Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 303

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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 303

Salko was very friendly.

This was the complete opposite of his usual behavior at school, where he would frown and refuse to even acknowledge Blue Dragon Tower students.

“Are you trying not to borrow money from your family?”

“Something like that.”

“Wardanaz. You are a true noble.”

Salko meant it as a compliment, but Lee Han didn’t really hear it as one.

‘If I could borrow money from my family, I wouldn’t be doing this, you bastard.’

From Lee Han’s perspective, trying to gather funds separately to make a profit, his family name wasn’t much help.

If it wasn’t for something necessary for learning, support wouldn’t come, and even if he asked them to find him some profitable work, he’d get reactions like ‘Huh? Why would you do such work?’…

“But Salko. Don’t you work at the guild? Shailes seemed busy.”

“Unlike the transport guild, our stonemason guild has off-seasons.”

“I see. So you’re using your time to find other work.”

“That’s right.”

Lee Han and Salko exchanged glances.

It was a sense of kinship that only people obsessed with work could feel.

“Come on. Wardanaz. I’ll explain how to do it.”

As Salko said that and turned around, the Salko Gang members interrupted.

“Wait. Tutanta.”

“What is it?”

“I need to pay back some silver coins to Wardanaz.”

“M-me too.”

“Me too…”

“…”

Salko looked at his friends as if dumbfounded.

Just how much had these bastards been begging from Wardanaz without him knowing…

* * *

Sit in a chair, open a box, and when reagents come out from inside the box, detect the amount of mana in those reagents.

If the amount of mana differs from the original reagent, or if the quality of mana is different, or if there are any other problems, exclude that reagent.

It certainly wasn’t difficult work.

It was just tedious work that required persistence and patience.

“This could be pretty good training. Don’t you think? Gainando? It’s also good for developing the ability to distinguish materials.”

“…”

Gainando thought his friend had gone crazy.

So instead of answering, when Salko asked for help and Lee Han briefly left his seat, he desperately whispered to the other friends.

“He’s crazy! Lee Han must have gone crazy! He’s enjoying this!”

“Huh? Isn’t it pretty decent?”

Yoner said while tossing reagents into boxes.

From Yoner’s perspective, wanting to run several businesses on his own later, there was nothing wrong with accumulating silver coins this way.

“…What about you guys?!”

“What? If we can work this easily and get paid that much, we should be grateful.”

Nilia was exasperated by Gainando’s question.

When she was in the Northern Mountains, even after chasing beasts for three straight days to catch them, she only got a few imperial copper coins after splitting with the hunters, but here in the storage, she could get silver coins just by sitting and sorting reagents for a few hours.

The conditions were so good that she thought ‘This is why you should become a mage.’

“That’s right. It’s almost disappointing that we won’t be able to earn more silver coins once we finish organizing here.”

“Right. I’m really disappointed about that too.”

Nilia and Ratford kept nodding their heads.

To think that this kind of work would be over after doing it just once.

“But it can’t be helped, right? There’s no way such good work would continue forever.”

“That’s right. They’re probably paying us this well because it’s urgent work.”

“Cra… Everyone’s crazy… Dalcard! Dalcard!”

Gainando called for Asan, his last remaining friend.

However, Asan answered with a serious expression.

“This is a good opportunity.”

“…Are you crazy?! What’s wrong with you! Snap out of it! Why are you acting like this too!!”

Gainando didn’t know, but Asan had already been persuaded.

-Asan. Think about it. If you accumulate silver coins with your own strength? How would your older brother and sister think?

-In, indeed… If I give them gifts with silver coins I earned with my own strength, no matter how much they’re my older brother and sister, they’d have no choice but to acknowledge me.

-…I wasn’t telling you to give gifts, but anyway, that’s the point.

“Gainando. How long will you depend on your family’s power?”

“What are you saying! My family’s power is my power!”

While Gainando was jumping around, Lee Han returned to his seat.

Lee Han looked at Gainando and asked with a puzzled expression.

“What are you doing?”

“Just… just exercising for a moment.”

“I see. Let’s sit back down.”

“Yeah…”

Gainando’s resistance ended futilely. Gainando sat back down and started organizing again.

‘Sob sob. I want to go home.’

* * *

When they came out of the storage, the sun had already set and the evening glow was arriving.

At the city path in front of the storage, magic lamps began lighting up one by one. Night watchmen could also be seen coming out dressed in their gear.

“You really worked hard. Mages.”

The trading company staff members bowed their heads, expressing heartfelt gratitude.

When students who looked like they were from noble families came, they worried ‘Will this be okay? Won’t they cause a fuss saying they don’t want to do such tedious work?’ but the students finished the work surprisingly quickly and accurately.

If they could, they would want to call them again when work came up next time.

‘But that would be rude.’

If they said to noble family children ‘Can we call you next time when work comes up?’ they might get the answer ‘Oh sure, come find me at the manor, though you won’t return with your limbs intact.’

“Excuse me…”

“?”

“If you have work like this again next time, please contact us.”

Lee Han whispered while stuffing a precious silver coin into the trading company staff member’s hand.

The trading company staff member was shocked by the networking skills more skillful than a worker with over ten years of experience.

‘Just who is this person…!?’

Lee Han winked and turned around.

‘Seems like it went well.’

Work in this era ultimately depended on connections.

If you received high evaluation from a place you worked once, you could get work again when more jobs came up, or work might come from other related places.

“Everyone worked hard. Gainando. Should we go buy toys?”

Lee Han looked at Gainando and asked.

While everyone else was stretching, he was concerned about Gainando staring intently at his silver coin pouch alone.

Surely he wasn’t going to go back to the manor and tell his mother ‘Sob sob, Lee Han made me break an honest sweat’?

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

Gainando shouted loudly. Since Gainando wasn’t usually like this, Lee Han was also slightly flustered.

“No. You said you wanted to buy toys. Are cards good?”

Gainando blinked his eyes and clutched the silver coin pouch deep against his chest.

He looked ready to swing his staff immediately if anyone dared touch the pouch.

“Do you know how hard I worked to earn these silver coins… I absolutely can’t spend them like that! I’m going to put them in the deepest vault in my room!”

“…A-alright then.”

Lee Han was flustered by Gainando’s reaction but nodded his head.

At least it was a good thing!

Asan tried to put his hand on Gainando’s shoulder to praise him. Then Gainando growled and tried to bite him.

Smack!

“Hey, you crazy bastard!! What are you doing!”

“I told you not to come near! I’ll bite anyone who gets close to my silver coins!”

“…”

Lee Han exchanged glances with Yoner.

“Did we bring him for nothing?”

“N-no… he’s still much better than before…”

* * *

‘I think I’ve done my best.’

Wardanaz Family Estate.

Lee Han organized his notes on paper and fell into thought.

He had asked his Black Turtle Tower friends ‘I owe you guys, so let’s work together if any decent jobs come up,’ and asked everyone he met ‘let’s work together if any jobs come up’…

This should bring in all the jobs he could possibly find.

“Lord Lee Han. Have you returned?”

Alarlong knocked on the study door. Lee Han signaled for him to come in.

“If it’s alright with you, I was wondering if you’d like to spar after such a long time.”

“Good. Thank you, Sir.”

“You’ve been going out frequently lately, do you really not need any help? Please just call on me for anything.”

“Hmm.”

Lee Han paused for a moment.

Then he asked.

“Do you happen to know of any short-term jobs where I could earn a lot of silver coins as a magic school student and mage?”

“Pardon?”

Alarlong was taken aback.

Then he asked again.

“I’m sorry, but… why do you need such a thing? If there’s anything you need for magic, I can provide any amount of support…”

Lee Han nodded as if he had expected this.

“Let’s go clash swords.”

“???”

Alarlong still looked confused as if he didn’t understand, and followed behind Lee Han.

The training grounds of the estate.

Alarlong drew his sword.

Though Alarlong usually had the face of a kind old knight, the moment he drew his sword, a massive rock revealed its form.

Lee Han also drew his sword.

There was no possibility of winning in a sword fight against Alarlong, a knight with the title of Master given only to the Empire’s finest swordsmen, but…

‘Let me make the most of what I’ve learned.’

The swordsmanship Lee Han had learned at Einroguard was largely two things.

One was the technique of infusing mana into the sword.

…Actually, to be precise, that technique was a great art of achieving unity between sword and body by completing the circulation of mana within the sword without wavering even in breathless fierce battles, and Lee Han was closer to just crudely releasing and wasting mana…

But anyway, he was infusing it correctly.

And the other was the mystery of absorption.

By converting the nature of mana infused into the sword, swordsmanship could become as varied as magic.

“Then I’ll begin.”

And one hour later.

Thud-

Lee Han sprawled on the training ground floor, having dropped his wooden sword. His mana was still overflowing, but his entire body’s stamina had hit rock bottom.

Alarlong wiped his sweat and expressed admiration.

“Excellent.”

“It doesn’t… seem like it.”

Lee Han spoke while enduring the aching throughout his body. However, Alarlong was serious.

“I didn’t know you could infuse mana to that extent in such a short time. Normally, an ordinary swordsman would need to train for decades to reach that level. Perhaps because you’re so talented in magic, you’re also excellent at mana manipulation. However, there’s something I’m curious about…”

“What is it?”

“When you manipulate mana, do you use some special method? The power…”

Alarlong asked while stretching his aching palm.

If he hadn’t protected himself by wrapping it in mana, it would have been bloody – the sword wielded by the young master before him was that powerful.

While gaining enlightenment on one’s own was good, if that enlightenment was a method that harmed the body, he had to stop it as a sword master.

“Ah. That… well…”

Lee Han spoke hesitantly.

Trying his best not to sound like a madman.

“…”

After hearing the whole story, Alarlong’s expression was colored with bewilderment.

“So… instead of infusing mana into the sword and maintaining it through circulation… you just release it?”

“Well, it’s not that I always do that, just when necessary.”

“…”

Alarlong wondered whether he should stop this or not.

Any other swordsman would swing once or twice and cough up blood from mana exhaustion, but Lee Han said he was fine because he had plenty of mana…

“In all my encounters with countless swordsmen of the Empire, experiencing all sorts of secret techniques and unusual methods, there has never been a swordsman who used the method you just described.”

“Is it that unusual?”

Lee Han felt slightly deflated.

He thought there would be at least one or two others…

“For now it’s fine, but please be careful. No wonder the sword keeps… Right. There’s one more thing I’d like to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“Earlier you definitely changed the nature of your mana… wasn’t that absorption swordsmanship? Where did you learn absorption swordsmanship?”

“Ah. I once fought against an Enge Clan swordsman.”

Alarlong was shocked.

“An Enge Clan swordsman taught you the family’s sword technique? Why on earth?”

“No. He didn’t teach me. After we clashed swords and some time passed, I became able to change the nature. So I’ve been trying to use it since then.”

“…”

Alarlong nearly collapsed.

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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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