Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 637

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

Chapter 637

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, no. That person just now…”

The coachman panicked and pointed his finger.

He had just asked for directions, but the man was running away at full speed as if he had seen a wyvern.

Gainando saw this and said seriously.

“He must be someone who’s afraid of carriages.”

“…?”

The coachman stared blankly at Gainando.

No matter how he thought about it, that statement seemed like nonsense.

Where in the world would there be someone afraid of carriages?

‘No. This person attends Einroguard. He must know much better than an ignorant coachman like me.’

The coachman shook his head to dispel the impious thoughts he had just had.

Though still young, the person the coachman was currently serving was of Imperial Palace bloodline (though his rank was somewhat low) and a mage attending Einroguard.

His wisdom was absolutely not to be underestimated.

“Yes. Then let’s continue on.”

“Oh! There’s another person over there!”

“!”

This time it was a peddler walking with cargo loaded on a pony.

He seemed to be quite an experienced peddler, with a rough face full of scars. His eyes flashed with the determination to travel anywhere from the hot southern deserts to the cold northern glaciers of the Empire.

There were no people more reliable and good to ask than these peddlers who traveled throughout the Empire. The coachman hurriedly called out.

“Hey there! Hey there! May I ask you something?”

“Ask away.”

“Is this the right way to the Wardanaz Family?”

“You’re going to the Wardanaz Family?”

“That’s right. As a customer…”

The peddler quickly took the cargo from his pony and threw it haphazardly at the coachman. The coachman was startled and covered his face.

“Ugh! What are you doing…”

The peddler ran away without looking back. He didn’t even take his pony or cargo.

“…”

“…That person must also be afraid of carriages?”

‘Something’s strange!’

The coachman began to strongly feel something was off.

No matter how he thought about it, this wasn’t about being afraid of carriages.

They were afraid of the name Wardanaz Family!

The passerby from earlier was one thing, but even a peddler who had been through everything just ran away.

“Young master. Isn’t something strange? Could something have happened to the Wardanaz Family?”

“No. Lee Han said nothing was wrong.”

“Who is this Lee Han?”

“My friend. Lee Han of Wardanaz Family! By the way, he’s my closest friend.”

“…?”

The coachman hesitated.

To find out if something happened to the Wardanaz Family, shouldn’t he ask an objective outsider rather than asking the family member himself ‘Is your family okay?’

What if this friend Lee Han was plotting some evil scheme…

The coachman had heard the terrifying rumors about the Wardanaz Family several times.

The Kraha family had told him ‘Those are just false rumors, don’t worry,’ but now that the situation had turned out this way, he suddenly remembered them again.

What if they weren’t false rumors?

‘No, no. This person attends Einroguard… If his friend was plotting some suspicious conspiracy, he would have found out first!’

The coachman tried hard to pull himself together.

Swoosh!

Gainando threw a crumpled paper out the carriage window. The coachman asked puzzledly.

“What did you throw?”

“Oh. An arithmetic problem. It’s a secret. I’m going to say later that a bird secretly took it!”

“…”

Gainando was so impressed with his own wisdom that he didn’t notice the coachman’s gaze growing colder and colder.

“It’s a village. Let’s rest for a moment.”

The vast territory of great noble families was close to an independent space, with villages and servants separately within it.

Since the Wardanaz Family’s territory would naturally be the same, the Udamhwa Village now visible was the village closest to the family and could be called the last village before entering the territory.

And for the coachman, it was the last chance to obtain useful information.

Creak!

The coachman stopped the carriage in front of the 【Small Boat Above Clouds】 inn.

“Young master, please stay here.”

“Okay.”

Gainando nodded while completely absorbed in 【Detective Toberiz the Puppy Beastman】.

“This way! This way!”

A servant from the inn quickly ran out and gestured toward the stables.

This village was certainly not quite a city, but it was a fairly large and prosperous village. This could be seen from how the village inn accepted an eight-horse carriage without hesitation.

In the case of small villages, there were cases where they would just tie up outside due to lack of space.

‘Good. If it’s such a big village, I’ll definitely be able to get useful information.’

The coachman made a firm resolution.

Small villages aside, in big villages there was bound to be at least one person who would tell proper information.

“…?”

The moment he opened the inn door, the coachman felt something was off.

Throughout the spacious first floor, old round wooden tables filled every gap, and villagers and travelers sat here and there with large pewter cups filled with alcohol.

At the counter inside, the owner was skillfully tending to barrels, and next to him even bards were gathered sitting. It was a large inn befitting a prosperous village.

But…

‘Why is there no sound?’

Surprisingly, this inn was eerily quiet.

The villagers, the travelers, all sat silently without saying a word. The owner was also quiet, and even the bards weren’t performing.

“Did… did someone pass away?”

“Shh!”

At the coachman’s question, a nearby village person signaled him to be quiet.

“Keep your mouth shut, stranger. Now’s not the time.”

“…??”

“Sit here. Quickly.”

The coachman sat next to the village person without understanding. The village person frowned and whispered.

“Of all days, you came on a day like today. You have no luck either.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Look outside there.”

The coachman turned his gaze to the window.

A monstrous demon with dozens of hooves was slowly prowling through the village.

And next to that demon was a boy. The boy had a bundle of luggage on the demon and was muttering while holding a paper.

“Hmm. Next is… do I need chocolate? Ah, this guy. He seems like he’ll only eat chocolate…”

-Did you perhaps have a child at Einroguard…?

The coachman was so shocked he almost fell over. Then the villagers became even more shocked and grabbed the coachman.

“Stranger, are you trying to get someone killed?!”

“I’m… I’m sorry. I was so surprised. Wh-wh-wh-what on earth is that?”

“It’s the Wardanaz Family’s demon.”

The villagers spoke the name of the Wardanaz Family with voices full of awe and fear.

“The Archmage’s minion!”

“Why on earth did the Archmage send a demon to the village?!”

“How would we know? We’re doing this because we don’t know!”

The coachman finally understood why the inn was as quiet as a mouse.

And come to think of it, it wasn’t just the inn – outside the village was quiet too.

Right now, people were holding their breath, afraid they might find fault with something!

“But still, the Wardanaz Family is a mage family that protects the Empire…”

“Well said, stranger. Why don’t you go tell that to the demon.”

The coachman shut his mouth.

“Do you know why this inn is called 【Small Boat Above the Clouds】?”

“W-well?”

“It’s because when the owner was young, he went out on the lake with a small boat and got dragged up above the clouds.”

A dwarven elder sitting nearby, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, spoke softly.

“Dwarves have a saying. Don’t get involved with an Archmage. No matter how righteous the Archmage may be, nothing good will come of it. It will ruin your life…”

Clank!

“!?!?!”

Everyone in the inn stopped breathing.

While they were talking, the inn door opened and the Wardanaz Family boy entered.

“Would you wait in the stables?”

-I’m not a hor… I understand…

Gulp!

Someone’s swallowing sound was particularly loud.

The boy walked over and asked the owner.

“Could I buy some candied lemon? I heard at the general store that the candied lemon here is really delicious…”

Thud!

The owner quickly brought out the entire jar of candied lemon. The boy replied in confusion.

“You don’t need to give me this much.”

“It’s a gift from my heart!”

“Just scoop out a little please.”

The boy took some candied lemon and fell into thought.

“Do you happen to have grapefruit too?”

“G-g-g-grapefruit you mean? Yes!”

“It is grapefruit, right? Wait, could you hold this for a moment!”

-If this was going to happen, why did you send me to the stables… I’m absolutely not complaining…

The boy called the demon when his hands weren’t enough.

The inn became the quietest it had been all day. If a needle dropped, it would sound like thunder.

“You mustn’t drop this.”

-Yes…

“Would you like to try one?”

-Yes…

“Is it delicious?”

-It’s so delicious…

“That’s good. Haha.”

The boy chatted with the demon, then gathered all the candied fruits and left.

People could finally breathe again.

“See? This is why we told you to keep your mouth shut…”

Instead of answering, the coachman burst through the door and ran out of the village.

* * *

Nilia sat inside the Meikin Family carriage, glancing outside.

‘Oh. That flower is delicious.’

For a moment she thought about stopping the carriage to pick the flower and tell Yoner to try it, but Nilia restrained herself.

The coachman might secretly laugh at her.

-My goodness! How could the young lady of the Meikin Family be with such a savage, vulgar, rough hunter who eats like a wild beast…

“Wait! Stop the carriage!”

Yoner shouted to the coachman, then opened the carriage door and jumped out.

He quickly gathered flowers and came back up panting.

“…This flower is good for making wind barrier potions. Sorry for startling you.”

When Yoner’s eyes met Nilia’s, he seemed embarrassed and explained. Nilia felt very pleased.

“No, that flower is delicious too! Look there. That person is also eating flowers… Ah!”

“???”

When Nilia screamed, Yoner looked outside the carriage in confusion.

A familiar relative was sitting on the grassland with a gloomy face, chewing on flowers.

“…”

“…”

Gainando, who had been chewing flowers, looked up. Seeing the Meikin Family carriage, Gainando cried out tearfully.

“Yoner!!!”

“Depart!”

Yoner shouted coldly.

However, Gainando grabbed the carriage with unbelievably quick movements.

“It’s me! Me!”

“How can you prove you’re not fake?”

“…H-here. I have homework that Lee Han gave me!”

“You’re fake. Depart!”

Yoner, who didn’t want to get involved with his annoying relative during vacation, gave the order coldly.

But Nilia’s heart softened a bit.

“C-couldn’t we at least ask what happened?”

“…Sigh. You’ll regret it.”

Yoner sighed and opened the door. Gainando climbed up tearfully.

“What happened?”

“The coachman ran away!”

“You must have done something wrong.”

“I didn’t!!”

Gainando poured out the coachman’s story in a voice full of sorrow.

He had left him in the carriage and disappeared!

“When I asked the village people, they said he just ran away. Sob sob.”

Yoner and Nilia exchanged glances.

There was only one thing they could guess.

“Did you force the coachman to read magazines?”

“You used dark magic on the coachman, didn’t you.”

“You pestered the coachman to buy you snacks, right?”

“You didn’t ask the coachman to do your homework for you?”

“It’s none of those!”

Gainando was furious at his friends’ suspicions.

These guys couldn’t even be called friends!

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