Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 633

Alsicle’s voice was tight. “Lee Han! You should have warned me if demons like *that* were just… walking around!” He pointed a shaky finger at the creature outside the carriage window.

Lee Han frowned. “Demons don’t usually walk around here, Alsicle. Really. It’s not like we’re Einrogard. We don’t summon them for fun.”

Alsicle peered at the massive, wobbly figure again. “So… that *thing* is a slime, not a demon?”

Beside him, Ehandurde let out a low growl, fur rising along his back. Even Ehandurde was uneasy.

“It’s a demon,” Lee Han admitted, “but it’s… working. Usually, you see golems patrolling the estate. Demons are very rare.”

Alsicle swallowed hard. *Golems are normal?* he thought, his heart pounding. *That’s still terrifying!*

Usually, you only saw golems in the Empire when magic users like enchanters, summoners, or wizards who studied dark magic created them on purpose.

Each one was powerful and difficult to make.

And a golem strong enough to guard such a big estate by itself? That’s amazing.

It must have been incredibly hard and expensive to create such a golem.

Yet, they were just using it for patrol. It was scary in many ways.

“We have a guest.”

Lee Han leaned out of the carriage and explained.

The demon looked at Lee Han’s face and nodded.

It didn’t know why a member of the Wodanaz family was calling himself a guest, but it didn’t really care.

It wasn’t doing this for fun anyway, so it just planned to do what it was told.

“Follow me.”

“Eek…”

The coachman regretted driving the carriage to the Wodanaz family because of the money.

How could he make such a mistake!

“But weren’t golems supposed to guide the way? Why is the demon doing it?”

The demon replied, “We are maintaining and repairing the golems today. I came out because I rolled the lowest dice.”

“……”

“……”

The amorphous demon managed to convey ‘life is truly painful’ despite having no facial expressions.

Feeling unnecessarily sorry, the three quietly shut their mouths and didn’t ask any more questions.

Alsicle whispered inside the carriage.

“How did they catch that demon? Did they summon it from an ancient arcane tradition?”

“I don’t know. They might have… but usually, they just seem to pick them up.”

“Pick up a demon from where?”

“Another dimension, maybe?”

“……”

Alsicle closed his mouth and quietly admired the scenery.

He could roughly guess why that demon was in such a foul mood.

As they drove along the forest path, the Wodanaz family’s enormous mansion came into view in the distance.

Normally, people working in the nearby forests and fields would be visible, but the fact that not a single person was seen gave it an eerie, ghostly estate feel.

‘Even I would be scared.’

Alsicle looked at Lee Han with a disgusted expression.

The Wodanaz family boy didn’t seem to notice anything strange, perhaps because it was his family’s estate.

“Surely there aren’t no people inside either, are there?”

“There are a few. Knights, the head butler who takes care of the mansion, and servants…”

Alsicle waited for more to be said.

Usually, an estate of this size would start with a minimum of a hundred people.

Starting with the workers in charge of the fields, there would be forest keepers, woodcutters to bring the estate’s timber, hunters to offer game, jesters and minstrels to perform plays regularly, and clergy to help with worship in the estate’s temple…

However, Lee Han didn’t say anything more.

“…Nothing else?”

“Yes? That’s all there is.”

“What about the rest of the work?”

“Golems usually do it. Demons sometimes do, but that’s really rare. Please don’t misunderstand.”

Lee Han tried hard to clarify, as he didn’t want to be misunderstood as a family that used demons.

Of course, it didn’t have much effect. Alsicle already felt dizzy.

Clatter clatter!

“K, knights!”

Alsicle shouted with a choked voice at the sight of the knights running from afar.

It hadn’t even been a few hours, but he couldn’t have been happier to see people.

Lee Han, who was next to him, asked, puzzled.

“Did you like knights?”

Alsicle ignored him, pretending not to hear, and waved his hand.

“It’s me! It’s me!”

“You must be Alsicle of the Pengaerin family. It is an honor to meet you.”

“It is also an honor for me to meet Sir Allarong, who is famous throughout the Empire!”

Alsicle flapped his wings and greeted Allarong.

Of course, he was a well-known knight in the Empire, but the loneliness of not having met anyone until now was also a significant reason for this enthusiastic reaction.

Allarong said, looking at the demon.

“I will guide you from here.”

The demon replied, “Gladly.”

“Can’t you behave properly in front of a guest? Don’t forget that I can tell the head of the family to extend your sentence.”

The demon replied, “I’m… I’m sorry… knight. Forgive me.”

Allarong glared at the demon with a stern look. The amorphous demon was dejected and walked away.

Now that the guest guidance was over, it had to pick grapes in the orchard.

“Ah, Alsicle of the Pengaerin family, please don’t misunderstand. The Wodanaz family doesn’t usually use demons. It just so happens that today is the day we’re repairing the golems, so…”

“I, I see. Of course, I don’t misunderstand. I won’t say anything about it anywhere.”

Allarong stroked his mustache with a satisfied look, unaware that Alsicle was sweating on his back.

Allarong, who had served in the Wodanaz family for a long time, also didn’t find it unusual anymore.

“Lee Han, I’m glad you’ve returned. And this person next to you is…”

“He’s my junior.”

“To have such a spirited warrior as your junior, I’m very pleased. How do you do?”

“Grrrr.”

Ehandurde made eye contact with Allarong and then slowly hid behind Lee Han.

He felt an immense strength from the other person, different from someone like Alsicle.

“Where is the head of the family?”

“He is in the outer world. I think it would be good to send him a message right away.”

Lee Han nodded.

Alsicle, who was next to him, asked with curious eyes.

“Send a message?”

“Yes. You know that the head of the family is exploring the outer world, right?”

“Yeah.”

Alsicle shook his head up and down.

Only a few in the Empire knew what the head of the Wodanaz family was doing.

Exploring other dimensions connected to the continent was what the current head of the Wodanaz family was doing.

People who didn’t know well wondered why they kept sticking their heads into other dimensions full of such dangerous beings, but it was actually unavoidable.

Even if they stayed still, beings from other dimensions would be interested in the continent.

Mages wanted to take proactive measures by traveling around the dimensions first, rather than waiting and reacting passively, and the head of the Wodanaz family was a very powerful mage.

And even if there was no threat of invasion, mages would have stuck their heads in anyway. If they weren’t interested in the mysteries and knowledge of other dimensions, they weren’t qualified as mages.

“Since he’s doing this quite seriously, he spends most of his time in the outer world. My eldest brother is helping him too.”

“Most of the time… how many hours a day is that? Four or five hours?”

“He’s in the outer world most of the time, except for a day or two a year.”

“!!!”

Alsicle was shocked by those words.

Entering another dimension was dangerous and exhausting, so mages tried to get out as quickly as possible and return to the continent.

Just look at how careful mages were when entering the spirit realm to find spirits.

They created barriers with all sorts of magic circles and spells before entering.

They were like that even when dealing with relatively peaceful and safe spirits from other dimensions, but just wandering around outer dimensions and making it their home?

“How is that possible?”

“He created a dimension gate artifact and went inside, right?”

“Ah, no. Not the method of going inside, but… anyway, it’s amazing.”

Alsicle nodded, calming his pounding heart.

Just hearing this made him feel it was worth coming to the Wodanaz family.

He never thought such a thing was possible.

It felt like he had witnessed the distant horizon of the study of magic.

“But a message. Can you send messages inside too?”

“Yes. It’s some kind of magical artifact, but I don’t know the exact structure.”

“An artifact that can send messages across dimensions…!”

Alsicle shuddered.

Of course, Alsicle could also send telepathy to someone who had temporarily visited a safe dimension with many restrictions.

That was now as difficult as talking to a friend who had gone under a shallow puddle.

But it was a completely different story for a mage who freely traveled and explored other dimensions.

How could you talk to a mage who had gone all the way down to the deep sea without a rope?

If that was possible, then really…

‘I definitely want to meet him!’

“But there’s a disadvantage.”

“A disadvantage? What is it?”

“It takes about 30 minutes to get a reply because the other dimension is far away.”

“…I, I suppose that’s possible.”

Alsicle had no choice but to nod at the very realistic answer.

Well, yes…!

Lee Han picked up a quill and wrote a letter.

Lee Han stopped writing the letter and frowned.

Alsicle asked cautiously.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, I habitually wrote too long. I have to send it short.”

“How much shorter?”

“Like this.”

Lee Han crumpled up the paper, threw it away, and wrote again.

Lee Han wrote: “Lee Han arrived at the mansion. Alsicle too.”

“Hmm. I think I need to shorten it more.”

“…Hey, th, this is a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Ah. Sorry. Should I write Pengaerin?”

“That’s not it…!”

The dignity and authority of the nobility were above blood ties.

Just as parents and children used formal titles in official settings, the same was true for letters.

And no matter how close they were, Alsicle was a guest, so wasn’t it too short!

“P, please write a little more.”

“No. Even your four words are a bit long. The head of the family might get angry and tell me to shorten it.”

“Surely he wouldn’t. Then just one word! Write Alsicle of the Pengaerin family.”

“That’s two words.”

After arguing back and forth, the two were able to complete the final version of the letter.

Lee Han wrote: “Lee Han, Pengaerin Alsicle.”

“Then I’ll send it as is.”

Lee Han stood in front of a large hall on the first floor of the mansion called the Exploration Room and threw the letter into the mouth of the door.

As could be seen from the strong and complex flow of magic felt inside, this was the front line where outer world exploration was taking place.

‘Amazing. To think it feels this different after learning for a year in Einrogard.’

Lee Han felt the swirling flow of magic inside and was amazed.

A year ago, it just felt like a huge mass of magic, but now he could feel the distinct patterns within it.

Alsicle, who was next to him, admired the magic, then sighed, admired the magic, then sighed.

“What’s wrong? Are you hungry?”

“No! I just think the letter is too rude…”

“That’s enough. Let’s wait for a reply. Oh, I’ll go to the kitchen and ask them to make sardine dishes.”

“Ah, no. It’s okay. I didn’t come here to eat.”

Regardless, Lee Han went to the kitchen and asked for sardine dishes.

Then, from behind the kitchen, a huge, amorphous demon with dozens of hooves walked out with a gloomy look.

“…Where is that demon going?”

“It’s probably going to get sardines. Now, junior, let’s study some more while we wait.”

Ehandurde pretended not to hear and acted like he was amazed by the mansion, just like Alsicle. Lee Han mercilessly dragged his junior to the desk and sat him down.