Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 484

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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 484

“Hah.”

Professor Thunderstep took a spoonful of rice, put it in his mouth, then let out a sigh.

“Hoo.”

Professor Thunderstep chewed on the salted radish and let out another sigh.

“…Why do you keep sighing? You’re ruining my appetite.”

Professor Lightningstep looked at his nephew with an incredulous expression.

After working hard all day, shouldn’t he be eating with a good mood?

The manor’s chefs had even specially prepared food to suit the Eastern Region palate…

Professor Thunderstep answered with a groan.

“There’s just so much work to do.”

While the students were exchanging harsh words like ‘today was really tough’ and ‘Professor Thunderstep really enjoys tormenting us, just like someone close to the Principal,’ Professor Thunderstep had his own professorial troubles.

The students only had to work hard at what they were told to do, but Professor Thunderstep had to manage the overall schedule and complete the commission within the deadline.

What if he couldn’t finish the commission within the set period?

-Professor Thunderstep. Did I perhaps overestimate you too much? Not being able to finish a commission within the set period. Will you take responsibility for the students’ academic losses?

Being a little late would actually be fortunate.

What if he couldn’t complete the commission perfectly?

-Professor Thunderstep. Do the students perhaps dislike studying magic? Even if they work hard from now on, they’re the type to steal from my vault using lack of research funds as an excuse, so why are you interfering with them receiving payment?

…The Skeleton Principal was generally very respectful toward professors unlike students, but there were occasional exceptions.

Just look at Professor Verdus going to the punishment room…

“Oh my. But I thought today’s work went quite well.”

“That’s true, but the schedule is quite tight, which is the problem.”

Professor Thunderstep glared at the paper listing all the tasks to be done while stuffing a dumpling in his mouth.

Fortunately, thanks to the Shadow Patrol working hard today with hunting, magic, and other activities, the route identification and map creation were finally showing signs of completion.

If things went as expected, it would be finished by tomorrow.

‘Ah. I unconsciously thought of Wardanaz as a Shadow Patrol member.’

Professor Thunderstep had a thought that would have made Lee Han shout if he’d heard it.

They fit together so well that he unconsciously grouped them together.

The inventory classification, standard creation, and collection education were being diligently handled by the students currently in the manor’s workshop…

‘This should be finished by tomorrow, or the day after at the latest.’

He didn’t tell them since he was worried the students might relax, but the current first-year students were above average overall.

Even excluding exceptional lunatics like Wardanaz, each tower had at least one student excellent in alchemy, making it possible to flexibly handle any situation.

It seemed like the work would continue even if he let the students rest for a bit…

‘No, that wouldn’t be for the students’ benefit.’

Professor Thunderstep decided not to tell the students until everything was finished.

If they became lax and the schedule got delayed, only the students would suffer.

Being strict in such matters was also part of a professor’s job.

‘The remaining problem is mediation.’

The friction between the guilds in this area, and the conflict between the guilds and residents.

If they wanted to harvest flowers stably, they had to mediate these problems before leaving.

In some ways, this could be a more troublesome problem than route creation and monster subjugation.

‘I need to resolve this by tomorrow if possible to keep the schedule on track.’

If he finished the subjugation and route creation tomorrow, then contacted the relevant parties to hear their demands and consider solutions…

Professor Thunderstep unconsciously raised his head to look at the other professors beside him.

After looking at Professor Lightningstep and Professor Boladi in turn, Professor Thunderstep let out the deepest sigh of the day.

“Hoooo…”

“What? That sigh just now was rather offensive. Did you perhaps curse me in your mind?”

“N-no, I didn’t.”

Professor Thunderstep was startled at being caught.

But still, it was certain that these two professors would be of no help whatsoever in such mediation.

Professor Lightningstep would only be helpful if monsters were released during negotiations, and Professor Boladi would only be helpful if assassins attacked the negotiation table…

While Professor Thunderstep was pondering what demands the guilds and city residents might make and what solutions they might accept, he spotted Lee Han passing by and called out to him.

“Wardanaz.”

“Yes?”

“At least I’m fortunate to have you here.”

“…What are you trying to make me do?”

At Lee Han’s distrustful gaze, Professor Thunderstep felt slightly repentant on behalf of Einroguard.

* * *

The next morning.

Lee Han departed from the manor with the professors to finish the route creation and subjugation.

The Shadow Patrol hunters had been out since dawn, riding small boats and swiftly traversing the sea while taking down monsters one by one.

“They say when one Shadow Patrol hunter enters a mountain peak, the monsters on that peak go extinct. Indeed, the rumors aren’t wrong.”

Professor Lightningstep was impressed, but Lee Han had different thoughts.

From how the Shadow Patrol hunters looked slightly flustered and averted their gazes when they made eye contact with Lee Han, these people were…

‘They came early to hunt because they were worried we’d tell them to only catch what we needed when we arrived.’

Everyone was fooled by the atmosphere the Shadow Patrol hunters gave off, but Lee Han wasn’t deceived.

The Shadow Patrol hunters secretly had aspects similar to Gainando.

“I’ll finish checking this side, so Professor Bagrek, please take care of the opposite side.”

Professor Thunderstep headed toward areas where route creation was still incomplete, along with Professor Lightningstep.

Professor Boladi looked at Lee Han with an expressionless face. Lee Han resignedly said,

“Let’s go subjugate the remaining monsters on the reefs.”

“Right. Don’t rush.”

Lee Han thought about pushing Professor Boladi off the boat, but decided against it since there were many hunters watching.

Swoooosh-

As the boat moved, Lee Han recalled his conversation with Professor Thunderstep yesterday.

-What are you trying to make me do?

-…No! That’s not what I meant…!

-Yes. I’m sure that’s not what you meant.

-I swear on my beard that’s not what I meant! Listen!

Professor Thunderstep must have felt so wronged that he rattled off stories no one had asked for.

He needed to resolve everything cleanly in the remaining two days to maintain Einroguard’s reputation, ensure students received payment, and keep Professor Thunderstep happy, but the remaining tasks were quite tight.

The work assigned to students had some leeway (Lee Han immediately conveyed this fact to his friends after the conversation ended), but considering the matters that needed mediation was giving Professor Thunderstep a headache.

At first, Lee Han wondered ‘what does that have to do with saying it’s fortunate to have me,’ but after seeing Professor Lightningstep and Professor Boladi, he immediately understood.

‘Hmm. Well, I am better compared to those two.’

Lee Han wasn’t particularly confident by nature, but he was confident he could win against those two professors in the social domain.

Separately from that, he was worried whether Professor Thunderstep could mediate well.

The other two professors wouldn’t help, so Professor Thunderstep would have to think it through with the Meikin Family people, but if things went wrong…

‘The payment would decrease, and if payment decreases, students’ research funds would also decrease, then angry students would rebel and Einroguard would be destroyed.’

“What are you thinking about?”

Lee Han must have been thinking too deeply, as Professor Boladi asked.

“Ah, I was pondering mediation plans.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Professor Thunderstep will handle it himself.”

“…”

Originally, this should have sounded like good advice meaning ‘students should do students’ work and leave professors’ work to professors,’ but strangely it sounded more like ‘why should I care?’

‘Must be my imagination.’

“Let’s land.”

“Yes.”

“This time, try utilizing ice magic.”

“Yes…”

The Shadow Patrol hunters nearby asked.

“Are you sure you don’t need help? If there’s no vanguard to block from the front…”

Professor Boladi nodded.

“It’s not necessary. I’ll overcome it with magic.”

“With magic! Indeed…!”

The hunters’ eyes lit up.

They had thought that mages would have difficulty moving freely without someone blocking from the front, but seeing this, it was truly a prejudice.

* * *

Pasher, the guild master of the city’s fisherman guild, glared at the sea with dissatisfied eyes.

“I won’t yield even a little. You all keep that in mind too.”

“Yes!”

“If there are any young fools thinking about negotiation or compromise, keep those shallow thoughts to yourselves!”

Though his hair had turned white and his frame was gaunt, this old fisherman still knew how to exude dignity.

The young fishermen nearby didn’t dare talk back and bowed their heads.

“Those alchemist bastards, adventurer bastards, city council bastards are all nothing but thieves. Where did His Imperial Majesty’s fishing rights permit go? It came down to our guild!”

The problem of ‘who should harvest the Sangoria flowers’ was an older issue than expected.

Long ago, the fisherman guild had received a fishing rights permit from the Empire’s emperor allowing them to harvest nearly dozens of types of seafood.

At that time, there were no problems. The city people respected the fisherman guild’s rights and purchased the seafood they brought in.

However, as time passed and Sangoria flowers suddenly began appearing in the vicinity, the story became complicated.

Alchemists who recognized their value claimed they should harvest the Sangoria flowers, and in that process, the fisherman guild received help from alchemists to learn about the unfamiliar flowers.

Naturally, a rights dispute over who should harvest the flowers was bound to arise.

On top of that, the city’s adventurer guild, which had taken on requests from alchemists to harvest them, also began getting involved.

After continuously arguing about who was greedy and who was shameless, they had reached a compromise where they would pay each other certain amounts when harvesting flowers…

With this coastal disturbance threatening to cut off Sangoria flower harvesting, the situation completely changed.

The Empire’s officials were disgusted with these guilds who only checked each other and wasted time when they should have joined forces to solve the problem.

-In the end, these stopgap measures led to this escalation. This problem must also be resolved!

With such orders coming from above, the guilds were also firmly resolved.

They absolutely would not back down.

They would definitely convince the outsiders and prove that their guild’s logic was sound!

And the fisherman guild felt the same way.

“All this trouble started because those ignorant fools shamelessly stuck their feet in.”

‘It seems like we should negotiate or compromise…’

Several young fishermen looked troubled.

The imperial officials’ attitude was more stubborn than expected.

How poorly must they have handled things for the Meikin Family, outsiders, to step forward and offer to solve it?

They would do so despite having no direct benefit, so it was natural that the officials were angry.

Then the city’s guilds should at least reconcile with each other and show they wouldn’t do this again, but everyone was saying ‘the moment you suggest negotiation or compromise, you’re showing weakness, don’t do anything that can be used against us’…

“There are Shadow Patrol hunters who came from outside.”

Pasher nodded at the fisherman’s words.

Though he was angry and spiteful, there was nothing good about showing a bad side to outsiders.

Pasher planned to go greet them and make his case confidently.

“…Why aren’t they coming up and just staying like that?”

“Who knows? Ah. The mages are coming down over there. It looks like the mages hunted. Come to think of it, I heard fishermen saying ‘mages are also hunting,’ so that’s probably…”

“…He’s still a student?!”

Pasher was shocked to see Lee Han coming out while brushing off monster blood.

Considering the number of monsters and the vastness of the sea, manpower couldn’t be abundant, but still, for a student to fight like that.

Were they that short on hands?

“That… that’s right.”

“Why?? How come?”

“Well, I think maybe the other guilds in the city refused requests for help…”

“…”

Pasher suddenly felt his face growing hot.

It was shame.

A student from outside was doing his best to solve problems even without receiving any help from the city…

What was he doing now, having lived in this city his entire life?

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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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