Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 480
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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 480
“…I’m sorry. Everyone. It wasn’t intentional.”
Professor Thunderstep apologized with sincerity.
Of course, the Einroguard students weren’t naive enough to accept an apology just because it was sincere.
It was all thanks to faithfully learning Einroguard’s teachings.
“You think we’ll just let this slide with an apology?!”
“That’s right! Professor, didn’t you pocket some money on the side?!”
“You, you little…”
Professor Thunderstep looked around nervously at the Meikin family members.
It wouldn’t have mattered inside the school, but outside the school, he couldn’t ignore his reputation.
If strange misunderstandings arose and rumors like ‘I heard Professor Thunderstep from Einroguard embezzles students’ silver coins’ reached the Skeleton Principal’s ears…
“Do you think I would do such a thing?! As you could see, I didn’t enter the village either. I had no opportunity to pocket any silver coins!”
“Then why did you stay outside?!”
“Because that’s what the original rules were!”
The Meikin family members were flustered watching the ugly quarrel between Professor Thunderstep and the students.
“Please, Einroguard folks. Calm down.”
“That’s right. It’s our fault for not specifying clearly. We should have clearly stated which village you should rest in if you took a break along the way.”
“…Let’s return to business matters.”
Professor Thunderstep cleared his throat.
The Meikin family members nodded and quickly explained the situation.
“The hunters from the north arrived a week ago and are currently conducting their hunt. They’re really fast!”
“We thought you wouldn’t come outside the north because of the name Shadow Patrol, but we were surprised you agreed so readily. We’re truly grateful.”
When a Meikin family member bowed to Nilia, Professor Thunderstep tilted his head.
“What are you grateful for?”
“They’re probably grateful we flew here quickly.”
Lee Han answered without batting an eye.
“No, they were grateful earlier…”
“So. What problems remain now?”
“Ah. You must be from the Wardanaz family?”
“That’s right. Did we meet during the last vacation?”
“No. We heard about you from Lord Yoanen Meikin several times. He said you’re a talent he definitely wants to recruit for the workshop.”
“Oh. Did he mention the conditions too?”
The Meikin family members burst into laughter at the Wardanaz family boy’s witty joke.
When everyone just laughed, Lee Han casually spoke again.
“So about the conditions…”
Yoner grabbed Lee Han’s sleeve and shook his head.
Professor Thunderstep took notes on what the Meikin family members were saying and asked.
“It’s truly fortunate that the hunt is progressing quickly. Then what should we do…?”
“First, please confirm the locations of the Sangoria flowers. Harvesting has been cut off for a long time, and we need to make new maps due to the rampage of monsters and spirits.”
Professor Thunderstep stroked his beard to show he understood.
“Currently, stocks of Sangoria flowers are piled up in the warehouses of nearby alchemy guilds and fishermen’s guilds, but due to the prolonged chaos, we can’t trust the quality of these stocks. We’d like an excellent and credible alchemist to establish new standards and classify the inventory.”
The students behind them let out shallow sighs.
Just listening made them feel like their workload was increasing.
Who would do that classification?
“Understood. What else?”
“This incident has escalated friction between guilds, and between guilds and residents. We’d like you to mediate this problem.”
Professor Thunderstep flipped to the back of the paper densely filled with writing.
“The hunters belonging to the Shadow Patrol are showing excellent performance, but since personnel is limited, they can’t fight indiscriminately. After identifying the sea routes and locations, please designate only the monsters that must be defeated. We’ll drive away the remaining monsters through methods other than hunting.”
“If it’s alright with you, we’d also like you to provide education on methods for harvesting Sangoria flowers. There are quite a few inexperienced people due to the decrease in skilled fishermen.”
‘There’s a reason they’re paying a lot of gold coins.’
Lee Han felt overwhelmed by the dense list of tasks.
Indeed, gold coins aren’t something you can earn easily!
“Wait. Professor.”
Lee Han, who had been calculating, suddenly found something he didn’t understand and asked.
“Can we complete all those tasks in the remaining days?”
“That’s a foolish question.”
Professor Thunderstep lit his pipe and puffed out smoke.
“We have to complete it no matter what anyway.”
“…”
* * *
It wasn’t a joke.
As soon as the conversation ended, Professor Thunderstep began working the students like a madman.
“This is the western gate, the pride of Isran City. It’s a gate made of sapphire, with a romantic legend that it was made from mermaid tears…”
“Such explanations are fine, just guide us to the lodgings where the students will stay.”
“Yes. The Quadma family, one of the city families, has lent us a manor. This manor is located on a hill, so when you exit the manor’s main gate, you’ll see Water Statue Street, one of Isran City’s prides…”
“You don’t need to explain. We won’t have time to go out anyway. Bring the tools I’m about to mention. We’ll go directly to the work workshop.”
The servants were bewildered by Professor Thunderstep’s words.
“But meals are prepared at the manor…”
“Just pack meals that can be eaten comfortably and bring them to the workshop.”
“…”
“…”
The students looked around Isran City with gloomy faces.
The southern city that had seemed so beautiful earlier now suddenly looked dreary.
“Everyone take your seats. I’ll now teach you how to classify the quality of Sangoria flowers. First, the color of the leaves…”
A skilled alchemist possessed the tenacity to not miss even the slightest detail.
Professor Thunderstep, once he got into work, drove the students relentlessly without letting them breathe.
“I said light red! That’s dark red!”
“How could you not notice the traces of insects eating the stem!”
“Is this the time to stuff bread crumbs in your mouth? I said I’d give you time to eat later!”
‘He said that same thing an hour ago.’
Lee Han thought to himself while moving his hands.
The students became haggard, but fortunately the progress moved quickly.
Thanks to the harsh criticism, the students who began to get the hang of the work accurately classified the flowers.
“This should be enough. Alchemy ranks 5 through 10. Follow me.”
Professor Thunderstep stood up without stopping, giving the next instruction.
The students designated by the professor stood up with bewildered expressions.
“Where are we going?”
“Are we going to rest…?”
“Don’t say ridiculous things. You’re going to learn flower harvesting methods. You need to learn so you can teach the harvesters and adventurers.”
“…”
“…”
Professor Thunderstep, who had taken the unlucky students out, soon returned.
“Alchemy ranks 2 through 4. Follow me. I’ll give you old harvesting maps and sea routes, so memorize them. We need to draw new maps.”
“…”
“…”
Lee Han, watching Professor Thunderstep leave, suddenly felt puzzled.
‘Wait. Why not me?’
Shouldn’t he have escaped when he went to make the map just now?
Professor Thunderstep, who had returned, immediately resolved Lee Han’s question.
“Wardanaz. You’re coming with me to directly check the location of the Sangoria flowers.”
“…No…!”
* * *
Lee Han walked to the harbor with the professors, wearing a displeased expression.
While working earlier, he had thought ‘I’d like to get some fresh air outside,’ but this wasn’t what he had wanted.
“To check the location of the Sangoria flowers… are we going out to sea?”
“That’s right. We’ll be taking a boat out. Don’t worry too much. With this kind of force, there’s really not much danger.”
“…Then couldn’t I just stay inside?”
At Lee Han’s words, Professor Boladi shook his head as if that wasn’t the case.
“This is a good opportunity.”
“!”
Lee Han realized why Professor Thunderstep had specifically brought him along.
Don’t tell me…
‘Was it this person who suggested bringing me out?’
Come to think of it, while Professor Thunderstep did squeeze students hard, he didn’t have a hobby of bringing students who were doing well inside to experience thrills outside.
Lee Han, who realized the truth, looked at Professor Boladi with eyes mixed with shock and horror.
‘There’s really no one in this world to trust!’
He had been screwing him over inside Einroguard, and now outside too…
“Oh. Are you mages?”
At the harbor, there were people wearing completely different, foreign clothing from the sailors.
An appearance that anyone could guess were hunters from the northern region.
It was the Shadow Patrol.
“That’s right. You must have had a hard time.”
“No… well… we didn’t have much to do in the mountains anyway, so it worked out well. The pay is generous, and the support is generous too…”
“Honestly, we couldn’t really use such expensive arrows in the mountains. When else would we get to use things like this?”
The hunters were very satisfied with the generous support from the Meikin family.
Each arrow had magic cast on it, or potions were generously distributed right before battle.
All of this was abundance that couldn’t be seen in the cold Northern Mountains.
“Can we keep these magic arrows if there are any left over?”
“Hey now. Have some dignity, saying such things.”
“What dignity… I’ve seen you pick up and use arrows before.”
‘It’s good that Nilia didn’t come.’
Lee Han thought it was fortunate that Nilia hadn’t come.
If Nilia had come, she might have jumped into the sea from embarrassment.
The hunters who had been chattering about what they caught on the boat suddenly clapped their hands and asked.
“Oh right. Professor. We have something to ask.”
“Please ask.”
Professor Thunderstep wondered what they were going to talk about.
“Well… isn’t there a student among them who’s from our Shadow Patrol? That, what was it, Nellia?”
“Nollea. You fool more stupid than a crow.”
“It’s understandable to get confused. She’s not from our area but from the eastern area, so I got confused!”
Lee Han quietly answered.
“It’s Nilia.”
“Ah. Right. Nilia! Yes. It was Nilia!”
“Is that friend Nilia doing well?”
The Shadow Patrol hunters asked the question as if they weren’t interested at all.
However, their eyes burned with desire for praise.
Since she was from the Shadow Patrol and had even entered Einroguard, the hunters’ expectations were high even if they didn’t show it.
“Uh… she’s a very excellent student.”
Professor Lightningstep also seemed to notice their mood and gave the answer the hunters wanted.
“She’s among the top ten in alchemy lectures.”
“Ooh…!”
“Amazing!”
The hunters were impressed.
Honestly speaking, the hunters hadn’t expected much from Nilia’s grades.
How advantageous could Nilia, who had been holding a bow in the mountain range, be compared to other kids who had been holding books in the city?
But to hear such an answer.
“How are her relationships with friends?”
“Uh… I think it would be better for Wardanaz here to tell you about that. Wardanaz. Tell them.”
‘Cowardly passing it off to me.’
Lee Han cursed the professor inwardly and opened his mouth.
“Nilia is very popular in the tower.”
“Ooh…!”
“I told you. She’s different from us, more sociable. I said she’d get along well.”
“I should ask her later how to make friends outside. When I go down to the village, the guys run away.”
“That’s probably because you go down covered in blood.”
Seeing the hunters’ good reaction, Lee Han continued a bit more.
“Not only the Black Turtle Tower students but also the Blue Dragon Tower students really like Nilia. During the last vacation, she was invited to stay at the Meikin family, and the Meikin family was so moved they asked her to stay longer…”
“…”
“…”
The hunters listened blankly and then chuckled.
“This mage here must be saying such things to make us feel good!”
“Thank you for this. But still, such an absurd joke!”
“Hahahahahaha!”
“…”
Lee Han suddenly felt sorry for Nilia, whose accomplishments had been turned into lies.
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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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