Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 707

Chapter 707

"Priest."

At Perse's remark, Falcrius realized blood was dripping from his ladle and became embarrassed.

"Oh my! This is all treasure! Thanks, Perse."

"It's nothing, Priest."

"Phew, I told you to call me comfortably."

Falcrius put the ladle back inside and came out again.

"Our <Saint Eaktus Soup Club> decided to treat you to a meal in exchange for explaining about the club first. Does anyone know why our club is named this?"

The Blue Dragon Tower 2nd year students looked at each other.

There were people who knew about the legend of Saint Eaktus, who defeated an evil dragon with a single stone, but they couldn't guess what that had to do with soup.

"Is it a soup that Saint Eaktus liked to eat?"

"Wahaha! Interesting thought. Close, but no. Everyone knows well about the miracle of Saint Eaktus defeating the dragon, but they don't know much about his other miracles."

The pot-bellied priest senior patted his belly and continued his explanation.

"It's a story from when Saint Eaktus visited a town one day. The town was divided into west and east, and while the west had a good harvest, the east was starving due to a bad harvest. So Saint Eaktus asked the rich people in the west to share their food."

"I don't think they would have shared."

"That's right! So Saint Eaktus came up with a trick. He said he would make delicious soup with just stones and water. The rich people from the west gathered to watch. As Saint Eaktus boiled the soup, he muttered, 'If only we had some minotaur shoulder meat, it would be an even more delicious soup.'"

"?"

Yi-Han, who had been nodding along to the typical fable, paused.

An excessively high-grade ingredient had appeared.

"Uh, isn't it usually carrots or onions or potatoes?"

"Phew, it's an old story, isn't it? Maybe they had just caught a minotaur recently and had plenty of meat. Anyway, when Saint Eaktus muttered like that, someone brought minotaur shoulder meat. Then Saint Eaktus muttered again! 'If only we had some fairy cave rock salt, it would be an even more delicious soup.'"

"..."

"..."

Even the Blue Dragon Tower students who had been listening with emotion at first felt something off and tilted their heads.

Weren't the ingredients too high-grade?

Gainando marveled alone.

"I often use that muttering strategy too! Until they play mage cards with me..."

"Really? Wahaha. You might become a hero like Saint Eaktus too. Every time Saint Eaktus muttered, the townsfolk brought ingredients, and finally, a delicious soup that could feed the whole town was completed! Our club's name commemorates this miracle."

Asan asked as if he didn't understand.

"Is this really a true story?"

A few other students also expressed doubt, as if they had similar thoughts.

"How can one side of a town have a good harvest while the other has a bad harvest..."

"The ingredients seem too high-grade too."

Falcrius paid no attention to the juniors' questions.

"Wahaha. Since it's an old story, it might have changed a bit. But you're acting like the principal now! The principal also makes a fuss every time he hears this story, dissatisfied with something!"

"What kind of fuss?"

"He says that originally, Saint Eaktus threatened the townsfolk with stones to extort ingredients. Phew. What nonsense!"

"..."

Yi-Han somehow felt that the skull principal might be right this time.

Falcrius continued his explanation, guffawing.

"Actually, what you're curious about is something else, right? Rather than the origin of the club name... What the club does, and what privileges it has?"

"Yes!"

When Gainando answered frankly, Falcrius burst into laughter.

"Wahaha, that's right! Our club gathers Einroguard's ingredients. We cultivate and harvest. We raise livestock and slaughter. You can think of it as scraping together everything that can be an ingredient. Since we have a long history, our club owns many fields and ranches. Thanks to that, our club members never go hungry."

"!"

Even students who had shown little interest changed their expressions at the senior's words.

No matter how well Yi-Han prepared meals, hunger always came quickly and relentlessly in Einroguard.

To think they could eat much more abundantly than now if they joined the kitchen club.

Yi-Han marveled and whispered to a friend beside him.

"Amazing, isn't it? I guess this is possible because the club has such a long history. Everyone will want to join."

"...Why are you talking to me, Wardanaz?"

Adenart looked at Yi-Han with a slightly sour expression on her expressionless face.

"Ah. I'm sorry. I just spoke because you were next to me."

"..."

Adenart looked at Yi-Han with slightly suspicious eyes.

She had suspected for a while that Wardanaz thought of her as a glutton similar to her half-brother, and recently that suspicion was growing stronger.

"Me! I'll join!"

Gainando shouted, raising his hand abruptly. Afraid of losing to Gainando, several other students also raised their hands.

"No! I will...!"

"I'm in the top 10 in alchemy!"

"I've even helped Wardanaz when he was cooking!"

"Phew. Thank you all for applying! But not just anyone can join our club!"

Gainando quickly swung his staff to attack his friends.

The friends who stood up seemed to have expected this and swung their staffs to counterattack.

"I'll join!"

"You bastard, the one who mooches off Wardanaz the most should yield!"

Falcrius swung the kitchen knife he was holding.

The students who were firing magic at each other fell forward with a thud.

"How barbaric! This is Einroguard, but that doesn't mean club joining should be done in an Einroguard-like manner!"

Thud!

Falcrius put down a huge cauldron. Water sloshed inside.

"Grab the handle on the side of the cauldron!"

"Like this?"

"Yes."

Gainando tilted his head and grabbed the side of the cauldron.

However, the water inside remained calm without any change.

Falcrius, who had been laughing heartily until just now, completely changed his expression and sent a gaze full of contempt.

"Trash!"

"What? Uh, s-senior. What's wrong? What did I do wrong?"

"Get lost! Don't even talk to me. My ears are getting dirty!"

Falcrius chanted a spell and pushed Gainando away.

"Next! Grab it!"

"I-I've grabbed it."

When the next student grabbed it, a tiny bubble rose and disappeared from the water in the cauldron.

Falcrius sent an equally contemptuous gaze.

"It seems you've never cooked for someone in your life. Trash! Get lost!"

"..."

"..."

The warm atmosphere immediately turned cold. None of those who had volunteered first passed and were driven away.

The kitchen club students behind nodded with satisfied faces.

"As expected of Senior Falcrius."

"He's merciless to those without qualifications."

The entry procedure for the Saint Eaktus Soup Club was simple.

If you could grab Saint Eaktus's cauldron and make the water inside boil, you passed.

Of course, making the water boil wasn't easy.

Once you touched that cauldron, no magic or external means worked.

Only the mage's own life experiences could make the water boil.

Have you experienced cooking for others, or not?

Mages who had lived comfortably without getting their hands wet could never pass this test.

"Fail, fail, fail, fail... Oh. Not bad?"

When it was Yonaire's turn, Falcrius stopped his contempt and showed a favorable gaze.

The water in the cauldron was bubbling moderately.

It wasn't easy to show this level of result as a Blue Dragon Tower student.

"Are you interested in our club?"

"Can I look into other clubs and decide later?"

"Phew, of course. Take all the time you need to look around and decide!"

Priest Falcrius was a very generous person to qualified juniors.

When Yonaire said she would look into other clubs and decide, he readily agreed.

Seeing this, Yi-Han felt slightly relieved.

'He seems to be a sensible person like Senior Direth.'

It seemed he wouldn't wield the invitation authority arbitrarily even though he had it.

"Fail, fail! Fail!! Fail!!! You lazy pig bastards!"

Falcrius failed another round of students.

Then it was Yi-Han's turn.

"Grab it!"

"Yes."

As the water in the cauldron began to bubble, Falcrius looked at Yi-Han as if it was quite good.

At that moment, the water turned into steam and shot up above the cauldron.

Whoosh!

"..."

"..."

Not only Falcrius and Yi-Han, but also the kitchen club students behind just blinked and watched.

What...

What on earth just happened?

"...Pass! You pass! To think I'd meet a junior like you in my lifetime. This is Saint Eaktus's miracle!"

Falcrius grabbed Yi-Han's shoulders tightly and shook him back and forth, shouting boisterously.

Yi-Han spoke while being shaken back and forth.

"Se-senior. I-I al-also wa-want to lo-look in-into ot-other clu-clubs and de-decide."

"Huh?"

When the shaking stopped, Yi-Han could speak normally.

"I also want to look into other clubs..."

"What are you saying? No way. You're joining right now."

Watching Falcrius shout to bring paper right away, Yi-Han thought inwardly.

'Hmm. I was mistaken.'

He was just a crazy person.

  *

As Falcrius and the kitchen club students returned, rejoicing at having caught a precious junior, the other club seniors who remained cleared their throats.

"We saw something rare. It's unusual for Priest Falcrius to be so pleased."

"Honestly, I didn't expect someone from Blue Dragon Tower to join the kitchen club this year."

Perse nodded too.

Even thinking about it again, it was unbelievable to pass the test like that.

Just how much cooking had he done for others?

"It must be good for both the kitchen club and that junior."

"I told you it's not right to force someone to join like that! You'll regret not stopping him!"

Gainando grumbled.

The seniors clicked their tongues at this sight.

"He's jealous because he couldn't get in."

"To call such a guy a friend."

"Well then, I'll explain about the ball game club."

As the kitchen club's turn ended, Perse opened his mouth.

The clubs gathered here today planned to explain during their respective turns.

"Before explaining, is there anyone who broke through by riding horses in front of monsters and went to the desert during the 1st semester last year? It would have been during Professor Bungaegor's test."

All the 2nd year students looked at Yi-Han.

Yi-Han, who had been deeply thinking about how to get rid of the kitchen club application form somehow, belatedly realized something was off and raised his head.

"What's going on?"

"The senior is looking for you, Yi-Han."

"Senior Falcrius?"

"No. Senior Perse over there."

"!"

As it seemed Yi-Han might be singled out for the ball game club following the kitchen club, the other club seniors felt instinctive unease.

A senior belonging to the library club spoke up, not keeping to the order.

"Wait. Let me ask one thing. Is there a junior who subdued a rock drake in the library last year?"

"We all subdued it together though."

Contrary to Yi-Han's words, all his friends looked at him. The senior ignored Yi-Han's words and got the answer from the students' actions.

"Then is the junior who built a fortress and held out in the library last year also here by any chance?"

"We all did that together too..."

"I see. Tell Falcrius to come out."

The senior belonging to the library club shouted while taking out his staff and hiding it behind his back.

Seeing this, other club seniors also quietly took out their staffs.

How dare they arbitrarily steal another club's junior?