Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 695

“This way!”

After passing through the door, Lee Han started to run for the stairs, but Alde stopped him and halted beneath a copper picture frame.

Then Alde stomped three times and did one backward roll.

“…What are you doing?”

“Making a shortcut!”

RUMBLE!

A staircase suddenly appeared beneath the frame.

“Only a few people in the Blue Dragon Tower know this path, so don’t go blabbing about it anywhere!”

“I’ll keep it in mind. But how did you find this path, Senior? Through illusion magic, by any chance?”

The staircase that had just appeared had been hidden so perfectly that even Lee Han hadn’t sensed any mana from it.

And yet Alde knew about a path like this.

Lee Han wondered whether the illusion-magic upperclassmen had some other trick for finding secret routes.

“No. I was wandering around at night once, saw a professor, got startled, fell over, and noticed it.”

“I see…”

“…There are paths I found through illusion magic too, so don’t look so disappointed.”

“I’m not disappointed. Ha ha.”

*****

At the sound of footsteps coming from far away, Ratford flinched.

The Death Knights, always clanking around in their heavy armor, made a distinct dull noise even when they were just moving around.

But the footsteps approaching now were not the Death Knights.

This was…

“P-Professor is coming!”

“Which professor?!”

Yonair shot back with a tense look on his face.

If it were a professor like Professor Garcia, someone reasonable or sympathetic to students, then that was at least a bit fortunate.

Even if they were caught, there might still be room for compromise.

But if it was not…

“P-Professor Verdus…!”

“……”

At the arrival of an unpredictable, troublesome opponent, Yonair bit down hard on his lip.

Wasn’t Professor Verdus one of Einroguard’s freaks, someone who could not be persuaded, bargained with, or threatened?

Even the Skull Principal could not be reasoned with, so could Yonair, a mere student, possibly talk this through?

“Professor Verdus will be here any moment. What do we do?”

“I’ll handle it. Give me a signal when Professor Verdus gets close.”

Yonair stood near the entrance to the storehouse.

Then he waited calmly.

Three, two, one…

“AAAGH! The cargo collapsed! If we’re going to put this back in order, we’ll need the mages’ help! Go call the mages!”

Stop—

The footsteps outside abruptly halted.

Then the sound of someone quickly fleeing in the opposite direction began to ring out.

“……”

“…Whew. We lived.”

“Y-Yonair, you’re a genius…!”

Ratford said in admiration.

To predict Professor Verdus’s selfish nature and drive Professor Verdus away like that!

“It was luck… just luck. I’d told Lee Han about Professor Verdus from time to time.”

“What did you say?”

“That Professor Verdus was a madman.”

‘That doesn’t really have anything to do with what just happened, does it…?’

Ratford thought to himself.

“That’s a relief. At any rate, the professor is gone somehow.”

“Yeah, so—”

KNOCK KNOCK—

Along with the sound of someone knocking on the storehouse door, the door opened.

And a professor stepped inside.

An elderly human woman with a monocle over one eye.

It was Professor Milei, who oversaw the summoning-magic group.

‘We’re dead.’

Yonair squeezed his eyes shut.

If it had been Professor Verdus, there might have been a chance to deceive Professor Verdus. If it wasn’t a subject of personal interest, Professor Verdus was indifferent to most things.

But strict Professor Milei was not someone who would fail to notice the mismatch in the number of laborers and the cargo.

“Professor Verdus said help was needed, so I came, but…”

Professor Milei looked around.

Ratford forced back the trembling in Ratford’s voice and said,

“W-we cleaned it up ourselves.”

“In that amount of time?”

‘Damn it.’

Only then did the two realize their mistake.

They should have at least messed up the area around them a little more.

Too few laborers. Cargo that didn’t add up. A lie that felt off.

Cold sweat ran down their backs.

“Yes.”

“Hm.”

Professor Milei looked around the storehouse, then stared directly at the two of them.

Under that gaze, as if being pierced straight through, both of them grew even more anxious.

After thinking for a long moment, Professor Milei let out a faint sigh and spoke.

“Quietly finish putting things in order and go.”

With that, the professor turned and left.

The two, who had been certain it was over and then been dragged back from the brink, stared at each other in shock.

“W-what was that just now?”

“I… I don’t know either.”

“Was it a trap? Waiting to catch us all together once Lord Wardanaz returns…”

“…I don’t think so.”

Yonair was slightly impressed by Ratford’s idea.

As expected of someone from a thieves’ guild, the seasoned way Ratford thought was on a different level.

*****

“B-beautiful…”

“The boxes?”

“Are your emotions too dried up or what?”

Alde grumbled at the junior’s nitpicking from beside him.

Any student who had attended Einroguard would understand.

That the boxes in front of them right now were far more beautiful than any lovely poem or famous painting!

For no reason at all, Alde felt the eyes growing hot and tears threatening to rise.

“If you’re done stacking them, let’s go. We don’t have much time.”

“…Right. It’s not over yet.”

Alde steeled himself.

When the junior was showing this much guts, there was no way Alde, as a senior, could afford to make a fool of himself.

The job was only half done.

Only when the other half was finished could it truly be called a success.

“Let’s go. If this works, Junior, you’ll go down as one of the legends of Einroguard. You probably haven’t done a job on this scale before either, have you?”

“I did once take my friends outside the school last year.”

“Your ‘friends’? Sounds like you took quite a few. Three? Four?”

“Almost the entire year…”

“…Don’t joke around.”

“I’m not joking.”

“That’s impossible!”

Alde nearly forgot the situation and started to argue, then stopped.

Something felt wrong when Alde tried to head back out through the exit beneath the copper picture frame from earlier.

“Light, illuminate what lies ahead.”

With that quiet incantation, the scenery beyond the closed exit began to come into view.

At that moment, Death Knights had taken up positions on the first floor of the main building.

“……”

“……”

The two stared wide-eyed in horror at how drastically the situation had changed in that short span of time.

“Do we really have to take part in that inspection too?”

“We do. Those are Master’s orders.”

“You think I haven’t received Master’s orders too? Patrolling the desert region is also Master’s order. What happens if a gap opens up while we’re doing inspections?”

“In the swamp region I’m assigned to, all sorts of troublesome creatures start bubbling up if I take my eyes off it for even a few hours. There are this many knights here. Wouldn’t one less make no difference?”

“No exceptions for anyone! Wait until everyone has gathered. Once the inspection is over, you may all leave for your respective duties.”

“Damn it. Who in the world still hasn’t shown up?”

“Isn’t it Sir Clzenberg? That one gets lost all the time.”

“That fool again?”

“Watch your mouth, brat! If Sir Clzenberg were still alive, a brat like you wouldn’t have dared say a single word!”

“That’s right, that’s right! Sir Clzenberg loses the way because of the curse received in life.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! A new body was granted, so why would the curse remain? The problem is simply that Sir Clzenberg gets lost!”

The Death Knights started bickering noisily with one another without exception.

They looked like they had no intention of leaving until everyone gathered.

Lee Han checked the time with an anxious expression. It was truly starting to become dangerous now.

‘If we’re delayed any longer here, even getting back might fail. Do we force our way through? Even if I use invisibility magic, there are too many of them and the door itself is blocked, so somehow I’d have to draw their attention—’

While Lee Han was thinking, Alde, who had been staring at him, tapped him and called out.

“Hey. Junior.”

“Yes?”

“You got a way?”

“Please wait just a moment. I’ll think of one.”

“No need. I’ll leave you with one final lesson.”

“?”

At those unexpected words, Lee Han froze.

Alde continued in a serious voice.

“You’re amazing. Einroguard is a place where the Empire gathers its geniuses, but every now and then, even among them, a special genius like you appears. Like Senior Yukbeltire.”

“Why that person of all people…”

At that unconvincing example, Lee Han reflexively objected.

“When I first saw you, I wondered what kind of lunatic you were. Every word you said and every thing you did was strange, and your swagger was ridiculous, so I thought, what kind of blowhard is this?”

“I don’t think it was quite that bad.”

“But the one who failed to understand was me. I’ve never seen someone like you in my year. It’d be the same for the years above mine too.”

Alde’s attitude was solemn.

At first, Alde had only approached Lee Han thinking of using him as bait in the smuggling operation, but that thinking had changed long ago.

The junior before Alde had the ability to lead the great affairs of Einroguard.

“Normally, what could I possibly teach someone like you? Still, there is one thing I can teach you today. Sometimes, whether it’s your friend, your junior, or your senior… you need to know how to abandon them too.”

With those words as the last thing said, Alde shoved Lee Han backward hard, then opened the exit door beneath the picture frame and burst outside.

“?!”

Then, chanting a spell, Alde ran straight toward the Death Knights.

“Awful memories, arise!”

With a chilling sound, an illusion of the Skull Principal floated up into the air.

The mana-filled illusion struck at the souls of the nearby Death Knights, plunging them into hallucinations.

You disappoint me with the way you handle your duties!

“I’m sorry, Master— This bastard. Who is that?”

“What insolent bastard is this?!”

But that was as far as it went.

Against high-ranking undead like Death Knights, an illusion ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) spell prepared on the spot like this could not affect them for more than a second.

The Death Knights immediately broke free of the hallucination, and upon seeing the Skull Principal’s illusion floating in the air, they frowned.

“It’s me!”

“…N-no. How did you get inside first?”

“Isn’t this that insane student? Why did that one come in early?”

“Shouldn’t this one be sent to the infirmary instead of the punishment ward?”

“I’m perfectly sane, you lackeys! I came in early to drag the Skull Principal’s dignity through the mud!”

“That is perfectly sane!”

“Fortunately, extremely sane.”

“Student. Please come with us. We will escort you to the punishment ward.”

“Hmph.”

Alde snorted.

From that smile, the Death Knights sensed something ominous.

The delinquent students of Einroguard were rarely the sort who went quietly even when caught.

“Student. Do not attempt anything foolish.”

“The one attempting foolishness is the Skull Principal! Come out, Illusion Devourer!”

With the spell, a gigantic carnivorous plant began to appear around Alde.

The Death Knights recognized what it was and recoiled in shock.

“No! Don’t do that!”

The Illusion Devourer was a vicious extradimensional plant that spat a corrosive fluid blending reality and illusion, destroying the surroundings and turning them into its own environment.

If they let that thing loose, the first floor of the main building would obviously turn into utter chaos.

“Catch me if you can, lackeys!”

“Get him!”

Grinding their teeth, the Death Knights lunged at Alde.

Judging by this, Alde clearly had a proper grudge against the Skull Principal. If they did not capture Alde quickly, that mess could multiply several times over.

Even while being subdued in an instant, Alde gestured in Lee Han’s direction.

That gesture could only mean one thing.

“…!”

Lee Han squeezed his eyes shut and came out through the exit beneath the picture frame, then headed for the back of the first floor.

The Death Knights were all too busy dealing with the Illusion Devourer’s aftermath to notice Lee Han.

‘…Thank you, Senior.’

Hearing the Death Knights’ shouting and the sounds of struggling in the distance, Lee Han made a vow.

No matter what, he would make this smuggling succeed and repay that debt.