Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 771

“Surely, you don’t think I spread the poison, do you?”

At least, Ethan was glad he hadn’t caused the Toxic Swamp on the sixth floor…

Even if he hadn’t caused the Toxic Swamp, Ethan knew the Black Magic School’s Defense Cloak would sell well. It was a guaranteed hit.

“Of course not, Wodanaz.”

Ogoltos agreed, winking.

“You’re not just pretending to disagree, are you?”

“Oh? Wasn’t I?”

“No, you weren’t.”

Ethan replied seriously.

What did they take him for!

“Who would do such a thing?”

“Last year, Dirett and Cohorti seniors spread poison together and blocked off the area, remember?”

Come to think of it, the Black Magic School seniors had indeed spread poison in the corridors to help Ethan hide the giants underground.

Ethan regretted what he had just said.

‘Hmm, you never know what people might do.’

“Anyway, it wasn’t me this time.”

But the other Black Magic School students looked like they didn’t believe him.

Annoyed, Ethan gathered his colleagues.

“That’s not important right now.”

“Ah, right. We need to make more cloaks. It would be easier if the professor helped us.”

“Professor’s vanished. Ran off, I bet.”

“Should we call Senior Dirett then?”

Ethan tapped the floor with his wand. The students of the Black Magic School looked at him, puzzled.

“First of all, don’t even *think* about calling Senior Dirett.”

“Oh. Why?”

“Just don’t call him, you brat.”

Gainando flinched and stepped back at Ethan’s anger.

‘I was just asking…!’

“The cloak production can continue as soon as the dyeing process is finished. I’m not talking about something that obvious.”

“Then?”

“We need to sell something else, *right now*! Senior, don’t you get it?”

“I, I don’t get it. What is it?”

Ogoltos was slightly overwhelmed by Ethan’s momentum.

When money was involved, Ethan became very serious, even more than professors or senior students.

“Antidote-related items! If we sell them at a lower price than the cloaks, they’ll be competitive enough.”

Just because cloaks were being made and selling well didn’t mean they should only sell cloaks; that was a foolish idea.

He didn’t know who had unleashed the Toxic Swamp, but now that the opportunity had come, he had to make the most of it.

“What? So you’re saying we should sell antidote potions or anti-poison liquor?”

“That’s right.”

Antidote potions that temporarily prevented poisoning or anti-poison liquor that blocked the approach of poison.

These were essential items for adventurers exploring dungeons, but not so much for Einroguard students.

As he said, unless they were really high-performance, there was no reason for students to spend a lot of money to buy them.

They could just find and learn how to make them themselves!

“Would people buy something that’s not very good? I think they’d just make it themselves or buy something better.”

“Senior!”

“??”

“Students from other schools don’t know much about black magic!”

“……”

“So, let’s not assume that students will deeply consider black magic items. If we just advertise that they’re good, everyone will believe it.”

Ogoltos looked sad as he realized the truth.

Now that he thought about it, it seemed that students from other schools wouldn’t have the ability to distinguish between easy and difficult black magic.

They weren’t even interested in the first place…

“Wodanaz, just one more thing.”

Agdung joined the conversation.

“What is it, Senior?”

“I heard the Toxic Swamp did burst on the sixth floor. But some parts aren’t very toxic, and there’s a lot of empty space. People say it’s easy if you know how. Will anyone really buy our potions?”

“Hmm.”

Ethan listened to the advice from the senior who came from Callarogard and fell into thought.

Then he opened his mouth.

“I think you’ll have to help with that, Senior.”

“Me? I can help with anything, but what can I…”

“Everyone, listen up! I came from Callarogard!”

“Callarogard? That’s a black magic school, right?”

“That’s a relief. If it were Baldroguard, I would have thrown stones.”

The students who were going back and forth on the seventh floor stopped and listened when they saw the Callarogard student.

What were they going to talk about?

“A toxic swamp has burst on the sixth floor, and it’s a really dangerous swamp!”

“How is it dangerous?”

“…It’s really dangerous!”

“So, how specifically? Does it restrict the use of certain elements, or does it interfere with mana manipulation…”

“It’s more dangerous than that!”

“???”

Agdung didn’t really answer. He just waved his arms wildly.

“Don’t go down to the sixth floor for a while, but if you really have to go down to the sixth floor, buy antidote potions from the students of the Black Magic School over there! There’s also anti-poison liquor and defense cloaks!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a boy with golden hair ran over and collapsed.

“Kugh… poison, poison…!”

“Oh no! Drink this antidote potion!”

The students of the Black Magic School hurriedly ran over, propped up the fallen Gainando, and fed him the potion.

“Everyone, did you see that!”

Agdung was glad he was a skeleton. Skeletons don’t show embarrassment!

“It’s dangerous to go down to the sixth floor without any preparation!”

The students buzzed, discussing the information they had just heard.

-Is the toxic swamp that bad?

-Who burst it, anyway? Could it be the Black Magic School?

-Nah. If the Black Magic School burst it, would they have prepared antidote potions like that? They would have been spreading it more.

-Looks like a wizard from Callarogard came and prepared it together. They usually don’t do things like that.

“……”

Ethan wore a sullen expression as he listened to the buzzing conversation.

It was fortunate that he wasn’t suspected of staging it, but it was a bit sullen that he wasn’t even suspected at all.

What kind of image did the Black Magic School have until now that they didn’t even think they would sell such potions?

‘They even think Senior Agdung prepared it!’

“Give me a potion.”

“Ah. Yes. Here you go. Thank you.”

“I didn’t know the Black Magic School would do something like this. You’re doing a good thing. I support you.”

“Yes…”

“Are you doing this because you feel pressured by the person from Callarogard?”

“No. It’s just something we can do…”

“What are you talking about? You guys were originally the ones who spread more poison.”

“…Actually, there was someone named Cohorti in our school, and he was the one who led it. Now that he’s graduated, we’re going to do things like this too.”

The students bought the potions. They were a little unsure, but also a little hopeful.

The price was okay for Einroguard, and it was good to be prepared for the sixth floor.

“Gainando, can you go over there and pretend to collapse again in 30 minutes?”

“Hehe. I understand.”

Gainando was making fake poison next to Ethan, researching how to make it look more realistic.

Since they were all excellent wizards, they had to show proper symptoms of poisoning.

“Senior Agdung, thank you. We wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without you.”

“Y-yes.”

He definitely wanted to hear the words ‘We wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without you’ from a student from another school…

‘Why don’t I feel strangely happy?’

All weekend, Ethan, along with the students of the Black Magic School, filled the vault and changed their image.

It was so surprising, it was even in the Einroguard news.

Iactus: Did you hear that the Black Magic School is selling antidote potions instead of poison?! Why are they doing such a thing!?

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Apparently, a graduate named Cohorti used to ban the sale of antidotes to maintain the power of poison.

Iactus: That’s terrible!

“……”

Ethan decided to apologize to Senior Cohorti later and continued to organize the vault. The sun, heralding the start of a new week, was slowly shining from outside the windows of the Black Darkness Hall.

‘Anyway, that’s a relief. This income needs to be maintained.’

This income was enough to fill the vault even after the participating students divided the labor costs.

The problem was whether they could maintain this.

‘Let’s not worry about it yet. There will be another opportunity next time.’

If a new curse bursts or an undead disturbance occurs…

…Of course, Ethan had no intention of causing it himself. He was just slightly anticipating it!

“What are you doing there?”

“!”

Ethan was startled.

The most pitiful fifth-year student from the Black Magic School was opening the door to the Black Darkness Hall and entering.

“Hello, Senior Dirett.”

“Why are you up so early… didn’t you sleep?”

“What about you, Senior?”

“Well, I…”

“Me too…”

“……”

“……”

The two simultaneously pitied each other greatly in their hearts.

“I was organizing what I worked on over the weekend.”

“What kind of work did you do?”

“I made and sold items with the help of the professor and other students.”

“…Did they sell?”

“Yes. It was quite successful.”

“I see…”

Dirett didn’t believe his junior, but he didn’t bother to press him.

What was the point of adding more to a sad story?

“Here, have some coffee.”

“Thank you.”

“What is that?”

Ethan was puzzled as he looked at the cup Dirett was holding.

Why did he feel poison from the cup?

“Belgarung’s ‘poison’. It’s really bitter, like strong coffee, so it wakes you up.”

“…Why don’t you just drink coffee??”

“Hey. Coffee beans are expensive.”

Dirett grumbled but accepted the hot tin cup.

Where else in Einroguard could you find a junior making coffee for a senior?

Usually, they would steal the senior’s coffee beans…

“Wait a minute. If you borrowed the professor’s strength, why didn’t you call me?”

“The professor told me not to call you?”

“…I would have let it go if I hadn’t had coffee yet, but the coffee is waking me up. The professor would never say such a thing?”

‘I shouldn’t have given him coffee.’

Dirett shook his head.

It was the evil professor’s fault, not the kind junior’s.

“What are you taking for your morning class today?”

“There might not be one.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Yes. Actually, there is. It’s >Sword and Life>, and since it’s Professor Ingerdel’s lecture, it’ll be relatively good…”

“That’s not Professor Ingerdel’s lecture.”

“Yes?”

“Give it to me.”

Dirett took a sip of coffee and looked at Ethan’s lecture list, then nodded.

“Junior, this lecture is not Professor Ingerdel’s.”

“Then who is teaching it?”

There were many wizards in Einroguard, but surprisingly few excellent swordsmen.

“Catton from the Jahan family. A fifth-year from the White Tiger Tower.”

“!”

Ethan was slightly nervous when he heard the words ‘fifth-year from the White Tiger Tower.’

After all, the White Tiger Tower and the Blue Dragon Tower had a long history of conflict.

“What kind of person is he?”

“Jahan? That guy is…”

‘Is he a master of enhancement magic? Or maybe another type of magic.’

“…the dumbest person in Einroguard.”

“???”

Ethan wondered if he had misheard Dirett’s words.

“Yes?”

“He’s dumb.”

“He can’t be dumb if he’s in fifth year. Oh, I get it. You mean he’s dumb *compared to you*, Senior?”

“No. He’s just objectively dumb… Junior, you’re a student from all the schools, right?”

“Yes.”

“Jahan is like this.”

Dirett made a circle with his finger.

“You mean Senior Catton is also a student from all the schools?”

“No… he failed every subject. He’s terrible at everything.”

“……”