Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 881

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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 881

Though puzzled, Lee Han agreed for now.

After all, wouldn’t the Insane Doppelganger know more about giants?

What Lee Han knew about giants was only from meeting them after entering Einroguard, while the Insane Doppelganger would have encountered countless giants during his lifetime…

“Let us go, Lee Han of Wardanaz Family.”

Intarendals, the ancestor of the Dalcard Family and a noble from the old Three Kingdoms era who had finished preparations in the workshop, walked out.

Behind him, several self-moving carts were waiting. They seemed to be negotiation payments to offer the giants.

Jowrin wants to go too!

“Noble descendant of bloodline. The giants are rough and fierce beings.”

Then why is Lee Han going?

“…If he’s a disciple, shouldn’t he be able to handle at least this much?”

It was truly rare to see the Insane Doppelganger, who maintained an arrogant attitude without breaking a sweat even when the Skeleton Principal appeared before him, struggling like this.

Lee Han was about to follow Intarendals out but stopped to watch. When would he see such a thing again?

“What are you doing?”

“I was inspecting the items in the carts.”

Lee Han quickly made an excuse. At that excuse, Intarendals looked at Lee Han with pleased eyes.

As expected of a mage chosen as a disciple by Gonadaltes, his attention to detail was extraordinary.

Jowrin wants to go too! Jowrin wants to go too! Jowrin wants to go too!!

“Depart.”

As Jowrin prepared for left-right rolling motions, the Insane Doppelganger hurriedly gave orders to his disciple.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Eandurude quietly asked.

“May I follow along too…”

“What nonsense are you talking? No. It’s dangerous.”

“…”

Eandurude was dumbfounded.

Then why was he going so obediently?

* * *

“Are the giants that dangerous?”

“Ah. The giants… I suppose you could say so, Lee Han of Wardanaz Family.”

Intarendals sighed as if old memories had surfaced.

During the Three Kingdoms era, giants were a mercenary race that appeared wherever destruction and plunder were needed.

Giants who had smashed castle walls for the attacking side yesterday would smash siege weapons for the defending side today.

For gold, giants faithfully carried out any request, and sometimes it seemed like they hoped this war would last forever.

“…The mountain giants don’t seem to be quite like that though…?”

Lee Han was flustered by the more brutal past of the giants than he had expected.

Of course, those giants would be ancestors of ancestors of ancestors of the current mountain giants, but it was still shocking.

“Of course. As time passes, kingdoms decline and heroes age – everything changes. It wouldn’t be strange if the giants’ anger had been somewhat tamed. But Lee Han of Wardanaz Family, you must not forget. The embers still sleep in the giants’ hearts. The moment those embers blaze fiercely, the giants will…”

-Did you find us?

“!”

A large head suddenly popped out from behind the peak. It was the giants.

Intarendals coughed once and gestured. Then the cloths covering the carts behind scattered, revealing the dazzling gold to offer the giants.

Lee Han stared at the light emanating from that gold as if mesmerized.

‘No. Just how much inheritance has the Dalcard Family lost?’

The Insane Doppelganger couldn’t have secured wealth in the meantime, so it must be gold that Intarendals brought.

From the Dalcard Family’s perspective, this would be very unfair.

Their family ancestor was investing in a strange ancient archmage instead of passing down inheritance to descendants…

-What is this?

“?!”

However, the giants were indifferent. Taking a bite of cheese made from Mountain Destroyer milk, the giants said.

-Mages like shiny gold. We’re not that stupid.

“No…!”

Intarendals was flustered by the giants’ reaction, so different from the old days.

Giants being indifferent to gold?

It was as unrealistic and unbelievable as demons who became servants after being deceived by humans instead of deceiving humans.

-Wardanaz!

The giants who had been gruffly trying to drive away the strangers widened their eyes upon discovering Lee Han.

-Why haven’t you come for so long!

-We missed you! We thought those mage bastards had locked you up!

The giants all smiled and welcomed Lee Han without exception.

-We heard Wardanaz was kidnapped. Mages are pathetic.

-We are strong. We don’t let even our sheep get kidnapped.

“Have you been kidnapped before?”

Intarendals spoke to Lee Han in a disbelieving voice. Lee Han looked at him as if dumbfounded.

If not the master that Intarendals served, who else would have kidnapped Lee Han!

“…More than that, I came because I have a favor to ask.”

-Follow us! We’ll guide you.

-It’s mealtime anyway.

“I already ate and I’m full.”

Lee Han, who knew the giants’ food, answered immediately. The giants were very pleased.

-As expected of Wardanaz, so polite!

-Most annoying mages come asking for food! Follow us!

As the giants stomped ahead, Intarendals finally recovered from his shock and spoke again.

“The giants have truly changed a lot… No matter how time changes all things, I never expected it to be to this extent.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

Lee Han, who had been listening to the story, suddenly became curious and asked.

“Were demons more evil in the old days?”

“More evil?”

“Well… Most of the demons I know have been tricked by contracts and are working as slaves in territories. But when I read history books, they seemed much more evil…”

“Ah. I understand what you mean. I was also greatly surprised when I visited Einroguard.”

Intarendals nodded, understanding what Lee Han was saying.

It wasn’t just kingdoms and giants that had changed over time. Demons had also changed considerably.

During the Three Kingdoms era, demons were truly symbols of terror and calamity.

Once a demon appeared, subjugating it wasn’t the end. There were demon worshippers who had been deceived by the demon, and minions who had been recruited by those demon worshippers.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the entire region had been corrupted.

However, now the mages of the continent, including those at Einroguard, were quite easily turning the tables on demons and making them work.

If the victims who suffered from demons during the Three Kingdoms era saw this, they would shed tears of emotion.

“Time may cause kingdoms to decline and heroes to age, but it seems to accumulate wisdom. Seeing how demons are handled like this.”

“Could it be that the Principal spread the secret methods?”

Lee Han cautiously raised the question.

Though it was a hypothesis, it was quite convincing. There were few people who had lived since ancient times like the Skeleton Principal, and among such people, even fewer would actively take action like that.

‘And he’s also the one benefiting the most from using demons.’

Seeing how he now commanded dozens or hundreds of demon slaves when he didn’t before, the Skeleton Principal seemed somewhat suspicious no matter how you looked at it.

Of course, since Intarendals served the Insane Doppelganger as master and was in a position of denying the Skeleton Principal himself, such questions were inevitably delicate. It would feel like praise.

“Hmm… I cannot completely deny it. Of course, the current lord of Einroguard is presumptuously claiming to be master, but he is still master’s doppelganger, isn’t he? Then it could indeed be called a truly great achievement…”

“What? Commanding hundreds of demons?”

“No, Lee Han of Wardanaz Family. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about spreading the secret methods for dealing with demons across the continent.”

“Ah.”

Lee Han felt slightly embarrassed.

‘Well, that is… an achievement, I suppose…’

Just like developing and spreading a cure for an incurable disease, systematically organizing and spreading methods to deceive demons could also be considered a high achievement.

Even though he happened to command hundreds of demons in the process, still!

‘Both giants and demons change so much. It’s only natural, though.’

Lee Han was newly struck by the differences between the past and present that ancient figures like the Skeleton Principal spoke of.

And the persistence of the Skeleton Principal, who still consistently acted spitefully despite living so long, was also remarkable…

“Oh, Lord Intarendals. May I ask you one more thing?”

“Please ask me anything.”

“Is the star Arnaran really such a dangerous star?”

Basically, mage contracts started with easily accessible spirits and ended with demons or other dimensional races at most, rarely extending to stars.

Even the Divination Magic school only dealt with them limitedly due to their high difficulty and danger, so there was no reason to force a contract with a star.

Therefore, this celestial magic had relatively few books, and Lee Han had no opportunity to study it in advance. It was hard to understand why just hearing the name Arnaran caused such reactions.

“Arnara! It’s been a while since I heard that name. But why are you asking about it?”

Intarendals, who apparently hadn’t heard the earlier conversation between Lee Han and the Insane Doppelganger, asked for the reason.

“…I happened to hear the name.”

Lee Han deflected, worried that mentioning he had made a contract might provoke a similar reaction as before.

“Hmm. It’s not a name you’d hear by chance… but anyway, Guest Star Arna is not a dangerous star. Rather, it’s a star of glory.”

“Ah. Is that so?”

Lee Han brightened up.

Since the contract, he had only received negative reactions (though the Insane Doppelganger had shown a positive response, it wasn’t very helpful), making him uncomfortable, so this was the first time he heard something good.

“Yes. It’s the star of reformers, one that destroys kingdoms and melts crowns.”

“…”

Lee Han’s face hardened stiffly.

For a brief moment, he envisioned newspaper headlines that would appear in large letters in the Imperial Newspaper.

…Heir of Wardanaz Family, ‘Shocking’ Charges of Imperial Treason… Revealed to Have Dreamed of New Dynasty…

…Ambitious Schemer Who Cleverly Deceived Imperial Family Shows True Colors!…

“How is this not a dangerous star???”

“Huh? My master also contracted with this star. It’s not a dangerous star but a star of glory.”

Intarendals spoke with genuine surprise.

From the perspective of ancient astrology and celestial magic, Guest Star Arna was a star that appeared for heroes when the continent was in chaos and sorrow.

A star that aided the hero’s path with the most intensely burning light!

The chosen hero also burned brilliantly like that star, dedicating their life for the continent. They did not betray the star’s choice.

“…”

Lee Han’s face hardened beyond what seemed possible. Even petrification magic probably couldn’t make it this rigid.

“…If such a star appears and contracts with someone when the continent is stable and peaceful, what does that make that person?”

“Hmm. Well, that’s a difficult hypothetical. But…”

Intarendals tried his best to consider the scenario, searching through his memories.

Since contracts with stars allowed for various interpretations and many things could only be known after the results appeared, it was quite difficult for Intarendals, who wasn’t an expert.

But still, since his master’s disciple was asking such a question, he had to squeeze out whatever meager ability he had.

“Two possibilities come to mind right now.”

“Please, I’d like to hear your wise opinion.”

“First, perhaps a great crisis will soon befall the continent, and they will sacrifice themselves to prevent that crisis.”

“…And the other?”

“The continent may appear stable and peaceful, but it’s actually slowly rotting from within, so they might be a usurper trying to become emperor themselves.”

“…”

Lee Han suddenly ran to the roadside and began shouting into the deep valley below.

The giants who had gathered and were waiting for Lee Han were startled and came running out. Then they pointed accusingly at Intarendals.

-What did you say to Wardanaz! That good-natured Wardanaz is cursing like that!

-But who is the Yachaowang?

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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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