Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 856

“I think you’ve got surprisingly good potential, kid. Kihihit.”

Ragesa chuckled and beckoned over one of the Death Knights stationed at the main gate.

The Death Knight approached, visibly confused.

-What is it?

“See this sailboat here?”

-I do.

“I’m transferring ownership of this sailboat to the boy from House Wardanaz standing here. Would you act as a witness?”

The Death Knight blinked.

-Do you really need a witness for something like that?

“Ah, but this is Vible’s sailboat. Technically, it belongs to me, since my gold paid for the research. But you know how Vible is. He’s not exactly the type to care about ownership.”

-!

The Death Knight instantly understood.

Then it turned and bellowed for the others nearby.

-Hey! Get over here!

-What’s going on?

-Professor Verdus is transferring ownership of the sailboat developed with Lady Ragesa’s funding to Lord Wardanaz here. You’re all witnesses.

-Good heavens! Understood! If Professor Verdus shamelessly attempts to covet his disciple’s property, I swear I’ll throw him into the hottest and most agonizing chamber of the deeper punishment cells!

-I swear the same!

The Death Knights eagerly began swearing oaths over one another.

Lee Han stared in bewilderment.

“No, you don’t need to go that far. That would just become troublesome.”

-No. We want to lock him up.

“…”

Ragesa patted Lee Han on the shoulder, as though she understood everything perfectly, then gave her farewell.

“Well then, take care. Future Imperial Mage Marshal.”

“Yes. Please travel safely…”

Lee Han politely saw her off, then suddenly froze.

Wait. She’s saying goodbye while cursing me this viciously?

As expected of a pirate.

***

“Good morning, Senior.”

Monday morning.

Lee Han headed toward the Kitchen Club’s food storage on the seventh floor and greeted the senior inside.

Normally, Palcrius would already be there in a massive apron, carving meat off some unidentifiable monster carcass.

Today, however, he sat neatly dressed in his school uniform, calmly reading a book at the table.

“?!”

Startled by the sight, Lee Han cautiously asked,

“Could it be…”

“Oh. Wardanaz. You’re here?”

“Are your grades too low to graduate?”

Palcrius’s shoulders slumped.

“Did I really look that pathetic to you?”

“Ah, no. It’s just… you only ever work in the storage room.”

“I’m preparing for midterms this week.”

With midterms beginning the following week, even Einroguard students couldn’t behave exactly as usual.

Since everyone had gone through the same thing in first year, Lee Han nodded in understanding.

“So that’s why you’re studying here.”

“Studying… isn’t exactly the right word.”

“Pardon?”

Palcrius lifted the booklet in his hand.

“These are the midterms the underclassmen will be taking.”

“???”

Lee Han tilted his head in confusion.

Why was a senior reviewing underclassmen exams?

“Why are you looking at exams for lower years… Ah. Did one of the professors ask you to help prepare them?”

Palcrius burst out laughing.

“Puhuhuh! Unless they’re completely insane, no professor would ask a disciple who hasn’t even reached fifth year to help write exams!”

“…”

Wait.

“This is a club tradition, Wardanaz. Seems you didn’t know.”

Originally, clubs weren’t just survival organizations for scraping together food and money. They were communities built around shared hobbies, interests, and traditions.

It was easy to forget in a place like Einroguard, but even its clubs had their own sense of pride and customs.

One of those customs was helping underclassmen prepare for exams.

Many clubs at Einroguard—including the Kitchen Club—had seniors step in every exam season to assist the younger students.

Wait. There was a culture like that here?

Lee Han was genuinely shocked.

Who would have guessed such warmth existed in barren, merciless Einroguard?

“What do you mean by helping with exams? Explaining material they don’t understand? Summarizing important points?”

“Puhuhuh. Well, there’s that too. But raiding professors’ towers to find the exam questions beforehand also counts as helping.”

“…”

Lee Han slowly realized something was very wrong.

This was not the heartwarming senior-junior camaraderie he had imagined.

Palcrius continued explaining.

Of course, answering questions and summarizing lecture material was fine too.

But when clubs began competing honorably against one another, more active—and sometimes rather extreme—methods naturally emerged.

Breaking into professors’ towers to uncover exam questions.

Preparing cheating methods in advance.

“Why go that far?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, Wardanaz. Honestly, I feel terrible about it too. If those bastards from the other clubs would just compete fairly, none of this would be necessary…”

Palcrius gazed wistfully at the ceiling.

If every club at Einroguard were as wholesome as the Kitchen Club, what a peaceful academy this would become.

I sincerely doubt that.

“Puhuh. Come to think of it, maybe it’s fortunate you joined multiple clubs. If you’d belonged to only one, everyone would’ve fought over you. Usually nobody touches the underclassmen, but if it were you, Wardanaz…”

“…”

“Anyway, you came at the perfect time! Honestly, you probably could manage on your own, but as your senior, I’m obligated to help.”

“I absolutely cannot manage on my own. Please help me.”

Lee Han accepted immediately.

Whatever else happened, he had no intention of refusing exam assistance.

“Uhahahaha! Excellent. Then choose a lecture.”

“…Pardon?”

“You’re taking too many classes for a single club to handle. So we discussed it with the other clubs and divided the work.”

Normally, seniors simply helped underclassmen with whichever lectures they were taking.

But occasionally a monster appeared who took courses from every school of magic, and then things became complicated.

Rather than work the seniors to death, it was far more practical for the clubs to split responsibility.

“…”

“For reference, I’d prefer if you assigned me <A Drop of Potion Instead of Complex Magic>. Most members of our club are good at alchemy.”

“That does make sense.”

Aside from a few unusual exceptions, alchemists were generally skilled at cooking and brewing as well.

Since Lee Han had no intention of maliciously assigning something like Professor Voladi Bagreg’s <Understanding Intermediate Combat Magic>, he agreed to hand over the alchemy lecture.

BANG BANG BANG!

-Hey! Why’s the door locked?!

-Kitchen Club! Aren’t you serving food today?!

At the shouting from outside, Palcrius stuck his head out and yelled back.

“We’re closed because we’re preparing for next week’s exams!”

“What… what are you talking about?! You stayed open during exam season last year!”

“We stayed open last year because we were broke! This year we actually made money, so we’re taking the week off! Hahaha!”

Palcrius laughed with luxurious confidence.

Unlike last year, the club’s profits had exploded thanks to a certain underclassman who kept bringing in suspiciously high-quality ingredients.

As a result, they could now afford to close whenever they pleased.

“That’s… that’s absurd…”

“I woke up at dawn and ran all the way here for tomato egg soup…”

The upperclassmen outside looked utterly devastated.

Compared to the previous year, the Kitchen Club’s meals had improved dramatically, so expectations had naturally risen too.

Feeling oddly guilty, Lee Han quietly leaned out.

“…Psst. Keep it down. I’ll make a little just for you two.”

“Wa-Wardanaz!”

“What a kind, nanny-like second-year!”

“?”

Lee Han paused.

“Wasn’t that an insult?”

“N-no, it’s definitely a compliment…?”

The upperclassmen looked confused.

Hadn’t they given him that nickname because he took such good care of everyone?

A little later—

While the two starving upperclassmen desperately tore apart rye bread and soaked it in tomato egg soup, Lee Han resumed his earlier conversation with Palcrius.

“So how exactly are you planning to help me?”

“Heh. The exam for <A Drop of Potion Instead of Complex Magic> ultimately comes down to two things. Half is securing reagents. The other half is producing them.”

With the confidence of an experienced senior, Palcrius pointed out the key issue.

Professor Thunderstep’s alchemy course was infamous not only because the production process itself was difficult, but because students had to personally gather the reagents as well.

“At least now you can find them wandering around Einroguard territory. In advanced courses, they tell you to bring gemstones! Complete madness!”

“You’re absolutely right!”

Lee Han immediately agreed.

“What kind of alchemy uses gemstones? Lunatics!”

“Wa-Wardanaz. What’s gotten into you? Are you hungry? Eventually you’ll have to use gemstones too…”

Alchemy wasn’t limited to potion brewing. It was a discipline devoted to studying every conceivable material.

No matter how expensive they were, eventually gemstones became unavoidable.

After clearing his throat, Palcrius continued.

“We need to inspect Professor Thunderstep’s tower and herb gardens to figure out what reagents are required.”

“And borrow a few while we’re at it?”

Palcrius gave an approving thumbs-up at his junior’s rapid understanding.

“But security’s tighter this year. You know Professor Thunderstep’s cabin south of Gaksugwan, right? Do you know who’s guarding the vegetable garden there?”

“I wonder?”

Lee Han looked puzzled.

Since he regularly managed that garden himself, he was fairly familiar with the area.

Had new security really been added?

“Professor Bendozol! Can you believe it? Professor Bendozol is personally guarding the place!”

“…”

Lee Han had /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ to carefully control his expression.

Professor Bendozol—who adored animals—had taken over the chores specifically to free up Lee Han’s time.

“I-indeed… that would certainly be difficult.”

“Still, we have to break through somehow.”

“Excuse me. I have information to report.”

One of the third-years who had finished not only the soup but every last breadcrumb spoke up.

“I know about a hidden herb garden Professor Thunderstep planted in the mountains.”

“What?! Really? How did you discover it?”

“I spent several days hanging off a cliff for an assignment and saw the professor passing below.”

“Heh. Lucky find.”

Am I the only one concerned about the phrase ‘spent several days hanging off a cliff’?

Lee Han silently wondered.

Palcrius eagerly wrote down the testimony.

“Excellent, excellent… Good. We’ll investigate this place too. We need to sweep up everything useful. What about you? Your junior specifically lit the cauldron for you, after all.”

“Uh… well…”

Unlike his companion, the upperclassman who had no useful information panicked and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“I-I know who attacked Professor Thunderstep’s supply carriage last summer!”

“What?! That’s useful too. We can use it to negotiate with the professor. Name?”

“Carnell of House Hormasi…”

As Palcrius continued gathering information, more Kitchen Club members gradually arrived.

The students immediately understood what was happening.

“You’re preparing for midterms.”

“Wait. Isn’t Wardanaz taking classes from every school? Can we even handle all of them?”

“He already coordinated with the other clubs. They divided everything up.”

“Whew. That’s a relief.”

“Heh! Alright, this should be enough. Everyone, move out! We’re spending the entire week helping the underclassmen prepare for exams!”

“Yes!”

At Palcrius’s command, the club members energetically sprang into action.

Once Palcrius distributed the pickled tentacle sandwiches he’d prepared for breakfast, morale rose even higher.

Which was why none of them noticed at first.

…Huh? Why is Wardanaz coming with us?

The second-year had slipped naturally into the group.

Second-years weren’t supposed to participate in this.