Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Professor Bendozol’s shout naturally had no effect.

To begin with, the relationship between the Jousting Club members and Professor Bendozol was not exactly close. If it had to be described, it was closer to a hostile symbiotic relationship.

The Jousting Club had to rescue, tame, and care for all kinds of rare animals from across the Empire.

That being the case, they definitely needed the help of Professor Bendozol, Einroguard’s top expert in the field of animals, but…

…Professor Bendozol was also the sort of person who, while helping with animals, kept trying to steal the Jousting Club’s animals at the same time.

So when a person like that tried to smear a promising junior member, it sounded like nothing more than nonsense.

Hormasi suddenly grew curious and asked,

“But Professor. Why aren’t you attacking directly?”

Of course, even at Einroguard, where people lived as if Imperial law did not exist, it was still rare for a professor to attack a student whenever they pleased.

But Professor Bendozol was a little specially insane even among professors, wasn’t Professor Bendozol?

“For two reasons. First, if I attack directly, I could earn the unicorn’s hatred.”

I think you already have.

That was what Hormasi thought, but not wanting to provoke a mad professor, Hormasi kept it to the inside.

“Yes… I see. And what’s the other?”

“I promised the Skull Principal I wouldn’t attack that bastard over the unicorn. Damn it!”

“?”

Listening absentmindedly, Hormasi pricked up long ears in puzzlement.

What kind of bullshit is that?

The Skull Principal was the sort who might tell someone to attack another person, but never the sort who would tell them not to attack.

Was there some kind of special protection policy for students taking multiple schools that Hormasi didn’t know about?

“How did you even end up making a promise like that…?”

“I didn’t do anything all that impressive. I just happened to meet it during winter break.”

The dark elf upperclassman, who had been about to question the professor again, paused.

The junior had started explaining how he had become close to the unicorn.

It was a story several times more interesting than anything Professor Bendozol had to say.

“So, what happened was—”

“Wait. We’ll hear the rest of that later.”

“……”

Hormasi cut off Professor Bendozol and listened closely.

“You met it during winter break? How in the world did that happen?”

“During winter break, I went to look for the unicorn to help Professor Thunderstep with some work.”

“Good grief. Why?”

The club upperclassmen muttered among themselves.

There were many bad choices a person could make during break, but among them, helping a professor with work was one of the worst possible choices.

“…Can’t a person help?”

“I don’t think so. Anyway, keep going. You went looking for it and met the unicorn? How did you get close to it?”

Lee Han briefly explained what had happened in the mountains during winter break.

He had gone in with hunters to protect the unicorn, then run into Professor Bendozol…

“How awful!”

“Of all things!”

The upperclassmen let out groans.

How could a person possibly have that little luck?

Helping with a professor’s work during break was already unfortunate enough, and then to run into another professor while doing it?

“…And then the Skull Principal arrived, and things were resolved safely.”

“I see… Hm?”

The Jousting Club members murmured.

A unicorn in the mountains, an evil monster targeting that unicorn, Do Cheol and Bendozol, and the mages and hunters who arrived to save the unicorn.

It had been an extremely thrilling story, but then suddenly the Skull Principal had shown up and ended it all.

“Did Professor Thunderstep call him?”

“No way. Professor Thunderstep is a reasonable person. There’s no way Professor Thunderstep would call the Skull Principal.”

“…I called him.”

“You called him?”

“Yes.”

The mood among the upperclassmen turned strange, and Lee Han hurriedly offered an excuse.

“Professor Thunderstep and Professor Bendozol got into a fight, so there was no choice. Do Cheol was about to attack…”

“Mm! That makes sense too. In a situation like that, I guess it couldn’t be helped.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

The upperclassmen smiled and nodded.

And then, all at once, they hurriedly ran away.

“……”

*****

“It couldn’t be helped.”

Hormasi, the only upperclassman who had not run away, came over and spoke.

Lee Han answered in a slightly brusque tone.

“What couldn’t be helped?”

“No matter the reason, just the fact that you called the Skull Principal sounds dangerous.”

The dark elf upperclassman spoke in a loose, swaggering manner, but there was nothing wrong with the content.

It did not matter how dangerous the situation had been.

What mattered was the fact that this junior was close enough to the Skull Principal to call him.

“…I really did just receive a summoning artifact by pure chance.”

“I see. I believe you!”

While saying that, Hormasi took one step back.

If this junior had received a summoning artifact from the Skull Principal, it would not have been strange if the boy suddenly transformed into a monster from another dimension.

“Anyway, don’t worry about how the other members reacted. They may be afraid of you right now, but…”

“Once time passes, the misunderstanding will clear up?”

“Yeah. I was going to say that once they decide to ignore it and just play jousting, what can they do about it? What misunderstanding is there to clear up? It’s all true.”

“……”

Whether Lee Han glared or not, Hormasi said whatever Hormasi wanted to say.

“More importantly, junior. Let’s talk about jousting! The truth is, this Hormasi has been waiting for a junior like you. I don’t care in the slightest even if you’re the Skull Principal’s secret disciple.”

“Who said that now? Which bastard was it?”

“Again?”

Damn it.

From the upperclassman’s expression, Lee Han realized he had overreacted too much.

With a wary look, Hormasi asked,

“Do you hear people call you the Skull Principal’s secret disciple often?”

“No? This is the first time I’ve heard it.”

“…Right. Let’s get back to what I was saying.”

That was what Hormasi said, but Hormasi still took two more steps backward.

“At the moment, the Einroguard Jousting Club is short on outstanding strikers. Senior Kimbeldan graduated, and Senior Bodorge went mad after failing to graduate.”

“Pardon?”

Lee Han wanted to ask more about Senior Bodorge, but Hormasi did not seem particularly interested in people who had already left the club.

“But you have the talent of an outstanding striker. I think you might be able to fill that gap.”

“Thank you for the praise, but I haven’t actually played much jousting.”

That was true.

Unlike his friends, who enjoyed things like mounted jousting, unmounted jousting, table jousting, assignment jousting—jousting where they crumpled up assignments they were supposed to turn in and used them as the ball—and Wardanaz jousting—jousting where White Tiger Tower students assigned to be the ball dodged the furious wands of House Wardanaz students—Lee Han himself had not actually played that much jousting.

“It doesn’t matter. Talent is separate from experience.”

Listening, Lee Han suddenly grew curious.

What exactly had this upperclassman seen in him ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ to rate him so highly?

“Do I really have that much talent for jousting? Why?”

“You’re close with the unicorn. That’s enough.”

“…No. That’s just talent for handling animals.”

“Talent for handling animals is 90 percent of jousting anyway. Horsemanship is 50 percent.”

Must be because Hormasi is from White Tiger Tower. Bad with numbers.

Watching the unicorn fool around beside Lee Han, Hormasi spoke in an extremely satisfied voice.

“It likes you that much. You and the unicorn would make a good pair.”

“But Upperclassman, I have no intention of riding a unicorn in a match.”

“!?!?”

“—NEIGH!?”

Not just Hormasi, but even the unicorn stared at Lee Han with a shocked look.

“Why not?!”

“—NEIGH!”

“Well… there’s already another one I promised I’d ride out with. If I rode a unicorn instead, it would sulk.”

“You have to persuade it properly! What in the world are you talking about?!”

The dark elf upperclassman shouted in a shrill voice, apparently deeply shocked.

To have a unicorn and then not ride it out was an insult to jousting, to unicorns, and to the Empire.

“Of course, not riding out on a horse you’re close with might feel like betrayal. But if there’s one that’s better suited and you force yourself to be considerate anyway, that’s even crueler.”

“I-it isn’t a horse.”

“It isn’t a horse?”

Hormasi tilted Hormasi’s head. When a second-year student said there was a familiar mount, of course Hormasi had assumed it would be a horse.

“If not, then what is it? A goat? A boar? An ostrich?”

“Upperclassman. Please promise you won’t think I’m strange if I say it.”

“Are you looking down on your upperclassman? Whatever you’ve tamed, I won’t be surprised.”

From the moment this junior had summoned the Skull Principal, there was nothing left that could surprise Hormasi.

Even if the boy said he had tamed a griffin…

Hm. No, that actually would be a little surprising.

“All right. It’s a griffin.”

“…What the hell are you?”

*****

After consoling the hurt junior member—during which time the junior was consoling the hurt unicorn—Hormasi spoke in a serious voice.

“Let’s go see your griffin.”

With an injured cry of outrage, the unicorn tried to attack Hormasi.

At that, Hormasi quickly widened the distance and kept the unicorn from approaching.

“Don’t come any closer, you horned horse. As long as the junior has a griffin, I’ve got no business with you!”

“—NEIGH!”

“D-don’t you think that’s a little too harsh?”

“I’m not the one riding it, so what do I care.”

Hormasi replied in a sullen tone.

What a rider cherished was the animal the rider would personally ride, not an animal the rider was not even close to.

“No. Before we go see the griffin, it’d be better if you saw my mount first. Follow me.”

At the fact that a junior who rode a griffin had joined, Hormasi was in a state of great excitement.

If we charged together shoulder to shoulder…!

For that, they needed to know something about each other’s mounts first. Hormasi intended to explain Hormasi’s own mount to the junior.

“Hormasi! Tell the junior to collect the support money!”

“Ah. Right.”

At the words Senior Perse shouted from afar, Lee Han asked in puzzlement,

“What is the support money?”

“The Jousting Club regularly gives gold coins from the club treasury to members who raise animals. It’s to help and encourage them.”

Part of the Jousting Club’s prize money was given to members who performed well, while the rest was stored in the treasury and used as support money for the members.

The more rare and powerful the animals a member raised, the more support that member received, since that helped the club more.

“One griffin, one unicorn. Wow.”

Hormasi whistled and did the math. At this rate, Lee Han might set a new club record.

“Do you happen to have anything else? Even horses pay out a little, so if you do, say it.”

“I do raise a baby basilisk.”

“A baby basilisk… …a basilisk?”

A tail poked out from inside Lee Han’s sleeve and swayed.

After seeing that, Hormasi slowly shook Hormasi’s head. Then Hormasi called out to Perse.

“Senior Perse! Come over here and help with the support application!”

“You handle something that minor yourself! Are you really calling me over because that’s too much trouble?”

“Even if I submit it myself, everyone’s going to come verify it anyway, so I’m telling you to just come here and verify it now!”

Hormasi wisely predicted what was going to happen.

If Hormasi submitted it like this, the club members were bound to get angry and shout, Hormasi, stop messing around with the junior’s application form!

If that was the case, it was better just to show them now.

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about…”

Grumbling as if the whole thing made no sense, Perse walked over.

Just explaining to the newly joined second-year students where they could get Einroguard’s rare animals and how they could tame them was already keeping Perse busy enough.

And Professor Bendozol, instead of helping at the side, kept interfering by saying things like, “You lot are unworthy of taming them!”

“Just come over and take a look.”

“If you called me over for something pointless, then the junior training is going to be your responsibility, Hormasi… Hormasi, stop messing around with the junior’s application form!”

Hormasi looked at Lee Han and narrowed Hormasi’s eyes in a See? What did I tell you? expression.