Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 838

Fortunately, this time Saratan hadn’t dragged him away; he had simply collapsed.

Falling backward, Lee Han asked in a voice laced with despair, “Gaiandro didn’t catch me?”

“Well, not exactly… I propped you up,” came the reply.

“Lee Han!” Gaiandro trotted over, having been released from Lageesa’s magic and oblivious to the situation.

“I held Lageesa back!” he announced.

“?”

“??” His friends were puzzled by this newly revealed strategic objective, but Lee Han nodded calmly. “I see.”

Thwack!

“Ack!”

“Hey! You idiot! I was talking about the prophecy. What do you think you’re doing, touching me when I’ve collapsed?!” Lee Han exclaimed.

“…Well… it was… it was an emergency! Those White Tiger Tower blokes might have kidnapped you, Lee Han, and spirited you away!” Gaiandro defended himself.

-What kind of bloke is that?-

-Hey, you crazy prince! Why would we kidnap Wodanaz!-

-But it would be nice to kidnap him? From meals to magic lectures…-

-Shut up.-

Ignoring the White Tiger Tower students protesting from behind, Gaiandro continued his slander with all his might.

Thwack!

“We should be working together, not saying silly things!” Lee Han scolded.

“Ah… no… they all helped too…” The Blue Dragon Tower students who had brought Lee Han quickly averted their gazes.

Adenart alone was flustered, not knowing what to do. He had made the same mistake as Gaiandro, but since he hadn’t been told off, he felt even more guilty.

“Ri… right! Adenart helped too! Because of him, the misfortune must have doubled!” Gaiandro declared.

‘He’s my friend, but he’s quite a character,’ Lee Han thought.

The Blue Dragon Tower students were impressed. How could he blame someone else in that situation?

“I’m… I’m sorry, Wodanaz,” Adenart mumbled.

Thwack!

“You should have stopped him! You’ve heard the prophecy more than anyone else!” Lee Han retorted.

When he hit them with the changed wand, it made a much crisper sound than before.

Lee Han sighed deeply, his anger vented with three swats to the head.

“Alright, alright. What can we do about it now?” he asked.

‘Tch… why not do that before hitting me…’ Gaiandro grumbled inwardly. If you’re going to let off steam, why not do it before hitting me?

“Since it was an action to avoid the prophecy, the misfortune won’t double just because we broke it. It might already be over,” Tizling said, trying to comfort Lee Han.

They had to avoid contact with royalty to avoid misfortune, but now that they had experienced misfortune by contacting royalty, it was already over. A few more contacts with royalty wouldn’t multiply the misfortune.

Siana, who was listening from the side, tilted her head and asked, “I don’t listen to divination magic, but isn’t it true that some misfortunes are like a shower that ends once you block it, while others are like dark clouds that linger? In that case, wouldn’t breaking the prophecy add more misfortune each time?”

“…Thank you for the insightful point…” Tizling, who had been trying to comfort Lee Han by subtly distorting the truth, became dejected.

Lee Han also became dejected. Only then did Siana realize she had made a mistake and panicked.

“Ah, no! The misfortune might be all over!” she exclaimed.

“It might not be over. We met a Demon Archduke and a Spirit King, so… next, we might meet a dimensional monster,” Lee Han said.

“But the Spirit King was kind!” Siana protested.

“Priestess Siana, I wasn’t talking about Gwangmok,” Lee Han clarified.

“??”

Lee Han sighed lightly again and stood up. He didn’t know if the misfortune was over or if it would come rushing in due to additional contact, but he had to prepare to escape.

Since Gwangmok had promised and opened the dimension, the time outside had hardly passed, but he didn’t know what would happen if he exceeded the originally set time, from a sudden acceleration of time to, in the worst case, the disappearance of the dimensional gate itself.

“Everyone, let’s get going. Wait. Lageesa. Your magical flow is strange. Have you been drinking?” Lee Han asked.

“It’s a long story, you brat,” Lageesa replied.

Professor Inguldel was sitting with Caton, a fifth-year student from the White Tiger Tower, reading through the accumulated reports in a dusty room. The air was thick with the smell of old books.

“There is no need to help Jahan. Refine your swordsmanship,” Professor Inguldel advised, his voice kind but firm.

“It’s alright. I’ll help and practice,” Caton replied with a smile.

Caton of the Jahan family was quite famous among the imperial swordsmen, despite still being a student. He was rumored to be a genius who would succeed Zicklin of the Moradi family.

Professor Inguldel was aware of this and was quite interested in Caton.

‘It’s a pity,’ he thought.

As a zero-attribute student, there wasn’t much Caton could do to help the professor’s work. The skeletal headmaster was nagging him to do something, so he was helping Professor Inguldel with his work, but from Professor Inguldel’s perspective, he strongly wished that Caton would just focus on swordsmanship.

Isn’t the value of a swordsman in the sword, not in various chores?

“Hmph!” Caton swung his sword beside him. As the sword flashed dozens of times, a sprout bloomed in front of him.

“Haha! I did it! Professor! Did you see? If I practice ten thousand more times, I might be able to create a sapling!” Caton exclaimed, his eyes shining with excitement.

“……” Professor Inguldel watched Caton, his brow furrowed in a complicated mix of confusion and pity. He sighed quietly, the sound lost in the air of the practice room. He admired Caton’s spirit, but a part of him ached to see such talent used in such a… peculiar way.

Originally, each student had their own swordsmanship, and Professor Inguldel’s policy was to help them learn that swordsmanship, but not to arbitrarily change its direction…

Every time he saw Caton doing that, the words ‘Why don’t you just focus on swordsmanship?’ came up to his throat.

Professor Inguldel sighed inwardly and held back.

Caton must know that he could grow much faster if he purely devoted himself to swordsmanship.

It was a blessing when talent and desire aligned, but there was no need to follow talent if they didn’t align.

If Caton wanted to, Caton was entitled to go that way.

…Even if it was frustrating from the viewer’s perspective.

‘I should read the students’ reports,’ Professor Inguldel thought.

Professor Inguldel shook his head lightly and grabbed the reports submitted by the students. It often felt awkward to read these reports instead of swords, but this was also something he had to do as a teacher.

‘Come to think of it…’ Professor Inguldel felt a sense of bewilderment.

The students had submitted them much faster than expected, and everyone had submitted them.

‘Did they all move together?’

A smile spread across the scarred face of the elven professor. There was nothing he enjoyed more than seeing the students cooperate.

They were second-year students who bickered with each other, but they showed unity whenever they faced a crisis.

Professor Inguldel smiled contentedly, thinking that he had chosen the pop quiz well.

‘I should give exams like this again in the future.’

Professor Inguldel paused as he picked up the reports one by one and checked the names.

“…??”

Hello, Professor Inguldel. I don’t attend the lectures, but I’m leaving this because I feel unfairly treated for the hard work I did. I would appreciate it if you could let me know if there is anyone who wrote worse than me. -Gaiandro

Surprisingly, even students from other towers who didn’t attend the lectures submitted reports.

Professor Inguldel checked the names as if he was dumbfounded. There were about six or seven people, not just one.

‘…How many people went?’ He was embarrassed, wondering if all the second-year students had gone.

Professor Inguldel looked for Wodanaz’s name. In times like these, it was best to look at the report of the most reliable student first.

5 days with Gwangmok, the Arrogance Duke, the Spirit Suppressor, the Gambling Victory King, and the Admiral of the Southern Privateer Fleet. -Lee Han Wodanaz

“……” Professor Inguldel wondered if he should refrain from giving such assignments for a while in the year when the boy from the Wodanaz family was present.

“Senior. Could you take a look at the shape of this wand?” Lee Han asked Yucbeltire in the lecture hall.

“It’s too classic,” Yucbeltire frowned, a rare sight, when he saw the branch-shaped wand that Lee Han had brought.

This was a wand style that was really only used in the past.

“Are there any other disadvantages besides that?” Lee Han inquired.

“There’s a reason why classic styles are classic. Of course, there must be a reason. But, junior from the Wodanaz family,” Yucbeltire paused for a moment, then stared intently at Lee Han with his blue eyes.

“You seem different from usual.”

“Ah. Is that so?” Lee Han said from the opposite side of the lecture hall, as if surprised. Because he was speaking with magic power, it sounded loud and clear even from a distance.

Yucbeltire stretched out his finger as if asking what he was doing. “Come over here and talk.”

“No, Senior. I have a contagious disease,” Lee Han replied.

“A contagious disease?” Yucbeltire asked, surprised.

“Yes. The black magic school is prone to contagious diseases,” Lee Han explained.

“Well, Dirett was like that too,” Yucbeltire nodded.

Lee Han, who had brought anything he could find to avoid contact, suddenly felt sad.

“Interesting,” Yucbeltire commented.

“Are you saying that I have a contagious disease?” Lee Han asked.

“Yes. What kind of contagious disease is it?” Yucbeltire asked. He wasn’t very interested in healing magic or that side of alchemy, but he was curious about a contagious disease that even a junior with so much magic power could get. What kind of magical disease could break through that magic power?

“Well… it’s roughly a disease that the Arrogance Duke and Gwangmok combined forces to create,” Lee Han explained.

“Really? Show me,” Yucbeltire said as he approached. Lee Han quickly stepped back, putting up a telekinetic barrier around him.

“Junior from the Wodanaz family. If you’re worried about passing on the disease, you don’t have to worry. I’m wearing a defensive artifact,” Yucbeltire assured him.

“Indeed. But this disease breaks through all of that,” Lee Han countered.

“I’m even more curious. Show me,” Yucbeltire insisted.

“Wait. Tell me the disadvantages of the wand first. Why did you recommend putting a branch I mentioned last time inside the core and wrapping it with black obsidian?” Lee Han asked.

Yucbeltire was curious about what kind of disease the Arrogance Duke and Gwangmok had combined to create, but he held back and explained it first. “Because it’s the most efficient.”

“Are you saying that this isn’t efficient?” Lee Han asked.

“That shape is specialized for ancient magic. That’s why it’s classic. There’s no need to take a loss when using current imperial magic,” Yucbeltire explained.

“……” Lee Han realized what he meant and his face hardened.

‘Seriously, that Black Book bastard?’ he thought. Even so, he should match the style of the students learning magic these days. Why would he match the old style wand to his old magic book? He was shamelessly brazen.

“I can’t change this shape, can I? Even more so if there’s a sealed Spirit King inside?” Lee Han asked.

Yucbeltire stared in silence instead of answering. Lee Han could read the meaning, ‘How can you, Dirett’s junior, ask such a foolish question?’

“I understand,” Lee Han said.

“Okay. Then, about the contagious disease…” Yucbeltire began.

“Then I’ll see you next time when I put in the black obsidian. Goodbye, Senior!” Lee Han quickly opened the lecture hall door and ran out. He heard someone calling from inside, but he ignored it as if he didn’t hear it.

I got the branch. It’s a matter of course.

“…Master. Do you know the word ‘well done’?” Lee Han cautiously asked the crazy doppelganger who appeared without being called and praised him.

The crazy doppelganger sneered. I also know the word ‘pathetic’. Commoner. Don’t try to be praised for something obvious.

“……” Lee Han wasn’t someone who craved praise, but he wanted to hear at least one word of praise after safely escaping from Gwangmok -> Arrogance Duke -> Spirit’s Evil Suppressor -> Gambling Victory King.

‘Am I asking for too much?’

Tell me what happened.

“Yes. This happened…” Lee Han accused the Black Book of using his body to unleash evil magic.

‘Wait. Come to think of it, does the crazy doppelganger know what kind of magic these are?’ If it was magic created before the separation, there was a high possibility that he knew.

“Do you know what this magic is?” Lee Han asked.

Yes. Dendrobium is a tree that royalty used to raise.

“…You raised a tree that absorbs people’s essence???” Lee Han asked, shocked.

…It’s magic to nurture that tree. Commoner.