Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

I see. So this is what they meant when they said the ancient era was an age of madness.

He had read countless times that crude madness overflowed everywhere in ancient times, but who could have imagined it meant something like this?

Otherwise, there was simply no way to explain the scene before him.

The sirens and mermaids serving the young Skeleton Principal and offering up their tears…

Sirens and mermaids must have been much kinder back then.

-■■■!

A mermaid swimming beneath the surface noticed Lee Han and suddenly growled, moving to attack.

The young Skeleton Principal immediately spread both arms to stop her.

“Please stop, mermaids! This person is my disciple. I will not tolerate anyone harming my disciple. Attack me instead!”

The mermaid who had tried to attack hurriedly apologized for the misunderstanding before retreating.

The young Skeleton Principal carefully checked Lee Han for injuries before speaking.

“Mermaids are never lenient toward intruders. You should be careful. You aren’t hurt anywhere, are you?”

“I’m fine. …Though my heart may have suffered a little damage…”

“???”

***

After that, no enemies appeared to interfere with the young Skeleton Principal’s voyage.

Every species visible from the depths of the sea to the skies above seemed to show him reverence.

“Did you perhaps use a Lesser World or Personal World before I arrived? The sirens and mermaids appear to have fallen into confusion.”

“Student Lee Han. Don’t deny reality!”

Professor Garcia cried out pitifully, desperately trying to preserve his disciple’s sanity somehow.

Of course, Professor Garcia himself had also been deeply shaken by what he had witnessed today.

Violent species like those showing that degree of reverence toward the young Skeleton Principal—

Yet a mage had to accept reality no matter how shocking it was. One had to build new theories from reality, not deny it and run away.

“The confusion theory still sounds pretty convincing…”

“It is not convincing.”

“Then it really does seem like they’re acting that way because of the Principal’s ki-kind… kind… kindness.”

Lee Han stumbled several times over the word kindness before finally managing to say it.

Professor Garcia slowly nodded as if the word itself was difficult for him too. Mentally, he understood it. Physically, his body refused to accept it.

“Then why is the Principal like that now?”

“…Time changes many things, Student Lee Han. Now let us hurry and assist the Principal.”

He’s dodging the question.

Lee Han could tell Professor Garcia was deliberately avoiding the topic, but he let it pass.

Honestly, he would have done exactly the same.

No ★ 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ matter how knowledgeable Professor Garcia was, what explanation could anyone possibly give for the Skeleton Principal changing that much?

Just how badly did those kingdom bastards provoke him? No… even so, I still can’t believe someone like this became that kind of person…

“Oh my.”

After returning to the harbor, the young Skeleton Principal suddenly stopped walking.

“What’s wrong?”

“The well beneath the city has been destroyed. The people here will no longer have any way to get water…”

With invasions from outside happening so frequently, it was difficult for facilities within the city to remain intact.

Important facilities for the citizens were often destroyed, and unless nearby nobles or mages stepped in, repairs usually took a very long time.

“I’ll help repair it.”

“Repairs won’t accomplish much. Look.”

The young Skeleton Principal flicked his robe sleeve and pointed ahead.

Merchants from other regions were already shouting loudly as they sold clean water.

“They likely noticed the well had been destroyed and received permission to sell water in this district.”

The merchants selling water here had also paid expensive bribes to obtain that permission.

Merchants who had spent that much money would never quietly allow the well to be restored. The moment no one was watching, they would simply destroy it again.

“I see. Then…”

Lee Han expected the young Skeleton Principal’s usual method to appear.

Surely he would beat the water merchants half to death, and the only real question was whether he would throw them into the sea afterward.

However, the young Skeleton Principal chose none of the things Lee Han expected.

He took several gem-studded ornaments from his pocket, tore them apart, and distributed the jewels among the merchants.

“????”

Before Lee Han could even recover from his shock, the young Skeleton Principal cast magic.

The nearby statue suddenly wavered, its composition transforming into water. What had been an ordinary decorative statue moments ago became a fountain.

Professor Garcia’s eyes widened.

Transforming a statue into water was a form of transformation magic Professor Garcia himself could use, but maintaining that state on a semi-permanent basis through magic was beyond what a human mage should be capable of.

And to cast it so quickly one could barely draw a breath—

This is impossible…!

“What the?!” “What the?!”

Professor Garcia realized his disciple had blurted out the exact same thing and turned to look. Judging by the expression on the Wardanaz Family boy’s face, he seemed to have reached the same conclusion.

“Student Lee Han has the same question as I do. You’re wondering how he cast that magic, aren’t you?”

“Huh? I was asking why he distributed the gems.”

“…”

The young Skeleton Principal looked slightly flustered by his disciples’ reactions.

Wasn’t that the obvious thing to be curious about?

“The reason I distributed the gems is because those merchants suffered losses as well. Even after paying bribes for permission, they’ll go bankrupt if they can’t make a profit.”

“!”

Lee Han was genuinely surprised by an answer that completely exceeded his expectations.

Who could have imagined he was even considering the circumstances of the merchants selling water here?

“The method itself isn’t very difficult. It’s simple. First, you begin with Lesser World magic, Dunamis…”

“I see…! Of course!”

Professor Garcia hurriedly took notes.

Now that he heard the explanation directly, it truly wasn’t such a difficult method.

Wasn’t it said that the extraordinary could be found within the ordinary?

Listening to the young Skeleton Principal’s explanation, Professor Garcia genuinely felt he might be able to attempt it himself.

What part of that was simple?

From Lee Han’s perspective, the two of them sounded like they were speaking an entirely different language. He grumbled toward Professor Voladi.

“Calling that simple is ridiculous.”

“…”

Professor Voladi remembered how often Lee Han casually told his friends, ‘It’s simple! Why can’t you do something this easy?’, but quietly swallowed the thought.

This disciple already had far too much to learn here. For now, it was enough to silently cheer him on.

***

After completely finishing the water-statue work, the young Skeleton Principal immediately moved on to the castle gate without taking even a moment to rest.

The sapphire and mermaid tears prepared earlier were already more than halfway refined through precise mixing. He had completed the preparation while returning from the short voyage.

“The castle gate work is somewhat different from the water statue.”

“How is it different…?”

“It means there are many eyes watching.”

The young Skeleton Principal smiled bitterly.

Though he was working for the people of this city, he himself could not remain here long or do anything too conspicuous.

The moment he did, the city’s mages and knights would notice something strange and begin tracking him.

“The moment we finish, we must leave immediately. Otherwise, we’ll end up fighting near the castle gate.”

“I understand.”

Lee Han no longer asked questions like Why go this far? or Is it really worth it?

Questions like that only had meaning when directed toward someone capable of wavering after hearing them.

The young Skeleton Principal was absolutely not the kind of person who would change his mind no matter what Lee Han said. The only thing Lee Han could do was assist him.

I need to finish this quickly and learn Yeongnak.

Lee Han decided to help the young Skeleton Principal finish the work as quickly as possible.

Come to think of it, he seemed to have adapted to the young Skeleton Principal by now. No matter what the other person said, he could respond calmly.

“Then I’ll ask you to stand watch—”

Boom!

An explosion erupted in the distance the moment he finished speaking.

Unlike Lee Han’s group, the young Skeleton Principal understood what had happened from the sound alone.

“Esadojikwa! A minion of the Lord of Wrath has appeared again!”

“Is it a demon attack?”

“It seems so. We need to intercept them!”

The young Skeleton Principal immediately abandoned the castle gate work and prepared to move.

Lee Han’s group hurried after him. Considering the might of the demon army they had witnessed when they first arrived, it was difficult to imagine how much destruction the surrounding area would suffer.

“Follow me!”

At the incantation, the young Skeleton Principal shot into the air. Lee Han’s group automatically followed behind him through the support of magic.

With more freedom to look around now, Lee Han examined the surrounding scenery. The distance closed instantly, and the demon army soon came into view.

That is…?

Lee Han’s eyes widened at the unexpected sight.

Enemies were indeed trapped within the demon army’s encirclement, but no matter how he looked at them, they didn’t seem like ordinary citizens.

Expensive combat golems. Escort knights.

And mages dressed far more luxuriously than Lee Han with his tattered cloak.

The silk robes embroidered with gold thread and decorated with jewels made it obvious at a glance that they were nobles of this city.

“You are trapped, mages! By me, Esadojikwa, chief aide to the Lord of Wrath and foremost herald!”

The Great Demon laughed thunderously, apparently in an excellent mood.

“Hall of Waves, you say? Compared to my master’s authority, it amounts to nothing more than splashing water!”

【Hall of Waves】!

“You creators of chimeras. Your toys are nothing but petty amusements before the supreme demon race!”

Even 【Metamorphosis Cavern】?!

Lee Han realized that nearly all the magical noble houses he had hastily learned about from the patrol guards were gathered here.

There had originally been a few more, but the young Skeleton Principal had crushed them last time…

“Everyone, please step back.”

The young Skeleton Principal pushed Lee Han’s group farther back through the air before layering several concealment barriers around them.

Lee Han cautiously offered advice.

“Lord Gonadaltes. Wouldn’t it be better to leave them alone and let both sides fight each other? If they discover Lord Gonadaltes, they certainly won’t remain idle.”

From everything he had heard so far, the city’s magical nobles were not the sort of people who would feel gratitude after being rescued.

If anything, there was a high probability they would say something like, ‘Hehe, thanks for the help. Now become our slave.’

The young Skeleton Principal agreed with Lee Han’s assessment.

“That is true. They probably would.”

“Then if we simply wait…”

“But if we do, many innocent people there will die or be injured. I’m sorry, disciple. When I save people, I do not judge based on personal likes or dislikes. I understand if you find it frustrating.”

The moment he finished speaking, dozens of projections of the young Skeleton Principal descended upon the rear of the demon army.

And a storm of magic crashed down upon them.