Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 795

“That mage who was Master Yumidihus’s teacher…”

Lee Han had only just recovered from the shock enough to ask again when the hulking old woman snapped at him.

“What do you mean, ‘that mage’?”

“Pardon?”

“Listen here, you little brat. Who outranks everyone in this place?”

“…”

Lee Han naturally wanted to say it was Professor Voladi, an Einroguard professor.

Professors beat students, and students beat pirates, didn’t they?

In fact, under Imperial law, there were not many ranks below pirates.

But Lee Han answered tactfully.

“Wouldn’t that be you, Captain?”

“Kihihi. That’s right! Around me, respectful titles like ‘Captain’ belong to me and me alone. Got it?”

The pirate seemed to possess no conscience whatsoever.

Lee Han waited for his chance, then whispered to the professor once the old woman had gone inside.

“Professor. When exactly did Imperial law change?”

If piracy had become one of the Empire’s legitimate professions, he needed to know in advance.

That way, he could collect taxes from pirates later too.

“It didn’t.”

“Then how is that person, a pirate, at Einroguard?”

Even as Lee Han asked, he worried Professor Voladi might answer like this:

—Einroguard has everyone from magical criminals to Professor Verdus. What is the problem with one pirate?

“Captain Ragesa has received permission.”

“…”

For a moment, Lee Han’s world nearly collapsed.

Fortunately, the truth was slightly different from what he had imagined.

The permission the pirate Ragesa had received was not a piracy license, but a letter of marque authorizing the capture of enemy ships.

Ah.

After hearing the explanation, Lee Han felt a little relieved.

A privateer captain was at least within the range of comprehension.

It was like a civilian Imperial navy of sorts, allowed by the Empire to capture only the Empire’s enemies.

“Wait, Professor. Is the Empire currently at war?”

“No.”

“…Then whose ships does she capture?”

Lee Han’s question was perfectly natural.

At the moment, the Empire was not particularly at war with anyone.

Then there were no enemy ships to capture, and privateers had nothing to do, right?

“That is the real problem. Truly.”

Ragesa, who had been listening from behind them, cut in.

The old pirate had pulled out a tin cup and poured strong liquor into it. She spoke as though lamenting a lost age.

“The old days were good. Back then, the sea was full of ships worth taking.”

“Then now…?”

“Well, I can’t starve, so I capture pirate ships.”

“…Then aren’t you less a pirate and more someone who subjugates pirates?”

At Lee Han’s common-sense question, sparks flew from the old woman’s eyes.

Ragesa growled and shouted.

“How dare you? Are you accusing Torgerd’s daughter of abandoning the family business?”

“Please forgive me. It seems I misunderstood.”

“Hmph! Even if you’re Yumidihus’s disciple, you’d better be careful. No one accuses Torgerd’s daughter of abandoning the family business!”

“…”

“Is she insane?” Basil said.

Lee Han agreed with Basil.

But what could he do?

Powerful lunatics in the Empire had the right to make rules however they pleased.

Just like the Skull Principal, if the other party insisted on being called a pirate, then he had to call her a pirate.

“Indeed. I apologize, Captain Ragesa. Captain Ragesa is unmistakably a pirate by any standard. If you brought a hundred Einroguard students here and asked them, every last one would say you were a pirate.”

At Lee Han’s apology, the old woman’s anger seemed to subside, and she giggled.

“Kihihi. Right. Naturally, that is how it should be.”

“But what does the Duel Club have to do with Captain Ragesa?”

“Nothing! Good grief. What an absurd thing. Calling this old pirate here to teach those brats playing around in a club…”

“…”

Only then did Lee Han fully grasp the situation.

Professor Kirmin Ku had asked Professor Voladi to invite an outstanding dueling mage.

Professor Voladi had asked Ragesa, who was an outstanding dueling mage.

And now a pirate had come to Einroguard…

Is Professor Kirmin Ku really friends with Professor Voladi? How could anyone ask Professor Voladi for this?

It was like asking Professor Voladi for help because you could not decide on a midterm exam topic.

Lee Han could understand being in a hurry, but when Professor Voladi came dragging a dragon along, that was when a person should realize, You shouldn’t ask just anyone for help when you’re desperate.

“I see. Still, the Duel Club members must be very happy.”

Fortunately, this had nothing to do with Lee Han.

The Duel Club members would have a hard time, but Lee Han was…

Heh. I didn’t join.

SPLASH!

Ragesa splashed the liquor sloshing in her bottle at Lee Han, then tried to trip him.

Startled, Lee Han created a wall with telekinesis and widened the distance.

“Liha!”

The pirate crone did not stop. She chanted a strange spell.

Lee Han could tell from the incantation itself that it belonged to a different system than Imperial magic.

Primitive magic?!

Suddenly, the chair beside him transformed into a flock of vicious parrots and rushed at Lee Han from every direction.

Basil burst out of his sleeve in anger and cried out.

Lee Han decided he should give Basil a snack later and chanted a spell.

“Rise, made of bone…!”

Skeleton Warriors enhanced with dark elements and Skeleton Warriors enhanced with blood elements instantly took form and blocked the front.

Seeing that, Ragesa asked in bewilderment.

“You’re Yumidihus’s disciple? Why are you using dark magic?”

“I’m taking several schools.”

“What else are you taking?”

“All schools.”

“Who is ‘all’?”

While Ragesa asked pointless questions, Lee Han sent the Skeleton Warriors charging and fled through the lecture hall’s back door.

The lecture was probably over anyway, and °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° staying here did not seem likely to lead to anything good.

“Aiya!”

However, the pirate crone chanted another spell.

The back door writhed as if it were alive, then transformed into a solid wall.

Lee Han responded simply.

BANG!

When he fired a water orb together with <Wardanaz’s Telekinetic Force>, a hole opened in the wall.

Ragesa’s mouth fell open.

“That… that spell!”

“I’ll see you next time, Professor. It was an honor to meet you today, Captain Ragesa!”

“Stop, won’t you?!”

“Pardon? What was that?”

Lee Han pretended not to hear and rushed out of the lecture hall.

“…”

“…”

In the corridor stood gloomy-faced pirates wrapped in chains.

Anyone could tell they were Ragesa’s subordinates.

Lee Han sighed.

From inside the lecture hall, Ragesa shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Bring that brat here!”

“Let’s go,” Basil said.

“I’ll go on my own feet.”

Lee Han pushed aside the pirates trying to seize him and entered through the hole again.

Then he said, “I only wanted to get a little fresh corridor air.”

Ragesa was deeply satisfied by that shameless excuse and burst into laughter.

“You’re better than Yumidihus! That Yumidihus was so stiff he didn’t understand a single joke. You seem to know a thing or two.”

“I don’t really understand jokes either.”

“This disciple of Yumidihus would be far more worth teaching than those Duel Club brats. Don’t you think?”

At the pirate crone’s question, Professor Voladi showed faint pride and answered with dignity.

“You flatter me.”

“Flattery, nothing. Joining a club just to duel is wrong from the start. Good grief. Maybe if it were a Thief Club or a Pirate Club.”

Lee Han resolved never to mention which club he belonged to.

This strange pirate might overestimate the <Teleportation> Club.

“I’m going to see the brats. You come along too.”

“…Yes…”

“What about you, Voladi?”

“I need to prepare for my lecture.”

Professor Voladi meant to prepare the lecture he and Lee Han had discussed earlier.

Since his disciple had spoken so passionately, the professor had to move without delay as well.

Damn it.

Lee Han squeezed his eyes shut.

To think his own actions would come back to him like this.

“Really? Then come find me once you’re done with work and bored. Is Lord Gonadaltes at the school?”

“He has business.”

“Aw. I even prepared a gift. Fine. Let’s go, brat! Do you have any questions about magical combat?”

*****

Walking beside Ragesa, who reeked of strong liquor, Lee Han managed to gather some information.

Ragesa’s family had practiced piracy throughout the archipelago since before the Empire.

Yumidihus had once visited Ragesa’s pirate ship in his youth to learn magic.

And there was a method for determining the value of treasure on other ships with only a single gust of wind…

“Wait, that’s actually possible?”

“Kihihi. Yes! Amazing, isn’t it? But it’s possible! This illusion magic is the deepest secret of my secrets. Once Imperial illusion mages heard of it, they would kneel and beg me to teach them.”

Ragesa knew not only the primitive magic she had shown earlier, but also secret magics unique to her family, passed down for ages.

Among them, several water-element spells were valuable enough that Yumidihus had come to learn them personally.

“No illusion mage could imitate this, right?”

“But the Empire has many unknown yet excellent illusion mages. Just look at Lord Valdororn…”

“Drop the ‘Lord.’”

“Yes. Just look at Valdororn…”

“Who is that? A new mage? Goodness. Time really passes quickly when you’re sailing the seas.”

Ragesa tapped her waist and groaned.

She looked so healthy that the gesture did not seem to mean much.

“So what do you want to learn?”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t play dumb. Which of my magics do you want to learn? That was always why mages came to this pirate.”

Secret magics from families that had existed since before the Empire were extremely valuable to modern Imperial mages.

Even if their effects were inferior, mages coveted them for research. If their effects were powerful as well, then all the more so.

Ragesa suspected Professor Voladi’s intention in introducing Lee Han to her.

It was probably a request to teach his disciple too, if there was a chance to learn.

It was a rather cunning scheme, but Ragesa did not dislike cunning schemes.

Especially when the student was sharp and sly.

“…Among the magics you can teach, what is the easiest one?”

“The easiest magic! You cunning little thing. You’re full of tricks!”

“???”

Lee Han had no idea what the other person was reading into it.

It did not seem as if she would listen even if he refused, and all of the spells looked difficult, so he had simply asked which one was easiest…

“Wait.”

Ragesa suddenly stopped walking.

Then she held Lee Han back and raised a finger, making a shushing sound.

“??”

There was nothing ahead of them in the corridor, so Lee Han was puzzled by Ragesa’s strange behavior.

Is there a spirit-type monster? But if there were, there’s no way I would feel absolutely nothing.

“That smell… It’s Bivle’s smell.”

“…”

Amazingly, Ragesa had smelled Professor Bivle approaching from far away.

Lee Han was impressed.

“That’s incredible.”

This ability seemed more necessary for students than pirates.

Being able to notice someone coming from so far away.

Could I ask her to teach me this magic?

“Incredible? The incredible part hasn’t even started yet.”

“??”

The pirate crone waved him off, then began rummaging around and pulling out artifacts.

She changed her belt, put on a thick iron mask, and held an additional short staff in one hand…

Then she looked at Lee Han, examined him from head to toe, and tossed him a necklace.

The necklace gave off protective power.

“Wear that. It’s going to get a little intense.”

“…?”

“Everyone, prepare for battle! We’re going to plunder that bastard Bivle!”

She was a righteous pirate!