Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 148

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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 148

“That’s true.”

“?!”

Yoner was flustered by Lee Han’s reaction.

It was the first time in his life he had heard that undead needed to rest.

Could there have been such changes in the Dark Magic Circle without Yoner knowing?

“If we’re to stand guard, how would we do it?”

Hmm… I’ll have to select a few from each tower and have them patrol at night.

‘No matter how I think about it, it’s not a very useful method.’

Lee Han didn’t think a few new students wandering around at night would be able to find and capture intruders.

Rather, they seemed more likely to get captured themselves.

“Isn’t it a bit dangerous?”

There’s nothing to worry about. Even if something happens, the summoned creatures can handle everything.

‘But you just said undead need to rest…’

The Skeleton Principal had just contradicted what he said moments ago, but Lee Han answered without wavering.

“I see.”

‘The Skeleton Principal might be more dangerous.’

He was already the person who had been making magic fireworks to shoot at, no, use on students.

His attempt to somehow force new students into night walks felt very suspicious.

“We should be careful.”

“Huh?”

When Lee Han muttered after the Skeleton Principal left, Yoner looked at him questioningly.

Of course they should be careful since they’re watching for intruders.

“Right? We don’t know what kind of people might be among the intruders…”

“No. We should be careful of the Principal.”

“…”

* * *

Nilia walked with her bow firmly gripped. Her steps were quite light.

Surprisingly, students from other towers readily accepted the Skeleton Principal’s order to patrol at night.

While students like Lee Han had the mindset of ‘if I want to go out, anytime is the right time to go out’ regardless of permission, quite many students actually didn’t go out much after evening.

Rules were rules, so they felt reluctant.

But now that they were legally allowed to wander around, they couldn’t help but be excited.

In contrast, Ratford, who was following Nilia, had a serious expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“You shouldn’t underestimate thieves. They might be hiding anywhere, waiting for a chance to steal.”

Like a professional thief, Ratford reacted very sensitively to the Principal’s words that ‘thieves might enter the school during the spring festival.’

Thieves were the type to get their hands busy whenever they got the chance.

“It didn’t seem that serious though…?”

Nilia tilted her head in confusion.

If it were that serious, the Principal probably wouldn’t have asked the students to go on patrol.

“Maybe he just told us to walk around just in case? To enjoy the festival atmosphere too?”

“Indeed… that would be fortunate.”

Ratford nodded his head.

A festival wasn’t just about laughing, chattering, and enjoying events.

Preparing for the festival, going on patrol, and guarding against thieves were also ways to enjoy the festival.

It was the same when Ratford was in the city.

People enjoyed preparing for the festival more than the festival itself.

“Right? It probably won’t be very dangerous.”

“Yes. It brings back old memories.”

“Wow… you’ve prepared for festivals before?”

Nilia looked at Ratford with envy.

While she wasn’t ashamed of being born and raised in the mountain range, there were times when she envied those from the city.

This was exactly one of those times.

While students born and raised in the city enjoyed various festivals and urban entertainment, Nilia had been chasing prey up and down the mountain top with her bow!

“Yes.”

“Oh, how was it?”

“It was enjoyable. Thanks to checking for weaknesses during preparation, I was able to make a big profit.”

“…”

Nilia decided to pretend she hadn’t heard that.

“Over there. I see light over there. Let’s go check it out.”

“Yes.”

When Nilia saw light in the distance, she moved her steps to investigate.

‘Other tower students perhaps?’

Neither Nilia nor Ratford were particularly worried just because they saw light.

They weren’t that far from the tower, and people who openly displayed light like that usually weren’t intruders. What kind of intruder would act so boldly?

That must definitely be students from another tower…

-■■■■■!

“Th… That’s a griffin!!! Ratford! Fall back!”

“!!!”

Nilia immediately nocked an arrow to her bow and prepared to shoot.

A griffin!

She couldn’t believe it.

A monster that was hard to see even in the mountain range was here on the magic school grounds like this.

‘I heard all kinds of monsters appear, but this is too much!’

Nilia didn’t shoot rashly and observed the griffin. If she shot hastily out of fear, she would only provoke it.

If the creature had no intention of attacking them, it would be better to just let it pass…

“Nilia. It’s me! Calm down!”

“War… Wardanaz?”

Nilia was confused when she heard a familiar voice coming from the griffin.

“That’s right.”

“Did you transform into a griffin?!”

“…Look behind the griffin!”

Only then did the flustered Nilia realize that her two friends were behind the griffin.

They had been hidden by the griffin’s massive body.

“Ah…!”

‘Asking if I transformed into a griffin. What has she been thinking of me all this time?’

Lee Han thought to himself as he greeted Nilia. Ratford, who had collapsed from his legs giving out, also hurriedly got up.

“That… that thing?”

“Calm down. I can explain.”

“Did you transform a horse into a griffin?!”

At Ratford’s words, Nilia looked at Lee Han with amazement.

No way?!

Lee Han firmly shook his head.

“No.”

“It’s not? I naturally thought that was the case…”

* * *

After the Skeleton Principal left and Lee Han finished checking the surroundings, he brought out Ponrig.

Then he carefully fed him the potion together with Yoner.

-You said the curse couldn’t be completely lifted, right?

-Yeah. He said that if it returns to its original state again after time passes, it means the curse’s power is stronger than the potion’s power and complete removal is impossible.

-Why would such a strong curse be… No. There’s no point in asking.

Pop!

-…

Ponrig, who had returned from a horse to a griffin after the curse was lifted, glared at Lee Han and Yoner with resentful eyes.

It was a look that said ‘I told you so.’

Seeing this, Yoner whispered worriedly.

-They said griffins are very fierce and violent monsters. Won’t it attack us?

-But Yoner. I heard that once a griffin pledges loyalty, it remains loyal forever.

-But we kept doubting it.

-Hmm. That makes sense. Should we keep our distance?

-■■■■! ■■■■!!

The griffin roared violently as if protesting and struck the ground with its front paws.

-Ponrig. It’s a misunderstanding. I trust you.

-…

The griffin glared at Lee Han with eyes full of sorrow and resentment.

Lee Han had to diligently groom the griffin to soothe it.

Just as the griffin was beginning to ease its sorrow a little, his friends appeared.

“I see… So it wasn’t Wardanaz who transformed you, but a professor.”

“…I don’t even know where to begin pointing out the problems…”

Nilia trailed off as if dumbfounded.

Even Professor Lightningstep, who had seemed the most decent, was doing such things.

Who on earth could they trust?

Regardless of Nilia’s concerns, Lee Han spoke to the two Black Turtle Tower students.

“Both of you, don’t go near the Principal if he says he’s going to do something. Especially if he tries to set off magic fireworks, avoid him at all costs.”

“What? Got it.”

“Yes. I’ll avoid him.”

The two friends who had grown up in dangerous environments accepted warnings first and thought about them later.

The reasons could be asked about later.

“Are you two on patrol duty for Black Turtle Tower?”

“Yes. He said we just need to circle around the tower.”

“That’s fortunate.”

“?”

Nilia was surprised by Lee Han’s words.

“Did so many intruders get in that they’re really dangerous?”

“No. I caught one intruder earlier.”

“?!”

“The Principal is more dangerous than that.”

“?!!”

“What did you two do during the festival?”

Though she was more curious about the story of the Principal being dangerous, Nilia answered the question first.

“I helped with alchemy and participated in the archery competition…”

“I was asked questions about good places to hide treasure.”

‘Really, everyone except me is enjoying the festival.’

Lee Han felt sad but quickly pulled himself together.

Wasn’t it fortunate that at least his friends were enjoying themselves?

“You were asked about good places to hide treasure? Which order was doing that?”

Yoner asked curiously.

“The Principal asked me.”

“…What?”

“The Principal asked me about good places to hide treasure…”

“Didn’t he say anything else?”

“He said there would be a treasure hunt.”

“…”

Lee Han’s expression became serious.

Given the Skeleton Principal’s personality, there’s no way he’d enjoy an ordinary treasure hunt…

‘Just how many traps is he planning to set up?’

* * *

The next day.

Before the festival resumed, Lee Han went to find Professor Lightningstep early in the morning.

“Professor. The horse I’m riding seems to be a griffin.”

Professor Lightningstep nodded with a heavy expression.

“You figured it out faster than I expected.”

“…Why on earth would you do such a thing?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to learn how to handle a griffin disguised as a horse now, rather than learning how to deal with a real griffin when you encounter one later?”

“Oh…”

Lee Han, who was about to be convinced for a moment, came to his senses.

Come to think of it, there wasn’t necessarily a need to learn how to handle griffins.

‘He’s spouting nonsense with a solemn expression.’

Lee Han wasn’t fooled by such things.

“I see, that makes sense.”

“You don’t look particularly convinced though?”

“Not at all. I’m convinced. But Professor, I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“If I were to ride a griffin and take flight around the Main Building here, wouldn’t the magic interfere?”

Being as perceptive as he was, Lee Han had some idea.

What other reason would there be for having stables for flying animals in the high spires of the Magic School’s Main Building?

It was because there were designated paths in the sky above the Magic School.

If one tried to escape by flying up through other routes, all sorts of magic would come flying.

“That’s right.”

Professor Lightningstep could clearly see Lee Han’s true intentions.

To think he’d try to escape by riding it as soon as he found out it was a griffin.

A troublesome guy was indeed troublesome.

“At my current level, avoiding that would be difficult.”

“That’s right.”

Professor Lightningstep nodded.

With dozens of magic spells in place, it would be impossible for Lee Han to dispel them all.

Before that, alarms would sound and other professors would come flying.

“I’d probably have to find a place connected to the outside, like the Spire Stables.”

“…!”

Professor Lightningstep felt chills for the first time in a while.

‘How on earth?!’

Since it was one of the places where visitors from outside could enter, the Spire Stables had sky routes connected to it that weren’t interfered with by magic.

But even so, for a new student to figure that out already.

“That’s right. Surprising. To find out so quickly…”

“Then please tell me about another place, Professor.”

Lee Han demanded boldly.

Professor Lightningstep was dumbfounded.

“What?”

“Since the Spire Stables is a place I already know about, please tell me another path without interfering magic.”

“…”

Professor Lightningstep was left speechless.

What kind of guy is this?

But shamelessness was also one of a mage’s talents.

And what the boy before him had accomplished was certainly praiseworthy.

‘Well, he did figure out the griffin’s identity…’

Though Professor Lightningstep had done it himself, honestly he was still amazed at how the boy had noticed.

Before the professor could speak, Lee Han said again.

“If you don’t tell me, Professor, I’ll tell the guests from outside about the griffin incident.”

“…Take out some paper. I’ll tell you about one place.”

Professor Lightningstep had no choice but to admit that his disciple was really more formidable than he had thought.

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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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