Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

The hamster once again squeaked and engraved into its mind the thought it had already had several times, though it had never been of much use.

Lee Han put the hamster into his sleeve(the baby basilisk was extremely displeased)and tried to head toward Professor Thunderwalk's Gaksu Hall.

He could have finished making it in his private room, but the alchemy school's tower, which had various facilities well prepared, was more convenient for making it.

...And sometimes, when Professor Thunderwalk was distracted, he could even borrow and use the professor's reagents.

-Wait. Why are you taking me with you?

At the hamster's protest, the baby basilisk wagged its tail as though agreeing.

This cozy sleeve was a place for the hairless one alone!

"Ah. Watch me make that Incense of Knowledge and Perception from beside me and give me some advice."

-Why not ask that thought-form?

The hamster was puzzled by Lee Han's abrupt request.

The thought-form had corrected even a student's magical assignment so kindly, so it would surely be even more willing to offer advice from beside him while he made it.

'It occurs to me again, but every single one of Gonadaltes's thought-forms is insane.'

Such powerful beings stepped forward without a word even for such trivial miscellaneous work.

Their favoritism toward their own was excessive beyond belief.

"Come on. I already feel bad that the master wrote all of this for me, so how could I ask about every single step of the process one by one?"

-Hmph. You said you had never felt afraid...

"And since the master wrote all of this here, watching from beside me and giving advice is possible even if your magical skill is a little lacking."

-......

The hamster, which had been about to make a sarcastic remark, snapped its mouth shut. It could not believe what it had just heard.

What??

-W-what did you say?

"I said that since the master wrote all of this here, you should look at it and advise me if I make a mistake."

-T-the part after that. After that.

"?"

Lee Han looked behind him.

All he could see was the messy pile of books on the desk in his private room and the new snack recipe he had devised for his friends.

-You said my magical skill is lacking???

"Compared to my master, it is lacking, is it not?"

-......

The hamster blinked its eyes like an ox.

It was an extraordinarily insulting statement, but the other party happened to be such a powerful existence that the hamster could not immediately refute it.

-Y-you accursed little bas...

The hamster belatedly tried to argue in fury, but Lee Han had already started walking. The hamster had no choice but to hold on tightly so that it would not be flung out from inside the sleeve.

***

"Is that really true?"

"I am telling you it is."

"He can become even more absorbed in magic than that?"

Nillia, who was gently boiling prepared ingredients in a brewing room within the labyrinth on the third floor of Gaksu Hall, answered her friends as though she found it difficult to believe.

Wardanaz had become 'even more' obsessed with magic than usual.

That sounded like saying one could pour more water into a cup that was already full.

"I am telling you it is true!"

Bartreck, the dwarf student from White Tiger Tower, stamped his feet in frustration.

"This time, he plans to finish all the examinations in advance and then go out at his leisure!"

'Does the adjective "at his leisure" make sense in that sentence according to Imperial grammar?'

"If you do not believe me, ask those Blue Dragon Tower bastards!"

"That is right. It is true."

Yonair nodded.

All the Blue Dragon Tower students, including this red-haired friend, looked full of worry.

"In my opinion, Wardanaz has spare time now that he does not have to take responsibility for our meals, so he has become consumed by madness."

"We may be from the same tower, but that is a truly garbage-like statement. If anyone asks, say someone from White Tiger Tower said it."

"Did he go mad because he ate too much of the tasteless food provided by His Majesty?"

"The seniors said the meals these days are excellent, though?"

"Come on. The seniors ate absolutely anything."

The students of the alchemy school offered various hypotheses.

All sorts of novel hypotheses appeared, beginning with 'he gained free time and went mad over magic.'

Yonair spoke with an uncomfortable expression.

"...It is probably because the professor disappeared."

"What?! Which professor?"

"Professor Verdus, obviously. If one of the professors were assassinated, I always thought Professor Verdus would be the first."

"No... Professor Bagreg..."

"Ah."

The friends froze.

Some of them even wore expressions that seemed to ask, 'Who was that again?'

"The professor who tormented Wardanaz?"

"The professor did not torment him. ...Did the professor?"

When Yonair fell into confusion, Ratford and Bartreck stepped in to provide support.

"The professor is not a bad person."

"That is right. Wardanaz is genuinely worried. You should have seen him when we went outside this time."

Bartreck recalled what had happened during the northern commission.

Even thinking about it again, it truly had been...

"What a fuss."

"That is right. We have gone out with him before too."

When the friends jeered, Bartreck became angry.

"I am telling you, it was really different this time?! He even wiped out bandit groups!"

"What is so strange about that? That is something he can handle. Wardanaz must have wiped out anti-magic believers before."

"So... That is..."

Bartreck was left speechless.

As a mage of Einroguard, suppressing bandit groups was indeed a commission one could handle well enough.

However, someone who had seen Wardanaz's calm, mad gaze from beside him at the scene could never say, 'What is so strange about that?'

The pressure had been on a completely different level.

"I am telling you it was different!"

"Come on... And Wardanaz would probably worry even if Professor Verdus disappeared. You can tell just from how he even takes care of you White Tiger Tower bastards."

"Even so, would he not worry about Professor Verdus?"

As the friends' argument drifted from 'Would Wardanaz worry just as much even if Professor Verdus disappeared?' to 'Which members of White Tiger Tower would he worry about?', Nillia could not endure it any longer and interrupted.

"Everyone! Were we not worried about Wardanaz right now!?"

"Ah. That is right."

"First, I introduced some knights I know to help Wardanaz."

The White Tiger Tower students explained what they had done when they went to the north.

The knightly houses of the Empire often knew one another, though the degree varied, which made it useful to request help when something like this happened.

"Who did you introduce?"

"I introduced the Crescentless Night Knight Order. And Moradi introduced the Voig Knight Order."

"!!"

The two knight orders were famous enough that even students who did not come from knightly houses knew their names.

The two knight orders had particularly distinguished records in patrol and reconnaissance.

The Crescentless Night Knight Order was made up entirely of energetic knights capable of running without rest from the far end of the western coast all the way to the Nightmare Marshlands, while the Voig Knight Order was so thorough that rumors claimed they had eyes and ears even in the final inn of the northern snowfields.

People like these could not be commanded merely because one had money and influence.

"How did you introduce them?!"

"Huh? My older brother is in the Crescentless Night Knight Order, so I asked him."

"......"

The students were slightly deflated by the simpler-than-expected reason.

Then again, there was no reason thicker than blood.

"Even if you are family, it is impressive that your brother agreed to the request. I heard the Crescentless Night Knight Order has so many assignments that it is difficult even to meet them."

"When I said I did not fail because of Wardanaz, my brother said he absolutely had to repay the favor."

"......"

"......"

The friends changed the subject.

"Moradi introduced the Voig Knight Order? Was that possible because they are both from the north?"

"Does the Voig Knight Order not maintain extreme secrecy? How did Moradi introduce them?"

"I asked Moradi, and apparently the head of the house personally contacted them."

"Moradi, honestly. Telling such an obvious lie."

The White Tiger Tower students naturally did not believe it.

The head of House Moradi was not an idle person, so there was no way he would convey such a request for a mage who had merely completed one commission.

"Moradi could have simply revealed the reason like Bartreck did."

"Haha. Would it not have been better for Bartreck to hide the reason a little?"

"I contacted people from the guild I used to belong to."

As each person shared information for Wardanaz, Ratford also spoke.

Ratford's former companions, gathered under the name <White Crow>, were people with exceptional skill at secretly transferring ownership of goods.

Yonair, who knew Ratford's background, asked with slight anticipation.

"Did any information come in?"

"Only information that Wardanaz is frightening because he is beating every thief he sees like a dog..."

"......"

Rumors that the back alleys of several western and northern cities had been devastated had already spread rapidly.

Imperial criminals elsewhere seriously wondered, 'What in the world is the reason?' 'Did someone steal something belonging to Einroguard?' and 'Has Gonadaltes finally gone mad?' but the answer lay somewhere they had never expected.

"Then again, Professor Bagreg is not someone who would leave traces so obediently... I also asked the alchemists of my house, but there were no results."

"Gainando and I sent letters to members of the Imperial Family."

Adenart spoke in a listless, dejected voice.

Like Yonair, she had not gained any particular results.

"Please cheer up. Simply having made the request is already impressive enough."

"That is right. Gainando was even rejected."

There were not many members of the Imperial Family who got along well with one another.

The heads of the great noble houses did not think about any of them, but they were still people who each held a share of the right to succeed the Empire.

They would not grant a rival's request for no reason.

"I was rejected as well..."

"......"

"......"

Adenart's dejection after failing on the same level as Gainando was not something that could be soothed easily.

When considered from the perspective of being kept in check, Adenart was more heavily restrained than Gainando, not less.

'Wait?'

Nillia, who had carefully listened to each of her friends' stories one by one, realized that something was strange.

Could the only person among them who had done nothing be...

'Me alone?!?!'

Everyone had secretly been doing something for their friend without saying anything!

Nillia's fingertips trembled. This was no ordinary problem.

'T-the Shadow Patrol does not leave the mountain range... They probably cannot track something like this...'

Professor Voladi could be anywhere in the Empire, but if there was one place he would absolutely never go, it seemed to be the northern mountain range.

Why in the world would he go to such a barren place where there was nothing but monsters?

Even so, she could not remain still. Taking advantage of the moment when her friends' gazes turned away, Nillia quickly began scribbling a letter.

***

"?"

Lee Han was puzzled when he could not see his friends in the tower.

Usually, one or two students from the alchemy school could be seen wandering around the first floor or the second-floor greenhouse, tending to plants and checking reagents.

'Well, that can happen.'

After preparing the cauldron, Lee Han took the hamster from inside his sleeve and placed it on top of his head.

This location was more convenient if they were going to speak immediately.

-......

The hamster suddenly recalled an old fairy tale.

An adventurer with terrible cooking skills inherited a ruined inn and revived it with the help of a genius rat...

'Damn it. Why am I remembering that?'

"Let us make the Ascending Incense first. Ah. Professor. Greetings."

-......

At the sight of Professor Thunderwalk in the distance, the hamster tightly shut its eyes.

Soon, that professor's pride would be shattered into pieces by the wicked ancient thought-form!

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