Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 544

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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 544

Lee Han hesitated for a moment, then immediately responded.

“You’re absolutely right. There are so many crazy bastards in this world.”

“Maybe Gonadaltes broke it?”

“That’s quite possible.”

“Gonadaltes has been particularly irritable lately.”

Professor Verdus put down the wrench-like artifact and dusted off his hands.

“Like when he locked me up last time. He keeps getting angry.”

“How strange. I can’t understand it.”

“Actually, I know the reason.”

“Oh.”

Lee Han was surprised.

Professor Verdus knew why the Skeleton Principal was angry?

‘He was able to figure that out?’

The real reason, when you got down to it, was because Professor Verdus’s kind disciple had accidentally touched the Skeleton Principal’s belongings, but there was no way he could know that…

And besides that, Professor Verdus had done many things to irritate the Skeleton Principal.

But the professor himself had the ability to figure that out.

Really?

“It’s because it’s the end of the year.”

“Pardon?”

“When the year ends, the Empire’s bureaucrats become annoying. Why did you spend money here, why did you spend money there.”

“Ah.”

Lee Han understood what he meant.

Einroguard didn’t receive a single penny in entrance fees or tuition from students or their families.

This was a world of difference from other magic schools in the Empire that charged enormous entrance fees and tuition that would shock even decent noble families.

Of course, Einroguard’s operating funds didn’t just fall from the sky. As the lord of Einroguard, the Skeleton Principal had to run around here and there to secure funding. Having been present at several such occasions, Lee Han knew some of those hardships.

Donations from various celebrities and great noble families, the Emperor’s personal sponsorship, suspiciously questionable-looking bags of gold coins that the Skeleton Principal pulled from his own treasury (usually accompanied by newspaper articles about various heinous criminals disappearing), and so on.

Among these, one of the largest portions was the official support funds from the Empire.

A fierce competitive arena where bureaucrats tried to cut costs by any means while the Skeleton Principal tried to increase them by any means!

Naturally, at year’s end, the Empire’s financial officials would desperately try to cut next year’s budget.

‘I need to be even more careful.’

Lee Han resolved to be more careful not to get caught if he ever had to steal the Skeleton Principal’s belongings again.

What would normally be a day in the punishment room could become a week.

“Take this.”

“What is this?”

“For today’s lecture. We’re going to make winter clothing.”

Opening the chest, he found various reagents lined up inside.

Things to imbue fire properties, or deflect cold and wind, and so on.

As year’s end approached, Einroguard’s weather was getting colder and colder.

Students would patch rags together to make their coats thicker or carry glass bottles filled with hot alchemical liquids that didn’t cool easily, but it wasn’t easy.

There were spells like 【Heat Retention】, but in situations where you had to constantly move around the school grounds, even this was close to a luxury…

What was useful in such times were simple artifacts that carved magic directly into the objects themselves.

No need to cast spells separately, and they could last much longer.

‘…But could Professor Verdus think of that?’

“Did you think of this yourself, Professor??”

“Right? I knew you’d notice!”

Professor Verdus answered as if he’d been waiting for this. His voice was full of indignation.

“Would I have chosen something this boring? Of course not. Professor Garcia made me do it! She said she’d smash my workbench if I didn’t. How can a person be so cruel?”

“Come now. You must have misheard, Professor. Professor Garcia wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“No! I heard correctly!”

Professor Verdus jumped up and down, but Lee Han ignored him, pretending not to hear.

* * *

“…So today, for your sake, we’re making winter clothing.”

When Professor Verdus spoke grumpily, the students were shocked.

They all looked at Lee Han simultaneously and shouted.

“Did you threaten the professor, Wardanaz???”

“…”

While Lee Han was at a loss for words, Professor Verdus explained.

“No. Professor Garcia threatened me.”

“Come on. Don’t lie, Professor. How could Professor Garcia threaten anyone?”

At Angrago’s words, Giselle fell into thought.

‘She could… couldn’t she?’

While Professor Garcia was indeed one of the kindest people around, if you removed preconceptions, she was actually someone who had all the conditions necessary to threaten anyone.

“It’s true! Really!”

As Professor Verdus jumped around frantically, Lee Han calmed him down again.

“Professor. Please calm down. If the students don’t finish today, your workbench might get smashed.”

“That’s right.”

Professor Verdus, who wouldn’t bat an eye at students studying magic 25 hours a day but treasured his workbench, immediately came to his senses.

“Now. Among the things you wear in winter that can have magic carved into them…”

Professor Verdus explained various clothing items that could have magic carved into them: hats, scarves, coats, cloaks, vests, sweaters, shirts, and so on.

“What about gloves?”

“You can carve into them.”

“Oh. Gloves too…”

As his friend tried to take notes, Lee Han stopped him and asked again.

“Is it possible at our level?”

“Uh. What circle magic were you using? Can you use 4th circle?”

“Wardanaz probably can…”

“Shut up, idiot.”

Professor Verdus, who could finish calculations for his artifacts in 0.1 seconds mentally but needed to count on his fingers to figure out students’ levels, barely finished thinking.

“That won’t work.”

“Right, gloves would be difficult since they’re small.”

“It’s not difficult, you’re just stupid.”

“…”

Several White Tiger Tower students whispered conversations like ‘Can’t we secretly bury the professor in a snowdrift?’

Meanwhile, Professor Verdus finished explaining the possible clothing items and also explained the magic suitable for them.

“【Heat Retention】, 【Wind Resistance】, 【Cold Resistance】, 【Snow Skin】, 【Condensation Resistance】… That should be enough, right?”

“There are some we haven’t learned?”

“Huh? You can learn them new this time.”

“…”

Several White Tiger Tower students began advancing their plans, thinking ‘Maybe we really could make him fall into a snow pit if we do it right?’

‘Wait.’

Lee Han, who had helped prepare Professor Verdus’s lecture, was the first to notice something strange.

“Professor. Even if we’re not making permanent artifacts, we’re still carving magic to last quite a while. Can ordinary clothing durability withstand that?”

“It can’t. That’s why you need to use special fabric or leather.”

“Ah. Did you prepare that in advance?”

Lee Han was slightly surprised.

He hadn’t expected Professor Verdus to have brought such things to the lecture hall beforehand.

“We don’t have any?”

“Excuse me?”

“We don’t have any. You guys need to go get some.”

“…”

“…”

Just then, a cold wind blew fiercely from outside. It made an eerie sound like a ghost wailing.

“Where are we supposed to get that now?”

Professor Verdus, who received the question, scratched the back of his head.

“Your upperclassmen all stockpiled them on their own, but you guys didn’t? Nothing left from what you stockpiled last year?”

“We’re first years.”

“I know that. So nothing left from what you stockpiled last year?”

‘He’s not just any ordinary crazy person.’

Using the conversation between Professor Verdus and the students like white noise from a phonograph, Lee Han checked his book.

The leather or cloth he could use was…

“Professor. How about twin-headed cow leather?”

“That’s sufficient for the spells I mentioned earlier.”

“Hmm. I have two boxes of it, but that probably won’t be enough, right? Would Basala cloth work?”

“That works too. Only the stem bark of Basala harvested in winter though.”

“Ah. I heard it’s winter mountain. How about wool?”

“Ordinary sheep wool won’t work.”

“What about wool made from Mountain Range Destroyer Sheep fur?”

“What? You have that kind of wool? Give it to me!”

Professor Verdus was shocked to learn there was Mountain Range Destroyer Sheep wool.

Such high-grade cloth was too precious to waste on the rags students wore around.

Lee Han lightly ignored him and compared the cloths he had.

Angrago, who was listening from the side, couldn’t understand and pondered before speaking up.

“Wardanaz. Hey. Wardanaz.”

“?”

“We’re going to raid the Principal’s storage now, right? Let’s go together.”

“…No. I collected these myself.”

At Lee Han’s words, not only the White Tiger Tower students but students from other towers started smiling.

“Right. Right. Wardanaz. You collected them. Let’s go with that story on the surface.”

“So when are we going?”

“…”

Lee Han suddenly worried whether his image among his friends had become similar to that of a robber.

“I collected them, you crazy bastards.”

“But… how do you collect that much?”

“Wait. Wardanaz, you maybe… I got it. You failed, right? You’re actually a third year…”

Smack!

“I worked for them and collected them, you bastards.”

Lee Han hit his friend’s head with his staff for talking nonsense and said in disbelief.

“Wo… worked for them?”

“Yeah.”

“Professor work? Is it possible to collect that much from that?”

The friends murmured among themselves.

It wasn’t particularly because Lee Han was a natural-born robber, but because it was physically impossible to have that much cloth.

They had entered together and been here for a year, so unless he had lived alone for several years, how could he have collected that much?

“I also received some from upperclassmen.”

“?”

“????”

All the students fell into confusion.

Upperclassmen?

…Was it possible to meet upperclassmen?

And frequently enough to make deals?

‘Hey. Isn’t Wardanaz really a third year?’

‘But why skip second year?’

‘He seems more like a third year than second year.’

Professor Verdus urged Lee Han.

“If you have materials, start quickly. I need to finish making it today or Professor Garcia will break my workbench.”

“Understood, Professor.”

“Right. What about the Mountain Range Destroyer Sheep wool?”

“You guys, we’re going to the tower, so follow along.”

Lee Han pretended not to hear again and left the lecture hall with the White Tiger Tower students.

* * *

Angrago, who was diligently carrying and moving chests, suddenly had a question.

“Hey. Wardanaz. But this is Phoenix Tower, so why are we moving them?”

“Don’t you guys use materials?”

“…Uh… the, the priests use them too.”

“So don’t you guys use materials?”

“…We can just move them…”

Giselle quietly remained silent while moving chests from a distance.

When the situation was unfavorable, it was strategically correct to stay quiet and watch for opportunities.

“Hmm. The amount might be a bit insufficient. I should bring more. Rowena. If you dig about 2 meters into the ground here, there are several boxes. Go get those.”

“Ah. Yes.”

For a moment, the image of a squirrel hiding acorns here and there flashed through Nilia’s mind, but she said nothing.

“Why did you bury them like that?”

“Not enough storage space. The common room and private rooms have limits. Hmm. Should I get a storage room?”

Lee Han understood why upperclassmen risked plunder and theft to make storage in secluded external locations.

When he first entered the school, he thought the private room and common room would have enough space, but that wasn’t the case.

Just stockpiling food and supplies quickly filled up the space. On top of that, someone like Lee Han who had many spells to study also had increasing preparations.

‘The base I found last time has poor accessibility… Should I store them in the cabin where I raised the basilisk for now.’

Nilia, who gauged the amount, tilted her head and asked.

“Wait. Isn’t the amount sufficient? Why more… Ah. I get it.”

Nilia looked at Lee Han with meaningful eyes and nudged him with her elbow.

“Right. To your friends…”

“You’re going to share them!”

“…I need to sell them.”

A moment of silence lingered between them.

Lee Han nodded and spoke again.

“Well, you could say it’s sharing.”

“No…”

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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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