Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 915

Professor Garcia was very angry and almost swore loudly. But he remembered his student was there and stopped himself.

Professor Garcia, face red, said, “Slaves? We are NOT slaves! This is magic!” He showed them a spark of magic from his hand.

One patrolman laughed. “Magic slaves? Maybe. Or just slaves who think they are special.”

Professor Garcia’s fist tightened. Lee Han could see his knuckles turn white.

Lee Han thought, ‘Are these people not afraid?’

Professor Garcia was big and strong. Normally, people would be scared and say, “Oh, you are not slaves!”

Even if Professor Garcia looked like a slave, they should pretend not to notice. Why were they so rude?

-Don’t try to understand them like normal soldiers, – squeaked the hamster.

“What do you mean?” Lee Han whispered.

-They wear uniforms, but they are not real soldiers. They are more like magical robbers.

The hamster continued, -They look like they spend their lives hurting people. Look at their eyes – they are greedy and mean. Their fingers are twitching like they want to grab something and steal it.

“Are you saying these patrolmen are criminals?” Lee Han asked, worried. “Then coming here was a mistake…”

Before he could finish, one patrolman yelled, “Magic slaves or not, we don’t care! Drop your bags and give up!”

“No! Listen to me!” Professor Garcia tried to stay calm, even though he was furious. “We are not slaves! We are not from your kingdom. We are from far away!”

The patrolmen stopped for a moment, looking confused. “Outsiders? Not from Margada Kingdom?”

“Yes!” Professor Garcia said, hoping they would understand.

The patrolman grinned cruelly. “Even better! We don’t have to take you back to any owner. We can sell you ourselves for a lot of money! Surrender now, or we will kill you!”

Suddenly, the patrolmen fell to the ground with a thud. They were unconscious.

Professor Voladi stepped out from behind some trees. No one had seen him move. He looked at the fallen patrolmen and said in a flat voice, “Getting into the kingdom will be difficult.”

“…Yes,” Professor Garcia agreed, still surprised by Professor Voladi’s speed.

They moved quickly, pulling the unconscious patrolmen.

Professor Garcia found a small cave hidden behind some bushes. He covered the entrance with branches to hide it. Then, he walked around the area, checking for danger, and started making a simple campsite.

Lee Han offered, “I’ll help.”

“No, Lee Han. You rest,” Professor Garcia said, waving him away like he was a fly. He didn’t seem to want Lee Han to do anything.

Feeling useless, Lee Han went to Professor Voladi. Professor Voladi was tying up the patrolmen with rope and putting a rough wooden table in front of them. It looked like he was getting ready to ask them questions.

“I can help,” Lee Han said again.

“Rest,” Professor Voladi repeated, without even looking at him.

Lee Han was used to working hard. With his friends, he always did more than anyone else. But with the professors, he had nothing to do.

He could relax, but he felt strange. ‘Why won’t they let me help?’ he thought. It was harder to just sit and watch them work.

Lee Han talked to the hamster quietly. “So, these patrolmen just take anyone and make them slaves? Is that normal here?”

-Not really surprising, – the hamster squeaked, sounding bored.

-Even in the Empire, far away from the cities, things like this happen.

-They have rich people and poor people, and they are very mean to the poor ones. Outsiders are just seen as slaves.

-This kingdom seems the same. Remember those soldiers fighting the demons? They were very cruel to the slaves helping them. If a slave made a small mistake, they were whipped hard, blood everywhere.

-I can feel it, – the hamster said, – This is a kingdom that rules with magic and fear!

“Let’s begin,” Professor Voladi said. He was ready. He woke up the patrolmen.

The patrolmen opened their eyes and glared at them. “You slaves! How dare you tie us up? You will be punished!” one shouted.

“Beg us for mercy now!” another yelled. “Maybe we will just make you slaves! If you are lucky!”

Professor Voladi raised his hand. Blue light glowed around his fingers. He spoke a few words in a strange language.

Suddenly, the patrolmen’s eyes went wide with fear. They started to tremble.

“Wh-what do you want to know?” one stammered.

“St-stop…! I will answer everything!” cried the other.

-His magic is amazing, – the hamster whispered, impressed. – That Einrogard professor is very skilled.

Lee Han nodded, proud. “Yes, Professor Begreck is also good at making people talk.”

‘Is he showing off?’ the hamster thought, rolling his eyes inside his cage. ‘Of course, *I* understand this kind of interrogation. But this boy is from a rich family, isn’t he supposed to be shocked?’

“Who do you work for?” Professor Voladi asked.

“M-Margada Kingdom… Patrolman from Isran city…” the patrolman mumbled, still scared.

“How can outsiders enter the kingdom?”

“O-outsiders… cannot enter… If we catch you… you become slaves…”

Professor Garcia, listening, looked shocked. “Outsiders cannot enter at all? That’s crazy!”

He explained to Lee Han, “We call it the Three Kingdoms Era, but there were many kingdoms, big and small. Three were the strongest. Margada is one of the big ones. I know the name. It’s not a tiny, hidden place. It’s a huge kingdom! How can they stop all outsiders?”

“If they do this,” Professor Garcia continued, “no traders will come here! They will go to Karsala or Arvanti kingdoms instead. No travelers either!” He named two other kingdoms he knew. “It will hurt their kingdom!”

But the patrolman looked confused. “Karsala and Arvanti? They are the same as us… Where are you from that you don’t even know that?” He sounded like Professor Garcia was stupid. “Ack!” He cried out as Professor Voladi used magic again.

Professor Voladi said calmly, “Be respectful.” The patrolman quickly learned that being polite was more important than anything else.

“…This Three Kingdoms Era is worse than I imagined,” Professor Garcia said, shaking his head.

“Yes,” Lee Han agreed. “When we read about history, it sounds exciting – great wizards, magic, interesting stories. But it’s actually much harder and crueler.”

Professor Garcia nodded. “These big kingdoms enslave everyone, even their own people. They only care about magic and power. And outside, demon armies are waiting to attack.”

“We have only been here for a day,” Lee Han said, “and we already see so much suffering. There must be even worse things we don’t know about yet.”

“To get in…” the patrolman said, “you must hide your real clothes… use smugglers to sneak you in… or wear clothes like a citizen of the kingdom…”

“How easy is it to get caught?” Professor Garcia asked.

“Chimeras… patrol all the time… They can smell outsiders. Outsiders don’t have the kingdom mark on them… easy to find…”

‘Even better than Einrogard’s security,’ Lee Han thought, impressed and a little worried.

Chimeras – magical creatures that could smell if someone was an outsider, even without magic marks. This wasn’t even the king’s palace, just a normal city! It was hard to believe they had such strong guards everywhere.

“Have you ever heard of the Gonadaltes family?”

“Gonadaltes? Gonadaltes… I think I’ve heard of it… I don’t know it well…”

The patrolman tilted his head and shook it, indicating no.

Professor Voladi, having heard everything he needed, nodded and began to analyze the patrolman’s magical markings in reverse.

“Professor Garcia.”

“Yes.”

Professor Garcia, as if understanding without being told, cast a marking on the group’s clothes.

Everyone looked at the squeaking hamster with puzzled expressions.

“Lee Han, I have a question for you.”

“No. I know you’re Antangondalus. Lee Han told me.”

The hamster was slightly embarrassed.

Then he felt even more dumbfounded.

“Yes? I had to tell them, in case the wizard did something. What if you bewitched me with evil magic?”

Professor Garcia couldn’t wait any longer and interjected.

“What I’m curious about is why you keep carrying this hamster around?”

“Oh. I thought he might be helpful since he’s the oldest one here. He also knows a lot about ancient times.”

Professor Garcia thought to himself.

‘I’ve thought this before, but Lee Han isn’t afraid enough of associating with dangerous people.’

-Wait! – the hamster squeaked loudly. – Listen to me! We must kill these patrolmen now!

The hamster sounded very serious. He was worried about himself. If something bad happened here, the wizards could go back to their own time, but he was stuck in this hamster body.

“Wh-what!” the patrolmen yelled.

“You can’t do that!” one cried. “Killing patrolmen of Margada Kingdom? Are you crazy?”

-Listen, – the hamster said urgently. – If we leave them alive, we don’t know what they will do! There are too many unknown spells in this time. They might have a spell to call for help. We can’t take any risks!

Lee Han carefully interjected.

-Then what? – the hamster asked, confused.

“Well,” Lee Han said, “we need to go into the city, right? I thought these patrolmen could show us the way.”

-Didn’t you hear me? No risks! – the hamster squeaked, annoyed.

“Yes, I know,” Lee Han said. “But what if we turn them into hamsters too? Then we can put them in our cage. They can’t do anything stupid as hamsters, can they?”

Professor Voladi nodded slowly, like Lee Han had just said something very clever.

The hamster stared at Lee Han, speechless. Finally, he said, -…I don’t understand why people don’t call you Einrogard wizards magical criminals.