Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 662

Suddenly, their friend was being pulled into a dueling arena right in the middle of their group. Everyone around them seemed crazy about duels. The students were completely confused.

“Professor, wait!” Siana said quickly, her voice shaking a little. “Please… please take him with you. Away from here.”

“Siana, how could you?” Lee Han said, sounding hurt and surprised. He felt like she had turned against him. He had been saying good things about the professor, and now she was doing this!

“I’m so sorry, Lee Han,” Siana whispered, her eyes wide with fear. “I… I was just so, so scared.”

Lee Han understood. *Of course* she was scared, he thought. He watched Siana quickly go back to her friends, looking terrified. He felt sorry for her. Professor Volardi had just thrown a student to the ground and then attacked Lee Han! Anyone would be frightened after seeing that.

“We need to think of a way out of this! If we leave things as they are, Wodanaz will be dragged into the underground arena!”

“The dueling club isn’t exactly an underground arena…”

“Professor!” Raetford said, stepping forward quickly. He tried to sound worried. “Wodanaz’s leg is broken! You can’t take someone with a broken leg to a dueling club, can you?”

Professor Volardi looked at Lee Han’s leg quickly and said, “Looks fine to me.”

“Then we have to break his leg for real!” one friend said.

“But… I don’t think Lee Han would like that,” another replied nervously.

“We can’t just let him go with the professor, can we?” a third friend argued. They started arguing about whether to break Lee Han’s leg or maybe just his arm.

Professor Volardi, who had been waiting, checked the time and said, “We can talk more on the way. It takes time to get everyone in.”

The students stopped talking. Something felt wrong.

“Everyone?” one student asked slowly.

“Does ‘everyone’ mean… all of us?” another student whispered, his eyes widening.

The professor confirmed, and Gainando cried out, his voice shaking.

“Professor!” Gainando cried out, his voice shaking. “I… I don’t even go to your classes, like Lee Han!” Lee Han rolled his eyes. *What a coward*, he thought. Gainando was clearly trying to get out of going. Lee Han understood being scared, but Gainando was being too obvious about it!

“Don’t worry,” Professor Volardi said. “It wouldn’t be fair to only take Wodanaz to the club.” Professor Volardi actually seemed to care about being fair, which was surprising. Professor Verdus would have just taken Lee Han, or maybe not even bothered. But Professor Volardi had met all the students during the vacation. He thought it wouldn’t be right to only invite Lee Han. It was like when he bought them all dinner – he wanted to include everyone. So, he was taking them all to the dueling club.

Gainando couldn’t believe it. Professor Volardi had somehow heard “I don’t go to your classes” as “Can I still come to the dueling club even if I don’t go to your classes?” Lee Han smiled, feeling pleased. *Maybe I should have made sure the others heard that too?* he thought, chuckling to himself.

The Flaherty City Dueling Club was new. It was started by some nobles and duelists in the city who loved to fight, and some smart business people who knew they could make money from it. The place was actually quite nice. Because it was new, they tried to make it look very impressive. The business people who put money into the club spent a lot to make sure it was good and would make them money back.

Upon arriving in front of the building, the dueling club sign hanging above the door was immediately impressive.

-Flaherty City Dueling Club.

Just twisting gold and silver threads together and adding a little light magic made the sign look very grand and important.

They pushed open the heavy bronze door and went inside. A big chandelier made of magic stones hung from the ceiling, giving off a warm, bright light. Below it, people were chatting in different small groups. There was a food area selling simple things like sandwiches, rice balls, coffee, and tea. Then there was an area where club members were talking about what was happening recently. Someone was saying loudly, “So, I think Prince Bogajun…” Another person interrupted, “You always praise the royals too much!” “What?! Are you calling me a bad aristocrat or someone who doesn’t belong to any group?!” “If you don’t take that back, we duel!” Further in, there was a dueling arena ready for serious fights, with seats for people to watch.

The floor of the dueling arena was made of strong mahogany wood that had been treated with magic. It was even stronger than most shields! And the barrier around the seats was strong enough to stop anyone who got thrown around during a duel from flying into the audience.

*This place is not bad*, Falga thought. Falga was from the Ukim knight family and was now a third-year student at Einroguard, doing well in his studies. He liked the atmosphere of the dueling club. The dueling club at Einroguard was terrible compared to this place. This place was amazing! It was a bit too fancy, maybe, but it looked like it would be successful. Falga planned to practice dueling here for the rest of his vacation.

Dueling was a fast, intense fight. You had to think very quickly. So, it was important to stay sharp. If he got lazy during the vacation and became slow, his dueling friends would make fun of him.

“Who do you think will win today?”

“Well, Lord Chelese is a really good swordsman, but Goran, his opponent, is also very dangerous.”

“I heard he’s a mercenary called ‘Razor.’ Razor Goran.”

*Lord Chelese and Goran. Good*, Falga thought. Falga had been here four days ago. He was worried that new duelists might have come to the club since then. In duels, the most dangerous thing was always someone you didn’t know. But Lord Chelese and Goran were people he knew. During the vacation, Falga had planned how he would fight them. Today, his plans would work perfectly.

“But who was that person yesterday?”

“Well, the Count was so surprised, he said he’d find out who it was. Maybe a famous duelist? Wow. He beat everyone!”

“Lord Chelese said he’s going to get back at him for sure. Are you excited to see that?”

The first man leaned closer, his voice low and worried, like he was sharing a secret. “Well, I think that guy might get banned from the club. If he’s here, will any members even stay?”

“What are you talking about! Banning someone for being strong? Is there no honour among duelists?”

“Honour is good, but there’s a limit, right? If he keeps beating everyone easily like that, he’ll have no one to fight.”

“…?”

Palga was confused by what he was hearing.

Had something happened while he was gone?

“A new duelist? What is he like?” Palga’s heart thumped in his chest, a fast, excited drumbeat. He quickened his pace, eager to see this new duelist who had everyone talking.

Some duelists who were not skilled and were scared avoided fighting opponents stronger than them.

But not Palga.

If the opponent was stronger, wouldn’t that be a great chance to learn something?

Promising himself to politely ask for a fight if the opponent was really strong, Palga walked faster.

“Excuse me, are you Palga of the Ukim family?”

“Yes, though I am not an official knight.”

“I know. We talked last week, right! You are the one who goes to Einroguard!”

“Yes, that’s right,” Palga answered, feeling a little proud.

Students from Einroguard might be the ones who say bad things about it the most in the Empire, but they still had pride.

How else could they go to that school if they didn’t have some pride?

“Look, there are Einroguard students here! How lucky! I want to introduce you!”

“?!!”

Palga was surprised by what the member said.

The Empire was big, but to meet other students from Einroguard here?

Durghyu and Ihan, sitting across from him, looked at each other awkwardly.

-Sorry, Ihan.

-No… it’s not your fault.

While all their friends had spread out, exploring the dueling club in small groups, Ihan and Durghyu were also looking around.

-Hey, I think we could set up some traps before? Just in case we have to fight the professor.

-…Ihan…

-Haha. Just kidding. Just kidding.

-Your eyes say you are not kidding.

Just then, a member suddenly came up to them.

-Are you from the Choi family?

-Oh, yes, I am.

-Ah! I’m from the Aldar family!

The dueling club member from the Aldar family was a very distant relative of the Choi family.

But in a club for meeting people, that kind of connection was almost like family.

In fact, this Orc gentleman really liked them and started buying them food.

-You are students, so you must eat a lot. Haha. Eat up! I’ll pay for it.

-No… we shouldn’t let you buy us food when we just met…

-Could you bring more pancakes here? Here. Eat up. You must be hungry.

-We, uh, just ate…

-Eat more. You are both so skinny!

Ihan and Durghyu couldn’t refuse his kindness, so they started eating pancakes and sandwiches quickly.

Luckily, the club’s food was delicious.

But the Aldar gentleman didn’t stop there. He saw an Einroguard student walking by and quickly started talking to him.

-Excuse me, are you Palga of the Ukim family?

And now, Ihan and Durghyu were sitting across from their senior, looking awkward.

Only Aldar was smiling widely, filling their cups with tea full of sugar.

“Oh dear. I ordered bacon a long time ago, and it still hasn’t come. I’ll go check for a moment.”

“There’s no need to…!”

Only after the Orc gentleman got up did the three of them feel relieved.

Palga realized that these two younger students had also been brought here a bit against their will, and he felt a feeling of friendship with them.

“Looks like you two were suddenly brought here too. That’s how clubs in the Empire are. Since people meet to be social, you might suddenly be sitting with people you don’t know at all.”

“I’ve definitely felt that today. Thank you. I’m Durghyu from the Choi family. I’m Ihan.”

Ihan carefully didn’t say the Wodanaz family name.

In front of a knight family, the Wodanaz family name would not be very helpful.

“I’m Palga from the Ukim family. So you are younger students from the White Tiger Tower. Nice to meet you.”

Palga smiled and welcomed them.

Sharing the same tower was special in Einroguard. Palga thought they were good people to welcome.

“What were you doing here, older student?”

“Einroguard Dueling Club… Ah. I guess it’s okay to tell you. You will find out about the club next semester anyway. I am in the Einroguard Dueling Club. I am visiting here to practice my skills.”

“Don’t you bet money?”

Palga laughed softly at the cheeky younger student’s question.

“Where did you hear that wrong rumour? Not all duelists bet money. Think about it. A duel is a serious thing where two people who are ready fight their best to see who wins. It’s hard to win a little more than half the time. Betting a lot of money on something like that is not a good idea.”

Palga told them stories of duelists who had bet all their money for fun and lost all their money very quickly.

Bad luck was bad luck, but Palga thought their bad luck was clearly a punishment for disrespecting the importance of dueling.

But Ihan only acted like he was listening.

*To enjoy dueling without earning money… The culture of the Einroguard Dueling Club is very strange.*

“What were you two doing here? Maybe you came to practice dueling like me?”

“Ah, no. We came with our professor. The professor said he would show us the dueling club.”

“Spending vacation with a professor!? Why in the world would you do that?”

“Haha. We just happened to meet.”

Palga looked at the younger student feeling sorry for him because of Ihan’s answer.

How unlucky someone must be to meet a professor during vacation?

“Which professor is it?”

“Professor Begreck.”

*Thud!* With a loud noise, Palga fell back.