Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 879

Professor Voladi cleared his throat, pausing for a moment before speaking. “You’re doing very well with your advanced magic skills…”

“Oh, and speaking of other things,” he continued, his tone shifting slightly, “Professor Bendozol mentioned you’ve made a contract with Byul?”

Professor Voladi’s eyes narrowed, his gaze sharp and questioning as he looked at Leehan.

“This isn’t fair,” Leehan thought. Even if he had chosen to make a contract with Byul, Professor Voladi had no right to look at him like that. It wasn’t Professor Voladi’s business.

“With this much, you’ll master fire magic in no time, wouldn’t you agree, Wodanaz?” Professor Zorcik asked with enthusiasm.

“I’m not confident.”

“Look at him! So humble,” Professor Zorcik exclaimed. “With such outstanding talent and humility, he will master the advanced attributes of the fire element in no time.”

Leehan’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Leehan blinked. Had he accidentally said ‘Of course, Professor, it’s easy!’? He was sure he’d said, ‘I’m not confident.’

It was a common thing with professors, this habit of hearing what they wanted to hear. It seemed to be part of becoming a professor.

“Perhaps Student Wodanaz is already prepared,” Professor Zorcik continued. “Just like how he finishes other exams in advance, he is trying to surpass Zorcik’s exam as well.”

“Absolutely not.”

Leehan firmly denied it.

He hadn’t even touched the advanced attributes of the fire element. He had too many other things to worry about.

However, the two professors ignored Leehan’s words.

He was such a humble student that any modesty he expressed was meaningless.

Professor Voladi’s brow furrowed as he considered this, his eyes distant as he recalled Wodanaz’s past successes.

“Perhaps that’s the case,” Professor Voladi murmured.

Leehan felt like he’d stepped into a completely ridiculous play. “Stern words, my foot!” Leehan thought, feeling betrayed. Professors, after all, were fundamentally untrustworthy beings.

A voice, sharp and cold as ice, echoed in Leehan’s mind. “To overcome professors as a student, one needed more power… Power was needed.”

Leehan jumped, his hand twitching so violently that his wand nearly slipped from his grasp.

“What… what did you just say?”

The mad doppelganger’s voice dripped with impatience, a low growl in Leehan’s mind. “I said your power is needed, you wretch.”

He still remembered how Leehan had spouted nonsense about ‘Can’t I just master ten 5th circle spells?’ when he had told him to awaken the ultimate magic and eliminate the bloodshed and scars of the continent.

“Ah, are you talking about Master?”

Yes.

“Master?” Leehan asked aloud, then quickly thought, *Oh, thank goodness, he’s talking about the Headmaster.* For a terrifying moment, he’d thought the mad wizard was about to offer him dark power to get back at Professors Voladi and Zorcik. And, he had to admit, for a split second, the idea had been tempting.

“No… Master needs my power? I don’t know if I’ll be of any help…”

The mad doppelganger’s magic was legendary, whispered about in hushed tones even among the most powerful wizards. Leehan knew, with a certainty that chilled him, that this being was on a level far beyond any archmage in the Empire.

And yet, such a mad doppelganger needed Leehan’s power. He couldn’t even guess what it was for.

Leehan’s mind raced. *Intruders? Here?* He almost laughed. The irony wasn’t lost on him – wasn’t the mad doppelganger himself technically an intruder in Einroguard?

‘More than anything, the exam is next week.’

That would have been the case normally. But the situation has changed. Intruders have entered the territory, so we need several hands to respond.

“!?”

Leehan was even more surprised.

Intruders?

“Who are the intruders? More importantly, I’ll call the Death Knights.”

Those knights cannot be trusted. They are blinded by false loyalty to the dregs.

‘That’s too harsh.’

Furthermore, the knights will not have the spare capacity to protect the royal workshop because they are busy guarding the insignificant trainees of the territory. Even if they do step forward, the royal family will not allow it.

Leehan felt a sense of incongruity as he listened to the story.

It was natural that the Death Knights couldn’t protect the mad doppelganger’s workshop because they were protecting the students. In the first place, wasn’t the mad doppelganger himself an intruder?

If the Death Knights said, ‘Well, we will protect the master’s doppelganger as well since he lives in the territory,’ the enraged Headmaster Skeleton might lock them in the disciplinary room forever.

The incongruity Leehan felt was in another part.

Wasn’t he stating definitively that the intruders were targeting the mad doppelganger’s workshop, not the Einroguard main building?

Even though the territory was vast, it would require enormous preparation just to cross the barrier. After all that trouble, were they specifically targeting the mad doppelganger’s workshop instead of the Einroguard main building?

“Wouldn’t they target the main building? Rather than Master’s workshop?”

Wrong. They’re after something… smaller. And much furrier.

“…Pardon?”

Ah, I forgot to mention it. I transformed the slave into a hamster. The shabby appearance was disgusting to look at.

The mad doppelganger gestured towards a corner of the workshop, where a cage sat almost hidden in shadow. Inside, a tiny hamster with bright, beady eyes scurried on a wheel, its tiny paws a blur of motion. It was almost comical, until Leehan remembered the chilling words: ‘the hamster.’

Leehan stared at the hamster, then back at the mad doppelganger, his mouth slightly open in disbelief. *That* cute little thing? Antagondalus?

“So… you mean… that hamster…”

His comrades have come to rescue him.

“Aha!”

Leehan finally understood the situation completely.

If Antagondalus’s comrades had come to rescue this magical criminal, it made sense that they wouldn’t be interested in the main building.

It was natural that the Death Knights weren’t actively involved. Why would outsiders interfere when other outsiders were fighting?

“Master, I…”

Leehan paused as he was about to politely decline.

“Wait a minute,” Leehan thought, a new wave of panic washing over him. “If that hamster-criminal gets out… he might be angry at *everyone* who saw him like this. Including me!” The thought of a vengeful, hamster-sized criminal was almost funny, but also genuinely unsettling.

“…Of course, I have to go and help. Magical criminals must be locked in a wheel, no, a cage forever.”

I knew it.

The mad doppelganger nodded with satisfaction, as if he was certain that his disciple would come to help his master.

Professor Zorcik leaned forward, his eyes gleaming with curiosity as he listened to the exchange between Leehan and the disembodied voice.

“Wodanaz, any chance I could tag along?”

“Yes? Why on earth would you want to?”

Leehan blinked, completely surprised. “Professor? Why would you want to…?”

He was making all sorts of excuses to avoid it, but he was trying to visit directly.

Moreover, given the mad doppelganger’s personality, he might treat the Einroguard professors as minions of the Headmaster Skeleton and attack them.

‘Could it be because of the headmaster position?’

He knew that Professor Zorcik was interested in the Einroguard headmaster position, but he never thought he would try to contact the mad doppelganger.

Thinking this was wrong, Leehan was about to say firmly.

“Professor. You…”

“It’s not often that you get to meet and talk to an ancient archmage. Furthermore, if it’s the headmaster’s doppelganger, isn’t it generally impossible to have a conversation?”

The Headmaster Skeleton’s doppelganger was usually just a force of nature, not someone you could talk to. But this one, for some strange reason, had decided to teach Wodanaz.

Therefore, it was a natural reaction for a wizard to want to meet him and gain wisdom.

“…Ah, I see.”

“But what were you about to say just now, Student Wodanaz?”

Leehan swallowed hard, forcing a smile. ‘Oh, nothing, Professor. Just… wondering if we should bring snacks.’

Come to think of it, it was natural for Professor Zorcik to have academic desires as a wizard.

“I’ll ask too.”

Professor Voladi, who had been listening, also opened his mouth.

“Do you also have magic you want to ask about, Professor?”

“No.”

Leehan stared at Professor Voladi, his jaw dropping slightly. *Teaching methods? Seriously?* He almost choked back a laugh.

“…Uh, then why are you going with us?”

“I’m going to point out the teaching methods.”

And so, with a strange mix of apprehension and curiosity, the group followed Leehan towards the mad doppelganger’s workshop, the air growing colder with each step.

The workshop loomed before them, a dark, stone building that seemed to hum with unseen magic. It looked both ancient and unsettling.

“Welcome, Descendant of the Dragon Lords,” the mad doppelganger’s voice boomed, surprisingly formal. “My home is your home, and all I possess is yours to command.”

Leehan’s jaw dropped. He blinked, staring at the mad doppelganger, then at Jaurin, then back again. Had he heard correctly?

“Ah, no. Master. Were you acquainted with Her Highness?”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“You’re being too polite to Her Highness…”

The mad doppelganger fixed Leehan with a withering stare, a look that combined disdain and a hint of pity. “You ignorant wretch. This is basic etiquette.”

Leehan then remembered that the Headmaster Skeleton had learned magic from dragons in his younger days.

The mad doppelganger had no choice but to respect and be courteous to the dragons. They were the master’s clan and descendants.

Jaurin smiled brightly at the formal treatment.

The mad doppelganger carefully looked around the group and pointed to Eandurde.

“That one,” the mad doppelganger grunted, pointing a bony finger at Eandurde. “Solid build.”

“He’s my junior.”

“You can’t just take him as a disciple without permission. Eandurde has his own will.”

“…You wretch. Do you think the teachings of the royal family are like cheap trinkets handed out in the streets? Do I just give them out to anyone who is sturdy?”

Leehan bit back a sarcastic reply. *’Well, it certainly felt like you were handing out lessons like cheap trinkets to me,’* he thought, then quickly swallowed the words.

“Haha. Of course not.”

“This one is…”

“Greetings. Archmage. I am Zorcik from the Benmalpa family. I work as a professor at Einroguard.”

Professor Voladi simply nodded curtly. “Professor Voladi.”

The mad doppelganger nodded slightly and opened his mouth.

“Do you know why I allowed your company?”

“I do not know. Please enlighten us.”

“I allowed you to come,” the mad doppelganger declared, his voice echoing in the workshop, “because *you* need to be taught! Your weak, pathetic methods are holding back this wretch’s true potential!”

Leehan, who had been quietly listening, was shocked to be struck by a bolt from the blue.

“Master. The magical criminal’s comrades have invaded, I don’t think this is important right now.”

“Be quiet, you wretch. Such a thing is insignificant compared to teaching a disciple.”

Professor Voladi showed a sign of agreement. Leehan whipped his head around to stare at Professor Voladi, his eyes wide with disbelief. *Professor Voladi? Agreeing with HIM?*

He wanted to send a letter to the Headmaster Skeleton accusing him of treason.

“But Archmage. If I may be so bold, Student Wodanaz’s growth is among the best in the Empire.”

“It could have been faster.”

“While I appreciate your… enthusiasm, Archmage,” Professor Voladi said, his voice still calm but with a hint of something new, “we must also consider the potential risks.”

“Risks?” the mad doppelganger scoffed. “Insignificant. The pursuit of true power demands sacrifice. You are too timid, bound by fear.”

A cold dread washed over Leehan. He watched, horrified, as Professor Voladi’s eyes seemed to glaze over, a strange, unsettling light flickering within them. *No,* Leehan thought, his heart pounding. *This is bad. Really bad.*

“No. You cannot disregard the danger by only looking at the results.”

“Professor, no! Don’t listen to him!” Leehan cried out, his voice cracking with desperation. “Danger *does* matter!”