Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 765

Gainando grinned. “See? I told you it wouldn’t take just one try!”

Raphael, looking subtly pleased even though he’d lost the bet, didn’t show it overtly. A small smile played at the corner of his lips as he thought, “Ha! Knew it!”

“What bet are you two talking about?”

Raphael answered hastily when a senior from another magic school asked, afraid of being seen betting during a friend’s magic practice. “Ah, it’s nothing. Just a question and an answer.”

“What are you talking about? You bet too!” Gainando exclaimed.

“Hey! Quiet down, will you? Can’t you see Lee Han’s trying to focus?” Raphael retorted playfully.

Lee Han glared at his friends. “Guys, please be quiet.” He was trying to concentrate on the newly learned magic, and their chatter was distracting.

“Tch. Because of Raphael,” Gainando muttered.

“Whose fault do you think it is?!” Raphael shot back.

Siana watched them argue, thinking, ‘If they keep this up, maybe I won’t have to pay out the stakes…’

“Ah, I’m not saying anything about the bet itself. I’m just curious how you predicted it,” the senior said. “How did you know he would succeed in one go?”

“Usually, Master Wodanaz succeeds in three or four tries,” Gainando replied.

“Y-yes, that’s right,” the friends chimed in, as if it were obvious.

Agdung felt a bit dizzy at the speed of the magic. ‘Three or four times?’ he thought. Surely they weren’t talking about magic far below their level… and there was no such thing as magic far below a second-year like Lee Han. Basic spells didn’t exist for him.

Gainando pressed on, seeing Agdung’s confusion. “Besides, remember when Lee Han was kidnapped by that crazy doppelganger of the Headmaster a while ago? That’s why I bet on one go.”

“Kidnapped by whom, for what???” Siana asked, puzzled.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Lee Han’s magical abilities increase when he’s in danger!” Gainando declared confidently.

Lee Han would grab him by the collar if he heard it, but Gainando was pushing his hypothesis anyway. The top student fearlessly completed spells he hadn’t mastered when faced with danger. Since he’d escaped the Headmaster’s doppelganger recently, that concentration should still be there. That’s why Gainando bet on one go.

‘…That makes sense?’ Yoner thought.

Lee Han would hate the idea, but it was plausible to his friends. He always showed a sharp, knife-like focus after danger.

“Done! Finally. And you lot are *still* chatting?” Lee Han asked, a bit exasperated as he approached. He had finished the rest of the area while Agdung was speechless.

Gainando quickly betrayed the senior from the other school. “Senior Agdung started it!!”

“Shhh. Be quiet, you brat,” Lee Han said, embarrassed, subtly glancing at Agdung. If Gainando was going to sell him out, he should have done it secretly, not in front of someone from another school.

“Senior Agdung, would you mind checking it?” Lee Han asked.

“O-okay… okay. Okay,” Agdung answered, half-dazed, and checked the mushroom field.

Suddenly, the words of the Callarogard students came to mind:

“-Senior, if you visit Einrogard, check out the black magic school.”

“-That’s right! We want to compare ourselves to the Einrogard students!”

The Callarogard students were sincere about black magic, even against Einrogard students. They would accept superiority with pride or a desire to improve.

‘…I should exclude Wodanaz,’ Agdung thought, sighing inwardly. He could almost hear the eager voices of the Callarogard students in his head.

Agdung decided to exclude Lee Han when he told them the story, worried their desire for improvement would be crushed.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: What kind of cursed idiot carelessly dumped pollutants?! The forest is being destroyed!!!

Iactus: Accept it. It happens often.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Accept what? Go to hell. You fifth-year fool!

Iactus: What… what?! Did you just say that?!

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Why don’t you accept it? This happens often, doesn’t it?

Iactus: Judging by how much you’re talking, your magic skills must be as good as your tongue. Want to fight?

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Good! Let’s meet in the Headmaster’s office! Come to the Headmaster’s office! I’ll be waiting!

‘The seniors’ fight is quite interesting,’ Lee Han thought, smiling slightly as he watched the chat.

Having finished with the mushroom field, Lee Han had retreated to the 7th floor village and was now watching >Einrogard’s Watchman< with interest. He remembered when Priestess Siana wanted to watch fights, and he'd worried, 'Didn't Priestess Siana become strange because of her year in Einrogard?' But now he understood a little. Interesting! 'Senior Beaver-Penguin-Fox cherishes the forest and has a bad temper,' Lee Han mused. A warning quickly spread among the 7th floor students: pollutants were pouring out and sweeping the area. In Einrogard, someone's accident causing a butterfly effect and rushing like a storm across the school was familiar. The seniors weren't surprised and evacuated to the inner village, but they were still angry. Some seniors were already venting, saying, 'I'll kill them if I catch them.' Perhaps Senior Beaver-Penguin-Fox was working in the 7th floor forest, gave up, and ran because of the pollutants. 'To say let's meet in the Headmaster's office...' Lee Han admired it as a good method. If he received a duel request, he wanted to use that method. Iactus: You ■■■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■… Gonadaltes: Why is it coming out as ■? Beaver-Penguin-Fox: It's for the honor of the Watchman Club. Magic filters vulgar words. More importantly, does anyone have information about the pollutants? I'll pay well. Lee Han's eyes widened with excitement at the Watchman Club member's words. A trade request! The price seemed good, judging by their desperation. Gonadaltes: What kind of information do you need? Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Anything that helps with extermination. Do you have any, Gonadaltes? Iactus: Don't sell it to that rude bastard, Gonadaltes! Beaver-Penguin-Fox: I apologize, Iactus. Telling you to go up to the 5th grade was too much. Iactus: Hmph. Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Everyone, contact me personally if you have information. I'll pay well. 'Hmm. They probably know magic like >Contaminated Ones, Begone!>, right?’ Lee Han thought.

Since the black magic wasn’t secret, they likely knew it. They probably wanted to exterminate the pollutants in the forest, but it was too large, let alone the mushroom field.

‘Besides, I should have cast it before coming,’ he thought.

Since the pollutants were wandering the 7th floor, the magic was impossible.

“Senior,” Lee Han said.

“Yeah, why?” Agdung replied.

Lee Han called out to Agdung, who was pretending to drink from an empty glass. They were in the >Hot Water and Cold Water< teahouse in the 7th floor Exile Village. Run by a 3rd year Black Tortoise Tower senior, it was almost identical to the outside teahouse, except the tea was made without tea leaves. "Could you explain more about the pollutants? Or how to exterminate them..." "Y-you! You're not thinking of exterminating them?!" Agdung shouted, surprised. The pollutants near the mushroom field were just the beginning. Outside the village barrier, there were dozens more. To try to exterminate them... Even as a Spirit Master's disciple, wasn't that arrogant? "Heh. Senior, Lee Han enjoys exterminating things at times like this," Gainando said. Lee Han winked at Yoner, who hit Gainando on the back. "I'm not trying to exterminate them, just curious," Lee Han clarified. "Even in this situation, you're curious?" Agdung's eyes glazed over. "No, just curious..." "Okay, I understand." 'I think there's a misunderstanding,' Lee Han thought, but decided to clear it up later. "First, those pollutants will disappear, right? The 7th floor has strong homeostasis," Lee Han said. Einrogard's main building was a magic realm with so many spells that even the Skull Headmaster couldn't grasp them all, but there were principles. One was homeostasis: it tried to recover and return to its original state, like the human body maintaining temperature. The building tried to maintain its essence. A seasoned black magician, Agdung realized the pollutants were being rejected by the magic flowing through the 7th floor. They couldn't last long. Like summoned undead without magic power, they would deplete and scatter. "I understand," Lee Han said. "The only way to exterminate them is to approach it from that direction. Other methods would take too much effort. Remember the wave you felt in the mushroom field?" Agdung asked. Agdung spread out a map of the area that Professor Taswhan had created. "There's a spring connected to the groundwater, right? Groundwater is easily contaminated by nearby magicians." Time would solve the problem, but if the source remained, pollutants would appear. Purifying the sources could shorten that time. "Indeed. Let me take notes," Lee Han said. Lee Han contacted Beaver-Penguin-Fox and listed what he'd heard. Gonadaltes: The homeostasis of the 7th floor's magic... time... method... source of contamination... groundwater... Beaver-Penguin-Fox: W-wait, wait a minute! Teacher! Just a moment! The other party was surprised, their handwriting shaking messily across the screen. The information was coming too fast. 'Who the hell is this???' Beaver-Penguin-Fox wondered, feeling a chill. Was it the Skull Headmaster? 'No way the Headmaster would patiently do this!' he thought, but every student secretly felt the Skull Headmaster was beyond their understanding. What if he was disguising himself to give despair and lessons...? 'But this is the information I need!' Beaver-Penguin-Fox thought. Having realized the attack late because he was researching outside the building, Gonadaltes' information was welcome. Gonadaltes: Don't interrupt. You're disturbing my writing. But you're really not going to exterminate them, are you? Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Huh? Gonadaltes: Ah, I wrote that wrong. Lee Han paused, transcribing Agdung's words. 'You're really not going to exterminate them' was what he'd said to Lee Han. "Don't worry, Senior," Lee Han said. "You seem to be asking in too much detail for academic curiosity..." Agdung looked at the Spirit Master's disciple with suspicious eyes.