Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 785

“Wait… there’s really a senior like that?” the junior asked.

“Huh? Yeah,” Carnella replied.

She thought her junior sounded a little excited. *Maybe it’s just my imagination,* she thought.

“Why haven’t I heard about him before?” Carnella asked.

“Because, like I told you,” the junior said, “he doesn’t like people and is a bit strange.”

“Are there only a few people who don’t like people in Einroguard?” Carnella said. “It’s not a bad thing. I think this senior just works hard and doesn’t waste time.”

“Professor Verdus is like that too,” the junior mumbled, “but no one likes him…”

“Hey! Don’t say that!” Carnella snapped.

“S-sorry, okay?” the junior stammered. “You took the Enchantment Magic course too, right?”

Carnella quickly remembered that her junior was also in the Enchantment Magic school and apologized.

Actually, wizards from the Enchantment Magic school didn’t get angry if you said bad things about Professor Verdus.

They got angry just hearing his name! They said it was bad luck to even mention him.

“…No. Senior. I couldn’t control my emotions. I’m sorry.”

“Anyone could be like that when it comes to Professor Ver. Don’t worry. This Hormash doesn’t care about such things at all.”

“Then, how about we prepare a gift before we meet that senior?”

“……”

Carnella felt a little annoyed.

*I’m a senior in Transformation Magic too,* she thought. *Why does only that strange senior get respect?*

If there was a large mountain range in the Einroguard territory, there was a small mountain range in the 7th floor area.

Even though they were small mountains, it was still hard for students to climb.

But fortunately, the students in the 7th floor area had prepared some ways to climb.

Rumble!

After getting into a minecart in the basement of an abandoned house, Carnella tapped the side three times.

Then, the minecart started moving quickly on the rails by itself.

The minecart rattled and bumped along the tracks. Darkness surrounded them, except for the faint glow of strange plants on the cave walls. Carnella could hear the drip, drip, drip of water and the creak of the old minecart.

“Living in an underground cave. He seems like a very frugal and simple person.”

“I-is that so…?”

Carnella looked at the thing her junior was holding carefully. She was surprised.

She wondered if she really had to give such a gift to the senior they were going to meet.

Tap!

The minecart stopped in just a few minutes. The surroundings were dark, showing how far down they had gone. All that could be seen were the faint lights of plants and minerals twinkling far away in the underground valley.

The minecart stopped, and Carnella stepped out into the darkness. Faint lights glowed in the distance, like tiny stars scattered across the black walls of the valley. Some were green, some blue, and they seemed to pulse gently.

Carnella, who had stopped in front of a large cave, reached out to Lee Han.

“Junior. Don’t move suddenly from here. You might fall into a trap.”

“Protecting his workshop thoroughly. He must have a strong sense of security.”

“…Senior Jarun! Senior Jarun! Hormash is here! Please open the door!”

No sound was heard.

Carnella cursed once and then shouted again.

“Senior Jarun! It’s lecture time! I’ll set this place on fire if you don’t come out!”

Still, no sound was heard.

Carnella spat and muttered.

“I have to do this every time I come here. Fierce flame, transform into a mouse and go inside!”

Carnella took out a bottle and whispered, ‘Fierce flame, transform into a mouse!’ A bright orange flame burst from the bottle, twisting and shrinking until it became a tiny, fiery mouse with glowing eyes. It scurried into the cave.

How much time had passed?

Gleaming flames, curses, and shouts burst out from inside.

“Hormash, you cursed brat! I’m going to claim damages!”

“Tell the professor! He’s the one who told me to do it!”

“The professor says he won’t pay!”

With a huffing sound, a short dwarf popped out from inside.

A short dwarf popped out of the cave. His beard was long and tangled, with singed ends. His clothes were dusty and patched, and he held a hammer-shaped staff tightly in his hand. The tips of his beard and hair were singed, as if he had been putting out a fire until just now, and the rest of his appearance was old and shabby, like a grumpy hermit.

This man was Senior Jarun from the Western Ironshoe Dwarf family.

Jarun held a hammer-shaped staff and looked around with rolling eyes. He looked around like he was afraid someone would attack him.

“Where are the others?”

“There aren’t any, Senior Jarun. I told you, I came because of the lecture!”

“Hmph. You’re saying that and trying to attack me to get my gold, right? Do you think I’ve only been tricked once or twice?”

Saying that, Jarun took a step back.

Some students at Einroguard would trick him. They would say, ‘Jarun, the lecture is starting! Come out!’ and then they would attack him and steal his gold.

Seeing that, Carnella muttered in an annoyed voice.

“He’s completely crazy. That senior. If he keeps going like this, he won’t be able to graduate and will stay a madman of Einroguard forever.”

“No. Senior. Senior Jarun just has a lot of scars.”

“…Junior, have you ever met that senior before?”

Carnella couldn’t understand Lee Han’s unusually nice attitude toward Jarun.

Until now, no student had been nice to Senior Jarun…

“No, I haven’t?”

“Then why do you like him so much?”

“I just respect him. Just like I respect you, Senior.”

“Hmm. It seems like you respect him more than you respect this Hormash, though.”

Carnella stared at Lee Han suspiciously.

‘He’s quick to notice.’

Of course, Lee Han liked the senior who hoarded gold more than the senior who checked the basilisk’s bowel movement cycle.

“Let’s hurry up and start the lecture.”

“…Tell them to study on their own today. I have something to do.”

“Are you going to the disciplinary room again?”

“So what if I do! Don’t bother me!”

Carnella could see that the senior would not listen today. She was annoyed and hit the wall with her stick.

“I came because of work too. Then let me in. I need to see what’s going on so I can at least explain it to the professor.”

“What? No way! You’re trying to steal my gold, aren’t you?”

“Ah, Senior Jarun! I’m not interested in your smelly rocks! You don’t even have a rat here! What kind of treasure is that? Do you think everyone loves shiny yellow rocks like you do?!”

Lee Han flinched slightly.

Jarun seemed to think there was some truth in Carnella’s words, and after thinking for a moment, he pointed at Lee Han.

“Who’s that guy? Who is he? I’ve never seen his face before. How can I trust him?”

“Sigh. Senior Jarun. He’s from the Wodanaz family. He’s taking all the courses. He’s the least interested in gold. He’s just a magic-crazed idiot!”

“……”

Lee Han stayed quiet, trying to make his face look as friendly as possible, even though he had a lot he wanted to say.

He wanted to go inside and take a look.

Zarun jumped back. Carnella’s loud shout had clearly surprised him.

“All… all the departments?”

“Yes!”

“Isn’t that guy crazy?”

Lee Han’s face tightened slightly. *Harsh?* he thought.

Lee Han felt a slight sting to his pride.

Carnella ignored Zarun and spoke up for Lee Han.

“You’re one to talk, Senior. Anyway, open the door quickly. We need to check what’s going on and report back.”

Zarun grumbled. He touched small stones on the tunnel wall, one after another, deactivating the magic spells with each touch.

‘What’s he muttering about?’

Zarun mumbled to himself as he worked on the spells. ‘That Hormash… maybe working with gold thieves…’

Lee Han pretended not to hear.

Finally, reaching the end of the tunnel, an iron door came into view. Zarun opened the door and went inside.

‘What is this…?’

Lee Han stepped inside and blinked. The space was strange. It looked like a wizard’s workshop mixed with a mine. Tools and glowing potions sat next to pickaxes and piles of rock.

On one side, small golems were mining ore with their equipment. The mined ore was loaded onto handcarts and taken to the workshop.

In the workshop, the carts were unloaded. Magic changed the rocks. They were crushed into powder and then mixed into bubbling liquids to pull out the good parts.

Zarun chanted, “Come together.” As he spoke, shiny metal began to form from the liquid where the rocks had disappeared.

Lee Han stared. Even he could see the metal was amazing. It shone brightly, without any flaws.

Carnella grimaced and muttered, “Ugh. Treating ore like children.”

Zarun retorted, sounding displeased, “Better than you treating ugly wyverns like children!”

“Are you crazy, Senior? How can you compare the cutest creatures in the sky to these lumps of rock??”

Lee Han asked cautiously, looking around the workshop, “Hormash, Senior. Does Zarun, Senior, do this every day?”

Carnella nodded. “He’s always doing this.”

‘Good heavens!’

He could see why Einroguard was said to be the most skilled at amassing wealth.

Einroguard was the Empire’s most prestigious magic school, but also the duchy with the most abundant reagents.

Lee Han thought quickly. *If you skipped class and just mined ore, you could become rich by graduation!*

‘I want to get close to this senior!’

Carnella clicked her tongue.

Carnella rolled her eyes. *A senior should be teaching juniors, not making them want to leave,* she thought, annoyed by Zarun’s strange behavior.

“Other dwarves make and serve moonshine to their juniors and feed them until they burst, but what’s wrong with you, Senior?”

Zarun retorted irritably, “That’s the eastern dwarves, you dimwit! I’m a western dwarf!”

Unlike the sociable, liquor-loving, and generous eastern dwarves, the western dwarves enjoyed quiet, solitary mining.

Of course, Zarun was a bit extreme even among them…

“Senior. I would like to help with the work.”

“What?”

Zarun was slightly taken aback by his junior’s sudden offer.

“You want to help with the work?”

“Yes. I have experience with transformation magic and alchemy from working in a workshop.”

“Hmph. You’re just a beginner. Try turning this into sand.”

Zarun took out a solid stone and held it out.

The rock-to-sand transformation spell was a simple, basic transformation spell, but it was enough to see how good the other person was.

The sand would show how good he was at magic. Good sand meant good magic.

Pop!

“…Not bad. Do you happen to know >Component Amplification< or >Component Transformation< magic…" "I do." "What's the most difficult potion you've handled when working in the alchemy workshop?" "I assisted in the manufacturing of Dobruk's Soul-Returning Potion." “…!!!” Zarun stared at Lee Han with an astonished look. A mere second-year student at this level? He couldn’t believe it. Lee Han's eyes widened. *So, taking charge of all the workshops isn't just for anyone... Zarun is really amazing!* "Zarun, Senior. So, what's keeping you from going to class? Tell me." "…Follow me. I'll show you." Zarun led the way. Zarun led them deeper into the workshop. On a workbench, glowing softly, was a golden sphere, about the size of a fist. "What is this… wait, it's growing?!" Carnella screamed in surprise. Carnella gasped. "You made gold?!" Zarun scoffed. "Don't be silly. Real gold? Magic can't just make it appear. Imperial magic can only make fake gold, or gold that disappears quickly. Gold is too perfect for that." Even if creating gold was impossible, bringing gold from another dimension was possible. Zarun had created a magic circle that constantly transformed and blinked through countless connected dimensions in short bursts, then secured the gold when it was detected. Even Carnella was impressed. "Wow, Senior! That's amazing!" "It's far from complete. There are many materials needed to build it stably. Today is the first time I've started it. So, you want to help me with my work?" "Yes!" Lee Han answered, filled with the desire to learn under this admirable senior. Zarun glanced at Lee Han and said. "I can't pay you, though?" Lee Han's expression changed suddenly. He had been acting nice to impress Zarun, hoping to learn from him and maybe even get a share of the gold. But the thought of working for free made him angry. He coldly straightened his face and glared at his senior.