Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 298
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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 298
“What’s wrong? Yoner?”
“Ah… it’s nothing. Sister. Well. We’re about to head out now…”
Yoner mumbled and trailed off. Then Yoanen’s eyes sparkled through her amethyst glasses.
“Going out?”
“Yeah.”
“Where to?”
“To see friends.”
“When will you be back?”
“Well… I wonder…?”
“What about this friend from the Wardanaz Family here?”
“L-Lee Han is busy… why?”
“He seemed interested in alchemy.”
“N-no, he’s not that interested.”
“Wasn’t he the top student in alchemy?”
“…”
Yoner glared at Lee Han and Ratford.
Did they tell her that again in such a short time!
‘I’m sorry.’
Ratford hung his head low.
He just wanted to show Yoner’s sister that Lee Han was an amazing person…
“Yoner… you don’t think I’d treat your friend like the other alchemists in the workshop, do you? That’s not it, right?”
“N-no.”
“Right? There’s no way I would do that.”
Lee Han wanted to ask ‘How do you treat the other alchemists in the workshop?’ but couldn’t bring himself to ask.
“If he’s a magic school student, he’d probably study during vacation too… isn’t my workshop a suitable place to learn alchemy?”
“N-no. Sister’s workshop is the best in Granden City…”
“Thank you for saying that.”
“But Lee Han is really busy…”
When Yoner held firm, Yoanen turned her arrow toward Lee Han.
“Won’t you visit the workshop once?”
“Thank you.”
“When will you visit?”
‘She really is just like Professor Verdus!’
Lee Han had to acknowledge her skill in immediately trying to nail down specific schedules.
Yoanen seemed to notice Lee Han’s wariness and switched to offering a carrot.
“I don’t know what Yoner told you, but that was a bit exaggerated. Sometimes I get busy with work, and Yoner just happened to visit the workshop during one of those times.”
“I-I see.”
Anyone else would have been fooled by Yoanen’s benevolent expression, but not Lee Han.
Demons always smile benevolently, after all.
“My workshop isn’t a bad place to study alchemy during vacation. You can use quality materials without restraint, and the workers receive generous daily wages. Outstanding alchemists from the city visit frequently, so it would be good for building connections too.”
‘Almost there. Lee Han. If you refuse just a little more, sister will also…’
Despite Yoner’s desperate hopes, Lee Han immediately responded.
“Do the alchemists also receive salaries?”
“Of course. Ah. Are you interested in salary? Since you’re an Einroguard student and my brother’s friend…”
Yoanen discreetly held up 3 fingers. Lee Han’s heart raced at the fingers wrapped in white gloves.
Three times the amount.
“Lee Han…!”
Yoner whispered as if feeling sorry, but Yoanen smiled as if she understood what Lee Han wanted and held up one more finger.
“…I was actually hoping to learn alchemy during vacation anyway.”
Yoanen gracefully took Lee Han’s hand and shook it.
“Welcome. Come anytime. Oh. Can I talk with my brother privately for a moment?”
After Lee Han and his friends left first, Yoanen turned her gaze to Yoner.
Yoner said with a gloomy face.
“If I lose a friend, it’s sister’s responsibility…”
“I really won’t make him collapse. I promise. More than that, he’s quite an unusual person, isn’t he?”
“Ah. Yeah. He’s an unusual person.”
“I thought he’d refuse, but he accepted because of the salary. Surely it’s not because he likes gold coins despite being from the Wardanaz Family. Could he have debts or something?”
“No. He just likes gold coins.”
* * *
“I’m a bit worried about visiting Gainando.”
Lee Han was of a status where he could just visit most great noble families, but the Imperial Family was a slightly different story.
Basically, getting involved would be good for neither side.
The Empire’s nobles were divided into three factions.
The loyalist faction that supported outstanding members of the Imperial Family.
The noble faction that mocked and opposed them, saying what’s so great about over a hundred Imperial Family members.
And the neutral faction that belonged to neither of those two groups.
The Wardanaz Family belonged to the representative neutral faction. In fact, the Wardanaz Family could be called the reclusive faction or loner faction, beyond just being neutral.
But if Lee Han officially visited an Imperial Family manor, it would be perfect for spreading false rumors like 【Lee Han of Wardanaz Family supports Imperial Family member A?】.
“It’s fine. If we all go together like this, it becomes a group visit by school friends.”
Yoner understood Lee Han’s concern.
At times like this, proper justification was important.
“Actually, going with you guys solves that problem, so I wasn’t too worried about it. What I’m more concerned about are the people who’ll be at Gainando’s mansion.”
After visiting the Dalcard Family and Meikin Family, he could tell.
The differences between noble family manors were more severe than expected.
Now, even if something strange happened at Gainando’s mansion, it probably wouldn’t be too surprising.
“What’s the atmosphere like at Gainando’s mansion?”
“Gainando’s mansion? It’s ordinary. There are no tests like at our family. The number of guests is also on the smaller side.”
The guests who visited Gainando’s mansion came more because of Gainando’s mother rather than to see Gainando, who was Imperial Family.
First of all, Gainando’s mother’s family, the Kraha Family, was an enormously wealthy family even within the Empire.
With that much wealth, abilities that didn’t exist before would naturally emerge. Of course, guests would be desperate to visit.
However, the guests at Gainando’s mansion weren’t that numerous.
“Gainando’s mother doesn’t particularly enjoy receiving guests.”
“Why is that? Having many guests visit would be good for promoting Gainando’s reputation… Hmm. Never mind.”
While frequently receiving guests should spread word about the family and raise their reputation, sometimes the opposite could happen.
The more frequently they received guests, the more only bad rumors might spread.
Lee Han changed the subject.
“What kind of person is Gainando’s mother?”
If she was another kind Professor Verdus-like person, he might postpone the visit a bit.
“She’s a kind and gentle person. And…”
“And?”
“She’s an incredibly beautiful person.”
“I-I see.”
Lee Han was flustered by the unexpected comment.
“When you first meet her, you probably won’t be able to look directly at her face.”
“Why not?”
“She’s so beautiful that a halo emanates from behind her. To the point where you can’t look at her.”
“…Isn’t that just mixed bloodline from spirits or angels?”
“Right. I heard there’s some light spirit blood mixed in.”
Lee Han wanted to ask ‘How can you tell if someone is beautiful or not when you can’t even see their face because of the light?’ but Yoner seemed to respect them so much that he didn’t ask further.
What did it matter anyway.
“By the way. Does he really give you pocket money if you get close to Gainando?”
“Yeah.”
“Objectively speaking, I’m the closest friend, right? What does everyone think?”
Ratford and Nilia looked at Lee Han as if he was ridiculous.
* * *
“Please wait thirty minutes.”
“Ah. Are there guests here first?”
“Well… I’m sorry. Please wait thirty minutes.”
“??”
Lee Han and his friends tilted their heads in front of the splendid and luxurious main gate of Gainando’s mansion.
They could wait a moment if guests had arrived first, but waiting outside the main gate was not common.
Unless there was something inside the mansion that shouldn’t be shown…
“What’s this?”
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-
Bang! Bu-bu-bu-bu-bang!
Along with the sound of a massive brass instrument chorus, magic fireworks decorated the sky.
Passersby threw surprised glances, wondering if some festival was being held.
“What the…”
“What is this…”
“Welcome to the mansion!”
“Welcome to the mansion…”
“Welcome…”
“Welcome…”
“Welcome…!”
The sound of chorus coming from inside.
Lee Han suddenly wanted to go back to the mansion.
“What is all this commotion?”
“It seems the Prince at the Kraha family mansion is welcoming guests.”
“My goodness. Is there really a need to make such a fuss?”
“They must be friends who haven’t met for a long time.”
The faces of Lee Han and his friends turned red at the sound of people chattering with interest.
“…Cloak, swallow me up.”
“Let, let’s go in together! Me too!”
The four used the magic they learned at Einroguard effectively and went inside.
Gainando, who was on top of the giant marble stairs, waved his hand as soon as he saw the four.
“Over here! Over here!”
“Stop the song quickly!”
“Huh? Why? We’ve only played the first movement.”
“It’s noisy, just stop the song!”
“Please stop it quickly!”
When his friends got angry, Gainando was dumbfounded and gestured.
Then the musicians who were waiting on the mansion grounds took their hands off their instruments.
“Why? Was the song not good?”
“It’s not a problem with the song. Let’s go inside quickly.”
Lee Han and his friends dragged Gainando inside the mansion.
Gainando grumbled as he was dragged along.
“We could have gone in after listening to the whole performance.”
“I’ll listen later.”
“Really?”
“…Someday. More importantly, Gainando. You’ve been well, right? Nothing happened?”
Lee Han changed the subject. Gainando thought for a moment and then said.
“Something did happen.”
“!”
Lee Han was surprised.
Could it be that just like Asan was bullied by the talented brothers of the Dalcard family, Gainando was also oppressed by talented Imperial Family members?
“Did someone pick a fight with you?”
“No. I lost even though I added new mage cards yesterday.”
“…”
“…”
Yoner instantly raised his hand to hit the back of Gainando’s head.
If Nilia hadn’t hurriedly grabbed his wrist, there would have been a ‘smack’ sound.
Lee Han nodded as if he understood and asked again.
“Nothing else besides the mage cards? No one came to pick fights or anything, right?”
“Huh? No one came.”
“…”
When he said no one came, that felt somewhat sad in its own way.
Lee Han exchanged pitying glances with his friends.
“It’s fine since we came like this.”
“That’s why I prepared the performance, but you guys cut it off in the middle.”
Gainando grumbled again.
When Yoner raised his other hand that wasn’t being held, Nilia hurriedly grabbed that hand too.
“More importantly, Lee Han. Let’s go out and have fun during vacation.”
“What are you thinking of doing for fun?”
“Going around shops to buy some new cards, looking at toys, buying magazines that piled up while attending school…”
Lee Han shook his head.
To think he was living such an extremely consumption-oriented lifestyle.
It was a lifestyle that could easily lead to becoming a beggar.
“Gainando. That’s good too, but there’s something more fun.”
“What? Really?”
“You’ll find out if you follow me. Let’s go together later.”
Nothing was more enjoyable than silver coins earned through sweat. Lee Han decided to let Gainando know that joy.
Yoner whispered.
“I don’t think Gainando’s personality would like doing that kind of thing.”
“It’s fine. I just need to tell him when he can’t escape.”
“…”
“Oh right. I need to pay back the money I borrowed.”
Gainando called a servant. Lee Han was surprised by the unexpected behavior.
“I didn’t expect you to remember first.”
“Mom said you’re trash if you don’t pay back money.”
“I, I see.”
Gainando’s room was spacious enough to fit several carriages. Each of them scattered appropriately and grabbed something that looked interesting to play with.
Lee Han, who was interestingly reading a magazine serial novel (a dog beastman detective named Toberiz was finding the culprit using divination magic), noticed that it was noisy outside.
“Do you have any appointments today?”
“Huh? Uh… Ah. Right. Other Imperial Family members said they were visiting.”
“…”
“…If that’s not a big deal, then what is a big deal?”
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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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