Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 657

Lee Han sighed. “Even so, you can’t just shoot them.”

“What are you talking about?”

Lee Han couldn’t believe Nilia’s way of thinking. It was so different from what he expected.

“Oh. Isn’t that right?” Nilia blushed, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Lee Han wasn’t about to suggest something crazy like shooting arrows. He was trying to teach them, after all.

“Arise, warriors of bone!” Lee Han threw bone powder out the window. Figures of skeletons rose from the ground.

He pointed at the skeleton warriors. “You have to shoot that.”

Nilia stared, speechless. Was he serious?

She couldn’t believe Lee Han would summon a skeleton warrior on the grounds of a noble family’s mansion and then suggest shooting it with a magic bow. It was definitely not the proper thing to do.

The two students from Valdrogard screamed.

“Aaaaargh!”

“S, skeleton! Undead! It’s undead!”

Gainando looked at them, puzzled. “Why are you making such a fuss about a skeleton?”

Lee Han, the ‘madman from Einrogard’ as some called him, wasn’t helping matters.

Ingsen, still shaken, shouted, tears in his eyes. “U, undead! It’s undead!”

“Of course it’s undead,” Gainando said, rolling his eyes. “Does it look like a living person to you?”

“Why are you so calm?!” Ingsen yelled at Gainando, his voice cracking.

Gainando’s calmness only fueled Ingsen’s panic. He acted as if he was watching a puppy.

Yoner, seeing things were getting out of hand, urged Nilia, “Quickly! Take it down quickly!”

“Ah, I understand.” Nilia quickly enchanted her bow and summoned a spirit.

A powerful energy swirled around the bow, causing it to hum. Sensing Nilia’s urgency, the spirit nestled at the tip of the arrow, guiding its aim.

Wham!

The arrow struck the skeleton warrior. The others cheered as it shattered.

“As expected, that’s Nilia for you.”

“Humph. If Lee Han had summoned it more strongly, set up a bone shield, and cast a curse…”

Ratford interrupted. “This isn’t the time to show off your black magic knowledge, Gainando.”

“Uh, everyone? Look over there.”

The others turned to see the two Valdrogard students had fainted.

“Okay, you two. Look out the window! The skeleton is dead! There’s nothing to worry about!”

“That’s right. Nilia took care of it! Get up and look!”

“M, my legs…”

Siana, the priest, annoyed, lightly tapped the Valdrogard students on the back with her staff as they made excuses.

The others rushed to stop her. “You can’t hit them!”

“They said their legs gave out…”

“Oh, does hitting the back make the legs come back?”

“No, I just hit them because I was annoyed.”

Luckily, the two were too dazed to notice being hit. They managed to stand, looked out the window, and sighed in relief when they saw the shattered skeleton.

“I, it’s really dead!”

“Strictly speaking, a skeleton isn’t dead, but…” Ratford covered Gainando’s mouth.

There was no point in launching into a black magic lecture at a time like this.

“Who took it down?”

“Nilia did it. It’s a combination of enchantment magic and spiritism.”

“…!” Ingsen was shocked.

To cast one spell was difficult enough, but to combine two to defeat a skeleton was unbelievable.

“Y, you’re amazing!”

“No way. And she’s not even a noble?”

Yoner, who was trying to explain kindly to Basiu, suddenly flared up. “Oh, you little…”

“Yes?!”

“What?”

“J, just now…”

“I didn’t say anything?” The others nodded in agreement.

“I didn’t say anything just now.”

“Oh dear. Weren’t you weakened by seeing the undead?”

“T, that… I think so.” Ingsen and Basiu nodded, still dazed.

The image of the skeleton warrior was still fresh in their minds.

They had heard that encountering evil beings could shake your soul, but they never expected to hear such nonsense.

“Nilia, thank you for your kindness. It was really amazing magic. Thank you for saving my life…”

Nilia thought, ‘Isn’t that a bit much?’ She felt embarrassed.

Would anyone really die from that?

Basiu muttered, “I didn’t see it properly.” His pride made him want to find fault with something.

No sooner had he spoken than Lee Han shouted from outside. “Nilia! Ready!”

“Wh, what?” Nilia was confused.

While her friends were distracted, Lee Han had gone outside and was preparing more magic. Nilia and her friends exchanged puzzled glances.

What was he preparing now?

Outside, various defensive magic formations shimmered. Nilia tilted her head. “Are you telling me to hit this target?”

Nilia was puzzled by the target, which looked just like another skeleton.

“That’s right. But just a moment.” Lee Han approached the Valdrogard students and grabbed their arms.

He dragged them behind the shield. “Okay. You can shoot at us!”

The two students looked like they were about to faint. They couldn’t believe Lee Han was telling them to shoot arrows at him.

Nilia stammered, “T, this is a bit…” She didn’t think this was a good idea.

“When I thought about it, this seemed like the best place to watch magic. It’ll be good to experience it.”

“Won’t they be scared?”

Gainando, freed from Ratford’s grasp, quickly shouted, “That guy said he was so disappointed that he didn’t see it properly earlier!”

“Oh. That’s good. It’ll be much better to see than before.” Lee Han put his hand on their shoulders, a heavy, reassuring weight.

Their faces turned pale. Ingsen glared at Basiu as if he wanted to kill him. “You… d, don’t ever say that again…!”

One of the students from Valdrogard stammered, his face as white as chalk. “I… I didn’t know… it would be like this… Please, save us…”

Yihan laughed, a sharp, cold sound that made Nilia shiver. “Haha. You won’t die. Don’t worry about that. Nilia, get ready!”

Then, Yihan gestured to his friends again. One by one, they performed more spells. Sparks flew from their wands, strange lights flashed across the room, and the air crackled with unseen magic. With each spell, the Valdrogard students looked worse. Their faces grew pale, their eyes lost their sparkle, and they seemed to shrink in their seats, as if their very life force was being drained away.

But Yihan didn’t even notice how ill they looked. He only cared about one thing: making sure the students from other schools were amazed by his friends’ magic. He wanted them to see how powerful and impressive the Wodanaaz family was.

“Deurgyu, Raetford. Come with me for a moment. We need to get ready for the next magic trick,” Yihan called out.

“What are you going to do?” someone asked.

“How about a Demonic Illusion Bloodbath?” Yihan replied.

As soon as the three of them left, Yingsen, like a cornered rat, darted his eyes around, then slyly opened the door and slipped out.

“?”

“Where’s he going?”

“Isn’t he running away?”

At Gainan’s words, Basiu, who was half out of his mind, suddenly lifted his head.

‘Could it, could it be…?’ he wondered.

The other students laughed at him, like he was saying something silly.

“How could he run away when there are other friends here?” one of them said.

“He ran away, leaving us behind, because it would be suspicious if he left with a friend,” another added.

“Even so, how can you even think like that?” someone questioned.

Five minutes later, Yingsen returned with Yihan.

Yihan smiled kindly and patted Yingsen on the back.

“Oh, you got lost? This place is very big,” Yihan said.

“H… How did you find me…” Yingsen asked.

“When I noticed someone was gone, I had a feeling it might be you. I just checked outside and saw footprints leading away from the door. I’m glad I found you before it was too late. There’s nothing more amusing than getting lost in your own house, is there? Haha,” Yihan replied.

“Ha… Hahaha…” Yingsen gave a dry laugh with a face that looked like he wanted to die.

He thought he had escaped, but suddenly the boy from the Wodanaaz family popped up from behind.

“Then rest. I’ll go prepare some magic,” Yihan said.

“Wodanaaz, aren’t you showing off too much magic?” Nilia asked.

“Is that so?” Yihan responded.

“!”

At Nilia’s words, the two were genuinely touched.

In that cold, unfriendly room full of wizards, Nilia seemed to be the only one who felt sorry for them.

“Then just this last magic trick…” Yihan said.

“!”

“Let’s prepare the magic that those two brought. It would be a shame to keep showing only ours,” Yihan suggested.

‘This is magic hell!’ they both realized.

This was magic hell.

It was like the stories they had read, fairy tales about children who were tricked by a bad wizard and taken to a terrible place.

It was a magic hell from which they could never escape.

No one came to help.

They would be forever trapped between that magic and despair.

Yingsen, who thought he would never see his family and seniors again, wept bitterly.

Then, while Yihan was out, he pleaded with the only person he could trust.

“Please!”

“?”

“Please, Lady Nilia. Have mercy on us!” Yingsen begged.

“Wh, what can I do…” Nilia asked.

“Please let us escape!”

“Huh? You can just run away,” Nilia said.

Nilia wondered why they were acting so strangely. They were talking as if they couldn’t think clearly.

‘…Or would he? Wouldn’t he let them go?’ she wondered.

“If, if we run away, we’ll get caught. By that great wizard of the Wodanaaz family…” Yingsen said.

‘How did they know Wodanaaz’s nickname?’ Nilia wondered.

“If you sneak away?” Nilia suggested.

“I’m telling you, we’ll get caught! If we go out of the reception room, we’ll be discovered! We’ll be discovered…!” Basiu earnestly begged.

“Lady Nilia. I apologize for being jealous of you. I was unconsciously jealous of your outstanding magical skills,” Basiu said.

“Huh??”

“But now I understand. You are the only one who feels sorry for us. Please! I’ll apologize like this. Just one more time with the compassion you’ve shown us so far…!” Basiu pleaded, with tears in his eyes.

The two appealed to Nilia with tears in their eyes.

Nilia couldn’t even call her friends because the request was too serious.

“Well… I do have a potion of invisibility,” Nilia said.

“!!”

“Th, that kind of secret…” Basiu exclaimed.

‘Are these guys really magic school students?’ Nilia wondered.

Any Einrogard student would think of trying to become invisible in a dangerous area first.

Nilia tried to hide how silly she thought they were being, and said, “But the problem is that footprints will be left behind.”

“Waaah…!”

“Actually, there is a way to deal with that too,” Nilia added.

“Lady Nilia!!”

“…If you crawl into those bushes, you can get out of the main gate without leaving any traces?” Nilia asked, feeling a little embarrassed.

Nilia was from the Shadow Patrol. Even she felt a bit silly suggesting crawling through bushes. Could these two noble boys really do it?

“But I think it will be difficult after all…” Nilia said.

“Thank you, thank you!”

“I will never forget this grace! If I have a child, I will name them Nilia!” Basiu exclaimed.

“…Please don’t really do that,” Nilia refused with a serious face.

Yihan, who had finished preparing with Deurgyu and Raetford and returned, paused when he saw the reception room with two fewer people.

“Where did they go?” Yihan asked.

“W, well. I think they went back?” Nilia replied.

“Leaving their potion pouches behind?”

“I, I guess they left them,” Nilia stammered.

“Why didn’t I see them? Hmm.”

“M, maybe you were too focused on the magic?” Nilia suggested.

Yihan shrugged at Nilia’s words.

Come to think of it, that might be the case.

“Why are you sweating so much, Nilia?” Yihan asked.

“It’s… it’s hot inside. Th, you know. I’m from the Northern Mountains! Shadow Patrol hunters wear only one layer of cloth even in the middle of winter!” Nilia exclaimed.

“When I saw the Shadow Patrol last time, they were all wearing thick clothes?” Yihan questioned.

“……”

Fortunately, Yihan didn’t ask any more questions and sat down in his chair.

“I went to all the trouble of preparing, but it’s disappointing. Did something urgent come up?” Yihan wondered.

“What are you going to do with these potion pouches?” Nilia asked.

“Hmm… It’s annoying, but I can’t help it. I’ll have to send a letter. I’ll visit and deliver it myself,” Yihan said.

“You are too kind, Lord Wodanaaz,” Nilia said.

“It’s nothing,” Yihan replied.

Nilia was sure that the two students would pretend to be sick starting tomorrow.