Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 319
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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 319
Instead of responding, Lee Han strode forward and grabbed Gainando’s cloak, pulling it away.
Gainando, his hidden face now revealed, spoke with an embarrassed expression.
“I wasn’t looking to use it. I was just curious about how it works… That’s right! I need to know in advance so I won’t fall victim to it later!”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“…Why did you guys come! You’re also here looking for artifacts to win at card games!”
Lee Han and Yoner were momentarily speechless at Gainando’s absurd accusation.
Sometimes when you hear complete nonsense, you can’t react immediately.
“Right?! I got it right, didn’t I?”
“No.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“…No?”
Gainando was slightly deflated.
He had naturally assumed they came to buy card game-related artifacts…
“Gainando. If you want to win at card games, there’s another way.”
“Huh? Really?”
Gainando’s eyes sparkled at Lee Han’s words.
Whatever else might be said, Lee Han was the mage card game expert with the highest win rate in the Blue Dragon Tower.
“Change the composition of your deck a bit.”
“No way! They’re all cards I cherish!”
Even though his deck had no low-cost cards and only high-cost cards, causing him to get beaten to death every early game, Gainando tried to believe in his cards until the end.
“Well, there is another method.”
“What is it?”
“Don’t whine when you lose and boldly accept defeat.”
“…”
Gainando glared fiercely at Lee Han.
He didn’t mind being criticized for being bad at magic, but he couldn’t tolerate being criticized about card games.
“Lee Han. Look at this.”
Yoner, who had been looking around while ignoring their conversation, called Lee Han over.
“These glasses. Don’t they look useful?”
“Alchemist’s glasses. They certainly look good.”
Alchemist’s Glasses
Made by refining hoanstone from the West Ikansell Mine, these glasses have a perfectly balanced design adjusted by the Empire’s finest artifact craftsmen. Experience the effects of powerful component analysis magic that lasts for 5 years.
‘How much is it?’
Price – One hundred Empire gold coins
Lee Han momentarily lost his balance and staggered.
Seeing this, Yoner was startled. He wondered if his sister’s vicious mental attack was finally taking effect.
“Are you okay!? Don’t tell me it’s because of my sister?!”
“The, the price is… one hundred gold coins.”
“…You scared me.”
“Yoner. No matter how I think about it, isn’t this strange? How can this cost one hundred Empire gold coins?”
Lee Han couldn’t understand it.
Of course, the alchemist’s glasses were indeed useful items.
Even people who couldn’t use magic could easily analyze the components of various materials and reagents.
But from Lee Han’s perspective as a mage, it was an excessively expensive price. It wasn’t even a permanent artifact.
‘If I gather materials, cast magic, and do the work… the cost wouldn’t even reach one gold coin.’
Such an artifact was more expensive than all the wealth Lee Han had accumulated.
‘Or am I wrong? Maybe I’m thinking about this incorrectly.’
He had heard many times that artifacts were expensive, but if even artifacts like this were this costly…
Lee Han’s dream of striking it rich might not be just a dream.
“This is expensive because of the design and decorations rather than the magic, Lee Han.”
“Huh?”
“Look here.”
Yoner pointed below the glasses.
The names of the craftsmen who participated in making this artifact, their careers, and even the various gems used in the decorations were described in detail.
Lee Han looked at that description and checked the artifact again.
It certainly looked expensive enough even without the magic.
“Why would they do such a thing? They could just put magic on copper glasses and it would work the same.”
“Well… because the buyers want this kind of thing…”
“Tsk.”
Lee Han bit his lip.
He resented the Empire’s social climate that didn’t see the true value of magic and only focused on appearance and flashiness.
Then even if Lee Han worked hard to make them, he wouldn’t be able to sell them for such high prices.
“I understand. Stop being frustrated and let’s look at other things.”
“Argh! Why is this so expensive!?”
“?”
“?”
Yoner and Lee Han were slightly confused by Gainando’s outburst.
Gainando was never the type of friend to make such sounds normally.
He was a friend who had an inexhaustible allowance pouch…
“You never said things like that before. What’s wrong?”
“Ah. Well.”
Gainando spoke in a slightly dejected voice.
After the bloody battle with the basilisk at the manor…
“It wasn’t a bloody battle. It self-destructed.”
Lee Han pointed out coldly.
If people heard it that way, they might misunderstand.
“Isn’t that level a bloody battle…”
“No, it’s not.”
“Anyway, after that, I received a lot of praise from my mother. She praised my friends a lot too.”
“So?”
“I got excited and… I also told her about earning silver coins by working with my friends. Then she praised me even more…”
Lee Han felt slightly ominous.
“Don’t tell me it’s what I’m thinking?”
“…So I said I didn’t need allowance anymore, that I would solve it with my own abilities…”
Lee Han and Yoner simultaneously lamented.
What a foolish thing to do!
Of course, they understood getting excited from praise, but to kick away his own allowance pouch…
It was a very stupid thing to do.
To do such a thing because of pride alone…
“But I did well, right?”
Gainando looked at his friends as if trying hard to claim a moral victory.
His eyes seemed to say:
-Praise me!
However, Lee Han answered seriously.
“Gainando. Go back and quickly tell them that you thought it over wrong. That appropriate allowance seems necessary.”
“Right. You can’t handle it.”
“Why not!”
Gainando was upset by the cold responses from his two friends who he thought would cheer him on.
“Well… don’t you not really like working?”
“That’s not true? That’s not true?? I’m going to work a lot too?”
Lee Han and Yoner looked at each other.
-No matter how I think about it, he’ll regret it.
-Right. But it’s not our problem.
-…Aren’t we being too harsh to Gainando?
-He needs to get hit a bit to come to his senses.
“Lee Han. I want to work together too.”
“You’ll regret it.”
At Lee Han’s words, Gainando beat his chest.
“I’m also an Einroguard student. A proper mage.”
Seeing that, Yoner thought to himself.
‘You got by easily because you’re from Blue Dragon Tower…’
From what he heard about other tower students, every single day was truly a desperate struggle for survival.
It was because Lee Han was from the same tower that he took care of meals, otherwise Gainando would have come out half-dead.
“Alright. When I get work introductions, I’ll call you too.”
“Really? Thanks!”
“It would be better to give thanks after finishing all the work… Anyway. I need to sell this.”
Lee Han called the clerk. Then he took out the artifact he had brought.
The clerk immediately recognized the value of the artifact Lee Han had brought.
“A ring enchanted with 【Lightning Discharge】 magic!”
“That’s right.”
“It’s a well-made artifact. Do you happen to have a manual from the mage who created it?”
“Here.”
Lee Han handed over the manual he had received from the guild.
Seeing it, the clerk was flustered.
“…By any chance, is this a gift offered in gratitude from the Adventurer’s Guild?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Are you perhaps Lord Wardanaz who subjugated the evil being this time?”
“…”
Lee Han almost let out a deep sigh but held back.
No matter how he thought about it, there was definitely an information sharing board in Granden City.
“That’s right. Do I get a discount by any chance?”
“Your sense of humor is amazing too. My friend works at the Adventurer’s Guild, so I heard about it. I knew that Einroguard students were excellent mages, but it’s rare to see someone active like this from their 1st year.”
“I was lucky.”
It wasn’t a joke, but fortunately there was no information sharing board in Granden City.
“Anyway, there’s no problem… but I wonder if there was some issue with the gift offered by the Adventurer’s Guild…”
The clerk asked carefully.
If there was a problem with the gift offered by the Adventurer’s Guild, this wasn’t just one person’s problem.
It would become a problem for multiple people, from the artifact craftsman who made it to the Adventurer’s Guild representative who trusted that craftsman with the commission.
“There was no problem. It’s just an artifact I don’t need.”
“!”
The clerk was surprised by Lee Han’s words.
Not needing an artifact wasn’t simply a matter of knowing how to use that magic.
A mage casting magic required more concentration and time than one might think.
Not needing an artifact that supplemented such things meant that the casting speed of 【Lightning Discharge】 magic matched the artifact’s activation speed.
‘Indeed… worthy of someone who subdued Lord Doin of Baldrogard and defeated a basilisk.’
The clerk nodded while thinking thoughts that would make Lee Han grab the back of his neck if he heard them.
“The guild made a mistake.”
“No. What matters with gifts is the heart. Actually, I would have been satisfied even if they gave me gold coins.”
The clerk couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Then he recovered with an embarrassed expression.
“Your sense of humor really is amazing.”
“…”
“Anyway, please wait a moment. I’ll appraise it and come back. Is this the only artifact you’re leaving?”
“Ah. Please take care of this helmet too.”
The clerk nodded and headed to the back of the shop.
One hour later.
The clerk returned carrying both artifacts. Gainando quickly flipped over the card game he was about to lose.
“This ring enchanted with 【Lightning Discharge】 magic is worth about ten gold coins.”
Unlike some antique or miscellaneous goods shop in a remote village, there was no shabby negotiation in this noble-specialized artifact shop in the central district of a great city.
If you tried such things, you’d immediately hear nobles say ‘Are you disrespecting my honor right now?’
‘Not bad.’
Lee Han was very satisfied.
Ten gold coins.
To earn that much, he would have to work at the Meikin family workshop several times and take dozens of commissions.
It was a gift that showed the Adventurer’s Guild’s sincerity.
“Please exchange it right away.”
“Yes. And this helmet is…”
Lee Han tensed up slightly.
‘Shouldn’t it be quite expensive? It’s an ego artifact. Ego artifacts must be rare. But it has such a shabby appearance. Damn. Should I have decorated it with gems? No. Amateur handiwork would have only had the opposite effect.’
“…It’s a cursed artifact.”
“Excuse me?”
“A cursed artifact. To be precise, it’s an artifact with evil tendencies. It has a tendency to lead its owner to ruin… You’ve done well not to get hurt.”
The clerk looked at Lee Han with a gaze half filled with worry and half with respect.
The very fact that he remained fine while possessing such an artifact proved the strength of his mind.
Of course, Lee Han was utterly bewildered.
‘It was a cursed artifact?’
“Ah… no wonder Lee Han encountered so many strange guys.”
Gainando clapped his hands as if it all made sense now.
He had encountered an unusually large number of strong enemies, and it was all because of that helmet.
It has nothing to do with me! He didn’t even listen to what I said…!
The helmet tried to protest as if it felt wronged, but the clerk quickly covered it with a cloth of silence to block the helmet’s mouth.
There was nothing good about listening to an evil artifact’s words.
“I cannot purchase this. Lord Wardanaz would handle it well on his own, but please be careful since it’s an evil artifact.”
“Thank you.”
Lee Han glared at the helmet as he took it. The helmet shut its mouth and fell silent under that gaze.
* * *
After buying Gainando cotton candy and the three of them returning together to the Wardanaz family estate, a servant spoke to Lee Han.
“Young master. You have a visitor.”
“At this hour?”
A visitor coming when it was almost night.
Unless they were quite close or quite rude, it wasn’t a visit anyone would make.
‘It must be the former.’
“Is it Asan?”
“No.”
“Durgyu?”
“No. He didn’t seem to be a friend. And it was someone I was meeting for the first time.”
“What race was he, by any chance?”
“He was a vampire.”
“…”
Lee Han’s face turned as pale as a vampire’s.
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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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