Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 665

Palga’s voice exploded, “Are you seriously talking about sandwiches when our friend could be badly hurt?!”

“Huh? What?!” Guinan-do jumped, nearly dropping his sandwich. He looked confused.

“Am I… am I not allowed to eat a sandwich?” Guinan-do asked, looking from his sandwich to Palga. “Would a rice ball have been better, then?”

Palga stared at him, face red with anger. “Are you kidding me right now?!”

Palga got even angrier at Guinan-do’s rudeness.

The winner is Lee Han from the Wodanaz family!

“You’re looking for something to eat when he’s in danger? Are you even an Ainrogard student?!”

Palga was so upset he didn’t notice what was happening in the dueling ring behind him.

The duel had ended while they were talking.

Lee Han returned to the stands, looking puzzled.

“What did you guys do to make Senior so angry?”

“He got mad because I was going to eat a sandwich. I guess he’s enemies with sandwiches.”

‘Does that even make sense?’

Lee Han raised an eyebrow at Guinan-do, his face showing he didn’t believe a word.

He figured Guinan-do must have done something else wrong, like ordering Palga to bring him a sandwich…

“Senior, why are you so angry?”

“You came at the right time, Junior! These guys weren’t even a little worried about you fighting Count Semtem, and they were just sitting here eating sandwiches! They’re trash who don’t know the meaning of friendship!”

Palga’s accusations made his friends feel ashamed.

Thinking about it, they had been too indifferent to Lee Han’s duel. They had been so relaxed because they thought he would win easily, but Lee Han might have felt neglected.

“Sorry, Lee Han.”

“We’ll cheer you on properly from now on.”

“No, it’s okay. I won anyway.”

Lee Han was indifferent.

What difference would it make if his friends cheered him on? Professor Voladi’s attack wouldn’t be stopped by friendly cheers.

“Count Semtem is a really strong duelist.”

“Ah, yes. He was indeed. I just got lucky.”

“…Wait. Why are you here?”

Palga finally realized that Lee Han was next to him. Shouldn’t he be down in the dueling ring?

“I came back up because the duel is over…”

“…What? Who won?”

“I won.”

“?!??!?”

At Lee Han’s answer, Palga looked at the dueling ring with a bewildered expression. The members of the dueling club were comforting the Count. The Count was praising Lee Han with a relieved expression.

-How on earth?

-He really has a lot of mana.

-Anything else?

-He really had a lot of mana!

-…No, Your Excellency. I understand the mana part.

-I’m telling you, he had a lot of mana!

-No matter how much mana he has, he’s still just a boy…

-You foolish people!

“How?!”

“I blocked the artifact with my trait, cast a series of spells, and then attacked when his stance was broken…”

Professor Voladi suddenly appeared behind them.

“The >Lightning Cloak Enchantment> was too slow.”

“Yes, I thought so too.”

‘Here we go again!’

Palga suddenly felt angry even though it wasn’t his own business. Isn’t it amazing that his junior beat the Count?

In fact, Palga himself still couldn’t quite grasp how he had won. Anyway, if he had accomplished something so great, he should be praised, not criticized as if he had ruined everything.

“Professor, this was really well…”

“The rest was fine.”

“?!!”

Professor Voladi’s criticism ended there.

Palga was even more shocked than when he heard his junior beat the Count.

“That’s it?!”

“That’s it.”

Professor Voladi and Lee Han looked at Palga strangely.

Palga suddenly felt awkward.

“W, well, that is…”

“Voladi of the Begreck family.”

The receptionist of the dueling club approached.

“I’m very sorry, but we would like to ask you to stop visiting our Flaherty City Dueling Club from today onwards.”

“I understand.”

Professor Voladi nodded as if he had expected it.

Palga was shocked and protested.

“Why are you banning the professor when he hasn’t done anything wrong?”

“He hasn’t done anything wrong. However, none of our dueling club members can compete with him, so we would like him to stop visiting.”

“What are you talking about! There are still so many members left!”

The receptionist’s face remained blank, not even a flicker of emotion in his eyes as he replied.

“The others were all defeated yesterday.”

“……”

Palga stared at the professor with a look of horror.

‘What on earth has this crazy person done?’

But Professor Voladi wasn’t surprised at all. Even his junior wasn’t surprised. Lee Han was standing there with an indifferent expression.

‘If you win like that, you’re bound to get banned.’

If you cut down all the trees in a forest at once, you won’t be able to get any more trees after that. Taking a little at a time and considering the forest is ultimately what’s best for the lumberjack.

“Lee Han of the Wodanaz family.”

“Yes?”

“I’m very sorry, but we would like to ask you to stop visiting our Flaherty City Dueling Club from today onwards.”

“…Yes?!”

Lee Han was shocked. Why!?

“I, isn’t there some kind of mistake? Professor Begreck defeated the others yesterday.”

“He’s your student, isn’t he?”

“If I’m his student, I should be much weaker!”

Lee Han was furious at the ridiculous guilt-by-association. According to that logic, Lee Han, as a student of the Skull Headmaster, should be blacklisted throughout the Empire.

“Now that you’ve defeated Count Semtem, none of our dueling club members will be able to defeat you, Lee Han.”

“That’s not true! I just got lucky!”

Lee Han said sincerely. He was able to counterattack easily because Count Semtem was used to artifact-focused tactics, but if it had been someone else, a fierce battle would have unfolded.

Lee Han could understand banning Professor Voladi, but he absolutely couldn’t accept being banned himself.

Palga seemed to think so too, as he protested.

“Count Semtem has won against more than ten people so far. But that doesn’t mean the Count has been banned.”

The receptionist raised only his eyebrows with a blank face and replied.

“Count Semtem has never overwhelmingly defeated the club’s champion in less than 10 seconds after the start of a duel.”

“……”

Palga glanced at Lee Han.

How on earth did you win?

But Lee Han, like a true Ainrogard student, was shameless. Without giving in, he firmly protested.

“I really just got lucky!”

‘Shouldn’t we just ban all the Ainrogard students as a group?’

The receptionist thought to himself. Anyone who had seen the Count lose earlier would never say, ‘He won because he got lucky.’

But this boy from the Wodanaz family was shamelessly saying so. Even if he was from a great noble family of the Empire, wasn’t this a bit too much of a tyranny!

“Ugh. This is too much.”

In the end, Lee Han gave up and stepped back first. He still had a resentful look in his eyes.

Palga, unable to watch any longer, comforted him.

“Calm down, Junior. Of course, it’s true that a student is weaker than their teacher, but if you’re Professor Begreck’s student, you can’t help but feel much stronger.”

“Senior, you’ve also learned from Professor Begreck, so aren’t you practically his student too?”

“Ah, no. Not me. Why do you ask…”

Palga felt pressured by his junior and quickly said no. He had a rising sense of foreboding that if he stayed still, he might be dragged under Professor Begreck’s wing.

“Palga of the Ukim family.”

“Yes?”

“I’m very sorry, but we would like to ask you to stop visiting our Flaherty City Dueling Club from today onwards.”

“……”

Palga felt truly wronged. His junior gave him a look that said, ‘I was treated the same way,’ but it didn’t offer much comfort.

‘I really didn’t do anything…!’

See you in the new semester.

“Yes.”

Lee Han and his friends saw Palga off. The senior’s shoulders seemed narrower somehow.

Professor Voladi checked the time and prepared to leave. Dergyu asked without much thought.

“Where are you going, Professor?”

“Don’t ask, you brat.”

“???”

Dergyu was surprised and confused by Lee Han’s anger.

“Why, why?”

“If you act interested and he takes you along, are you going to take responsibility?”

“Even so, he wouldn’t do that…”

“The underground arena. Are you perhaps interested?”

“No, I am not.”

“I am not!”

“No! Professor! Please be careful!”

At the professor’s words about going to an arena where they fight for their lives, not just relatively safe duels, the students quickly shouted in unison.

Professor Voladi looked at Lee Han. Lee Han immediately replied.

“I am not either!”

“That’s a relief. I can’t take you to the arena.”

‘Not that I want to go…’

“Don’t secretly follow me.”

“Yes.”

“I’m being serious.”

“Yes… I’m giving you a serious answer too…”

Professor Voladi, not trusting Lee Han, emphasized how dangerous the underground arena was. Even if Lee Han loved danger, Professor Voladi couldn’t take him this time!

After seeing the professor off, Lee Han felt several times more tired than he had after the duel earlier.

“…Is it, is it over?”

“I didn’t do anything, but I’m tired…”

Eandurde waved his hand, suggesting they return to the mansion after seeing the seniors’ expressions. His eyes were full of hope that they might not have to do the annoying shopping.

“Okay. Let’s go buy what Eandurde needs.”

“……”

Eandurde looked at Yoner with a resentful gaze. But Yoner didn’t care.

“Wait. Yoner. It’s getting a bit late.”

“!”

At Lee Han’s words, the junior’s eyes sparkled again.

“So, let’s split up and check what Eandurde needs. That way, we can save time.”

“……”

Eandurde sighed as if the ground was sinking. Then, he glanced around to see if he could escape.

“Oh, and Dergyu. Let’s stick together.”

“Why, Lee Han? Aren’t we going to the armor shop?”

“No. I’m worried our junior will run away. Let’s keep an eye on him in pairs.”

“…!”

Eandurde was horrified. Was this senior reading his mind?!

While his friends scattered to have fun, Lee Han, Dergyu, and Eandurde also started looking around for now.

“Hmm. I want to buy something for Ponryg.”

“The Headmaster confiscates everything that’s brought in from outside, doesn’t he?”

“That’s true.”

Dergyu smiled, thinking that his friend was being very considerate. Even if he couldn’t bring it in, his friend’s sincerity would be conveyed to the horse.

“I should start thinking about how to smuggle it in.”

“……”

Dergyu was horrified.

“Smu, smuggling?”

“Huh? Of course. Weren’t you thinking about it, Dergyu?”

“I wasn’t… Isn’t that, isn’t that weird? I don’t think anyone else is doing it.”

“Moradi was thinking about it too. Salco even asked in a letter if I had thought of a smuggling method.”

Dergyu was horrified once again.

‘Am I the weird one?!’

“Hmm. The easiest way would be to store it in a village outside and bring it in when I go out, but the problem is that it might take several weeks… The Headmaster is subtly watching me.”

‘I would watch you too.’

Dergyu thought to himself. The friend next to him was no exaggeration to say was the core of all the incidents this semester.

“Eandurde. How about that horse?”

“Looks delicious.”

“How about that bird?”

“Looks delicious.”

“How about that snake?”

“Deliciou…”

“Can’t you say anything other than ‘delicious’?”

“The flesh is tender…?”

“I should show you the animals later.”

Lee Han decided that he should visit the stable that handled the Empire’s rare animals a little later.