Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

-Think of the opponent as Professor Verdus, successor.

One of the Death Knights whispered in an attempt to help Lee Han.

Of course, it was no help whatsoever.

'And you call that advice.'

Lee Han was dumbfounded. Unable to watch any longer, Professor Kirmin stepped in to support him.

"Isn't the disciple acting however he wants because the master is acting however the master wants?"

"The two do not have the same authority."

"That's why Wardanaz searched for you far more quietly than you did!"

"?"

-?

Lee Han and the Death Knights froze.

Had...

Had he?

'I don't think so?'

The Death Knights recalled what Lee Han had done after his master disappeared.

He had gone into random cities, grabbed people who had committed crimes, and caused havoc while saying things like, 'You bastard, you're an evil-god worshiper! You're not? If that's unfair, bring me a real evil-god worshiper!'

Compared to Professor Voladi, who preferred quiet assassinations, Lee Han had been far noisier.

"......"

However, Professor Voladi, who did not know exactly what the disciple had been doing after the escape, quietly fell into thought.

At that sight, the knights smiled wickedly.

'Professor Bagreg doesn't know!'

-That's right. Wardanaz searched very quietly.

"I distinctly heard rumors that mages from Einroguard were going around cities..."

-False rumors. False rumors.

The knights were not merely wicked but shameless as well.

Professor Voladi knew perfectly well that arguing with these Death Knights would accomplish nothing and turned back toward the disciple.

"In any case, now that you have heard the explanation, return and focus on your studies."

Professor Voladi once again wielded the perfectly reasonable argument.

A second-year student should still be inside the academy grounds immersing himself in magic, not chasing after his master merely because the master had gone out hunting.

Professor Kirmin ground the teeth at that shamelessness.

'After breaking every rule personally, treating the disciple like this... A friend or not, that really is shameless.'

Lee Han opened the eyes he had closed.

Thanks to the Death Knights and Professor Kirmin buying time, he had been able to organize his thoughts for a moment.

'Stay calm.'

Some professors possessed an aura that overwhelmed people merely by dealing with them.

At times like this, he could not allow himself to be swept along. He had to act shamelessly in return.

It had been insane advice, but perhaps the suggestion to think of the opponent as Professor Verdus did have some merit...

"No."

"?!"

Professor Kirmin was more surprised than Professor Voladi.

The professor had not expected the disciple to confront the master so directly.

"Why?"

"Even if I go back, there is nothing left for me to learn. I should study on my own while subjugating evil-god worshipers."

"......"

-......

At such an outrageously arrogant declaration, not only Professor Kirmin but even the knights opened their mouths.

Th-this...!

'But the successor does have the right to make such an outrageous claim.'

He was effectively about two years ahead already. If Lee Han was not allowed to make an absurd claim like that, who could?

"That is a misconception."

Professor Voladi calmly explained despite the disciple's rare act of defiance.

Lee Han's talent was certainly exceptionally outstanding, and his achievements ranked among the very best, but the faster one rushed through magic, the more things one inevitably missed.

That was especially true for a mage like Lee Han who trained in several schools of magic simultaneously.

A mage capable of snapping a finger and collapsing a mountain but unable to heat a teacup was not merely a joke.

Therefore, even if Lee Han had already achieved everything expected this semester, he should not become arrogant. He needed to find the things he had missed or rushed past and practice them.

"I see."

"Then return now."

"No. I've wanted to raise the prestige of House Wardanaz and ease His Majesty the Emperor's worries for a long time, so I'm going to subjugate those evil-god worshipers."

"......"

When Professor Voladi fell silent at a loss for words, the knights suddenly became emotional.

'To think this day would come...!'

What had they thought in the past when Professor Voladi refused to listen no matter how much they tried to stop the professor?

Had they not wished that someday Professor Voladi would meet someone just like that?

'Karma really does exist. After refusing to listen and causing us so much grief!'

As master and disciple remained locked in a tense confrontation, Professor Kirmin cautiously intervened.

"Voladi. Since neither of you is willing to budge, how about coming back to the academy for a little while first? Wardanaz still has midterms to take."

Compared to a long-standing grudge against evil-god worshipers, Einroguard's midterms sounded absurdly trivial, but Professor Kirmin knew this friend well.

At the very least, it should have been important enough to make Professor Voladi hesitate and weigh the options.

But as always, Professor Kirmin's friend exceeded expectations.

"I already made arrangements. Sir Garjidahaka agreed to administer them in my place."

"...Who the hell is that?!"

Professor Kirmin, Lee Han, and the knights were all dumbfounded.

'When did Professor Bagreg arrange that?'

There should not have been enough time even to track the remnants of the Order!

"Sir Garjidahaka is..."

"Enough, enough. I wasn't asking because I actually wanted to know who that is. Anyway, you have no intention of returning to the academy, correct?"

"I already explained the reason."

Professor Voladi answered unwaveringly, posture perfectly straight.

If the cause was outside the academy, why should the professor return to the academy?

"Fine. Then I will travel with Wardanaz and subjugate evil-god worshipers too. The knights here will help us as well."

At Professor Kirmin's words, Lee Han brightened and nodded.

"That's a good idea. Let's search every inch of every city and subjugate them, just like last time!"

"...I-I wasn't thinking of going quite that far... Fine! If that's what you want to do, Wardanaz."

-We will join you as well!

Professor, student, and knights united as one.

To break the stubborn vampire's will, they could not back down.

They looked at Professor Voladi as though asking, What do you think of that?

But Professor Voladi asked an entirely different question.

"Just like last time?"

"......"

-......

Professor Voladi was puzzled.

Search every inch of every city and subjugate them, just like last time?

Lee Han immediately changed what he had said.

"That was simply a slip of the tongue. The important point is that if you do not return, Professor, then we will proceed with the subjugation ourselves."

-We have support and greater numbers, so it will be far more spectacular and noisy.

"We can call Professor Garcia and have Professor Garcia join us too."

An unrelenting wave of attacks.

But Professor Voladi once again demonstrated exactly why the Death Knights had wanted to clutch the backs of their necks during the professor's school days.

"Understood."

"......"

-......

Lee Han and the Death Knights stared at the professor with exhausted expressions.

The mage before them did not seem to possess the concepts of negotiation or compromise.

Professor Kirmin sighed.

"It cannot be helped. We have no choice but to use the final method."

"Wait, you still had another method hidden away??"

Lee Han shot the professor a resentful look.

If there was such a method, Professor Kirmin should have brought it out from the beginning!

Professor Kirmin answered with an uncomfortable expression.

"It's a method you already know, Wardanaz."

"Excuse me?"

"Put Voladi to sleep, then lock Voladi in the deepest part of Einroguard until the subjugation is finished. Let us see whether that newly acquired dimensional escape works there too."

-Professor Bagreg won't be able to escape like during the school days, Professor.

Even as the friend and knights radiated an ominous air, Professor Voladi did not so much as blink.

It was almost as though the professor was confident that even if captured and taken back, escape would only take a few days.

"Wait, wait. We cannot do that."

In the end, Lee Han surrendered first.

No matter how he considered it, knocking the professor unconscious and imprisoning the professor until everything was over did not seem like a good method.

And Professor Voladi would probably escape anyway...

-Do not worry, successor. We know the opponent's abilities as well. Escaping will not be that easy.

"That's not what I'm worried about."

"Wardanaz. I wanted to do this to my friend too, but there was no other way."

"Excuse me?"

"Ah, sorry. I meant I didn't want to do this to my friend, but there was no other way."

"...There must be a method. One that Professor Bagreg can agree to and that we can agree to as well."

"There couldn't possibly be..."

***

1 hour later.

The entire group was moving together.

Professor Kirmin, walking behind Professor Voladi, wore an extremely complicated and troubled expression.

'Is this really right?'

Astonishingly, there had been one method that both Voladi and Wardanaz could agree to.

The entire group would accompany Voladi on the campaign of revenge.

Voladi had coldly left the disciple behind during the initial escape, but this friend had a foul temper and was stubborn, not stupid.

Now that the disciple had proven capable of taking direct action, Voladi was not going to insist on the exact same thing again.

Rather than letting Lee Han move around separately and fall into danger, allowing the disciple to accompany the group was the rational choice.

Of course, it was rational from Professor Voladi's perspective. How it would sound to everyone else was another matter entirely.

Professor Kirmin already wanted to run away just imagining how Uman, who had come as an inspector, or Professor Garcia would react upon hearing the news.

-So you went to bring Professor Bagreg back and ended up agreeing to subjugate them together? With a second-year student? ...Are all Einroguard professors like you?

-Professor Kirmin Ku. I'm surprised you actually told me this. Why am I surprised? Because you left last time without telling me, so I thought you considered me not worth informing. No. Don't apologize. I plan to treat you the same way from now on. Come to think of it, there's no reason for me to call you Professor Kirmin Ku either. I'll just call you a complete stranger.

"......"

Professor Kirmin sighed. The back of the friend's head looked especially tempting to hit.

'Right. If someone is irritating whether I can see them or not, it's better to at least be able to see...'

Tap tap-

Professor Voladi tapped Professor Kirmin's shoulder while the latter was lost in thought.

Professor Kirmin responded with three times the usual irritability.

"What? Why?"

"I want to hear about Wardanaz's academic progress."

"...Oh, so that's what you were curious about!"

At the friend's request to hear how much progress the disciple had made in various courses during the absence, Professor Kirmin smiled brightly.

Then raised the middle finger.

-Still, Wardanaz is at the top...

The Death Knights following behind nodded as though they understood.

It was insulting, but it was not an inaccurate description.

Professor Voladi did not care whether the friend raised the middle finger or the index finger and continued searching for the next target.

"Wardanaz's..."

The Death Knights immediately hardened their expressions.

-You think we're going to tell you?

Even after being rejected by the knights, Professor Voladi remained unfazed. When the turn finally came to Ibinta, the former bandit went pale.

Among this grim and bizarre group, Ibinta held the lowest position.

He truly did not want to become involved in this dispute.

"I-I truly don't know. I don't really understand magic in the first place."

"I see."

After every attempt at asking failed, Professor Voladi took out a sheet of paper and began writing a letter.

Professor Kirmin had resolved to ignore it, but could not resist sneaking a glance.

To the Principal

I am writing to inquire about Wardanaz's current academic progress...

"...Hey, I'll tell you! Just stop!"

Professor Kirmin snatched the letter away and burned it.

Did this bastard not understand what 'running away' meant?!

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!