Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 710

But there was no helping it.

Right now, there were only three major counterparts connected to Lee Han’s artifact notebook, <Whispers of Einroguard>.

One was Diret, one was his same-year friends, and the last one was this person.

And unlike the first two, this one did not need to be treated with any respect whatsoever.

“That first-year seems to have talent in enchantment magic. If he takes enchantment magic, I’m thinking of making him assist with my work next year.”

“If he’s enough of a lunatic to associate with Ilendil, and he’s close with the students in the dark magic group, then there’s a very high chance this first-year from House Wardanaz has a narrow and unhealthy social circle.”

If he had known who it was, those were insults so outrageous he might have fired magic straight into that person’s face.

What kind of person said things that rude?

Originally, if there was any senior he had been planning to suspect first as the one who would invite him into a club, it had been this person.

That method had become meaningless now that there were too many seniors trying to invite him into clubs, but still…

No need to talk nicely to someone like this.

Sometimes, certain people needed a cold, hard correction.

Especially the kind who tried to order juniors around however they pleased.

I knew this bastard was rude, but today it’s especially bad. What’s with this?

—You contacted me to talk about that junior again, didn’t you? No matter how strange that junior is, taking multiple schools, you’re still a senior. Trying to bully him into helping with your work is pathetic.

Lee Han scribbled with the quill, pretending to be a justice-driven Black Turtle Tower student.

The figure beyond the mirror slowly shook its head at the sharp response.

“Still emotional.”

He had been talking with this Black Turtle Tower student since last year—or, with a low probability, a White Tiger Tower student—and the student had clear flaws: a violent temper, an impatient disposition, and stubbornness.

Even taking those flaws into account, the student still seemed to have some useful potential, which was why he had made the proposal in the first place, but for the response to be this hostile…

The figure beyond the mirror decided to calmly soothe the other side.

Persuading students less intelligent than himself was something he had experienced countless times in Einroguard. It was not particularly difficult.

That’s not the reason.

—That’s not the reason?

Correct. Because of certain personal circumstances, I’ve currently put my proposal to that junior on hold.

“!”

Lee Han was startled.

The figure beyond the mirror had bent its own stubbornness!

Can a person… actually change?

At first, he almost felt moved, but Lee Han quickly regained his composure.

No. It must be because of the clubs.

Come to think of it, weren’t the official clubs all brawling because of Lee Han right now?

In a situation like that, there was no one who would drag a junior off to do research. Professor Verdus was about the only person with that sort of mentality.

—I see. Good thinking. Bullying a junior is really, as a senior—

You’re the one misunderstanding something. That junior from House Wardanaz enjoys learning. Not merely at the level of taking two or three schools—he’s trying to learn magic from every school. What do you think it means to try to learn magic from every school, like Professor Garcia Kim? It’s fine to care about a junior, but don’t become overprotective. From the junior’s perspective, that would just be irritating.

SMACK!

Furious, Lee Han threw the notebook at the wall.

Then, after a moment, he came to his senses and picked the notebook back up.

This son of a bitch.

It was almost enough to make him suspect the other side was deliberately scraping at his temper on purpose.

And the most infuriating part was that he could not refute the claim.

If you looked only at the logically established facts, the other side was right.

Damn it. Even I think someone taking every school sounds kind of insane.

Lee Han gave up on winning the argument and decided to be satisfied that the other side had at least backed off for the moment because of the club war.

—Enough nonsense. Just say what you want. What is it?

Join the club.

“…?”

At those words, Lee Han froze.

He could not understand what the other side was talking about.

—You mean an unofficial club?

That’s right.

—I’m not interested in unofficial clubs. I have no intention of joining one.

This is a different kind of club from what you’re probably imagining. In fact, you’re already a member.

Lee Han grabbed his wand and checked his surroundings.

Fortunately, he could not sense any curse or magic in particular.

This bastard… what the hell is this bastard, really?

To spout nonsense like saying he was already in the club.

—I don’t know what you’re talking about.

The fact that you possess this artifact is itself the condition for joining the club. I’ll show you directly.

No sooner had the words ended than the letters in the notebook Lee Han had been writing in twisted together, collapsed, and began changing into something new.

Lee Han sensed the shift in mana inside it and was horrified.

From a distance… he rewrote the artifact itself?!

He could not believe it.

To manipulate an artifact, from far away where he could not even see it, purely through his own will.

Of course, the magic must have been built into the artifact from the moment it was created. Otherwise, manipulation like this would have been impossible in the first place.

But even taking that into account, the genius of it was unbelievable.

How much magic had he packed into that artifact to make something like this possible?

And if he wanted it not to feel unnatural to outside observers, he would have had to embed the spellwork while also refining it so it looked like an entirely different kind of magic in itself.

While Lee Han was still reeling, the transformation ended, and new letters rose onto the page.

Iactus: From what I heard, the reason the Masonry Club wants that guy is because he helped the Skull Principal with repair work last year, and during winter break some members who visited House Tutanta heard praise about him from there… Wait. Is this a new member?

Baquantala: That’s right. One member left, so there had to be a new one. I invited one.

A group communication artifact!

Just like the one he had shared with his friends, it was obvious that students here {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} too were gathering and communicating together.

The one calling himself Iactus was a senior he had just met, and the one calling himself Baquantala, judging by the handwriting, was the person beyond the mirror who had been talking with him just moments ago.

The name of a legendary enchanter. Fitting for someone majoring in the enchantment magic school.

Lee Han recalled that the person beyond the mirror majored in the enchantment magic school.

So that was probably why he was using the name of a legendary enchanter as his alias.

Baquantala: We are the secret club, <Einroguard’s Watchers>. Unlike other clubs, we don’t carry out activities or gather for social events. We observe only two rules.

…What are they?

Baquantala: Keep secrets. Share information.

“…!”

Lee Han immediately grasped what kind of place this secret society was.

Einroguard was a place where even your closest friend could betray you from time to time.

A place where you never knew when the plan you had made to terrorize the principal’s office might get reported.

But at the same time, Einroguard was a place where information mattered more than anywhere else in the Empire.

You never knew when information acquired just a little faster than anyone else might save your life.

This <Einroguard’s Watchers> was clearly an organization that had expanded on the same purpose for which Lee Han and Diret had tried to speak with anonymous students and obtain information.

A group formed so they could share Einroguard’s secret information with one another?

Iactus: You catch on fast.

Baquantala: Correct.

Baquantala gave a somewhat more detailed explanation.

To join <Einroguard’s Watchers>, one of the existing members first had to extend an invitation, and then a majority of the other members had to agree.

If the club’s purpose was to be maintained, then the members themselves needed to possess at least a minimum level of ability.

They did not need members who brought in no information and merely sat there quietly watching.

Then did you get their agreement for me too?

Iactus: No. You’re a bit of an exception. One member graduated, so a vacancy opened up, and Baquantala invited you. Baquantala is a little special. He controls and manages the artifacts.

Iactus gave a brief explanation of Baquantala’s role.

If Baquantala acquired one side of an ordinary communication artifact, he could trace it back in reverse to the other side and invite that person into <Einroguard’s Watchers>.

At the same time, he could also expel a particular target’s communication artifact from <Einroguard’s Watchers>.

If, by any chance, a communication artifact were confiscated by the Skull Principal, then without that ability to expel it, the club itself might collapse. Baquantala’s role was therefore extremely important.

What the…!!!

Lee Han was genuinely shocked to learn that this artifact manipulation had not been prepared in advance, but had simply been traced back through the connected artifact.

No wonder he had not noticed a thing. There really had been no preparation at all.

…He really is amazing. A senior isn’t a senior for nothing.

He suddenly felt humble.

No matter how much Lee Han took every school in Einroguard and distinguished himself within them, the seniors too had spent that time building magic that belonged to them alone. That was the kind of magic Lee Han could not easily covet.

Baquantala: Don’t say things that can be misunderstood. I too am only a mere member.

Iactus: I was only explaining honestly. The role of administrator is a fact, isn’t it? And it’s also a fact that everyone respects you. More importantly, congratulations on joining. I look forward to your active participation. The other members probably can’t be seen right now because they’re busy charging mana. Good thing they secured plenty of mana stones…

Artifacts like this either had to be placed somewhere with a continuous mana supply, or a mage had to keep providing the mana personally.

Since the semester had only just begun, it seemed the other members still had not obtained the mana they needed.

Iactus: Come to think of it, what form is your artifact? I’m lucky mine is at least a blackboard, but one of the others has an artifact in the form of a crystal ball. You should see that one’s handwriting. It’s a spectacle.

Mine’s in notebook form.

Iactus: Ha ha! That was funny. You can’t enter this Watchers club with a notebook. Even if it looks like a simple communication artifact, this club actually requires quite a bit of mana.

Lee Han realized that, in his flustered state, he had made a mistake.

Even if he gathered information, he needed to hide his identity, yet he had replied honestly without thinking.

That doesn’t work, does it? It’s a mirror-shaped artifact.

Iactus: Ah. A mirror? That’s not too bad, then. At least it isn’t round. And don’t forget what I just said about mana. It’ll probably require far more mana than an ordinary communication artifact. Every year, around summer, several people stop being able to log in.

Iactus explained how much mana the various defensive, secret-keeping spells that maintained the Watchers club consumed.

Lee Han set the notebook down and quietly checked his own mana.

Hmm. No change.

It affected his mana so little that he felt awkward just listening to the explanation. It seemed the amount consumed was negligible.

Iactus: More importantly, why don’t you decide on a name already? It’s inconvenient when you keep having no name.

A name… You mean an alias?

Iactus: Of course. Though if you hate aliases, you can use your real name.

Baquantala: I wouldn’t recommend it. Revealing your real name is dangerous.

Iactus: Though even if you use an alias, people can still make some guesses!

Baquantala: Needlessly putting on airs will only make people more wary of you. That won’t do you any good, Iactus.

Iactus: Does it look like I’m putting on airs? I’m telling you, I’m certain who a few of you are.

While the seniors talked, Lee Han considered what alias to choose.

Naturally, he had no intention of using his true name, so he needed to decide on an alias, but it was unexpectedly difficult.

Since it had to be something that could not be connected to Lee Han at all, he could not use an alias like Gainando or Moradi.

The moment he used something like that, it would be the same as handing people a list of possibilities…

What would be the most neutral alias possible? One nobody could use to guess my identity?

While Lee Han was thinking, they started pressing him.

In the end, Lee Han made a quick decision.

Gonadaltes: Pleasure to meet you all.

Baquantala: ……

Iactus: …Are you out of your goddamn mind?