Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 494

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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 494

It wasn’t because the third-year Balpatan student was dissolute or had severe spending habits that this situation occurred.

Magic was fundamentally a field of study that required enormous costs.

No matter how much the Emperor provided support, and no matter how much the Skeleton Principal went beyond investment and support to sometimes even empty his own personal fortune, this limitation could not be structurally overcome.

That said, they couldn’t ask for more budget from the Empire either. Even now, the bureaucrats under the Imperial Finance Minister would clutch their chests and complain of breathing difficulties just hearing the name Einroguard.

-Are… are you telling us to throw more gold coins at those lunatics? I’d rather you step on me and go! If we have that kind of gold, let us build the poorhouse that was delayed due to budget shortages!

-You know very well how much of the Empire’s gold and treasures those daylight robbers from Einroguard are taking! I’ll never forget how they wasted the golden pillar from the plaza that His Majesty ordered donated as an experimental platform for gold-burning flames!

-These shameless mages should be fined and charged for restoration costs every time they cause trouble outside, but it’s still not enough! Every time I hear the name Einroguard, my teeth chatter and I feel like blood is flowing backwards!

…Anyway, no matter how much budget they secured and distributed to each school, there would inevitably come times when money ran short during research.

To prepare for such times, Einroguard students would diligently save up what they considered substantial amounts of money…

…but that level of money would disappear like melting snow after just a few magical experiments.

In the end, students like Balpatan who pawned their family swords as collateral to borrow necessary reagents would inevitably appear from time to time.

From Professor Thunderstep’s perspective, knowing this made him feel ashamed and heartbroken.

“Student Balpatan isn’t particularly lazy or wasteful.”

“We know that too. Don’t worry.”

The Meikin clan members smiled kindly.

“What magic truly needs isn’t intellect or emotion, but gold, wouldn’t you say?”

“…Haha.”

It was a self-deprecating joke that circulated among mages. Professor Thunderstep could only smile bitterly.

“Indeed…”

Lee Han, who had been listening from the side, spoke with a genuinely moved expression. Professor Thunderstep looked serious.

“What do you mean ‘indeed’? What?”

Somehow, this Wardanaz family boy seemed to be understanding it in a different way.

* * *

“Wardanaz. Go calm down the wyverns.”

Professor Lightningstep, who was checking safety equipment in preparation for departure, instructed Lee Han.

The wyverns should have been waiting calmly, but they had gotten excited while playing around with each other and were now rolling around together on the grassland.

“Understood.”

Lee Han nodded and stood up from his seat.

Since he was studying monsters separately with Professor Lightningstep, he knew quite a bit about wyverns too.

When they’re playing around like that, you need to be stern, in an unwavering manner…

“?”

“??”

The friends sitting next to Lee Han looked at Professor Lightningstep with question marks on their faces.

“Professor. Even if Lee Han is good at handling things, wyverns are still…”

“There, there. Good boys.”

“!?”

Before anyone could even speak to them, Lee Han separated the playing wyverns from each other and patted their heads.

The creatures that had been tearing up the grassland just moments ago now bowed their heads like docile sheep.

“…H-how did you do that?”

“I keep telling you to read some books, Bartrek. With wyverns, first you don’t avoid eye contact and…”

“If they could be handled with methods like that, why would people get bitten by wyverns?!”

“Well, I became friends with them during this trip.”

Lee Han spoke as if it were obvious.

Of course, as Bartrek said, you couldn’t immediately handle wyverns just by following methods from books. Wyverns weren’t such easy monsters.

But Lee Han had the friendship he’d built with the wyverns during the journey.

He had taken care of their food, cleaned their scales, covered them with blankets to sleep well, and even stood guard next to their heads while listening to Professor Boladi’s nagging…

‘Cancel that last one.’

Thinking about it, that last thing probably felt more like annoyance than friendship.

Anyway, given all these things that had happened, the wyverns clearly regarded Lee Han fondly, if not as much as Professor Lightningstep.

After all, they were listening to him so well like this!

“…”

Nilia thought to herself.

‘No matter how I look at it, they seem scared…’

Every time Lee Han turned his head, the way the wyverns glanced at him and watched his mood was the typical behavior of monsters following out of fear.

“Really? How did you become friends so quickly?”

“It’s affection, Bartrek. You should join me when I take care of their meals this time.”

“N-no… why… they’re scary.”

“I keep telling you they’re not scary. Right? You’re not scary, are you?”

When Lee Han turned to the wyvern and asked the question, the wyvern that had been lounging just moments before suddenly lifted its head and nodded with a very artificial gentle expression.

“See? There’s a reason they say wyverns are easier to tame than griffins. They’re all pretty nice.”

“…”

Nilia decided not to say anything.

* * *

-Mission successful, arrived within expected time.

Hmm.

The Skeleton Principal nodded with satisfaction at the communication that flew in from the port city.

‘I was worried, but they handled it well.’

He hadn’t doubted the abilities of the participating professors or students, but the situation had indeed been somewhat complicated.

Since these were conflicts that had been building up for such a long time, he had thought that if things got tangled up, it could drag on for quite a while…

But it seemed to have been handled well.

Some current students would spread ridiculous slander saying ‘the Principal seems to be crazy about stimulation, he goes crazy from boredom if there’s no incident in a day,’ but there were few people as devoted to peaceful routine as the Skeleton Principal.

He was someone who always earnestly hoped that all matters would be concluded without any problems.

Sometimes he did want to see students suffer, but that was just an exceptional case.

-Sea Serpent appeared, cooperation requested, exterminated with students, magical criminal contact, arrest

…?!?!

However, the Skeleton Principal was shocked when he saw the next communication.

It was surprising that the magical criminal had made contact, but it was even more surprising that he had been arrested.

‘What? Did some brainless fool make contact?’

Usually, someone called a magical criminal had built up a notorious reputation for quite a long time, so they rarely did clumsy things.

Even when making contact, they would act cunningly, creating multiple escape routes before taking action.

To think they had even arrested such a magical criminal.

Honestly, it was bound to be amazing.

‘I hope that Bagrek bastard didn’t just stab some random person…’

The Skeleton Principal was slightly suspicious.

He suspected that Professor Boladi had stabbed some suspicious person passing by due to his paranoia, and others had unanimously said ‘We have no choice, let’s just say he’s a magical criminal!’

* * *

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Don’t you… have any curiosity?

After finishing his meeting with Professor Thunderstep who had returned, the Skeleton Principal immediately called for Lee Han.

The story about the magical criminal Ianop was so surprising.

His aggressiveness was surprising, and capturing him was surprising, but the most surprising thing was…

“Why do you believe that?”

…is he really a mage?

…it was the Wardanaz family boy who called for a professor without hesitation.

Of course, thanks to that, things ended cleanly, but for a mage to show no interest in such a situation.

“Any mage who would accept such a proposal is the strange one. I think we should add a case study to the character education lectures about ignoring these suspicious contacts.”

You think I haven’t tried that? It’s a meaningless endeavor.

The Skeleton Principal was indifferent.

Don’t touch forbidden magic, don’t associate with suspicious mages you meet outside…

Of course these were correct words and there was nothing wrong with saying them.

However, students didn’t listen as much as expected.

When you told them not to touch forbidden magic, there would always be those who’d think ‘Oh, there was forbidden magic? I’m curious’ and go looking for it.

“Should we lock them in the punishment room for the entire vacation?”

…

The Death Knights nearby gasped in shock.

It was an excessively cruel plan for a 1st year student to come up with.

I’ll think about it. By the way, you performed quite well…

The Skeleton Principal said, recalling the report.

He had thought Wardanaz would be helpful, but he hadn’t expected him to be this significantly helpful.

To immediately resolve the friction between various guilds and make them reconcile.

‘This guy certainly has exceptional social skills, unlike the Wardanaz family.’

He had felt this before, but Wardanaz’s easily overlooked strength was precisely this social ability.

Just the fact that he got along with Bagrek showed how remarkable his social skills were.

Considering there were plenty of upperclassmen whose character was completely ruined, regardless of social skills, this advantage shone even brighter.

‘When he becomes a 2nd year, I should send him out with those character-ruined guys when they go outside.’

Without Lee Han knowing, the Skeleton Principal mentally added more tasks for him.

What did you learn about magic?

More important than the story about the commission was the story about magic.

The Skeleton Principal’s voice became serious.

Since he considered Wardanaz as a disciple to inherit his mantle, he couldn’t help but be serious when discussing magic.

“I learned the points to be careful about when directly harvesting flowers. They say you can buy them with just silver coins, but after harvesting them myself, I think I clearly understand what constitutes high-grade and low-grade products.”

You understood well. Sometimes there are mages who ignore such meticulous work, but they’re the ones who won’t achieve greatness.

The Skeleton Principal was satisfied.

A true mage should know how to tenaciously verify every detail of magic.

Mages who arrogantly ordered servants or attendants to make preparations could never achieve great success.

“Thanks to this, I think I’ll be able to bargain better when buying things in the future.”

…I wasn’t curious about that… Right. Anything else?

The Skeleton Principal moved on to the next topic, completely uninterested in such petty aspirations.

“I was more surprised than expected by the magic criminal’s magic. It’s hard for me to predict what experienced combat mages will do.”

That’s right.

The Skeleton Principal was satisfied again.

It was similar to the previous point, but mages who overestimated their own strength didn’t meet good ends.

Especially magical combat wasn’t about who could use stronger, more difficult magic.

Magical combat was about who could cut off the opponent’s lifeline first with optimal efficiency.

Since even the slightest carelessness or coincidence could allow a back-alley mage to take the life of a renowned mage, excellent combat mages had to prepare multiple layers of defense.

The Ianop you captured was a minion of Antagondals.

“You mean that archmage criminal?”

What archmage!

The Skeleton Principal immediately grumbled.

It was unpleasant for that young, arrogant magic criminal to be called an archmage.

Since he learned from Antagondals and went through various hardships, it might have been surprising to you.

“That’s right.”

Lee Han agreed.

The moment the wall flew away, he immediately activated an artifact to block the front, greatly enhanced his physical abilities, and even prepared separate attack methods.

It was the kind of familiarity that would require thousands of training sessions to achieve such proficiency.

So what did you think there?

“I thought I should bring Professor Bagrek with me when going to suspicious places in the future.”

…

The Skeleton Principal glared at Lee Han at his answer lacking in spirit.

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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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