Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 946

Ihan called out to Nilia, unaware that Rowena was looking at him like he was a complete oddball.

“Nilia, could you ask the spirits if they have enough fire energy?”

“Alright.”

Nilia nodded and politely asked the spirits to check the fire energy in the cauldron.

The spirits, upon receiving the request, went to check the heat inside the cauldron. Then, they scurried away, terrified.

“…They didn’t run away because of me, did they? It’s because of the cauldron’s energy, right?”

“I don’t think that’s what’s important right now…!”

Rowena was surprised that Ihan was so focused on such a small detail. She sighed inwardly. *Honestly, spirits and fire energy? Couldn’t he focus on the important things?*

“They said they didn’t run away because of you. That’s right, isn’t it? Really? You’re not just saying that because you’re scared, are you? Yes. They said the fire energy was too strong, so they backed off.”

“Indeed.”

It couldn’t hurt if the energy was strong, but it would be a problem if it were weak. Still, just in case, Ihan called Adenarte.

“Your Highness, would you mind asking the spirit one more time?”

Adenarte quietly nodded, as if to say she understood.

After briefly communicating with the spirit, she said,

“…I’m sorry, Wodanaz. The spirit is afraid to approach.”

“……”

Ihan realized that it wasn’t good for the summoned spirits to get too close.

They were sharing information right away in that short time.

“Ah, then I should summon my flame sparrow spirit.”

“No, I’ll try to soothe it.”

Nilia soothed the spirit that Adenarte had summoned and then asked it for a favor.

The spirit, after some hesitation, eventually scurried to the front of the cauldron and checked the heat.

“It says there’s nothing wrong other than the fire energy being very strong?”

“Okay…”

Ihan’s voice was slightly dejected. Rowena wondered to herself, ‘It’s resolved well, so why?’

Arion was checking the quality of the newly imported tea leaves and inspecting the embroidery on the silk with her staff when her eyes widened as the students came out.

“What brings you all here?”

“Arion, we have regenerated the discarded Dyer’s Madder Root. Please accept it.”

“What? It can be regenerated?”

Arion was even more surprised to hear that they had regenerated a reagent that had been discarded because it was thought to be ruined during the bumpy wagon ride.

She had traveled to many places because of her work with the merchant guild, but she had never heard of discarded reagents being regenerated like that.

‘Is this a secret technique passed down only in Einrogard?’

Though surprised, Arion could accept it for now.

It was Einrogard, after all. It wouldn’t be strange if there was a special magic passed down only within.

“Oh no, we can’t take this back! We gave it to you because it was supposed to be trash, remember? Ah!”

Arion was startled as she opened the lid of the wooden box containing the root.

The Dyer’s Madder Root looked very different from what she had expected.

The color was several times darker and redder than any Dyer’s Madder Root she had ever seen. A faint heat radiated from the open box, and a rich, earthy smell filled the air.

‘…Did they raise it on top of a volcano, receiving the breath of a red dragon???’

Arion was flustered by the energy of the reagent, which was several times more powerful than she knew, and asked,

“Is this really Dyer’s Madder Root?”

“Yes? It is. The shape, color, energy, and properties are all correct.”

‘The color and energy seem different, though…’

Arion asked a staff member to bring a small magnifying artifact and carefully examined it.

Surprisingly, it was Dyer’s Madder Root.

It’s just that the energy was much stronger.

“Young master of the Wodanaz family. I knew your magic was outstanding, but I didn’t know it was to this extent. I had no idea you could enhance a discarded reagent like this… I can’t even guess what kind of secret technique it is.”

“It’s not that difficult. I just condensed the flame until the alchemical equipment could withstand it and then soaked the Dyer’s Madder Root in it.”

Arion smiled at Ihan’s words.

Unlike the other members of the Wodanaz family, this boy seemed to enjoy lighthearted jokes.

To turn down the answer that he couldn’t leak Einrogard’s secrets in such a dignified way.

“I suppose so. Anyway, we can’t accept this. How about you students try selling it yourselves?”

“Yes?”

Ihan and his friends buzzed with excitement at the unexpected suggestion. Arion pointed to the tea leaves and silk behind her.

“This was also sold by Einrogard students.”

The silk, black as night, embroidered with shining gold and silver threads that looked like real jewels, was the finest fabric called Azirmore in the Empire.

Ihan was shocked to hear that his seniors had made it.

“You mean our seniors made that top-quality silk?”

“It’s not top-quality silk, though.”

“!”

Ihan belatedly noticed the oddity at those words.

“That’s right…! I don’t feel the special feeling that you can see and feel in expensive things!”

“…Th-There’s such a feeling?”

Nilia asked her friends in a fluster. Her friends shook their heads.

Even Adenarte, who had been exposed to the most expensive luxury goods, had never felt such a feeling.

“Then what is this?”

“It’s a product made by dyeing cheap silk and replacing the thread with fake gold and silver. You could call it a knockoff, but it’s quite valuable.”

Einrogard students couldn’t afford to sell expensive materials at a high price.

Einrogard students were the ones who sold cheap materials expensively with magic.

“Could those tea leaves also be…?”

“Those are real tea leaves. I heard that the students grew them quickly in the greenhouse, though.”

Even the second-year students were slowly realizing it, but by the time they were third-year students, the amount of reagents and items they needed increased exponentially.

It wasn’t for nothing that they took on requests while squeezing in their busy schedules. The upperclassmen at Einrogard were always short on time and gold.

Making contracts with outside merchants in this way, delivering goods, and then receiving money was relatively easy, so quite a few students did it.

But now Ihan and his friends were out and had quite a wide network.

Since there were no restrictions, selling directly was the most profitable.

“Indeed. Thank you for the advice.”

Ihan nodded at the reasonable words.

There was no reason to refuse if he could definitely get the maximum profit.

“Wait a minute!”

“Arion called out to Ihan’s group, who were about to turn around, again.

Arion said with an embarrassed expression,

“Can I buy just one box of Dyer’s Madder Root right now? There’s not much in the city…”

Come to think of it, she needed a box of Dyer’s Madder Root for the upcoming city alchemist meeting.

She wanted to end the conversation as it was, as she had been considerate of the other party, but Arion was a merchant.

She would never miss an opportunity to get good goods!

“Will this be enough?”

The students finished repacking the boxes. In the meantime, Salco suggested an idea.

“Wait. We need to be careful. If we say that Einrogard students are selling it at this point, we might get tracked.”

“That’s definitely true. Hmm. We need to use a pseudonym.”

Apart from disguises, they also needed to use a separate name.

After a moment of thought, Ihan wrote >Nago Family> on the box.

“What’s the Nago Family?”

“It’s a fictional family I created. The identity I used when I rescued you last time was that family. Oh, you guys need to memorize it too.”

“?”

Angaro blinked, wondering what he needed to memorize.

Ihan started to explain, “Okay. Stedal of the Nago Family is a nobleman who was captured by pirates in the southern part of the Empire and rescued by Lagesa, the daughter of Torgerd, who leads a privateer fleet, but…”

“……”

30 minutes later, Angaro nodded with unfocused and dazed eyes.

“I, I think I’ve memorized it now.”

“Okay. Good job. We need to be thorough with our preparations.”

‘But why did I have to remember how I made my fortune during the investment craze?’

Angaro was curious about that, but he held back because he thought he would have to listen to another hour of additional identity lectures if he asked here.

“Ah, right. There was something I left out about the treasure map fortune story.”

‘No!’

“Wait a minute, Ihan.”

Angaro, who was screaming inwardly, breathed a sigh of relief when Yoner intervened.

‘Thank you, Maykin!’

“The family name is good, but there should also be a crest. It might look awkward if you only write the name without a crest.”

“Ah, that’s right…”

Ihan thought for about 10 seconds after hearing the criticism.

To think about a crest that would suit the family.

There was no need to think about it any longer. It was just for a pseudonym anyway.

슥슥슥-

“How about this?”

“…An upside-down skull?”

“That’s right.”

“It seems a bit provocative… No, it doesn’t matter. We’ll probably go to the disciplinary room anyway if we get caught. So, shall we go with this?”

Yoner wondered if there was a need to provoke Headmaster Skull, but he thought his friend would take care of it.

Perhaps it was an expression of respect as a disciple.

“The family name is done, the crest is done… We can say we came from the Nago Family and then deliver it. Ah, Yoner, how about Yoane’s workshop?”

Ihan brought up the name of the alchemy workshop that came to mind first.

Yoane, who is an outstanding alchemist, would definitely recognize the value of this Dyer’s Madder Root.

“That won’t work.”

“Why?”

Ihan was a little surprised at the unexpected answer.

He didn’t expect Yoner to say no.

Could there be a problem with Yoane?

“Yoane is really strict when she buys reagents, pointing out flaws and saving money. It would be better to sell it somewhere else if you want to sell it expensively.”

“Indeed…!”

Ihan looked at her with respect for her thoroughness, even though they were related by blood.

He was convinced that he could make a big profit with such a wise friend.

“Guys, we can do it. We’re going to be the richest merchants in Granden City!”

“Th-That much?”

An alchemist shouted as he ran into the workshop, “Tell Maykin I’m not here when she comes!”

But surprisingly, there was already no one in the workshop. The alchemist was flustered and stumbled backward, bumping into something.

Thud-

“Wh-What is it? Who is it? Did someone drink a potion of invisibility?”

“Shhh. Be quiet.”

“Pahuseok?! What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to tell Maykin that I’m not here when she comes.”

“……”

The alchemists who came late realized that their colleagues had all drunk invisibility potions and were hiding all over the workshop.

Their colleagues were one step ahead.

“Didn’t everyone get Dyer’s Madder Root? No, it’s not that rare of a reagent!”

“The Richmond family’s transport ship happened to sink… We’ll have to wait another month for the next shipment to come in.”

“A month? If it’s a month, Maykin will dry us all up and still have 29 days to spare!”

The reason why the alchemists were doing this was simple.

It was because they couldn’t get the reagents they needed for the workshop!

All of them!

Yoane Maykin of the Maykin family wasn’t a violent person, but she was a crazy magician. If the necessary reagents were constantly missing, the alchemists in the workshop might have to work 25 hours a day.

Click-

The alchemists were terrified at the sound of the door opening and threw the invisibility potion at themselves.

Yoane Maykin, the owner of the workshop wearing amethyst glasses, came inside.

Thud!

Yoane took out a small stone fragment from her pocket and threw it, and all the invisibility effects in the workshop were absorbed.

The alchemists who were hiding in the ceiling, closet, and cauldron walked out quietly without saying a word.

“Maykin, if you give us a little more time, we will definitely get the reagents. Please calm down.”

“Ah. The situation has changed a bit.”

Yoane took out a small reagent pouch with a very interested face.

Then, she skillfully untied the string with her gloved fingers and took out the reagent inside.

‘Dyer’s Madder Root? No. The energy is too strong. Is it a special reagent made with Dyer’s Madder Root?’

“I got this Dyer’s Madder Root from an alchemist I know.”

“Is this Dyer’s Madder Root?!”

“That’s right. Interesting, isn’t it? And what’s more interesting is that the alchemist also received it as a gift from a merchant, and he said that this Dyer’s Madder Root will be released in the city soon.”

“……”

“……”

“We can work 26 hours a day if we can’t find and buy this!”

The alchemists said with eyes blazing more fiercely than the heat emanating from the Dyer’s Madder Root.