Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 861

“A servant, you say!”

Gainan-do’s loud voice made Jo-woorin jump.

“J-Jo-woorin? He’s angry at me?”

“Of course, I’m angry! Who are you calling a servant! I’m a royal…”

“Grrrr!”

Ehandurrede, following Lee-han’s order to ‘be friendly with Jo-woorin,’ did exactly that.

He quickly attacked Gainan-do from the side, stopping him.

Gainan-do, surprised by the attack from a junior he thought was a friend, stumbled back and landed in a heap on the floor.

“You… you!? Don’t you know me!? I’m your senior! Hey! Ack! I’m your senior, I tell you! Lee-han! Lee-han!”

Lee-han! Did you see!? Ehandurrede stood up for Jo-woorin! Jo-woorin’s friend!

“Truly touching.”

“Lee-han?!”

Gainan-do screamed as his arm was twisted behind his back.

Was the only friend he could trust in this crazy room abandoning him?

“Ehandurrede, let him go. And Gainan-do, how could you lose to a first-year?”

“H-He attacked from a blind spot! And I was going easy on him because he’s my junior!”

“Grrrr.”

Ehandurrede’s eyes gleamed angrily, ready to attack again. Gainan-do quickly hid behind Lee-han.

Lee-han quickly held back Ehandurrede and spoke fast, trying to explain everything.

“…So, His Highness, the royal Jo-woorin, is visiting for the midterm exams. Gainan-do, will you keep it a secret?”

“Of course!”

“Thank you. Since he’s royalty, we need to treat him as well as possible, but this is Einroguard, so I’m a bit worried. There are so many crazy seniors, after all.”

“That’s right. Trust me, Lee-han. …Huh?”

Gainan-do, who had been pounding his chest and nodding, stopped.

Treat him as well as possible because he’s royalty?

“…Uh, Lee-han, I’m also a roy…?”

Lee-han heard a knock. Adenart, who had come to find him, cautiously entered when he saw the door was open.

His eyes widened at the scene.

“W-What is going on here…?!”

Oh? Is that Jo-woorin’s sibling?

Jo-woorin looked Adenart up and down, then asked, puzzled.

Lee-han was surprised.

“How did you know?”

I felt it, faintly! I thought it might be!

“Wow, Your Highness, you’re amazing!”

Jo-woorin, pleased by Lee-han’s words, puffed out his chest and flapped his small wings. A faint pink color rose on his cheeks.

‘Wait. Didn’t Gainan-do ask if he was a servant?’

Lee-han ignored Gainan-do’s question for now. He had more important things to do.

“Princess, listen. So, what I’m saying is…”

Lee-han repeated what he had just said.

Then he said seriously.

“Since you’re royalty, we need to treat you better, you see.”

“Indeed… Wait a minute, Wodanaz. I’m also royalty…”

Adenart felt slightly wronged.

He was also royalty, so why was Jo-woorin getting special treatment?

Professor Voladi waved his hand, and the extra desks and chairs in the room magically moved to the sides, creating a cozy space in the corner. Lee-han quickly added soft blankets and pillows, making a temporary nest.

Jo-woorin wagged his tail up and down, delighted.

It’s small, but it seems cozy!

“That’s a relief. Then…”

Lee-han, friends, servants, even a sibling! Coming to Einroguard was the best thing I ever did!

Gainan-do tilted his head and asked.

“Is Adenart a servant?”

“No.”

“…Hey! I’m not a servant, I tell you?!”

As Gainan-do shouted, Jo-woorin was startled and flinched. Adenart quietly advised.

“Hey, Gainan-do, be nice to the prince! You don’t want to get on his bad side, do you?”

“You! You’re just taking his side because you’re not a servant!”

“W-What… I will not accept being called that.”

“The insult is being called a servant! Just because you’re a dragon doesn’t mean you’re all that!?”

Jo-woorin became sad. Tears welled up in his eyes beneath his large vertical pupils.

Seeing that, Gainan-do hesitated, his heart softening.

“Ah, no… What am I supposed to do if you cry.”

Gainan-do kept getting angry at Jo-woorin…

“It’s because you called me a servant.”

But Jo-woorin needed a servant…

“……”

With tears in his eyes, Jo-woorin stared intently at Gainan-do.

Unable to resist that gaze, Gainan-do finally declared.

“…Agh! Fine! I’m a servant! A servant!”

“Yay!”

“He’s so annoying, Lee-han! If my mother had been a dragon, I’d be getting treated like royalty too!”

“…Gainan-do. Perhaps His Majesty the Emperor… No, never mind.”

“? ?”

It seemed Gainan-do didn’t know the Emperor’s race.

Lee-han didn’t want to shock his cheerful friend, so he let it pass.

Meanwhile, a head of red hair peeked out from the open doorway. It was Yoner.

“Why is it so noisy? Gainan-do, stop bothering Lee-han and come down and clean…”

Yoner stopped speaking. Professor Voladi advised his student with a serious expression.

“It might be best to tell your friends.”

Lee-han’s friends were visiting his private room far too often than he had expected.

Jo-woorin went to the second-year lounge. Lee-han’s friends saw him. They were shocked! ‘Is the Headmaster trying to hurt Lee-han with a dragon?’ one friend thought.

The next thought they had was, ‘Finally, Professor Beggurek has kidnapped a dragon and…’

After hearing the explanation, their thoughts were as follows.

‘It would have been cool if Gainan-do was also a dragon.’

Then it would have been much easier when fighting other tower students.

As his friends stared at him, Gainan-do grumbled.

“Yeah, I’m a servant. So what? Got a problem with that?”

“Ah, no. Gainan-do. We were admiring your hard work.”

“That’s right. You’re both royalty, but you gave up your pride and stepped up for His Highness. Honestly, I respected that.”

The friends quickly made excuses, afraid their true feelings would be discovered. Gainan-do seemed slightly happier by those words.

“Really?”

“Of course! Who else could take on the role of a servant like that?”

Gainan-do is an excellent servant!

“Heh. Heh heh.”

Make the fire in the fireplace a little stronger. Jo-woorin likes it warm.

“Understood.”

Gainan-do brought out firewood.

Stacking and drying wood cut from the forest was one of the chores students had to do.

It could be quite annoying since they had to fill up again as much as they wasted, but Gainan-do used the firewood a lot.

Feeling sleepy, Jo-woorin curled up, making a low whimpering sound.

The second-year lounge looked completely different. Blankets and pillows were piled in one corner, making a cozy nest. The smell of dragon food filled the air. It was a strange, unreal scene.

“I can’t believe I’m still getting surprised at Einroguard…”

“But what kind of exam is His Highness here for?”

“He has to compete against Wodanaz.”

“…Uh, so shouldn’t we kill him now?”

“Shhh. Be quiet. If Wodanaz is thinking of doing that, we need to make him even more relaxed.”

While the students were talking on one side, on the other side, Yoner was preparing the dragon’s meal with the alchemy school students.

“Ehandurrede, you’ve worked hard to come all this way. Take this.”

“Thank you!”

Ehandurrede happily accepted the bowl, delighted by the warm meal from Yoner, whom he hadn’t seen in a while.

“How’s your studying going?”

“……”

Ehandurrede avoided eye contact, his eyes fluttering. He still remembered the strict training Yoner had given him during the winter break.

“Mmmph mmmph mmmph.”

“Alright, eat and talk. …Ehandurrede, you’re not forcing yourself to eat just to avoid answering, are you?”

Asan, who was preparing things to make food with Lee-han next to him, asked, puzzled.

“By the way, Wodanaz, how can that first-year junior see us?”

First-year juniors couldn’t sense their seniors except in a few special (mostly Wodanaz) situations.

But how could that first-year junior…?

“Professor Beggurek cast a spell on him.”

“Wow. How kind.”

“Thanks to that, you’ll be punished if you get caught, you know? Can you really call that kindness? Asan, think again.”

“…Wo, Wodanaz. Are you angry at Professor Beggurek?”

Asan was taken aback by his friend’s serious tone.

Of course, his friend’s words were true, but it didn’t seem like Professor Voladi’s fault.

“Angry? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Asan. Thanks to that, Her Highness was able to visit the school, but I’m not angry at all. I have to worry about what kind of exam I should have with Her Highness, but I’m not angry about that either.”

“…Maykin! Maykin! I’ll boil the pot! Can you switch places with me!”

Asan quickly ran away.

He felt a sense of crisis that he might get hit if he stayed next to Lee-han any longer.

Lee-han, who had entered the lecture hall, yawned widely.

Dark circles under their eyes, yawning widely, slumped in their seats – the Blue Dragon Tower students looked like they hadn’t slept in days.

Taking care of a dragon in the lounge was harder than they thought.

Not only did they have to prepare a large amount of food for the dragon to eat, but they also had to control the temperature, humidity, lighting, and sometimes even sing songs.

Moreover, Jo-woorin only listened to Lee-han’s lullabies, and when other students sang, he shook his head repeatedly and hit the floor with his tail. When Gainan-do sang, he even threatened him with growls.

‘Music magic… seems to work even when taking care of dragons…’

Nilia tilted her head repeatedly, as if sensing something was wrong.

It seemed like something was going on only with the Blue Dragon Tower friends, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Hey, Wodanaz. Wodanaz.”

Nilia came next to Lee-han and called him in a whisper.

“Oh? Oh, Nilia.”

“What’s going on? Did something happen in the Blue Dragon Tower?”

“Something… Hmm. It’s similar.”

Lee-han looked at his dark elf friend and thought.

Should he tell her?

It wasn’t a matter of keeping secrets, but the moment she heard this, Nilia would have to suffer together taking care of the dragon.

It would be one thing if she was in the same tower, but asking that much of a friend from another tower…

‘…It’s a good thing.’

In Einroguard, the power of suffering together was stronger than the power of friendship. Lee-han sighed and said.

“Hoo. But this is a Blue Dragon Tower secret, so.”

“Oh?!”

Nilia listened closely and moved around excitedly.

A secret among friends that excluded her.

“I-Is that so?”

“I can tell you, but you have to help too. Hoo. But I don’t know if that’s a good thing. Of course, it’s not like it’s not rewarding, but…”

“Tell me. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll do it too!”

The cold and quiet hunter from the Shadow Patrol immediately replied. Lee-han smiled and said.

“Actually, there’s a dragon in the lounge. We’re taking care of it.”

“…Wodanaz. If you don’t want to tell me, just say you don’t want to tell me. I’m leaving.”

Nilia turned away, sulking.

Of course, there could be secrets even among friends, but at least the way of refusing should be sincere.

To refuse with such a silly lie!

“Ah, no. Nilia. It’s true.”

“Hmph.”

Before Lee-han could explain, Professor Thunderfoot entered and the lesson began.

The professor briefly explained the exam for next week and carefully explained how to make the >Dragon Scale Potion<, which was the topic of this week's lesson. "I'll say it again, you must be very careful when making this potion! The name of this potion is not because of its defensive power, but because of the very bad situation you'll be in if you fail. Never forget checking and changing the things you use, and pay special attention to the time you add the Risus potion! If you fail, you'll become like a dragon…" "It's a dragon!!!" "Don't make a fuss already, Bronze Head." The dwarf professor looked at the student as if he was pathetic. If you fail, you'll become like dragon scales, so there's no need to make a fuss as if a dragon has already appeared… "It's a dragon?!?!?!?" Professor Thunderfoot stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening behind his glasses. He slowly turned his head towards the window, his jaw dropping open. 'Silly beard, is it time for Einroguard to fall?' Professor Thunderfoot, having the same thought that the Skull Headmaster and Lee-han had once had, tried to understand what was happening. "If anyone has any idea about this situation, speak up." "I have no idea, Professor." Lee-han answered immediately. 'If Wodanaz doesn't know, then no one else knows. Is it Bendozol, perhaps?' Where's Lee-han? "......" At the dragon's thought-voice, Professor Thunderfoot glared at his student with a grim face.