Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 1005

Chapter 1005

Uman was deeply moved by the mage who accepted immediately without a moment's hesitation.

Indeed, there was a reason his great elder sister Jourin had praised him highly.

'Truly an excellent mage. He clearly understands what the greater cause is.'

Crack!

Due to intense emotion, Uman's head tried to return to its original form, a dragon's head with jet-black scales.

"Oops. What a mistake!"

Though Uman quickly regained his senses and polymorphed back into human form, the ceiling was already damaged.

Seeing this, Uman was deeply saddened.

"I still have far to go! To think my mental discipline is so lacking!"

"Ah, no. Anyone could accidentally lose their transformation, right?"

"You even have a generous heart. It's hard to believe you're Lord Gonadaltes's disciple!"

Yi-Han could gradually grasp that the dragon before him and the skull principal weren't on very good terms.

But he didn't particularly mind.

People who got along well with the skull principal were rather rare in the empire...

'Seeing how he speaks, it actually makes me trust him more.'

In some ways, not getting along with the skull principal could even be an advantage.

Not just because he received enormous gold, but just looking at how he spoke, Uman was a righteous dragon who hated compromising with injustice.

For such a person, not getting along with the skull principal was simply an advantage.

"Well then, I must be going! Take good care of my sister! Other dragon clan members are expecting great things from you too!"

"...Yes..."

Though he had known since contracting with Jourin, hearing it again from another dragon's mouth made him feel freshly pressured.

When a contractor contracts with one dragon, the news spreads to all other dragons.

Yi-Han prayed that the other dragons would be lazy enough to forget this fact.

'Looking at dragons' personalities, it's possible. ...Though I might die of old age first.'

"Ah! Do you have any recommendations for methods to bind mages?"

Uman, who had been about to stride away, suddenly seemed to remember something and asked.

"Methods to bind mages?"

"Yes. Actually, my sister made a request!"

There was a reason Uman was in a hurry now. He had a direct request from Jourin.

To prepare methods to bind mages tightly!

Though Uman himself, being a dragon, had deep knowledge of magic, when it came to methods of binding mages, perhaps a mage themselves would know better.

Moreover, this was an Einroguard student and that skull principal's disciple.

'Is she planning to attack the principal?'

Yi-Han wondered.

Since Jourin wasn't very active outside, she didn't have many mages to attack.

Given Jourin's kind nature, it wouldn't be strange for her to be angry at the skull principal's evil deed of making the doppelganger of honor ascend. Yi-Han was slightly moved.

'I should increase the gift budget.'

"The best method I know is transforming them into a hamster, but that's probably too difficult. Have you prepared for pure mana impact?"

"Mana impact? I want to hear this. Share your wisdom!"

Yi-Han advised to the best of his ability.

More mages than expected had complacent thoughts like 'Haha, who in the empire would crudely wield mana to crush magic itself, it's not like mana grows rotten', but there were always exceptions.

A great mage like the skull principal could summon massive amounts of mana stored elsewhere with just a flick of his finger.

It was better to prepare in advance than have carefully prepared magic torn apart miserably.

"...Indeed! Excellent. I, Uman, have learned something! I shall prepare this too and present it to my sister!"

"Her Highness will be pleased. Haha."

As Uman rejoiced as if about to jump, Yi-Han felt satisfaction too.

He had been of some help, however small, as Jourin's contractor.

  *

The skull principal wasn't a mage with rich emotional expression.

But occasionally there were times when his emotional expression became rich, namely when his disciple returned after sweeping away bureaucrats.

"Everyone listen h..."

Yi-Han quickly pulled the skull principal back.

He couldn't just stand by and watch him shout 'This one who swept away the imperial bureaucrats is my disciple!' to the entire cafe like last time.

"Aren't you embarrassed!"

"What nonsense about embarrassment. If I had any embarrassment, could I dare visit bureaucrats carrying such trash research topics?"

Yi-Han was at a loss for words at the skull principal's words. They were too correct.

'Well, that's true.'

"But since you want it, I'll let it pass quietly."

The skull principal sent a warm look he hadn't shown since last year. It was a benevolent look that seemed like he could forgive his disciple even if he set fire to Einroguard.

'...I think I only saw this in ancient times.'

"Excellent! Of course, I thought you would succeed but..."

"Pardon?"

Yi-Han was dumbfounded.

To say he thought he would naturally succeed.

He couldn't understand what kind of confidence that was.

If Uman hadn't come, forget payment substitution, even getting an extension would have been difficult, wouldn't it?

"...To think you'd even erase the debt completely. Your skill grows day by day!"

-Isn't this strange?-

One of the Death Knights guarding the carriage raised a question.

-Of course, I know the disciple has rhetoric that could deceive even great demons.-

"What??"

Yi-Han was even more dumbfounded.

-But aren't imperial bureaucrats worse penny-pinchers than hundreds of great demons combined? For such people to not just defer payment but erase it completely?-

The knights' doubts were reasonable.

Though they had no doubt Yi-Han would succeed in persuasion, erasing the debt was a different story.

Wasn't this too unrealistic?

Those vile and ruthless characters who wouldn't give out a single imperial copper without thick reports, to do this so readily?

"My disciple's persuasion has reached a realm."

However, the skull principal, in a rare good mood, overlooked his subordinates' doubts.

-But...-

"Think about it. Who could have predicted that Bat-danaz would persuade a thought entity and even learn a small world?"

"I'm right here."

Though Yi-Han grumbled, the skull principal ignored him. The Death Knights nodded.

-Indeed...-

-That's true.-

Come to think of it, the deeds of a superhuman were hard to predict with ordinary thinking.

The successor before them was superhuman in many ways, but among them his truly outstanding ability was his rhetoric.

Who could have predicted he would form a master-disciple relationship with the doppelganger of honor and even receive transmission of a small world?

-You're right. How shameful. I underestimated Master Yi-Han.-

-But how did you persuade them? Did you create a small world for defeating bureaucrats?-

-Maybe you learned debt erasure command magic...-

While the knights whispered about how he had erased the debt, the skull principal opened his mouth as if belatedly remembering something.

"Ah right. About Her Highness Jourin."

"...Yes!"

"Why are you startled?"

I wondered if she might have escaped again in the meantime.

Yi-Han quickly made up an excuse. Fortunately, the skull principal didn't notice.

"I told you Her Highness doesn't go out that often... Anyway, rumors are spreading that you contracted with Her Highness."

"!!!"

Come to think of it, even Silvas had been surprised by Uman's appearance, but not by the fact that Yi-Han had contracted with Jourin.

It was a reaction hard to believe unless he already knew.

"The nobles who should know probably already know, so be careful not to receive unnecessary requests. It could become troublesome if you're not careful."

Currently, the empire's nobles were divided between loyalists who supported the royal family and aristocrats who opposed them.

Looking into the loyalist faction, though they were finely divided again according to which royal family member they supported as the emperor's successor, there was a shocking method that could not only bind these people together but even draw in the aristocrats.

That was drawing in the nine pure-blooded children who had inherited the emperor's blood most strongly.

Even aristocrat or neutral factions skeptical of successors' abilities would likely convert if even one of the nine pure-blooded children seriously stepped forward saying 'I will be the emperor's successor'.

Their abilities were that different in scale.

"If there were such a person, wouldn't they have come forward already? Even His Majesty seemed to want to find a successor quickly and hand it over..."

"That's right. Dragons aren't a race suited to being emperor in the first place."

As could be seen with the current emperor, dragons as a race had very strong individualistic tendencies.

There was no way such a race would be moved by being told to take responsibility for a vast territory and the numerous races living on it.

But there was an exception, namely oaths.

"Among the nobles, there will be some who try to persuade you to draw in Her Highness Jourin. Of course, it would be interesting if Her Highness took the emperor's seat but..."

"You don't need to worry. Such a thing will absolutely never happen."

Yi-Han spoke firmly.

If a dragon had to suffer, it was right for the emperor to suffer, not the still young Jourin.

'Hmm. Is that too vile a thought?'

But it couldn't be helped.

Yi-Han was Jourin's contractor, not the emperor's.

"Wait. More importantly, why did rumors spread? Could it be..."

When Yi-Han looked at the knights with eyes searching for the culprit, the Death Knights were startled and waved their arms.

-It wasn't me!-

-How could an honorable knight be so loose-lipped!-

-Please believe us!-

"It wasn't the knights."

"?"

At the skull principal's words, Yi-Han stopped looking at the knights and turned his gaze.

Then who?

"The dragons spread it. More precisely, they didn't spread it but sent letters."

"????"

"It would be faster to understand if you see directly."

The skull principal took out a letter and threw it. The letter, made of antique parchment, was densely written with characters Yi-Han didn't know.

"Transform."

When the principal declared this, the letter's contents changed to standard imperial script. The contents were as follows:

...We humbly wish to inform the Maykin family. A new dragon contractor has appeared... If you have anything to report regarding the contractor, please draw three lines above the seal below and write... We warn you in advance that if you threaten or harm the contractor, you will face retaliation from dragons who still have motivation at that point...

"Quite kind, isn't it?"

"...What is this?!"

Yi-Han was so shocked he almost dropped the letter.

Seeing that it came to the Maykin family, it seemed to have gone to all great noble families.

A Death Knight kindly provided additional explanation.

-In the past, there was much needless bloodshed due to racial differences, Master Yi-Han.-

It was difficult for ordinary people to understand dragon culture.

When incidents frequently occurred where someone carelessly messed with a dragon's contractor and the surroundings were devastated in retaliation, dragons decided to approach a bit more kindly.

They would send warnings in advance like this to forces of certain level in the empire.

Then those who didn't want to get swept away getting involved would naturally prevent problems.

-Don't you feel the dragons' wisdom in understanding and being considerate of differences with other races?-

"Not really."

-?!-

The Death Knights were bewildered by their disciple's lukewarm response, different from what they had expected.

Why?!