Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 1042
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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 1042
Even if Jowurin acted selfishly, Lee Han couldn’t do the same. Lee Han firmly refused.
“That won’t do.”
“Really? Can’t be helped then.”
The artist didn’t particularly mind.
Because he had already obtained the mandragon.
The horticulture club members might be disappointed, but for the artist, this one mandragon was sufficient.
“Wait. May we stop by over there?”
Walking out of the hall rented by the horticulture club, Lee Han pointed to another entrance where toy decorations made of white bronze were displayed.
Toy Craftsmen’s Guild of Plahur, Granden, and Illeinas Cities
“…Shouldn’t a second-year student be playing mage cards with some dignity?”
The artist was bewildered.
By the standards of the Great Artist, who was a relatively old-fashioned mage, second-year Einroguard students should play mage cards, fourth-years should play chess, and sixth-years should just give up all of life’s pleasures.
Mage cards were one thing, but toys?
“Ah. It’s not for me to use, but as a gift.”
“I see. For a young relative?”
“No. For Prince Jowurin.”
“…??????”
The lady tilted her head in confusion and nearly dropped her large hat decorated with peacock feathers.
She couldn’t understand why a dragon would need such toys.
‘Ah. I see. Perhaps out of curiosity for research or analysis.’
Come to think of it, even Wuman had inherited the art of mage cards from the previous generation of dragons.
It wouldn’t be strange if Prince Jowurin suddenly wanted to investigate what kinds of toys other races in the Empire played with.
While the artist was bewildered, Lee Han carefully checked his gold coins. Thanks to the mandragon sale, his purse was unexpectedly abundant.
‘Buy a gift for Jowurin, buy a gift for Basil… At this rate, I could buy what other friends need and still have some left.’
“I’d like to participate in the auction…”
“Never mind. I’ll buy them all.”
The artist interrupted the conversation between the junior and the manager. Lee Han, who was about to apply for participation, was flustered.
“I was going to buy this with my own gold coins.”
“Don’t act inefficiently for an Einroguard student. If research is the purpose, the more you bring, the more pleased they’ll be.”
“Research? What… Well, since they’ll easily break them anyway, it would be good to bring many.”
Lee Han nodded, thinking of Jowurin’s monstrous strength.
Playing together, at least a few would break, and it would be better if those were toys rather than Lee Han himself.
The artist took out a pocket watch decorated with emeralds to check the time.
Having obtained the target mandragon and heard about cases of art pieces gaining life, albeit limited, he was now thinking of flying back to his new dwelling to immerse himself in work.
…There was nothing good about wandering around the capital for so long where he might encounter a mad archmage…
“Are you done?”
“Do you have an appointment? I was going to pick out some gifts for my friends.”
“You mean your Blue Dragon Tower friends, I suppose. Well, that makes sense for someone like you.”
A student worthy of having their name on the Skeleton Principal’s list would inevitably play a leadership role within their tower.
Just look at Professor Garcia, for instance.
“What about Professor Garcia?”
“Ah. It’s nothing.”
“…?”
Lee Han was puzzled, but the artist didn’t seem inclined to explain.
Even a much senior mage was powerless before fists.
“Ah. Senior. But I need to pick gifts for friends from other towers too, not just Blue Dragon Tower, so it might take longer.”
“…Why????”
The artist was shocked.
* * *
After touring the auction house and buying the remaining gifts (the artist paid for them while continuously tilting his head in confusion), Lee Han bid farewell to his senior and headed toward where his friends were.
Then he spotted a very rare species among the crowd.
A species that drew envious gazes and whispers wherever they went – penguin beastmen.
“Alsicle! …No, that’s not right.”
Lee Han, who had called out upon seeing the plump back of the head, belatedly realized his mistake.
While it was the same penguin beastman species, the other person wasn’t Alsicle.
‘Wait. They look familiar?’
“Greetings, senior!”
The penguin beastman rushed over and bowed his head.
From that reaction, Lee Han realized why they looked familiar.
It was Alhidel from the same Penguerin family, but not Alsicle.
A first-year junior at Einroguard!
“Alhidel?”
“You remembered me. What an honor.”
“…Did you happen to get tortured in the punishment room this semester?”
Lee Han asked seriously.
Alhidel was a boy full of confidence and arrogance, befitting his good family background.
And he actually had the ability to back it up.
It was only because the Skeleton Principal had egged him on saying ‘Here, Lee Han is average level at Einroguard, why don’t you spar with him, haha,’ but he was truly an outstanding talent.
For such a talent to maintain such a polite and respectful attitude, being cautious with every breath…
There was only one answer.
‘These crazy guards. To do this to a junior who’s only a first-year?’
Lee Han internally cursed the Death Knights.
Being undead, they had no human compassion.
“I’ve never been to the punishment room.”
“What? Don’t talk nonsense. You must have tried escaping or exploring. Ah, did you manage not to get caught at all? That’s impressive.”
“No. In my spare time, I studied in my personal room.”
“…”
Lee Han unconsciously took a step back.
He sensed a terrifying madness dwelling within the other person.
“What are you carrying?”
“Gifts for my friends.”
“I’ll carry them for you.”
“Wai…”
Alhidel rushed to help with the pile of gifts stacked on Lee Han’s arms.
Then he swayed as if about to fall.
‘What?!’
His senior had been carrying them so naturally that he hadn’t realized, but they were much heavier than expected.
He nearly fell over from lifting just one wrapped gift box.
“Wh-what is this?!”
“That’s why I told you to wait. Are you okay? That’s a reinforcement anvil for Salko, so it’s quite heavy.”
“…”
Alhidel, the top student of Blue Dragon Tower and the promising mage of the Penguerin family, once again looked at Lee Han with eyes full of respect.
I still have a long way to go!
“I’ll cast a strengthening spell on you.”
“As expected… Senior’s magical skills have been honed because you never stop training even in everyday situations like this.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Lee Han was flustered.
Of course, escaping from Einroguard or moving supplies naturally made one accustomed to moving around in an overloaded state.
In Lee Han’s case, he had gradually increased his weight limits through enhancement magic at first, then knight-style physical enhancement using mana, then telekinetic magic, and so on.
Thanks to this, he had earned the title of Einroguard’s top porter (though he wasn’t certain since he hadn’t competed with the upperclassmen yet), but that was purely out of necessity, not for training purposes.
“Eandurude told us though?”
“…”
‘Eandurude!’
Lee Han inwardly shouted the name of his absent junior.
Spreading false rumors!
“This isn’t for training, it’s to survive at Einroguard…”
“How admirable. I’ll also try carrying heavy loads around from now on.”
“If you respect me, why don’t you listen to what I’m saying?”
Lee Han was exasperated, but Alhidel had already made up his mind.
He was thinking of going to some quarry to dig up stones and put them in his backpack.
“Oh right. Senior. Thank you for the food.”
“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Lee Han played dumb for now.
He had indeed given food to share with friends whenever he met Eandurude, but he had kept his name hidden.
He had told Eandurude not to mention it, so surely…
“You gave it to us, didn’t you?”
“What are you talking about? Aren’t you mistaking it for food that Eandurude obtained?”
“??”
When the respected senior said something strange, Alhidel tilted his head and explained.
1. Eandurude obtained food from somewhere.
2. When asked about the source, he said he received it from ‘a senior whose name can’t be revealed.’
3. The only seniors Eandurude usually talks about are from Wardanaz senior’s group.
4. Ah, it must be Wardanaz senior!
“…”
‘Eandurude!’
Lee Han inwardly shouted his absent junior’s name again.
He should have just said he obtained it himself instead of telling such a clumsy lie.
‘Next time I meet him, I’ll have to train him in how to lie properly.’
With Gainando around, he could be a good teacher for that.
“Well… fine… whatever. Can’t be helped.”
Lee Han quickly gave up, but still had some lingering attachment as he asked.
“But couldn’t it have been a friend like Gainando instead of me?”
“Puhahahahahaha!”
Alhidel burst into loud laughter for the first time today.
Perhaps because he heard a joke in an unexpected situation, his laughter was even more intense.
“Hahahaha, hahahaha! Hahaha… wait, that wasn’t a joke?”
“…You’ve never met Gainando, have you?”
“No. But I heard from Eandurude that he’s someone who constantly steals food…”
“…”
Lee Han covered his face with his hands.
Having his tower’s embarrassing rumors leak outside was more shameful than he had thought.
“…It’s a misunderstanding. It was just a prank.”
“For a prank, it seemed to happen too many times…”
“Be quiet.”
“Yes!”
When his junior actually became quiet, Lee Han felt sorry and spoke again.
“No. It’s not your fault. Anyway, how was Einroguard?”
New students who entered Einroguard usually experienced world-shattering shock.
Especially Alhidel, who had met the Skeleton Principal separately before enrollment and heard several additional lies.
That shock had to be several times greater.
Thinking about it, Lee Han still felt a bit sorry.
“It was surprising and wondrous.”
“Huh, wasn’t it harsh or didn’t you want to curse?”
“That’s a given.”
Alhidel looked at Lee Han as if asking why he was asking something so obvious.
Regardless of it being surprising and wondrous, cursing was inevitable.
“…Sorry. But you must have been quite shocked later because of the Principal’s lies.”
The Skeleton Principal had lied to Alhidel, saying ‘mages like Lee Han are lying around everywhere at Einroguard.’
Lee Han was worried that his junior might have been hurt while obsessing over magic because of that lie.
“No. I realized he was lying on the very first day of enrollment.”
“…I, I see.”
Alhidel was indeed a brilliant junior.
He had realized he was deceived right after enrollment by listening to the Skeleton Principal’s harsh words and the professors’ explanations.
“Alhidel, come to think of it, what brought you to the capital? You must have had to travel quite far.”
“I came for a family gathering, and I heard Eandurude received an invitation from a friend. We came in the same carriage.”
Lee Han was pleased to hear that they came in the same carriage despite being from different towers.
Unlike the cold upperclassmen, the juniors seemed to have been influenced somewhat by Lee Han’s year.
‘Maybe they became close thanks to the food.’
“Did you lend him the carriage to repay Eandurude?”
“That was part of the reason, but actually Eandurude threatened me first and forcibly got on the carriage.”
“…”
‘Eandurude!’
Lee Han inwardly shouted his absent junior’s name for the third time.
If he had just stayed put, he would have received an invitation anyway!
However, Alhidel didn’t really mind. Personal feelings and grudges seemed unimportant on the grand path of magic.
“Wait. Eandurude received an invitation from a friend?”
Lee Han had a sinking feeling.
The only person he could think of who would send an invitation to Eandurude was Jowrin.
‘Well, Jowrin is affectionate…’
It wouldn’t be strange at all if she sent letters to Lee Han, the Skeleton Principal, or Alsicle soon.
“…!!!”
Lee Han’s complexion changed drastically as he realized the source of his unease. Alhidel was startled and asked.
“What’s wrong?!”
“…I left Master Alsicle behind!”
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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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