Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 661

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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 661

Lee Han protested, but Professor Boladi ignored him.

He thought his disciple was just expressing modesty.

“Lee Han. But you were practicing time magic, weren’t you?”

“Hey. Be quiet.”

“Ah, no… I was just saying…”

Gainando felt very wronged when he received a murderous glare after casually mentioning it, thinking Lee Han might have forgotten.

‘What did I do wrong!’

Professor Boladi moved to treat the students to a meal.

After walking a few blocks, they saw a large red brick building with two floors. The sign elegantly read ‘The Three Magpies Restaurant Run by the Dwarf Brothers.’

Excited, Gainando explained the shop to his friends.

“This place is good. They sell the second-best chicken pie and third-best porterhouse steak in Flahur City!”

“Gainando. Thanks for the explanation, but the shop owner is glaring at you from the side.”

Lee Han thought Gainando’s steak might end up with dwarf spit in it.

“But Professor. Do you come here often? It doesn’t seem like the kind of place you’d frequent…”

“L-Lee Han. Even so, surely the Professor isn’t so poor that he can’t afford the food here.”

Gainando whispered with a frightened expression.

No matter how he thought about it, his friend was saying something too crazy.

“…I was talking about the food menu. Ratford. Could you switch seats with Gainando?”

“No! No!”

Gainando resisted but was caught by his friends and forcibly made to exchange seats.

“I don’t want to sit next to Yoner!”

“I don’t want to sit next to you either, so should I go down to the floor below?”

Ignoring his chattering friends, Lee Han looked around.

Just from the food the customers at other tables were enjoying, it was clearly a restaurant specializing in meat dishes. It wasn’t the kind of place Professor Boladi, who enjoyed vegetarian food, would come to.

“I come here when treating mercenaries or adventurers to meals. It has good reviews.”

“!”

Lee Han realized that Professor Boladi regularly employed mercenaries and adventurers and shuddered.

What the hell is he planning to do?

“Don’t tell me this year… is it because you’re preparing for lectures?”

Professor Boladi showed his refinement by not losing his composure even at his disciple’s foolish question.

“No. I finished preparing this year’s lectures last year.”

“…”

Lee Han felt a chill down his spine.

It was the most chilling answer of this winter.

“Now. Eandurude. You have to wait until the bread basket comes. You don’t need to cut the meat yourself. You can’t just stab it with a knife and eat it. Understand?”

“Could you please let me change seats?”

“No. And Lee Han is already suffering enough because of the Professor, so don’t torment him too.”

Yoner scolded his junior. Professor Boladi watched this and said,

“It’s fine to eat comfortably. As I said, mercenaries and adventurers come here too.”

When Eandurude tried to throw down the utensils and grab only the knife at those words, Yoner glared at him sternly.

“No.”

“But…”

“No. Pick them up again.”

“Ugh…”

Eandurude thought to himself.

Lee Han’s friends here were all strict, but that professor over there seemed like a somewhat lenient person.

If he entered Einroguard, he’d have to learn various things…

Perhaps taking that professor’s lenient lectures wouldn’t be too bad.

Besides, didn’t Eandurude have something to get revenge for against that professor?

‘I’ll steal his secrets and get revenge!’

When Eandurude pounded the table with his fist while thinking about the day he’d slam the professor to the ground, Yoner sternly scolded him again.

“Don’t pound the table like it’s an instrument.”

“…I want to change seats…”

Lee Han bit into freshly baked bread with butter to shake off his fear.

With something in his empty stomach, he felt the terror of this year’s horrifying classes diminish slightly.

“Then what are you hiring them for?”

“Hmm.”

Instead of answering, Professor Boladi looked at Lee Han with slightly contemplative eyes.

That look suddenly made Lee Han anxious.

‘Why do I feel like I made a mistake?’

“I suppose it’s fine to tell you.”

“Wait. If it’s some dangerous secret, that’s okay.”

If Professor Boladi had hired people to assassinate someone, Lee Han didn’t want to hear about it.

Later, when imperial investigators came asking ‘What do you know!’ he’d have to make excuses like ‘I don’t know anything. I’m just a disciple!’

“It’s nothing like that. I was just worried you might take too much interest.”

“?”

Something Lee Han might take too much interest in.

‘Did he raid the imperial gold mint or something?’

“Let me explain one by one. First, there are times I hire them because of requests.”

“Ah.”

Lee Han finally realized that Professor Boladi was a mage and a professor.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t strange for a mage to call adventurers or mercenaries to entrust them with requests.

From exploring ruins to gathering materials, there were many things a mage could entrust to them.

It was the mages who did these things directly that were strange.

“Did you have some materials you were looking for?”

Professor Boladi slowly shook his head.

“I don’t entrust requests.”

“…”

Surprisingly, Professor Boladi wasn’t the one giving requests, but the one solving them.

Since there were now requests too dangerous for Professor Boladi to handle alone, he hired adventurers and mercenaries to solve them together…

‘Is he hunting dragons or something??’

Lee Han couldn’t even imagine what kind of requests would be dangerous enough for Professor Boladi to feel threatened.

Shouldn’t requests of that level just be banned by imperial law?

“Wait. Then when you said you were worried I might take too much interest, you meant you were worried I’d be interested in these kinds of requests?”

“To some extent, yes.”

“That’s excessive worry. Unlike you, Professor, I have absolutely no interest in dangerous requests.”

“…”

“…”

His friends all stopped their chattering conversations and stared blankly at Lee Han.

They wanted to take their friend’s side if possible, but this was really too much nonsense.

“King of Ghouls…”

“Sea Serpent…”

“Frost Giant…”

“Honestly, Lord Wardanaz seems addicted to danger. You’re sitting right next to the Professor even now.”

Despite his friends’ sharp criticism, Lee Han was genuinely confident.

Unlike Professor Boladi, who would charge in even when danger was gaping its maw wide open, he had always analyzed the danger level of requests coldly and calmly.

“Then that’s fortunate. I was worried about your rashness.”

“I’ve felt this since before, but I think you misunderstand me a little, Professor. Haha.”

Just like he had ignored him earlier, Professor Boladi ignored him again.

Originally, people couldn’t objectively see their own shortcomings.

Lee Han was an excellent disciple, but he had the flaw of being impatient due to his innate talent, and this was something the professors needed to pay attention to.

“But besides the accomplices needed for the request, are there other reasons you need to hire them?”

The professor nodded.

“Plaheu City recently got a duel club.”

“A duel club, you say…”

When it came to duels, it was easy to imagine two people fighting a bloody battle until one of them died, but in the Empire, most duels of this type were prohibited. Such duels could only be found in places like underground fighting arenas.

The duels permitted in the Empire were usually conducted in a moderate manner where both parties swore to behave honorably, had witnesses present, allowed spectators, and the winner was determined as soon as anyone got injured and shed a drop of blood.

Of course, even these duels usually occurred when someone insulted another’s honor, but…

…as always, there were exceptions.

People addicted to the deadly exchange of blades and magic, that thrill and danger, and the ecstatic glory of victory.

And people who wanted to directly witness such deadly fights.

Finally, even people who wanted to make money by exploiting such individuals.

The places where these types of people mainly gathered were the Empire’s duel clubs.

A place that cultured people mockingly called the legal gambling den of high society (which wasn’t entirely wrong)!

“Oh, are you going there?”

Lee Han finally wondered if Professor Boladi had gone mad for blood.

Was attacking students not enough, so now he wanted to attack other poor victims in the Empire?

“Yes.”

“Do you have a reason for doing so? Perhaps to hone your magic combat skills?”

“No. Most duel clubs don’t reach that level. It’s because of the rewards.”

Professor Boladi explained carefully.

When entering a duel club and dueling by mutual agreement, outsiders could place bets, but the participants themselves could also make wagers.

A simple and clear rule where the winner takes what the loser wagered.

When Professor Boladi needed funds, he would either gather mercenaries or adventurers to take on dangerous requests, or tour the Empire’s duel clubs.

And the latter allowed him to gain financial benefits much more easily.

Since there were novices showing off with just a sword while carrying various treasures…

Unlike requests, the reason for hiring mercenaries or adventurers when entering duel clubs was due to personnel limitations.

Besides one-on-one duels, there were many who engaged in group battles as well.

Since there was no problem crushing the opponents regardless of their numbers, allies just needed to make up the numbers.

‘Good heavens!’

Lee Han was shocked.

He had been mistaken by the professor’s earlier unwillingness to haggle at the toy store, but Professor Boladi was not someone ignorant of worldly affairs.

‘He’s duplicating gold coins!’

If Lee Han were Professor Boladi, he would have toured the duel clubs too.

What reason would there be to bother with requests and teaching students when touring duel clubs could multiply one’s wealth instantly?

“Professor. Let’s sweep through all the duel clubs in the Empire!”

“I can’t do that because of entry bans.”

“Pardon?”

“If you win too much, the clubs ban you from entering.”

“…”

Lee Han recalled what Professor Boladi had said earlier.

-Plaheu City ‘recently’ got a duel club.

Recently.

He had just passed over it earlier, but that means…

‘This person has been banned from most duel clubs throughout the Empire?!’

That’s why he came to Plaheu City where a duel club had recently opened.

To quickly rake in profits before rumors spread and he got banned!

The mage cards being sold at the toy store earlier were definitely spoils obtained from duel clubs.

Lee Han reflected on himself.

‘I was nothing.’

He thought he was diligently accumulating wealth, but professors were truly on another level.

“I’m impressed, Professor. I’d like to visit a duel club someday too.”

“I thought you would.”

While he had strongly denied being interested in dangerous requests earlier, he couldn’t deny his interest in duel clubs.

In fact, Lee Han was currently pondering how to multiply his wealth through duel clubs.

Later, when his skills reached a certain level, he would visit duel clubs and…

‘I won’t act as blatantly as the professor. I’ll lose about once for every three wins… Hmm, let me find the highest win rate and aim slightly below that. Hiring adventurers to increase my loss count wouldn’t be bad either.’

While he was having sinister thoughts that would make duel club organizers immediately kick him out, Professor Boladi finished his green tea and wiped his lips with a handkerchief.

“I’m finished.”

“Thank you for the meal, Professor!”

The students bowed to Professor Boladi with gratitude.

Professor Boladi nodded as if it was nothing. Then he said to Lee Han.

“Follow me. I’ll introduce you to the club.”

“…”

Lee Han was very flustered by this visit that was about ten years earlier than his own plans.

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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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