Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy
chapter-404

No matter how she looked at it, Yi-Han seemed angry, but Professor Bungaegor was different from Professor Uregor.

The experience of an adventurer who had traveled from one end of the empire to the other and gone through all sorts of trials and tribulations was bound to be on a different level.

If you ask an angry person, "Are you really not angry?" even the anger that was about to subside would flare up.

Professor Bungaegor skillfully changed the subject.

"They'll probably come."

"The summoning mages?"

"Wait a moment..."

Professor Bungaegor calculated while folding her fingers.

Seeing that, Yi-Han was shocked.

Counting them meant that at least two teams or more would visit!

'Those trashy bastards!'

Unlike the priests who came to do good deeds, the mages' visits had very impure intentions.

Wouldn't they come to check the students' skills and steal their magic?

Even the demons of hell wouldn't be this heartless.

"Are they visiting to see the students' magic?"

"Probably?"

"How can people do that?"

"...Huh?"

Professor Bungaegor was slightly flustered by Yi-Han's anger.

Why is he getting angry about this?

"Anyway, next week will be the summoning mages. And don't worry too much. They're not crazy... no, skilled ones like the Paragranum Guild. There will be quite a few mages whose skills are inferior to yours."

The summoning mages' festival next week, <Boltzmann's Call>, was a festival and a gathering to commemorate Boltzmann, the great ancient summoning mage.

Festivals where only mages gathered were a bit different from the empire's general festivals.

It was a place where mages who usually had no chance to meet each other showed their magic, received evaluations, and exchanged techniques.

However, if they wanted to be serious, they could put their pride on the line, but if they wanted to enjoy it lightly, they could enjoy it as much as they wanted.

Thanks to that, surprisingly many mages with inferior skills participated.

Einroguard's 1st year students were treated as ironheads within the school, but it was a place that gathered the empire's top talents and inherited the empire's best legitimate magic lineage.

Among the mages who were self-taught outside or exploited under eccentric mages, there were many cases where their skills were inferior to 1st year students.

Since such mages would also participate in the festival, a situation like the Paragranum Guild wouldn't happen...

"When they come from outside, won't they bring anything? The priests always brought us food."

"...Just finish your work."

"Yes."

Yi-Han increased the work speed while controlling the golem.

Even while grumbling, his appearance of becoming more and more skilled at controlling made even Professor Bungaegor admire him.

'But what is he muttering?'

When Yi-Han muttered on top of the golem, Professor Bungaegor became curious.

Was he gaining insight from the parts the professors advised earlier and reciting additional spells?

When Professor Bungaegor focused on hearing it more clearly, what she heard was:

"Summoning mages. If they come, I won't let them off easily."

"..."

Professor Bungaegor was shocked to see Yi-Han skillfully controlling the golem while saying other things when he should be focusing on controlling it.

Returning to the tower after finishing the hard labor, there was a subtle silence in the lounge.

It was different from a tense silence. It was an atmosphere of reflection somehow.

Yi-Han asked Priestess Tijiling in puzzlement.

"Did something happen?"

"Everyone is reflecting."

"!"

The priests who rarely fought and shouted at each other.

But as expected, the priests were different from other tower students.

After continuing a heated discussion, they decided to understand, consider, and respect each other's positions.

Hearing that explanation, Yi-Han was moved.

'Even the skull principal's poison doesn't work on the priests!'

In fact, the priests' fight this time had nothing to do with the skull principal, but Yi-Han thought so.

"Then can I now ask about the orders with peace of mind?"

"Pardon?"

Priestess Tijiling stared blankly at Yi-Han as if asking what he was talking about.

"...No? Uh... since they reflected, now faith is a personal freedom...?"

"No. This time, everyone judged that the dissatisfaction arose from deciding the order by leaving it to luck. So we changed the method."

"...To what?"

"We decided that the winner would have the right to recommend faith to Wardanaz."

"..."

Yi-Han turned his head and looked at the priests.

Looking closely, the priests who he thought were just being silent were gathered in groups of three or five and devising strategies.

-Of all things, <Basic Imperial Geometry and Arithmetic> had to be the competition subject.-

-Don't worry. We have a priest from the Ciseners Order, don't we?-

-I had never been interested in other orders before, but I was impressed by the Ciseners Order's abilities.-

-Haha, I'm just embarrassed…-

"???"

-Even if the Ciseners Order is over there, we don't care.-

-That's right! Let's share information and discuss how to beat them.-

-Our order…-

"..."

In a competition with many participants, the possibility of winning with one's own strength alone was low.

Clever ones would gather and cooperate even if the reward was reduced a bit.

The priests gathered with those who had the same beliefs or whose orders had similar tendencies and were actively devising strategies.

It was a sight that anyone could see the skull principal would like.

"...What have I done?"

"Pardon?"

At Yi-Han's words, Priestess Tijiling tilted her head.

Priestess Tijiling didn't think the current situation was bad.

Weren't the priests, who usually focused only on their own tasks, talking with other priests and having discussions about faith?

The priests themselves were enjoying conversation topics they wouldn't have had normally and getting to know each other.

"I need to go in and rest... Thanks. Priestess Tijiling. See you tomorrow."

When Yi-Han went upstairs with a gloomy face, the other priests stopped talking and asked.

"Wardanaz's face seemed dark. Is it just my feeling?"

"I heard from the Blue Dragon Tower people earlier that the White Tiger Tower people kept bothering them while working..."

"What an unfortunate thing. I will go to the White Tiger Tower people next time and make a request."

"I should go together. But who did you hear it from?"

"Gainando told me."

"I'll have to remember that."

The next day, the angry White Tiger Tower students threw a ball made of crumpled paper at Gainando as soon as they found him.

"Like any magic, precision is a special virtue in summoning magic. Excellent summoning mages must be able to control any situation. The great summoning mage Boltzmann said this: 'The easiest summoning magic succeeded by calculation is more valuable than the most difficult summoning magic succeeded by chance.' As such..."

Professor Millei, who was talking about how to further develop the <Paper Bird> summoning magic covered in the 1st semester, raised her eyebrows at the distracted atmosphere.

"Does anyone have something to say? Student Raphael. Speak up."

Raphael, a dark magic major who disliked dark magic, was flustered when he was called as a representative.

When Yi-Han's eyes met Raphael's, he advised in a small voice.

-Tell her honestly.-

Given Professor Millei's personality, if he admitted his mistake, she wouldn't torment him like the skull principal and would let it go cleanly.

"Th, they were talking about whether the summoning mages are really coming."

"..."

Yi-Han let out a deep sigh. Seeing that, Raphael asked back in bewilderment.

"Wa, wasn't this what you told me to do?"

"I told you to apologize honestly, you idiot..."

"You may sit, Student Raphael. It seems everyone is concerned because of the <Boltzmann's Call> festival. It's natural for everyone to be excited about the summoning mages from outside visiting the school."

'Are they excited?'

Yi-Han was puzzled.

At least Yi-Han and his friends reacted like, 'Ah, what crazy bastards will come from outside to torment us again?'...

A student from the Black Tortoise Tower courageously raised his hand and asked.

"Will they bring food by any chance?"

"No. It's not that kind of festival."

At the firm answer, the atmosphere stirred.

Whispers like 'Then why are they coming?' 'Is the school a joke?' 'Isn't it rude to visit the great Einroguard without manners now?' were heard from here and there.

Professor Millei stopped the students' whispers with a light gesture and said.

"I'm sorry I can't meet everyone's expectations, but the <Boltzmann's Call> festival is not a festival to enjoy eating and drinking. It's a festival where summoning mages see each other's magic and commemorate Boltzmann. Of course, I don't expect much from the students."

"That's a relief."

"Right?"

"..."

Yi-Han lamented inwardly when he saw his friends still showing a naive appearance.

When a professor said, 'I don't expect,' there was no possibility of it being sincere.

No matter how kind Professor Garcia was, she couldn't help but be disappointed if her students didn't produce results.

That was an inevitable shackle for a professor.

"But showing an embarrassing appearance in front of mages from outside will hurt the students' own pride."

"That's right!"

"I'm glad you know. Let's focus on summoning magic. <Paper Bird Summoning> looks simple at a glance, so many summoning mages learn it once and don't pay attention to it anymore. But the empire's excellent summoning mages never underestimate the potential in this magic."

Professor Millei summoned a paper bird in the air.

The paper bird circled the lecture hall once. Professor Millei spoke while looking at the White Tiger Tower students.

"Think about golem repair after the lecture."

"...!"

The White Tiger Tower students covered their books with reddened faces.

They had been caught while pondering how to make the golem cooler.

'It's remote viewing magic.'

Yi-Han realized that Professor Millei had looked around the lecture hall through the paper bird's vision.

It looked plain on the outside, but connecting the summon's vision with one's own vision to explore like that was a very advanced technique.

Summoning, connecting vision, making the summon fly while simultaneously concentrating on the main body's consciousness.

"There's no need to go to such lengths..."

-Consider the golem's center of gravity!-

When the paper bird opened its mouth and chirped, the students were startled.

Although it had a lower difficulty than remote viewing magic, recording and delivering voice to the paper bird like that was also a very useful magic.

'I want to learn that.'

Yi-Han definitely felt the need for it.

He needed a way to contact students from other towers.

To check the current prices with the managers of the Black Tortoise Tower's black market, or to check how many meals the Blue Dragon Tower friends had skipped...

"...There's also this method."

As soon as the professor's words ended, the paper bird charged into the lecture hall wall and collided.

Then the paper bird disappeared with a flash of light, and a magic engraving was left on the wall.

Using the paper bird as a medium, magic was engraved on the wall.

"Excellent mages don't obsess over flashy and difficult magic. No matter how easy the magic is, its effect varies greatly depending on how it's used. Everyone, keep that in mind. Now then... let's each modify the paper bird. I'll see how you all modify the paper bird during this semester."

The simpler the magic, the more the mage's individuality who modified it was revealed.

Professor Millei hoped that the students would gain many insights through the experience of modifying the paper bird this semester.

'To put in a voice...'

Yi-Han started flipping through the book to try putting in a voice first.

Professor Millei looked at Yi-Han and asked, raising her monocle.

"What will you do, Student Yi-Han?"

"I'm trying to put in a voice, but..."

"Hmm..."

"?"

When Professor Millei looked at Yi-Han with a stern expression, Yi-Han was puzzled.

Did he make a mistake?

"It would be better to raise the difficulty."

"...Professor. I haven't even tried this yet..."