Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 559
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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 559
Iwunrade resented his own mouth.
No, at this point it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a big mouth.
“If a graduate can’t trust his juniors like that, how are we supposed to trust the Empire’s bureaucrats?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
“A first-year student from the Wardanaz Family. Hmm. I’ll need to investigate further.”
“…”
Iwunrade nodded at his superior’s words, then froze.
He had been too flustered and confused to realize it, but thinking about it now, this Wardanaz was definitely the same Wardanaz he’d heard about before.
The one who had caused the infamous Skeleton Principal to be summoned before His Imperial Majesty…!
Iwunrade’s face turned pale with fear and tension.
He couldn’t even imagine how this investigation would end.
‘Will it be okay? Will it really be okay!?’
* * *
“…”
“…”
Lee Han and Giselle walked in silence.
Amidst the city’s noise, through the streets where countless races mingled and passed by, they walked quietly.
Both their faces were gloomy and dark.
Lee Han sighed once and opened his mouth.
“…Let’s just forget about it and buy what we need.”
“You think it’s that easy to forget?”
“We have no choice.”
Giselle glared at him once, then pondered before sighing as well and saying.
“Fine. Let’s forget about it and buy what we need.”
The two stood in front of 【Ikalten’s Jeou Hall】, one of Granden City’s bookstores.
The clerk working in the bookstore was about to greet the customers entering through the door but hesitated.
‘…Did something happen to them?’
The two looked as gloomy as if their friend had just died.
“【Making Artifacts from the Empire’s Trash Heap】, is this the right book?”
“That’s the one. They say it’s good for preparing for final exams.”
“【Basic Usage of Yellow Stone】. This one too?”
“Yellow stones get thrown away often, so it wouldn’t hurt to reference it.”
The two prepared the items needed for final exams one by one with gloomy faces.
Final exams didn’t just require reagents and materials.
There were also magic books, along with courage, friendship, perseverance, hatred, and so on.
Usually these kinds of magic books could be obtained from the library, but Einroguard’s clever students chose to go outside and buy books rather than get them from the library.
At least the magic books sold outside didn’t bite people.
“Wait. Wardanaz. Why do we need to buy 【Easily Confused Imperial Spelling】?”
“Oh, the kids from your tower keep making spelling mistakes.”
“…”
Giselle’s cheeks turned red all the way to the tips of her long ears.
Cursing her White Tiger Tower friends who made mistakes even with easy spelling, Giselle moved to the next bookshelf.
While browsing through 【Saint Iactus, Defeating the Evil Lich】, Giselle felt something strange.
“Wardanaz.”
“?”
“Doesn’t that person look suspicious?”
“I think we’re the most suspicious ones in this bookstore…”
Even as Lee Han said this, he stared intently at the person Giselle pointed out.
There was definitely a reason she called them suspicious.
It wasn’t because they were completely covered by a robe. In a large city, there were plenty of people who covered themselves, so that alone wouldn’t raise suspicion.
The person gave off the distinctive mana pattern of a mage.
There was a subtle difference between the surroundings of ordinary people who couldn’t use mana and those of mages who instinctively tried to control and regulate mana.
He hadn’t noticed when he first entered Einroguard, but as time passed, he became able to distinguish even these fine details.
Moreover, the books the person was selecting…
‘【Blood and ■’s ■■】, 【Summoning Demons ■■■■…】’
Jeou Hall’s magic books included some that had been verified and purchased from established mages, but there were also suspicious books of unknown origin.
Of course, being a bookstore located in the city’s central district, these were just a handful compared to the overall collection. It wasn’t some back-alley stall, so they didn’t stock many suspicious books.
But the person was blatantly browsing through and selecting only those kinds of books.
“They are suspicious.”
“Right? There’s a dagger inside their robe. With blood on it. Judging by how it hasn’t dried yet, it’s definitely recent.”
Giselle whispered in a sharp voice.
Only then did Lee Han realize there was a dagger tucked inside the person’s robe.
“Ah. I see.”
“…Wait. You didn’t see the dagger? Then what made you think they were suspicious?”
“The fact that they’re a mage?”
“?”
“And they keep trying to collect suspicious magic books…”
“That’s not really… No, never mind. That’s not what’s important right now.”
Giselle was about to say ‘Wardanaz, you’re also a mage who collects lots of suspicious magic books’ but stopped.
That wasn’t what was important right now.
“So what do you think we should do?”
“They are suspicious, but there are probably dozens of suspicious people in the city, and we can’t interfere with all of them. A bloody dagger could have any number of explanations.”
Giselle frowned and pondered for a moment. She tapped the scabbard with her fingertips before speaking as if she had no choice.
“That’s true.”
“Let’s just mention it to the clerk just in case.”
The two finished their purchases and left Jeou Hall, heading to their next destination.
It was 【Puyo’s Banyan Tree Wands】, a wand craftsman’s shop.
“How did you leave silver coins there?”
“I left some of what I earned from working last time.”
“…”
While she was confused about where to start criticizing, they saw a familiar person walking ahead.
It was the suspicious stranger they had seen at the bookstore earlier.
“That person?”
“It’s probably just a coincidence that we’re taking the same route.”
Lee Han said firmly.
He was already short on time and didn’t want to get involved with suspicious people.
Please don’t cause any trouble!
Thud-
The person stopped in front of 【Puyo’s Banyan Tree Wands】. There were no other people around.
Lee Han instinctively grabbed Giselle and cast a spell without realizing it.
“Cloak, swallow me!”
As the invisibility magic unfolded, their figures disappeared. The person looked around but didn’t notice anything unusual.
Swoosh-
The suspicious stranger pulled out a gnarled wand and drew the bloody dagger with their other hand.
They sliced their own arm with a ‘swish’, and the blade absorbed the blood, pulsing irregularly with mana.
‘Blood magic!’
Lee Han realized what kind of magic the other person was using.
Of course, it was a much more violent, crude, and dangerous structure than the blood magic Lee Han had learned, but the principle of amplifying magical power with blood was the same.
As his magical power increased, the stranger seemed to gain confidence and raised his staff to cast a spell.
“Power, power, power…”
A clumsy but self-enhancing spell.
There was only one reason to chant such a spell in front of someone else’s deserted shop.
Lee Han and Giselle exchanged glances simultaneously and let out deep sighs.
It was truly a day with rotten luck.
“Strike forth, lightning of Perkuntra!”
“Dwell in the blade and destroy!”
“Gahaha!”
The mage who had tried to plunder the shop was struck by lightning and sword and collapsed.
* * *
“Thank you so much. Really, thank you.”
Though Puyo wasn’t usually one for emotional expressions, he seemed deeply moved this time as he grabbed both their hands and shook them vigorously up and down.
“We only did what we had to do.”
“That’s right. You don’t need to thank us this much…”
Since the city guard had dragged away the fallen criminal, the two wanted to quickly get their silver coins and leave.
“Wait a moment. I can’t let you go without offering anything after you helped me like this. I recently obtained some very precious tea leaves…”
“Um, Mr. Puyo. Actually, I have urgent business…”
“Come to think of it, how did you get out? It shouldn’t be easy for Einroguard students to come out?”
When Puyo asked curiously, Lee Han quickly answered.
“What kind of tea leaves did you get?”
“Ah. Well, they’re tea leaves harvested from the glaciers of the Empire’s northern sea.”
Giselle sent him a look saying ‘hurry up and end the conversation so we can leave,’ but Lee Han couldn’t help it.
Thinking about his future connections with Puyo, he couldn’t afford to offend him needlessly.
Thanks to that, the two were treated to tea by Puyo, had their staffs inspected, received some advice on magic usage, and were given an armful of dragon wood that Puyo had recently crafted for staffs.
“…”
“…I think we’re screwed.”
Giselle muttered, but Lee Han pretended not to hear and loaded the bundle of wood onto his back.
“Let’s go. We still have a lot to buy.”
“I think we’re done for. There’ll probably be bandits on the next road too.”
“Don’t talk like Angrago. Are you going to surrender to superstition?”
Giselle sighed once and followed behind Lee Han.
He was right.
No matter how much fate tormented them, they had to fight against it.
“Right. The other guys are probably shopping too, so even if we can’t buy much…”
Crash bang clang!
“Ahhhhh!”
“The wall collapsed! Everyone be careful!!”
“Zellin! Zellin is trapped under the debris! Damn it. There’s too much blood! Oh Sisenza, why such trials!”
Lee Han threw down his bundle of wood and ran to the construction site of the neighboring guild.
Giselle silently ran after him.
“Everyone move aside!”
“Who are you… Gasp, a mage! Are you a mage from Einroguard?”
There was no time to explain, so Lee Han raised his staff and gestured. Giselle immediately used her enhanced strength to kick away the debris.
Once space was created, Lee Han washed the lying patient with water and immediately began chanting.
“Attach, attach, attach, attach…”
With a grinding sound, the bones began to mend. Giselle looked up in surprise while clearing the debris.
She knew that Lee Han was almost the only first-year who could properly use healing magic, but she hadn’t known he could heal such wounds at this speed.
“…Heal!”
“Is it, is it over?”
“He was lucky.”
Lee Han nodded while panting heavily.
He had ignored it when Moradi said it, but today might really be an unlucky day.
When they arrived at the manor, the prisoners inside tried to escape, after catching the prisoners they encountered bandits, after defeating the bandits there was an accident…
‘I should have consulted fortune telling and set the date.’
Lee Han regretfully put away his staff.
“Thank, thank you. Master Mage. You are our lifesaver!”
“Please tell us your name!”
Before Lee Han could answer, a city guard passing by from behind took off his helmet, bowed his head, and kindly explained.
“The person on the left is Lee Han of Wardanaz Family, the person on the right is Giselle of House Moradi. They are mages from Einroguard. Once again, thank you for your dedication.”
“I see!! Thank you so much!”
“Yes…”
“That’s what we do.”
Lee Han and Giselle nodded, half giving up.
At this point, they might just have to accept reality.
* * *
“No one’s here yet!”
“Run, run!”
The students who returned before sunset ran up to the upper corridor of the manor carrying their luggage.
Fortunately, despite all that chaos, there was still no one at the manor.
The dimensional portal was also working fine.
“Get in!”
“Everyone worked hard!”
The students waiting in the storage cheered when they saw their returning friends.
“No one followed you, right?”
“Hey. They say Wardanaz caught bandits, what the hell does that mean? Why would he catch bandits?”
“Bandits? I heard he saved a guild member from the stonemasons?”
“…???”
“?????”
The students looked at each other in confusion.
“Must be false rumors, right?”
“Must be. It’s not like Wardanaz is some fool who would do such things and walk around.”
“Right. Moradi was with him too. That Moradi isn’t someone who would make mistakes trying to help others. He’s not Angrago.”
“Hey. You bastard.”
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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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