Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 622

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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 622

Lee Han thought “Oh no.”

Come to think of it, if they were criminals, they should be caught.

As the Empire’s famous saying goes, “Only two types of people live in the north: knights and criminals,” the northern region was full of criminals who had fled there.

With its vast, harsh terrain and many uninhabited areas, it was the perfect hideout.

Capturing these criminals was also one of the duties that knight families had to perform.

“Perhaps if we catch criminals, wouldn’t Lady Jicklin be satisfied?”

“Wake up from your dream. There’s no way my sister would be satisfied with something like that.”

“…”

Lee Han grumbled inwardly.

‘Aren’t the standards too strict?’

“But is there a way to confirm their identity? Can we just attack them?”

Just because the spirit said they seemed like criminals didn’t necessarily mean they were real criminals.

Since spirits instinctively sensed the wickedness of others, even if they felt like criminals, they might not actually be criminals under Imperial law.

“Of course not. Do you think this is Einroguard?”

Giselle spoke as if it was out of the question.

Unlike Einroguard, outside they couldn’t just launch attacks without confirmation.

“Then what?”

“We need to approach and verify their identity.”

“That’s unfortunate. If this were Einroguard, we could just attack them.”

Giselle unconsciously nodded but then stopped.

‘What am I thinking?!’

She suddenly realized she had been too influenced by Einroguard.

* * *

“The north is really a damn land.”

“Shh. Keep it down.”

The mercenaries cursed as they watched their breath turn into white vapor.

Even for mercenaries who traveled throughout the Empire, the northern cold was not easy to adapt to. Especially if it was the north in winter.

“What’s wrong with moving our mouths now?”

“Stupid fool.”

“What? Who’s stupid? Want to clash and warm up our blood?”

“Don’t let your guard down just because the surroundings are quiet. In the north, monsters can appear at any time.”

The other mercenaries flinched at the words of a mercenary who had been to the north several times.

Hearing those words, the quietness around them felt ominously like the calm before a storm.

“…There doesn’t seem to be anything around here. It’s all snow and ice.”

“You can’t see it because you’re not a local. Anyway, stop chattering. Whether it’s monsters, knights, or patrollers, there’s nothing good about attracting attention.”

The mercenaries glanced at the customer following behind them.

As mercenaries who would take any job for gold coins, they had accepted this request too, but they were curious about the client’s identity.

What circumstances could there be that would make someone urgently scatter gold coins to gather mercenaries and head north?

Like the mercenaries here, they had surely committed several crimes against Imperial law, but they couldn’t guess beyond that.

“Shit, it’s a knight!!”

“Manage your expression. Manage your expression! Listen here. Stay still. We’ll handle the talking.”

The client, wearing a deeply pulled hood, nodded.

The mercenaries nervously straightened their clothes with tense faces.

In the north, even in shabby and remote places, one couldn’t let their guard down. Sometimes knights would patrol this far out.

Just because there were only one or two, they absolutely couldn’t be careless. There was a high possibility that other knights were waiting nearby.

‘Fortunately…’

‘They’re young guys.’

The mercenaries sighed in relief seeing that the approaching knights were very young.

They could handle guys that young.

“K-Knight sir. What brings you here?”

The mercenary at the front spoke while acting frightened. His acting was so convincing that the other mercenaries were impressed.

‘That guy. There’s a reason he’s expensive.’

‘It wasn’t a lie that he’d completed dozens of requests.’

A mercenary’s skill was proven by the requests they had completed.

The fact that someone had survived while completing dozens of requests meant that mercenary was extraordinary.

Without exceptional ability, they couldn’t have lasted like that.

Whether fooled by the act, the young knight greeted them gently.

“Ah. It’s nothing serious. There are so many monsters in this area. I thought you might need help, so I came.”

“Oh my, is that so. Thank you so much.”

The mercenary bowed and greeted them. Anyone could see he looked moved.

“For lowly people like us to receive such concern from a knight sir…”

“What are you saying. No. As a knight of the north, this is naturally what I should do.”

When the handsome knight said this, the slender and pretty knight beside him stared intently.

The mercenaries wondered why he was staring like that.

“…Quite admirable as a knight.”

“Haha. Thanks.”

‘Ah. That one’s the superior.’

From the brief conversation, the mercenaries roughly guessed the hierarchy between the two knights.

Probably the slender knight had joined the knight order first, and the handsome knight had joined later.

The handsome knight spoke again.

“You’ll need to find a campsite soon. I’ll guide you to a good place.”

“Oh, no. You don’t need to go that far…”

“Protecting guests of the north from danger is a knight’s duty. Please don’t refuse.”

‘Hmm.’

The mercenaries were reluctant but couldn’t refuse. If they forcibly refused, it would seem strange instead.

Besides, the other party didn’t seem particularly suspicious. From their speech, they were clearly still green knights.

‘One guy is soft. The other one looks a bit picky.’

‘Is the handsome one from commoner origins?’

‘He’s too handsome for that though.’

‘That’s true. Let’s accept for now.’

The mercenaries nodded.

“Oh my, understood. Thank you. May we ask about the knights’ families?”

“I’m from the Alpha family.”

“…Me too.”

Borrowing their absent friend’s family name, Lee Han and Giselle apologized inwardly.

“Alpha family, Alpha family. I’ll definitely remember that name.”

“Haha. No need. Now, this way.”

The handsome knight guided the group toward the bottom of the cliff.

It was a good campsite, close to the river and able to block the surrounding wind thanks to the terrain.

“Such a place!”

“Is it suitable?”

“Yes, yes! It’s luxurious. Thanks to you, knight sir, we found such a place! Thank you so much.”

“Then I’ll help you prepare the campsite.”

“!”

Just as the mercenaries were about to refuse in panic, the pretty knight got angry first.

“Are you joking right now? Why would you help with preparations? Is serving travelers what a knight should do?”

“Come on. I can do at least this much. What would you do if we encountered monsters?”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

The angry knight sharply turned his back and distanced himself.

The handsome knight spoke to the embarrassed mercenaries.

“Don’t worry. He only talks like that.”

‘I don’t think so.’

In fact, from the mercenaries’ perspective, the pretty-looking knight was more typical of knights.

Usually they would complain about why they should help mercenary bastards, not step forward to help like this.

“Sir Knight, you really don’t need to help us…”

“Spring forth.”

The knight surprisingly pulled out a staff and waved it. When clear water sprang forth and filled a large cauldron, the mercenaries were startled.

“You’re a mage?!”

“Haha. I only know how to do a few simple things.”

Though there were mages belonging to knight orders, the mercenaries were surprised since they naturally thought he was a knight given his build.

‘He must really be of commoner origin?’

‘Seems so.’

The mage’s magic was amazing. A campsite that would normally take much longer was created in an instant.

The mercenaries forgot they needed to manage their expressions and exclaimed in admiration.

“Wow…!”

“Sir Mage, you’re truly amazing.”

The handsome mage was very embarrassed.

“It’s nothing special.”

“Even magic of this level is amazing.”

“That’s right, exactly!”

When the campsite’s outer walls were created and the campfire blazed brightly, the handsome mage bowed his head and said.

“Well then, I’ll be going now. Have a good journey.”

“Hey! Pour Sir Mage at least a cup of coffee.”

“Haha. No need. You’ll be short on coffee during your travels, I can drink some when I return.”

The handsome mage really didn’t stay any longer and turned to leave with the waiting knight.

Seeing this, the mercenaries could finally relax.

“Phew…”

“It really was nothing after all.”

“What a surprise, really. Maybe we were more tense because he was so naive?”

“Right. Still, the campsite is neat!”

The mercenaries burst into boisterous laughter.

As tension released, they laughed even more.

“To see the client and not say a word. What a dull fellow!”

“He probably just thought they dressed like that because of the cold! Kahaha!”

The client, who hadn’t said a word until now, spoke from within the robe.

“Is it okay to stay at a campsite those knight bastards set up? I feel uneasy.”

“Nothing to worry about. From what I saw, they’re soft rookies. They showed no signs of suspicion at all.”

“They’ll just leave thinking they did a good deed. Besides, wouldn’t it be a waste to abandon such a well-made campsite?”

“The magic really is amazing! No need to fetch water.”

The mercenaries admired the neat campsite they couldn’t normally see.

Originally, preparing a campsite in this cold weather would take several times more effort.

Digging the frozen solid ground, breaking ice to get water, boiling that water again, finding firewood…

All those processes were solved by one kind mage, so how convenient was that.

“Coffee’s ready!”

“Ugh. Give me some first. My body’s freezing.”

“Me too, me too!”

The mercenaries all poured freshly brewed coffee into themselves to thaw their frozen bodies.

And then they all fell into deep sleep without exception.

* * *

“Hmm. Easy.”

“…”

Lee Han and Giselle were watching from a distance with invisibility magic cast.

-Oh, there are quite a few of them? There are even mercenaries?

-This will be troublesome.

-Moradi. Do you think the mercenaries would listen if we told them to stop in the name of the Moradi family?

-Those kinds of guys… usually don’t listen.

Experienced mercenaries prioritized contracts over imperial law.

If you said you wanted to check something, they’d either attack immediately or buy time while scattering.

-Right? Let’s subdue them peacefully.

-Is there a way to subdue them peacefully?

-There is. I’ll play the good mage, so you play the bad mage. Then their guard will be lowered.

-Seriously? You seriously want to do that?

-Don’t worry. It worked at Einroguard, so it’ll work outside too.

And it actually worked.

Seeing Lee Han’s skill in putting all the mercenaries to sleep by mixing sleeping potion into the water when filling the cauldron, Giselle thought she should think more carefully before drinking potions Wardanaz gave her in the future.

“Wait! We’re here to verify identities. We’d appreciate your cooperation.”

Lee Han shouted to the client who hadn’t drunk coffee even as the mercenaries collapsed.

The hand holding his staff wasn’t threatening but was ready to respond at any time.

“…Where did you bastards come from?”

“Northern knight families have appropriate inspection rights over travelers and arrest rights in emergencies according to imperial law. Where are you from?”

The robed person muttered.

“You were lying in ambush…”

“Excuse me?”

“You were lying in ambush. Right? You filthy imperial dogs.”

‘How did they know?’

“Lord Prahgal will descend without yielding to you dogs’ conspiracy!!”

“Moradi!!”

When Lee Han shouted, Giselle immediately drew her twin swords and charged. The artifact twin swords shone clearly, concentrating their power at the tips.

However, Sharkan and the skeleton warriors Lee Han had positioned in advance rushed forward in unison to attack the fanatic.

The fanatic collapsed helplessly.

“Gaaah!!”

“Phew. That was startling.”

“…”

Giselle glared at her friend who was exaggerating when he could have subdued them sufficiently.

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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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