Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 1050
However, Professor Garcia, who had already fallen into a panic, did not hear those words.
“Student Lee Han! Student Lee Han!”
Professor Garcia seems even more negative than I am?
It felt faintly absurd, seeing someone who usually said things like, “Principal, you are far too negative and pessimistic,” to the Skull Principal now acting like this.
Professor Garcia sprinted frantically along the long connected chain. Because Professor Garcia was using time acceleration magic, even the scenery around them was impossible to see.
In contrast, the Skull Principal noticed something strange about this dungeon.
“…It’s a dragon dungeon!”
He realized that this was completely different from ordinary dungeons.
It was a dungeon that dragons used the way one might use a vegetable garden.
There was only one reason for something like this to exist inside the manor.
Jowrin secretly made it.
Since Jowrin was also a dragon, she must have wanted to secretly prepare a lair of her own.
The Skull Principal was not particularly surprised or angry about that fact in itself.
Judging by the fact that other dragons had helped, she must have handled it quite well on her own…
…Isn’t this overprotection a bit excessive?
Jowrin was a dragon with relatively slow mental growth, but was there really any need to be this overprotective?
No matter what, why would a dungeon have a common room and even a bathhouse?
In any case, the ones who entered a dragon’s dungeon would be the subordinates beneath the dragon.
Meanwhile, Professor Garcia found Lee Han’s group.
“Student Lee Han!!”
Gasp.
Jowrin, who had been digging into a corner of the dungeon with her front paws in case monsters appeared, was startled by the familiar voice behind her.
This voice is?
“Get away from him right now, you evil spirit!”
—!
While Jowrin was merely startled and surprised, the water spirit beside Lee Han was truly terrified.
The aura radiating from the mage who always ranked first in Einroguard’s unofficial combat ranking made even a high water spirit tremble.
Bubble, bubble—
As the water spirit bubbled in terror, Professor Garcia cast magic.
The space between Lee Han and the spirit expanded, and the spirit froze in place. Time had been stolen from it for an instant.
“Principal! Please finish off that evil spirit!”
“…Calm down first, Professor Garcia.”
The Skull Principal, who appeared a little late, soothed Professor Garcia as if bewildered.
No matter how he looked at it, that water spirit seemed to have done nothing wrong.
It looked as though the dragons had ordered it to manage this dungeon…
Wh-what should I do? How should I handle this?
When both a professor and the principal appeared, Jowrin’s face went pale.
Her ambitious plan to confine Lee Han in the manor for about a hundred years had been completely exposed.
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty.”
!
At her dependable contractor’s words, Jowrin’s expression brightened again.
Lee Han…!
“I’ll stay beside you while you get scolded.”
…Lee Han!
At his heartless words, which meant he would watch her be scolded rather than help her, Jowrin looked ready to cry.
That’s too much!
“You’ve had a hard time.”
—Th-thank you, Lord Imperial Mage Marshal.
The Skull Principal released the spirit and soothed it.
Then he looked at Lee Han.
“I clearly warned you, so why did you pathetically enter the manor and get kidnapped?”
“…”
For a moment, Lee Han wondered whether he was the disciple or the spirit was.
The person who had been so kind to the spirit was now berating the disciple who had just been kidnapped.
“If you were going to warn me, you should have done it properly! How was I supposed to understand that?”
“Did you perhaps boil and eat Professor Bivle while I wasn’t looking? How can you be this shameless?”
Usually, the Skull Principal knew perfectly well when he was being unreasonable, but this time was different.
He had clearly…
—If you go visit her, she’ll cling to you and not let you leave until the vacation ends.
—Maybe she won’t let you leave even after vacation ends.
—Haha. Look at this dragon expert. Anyway, if you’re going to meet her, finish everything else first. I clearly warned you.
…said exactly that.
This truly was not spite. It had definitely been advice not to go.
“How could I have explained it in more detail than that?”
“…”
Lee Han changed the subject.
“Anyway, please remove these handcuffs.”
“You mean this dragon box? Wait. This isn’t easy to remove, so it’ll take some time.”
“…!”
Lee Han was shocked.
At first, he thought the Skull Principal was being spiteful, but he was not.
He was serious.
“What? There are things even you find difficult to remove, Principal?”
“Well, this is something dragons made to imprison criminals forever, so of course there are. She managed to bring quite the item.”
“…”
—…
Every being present except the Skull Principal looked at Jowrin.
Jowrin lowered her head.
She had planned to return it later once Lee Han promised to stay at the manor…
“I understand, Your Majesty. I also promised His Majesty that I would be able to abdicate once the Empire stabilized. Isn’t it all the same?”
The Skull Principal lightly moved his fingers and carved a magic circle onto the handcuffs Lee Han was wearing.
These handcuffs, called a dragon box, were a kind of living metal that changed in response to the characteristics of the criminal it bound.
It was metal that had gained limited artificial life through word-spirit infused with dragon power.
To neutralize and remove something like this, even the Skull Principal had to employ considerable technique.
“Mana dispersion? Dragons don’t usually prepare this kind of thing properly. Who added something like this?”
It was not meant to imprison another dragon, and mana dispersion like this was meaningless.
What sort of criminal who needed to be imprisoned would have nearly infinite mana?
“You’re absolutely right.”
Lee Han feigned ignorance and joined in with righteous indignation.
Dragons really were an excessively thorough race.
The Skull Principal sensed something suspicious, but ignored it and finished drawing the magic circle.
This magic circle had been drawn with ink into which the Skull Principal had personally breathed life. Given time, it would move on its own and complete a magic circle that would suppress the dragon box’s power.
“Now then…”
The Skull Principal turned around. Jowrin hiccuped.
“Ten years of house arrest, and only boring guests will be allowed to visit…”
No, that can’t be!
“Who told you to cause trouble, Your Majesty? My heart aches too, but it can’t be helped.”
The heartless Imperial Mage Marshal coldly assigned penalty points and decided on punishment.
For a while, soft and cute guests would not be able to visit Jowrin’s manor. Only boring, uninteresting guests would be allowed.
“Accumulate good deeds. Then I’ll reduce your sentence.”
…Helping Einroguard students counts as good deeds too…
Jowrin spoke while watching the mood.
Seeing this, the Skull Principal felt anew that Jowrin had grown mentally.
To think she could use such cunning tricks.
Come to think of it, there were signs from when she deceived both His Majesty and me at the same time.
“I’m adding two hours a day of listening to songs praising the Empire.”
!!!!
Jowrin flapped her wings pleadingly, but the Skull Principal coldly ignored her.
“Isn’t that too harsh?”
“Even if I forgive her later, I have to be strict when strictness is needed. Dragons need to learn somewhat harshly.”
After answering Lee Han’s whisper firmly, the Skull Principal looked around.
“But isn’t Alshicle Pengerine here too?”
“Well, I wonder?”
Lee Han averted his gaze at exactly the same angle as his master.
“It can’t be helped. Wardanaz. The reason I came looking for you is that I have something to say about Professor Voladi Bagreg.”
At those words, Lee Han smiled bitterly.
Professor Garcia, who had been apologizing to the spirit nearby, saw that smile and asked curiously.
“What’s wrong, Student Lee Han? Do you have some idea?”
“Hah. Isn’t it obvious? You want me to report immediately if Professor Bagreg moves to send a letter to the Imperial Palace.”
Thwack!
The Skull Principal struck his cheeky disciple once with his staff.
“No.”
“…It’s not?”
Lee Han felt embarrassed. Professor Garcia also felt embarrassed.
Honestly, Professor Garcia had thought that was the correct answer too.
“Do you remember when we caught one of those Ksaksarigol creatures before?”
“Yes.”
The monster hunt from the worlds beyond, when Alshicle and the capital explorers had accompanied them.
During the process of hunting that monster, all sorts of criminals from the Empire had appeared.
Mage criminals, worshippers of evil gods, separatists…
It would not be an exaggeration to call it a comprehensive gift set of criminals.
And what had been caught then was an elf prophet from the Ksaksarigol cult.
That evil bastard who had kept making unpleasant slanderous remarks, calling Lee Han a “monster that devours prophecy”!
“Huh? When did Student Lee Han get involved with the Ksaksarigol cult?”
Professor Garcia tilted Professor Garcia’s head.
Since Student Lee Han had been involved with so many evil and powerful beings in the Empire, Professor Garcia had almost carelessly overlooked it. But now that Professor Garcia thought about it, something seemed strange.
Anti-Magic Extremists, mage criminals, Ghoul King, Frost Giant King, Prahgal cult… he’s never been involved with those Ksaksarigol madmen, has he?
“…”
“…”
The Skull Principal and his top student exchanged extremely subtle and complex glances.
Saying that Lee Han had somehow ended up participating in tracking a monster from the dimensional void would not sound very good to Professor Garcia.
Both of them nodded slightly at the same time.
“There was that time before. Right. Professor. That time I mentioned. It was totally Ksaksarigol.”
“That’s right. Right.”
“????”
While Professor Garcia fell into confusion and tried to check whether there was some memory Professor Garcia had missed, the Skull Principal quickly moved the conversation forward.
“Anyway, we interrogated that self-proclaimed prophet bastard and extracted more information… and something related to Professor Voladi came up among it.”
The Skull Principal seemed reluctant to specify what kind of problem it was.
Lee Han noticed the mood and spoke carefully.
“If it’s something I shouldn’t hear, just tell me what I need to do.”
“But Principal. In Student Lee Han’s case, he is already doing sufficiently dangerous work, so hiding information won’t make it any less dangerous. Wouldn’t it just have the opposite effect?”
“That’s true too. It would be better to just tell him everything.”
The Skull Principal immediately accepted Professor Garcia’s words. Lee Han made a disgruntled expression.
“…”
Of course, it was better to hear everything from the beginning than to have information hidden from him and be surprised later…
…but what was this uneasy, disgruntled feeling?
“There is a type that Professor Voladi especially dislikes on the continent.”
“?”
Lee Han was puzzled by the unexpected opening.
A type that Professor Voladi disliked.
…weren’t there too many?
Criminals, beaver beastmen, Anti-Magic Extremists, Professor Verdus, mage criminals, Einroguard enchantment magic school representatives…
As if reading Lee Han’s thoughts, the Skull Principal spoke irritably.
“Not just any type Professor Voladi dislikes, but a type Professor Voladi especially dislikes. For reference, I’m not talking about Professor Bivle either.”
“!”
Not Professor Verdus either.
Lee Han could not guess at all.
When he looked to the side, Professor Garcia was also listening with a very serious expression.
“It’s an evil god cult that fell long ago and whose name disappeared… but that madman was babbling that they seem to have revived.”
“I-I see…”
Lee Han straightened his posture and nodded.
Now he could guess what the Skull Principal was trying to say.
“I understand. You want me to stop Professor Bagreg if Professor Bagreg secretly goes to subjugate them.”
Emotions like anger or obsession were fatal to mages.
Moreover, Professor Voladi, who enjoyed fighting alone without separate support, could become even more precarious.
“What do you mean, stop Professor Voladi? Don’t act presumptuous and get beaten up. Just quietly report it. Professor Voladi is not someone who won’t beat a disciple.”
“…”
The Skull Principal was very realistic.
Since trying to stop Professor Voladi would only have the opposite effect, secretly monitoring from behind was the more reasonable method.
If something felt off or strange, Lee Han had to report it immediately to help the Skull Principal’s former disciple.
“Still, I’m about half the professor’s disciple…”
When Lee Han grumbled, Professor Garcia quietly said,
“Student Lee Han. Don’t try to stop Professor Voladi. Just quietly report it.”
“…Yes…”
