Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 624

“Thank you,” the man said.

“Yes. But things will not go as you think,” the headmaster replied. His voice was flat and bored.

The headmaster could easily see what the man was thinking, like reading his own hand.

He probably had the same goals as many others in the Empire.

He wanted to take control of the Empire by joining with the Wardanaz family, the most powerful magic users!

Many families with some ambition thought this way, so it wasn’t surprising.

Every family in the Empire wanted to be stronger, richer, and more famous.

For these families, the Wardanaz family seemed like a great partner.

They were a noble family with a long history, great power, and lots of influence.

But the Wardanaz family didn’t just want to be stronger, richer, and more famous.

The headmaster didn’t start his family to become the most important in the Empire, and neither did the head of the Wardanaz family. Powerful wizards often cared less about normal things like power and money.

Why would they care about the annoying power struggles in the Empire when the real truth was so far away?

But the family head didn’t listen.

“That boy might have different goals.”

“Well, he will be even harder to deal with…”

* * *

“Prahgal is the god of life.”

Ethan was surprised.

“Not a god of tentacles or monsters?” he asked.

“Even evil gods have reasons,” Giselle said casually, looking for records of battles with the Prahgal cult in the family’s books.

Even evil god cults had reasons to exist.

Why would people become fans if their ideas were strange from the start?

The Prahgal cult believed that ‘Prahgal is the god of life, and the people of the Empire are not perfect. So, we should accept Prahgal’s power and become better and stronger.’

“Is that great and strong being a monster?” Ethan asked.

“It’s not exactly a chimera,” Giselle explained. “It’s more like magic that changes people using god’s power.”

As Ethan and Giselle talked quietly, Jiklin felt a little sad.

He knew they were both mages, but he felt left out of their conversation.

“If an evil god worshipper appears, there are probably others nearby,” Giselle said.

“Yes. The knights are checking the area. But they’ve probably already run away,” Jiklin replied.

“What about asking the Shadow Patrol Corps for help?” Ethan suggested.

“Ha, ha, ha. Are you crazy?” Giselle laughed.

“There’s no need to say it like that,” Ethan said, feeling a bit down because his idea was rejected.

Giselle was surprised by his reaction.

“I thought you were joking,” she said.

“Would it be so bad?” Ethan asked.

“Imagine the White Tiger Tower asking the Black Tortoise Tower for help with something they should handle themselves,” Giselle explained.

Ethan understood right away.

‘But you guys work together when you need to, right?’ he thought.

They worked together well and even followed his orders when needed!

“Ahem,” Jiklin cleared his throat as his younger sister and her friend were talking.

Ethan and Giselle looked up at Jiklin.

“What is it?” Giselle asked.

“Well… we’re questioning the captured mercenaries. Would you like to watch?” Jiklin asked.

“Yes, I’d like to,” Ethan replied.

“They probably don’t know much,” Giselle said.

“Shhh. Be quiet. He’s trying to be nice,” Ethan told her.

“Is he your sister?” Jiklin asked.

* * *

The captured mercenaries woke up late but tried to stay calm.

“Damn it. Was he an evil god worshipper? I knew it was too good to be true…” one of them muttered.

“Shhh. Shut up,” another warned.

Experienced mercenaries knew what to do: keep quiet, say as little as possible, and pretend to know nothing.

In this case, they really didn’t know anything, which was even better.

The worst thing was to panic and say something wrong.

If they were thought to be close to an evil god worshipper, they would be locked up for over ten years.

“You all know this, right?” a knight asked.

“Mind your own business. Do you think we’re rookies?” a mercenary replied.

The mercenaries warned each other, ready for anything.

If a mercenary, scared by the knights, made up something that another mercenary didn’t do, things would get bad.

“Follow me,” the knights said, separating the mercenaries and starting the questioning.

“Where did you meet the evil god worshipper?” a knight asked.

“In Shantma City, sir. I didn’t know anything. He just offered money…” the mercenary answered.

“Where were you going?”

“Ice Harbour. He just said he needed a ride to Ice Harbour… I really didn’t know! Please forgive me!”

“Weren’t you suspicious that the payment was too high?”

“Oh, how can we work as mercenaries if we suspect clients who pay well!”

“Alright. Tell me everything you know about the evil god worshipper. Anything strange, no matter how small, is fine,” the knight said.

“W-well…” the mercenary hesitated.

“Did any of you talk to the evil god worshipper a lot?”

“I don’t know that either…”

The mercenaries only said what they had to and answered that they didn’t know as soon as they could.

It was too much trouble to try to remember and talk about things.

Also, it wouldn’t be good if they got a reputation for talking about their clients.

The knights seemed to understand this and glared at the mercenaries.

“They’re experienced. They all act the same, even though they didn’t have much time to talk,” a knight said.

“They probably won’t say anything because they have nothing to gain. That’s how mercenaries are,” another added.

“What should we do? Someone might be helping him,” a knight wondered.

“I don’t think so. That evil god worshipper wouldn’t try to get these mercenaries to join his cult. They’re not reliable,” another replied.

“Yes…”

“Still, keep questioning them. We need to find even a small clue,” a knight insisted.

“I’m thinking about using torture or bribery,” one of them said.

“Both are… Oh, Sir Jiklin!” a knight exclaimed.

The knights stopped talking and greeted Jiklin, Giselle, and Ethan.

“We were about to stop questioning them and decide what to do next,” a knight explained.

“Hmm,” Jiklin nodded.

“I’ll take over from here,” he announced.

“Yes, sir!” the knights replied.

Jiklin wanted to impress his younger sister and her friend.

“Here are the recorded conversations…” a knight began.

*Crack!*

Jiklin reached for the papers, but he was a little clumsy. He bumped the wall next to him, just a light touch. But then, with a sound like thunder, the solid rock wall cracked and pieces fell to the floor. Dust filled the air.

The knights were amazed, and the mercenaries were scared.

They had expected some torture, but…

‘Is that execution??’ they wondered.

“I made a mistake because I was thinking about something else,” Jiklin said.

“Of course, you could!” a knight replied.

The mercenaries wondered what he had to be thinking about to break a rock wall.

“Hmm. So, now…” Jiklin said.

“Ugh, ugh!” the mercenary in the cell closest to the entrance screamed.

He trembled, pointing at Ethan.

“Y-you, you, you…!” he stammered.

“What are you talking about?” Ethan asked, pretending not to know.

He didn’t want the other knights to know what he had done.

Even Ethan thought that pretending to be friendly, putting sleeping potion in the pot, and running away was a bit mean.

“N-no, that’s not true! You’re that mage! You came to us… Wait, did we faint because of you?! When! When did you do this? Tell me!” the mercenary shouted in panic.

He couldn’t believe that they had been tricked and knocked out by such a young man.

He would rather believe that the evil god worshipper had done something to them.

“Be quiet. I will punish you if you don’t be quiet,” a knight warned.

“K-knight. Look at that mage! He did something to us… he did something to us!” the mercenary cried.

“How dare you speak rudely to our family’s guest!” the knights shouted, angry that they were being ignored.

The cell door opened, and the knights showed the mercenary what they could do.

“Ugh, ugh! Kraaah! I-I was wrong! I misspoke…! Please save me!” the mercenary begged.

Since the questioning wasn’t over, the knights stopped attacking at a reasonable level.

The mercenary, who had been beaten, was scared and looked around.

‘Was I dreaming…? No, no!’ he thought.

He saw a familiar knight next to the handsome mage.

They were both from the Moradi family!

‘Have we been watched by the Moradi family this whole time? Was everything under their control? Is this questioning also…?’ he wondered, feeling a chill.

He thought that he had been watched since he arrived in the North and that this questioning was a test, with the knights knowing everything.

If that was true, then keeping quiet would be the worst thing he could do.

Doing that in front of knights who knew everything would be seen as defiance…

“I-I remembered. The evil god worshipper said he came from the West,” the mercenary said.

“What? Tell me more,” a knight urged.

“And… two days ago, another mercenary talked to the evil god worshipper for a few minutes. Question him,” the mercenary added.

“Oho,” the knights said, curious about the mercenary’s sudden help.

Why was he suddenly like this?

“Are mercenaries usually this helpful?” Ethan asked.

“No, sir. This is surprising,” a knight replied.

The knights were surprised because they didn’t know why Ethan was asking.

Jiklin, wearing gauntlets, looked disappointed. He wanted to show off in front of his sister and her friend…

* * *

After the hunt and questioning, Ethan was resting in his room, teaching his junior.

“Alright, Eandurre. This herb is safe to eat. This one is poisonous. It will be useful when you go to school,” Ethan explained.

“Edible herb!” Eandurre repeated.

“If you follow the river, you’ll often find huts. If there’s no one there, break down the door and check under the shelves. The professor usually makes a basement door there,” Ethan continued.

Alsicle, who was nearby, was confused by their strange conversation.

What kind of talk was that?

“Sir Wardanaz, are you inside?” a voice called.

“Another guest?” Ethan grumbled.

“This is all because of you, Sir Alsicle!”

Ethan had told all sorts of stories to the knights to get out of trouble, so guests kept coming.

“I-I’m sorry. But I didn’t make up any stories…” Alsicle apologized.

“Is that what’s important now!” Ethan exclaimed.

“Hmph,” Alsicle said, wary of Ethan.

The previous trick seemed to have hurt him, even after eating sardines.

“Someone wants to see Sir Wardanaz…” the servant announced.

“Yes. Come in,” Ethan replied, quickly cleaning the desk.

He had expected the knights to come in again.

But when the door opened, only one person entered: an elven knight with a cold look.

He looked a bit like Giselle or Jiklin, and Ethan wondered.

“Perhaps…”

“I am Jidurf of the Moradi family. I welcome the guests who have come from afar,” the knight said.

“Hic,” Alsicle hiccupped, startled by the head of the Moradi family.

‘What did you do?’ Alsicle thought.

‘I didn’t do anything!’ Ethan replied in his mind.

‘I heard you caught an evil god worshipper yesterday?’ Alsicle thought.

‘I didn’t do anything except that!’ Ethan replied.

Alsicle promised himself that he would never believe Ethan again, even if he said he ‘didn’t do anything.’