Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 615

‘Phew. I pulled it off.’

Lee Han breathed a sigh of relief.

Lee Han had tricked the headmaster. He signed the headmaster’s name to a paper. This paper would let Nilia escape the Shadow Patrol during the holidays.

Fortunately, the headmaster seemed more interested in the knights below.

“Honestly, you lot are useless…”

“If you want us to shoot, we can shoot quietly.”

At the Shadow Patrol hunters’ suggestion, the skull-faced headmaster shook his head.

“No need. Let’s be satisfied with the shot we took last time.”

“……”

Lee Han was shocked by what he heard.

The hunters and knights did not like each other. Hunters thought knights were bossy and useless.

Knights thought hunters were wild and greedy.

‘Still, shooting arrows is a bit much,’ Lee Han thought.

The Northern knights waited in front of the log cabin for the owner to return.

A young apprentice knight got angry because they had to wait.

“Hey! We’re important knights! You can’t make us wait like this!”

The young knight was angry. He thought it was wrong for someone so unimportant to make important knights wait.

Normally, he would have been hit, but the old knight, who was teaching the apprentice, chuckled and said,

“Why don’t you say that to the lumberjacks when they return?”

“Would it really be alright?”

“Of course!”

The other knights, who were about to get angry, stopped when they heard the old knight’s words and smiled.

The young apprentice knight, not understanding the situation, nodded.

“Understood. I dare say!”

Soon after, a group of lumberjacks came up the path.

They were the lumberjacks from around there, returning after work.

The lumberjacks came up the path. They were from different groups of people. They were big and strong, carrying huge axes. Steam came from their bodies as they breathed in the cold air.

“……”

The apprentice knight’s mouth dropped open when he saw the lumberjacks, who were different from what he expected.

The knights chuckled at his reaction.

The free people in these Northern Mountains were different from those in other places.

Just living in this harsh area was hard without strength and courage.

The mountain lumberjacks were especially famous.

They were naturally strong and could defeat monsters alone without help!

“H-How dare you make the knights wait like this!”

The apprentice knight shouted, not wanting to back down.

The lumberjacks looked at the apprentice knight like he was an idiot.

“What is it, knightly sirs? Did you come to pick a fight?”

“H-How dare you! How dare…!”

“Sorry about him. He’s still young, please understand,” the old knight said, smiling as he covered the apprentice knight’s mouth.

“You know why we’re here. Such a waste of talent.”

The lumberjacks scratched their cheeks. They already knew why the knights were there.

The young lumberjack was Ulgan. He was famous among the lumberjacks for being big and strong.

The knights had heard about him.

“But he says he doesn’t want to. He already ran away,” one of the lumberjacks said.

Ulgan had trained to be a knight a few years ago.

Knights had asked Ulgan to join them for years because he was strong. Finally, he agreed and trained to be a knight. But he got bored and went back to being a lumberjack.

“We don’t really know why. He was well-liked among the apprentice knights.”

“We know why. He chose to be a free lumberjack instead of a boring knight, right?”

The lumberjacks chuckled.

Some of the knights got angry, but the old knight stopped them.

“Let’s hear him out. I want to know why he didn’t like it.”

“Didn’t the other apprentice knights ignore him?”

“That’s not it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Well, Ulgan beat up all the other apprentice knights…”

On his first day, Ulgan beat up all the other apprentice knights and became their leader.

People say everyone was scared of Ulgan. They did whatever he said. So, no one would ignore him or leave him out.

“Ha! That’s Ulgan for you.”

“Didn’t he quit because it was boring?”

The old knight stayed calm despite the lumberjacks’ comments.

He had been a knight in the North for a while, but he was sure that Ulgan had a special talent.

‘This fellow was born to be a knight!’ he thought.

He was big, strong, fast, and had a natural superpower.

The old knight thought that if he trained him well, Ulgan could become a legendary knight in the North.

He didn’t think lumberjacks were bad, but Ulgan was too good to be just a lumberjack.

‘I’ll convince him to join the knighthood no matter what,’ he thought.

This time, he would train him himself.

“Knights are boring.”

“???”

“But wizards are not boring!”

“…?!”

The Northern knights turned, thinking a stranger was trying to start a fight, but they were horrified when they saw who it was.

The guardian of the Imperial Magic Barrier walked over. The Shadow Patrol walked behind him.

“Gak, gak, gak, gak, gak…”

“Gakgakgakgakgak. Quite decent.”

“W-What brings you here!?”

The Northern knights were nervous.

Usually, Gonadaltez only came to this place when there was a big problem.

The magic on the mountain fortress was destroyed, or a large monster army appeared…

The old knight thought of another reason.

“Could it be that Ulgan has been chosen to study at Einrogaard?!”

“That’s right.”

“N-No way!”

“Why? Can’t someone big use magic?”

At Gonadaltez’s words, the Shadow Patrol members laughed.

“Haha, the knightly sirs are prejudiced!”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

“……”

The knights promised to spit in the Shadow Patrol’s supplies next time.

“No… no. Ulgan is perfect to be a knight, no matter how you look at him,” the Skull Headmaster said calmly, looking at the woodsmen.

“Didn’t you think his strength was a little strange? Even for someone so big?” he continued. “He probably has a natural gift for magic. He can use some magic without even learning it. And he also has psychic powers, right? That’s common for wizards who haven’t trained yet.”

“Oh…” one of the woodsmen said, surprised.

The woodsmen looked at the Skull Headmaster with great interest. They knew he was impressive, but hearing him talk like this made them trust him even more. He seemed so wise and calm, very different from the knights they knew.

“No, magic and psychic powers are important for knights too!” one of the knights quickly argued back. His face was a little red. “Knights need magic to use their auras, and psychic powers are even more useful for knights than for wizards!”

Another knight jumped in, “Wizards can learn everything through books anyway, so why worry so much about psychic powers?” You could tell wizards thought psychic powers were not important because they called them ‘simple magic.’”

‘Something’s not right,’ Old Knight thought to himself, feeling uneasy. The Skull Headmaster was usually quick to argue, not listening so calmly. What was he plotting?

“I hate mountains,” Alsicle groaned, his breath coming in short puffs. He waved his wand weakly, trying to catch his breath. He was a perfect example of a wizard who really, really disliked exercise. Snow crunched under his boots as he trudged uphill.

Eandurde, walking behind him, rolled his eyes. “Pathetic!” he sneered.

“No, well, many wizards are a bit… frail,” Ihan said, trying to be nice. He felt a little awkward between the two.

“?” Eandurde looked Ihan up and down, a question in his eyes.

Ihan, feeling even more awkward, quickly added, “There are exceptions, of course.” He hoped he sounded convincing.

“Why don’t *you* train?” Eandurde asked Ihan, still looking suspicious.

“Well,” Ihan hesitated, “magic is just so convenient, you know…”

“Laziness!” Eandurde declared, cutting him off.

“No, it’s a bit different from laziness… or maybe it is?” Ihan mumbled to himself.

The reason Ihan, Alsicle, and Eandurde were walking alone, away from the others, was simple. It was because of the Skull Headmaster’s orders. Earlier, the Headmaster had whispered to Ihan, his eyes gleaming mischievously…

“The new student isn’t here, so he must be somewhere else. I’ll be distracting the knights, so find him.”

“What do we do after we find him?”

“Get him into Einroguard.”

“Excuse me? How?”

“Easy. Just like you always do.”

“…No…”

Ihan was speechless, but the Skull Headmaster had already hurried away.

The remaining Ihan had no choice but to set out with Alsicle and his junior to find Ulgan.

“Eyes, show me the traces.”

As Alsicle cast the spell, the snowflakes revealed the footprints left on the ground. Fortunately, it worked, and Alsicle let out a sigh of relief.

This magic was for finding traces, but it wasn’t a perfect solution. If it wasn’t used in the right place, the magic itself would fail.

He was worried about failing because there were young wizards watching from behind, but thankfully, it was a success.

‘Phew. That’s a relief.’

“Wow. There was a method like this.”

“It’s not that difficult of a spell. Shall I teach it to you later?”

“Thank you. I was wondering if I should use magic to see the future.”

As Ihan put the colorful stones he used for seeing the future back in, Alsicle asked, puzzled.

“Magic to see the future? This isn’t a workshop, so it will take a lot of energy, won’t it?”

Usually, he would have asked, ‘You already know how to use magic to see the future?’ but Alsicle was now close enough to Ihan not to ask such a foolish question.

“Ah. I have enough magic power for this.”

“……”

Alsicle looked at the snowflake footprints he had scattered after hearing those words.

Scritch scritch-

“Why are you erasing them?!”

“Forget about this!”

“No, why are you doing this, really!”

While stopping Alsicle, Eandurde sniffed around, trying to locate the person.

“There, there!”

Eandurde tugged on Ihan’s sleeve, pointing far away.

A human with a huge build was chopping wood with an axe, and the axe moved so fast it was almost a blur.

‘That guy. If he enrolls in Einroguard, we won’t have to worry about firewood!’

Ihan was amazed at the discovery of a talent who might disrupt the way things work in Einroguard.

Alsicle was also marveling at it from the side.

“He’s built like a warrior, but he has quite a talent for magic, doesn’t he? He even uses psychic powers.”

“Psychic powers?”

“Yes. Telekinesis, it seems. Without even thinking about it, he’s using magic to move the axe right now.”

“That’s really amazing.”

‘You’re more amazing…’

Alsicle didn’t say the words that were about to come out.

No matter how he thought about it, the boy from the Wodanaz family was much more amazing than such ordinary psychic powers.

“Where did you come from?”

Ulgan was startled to find the wizards.

“Are you perhaps knights…?!”

“No. We’re wizards from Einroguard. Ulgan.”

Alsicle said, calming the young woodsman.

“Einroguard…?”

“Yes. We came because you have a talent for magic. Can we talk for a moment?”

Ulgan put down the axe and approached with a bewildered expression.

“Magic…”

“I heard you trained as a squire, can I ask why you quit?”

Ulgan’s face darkened at Alsicle’s question.

“Ah. If it’s a difficult question to answer…”

“No. Actually, I should have answered properly. Um. I mean…”

As Ulgan made a determined expression, the other three watched intently. They were curious what reason he had for acting like that. What on earth?

“…I hate fighting.”

“……”

“……”

A moment of silence passed.

Alsicle, who was the first to come to his senses, said.

“In that case, Einroguard is even more suitable for you!”

“Do, do you think so?”

As Ulgan became more interested, Ihan thought to himself.

‘He hates fighting, is it okay for him to come to Einroguard?’