Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 931

‘At this rate, I can check in advance and escape.’

Lee Han carefully checked the energy outside the window, down the stairs, and from the café customers sitting nearby.

He checked for Einroguard spies, just to be safe. He didn’t sense any.

Ting—

With a clear sound, Lee Han spun a small crystal top. As magic power was consumed, the top whirled around.

This was one of the divination spells he had newly learned in his second year: >Crystal Top Divination>.

If the top kept spinning, it meant it was relatively safe. If the top stopped, it meant danger was approaching.

Older students in the divination school didn’t think this magic was very good. They said it was unclear and not very useful for the magic it used. But Lee Han learned it anyway, just in case.

Most importantly, it only needed magic power, without any special ingredients.

‘Safe… for now.’

Inside Einroguard, there were many higher-level wizards than Lee Han, so he didn’t have many chances to use it. But outside was different.

If spies paid by Einroguard came near, Lee Han could probably find them with divination.

“Young master of the Wodanaz family. Are you out on club business?”

“Well, I’m out on club business related to the drama club first…”

“Ah, the drama club. How fitting.”

“After that, the kitchen club, the stonemason club, the polo club, the library club…”

“……”

Arian almost spit out his coffee, but he kept his cool like a good merchant.

Arian thought about it. This young master from the Wodanaz family was strange and unusual, just like his family was known to be.

For someone like that, it wasn’t strange to join so many clubs and enjoy being social.

‘The Wodanaz family isn’t very sociable, but he is peculiar, indeed.’

Lee Han didn’t know he was being judged unfairly. He carefully started to speak.

He needed to ask an outsider for help, but he also had to hide his real reason.

He had to be careful with his words.

‘Hmm. The first item to recover is…’

Recover the >Asen’s Polarizing Lens> from the wizard Wu-ap and give it to Professor Verdus.

Wu-ap was last seen at the >Dwarves’ Vow> workshop in the western district of the city.

‘I’m already starting to hate this.’

Lee Han frowned as he looked at the paper.

He had to steal something from a good citizen for Professor Verdus.

Even though it was the professor’s request, he didn’t want to do it.

“Do you happen to know about the wizard Wu-ap?”

“Yes. Ah. Young master, are you perhaps recovering Einroguard items?”

This time, Lee Han almost spit out his coffee.

How could the person he just met know Einroguard’s deepest secrets?

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Ah. I see. I was rude. I apologize.”

Arian apologized sincerely.

It was rude to ask this in front of an Einroguard student.

“…I’m curious why you asked that question.”

“Well… young master of the Wodanaz family. Recovering Einroguard items is more well-known than you think.”

Arian was careful, wondering how to start.

He didn’t want to hurt the pride of the respected Einroguard student.

“…Yes?”

“Think about it. Valuable magic items disappear without a trace, and the people who were robbed don’t say anything. There aren’t many places where that could happen, are there?”

Lee Han felt his face get hot. Shame washed over him. ‘Did everyone know?’ he thought.

‘Did I really need to come to Einroguard?’

He thought he hadn’t been caught, but even a merchant knew about it.

Maybe if he went to the capital, he would hear people saying, ‘He’s a wizard from Einroguard, isn’t he?’ ‘Shhh. Everyone, hide your pockets.’

“…No. Even if Einroguard wizards don’t follow the law, does that make sense? The people who were robbed stay quiet!”

“What? I think you misunderstood. Do you think Einroguard wizards are robbing innocent people?”

“Yes? Yes.”

“…Hahaha! You’re quite the comedian!”

Arian and Amur laughed.

The joke from the serious boy was so unexpected!

“…Oh, isn’t that right?”

“Hahahaha! You can stop with the jokes. Of course not.”

Arian even had tears in his eyes from laughing. He wiped them away and explained again.

It was easy to think Einroguard wizards were evil because they were often mentioned in the news and rumors, but that wasn’t true.

Einroguard wizards were skilled, so the accidents they caused were big, but they weren’t more evil than other wizards.

The wizards of the empire were basically all evil.

They only cared about themselves and their magic!

“Many magic items are dangerous, contaminated, or stolen. Einroguard wizards recover these items. Of course, the wizards who lost the items can’t say anything because they know they did something wrong.”

Arian was a smart merchant and knew rumors from all over the empire.

So, he connected the stories of evil wizards losing artifacts with Einroguard.

Only the people who touched the items that Einroguard wizards were trying to recover were robbed…

“When you mentioned the wizard Wu-ap of the >Dwarves’ Vow> workshop, that’s why I asked. Wu-ap has many bad rumors. I recently heard he stole an artifact from an Einroguard professor, so I thought you were recovering it.”

“…Is that professor perhaps Professor Verdus?”

“Probably.”

‘Good heavens.’

Lee Han was shocked.

An outside wizard stole Professor Verdus’s artifact.

If the Einroguard students knew this, they might give him a medal and build a statue of him at the school.

‘Honestly, I want to build one too.’

Lee Han felt a different kind of guilt than before.

He had to punish the good thief who punished Professor Verdus for the students.

‘But… this is a request.’

Now he understood what his seniors meant when they said not to let personal feelings get in the way of work.

Lee Han stopped feeling sympathy and decided to get the item back.

“I understand your anger, young master. Wu-ap is a very greedy wizard! I hope he learns a lesson.”

“Yes? Ah. Yes.”

Arian thought Lee Han was angry as a student.

Who would have thought he was thinking about a statue?

The western district of Granden City was loud, but not like the streets outside. Here, the sounds were strange and magical: pops and hisses from potions, high-pitched screams from magical plants, and the clang of metal from the dwarves’ workshops.

“Don’t rest, you fools! This is why eastern dwarves are like this!”

The dwarf wizard Wu-ap swung his hammer and shouted.

In the empire, people thought eastern dwarves liked alcohol, food, and parties, while western dwarves only loved being alone and gold.

Wu-ap was a western dwarf who seemed to fit that stereotype.

The dwarf workers cursed quietly as they swung their hammers.

‘Damn wizard.’

‘Shhh. He’s very strange.’

“If you don’t finish the ingots before dinner, I’ll cut your wages, so remember that!”

Wu-ap shouted and went to the basement.

The large first floor was a workshop with tools for the workers, but the basement was the wizard’s private workshop, where no one else could go.

He opened the door, releasing three layers of seals. A strange flow of magic rushed out. Wu-ap quickly closed the door.

‘Damn it! What a waste of magic power.’

Keeping the workshop full of magic power cost a lot.

Wu-ap was stingy, so this always bothered him.

‘But I have no choice.’

The basement was dark. Wu-ap looked around, even though no one was there. He slowly walked to the center.

On the workbench made of pure silver was a dazzling box with ancient writing on it.

It was the >Asen’s Polarizing Lens>.

“Beautiful… beautiful. Asen was a true genius.”

Wu-ap was impressed by the old wizard’s wisdom, but then he frowned.

He remembered someone he didn’t like.

“Verdus, you bastard! Just you wait. I will ruin your reputation!”

Many people hated Professor Verdus, but Wu-ap hated him for a special reason.

He hated him because he was jealous of his genius.

If Einroguard students heard this, they would say, ‘Why do you hate him for that when there are 99 other reasons?’ But Wu-ap didn’t care about Professor Verdus’s personality.

“When my magic is complete, his reputation, his students, and all the wizards who help him will come to me!”

Wu-ap shouted as if he was telling the air.

There was a misunderstanding here.

Even if Professor Verdus’s reputation was good, his students and helpers weren’t there because they liked him.

Even if Wu-ap finished his magic and became successful, the professor’s students and other wizards wouldn’t come to him.

It was hard to say they were even ‘gathered’ for Professor Verdus. All the students and wizards did their own work and didn’t follow Professor Verdus.

“…Ugh. I’m dizzy.”

Wu-ap looked inside the lens and suddenly staggered.

Lately, he felt a headache and dizziness every time he looked at the lens.

He should have stopped and checked for problems, but Wu-ap was too jealous to think clearly.

‘I should go back up.’

After resting, Wu-ap tried to go back.

The workers always tried to slack off, so Wu-ap had to push them…

Thwack!

Wu-ap fell to the side. It was a surprise attack.

Even as he lost consciousness, Wu-ap was shocked.

‘No way! The defense magic…!’

The basement workshop had many magic spells protecting it, starting at the door.

The door had a spell called >Asen’s Soul Scream>, which separated the intruder’s soul and body when they touched it. The magic circle underneath had powerful illusion magic.

The other spells were strong enough to destroy an intruder, so how could a surprise attack be possible?

Wu-ap focused his fading mind and expanded his senses.

All the magic spells from the door to Wu-ap were destroyed.

Wu-ap had prepared for other wizards, but he never thought someone would attack like this.

‘Mo, monster? Demon?’

He didn’t know what kind of terrifying being had attacked.

“Whew. It’s a relief that I’m an illusion wizard.”