Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 999

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

Chapter 999

The old yatcha waved his arm as if annoyed. The giants’ mouths were forcibly shut.

-Come. I’ve kept them safe.

“What about the Chamberlain…”

-He came from earth, so he must have returned to earth. Don’t feel sorry. It’s not a blessing for the dead to be bound to this world.

“…?”

Lee Han looked up at the Death Knights flying through the sky on undead mounts.

It sounded plausible, but it wasn’t very convincing at Einroguard.

Sensing that impure gaze, the Yatcha Old Man clicked his tongue.

-Like a young fool, you don’t listen even when I speak. Fine. Just take your things.

The Yatcha Old Man opened a tree stump like a chest and took out the relics stored inside.

A reagent pouch, a book with a white cover, and a cage containing a hamster.

“…”

Lee Han, who was about to be moved after receiving the reagents and book, froze when his eyes met the hamster’s.

“…No, why are you in there like that?”

-Do you think I want to be like this!

The hamster trapped in the cage snapped with angry squeaking.

A giant nearby grumbled.

-That rat is picky about food. Other rats eat rotten things well, but that rat won’t eat them.

-Stupid races, inferior species that should have gone extinct long ago!

The hamster, who had been cared for by the giants while Lee Han was sleeping, was full of venom.

Apparently, the giants weren’t particularly skilled at hamster care.

“I thought you would have returned to normal since Master also ascended.”

-I thought so too.

The hamster, who was once a mage criminal, spoke while chewing on the grape Lee Han threw him. He felt like his belly was stuck to his back because of the giants.

-But I was mistaken. That madman had set it up so the magic wouldn’t be undone even if he disappeared.

The hamster had underestimated the persistence and perfectionism of the ancient archmage.

Who would have thought he’d set up the magic to continuously maintain itself through self-circulation even after he disappeared.

If it weren’t for the fact that he was the victim, he would have admired that perfectionism, but unfortunately, this was magic cast on him.

“Indeed… Isn’t he truly amazing?”

-…

When Lee Han was newly impressed by the Insane Doppelganger’s magic, the hamster felt frustrated.

This young brat, just because he wasn’t the victim…

But the hamster held back. The only one he could trust here was the boy in front of him.

-I will definitely repay this favor, so please free me!

“Huh? I don’t know how to undo it though.”

-…Oh.

Only then did the hamster realize that his opponent was just a second-year Einroguard student.

He had momentarily forgotten after competing from the small world to even matching wits with Gonadaltes, but originally he couldn’t expect such magic to be dispelled.

‘Why was I waiting for this guy?’

For a moment, the hamster was confused whether his intelligence had also decreased due to the curse.

All week long, he had thought he could be freed from this curse if only that guy returned, but now he couldn’t understand why he had such thoughts.

“Didn’t the other people dispel it for you?”

-Would you have done it if you were them?

The hamster squeaked in disbelief at Lee Han’s words.

The other mages who were there were the Skeleton Principal or the vampire professor, so why would they dispel it for a mage criminal?

“That’s unfortunate. Well then, hang in there.”

-…Wait! Wait! Wait! Don’t leave me behind!

When Lee Han tried to leave with only the reagents and book, the hamster desperately squeaked while hitting the cage walls with a rat-a-tat-tat.

-I will definitely be helpful to you. Think about it. When the doppelganger faced the world’s calamity, how could he have overcome it without my help?

“Wait. I think you were inciting me to kill him?”

As he recalled the memory, Lee Han’s voice became slightly cold. The hamster became even more desperate.

-…That was just presenting one of the methods. When you refused, didn’t I come up with another method!

“I understand you helped, but I’m telling you I’m not confident I can dispel it. Just ask that Yatcha elder over there.”

-Didn’t you inherit magic from the doppelganger? Just look at that book!

The hamster immediately recognized what kind of book the Insane Doppelganger had left behind.

Magic books left by ordinary mages were usually written to organize their own insights and pass them on to future students.

Some magic books were written in simple characters that anyone could understand, while others were written in codes that only specific schools could understand.

Among them, the rarest and most powerful magic books were the spirit book series.

Magic books made by containing fragments of a mage’s soul.

Such books couldn’t be easily read or opened like ordinary books. They couldn’t even be destroyed.

They only transmitted magic to their owners according to the will contained in the magic book.

“!”

Lee Han quickly understood the hamster’s explanation. He already had a similar book.

The black book that the Skeleton Principal had (forcibly) given him.

“Are you saying this book contains the secrets of dispelling?”

-That’s right.

“…But wouldn’t it take quite a long time to learn up to that point?”

-Then you need to learn it even faster! Don’t waste time here!

At the hamster’s grumbling, Lee Han made a reluctant expression.

Of course, the Insane Doppelganger’s ascension had left a strong impression and new goal for Lee Han.

But that didn’t mean Lee Han was naive enough to think ‘Yes! I must go learn magic!’ just because some hamster was squeaking at him to learn magic quickly.

He intended to proceed in his own way, after all.

‘Should I leave him among the giants since he’s noisy?’

‘This guy, he’s not really thinking of abandoning me among the giants, is he?’

The two mages read each other’s thoughts. The hamster squeaked obsequiously.

-…Come to think of it, you’re still a student too, and you’d need more time to learn the dispelling method. Learn it slowly. And please, won’t you take me with you? Don’t leave me among these lunatics?

Is that rat bastard still not dead? The giants have better patience than I thought.

“!”

At the familiar telepathy from behind, Lee Han turned his head.

The giants were already running away in all directions, smashing trees and rocks.

Crash crash crash crash crash!

-Waaaah! It’s the Principal!

-Run! Run! He’ll take our alcohol and meat!

The Skeleton Principal chuckled with satisfaction at the enthusiastic reaction.

The hamster also wanted to run away but couldn’t since he was trapped in a cage. Instead, he hid his body in the sawdust.

Fortunately, the Skeleton Principal paid no further attention to the hamster. He had too many pressing matters to worry about such trivial tasks now.

Parkjuenaz, I heard you woke up. I knew you’d come here.

The Yatcha Old Man asked in a curious voice.

-By the way, did you really cast a dream veil over this entire territory?

I understand the shock you received.

The Skeleton Principal pretended not to hear and ignored him. However, the Yatcha Old Man was persistent.

-As far as I know, dream veils are not easy to implement even when covering a very narrow range, so how did you cover this entire territory? Did you perhaps borrow gold? But with any ordinary amount…

Unable to bear it any longer, the Skeleton Principal banished the Yatcha Old Man far away.

The yatcha race had always had a talent for getting on people’s nerves since ancient times.

Since I acknowledged you as my disciple, Parkjuenaz, I should have explained to you as a disciple. I formally apologize.

“…No. I was also a bit harsh with my words.”

When the Skeleton Principal apologized politely, Lee Han’s attitude also softened.

Actually, thinking about it coldly, the Skeleton Principal hadn’t done that out of malice either.

…There was a bit of malice, but that was because he was originally someone who only had malice, and at least for this matter, he had tried his best to come up with the optimal solution.

“I also apologize for cursing at you. Telling you to be principal until the world ends was probably too harsh.”

…That seems much worse than what he said back then… no, never mind.

The Skeleton Principal felt puzzled by the much more intense curse but just let it slide.

What mattered now wasn’t that.

Right. Let’s bury each other’s mistakes here in this mountain range together and move on.

“Yes.”

Then finish the exam as quickly as possible and come up to the principal’s office. I need your help, my disciple, to persuade the Empire’s wicked creditors.

Having said everything he wanted to say, the Skeleton Principal immediately turned around and floated away.

Lee Han glared at the white, round skull’s back with eyes full of bewilderment.

What the hell…?!

Oh.

The Skeleton Principal suddenly stopped and floated back.

“What is it?”

Don’t send any anonymous tips.

“?!!”

* * *

“I’m telling you Wardanaz is in big trouble!”

“Stop making a fuss. Wardanaz isn’t a weakling like you. He’ll get up once he recovers.”

“That’s not it! He got up but didn’t even ask about the exam?!”

“…What?!”

The White Tiger Tower students who were skinning the wild boar they had hunted stirred in shock.

They were so shocked that they cut off precious meat along with the hide.

“Then there was no point in us studying so hard?”

“Damn. We worked hard for nothing.”

“…”

Giselle, who was holding a pocket knife behind them, glared at her friends as if she wanted to kill them.

The White Tiger Tower students who belatedly noticed that gaze changed their words.

“Come to think of it, we study for our own self-improvement. Haha.”

“Right. That’s what Wardanaz said in the story he told us last time too. The real treasure hidden in the vineyard was effort.”

“I still don’t really understand that story…”

The White Tiger Tower student tilted his head.

The story Wardanaz had told them last time about three brothers who inherited a vineyard from an old farmer didn’t make sense to him.

When the old farmer left a will saying ‘I’ve hidden treasure in the vineyard,’ the three brothers diligently dug up the field.

However, no treasure came out, and thanks to the dug-up field, only the grape harvest was bountiful…

‘Is he saying that as a mage, you should even suspect your parents?’

He thought it might mean that even magic books left by excellent mages might not contain treasure, so you shouldn’t accept them blindly but should doubt them rationally.

Of course, Wardanaz had gotten angry at this interpretation, but wasn’t getting angry Wardanaz’s daily routine anyway?

“Let’s take some meat and visit Wardanaz. If he’s not even interested in exams, he must be seriously injured.”

This time, even Giselle didn’t stop her friends.

Although the Blue Dragon Tower guys were prone to exaggeration, this time it sounded quite serious.

“What are you guys doing?”

Lee Han, who was passing through the 7th floor clearing, was puzzled by his friends making a commotion.

His friends were startled and shouted.

“Wardanaz! Is it okay for you to be walking around like this?!”

“I’ve rested enough, so I’m fully recovered.”

Lee Han was holding a hamster cage in one hand and leaves to use as hamster food in the other.

It was quite a sudden pet, but his friends didn’t really care. Instead, they asked a different question.

“What about the exam?!”

“What exam?”

“The Blue Dragon Tower guys said you completely lost interest in exams… went crazy…”

“We didn’t say he went crazy, you bastards!”

The Blue Dragon Tower students frantically interjected.

Where did such nonsense come from?!

“Ah. I know what you’re talking about. I didn’t lose interest in exams, I just had urgent business to check first. There are things in the world more important than exams.”

“…!!”

His friends were shocked by this new side of Wardanaz.

Usually, if they said something like ‘Aren’t there things more important than exams? Like Kyukgu…’, lightning would pour down on their backs!

“Are you, are you really okay?”

“No. I like the new Wardanaz.”

While the Blue Dragon Tower students were whispering in shock (Giselle was among them too), the White Tiger Tower students accepted it flexibly.

Wardanaz who was less obsessed with exams felt much more attractive than Wardanaz who was crazy about exams.

“Wardanaz! We welcome your change! There are many things in the world more important than exams!”

“That’s right! What were you doing just now? Looking for food for your new pet?”

“No. I had to finish the exam quickly, so I went and took it first.”

Lee Han shook the exam paper he had put in the cage.

It was an exam paper for the 【Magic Algebra and Arcane Geometry】 lecture, and it was a perfect score with not a single wrong answer.

“…”

“…”

The White Tiger Tower students’ hearts shattered into pieces.

There existed in the world a mage who could get perfect scores even while being less obsessed with exams.

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