Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 680

“Just now, you said directly—”

“Diret.”

“!”

A mage Lee Han had never seen spoke first.

The mage had facial features that resembled Adenart in a way. Silver hair and blue eyes in particular created an even stronger sense of similarity.

If there was a difference, it was that the mage in front of them scattered a far more inorganic, cold atmosphere.

Maybe it ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) was because Lee Han had gotten fairly close with Adenart, but for someone so often misunderstood as cold, Adenart wasn’t actually that cold of a person.

A person who stole bread for Adenart’s own followers couldn’t possibly be cold-hearted.

‘Like a capable Gainando.’

By contrast, Lee Han could feel that the mage in front of them was fundamentally different.

The mage showed no interest in Lee Han at all and spoke to Diret.

“So you came to see it.”

“Of course. It’s your work, Yukbeltire.”

“You made the right choice. It will help.”

‘So that was the princess!’

Lee Han realized this was Princess Yukbeltire—the one Diret had mentioned earlier.

‘Then is this Adenart’s older sister?’

Yukbeltire was having a complicated discussion with Diret about this magic when Yukbeltire finally seemed to notice Lee Han.

Yukbeltire looked Lee Han over once, then frowned and spoke to Diret.

“Are you taking care of underclassmen again?”

“Ah. Stop it. It’s my choice.”

“Then my advice is my choice too. Stop taking care of underclassmen who aren’t on your level. It won’t help your magic in the slightest.”

There was no emotional edge—no arrogance or contempt—in the princess’s voice.

Only a flat, emotionless certainty that Yukbeltire was correct.

At that cold kindness the friend always showed, Diret shuddered and answered.

“Whatever. I’ll handle my own business. And this underclassman is smart.”

“You say that every time. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen an underclassman who was truly smart.”

Stabbed in a sore spot, Diret’s face reddened slightly.

Among the dark magic underclassmen, there still wasn’t anyone with grades as good as Diret’s.

“This one is actually smart!”

“You said that last time too. What’s different?”

“Hey. Go away. Over there.”

“This isn’t a space you own, so you have no right to say that.”

“…Underclassman. Let’s go.”

Diret tried to move while tugging Lee Han’s sleeve.

But the princess followed behind with a blank face. While following, Yukbeltire kept trying to persuade the friend.

“You’re going up to fifth year together now. How long do you plan to keep taking care of underclassmen? You should focus on your own magic too.”

“Why did I even come to this place?”

Diret regretted coming for nothing.

Diret came to see the friend’s magic, and it felt like picking up an even bigger problem instead.

When Diret ignored the words, Yukbeltire turned the arrow toward Lee Han.

“Third-year. You answer. How long are you going to keep coddling yourself with Diret? After becoming a student of Einroguard, aren’t you ashamed to cling to the ankle of Diret, who will become a great mage, and hold Diret back?”

‘Why does Yukbeltire think I’m a third-year?’

I’m a first-year.

Lee Han was puzzled.

But before Lee Han could answer, Diret flew into a rage.

“Hey. You’re crossing a line. Friend or not, there are limits.”

“I’m giving advice as a friend—”

“Keep running your mouth. Forget your presentation—today you die right here.”

“!”

Lee Han shuddered, feeling just how powerful an upperclassman’s rage was—an upperclassman about to go into fourth year, no, into fifth.

Mana rippled, and Lee Han felt like five spells Lee Han couldn’t even identify had risen right up to the point of pulling the trigger.

“Mm. But isn’t it true?”

“…Hey… underclassman…”

Diret looked at Lee Han with an expression that clearly said, How can you say that?

Lee Han was supposed to take Diret’s side. How could Lee Han side with that rude friend?

“No, it does feel like the dark magic upperclassmen rely on you too much, Upperclassman Diret… It was like that last time too… And isn’t the professor like that as well?”

“You’ve got an eye.”

Yukbeltire immediately agreed.

Maybe not talent, but at least there was a bit of conscience.

“The dark magic group is exploiting Diret’s talent. Professor Mortum, of course, and Coholty has never been any help, even though Coholty is in the same year. Are you going to deny this too?”

Stabbed again in the sore spot, Diret hesitated.

“That’s just how the dark magic group is—”

“It really does seem that way.”

“Hey!”

Diret was furious at the underclassman’s betrayal.

Was this kid a spy?

Lee Han soothed Diret and stated Lee Han’s own conviction.

“I think the dark magic students need to stop depending on you, Upperclassman Diret. Everyone should do their own work. And Professor Mortum should stop making you do everything too.”

“…!”

Diret forgot the fight and felt a lump rise in the throat.

It was the first time Diret had ever seen an underclassman say something so admirable.

“…Even just hearing the sentiment makes me happy.”

“And every time the professor calls for you, I’ll file a denunciation with the Skull Principal!”

“……”

“……”

Both Diret and Yukbeltire looked at Lee Han like they were staring at a lunatic.

“Is that an underclassman with something wrong in the head?”

“…No. It’s because Lee Han is close with the Skull Principal.”

“Then something is wrong in the head.”

The princess said it without malice.

There was no way this person was the Skull Principal’s disciple, and anyone who wasn’t a disciple but still acted close would have to be a regular at the punishment room.

“Underclassman… I appreciate the sentiment, but you don’t have to go that far. And it just looks like I’m overloaded because the dark magic group has so few people.”

“Strictly speaking, the workload Diret alone is taking on is far heavier.”

“Could you shut up for a second?”

“I refuse.”

Listening to them, Lee Han suddenly remembered something and asked.

“By any chance, what group do you specialize in, Upperclassman Yukbeltire?”

“Enchantment magic. I’m Professor Verdus’s direct disciple.”

“Ah, I knew it!”

Lee Han immediately accepted it, like it explained everything. Diret spoke with a dissatisfied expression.

“She’s still my friend, you know. Isn’t that a bit harsh…?”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

Diret let out a sigh.

There weren’t many things ruder than asking someone, “Are you perhaps Professor Verdus’s disciple?”

But there was one exception.

When the person actually was Professor Verdus’s disciple.

Since Yukbeltire was exactly that, there was nothing to say.

“Princess Yukbeltire. Please prepare.”

When the mages called the name, the princess checked the time and turned.

“Diret. Don’t forget today’s advice.”

“Yes. I’ll definitely change!”

‘Why are you answering…?’

Yukbeltire said, with a blank face, that Yukbeltire would be watching, then left.

Diret felt drained, like Diret had just sprinted at full speed.

“I came to see magic and ended up suffering like this…”

“Seriously.”

“And why are you taking that one’s side?!”

“S-sorry.”

Lee Han felt a little wronged.

Honestly, it really did seem like the dark magic group was at fault too.

“But why did that upperclassman think I was a third-year?”

“Because fourth-years are people Yukbeltire knows, and second-years have no reason to come here, so Yukbeltire assumed you were a third-year.”

“There are first-years too.”

Diret looked at Lee Han with the eyes of someone staring at the most pathetic question in the world.

*****

As Gawon prepared the magic, Diret flipped through a book with a bored expression.

“You’re not interested in that magic?”

“I saw the pre-submitted announcement. It didn’t seem like much.”

The spells presented at exchange gatherings were basically written up in a catalog beforehand and distributed to the mages.

Sharp-eyed, clever mages could tell from that alone whether a spell was decent or stale.

“There wasn’t any progress beyond <Ota’s Radiant Prism>.”

“B-but if you improve the magic circle a bit more and shorten the process, wouldn’t it be good?”

“It would be, but it’s not easy.”

Improving magic required both knowledge and intuition.

Knowledge built from experience making and fixing all kinds of magic circles, and intuition sharp enough to sense the flow of mana more sensitively than others.

Without those, you couldn’t even set the direction for improvement.

And even setting direction wasn’t the end. You needed the ability to implement that direction as well.

For example, suppose the effect improved if you compressed a thousand units of mana into the magic circle.

Then the mage had the duty to secure that mana personally, put it in, and prove it. If you couldn’t do it and only made claims, people would just be lukewarm.

“But that mage improved the Light-Spirit Ink circle again, and even compressed mana into the Black-Shadow Sand…”

“…Did it?”

Diret closed <Monthly Dark Magic Trends> and narrowed the eyes.

Looking closely, Diret could definitely feel the difference.

“The shape stabilization is way simpler. The left-side plane stabilization spell was removed.”

Diret was surprised at the bold choice.

Unless someone was from Einroguard, outside mages tended to cling to safe choices more than you’d expect.

But that kind of bold circle—

“Is it okay?”

“It’s good… It’s fine.”

Lee Han felt proud.

Seems like Lee Han’s fix wasn’t wrong.

“Wait, they improved the circle entirely, then compressed mana into the Black-Shadow Sand? That’s not even Professor Bible, so how did they think of that?”

“…People besides professors can do things too.”

“They can, but that kind of method is something Professor Bible likes to use.”

A style of magic that cut away the unnecessary for the sake of efficiency, regardless of difficulty.

It was a style Professor Verdus liked to use.

Lee Han recoiled.

‘That’s unfair.’

To be mistaken for Professor Verdus’s style!

Maybe experience under that professor had influenced Lee Han without Lee Han realizing. Lee Han felt a huge humiliation.

“That’s impressive.”

Diret gave a short evaluation and leaned back. There was interest filling the eyes.

“That mage looks like they came prepared… Come to think of it, underclassman. How did you recognize that right away?”

It felt impressive all over again.

From this far away—and the underclassman probably hadn’t even seen the catalog—yet Lee Han noticed the spell’s unusual quality.

“I helped with the improvements.”

“…What?”

“Because they gave us a ride in the carriage…”

Lee Han told the story of repaying Gawon’s kindness, since Gawon had lent the carriage.

Diret was so dumbfounded Diret couldn’t even answer.

Seeing that, Lee Han asked carefully.

“Is it not allowed to touch a spell submitted to an exchange gathering?”

“No, it’s not that. But usually you don’t remodel someone’s spell because they lent you a carriage…”

It wasn’t some story about a mage who took one coin and then cast a spell on an entire village on the way out—what kind of generosity was this?

Diret shook the head back and forth and looked ahead.

“There’s no difference from <Ota’s Radiant Prism>, is there?”

“T-that is…”

“Idiots! Don’t you have eyes? Look at that circle. It’s been improved several times over compared to <Ota’s Radiant Prism>!”

“Improvement at that level isn’t enough!”

“You can’t see the mana compressed into the Black-Shadow Sand? You fool, you?!”

“How dare you… Come outside! A duel!”

“That’s what I was going to say. I’ll clean out one fool at this exchange gathering!”

Aside from a handful who tried to nitpick, got insulted instead, and went off to duel, the mages attending the exchange gathering showed positive reactions.

Gawon sighed in relief and rubbed the chest, then spotted Lee Han and lit up.

Then, from the stage, Gawon pointed at Lee Han and shouted.

“Lee Han, thank you! Thank you! Without that person’s help, this magic would have been impossible!”

As the seated mages all turned to stare at Lee Han at once, Diret pulled the hat down low and murmured.

“Underclassman. From now on, I think we should sit separately.”