Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 860

“???”

However, Eandurde was not Gainando.

Unlike Gainando — who could be bought over with a single piece of chocolate — the proud gorgon hybrid merely stared blankly at Lee Han.

Lee Han lowered his voice.

“Could you try getting along with His Majesty a little?”

“…”

Eandurde’s expression twisted with visible conflict.

On one side was the duty to obey a respected senior.

On the other was hostility toward the violent evil dragon that had just assaulted him.

Watching the younger student suffer so seriously over the dilemma made even Lee Han feel guilty for suggesting it.

“No. Forget it. I shouldn’t have said anyth—”

“…Friend.”

Eandurde forcibly endured both the humiliation and physical assault from earlier and stiffly extended a hand first.

Jowurin immediately brightened with joy upon gaining a new gorgon-hybrid friend.

“Lee Han! This is Jowurin’s new friend! Did you see? Jowurin has so many friends now!”

That doesn’t really seem like that many…

Then again, just as Professor Voladi Bagreg’s disciple count had increased by one hundred percent, perhaps Jowurin’s friend count had done the same.

Lee Han smiled generously.

“It’s a miracle born from Einroguard.”

“Lee Han! Jowurin will make even more Einroguard friends! Hurry!”

Jowurin excitedly tapped the ground with her forepaws, clearly demanding that Lee Han immediately bring more Einroguard students to the collapsed underground airfield.

Naturally, Lee Han did not get swept up in the mood and agree.

“That won’t be happening, Your Majesty.”

“Why?! W-Wardanaz! Jowurin shall make more Einroguard friends!”

“Speaking politely doesn’t suddenly make the request acceptable…”

Apparently believing she’d been rejected for sounding rude, Jowurin immediately corrected her speech.

Unfortunately, no matter how politely she spoke, Lee Han had absolutely no intention of allowing it.

Even Eandurde — who was exceptionally sturdy — had nearly broken bones.

What would happen to ordinary students?

And the students weren’t even Lee Han’s only concern.

He was worried about Jowurin too.

There’s no predicting what disaster might happen.

The thought of one of the insane upperclassmen attempting to hunt Jowurin genuinely horrified him.

Not to mention the insane ancient archmage projection still lurking somewhere inside Einroguard.

“Your Majesty came here for the exam. That means wandering around freely isn’t allowed.”

“Hmph.”

Jowurin looked disappointed but, surprisingly, didn’t throw a tantrum.

That was because she had already argued with the Skull Principal extensively before contacting Professor Voladi Bagreg.

Come to think of it, Gonadaltes did say the students might fear Jowurin…

“It’s because Your Majesty possesses overwhelming dignity.”

“But Lee Han isn’t scared of Jowurin?”

“I…”

Now that he thought about it, Lee Han had encountered far more terrifying monsters before.

“…”

Lee Han was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even respond.

The fact that both Professor Voladi Bagreg and Eandurde were quietly nodding beside him made him want to smack them both in the back of the head.

“…I’m not afraid of Your Majesty.”

“Of course! Then guide Jowurin!”

“?”

Lee Han stared blankly, completely unable to follow Jowurin’s conversational logic.

“Guide you where?”

“To Lee Han’s dormitory room.”

“…Why?”

The question escaped him before he could stop himself.

Fortunately, Jowurin didn’t mind the informal tone in the slightest.

“We decided Jowurin would stay there.”

“…Who decided that with whom?”

“With Gonadaltes?”

Strictly speaking, the original conversation had gone:

“Jowurin will hide in Wardanaz’s room!”

“Your Majesty is too large to fit.”

“Then Jowurin will stay in human form!”

“That would still be uncomfortable.”

But Jowurin remembered events however was most convenient.

Unfortunately, since Lee Han didn’t know the details, he couldn’t refute it properly.

This is insane. Is Einroguard finally collapsing?

When royalty visited, even Einroguard’s finest accommodations should have been considered insufficient.

So why was the solution somehow Lee Han’s cramped dormitory room?

…Then again, other royalty had previously stayed in cramped dormitory rooms.

In terms of consistency, perhaps it did make sense.

No. Absolutely not. This still isn’t right.

Lee Han turned desperately toward Professor Voladi Bagreg for help.

Naturally, the Professor completely failed to understand the plea.

“Professor. Wouldn’t it be better for His Majesty to stay somewhere else?”

Before Professor Voladi Bagreg could answer, Jowurin interrupted first.

“No! No! No!”

…followed by a childish tantrum.

The gigantic dragon rolled back and forth dramatically, sending collapsed rubble flying everywhere.

Eandurde turned pale and hid behind Lee Han.

“She says she doesn’t want to.”

“…I can see that…”

Lee Han sighed in defeat.

If this were Professor Garcia, perhaps she could have soothed Jowurin properly.

Expecting Professor Voladi Bagreg to do it was hopeless.

Fine. I’ll let her stay temporarily. If she complains it’s uncomfortable, I’ll throw her out immediately…

…Though that raised another problem.

Would putting a dragon in the chicken-coop cabin count as blasphemy?

Lee Han, who had originally considered relocating Jowurin to the secret base or some outside cabin if she complained, suddenly hesitated.

The more he thought about it, the more sacrilegious it sounded.

A proper place in Einroguard for a dragon to stay…

“Wardanaz.”

Professor Voladi Bagreg called him.

Lee Han answered belatedly after snapping out of thought.

“Ah. Yes, Professor. Would it be alright if I decide the exam topic within the week?”

Lee Han still had absolutely no idea what kind of magic could possibly be used against Jowurin.

For now, he simply wanted time.

Fortunately, Professor Voladi Bagreg nodded readily.

“Very well.”

“Thank you.”

“I will assist with transporting His Majesty.”

Only after agreeing did Professor Voladi Bagreg reveal why he had called Lee Han over.

Lee Han tilted his head.

“I can handle that myself, though?”

If Jowurin transformed into human form, Lee Han could simply cast invisibility magic and sneak her through the dormitory.

However, Professor Voladi Bagreg shook his head.

“That would be difficult alone.”

“What do you mea—”

“No. Watch!”

Jowurin proudly interrupted before attempting to transform.

The massive dragon body shifted and rippled as her form continuously changed.

For a brief moment, it looked like she might stabilize into human shape—

—and then she immediately reverted to dragon form again.

Professor Voladi Bagreg spoke calmly.

“Young dragons often find transformation frustrating before reaching maturity.”

“…Uh… wait a second.”

Lee Han suddenly realized something horrifying.

Jowurin was entering his room in that form.

…Could she even fit?

No. The room does expand somewhat, but surely not that much?

“Professor. Is it really okay for His Majesty to enter?”

“Yes. The room will expand.”

How does he know that?

For one fleeting moment, Lee Han became deeply curious what kinds of experiments Professor Voladi Bagreg had performed in dormitory rooms during his student years.

Unfortunately, he had no mental space left to ask.

His dormitory room was about to become a dragon’s nest.

Should I be grateful she can fit at all? She’ll probably stay one or two weeks… Maybe if she gets uncomfortable, she’ll leave faster…

“Lee Han! Jowurin will behave!”

“Haha…”

Lee Han laughed weakly while staring at the wreckage behind her.

At this rate, he might become the first Blue Dragon Tower student in history to collapse the dormitory.

“Then, Professor. I’ll leave it to you.”

Professor Voladi Bagreg nodded.

With a wave of his staff, a veil of transparency and perception interference wrapped around the enormous dragon.

Jowurin instantly vanished from sight.

Next, the Professor repaired the ruined underground airfield.

Jowurin coughed awkwardly.

“Jowurin didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Your Majesty must stay quiet indoors.”

“I understand! Trust Jowurin, Professor Bagreg!”

Jowurin nodded energetically—

—and immediately bit Eandurde with a playful nom.

Naturally, Eandurde reacted as though experiencing the worst humiliation imaginable.

“Wh-Why?!”

“Wouldn’t sitting on your shoulder have been enough?”

“Grrrrrrowl! Grrrrrrowl!”

“Jowurin wants to play!”

THUD—

Before Lee Han could even ask what was happening, Eandurde abruptly stopped growling.

Apparently, the younger student also wanted to visit the Blue Dragon Tower second-year dormitory where Yonair and Lee Han lived.

“…Professor. Please bring Eandurde too.”

Professor Voladi Bagreg nodded expressionlessly and waved his staff again.

Lee Han suddenly felt deeply grateful toward him.

Surely no other professor would go this far to help.

…Wait. He’s the reason she came here in the first place!

“???”

Professor Voladi Bagreg looked puzzled by his disciple’s glare.

***

Inside the Blue Dragon Tower second-year common room, Gainando was reading the latest volume of the puppy-beastman detective Toberiz series he had struggled desperately to obtain.

He grumbled loudly while reading.

“This makes no sense.”

“Why are you complaining again? You always whine while reading that thing, so why do you keep buying it?”

“This is exactly how you’re supposed ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) to read it! Look at this! Just look!”

Gainando dragged his friends over excitedly and shoved the book in front of them.

The friends instantly regretted speaking to him.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

“Do you know what this mage hides inside his sleeve while sneaking into the magic tower dormitory?”

“…What?”

“A dragon! A dragon!”

“Well… maybe it transforms into one…”

“Hey! How do you hide a dragon inside a sleeve?! And then hide it in a dormitory room?!”

Gainando bounced furiously in outrage.

These idiots didn’t even possess basic magical common sense.

“Maybe it transformed into something smaller.”

“If it can shrink, turning into a human would make way more sense! Why shove it into a sleeve?!”

This guy should study magic with this level of focus all the time.

I’m absolutely telling Wardanaz about this later.

The same idiot who normally waved through spell formulas carelessly suddenly became a strict magical theorist only during arguments like this.

Creak—

At that moment, the dormitory door quietly opened behind them.

Lee Han slipped inside silently, trying to ghost his way upstairs unnoticed.

Unfortunately, he could not escape Gainando’s eyes.

“Lee Han! …Professor??”

The moment Gainando shouted the second word, the Blue Dragon Tower students immediately screamed and dove away instinctively.

The reflexive terror of professors inside dormitories had been thoroughly engraved into them.

Lee Han hurried to calm everyone down.

“Relax! It’s not a Skull Principal raid or anything. The Professor just came to help briefly.”

“…W-what kind of help requires coming all the way to the dormitory?”

“Uh… something involving lectures and exams.”

“…”

The students were horrified.

They already knew Professor Voladi Bagreg’s classes were monstrous.

But they had never imagined the man would personally chase students into the dormitory afterward.

Einroguard professors consistently exceeded expectations in the worst ways possible.

“Well then. We’ll be going.”

“???”

Gainando tilted his head.

He couldn’t hear anything unusual—

—but the staircase leading upward was cracking one step at a time.

What kind of absurd phenomenon was that?

Professor Voladi Bagreg calmly restored the stairs with his staff and continued upward.

“…He followed you all the way to the dormitory.”

“That’s terrifying. Seriously terrifying. Are we going to become like that when we’re third-years?”

“N-No way…”

While everyone else continued whispering in horror, Gainando cautiously climbed the stairs.

Then he knocked on Lee Han’s room door and pushed it open.

“Grrrrrowl!”

“Sorry! Sorry! Jowurin didn’t mean to crush it!”

“It would probably be better to move that to the left so the books don’t get damaged.”

Gainando blinked blankly at the catastrophic scene inside.

Only after noticing him did Lee Han panic and yank him into the room.

“Why did you follow me?!”

“W-what is all this…?”

“…Can’t be helped. We’ll just include Gainando too.”

“Wow! A servant?!”

Gainando immediately bristled at the rude dragon he had just met for the first time.