Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Nillia quickly dodged, as if she had expected it. Having seen Gainando get hit several times, she was well prepared.

“Wind, become a wall!”

“…Why are you using magic to block that?”

Lee Han looked at his friend in bewilderment.

Nillia was crouching swiftly behind the wall of wind, preparing for a second attack.

She was just saying mana was precious when she scooped water by hand earlier.

“…I thought you’d attack a second time. You did that when Gainando dodged.”

“Gainando deserved to be hit a little more. Come here.”

Lee Han used telekinesis to brush off the mana aphids that had revealed themselves.

It was not difficult, but it certainly required patience and persistence.

“Wait. Nillia. Can’t we have spirits do this?”

“We can, but spirits hate it. Mandrakes release weak toxic fumes.”

It was not enough to harm mages, but it was toxic enough to make low-ranking spirits uncomfortable.

Lee Han felt slightly remorseful inside.

I thought it was fine to just endure it since it wouldn’t threaten our lives, but I guess this is the difference.

He wondered if this was partly why spirits liked Nillia but felt reluctant around him.

Though his mana was probably ninety-nine percent of the reason…

“Then I’ll have to use undead.”

POP!

Lee Han summoned the Skeleton Warrior Gonadaltes and ordered it to clean up the mandrakes.

Weak toxic fumes rose, but Gonadaltes did not dare disobey the tyrant’s command and silently brushed off the mana aphids.

Nillia watched with inward awe.

Dark magic…! It’s much more convenient than I thought…!

*****

Students entered one by one and took their seats. When the time came, Professor Willow began the lecture.

“Now. This plant is…”

“It’s a Barometz, Professor.”

Bartrek raised a hand and answered confidently.

The unusual plant, which bloomed sheep-like fruits like flowers, was a familiar plant to Bartrek, who came from an eastern family specializing in alchemy.

The sheep-like fruits were full of nutrients, and the stems and leaves beneath them were also used as alchemy materials…

“Excellent, Bartrek.”

When Lee Han praised him from the side, Bartrek awkwardly scratched beneath his nose.

“I was not asking for the plant’s name, young one.”

“…”

The embarrassed Bartrek glared at Lee Han. Lee Han shrugged.

Did I tell you to speak?

“Knowing the name is good, but a second-year student should know a little more than that. Yes. Where is this Barometz…”

“The stems are used as blood-attribute reagents, and the leaves as buffering reagents! The fruits have too many uses to list!”

Bartrek spoke again. Lee Han quietly clapped.

“…It would be best to listen to the question until the end. I was going to ask where it sells well and what the price is like. The fruits, I mean.”

“Pardon?”

Bartrek was flustered by the unexpected question. The other students felt the same.

The book <Oh! Such Plants Exist in the Empire?> contained plant names, habits, and uses, but not current market prices or quantities.

Professor Willow spoke with a slightly mischievous expression.

“Most students taking this botany lecture are probably also taking alchemy. Then you should know that among Imperial mages, no one struggles with reagents as much as alchemists.”

The alchemy school and botany lectures had quite a deep connection.

It was similar to the way transformation magic school students often took zoology lectures.

Since gathering and managing materials was also part of alchemy’s domain, botany lectures were practically half-mandatory.

“Now. Then how should you obtain reagents?”

“We should gather them ourselves… shouldn’t we?”

Bartrek answered as he had heard in alchemy class.

Professor Willow shook the leafy head.

“You cannot do that for everything.”

“B-but Professor Thunderwalk said we should develop the habit of gathering them ourselves?”

Professor Willow smiled broadly.

“Of course Professor Thunderwalk would say that in first year. Later on, you will be told to develop the habit of buying them too.”

“…”

Surprisingly, Einroguard professors were also skilled at changing their words.

A professor who said in first year, “What? You want to buy reagents with money after becoming a mage? Are you even a mage?” would change tune by third year and say, “What? You want to gather every reagent one by one after becoming a mage? Are you even a mage?”

In first year, when relatively few reagents were needed, they cultivated frugal habits and gathering ability. In third year, when enormous quantities of reagents became necessary, they cultivated the ability to secure them by any means required.

“Now. Do you understand why you need to grasp market prices?”

Professor Willow took out a small booklet and enlarged it. Written on the cover was <Imperial Horticulturist Club Journal>.

“Where certain plants are trending, what events cause price fluctuations, whom you can obtain good plants from… Do not neglect such things. Learn them in advance. If you try to learn in a hurry later, it will be too late. Mages are not kind enough to give good plants to outsiders.”

“Would joining the Imperial Horticulturist Club be a good idea?”

“That is also a good method, but it will not be easy. The Imperial Horticulturist Club has strict membership requirements… Try obtaining information through other methods. Make mage friends, or find informants…”

The Imperial Horticulturist Club was an honorable club that not just anyone could join. Only horticulturists who had achieved outstanding accomplishments in the Empire were allowed in.

Rather than such difficult approaches, Professor Willow recommended more accessible methods to the students.

“Now, then. Where does it sell well, and what is the price?”

“I, I don’t know.”

“Indeed. Next, young one?”

“I also don’t really…”

“How about you?”

Starting with Bartrek, several students failed to answer, and the question came around to Lee Han.

Lee Han was slightly flustered, but answered with what came to mind.

“Around now, wouldn’t it sell well near the southern Baltane Mountain Range? The price is… about twenty Imperial silver per fruit?”

“Oh. Your reasoning?”

“The Walpurgis festival should be happening around the Baltane Mountain Range now, and Barometz fruits are popular at festivals like that, aren’t they? Also, last winter wasn’t that cold in the south, so many Barometz would have grown. Then the price probably didn’t rise much above average…”

“You got it almost right. The price is a bit higher, though. That is because the adventurers who collected Barometz formed a cartel and are negotiating, but it would be difficult for you to know that much.”

“I considered that too, Professor. However, I thought the adventurer guilds in that region were in financial difficulty, so they wouldn’t be able to hold out long in negotiations and would compromise.”

“…”

Professor Willow opened the <Imperial Horticulturist Club Journal> to check.

Barometz Fruit — Current Imperial Price: 25 Imperial silver

Southern Baltane Mountain Range

“Interesting prediction. But you were wro…”

Barometz Fruit — Current Imperial Price: 20 Imperial silver

Southern Baltane Mountain Range

“A-amazing!”

Professor Willow was impressed for the first time in a while.

“How did you predict this?”

“I read Imperial newspapers diligently.”

“Excellent. Well done.”

“Grr…! That bastard Wardanaz!”

Bartrek stamped his feet in frustration.

Who would have thought he was studying even that sort of thing in advance?

The wall of the top student of the year was truly high and insurmountable.

That’s not what he meant…

As a fellow avid reader of the economics section of the Imperial newspaper, Yonair felt slightly embarrassed.

It seemed Bartrek had fallen into a strange misunderstanding.

*****

Professor Willow spent half the lecture time teaching, then allowed the students to tend to their mandrakes for the other half.

No matter how much they made use of time outside lectures, they still needed opportunities to ask the professor questions directly.

“Right. Wardanaz. Do you want to join us?”

“Join what?”

“For mandrakes to have good effects, they need really strong sunlight, right?”

To grow mandrakes, one had to water them constantly, catch pests, expose them to strong sunlight, and handle all sorts of other miscellaneous tasks.

Even after all that, the terrifying thing about plants was that if a mandrake’s mood soured, it could wither or die.

A basilisk would be better.

Lee Han petted the baby basilisk. Basil, which had been dozing in the greenhouse air, excitedly wrapped its tail around his finger.

“Right?”

“We’re going to create that sunlight ourselves.”

“…”

For a moment, Lee Han wondered if his friends had gone insane.

Creating sunlight with solar properties was on a completely different level from summoning light or flames.

One would need not only the light or flame attribute, but also dozens of attributes symbolizing the sun to achieve even a similar effect.

“Are you perhaps thinking about your graduation project right now?”

“What are you talking about, Wardanaz? We’re not you.”

“What did you just say?”

“I heard a rumor that there’s an artificial sun artifact in the Skull Principal’s storage. If we steal that, we’ll definitely get full marks on our mandrakes this semester!”

“…Well, if you do steal it, let me know. I’ll pay to borrow it too.”

“Wardanaz! What happened to you this year? Last year’s you had much more spirit!”

Lee Han ignored his mischievous friends’ temptation.

Things were already dangerous with so many enemies around, so he had no particular desire to visit the Skull Principal’s storage.

“So ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) if we do it this way over here…”

“Hmm. This one isn’t pretty.”

“What are you two doing?”

Discovering Ratford and Bartrek whispering in front of the vegetable garden, Lee Han asked curiously.

The two were having a conversation with very serious, cautious expressions.

Bartrek hurriedly pointed at the vegetable garden and said,

“It’s nothing. Right, Ratford?”

“Ah. We were trying to create patterns on mandrake leaves.”

“Hey!”

Bartrek was furious at the betrayal. Ratford did not care.

“We’re business partners at best, so why are you acting like this? It’s my freedom to decide who I tell.”

“Th-this is why Black Turtle Tower guys are…!”

“What do you mean, patterns?”

“Mandrakes are valuable for their medicinal effects, but if they have rare patterns, they sell for high prices.”

At Ratford’s explanation, Bartrek’s face turned red with shame.

To think he had been caught talking about making money by playing around with patterns in front of the top student of the year.

Sure enough, Wardanaz looked shocked.

“You two are… geniuses?!”

“…”

“Right. That’s how it was. Why was I forgetting this? Damn it. I’ve been learning magic in vain.”

If there were people like Lee Han who obsessed only over efficacy, then there were also people who obsessed over appearance and beauty.

There were collectors in the Empire who would pay fortunes depending on what patterns were drawn on mandrake leaves.

“How far have you gotten?”

“We made a potion and tried it, and so far we’ve managed something like dot patterns…”

“These are common. You need to make rarer patterns! Bartrek. Is this measly amount all you’ve got?”

“S-sorry.”

Bartrek apologized, then suddenly wondered to himself.

Why did I just apologize?

*****

“Thoughts from an instant to a moment, from a moment to a brief time.”

“Very good.”

Professor Garcia checked the spell that extended a mage’s perceived time, <Low-Grade Internal Time Extension>, and spoke.

Considering Lee Han’s year, it was an unbelievably fast learning speed.

Of course, Lee Han himself was dissatisfied…

“Ugh!”

“I told you there is no need to rush…”

“Yes. I understand. Ugh!”

“…”

Professor Garcia considered smacking him once.

“Oh, right. Lee Han. Next week is club week, so quite a lot of outsiders will be coming.”

“I understand.”

“Since you belong to many clubs, Lee Han, you will probably be called to many places.”

“I under… Huh? What did you just say?”

Lee Han, who had been absorbed in magic, flinched.

It seemed Professor Garcia had just said something ominous.