Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 841
Did I really look that bad?
Shaken by the realization that his reputation had somehow sunk this low, Lee Han hurriedly tried to reassure Professor Garcia.
“Professor. Please trust me.”
“Yes, yes. I trust you.”
“…”
When Lee Han looked at him with wounded eyes, Professor Garcia finally softened a little.
“What am I even saying… I’m sorry, Student Lee Han. You wouldn’t want that either, would you?”
“Of course not, Professor.”
As Lee Han nodded obediently, he casually glanced at the Echo Stone embedded at the tip of his staff and subtly rotated it.
This situation’s a bit exceptional. I should keep it separate.
“Besides, a disciple who only follows the exact path their master wants isn’t necessarily a good disciple. A truly good disciple is supposed to deviate from the path their master laid out.”
“No. I only want to walk the path Professor Garcia shows me.”
“…”
Professor Garcia stared blankly at the shameless flattery coming from his disciple.
Did this child seriously have no conscience whatsoever?
“…Just be careful, Student Lee Han. That projection is a kind of thought-form. It isn’t truly alive. It’s closer to a natural law or a calamity. Beings like that persist according to principles far beyond mortal common sense.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“Well then. Let’s go see Professor Verdus.”
After checking the time, Professor Garcia rose to his feet.
Part of him wanted to spend another hour lecturing Lee Han about being careful, but he had already half-given up on that idea.
If Lee Han had known, he would have been deeply hurt by the thought.
“Oh, Student Lee Han.”
“Yes?”
“Do students these days not use many exclamation marks when writing letters?”
“They usually just write normally, I think. Is there some reason to use a lot of exclamation marks?”
“Uh… well… I wondered if it was some kind of trend.”
“I’ve never heard of that.”
“…”
Professor Garcia looked genuinely shocked.
Watching him mutter things like That can’t be right and Did the trend already end?, Lee Han asked in confusion,
“Are you writing letters to students?”
“Oh… no. I was just curious.”
You seem awfully shocked for someone who was “just curious.”
***
Security around the Sacred Workshop, the magic tower where Professor Verdus stayed, was far harsher than usual.
Before they even reached the entrance, several small bronze golems approached, sapphire lenses glowing brightly.
—Outsider access is prohibited. Outsider access is prohibited.
“I’m Professor Garcia.”
“I’m Lee Han.”
—Einroguard personnel confirmed. Proceeding to secondary verification. Have either of you received requests from outsiders to kidnap Bibble Verdus or equivalent entities? Please answer.
“…”
“…”
Twisted mana flowed out from the bronze golem.
Though Lee Han had never seen this spell before, he could easily guess its purpose.
Lie-detection magic…
And there was only one reason someone would spend enormous amounts of money to equip bronze golems with lie-detection magic for tower security.
At present, the pirate La Mo was still grinding his teeth over getting swindled by Professor Verdus.
“I haven’t.”
“Neither have I.”
—Truth confirmed. Access granted.
Maybe I should just smash these things…
Professor Garcia grumbled inwardly while continuing forward.
Rather than building nonsense like this, wouldn’t it be better to teach students one more thing or give them additional materials?
Inside the first floor of the Sacred Workshop, several students from the Divination Magic School sat gathered together, speaking in hushed voices.
The sight made Professor Garcia’s heart ache even more.
They should be learning directly from their professor, but instead they’re forced to study on their own like this.
Thinking he might at least help them somehow, Professor Garcia approached.
“I think we should kidnap Professor Verdus now and sell him. If we wait too long, the buyers might lose interest and leave.”
“No. We need to think carefully. His price might actually rise closer to the weekend.”
“I think figuring out how to kidnap and sell him matters more than when. You all remember, right? The moment we officially accept a request, those golems will stop us.”
“…”
Watching students seriously discuss selling their own professor to outsiders, Professor Garcia let out a sigh deep enough to cave in the ground.
“Oh. Hello, Professor Garcia.”
“…I can’t really say hello right now.”
“Is something wrong?”
“…Never mind. Study hard, everyone.”
Professor Garcia nearly said something, then stopped himself.
In a sense, this was Professor Verdus’s own fault.
It’s not my place to interfere.
As they walked away, Professor Garcia suddenly realized something strange.
Lee Han was no longer beside him.
“Seniors. Who exactly are the people trying to kidnap Professor Verdus?”
“Student Lee Han!”
“I’m sorry.”
Lee Han quickly apologized and ran back over.
“You were asking about that?”
“You never know when information might become useful…”
“…Just stay beside me.”
Professor Garcia climbed the spiral staircase leading upward through the Sacred Workshop.
Then he shouted irritably,
“You installed pointless magic [N O V E L I G H T] here again. Professor Verdus! Open the door!”
“Does Professor Verdus ever respond to shouting?”
Lee Han privately thought Professor Garcia was wasting his energy.
Wouldn’t it be faster to break through the magic and head directly to the professor’s quarters?
—Alright! Calm down!
“?!”
To Lee Han’s astonishment, Professor Verdus’s voice echoed down from above.
Professor Verdus actually listens?
Still unconvinced, Lee Han glanced back at Professor Garcia.
For some reason, the tightly clenched fist at the professor’s side stood out to him.
…Is it because of that?
Whiiiiiir—
Several confusion spells vanished, and the traps hidden throughout the staircase disengaged. Hidden passages slid open within the walls while a door appeared in the ceiling overhead.
“Should we go up?”
“It’s not over yet, Student Lee Han.”
CLANK CLANK CLANK!
A loud rattling sound came from beyond the ceiling door. Professor Garcia called out irritably,
“How long are you planning to make us wait?”
—Just a minute! I chained too many locks together! Give me a little more time!
It was rare to hear Professor Verdus sounding this frantic.
While noisily undoing chains and locks, he shouted anxiously,
—Don’t break anything, Professor Garcia!
“…”
Under Lee Han’s stare, Professor Garcia’s face turned faintly red.
“I don’t usually break things, Lee Han. Last time was simply an accident.”
“Professor. Even if you demolished the entire Sacred Workshop, I would only respect you more.”
Please don’t respect me for something like that…
After hurriedly removing the final locks, Professor Verdus opened the ceiling door and lowered a magical ladder.
He was sweating so badly it looked as though he’d just escaped death.
“There! You didn’t break anything, right?”
“You’re making it sound as though I go around smashing things constantly, Professor Verdus.”
“You do go around smashing every— AACK!”
Professor Verdus paid dearly for lowering his guard in front of Professor Garcia.
With natural instinct, overwhelming talent, and sheer experience, Professor Garcia slipped through Verdus’s magical defensive barrier and seized him firmly by the shoulder.
As tears sprang to his eyes from the pain, Professor Verdus bitterly cursed his own complacency.
I fell for it again! I should never trust her, even if it’s Professor Garcia!
“Don’t say strange things. Understood?”
“Yes! Yes!”
Witnessing such overwhelming suppression firsthand, Lee Han looked at Professor Garcia with the most burning admiration he had shown anyone all year.
I want to become a mage like Professor Garcia too.
The Skull Principal and the Insane Duplicate suddenly felt unnecessary.
Perhaps this was what a true mage looked like.
Once they climbed through the ceiling hatch, both Lee Han and Professor Garcia blinked in surprise.
The upper floor wasn’t Professor Verdus’s usual workshop.
It was an attic.
Compared to the lower workshop, the space was smaller, more cramped, and packed with even more clutter. Magical tools and half-finished devices filled every available surface.
Professor Verdus grabbed the artifact he had been working on and asked,
“So, what brings you here? Also… could you let go of my shoulder now?”
“Professor Verdus. We came because we have a favor to ask.”
“I understand. But could you please let go of my shoulder?”
Professor Verdus appealed with the naturally adorable face and voice characteristic of a beaver beastman, but Professor Garcia coldly shook his head.
The moment he let go out of pity, things would only become troublesome.
“Could you process some black magnetite for Lee Han?”
“Huh? No.”
Violence. Submission.
A cracking sound rang out from Professor Verdus’s collarbone, followed immediately by healing magic activating.
“Okay! I’ll do it!”
“Thank you, Professor. In return, I’ll graciously forget how many times I covered your patrol shifts, graded exams for you, prepared assignments for you, produced replacement artifacts for criminal-use equipment, and managed materials on your behalf.”
“You’re an absolute extortionist…”
Professor Garcia nearly tightened his grip again at Verdus’s muttering, but restrained himself.
He would use force for his disciple’s sake.
Not for momentary emotional satisfaction.
“Did you bring the black magnetite?”
“You have it, Professor.”
“…”
Professor Verdus made a tearful expression, but Professor Garcia remained unmoved.
Sniffling miserably, Professor Verdus dug through his pockets and produced several ingots of black magnetite.
The professor really keeps dimensional storage pockets attached to his everyday clothes.
Lee Han carefully memorized Professor Verdus’s equipment setup for future reference.
“Isn’t this worse than Gonadaltes?”
“…”
Professor Garcia endured the insult with inhuman patience.
“Take a look. See this staff design?”
“Ancient magic specialization? Did Gonadaltes commission this?”
“No. I said it’s Lee Han’s staff. Were you even listening?”
“Well… Gonadaltes commissioning Wardanaz’s staff wouldn’t exactly be strange…”
Professor Verdus answered hesitantly while shrinking beneath Professor Garcia’s murderous aura.
Professor Garcia faltered for a moment.
…That’s actually true?
Come to think of it, the Skull Principal absolutely could commission Lee Han’s staff. That was surprisingly sharp reasoning for Professor Verdus.
“That may be true, but that’s not what happened. Anyway, you can feel the wood here, right?”
“A King-level spirit? How did you get your hands on this?”
Professor Verdus’s eyes immediately lit up with genuine interest.
Unlike tedious repetitive labor, this staff actually contained several fascinating elements.
“I’ll explain after you finish.”
“Wait. Is this from Gwangmok King’s Forest!? How did you even get inside there?!”
Professor Verdus shouted in shock.
A branch from Gwangmok King’s Forest.
He had wanted one for years.
“Focus.”
“ACK!”
“You need to complete the staff around this.”
“…Understood.”
“Can you do it?”
“Yeah. This actually looks fun.”
At those words, Professor Garcia visibly relaxed.
Phrases like I’ll try, I’ll do my best, or Leave it to me meant absolutely nothing coming from Professor Verdus.
But when he said something looked fun, that was reliable.
Whenever he found something genuinely interesting, Professor Verdus worked harder than anyone.
“Then I guess I’ll postpone Gonadaltes’s commission. It was boring anyway.”
“Do that.”
“?”
Listening from the side, Lee Han whispered in confusion,
“Um, Professor. Is that alright? What if Professor Verdus misses the deadline?”
“What does it matter? That’s his responsibility. Nobody told him to miss deadlines.”
