Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 850
Lee Han immediately regained his composure and coughed awkwardly.
He had nearly tormented an innocent person because of his hatred for Valdrogard.
“Senior, what should we do? I think it’s worth checking.”
“Agreed. Let’s check.”
Senior?
Galar wondered inwardly.
If the boy from House Wardanaz was telling the truth, that would make Sebius a sixth-year or higher.
Of course, in theory, Einroguard students stayed at school if they failed to graduate, but Sebius did not seem like that sort of case.
“Wait. I placed a spell on it. Don’t open the front door right away. Check the snowflake pattern carved above it. You need to find the matching pattern to dispel the magic.”
“Why did you set up a barrier spell?”
“It’s not for security. The Valdrogard students keep getting lost in the village. If they touch it, it makes a loud noise so we can find them from far away.”
“…”
As Sebius’s expression grew complicated, Lee Han spoke in a slightly apologetic voice.
“Um. Mr. Galar.”
“What?”
“I actually broke that spell earlier. I thought it was meant to summon Death Knights.”
“…What? How?”
Galar was flustered.
The spell he had mentioned was a barrier spell developed by the Northern Snowflake Mage Tower. Without knowing the exact snowflake pattern set by the caster, it was not easy to dispel.
“I broke it by force.”
“…??!”
“Don’t be too surprised. This junior learned secrets from a great illusion mage.”
“Ah. Do you mean Master Ogonin?”
“No. Someone called Master Baldororn…”
“???”
Galar only grew more confused at the unfamiliar name.
Who is that?
“We’ve wasted enough time talking. Let’s go in.”
“Yes.”
Sebius spoke sternly, making it clear he would not allow any more chatter.
Letting one’s guard down just because things were going smoothly during a teleportation operation was something only amateurs did.
Creak—
Galar had been telling the truth.
The first floor of the manor was empty. The 【Six-Directional Backpack】 had even been left openly on the table, so blatant that it almost felt like a trap.
“Check for magic.”
“There’s none.”
“Good. Then—”
Just as the two were about to take the backpack, Zandani came down the stairs from the second floor, yawning.
“Oh. You’re back? I actually had something to ask…”
“…”
“…”
Lee Han and Sebius exchanged glances.
“Don’t move. Put down your wand.”
“Uh… how…”
“All barriers have weaknesses.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. How am I supposed to not move and put down ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) my wand at the same time…”
“…I’ll take it from you.”
***
Zandani, who had suddenly been abducted along with Galar, was forced into an armchair in front of the fireplace with a dazed expression.
Galar sighed deeply and asked:
“Why are you awake at this hour instead of sleeping?”
“I was going to sleep, but then I suddenly remembered what you said earlier.”
“What?”
“You asked whether I wasn’t curious about why the sixth space was locked.”
“…Don’t tell me you got up at this hour to try opening it.”
“Yes.”
Galar was stunned.
Sebius and Lee Han were stunned as well.
“That’s a lie.”
“Don’t lie. You got up because you wanted the wine you left unfinished, didn’t you?”
“Please, both of you.”
Galar still tried to defend Zandani from the Einroguard students’ criticism, since Zandani was technically his employer.
“But what’s this about a sixth space?”
“Ah. You don’t know yet. This bag is unusual even among spatial-expansion artifacts…”
“Don’t tell me it doesn’t inflate or expand an internal space, but instead creates separate subspaces and connects to them. That’s impressive.”
“…”
Galar stared in shock when Lee Han figured it out before he could even explain.
Galar himself had only noticed after examining it directly.
“Did you already know?”
“No. I just learned it now.”
“I… see.”
Galar tried to calm his shaken heart.
Beside him, Zandani asked in confusion, entirely unaware of why this was impressive.
“What’s wrong?”
“…Nothing.”
Suppressing the urge to punch him, Galar began explaining properly.
The six spaces.
The final locked space.
Afterward, Lee Han and Sebius added the true history behind the backpack for Zandani’s sake.
“…And that’s how our senior was captured!”
“That… that’s…!”
Zandani blinked, seemingly shocked by the truth.
“Do you understand now? How cruel, despicable, and vile it was to steal this bag?”
“But… why would the principal capture someone just for leaving?”
Even in his shock, Zandani raised a reasonable question.
Lee Han was briefly at a loss for words.
“…That’s not important right now. Every Imperial magic school has different rules.”
“That’s right.”
Galar quickly stepped in to help.
He was worried Zandani would keep provoking the Empire’s most unfortunate magic-school students.
Unfortunately, Zandani had no idea what Galar was worried about and launched another provocation.
“And… there might have been a misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“Maybe the two of them really were close friends, but the Einroguard students refused to believe it and misunderstood…”
Lee Han began laughing.
Sebius began laughing too.
The two laughed for what felt like ten straight minutes.
Galar coughed awkwardly, his face stiff with embarrassment.
“Ahem.”
“Ah. Sorry.”
“It was just such an absurd thing to say.”
Seeing their reaction, Zandani cursed inwardly.
As expected, those Einroguard bastards were savage and heartless. They clearly knew nothing about friendship.
“Hmph. Let’s just open the sixth space.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m talking about the locked sixth space.”
When Lee Han appeared not to understand, Zandani shouted in frustration.
Of course, Lee Han understood perfectly.
“You want to open it together? Right now?”
Lee Han and Sebius were raiders with legitimate acquisition rights, but wanting to inspect the backpack’s hidden compartment together with the raiders was not a normal thought.
“We’re taking this anyway.”
“Regardless of that, shouldn’t any mage naturally be curious?”
At Zandani’s words, Galar was inwardly dumbfounded.
This was the same person who had not been curious at all until Galar mentioned it.
But I am curious.
Galar also wanted to know why the student who made such a backpack had locked the sixth space.
If there had been no sixth space at all, that would be one thing. But creating it and then sealing it was undeniably strange.
Besides, once the Einroguard students took the backpack, there would be no chance to inspect it again.
“If you’re opening it now, I’ll help. To be honest, I’m curious too.”
“Mr. Galar.”
Lee Han wavered slightly.
Advice from an experienced mage like Galar would certainly be useful.
“I’ll help too.”
“Huh? You don’t need to go that far…”
“…”
Zandani glared at Lee Han.
***
The four mages gathered in front of the fireplace and began working.
“It looks like the space was twisted and coiled shut. We need to untangle it.”
“How about breaking it with mana?”
“That’s a bit risky… It could destroy the backpack.”
At Galar’s words, Zandani, who had been listening nearby, added his own comment.
“More importantly, it would be difficult to supply that much mana here. Breaking through something like that would require an enormous amount.”
Zandani seemed proud of himself for making a proper point.
The other three exchanged complicated looks.
“…Then what method would be best?”
“Ideally, we bypass it.”
Sebius, who had been listening, shook his head.
“I tried inserting a spatial probe, but it’s impossible. It’s completely blocked. Whoever made this anticipated that kind of bypass from the start.”
When space was twisted, gaps inevitably formed.
By flowing mana through those gaps, one could pass through obstructed space relatively easily. But the creator had sealed even those gaps almost perfectly.
“So it has to be a frontal approach. If we knew the pattern of the spatial structure, we could solve it.”
The twisted, coiled space was essentially a maze.
Bypassing the maze entirely would be ideal, but if that was impossible, they had no choice but to enter and solve it.
In that case, the pattern of the spatial structure would serve as their map.
If they had that, they could unravel it immediately.
“Did you hear anything else when you inherited this backpack?”
“No.”
He’s really useless.
He’s really useless.
“Then how about this method?”
Unaware that the two were silently cursing him, Zandani brought up an idea.
Among gemstones, emerald jade had the effect of showing its owner visions that contained truth.
In magical terms, it possessed the property of breaking through various illusion spells and revealing the correct path.
Skilled alchemists knew how to expand and utilize such gemstone properties.
“Here. We send in a scarab made from processed emerald jade! It should restore the twisted and coiled space to its original state.”
“…”
The three exchanged complicated looks once again.
Finally, Lee Han stepped forward to take charge.
“Mr. Zandani. As you know, this spatial maze is larger and more complex than expected. A single emerald jade scarab won’t be enough.”
Expensive gemstones were worth their price.
An emerald jade scarab could restore twisted, coiled space to its original state without greatly affecting the surroundings. That was certainly impressive.
But it still wasn’t enough to solve the entire maze.
“Besides, recovering it from a maze like that would be difficult. You might unlock a little space, then lose the scarab forever.”
“Ah. There’s no need to worry about that.”
“…?”
Zandani smiled as if he had been waiting for this.
It was the confident smile of Valdrogard’s top alchemy student.
“It was made as a disposable consumable from the start.”
“…What?”
Lee Han doubted his ears.
Zandani explained excitedly.
The emerald jade scarab designed to solve twisted and coiled space had two flaws: its range was narrow, and recovering it was difficult.
So Zandani had come up with a brilliant idea.
He processed the gemstone so it would evaporate after a single use.
That greatly expanded its range, and there was no need to recover it afterward.
“…”
“…”
Lee Han and Sebius stared at Zandani in profound shock.
Zandani mistook their silence for admiration and felt proud.
That guy… is worse than a magical criminal!
While Lee Han shuddered inwardly, Zandani rummaged around and pulled out brooches, cuff links, badges, and other emerald-jade accessories.
The two Einroguard students broke into a cold sweat at the sight of him casually producing gemstones the way Gainando produced hidden snacks.
“How about using everything here?”
“…Mr. Zandani, you’re from the alchemy school, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Do you often use gemstones?”
“How did you know? Gemstones are my specialty.”
Zandani excitedly explained the beautiful simplicity of not having to memorize complicated ingredients or difficult processes and simply throwing in a few gemstones to solve everything.
Why memorize things like juniper berries and perilla leaves?
Just throw in one chrysoprase and be done with it.
Of course it was expensive, but that was not something a mage needed to worry about.
Sebius unconsciously tried to comfort his junior.
That was how distorted Lee Han’s face had become.
“Calm down. That method must have drawbacks too.”
“What drawbacks? The drawback of being happy? The drawback of having free time and peace of mind? The drawback of sleeping early, waking early, and enjoying life?”
