.

“Right. Some other form of torture would be better,” another added.

Oriphylas gave an interesting opinion.

“Huh?” the students asked, slightly shaken by Oriphylas’s admiration.

Oriphylas was a devil, and he had worked as an Imperial Legal Officer for 131 years. Because of this long experience, everyone listened to his ideas.

“What about drowning them?” a student suggested.

Oriphylas thought that was a clever opinion.

“What about hanging them upside down?” another student asked.

Oriphylas considered it a different opinion.

Thanks to Oriphylas’s encouragement, the students freely offered creative ideas.

Lee Han, who was listening, asked, puzzled, “Is it okay to do that to innocent people?”

“What Wodanaz said is right. If there’s no way to tell the difference, it’ll be a meaningless method,” another student said.

Gainando, who was listening to the story, raised his hand and said, “If you drown them both, the fake one might talk!”

“Ugh, that prince. Saying such things… Oh, is that okay?” a student asked.

“Hardly,” Lee Han said, smacking the back of the White Tiger Tower student’s head, who seemed quite taken with the idea.

“Are you telling the students to deceive?” a criminal asked.

The Death Knight replied, “Yes. Work together with the good citizens of the Empire here to hide your suspiciousness.”

The Death Knight told the criminals what they had to do today: mix with the good citizens of the Empire and deceive the students.

The criminals were confused. They were kidnapped and dragged all this way for that?

The good citizens next to them seemed embarrassed and asked, “Are you really arresting criminals? Is that even allowed?”

The Death Knight chuckled. “Of course, it is. All actions taken today are permitted under Imperial law.”

“What nonsense is this! You dragged us here just for that?!” a young mercenary complained.

The Death Knight sneered, as if dumbfounded by the complaints. “Are you even listening to me?” he asked and gestured.

Then, the back door opened, and the Death Knights dragged away the mercenary who had just shouted.

“No! N… Kraaah! Kraaah!” The desperate scream echoed from the back door.

How much time had passed? The mercenary stumbled back into the room, his face as white as bone. He trembled like a leaf in a storm, muttering words under his breath that no one could quite catch.

“I was wrong. I will do my best. I was wrong. I will do my best,” the mercenary repeated.

The Death Knight nodded. “Yes. Everyone, do your best. Those who deceive well will be given leniency, but those who are caught will be punished more severely.”

The criminals were scared by the Death Knights’ words. The task sounded easy, even silly. But they knew failing would be very bad. They couldn’t even guess what would happen if they failed!

‘But it might be a relief,’ one criminal thought.

As the fear and embarrassment disappeared, the criminals, who had spent their lives as mercenaries or adventurers, quickly started thinking. Regardless of the fear, this was not the worst thing. Deceiving naive students was much better than becoming a black magician’s test subject, wasn’t it?

“Okay. Wait here. There are students over there, so don’t say anything unnecessary,” the Death Knight instructed.

No sooner had the Death Knight finished speaking than the sound of students chattering came from the other side.

“Burning them with fire is a bit much, don’t you think?” a student asked.

“What about drowning them?” another suggested.

The criminals’ faces went white as chalk. Their eyes widened in fear, remembering all the scary stories about magicians.

Professor Rogaine said, “Don’t be too nervous, magician. Actually, this test is much safer than the last one.”

“That’s true, but…” she crossed her arms and cast a glance. “It’s not an easy test either.”

Oriphylas replied coolly, “That’s also true.”

He had encouraged the methods the students had suggested earlier, but in fact, those methods were very limited and difficult to use. Such interrogation methods close to torture could only be used when the suspect was clearly identified; they could not be used carelessly when there was no information. If they shouted at a perfectly normal Imperial citizen, ‘Sir! Please let us drown you a little to find out the truth!’ even Einrogard students might get slapped.

“Okay, start the test!” Professor Rogaine announced.

Gainando walked over, his steps hesitant. He chewed his lip, a nervous habit. He hoped he wouldn’t mess this up in front of Professor Rogaine.

Then, two Imperial citizens entered from the opposite door.

“Hello, magician. I am Uval, running an old bookstore in Ileinas City,” one said.

“Hello, everyone. I am Kilbedek, running a general store in Deep Trail Village,” the other introduced himself.

Oriphylas, who watched the scene, clicked his tongue. Kilbedek’s mistake caught his eye. It was good to boldly tell the truth rather than awkwardly changing his identity, but he stuttered out of nervousness. Fortunately, the student didn’t seem to notice.

“Old bookstore, general store. Old bookstore, general store…” Gainando muttered, thinking carefully. He spoke to Professor Rogaine, “I think Mr. Uval is suspicious.”

“Why do you think so?” she asked.

“Uh, don’t people who sell books all have twisted and evil souls?” Gainando asked.

Uval and Professor Rogaine were speechless at the same time. The professor apologized with her eyes. ‘I’m sorry,’ she seemed to say.

‘It’s okay. Haha,’ Uval thought.

Kilbedek cautiously stepped up to defend, wondering if it was a trap. “W-well,” Kilbedek stammered, “I don’t think all book sellers are bad. There are lots of good ones, you know.”

“Oh… defending a competitor… a criminal wouldn’t do that…” Gainando mused.

“Ah, no,” Uval said, flustered. ‘Should I defend more actively?’ he wondered.

Gainando sat in a detective-like pose, making serious notes with a detective-like face.

Oriphylas, who was watching from the side, asked, “What about using magic?”

“Shhh. Mr. Oriphylas. Don’t interrupt my reasoning,” Gainando said.

“Ugh… I understand,” Oriphylas replied.

“And come to think of it, drowning them both seems a bit cruel,” Gainando added.

“That’s right!” Oriphylas said, giving the boy in front of him a slightly higher score.

“So, I’m going to have a conversation. There will be loopholes if we talk!” Gainando declared.

Oriphylas thought, ‘Just using magic seems more likely…’

The only weapon the Einrogard students, who lacked overwhelming experience compared to their opponents, had was magic. To identify the suspiciousness of the opponent you might meet in everyday life in advance through creative use of magic. That was the goal of today’s test.

“Mr. Kilbedek, who defended his competitor,” Gainando began.

‘Is it a trap??’ Kilbedek wondered, answering nervously, “Yes.”

“What kind of general store do you run?” Gainando asked.

“Uh… I sell everything that comes in. It’s a small village, so I can’t be picky about the goods,” Kilbedek explained.

“Do you sell Imperial magazines too?”

“Yes, sometimes…?”

“Do you sell the Toberiz series too?”

“Oh, yes. There’s someone in the village who reads it.”

“How much is one book?”

“Five copper coins per book… isn’t it?”

“Ahem,” Gainando wrote ‘Kilbedek, +50 points’ in his notes.

“Now. Mr. Uval, who runs an evil old bookstore,” Gainando continued.

“Not an evil old bookstore…” Uval corrected.

“Tell me about your old bookstore,” Gainando requested.

“My old bookstore is in the most beautiful city in the Empire. In the evening, you can see the sunset and the afterglow spreading over the western sea, and when the songs of the returning sailors spread together with the bells of the temple…” Uval described.

Gainando scribbled furiously in his notebook, underlining ‘Uval’ with a thick line. Beside the name, he wrote in large letters: ‘Uval -50 points! Too emotional! Definitely hiding something!’

Then, he suddenly realized and asked, “Wait. Mr. Uval. Isn’t Ileinas City a city near Valdrogard?”

“That’s right. Haha. Valdrogard students often come to visit,” Uval confirmed.

Gainando’s quill moved madly. He wrote: Uval, -5000 points (Valdrogard spy!)

Siana, dressed in her white priest’s robes, entered with a smile and a steaming teapot. The clinking of teacups offered a moment of false comfort in the tense room.

Uval and Kilbedek, who were waiting, were moved by the kindness of the student wearing a priest’s robe.

“Thank you for this,” Uval said.

“Thank you very much, Priest,” Kilbedek added. He had to be several times more nervous than Uval and felt particularly relieved. Even in this hellish and ominous magic school, there was still a ray of light. That was the priests who worshiped God. Kilbedek sipped his teacup, thinking that he should have gone to the temple a little more often when he was in the village.

“Have you finished drinking?” Siana asked.

“Yes,” they replied in unison.

Siana the priest crossed her arms and asked arrogantly, “Okay. So, who is the criminal?”

The two were embarrassed by the changed attitude and only blinked.

“Uh…” Uval stammered.

“Huh?” Kilbedek asked, confused.

“Speak quickly. Mr. Uval. Answer me. If you don’t answer, you’re the culprit,” Siana pressed.

“I, I am not,” Uval insisted.

“Next. Mr. Kilbedek.”

“I… Grrrr,” Kilbedek’s tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. It was as if his body had changed so that he couldn’t lie.

Seeing that, Siana the priest kicked off her chair, jumped up and down, and shouted, “You’ve been tricked! You’ve been tricked!”

“Um, student Siana…?” Professor Rogaine asked in a shocked voice. Siana the priest jumped once more, then landed and straightened her clothes.

“I’m sorry, Professor. I was too excited,” Siana apologized.

Oriphylas wondered, ‘Um… is she really a priest?’

Siana the priest lightly brushed off Oriphylas’s question. “As expected of a devil, are you denying the priest?”

“No, that’s not it…” Oriphylas said.

“Professor. I brought a potion of prohibition of lies in the teapot in advance. It was a potion with a severe astringent taste, so I couldn’t deceive you unless I disguised it as tea,” Siana explained.

“Excellent! Student Siana,” Professor Rogaine shouted, belatedly coming to her senses. Siana bowed with a very proud expression. Student Siana, who had solved all the remaining problems after that, left the test site with light steps.

Only then did Oriphylas open his mouth. “Um, magician. Is it okay for a priest to be like that? She’s a little different from the priests I know?”

“I always support and encourage the changes of the students,” Professor Rogaine replied.

Oriphylas was very embarrassed. He didn’t know that priests would use deception so actively and be so excited about it. ‘Am I a devil who was summoned too long ago and has fallen behind the changes?’ he wondered.

While he was worrying like that, Bartrec came in with a teapot. ‘If you put in a confession-type potion, it’s a good idea, but the previous student has already used it, so it won’t work,’ he said.

“Damn it! It’s Wodanaz!” Bartrec exclaimed.

After the guests and criminals were exhausted by all sorts of methods (one criminal was attacked with a hot iron bar), it was finally Lee Han’s turn.

Oriphylas, who was in a good mood because of the criminal who had just been burned with a hot iron bar, said, “He’s an anticipated student, but it’ll be difficult because it’s the last turn.”

Professor Rogaine nodded in agreement. The more tired people were, the harder it became to find the truth. Even the magic to identify emotions was difficult to distinguish whether it was due to tension or simple fatigue if both were tired, and even if they tried to use divination magic, the accuracy decreased if the information was contaminated due to frequent mistakes. Besides, there was a high possibility that the many methods tried by the students who came in earlier would no longer work, because the criminals were also very desperate.

“Hello, Professor,” Lee Han greeted.

“Come in!” she replied.

As Lee Han walked in, two people entered from the opposite side. Seeing that, Lee Han immediately pointed his finger. “Isn’t that person a criminal?”

Oriphylas and Professor Rogaine were both so surprised that they jumped up. ‘Amazing! How on earth!?’ they wondered. How did he know as soon as he came in?