Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 310
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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 310
While the two adventurers were confused, wondering ‘Isn’t Einroguard a magic school? What on earth did they teach those from knight families?’, Lee Han approached the fallen mercenaries.
Buldahak, who had regained consciousness, flinched when he saw Lee Han.
He realized who had caused the magical storm that had just occurred.
“You bastard…”
“Sharkan.”
Lee Han called Sharkan to have him watch over the mercenaries.
They were tied up securely, but he didn’t know what anyone might try to do.
However, Buldahak seemed to interpret Sharkan’s appearance in a slightly different way. He turned his gaze away with fear-filled eyes.
“Name.”
“Bul… Buldahak.”
“Murder, carriage raids, threats… anyway, you’re the one with a bounty on your head in the Empire, right?”
Buldahak nodded. Lee Han spoke to Gu Bon with delight.
“He says yes.”
“…Excuse me, but you seem happy about it…”
“We’ve got additional silver coins, haven’t we?”
“…”
Gu Bon and Bijidek were shocked by Lee Han’s way of thinking.
“That’s true… but…”
“Don’t worry. We’ll distribute it as originally contracted.”
“That’s not what we’re worried about. It’s strange that Buldahak is here.”
Gu Bon, like the experienced adventurer he was, noticed something odd.
Lee Han and the students had only chosen requests that were close to Granden City and not too dangerous.
Profitable requests that weren’t dangerous but required specialized abilities (like a mage’s magic).
These requests paid quite well, but they weren’t the type where a bounty-hunting mercenary like Buldahak would appear.
Why would someone who needed to aim for a big score appear here?
“Indeed.”
“We need to interrogate him.”
“Understood. But will he really tell us the truth?”
Lee Han asked as if worried.
“He seems quite frightened right now. He was greatly shocked by your magic, sir. If we interrogate him now, he might spill the truth.”
While Einroguard students might get hit by magic even in their sleep, to Empire people, magic was still an unknown terror.
Moreover, the method Lee Han used to subdue the enemies was extraordinary even by mages’ standards.
Catching the opponent off guard while gaining the advantage from behind with invisibility magic. Using darkness to rain down lightning magic causing chaos and confusion. For those trying to counterattack somehow, flanking attacks from undetectable positions.
Having been hit with such layered attacks, any one of which would be soul-crushing, it wouldn’t be strange if the enemy mercenaries’ souls were half gone.
Right now, those mercenaries were trembling, not knowing where this battle mage had come from.
“Buldahak. State your reason for coming here.”
“…Because of the treasure in the cave.”
Buldahak spoke through gritted teeth.
As a seasoned mercenary, he knew well that lying in front of a mage of that caliber was meaningless.
The moment he showed pointless stubbornness or pride, his skin would be torn, bones broken, and even his soul ripped apart.
“Hmm. I see.”
Lee Han nodded and pretended to listen.
Then he whispered to Gu Bon.
“This bastard is quite cunning. He even prepared lies in case he got caught.”
“What?”
Gu Bon and Bijidek, who had been wondering what treasure in the cave meant, were flustered.
“That’s a lie?”
“Of course it is. There’s no way a guy with such a bounty on his head would obediently answer after just one question.”
“Maybe… he’s scared of you, sir…”
Bijidek said carefully.
Given what had just happened, and with an emerald-colored beast summoned creature growling nearby.
Even a mercenary with several times more bounty than Buldahak would probably give up and tell the truth.
“Magic isn’t that omnipotent. Please help us both.”
“How do you mean?”
“Please interrogate him with adventurer techniques.”
“Ooh…”
The White Tiger Tower students looked at Gu Bon and Bijidek with expectant expressions.
Though they had been trained as knights, this was their first time seeing adventurers conduct an interrogation.
What method would they use for interrogation?
“…”
“…”
Gu Bon and Bijidek looked at each other. Cold sweat slightly formed on their backs.
‘We have to do our best. Got it?’
‘Of course.’
* * *
“Kraaaaaaack! Your father consorted with demons and your mother committed adultery with monsters, you bastard… Kraaack! Kraaack!”
“Why don’t you tell us the truth!”
“You can’t fool the eyes of the mages here!”
Gu Bon and Bijidek interrogated Buldahak using all their veteran adventurer experience.
Under the painful torture, Buldahak writhed his entire body.
“I told you! I said it! Ask the other bastards too!!!”
“Shut up! Tell us the truth quickly!”
Crack, creak!
Lee Han and the White Tiger Tower students watched the interrogation with serious expressions.
Angrago whispered.
“So they put a stick between his legs and twist it like that. That must be quite painful.”
Raphadael replied.
“I have to admit it’s a good method. As the seniors said, there’s much to learn from adventurers.”
When Buldahak fainted, Gu Bon and Bijidek wiped the sweat from their foreheads and caught their breath.
Lee Han summoned cold water and handed it to them in pewter cups.
“Take it easy.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Encouraged by Lee Han’s support, the two adventurers turned their attention to Buldahak’s subordinates.
The subordinates trembled pitifully.
And thirty minutes later.
The two adventurers spoke very apologetically.
“We’re sorry. With our skills, we can’t go any further…”
“Sir mage. I’m sorry to dare ask for magic, but might you have a way to find out the truth from him?”
“Hmm. Unfortunately, I don’t know such magic either. Though I did try to read his emotions…”
“I see. …What?”
The two adventurers paused.
If he could read emotions, couldn’t he also determine whether it was truth or lies?
“Was he lying the whole time?”
“No. His emotions were close to truthful.”
“…Uh… Sir mage. I don’t know much about magic, but then didn’t Buldahak tell the truth?”
Lee Han laughed and shook his head as if asking what they were talking about.
“You can control your emotions while lying, can’t you?”
“…”
“…Mage sir. Buldahak isn’t that level, absolutely not…”
Even though the two adventurers knew little about magic, they were certain about this.
If Buldahak were a mercenary of that caliber, the Emperor’s royal knights would have come to capture him, not bounty hunters!
* * *
“You bastards, you’ll be cursed forever.”
Buldahak, filled with rage, shouted while tears streamed down his face.
He seemed truly wronged that he was still being interrogated even after telling the truth because he hated the pain.
“Ah. I said I was sorry. Just shut up for a bit.”
“…”
Buldahak immediately closed his mouth.
Lee Han had just said it casually, but to Buldahak it sounded like ‘if you keep babbling, I’ll rip out your tongue.’
“So there’s treasure inside that cave…”
The original request was to subjugate ghouls coming from caves near Bulparn Hill.
These ghouls were threatening innocent travelers by coming down not only from the caves but also to nearby roads.
It wasn’t just about defeating the ghouls, but also identifying and dealing with the cause of their appearance, making it a troublesome request for adventurers without knowledge or skills…
…which made it a good request for Einroguard students who included mages.
But Buldahak’s story was a bit different.
According to testimonies from the thieves’ guild and several people who had entered and exited the cave, there were definitely undiscovered ancient artifacts inside the cave.
“What are you waiting for, Wardanaz? Let’s go in!”
The White Tiger Tower friends were extremely excited. Even the calm Durgyu’s eyes were gleaming.
There were few professions as obsessed with ancient ruins, ancient dungeons, and ancient artifacts as mages.
Lost magic and knowledge from the past were worth more than gold.
However, Lee Han was skeptical.
“Isn’t this guy just stupid?”
Looking at the testimonies, they were about this level:
-I got lost inside the cave but there was this black light constantly coming from one side! It’s definitely the light of an artifact!
-It was absolutely light that couldn’t occur naturally.
-When I tried to approach the area, the ghouls suddenly became ferocious and attacked, which proves it must be an artifact!
Lee Han sighed and looked at his friends.
“This is why you guys always fall for the Principal’s traps. Being swayed by such flimsy rumors.”
“Ugh…”
“We, we don’t need to talk about that right now.”
‘Principal?’
‘Traps?’
The two adventurers wondered inwardly.
Gu Bon cautiously expressed his opinion.
“But Mage sir. Among adventurers, that level of testimony is quite valuable.”
Usually, many people would go searching based on much vaguer and more ridiculous rumors than that.
With rumors of that level, even Gu Bon would have gathered people out of curiosity to attempt it.
The fact that a mercenary of Buldahak’s caliber had prepared to this extent and come here proved the value of those rumors.
“This isn’t even the Empire’s outskirts, so I don’t think there would be any useful artifacts left…”
“No. Dungeons and artifacts appear near cities more often than you’d think.”
Due to various natural phenomena, or because dungeons and ruins themselves possessed magic that changed the surrounding environment, they emerged more frequently than expected.
In such cases, the adventurers who discovered them could strike it rich.
“Fine. We had to subjugate the ghouls anyway.”
“So we’re going in?!”
Angrago shouted with great excitement.
“No. The sun isn’t fully up yet.”
Though it was dawn, it was still too early to enter now.
“…Ri, right.”
Even in this situation, Angrago was at a loss for words at Lee Han’s composed demeanor.
‘Doesn’t this guy get excited about anything?’
“There’s something to do in the meantime.”
“What is it, Wardanaz?”
Raphadael listened intently.
If nothing else, Wardanaz didn’t talk nonsense when it came to magic.
He must be about to discuss what was needed before facing the ghouls.
“Since we’re up, let’s do some gathering requests too. Raphadael. You get seolrak grass. Angrago. You get geranium flowers. Durgyu. You get sleep mugwort. I need to track traces of Rapela field mice.”
“…”
“…”
After Lee Han and his resigned friends left, Buldahak looked at Gu Bon and asked.
“What the hell are those crazy mages?”
* * *
Thanks to Lee Han’s help, his friends were able to easily complete the gathering requests.
-Is that seolrak grass? What are your eyes even for? Can you at least tell the difference between a skeleton and a ghoul?
-Is that how you gather flowers? Do flowers look like monsters to you? Don’t tell me you’re planning to go back and say you caught monsters by picking them like that?
“Everyone worked hard.”
“…”
After finishing the gathering, the day had become completely bright.
It was finally time to enter the cave.
“But Mage sir.”
Bijidek whispered so the mercenaries couldn’t hear.
“What will you do with those guys? If we leave them here, they might escape or stab us in the back.”
The best option would be to drag them to a nearby city, but everyone except Lee Han was blinded by thoughts of treasure.
“We’ll take them with us.”
“Pardon?”
Bijidek hesitated.
Take them along?
It couldn’t mean cooperating like raiding with another party…
“They might escape or cause trouble inside. It won’t be easy to control them.”
“I’ve thought of that too.”
Lee Han said this and took out bone fragments.
Raphadael had a sinking feeling at the sight.
“Bone, bind the enemy. Bone, bind the enemy. Bone, bind the enemy…”
Clank, clank, clank, clank!
Bone restraints were fastened around the mercenaries’ ankles and wrists.
That wasn’t the end of it.
Bone hands were summoned around the mercenaries’ necks and firmly attached. Lee Han could strangle them with just a gesture.
“Good. This should be enough.”
“You’re… really… an unbelievable guy…”
Raphadael spoke in a disgusted voice.
A powerful dark mage straight out of a fairy tale was right before his eyes.
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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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