Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 136

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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 136

When Lee Han arrived at the Blue Dragon Tower, he saw the students resting in the common room and said.

“If you help me with the work I’m doing with Asan right now, I’ll give all of you…”

“Sure thing.”

“Let’s go.”

His friends closed their books and put down their chess pieces before Lee Han could even mention the reward.

Lee Han was slightly taken aback.

“It’ll be tedious work on the weekend, are you sure it’s okay?”

“Wardanaz, you do that kind of stuff all the time anyway.”

“…”

Lee Han was slightly moved by his friends’ warm words.

What on earth was this magic school doing with such students!

“Where’s Gainando?”

“He’s resting upstairs… Wardanaz. Gainando probably won’t come, right?”

His friends thought Gainando wouldn’t come.

With that personality, weekend work?

There was absolutely no way he would participate.

‘But Gainando has to participate.’

Lee Han was unwavering.

When Professor Alpen’s friend arrived at the school, if there was even a prince among the Blue Dragon Tower students, Lee Han’s abilities would be evaluated even more highly.

“Don’t worry. I have an idea.”

Lee Han called Gainando down.

Gainando, who had been lounging around in his private room, came down looking puzzled.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry about this, Gainando.”

Lee Han spoke in a voice full of regret. Gainando was terrified by those words.

“Am… am I going to the punishment room?”

“No. It’s not that.”

“Phew…”

“I’m planning to go do magic circle work with the other friends right now. But you won’t be able to participate.”

“That… that so?”

Gainando tilted his head.

Wasn’t that a good thing?

‘Oops. If I show it, I might get dragged along.’

Gainando tried hard to manage his expression. These friends here had the nasty personality of disliking when Gainando rested.

“I’m really sorry. I wanted to let you participate too.”

“Y, yeah.”

“Then rest well. Sorry again, Gainando.”

“…Wait. Wait.”

Gainando grabbed Lee Han, who was about to finish talking and turn away.

Originally he hadn’t been interested, but Lee Han kept apologizing, which made him curious.

Was there something to it?

“Lee Han. Why are you sorry about… not being able to let me participate in that magic circle work?”

“It’s natural to feel bad when you can’t let a friend participate in such fun work.”

“Fun?”

“Yeah.”

“…??”

For a moment, Gainando thought Lee Han had gone strange.

But thinking about it, Lee Han had always been that kind of friend.

A friend who strangely loved studying!

‘How can this be so pitiful.’

Unfortunately, Gainando couldn’t cure Lee Han. Gainando was about to give up and let Lee Han go…

“Right. I’m really sorry. Gainando.”

“We really wanted to let you participate too…”

“???”

However, when other friends also spoke like that, Gainando fell into confusion.

Had magic circle work somehow become a popular game among the new students without Gainando knowing?

“Fun? Really?”

“Gainando… you still don’t know? How fun magic circle work is?”

Yoner spoke to Gainando with a shocked expression.

Gainando hesitated before answering.

“…Of course I know!”

“…”

“…”

The friends stared at Gainando for a moment, but the Prince didn’t notice the meaning in their gazes.

“But why can’t you take me along?”

“There are the Imperial Princess’s followers. They don’t like you showing up.”

“Wh… What! Lee Han! How can you give in to those bad guys’ threats!”

Gainando was furious at the Imperial Princess’s followers whose faces he didn’t even know.

Of course, Adenart had higher reputation than Gainando, was better at magic, excelled in academics, and was skilled in various liberal arts, but aside from that, there wasn’t much she was better at than Gainando.

And yet they dared to try to prevent Gainando from coming!

“Is that so?”

“Lee Han. You weren’t that kind of friend. When someone picked a fight with you, you were the one who would beat them up thoroughly!”

“…Wasn’t it not quite to that extent?”

“No! This isn’t like you!”

“But weren’t you not particularly interested?”

“I’m very interested in magic circle work! I want to do it!”

“Really? I understand. I’ll try speaking strongly about it.”

Gainando’s face lit up at Lee Han’s words.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“Don’t mention it for something like this.”

Seeing Gainando excitedly running off, the Blue Dragon Tower students looked at Lee Han with admiring eyes.

* * *

Just because the number of students increased didn’t mean the work progressed overwhelmingly faster.

Students who had exhausted their mana went to the side of the lecture hall and collapsed one by one.

When about one-third of the magic circle was completed, only Lee Han remained in the end.

“…”

‘Don’t they all have too little mana?’

But complaining wouldn’t restore his friends’ mana.

Lee Han silently continued his work. Before he knew it, the evening sun was slowly setting.

“Not bad.”

“??”

Lee Han turned his head.

Since they had come to the lecture hall, he thought it was Professor Alpen, but it wasn’t. It was an unfamiliar face.

“Are you a professor?”

“In some ways, yes.”

“?”

Lee Han was puzzled by the other person’s enigmatic answer.

A professor in some ways?

What on earth did that mean?

‘Ah. I get it.’

However, Lee Han, being an experienced student, immediately caught on.

“You must be working as a professor’s direct disciple.”

Students who didn’t graduate from magic school even after becoming upperclassmen would often research together with professors to explore the profound world of magic a little deeper.

They would become the professor’s direct disciples.

These direct disciples would live with their master, inherit their secrets, and explore the world of magic.

And they would sometimes handle the trivial tasks that their master should do.

Like teaching students…

Thus, a being who was a professor yet not a professor would be complete.

“No!”

“You’re not?”

The other person glared at Lee Han as if he were being absurd.

Who was whose disciple?

* * *

For the mages of the Empire, the magic school Einroguard was a place that evoked various emotions.

For wandering mages who had not received proper education, it was a place of longing.

For mages from other magic schools, it was a place of envy.

And for mages working in government positions in the Empire…

“I have no idea how much gold they’re extorting.”

“Isn’t it a place that nurtures the pillars of the Empire?”

“I’m a mage too! No matter how excellent they are, there’s no way that much gold is needed just to teach young students. No matter how I think about it, it must be gold for the mages’ own research!”

Kendri Baku, the Empire’s senior accounting officer, complained to his guards as he walked.

This time he had been invited by his friend Professor Alpen Naiton to visit the magic school…

But that wasn’t the only reason he was going to the magic school.

Kendri planned to see the magic school with his own eyes.

Since the magic school was in the middle of its spring festival, it was a good time for guests to visit and look around.

“You’ve arrived a few days earlier than promised, is that alright?”

“Yes. And I did it on purpose.”

Kendri had lied about his arrival date for a simple reason.

If he arrived on the scheduled date, wouldn’t those cunning mages hide away all the things that could be criticized?

It was better to arrive earlier than planned. Although they were friends, Alpen was clumsy at lying or deception. Even if Kendri asked him for help, there was a high chance of being caught.

“I heard that Einroguard’s students are harshly trained from their first year to cultivate their hunger for magic, but it seems the rumors were somewhat exaggerated.”

The guard who followed Kendri in spoke while looking at a student from the Blue Dragon Tower.

Seeing him carrying around snacks, the rumors seemed to be somewhat exaggerated.

“It might be because the priests came this week.”

“But looking at his face, he’s clearly been eating quite well. His clothes too.”

“Hmm… That’s true. You have a point.”

Kendri nodded at the guard’s words.

Just because priests came on the weekend didn’t mean lost weight would immediately return. Moreover, the clothes the student was wearing were quite decent.

‘The students seem to be doing much better than I heard. Were the rumors exaggerated?’

Kendri wondered if this was why more gold coins were needed, but soon shook his head.

Even considering that, it was still too much.

“Let’s go inside.”

“Yes.”

Kendri walked around the dormitory tower area and also toured the main building lecture halls.

Surprisingly, even though it was the weekend, there were students in the lecture halls practicing magic.

The guard was impressed.

“As expected of Einroguard. All the students are passionate. To think they’d stay and practice until this hour.”

“But why are they lying down like that?”

“It must be due to mana deficiency.”

Kendri understood well why the new students were sprawled out inside the lecture hall.

Novice mages who lacked mana training often experienced mana deficiency. They must have made a mistake while creating magic circles.

However, one student hadn’t collapsed and continued working steadily.

There was only one reason for this.

He was perfectly calculating mana while drawing the magic circle.

If he knew exactly how much mana would go into which part of the magic circle, he could avoid overexertion.

Surely that student had spent months preparing that magic circle, embedding the blueprint in his mind and studying it so thoroughly it would appear in his dreams.

Kendri opened his mouth as old memories came to mind.

“Not bad.”

* * *

“Ah. So you’re the Professor’s friend. I’ve heard about you.”

Lee Han bowed very politely upon hearing who the other person was.

It wasn’t because he was Professor Alpen’s friend, but because the other person was a high-ranking official of the Empire.

‘But why did he come so early?’

“You heard about me?”

“Yes. I was actually preparing this magic circle to show you, sir.”

“That’s just like Alpen. I feel bad for making you go through such trouble.”

Kendri felt apologetic as he swept back his wavy hair.

“You must have started preparing this right when the semester began.”

“It wasn’t quite that long.”

“How long did it take?”

Kendri asked without much thought.

Given the difficulty of the magic circle, how much had been completed so far, and the speed at which Lee Han had been working earlier, it was highly likely he had started preparing right when the semester began.

Lee Han hesitated for a moment.

‘Saying it took one day shouldn’t seem insincere.’

“I started today.”

“…”

Kendri was so shocked that he momentarily dropped the staff he was holding.

“Today?”

“Yes.”

“Are you perhaps from the Wardanaz Family?”

“That’s correct.”

Lee Han answered while inwardly feeling grateful to Professor Alpen.

It had been worth concentrating in lecture instead of dozing off.

To think he had mentioned Lee Han’s name to his friend like that.

Lee Han tried not to be too hasty or too hesitant. He made an effort to appear as humble as possible while seeming like a promising mage.

“I thought Alpen might have been exaggerating his praise too much… but there was good reason for it.”

To complete it to this degree in just one day.

Even if he had studied the magic circle beforehand, this was genius-level talent. All the more so since theory and practice are different things.

‘There was a reason Alpen said he was outstanding.’

“Well, the magic school exists to nurture students like this. Government positions in the Empire can be handled by mediocre people, but magical research is only possible for geniuses.”

“I believe that positions as Empire officials are just as important as research.”

“Really? That’s an odd thing to say for someone from the Wardanaz Family. Thank you. You’d fit well in a government position.”

Lee Han’s face brightened.

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course I’m joking. A genius like you should be doing research.”

“…I could do well in a government position too.”

“Of course you could. But it would be a waste of talent.”

“…I don’t really have much talent. I’m making this magic circle by continuously inputting mana until it works.”

“What?”

“I’m saying I keep putting mana in and checking until it works…”

Kendri immediately understood the meaning behind those words.

If he had perfectly understood the magic circle, there would be no need for such trial and error.

The fact that he was going through such trial and error meant he hadn’t been looking at the magic circle for very long.

And yet he had completed it to this extent.

Not only was he born with tremendous mana, but his intuition for magic circles was clearly naturally exceptional.

“Truly genius-like!”

“…”

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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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