Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 690

Siana looked up, surprised by what she heard.

She was surprised he could understand the magic so quickly, right after seeing it. And he was already finished?

“Oh, are you done already?”

However, Gainando wasn’t surprised at all and opened the door.

“So, want to play some Wizard Cards?”

“No.”

“Just asking!”

Watching Gainando quickly back away, Siana was slightly confused.

‘Am I the weird one?!’

Maybe she was wrong to be so surprised. Was she the only one who thought this was unusual?

“Hey, what’s up, Junior?”

“Um, they said they’re finished analyzing the senior’s magic.”

“Gasp!”

Deorgyu was so surprised he almost fell over.

Siana let out a sigh of relief at that reaction.

‘Thank goodness. Gainando was the weird one!’

“It was transformation magic after all.”

Lee Han came out from inside, looking around at his friends. Finding Deorgyu in an awkward posture, Lee Han stared at him as if he were strange and asked,

“What are you doing?”

“N-nothing! Just… stretching my legs!”

“You okay? You look like you’ve been working too hard. Anyway, it was transformation magic.”

He explained it was transformation magic, a type that turns small creatures into wooden boxes. It was called 3rd circle magic.

The flow of magic was familiar and easy to understand from the outside, so he had judged that it would be a magic within expectations, and he was right.

“It seems luck is on our side. The seniors are using magic that we can see and analyze.”

‘I don’t think that’s luck…’

Siana thought to herself.

From the seniors’ point of view, it was honestly a very unfair statement.

How could they have predicted that a junior who had only finished their first year could grasp the structure and learn it just by glancing over the magic?

Nilia whispered to Yoner.

“I always thought Wodanaz was good at magic, but doesn’t he seem like a madman more and more these days?”

“Yeah… I want to deny it, but I can’t…”

After quietly silencing his chattering friends, Lee Han opened his mouth again.

“They’re probably trying to throw noisy and rowdy things into our luggage.”

“That’s so mean!”

“We have to do it again next year!”

“……”

Gainando was embarrassed when his friends stared at him.

“Wait, you’re not doing it next year?”

“Now that we’ve figured out the magic, there’s not much to worry about here.”

Lee Han ignored him and continued speaking.

Lee Han explained that this trick was easy to stop if you knew magic well enough to see it and tell it apart from other things.

All you had to do was find it mixed in with the luggage, then either undo it or throw it back into the seniors’ luggage.

“Then everyone, get ready to go out and wander around.”

“Again?”

“Wander around *again*? We just got here!”

At Lee Han’s words, his friends sighed and got up from their seats.

When they arrived in Granden City, Lee Han chose the least popular gate on the outermost side of the dozens of city gates to enter.

Not only that, but he also threw a rough and old cloth over the carriage to prevent it from being mistaken for a noble family’s carriage.

All of this was to avoid the seniors’ eyes and enter the villa. They didn’t want the older students to know they had arrived in Granden City with lots of supplies. That could cause problems.

After safely storing the supplies in the villa, the next thing Lee Han chose to do was to have as much contact with the seniors as possible.

He wanted to find out how the older students were secretly bringing things in, and to be ready if they were planning anything bad…

To do that, Lee Han and his friends needed to wander around various corners of Granden City like innocent first-year students who knew nothing.

“Okay. Everyone, remember. If a senior brings up a smuggling story or talks about the secrets of Einroguard…”

“Gasp!”

“Really?”

“No way!”

“How could that happen! It doesn’t make sense!”

Lee Han nodded, satisfied with his friends’ feigned reactions.

“Yes. Don’t forget to react like that and pretend to be fooled. Everyone, move out!”

The Death Knight arrived at the Wodanaz family’s villa, just like he was told. He knocked on the gate.

-Who is it?

-I have come under the Headmaster’s orders. Students, please open the door.

-Who is it? … Oh no! Is it… the Headmaster?

-No, no attack! I’m here to talk to you…

The Death Knight was flustered and tried to explain, but the students made a commotion and prepared for defense.

-Lee Han! The Death Knight has come to the door!

-What… what did we get caught doing?

-I don’t know!

-I’ll send a message to the temple. Let’s call the priests and attack!

This Death Knight wasn’t used to dealing with students like the older Death Knights were. He got confused and shouted.

-There’s a misunderstanding, everyone!

-Don’t listen to him! He’s trying to trick us into opening the door!

-He’s here for the first years! Protect the freshmen!

The villa’s mansion door inside the gate opened, and the students poured out with suspicious eyes.

Only then could the Death Knight let out a sigh of relief.

“Really? A Death Knight? Are you sure?”

-I can swear on my honor as a knight. The freshmen must go in first.

The Skull Headmaster had left Earendurde with Lee Han during the vacation, but he couldn’t do that when the semester was about to begin.

As Lee Han was now becoming a second-year student, he couldn’t be kept with the freshmen.

“…A trap?”

Earendurde, who had been solving equations, stared at the Death Knight with suspicious eyes.

“Not a trap.”

“But… it’s a Death Knight.”

“Oh, right. The Headmaster often sends Death Knights to do things for him.”

“?!”

Leaving the horrified Earendurde behind, Lee Han opened the gate.

They couldn’t leave the Skull Headmaster’s messenger outside forever.

The Death Knight entered and looked around the Wodanaz family’s villa. It was neat and simple, like a place made for work, not for show. Everything was in its place, but it wasn’t fancy.

The Death Knight asked, “You’re not all preparing to smuggle something, are you?”

“Cough.”

“Kuh-cough.”

The Death Knight was surprised when the students coughed loudly after he asked a simple question.

He continued, “Ah, no. Are you already preparing to smuggle? And you’re only first years?”

“What… what makes you say that?” one of the students asked.

The Death Knight explained, “You arrived early, and I saw you piling up luggage… Don’t smuggle. I’m saying this for your own good.”

At the Death Knight’s words, the students exchanged glances, as if to say, ‘You’re just the Skull Headmaster’s lackey.’

The Death Knight then understood what their looks meant and exclaimed:

“I’m not saying this because I serve the master!”

“Sure, you aren’t…” a student mumbled.

The Death Knight insisted, “Really, I’m saying this for your own good. Smuggling is bad! It looks tempting at first glance, but you could lose all your prepared goods and end up in the punishment room. And…”

The Death Knight hesitated, not wanting to turn the students against each other.

“…It’s also dangerous to trust your seniors too much,” he finally said.

“Yes.”

“That’s right.”

“We know.”

“?!” The Death Knight was surprised by the students’ weak and uninterested response.

“Ah, no. Aren’t you surprised?” he asked.

“We were surprised,” a student replied.

The Death Knight frowned. “You don’t look surprised at all…”

Lee Han said confidently, without any shame, “My friends are just a bit expressionless.”

The Death Knight was confused but had no choice but to nod.

Lee Han changed the subject. “How is the Headmaster doing these days?”

The Death Knight replied, “Yes. Thanks to you, Wodanaz, for taking down all those bureaucrats, things have become much easier.”

The friends beside him couldn’t believe their ears. What had Lee Han done?

However, Lee Han didn’t have time to correct the misunderstanding. Since he’d met the Headmaster’s minion, he had to get as much information as possible.

“Is there anything the Headmaster is particularly wary of or paying attention to?” Lee Han asked.

The Death Knight wasn’t a fool. He could understand the meaning behind the students’ questions.

He said, “But I will answer you.”

“!”

The Death Knight continued, “Because once you know about Einroguard’s ironclad defenses, you’ll abandon the thought of smuggling.”

“Oh…!”

If the Skull Headmaster had heard, he would have retorted, ‘There are those it’ll work on and those it won’t!’ but fortunately, the Skull Headmaster wasn’t there.

The Death Knight explained, “The master has increased the number of Death Knights in preparation for the new semester. Knights who were patrolling other areas have also returned.”

‘Do they really have to go this far to check for smuggled goods?’ Lee Han thought, making a note of the number of Death Knights. Couldn’t they just do it with the existing personnel?

The Death Knight added, “Dimensional Hounds have also been summoned. They’ll be patrolling from the school’s main gate to the mountains, checking for any smuggled goods that might come over.”

“…Uh, do they usually check this thoroughly?” Lee Han asked, trying to sound casual.

The Death Knight replied, “Usually, it’s about once every ten years. After all, we have to call knights from other places… and Dimensional Hounds are quite troublesome fellows.”

‘Why does it have to be this year of all years?’ Lee Han thought, furious that he’d drawn the short straw in the periodically fluctuating smuggling difficulty. Couldn’t he have chosen a lower difficulty?

“What about the sky…” Lee Han inquired.

“Good question!” the Death Knight exclaimed. “The Bone Wyverns have increased in number. I didn’t think it was necessary to go that far with the sky, but the master is a thorough person. He seems to have judged that there might be someone among the students who would come over by air.”

“…!!”

This was a bit chilling. It could have been a coincidence, but Lee Han instinctively felt that the Skull Headmaster was targeting him.

‘No. Even after the vacation ended…!’ Lee Han realized the Skull Headmaster had been biding his time, trying to repay the humiliation of Lee Han escaping through the Spire Stables last year.

If he had tried to smuggle with Amur’s help without knowing this, he would have been in serious trouble.

‘It’s fortunate that I found out in advance, but it’s a painful loss that one of my methods is blocked.’ It was one of the few methods that only Lee Han, unlike his seniors, could use, but it was blocked.

But even if he was disappointed, there was nothing he could do. Lee Han resolved to hold off on the Spire Stables route until the Skull Headmaster’s vigilance eased.

“But aren’t there many outstanding magicians among the seniors? Is it possible to check all of their magic one by one?” Lee Han asked.

The Death Knight seemed bothered by this question and paused before answering.

He admitted, “We can’t… catch them all. But that doesn’t mean you should smuggle. Only a very small number succeed, are you really willing to take that risk?”

‘Yes…’ the students thought inwardly. ‘I am willing to take it.’

“Hearing that definitely makes the thought of smuggling a little less appealing,” Lee Han said.

“Really!” The Death Knight’s eyes lit up. He would be satisfied if his story could help prevent the students from making mistakes, even in a small way.

“Then that’s a relief,” the Death Knight said. “You’ll find out when you experience it this time, but it’s utter chaos. No student passes through the inspection quietly. They cast spells to confuse people, made loud noises, try to sneak away, and sometimes even start fights…”

“…Uh, fights?” Lee Han asked, surprised.

The Death Knight explained, “They probably think they can’t be put in the punishment room if they all cause a ruckus together! Of course, the master puts them in. The first week of that year, lectures were held in the punishment room.”

The seniors’ past was very interesting. Lee Han was very focused, wondering if there was anything he could refer to.

The Death Knight continued, “And this time, the Storekeeper will also come out to help with the inspection. No matter how outstanding the students’ magic is, it will be really difficult to pass through!”

Lee Han nodded. The Storekeeper could sense magic, and students who snuck out at night were very afraid of him. Lee Han had been in danger a few times as well.

‘Wait a minute. If the Storekeeper is outside doing inspections, what about the underground…?’

“Wodanaz?” the Death Knight asked.

“Yes?”

The Death Knight pointed ahead with a bewildered look. The senior, tightly bound, had tried to escape from the mansion’s outer room but was caught by the students and dragged back in.

The captured senior shouted, “Y-you bastards. How did you know? Who told you?”

One of the students replied, “Senior. Please stay still!”

Thud! As the door closed, Lee Han shrugged and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The Death Knight was speechless.