Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 891

Chapter 891

However, Saratan didn't argue, "What did I say?"

If one of his subordinate spirits had said "What did I say!" in this situation, he would have immediately struck them down.

The opposing mage was a tyrant with a temper no less violent than Saratan's. He had to be careful when at a disadvantage.

-Hehe. I'm so glad the misunderstanding is cleared up...-

Saratan flattered him while enduring the humiliation.

At that flattery, Yi-Han instead got angry.

"Why didn't you explain properly and waste all our time?"

"That's right. That's right."

"Scold him more, Wardanaz!"

His friends blamed the spirit without any conscience. After staying at Einroguard, this level of avoiding responsibility was basic.

-...-

Saratan's anger surged again, but there was nothing he could do.

"If you had made the new bud quickly, there wouldn't have been such a misunderstanding."

-This authority isn't something that can be used so easily... I haven't fully recovered yet...-

Saratan made excuses, feeling wronged at the mage's tyrannical instructions.

The new bud imbued with authority that Saratan had made all night was by no means easy.

Right now, thanks to switching to a powerful divine tree, Saratan's consciousness had awakened, but his power hadn't fully returned.

Originally it would have taken a few more days, but he had hurried because his master made such a fuss. He needed to rest for a while to recover his strength.

"Hmm. For something like that, you tried to kill me too easily last time."

-That... was a slightly different situation... it was in the consciousness world...-

Saratan shuddered.

If he were caught after attacking this mage twice, he couldn't even imagine what would happen to him then.

  *

"Ah. Junior! Welcome."

Caten of the Jahan family, the 5th year senior who was always polite even to juniors, greeted Yi-Han.

The cat mixed-blood who took off his hat and greeted had the effect of lowering people's guard, like penguin or beaver mixed-bloods.

But Yi-Han, trained at Einroguard, wasn't fooled by such appearances.

'Let's recall when he attacked last time.'

Recalling Caten who had pressed forward with just swordsmanship despite Yukbeltire and Direth being present last time, Yi-Han's spine chilled.

As Professor Ingurdel said, he was a senior who would have achieved much more vicious accomplishments if he had focused only on swordsmanship.

"Hello, Senior. How will next week's <Sword and Life> lecture exam be conducted?"

"Oh. I can't tell you that."

"Is it content I shouldn't know?"

It was Saturday now and exams were next week, but some professors kept the exam content itself secret.

If Caten was also such a person...

"No. It's because I haven't decided yet."

Caten answered, scratching the back of his head with a slightly embarrassed expression. Jourin, who was watching from behind, was flustered.

-Is that allowed?-

From Jourin's perspective, who had seen other 5th years first, Caten who hadn't even decided yet when the exam was in a few days was incredibly fresh.

-Is that okay?-

Of course, it wasn't.

"It's not okay originally, Your Highness. Um. I'm embarrassed!"

-In Jourin's opinion, he should decide first before being embarrassed...-

"Shh. Your Highness. 5th year seniors all have their circumstances. Please understand."

When Jourin was about to launch another attack, Yi-Han quickly stopped her.

5th year seniors were basically pitiful people. One had to treat them with mercy.

"Junior. Don't misunderstand. It's not that I haven't thought about it at all. Originally, the <Sword and Life> exam traditionally had something I had in mind."

"Oh. What is that?"

"Teaching me one magic."

"..."

Yi-Han was at a loss for words at the exam goal that was even more brazen than Professor Verduus.

Of course, the reason Caten conducted the <Sword and Life> lecture was to find someone who could teach each other, but could the exam be this blatant?

"Doesn't the principal get angry? He's quite strict about these things."

"He does get angry. That's why I always went to the punishment room."

"..."

Jourin slowly backed away.

She had started to sense madness from the other.

'Hmm. Someone prepared to enter the punishment room is truly terrifying.'

The reason Professor Verduus and Professor Bentozol were strong was because they were both prepared to enter the punishment room.

And Caten was one level above. He enjoyed entering the punishment room.

"...But if that was originally the exam, why did it suddenly change to undecided?"

"Junior. There's a reason for that."

Caten nodded and opened his mouth.

Since entering Einroguard, Caten had always focused only on his own affairs.

Whether his friends were caught trying to escape and sent to the punishment room, or other tower students brought out ancient evil monsters to fight, he had silently studied magic alone.

It was for a similar reason that Caten had refused when innocent White Tiger Tower juniors wanted to take the <Sword and Life> lecture.

Caten needed students who could teach him magic, not students who would only learn swordsmanship.

But lately, Caten's thoughts had changed a bit.

"Other professors told me this. Studying magic alone is not the only way to improve skills. Teaching and helping someone can also lead to enlightenment. Even if it's teaching swordsmanship, not magic."

'Is that so?'

Yi-Han wondered if the other professors weren't deceiving Caten.

Looking at Caten's current situation, it didn't seem like his magic skills would improve by teaching swordsmanship to other students.

He couldn't even imagine how it could improve in the first place...

"Hmm. I thought that was deception."

"!"

It seemed Caten had been thinking exactly the same as Yi-Han.

"I've heard it many times before, but I didn't believe it much."

"Why is that?"

"Since the principal suggested it, I thought he was just sweet-talking to force me to take on the lecture."

"..."

Indeed, Caten had outstanding instincts.

He had intuitively sensed the subtle deception contained within just by seeing who was speaking.

"Wait. But why did your thoughts change? It seems like a reasonable guess?"

"For two reasons. First, look at you, junior. You're top of the year even while teaching students and taking on all sorts of chores."

"..."

-Indeed!-

Jourin admired.

According to a dwarf proverb, diamonds are made in the deepest and most severe parts of the mine.

Perhaps Yi-Han's magic was also made in the harshest environment at Einroguard...

"What do you mean indeed, what?"

-Y-Yi-Han. Are you angry...?-

"I'm not angry."

Jourin curled up, watching his expression. Yi-Han's heart softened and he patted Jourin's wings.

"Anyway, Senior. The first reason seems a bit strange too... What's the second reason?"

"He's right behind you. It's because of Professor Bagrak."

"??"

Yi-Han, who had been grumbling, was surprised and looked at Professor Boladi.

"Did the professor give you some advice?"

"Ah. That's not it, junior. I just thought that the reason Professor Bagrak was strong was because he didn't waste time unnecessarily taking care of disciples."

"..."

"A misunderstanding."

When Professor Boladi spoke briefly, Caten nodded.

"That's right, Professor. I think I was mistaken. I could be sure when I heard that you were greatly increasing your disciples."

"Mm."

Professor Boladi expressed agreement once more with pride.

'It's not a great increase, is it...'

Of course, if one insisted, it was a 100% increase, but there were truths in the world that couldn't be known just by looking at numbers. The number of Professor Boladi's disciples was exactly that.

"So I also reflected and changed the exam content, junior."

"I see. You mean changing from an exam where you freeload to an exam for the listeners?"

‘Yi-Han's words seem subtly sharp.’

Jourin thought inwardly.

Though polite, this Wardanaz family boy never let things slide without saying what needed to be said.

But Caten was one level above Yi-Han. He spoke with a slightly flustered expression.

"Is that what it means? Hmm. Junior. That's not what I meant."

"Huh? Then what is it?"

Yi-Han was puzzled, thinking there couldn't be another answer in this situation.

"It's not that... I was considering an exam where more people would listen in the future. Don't you need more listeners to properly feel the teaching?"

'Though he's acting shy, what he's saying is no different from Professor Verduus!'

Though his attitude was shy, when coldly examined, it was nothing more than 'I don't care about the students, I'll try to draw in as many as possible next semester with a plausible exam'.

If Professor Verduus had said the exact same thing, it would have sounded much more evil. Indeed, a person's usual attitude was important.

'But it's not a bad deal for me.'

It was quite an attractive story from Yi-Han's perspective too.

Wasn't it much better than Caten saying "Let's try to realize the ultimate of swordsmanship in this lecture, junior"?

"Junior. Will you help me determine the exam content so that more students will come to the lecture in the future?"

"Of course!"

"If it's alright, would you help too, Professor? I'd feel reassured if Professor Bagrak helped."

"I will."

"It's reassuring to have the most outstanding person in this field helping! Isn't that right, junior?"

"..."

Yi-Han felt just a tiny bit wronged.

  *

"Surely targeting White Tiger Tower students is right, isn't it?"

Apart from feeling wronged, Yi-Han offered a sensible opinion.

In fact, considering how respected Caten was within White Tiger Tower, it might not be too difficult to draw them in with the lecture.

Just how much had Jijel and Dolgyu liked it when Yi-Han had dragged them along like a water ghost?

"Hmm. Junior. There's one thing I'm worried about. Every year, juniors who want to learn swordsmanship from me consistently appear, but among them, those who endure for long are fewer than you might think."

Among White Tiger Tower students, persistent juniors would follow Caten around asking to be taught.

Then Caten would sometimes give in and teach them, but most didn't last long.

"At this rate, even if White Tiger Tower students come, the dropout rate will be high."

'Aren't you being too greedy?'

Yi-Han was slightly taken aback by Caten's appearance of setting his goals too high from the start.

The professor next to him was living contentedly even with disciples going from 1->2...

Caten also threw a question at Professor Boladi.

"What do you think, Professor Bagrak? As you also teach students strictly, your dropout rate must be high, how did you solve this..."

"I just believe in my disciples."

"Indeed!"

'What do you mean indeed.'

Yi-Han was dumbfounded, but the two were serious.

"Believing in... students... This might be better than unnecessary techniques."

'It might be about 0. No. There's me, Jijel, and Dolgyu, so 3... Even this surpasses Professor Bagrak. Yeah. This is rather fortunate.'

Listening to the conversation, Yi-Han estimated the number of students for his senior's next semester lecture.

No matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem like it would grow beyond 3, but compared to Professor Boladi, this much was worth being proud of.

As Yi-Han was pondering phrases to persuade later that '3 is amazing too', Caten's voice reached his ears.

"Junior? Junior?"

"Ah. I'm sorry."

"You must be tired."

-Yi-Han has too much work.-

"...That wasn't it... Anyway, why?"

"I was thinking we could ask Professor Ingurdel too."

"That's not a bad idea. The professor would surely know an appropriate difficulty level for the exam."

"Hmm. But I'm worried that we might be disturbing him, as he has a lot on his mind because of you, junior..."

"...Pardon?"