Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 851
Originally, Sebius was strict with his juniors.
But even Sebius couldn’t stay cold-hearted in a situation like this.
“…Let’s take a short break. If you keep searching for shortcuts like that, you’ll never develop the skills you lack. Later, when you start tackling difficult research, you’ll hit a wall, and it’ll be even harder then.”
“With that much money, he could just hire mages to solve the difficult parts for him.”
“Shut up.”
At a loss for words, Sebius finally resorted to seniority to silence him.
Seeing his junior look dejected afterward, Sebius felt a little guilty and changed the subject.
“By the way, that mage named Gral thinks you’re a sixth-year. You handled that well. The more confusing your identity is, the better.”
It was unfortunate that the Wardanaz name had already become known, but hiding his year had been a good move.
Thanks to that, even Sebius’s own identity remained concealed.
“But Senior. I told him I was a second-year.”
“What?”
“We’d actually met before.”
Lee Han casually explained how, back when the Valdrogard students had visited, he had accidentally summoned the Black Turtle.
If I bring it up casually, it won’t sound strange, right?
Naturally, it had almost no effect. Sebius stared at his junior—who had accidentally summoned the Black Turtle—as if looking at a lunatic.
Last time, Lee Han had only said he had “shown a little magic.”
That “little” was clearly not the “little” Sebius had imagined.
If he slips up twice, he’ll destroy Einroguard.
“Anyway, when he grabbed me and questioned me back then, I clearly told him I was a second-year. I don’t understand why he keeps insisting I’m a sixth-year. Ah. Wait… are you helping me?”
Lee Han looked faintly touched by the consideration shown by the mage from the <Tower of the Ice Mine>.
Was Gral pretending Lee Han was a sixth-year to stop the Valdrogard students from taking petty revenge?
“Did you get shot in the head with an arrow? If it were you, would you lie for somebody who robbed you after grabbing you by the collar?”
“…Maybe he pitied the Einroguard student a little…”
“No chance.”
“Then what is it?”
As his senior kept shooting him down, Lee Han’s voice turned sullen as well.
Sebius answered bluntly.
“He probably thought you were some insane sixth-year pretending to be a second-year for fun. Einroguard upperclassmen are full of lunatics.”
“…”
Lee Han was genuinely shocked by the absurd conclusion.
“What kind of people do you think we are?!”
“If somebody still thinks you’re a sixth-year after you told them you’re a second-year, what other explanation is there? Accept it. You’re crazy in a pretty memorable way.”
“What exactly am I supposed to accept?!”
He already hated being mistaken for a sixth-year.
Being mistaken for a crazy sixth-year pretending to be a second-year was even worse.
“As I said, it’s not a bad thing. Being mistaken for someone else is useful. Look at me. I’m deliberately acting rude.”
“I’d rather just say I’m Gainando.”
“No. Using the name of somebody close to you as an alias is dangerous. It makes you easier to track.”
While the two spoke seriously off to the side, Zandani turned to Gral with curiosity.
“What are those two talking about?”
“Probably discussing whether they should use those gems.”
“Isn’t there any reason not to?”
“…Well. They are absurdly expensive. Einroguard mages hate waste.”
Gral had almost said luxury or extravagance, but stopped himself for Zandani’s sake.
Zandani still looked confused.
“But isn’t this efficient? It’s not like they’re poor.”
“…Please just stay quiet. Please.”
“!?”
Provoking already unfortunate Einroguard students—especially a somewhat unhinged sixth-year student—was not a wise decision.
***
After the discussion ended—or more accurately, after Lee Han gave up—the two returned.
Gral asked cautiously,
“So? What did you decide? Are you going to use them?”
“What?”
“The gems…”
“Ah.”
“??”
Gral looked bewildered when Lee Han nodded as if he had only just remembered.
Wasn’t that the entire reason they had been talking?
“Let’s use them. Please handle it, Mr. Zandani.”
“You can just call me Zandani, Wardanaz. Everyone close to me does.”
“Yes. Mr. Zandani.”
Gral silently shook his head.
Zandani clearly wanted to become friends with the Wardanaz sixth-year, but it did not seem like a good idea.
Most importantly, the other party clearly had no interest in that.
“Let’s begin.”
“Alright! Here I go!”
Zandani pulled out a gem scarab and tossed it into the bag while chanting an incantation.
Woooong—
A faint wave of mana spread outward, and part of the spatial maze vanished.
The sheer inefficiency made Lee Han’s heart ache despite the fact that it wasn’t even his money being spent.
“It’s working!”
“…Yes. Next one.”
Zandani threw in another gem.
Then another.
And another.
Lee Han finally couldn’t watch any longer.
“Wouldn’t it be better to control them instead of just throwing them in?”
“Control them?”
“Like this.”
Lee Han cast telekinesis without an incantation, making the gem brooch flutter through the air like a butterfly.
Watching from the side, both Gral and Sebius admired the movement at the same time.
Telekinesis used to move small objects was basic magic—even half-trained mages could manage it.
But once the object became heavier, and precise control entered the equation, it became an entirely different matter.
To manipulate it that delicately, he would need at least—
“Ah. I can’t use telekinesis magic.”
“…Haha. I’m not saying you need to cast it without an incantation. Even basic first-circle telekinesis is enough.”
“I haven’t learned that either.”
“…Why not?”
Lee Han asked before he could stop himself.
Zandani blinked in confusion.
“Because I’ve never needed it?”
“…”
“…”
Gral seriously considered stepping between them before things escalated.
But Lee Han endured.
Think of him as Gainando’s brother. He’s Gainando’s brother.
“Well. Then let’s learn it now.”
“Right now? But Wardanaz, I’m an alchemist. Do I really need this kind of spell?”
“Haha. Of course you do, you bastard.”
“Yes?”
“Ah. Sorry. Mr. Zandani. Anyway, there’s no downside to learning it even if you’re in the alchemy school. Trust me. Haha.”
Gral became even more nervous as Lee Han laughed after every sentence.
A laughing mage was never a reassuring sight.
Surprisingly, however, Lee Han patiently began teaching Zandani telekinesis.
“Here. Lift it like this.”
“Oh! This is interesting! Baldrogard never taught us anything like this.”
“They didn’t teach telekinesis in lectures?”
“I only attended alchemy lectures.”
“…Haha. Here. Practice rotating this spirit-stone orb. Here. Here. Here!”
“Ack! Ack! That hurts!”
“Oh dear. Sorry. At Einroguard, the orbs attack people sometimes.”
“?”
Sebius tilted his head.
Professor Garcia definitely didn’t teach like that.
Gral also looked surprised.
“Does Professor Garcia teach that way these days?”
“…Well. Professors are human too. Sometimes they get angry…”
Despite being smacked in the head several times by the spirit-stone orb, Zandani quickly became absorbed in telekinesis.
Valdrogard’s education emphasized elegance and freedom above all else.
As a result, during his first and second years, Zandani had studied travel, literature, art, drinking, music, theater, philosophy, debate, dancing, and horseback riding, only specializing in gem alchemy in his third year.
But now, listening to the mage of House Wardanaz, he realized telekinesis was far more fascinating than he had expected.
Even getting hit a few times felt strangely refreshing.
“This is fun! Seriously fun!”
“Haha.”
Lee Han laughed mechanically.
Meanwhile, in his head, he was imagining Professor Voladi Bagreg being invited to teach at Valdrogard.
“I think I can lift this much now.”
“Good. Now try sensing the interior space and moving it.”
“I don’t think I can manage that.”
“…Then just move it according to my instructions.”
“That much I can do.”
Zandani carefully floated the gem he had just lifted with telekinesis.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.
“Wardanaz. Don’t you think we get along really well? Just like the two people who originally made this bag.”
“…Haha. Hahaha. Hahahaha.”
“Ack! That hurts!”
Without realizing it, Lee Han had tightened his grip on Zandani’s shoulder.
Sebius interrupted.
“Wait. I just saw something inside the maze.”
“?”
“Could that be the exit?!”
“Wait—”
Lee Han hurriedly tried to stop the excited Zandani and expanded his senses.
Based on the dimensions he had estimated earlier, the exit shouldn’t have appeared yet.
“Let me try!”
As Zandani controlled the cufflink and sent it flying forward, the curse hidden inside the spatial maze revealed its fangs.
It was a trap designed to counterattack anyone trying to forcibly break through the maze.
Whoosh!
The curse surged out of the bag like a reversed current.
Lee Han grabbed Zandani by the back of the neck, hurled him aside, and blocked it with his own body.
The curse slammed into him—and rebounded harmlessly away.
“…”
Lee Han gritted his teeth and glared at Zandani.
Zandani shrank back.
“I-I’m sorry… Thank you for saving me.”
“It’s fine. The curse is gone now, so let’s continue.”
Zandani cautiously watched Lee Han’s expression as he inserted another gem.
Fortunately, no more traps appeared after that.
Once they exhausted all the gems, the exit finally revealed itself.
Click!
“I-It opened!”
At Zandani’s shout, every mage present turned toward the compartment with tense expressions.
What exactly was hidden inside the sixth compartment?
Congratulations. If you’re hearing this, then you managed to unlock it, right? I still vividly remember how terrible you were with spatial mazes. Honestly, I don’t understand why Baldrogard refuses to force students to learn them.
Hearing the voice echo from inside, Lee Han looked at Sebius in shock.
Sebius looked just as stunned.
I know you didn’t deliberately stop sending letters. Of course, my friends didn’t believe me… How could outsiders know the Principal occasionally kidnaps paper birds? I should’ve warned you.
“…”
“…”
I learned a great deal while making this together with you. Please forgive me for looking down on you at first just because you were from Baldrogard. And also for hiding our friendship from my Einroguard friends. As proof of our friendship, I’m leaving this backpack behind along with this secret message. Once you hear it, stop blaming yourself and come find your friend.
This is insane.
Lee Han could hardly believe it even while listening.
They really had been friends.
Oh, right. Never go complain to the Skull Principal. You’ll get dragged into the punishment cells for no reason. Also, the backpack might get confiscated. I stole a few materials for it from the Skull Principal. Sorry for lying when you asked where I got them. Come to think of it, I also stole from Professor Verdus. Don’t let Professor Verdus see it either.
Zandani spoke with emotion thick in his voice.
“It’s like a miracle! There really was a friendship!”
“…Apparently.”
“In a way, maybe it was fate that we opened this together—”
“That’s not it.”
Lee Han immediately ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) shut down the nonsense with a completely serious expression.
