Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 738

“One of the best things about Einrogaard,” Professor Bendozol said with a loud laugh, “is seeing amazing monsters! Haha!”

He kept talking, not noticing how his students’ faces were changing. Some looked worried, others confused.

Professor Bendozol was like that. One second he could be very angry, but just talking about monsters made him happy right away. His eyes would light up, and he would smile like a child.

The students looked at each other, wondering who should speak first.

“Now then, shall we go meet the Nightmare Weaver?”

“Professor,” Lee Han called out, raising his hand. Professor Bendozol frowned. It was clear he was not happy.

“Why?” he asked. “You don’t want to meet it, do you? How many chances do you pathetic humans get to meet a precious monster like the Nightmare Weaver?”

“Here…” Lee Han pulled a Sparrow Monster from his coat pocket.

It was the Nightmare Weaver, its dark fur still trembling from the poison.

Professor Bendozol was so shocked he couldn’t even speak. He just stared at the trembling Nightmare Weaver, blinking.

Nilia whispered, sounding excited, “Is he going to collapse from a heart attack?”

But Professor Bendozol managed to get over his shock.

“No… no… no way!” he cried. “Who did this to the Nightmare Weaver! You! You did this to the Nightmare Weaver!”

“Professor! Wodanaz didn’t do it!” Seeing the professor’s angry face, his friends quickly lied. They thought he might attack Lee Han if they didn’t.

Of course, professors had attacked Lee Han before, but they didn’t want it to happen again.

“Think about it!” one student said. “How could Wodanaz defeat a Nightmare Weaver?”

“We’re only second years!” another shouted. They felt more sure of themselves as they thought their lie sounded real.

It did sound strange that a second-year student could defeat a Nightmare Weaver and bring it along like this.

But Professor Bendozol had known Lee Han since the winter holidays.

“Shut up!” he yelled. “No second-year student in the whole Empire could do that!”

Lee Han was surprised.

He was the one who had defeated the Nightmare Weaver, but he thought, ‘Isn’t that a bit much?’

“I should have known from the moment you arrived first, unharmed by the evil spirits!” Professor Bendozol said. “That you would kill the Nightmare Weaver!”

“It’s not dead yet…” Lee Han said.

“Waaah! I’m sorry! It’s my fault! It’s my fault!” Professor Bendozol ignored the students and cried out to the Nightmare Weaver, tears running down his face.

He grabbed the Nightmare Weaver from Lee Han’s hand and began to check it over.

“Wait. This poison is…?”

Lee Han had to tell the truth. “Actually, my Basilisk bit it.”

“Is that so? Then there’s nothing to be done,” Professor Bendozol said, nodding as if he accepted the laws of nature.

The students stared at the professor as if he were completely crazy.

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Lee Han said.

“Yes, thank you,” Professor Bendozol replied.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” he shouted, “I was talking to the Basilisk!”

The Basilisk hissed, sounding angry. It thought the professor was an enemy threatening its master.

Professor Bendozol cried out desperately, like a wizard who had just seen the sky falling.

“I am not your master’s enemy!”

But the Basilisk kept hissing.

Professor Bendozol glared at Lee Han, tears in his eyes. He was furious.

“My… my precious student!”

“?”

“Who else could it be! You, of course!” The professor whispered angrily. Hearing the sound again, the Basilisk hissed again.

Professor Bendozol gritted his teeth at Lee Han, who didn’t notice. Now was the time to be patient.

“You, you are my precious student. Haha.”

-”

“Look at this. Haha. We’re close.” He didn’t want to touch such dirty humans, but Professor Bendozol put his arm around his student’s shoulder, acting friendly.

Even then, the Basilisk was still suspicious.

“Professor, how long do we have to do this?” Lee Han asked.

“Until the Basilisk stops being suspicious!” the professor growled.

Lee Han asked again coldly. A student in Einrogaard had to take advantage of situations like this.

“Then how about we all meet up before the next class and go together?”

“…You, you…!” Professor Bendozol was shocked by his wicked student’s suggestion.

Like a true human, he was terribly wicked!

As the Basilisk began to hiss again, the professor quickly agreed.

“Alright! We’ll all meet up!”

“How about you tell us what kind of animal we’re going to see ahead of time?”

“Son of a b… Fine!”

“Haha. We’re close.” Lee Han and Professor Bendozol smiled awkwardly, their arms around each other’s shoulders. Only then did the Basilisk relax and quiet down.

Professor Bendozol sighed. He had barely managed to remove the baby Basilisk’s venom with some potions and magic he had with him.

It was lucky that it was the venom of a Basilisk that wasn’t fully grown, and that the Nightmare Weaver was a strong monster.

If it hadn’t been a Nightmare Weaver, born in a place full of nightmares and spirits, it wouldn’t have been able to handle such strong venom.

‘Why is the venom of this cute little thing so strong when it hasn’t even fully grown yet?’ Professor Bendozol thought, looking at Lee Han’s sleeve with loving eyes. Lee Han hid his sleeve, looking annoyed.

“Now that the Nightmare Weaver has recovered a bit, I will start the lecture,” Professor Bendozol said.

“…Gasp! That’s right. It was lecture time?” a student said.

“I was wondering why we were doing this here,” another added.

The students, realizing it was class time, quickly got out their books.

Professor Bendozol carefully placed the Nightmare Weaver on the floor.

“One of the most beautiful things about this Nightmare Weaver is its jewel-like eyes,” he said. “When a living creature looks into these eyes, they are affected by powerful illusion magic…”

He warned, “When hunting Nightmare Weavers, be careful of their eyes. They have natural illusion magic. It’s dangerous!”

“When it flaps its wings, it releases many evil spirits! The way the colors change when light hits them is truly beautiful!”

He cautioned, “Be careful of the evil spirits that come out when the Nightmare Weaver flaps its wings. Be ready to deal with them.”

“If this creature stays in a forest for a long time, the number of ethereal monsters will increase. This is how it prepares to lay eggs! If we leave the forest as it is, this cute creature will eat the ethereal beings and turn them into eggs!”

He advised, “If a Nightmare Weaver settles in a forest, get rid of it as soon as you can…”

The students listened carefully to Professor Bendozol’s lecture.

To survive in Einrogard, you needed to know about all kinds of dangerous monsters.

If you didn’t know how to run away, avoid them, or where they lived, you wouldn’t last long.

Hunters usually know a lot about the animals they hunt. Professor Bendozol knew even more about monsters than most hunters.

“It seems sleepy. Let’s take a short break,” Professor Bendozol said.

Professor Bendozol gently covered the Nightmare Weaver with a magical blanket made of woven leaves. It was enchanted to give it energy.

As the professor came closer, Ethan quickly flipped a page in his notebook.

He hoped Professor Bendozol wouldn’t see the section titled ‘How to Hunt Nightmare Weavers’.

“How much time are you spending with the unicorn?” Professor Bendozol asked.

“Sorry?” Ethan replied.

“The unicorn! The unicorn!” the professor repeated.

“I visit it about once every two or three days…” Ethan answered.

“T-Two days! Th-Three days!!” Professor Bendozol looked like he was about to have a heart attack. The Nigisole priest next to him looked confused. Could he be afraid of dates?

“You must visit it five times a day, you cursed… cherished disciple!!” he exclaimed.

“That’s impossible. I can’t even visit the griffin that often,” Ethan said firmly.

Ethan didn’t move, no matter how angry the professor got.

If Ethan had actually done everything the professor told him to do, he would have had to master incantation magic in his first year.

“Don’t make excuses! Show me your class schedule!” Professor Bendozol demanded.

Ethan took out his schedule, looking doubtful.

Even if it was Professor Bendozol, it didn’t seem like he could find any extra time, but he was a professor, after all. Maybe he could see something Ethan couldn’t.

“……”

But Professor Bendozol couldn’t answer right away. He groaned and held his head.

Like a very complex puzzle, the schedule didn’t have any free time.

“This free time is… damn it. There’s a club. Then this free time is… griffin… this free time is… damn it, damn it!! Why are you taking so many classes!!” he complained.

The students behind him nodded without thinking. Luckily, Ethan didn’t notice.

“What’s this garden management here? Is it a class?” Professor Bendozol asked.

“It’s not a class, it’s taking care of Professor Ure-walk’s cabin,” Ethan explained.

“Then I’ll do this. Go see the unicorn at this time!” Professor Bendozol declared.

“…Oh, well, you could, but are you sure that’s okay?” Ethan asked, concerned it would embarrass Professor Ure-walk.

It would be embarrassing for another professor to visit his cabin to do chores.

“What! What’s the problem now!” Professor Bendozol asked, confused.

“No, it’s nothing. If you want to, Professor, I’ll give it up,” Ethan offered.

“What’s this >Visit the Evil Beaver> here?” Professor Bendozol asked, pointing at the schedule.

“Ah. I must have written it wrong. It’s visiting Professor Verdus’ workshop to prepare ingredients and do groundwork,” Ethan clarified.

“Is it a class?”

“Would that be a class?” Ethan responded.

“Then I’ll do this too, so go see the unicorn at this time as well!” Professor Bendozol said happily.

“!”

Ethan started to like Professor Bendozol a little.

He was going to visit Professor Verdus in his place!

“If you want to, Professor…” Ethan said.

Professor Bendozol somehow found any remaining gaps in the class schedule.

He removed any chore that could be replaced.

‘No way. Have I been doing this much work?’ Ethan thought, surprised each time something was removed.

He didn’t know there were this many.

Professor Bendozol, having barely made time for the unicorn, threw the schedule away and stood up.

“Now. Next is how to befriend a Nightmare Weaver,” he announced.

“B-Befriend it?” a student asked, shocked.

“I don’t want to befriend it…” Ethan mumbled.

Professor Bendozol ignored the students’ complaints, his face serious.

“Even if it’s a dangerous monster, it’s foolish to only fight it! A wizard must be able to make smart choices in any situation. Learning how to befriend a monster means understanding that monster deeply.”

“Indeed. It will be more helpful when hunting,” a student from the White Tiger Tower said.

Professor Bendozol glared at him, and the student covered his face with his notebook, terrified.

“The best way to befriend a Nightmare Weaver is with transformation magic. Luckily, there are a few animals that this creature likes. By next time, learn how to transform into one of these animals! Even if you can’t do it completely, you must transform at least your arm!”

“Professor. I don’t study transformation magic?” a student pointed out.

Professor Bendozol replied, “What do you want me to do about it? Go get a potion or a scroll. That’s also a wizard’s skill!”

“……”

The students, understanding the professor better now, talked among themselves instead of asking pointless questions.

“Small insect-type monsters, bird-type monsters… snake-type monsters are surprisingly okay too? It says they have a sense of familiarity.”

“I think a snake would be better than an insect,” one student said.

“Ugh. I hate both,” another replied.

‘A basilisk wouldn’t work, would it?’ Ethan wondered, thinking about what animal to transform into.

The 2-circle magic he learned last year, >Lesser Transformation>, changed a part of the body.

Since he had mastered this magic, it didn’t seem too hard to do what Professor Bendozol asked.

“Arm, become the forepaw of a beast,” Ethan said, testing the magic he hadn’t used in a while.

Bang!

Seeing his student’s arm turn into the head of a basilisk, Professor Bendozol wondered if he should just let him pass the class.

For the Nightmare Weaver’s safety, he really might have to.