Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 667

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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 667

The merchants who had thrown tomatoes and eggs scattered while grumbling angrily.

The hunters, finally able to catch their breath, cleaned up the tomatoes and eggs before asking the Wasteland Starcatcher patrol member.

“Why didn’t you chase them away? If you’re with the Wasteland Starcatchers, you could have easily threatened them…”

“The Wasteland Starcatchers who protect the Empire’s people cannot threaten the citizens.”

“Ah!”

The hunters who had come up from their respective regions were rough and fierce people, but they all admired the courage and patience the Wasteland Starcatcher patroller had just shown.

Isn’t the courage to endure despite having arrows greater than the courage to shoot arrows?

“As expected of the Wasteland Starcatchers.”

“We have no choice but to acknowledge it. Haha.”

Lee Han could see Nilia’s expression beside him becoming gloomy and her long ears drooping dejectedly.

“Nilia. Should I incite the people to throw tomatoes and eggs again?”

“…No, no. It’s fine.”

Nilia, who had almost been swayed by her friend’s words, came to her senses.

These were people they would soon have to work with, so she couldn’t dislike them just because they were Wasteland Starcatchers.

“Are you perhaps Einroguard students?”

The group that had finished cleaning up all the tomatoes and eggs finally noticed Lee Han’s party.

“That’s right.”

“Nice to meet you! I’m Meurangse, a patroller of the Wasteland Starcatchers.”

The elf patroller was tall with handsome features, and his patrol uniform was clean and neat without being luxurious.

It was quite a contrast to the Shadow Patrol, who could easily be mistaken for bandits or barbarians.

Lee Han saw Nilia’s expression become even more dejected and whispered to Yoner.

“Did we bring Nilia for nothing…?”

“…She’ll, she’ll be fine. She has to overcome it.”

“I’m just happy that the renowned Einroguard students are helping us. Please take care of us.”

“That’s what I should be saying.”

“This is explorer Seorigugeol-eom. He’s a distant relative of Professor Lightningstep.”

The young dwarf explorer greeted them while taking off his hat.

“The hunters behind us are…”

“Please don’t mention our names.”

The group of hunters stopped him with disgusted expressions. Meurangse nodded understandingly with a smile.

“I hope you’ll understand. They have their traditions.”

The so-called nameless hunters called by Professor Lightningstep were those who built cabins deep in the mountain ranges of each region and lived alone.

Their skills were naturally excellent, but they had dozens of traditions and superstitions that even Professor Lightningstep couldn’t fully understand.

One of them was hiding their dwelling places and names.

“If you go around revealing your name, demons and monsters can easily track you down.”

At the hunter’s words, Lee Han asked back with a puzzled expression.

“As far as I know, ordinary names don’t have much meaning. A true name comes from the soul…”

“Mages, honestly!”

“They’re all reckless and fearless. Disrespecting traditions.”

“…”

Seeing her friend being scolded, Nilia apologized on his behalf.

“I’m sorry. All hunters are a bit stubborn. They’re also very insistent about traditions.”

“Didn’t the Shadow Patrol just use names freely?”

“…We have traditions too??”

“Why are you getting angry?”

“I’m not, not angry… Anyway, we have traditions. We do.”

Nilia regretted getting angry for no reason when she felt guilty.

If asked what traditions they had, she didn’t really have anything to say.

“Is everyone gathered?”

Professor Lightningstep walked over from a distance. The professor looked puzzled seeing the wyverns gathered together.

“Is it okay to tie them up like this in front of the city? Didn’t people complain?”

“They threw eggs and tomatoes.”

“Oh my. The people of Plaher City are kind-hearted. In other regions, they would have thrown stones. Everyone get on the wyverns.”

Lee Han and his friends prepared to mount the wyverns. Some friends had ridden them before, and since they were trained wyverns, it wasn’t particularly difficult.

“Wardanaz.”

“Yes. I know. Since the wyverns might misunderstand, I should make eye contact with them and blink to show I have no hostility, right?”

At Lee Han’s words, several hunters behind them made gestures of spinning their fingers around their heads.

Then explorer Seorigugeol-eom shook his head and said.

“That boy can really threaten wyverns.”

He knew this from what he’d heard from Professor Lightningstep.

“Really?”

“I swear on my honor it’s true.”

“Then please don’t put him on the wyvern I’m riding. There’s a tradition in my mountain not to put beasts that can threaten wyverns on wyverns.”

“But that’s for beasts.”

When the hunters immediately showed disgust, Seorigugeol-eom was troubled.

They had to travel together for a while, but they were already showing such rejection.

“Don’t worry about it. Wardanaz here will ride something else. Wardanaz. Look behind you.”

Lee Han turned his head.

The griffin, freed from its transformation curse, was glaring at Lee Han with an expression full of hurt feelings and betrayal.

Lee Han quietly pulled his foot away from the ladder hanging on the wyvern’s saddle.

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah. Clear up the misunderstanding as we go.”

“I even bought food for you. Ponrig.”

When he took out the meat he had originally planned to grill for his junior, Eandurude grumbled.

The griffin’s fierce glare softened a little, and it approached Lee Han and rubbed its head against him.

Seeing this, several hunters spoke up simultaneously.

“Please keep that boy away from us.”

“What tradition is it this time?”

“Just fear. We won’t approach until it’s proven safe.”

“…”

Seorigugeol-eom was about to say ‘He can just threaten wyverns a bit and tame griffins, why are you experienced folks acting like this?’ but gave up.

Even he thought it lacked persuasiveness.

* * *

Professor Lightningstep’s wyvern looked at the griffin flying alongside with a very displeased and uncomfortable gaze.

“Pretty good, isn’t it?”

At the professor’s question, Lee Han asked back puzzledly.

“What do you mean?”

“The people I gathered.”

Finding a unicorn was a more complicated and difficult task than expected.

To find a single creature hiding and moving around in vast and treacherous mountain ranges. In a way, it was like finding a needle in a haystack.

What was even worse was that this needle could think for itself and use magic to escape.

That’s why Professor Lightningstep had brought everyone from the nameless hunters to explorer Seorigugeol-eom, Wasteland Starcatcher patroller Meurangse, and even Skeleton Destroyer who used to be an adventurer.

‘What exactly did he do to get the nickname Skeleton Destroyer?’

Lee Han was curious, but right now he had more pressing questions to ask.

“What should we do?”

“I want to put you in charge of the campsite.”

Professor Lightningstep adjusted his goggles and spoke.

Considering the vastness of the Bitter Mountain Range, they couldn’t search randomly. They had to systematically narrow down the area.

First, they would prepare a base camp.

This base camp would serve as the command center for the designated area.

Then hunters and patrollers would scatter in each direction to search for unicorn traces.

If found, they shouldn’t approach alone but should lure it back to the base camp. Unicorns were highly intelligent and wary, so reckless approaches would only make them flee.

In other words…

“We need to prepare magic spells required by hunters and patrollers. And magic that can calm unicorns.”

“Are you perhaps a 5-year veteran adventurer? That’s right. You got it perfectly.”

Professor Lightningstep had no intention of directly assigning unicorn tracking to the students.

That would be too difficult and demanding.

Mages from Einroguard were very versatile talents even by Empire standards.

It was appropriate to assign them tasks that required magic.

Professor Lightningstep was impressed seeing Lee Han correctly identify the necessary magic preparations without explanation.

There was a reason all the professors wanted to take him as their disciple.

“And there’s one more thing.”

“Should we also prepare for battles with poachers?”

“…From now on, call yourself a 10-year veteran adventurer.”

“Haha. I’m not quite at that level.”

“Actually, it would have been better if we had called the Shadow Patrol…”

Lee Han was puzzled by Professor Lightningstep’s words.

Then why not hire the Shadow Patrol instead of hiring the Wasteland Starhunters and making Nilia frustrated?

“Is there a reason you didn’t call them?”

“I was a bit worried they might go crazy and try to catch the unicorn when they see it.”

Lee Han resolved to keep what he just heard absolutely secret.

Though the wind in the sky was loud, Lee Han changed the subject in case Nilia might overhear if they continued talking.

“What kind of person is Professor Bendozol?”

“Ah, unicorns. Unicorns are truly beautiful creatures. I’ve traveled so much from the western coast to the eastern underground cities of the Empire, but I’ve only seen unicorns two and a half times.”

“Not about unicorns, but Professor Bendozol… Wait, why two and a half times instead of just two?”

“One time I was so drunk that I’m still not sure whether it was a unicorn or a rhinoceros. But why are you asking about Professor Bendozol? I thought you were asking about something else.”

Professor Lightningstep, who had naturally assumed Lee Han was asking about unicorns, made a disinterested expression.

“He might return this year. Then I could attend his lectures.”

“Well… I don’t like speaking ill of other professors, but I’d want to discourage you from taking Professor Bendozol’s lectures.”

“?!”

Lee Han was shocked.

Not because Professor Lightningstep didn’t like speaking ill of other professors (Professor Lightningstep’s hobby was indeed badmouthing Professor Thunderstep).

But because he wanted to discourage taking Professor Bendozol’s lectures.

“Is it more dangerous than Professor Verdus’s or Professor Bagrek’s lectures?”

‘This guy really asks tough questions!’

After pondering for a while, Professor Lightningstep slowly answered.

“The three have different approaches. Professor Bendozol is certainly knowledgeable and excellent regarding the Empire’s animals and monsters, but he cares too much for animals.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“The problem is he cares more for them than for students. If Professor Bendozol had taught the mount training course last year, instead of riding horses, you would have had to carry the horses and run.”

“…”

Lee Han momentarily thought Professor Lightningstep was joking.

However, the professor was very serious.

“No, no. Even if he cares for horses, how could it make sense for us to carry horses and run?”

“That’s why he’s an eccentric. Do you still want to take Professor Bendozol’s lectures?”

‘Truly terrifying.’

Lee Han looked at the griffin.

If Professor Bendozol had been in charge of last year’s lectures, Lee Han might have had to carry this griffin through all the assignments.

“Hmm. I’ll just focus on finding him and give up on the professor’s lectures.”

“Aren’t you being too greedy? Finding even one unicorn will be difficult, yet you’re trying to find a professor too… Though I suppose the professor would be easier to find.”

Professor Lightningstep found it curious how Lee Han maintained his loyalty despite being tormented by the professors.

Of course, from Lee Han’s perspective, he was doing this for the bounty.

Without a bounty, why would he bother looking for an unfamiliar professor?

“The Bitter Mountain Range. Everyone descend. We’ll start sweeping from here!”

“Aren’t those poachers down there?”

When Lee Han pointed below, Professor Lightningstep nodded.

“Good spotting! They’re right at the mountain entrance. Word must have spread. Prepare warning shots!”

Lee Han immediately began firing lightning magic rapidly. The fact that he was on a swaying griffin wasn’t much of a problem.

Crackle-crackle-crackle!

As lightning began flying from the sky, the poachers screamed and shouted their surrender.

-Surrender! Surrender! Master Mage! We surrender!

Professor Lightningstep looked at his student and kindly explained.

“Good magic use. But when I said ‘prepare warning shots,’ I was talking to the hunters behind us.”

“…”

Looking back, the hunters were staring with shocked expressions. His friends quickly answered.

“No. We can’t do that.”

‘Traitors!’

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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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