Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 667

The merchants who threw tomatoes and eggs ran away, breathing heavily.

The relieved hunters started cleaning up the tomatoes and eggs.

One of the hunters asked the Wasteland Stargazer patrolman, “Why didn’t you chase them away? As Wasteland Stargazers, you could have threatened them as much as you wanted…”

The patrolman replied, “A Wasteland Stargazer who protects the people of the Empire cannot threaten its own citizens.”

“Ah!” the hunter exclaimed.

The hunters, who came from different regions, were tough, but they were impressed by the Wasteland Stargazer patrolman’s courage and patience.

One hunter said quietly, “It takes more courage not to shoot an arrow than to shoot it.”

“Indeed, a Wasteland Stargazer,” another hunter agreed.

“I have to admit it. Haha,” a third hunter chuckled.

Lee Han saw Nilia become sad. Her long ears drooped.

“Nilia, should I make the people throw tomatoes and eggs again?” Lee Han asked.

“…Ah, no. Never mind,” Nilia replied.

Nilia almost agreed with her friend, but then she changed her mind.

She knew they would have to work together soon, so she couldn’t dislike them just because they were Wasteland Stargazers.

“Are you students from Einroguard?” a voice asked.

The group, having cleaned up all the tomatoes and eggs, finally noticed Lee Han and his party.

“That’s right,” Lee Han confirmed.

“Nice to meet you! I am Mrance, a patrolman of the Wasteland Stargazers,” the voice said.

The elf patrolman, Mrance, was tall and handsome. His patrol uniform was neat and tidy without being too fancy.

They looked very different from the Shadow Patrol, who people often thought were bandits or wild people.

Lee Han saw Nilia become even sadder and whispered to Yoner, “Did I bring Nilia along for nothing…?”

“…It’ll be alright. She has to get over it,” Yoner replied.

“I am just glad that the students from Einroguard are helping us. I look forward to working with you,” Mrance said.

“That’s what I should be saying,” Lee Han responded.

“I’m the explorer Frostfoot. A distant relative of Professor Lightningfoot,” a voice announced.

The young dwarf explorer took off his hat and greeted them.

“And the hunters behind you…” Mrance started to say.

“Don’t say our names!” the hunters interrupted.

The group of hunters stopped him. Mrance smiled and nodded as if he understood.

“I hope you understand. These folks have their traditions,” Mrance explained.

The nameless hunters, summoned by Professor Lightningfoot, were people who lived alone in huts deep in the mountains of each region.

They were very skilled, but they also had many traditions and superstitions that even Professor Lightningfoot didn’t fully understand.

One of their traditions was hiding their home and name.

“If you tell people your name, it becomes easier for demons and monsters to chase you,” one of the hunters said.

Lee Han looked puzzled and asked, “Ordinary names don’t mean much. True names come from the soul…”

“Typical mages!” one hunter grumbled.

“They’re reckless and fearless. They don’t care about tradition,” another added.

Seeing her friend being scolded, Nilia apologized, “I’m sorry. The hunters are all a bit stubborn. And they really care about their traditions.”

“Didn’t the Shadow Patrol just use them without thinking?” Lee Han asked.

“…We have traditions too, you know?” Nilia retorted.

“Why are you getting angry?” Lee Han asked.

“I’m not angry… Anyway, we have traditions. We do,” Nilia insisted.

Nilia regretted getting angry, feeling guilty.

If someone asked her what kind of traditions they had, she wouldn’t know what to say.

“Is everyone here?” Professor Lightningfoot asked as he walked over.

The professor looked puzzled to see the wyverns gathered together.

“Is it okay to tie these up in front of the city like this? Did anyone complain?” he asked.

“They threw eggs and tomatoes,” someone answered.

“Oh dear. The people of Flaherty are so kind. In other regions, they would have thrown stones. Everyone, get on the wyverns,” Professor Lightningfoot said.

Lee Han and his friends got ready to ride the wyverns. Some of them had ridden before, and since they were trained, it wasn’t too hard.

“Wodanaz,” Lee Han said.

“Yes. I know. Should we look the wyvern in the eye and blink to show we aren’t hostile, so it doesn’t misunderstand?” Wodanaz replied.

At Lee Han’s words, some of the hunters made a gesture of circling their finger around their head, indicating he was crazy.

Then, the explorer Frostfoot shook his head and said, “That boy can actually threaten a wyvern.”

He knew this because he had heard it from Professor Lightningfoot.

“Really?” one of the hunters asked.

“I swear it’s true,” Frostfoot confirmed.

“In that case, please don’t put him on the wyvern I’m riding. My mountain has a tradition of not putting beasts that can threaten wyverns on top of wyverns,” the hunter pleaded.

“That’s a beast, though,” Lee Han pointed out.

The hunters immediately backed away, and Frostfoot became embarrassed.

They had to travel together for a while, but they were already showing such dislike.

“Don’t worry. This Wodanaz will ride something else. Wodanaz, look behind you,” Professor Lightningfoot said.

Lee Han turned his head.

The griffon, its transformation curse lifted, was glaring at Lee Han with an angry look.

Lee Han quietly took his foot off the ladder hanging from the wyvern’s saddle.

“It’s a misunderstanding,” Lee Han said.

“Yes. Clear up the misunderstanding as you go,” Professor Lightningfoot replied.

“I even bought you food, Phoneig,” Lee Han said.

When he took out the meat he had planned to give his junior, Eiandurde grumbled.

The fiercely glaring griffon’s eyes softened a little, and it approached Lee Han, rubbing its head against him.

Seeing that, several hunters opened their mouths at the same time.

“Please keep that boy away,” one of them said.

“What tradition is it this time?” Professor Lightningfoot asked.

“It’s just because we’re afraid. We won’t come near until it’s proven safe,” the hunter replied.

Frostfoot wanted to say, ‘Why are you all acting like this when he can just threaten a wyvern and tame a griffon?’ but he didn’t.

Even he thought it was a bit strange.

Professor Lightningfoot’s wyvern looked at the griffon flying next to it with a wary gaze.

“Pretty good, right?” Professor Lightningfoot asked.

Lee Han looked puzzled and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“The people I gathered,” Professor Lightningfoot clarified.

Finding a unicorn was harder than he thought.

To find a single creature hiding in a vast mountain range was like finding a needle in a haystack.

What was worse was that this needle could think for itself and run away using magic.

That’s why Professor Lightningfoot brought everyone, from the nameless hunters to the explorer Frostfoot, the Wasteland Stargazer patrolman Mrance, and even Skullbreaker, who used to be an adventurer.

‘What did he do to get the nickname Skullbreaker?’ Lee Han wondered.

But there were more important things to ask right now.

“What do you want us to do?” Lee Han asked.

“I want to put you in charge of the campsite,” Professor Lightningfoot replied, adjusting his goggles.

Because the Bitter Mountains were so large, they couldn’t just search randomly. They had to narrow down the area.

First, they needed to prepare the campsite.

This campsite would be responsible for the area.

Then, the hunters and patrolmen would search in each direction for traces of the unicorn.

If they found it, they shouldn’t approach it alone but guide it to the campsite. Unicorns were smart and cautious, so approaching them carelessly would only scare them away.

In other words…

“We need to prepare the magic that the hunters and patrolmen need, and the magic that can calm the unicorn,” Lee Han realized.

“Are you a 5th-year adventurer? That’s right. You guessed it,” Professor Lightningfoot confirmed.

Professor Lightningfoot didn’t plan to have the students track the unicorn directly.

It was too hard.

The mages from Einroguard were very talented, even by the Empire’s standards.

It was best to have them do tasks that required magic.

Professor Lightningfoot was impressed that Lee Han knew what magic needed to be prepared without him explaining it.

It was no surprise that the professors all wanted him as their student.

“And there’s one more thing,” Professor Lightningfoot added.

“Should we also prepare for a fight with poachers?” Lee Han asked.

“…From now on, you’re a 10th-year adventurer,” Professor Lightningfoot joked.

“Haha. I’m not that good,” Lee Han replied.

“Actually, it would have been better to call the Shadow Patrol…” Professor Lightningfoot muttered.

Lee Han was confused by Professor Lightningfoot’s words.

Why hire the Wasteland Stargazers instead of the Shadow Patrol, only to upset Nilia?

“Is there a reason why you didn’t call them?” Lee Han asked.

“I was worried they would go crazy and try to catch the unicorn if they saw it,” Professor Lightningfoot admitted.

Lee Han decided to keep this secret.

The wind was loud, so Lee Han changed the subject in case Nilia overheard them.

“What kind of person is Professor Bendozol?” Lee Han asked.

“Ah, unicorns. Unicorns are beautiful animals. I’ve traveled from the western coast of the Empire to the eastern underground city, but I’ve only seen unicorns two and a half times,” Professor Lightningfoot said.

“Not the unicorn, but Professor Bendozol… Wait, why two and a half times instead of two times?” Lee Han asked.

“One time, I was so drunk that I’m not sure if it was a unicorn or a rhinoceros. More importantly, Professor Bendozol? I thought you were asking about something else. Why are you asking about Professor Bendozol?” Professor Lightningfoot asked, looking unconcerned.

“He might be back this year. Then I might take his class,” Lee Han explained.

“Well… I don’t like to speak badly about other professors, but I don’t recommend taking Professor Bendozol’s class,” Professor Lightningfoot said.

Lee Han blinked, surprised. Professor Lightningfoot *discouraging* a class? That was unusual.

“Is it more dangerous than Professor Verdus’s or Professor Begrek’s class?” Lee Han asked.

‘This guy is really asking tough questions!’ Professor Lightningfoot thought.

After thinking for a moment, he answered slowly, “The three of them are different. Professor Bendozol knows a lot and is a great professor when it comes to the Empire’s animals and monsters, but he loves animals too much.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Lee Han asked.

“It’s a problem because he loves them more than the students. If Professor Bendozol had taught the riding class last year, you would have had to carry the horses and run instead of riding them,” Professor Lightningfoot explained.

Lee Han thought Professor Lightningfoot was joking.

But the professor was serious.

“No, no. No matter how much you love horses, it doesn’t make sense for us to carry the horses and run, does it?” Lee Han questioned.

“That’s why he’s strange. Do you still want to take Professor Bendozol’s class now?” Professor Lightningfoot asked.

‘He’s really scary,’ Lee Han thought.

Lee Han looked at the griffon.

If Professor Bendozol had been in charge of the class last year, Lee Han might have had to carry this griffon and pass all the assignments.

“Um. I’ll just find him and give up on the professor’s class,” Lee Han decided.

“Aren’t you being too greedy? It’ll be hard enough to find one unicorn, but you’re trying to find a professor too… Well, the professor might be easier to find,” Professor Lightningfoot said.

Professor Lightningfoot was amazed that Lee Han was still loyal even after being tormented by the professors.

Of course, Lee Han was doing it for the bounty.

Why would he look for a professor he had never met if there was no bounty?

“This is the Bitter Mountains. Everyone, get down. We’ll start searching from here!” Professor Lightningfoot announced.

“Aren’t those poachers?” Lee Han asked, pointing below.

Professor Lightningfoot nodded.

“Good find! They’re right at the entrance to the mountains. The rumors must have spread. Prepare warning shots!” Professor Lightningfoot ordered.

Lee Han immediately started firing lightning magic. Being on top of a shaking griffon wasn’t a problem.

Bzzzt!

As lightning flew through the air, the poachers screamed and shouted, “Surrender! Surrender! Mage! We surrender!”

Professor Lightningfoot looked at his student and kindly explained, “You used magic well. But when I said prepare warning shots, I meant for the hunters behind us.”

Looking behind him, Lee Han saw the hunters looking horrified. The friends quickly answered, “No. We can’t do that.”

‘Traitors!’ Lee Han thought.