Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy
chapter-533

After the lecture, while everyone was taking a break in anticipation of the upcoming weekend, Yi-Han couldn't rest.

There was too much to do.

He already had to write Professor Bagrak's assignments, <On Wardanaz's Water Bullet and Its Basic Principles> and <The Limitations of Water Bullet Magic and Its Development Direction>, but now that he had received an external assignment from Professor Alpen, it was only natural.

Originally, he would have postponed it, thinking, 'I'll do the rest on the weekend,' but this time, he couldn't even do that.

If he wanted to go out with his friends to the skull principal's villa, even using the entire weekend wouldn't be enough.

"Mr. Wardanaz. Would you like to go fishing at the lake to honor our Lord Agltakwa?"

"I'm sorry, Priest Sharukal. I have a book to write."

The shark mixed-blood priest left with a fishing rod, looking disappointed.

"Mr. Wardanaz. Would you like to go mushroom picking to honor our Lord Flameng? We found a colony of honey bread mushrooms. We should hurry before others find them. ...Of course, if others find them, that's also Lord Flameng's will!"

"I'm sorry, Priestess Siana. I have a report to write."

Priestess Siana left with a basket, looking disappointed.

"Mr. Wardanaz."

"I'm sorry, Priestess Tijiling. I have a professor to bury ali... Ah. No. What am I saying? I have a problem to solve."

Yi-Han quickly came to his senses and covered the surrounding scribbles with paper. It wouldn't be good to show Tijiling scribbles like '101 Ways to Bury a Professor Alive'.

"Just now, clearly..."

"You must have seen it wrong. Anyway, I'm too busy to go out now."

"I wasn't going to ask you to go out...?"

Priestess Tijiling tilted her head and held out a snack. It was sweetly baked corn bread and hot cocoa in a tin cup.

"Did the other priests ask you to go out by any chance? Surely they didn't..."

"They did."

"...There must have been a reason. If there's a reason, they can do that."

The demon mixed-blood priestess elegantly changed the direction of her words. Yi-Han was slightly impressed.

"Thank you so much. Oh, by the way, isn't this the corn bread I baked this morning?"

"Ah. Yes. There was a lot, so I baked it again."

"Wait. This cocoa, could it be the one I gave everyone a pouch of last time when they were tired?"

"I thought I didn't need to drink something sweet, so I boiled it...?"

'Gainando would be shocked if he heard that.'

Saying that a person doesn't need to drink something sweet.

It was the exact opposite of Gainando's theory.

"The priestess should eat first, then I'll eat some too. No. In the first place, I have my own food. There aren't many people who have as many supplies as me."

Yi-Han scolded Priestess Tijiling, dumbfounded.

It was good for a person to be frugal, but skipping meals was not the right thing to do.

Priestess Tijiling seemed to have difficulty refuting Yi-Han's words, so she mumbled her lips and suddenly noticed something and asked.

"Are you taking out that tart box to eat?"

"Huh? No. I'm going to sell that for money. Why would I fill my stomach with such expensive things when there's a lot of other food?"

"Then are you taking out that roll cake to eat?"

"That's what I promised to give Gainando if he finishes all his assignments this week, so I'm going to give it to Gainando."

"...Then isn't the only thing you can eat up here that bread?"

Priestess Tijiling pointed to the hard Einroguard basic rations and asked.

Yi-Han was slightly flustered.

"No. I eat it with cheese, meat, and lettuce as a sandwich."

"Is that so? ...Wait. I don't see them."

"...Originally, I eat it together. Today, I'm a bit busy..."

"..."

Priestess Tijiling looked at him with a gaze that said, 'And you're lecturing me after doing that?'

Yi-Han gave up and opened his mouth.

"Let's have something together. Can you call the other priests? Since we're setting it up, we should set it up for everyone."

"Mr. Wardanaz, you sometimes remind me of our temple's bishop."

"Oh. Is the bishop wealthy by any chance?"

"No? He's frugal."

Yi-Han was disappointed.

'Wait. Then what's similar?'

***

Yi-Han had a simple meal with the priests who were in the dormitory lounge.

"The sandwiches seem too cold."

"Isn't this fine?"

"Hmm. Wait a moment. Today's leftover ingredients..."

Yi-Han threw rice, chicken, onions, garlic, and other ingredients into a pot with the priests who were in the dormitory lounge, stir-fried them in oil, and ate pilaf.

Priestess Tijiling stared blankly, perhaps thinking of the cold, hardened bread Yi-Han was about to eat earlier, but Yi-Han ignored her, pretending not to see.

'A person can sometimes skip meals when they're busy.'

Knock knock knock-

"!"

At the sound of someone knocking on the door, Yi-Han immediately grabbed his staff and prepared for battle.

If Professor Bagrak had seen it, he would have been moved to tears.

"...It-it’s just knocks on the door."

"Yeah. And all attacks start like this. Who is it? Answer and step back 5m immediately."

-I have come to deliver a gift from the master.-

"10m back!"

When the voice of the Death Knight was heard, Yi-Han's voice became even sharper and fiercer.

The priests also sensed that something was wrong and immediately put down their bowls and picked up their staffs.

"Priest Nigisor. That's not a staff, it's a spoon."

"Oops. Sorry. It was delicious..."

Priest Nigisor picked up his staff again, looking embarrassed.

Meanwhile, the door slowly opened. The Death Knight, who had stepped back as Yi-Han ordered, calmly spoke.

-I understand your concerns, students, but there really are no traps today.-

"As if we'd believe that."

Not only Yi-Han but also the priests laughed.

At that reaction, the Death Knight was slightly hurt.

It was understandable that the boy from the Wardanaz family had a twisted personality, being the master's successor, but weren't the priests going too far?

-If you find it hard to believe, please check for yourself.-

"I was going to do that anyway."

Yi-Han sent Sharakan and Gonadaltes to scout the surroundings.

He didn't stop there and created water orbs to shoot near the Death Knight and even launched various attack magic.

The Death Knight couldn't make facial expressions, but he expressed gloomy emotions with his eyes and brushed off the ice shards that had splashed on his bones.

-Are you done checking?-

"I haven't checked everything yet, but I understand for now. So, what brings you here?"

-Didn't I tell you... I came to deliver a gift.-

The Death Knight shook the large wooden chest he was holding.

-It's a gift from the master.-

"Ah."

The moment Yi-Han saw that chest, a lightning-like realization came to him.

'That evil bastard.'

The trap that Professor Garcia had mentioned had already arrived.

One of the many traps the skull principal used to torment students before the final exams.

It was a snack box with an undead warrior hidden inside.

"Thank you."

-Then may I give it to you?-

"Yes. Of course."

When Yi-Han nodded, the Death Knight slowly approached.

As the Death Knight stopped right in front, Yi-Han quickly took action.

He drew the Morning Star and sliced the wooden chest in half.

Slash!

-...?!!!-

"Ha! Did you think I would fall for it?!"

The contents flowed out from between the precisely split chest.

The evil undead warrior waiting on the principal's orders... was not there, but clothes.

"???"

-???-

Yi-Han looked at the coat that had been cut in half and realized why the skull principal had sent such a gift.

This weekend, the skull principal had to go out with the imperial minstrel, Ipadour, and Yi-Han.

It was an outing with a famous figure of the empire, so of course, he couldn't dress him sloppily.

The cloaks or coats that students wore at Einroguard were actually not much different from rags...

"...Trying to make me wear such clothes. I absolutely cannot accept it! Tell him that!"

-U-understood.-

The Death Knight left, strangely admiring.

As expected of his disciple, he never yielded even in front of his terrifying master.

***

“That quick-witted brat. He has a keen eye for expensive clothes too.”

Saturday morning.

The skull principal, who had finished transforming into human form, grumbled inside the carriage.

Yi-Han quietly thought to himself.

'Mr. Ipadour. Please come quickly.'

It seemed like the skull principal would keep grumbling until the minstrel arrived.

"Originally, I'm from a high noble family, so I can't wear clothes that don't match my dignity."

“You wore them well at Einroguard, didn't you?”

"I had no choice in that situation."

“Even during the break, you didn't particularly dress up…”

"I couldn't dress luxuriously alone while spending time with my friends."

“Sounds like a lie. Didn't you just want to find fault?”

The skull principal was still resentful that he had bought more expensive clothes than originally planned and kept grumbling endlessly.

Since he was going out with Ipadour, he couldn't scold his disciple even if he whined for expensive clothes.

He suspected that his disciple had deliberately extorted expensive clothes even though he had no taste for them.

"Sorry I'm late."

Ipadour walked from afar. The skull principal personally opened the door and spoke, using his vocal cords for the first time in a long while.

"No, sir. We arrived early, so don't worry about it. Now, where would you like to go?"

"If it's alright with you, I would appreciate it if you could take me to Philonae Town... I want to meet all the people who are good at singing around here."

The old turtle mixed-blood answered in a slow but stubborn voice.

The skull principal gestured as if telling him not to worry. Then the carriage door closed and sped forward.

The inside of the principal's carriage was spacious enough to fit dozens more new students of the tower. Ipadour couldn't help but be amazed at the sight.

"May I look around a bit?"

"As much as you want. Feel free to look around. Guide him."

While the Death Knight guided Ipadour, Yi-Han and the skull principal sat silently in their seats, looking out of the carriage.

"How much progress have you made in music magic?"

Yi-Han opened his mouth to break the silence.

Originally, it was the role of a subordinate like Yi-Han to liven up the atmosphere in such a situation.

The skull principal looked out of the carriage, pretending not to hear.

"Principal? Music magic..."

"Hey! Look outside. A butterfly in this season! How beautiful is the cycle of life!"

"...Do you not want to talk about music magic?"

At Yi-Han's words, the skull principal let out an annoyed sigh.

"Yeah. I don't want to. This is why primitive magic... Can something that changes every time you measure it be called magic? Even though everything from one to ten changes depending on trivial moods?"

"But holy magic is also magic, isn't it?"

There were already magics that included unstable factors like emotions.

Holy magic belonged to that category.

Its effect varied quite a bit depending on the priests' faith or condition.

The skull principal strongly agreed with Yi-Han's words and said.

"That's right. That's why holy magic is not magic. You know something... No, I'm glad!"

"...It's not that holy magic is not magic..."

Yi-Han was dumbfounded by the skull principal's response, which was like a perfect fit but understood it like a mess.

"I can see the future clearly. Maybe some of the good singers will be able to use something similar to magic. But if you record that and tell the students to try it, it will be nothing special again. Primitive magic has meaning for mages who can use it, but academically, it's as good as a failure. There's a reason why the transmission is cut off..."

While the skull principal was grumbling, Yi-Han organized the things he had to do in his mind and turned his gaze outside.

"?"

In the distance, his friends were waving their hands hurriedly as they quickly moved away.

'Are they seeing me off?'

Yi-Han, who was pondering why they were seeing him off so desperately, realized belatedly.

"...Ah."

"Why are you doing that?"

"It's nothing."

Come to think of it, they had agreed to go together to raid the skull principal's villa this weekend.

'...We'll have to go next week...'