Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 748

The giants carefully lifted the members of the Kitchen Club onto their shoulders. Then, they brought forward the Mountain-Destroying Sheep. These were special sheep, known for their ability to find magic.

The Mountain-Destroying Sheep started to move, sniffing the air. It was searching for magic, and it was very focused.

Ikrusha, one of the giants, called out loudly, “-Find the place that feels closed in and bad!” to the other giants.

Giants were not wizards, but they had a strong, natural sense for things like magic.

They thought if Wardanaz was missing, it must be because of dark magic. They needed to find a place where this magic might be hidden, a place that would be hard for even giants to reach.

Rumble!

“What’s that sound?”

Meanwhile, the members of the Library Club, who were approaching from the other side, paused at the distant roar.

The vast Einrogard Mountains were fraught with all sorts of dangers, and one could not survive without paying attention to even the smallest noise.

“Sound, tell us what you are!” Sebius held out his hand and spoke a spell.

It was a magic that revealed the identity of the opponent through the sound.

“Sebius, what is it?”

Sebius didn’t answer. Sweat poured down his face. The other members of the Library Club looked at each other, worried.

What’s wrong with him?

“What is it? A mammoth?”

“It can’t be,” one student whispered. “It’s too loud… Could it be… the Mountain-Destroying Sheep?”

Another student scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous! Mountain-Destroying Sheep never come this low. If they did… well, it would be a disaster.”

As soon as the members finished speaking, a giant’s head popped up from below the hill.

And the Mountain-Destroying Sheep jumped and landed in front of the students.

“-You guys help too! A student is missing!”

The Library Club members struggled to grasp the situation.

Giants, Mountain-Destroying Sheep, and…

Other club wizards who had already been kidnapped?

“Why are you guys here?”

“Looking for a junior… What about you?”

“We’re also looking for a junior…”

“-Faster! We don’t have time for chatting! Are you wizards or slowpokes?!”

The giants were furious.

These wizards were leisurely chatting when they should have been hurrying.

“So-sorry.”

The students apologized for the giants’ scolding.

It was as if they had become uncultured and rude people.

I don’t know why the giants are helping with the search, but…

Whoosh-

“!”

Sebius’s eyes widened as he saw a large book flying into the sky.

That was Illeg’s flying artifact.

And riding with him is…

‘Other fifth-years?!’

The club members came forward because the newly joined junior was such a valuable talent, but why did the fifth-year students, who must be busy with their own research, come forward?

‘How many people have come to this mountain?’

* * * *

“Diret. Are you listening?”

“I get it! I said I’d help with the research! If you say it one more time, I’ll fill it up 100 times!”

“It’s only seven times now. Even if you say it one more time, it’s eight times.”

“You two. Don’t fight.”

Illeg stopped Yukbertire and Diret from fighting.

There was a lot to do in the future, and if the two fought, nothing would work out.

“Still, you’re amazing. To persuade Yukbertire.”

“It’s not exactly ‘persuading’ him,” Illeg said with a small smile. “More like… making a deal.”

Illeg himself was a member of the same Library Club and had been kidnapped while researching music magic, so he stepped up first, but Yukbertire, as expected of Verdu’s disciple, did not step up to rescue him just because he was from the same school.

In the end, Diret was able to bring him in only after promising to help Yukbertire with his research.

‘Should I just ignore Yukbertire’s complaints?’

“Wouldn’t it have been better to bring Caton too?”

“I was going to, but when I asked, he said he was missing again. I think he’s somewhere in the desert…”

If there was a fifth-year friend from the White Tiger Tower, it would have been quite helpful in this situation, but there was no way to force someone who wasn’t there to come.

Diret sighed and looked down.

The grayish-white mountains were peaceful, unaware of Diret’s inner thoughts…

‘…????’

Diret’s eyes widened at the sight of giants rummaging around with students.

“Yukbertire. Look down there.”

At his friend’s call, Yukbertire also sighed.

He was currently focusing on searching the area with her artifact, but he was calling her for no reason.

Anyway, Diret was too distracted for his outstanding talent.

“Diret. If you’re going to tell me to look at the scenery and change my mood again, stop it. I’m not a child who feels better when I look at the scenery.”

“Hey. Just look.”

He had shown her the scenery a few times to change her mood, but he had only heard, ‘How does this help with magic?’ so Diret had no intention of calling her because the scenery was pretty.

“…!”

“Giants!”

Yukbertire and Illeg were also surprised and looked down.

The giants were clearly searching for someone.

Even some Library Club members had been kidnapped by the giants.

“Everyone. Our club juniors have been captured. We must help!”

“Chaegla.”

Yukbertire called Illeg in a serious voice.

“Illeg, stop wasting time on students who aren’t talented enough. It won’t improve your magic skills.”

Illeg naturally ignored him.

“Diret, can you help us fight the giants?”

“I can help, but those giants… are my junior’s friends.”

“?”

“?”

When the two fifth-year students looked at Diret as if he was talking nonsense, Diret’s face turned slightly red.

“They’re real friends! They’re probably looking for Wardanaz.”

“How is that…?”

“Indeed.”

Unlike Illeg, who was interested in and curious about his junior, Yukbertire coldly recognized reality.

Yukbeltire didn’t care if his student was friends with a giant. Giants were only interesting if he needed them for his research. Asking about friendships was pointless.

“Then let’s exploit the giants’ instincts.”

No magic was perfect, not even the Great Wizard’s. Yukbeltire was sure there was a flaw, a weak point in the magic, that he could use to rescue his student.

Yukbeltire intended to follow the giants’ intuition.

“Yukbeltire, if the giant and our students find a way through the magic, how long do you think it will take until we can enter?”

“At least 1…”

“1 day??”

“1 month, what are you talking about.”

“No. We have to solve it within a day.”

“Dirette, magic doesn’t…”

“Do it!”

“Gack!”

Leehan flew backward.

This time, it wasn’t because the Mad Doppelganger attacked, but because the magic failed.

When it failed to maintain its form, the telekinesis scattered in all directions, sending Leehan flying.

‘…I see why people only use >Lesser Manipulation> type magic.’

>Lesser Manipulation>, with its output firmly restricted, wouldn’t cause much harm even if it failed.

But the moment one tried to increase the output greatly and wield it freely like Leehan was doing now, the risk of failure also increased greatly.

‘Shooting it out in the form of a shockwave works reasonably well, but maintaining it in the form of a whip and swinging it around is not going well…’

But it wasn’t all failures.

What surprised Leehan himself was that, quite unexpectedly, he was really well-suited to telekinesis.

In particular, the casting speed was practically complete.

“Strike!”

Bang!

With a condensed spell, compressed telekinesis slammed into the wall.

The speed at which he converted magic power into telekinesis, as well as the spell condensation, was surprisingly fast.

‘At this rate, I might even achieve chantless casting.’

Leehan didn’t realize it, but the trials he had endured throughout the past year were further blossoming his natural skill.

Moreover, the unique nature of telekinesis, which required casting purely with the mage’s mind without borrowing the power of other elements, was actually lowering the difficulty for Leehan.

Leehan was casting spells instantly. This was because of his powerful magic and focus.

He was close to achieving chantless casting. This was one of the hardest things to do in magic.

“Who are you?”

“!”

Leehan turned around in surprise when he heard a voice from behind for the first time.

It was a mage wearing a mask made of true silver and old-fashioned clothes not currently seen in the Empire.

Leehan raised his guard at the sight of the opponent, whose inner thoughts he couldn’t understand.

“He’s a new disciple.”

The Mad Doppelganger answered instead of Leehan.

Leehan was certain that he was being watched to prevent him from escaping, as the voice echoed inside the workshop even though there was no visible presence.

‘I’m glad I didn’t try to escape rashly.’

“Master. I dare to say a word. The students of Einroguard are certainly talented individuals, but most of them are unrefined gems. Can they really accomplish what you desire…”

Thwack!

A dark blade that blazed in the air was created and pierced through the mage’s body.

Antagondalus coughed painfully while offering words of apology.

“…I’m sorry, Master.”

“I generously loosened the polite words for a servant, and you’re trying to climb over me. Say one more word.”

The blade spun, tearing Antagondalus’s body apart once more.

Leehan was horrified to realize that the Mad Doppelganger had been relatively kind to him so far.

To think he would just stab someone for saying a single displeasing word.

‘Even if he’s a disciple, no, a servant, this is too much!’

However, Antagondalus himself didn’t seem to care much.

He pulled out the dark blade himself, then waved his hand to dispel the evil energy and seal the wound. Silver threads intertwined in the air, tightly stitching the wound together.

After roughly treating the wound, Antagondalus stared intently at Leehan from behind the mask.

“Are you alright?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The wound, I mean.”

“Ah. If I just know what kind of magic it is, it’s not that difficult to heal.”

Antagondalus’s voice sometimes sounded like a young man, and sometimes like an old man.

It sometimes felt masculine, but also feminine, and the race was even more ambiguous.

“Judging by your expression, it might have been too stimulating for an Einroguard student. Why? Are you surprised to be stabbed by your master in order to learn magic?”

“Honestly, yes.”

The Great Wizard chuckled from inside the mask, then cast a soundproof barrier to prevent the conversation from leaking out.

“What’s so regrettable about being stabbed by a sword when you wouldn’t regret offering your soul? It’s a trade. That monster is happy to have a servant who will support him, and I’m happy to extract pieces of old magic from that monster.”

At those words, Leehan realized that the other party didn’t regard the Mad Doppelganger as his master.

It was closer to a relationship based on deals where their interests aligned, so they joined hands.

‘It’s really hard to keep up with the way ancient mages think.’

“I saw the illusion you left in the forest.”

“Illusion?”

Leehan explained the illusion of Antagondalus pleading with and raging at the Mad Doppelganger.

Hearing that explanation, Antagondalus burst into laughter again.

“You saw that? You have great sensitivity, as expected of someone brought by the monster.”

“The illusion was a bit different from the appearance I saw directly, but…”

“That’s right. You saw the moment when that monster went mad.”

“??”

Leehan wondered what he meant by saying that the already mad Doppelganger could go even madder.

“There are times when that monster becomes more lenient. I was aiming for that and even put on a human face to appeal to his emotions.”

The Mad Doppelganger basically only focused on the honor he believed in, but very occasionally, he would become more lenient.

Antagondalus had aimed for that moment and appealed to his emotions, but he didn’t gain any particular benefit.

“Why does he become more lenient sometimes?”

“Haha! If there’s a moment when that monster weakens, I should take advantage of it. Why would I be curious about the reason?”

The magical criminal was satisfied with scraping together pieces of old magic by doing what the Mad Doppelganger wanted.

In comparison, Leehan couldn’t help but be interested in the fact that the Headmaster Skeleton’s Mad Doppelganger occasionally became more lenient.

‘Perhaps there’s a bit of sanity left.’

It was a glimmer of hope that was hard to overlook for someone in his position, who had to escape somehow.

“So, what did that monster order you to do?”

Leehan explained the task that the Mad Doppelganger had assigned.

Hearing those words, Antagondalus burst into the biggest laughter of the day.

“He’s a goner!”

“……”