Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 883

Fear was all around them, but none of the adventurers stopped.

Turning back was not in their nature.

To become an adventurer, you had to be someone who pushed past fear, driven by strong desires and even greed.

And after working for someone like Antagon-dals, their desires were very strong indeed.

“Death Knights! Magic scrolls, now!”

Death Knights and a swarm of Bone Wyverns suddenly filled the sky above the trees.

The adventurers, who were working for Kangla, reacted quickly.

They used spells to become invisible, to hide any trace of themselves, and even to make the air blurry and confusing to look at.

“Are they gone?” whispered one adventurer.

“Not yet,” another replied, voice tight. “Death Knights can see through invisibility spells easily.”

Even after the first Death Knight flew out of sight, the adventurers stayed still, holding their breath.

Just as they started to relax, more Death Knights appeared from the opposite direction.

One adventurer swore under his breath. “Are there a whole army of Death Knights in this cursed place?”

Death Knights were incredibly dangerous enemies.

Finding even one in old ruins or dungeons was considered terrible luck.

But here, in Einrogard, Death Knights were everywhere, flying around every few minutes.

The adventurers felt a chill of fear, like a cold knife against their backs.

“Okay, let’s move,” said the Swordsman.

“Chandler, do you have the location?”

“Just a second…” Chandler, the adventurer with the telescope, pulled out a long, shiny brass telescope.

He looked through it carefully, trying to pinpoint their destination.

They were inside Einrogard territory now, having passed the dangerous borders, but they still had a long journey ahead.

The land here was huge, like a whole country, and it was easy to get lost in dangerous areas.

Suddenly, *CRACK!*

The glass of the telescope shattered, and Chandler fell to the ground.

The other adventurers froze, too scared to even shout.

The archer rushed to Chandler and checked his wrist for a pulse.

“…He’s dead,” the archer whispered. “His soul… it’s been taken.”

“This is insane!” one adventurer hissed.

“Those cursed wizards! What kind of trap was that?”

The adventurer called Artificer, who knew more about magic than the others, spoke in a steady voice, though his eyes were wide. “I think… I think he looked in the wrong direction.

He should have been looking at the mountains, but he must have glanced at the wizards’ magic tower.”

Artificer knew how wizards protected their homes and workshops.

They used powerful magic to guard their treasures.

The wizards of Einrogard were famous for this.

It was unbelievable that just looking from far away, without even getting close, could steal someone’s soul…

“This is crazy,” another adventurer complained.

“Einrogard is known to be dangerous, but it’s not some hidden maze on a faraway island! How can they have magic this deadly just inside their territory? People travel through here!”

“It makes sense,” said another. “Antagon-dals got in, right? They must be on high alert.”

*They didn’t know it was a mad copycat causing all the trouble, not Antagon-dals.*

“We have to leave Chandler,” the Swordsman said, his voice hard.

“We need to move fast.

If his soul was taken, they probably know where we are.”

“But we haven’t found the place we’re looking for yet…”

“We don’t have a choice,” the Swordsman interrupted.

“We’ll have to use the compass for now.”

The Swordsman opened a silver box and took out a compass.

The needle spun wildly for a moment, then settled, pointing in one direction.

This compass was supposed to point to their destination, but it was only right about half the time.

It was much less reliable than Chandler’s telescope, but they had no other option now.

“Let’s go!” the Swordsman urged.

The adventurers ran as fast as they could, barely daring to breathe.

The fear of Death Knights appearing from everywhere if they stopped even for a second pushed them forward.

How long had they been running?

The Swordsman wondered, his lungs burning.

*Something’s not right,* he thought.

*Why aren’t they chasing us?*

If Chandler’s soul was taken, shouldn’t someone be coming after them?

He glanced back at the sky, then at the dark trees around them.

Nothing.

Only silence.

It was as if they didn’t even care about one dead adventurer.

This silence was more terrifying than any attack.

“Mountains!” he shouted, pointing ahead.

Through the trees, huge mountain peaks suddenly appeared.

The adventurers, finally out of the dark forest, gasped with relief.

They had arrived at the mountain range within the territory, which was their original destination, not the wizards’ magic tower.

The place where Antagon-dals was said to be staying, according to the message.

Being a remote and barren place, they could take a breather now that they had come this far.

Once they started searching for Antagon-dals throughout the mountains…

Whoosh!

“Will we even find those intruders in the mountains?” one wizard asked.

“What if they’ve gone too deep already?”

“Maybe,” another replied.

“But even our own students struggle in the inner mountains.

Those outsiders won’t last long.

They’ll have to come down eventually.

We’ll be waiting.”

Einrogard wizards were busy setting up magical traps everywhere, muttering dark spells.

These traps were deadly, designed to activate the moment anyone who wasn’t an Einrogard student stepped on them.

And that wasn’t all they were doing.

“Tsk, tsk,” one wizard scoffed.

“Look at those lazy guards.

Do they think the intruders will just walk into their arms?”

“Hormashi, you’re right,” another agreed.

“We need to hunt them down ourselves.

Those guards don’t even look after their creatures properly.

They’re useless in a real search.”

*Grrr…*

Other wizards were leading huge, three-headed dogs, Cerberuses, whose breath smelled like burning sulfur, sniffing for any sign of intruders.

“Anpagon, isn’t this watching device really expensive?” one wizard complained.

“It’s worth it,” Anpagon answered.

“It’s much better than sending people everywhere.

This will spot anyone coming from outside instantly.”

“That Wodanaz,” another wizard grumbled.

“He’s asked for something really strange.

I’m doing it because I got paid, but… why is he so desperate to catch these outsiders?”

More wizards were floating glowing orbs in the air, watching the area around the mountains…

The adventurers stopped dead, staring at the scene in front of them.

So many wizards were searching the mountains, like they were hunting for tiny mice.

No matter how tough and experienced the adventurers were, and no matter how young these wizards looked, there were just too many of them.

They couldn’t even think about fighting.

Besides, they were deep inside wizards’ territory now.

“They know we’re here,” one adventurer said, his voice flat.

“When Chandler’s soul was taken… they know for sure.”

“Ugh…” The adventurers groaned in despair.

They had never imagined that a *student* would be the one ordering this search, not just the traps they expected.

After setting giants as guards, receiving some praise from the mad doppelganger, and petting a hamster once (the hamster tried to bite him), Ethan returned to school and asked his seniors for a favor.

“Seniors, I’m taking the exams on my own this time, I’ll submit the exam materials to the club, and I always help out with club activities.

Can you do me a favor?”

“Ha, Wodanaz!” Falcrius laughed.

“Just asking for help with club activities is enough for us to say yes!”

“There are intruders in the school,” Ethan explained.

“Could you ask the club members to help catch them?”

“That’s easy enough,” Falcrius said, tilting his head.

“But… why are *you* doing this, Wodanaz?”

Intruders getting into Einrogard happened all the time.

Usually, it was the Skull Headmaster, his helpers, or the teachers who dealt with them.

It wasn’t something a second-year student, busy with exams, needed to worry about.

“That’s… well…” Ethan hesitated, finding it difficult to say that he had scammed a magical criminal and mocked the hamster’s state.

Falcrius nodded as if he understood.

“Pfft. I think I know without you saying it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.

It’s because you’re the Headmaster’s disciple, right?

The Headmaster is really too much.

Making you do something like that.”

“…That’s not it!” Ethan immediately began to explain as Falcrius misunderstood.

It was a little doubtful whether he was convinced, but Falcrius promised to ask the club and his close juniors to search the area.

Ethan’s request wasn’t just for Falcrius.

“Senior Hormashi, I’m taking care of a baby basilisk, a unicorn, a griffin, and His Highness Jowrin.

Could you possibly help me out?”

“…Are, are you perhaps asking me to guarantee something with the family name?” Carnella was shocked.

What kind of request was he going to make, starting with such a story?

“No.

There are intruders…”

“Why are you, a junior, doing that?”

“…Well, that’s…”

“Ah.

Okay.

I think I know without you saying it.”

“You don’t think it’s because I’m the Headmaster’s disciple, do you?”

“That’s right? What? How did you read my mind?”

“……” The requests continued thereafter.

Several club seniors.

And the seniors of the school Ethan belonged to (virtually all of them) readily nodded at the rare request from a junior.

Dirette, who promised to patrol with the black magic school juniors, suddenly became curious and asked.

“By the way, junior.”

“I’m telling you, it’s not because I’m the Headmaster’s disciple!”

“…Ah, no.

What are you talking about?” Dirette was taken aback.

He didn’t particularly think that Ethan was looking for intruders because of the Skull Headmaster.

If there was a connection, it would be with the mad doppelganger.

“…That’s right, senior.

Senior Dirette is the best senior in Einrogard!” Ethan exclaimed, slightly moved.

Dirette was rather embarrassed by those words.

“Re, really? There are many seniors better than me.”

“Who? Name one…” Pretending not to hear the junior’s words, Dirette returned to the main topic.

“What I was going to ask was about the enchantment magic school seniors.”

“Ah.

I didn’t ask them.”

“Why… well, I think I know without asking.” Dirette guessed the reason why the junior hadn’t asked, without needing to ask.

Unlike other magic schools, they didn’t care much about what the junior did, so there was no need to ask.

“There’s a way.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.

Say that the intruders have expensive reagents or artifacts.”

“Huh? I don’t know what the intruders have.”

“Yeah.

I don’t know either.

But it doesn’t matter.”

“……” Ethan was taken aback by the confident suggestion to deceive.

Was Senior Dirette perhaps Senior Yook-vel-tire in disguise?

Noticing the junior’s gaze, Dirette hurriedly began to explain.

If he left it like this, he might be stripped of his title as the best senior in Einrogard.

“No! I don’t usually lie like this either.

But it’s okay to do it to the enchantment magic school kids! …It sounds strange, but it’s true!” Dirette felt like he was sinking deeper and deeper into a quagmire as he spoke.

The more he spoke, the stranger it sounded.

But Ethan was indeed an excellent junior.

He immediately understood Dirette’s meaning.

“Indeed.

I understand.

Since the enchantment magic school seniors don’t give me any rewards even if I work hard for the school, it’s a kind of self-defense even if I deceive them.”

“Uh… well, that’s right… How did you figure that out from what I just said?”

“Thank you, Senior Dirette.

I’ll do that.

You’re truly the best senior in Einrogard!”

“Eh.

It’s nothing.” Seeing the senior waving his hand, pretending to be calm, while secretly flapping his wings with pride, Ethan thought to himself that he should give him a cup with >Einrogard’s Best Senior< written on it as a gift at the end of the year.