Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 1023

Chapter 1023

The habit of asking senior mages for help when problems arose was more important than expected.

Just look at Yi-Han - how many incidents had he gone through because he hadn't developed this habit?

Even this realm erosion exploration, if Yi-Han had asked a senior mage for help...

'That's not right.'

Come to think of it, senior mage Alcicle had dragged him along, so this was an exception.

But still, Yi-Han called Alcicle.

Surely such an unhelpful exception wouldn't happen twice?

"Sir Alcicle!"

-Huh? What?!-

Alcicle, who had been purifying poisons in the reagent storage room with the priests, was startled when Yi-Han called in an urgent voice.

"A ghost appeared here!"

"What!?"

Bang!

Not just Alcicle but other friends too immediately drew their staves or swords and came running.

"Where!?"

"Here."

"...There's nothing here?"

"Because I cast magic at it."

"..."

The friends looked at Yi-Han with very sour expressions. Jijel thought inwardly.

'Reacting too quickly is also a problem.'

Because he defeated it too quickly by himself, there was nothing left for others to check even if they wanted to.

"W-well. Well... done. Counterattacking is important..."

"What kind of ghost was it?"

"How would I know? You just shattered it."

Alcicle grumbled while checking around the fireplace.

Though he could feel faint traces of a spirit body, there was nothing more. Wardanaz must have properly landed a critical hit.

"Seems to be a real ghost. A mage's ghost at that."

Statistically, mages often caused trouble for their surroundings even after death.

It was so common it didn't need mentioning that magic laid in workshops would leak out after the owner's death and turn surroundings upside down, and there were quite a few cases of restraints on summons or realm gates loosening and monsters from other realms flooding in.

Even if the mage themselves had neatly organized their workshop, the danger didn't completely disappear.

The mage's own soul and body, having experienced countless mana and mysteries, were themselves hazards.

A mage's powerful will yearning for arcane knowledge would often cause strange resistance phenomena against bodily decay.

"Ah. Like the principal?"

"...N-no. That's... though a lich is correct too, it's too... to put in the same category..."

Alcicle was flustered at Gainando's innocent question.

Though lichification was now one of the means for mages to resist death, it was too different in level to put in the same category as such ghosts.

Lichification was advanced great magic that only mages who had reached supreme heights in the dark magic school could perform, while becoming a ghost was just...

"You just need lots of lingering attachments and grudges."

"Shouldn't there be lots at Einroguard? Why haven't we seen any?"

When someone raised the doubt, Alcicle answered as if asking what nonsense that was.

"Mediocre ghosts would be exorcised immediately. Is Einroguard Baldurguard?"

"Ah."

While others were talking, Yi-Han who had been thinking deeply belatedly recalled something.

"Wait, I think the ghost asked me to solve the magic it left behind!"

"Indeed. That's quite a common purpose among mage ghosts. Prince, didn't you hear such words?"

"It just chased me away telling me to get lost."

"Hmm."

Alcicle seriously pondered the difference in the ghost's reactions.

Though ghosts that weren't evil spirits like this were mostly not that dangerous, there were no absolutes in magic.

Just now during the realm monster tracking, hadn't they almost gone straight to imperial prison for acting carelessly?

"Maybe it didn't ask because it didn't trust Gainando?"

"That could be..."

"That can't be the reason. Everyone think seriously."

Alcicle admonished the Einroguard students. Yi-Han asked while continuing to inspect the kitchen.

"Would it be difficult to completely exorcise the ghost through combat?"

"No. Since you could blow it away immediately earlier, it doesn't seem like a ghost with strong combat power. It was probably a non-combat mage in life. However, it's better to resolve these things peacefully..."

"Ah. True, there's no need to fight and damage the facilities reducing the mansion's value."

"...W-well that too, but originally mage mansions have many secrets. There's nothing bad about properly inheriting them from the owner."

"Then I'll change plans and go down to the basement."

Though Gainando made a sad face looking at the unorganized kitchen, other friends strongly agreed.

"Well thought, Wardanaz. Won't die from skipping one meal."

"Let's check suspicious places first."

"Ugh. This is why people from other towers..."

Though Gainando grumbled at Salko and Jijel's reactions, even Blue Dragon Tower students wanted to check the basement first.

"Hope it was an alchemy school."

"Hope it was summoning. Might be helpful if there's any useful research."

"..."

Gainando became gloomy and moved behind Yi-Han. Though there were many people, there weren't many friends to rely on.

"Oh dear. You must be hungry, Gainando. Want to eat this?"

"...!"

When Yi-Han fumbled and took out sandwiches from a basket, Gainando's eyes went round.

"When did you make those?!"

"Made them earlier while cleaning up after the realm erosion."

"Yi-Han...!"

-Solve the magic I left behind...-

"...Aaaaah!"

Gainando screamed while throwing his chicken sandwich.

The mage ghost had suddenly revealed itself again from the direction of the basement stairs.

Yi-Han skillfully caught the sandwich with telekinesis then put it in Gainando's mouth and pushed him back. It was artistry-level skill.

Alcicle watched and admired.

'Malachite Magic Tower mages would shed tears of emotion seeing this!'

Mages who honed such detailed control of telekinetic magic were truly rare.

"What magic do you want solved?"

Yi-Han threw the question after preparing to counterattack immediately if the other made even slightly suspicious movements.

Even if it seemed harmless, he couldn't let his guard down with a ghost.

-Below... my research is there... follow me...-

"Wait! Why didn't you ask the prince here earlier and just chase him away?"

Asan asked curiously while pointing at Gainando.

Then the mage ghost answered in a slow voice.

-Do not ask... those without qualification...-

"..."

"As expected!"

"Ah, n-no. That doesn't seem to be what it means?"

Alcicle hurriedly stopped the students who were accepting this.

The qualification it spoke of couldn't be magic ability.

What ability would a ghost have to guess Gainando's Einroguard grades just by looking at him?

"Ghost, please answer for the sake of your purpose too. What qualification do you speak of?"

-Magic learned... that mage... has qualification...-

"Magic that Wardanaz learned?"

The students finally realized the qualification wasn't about Einroguard grades.

"A summoning mage?"

"No. Could be an enchantment mage."

"Well since the prince was rejected, seems it's not a dark mage."

"...I'll just ask directly."

Yi-Han cut off his friends' conversation.

No matter how he thought about it, there were too many possibilities.

"What magic are you talking about?"

The ghost pointed at Yi-Han's staff.

Yi-Han was startled when it pointed at the King of Frost Giants' blue gemstone.

'Was it someone related to the frost giant race!?'

"Yi-Han. Looks like it means the space-moving ore beside that stone."

"Ah."

Yi-Han became embarrassed.

So it was someone related to space magic!

  *

"But you did well to guess I learned space magic just from this stone."

Space-moving ore was a convenient item that even mages who hadn't learned space magic could use.

Then the mage ghost answered in a faint voice.

-Clock...-

"?"

-Such... an item decorated with flashy magic... only mages who specialized in space-time magic would carry around...-

"!"

Yi-Han finally realized what the ghost meant.

The pocket watch with cracked glass, enchanted with <Limited Time Acceleration>!

It was talking about the artifact made by a certain professor at Einroguard during their student days.

"I-is this decorated with such flashy magic? It looks ordinary though."

-Read... the space...-

At the ghost's words, Yi-Han cast <Space Perception> magic with puzzlement.

Even if there was distorted space around, this magic enabled mages to make correct measurements with absolute sense.

However, nothing was detected.

-Deeper... concentrate more...-

"???"

Though he didn't understand, Yi-Han concentrated his senses more.

Though he thought the other might have misunderstood something, since he had already cast it...

"...!"

Surprisingly, Yi-Han's senses caught a faint distortion. Following the pocket watch's outer surface, space twisted like decorations was engraved.

The most surprising thing about this delicate magic was that it truly had no use at all.

What meaning could such twisted localized space have?

Only mages who could perceive space would see it and react 'Amazing! Such meticulous decoration!'...

'Would they really? Wouldn't they think it's just fooling around?'

-Don't waste magic on such things...-

"..."

The ghost seemed to think so too as it gave advice.

Using means that only one in a hundred could see to show off was stupid no matter how you thought about it.

"...I didn't cast this magic. And the person who cast this magic is dozens of times wiser than you."

-I don't know...-

The mage ghost didn't seem to pay much attention to Yi-Han's words.

And it was doubtful whether the ghost could even think properly in the first place. According to Alcicle, such ghosts were incomplete beings.

Unlike liches who inherited almost all their living knowledge and abilities, it was unknown what parts were lost with ghosts.

"But the facilities upstairs don't seem particularly related to space-time magic, did you research other school magic too?"

-I don't know other school magic...-

"But there are other... Ah."

Yi-Han paused.

"Do you know Lady Erindarbell? A great mage, kind personality, makes quite frequent mistakes..."

-Don't know...-

'So the owner changed several times.'

Come to think of it, this mage ghost didn't have to be the immediate previous owner.

It wouldn't be strange if the owner had changed several times in between. Rather, looking at that diverse and complex mess, it was more likely several mages had used it.

"Then didn't the previous mages solve the magic?"

-They tried but all failed...-

"!"

Yi-Han became slightly worried.

His confidence suddenly disappeared at hearing other mages had failed.

'Can I really solve this?'

"Wait. Even if you failed yourself, couldn't you get help from other mages? Would that be cheating?"

-No... doesn't matter...-

The ghost didn't care at all whether help was received or not.

It didn't matter at all as long as the magic it left was completed.

-However... all the other mages asked to keep their failure secret...-

"..."

Yi-Han was dumbfounded.

What was this?

'What are they trying to do?'

If you failed you should tell other mages and solve it, but to hide it until selling the mansion because of pride.

Moreover, not just one but multiple people did exactly the same thing.

Mages really...!

'Hmm. But if I can't solve it either, I should keep it secret until selling too.'

Apart from being dumbfounded, Yi-Han learned one more thing.

When selling a mage's workshop, one should hide defects as much as possible.

-Here...-

When they reached the end of the long underground spiral staircase, the ghost passed through a door.

Yi-Han tried to open the door and enter. At that moment, the space beyond the door split into countless spaces.

"???!?!"

-I tried to create an infinitely changing space of possibility that would be determined by a mage's will... but it became uncontrollable... solve this magic...-

"...I'll call someone real quick."

Yi-Han immediately gave up and prepared to call Professor Garcia.