Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Master Puyo showered the two Einroguard students with praise upon seeing the magic they had completed.

“To think mages who are still students could complete something like this! Professor Verdus must be truly happy!”

“??”

Professor Verdus tilted the beaver head under the table.

Professor Verdus was currently crawling around on all fours because of the disciples’ despicable trickery, so what exactly was there to be happy about?

“That’s... no. Wait. This is ancient magic I’ve never seen before, isn’t it? Where did you get this?”

Abalkaigen, who had been staring intently at the magic carved into the board, exclaimed in surprise.

It was already impressive enough that dimensional rods and refraction had been fused together and engraved into a single board, but upon looking more closely, he could see several forms of ancient magic, no longer found in the present day, supporting the magic circle’s operation and structure.

Even Abalkaigen, who was fairly well-versed in ancient artifacts, was seeing this ancient magic for the first time.

“Did you perhaps receive instruction from Lord Gonadaltes?”

“No. He’s petty, so he doesn’t teach easily.”

At the answer that came from below the table, Abalkaigen looked down with a dumbfounded expression.

Lord Gonadaltes might be the subject of some rumors in the Empire because of that self-righteous behavior, but he was still the guardian of the Empire’s magical barrier and the Emperor’s Imperial Mage Marshal.

Besides, wasn’t that beaver beastman also a superior as a professor of Einroguard?

And yet, that attitude was so rude.

The Einroguard enchantment magic school is truly pitiful! No matter how skilled they are, having to serve such a mad bastard as their master...

Abalkaigen looked at Lee Han and Princess Yukbeltire with pity in his eyes.

Princess Yukbeltire misunderstood that gaze and whispered to her junior.

“Be careful.”

“Of what?”

“That look. He’s definitely coveting the magic we completed.”

“...That is a look of pity for us, Senior.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re Professor Verdus’s disciples.”

“...”

Princess Yukbeltire, who would normally never accept anyone’s pity, was speechless this time.

After a moment’s hesitation, she belatedly said,

“But there must be at least a few advantages, right? Junior, you argue in favor.”

“I refuse.”

No matter how confident Lee Han was in his eloquence, he had no desire to step forward on a topic like that.

No matter how he looked at it, there was no chance of winning.

“May I ask where you found this?”

“Uh... we discovered it by chance inside Einroguard.”

“I see. Thank you for answering such an impertinent question so faithfully.”

Lee Han worried that he had answered too carelessly, but Abalkaigen accepted it more readily than expected.

Even before the Imperial Magic School was established, Einroguard was a place where all kinds of magical academic traditions had accumulated. It would not be strange at all if magic that was now difficult to find had been discovered there.

After examining the magic several times, Abalkaigen sighed. No matter how much he wanted to find fault with it, this was a nearly perfect magical design.

It was as if an ancient archmage had drawn it directly.

“I lost. I lost, Professor Verdus. I acknowledge it. As a master as well, you are one step above me.”

“No, Master!”

Abalkarun, his disciple, shouted without thinking, driven by guilt.

If Abalkarun lacked skill, then Abalkarun lacked skill. What could the master possibly lack?

“That’s right! Absolutely not!”

-Do not say such things!

“???”

The orc mage turned in confusion as fierce shouts erupted from the side as well.

The Einroguard group, including Lee Han, was shouting in angry voices.

-Master Abalkaigen lacks absolutely nothing. Do not think strange thoughts!

“Senior Yukbeltire and I worked hard together to make this, so why would this be thanks to Professor Verdus? Don’t speak carelessly!”

The Death Knights were one thing, but Lee Han was still close to a greenhorn by Abalkaigen’s standards.

Nevertheless, Abalkaigen was overwhelmed by the boy from House Wardanaz.

That murderous momentum was like facing a mortal enemy.

“I... I seem to have misspoken. I apologize.”

“...No. I apologize for getting too excited as well. And I belong to every school in Einroguard, so I have multiple masters. This is absolutely not thanks to Professor Verdus.”

“...”

Abalkaigen became certain of one thing now.

The students of Einroguard’s enchantment magic school, whether upperclassmen or underclassmen, all truly hated {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Professor Verdus.

***

“Now!”

Once the boring introductions of the disciples ended, Professor Verdus immediately brought out the most interesting topic in the Empire.

In other words, Professor Verdus’s own magical research.

When a sailboat small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand was placed on the table, the mages gasped in admiration.

Even Lee Han was inwardly surprised.

“This... Did you actually shrink a real ship with magic?”

“Good eye. Ah. Did you perhaps hear about it beforehand because you’re close to Professor Verdus... no, that cannot be right. I apologize.”

“Ah, no.”

The atmosphere between Abalkaigen and Lee Han became slightly awkward.

Lee Han reflected deeply.

Such rudeness toward someone I’m meeting for the first time.

Originally, Lee Han was not such a rude person.

But when the other party brought up being close to Professor Verdus, killing intent had unconsciously radiated from his entire body...

“In any case, this is truly remarkable. I didn’t know shrinking magic could be done to this extent.”

“I have no choice but to acknowledge Professor Verdus’s skill.”

Transformation magic was not omnipotent.

Especially for magic that shrank real objects like this, the difficulty increased exponentially in proportion to the object’s size and the duration of the effect.

The mages present could tell just how precisely and powerfully the shrinking magic that composed the sailboat was operating.

At this level, the original size would easily be enough to fill this room.

“Wait. The appearance seems a little different from the original sailboat, doesn’t it?”

Master Puyo noticed the discrepancy with that excellent eye for detail.

Its appearance was different from the sailboat Professor Verdus had drawn and shown several times in the letters.

“You’re right. What is this? Why did it change? Did you make a new one?”

“Ragesa stole that one.”

Professor Verdus grumbled, as if the anger still had not subsided even now.

“Ragesa? Do you mean Admiral Ragesa of the Southern Privateer Fleet?”

“Probably. She’s one of Professor Verdus’s patrons.”

“Then it wasn’t stolen, was it?”

Abalkaigen asked, unable to understand.

Why would it be theft when a patron took something they had invested in?

“It is theft! She took it without permission!”

Professor Verdus flared up and argued.

How much time and money had it taken to make a new one from scratch because the small sailboat made before had disappeared?

Ragesa had sent more gold coins afterward, but that was nowhere near enough.

“Did Ragesa perhaps take something other than what she invested in?”

“No? She took what she invested in?”

“...”

-...

While everyone present suppressed their anger inwardly, Professor Verdus grumbled again.

“Wardanaz was bribed and delivered it to her.”

“Please don’t misunderstand, everyone. I wasn’t bribed. But if Ragesa didn’t receive the completed ship this time as well, she truly seemed like she would get furious...”

“No one here would misunderstand, so don’t worry about that.”

At Master Puyo’s words, the Death Knights unconsciously nodded.

None of the people here had any intention of misunderstanding Professor Verdus’s words.

Even if Professor Verdus said, “My disciple Wardanaz set fire to the workshop, stabbed me, and then plundered every valuable treasure,” everyone here would still take Lee Han’s side.

“Wait. The hull’s shape has changed, hasn’t it?”

“That’s right. The foremast has been modified too...”

The two mages who had come at Professor Verdus’s invitation were flustered by the fact that the newly made sailboat was quite different from the original.

This was a more important problem than expected.

Originally, everything the two of them had prepared after receiving the invitation was magic tailored to the old sailboat.

There were ancient relics that combined with the hull to control the weather in the sky, and magic that modified the mast like a magic wand so the ship itself could cast spells.

Both were delicate forms of magic, so if the sailboat’s form had changed, they would need to readjust everything.

“Since I was making it again, I changed the parts of the design I didn’t like.”

“...Then you should have told us that!”

Abalkaigen shouted, almost growling.

What the hell was this crazy beaver mage doing?

“We can just fix it here, can’t we?”

“How much time do you expect us to waste? We came all this way after receiving your invitation!”

Displeased by the needless waste of time, Abalkaigen abruptly rose and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

He had accepted the invitation and come here because they needed each other’s cooperation, but he was already regretting it.

“Sigh...”

As he stood outside the door and let out a troubled sigh, the Death Knights followed him out. Abalkaigen apologized.

“I’m sorry. You came all this way as guards, yet you had to see that.”

-No. That does not matter. More importantly, mage. Did you say you prepared magic tailored to the original sailboat?

“That’s right... but why do you ask?”

Abalkaigen was puzzled, unable to understand why these Death Knights were asking such a question.

-If that original sailboat were available, would you be able to work on it?

“Wasn’t it taken by Lady Ragesa?”

-After that, Lady Ragesa gave it to someone else as a gift. It is a long story. In any case, we understand that it is possible.

“???”

The Death Knights tried to go back inside without even hearing the answer.

This time, it was to bring Master Puyo out.

However, Master Puyo came out first. Abalkaigen lowered his head and apologized.

“I’m sorry, Teacher. Because of me...”

“Ah, no. It isn’t that. Professor Verdus kept asking me to cut off part of my body, so I came out because it was annoying.”

Professor Verdus had long been interested in Master Puyo’s body, since Master Puyo was a wood-spirit hybrid and an excellent mage.

Because it was excellent material, Professor Verdus pestered Master Puyo every time they met, asking whether some part of the body could not be cut off.

“But why are the knights gathered here?”

The Death Knights asked the same question they had asked Abalkaigen earlier. Master Puyo reacted the same way.

“Wasn’t it taken by Lady Ragesa?”

-It is a long story. In any case, we understand!

The Death Knights went back inside, and this time they brought out the Skull Principal’s top student last.

Lee Han was bewildered, unable to grasp the situation.

“Are you perhaps planning to attack Professor Verdus?”

-No.

The Death Knights were tempted, but denied it.

However, they made a mental note to make a serious attempt later.

-Successor.

“Shh. There are a lot of people listening.”

Successor?

The two mages wondered inwardly, but they did not interrupt the conversation.

-Understood. Mr. Wardanaz. About the sailboat you received last time.

“Yes.”

-What do you think about entrusting it to those gentlemen?

“???”

The two mages could not hold back and interrupted the conversation.

“No. Wasn’t it taken by Lady Ragesa?”

“Lady Ragesa gave it back to me.”

“Why?”

Abalkaigen was flustered.

That small sailboat that sailed through the air was not worth merely a coin or two. Ragesa must have invested a tremendous amount in Professor Verdus for it.

And yet she had given it back to the disciple of the mage she hated to death?

“I don’t know the exact reason either, but if I had to guess...”

The two mages listened intently.

What sort of potential had Ragesa discovered in this genius?

“Wouldn’t she have given it to me because she pitied me for learning under Professor Verdus?”

“...”

Abalkaigen was nearly convinced for a moment, then quickly came back to his senses.