Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy
chapter-429

Yi-Han quickly understood the situation from Priestess Tijiling's whisper.

'Oh my.'

Indeed, it was natural to be excited if one had little experience with such night walks.

If it were Gainando, he would have given them a flick on the forehead, but he had no choice but to be lenient with the priests.

"Don't worry, everyone. I made this temporary boat because we were in a hurry. If we keep going on night walks, we'll often have to cross lakes like this, so let's make a proper boat next time."

At those words, the faces of the two priests brightened.

Priestess Tijiling, who was listening next to them, thought inwardly.

'Is there a next time?'

Everyone was making plans for the next night walk too naturally.

Swish-

The ice boat cut through the calm underground lake. After confirming there were no monsters, Yi-Han acted more boldly.

He floated a sphere of light on the boat.

'If there are any monsters we haven't discovered yet, they might come with this.'

If that happened, Yi-Han was ready to rain down a magic bombardment and finish them off in the water.

However, the lake remained quiet. There was no sound of monsters moving.

"Strange."

Yi-Han felt strangely uneasy.

He never thought he would come to expect monsters to pop out every time he set foot in a corner of the academy...

But now that they kept not appearing, he felt uneasy instead.

Why?

"It's strange."

Priestess Siana opened her mouth.

"In my opinion, a lake of this size should have fish or something?"

"!"

Yi-Han's eyes widened at Priestess Siana's words.

That was certainly true.

He had been focusing only on monsters, but it was natural to see fish or something in a lake of this size.

Even if it was an underground lake...

"Priestess Siana. So..."

"That's right."

Priestess Siana nodded her head. Her appearance was very reliable, so Yi-Han stared at her as if enchanted without realizing it.

What kind of deduction would Priestess Siana come up with?

"Isn't it really amazing?"

"It is. To think there's a lake like this. It's really amazing. I knew there were various places in Einroguard, but."

"..."

Yi-Han regretted having expectations for nothing.

The two priests were too excited to be of much help.

Priestess Tijiling felt sorry for no reason and tried to make a guess herself.

"If it's a closed artificial facility, there might not be any living creatures."

"For something like that, there's quite a bit of vegetation and soil visible, and the flow rate is also considerable. It's definitely connected somewhere."

"What if there's a powerful being at the bottom of the lake? If everything was eaten or ran away?"

"If there was such a hostile being, it would have come out when we drew attention like this."

The two seriously came up with hypotheses and gauged the possibilities.

In the meantime, Priestess Siana and Priest Nigisor also did what they could do.

"Wow! There's a sculpture over there!"

"Look at the water strider here!"

"..."

"..."

Yi-Han and Priestess Tijiling stared at the two, but they didn't notice.

"Wait, it's an island!"

Yi-Han, who was staring at the two, raised his head and shouted.

Thanks to his enhanced vision, he was able to discover it one step ahead of his friends.

A small island the size of a reef, which was not visible due to the deep darkness, revealed itself on the horizon as the distance got closer.

The two priests became even more excited and asked.

"Maybe there's a forgotten magic book!"

"Or it could be a history book! A very rare one that can't be found outside!"

Einroguard had many precious books as old as its long history.

Of course, whether one could take out and read those books as desired was a separate issue. Finding the whereabouts of a book that had disappeared once was difficult even for professors.

As such, discovering rare books in such a remote place was a romantic and joyful occasion.

"What nonsense are you saying. Be quiet, or you might catch a curse."

"..."

"..."

Except for Yi-Han.

For Yi-Han, who was trying to secure necessary supplies by any means, romance was a luxury.

What book!

'I hope it's a warehouse built by seniors. Or professors. Or the principal. Please be one of the three.'

While the priests were gloomy, Yi-Han docked the boat and landed.

What occupied most of the small island's area was a huge rock.

Yi-Han speculated that if there was anything on this island, it would be hidden inside the rock.

'The light of truth...'

As if realizing what Yi-Han was trying to do, Priest Nigisor and Priestess Siana also picked up their equipment.

Let's find hidden paths with fire and acidic solution!

-Is it you, Mr. Gonadaltes?-

"!!"

Suddenly, a resounding voice echoed from inside the rock.

Only then did Yi-Han realize that what he thought was a giant rock was actually a monster.

A monster whose size matched that of the small island!

Yi-Han's brain quickly turned. Judging from the situation and location, a head-on battle was not the answer.

"I am the evil..."

-It's not Mr. Gonadaltes. You're a student.-

"..."

-Huh? What were you trying to say?-

"I am the disciple who inherited the legitimate line of evil imperial magic from Mr. Gonadaltes."

-Ah. So that's why your mana is like that. I almost mistook you.-

The giant rock continued in a slow and gentle voice.

Although the eyes were not visible, it was clear that it wasn't just perceiving the other party with mana.

"Are you perhaps a rock spirit?"

"I don't think it's a spirit."

Yi-Han answered unintentionally.

Then the giant rock answered in a voice that sounded like it found him remarkable.

-That's right. I'm not a spirit. That's amazing. Students usually think of me as a spirit. How did you know?-

"...With experience and knowledge?"

Yi-Han was about to answer 'Because spirits usually dislike me out of habit,' but he twisted his words.

-I am an immortal eater.-

"!"

Immortal eater.

An amorphous monster that eats metal and grows.

Since it doesn't have a fixed appearance, it takes on a myriad of forms depending on what metal it eats and in what environment it grows.

Judging from its size and gentle personality, the immortal eater occupying this small island had clearly eaten well and grown without fighting.

"Why is an immortal eater in Einroguard?"

-When was it... It's such an old story that I can't remember well. A student secretly brought me in when I was just born and raised me. He seemed to think this was a good place to raise me.-

The immortal eater spoke leisurely.

Of course, it was a shocking story for Yi-Han, who was listening.

'These irresponsible bastards!'

Even if it was Einroguard, how could they bring in a harmful creature from outside as they pleased.

No wonder the academy was in this state.

Priestess Siana, who was listening, asked cautiously.

"Then, Immortal Eater, you don't have any intention of getting angry or harassing students, right?"

-Yeah. Why would I do such a thing? The student who brought me is even working as a professor.-

"..."

Yi-Han's face stiffened.

Even the culprit was a professor.

"Was it a beaver mixed-blood by any chance?"

-Uh-uh? No.-

"A vampire?"

-No... Wait. Stop asking.-

The immortal eater drew a line, slow but firm.

It shut its mouth for fear of causing harm to the student, no, the professor who brought it.

-If you think I don't respect that professor for bringing me, you're mistaken. Anyone can make mistakes when they're young.-

"That's true."

Priest Nigisor deeply sympathized.

He himself had played with fire quite a bit at the temple, trying to make stronger flames when he was young.

It was a fresh prank done when he was young.

"I don't think I would secretly bring in a monster that could grow as big as the academy no matter what mistake I made... mmph."

"Shh. Priestess Siana. Let's not provoke him."

Yi-Han quickly covered Priestess Siana's mouth.

Although it was disappointing that it wasn't a warehouse of seniors, professors, or the principal, this was an opportunity in itself.

It wasn't often that one encountered a being friendly to students and knowledgeable about the academy.

Most beings would launch a preemptive strike upon seeing students. Just look at the statue last time...

'I need to extract as much information as possible.'

"Those words are correct. No matter what truth there is, our respect for the professor will not change in the slightest."

Yi-Han wasn't lying.

Even if he brought in a newborn immortal eater, his respect wouldn't change.

Because it was 0 from the beginning!

-Is that so? That's a relief.-

The immortal eater answered leisurely as if satisfied.

Yi-Han asked, watching the other party's reaction.

"Then are you staying here?"

-Yeah.-

When asked a question, the immortal eater slowly revealed information.

The lake where the immortal eater currently resided, swam, and ate prey was called the <Spider Web Lake>.

It had nothing to do with spiders, but the name was given because of the lake's terrain.

Located deep underground in the main building, so deep that it was difficult to even count the floors, this lake had become very firmly combined and connected with some areas of Einroguard over a long period of time.

To the extent that even when Einroguard periodically twisted its body and mixed the spaces inside, the spaces connected to this Spider Web Lake would not come loose.

Professors who knew this fact well used this Spider Web Lake as a kind of shortcut.

"!!"

Yi-Han held back his pounding heart and asked cautiously.

"Then... where are the places connected around here?"

-I don't know about other places, but there's one below me. I heard it's a place used by professors.-

"!!!"

Upon hearing that it was a place used by professors, Yi-Han's eyes wavered.

Priest Nigisor and Priestess Siana also seemed excited, as they slightly nodded their heads and exchanged glances with Yi-Han.

'A warehouse?'

'Maybe a library for professors?'

Priestess Tijiling, who was listening quietly, carefully raised her hand and asked.

"May I ask one thing? You seem to be close with the professors or the principal, so is it okay to tell us such things?"

-Huh? Of course. If you've come this far, you must be a senior, so you'll be able to find out soon even if I don't tell you.-

"..."

"We're 1st years..."

-What??-

The immortal eater was startled. The rock trembled and flinched.

-How did 1st years cross the lake?-

"I froze the water and made a boat."

-Wow. That's amazing. Has the level of new students risen these days?-

'No, it hasn't.'

'No, it hasn't.'

'No.'

According to the immortal eater, magic was needed to cross this Spider Web Lake.

If one tried to cross by non-magical means, the lake water would immediately push them back to the shore.

'Damn cunning professors.'

Yi-Han clicked his tongue.

Even if he tried to use this lake as a shortcut right away, if he didn't know the locations of the exit and entrance, he couldn't use this wide and complex lake as a shortcut.

On top of that, they even put such restrictions.

"Was it Mr. Gonadaltes after all?"

-Huh? No. It's a natural phenomenon. The mana kept accumulating and accumulating, and it became like that.-

"...Oh my."

Yi-Han reflected a little.

"Then is the lack of life in the lake also due to that mana?"

-That's because it’s the time for the water spirits to go on a rampage. All the creatures ran away in advance because a great flood would occur soon.-

"..."

"...????!"

Yi-Han's group was shocked at the sight of the immortal eater casually mentioning such a huge event.

"Uh... if a huge flood is going to happen, shouldn't we hurry and go tell...?"

Despite hearing the shocking fact, Yi-Han moved through the passage below the immortal eater to the professors' exclusive space.

Priestess Tijiling was perplexed by his unwavering appearance.

Shouldn't they go back right now and prepare?

"Priestess Tijiling. At times like this, we need to secure more. If it's the professors' warehouse, there will be useful things for when the flood hits."

"That's definitely right!"

"I agree."

The other two priests were very excited and nodded their heads while holding the ladder.

"It won't make a big difference if we go back a little late. Above..."

Yi-Han, who was climbing down from the very top of the passage ladder, stopped moving.

And then his face stiffened.

"Why are you doing that?"

"...It looks like the professors' lounge...?"