Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 854

Lee Han was about to press down on the exact spot Professor Garcia had grabbed last time, but stopped himself.

It’d be a waste to use it now.

Once he used it, Professor Verdus would never again let him within reach. Using it merely to vent his frustration would be far too wasteful.

Heh heh. Professor Verdus has no idea what his own weakness is!

Professor Verdus, completely unaware of his disciple’s wicked thoughts, began explaining.

In truth, even before this small aerial sailboat, Professor Verdus’s long-cherished dream had been an airship.

Not a tiny sailboat like this one, but a massive flying ship.

And not just any flying ship.

A fully automated one.

Of course, the Empire already had flying vehicles.

Even without using winged beasts such as griffins or unicorns, any reasonably skilled enchantment mage could create a flying artifact and take to the air.

A more skilled enchantment mage could even enlarge the artifact, adjust its balance, and carry several additional passengers.

However, all of that required a mage aboard to control it directly.

Professor Verdus wanted something more perfect than such imperfect compromises.

A flying ship that could navigate on its own without a single mage aboard.

Naturally, the difficulty increased by thousands of times.

The sails, masts, bow, and crow’s nest had to be inscribed with magic that gathered and amplified wind, while the large keel supporting the bottom center of the hull needed magic to reduce weight and reverse gravity.

Linking those magic circles harmoniously was already enough to burn out a person’s brain, yet there were several other tasks just as difficult to solve. It was only natural that Professor Verdus had struggled for decades without finishing it.

And thanks to that, I suffered during vacation too.

Lee Han had also been forced to help Professor Verdus solve the mana problem required for the giant flying ship.

The rough idea had been to oversaturate several magic circles with mana, measure the efficiency output, and compensate from there…

Wait. I remember all of that?!

Lee Han was shocked to realize that the work he had done under Professor Verdus last year was still lodged in his head.

He would have felt less wronged if he had remembered the plot ideas from Gainando’s clumsy mystery novel instead.

Those had vanished long ago, yet Professor Verdus’s theories remained.

Just thinking about it made him feel deeply unpleasant.

“This is very low-level compared to what I showed you before. More like child’s play.”

“I’m sure Ragesa would be thrilled to hear that.”

“Well, Ragesa’s level was low to begin with.”

“…”

I’m absolutely reporting this.

Lee Han carefully engraved that remark in his memory.

“It isn’t fully automatic either. Someone has to steer it by holding ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ this helm.”

“What level of mage is needed?”

Any mage could steer a flying artifact.

The question was what level of mage.

A well-made flying artifact could be piloted even by a Baldrogard student, while a poorly made one required someone at Professor Verdus’s level to operate it.

Not merely because of skill, but because if it crashed, there would be no one to mourn the pilot.

“A mage?”

“Yes? Isn’t a mage supposed to steer it?”

“This was designed from the start so non-mages can steer it too. How many mages do you think pirates have?”

“…!”

Lee Han was genuinely shocked by how casually Professor Verdus said that.

He had almost forgotten, but the beaver-like professor before him was unquestionably a genius.

I forgot. Professor Verdus is someone who survived under the Skull Principal with that personality.

Surviving under the Skull Principal with that personality was proof of genius in itself.

To think even non-mages could steer it.

It sounded simple, but making an ordinary wheel-shaped helm—something meant for sailing on the sea—usable by ordinary people in the sky required a massive amount of magic.

First, the sensations had to be converted so that air resistance felt like water resistance. The sails had to be individually adjusted and applied as though the ship were moving across the sea. And beyond that, countless situations that might occur without a mage aboard had to be accounted for in advance.

“How do you land without a mage?”

“If you drop this gravity-enchanted anchor, the ship descends on its own.”

“What about taking off?”

“It’s designed to rise when the anchor is raised.”

“What about turning? What if it runs into rain clouds? What if monsters appear?”

Lee Han questioned him relentlessly, but Professor Verdus showed no irritation whatsoever and answered each one.

Lee Han was just about to admire the meticulous construction of the small flying sailboat when he paused.

“But Professor. Isn’t it already finished?”

From what he had heard so far, nothing seemed to be missing.

Perhaps Professor Verdus had only been describing the intended final specifications, and the actual artifact was still incomplete?

“No. There are still parts that need improvement.”

“Where? Are you talking about the paint peeling here?”

“That’s fine.”

“Then is it this figurehead attached to the front? It does look unfinished, but it doesn’t seem very important…”

“Huh? That’s finished. It’s a beaver.”

“…Oh. Um. I see. Very majestic.”

Lee Han looked at the statue Professor Verdus had attached as a beaver and was inwardly startled.

I thought it was a chimera.

“Then if it’s not that either, what is it?”

“It needs to move fully automatically without a helmsman!”

Lee Han was shocked once again.

It was already surprising enough as it was, yet Professor Verdus wanted to aim even higher.

More importantly, wasn’t that the exact problem Professor Verdus still hadn’t solved with the giant flying ship?

Ragesa is something else too.

Well, considering the amount of Imperial gold she had invested, perhaps it was only natural to aim that high.

Otherwise, who would ever invest in Professor Verdus?

“Ragesa is remarkably bold too. Most investments and sponsorships are based on somewhat realistic goals, but she asked for something like that.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“…Wasn’t this Ragesa’s request?”

“Ragesa didn’t request that.”

“???”

Lee Han gradually felt his soul growing dizzy, as though he had been hit by illusion magic.

Was Professor Verdus using word-command magic or something?

“…Then what exactly is this? You said you were making it for Ragesa.”

“Ah. Ragesa said being able to steer it would be enough.”

Ragesa was a realistic pirate. She had never even dreamed of a fully automated small airship.

All she had invested in was a reconnaissance vessel that pirates who could not use magic would still be able to handle.

“Then… isn’t it complete? You could just give it to her.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve gotten it this far, and you want me to hand it over without improving it further? Are you even a mage?”

“…”

Lee Han squeezed his eyes shut at Professor Verdus, who had conveniently forgotten the entire concept of investment.

Why did I come after receiving that letter?

Whether Professor Verdus had given him obsidian or helped make his staff, Lee Han should have simply forgotten all of it and ignored him.

“So, Professor. You’ve already completed it, Ragesa didn’t demand anything more, but you think it’s too good to stop here, so you’re refusing to hand it over even though she’s asking for it.”

“Yes!”

“…Then if you can’t complete it by tomorrow, you’ll give up and hand it over?”

“No?”

“I see… There’s dust on your shoulder again.”

Lee Han naturally placed his hand on Professor Verdus’s shoulder.

Was this the moment?

***

In the end, Lee Han held back once more.

I’d rather look for a chance to steal it.

Since he would have opportunities while helping anyway, if things went badly, Lee Han planned to steal the sailboat himself and deliver it to Ragesa.

He had acquired a backpack, after all.

I wonder if it’ll fit inside. If I empty the sixth compartment… maybe? It’ll be close.

“Come. Follow me.”

Professor Verdus took Lee Han and left the attic.

Then he stuck his head out and cautiously looked around.

“Why are you doing that?”

“In case there’s an ambush!”

“…But we’re inside your mage tower, Professor.”

“There could be traitors.”

He’s sharp in the strangest places.

Considering Professor Verdus’s disciples had once discussed how much they could sell their master for, his concern was not entirely unreasonable.

Professor Verdus did not lower his guard even after checking the surroundings. When they left through the mage tower’s main entrance, he entered detection mode yet again.

Lee Han yawned as Professor Verdus spent nearly ten minutes checking whether there were attackers, assassins, spies, or Ragesa nearby.

“You should’ve lived more virtuously.”

He’s thorough.

Lee Han realized only after speaking that his thoughts had slipped out first, but Professor Verdus didn’t care.

“What are you talking about? I lived virtuously.”

“…So where are we going?”

Professor Verdus dragged the sailboat out with great effort and gestured for Lee Han to board.

Once both of them were aboard, the sailboat rose into the air.

Their destination was above the massive main building.

Flying inside the Einroguard grounds, especially near the main building, was not usually wise.

The Death Knights monitoring student escape attempts would immediately take flight on their mounts.

However, the Death Knights did not pursue them.

Lee Han realized they already knew about Professor Verdus’s sailboat.

Of course. It’d be annoying for both sides if they had to monitor every professor’s vehicle.

This was useful information.

Later, when he needed to get outside, if he simply kidnapped Professor Verdus and made him fly—

“Oops. Wrong entry.”

Professor Verdus pulled the sailboat back as the main building suddenly shot upward, stretching taller.

He adjusted their altitude slightly and entered again.

This time, the main building quietly revealed its true form.

It was the spire stable Lee Han had seen several times before.

Professor Verdus landed lightly, then took out thick spellbooks from his backpack one after another.

A wide variety of control spells were needed to make the sailboat move on its own without a pilot.

“Now. We’ll test these one by one and record the errors.”

“But Professor, I don’t know these spells very well.”

Lee Han checked the spellbooks Professor Verdus had taken out.

Thanks to being forced to act as his disciple, Lee Han had learned various spells, from <Bivle’s Mana Emission Enchantment> to absorption, amplification, curvature, and conversion.

But this required far more complex and intuitive results.

<Bivle’s Departure Enchantment>, <Bivle’s Flight Enchantment>, <Bivle’s Landing Enchantment>…

They seemed to be spells prepared by dividing the different situations required for flight.

Naturally, they were complex.

They were practically the same as the spells needed to create flying artifacts.

So this is how flying artifacts are made.

Now that he was a second-year, Lee Han understood quickly.

If spells like <Bivle’s Mana Emission Enchantment> handled the basics of artifact creation, like arithmetic, then spells such as <Bivle’s Departure Enchantment> were formulas required for specific situations.

In other words, they were spells one essentially had to learn when making flying artifacts.

“Oh. Really?”

Professor Verdus looked puzzled when his disciple claimed not to know them.

He had naturally assumed Lee Han would.

“Yes. Should I just record the errors while you experiment, Professor?”

“Huh? No. I brought you because I need your mana. So you’ll have to learn them now.”

“…”

Lee Han looked at Professor Verdus’s shoulder again with keen interest.