Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Jowrin: What kind of ridiculous joke is that! Jokes like that should be banned by Imperial law!

I thought it was a little funny, though.

Lee Han was glad Jowrin was not standing in front of him.

Lately, she had grown strangely sharp. If he was careless, there was every chance she would have noticed.

Gonadaltes: More importantly, Your Majesty, I have a question... If such a method exists, could the Principal not simply cast it on me directly? Why do I have to learn it myself?

Jowrin: Huh?

Jowrin faltered at the contractor’s point.

Huh?

That was true, wasn’t it?

Jowrin: ...Th-there must be some reason! Probably...!

Gonadaltes: ...

Lee Han’s expression went flat.

Honestly, he did not think there was much of a reason.

If there was one, it was probably that the Principal wanted to torment a disciple, or teach that disciple additional magic!

It will not make much difference either way.

Given the Skull Principal’s personality, even if Lee Han asked to have the magic cast on him now, there was no way the Principal would agree. In the end, Lee Han was going to have to learn it himself.

...Could Prince Uman’s presence actually be working in my favor?

He had not thought about it until now, but the possibility suddenly became worth taking seriously.

If he was the only Einroguard student benefiting from Uman’s arrival...

When the contractor fell silent, Jowrin seemed to grow anxious and called out in nervous handwriting.

Jowrin: Lee Han?

Gonadaltes: Ah. My apologies, Your Majesty. I was thinking about what kind of magic it might be.

Jowrin: As expected! Jowrin believed in you!

At the answer from her ever-reliable contractor, Jowrin brightened again.

Jowrin: Actually, Jowrin was thinking about something too.

Gonadaltes: Oh. What is it, Your Majesty?

Jowrin: Since you are going to learn divination magic anyway, why not learn all of this semester’s magic at once!

Gonadaltes: ...And after that?

Jowrin: Then you can do the same with transformation magic and learn all of this semester’s magic at once there too... If you finish everything like that, Uman will have time left over, so he will definitely allow...

Lee Han quietly closed his book.

Hmm... I should seriously think about ways to keep Prince Uman here until next semester too.

***

As Lee Han walked toward the Hall of Imaginary Numbers to meet Professor Paserlet, he spotted a familiar upperclassman and greeted Palcrius warmly.

“Good day, Senior Palcrius.”

“Uhahahaha. Wardanaz! Long time no see! Did you have a good vacation? Of course you didn’t!”

“?”

Lee Han was slightly taken aback by the unusual greeting.

Was this how people from the Flameang Order greeted each other?

“Why do you think I didn’t have a good time?”

“Puhuh. I heard you were with the professors the whole time?”

“No...!”

Lee Han was dumbfounded.

What kind of rumor had spread that far?

“Where did you hear that...? And just because I spent time with professors does not necessarily mean I had an unhappy vacation.”

“Of course it was an unhappy vacation. What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

The club seniors looked at Lee Han as though he was being absurd.

Just as throwing a lump of mud into water created muddy water, throwing a professor into a vacation created an unhappy vacation.

This was not a subject for debate. It was an absolute truth.

“...So where are you all going? I heard everyone has been complaining about the inspector lately, but is the Kitchen Club all right?”

The inspector’s storm was sweeping across all of Einroguard, and the Kitchen Club was no exception.

Considering Uman’s personality in particular, it did not seem likely that he would leave students alone to make and sell food without permission.

“Ah! We’re actually doing well.”

“What??”

“His Majesty hired us. His Majesty’s trash...”

“Hey. Health food. Health food.”

“Sorry. Right. Who else would make the health food?”

“...”

Lee Han realized the truth and was impressed.

Indeed, the upperclassmen were not to be underestimated.

Just as an oak tree broke in a storm while reeds survived, they were flexibly adapting to the situation.

Faced with the crisis of being shut down, they had immediately switched sides and gotten themselves hired!

“Puhuh. If you only look at the work itself, it is actually easier than before. His Majesty provides everything, starting with the ingredients.”

“But the meals must be quite an ordeal, are they not?”

Palcrius waved a hand as though asking what he was talking about.

“Puhuhuh. I personally experienced the Great Spirit Famine, Wardanaz. I eat anything gratefully.”

“Actually, only Senior Palcrius is like that. To the rest of us, it tastes bad. So we take care of ourselves while cooking.”

“!”

At the senior’s secretive words, spoken while glancing around, Lee Han’s eyes widened.

Such a hidden method?

“But with the dragon’s magic there, will the violation not be discovered later?”

“Hehe. Actually, it is all permitted behavior. We convinced them that tasting the ingredients is essential for proper cooking. Wardanaz, you should secretly come by and eat some too when you have time.”

Mages were always accustomed to cheating the scales.

The Kitchen Club seniors were cleverly using the rules to fill their stomachs somehow during the cooking process.

A grand cuisine was impossible, but it was still far better than the health meals.

“...Huh? Wait a moment. You have already started working, so why did you not call me?”

Lee Han was puzzled.

Now that he thought about it, he was also a member of the Kitchen Club, and he took pride in being a chef of considerable skill. Why had no one called him?

At that question, the seniors looked at Lee Han as though they found it strange.

“The inspector told us not to call you. Did you not know?”

“What?”

“To be precise, the inspector said to limit the call to students who had joined fewer than a certain number of clubs.”

“...I, I see. Thank you for telling me.”

Who would have thought that even the clubs had received such consideration...!

***

After arriving at the Hall of Imaginary Numbers, Lee Han was about to greet the golem senior wandering around out front when he was greatly startled.

“Senior! Why have you become a rock golem!?”

The senior, who had definitely been a bronze golem until last semester and had sometimes changed into brass, was now a rock golem.

A mage from another school might have asked what the big fuss was over such a trivial matter, but Lee Han was a student who had learned in the divination magic school.

Divination mages were people who read the future from even the most trivial differences.

The senior had already transformed into a golem to avoid misfortune, and now the senior had changed materials again.

Something was definitely happening.

“The inspector said bronze was dangerous, so I should change to rock.”

“...”

The golem senior’s voice was full of exhaustion.

Although it did not show in the senior’s expression because the senior was a golem, the senior was clearly worn out because of the inspector. Lee Han quickly changed the subject.

“I came to see the Professor. Is Professor Paserlet inside?”

“Ah. You came to learn magic? Come in. I will teach you.”

“?”

Lee Han felt something was off about the golem senior’s answer.

Huh?

Did Professor Paserlet not say this had been left to Professor Kraer?

The Skull Principal would definitely have left it to Professor Paserlet, so why was the senior teaching him?

“Is there perhaps some problem with the Professor?”

“Problem? Hmm... If I had to say, yes, it is a problem. Well, you will find out soon anyway. You know the Professor has multiple personalities, right?”

“Yes.”

Professor Paserlet, a banshee half-blood and an excellent divination mage, dispersed the dangers of prophecy by splitting personalities.

But this had drawbacks, and one of them was that it was extremely troublesome for the students who had to deal with those personalities.

Sometimes Professor Paserlet was a normal person. Sometimes Professor Paserlet became extremely timid. Sometimes Professor Paserlet’s temper became terrible...

“There were other personalities?”

“Of course. The personality that emerged this time is the personality of the most excellent Archmage.”

“!”

Lee Han was surprised.

The personality of the most excellent Archmage. Even the name alone sounded grand.

“With a name like that, it does not seem as though the level would be ordinary...”

“That’s right. When the Professor is in this state, the Professor displays prophecy on a completely different level.”

“But what does that have to do with the Professor not being here now?”

If the Professor’s level had risen, would that not make the teaching even better?

Perhaps Professor Paserlet had gone to fetch something else needed for the magic?

“Hmm. You still do not understand... Junior. Excellent prophecy is sometimes difficult to understand from the outside. You know that, right?”

“Yes? Yes.”

Lee Han agreed for the time being.

Certainly, once divination magic exceeded a certain level, it became difficult to understand from the outside.

When one heard a prophecy like, “If you wish to prevent the misfortune that will soon come, avoid all members of the Imperial Family,” how could anyone know what it meant?

But what did that have to do with the current situation?

“The Professor thought meeting you would bring bad luck, so the Professor left it to me and ran away.”

“...”

Lee Han immediately grew serious.

What on earth was that supposed to mean?

“What kind of...! That is rude!”

“Why are you taking it out on me? The Professor is the one who ran away.”

The golem senior shook off stone dust as though feeling wronged.

The Professor in genius mode was already giving strange orders, such as covering the outside of the Hall of Imaginary Numbers thickly with ivy vines or filling up the Lake of Uncertainty prepared for lectures, which was irritating enough!

“I-I am sorry. It was such an absurd slander that I got angry for a moment.”

It does not seem completely wrong, though.

The golem senior thought so inwardly.

This junior certainly had a talent for attracting dangerous individuals.

Just last semester, had this junior not been walking around with not only the Principal’s insane duplicate, but even a dragon?

It was understandable that Professor Paserlet, whose senses were extremely sensitive, felt danger and took refuge.

“Where is the Professor? Since this is the Principal’s order, let me tell the Professor to come back quickly. I will prove that this prophecy is mistaken.”

Overwhelmed by the junior’s passionate appearance, the golem senior slowly answered.

“Give up. I do not know about other things, but once an excellent divination mage decides to run away, finding that mage is almost impossible. And I can teach you in the Professor’s place...”

“Is Senior’s time not precious too!? We must find the Professor!”

Lee Han jumped up and down. The golem senior was slightly moved by the sight.

Though there were many frightening rumors about this junior, he certainly was not a bad person.

“Enough. Give up. Now, let us see what the Professor left for us to handle.”

The golem senior unrolled the scroll Professor Paserlet had left behind.

What kind of magic could Professor Paserlet have entrusted to them?

Perhaps a star-divination series? No. Professor Paserlet would not recommend star divination in a season like this. Lake divination? Or it might be a more active spell. Voices of the Ancestors... is fifth-circle magic, so it would be too difficult for a second-year to learn. No, wait. Professor Paserlet does not care about things like that.

Pop!

Please teach student Lee Han of House Wardanaz 【Refuge to the Shadow Fortress】.

P.S.:

Never call me, search for my location, or report me to the inspector.

Paserlet Kraer

“...No! Are you insane?!”

The golem senior cried out in shock.

A spell far more difficult than expected had appeared.

Teach this to a second-year??

“Why would Professor Paserlet want me to teach this? It is not as though you need to escape the surveillance of some evil dragon!”

“!”

Lee Han hesitated.

His senior was sharper than he had expected.

“Senior. Actually, although it was not through conventional methods, I have been practicing the 【Refuge to the Shadow Fortress】 magic.”

This was one of the pieces he had received when he had been given sheet music for Music Magic before.

Unlike the other Music Magic, he had not yet mastered it, but he had been steadily practicing.

“Ah. Really?”

“Yes. So if you could give me some guidance...”

“All right, all right. Wait a moment.”

The golem senior told Lee Han to wait for a moment, then tried to slip out of the room.

At that instant, Lee Han immediately grabbed the rock that served as the senior’s hand.

“...Senior. You are not trying to dump this on another senior and run away, are you?”

“You...! What magic did you use to prophesy that!”