Surviving As A Mage In A Magic Academy [EN]: Chapter 952

Ilrendil believed people who talked to spirits didn’t have good friendships with normal people.

He thought he was a good example of this.

But this younger student, from the Wodanaz family, was very friendly.

He even talked to a friend’s family about parties? That seemed strange to Ilrendil.

Maybe he was wrong, but it felt a little… too much.

“Gasp! That makes sense,” Nilia whispered.

Nilia felt a shiver down her spine at Ilrendil’s words.

If you’re close to spirits, your other relationships suffer?

She understood what Ilrendil meant. She remembered dreaming of sweet cakes from books, while hunters she knew ate raw meat from animals they killed. She felt like she lived in two different worlds.

“Come on. Nilia has lots of friends and spirits.”

“I think that senior is just making excuses because he doesn’t have any friends. And the reason he doesn’t have friends is because he secretly summons fake spirits in the forest.”

The friends were indifferent to Ilrendil’s words.

Even Adenart chimed in.

“Affinity with spirits has nothing to do with being friendly. That’s nonsense.”

“See?”

Adenart didn’t want anyone to say he wasn’t friendly. He nodded quickly, saying “No, no!” This made the others even more sure he was friendly.

Just then, Ihan came back with the permit. He was also carrying a new coat, which was strange.

“…Wodanaz. What’s that?”

“Here. Asan. Daihal said he had a coat prepared for you.”

“What!? Not scolding me for my test scores?”

“…He did that a little too, but that’s not important. Here. Take it.”

Asan examined the coat with great suspicion.

Asan wondered if there was a note inside, like, ‘100 points is not enough! Get 200 next time!’ But there was no note.

“Hmm. Maybe I’ve been too suspicious of my brother…”

“See? Daihal does think of you.”

When Ihan went to get the permit, Daihal had said, “Wodanaz! I was going to give you this coat next time I saw you anyway, so this is perfect!” Then he gave Ihan the coat.

But Daihal did care about his younger brother. He had asked Ihan many questions about how Asan was doing with magic.

‘But there’s no need to tell him that.’

“And Asan. Here’s some pocket money from Haidan.”

“Wait. It says ‘Ihan Wodanaz’ on the pouch?”

“That’s because I switched it with my gold coin pouch when I came out.”

‘Isn’t that too fancy of a fabric for Ihan to use?’

Yoner felt a sense of unease but said nothing.

Something else was more important.

“Senior. Where should we search first when we get inside?”

The barracks where the Granden City guards and senior knights stayed were larger than expected, with several buildings inside.

If they stirred things up carelessly, the enemies might notice them first.

“The underground temporary prison.”

“Indeed. That’s definitely the most likely place.”

Ihan nodded as if agreeing with Ilrendil’s choice.

Other guard barracks, armories, or warehouses could also be hiding places, but they weren’t as good.

In the case of barracks, they would have to bribe all the personnel stationed there, and in the case of armories or warehouses, too many things could go wrong.

A prison in the basement would be dark, big enough, and hidden. It was a good place to hide things.

Ilrendil thought, ‘He figured that out so quickly. He really is amazing.’

“Oh… a spirit just told me.”

“…Then let’s go in.”

Ihan turned sharply and strode forward. Ilrendil, slightly flustered, asked his friends.

“D-did I do something wrong…?”

“You tried to use a fake spirit to attack Wodanaz in the forest. Of course, he’s careful around you now.”

‘That was ages ago…!’

Ilrendil felt wronged.

The mercenaries were gathered in a hidden space behind the underground temporary prison.

It was originally a place where wooden barrels containing food for prisoners were stacked, but now it was forgotten and only known to a few servants or thieves.

Experienced mercenaries secured several such places as temporary hideouts when carrying out jobs in the city.

Staying near busy places like bars or hotels was too risky. It was like asking to be caught.

Even though they were experienced and clever, the evil god’s power was slowly taking over them.

An ancient artifact emitting an evil light.

This artifact, which they couldn’t throw away or abandon, was binding them.

Move… Obey my command…

‘Damn it!’

They wanted to go to a temple or a mage to have it removed, but doing so in the current situation would likely result in them being reported immediately.

It was a maddening situation for the mercenaries.

Ting!

The mercenaries’ eyes changed as the string hanging in the corner snapped.

They weren’t just hiding. They had installed light devices to detect movement at the entrance and exits.

The bribed servant would only come at a set time, so this was…

“Guards?”

“Shhh.”

One of the mercenaries took out a crossbow that emitted a bluish light in the darkness.

This crossbow was magic, made powerful by Zenbaya. It could shoot through thick metal armor like it was soft mud.

Having weapons like this showed how strong these mercenaries were. It seemed they liked magic weapons more than training hard themselves.

‘They’re not coming in?’

The mercenaries narrowed their eyes as the door only opened and no one entered.

What’s going on?

Clang!

Smoke began to billow inside the basement along with the sound of breaking glass.

The mercenaries exchanged shocked glances and sent hand signals.

-Cover your mouths and use the scroll!

If they inhaled the alchemist’s poisonous smoke, they wouldn’t last ten seconds before collapsing. The mercenaries quickly tore open the scrolls.

“They used a scroll.”

Yoner, who had been waiting above after throwing the glass bottle, confirmed the activation of the scroll and spoke.

The mercenaries thought it was poison, but the bottle Yoner threw just made smoke.

The opponents would also have poison defenses, so there was no reason to launch a powerful attack from the start.

Any Einrogard mage would know this basic trick.

“Understood.”

Adenart shot a chakram-shaped artifact into the smoke. The magic weapon could sense living things. It attacked wildly, even though it was hard to see in the smoke.

-Mages! Mages above!

-Break through the encirclement!

As the attack became certain, the mercenaries moved decisively.

They immediately activated the potions and scrolls they had and ran towards the side wall.

This underground prison seemed to have only one exit, but in fact, the mercenaries had identified the location of a thin wall in advance.

If they broke through here…

Rumble!

As the mercenary who drank the strength potion swung his hammer and broke the wall, the figures of the mages appeared beyond it.

Anglago and Rowena, who were casting enhancement magic and holding out behind a rock barricade, seemed difficult to shake.

“To the other side!”

“Too late. Just break through!”

A mix-up occurred among the mercenaries due to Akdin’s absence. At that moment, a purple arrow accurately sniped one of the mercenaries.

“Turn to the left and take out one more!”

“They see through the smoke!!”

As Asan used magic to see the future and helped Nilia, the smoke and darkness only hurt the mercenaries, not them.

“Kraaah!”

One of the mercenaries, unable to withstand it, rushed out relying only on his temporarily amplified strength.

Since getting close was always the right answer when facing a mage, he charged in even if he took a few hits.

However, the mages above were prepared for that as well. Anglago attacked him and made him lose his balance. Then Rowena hit him with her staff and knocked him out.

“Tutanta! Break the wall near the torches and trap them!”

“Wait. That would make the passage too wide!”

The mercenaries, realizing they had been caught properly, retreated back inside with curses.

Then Yoner threw another potion. This time it was a proper attack potion.

‘Again!?’

It’s true what people say: even one good magic user can make things very hard for enemies.

This was because even one mage could fill the gaps in the party and diversify its power.

But today, the mercenaries were facing several such mages.

And they were very skilled at cooperating with each other!

Even mages who worked alone were difficult, but these mages were moving in such a thoroughly coordinated manner.

From the mercenaries’ point of view, it was almost a nightmare.

“S-surrender. I surrender!”

“Understood! Just keep breathing in the smoke there!”

The mercenaries, who were trying to create an opportunity, shuddered.

They didn’t know which magic tower the Granden City guys had brought with them, but they were unusually nasty.

Even magic users from the Lava Squad aren’t this mean…

Plop!

“Have they all collapsed?”

“Let’s wait a little longer before going in, just in case. Yoner. Can you throw one more potion?”

Ilrendil was shocked by what Ihan said and asked loudly,

“H-how…!”

“…W-well, I don’t think it’s that wasteful.”

“N-no, that’s not it. How are you all so…”

“???”

The friends were puzzled by the senior’s unexpected reaction.

‘Were we too mean?’

‘No. Einrogard was even meaner to us, so what’s the problem?’

“Are you all so well-coordinated…?”

“Ah.”

Only then did the students realize what the senior was talking about at Ilrendil’s words.

It was strange to see.

Not just one or two people, but so many working together perfectly, making no mistakes.

“Are you all friends?”

“W-what? We’re not friends!”

“Alpha, you jerk. Get out of the way?”

The students from each tower pushed each other away with disgust.

It was a very annoying misunderstanding. ‘Of course,’ Ilrendil thought, ‘even his misunderstandings are annoying.’

Ihan stepped in when the friends who had been fighting together until just now were about to fight unnecessarily.

“We’re not friends, we just work together well.”

‘…Isn’t that being friends?’

Ilrendil couldn’t understand the second-year students at all.

Of course, he hadn’t understood his juniors well in the past either, but these second-year students in particular…

‘I really don’t understand!’

“Oh. A magic crossbow. Nilia. Take it.”

“Thank you.”

“This armor seems like it would fit Anglago well. Wait. There’s a curse of intelligence reduction.”

“Doesn’t matter, does it?”

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter, you jerk, Tutanta.”

“I meant it doesn’t matter because you can wear it with the intelligence-boosting bracelet here.”

“…Ah. Is that what you meant? Haha.”

“What did you think I meant?”

Ihan and his party thoroughly looted the mercenaries.

Ilrendil watched the strange scene and shook his head. Then he remembered why he was there.

The artifact was old and powerful. It was called the Echo of a Demigod.

-■■■■■■!

“Ugh.”

Ilrendil frowned as the level of contamination felt inside was more severe than expected.

It seemed that he shouldn’t touch it easily.

“What’s wrong?”

“The level of contamination is more severe than I thought… I think I need to purify it first…”

Ilrendil pondered how to approach it.

Because it was connected to an evil god, Ilrendil knew he couldn’t just try a little bit. He needed to do something strong.

“Shall I ask someone for a moment?”

“Who?”

Ihan didn’t answer. He opened the Echo Stone and called for the Mad Doppelganger.

“This is my last warning. If you are wasting time again…”

“This time it’s different, Master. This artifact…”

The Mad Doppelganger’s anger subsided upon discovering the artifact. The Mad Doppelganger spoke in a much kinder voice than before.

…I will let it go this time. You did well. Finding new magic to learn yourself is impressive…

Pop!

Ihan immediately turned off the Echo Stone.

“…Huh??”

“Oh dear. It seems he doesn’t know much about it.”