Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 845
Lee Han was thrown off by the completely unexpected accusation.
Because of him, the Kitchen Keeper had never seen the second-years, and because of that, the Keeper couldn’t collect staffs.
What was that supposed to mean?
Is this person insane?
Well, Einroguard had always been full of insane people. Lee Han kept his composure and tried to continue the conversation calmly.
“What do you mean, you couldn’t meet the second-years because of me? And what do you mean by collecting staffs?”
“Do you know what my job is?”
“…Guarding the kitchen?”
Unless the term Kitchen Keeper had gained some unknown additional meaning, Lee Han couldn’t imagine anything else.
“Half right. The other half is trading food supplies with students.”
“!!!”
Lee Han was genuinely shocked to hear of such a humanitarian role existing in Einroguard.
“No way. Einroguard has a role like that? Then why have I never seen you before?”
“…”
The Kitchen Keeper’s stare grew even more blunt and threatening.
Then the Keeper spat out curtly.
“Because you were never desperate enough.”
“Excuse me?”
“To meet me, you need to be truly destitute. Your belly should be stuck to your spine, and you should be ready to sell even your staff for a single can of food. You should be willing to enter the punishment cells if it means you can raid the kitchen.”
The more Lee Han listened, the more startled he became.
Does this person only appear before Einroguard students on the verge of starvation?
A being who appeared when a starving student was desperate enough to get caught trying to raid the kitchen.
The conditions were bizarrely strict, but by Einroguard standards, they were fairly normal.
If I’d known this, I wouldn’t have needed to stockpile food so diligently.
Lee Han spoke with sincere regret.
“What a shame. If my friends and I had held out longer, we could have received food supplies too.”
“Received? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you hand out food?”
“I said trade.”
“…”
Only then did Lee Han come to his senses.
Come to think of it, something had felt strange from the start.
There was no way one of the Skull Principal’s minions would appear before starving students just to give them food for free.
“…What exactly do we have to do to get food? Do you make students run errands?”
“You’re overestimating students. Do you think their errands are worth that much? I only accept magical items. No exceptions.”
The Kitchen Keeper never distributed food for free.
Food supplies were exchanged only for various magic-related equipment.
Starting with the staffs students received, the Keeper accepted small alchemy cauldrons, pots, cloaks, hats, and other items.
Starving students even had to steal their friends’ staffs to offer them up.
Could that be why the first-years didn’t have any staffs…?!
Lee Han was horrified as the truth dawned on him.
At first, he had assumed the first-years of Black Turtle Tower had collected staffs as trophies to celebrate and show off their victory.
But Black Turtle Tower students were just as hungry and desperate as anyone else. There was no way they would have had the luxury of doing that.
Naturally, they had gathered them because there was food to be gained.
Making already poor and desperate students steal from one another.
“Why do you only accept those things?”
“Because my master ordered it.”
Ah.
Lee Han, who had been about to become indignant, immediately understood.
If the Skull Principal had ordered it, then there was nothing strange about it at all.
It made perfect sense.
“Last year, my master scolded me because I had no results. That was because of you.”
“No… Was I supposed to starve myself on purpose when I had food?”
“You could have eaten alone. Why did you share with your friends? It was because of you.”
“So I was supposed to refuse food to my friends when they were starving?”
“Even if I concede that you had to share with your friends, why did you share with all the students? No matter how I look at it, it was definitely because of you.”
“…”
Lee Han found himself momentarily at a loss.
Strangely enough, the more he listened, the more he began to wonder whether feeding all the students had been a little excessive.
“Wait.”
The duke, who had been listening from behind him, cut in as if he couldn’t understand.
“What is it, prisoner?”
“…Do you know who I am?”
“I know. You’re the fool who was caught trying to steal my master’s treasure.”
The Kitchen Keeper’s blunt answer made Duke Ikalderen’s face flush red, but he did not shout.
He had already learned the hard way that getting angry at one of the Skull Principal’s minions according to imperial etiquette was pointless.
“Fine. But isn’t this person the disciple of the Imperial Mage Marshal? And you are the Imperial Mage Marshal’s minion. Is it acceptable for a minion to behave so insolently toward a disciple?”
The duke sternly pointed out the breach of etiquette.
Lee Han, listening from the side, was dumbfounded.
“What nonsense are you— Your Grace, I’m not a disciple…”
However, after hearing the duke’s words, the Kitchen Keeper hesitated, thought for a moment, and then bowed deeply.
“I apologize. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“…No. Why are you apologizing? I’m just a student!”
Lee Han became even more frustrated when the Kitchen Keeper suddenly bowed.
What kind of person was this?
But whether Lee Han was angry or not, the Kitchen Keeper seemed to have made up his mind. The Keeper kept the head lowered and maintained a respectful attitude.
Thinking about it, no matter how spiteful the Keeper felt, being rude to the Imperial Mage Marshal’s disciple was not a wise choice.
It might satisfy a petty grudge in the moment, but retaliation could return a hundredfold or a thousandfold later.
Even when Lee Han angrily told the Keeper to stop, the Kitchen Keeper persisted to the end.
“…Let’s move on. So, Kitchen Keeper, why are you here? I’m neither hungry nor planning to trade any staffs.”
“I didn’t come because of Master Wardanaz. I came because of that fool behind you.”
“Because of His Grace the Duke?”
“Yes. He called me.”
The Kitchen Keeper pulled a small bronze bell from the waist. The bell swayed outward, producing a clear chime.
“It isn’t ringing now because that fool’s stomach is full, but originally it was pointing this way.”
The 【Bell of Hunger】 carried by the Kitchen Keeper was an artifact that detected the starving within Einroguard’s territory.
When someone starved to the extreme and screamed from the soul, the bell sensed that person’s location and rang in that direction.
Using this artifact, the Kitchen Keeper extracted staffs, magical equipment, and tools from students—and occasionally found students dying of starvation in remote corners of the grounds.
After hearing the explanation, Duke Ikalderen’s face turned red again.
He had not expected that the Kitchen Keeper had come because of him.
“I… I wasn’t that hungry.”
“Would a bell that can’t speak lie? You fool. Magic doesn’t lie.”
“…You insolent bastard…!”
The duke fumed, but there was nothing he could do from behind the bars.
The Kitchen Keeper busily tucked the bell away again.
“Since the duke is no longer hungry and has nothing to trade, I’ll be going. Master Wardanaz, please forget my rudeness today.”
“No, I’m fine. If you think about it, isn’t the Principal the one at fault?”
“!?”
The duke, listening from behind, was startled.
He hadn’t expected Lee Han to openly criticize his master.
Is it all right for him to say that?
When Lee Han spoke in the Keeper’s defense, the Kitchen Keeper bowed gratefully once more and turned to leave.
“Wait!”
“?”
“??”
It was the duke who stopped the Kitchen Keeper.
Lee Han and the Kitchen Keeper both looked at him in confusion.
“…No, well. I heard you trade food. Right. What can you offer?”
“…”
At Lee Han’s pitying gaze, the duke felt as though his soul had been stripped bare.
Contempt would have been less humiliating.
“First, I need to see what you can offer.”
“…Do you see this ring? This one ring could buy an entire fortress.”
Duke Ikalderen extended his index finger and held the ring up to the light.
Eighteen meticulously cut gems glittered brilliantly. Anyone could tell at a glance that it was an expensive work of art.
But the Kitchen Keeper shook the head.
“That won’t do.”
“What?! Why not?”
“As I said, I only accept magical items. There’s no magic on that.”
“This one ring could buy dozens of magical items!”
“Take it up with my master, you fool.”
No matter what the duke said, the Kitchen Keeper did not budge.
The duke beat his chest in frustration and shouted at Lee Han.
“Right, boy! You can trade it for me. Exchange it for magical items!”
“No. That’s a bit…”
“Why not?!”
When even Lee Han refused, the duke glared at him with bloodshot eyes, unable to understand why he was being rejected.
“This is too… expensive. Trading it for a few cheap magical items I have would weigh on my conscience.”
Even Lee Han, who was obsessed with gathering Imperial gold, feared the consequences of such a large-scale swindle.
Right now, out of hunger, the duke might trade that ring for a single pair of magic leather boots.
But what if he changed his mind after leaving?
“I said it’s fine! I said it was fine!”
The duke jumped around inside the cell, begging Lee Han to buy his family heirloom for cheap.
The Kitchen Keeper tapped a finger against the temple and spun it in a circle.
“Tsk. The fool has completely lost it.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Sorry.”
“And don’t speak formally to me either.”
At that, the Kitchen Keeper shut up completely.
Lee Han wanted to hit the Keeper.
“Your Grace, let’s do this ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) instead. I’ll just give you a few magical items.”
Just last year, Lee Han had tried to sell leather waterskins enchanted with magic.
He still had a few cheap magical items in his backpack, left over from helping Professor Verdus or from practice work during lectures.
The duke stared at him, uncomprehending.
“You’ll just give them to me? Then… what do you get?”
“You can repay me after you get out.”
“…”
Tears suddenly streamed down Duke Ikalderen’s face.
They were the first warm words he had heard since being dragged to Einroguard.
“…Sob. Sniff!”
“Y-Your Grace. Did I say something wrong?”
“No… no. Thank you. Thank you! I… I’ll repay you. I swear it.”
The duke forgot both his age and dignity as he cried and made promises.
He felt painfully ashamed for suspecting and fearing this boy merely because he was supposedly the Imperial Mage Marshal’s disciple.
How could he have insulted someone so kindhearted?
“I’ll definitely sponsor you once I get out.”
Hmm. Asking him to write a few more pledges right now would make me look like complete trash.
Lee Han felt a pang of regret.
Even he couldn’t bring himself to say, “Could you write a few more research sponsorship pledges?” to someone crying this hard.
***
After obtaining a week’s worth of food from the Kitchen Keeper, the duke carefully hid it in a corner of the prison.
He put so much effort into camouflaging it that Lee Han even helped by casting illusion magic over it.
Yukveltire was not the type to steal such things, but the duke had become someone who trusted no one.
Especially not the Imperial Family.
—Your Grace. Senior Yukveltire has no interest in cooking or meals. She wouldn’t steal your food…
—No! I don’t trust her. That Imperial Princess might do anything!
—…I-I understand. But please don’t worry too much. She’s only busy right now. She’ll come back soon to check whether you need anything.
—No, no! Please. Tell her not to come anymore!
—But… she needs to visit regularly. What if you have any complaints or discomfort?
—You come instead! Please, please!
—…I-I’ll do my best.
