Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 844

After the brief exchange, Lee Han fell into silent despair.

How could this happen? I doubted my senior.

If it had been another professor or upperclassman, that would have been one thing.

But to mistrust Diret of all people…

The shame hit hard.

“Ugh. This hurts too much.”

“I-it’s not that terrible, is it?”

Diret panicked when his junior looked genuinely devastated.

Granted, the misunderstanding had led Lee Han to waste time mastering magic he technically hadn’t needed, but even so, learning how to assemble a Skeleton Golem was an incredible achievement.

It was something worth being proud of.

“Junior. Look. You can summon Skeleton Golems now.”

“I didn’t actually need to…”

“…Don’t you like golems?”

“I should’ve listened to you properly…”

Whoosh!

Diret grabbed Lee Han’s head with both hands and forcibly turned it toward the Skeleton Golem.

“Look at it. Isn’t it cool?”

“Ugh. It’s cool.”

“Aren’t you proud?”

“I’m proud.”

“Right? Finishing a Skeleton Golem in a single lecture is incredibly impressive. Right?”

“Yes…”

“It’s impressive. Right?”

“Yes!”

“Today’s lesson was rewarding and fulfilling, right?”

“It was rewarding and fulfilling!”

Satisfied with the answer he had forcefully extracted, Diret nodded.

Then a strange thought suddenly crossed his mind.

…Am I acting like an Einroguard professor right now?

***

After class ended, Lee Han made his way to the Dark Tower for a quick visit.

He wanted to check on Duke Ikalderen personally.

If the duke’s condition has improved, maybe I can actually negotiate with him this time.

Last time, the duke had been so terrified that Lee Han barely managed to obtain sponsorship for Yukveltire’s artificial-dimension research before the conversation collapsed completely.

Diret claimed the duke’s terror came from Lee Han’s reputation as the disciple of the Imperial Mage Marshal…

Lee Han wasn’t entirely convinced.

Being kidnapped inside a toad demon probably played a part too. It wasn’t just me.

Either way, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) if the duke had recovered enough to hold a conversation, there was a chance to extract a bit more sponsorship money.

As he descended the stairs, Lee Han mentally reviewed the fake research titles he had prepared in advance.

Something like 【Research into Ancient Micro-World Magic】, or maybe 【Applied Research on Water-Jade Bullet Magic】… 【Advanced Lightning-Element Conversion and Spirit Authority Research】 might work too.

“Your Grace? Are you there?”

“Please… just leave. I won’t ask for more anymore.”

“?”

Lee Han frowned at the duke’s exhausted voice.

Naturally, anyone imprisoned beneath the Dark Tower would become irritable eventually, but that response sounded oddly specific.

As though the duke thought someone else had arrived.

“Your Grace Duke. Are you alright?”

“You… you’re not the Imperial Princess!”

Only after hearing Lee Han’s voice properly did Duke Ikalderen recognize him. He rushed toward the bars and grabbed them desperately.

“Hurry! Come down here!”

“???”

Lee Han descended cautiously.

What if this was a trap?

What if the duke was hiding nearby, waiting to ambush him?

Fortunately, Duke Ikalderen remained securely locked behind the bars.

Still, he looked noticeably thinner and paler than before.

“You…”

The duke lowered his voice to a ragged whisper.

Lee Han braced himself.

Please don’t start ranting about the Imperial Mage Marshal again…

“Your Grace Duke. What you said last time was somewhat misunder—”

“Do you have food?”

“…Pardon?”

“Food. Anything edible.”

“I’m sorry, Your Grace, but all I carry is fairly ordinary travel food.”

Lee Han always kept emergency rations in his backpack, but they were simple preserved foods meant for convenience.

Hardly suitable for a noble obsessed with luxurious cuisine whose names were impossible to remember.

“Ordinary is fine! Ordinary is fine. Do you have bread?!”

“I do, but it’s a little stale.”

“Give it to me!”

“…”

Lee Han pulled out several pieces of hardened bread and handed them over.

The duke tore into them immediately.

“Your Grace, at least put some butter and jam on it first.”

“O-oh!”

The duke’s eyes filled with tears when Lee Han offered butter and jam.

He hacked off a massive chunk of butter, piled jam over it, spread both thickly onto the bread, and devoured everything without pausing for breath.

Only after inhaling four pieces of bread did he finally seem to regain his senses.

“…I shall repay this debt, disciple of the Imperial Mage Marshal. What research are you conducting these days?”

“Pardon? Ah. Well. Ancient micro-world—”

Before Lee Han could even finish the fake title he’d prepared, the duke immediately signed a sponsorship contract.

“Take it. Fill in the research title yourself.”

What? He’s giving it to me that easily?

Lee Han stared in disbelief.

There was good luck, and then there was this.

Surely the duke wasn’t handing over sponsorship money just because of four pieces of bread and some butter and jam.

…Was there some hidden agenda?

This feels suspicious.

While Lee Han hesitated, the duke glanced around nervously before speaking again.

“Do you have more food?”

“…Pardon?”

“I-I’m not asking for it for free. We can trade. Here.”

The duke hurriedly produced another sponsorship form.

“Food in exchange for this. What do you think?”

“…Your Grace Duke. Have you been starving? Hasn’t Senior Yukveltire been feeding you?”

Duke Ikalderen’s eyes darted around uneasily.

He looked deeply conflicted, as though trying to determine whether this was some kind of trap.

“Your Grace Duke. I swear upon the name of the Imperial Mage Marshal that I’ll keep your secret. Please answer honestly.”

“…Yes. I’ve been starving. So you really didn’t know.”

“I don’t understand. Senior Yukveltire may be narrow-minded, stingy, petty, and eccentric, but she’s not the type to intentionally starve a prisoner.”

That was an alarming amount of criticism coming from a junior speaking about a senior, but Duke Ikalderen was too exhausted to notice.

“The Imperial Princess didn’t do it intentionally. But the result was practically the same.”

The duke let out a hollow sigh and began explaining.

At first, when the disciple of the Imperial Mage Marshal and the dark magic student disappeared, leaving only Yukveltire behind, the duke had actually felt relieved.

If he had to choose the most honorable and trustworthy among the three, surely it would be imperial royalty.

And Yukveltire initially behaved exactly as he expected.

—Thank you for sponsoring our artificial-dimension research, Your Grace.

—…I’m merely pleased to support an outstanding mage of Einroguard.

—If there’s anything you desire, please tell me. I’ll do my best to accommodate you.

—Hm. In return, you’ll continue sponsoring additional research. Since I’m trapped in Einroguard anyway, I may as well eat properly while I’m here. The meals those Death Knights bring are unbearably bland.

Once club week ended and he returned to solitary confinement under the Death Knights’ watch, his meals would become miserable again.

Naturally, the duke requested the luxurious dishes he normally enjoyed.

Surely outstanding Einroguard mages could handle something so simple.

That assumption had been almost correct.

…Unfortunately, one of the rare exceptions stood directly before him.

—Rotten salad with truffles and ham harvested two days ago, plus southern Imperial beans. Is that correct?

—…Every part of that is wrong. Are you mocking me?

—I apologize, Your Grace. Could you repeat it?

—…The salad with truffles…

At first, the duke assumed this had to be some sort of misunderstanding.

She was still an upperclassman of Einroguard, after all.

But that optimism was swiftly crushed.

—I’ve prepared the meal. Please enjoy it.

—Oh! Thank— …What is this?

—Prosciutto with truffles, chicory salad harvested within two days, and southern Imperial mushroom consommé.

—…Is this garbage?

—Your Grace. Petty insults intended to provoke me are pointless.

—I’m not provoking you! Look at this!

The duke had been genuinely horrified.

The dish itself wasn’t even difficult.

If anything, ruining it this badly required talent.

The ham had frozen solid against the plate.

The chicory salad was covered in some unidentified sauce that smelled deeply suspicious.

And the mushroom consommé contained floating chunks of fish and meat instead of a clear broth.

—The ham is frozen solid!

—Cold food is considered refined cuisine, isn’t it?

—…This isn’t cold, it’s frozen! And what is this sauce?!

—I heard the sauce is the essence of a salad.

—And the consommé?! What are these chunks?!

—I enhanced the flavor using leftover ingredients.

—…

At first, the duke sincerely believed the Imperial Princess was insulting him on purpose.

But after a lengthy conversation, he eventually realized the horrifying truth.

Yukveltire genuinely knew absolutely nothing about cooking.

“And despite that, she insisted on cooking however she pleased! When I pointed it out, she accused me of trying to provoke her with meaningless insults!”

The duke shouted so furiously that veins bulged across his neck.

“It wasn’t even a difficult request! Following the recipe normally would’ve been infinitely better!”

“I-I see. But… Your Grace. If Senior was that terrible at cooking, couldn’t you simply ask for raw ingredients instead?”

“I didn’t say she was terrible at cooking… Anyway, I did say that. I told her none of those dishes were necessary and that I’d simply eat whatever she normally ate.”

Lee Han blinked in confusion.

Then shouldn’t the problem have been solved?

So why did he end up starving?

“And that didn’t work?”

“…Do you see that over there?”

The duke pointed weakly toward a nearby table.

A single thin slice of bread rested upon it.

“I see it.”

“That’s one day’s worth of food.”

“…What’s left after eating?”

“No! That is the Imperial Princess’s daily meal!”

The duke practically screamed.

Lee Han reflexively stepped backward from the intensity.

“How was I supposed to know the Imperial Princess eats like a bird?! Damn it, she should’ve warned me! How does a human survive on that?!”

To make matters worse, Yukveltire had apparently left for several days on unrelated business, leaving behind only those meager rations.

From the duke’s perspective, it was maddening.

He couldn’t even complain to anyone while starving.

“Food! Bring me food, damn it!”

At that moment, Duke Ikalderen had fully realized that true hunger rendered titles, dignity, and reputation meaningless.

When Lee Han hurriedly produced a can of beef, the duke ripped it open with his bare hands and began eating immediately.

Creak—

“!”

Both Lee Han and the duke jumped at the sound of the door above opening.

Lee Han panicked because he was secretly trying to secure additional sponsorship while Yukveltire was absent.

The duke panicked simply because everything frightened him now.

The person descending the stairs, however, was someone neither of them recognized.

The figure limped slightly, leaning on a crutch.

Kitchen knives, ladles, spatulas, and various cooking utensils hung from the belt around the waist.

Combined with the chef’s hat perched atop the head, the newcomer looked exactly like an irritable, impossibly demanding cook.

The stranger slowly looked Lee Han up and down.

“You’re the boy from House Wardanaz?”

“…That’s right. And you are?”

“I’m the Kitchen Keeper.”

“!”

Another of the Skull Principal’s servants he had never encountered before.

Lee Han greeted him politely.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I suppose. I’ve never seen you before either. Haven’t seen the second years, either. Because of you lot. Thanks to that, I couldn’t collect staffs and got scolded. That’s your fault too.”

“…???”