Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 501

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 501

The Skeleton Principal spoke in a meaningful voice.

I’m counting on you. Please explain the beauty of Einroguard.

‘Will I be able to do this well?’

He had accepted for the sake of the outing pass, but now that he had received it, he suddenly became worried.

Was there even such a thing as beauty in Einroguard?

‘It seems like there’s nothing but pain and sorrow…’

Someone like the Skeleton Principal wouldn’t just give out an outing pass for no reason.

Obviously, he wanted Lee Han to do well so that when the famous bard went outside, he wouldn’t compose songs like ‘Oh, the Einroguard students are suffering in hell~’.

But no matter how hard Lee Han tried, if there was nothing but pain and sorrow in Einroguard, there would be limits.

Could he really do well?

* * *

“What are those students doing over there?”

“The fence was recently broken, so they came out to fix it.”

Lee Han answered Ifadur’s question without hesitation.

In the distance, Black Turtle Tower friends were fixing the broken fence with curses.

Ifadur, like the seasoned and experienced bard he was, threw a sharp question.

“But why are they fixing it at this dawn?”

“Because they love the school too much.”

The Skeleton Principal beside them looked at Lee Han with admiring eyes.

To blurt out such embarrassing words without even a second’s hesitation.

‘How on earth did such a guy come from the Wardanaz family?’

“They couldn’t finish fixing it during the day, and it kept bothering them at night, so they came out like this. That shows how much they love the school.”

“The mages’ love for Einroguard is truly remarkable.”

“It’s only natural.”

Lee Han handled words that would have made the Black Turtle Tower students throw hammers without batting an eye.

Professionals don’t get swayed by personal emotions.

“Has there been a flood recently by any chance?”

Ifadur asked in a surprised voice while walking through the forest path.

There were still traces left as if there had been some flood, even though it wasn’t originally a place where there should be moisture.

“Yes.”

“As far as I know… it shouldn’t have been the rainy season yet, right?”

Lee Han looked at the Skeleton Principal. The Skeleton Principal nodded as if it was okay.

‘That much is fine to say.’

‘Understood.’

“Einroguard is an area with strong magical power, so many strange phenomena often occur. This spirit flood was also one of such phenomena.”

“Truly remarkable. Such capricious natural phenomena are rare even in the Empire, aren’t they?”

“That’s about right.”

The old turtle beastman bard looked around with fascinated eyes while supporting his body with a staff.

Then he took out a quill pen and began taking notes. The Skeleton Principal glanced at those notes.

Various phenomena occur at Einroguard, the cradle that nurtures outstanding mages. Young mages solve these phenomena with the help of experienced mages.

The Skeleton Principal sent a pleased look.

This experienced bard also seemed to have fallen into the trap of preconceptions and common sense, failing to notice Einroguard’s truth.

Even though there was no such thing as help from experienced mages!

‘Just keep it up like this, Wardanaz.’

‘Don’t worry.’

“Wait. When a flood strikes, how do the students move around? Do they use magic after all?”

“Yes. They use magic to make boats or summon Tanzhuer.”

“Thank you.”

Ifadur paused while taking notes.

“They summon Tanzhuer??”

…

The Skeleton Principal looked at Lee Han as if asking what he was doing.

Lee Han also realized his mistake.

‘I messed up.’

Come to think of it, summoning Tanzhuer wasn’t the typical response method when a flood struck.

“Who summoned the Tanzhuer?”

Ifadur seemed very interested and gripped his quill pen with an attitude of absolutely not letting this go.

“I summoned it.”

“Very interesting… very interesting indeed.”

The Skeleton Principal sent Lee Han a look telling him to get his act together.

His disciple couldn’t lose focus already.

“Lord Gonadaltes. Do all the students at Einroguard know how to summon Tanzhuer?”

That’s not the case. Only a few outstanding students know how to summon them.

“What kind of students…”

Ah, sir! Look over there! Giants are wrestling!

The Skeleton Principal pointed to the mountain range and changed the subject.

Fortunately, the giant wrestling seemed more interesting than expected, so Ifadur also turned his gaze.

“It’s rare to see giants like this, truly fascinating. Lord Gonadaltes. But one thing, this might be a rude question… don’t the giants cause harm to the students?”

Giants weren’t as threatening a race as monsters, but they weren’t kind and warm neighbors either.

If they accidentally clashed with the still young mages, it could cause great damage.

The Skeleton Principal burst into hearty laughter and said.

Haha. As you can see from the distance, students have no occasion to meet the giants. They are mountain keepers who guard the mountain range.

“I see. That’s how it is.”

Wardanaz here gets along well with the giants, so he would know well. Tell him, Wardanaz. Do giants ever have occasion to meet students?

“…”

Lee Han looked at the Skeleton Principal as if he were looking at a madman.

Only then did the Skeleton Principal realize his mistake.

‘Damn it.’

Come to think of it, Wardanaz was still a student too.

“No… Student Wardanaz… giants…?”

When Ifadur seemed to fall into confusion, Lee Han quickly stepped in to resolve the situation.

“Actually, there’s one giant who saved me…”

Lee Han told the story of how the giant Ikurusha had saved him, and the story of giving up his hair in a chess match (with some embellishment).

Thanks to that, he became friends with the giants, so he was able to watch them raise mountain-destroying sheep last time.

The old bard nodded with a very impressed face.

“A remarkable story. A truly remarkable story! For a young mage to become so friendly with giants.”

Haha. Wardanaz is quite a sociable fellow. You rascal! I told you so many times not to go to the mountain range because it’s dangerous!

Lee Han looked coldly at the Skeleton Principal.

The Skeleton Principal seemed to realize he had crossed the line too much and subtly averted his gaze.

After that, Ifadur walked through the forest path, admiring the mountains and lake, and the moon and stars rising above them.

Watching the bard sing about the glass-clear surface of the lake, Lee Han newly realized Einroguard’s advantages.

‘The scenery here is better than I thought!’

Usually he was only thinking things like ‘How many fish should I secure from the lake today?’ or ‘How many baskets of wild vegetables should I gather from the mountain today?’, so he hadn’t noticed, but looking at it this way, it was quite nice.

Looking to the side, he saw the Skeleton Principal yawning.

If the other friends had seen this, they would have shed tears of envy.

To hear Ifadur’s song directly from beside him.

‘Hmm. I’m not really sure either.’

While he could tell that the singing was good, to Lee Han who had no particular interest in it, Ifadur’s song was just a well-sung song.

“But there’s something I’d like to ask Student Wardanaz.”

“Yes. I’ll listen carefully.”

Lee Han spoke as humbly as possible, wondering if he’d been caught thinking about other things.

“Duke Gonadaltes invited me to research the connection between music and magic… Oh wait. I should have asked this first, but I made a mistake. Getting old makes my memory poor… Which school are you studying under?”

“…”

…

Lee Han and the Skeleton Principal’s gazes wavered simultaneously.

‘Is it okay to tell him?’

‘It should be okay to tell him.’

“I’m paying attention to all schools within Einroguard.”

“Is that so!?”

Finding this story interesting as well, Ifadur exclaimed in surprise and pulled out his quill pen again.

“Isn’t that impossible?”

“Thanks to the professors who generously show me interest, though it’s difficult, I’m somehow achieving results.”

‘I made him do it, but he really is crazy.’

At the response that popped out like some device that spewed flattery when you inserted a coin, the Skeleton Principal felt something close to awe.

Perhaps the thought of keeping this disciple at Einroguard was a mistake?

With a tongue like that, shouldn’t he be sent to the Empire’s political circles?

‘But he likes magic too much for that.’

Unaware that the Skeleton Principal had decided his career path in such a short time, Lee Han continued speaking.

“I can feel that you truly respect Einroguard’s professors.”

“I’m truly a lucky person. Haha.”

“It seems so. Getting back to the main point… How much interest do you have in music?”

The Skeleton Principal sent a look saying ‘Just say you like it moderately.’

“I really enjoyed the song you composed last time, Ifadur. The lively rhythm…”

“Lively rhythm, you say?”

“…Drawing reactions from the Empire people with a song that goes against the popular trends of today is something only you could accomplish, Ifadur.”

“Aha.”

Lee Han immediately corrected his words upon seeing Ifadur’s reaction.

“Since you’re interested, I’ve become lucky too. As you know, while Duke Gonadaltes researches the connection between music and magic, I must help him diligently, but it seems we’ll also need help from students like yourself.”

Having worked as a bard for a long time, Ifadur knew well that nothing was as fickle as music.

The same song felt different depending on what day it was sung, so how much more difficult would it be for mages?

Inevitably, other mages would be needed to help in various ways during the research.

“Would you be able to help?”

At Ifadur’s question, the Skeleton Principal frowned with extreme displeasure.

‘What’s this?’

Lee Han was puzzled.

Given the Skeleton Principal’s personality, he thought he would push Lee Han forward regardless of whether it was difficult, as long as it was an opportunity to learn magic?

“If I were to help, what would I need to do?”

“Ahem. It would be quite bothersome for you. Though I would provide compensation…”

“?”

Lee Han was confused by Ifadur’s mention of compensation.

Huh?

‘Learning magic and receiving compensation too?’

Does that make sense?

“…Since we’d be taking up some of your precious weekends. You’d go outside with Duke Gonadaltes to meet the Empire’s orchestras and choirs, listen to their music, and magically…”

“I’ll help!”

“Are you really sure?”

Ifadur was surprised.

No matter how excellent a mage, since he was still young, he thought Lee Han would prioritize having his own time on weekends.

For instance, going out to enjoy ball games or playing chess at city cafes, and so on.

“You’ll have a lot of your time taken up.”

“Ifadur. I’m someone who has dedicated his life to magic.”

“Well, seeing how you belong to all those schools…”

“…”

Lee Han was hurt by his own words.

‘Some of those I was forced to take.’

“I would truly be delighted if you helped.”

…Shouldn’t we also check what kind of musical talent Wardanaz has?

The fact that Lee Han would have to go out unnecessarily instead of studying magic on weekends was pure agony for the Skeleton Principal.

To waste precious time on music magic that might not even bear fruit.

“It’s fine, Duke Gonadaltes. Whether he has talent or not, it will all serve as important examples. Besides, where else would you find such an interesting student? I’d like to hear more stories.”

Damn it…

The Skeleton Principal muttered quietly.

While he had succeeded in diverting attention from Einroguard, Ifadur had become interested in something else.

Well, there was no way that curious bard wouldn’t be interested in stories about someone like Wardanaz.

“Hmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah. I just remembered something. Unlike ordinary floods, spirit floods won’t disappear naturally…”

“…”

…

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————