Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 840

Chapter 840

"Ah, that's not it."

Having been hit right on the mark, Yi-Han's lie was half a beat late.

Professor Garcia grumbled as if she knew everything.

"You don't have to cover for her, Student Yi-Han. Lady Ragesa has always been like that. She's the type who says it's not fun if she's not tormenting students."

'Oh my.'

Yi-Han was dumbfounded.

What value was there in Einroguard's faculty besides Professor Garcia?

It was a truly dangerous thing to say, but it might even be below Baldurguard.

"Please ignore such nonsense."

"I am, Student Yi-Han. Well then, shall we have a test?"

"...Yes."

"I'm joking. There's no test."

The lecture <Understanding Very Difficult and Abstruse Arcane Magic (Those without confidence, do not come)> didn't particularly have quizzes.

In Professor Garcia's view, this lecture didn't need to separately create quizzes to test students.

"Professor!"

"Are you happy?"

"Well, I'm happy, but I'm worried about you, Professor. Won't the principal send you to the punishment room?"

"..."

Professor Garcia's heart ached at the sight of her disciple who had already become too mature for a 2nd year.

"I'm not going, so don't worry."

"Are you really not going? Professor Verduus goes to the punishment room when he arbitrarily removes tests, doesn't he?"

'Ugh.'

Professor Garcia inwardly cursed Professor Verduus.

He was teaching students such nice things.

"As you know, Professor Verduus has his... um... purpose..."

"Do you mean that purpose of wanting to abandon students and only research his magic?"

"...Thank you so much for speaking specifically, Student Yi-Han. Anyway, Professor Verduus often goes to the punishment room because he has many previous offenses usually. I don't have any previous offenses usually."

No matter how much the skull principal enjoyed sending someone to the punishment room, he didn't send them without reason.

Especially for the faculty, it was even more so. If one person was missing, there would immediately be a hole in the lectures.

So the skull principal sent people to the punishment room with cold judgment criteria.

Professor Verduus skipped a quiz -> Since it's Professor Verduus, he must have done it with evil intentions, so off to the punishment room.

Professor Garcia skipped a quiz -> Since it's Professor Garcia, she must have done it with good intentions, so no problem.

"It's like this."

'No. He's unexpectedly fair?'

Yi-Han was slightly impressed.

As expected of the principal, he was quite impartial in this aspect.

"And if I go to the punishment room, there would be many gaps in Einroguard's work... For similar reasons, 5th year students don't go often either."

"What about Professor Verduus?"

"From the start, even if the professor is missing, there's hardly any trace."

"..."

Yi-Han was at a loss for words.

Just how much was he slacking off...!

"Thank you, Professor."

"Oh. Student Yi-Han doesn't need to thank me separately. I decided because I thought a test wasn't necessary. You'll be busy this week anyway, so at least relax for today's lecture."

Professor Garcia offered freshly brewed coffee.

Today, she was thinking of asking how Yi-Han had been doing rather than giving a lecture.

"Come to think of it, Student Yi-Han. I heard you all visited a spirit king's realm together?"

"Kik."

When Yi-Han made a choking sound, Professor Garcia was greatly flustered.

"Are you alright!? Was the coffee too hot?!"

"Ah, no. I was just surprised. The information transfer between professors is too fast..."

"Ah. Teaching students is important work, after all."

This doesn't seem like something to just gloss over with such words.

Yi-Han put down the coffee cup while calming his tingling throat.

"Is that the new staff you received?"

"Yes. It's not completed yet. I need to process black purplestone and fit it here."

"Student Yi-Han. Doesn't this look too much like an ancient magic style? Did the principal perhaps order it?"

Professor Garcia was puzzled looking at the half-caduceus shaped staff.

Most current imperial staff forms were composed of special materials acting as the staff's core and stable materials wrapping the outside of that material.

This structure allowed for efficient and stable magic use.

But if it didn't make a separate core like this and just intertwined two materials, the stability would greatly decrease.

The mage would have to be much more careful in exchange for output.

Moreover, it was using two nonsensical materials like black purplestone and a spirit king's divine tree...

"Yes."

Yi-Han immediately agreed as he had been blaming the black book. At that answer, Professor Garcia shouted very indignantly.

"I don't know why he's recommending even staffs in the old style! You're already using sufficiently dangerous magic as it is, and he's not even telling you to use more dangerous magic!"

'That seems right...'

While thinking inwardly, Yi-Han asked casually.

"Can I change this form?"

"It's difficult if there's a powerful high-level spirit inside, Student Yi-Han. You'd have to wake it up and subdue it again..."

It took considerable effort just to wake it up, and subduing it was even more so.

Yi-Han recalled how the Gambling Tree King had rampaged then.

He had been beaten and lowered his tail, but he was the type to pounce on Yi-Han again once he recovered his strength.

'I guess I'll just give up and do it.'

"Well... If there are drawbacks, there must be advantages too. I'll try to be satisfied with the advantages."

Yi-Han spoke while trying not to grit his teeth. Professor Garcia nodded as if she understood.

"Then I'll as... no, request Professor Verduus."

"For what?"

"Processing the black purplestone. Professor Verduus is good at it."

"Is that possible? Ah. In exchange?"

Professor Verduus had a personality where he wouldn't do things he didn't want to do even if you killed him, but he was surprisingly willing to accept exchanges.

If Yi-Han asked him to process the black purplestone in exchange for his labor, he might do it.

"Exchange? What are you going to exchange, Student Yi-Han?"

"I could help with work or..."

"There's no need for that. I've helped Professor Verduus with something, so Professor Verduus should help me too."

"...Professor...!"

Yi-Han was moved by his teacher's grace.

To think she would make Professor Verduus repay the debt he owed to her to Yi-Han.

"After the lecture ends, let's go togeth... No. It would be better if I go alone."

"Let's go together? I think it would be better to show the staff right away."

"Hmm."

Professor Garcia hesitated.

If she went to find Professor Verduus, there would certainly be some harsh exchanges, and she didn't want to take her student with her.

-Professor. Last time I patrolled instead of you, graded tests instead of you, prepared assignments instead of you, made artifacts to put on criminals instead of you, and managed materials instead of you, so could you look at Student Yi-Han's staff?-

-Huh? I don't want to.-

-Hey!-

...She didn't want to let a 2nd year student hear such a conversation.

But Yi-Han was no pushover. Of course, he had been expecting this.

'Because Professor Garcia is too kind, she might be deceived when meeting a villain like Professor Verduus.'

If she went to collect the debt Professor Verduus owed and ended up doing more favors for him, Yi-Han might collapse holding the back of his neck.

Yi-Han suddenly thought of Direth jumping up and down angrily.

'...Gasp. Is this why Senior Direth got angry every time she saw me?'

Yi-Han, who had been pondering, shook his head.

He was different from Professor Garcia.

Unlike the kind Professor Garcia, he was acting sufficiently selfishly.

'I'm definitely different.'

"Sigh. Alright, Student Yi-Han. Let's go together after the lecture ends. Was there nothing else?"

"Hmm..."

Yi-Han recalled the conversation he had just had with the mad doppelganger before coming here.

Besides the story about the skull principal's past aspirations and the scolding poured out for an hour, there were a few more things.

[-So lowborn. You say you cast small worlds?-]

-Yes. Dendrobium and Basilios...-

-Then you should be able to use it now.-

-No?-

[-...-]

-I'm sorry. But I can't even use 5th Circle magic right now...-

[-Does apologizing change impossible magic? Hurry, lowborn. When will you have even the minimum honor as a disciple?-]

'It might be difficult even when the world ends.'

The mad doppelganger had advised him to try using small worlds a few more times using the black book.

There were often cases where forcibly inserting high-level magic into the brain and casting it would lead to blooming on its own, whether he coughed up blood or not.

With the talent the Wardanaz family boy possessed, it was an even more likely story.

-But if I fail, won't I go mad?-

[-Are you worried about madness before even casting?-]

-Ah, yes...-

Yi-Han, who finished recalling, made a decision.

He shouldn't tell Professor Garcia!

'If I tell her, she might collapse from shock.'

"Student Yi-Han. Are you perhaps deliberating on cutting out dangerous things so I won't worry?"

'Gasp.'

"No. Why would you think that?"

"I suddenly get that feeling..."

"It's not that, I was recalling something else. Do you know about the principal's past, Professor?"

"There's so much I don't know which one you mean."

"...When he was alive. Did you know he was a prince of a small country?"

"Of course I know that."

"!"

Yi-Han was surprised.

"Ah. Did you see it in history books?"

"No... The principal talks about it when he's bored, Student Yi-Han."

Come to think of it, that was true.

Students might not know, but professors had longer contact time, so they must have heard much more boasting.

"Then have you heard this too?"

Yi-Han explained the goal the mad doppelganger was thinking of.

That goal of removing the world's poison with the power of magic.

Professor Garcia listened to her student's words with a serious expression.

"No. I've never heard that."

"What do you think?"

"Usually mages like that become magic criminals..."

"..."

"Ah, no. I'm sorry. I should have thought before speaking, Student Yi-Han."

"Thank you for speaking honestly..."

Professor Garcia's impression wasn't completely wrong.

Mages who grasp unattainable goals either become eternal Sisyphuses or go mad and become magic criminals, don't they?

"If it were another mage, I would have ignored it, but since it's the principal's doppelganger saying this, I'm a bit worried. I wonder why he's doing this when it's impossible."

"Is it really impossible?"

"Well, Student Yi-Han. I don't know everything about magic. The more I learn about magic, the only thing I feel is that we know nothing about magic. It might really be possible. But rather than whether it's possible or impossible, isn't it right to consider whether the method is correct or wrong, Student Yi-Han?"

"You're right."

Yi-Han agreed with Professor Garcia's words.

Is it a matter of possible or impossible, or is that path right or wrong?

"That doppelganger was asking me to continue walking that path. I think he might have descended with lingering attachment in this aspect."

"...You should have said that first!"

Professor Garcia shouted angrily.

How could he have such a calm conversation when he might be about to take on that karma?

"Ah, no. It's not confirmed yet. In my opinion, he might give up while teaching me because he gets frustrated."

"That... doesn't seem... likely..."

From the professor's perspective, the least likely possibility was the mad doppelganger giving up and returning because he didn't like his disciple.

No matter how she thought about it, it wouldn't be easy to find another disciple like Student Yi-Han.

"Sigh. Forget it, Student Yi-Han. You won't listen even if I stop you, right? You'll go find him and learn magic again, right?"

"That's not... it."

Yi-Han was flustered when the professor he trusted and followed showed clear signs of disappointment.