Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 360

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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 360

“Actually, don’t you want to participate in the dark magic gathering, Professor?”

Not all professors in the world were like Professor Boladi.

Among professors, there were surprisingly many cases of those who wanted to mingle with students (obliviously).

This was especially true for unpopular schools like dark magic.

It would be difficult to get along well with other professors at Einroguard, so the loneliness would be even more severe.

“What?”

However, Diret showed a surprised reaction to Lee Han’s words.

“That’s not it. He’s not that kind of person.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ve invited him a few times, but he declined saying it was fine.”

“Hmm.”

Lee Han let out a thoughtful sound and fell into contemplation.

Diret was an excellent dark mage and a wonderful senior, but he wasn’t a cunning disciple like Lee Han.

Especially when it came to professors, they often said A with their mouth but said B with their entire body language.

One had to understand this language of professors to become a cunning disciple.

“By any chance, how did he decline?”

“Huh? He said what would he do there, and that he’d just be in the way when students gather together.”

“I see.”

Lee Han nodded as if he understood.

It was typical fake talk.

“Did he perhaps add afterward that you should call him if you need help with magical research?”

“…!”

Diret’s eyes widened.

“Divination magic?!”

“It’s not divination magic, just prediction. Senior. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to visit Professor Mortum’s workshop now and invite him.”

“I don’t mind, but… would that be okay? The Professor might get angry that you’re unnecessarily bringing up something he keeps declining.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Want to go together?”

“No.”

Lee Han stopped Diret.

If a disciple like Diret who had worked under Professor Mortum for a long time was beside him, he might act stubborn out of embarrassment.

“I’m sufficient by myself. Then I’ll go and come back.”

“O-okay. Be careful going and coming back. …Wait! Hey! Junior! What was that about professors fighting in the streets?!”

Diret shouted as he belatedly remembered, but Lee Han had already disappeared to the other side of the street.

* * *

Professors at Einroguard were mages who had reached a certain level, so they each had a manor or workshop in Granden City.

And Professor Mortum’s workshop was located in the central noble district.

…Next to a cemetery within the district.

‘Is this really okay?’

Of course, it was a much more dignified space than some nameless public cemetery on the city outskirts.

As it was a noble family cemetery, well-carved marble tombstones and beautifully arranged flowers were neatly placed here and there, but…

…Nevertheless, the gravedigger’s tower used as a workshop gave off a somewhat gloomy feeling.

At this point, it seemed like dark magic was the problem, not the cemetery.

“Is Professor Mortum here?”

“Cough. I clearly said it. That I’d complete it by next week. If you rush me one more time, I’ll scramble your organs… Is that you, Wardanaz?”

Professor Mortum, who had opened the door while speaking menacingly, was surprised to discover an unexpected disciple.

“How surprising!”

“Do you have another appointment?”

“Cough. I’m not surprised because of that… I thought you’d be chopped into several pieces by now since many professors went to catch you.”

“…”

Lee Han almost cast a curse spell at the professor for a moment.

If you knew, you should have stopped them!

‘Stay calm. Professor Mortum is still better than others.’

From Lee Han’s perspective, Professor Mortum, who did his own work and occasionally hoped to be invited, was better than professors who came to drag him away.

Both were like immature children, but the latter was a bit more…

“Who were you just talking to?”

“Ah. Cough. I took on a commission, but they keep annoyingly rushing me.”

It seemed a noble from some family had died, and they came to Professor Mortum wanting to find the inheritance that noble had hidden.

They had entrusted it to several divination mages, but failed due to insufficient clues.

They had to try salvaging at least fragments of memories held by the dead using dark magic.

“Such commissions are possible too!”

Lee Han once again felt that the job market for mages was truly vast.

Perhaps later, controlling skeletons to sweep up all the transport guild’s work or attempting street performances wouldn’t be bad either.

“It’s not a good commission. Cough. But it’s good for dark mages to accept such commissions.”

“Because of connections with noble families?”

“No. Cough. Such expensive commissions don’t come often.”

“…”

“So… what’s the matter? If it’s to stop other professors from chasing you, that’s impossible. I can’t stop that many.”

‘I know that.’

“How could that be. And it’s only an honor that the professors come to find me. When I should be begging to ask them, they personally come to such an inadequate disciple.”

“Cough. You really have a good personality for a dark mage. If it were me, I would have released all my poisons. During a student’s vacation…”

Lee Han was about to nod for a moment, then gritted his teeth and held back.

“I came today hoping you would participate in the gathering, Professor.”

“…What gathering?”

Professor Mortum answered a beat late. That alone was enough. Lee Han was convinced that the other person knew today was the day of the dark magic school students’ gathering.

“The gathering where seniors learning dark magic come together to pass down knowledge to juniors.”

“Ah. Ah…! Cough. You mean that?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll pass.”

Professor Mortum waved his hand as he spoke.

“Cough. You can come ask if there’s something you don’t know while researching magic, but… well… you don’t ask much anyway.”

A flash of disappointment sparkled in Professor Mortum’s eyes before disappearing.

Lee Han spoke firmly.

“Professor!”

“…Why, why are you suddenly shouting?”

“The seniors always want to ask you questions, Professor. But knowing that you’re always suffering from heavy work and overwork, they have no choice but to hesitate.”

“…!”

“No matter how much you say it’s fine, Professor, if you don’t directly participate in the gathering, the seniors won’t be able to ask.”

“What kind of cowardly…”

“I’m sorry. But please understand.”

Even though his words were blunt, Professor Mortum’s face was slightly relaxed.

“I too, and Gainando and Raphadael as well, have always been curious about the golden experience you’ve accumulated as a dark mage, Professor. During the semester, we couldn’t hear it because you were busy with lectures, but we expected to hear it at vacation gatherings, yet we were all disappointed when you weren’t there.”

“Is… is that so?”

“Yes. When we were disappointed, the seniors asked why. So when we spoke honestly, the seniors also said ‘We want to invite him too, but we can’t because we feel sorry.'”

“Such…!”

Professor Mortum let out a sigh.

He knew his disciples were timid, but he didn’t know they were this timid.

There was no need to be that frightened.

“That’s why I mustered up the courage to come find you. Since I’m a 1st year, I thought you might be a bit lenient with me.”

“*Cough*. Of course. What mage would get angry at a 1st year’s mistake?”

Lee Han immediately thought of the Skeleton Principal but stayed quiet.

“…Fine. *Cough*. If you put it that way, I have no choice. I can’t let the already few new students disappear.”

“Exactly. If you participate in the gathering, Professor, would the new students defect to other schools?”

Professor Mortum picked up his staff and stood up.

Then he patted Lee Han’s back and walked away.

“*Cough*. Mr. Wardanaz. I really have a good disciple.”

“Not at all, Professor. I’m just embarrassed.”

Lee Han inwardly swallowed the smile of a successful hunter.

‘I hope the other professors are this easy too.’

How convenient it would be if everyone became as pleased as Professor Mortum.

Why were there only professors who said ‘Since I’m in a good mood, I’ll teach you more magic’ when they got happy…

* * *

“My, my goodness. This is the first time I’ve seen Professor Mortum in such a good mood.”

“Did someone poison him?”

“No. It’s a curse. A laughter curse mixed with an intoxication curse, what else would you need to mix to make him that happy?”

Several upperclassmen were shocked to see Professor Mortum, who usually frowned, coughed, and complained a lot, looking satisfied.

Of course, Diret felt the same way.

“Wh-what on earth…”

“Senior. The Professor simply wanted to participate in the gathering.”

“…!”

Diret looked at Lee Han with a gaze filled with awe.

The 1st year junior who had just entered suddenly felt like a reliable accomplice.

He felt like he could trust this junior to watch his back when dealing with crazy professors.

‘Am I crazy? What am I thinking about a 1st year…’

“*Cough*. The bandits were stubbornly holding out inside the fortress. So I turned the captured bandits into undead and made them charge. In the process, I turned the newly captured bandits into undead and made them charge too. And again… Eventually they surrendered.”

“What a truly instructive story!”

“I’d like to try that once too!”

Without Lee Han needing to stir things up, the dark magic school students showed deep interest in Professor Mortum’s long speech.

Thanks to this, Professor Mortum was greatly satisfied and finished speaking, taking a break.

“So… His Highness the Prince?”

“Yes!”

Meanwhile, the upperclassmen’s attention turned to the other juniors excluding Lee Han.

“Wouldn’t the Imperial Family get criticized if they showed interest in dark magic?”

“Huh? Really?”

“…”

Lee Han subtly interjected.

“Tell them about when you used dark magic in front of the nobles when the basilisk appeared.”

“But Lee Han, you stopped me in the middle…”

Lee Han pinched the back of Gainando’s hand. Gainando immediately understood.

“When the basilisk appeared, I protected the nobles with dark magic!”

“!”

“Oh…”

The upperclassmen were surprised by Gainando’s words.

To think he would use dark magic in front of nobles without any particular calculation.

“You’re thinking ‘there’s no distinction between noble and base magic, if you’re confident in yourself, why would public opinion matter much,’ right?”

“Noble and base? Public opinion?”

Lee Han pinched Gainando again. Gainando understood again.

“Yes!”

“This year’s 1st year juniors are really amazing.”

The upperclassmen murmured in amazement.

However, their gazes had become very favorable.

They couldn’t show such behavior unless they were truly serious about dark magic.

“So. White Tiger Tower junior… why are you listening? White Tiger Tower is quite a rare tower when it comes to dark magic.”

“You’re not trying to learn dark magic countermeasures, are you?”

“…”

Raphadael felt cold sweat running down his back.

“Well, that is, that…”

“Raphadael gets misunderstood because he’s from a knight family origin, but actually no one is more serious about dark magic than Raphadael.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Every time we explore the undead realm, he always takes the lead and moves first.”

“Isn’t that just… perverted?”

The upperclassmen looked at Raphadael with surprise in a different sense.

What’s so good about the undead realm?

“He probably just likes undead and took the initiative.”

‘Isn’t that being a pervert?’

Raphadael’s face turned bright red as he stood there, unable to do this or that.

Perhaps understanding it differently, the upperclassmen didn’t ask any more questions.

“R-right. You’re all unique but serious about dark magic.”

“We’re happy to have juniors like you join us. …Of course, one of you has strange tastes, but we’ll respect that.”

“Aren’t you going to ask about Ymirg?”

“He’s from Black Turtle Tower.”

“Right.”

“…”

Gainando gaped in disbelief.

What kind of petty upperclassmen were these…?

When the upperclassmen’s questioning offensive ended, Lee Han lightly patted Raphadael’s shoulder.

Raphadael glared at Lee Han for a moment before opening his mouth.

“…I’ll say thanks.”

Whatever the case, it was true that Wardanaz had covered for Raphadael.

Without that, he wouldn’t have been able to escape safely from that situation earlier.

“Right. Thanks is fine, but pay me back in silver coins.”

“…You crazy bastard, seriously!”

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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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