Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 621

“I’m alright.”

“Nonsense. A little warmth spell on that saddle will do you and Jiklin good,” Giselle said. She gestured impatiently. “Don’t argue.”

Lee Han smiled faintly. He focused his magic, remembering Professor Garcia’s first-year lessons. A gentle warmth began to flow from his fingertips.

Jiklin, the sturdy grey horse, nudged Lee Han’s arm gratefully as the saddle beneath her began to radiate a comforting heat, her soft whinny like a quiet thank you.

“Giselle, I leave the rest to you.”

“Magic shouldn’t be wasted like that, you know.”

Giselle feebly protested at her sister’s command.

It was only Wodanaz who, with his overflowing mana, would waste magic like that; normally, one wouldn’t cast spells on every trivial little thing.

Jiklin’s eyes narrowed, thinking her sister was making excuses.

“Giselle, you mustn’t assume something is the norm just because you can’t do it.”

“That’s not it…!”

“I’ll do the rest!”

Giselle glared at Lee Han, who was hurrying to enchant the other luggage.

Lee Han said, as if he had no choice in the matter.

“I couldn’t just stand by.”

“Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes. Why don’t you just suck up to my sister more?”

“Don’t blame me. It’s just an Einroguard habit.”

“……”

Giselle was speechless at Lee Han’s words.

Come to think of it, casting magic willy-nilly before a trip was something Wodanaz did even in Einroguard.

The only difference was that they were outside!

Even in Einroguard, Wodanaz was considered a bit crazy with magic. Seeing him outside, it was clear he was truly unrestrained.

A wizard should normally conserve their abilities as much as possible and only cast spells when necessary, but he was just casting spells on every trivial thing…

If you put Wodanaz next to any wizard, they would look lazy and incompetent.

“What about the others?”

“There are none. This is it.”

“…?”

Lee Han paused.

Of course, he knew that knights’ hunts were more inconvenient than those of nobles.

Rugged terrain with no paths, no gamekeepers or beaters, and no servants or porters to carry the luggage!

But in truth, Nilia, or any Shadow Patrol hunter, would scoff at such talk.

-Wodanaz, don’t be fooled by the knights. Half of what they say is bluster, and the other half is whining. They only go out on good weather days with maps that have every fallen hair meticulously recorded. Apprentice knights carry supplies, including luxury goods! The real hunting is done by hunters…

Although a little more inconvenient than the hunts of nobles, the knights’ hunts weren’t completely inconvenient either.

But this was all the personnel there were?

“What about the other knights? The apprentice knights?”

“I told you… Didn’t I say there would be no good in inviting them?”

Giselle sighed.

She had only accepted it because she knew the abilities Wodanaz had shown in Einroguard for the past year; otherwise, she would have opposed it with her life.

Two horses each.

They would only take the luggage that could be put on them, and nothing else.

This was Jiklin’s hunt.

“Hmm. I see.”

“…You thought I’d be more surprised??”

“There’s a knight in our family who does something similar…”

“You’re from the Wodanaz family, right??”

Jiklin was very pleased.

The friend her sister had brought from magic school was polite and cheerful.

She had been worried because he was from a wizard family, but it turned out he got along well with knights.

Perhaps he was more suited to being a knight.

“Wodanaz, do you see that river over there?”

“Yes, I see it.”

“Once, an Imugi crawled up that river.”

Jiklin stared at the river with a distant look, filled with memories.

“What happened to it?”

“It died.”

“…Why did it die?”

Lee Han blamed himself for asking casually and asked again.

“Its neck was cut off.”

“Who cut it off, and how?”

Giselle retorted in his stead.

“My sister single-handedly fought a bloody battle for three days and cut off its head.”

“Haha… Wait. You’re not joking.”

Lee Han, who was about to laugh insincerely, stopped.

Giselle was serious. Giselle’s sister also asked, as if she found it strange.

“Do you have a reason to joke right now?”

“……”

Lee Han was aghast.

A knight fighting a large monster like an Imugi alone for three days and killing it.

It was said that a knight who had reached the pinnacle was like a walking fortress, but this was beyond imagination.

‘Could she be stronger than Professor Allarong or Professor Inguldel??’

“Why did you fight alone?”

“My sister wanted to fight alone. I was watching from the riverbank.”

Giselle shuddered, recalling the terrible past.

The memory of watching, worried that something might happen to her sister, was still vivid.

“You should have called for support.”

“My sister hates it when I call for support.”

“So what? Just call and make an excuse.”

“…?!”

Giselle was tempted by Lee Han’s surprisingly plausible words.

“Wait, so the purpose of this hunt is also like that…?”

“Yes. We’re wandering around looking for a decent prey.”

Giselle explained in a dry voice.

They wandered around the cold and rugged northern lands, looking for prey that a knight could face one-on-one.

Once they found a decent prey, they would immediately tell her to fight, and the rest would wait behind.

The more skilled the knight, the higher the level of the prey, so you could never let your guard down…

“Isn’t that just Professor Begreck’s test?”

“Hey. Watch your mouth. No matter what, my sister isn’t like an Einroguard professor.”

It seemed that Giselle couldn’t make a cold judgment when it came to her sister.

Lee Han thought so and shook his head inwardly.

‘I came out to play during vacation, but there are people like professors outside too.’

It was truly a sad thing.

“Hmm.”

Jiklin checked the high ground and then looked around.

It seemed that there were quite a few monsters living in the vicinity.

“We’ll stay here today. I think we need to check the surrounding monsters…”

“I’ll do it.”

“It’s alright, Wodanaz. Rest for a while. Wizards aren’t very strong, are they?”

“……”

Giselle grumbled inwardly, ‘He’s stronger than me.’

While Jiklin was away for reconnaissance, Lee Han immediately summoned skeleton warriors and began preparing the campsite.

Before Giselle could do anything, simple wooden fences, bedding, a bonfire in the middle, a simple tripod for cooking, and alarm magic were quickly installed around the area.

Giselle blinked.

She had camped with him a few times in Einroguard, but it wasn’t like this back then.

‘Did he, did he only camp while I wasn’t looking…?’

“What’s wrong, Moradi?”

“Nothing. Thanks for preparing everything so well.”

“…What’s wrong, Moradi?!”

“……”

Seeing Wodanaz react even more violently to her words of gratitude, Giselle really wanted to hit him.

‘Hold on. My sister might be back soon…’

It would only be a loss for her if Jiklin came back and found her fighting with Lee Han.

Lee Han poured boiled coffee into a tin cup and handed it to Giselle. Then, he said with a serious expression.

“Moradi.”

“?”

Giselle wondered what he was going to say and suddenly remembered something from a while ago.

Didn’t this bastard make that expression and say something like, ‘It’s not “older sister,” it’s “sister,” right?’

“If you say anything unnecessary again…”

“No. It’s a serious matter. Moradi. Be serious. I’m trying to have a serious conversation.”

“You…!”

“If we find a suitable prey and fight it, the hunt will end quickly, right?”

“!”

Surprisingly, this time it was a truly serious matter.

Giselle nodded at Lee Han’s sharp words.

“That’s right. If we meet a decent prey…”

If Jiklin thought, ‘This knight had a good fight in this hunt,’ then the hunt would be over.

“You and I are both Einroguard wizards. Let’s use magic to quickly find a suitable prey.”

“It’s a good idea, but it won’t be easy.”

Giselle said, resting her chin on her hand.

Even if there were many monsters around, it wouldn’t be easy to find a suitable opponent.

Magic wasn’t omnipotent.

“Unless you have some secret magic you learned from the headmaster. Do you?”

“I have spells that enhance physical abilities.”

“Hey. Is that the one? The one that made the guys in our tower suffer from muscle pain…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. More importantly, Moradi, a suitable opponent is up to the individual to decide.”

“…Are you trying to insist?”

“Not exactly, but I could try to persuade her.”

“Even though my sister looks naive, she’s not easy to persuade. And her senses are so good that lies don’t work on her.”

A knight of Jiklin’s caliber had intuition that was almost like precognitive magic.

Just by looking at the knight who came along, she could sense which prey they could fight and how.

“Then we’ll just have to find some strong prey.”

“Are you confident?”

“If we prepare in advance, we can fight more favorably, right?”

Lee Han said, pointing to the skeleton warriors. Giselle made a reluctant expression.

“I don’t know if my sister will allow something like that in a knight’s fight.”

“Hmm. Then there’s only one way left.”

Lee Han said, as if he had no choice.

Giselle wondered what method this cunning top student from Einroguard had left.

“Let’s insist that we had a fierce fight while Jiklin wasn’t here.”

“…That might not be bad…?”

Giselle surprisingly agreed.

Unlike the others, it felt quite plausible.

“Right? I’m going to release the summoned creatures I’ve contracted with to search the area. There are spirits too.”

“Okay. I understand.”

“I’m going to release the summoned creatures I’ve contracted with to search the area. There are spirits too.”

“…? I said I understand?”

Lee Han was slightly sulky at Giselle’s reaction.

She didn’t understand how amazing this was!

“Wait. One more thing.”

“?”

“If you want to finish the hunt and go back, you have to find prey that suits my sister too. It’ll be harder than you think.”

“Really? Why…”

Before he could finish speaking, Jiklin’s voice came from below.

“Everyone, I’m back from scouting. There weren’t any suitable monsters… Wodanaz, did you make this campsite with magic?”

Jiklin said with a faint surprise on her stoic face.

However, Lee Han couldn’t answer immediately.

In Jiklin’s other hand was the head of a Minotaur, dripping with blood.

“Ah. Were you interested in this? I caught it as I was passing by.”

“…Oh, oh…”

Lee Han realized that finding a suitable opponent for this knight would be more difficult than he thought.

“This is a disaster.”

Lee Han said, handing Giselle a soup made with finely chopped Minotaur meat and potatoes.

“At this rate, we’ll be stuck outside until the banquet.”

“That’s what I told you. My sister’s hunt is hell.”

Giselle sipped the soup. It was delicious enough to divide.

She never thought she would have the luxury of eating such a dish on a hellish hunt with Jiklin.

“Jiklin didn’t say anything, but did she enjoy it?”

“My sister? That means she liked it a lot. She ate a whole bowl. She usually doesn’t even eat one bowl.”

“Doesn’t someone usually eat about five bowls if it’s delicious?”

“What kind of ignorant fool eats like that?”

“Gainan… Ahem. Never mind.”

“……”

Lee Han, who was changing the subject, was startled when the lower-level ice spirit sent a signal.

“It says it found an enemy?!”

“What, what kind of monster is it!”

Giselle quickly grabbed her sword hilt and asked.

“Oh. It says it’s not a monster, but a person. It says they look like criminals.”

“Ah…”

Giselle, who was about to sit down in disappointment, came to her senses and stood up.

“Hey! If they’re criminals, we have to catch them!”

“Oops. That’s right.”