Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Chasing down intruders was work for servants.

There was no reason for mages from a prestigious magic academy like Einroguard to bother with such things.

Of course, if some mage had spread rumors like, “The intruders might have stolen the Principal’s treasures,” then the situation became a little exceptional…

Lee Han simply kept quiet and put on an innocent expression.

-Unless they’ve got nothing better to do with their lives!

“It truly is a bizarre situation.”

Without interrupting the furious hamster’s squeaking, Lee Han calmly agreed.

Once it vented like this, the hamster usually settled down soon enough.

If it gave up on escaping and just stayed quietly in the cage, that would be good for Lee Han, good for the insane duplicate, and good for everyone involved.

“This is terrible!”

“???”

When Intarendals suddenly cried out from outside, Lee Han flinched.

The head attendant was someone who never lost his composure or courtesy no matter what happened. Hearing a person like that raise his voice—

It was the first time Lee Han had ever witnessed such a thing.

“What happened?”

“Master Gonadaltes’ condition has become unstable.”

“…This bastard is the culprit!”

Lee Han immediately pointed at the hamster and accused it.

He had no idea what was happening, but survival came first. Since things had reached this point, the hamster could take responsibility.

The hamster squeaked in disbelief.

How could someone from a great noble house betray another person without even a moment’s hesitation?

‘Even magical criminals hesitate for at least a second.’

“Lee Han of House Wardanaz. I don’t quite understand what you mean. Are you saying that mage is responsible?”

“I’ll explain the vicious scheme this thing tried to pull.”

Lee Han quickly described the trap the hamster had prepared.

After hearing the explanation, Intarendals answered immediately.

“It appears unrelated.”

“…Oh. Really?”

“Yes. Master Gonadaltes would notice traces of a corrupted soul the moment he looked at it.”

-Nonsense. It’s not that easy to detect.

The hamster protested angrily, but Intarendals ignored it.

“And besides, weren’t all the intruders captured already?”

-…

The hamster deflated. That part was impossible to deny.

“Then what do you mean by his condition becoming unstable?”

“That is…”

Before Intarendals could finish, a powerful surge swept through the workshop.

The Archmage had returned.

The moment he arrived, Intarendals visibly panicked in a way Lee Han had never seen before.

“Oh dear… What should I do… This is much sooner than expected…”

‘What the hell is going on?’

Even Lee Han started feeling anxious.

Intarendals was a veteran from the ancient Empire who had lived through countless crises, so all he showed was anxiety.

Lee Han, meanwhile, immediately jumped straight to fear.

Unstable—

Did that mean the insane duplicate might suddenly attack his disciple?

“Master Gonadaltes. Welcome back!”

While the head attendant briefly stepped away, Lee Han whispered urgently to the hamster.

“What’s happening? What do you mean he became unstable?”

-I don’t know either.

Normally the hamster would have exploded in outrage over Lee Han’s betrayal, but the situation was too serious for that now.

Even the experienced magical criminal instinctively sensed danger.

If even the insane Archmage’s disciple was frightened, how terrifying would this situation be for someone beneath a servant?

-If I had to guess… that tyrant already had madness within him from the beginning.

The hamster desperately wrung every bit of thought from its brain in the name of survival.

-There were signs in the way he treated me.

“…You’re not saying he went insane because he attacked you, are you?”

Lee Han asked incredulously.

That was just the insane duplicate acting normally. Lee Han got attacked all the time too.

‘And honestly, this hamster deserved it.’

-Shut up and listen! That’s not what I mean.

The hamster was referring to the time Lee Han had first been kidnapped—no, chosen as a disciple—and brought to the workshop.

The time the insane duplicate had declared Lee Han must master fifth-circle magic within a single day before being tested by Antagondals.

“I remember. Come to think of it, you also cursed me by saying I’d die if I failed to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} learn fifth-circle magic.”

Lee Han spoke coldly.

The hamster shivered and pretended not to hear him.

-I’m talking about what happened afterward.

***

While Lee Han struggled to learn fifth-circle magic, Antagondals had gone outside the workshop to wait cheerfully.

Watching young novice mages destroy themselves through greed was one of Antagondals’ favorite entertainments.

But unexpectedly, the insane duplicate had come outside as well.

-Do you have further orders?

-…

-Master?

-Is this truly correct?

-…It is correct, Master.

-What is?

-All of this!

Smack!

-Don’t flatter me when you don’t even understand the thoughts of royalty, trash.

***

“???”

Lee Han looked baffled after hearing the story.

He genuinely didn’t understand what point the hamster was trying to make.

‘I understand that he enjoyed watching me fail, but…’

“So what exactly are you trying to say?”

-You idiot. That tyrant isn’t a living being. It’s a thought-form made of mana. A thought-form like that shouldn’t feel doubt or confusion.

Even after that conversation, the tyrant had continued attacking the hamster while remaining uncertain whether his methods were truly correct.

Back then, the hamster had assumed the mana thought-form was simply going mad because the world itself rejected its existence.

But looking at the current situation, those had been warning signs.

-Would a storm or an earthquake suddenly question itself? Of course not.

“I see. Then how do we cure this madness?”

-I have no idea.

“…”

Lee Han looked down at the hamster with eyes filled not with respect for an ancient Archmage, but with contempt for a fat rodent.

The hamster immediately exploded in outrage.

-Who could possibly treat the madness of a thought-form?! Most thought-forms are erased by the world’s rejection before things even reach this stage! That tyrant only survived by relying on ancient secrets!

“So in other words, you can’t fix it.”

-If you dislike that answer so much, you shouldn’t have interfered with the methods I prepared!

“When exactly did I interfere? Don’t tell me you’re accusing me of hiring the mages and giants—”

Before Lee Han could finish speaking, the insane duplicate entered the workshop.

Behind him, Head Attendant Intarendals fidgeted anxiously.

‘…He looks surprisingly normal?’

Lee Han was honestly bewildered.

Since they had described him as unstable, Lee Han had expected disheveled hair or murderous eyes blazing with madness.

Instead, he looked exactly the same as usual.

“You happened to be here.”

“Ah. Yes. I had something I wished to ask regarding my studies…”

“Set that aside. Something more important has arisen.”

“What is it?”

“From this moment onward, I shall conquer the continent.”

“…”

A silence heavier than death filled the workshop.

Behind him, Intarendals lowered his head in despair.

Lee Han desperately wanted to ask what in the world was happening, but with the insane duplicate standing directly in front of him, he couldn’t.

“Con… conquer the continent?”

“That’s correct. You, my disciple, shall serve as royalty’s adjutant and commander.”

Lee Han shuddered at how naturally he had just been dragged into the leadership of a continental rebellion.

Especially after already signing a contract with the guest star Arna…

…Descendant of House Wardanaz Shocked by Charges of Imperial Civil War…

…Secretly Dreamed of Founding a New Imperial Dynasty…

…Cunning Schemer Who Deceived the Imperial Family Finally Reveals True Ambitions…

Headlines like that flashed through Lee Han’s mind.

Except now it no longer felt remotely funny.

At this rate, the newspapers would probably become even more extreme.

“Master. May this disciple ask a question?”

Surprisingly, the insane duplicate nodded readily.

“Speak.”

“Why… exactly do you wish to conquer the continent?”

The insane duplicate let out a faint sigh.

It sounded exactly like:

How can my disciple be this dull and lacking in insight?

The disappointment felt so genuine that Lee Han almost felt guilty.

‘No. Absolutely not.’

He snapped back to his senses immediately.

Not understanding this was definitely not Lee Han’s fault.

He refused to get manipulated by the other person’s logic.

“Look.”

The insane duplicate pointed beyond the workshop entrance.

Blue mountain ranges stretched endlessly into the distance.

“What do you see?”

“Mountains?”

“Royalty sees the wounds and suffering of the world.”

“…”

Lee Han nearly suggested having emerald spectacles crafted for him, but managed to hold himself back.

He wasn’t confident jokes would work right now.

“If left alone, people will continue wounding one another forever. If magic and secret arts cannot save them, then at the very least, a holy king must rule them strictly and guide them.”

“I… understand.”

Lee Han’s head spun, but through everything he had seen and heard until now, he could roughly grasp the logic behind this madness.

As unbelievable as it sounded, the Skull Principal really had once been a decent person in his youth.

He had genuinely tried to eliminate suffering from the world.

The fact that he created magic like <Gonadaltes’s Hatred> proved how sincere that obsession had been.

Passion like that didn’t simply disappear after failure and despair.

It only changed direction while burning even hotter.

If the insane duplicate had reached the conclusion that:

If magic cannot save the world, then I will dominate and rule it myself—

…then perhaps that conclusion wasn’t impossible.

‘No. It’s still insane.’

But then again, he was the insane duplicate.

Lee Han had merely forgotten that lately because the man had seemed relatively normal.

Apparently satisfied with his explanation, the insane duplicate issued his final command.

“Listen well, disciple. While royalty prepares the army, you will lead the vanguard and seize that magic academy. The mages of this territory naturally belong to the magical empire.”

The current insane duplicate felt strangely inorganic.

Mechanical.

To the point where Lee Han almost preferred the version that got irritated and emotional.

He resembled a thought-form created solely for the purpose of conquering the continent.

While silently processing the absurd amount of information crashing into him, Lee Han suddenly remembered something important.

“…When you say vanguard, who exactly are you referring to?”

“Who else? The giants. They should suffice.”

“Master! The giants absolutely will not—”

Lee Han hurriedly tried to explain that the giants possessed independent wills and would never obey such orders.

“The giants stated they would follow if you, my disciple, became their commander. Depart. Royalty shall prepare a new army.”

‘Damn it.’

Lee Han cursed inwardly at the giants’ disastrous timing.

Of course, the giants had probably answered with something like:

If Lee Han’s fighting, then we’ll help too!

They had intended it kindly.

Unfortunately, that only made the current situation infinitely worse.

Once the insane duplicate finally left, Lee Han and the hamster immediately grabbed Intarendals and bombarded him with questions.

“What in the world is happening?!”

-Conquering the continent? What exactly occurred?

“How do we stop him? We have to stop him!”

-No matter how powerful that tyrant is, conquering the continent is impossible…

“Please. One at a time.”

Intarendals calmly raised a hand to stop the flood of questions.

Then he turned toward the hamster and lashed it with a magical whip.

Crack!

“I showed mercy, yet a mere prisoner still dares behave so insolently.”

“…”

Lee Han instinctively straightened his posture and became more polite.

After disciplining the hamster, Intarendals relaxed his icy expression and returned to his usual courteous demeanor.

“I shall explain everything, Lee Han of House Wardanaz.”

“You may do so whenever it’s con-convenient for you.”

“?”