Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Regardless, Lee Han did not pay much attention. It genuinely felt as though he had no interest whatsoever in the dark mages.

Instead, he hesitated over whether or not to take out the magic books for the lectures he was currently attending.

The lecture list briefly came into view, including <Forbidden Secret Arts of Dark Magic>, <Basics of Spirit-Body Clones>, and <Commentary on Elemental Magic>, among others.

"Hm, I am not sure whether I may ask you for a favor like this. These spells are far too insignificant."

-Not at all, Disciple.

The Skull Principal would have said, 'Then get lost,' and the insane duplicate would have harshly punished him while saying, 'How dare you waste your master's time,' but the young prince waited leisurely.

The prince trusted the disciple and waited until he spoke for himself.

-Your impatience is plainly visible on your face, Disciple. Did something happen?

"It would take a long time to explain..."

-We have time, so tell me. Even my humble wisdom may be of help to you, Disciple.

While waiting, the young prince personally roasted tea leaves inside the painting. After checking the fragrance of the tea, the prince nodded in satisfaction.

Lee Han hesitated for a moment before telling him what had happened.

"So, the thing is... I clashed with the most wicked bastards in this Empire, and one of them happened to have an old grudge against the professor..."

-Did Disciple Voladi disappear, perhaps?

"?!"

Lee Han was startled when the prince calmly gave the correct answer without even hearing the entire story.

Could the prince have been listening to everything happening outside from within this place?

"How did you know?!"

-It was only natural to guess when you were this impatient, Disciple. A mage must also know how to conceal emotions.

The young prince did not seem particularly surprised even after hearing that Professor Voladi had disappeared.

To a prince who had traveled across the entire continent and fought bloody battles, this was merely the sort of news one could hear while tilting a teacup.

When a disciple was attacked, the master stepped forward.

That was how loyalty between master and disciple had always worked.

All the more so when the opponent had already been the master's enemy in the past...

-If your skills had been outstanding enough, you might have accompanied your master, but there are still parts of you that remain unrefined, so that must be why you were not taken along.

"Even so, could the professor not normally say something before leaving?"

-I wonder?

The prince lightly shrugged.

-A master does not ordinarily explain everything to a disciple. It is the disciple's responsibility to understand the master's meaning and infer it independently.

"That is true. It is the disciple's role to finish all the miscellaneous work without the professors needing to say anything..."

-...I think you understood that somewhat strangely, but I trust that the essential point was conveyed, Disciple.

The young prince was a good and kind person, but held stubborn convictions that would never bend in certain areas.

One of those areas concerned the relationship between master and disciple.

Lee Han did not pointlessly insist on arguing about that part. What meaning would there be in provoking the young prince and making him angry like the insane duplicate?

"I did hear that it was because my magical skills were insufficient."

-I do not know who said that, but that person is extremely rude.

"......"

It had actually been the Skull Principal who said it, but Lee Han quietly kept his mouth shut.

-Of course, it is true that you could not accompany your master because your magical skills are insufficient, but to point out only that aspect without considering the special nature of the relationship between master and disciple? That is extraordinarily malicious.

"...Urgh. I apologize for being insufficient."

Lee Han reflected on himself.

In the end, was that not still saying that his magical skills were insufficient?

The young prince comforted Lee Han as though it were all right.

-Everyone has a time when they are insufficient, Disciple. That is precisely why one strives in pursuit of wisdom. You have good masters, Disciple. And among them, the very best master is standing right before you.

"...I-I see."

As he listened, Lee Han nearly found himself naturally bewitched.

-There seem to be three methods currently available to you, Disciple. The best course is to trust your master's skills and wait quietly.

"I have already finished preparing to track the professor."

-I knew you would. Then the middle course would be to mobilize every possible method and personally begin the pursuit.

"Then what is the worst course?"

-The worst course would be to devise a plan entirely by yourself without telling anyone, but you would not do that, would you, Disciple?

"I apologize..."

The young prince smiled and waved a hand as though it did not matter. That appearance instead emitted even greater pressure.

'Could he not simply get angry instead?'

The insane duplicate had attacked him physically, but at least there had been no lingering resentment afterward.

Lee Han suddenly missed his former master.

-Then, what are the spells you brought? Must you learn all of those spells before you can begin the pursuit?

"That is correct."

-Very well, Disciple. I will do my utmost to assist you, so let us quickly finish these things that resemble children's games.

"Pardon?"

-It was a joke. A joke.

"......"

***

-You truly have remarkable nerve.

The squeaking voice of a hamster came from within the cage placed on the table in Lee Han's private room.

At those words, Lee Han momentarily froze.

'What is it talking about?'

He had caused so many incidents recently that he could not guess what the hamster was referring to.

-...I am talking about how you fearlessly go to meet that thought-form.

"Ah. I thought it was something else."

Lee Han felt relieved.

Honestly, the things he had been doing lately were not exactly at a level where he could say, 'Surely I can do this much,' when someone pointed them out.

"My master is only strict with wicked magical criminals like you. The master is rather kind to me."

-You certainly know how to spout deranged nonsense.

The hamster squeaked in disbelief.

Of course, the hamster did not think or claim to be a good person.

However, it was certain that it was far more sane and sensible than Gonadaltes's thought-form.

How could a mage who drew a line between good and evil and fought until personally breaking apart possibly be mentally sound?

The hamster itself, greedy and selfish as it was, would be far more normal.

Lee Han answered the hamster's claim by pouring the cold water beside him over it.

-Agh!

"Trying to disguise your greed like that."

-Disguise? I was not disguising myself! What reason would I have to disguise myself? I am saying that thought-form is terrifying. Think carefully. Have you truly never felt afraid of that thought-form?

"......"

Lee Han unconsciously fell into thought.

It would be a lie to say that he had never occasionally felt a chill from the young prince.

At first, Lee Han had thought the prince was perfect in every respect, an improved version of the Skull Principal, but...

...there were times when he felt a chill.

One such time had been when the prince dealt with the spirit Saratan.

When casting Baquantalana's dimensional-rod magic, the prince had clearly intended to sacrifice Saratan without so much as blinking.

Of course, Saratan was not a benevolent spirit.

Their first meeting had been threatening, and considering its violent past, Lee Han could intellectually understand why the young prince suppressed the spirit.

Nevertheless, Lee Han could not help feeling a slight chill at such moments.

'Wait. I fell for the tricks of a wicked magical criminal.'

Lee Han poured the ink beside him over the hamster. The hamster furiously squeaked curses.

"Trying such petty tricks on me."

-You damned bastard. If you do not want to believe me, then do not believe me. What kind of behavior is this?!

The hamster's whiskers trembled violently at the sight of its fur, which had been dyed black in an instant.

-Continue associating with that thought-form as much as you please. Would you listen even if I tried to stop you anyway?

"That is true, but it is unpleasant to hear. And my master is helping me like this. What have you done for me?"

Lee Han shook a magic book densely covered in writing.

It was utterly absurd that Lee Han had transformed the hamster, locked it inside a cage, and was now demanding, 'Why have you never done anything for me?' but the hamster did not point that out.

From its experience associating with this damned mage, it had painfully realized that arguing about such things held no meaning whatsoever.

Instead, the hamster first asked what it was curious about.

-What is that?

"It is advice the master wrote regarding this midterm examination. I am trying to finish everything in advance, but preparing all of it alone is somewhat difficult."

-......

The hamster had thought Lee Han was fearlessly visiting the thought-form, but it had never imagined that the reason would be something so trivial.

The hamster was rendered speechless and could not even squeak.

"Would you like to take a look?"

-...Very well.

Honestly, the hamster was bored as well, so it nodded.

Judging from the title <Advanced Alchemy for Fools>, it seemed to be an alchemy lecture.

'The mage must be a rather twisted person.'

One could tell the disposition of the mage merely from the lecture's name. Anyone who gave a lecture a title like that clearly had a twisted disposition like the hamster itself.

...The following Incense of Knowledge and Perception is a form of the foresight magic school and has the effect of enhancing a mage's five senses and increasing the accuracy of divination.

The method for making this Incense of Knowledge and Perception is as follows. Ascending Incense, cinnabar, wormwood, the bone of a magical beast at least 30 years old...

-Hmm. For something written by that thought-form, it is rather dull and ordinary.

The hamster was slightly surprised.

Since the thought-form was an ancient and powerful mage, the hamster had expected some bizarre magic that even it could not have predicted.

"Ah. That was written by the professor. What my master wrote is on the following page."

-I see.

"Are you not going to look?"

Lee Han found it strange when the hamster merely stood there and waited.

The hamster then exploded with anger and shouted.

-You have to turn the page for me to see it!

"Ah."

Lee Han grumbled inwardly about the hamster's filthy temper as he turned the page.

...The following Incense of Knowledge and Perception is a form of the foresight magic school(strictly speaking, its principles were incorporated into alchemy, so it cannot actually be called part of the foresight magic school)

and has the effect of enhancing a mage's five senses

ㄴTaste is practically meaningless

...and increasing the accuracy of divination...

The method for making this Incense of Knowledge and Perception is as follows. Ascending Incense,

cinnabar(recommend using gold, even if only a small amount)

wormwood, the bone of a magical beast at least 30 years old

ㄴIt is absurd how casually this says to acquire the bone of a magical beast at least 30 years old. This is why alchemists are like this. It should be possible to substitute it by infusing a bone fragment with the darkness element.

-......

The hamster's eyes opened wide.

As expected of an insane ancient archmage, the prince had mercilessly torn the formula apart.

Had the hamster been the alchemist who wrote this formula, it would have fallen backward from rage and humiliation.

'Is that not too harsh? There must clearly be differences in preference between alchemists when it comes to formulas.'

There was no single correct answer in magic, but that was especially true of alchemy.

Should one accept the expense for a stronger and purer effect, or not?

Should one propose a difficult method that could be substituted through the mage's own effort, or not?

An ordinary mage would have respected the other's opinion and left some degree of leeway, but this archmage had mercilessly torn the formula apart as though grading a disciple's answer sheet.

"Is the master not truly kind?"

-Kind to you, perhaps. ...You are not planning to show this to the other mage, are you?

"Why would I do that? I only need to show the completed result."

-Right? That is fortunate.

The hamster suddenly froze.

Why was it considering that fortunate?

What did it matter whether an Einroguard mage rolled around in humiliation or not?!

'...I-I must return to my original form as quickly as possible...!'

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