Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 1057

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 1057

 

‘Why is that bastard here?’

 

He didn’t know yet who had brought him here, but Kitarenannum was indeed a seasoned mage criminal.

 

He wasn’t reckless enough to face a powerful combat mage when he hadn’t fully recovered.

 

When something seems strange, run away.

 

Surprisingly few criminals in the Empire followed this simple principle.

 

Kitarenannum gathered all his belongings scattered in the small room, then walked to the storage at the end of the corridor and swept up all the dried meat and bread.

 

Then he put on an invisibility cloak and ran to the underground escape routes.

 

‘Good luck, Ibinta! May thief’s fortune follow you!’

 

* * *

 

“Strange.”

 

Actually, Professor Boladi hadn’t come here looking for Iron Cloak Ibinta.

 

He had come looking for a ranch owner who had fled to the nearby forest and discovered this ruined village.

 

“It certainly is. There’s even a far-sight magic installed over there.”

 

Lee Han noticed the magic installed on the ruins with his sharp senses.

 

There was a strange sense of unease as if the flow of mana was different only in the vicinity.

 

Giselle stared at her friend’s words.

 

“Why?”

 

“It’s nothing.”

 

Her friend’s senses were increasingly rising to the realm of monsters rather than humans.

 

Really, by next semester he might be closer to a professor than a person…

 

“Wow. Whoever it is must be a real idiot.”

 

Gainando sneered.

 

Setting up such easily detectable magic nearby was like shouting ‘I’m here!’

 

Of course, this was an unfair insult to both the thieves and Kitarenannum.

 

For the thieves, it was the mage criminal who had caused trouble on his own…

 

…And Kitarenannum had his own excuse.

 

-The monster is the one who can find magic hidden in such places with just his senses, so was I supposed to anticipate that and set up camouflage?!

 

His injuries were already serious, and he didn’t have mana to spare for such things.

 

“Could it be magic set up by the ranch owner hiding in the forest?”

 

“No. The level of magic is too high.”

 

Professor Boladi shook his head, recalling information about the ranch owner.

 

He was someone who had secretly imported and sold variant cockatrice eggs banned by Imperial law, caused an accident, and fled. If he had been skilled in magic, he wouldn’t have caused such an accident.

 

A typical amateur’s mistake.

 

“There are traces in the village.”

 

“Traces, you mean?”

 

Lee Han asked puzzledly.

 

Besides the magic, he hadn’t sensed any particular traces in these ruins.

 

“The debris is artificial.”

 

“!”

 

Lee Han was greatly surprised by the professor’s answer.

 

Rather than simply dismissing it as dusty, broken debris, he had discovered artificial regularity in it.

 

Ruins untouched by human hands should have been irregular.

 

‘Indeed.’

 

“There might be people hiding underground.”

 

After saying this, Professor Boladi said he would check the forest first, so they should wait.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Lee Han and Giselle immediately answered. Gainando sat happily on a nearby rock.

 

‘Hehe. This time will be easy.’

 

“Has he left?”

 

“Mm.”

 

“Then let’s go.”

 

At Giselle’s words, Lee Han nodded and approached the ruins.

 

Gainando, who had just sat on the rock to rest, shouted in surprise.

 

“Where are you going?!”

 

“We’re going to catch the guys hiding underground before the professor returns.”

 

“…”

 

Seeing Lee Han and Giselle speak as if it were obvious, Gainando wondered if he was the strange one.

 

‘Am I the weird one?!’

 

Professor Bagrek had clearly said to wait…

 

“L-Lee Han. Did you fight with Professor Bagrek by any chance?”

 

“No. If I had fought him, I wouldn’t be this intact.”

 

‘That makes sense?’

 

Giselle was impressed inwardly.

 

It was certainly a logical answer.

 

“But why are you trying to go in on your own?”

 

“Mm.”

 

Lee Han and Giselle exchanged glances.

 

Could they persuade Gainando without telling him that they needed to hide information related to the evil deity first to prevent Professor Boladi from going berserk?

 

“I’m originally crazy about challenges, aren’t I?”

 

“Right. You’re completely insane.”

 

At Lee Han’s words, Giselle chimed in supportively. When Lee Han stared at her, Giselle panicked and whispered.

 

“I-I was supporting you.”

 

“It seems like there were emotions mixed in… Anyway, thanks.”

 

Gainando stared at the two, then let out a deep sigh.

 

“Well, Lee Han was always like that. Let’s go.”

 

“…”

 

As his friend accepted it too easily, Lee Han was slightly torn between being happy or worrying about his friend.

 

“Right. Then let’s go in.”

 

“But won’t it be dangerous?”

 

“It’s not far from the capital and the village isn’t that big, so there are probably only about ten or so people at most.”

 

Lee Han checked for danger using crystal top divination. Looking at the results, it didn’t seem that dangerous.

 

“Rise up, golem made of bones.”

 

After summoning the Dragon-Tooth Golem, Lee Han ordered Gainando to call his summoned creature too.

 

While preparing for battle alongside him, Giselle thought to herself.

 

‘But how are we going to find the entrance?’

 

Even if the village wasn’t very big, finding the entrance wouldn’t be as easy as expected if there was a hideout hidden in these ruins.

 

Moreover, judging by their camouflage skills, they weren’t amateurs. Anyone other than a hunter like Professor Boladi wouldn’t have noticed the unease.

 

“Are you all ready?”

 

“Yeah. But how are we going to find…”

 

Lee Han began firing large water orbs randomly at the floor of the ruins.

 

Trusting in his mana and firing continuously until it worked, the surroundings became as noisy as if large hail was falling.

 

Crash!

 

Finally, one unlucky floor collapsed and revealed itself. Lee Han expanded the hole and jumped inside.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

And he locked eyes with twenty heavily armed thieves surrounding the area.

 

Both Lee Han and the thieves were greatly startled.

 

“Intruders…!”

 

“There are more than expected! Everyone be careful! Split apart, lightning of Perkuntra!”

 

“Aaaaah! This crazy bastard mage!”

 

The thieves screamed and retreated behind the passage at the sight of the mage casting chain lightning so quickly despite being flustered.

 

“Gainando! Don’t come down, just send your summoned creatures!”

 

“Stop talking and focus!”

 

Giselle, who had come down at some point, hit his back and shouted.

 

The scale of the hideout was much larger than they had thought from above. Not only the number of thieves who had just fled, but even just looking at the passages, you could feel their scale and quality.

 

Passages carved from rock, walls that could be blocked. And all sorts of traps on top of that. This wasn’t the time to worry about the Prince above.

 

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pak-

 

The fleeing thieves must have already activated them, as throwing knives flew from all directions.

 

Lee Han had the Dragon-Tooth Golem destroy walls and devices, and blocked the remaining attacks with telekinesis.

 

“What kind of fortress is this?!”

 

“We were too hasty!”

 

Giselle felt regretful.

 

She had been too focused on Wardanaz’s goal and underestimated the enemy.

 

She had thought that guys hiding in a village like this wouldn’t be particularly impressive…

 

‘I still have a long way to go. To be so careless!’

 

Clank!

 

The passage above had closed at some point, and both side walls opened anew. And thieves charged in with battle cries.

 

Giselle fiercely swung her sword, neutralizing the approaching thieves. Each swing sent waves of cold air, making the thieves grit their teeth and shout.

 

“It’s a mage! Bring cold resistance potions!”

 

“Wardanaz, some support…!”

 

Giselle, who had been pushing forward thinking to sweep away the enemies here and climb back up, felt something strange.

 

The friend who should normally be pouring out magic with firepower several times greater than hers was quiet.

 

“…I summon you!”

 

With a massive spatial distortion, the Thunder King tore through the underground fortress’s bedrock, revealing its deadly majesty.

 

Giselle shouted in shock.

 

“You summoned the Spirit King?!?”

 

“The… the enemy is stronger than expected.”

 

Lee Han was certainly an excellent Einroguard mage.

 

The moment his expectations went wrong, instead of stubbornly persisting, he deployed the strongest force available.

 

Of course, it might look like using a dragon-slaying sword to kill a chicken…

 

Impressive! To summon the Thunder King for such a reasonable cause! Why don’t you do this normally!

 

Perkuntra, summoned for a reasonable cause for once, was very excited and began sweeping through the underground fortress.

 

Watching the devices and passage barriers that must have been expensively bought from dwarves get swept away by a natural disaster, Giselle unconsciously felt sympathy.

 

‘They’re thieves, but they’re really unlucky…!’

 

* * *

 

“Professor! Professor!”

 

Gainando tried to run toward the forest, shouting.

 

When even the entrance that had been open closed and his friends disappeared, Gainando fell into complete panic.

 

However, Professor Boladi suddenly appeared beside him as if he had been there from the beginning.

 

“!??!”

 

Gainando, who had fallen over, blinked his eyes for a moment, wondering if he had seen wrong.

 

But it was indeed Professor Boladi.

 

“Wh-when did you arrive?!”

 

“I was waiting over there.”

 

Professor Boladi explained calmly.

 

His disciple had been acting strangely recently, and there was no way Professor Boladi wouldn’t notice.

 

He had predicted that as soon as he left to search the forest, they would immediately charge in recklessly.

 

“But, but…! Of course Lee Han has been risking his life doing reckless things lately, but that’s how he originally was…!”

 

Gainando, who was about to say Lee Han was originally like that, trailed off.

 

Though he had kept denying it for the sake of friendship, honestly, Lee Han did seem a bit strange lately.

 

Could it be that the shock of losing to the Principal was still lingering?

 

Kwa-rrrrrrrr-rumble!

 

“Wh-what’s that sound?”

 

“He summoned the Thunder King.”

 

From the sound coming from below and the powerful spirit’s aura, Professor Boladi immediately guessed the situation.

 

The only spirit his disciple would summon in that situation was the Thunder King.

 

…It did sound a bit strange that he brought it out just to fight thieves, but considering his mana capacity, it wasn’t that strange.

 

“Then… what about the lesson?”

 

“Lesson?”

 

“Weren’t you planning something like you going in to help, and Lee Han reflecting and saying he won’t go to dangerous places anymore?!”

 

Professor Boladi slowly shook his head.

 

Gainando’s elaborate plan was far from Professor Boladi’s original thoughts.

 

The level of thief bands hiding in places like this couldn’t put his disciple in enough crisis to make him reflect.

 

Even now, hadn’t he immediately summoned the Thunder King?

 

Professor Boladi was just standing by in case of an emergency situation.

 

Gainando made an expression as if struck by lightning upon hearing that his friend couldn’t learn a lesson.

 

‘No way!’

 

“Professor! You need to give him a stern talking-to!”

 

“I’m not sure about that.”

 

Professor Boladi was skeptical.

 

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

 

His disciple’s personality wasn’t easygoing enough to listen just because he was told not to do something.

 

This was even more true since Professor Boladi himself hadn’t listened during his student days.

 

“Lee Han keeps trying to subjugate things alone these days! And recently he seems obsessed with worshippers of evil gods again, but who tries to subjugate worshippers of evil gods alone!”

 

Because he was stamping his feet and getting angry, Gainando didn’t see Professor Boladi flinch.

 

Even if he had been calm, he probably wouldn’t have noticed.

 

“If you have thorough planning and iron-like will, it’s not impossible…”

 

“It’s impossible! Only a complete madman would do such a thing!”

 

“…”

 

Professor Boladi hesitated slightly.

 

After trying to argue back, Professor Boladi eventually gave up.

 

“That might indeed be the case.”

 

“Right?! You need to tell him that, Professor!”

 

“Which cult is it? Prahgal?”

 

The cult with the deepest grudge against his disciple could be said to be this cult of life-force-overflowing chimeras.

 

It wouldn’t be strange for him to become obsessed with subjugation during vacation.

 

“I don’t think so? I’ve never seen Lee Han reading related books.”

 

“Then is it Ksaksa-rigol?”

 

“No. He didn’t show much reaction even when looking at related wanted posters.”

 

Gainando displayed an unexpected sharpness that no one could have predicted.

 

Professor Boladi was puzzled by that sharpness.

 

Was there an evil god cult related to his disciple other than those two cults?

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————