Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 1040
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 1040
While the newly appeared imperial millionaire was systematically conquering auction houses one by one in the hall, on the other side, a mage who had never really been outdone in terms of wealth was walking over.
It was none other than Zandani from the Alzadrc family, a fourth-year Baldrogard student.
“Senior. Aren’t you being too wasteful?”
“Wasteful?”
When a Baldrogard junior who was also researching gem magic within the Divination Magic Guild spoke with concern, Zandani instead asked back.
Wasteful.
Where was there any waste in what Zandani had just done?
“Even so, paying extra to buy things before the auction starts seems too… wasteful…”
“Hahaha.”
Zandani laughed pleasantly.
This junior, who was highly regarded even within Baldrogard, sometimes showed timid behavior despite his outstanding talent.
-B-but tomorrow is the exam, shouldn’t we study magic instead of hunting?
-Nothing to worry about. The professor is coming too. Friendship among students is more important than magic, isn’t it?
Being such a junior, his reaction just now was understandable.
The act of negotiating beforehand to pay large sums and buy things before the auction started.
From some perspectives, this could indeed be called wasteful.
But it wasn’t wasteful at all.
“Because entering an auction house as a Baldrogard student and engaging in undignified haggling would be more wasteful.”
“Yesss…”
The junior trailed off.
He seemed to understand in words, but if you looked closely at his face, you could tell he wasn’t convinced at all.
‘Couldn’t we just participate in the auction and save money?’
The junior briefly considered asking students from other magic schools if he was the strange one.
After all, students from other magic schools didn’t seem to buy things at higher prices like this…
Eastern Gatherer’s Guild Reagent Auction (Large Quantity of Rare Reagents)
“Oh!”
Having just discovered a decent auction within the hall, Zandani straightened his clothes and approached the manager.
“I’d like to purchase in advance…!”
“I’m sorry.”
“?!”
Zandani was shocked.
There was something money couldn’t solve?!
“Why? If you’re refusing because of the large amount of gold coins to be paid, please look at this crest and reconsider.”
“How could I dare doubt the credit of such an esteemed person from the Alzadrc family?”
The manager hastily explained without losing his courtesy.
“The reason it’s impossible is because someone has already purchased it.”
Eastern Gatherer’s Guild Reagent Auction (Large Quantity of Rare Reagents)
(Completed)
Along with his words, the manager hung up a sign. Only then did Zandani realize he was one step too late.
“How dare someone…!”
“Uh, isn’t it okay for other people to do it too?”
“I won’t forgive this!”
Zandani was genuinely indignant.
The junior was flustered by this behavior, so unlike the good-natured person who usually never got angry no matter what happened.
“Think about it carefully. What if we can’t buy the gems we need because of that bastard who got there first?”
“That would be… somewhat annoying… but there’s nothing we can do about it, right?”
Despite his junior’s words, Zandani ignored him and moved.
Getting hit once was enough. As a Baldrogard student, he couldn’t lose anymore with his pride on the line.
However, it wasn’t long before Zandani had to face frustration again.
“I’m sorry.”
“Someone else.”
“Got here first…”
“Grrrr!”
When he was doing it, it felt so pleasant, but being on the receiving end was this infuriating.
Zandani stamped his feet and looked around.
Now it had become a serious problem beyond just pride.
‘I need consumables for the second semester.’
Though he usually treated gems and reagents lightly as cheap stuff, if he couldn’t secure them at all, that would become troublesome in its own way.
Even if he purchased through other connections, it would take time and the quantity would be insufficient.
“If we use them sparingly…”
“No! We need to have plenty.”
The world called it ‘waste,’ but Zandani didn’t realize it.
Passing by 【Ancient Chess Relic Auction】, 【Cheating Items for Mage Cards Auction】, 【Southern Wine Auction】, 【Petroguard Art Exhibition Auction】, 【Eastern Rider Guild Mount Auction】, and others, Zandani desperately searched for auctions focused on gems and reagents.
“!!!”
In the middle of this, Zandani stopped in his tracks and opened his eyes wide.
A flashy flyer caught his eye.
“Senior! That’s Bagnir’s Red Diamond!”
The junior also shouted in surprise at the fact that a diamond crafted by a mage who had made a name with fire elements hundreds of years ago had appeared.
The moment he saw it, all the miscellaneous gems he had missed so far were erased from Zandani’s mind.
I have to buy that!
“Manager! Manager! I’ll buy that! Five times the…”
“Five times, you say?”
‘I’m not too late!’
“Yes!”
“Please wait a moment.”
The manager standing in front of the hall sent a paper bird to someone. After a moment, the manager made a troubled expression.
Zandani, who had been feeling victorious for a brief moment, felt his heart sink at that expression.
“Wh-why?! What’s wrong?”
“There’s someone else who made a preliminary bid, and that person offered ten times the price. I’m sorry. According to the rules, that person…”
“Grrrrrrr!”
Zandani let out a scream from deep in his lungs like an Einroguard student who had failed an exam.
It was so humiliating.
The most painful thing was his own choice of being petty and having it stolen away!
-Bagnir’s Red Diamond was already sold? The auction hasn’t even started yet? The big spenders came early.
-That’s right. From what I heard, a mage from the Wardanaz family bought it.
-Ah. That 5th year student from Einroguard?
-5th year? Wasn’t it 4th year?
“!!!”
Zandani had a lightning-like realization.
There was only one mage from the Wardanaz family who would be buying reagents like this here.
“How frustrating…! If I had known it was the Wardanaz family, I would have acted accordingly!”
If he had known his opponent was from a great noble family, Zandani would never have been careless.
He would have moved anticipating that tremendous wealth.
‘Just wait and see. Next time I absolutely won’t lose. Even if I have to stake Baldrogard’s pride on it!’
* * *
“You’ve picked up something quite useful!”
Azirmo (female), no, the Great Artist was quite satisfied.
To think she would obtain Bagnir’s red diamond here.
Bagnir, an excellent fire mage, used to inscribe his magic on gems instead of spellbooks.
If unlucky, it would have already known magic inscribed on it, but if lucky, she might obtain some rare magic of Bagnir’s that no one knew about.
“Make sure to write to me when you break it later.”
“Yes. …Yes?????”
Lee Han, whose mind was particularly confused today, cried out two beats late.
What was he supposed to do how?
“Why?”
“Did you say to break it?”
“Well, you have to break it…? Why do you think this gem is red?”
“Isn’t it because people who broke gems shed tears of blood from regret?”
Lightly ignoring the youngest junior’s nonsense, the Artist answered.
“It would be difficult to peek at the magic dwelling inside without breaking it. Bagnir wasn’t such a kind mage to begin with. …Wait. You’re not refusing to break it because it’s precious, are you?”
The Artist who was speaking asked, thinking it unlikely.
Just like when buying gems earlier, this junior’s attitude evoked some sense of discomfort.
He was clearly from Blue Dragon Tower and from a great noble family, wasn’t he?
“H-h-h-how could that be?”
“Do you perhaps already have debts?”
The Great Artist sent a suspicious look.
In fact, debt wasn’t particularly surprising for mages from Einroguard. One of the professors was already one of the Empire’s most notable debtors.
When you craved some magic but realistically couldn’t afford to prepare for it, would you take on debt to obtain the magic, or postpone it for later?
Einroguard mages usually fell into the former category. The more skilled they were, the more they were bound to suffer from the temptation of debt.
And considering the youngest junior’s abilities…
“Do you think I’m Professor Verdus or something? I’m not.”
“Seeing how strongly you’re denying it makes it more suspicious. You have aspects of being stingy about spending gold in strange areas, which makes it even more suspicious.”
“When I have to spend several more years at Einroguard, wouldn’t it be stranger to develop wasteful spending habits?”
Lee Han’s words made sense.
The strict Skeleton Principal didn’t even let students from wealthy families bring their fortunes freely.
If you developed wasteful spending habits just because you were wealthy, you’d suffer when you returned to Einroguard.
However, the Artist shook her head.
“If you’re worried about that, learn the knack of gathering gold instead of acting like a miser. That madman is also generous about what you earn during the semester.”
If the Artist had advice to give to juniors from Einroguard, there were two things.
Namely, labor and smuggling.
The latter varied so much depending on situation and location that it was difficult to advise carelessly, but earning income during the semester was something she could advise about.
“Hmm. I’m working fairly hard to gather money though…”
The Artist chuckled at her junior’s cute remark.
How much could a student who had only spent one semester of second year possibly have gathered within Einroguard?
“Tell me. I’ll listen and give you advice.”
“Starting with what I worked on during Club Week last time, plus the gold coins I earned during vacation…”
Lee Han counted the commissions he had steadily done in his spare time and their compensation.
Even without including the inheritance he received from the Chamberlain or the silver coins he received from friends, the Artist’s face was colored with shock.
Why was someone who had already gathered that much acting so pathetically poor?!
“I heard I’ll start taking commissions in earnest from second semester, what kind would be good?”
“Hmph. You’re already doing well on your own.”
“!?”
* * *
“How could they grow mandragon in such a short period?”
“I can’t believe it. No matter how I think about it, it’s trickery.”
“Watch your words. Are you insulting Professor Willow Tree’s honor?”
“…That’s not it, but Professor Willow Tree is human too, so couldn’t there be mistakes?”
The question of the Gardening Club members currently gathered in the hall was only one.
What method could possibly have been used to grow mandragon in such a short period?
“Ahrak’s purple poison?”
“That has limits. That’s impossible.”
“Arkan’s growth elixir?”
“That would leave traces.”
“Dragon’s flame?”
“Stop talking nonsense. Why don’t you say it was an ancient mysterious watering can artifact instead?”
Even those who prided themselves as plant experts were all the more troubled because they couldn’t guess at all.
How troubled must they have been for nonsense like dragon breath to come up as a hypothesis?
“Azirmo (female) will also be attending. She seems to have interest in the mandragon.”
“Indeed. That makes sense.”
The mandragon that appeared this time was certainly worth taking interest in.
Setting aside its effects, this was the first time for such a mysterious mandragon.
“She might know. She’s a very excellent mage.”
“Certainly…! Good thinking.”
Just then they saw the noble lady entering the hall. The Empire’s gardeners welcomed her and immediately showered her with questions after greetings.
“You’ve come, Azirmo (female)! Have you seen this mandragon?”
“Yes. I came because I heard rumors.”
“Do you perhaps have any guess how this was grown?”
“Well? Do you have any guesses?”
The Artist who was tilting her head also asked Lee Han.
She thought he might present a different opinion.
Lee Han answered without much thought.
“They used dragon’s breath instead of the sun to accelerate growth.”
“…”
“…”
“Stop talking nonsense. You might as well say it was grown with an ancient mysterious watering can artifact.”
The Artist refreshingly scolded her junior.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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