Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 335

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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 335

Lee Han fell into thought.

In fact, it wasn’t like Lee Han would gain fame for his dancing at the Empire’s balls, and there was no need for him to master every single dance.

Since he only needed to dance once when others took their turns and then return to sit down, learning just the basics would be sufficient.

Skilled dancers knew all the subtle differences in waltzes that varied slightly by region throughout the Empire, but…

‘Is that even possible?’

Lee Han, who was inwardly amazed anew, felt slightly reflective.

Come to think of it, Lee Han, who attended all schools of magic, wasn’t one to talk.

‘The easiest way to learn this kind of thing is still…’

Rather than learning alone, it was more comfortable to learn together with a friend who was just as bad at dancing as Lee Han.

It would be good for asking favors and good for practicing too.

‘And I can prepare him in advance so he can’t make useless comments.’

“Gainando isn’t here?”

“Yes. I apologize.”

However, surprisingly, Gainando wasn’t at the manor.

“How…? No. That was an impertinent question. Well, Gainando can go out and have fun by himself too.”

The head butler who heard Lee Han’s words thought to himself ‘He might have other friends too,’ but didn’t voice it.

Because Gainando had indeed gone out to have fun alone.

“He got new mage cards made and seems to have gone out to test them.”

“As expected of the Wardanaz Family…”

“That’s completely unrelated to the family, just my speculation. Anyway, I understand.”

“Do we have a guest?”

“!”

From inside the manor, Gainando’s mother, whom he had met before, appeared.

The head butler bowed his head at the dazzling radiance of the spirit. Gainando’s mother recognized Lee Han’s face and was pleased.

“Gainando’s frien… frien… acquain… same tower… um… You’re Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family, right?”

“Yes. And since we’re friends, please speak comfortably.”

He could feel the other person thinking ‘Are they really friends? Are they still friends? I should be careful not to say they’re friends and then have him say they’re not, making it awkward for both of us.’

Gainando’s mother still spoke as if she found it hard to believe.

“I understand. What brings you here today?”

“There’s a big social gathering hosted by the city soon, and I came to practice together with Gainando.”

“…”

Gainando’s mother looked at him once again with amazed eyes.

It was a look that said ‘Why do you take care of him to such an extent?’

‘I should pretend not to notice.’

“That’s really… kind of you. If I had known in advance, I would have locked him up so he couldn’t go out.”

“It’s fine since I can wait until he returns.”

The head butler cautiously spoke up.

“If you need any help with practice, we’ll prepare anything.”

At that question, Gainando’s mother frowned.

A proud noble might have been offended by such a proposal itself.

For one noble family to offer help with etiquette to another could sound like looking down on and disrespecting the other party.

“How rude. There’s no way a young master of the Wardanaz Family couldn’t handle such a thing by himself.”

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

“…”

Lee Han felt awkward.

‘I was going to ask for help though.’

“He’s the type who can’t handle such things by himself, so it would be better if you helped him.”

“!!”

From inside the manor appeared a noble he had seen somewhere before.

A cold-looking handsome man wearing formal attire made of dark blue silk, holding a staff with the uniquely elegant movements that only nobles could display.

Wicked mischief flickered in his eyes.

“Skeleton P…! No, Principal!”

“I think you just tried to address me casually, but I’ll let it slide as a sign of familiarity.”

The Skeleton Principal said while lightly tapping the floor with his staff.

It might have been his imagination, but Lee Han thought the Skeleton Principal looked very tired.

‘That’s strange.’

The Skeleton Principal was one of the most powerful mages Lee Han knew.

A mage of that level wouldn’t get tired from casting a few spells.

“Did something happen by any chance?”

“…What’s the reason for the question?”

“You look a bit tired.”

“It must be your imagination.”

The Skeleton Principal glared at Lee Han while frowning deeply.

Thanks to that, his words just now had no persuasive power at all.

‘He says it’s my imagination.’

Lee Han wondered what he had done wrong.

“Did your work increase because of the King of Ghouls? But that’s not my fault, it’s because the Adventurer’s Guild didn’t investigate properly…”

“Wait. The King of Ghouls?”

The Skeleton Principal interrupted Lee Han’s words.

His sixth sense, developed through divination magic, was warning him of ominousness.

That there would be nothing good to hear!

‘I was tormented by the Emperor until dawn, and now…’

The Skeleton Principal had been at the Imperial Palace facing the Emperor one-on-one until dawn today after the vacation started.

It was called a one-on-one meeting, but it was closer to reproach and criticism.

-Gonadaltes… I respect your policies. But there are certainly parts that are too excessive. I heard that a mage who graduated from Einroguard recently caused another incident…

-Mages are basically crazy, so it’s not that Einroguard is particularly strange… The high proportion from Einroguard is because there are many capable mages at Einroguard, so incidents naturally increase accordingly…

-Enough with the excuses. I didn’t call you here to listen to that. I heard an outstanding student from the Wardanaz Family entered this time?

-Yes.

-Seeing how readily you agree, he must really be an outstanding student. Well, it is the Wardanaz Family after all.

-I will take responsibility and teach him well.

-Don’t try to change the subject. I heard that student is receiving harsh teaching that exceeds normal levels. Is it true that a new student is learning magic from all schools?

-…It’s not like there’s no precedent…

-That kid was a troll half-blood. Even then, there were many voices saying I should dismiss you. This time there’s no such talk because it’s the Wardanaz Family.

-Doesn’t that show how lacking the bureaucrats’ judgment is? I mean, would a troll half-blood endure well, or would a pure human endure well?

-If it’s someone from the Wardanaz Family, I have no choice but to expect a certain level of excellence… Stop beating around the bush. There’s only one thing I want to say. Teach that student well.

-Yes.

-Gonadaltes. When I say teach him well, I don’t just mean magic. I mean guide him well so he doesn’t go astray.

The Emperor’s words weren’t completely without merit.

Mages were fundamentally dangerous beings.

And outstanding mages were even more dangerous beings, and outstanding mages who had also gone astray were extremely dangerous beings.

Given the skill level of mages that Einroguard produced, it was natural for the Emperor to be so serious.

But the Skeleton Principal still felt wronged.

Why was it the Skeleton Principal’s fault when mages learned magic and caused incidents?

He wanted to argue for hours if he could, but the Skeleton Principal held back.

There was no point in speaking that way to an Emperor who was tired from managing the Empire’s affairs, as it would only be disadvantageous to himself.

And the Skeleton Principal had too many weaknesses that the Emperor could exploit.

-I will do my best.

-I’m telling you this in advance in case you try to play clever word games later… Examples of guiding him well mean things like this. If there’s a situation where he might fight a Rock Drake, help him avoid it, or if he’s already taking ten lectures, discourage him from taking an eleventh, or when intruders appear from outside, prevent new students from fighting, or when the Frost Giant King is summoned, likewise prevent new students from resolving it…

-…I swear that among all those incidents, there wasn’t a single one I deliberately pushed forward.

-Is that so.

-But Your Majesty won’t believe me, will you?

-That’s right. Don’t resent me too much, Gonadaltes… It’s all because you’ve deceived me far too many times.

-…

Since it was his own doing, the Skeleton Principal couldn’t say anything.

The karma of making excuses saying ‘I didn’t do it’ after causing trouble every time had come back like this.

But the incidents related to Lee Han really weren’t things the Skeleton Principal had forcibly pushed from behind.

Most of them were things he had stepped forward to do himself!

-I’ll be more careful in the future so that new students don’t experience such harsh ordeals.

-I’m satisfied to hear that answer… I trust you, Gonadaltes. Though I suspect that after 3 days pass, you might harshly pass down your teachings according to your will again…

-No, Your Majesty. What era do we live in now that I would do such a thing?

-Just gathering the disciples who ran away from you could form an entire magic tower. Anyway… I’ll trust you.

After enduring the tyrannical Emperor’s abuse that insulted an innocent Archmage based on groundless rumors and gossip, the very cause of all this was making ominous sounds, so he couldn’t help but feel afraid.

“Let me guess. King of Ghouls… Did some undead rise from the cemetery perhaps? It’s about time for that to happen. Idle busybodies do love to attach grandiose nicknames.”

“Oh. How did you know? But that wasn’t the King of Ghouls, it was an Undead Chimera. I tracked it down and caught it together with Senior Diret.”

“…”

The Skeleton Principal felt like he was experiencing phantom headaches in his nonexistent body.

He had been away for just a little over a month, and he was afraid to even ask what had happened during that time.

“…Then perhaps some nobles caused trouble? Those guys don’t even know what’s dangerous and buy all sorts of things to play around with.”

“Oh. Did you hear about that? But that was a Basilisk.”

“…What exactly is wrong with you!”

Finally, the Skeleton Principal exploded.

“Other Blue Dragon Tower students spend their vacations extorting family wealth and playing around decadently, so why are you like this! Acting like you have multiple lives when you’re not even a Lich!”

“…”

“…”

Not only Lee Han but everyone else in Gainando’s manor was dumbfounded.

“My friends are all working during vacation too…”

“You must have influenced them!”

“That’s not… or is it?”

When Lee Han accepted it, the Skeleton Principal became even more spiteful.

Gainando’s mother stepped forward to defend Lee Han.

“Lord Gonadaltes. Student Lee Han of the Wardanaz Family is completely different from those psychopaths who commit dangerous acts beyond their abilities for false glory. There was an incident where the Crimson Forest subjugation team members were unfortunately teleported by accident, and they were very grateful that they saved their lives thanks to student Lee Han.”

“…”

Originally, he should have been happy about his student’s achievements, but instead of rejoicing, the Skeleton Principal sighed even more deeply.

What he feared most was the anxiety that there seemed to be more achievements that Lee Han had accomplished still remaining.

After sighing a few more times, the Skeleton Principal decided to accept reality.

‘At least it’s fortunate that there’s an alibi.’

Even if the Emperor asked later, he could make the excuse that he wasn’t in Granden City at that time.

Though he didn’t know how well that would work…

“Fine… If he were someone who could be stopped by stopping him, he wouldn’t have had that kind of caliber anyway. Learn to dance. Lady Kraha. This guy hasn’t taken social etiquette lectures, so it would be good if you could teach him.”

“Really?”

Gainando’s mother looked at the Skeleton Principal as if asking whether that wasn’t too harsh.

The Skeleton Principal immediately realized what misunderstanding she was having.

“No… Lady Kraha! I didn’t prevent him from taking it!”

“Then you’re saying he just didn’t take it?”

“That’s right!”

“Yes… I understand…”

“The reliquary is going to break…! You tell her instead!”

The Skeleton Principal called Lee Han while enduring his headache.

“Yes? What should I say?”

“Not taking dance was your choice, wasn’t it!”

“Yes. It was my choice.”

“See…!”

The Skeleton Principal who was about to speak stopped when he saw the shocked look in Gainando’s mother’s eyes.

At that moment, the Skeleton Principal realized that no matter how he explained it, it would be impossible to escape the misunderstanding.

“…Just teach him to dance.”

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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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