Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 927

Dirette stated firmly, “Professor, you were wrong.”

Professor Mortrum’s face showed shock and betrayal.

Dirette didn’t care. She knew the Einroguard Student Law. It said students could defend themselves if a teacher was dangerous, even if it looked like betraying them.

She thought, if someone had to get hurt, shouldn’t it be the professor, not a student?

“Exactly! You should have warned us!”

“Yeah, seriously!”

“Cough, cough. You naughty students! I was trying to help you learn by yourselves…”

Professor Mortrum grumbled, but Dirette ignored him, pretending not to hear.

“Professor, can’t we negotiate with the main body?”

“With the main body?” Professor Mortrum frowned. He reached for his warm lemon honey tea. Lee Han made it for him regularly and always put it on the first floor of the Black Magic Hall.

Trying to negotiate directly with the main body was very different.

Using an avatar was not very dangerous. Even though it was an undead monster, it was just a fragment, not the real thing. Especially because they had permission to use it.

But directly negotiating with a powerful undead main body…

“Cough. Do we really have to go that far?”

Beings from other dimensions were always unpredictable and strange, especially undead ones.

If the undead being was weak, it might be okay. But they thought it was strong again. So, trying to negotiate could be dangerous and cause problems.

“Of course, we should be careful. But we have arguments on our side as well,” Dirette said with an unwavering attitude.

If it was just about taking something, Dirette wouldn’t suggest negotiating. It would be pointless.

Asking an unknown, powerful undead being to return its avatar would be meaningless.

But the current situation was a bit different.

Her junior hadn’t just used the avatar. She had become friends with it and helped it become stronger.

Furthermore, by giving a lot of magic power, she had helped the main body recover its strength.

Other dimensions had very strict rules, even stricter than the Empire’s laws. Powerful beings there couldn’t easily forget if you helped them or hurt them.

“If we explain all this, maybe the undead being will understand and give us something in return.”

“Indeed…” Professor Mortrum sipped his tea, thinking Dirette’s idea was very good.

He thought, ‘She’s really good at finding ways around problems, just like a future Black Magic professor should be.’

A good black magician should be able to get what they want, even in a bad situation.

“Excellent.”

Impressed by his student’s growth, Professor Mortrum thought he should send Dirette to the next black magic society meeting instead of him.

He had been putting it off, worried that his student might be nervous around the important black magicians, but now he saw that his student was good enough.

Professor Mortrum liked the idea of giving Dirette more challenges because he trusted her. Unlike the Skull Headmaster, Professor Mortrum himself was a truly decent teacher.

“I will personally negotiate with my junior. I also…”

“That won’t do.”

The two were very surprised by the unexpected refusal from the second-year student.

“Huh? Why?”

“Senior, you’re busy, aren’t you? I’ll do it with the professor.”

Dirette thought, ‘So, you’re saying I’m not busy?’

“Junior, you shouldn’t say things like that in front of the professor,” Dirette said gently as they walked upstairs in the Black Magic Hall.

Professor Mortrum said he was fine, but Dirette could see he was a little hurt.

Of course, it was nice to be respected by a senior, but he also needed to show some respect to the professor sometimes.

The professor was more sensitive than people thought.

“What do you mean?”

“That… saying you’ll do it with the professor. You might not have meant it, but from the professor’s perspective, it could sound like he’s not busy…”

“Ah. You mean that.”

Dirette was shocked. Her wing feathers puffed up when her junior showed a knowing reaction.

“No way, you knew and said that!?”

“You knew and said that?!”

“Yes? Of course, I thought it could be perceived that way.”

“But why would you say that?”

“Well… Senior, you’re busy, aren’t you?”

Lee Han thought, ‘It’s better to upset a professor who wasn’t careful than bother a busy senior.’

Lee Han thought, ‘Why should she care if a professor’s feelings were hurt? He gave a dangerous undead avatar to a new student without even warning her!’

It would be really bad if the busiest senior in Einroguard got even more work.

Dirette suddenly understood and was horrified.

‘Do, do I look like that…?!’ Dirette promised herself she would complain less to her junior.

How pitiful and miserable must she have seemed for her junior to think that way?

“But Senior, are you really okay? If you ask the professor now…”

“No, no, no, no. Stop it. The professor is busy too! Of course, it might not look that way on the surface!”

“Hmm.”

Lee Han thought, ‘Professors can’t be busier than students. If they are, why be a professor?’ but she respected her senior, so she said nothing.

“And there’s an overlap with the task I’m currently assigned to, so I’m stepping in, Junior.”

“Task?”

“Yeah.” Dirette quickly explained the work she was currently assigned to.

Einroguard students were also given extra tasks besides their regular classes.

Dirette, a fifth-year Black Magic student, did many different tasks. Some were personal requests, and some were for the Black Magic Department.

Dirette couldn’t even imagine that her junior was feeling even more sorry for her because of the explanation she had just given.

“The task I received is assisting in tracking down evil god worshippers. Black magicians are involved.”

“That’s unfortunate. For magicians to fall into evil god worship.”

Even for very wise magicians, it was hard to stop believing in something.

Most magicians still had some kind of faith, even though they were supposed to be wise.

Illegal faiths in the Empire promised more powerful and dangerous magic than the legal ones.

Thinking that way, it made sense that some magicians would become evil god worshippers.

“…It’s not that black magicians are evil god worshippers, but that black magicians are tracking down evil god worshippers, Junior…”

Lee Han said nothing and remained silent.

“Haha! I got it wrong!”

“It happens!”

The two didn’t talk about ‘Why did you think black magicians were evil god worshippers?’ because they knew it would only make each other sad.

“But isn’t it dangerous? Evil god worshippers…”

“It’s only assistance.”

Divine magic, like psychic powers, wild magic, and primitive magic, was unpredictable and strange.

Magic approved by the Empire had some theory due to long-term research, but evil god worshippers didn’t even have any rules or theories.

Because their magic was so unpredictable, evil god worshippers were hard to fight.

They used strange and unusual magic that was different from the Empire’s magic.

Dirette wasn’t too worried because she wasn’t going to fight them directly. She was just going to study the information she got.

This week, she had to find undead beings that evil god worshippers were using.

Other black magicians saw the evil magic the worshippers were using. They realized it came from powerful undead beings. So they contacted Dirette.

“What kind of undead is it?”

“It uses the power of rotting and making things go bad, but I don’t know more than that. I need to find out more. It will take some time.”

Dirette paused, thinking. ‘If I don’t finish this by the weekend, it will affect next week’s lectures.’

“Perhaps, Junior, should I postpone the lecture… No. Forget I said that…”

Lee Han interrupted her, shouting, “I’m fine!”

“If you’re busy, you can postpone the lecture. The progress is already fast enough.”

Dirette thought, ‘That’s true.’

Her junior was so eager and did everything she was asked, and even more.

Dirette felt guilty. Was it fair to cancel her junior’s lesson just because of her own work?

If it was just a friend, Dirette wouldn’t hesitate to cancel. But she felt bad doing it to Lee Han because she was her student.

“Still, that’s a bit…”

“Next week is club activity week anyway. Several students will be going out.”

“Ah. Has it already been that long?” Dirette’s eyes widened.

Even in her fourth year, she noticed time passing. But in her fifth year, she felt like she was living in a different world from the other students.

Dirette said with a slightly bitter expression.

“I see. If that’s the case… okay. If you have to go out because of club activities, it’s okay to postpone the lecture. Which club…” Dirette started to ask which club, but then stopped herself. She realized it didn’t matter which club it was for Lee Han.

“Do you have any advice for me?”

“Hmm. Well… First of all, don’t cause too much trouble outside.”

“And?”

“Don’t let the club get shut down.” Lee Han was slowly becoming afraid to ask more questions at her senior’s answer that sounded regretful.

Dirette led Lee Han to a quiet room in the Black Magic Hall. She dusted off a purple door and said, “I’ll use this to explore the undead realm.”

The old wooden door creaked like it was about to break, but Lee Han felt a powerful surge of magical power from it.

Because she had learned Yeongrak, she could now see more clearly. She could see the dimensions connected to the door.

“Is it an artifact connected to the undead realm?”

“Wow. How did you know? That’s right.” Dirette was surprised when her junior knew what it was without being told.

It wasn’t easy to guess what this artifact could do just by looking at it.

“This is Mortrum’s Wooden Door. It allows visit, explore, or negotiate without entering the undead realm.”

Even for magicians, it wasn’t easy to visit, explore, or negotiate in another dimension, especially in the dangerous undead realm.

This door was a powerful artifact that made it safer to explore the undead realm.

Dirette smiled, happy that her junior was impressed.

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“But did the professor hide and use this artifact alone? I’m sure there was an opportunity to use this last time…”

“N, no, that’s not it. There are some difficult rules for using the artifact, so…” Dirette quickly changed the subject.

Lee Han nodded. “That makes sense. It must cost a lot to use. But you can use it, right?” Dirette smiled. “Yes. Let me show you.” Lee Han looked at the door again. “You can really use it whenever you want?”