Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy
chapter-428

"Is there anything to gain by going that far?"

"What are you saying, Priest Nigisor? Of course there's a lot. Where do you think the stew that came out for dinner came from? Could you make something like that with the black bread and cold rice balls given by Einroguard?"

The priests who had eaten deliciously had nothing to say even if they had ten mouths.

No matter how frugally and humbly the priests had lived, if they kept eating warm and greasy meals, they would naturally adapt to it.

At first, the priests who said, 'You shouldn't do this,' 'We don't eat such meals,' 'If you say that much, I'll just eat a little of this bread,' were now naturally responding with 'I'll eat well,' 'Thank you always.'

"Th, then I'm sorry. You didn't have to go out of your way to prepare it..."

"No. You don't need to be sorry. I prepared it because I wanted to."

Yi-Han had already made them feel sorry, but he continued.

"But what I want to say is a different point. You have to act rather than just sit still. What if Gainando from the Blue Dragon Tower collapses from starvation?"

"I would share my bread."

"Yes. But what if there are two people? Three people? The entire tower?"

Priestess Siana, who was listening next to them, tilted her head.

"What happened to the Blue Dragon Tower that all the students are starving to death?"

Yi-Han ignored it as if he hadn't heard.

"The important thing is that such situations are difficult to overcome with the kindness of individual priests."

If it were the Black Tortoise Tower or the White Tiger Tower, they would have ignored it, saying, 'What nonsense,' but perhaps because the priests were kind, they listened quite intently.

Moreover, it was a quite relatable topic.

"Indeed..."

"That makes sense."

"Right? What would be the solution to this problem?"

"Well... since it's difficult for an individual to solve, if all the priests join forces and share a little of what they have to eat..."

Unlike his usual confident attitude, Priest Nigisor spoke a little hesitantly.

The madness Yi-Han had shown today had made Priest Nigisor a little scared.

"No, that's not it."

"Oh, it's not?"

"Then if the White Tiger Tower and Black Tortoise Tower guys are also on the verge of starving to death, it can't be solved."

"???"

Priestess Siana, who was listening, became even more confused.

What on earth happened that the students of all three towers are starving to death...?

"Then?"

"The answer is to raid Einroguard's warehouse in advance and bring in supplies from outside to stock up. Then even if such a crisis hits, we can overcome it."

"..."

"..."

The priests were perplexed, but Yi-Han continued seriously. Then, a voice filled with strong persuasion began to captivate the priests.

"It's not that you're raiding the warehouse and smuggling from outside for your own luxury. You can also raid the warehouse and smuggle from outside to help your friends."

"Indeed... listening to it, it seems to make sense."

"It's certainly not easy to help if you have nothing even if you want to help. It's difficult because of ingredients even if you try to make potions and distribute them right away."

Priest Nigisor, who belonged to the radical faction, and the pragmatic Priestess Siana were quickly persuaded.

Priestess Tijiling next to them looked at the two priests with a very perplexed gaze.

Even so...

Is that okay?

"I understand."

"Tell the other priests later too. That it's not for luxury, but for doing good deeds. It would be good if everyone does it in advance."

"I'll definitely tell them!"

The three mages exchanged glances with a firm resolve.

'If the Immortal Phoenix Tower priests help, Einroguard's black market will become a bit more abundant.'

Since they were more advantageous for night walks than other tower students, if they actively stepped up, supplies would circulate better in the black market, prices would be controlled, and students would be smiling.

Of course, there was an ethical issue of whether it was okay to make priests steal, but Yi-Han judged that part was fine.

'This is self-defense. The gods will acknowledge it too.'

Everything is self-defense in Einroguard!

Priest Nigisor slightly set fires here and there to check, Priestess Siana poured acidic solution to check if the walls were real or fake (even though they had already checked with the light of truth, Yi-Han regretted bringing them because they were enthusiastically clinging to it, saying they would search)...

As a result of repeating the search like that, the one who caught the luck was Priestess Tijiling. Priestess Tijiling, who was checking beyond the wall with the cursed artifact she was wearing, immediately called the three.

"There's a path here!"

"We finally got one!"

Yi-Han, who was watching from behind in case Priest Nigisor and Priestess Siana caused an accident, ran over with a bright face.

Priest Nigisor was disappointed.

"Ah... I should have set fire there."

"Ugh. I didn't check because I was saving the potion."

"..."

Yi-Han ignored it as if he hadn't heard and pushed the wall.

Creak-

Fortunately, the wall opened without any complicated mechanism, and the hidden underground stairs appeared behind it.

"Eyes, pierce through the darkness..."

As Yi-Han tried to cast the dark vision magic, Priest Nigisor spoke as if he understood.

"That's the magic, right? The one that greatly increases overall physical abilities, but after using it, you get severe muscle pain..."

"Ah! That's the one! I know it too!"

At the words of Priest Nigisor and Priestess Siana, Yi-Han was flustered.

"No, it's not?"

"...It's not?"

"That's a different magic... no. More importantly, how do you two know that?"

"The people from the White Tiger Tower often talked about it?"

"..."

Yi-Han thought that the next time he met other White Tiger Tower guys, he should grab their collars and call them ungrateful blabbermouths.

Even though Gonadaltes' enhancement magic had quite strong side effects, it was all cast for the sake of the White Tiger Tower guys, but they were badmouthing behind his back like that!

'Ungrateful bastards. Unforgivable.'

"That's a physical enhancement magic, so there's no need to cast it now, and above all, the muscle pain is quite severe, so it's a bit..."

"Oh my..."

"I was prepared for it."

"..."

When the two priests showed noticeable disappointment, Yi-Han and Priestess Tijiling exchanged glances.

'Are the two priests excited?'

'...It seems so.'

Whether their self-rationalization was done properly, the two priests were very excited about the permanent relocation of items they had never done in their lives.

Yi-Han understood.

'Certainly, being a righteous thief is a bit fun.'

If you think about it, it was closer to doing something to make a living, but it would be a lie to say that it wasn't fun.

The joy of finding the principal's warehouse and raiding all the usable supplies.

If you even think that you're resisting an evil great mage, the joy doubles.

'Is this why righteous thieves were born?'

Yi-Han moved his steps with such thoughts.

Through the green vision piercing the darkness, humid air began to rush in.

It was the smell of water.

"...There's water. Everyone be careful."

"You don't have to worry. We won't fall in."

"No. In case monsters come out."

"!!"

Priest Nigisor immediately tensed up and hardened his posture.

Yi-Han had tightened the mind that had been carelessly let down because it was inside the academy.

Priestess Tijiling whispered softly.

"Do they really come out? You're lying, right?"

"No... they really come out."

"..."

Yi-Han was worried that Priestess Tijiling would come to dislike night walks, but he couldn't hide the truth.

If there was that much water, there was a high possibility that monsters were hiding.

"A lake...!"

"Oh my god!"

The priests let out exclamations without realizing it as they descended the stairs.

As the stairs leading underground ended, a dark blue lake was vastly spread out in the darkness.

It was so large that one couldn't even guess where the other side of the lake was connected to.

"Why is this inside the academy...?"

'Why are you surprised now?'

It was really surprising.

Whether this was inside or outside Einroguard, whether it was an external space or an expanded space, that was unknown, but anyway, it wasn't something to be surprised about.

The important thing was only what was in this lake and where the other side was connected to.

If it was connected to the outside, it would be so joyful that tears would come out, but Yi-Han, who had attended more than half of the 1st year, didn't have such absurd expectations.

'I hope there's a hidden warehouse somewhere.'

Priestess Siana scooped up some water from the lake with a cautious attitude, put it in a potion bottle, and checked the water quality.

There was no detectable toxicity or residual mana.

"The water is fine... what are you doing!??!"

"Huh?"

Priestess Siana screamed in fright at the sight of Yi-Han entering the water with a splash.

"I'm going into the water..."

"Poison check!! You have to check for poison!! What are you doing!!"

"Ah. I checked by putting my hand in."

"..."

"..."

The three priests' eyes were filled with shock at the ignorant answer.

Realizing the strange atmosphere, Yi-Han quickly made an excuse.

"...I've become accustomed to such crude methods from hanging out with the White Tiger Tower guys. I should be more careful in the future."

"Ye, yeah."

In fact, the White Tiger Tower had nothing to do with it, and it was Yi-Han who went in thinking, 'Even if there's poison, it'll be fine,' relying only on his own mana, but there were no White Tiger Tower students present.

Yi-Han chanted the underwater breathing spell and immersed his body in the water.

Bubble bubble-

"Light!"

As a sphere of light filled with mana hung on the staff, light began to spread through the dark lake water.

Even with the dark vision magic, there were many limitations to seeing through the pitch-black water.

'Wait, there are no monsters?'

Yi-Han was surprised.

There were no monsters even though it was this wide.

And he was surprised again.

'I'm surprised there are no monsters...'

There might not be any!

He seemed to have adapted too much to Einroguard.

As Yi-Han came out of the water, Priest Nigisor immediately lit a fire. Although it wasn't cold weather, after immersing his body in the water, a chill was bound to come.

"I can cast <Latent Heat Enchantment>."

"No. Let's save mana. We don't know what might happen. I'll cast..."

"Wait!!"

"Please wait!"

"I'll just cast it!"

"..."

Yi-Han stopped his actions while grumbling.

It was the first time he was distrusted like this regarding magic.

"Since there are no monsters at the bottom of the lake, I think we can make a boat and go a little further."

"A, a boat...!"

"That's...!"

The faces of Priest Nigisor and Priestess Siana brightened.

Even if they pretended not to, an undisguisable expectation could be seen in their eyes.

"Shall we get some wood?"

"I saw some reeds near the lakeshore earlier, so if we weave those...!"

Yi-Han drew up the overflowing water from the lake and grasped its shape.

The water element was one of the elements he dealt with the most, so he could easily transform and fix its shape even with his eyes closed.

Then he cast the cold magic he had learned from Alcicle.

"Freeze!"

The power of the 1st circle cold generation magic was limited to freeze the water the size of a small boat.

In fact, only the edges of the boat were frozen.

However, Yi-Han cast the magic continuously without rest. In an instant, the cold was continuously overlapped, and a boat made of ice began to form.

Crack crack crack-

Yi-Han, who lightly checked the strength, nodded his head.

"This should do. Will everyone get on?"

"...Alright."

"Hmph."

"???"

Yi-Han was puzzled when the two priests became gloomy.

"Is it because it's an ice boat? Even though it looks like this, it's quite sturdy, so you don't have to worry about safety?"

"That's not the problem right now..."