Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 950

Il Rendell, who used the online name BeaverPenguinFox, was very surprised.

Il Rendell was no longer in the safe walls of Einrogard. He was squashed in the dark, warm pocket of a student who was walking away from the school. The smell of old parchment and maybe a forgotten apple filled his tiny hiding place. He could feel the student’s leg moving with each step, a strange and bumpy ride.

As soon as he realized that dangerous fellows were involved, he immediately took action.

‘…Almost broke the potion bottle…’

By the fourth year, many students often had one or two ways to escape Einrogard in case of an emergency, but that didn’t mean escaping was easy.

Il Rendell chose to borrow the power of the spirits to hide inside a glass potion bottle.

Of course, he had entered the student’s pocket secretly without telling them, and he couldn’t get caught.

Il Rendell was still confused. He moved the chalk again.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: There must have been a misunderstanding.

Lee Han: They confirmed his identity, and it’s definitely Akdin?

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: ……

Lost in confusion, Il Rendell clutched his hair tangled with twigs and thought hard.

Lee Han might have been crazy (especially in the naming department), but he wasn’t the type to put on a pointless bluff in this kind of situation.

They really caught him?

Among the mercenaries who moved this time, there were many notorious individuals.

However, if one were to pick the leader among them, Akdin of the Three Fingers was the most likely candidate.

He was cunning and persistent, having safely escaped after causing all sorts of major incidents such as >Garam’s Frenzy> and >Flame Waterfall Assault>.

To think they caught such a fellow so suddenly.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: He’s skilled in all sorts of tricks and schemes. He also has a lot of experience escaping… Are you sure it’s really Akdin? Double-check.

Lee Han: Ah. Confirmed. I ambushed him, but unfortunately, I struck directly on top of his artifact, and it shattered. He must have been caught off guard because his reaction was slow.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: That’s it?

Il Rendell asked again, unable to believe it.

Akdin was known to be clever and never gave up. Was he really caught so easily, like a beginner?

Lee Han seemed annoyed and started to get irritated.

Lee Han: Fine, don’t believe me then! What do you want me to do? Come and see for yourself if you don’t trust me?

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Hmm. I’ll apologize for now. It’s just that the opponent is who they are, so I had to ask persistently. The fellows aiming for Swansong right now are quite dangerous, so I’m heading to Granden City as well.

BeaverPenguinFox was planning to inform the wizards and knights of Granden City directly about the situation and have them capture the mercenaries.

Originally, he was going to exclude irrelevant students from this matter, but after seeing Lee Han’s power, he changed his mind.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Lee Han. How about we cooperate and work together?

“!”

Lee Han was surprised by the unexpected proposal.

A cooperation proposal, no less.

‘I do need to catch the escaped fellows, but to think he’d step up himself?’

Lee Han was a little puzzled that a senior who wasn’t Professor Volardi and seemed to only enjoy gardening in the corner of the forest would step forward like this.

Lee Han: If you have information, can’t you just leave it to the people of Granden City?

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Of course, I’ll entrust some of it to them, but I can’t rely solely on those people. And it’s too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Lee Han: An opportunity to pass up?

Il Rendell explained in detail to the puzzled Lee Han.

There were two reasons why Il Rendell was directly stepping forward now.

One was that as a wizard of Einrogard, he couldn’t just stand still and rely on other wizards, and the other was because of the artifacts the mercenaries possessed.

If Lee Han cooperated, he was planning to fairly settle not only the reward he promised last time but also these artifacts.

‘No. How does this person know about this?’

Lee Han: Alright. As a fellow student of Einrogard, I can cooperate. But in the future, I’d like you to help me out a bit in the club.

Il Rendell frowned at the other party’s additional condition.

The reward promised last time and the settlement of the artifacts to be obtained were sufficient as transaction conditions. To be greedy here…

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: That doesn’t add up. If we cooperate, there’s the reward and the artifacts. I don’t see why you’re adding more here.

Lee Han: Think about it carefully. If we cooperate together, we’ll have some idea of each other’s identities.

That was true.

Even if they disguised themselves and hid their identities, they couldn’t help but guess when they saw each other using magic.

‘Why is he saying this?’

Lee Han: But I already know your identity. It’s only me revealing my identity, so it’s a loss for me.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: …Don’t talk such nonsense.

Il Rendell barely regained his composure and replied.

This cunning fellow was bluffing to extract even more.

No matter how much he thought about it, Il Rendell had never revealed his identity in the Watchers Club. Besides, Lee Han had joined relatively late, hadn’t he?

Lee Han: Even if you say that, knowing is knowing.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: Try saying it. If you guess right, I’ll unconditionally help you with anything related to the Watchers Club in the future.

Il Rendell scoffed.

There was no way the other party could guess right…

Lee Han: Il Rendell, Senior.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: ……

Lee Han: I guessed right, didn’t I? Please take care of me when we talk in the artifact from now on. Help me diss Iaktus a bit.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: H-How?

Lee Han: I’ll tell you when we meet later. More importantly, Senior, how did you know what the mercenaries are plotting?

Lee Han asked what he didn’t understand.

Il Rendell knew about something that Lee Han, who was wandering around Granden City, didn’t know at all.

He couldn’t understand how he found out.

Beaver-Penguin-Fox: A spirit serving one of the mercenaries came to me and told me.

“……”

Lee Han’s eyes widened in shock.

How on earth was something like that possible??

* * *

“Hey, everyone. Gather around.”

Lee Han called his friends with a serious expression.

The friends, who realized that the current situation was unusual, starting with the mercenary who had collapsed earlier, quietly gathered.

“It’s surprising, but the spirits you serve can also betray you. Check the contract details carefully.”

“…W-What are you talking about?”

“Weren’t you talking about that mercenary?”

“I’m going to talk about that now too.”

Lee Han told them the story he had heard from his senior.

Surprisingly, the reason why these mercenary groups were running rampant right now was because of the evil god worshippers.

It was easy to think that the evil god worshippers would move alone, but in fact, a grand plan required many appendages.

The mercenaries who came to Granden City this time were also those who had followed the evil god worshippers after receiving a large sum of gold.

-We have a separate place to go from now on. Receive this artifact and deliver it to your colleagues.

‘Are they idiots?’

From the mercenaries’ point of view, it was a very embarrassing sound.

What were they trusting to hand over the artifacts to the mercenaries?

They should be monitoring them closely, but they were just handing over the artifacts so willingly.

The mercenaries, having split up, readily nodded, already planning to sell the artifact on the black market.

“Understood. We’ll do that.”

“You promise.”

“Yes. We promise.”

The mercenaries, now clutching the heavy, dark stone artifact, grinned at each other. “Easy money!” one of them, a burly man with a scarred face, chuckled. They quickly packed their bags, eager to leave the bustling city of Granden City before nightfall.

A few small jobs, some shiny gold coins, and now *this* – an ancient treasure! They had never been so lucky.

But luck is a fickle thing. That very night, as darkness fell over Granden City, a terrifying roar echoed through the streets. A monster with shadowy wings and eyes like burning coals descended from the sky, summoned by the **Evil God Worshippers** – a secret group who prayed to a dark and powerful god. And a terrible curse fell upon the mercenaries who held the artifact.

A chilling whisper seemed to crawl into their minds: “You… must obey…”

Suddenly, they were plagued by horrifying visions and voices. They saw the monstrous face of the Evil God in their dreams and heard his commands in their waking hours.

If they dared to disobey, a cold dread filled them, and they felt the curse tighten its grip, threatening to crush their very hearts.

Only then did the mercenaries realize they had been deceived by the Evil God Worshippers. Something they did had triggered the curse.

Bounties were now on their heads. Because of the monster attack at the palace, anyone could recognize them.

They needed to escape as quickly as possible, but the mercenaries were unable to do so, forced to carry out the Evil God’s commands.

Raiding the shop and stealing the Swansong was part of that command.

Angalo, who had been listening intently, asked, “But the mercenaries didn’t seem that impressive. Wouldn’t the mages or knights of Granden City be able to catch them quickly?”

“I thought so too. But Illendil seems to want to get his hands on that artifact. I guess it must be valuable.”

Akdin was dumbfounded as he regained his senses.

To be ridiculed for their low level, of all things, was truly outrageous.

If Akdin himself revealed his identity in front of those mercenaries, there would be several who would offer to join the quest just at the mention of his name!

‘Was I getting impatient?! How could I make such a mistake?’

Akdin gritted his teeth.

To think that he, who had weathered countless storms, would end up like this simply because he underestimated a customer who walked into the shop.

He never imagined that the enemy would track him down so closely.

‘…No. They deserve to mock me.’

Lull the enemy into complacency, draw them out, and then strike a decisive blow upon the most important artifact to subdue them.

It was so perfect that there was nothing to say.

Akdin never imagined that the opponent was simply preparing magic and checking inside the shop for no particular reason.

The fact that the artifact was shattered was actually a stroke of luck…

“Sorry we’re late!”

As the knights and mages of Granden City rushed in, Lee Han and his friends prepared to leave.

Then, an employee hurriedly ran over and stopped them.

“Wait! Which mages are you affiliated with? Please, let us know so we can repay your kindness!”

“Uh…”

“Well…”

The students were flustered.

Of course, they were affiliated with Einroguard, but weren’t they in disguise right now?

Moreover, considering the importance of the situation, revealing their affiliation with Einroguard might reach the ears of the Death Knights…

“W-we are mages affiliated with the Nago family.”

“Ah! That’s right! We’re affiliated with the Nago family too!”

“Ooh…!”

The employees, and even the knights, were amazed.

Were there other mages in the recently famous Nago family?

“Did you know? When I asked the Einroguard Death Knights about them last time, they said it was a very remarkable family.”

“Truly amazing. There are many remarkable families in the Empire, but…”

‘Nago family… a name to watch out for.’

Akdin, his powers tightly sealed, deeply etched the name into his mind.

The seasoned mercenary didn’t hold a grudge for being defeated. Rather, he remembered and avoided them as much as possible.

There was no point in fighting someone stronger.

Judging by the skills of the Nago family mages, it seemed best to avoid them in the future.

Illendil anxiously waited in a nearby flower garden, the sweet scent of roses and lilies filling the air.

Basically, Illendil didn’t like actually meeting other wizards. Especially if that wizard called his title Gonadaltes.

But with the situation as it was, it couldn’t be helped.

To get his hands on the precious artifact, it was right to cooperate with the Einroguard student.

Gonadaltes’s skills were certain…

‘To subdue Akdin so easily, is he a fourth-year, or even a fifth-year? Who is he?’

Due to the shock, Illendil didn’t even notice that the other person had called him ‘senior’.

“Are you there?”

“…A-ah!”

Illendil let out a small scream at the sight of the wizards rushing in.

The wizard at the front recognized Illendil and asked, “Illendil senior?”

“Why, why are there so many of you?”

“What do you mean?”

“The wizards…”

“Isn’t it better to have more people to cooperate with?”

“W-well, yes, but…”

Illendil trailed off. Lee Han tilted his head, wondering if there was a problem.

Hesitating, Illendil slowly replied in a small voice, “I, I get a little uncomfortable with so many people…”

He was so active in the Guardian Club!

Lee Han was dumbfounded, but he asked his friends to wait outside for a moment.

“Can you wait outside?”

“If that person attacks you, shout immediately. Wodanaz.”

“…Surely he wouldn’t.”

“Isn’t that the madman who summoned dark spirits in the forest last time? Is it okay to leave only Wodanaz?”

‘Can’t deny it.’

Just as Illendil disliked having several strangers in a small space, the second-year students didn’t particularly like the senior who released artificial dark spirits into the forest.

Already, among the second-year students, Illendil was in the ‘that crazy senior’ category.

As the door closed, Illendil let out a sigh of relief. Then he asked,

“I don’t recognize your face…?”

“Ah. I’m in disguise.”

Lee Han dispelled the disguise.

As the kind junior with a warm heart who loved spirits appeared before him, Illendil screamed and fainted backward.