Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 791

Chapter 791

Nillia quickly dodged as if she had expected it. Having seen Gainando get hit a few times, she was prepared.

"Wind, become a wall!"

"...Why are you using magic to block that?"

Yi-Han looked at his friend as if dumbfounded.

Nillia was quickly crouching behind the wind wall to prepare for a second attack.

'She scooped water herself earlier saying mana was precious.'

"...I thought you'd attack a second time. That's what you did when Gainando dodged."

"Gainando just earned a bit too much punishment. That's all."

Yi-Han flicked off the revealed mana aphids with telekinesis.

It wasn't difficult, but it certainly required patience and persistence.

"Wait. Nillia. Can't we make spirits do this?"

"We can, but spirits don't like it. There's a faint toxic aura coming from the mandrake, you know."

It wasn't enough to harm mages, but it was enough toxicity to make low-ranking spirits uncomfortable.

Yi-Han reflected inwardly a little.

'I thought it was fine to just endure it since it's not life-threatening, but I guess this is the difference.'

He thought this might be one of the reasons spirits liked Nillia and were reluctant towards Yi-Han himself.

Of course, 99% was probably due to mana...

"Then I'll have to use undead."

Pop!

Yi-Han summoned the skeleton warrior, Gonadaltes, and then ordered it to clean up the mandrake.

Although a faint toxic aura was emitted, Gonadaltes didn't dare disobey the tyrant's order and silently flicked off the mana aphids.

Nillia felt awe inwardly seeing that.

'Dark magic...! It's much more convenient than I thought...!'

  *

As students came in one by one and sat down, when the time came, Professor Willow started the lecture.

"Now. This plant's..."

"It's a barometz, Professor."

Bartreck raised his hand and answered confidently.

The barometz, a peculiar plant with sheep-like fruit blooming like flowers, was familiar to Bartreck, who came from an eastern alchemy specialist family.

The sheep-like fruit was full of nutrients, and the stem and leaves below were also used as alchemy ingredients...

"Excellent, Bartreck."

When Yi-Han praised him from the side, Bartreck wiped under his nose with an embarrassed expression.

"I wasn't asking for the plant's name, little one."

"..."

Bartreck, who had been humiliated, glared at Yi-Han. Yi-Han shrugged.

'Did I tell you to speak?'

"It's good to know the name, but as a 2nd year student, you should know a bit more than that. Yes. Where is this barometz..."

"The stem is used as a blood-related attribute reagent, and the leaves are used as a buffer reagent! The uses of the fruit are too many to list!"

Bartreck spoke up once again. Yi-Han gave a small applause.

"...It would be better to listen to the question until the end. I was going to ask where it's sold a lot, and what the price is. The fruit, that is."

"Pardon?"

Bartreck was flustered by the unexpected question. The other students were similar.

In the book <Ah! Such Plants in the Empire?>, the plant names, habits, and uses were listed, but not the current market prices or quantities.

Professor Willow spoke with a slightly mischievous look.

"Probably most students taking this botany lecture are also taking alchemy. Then you should know that among the empire's mages, no one struggles with reagents as much as alchemists."

The alchemy school and botany lecture were quite closely related.

It was similar to how many transformation magic school students took animal studies lectures.

Since gathering and managing ingredients fell under the realm of alchemy, the botany lecture was half-essential.

"Now then, how should we obtain reagents?"

"We have to get them ourselves... don't we?"

Bartreck answered as he had heard in the alchemy lecture.

Then Professor Willow shook their head.

"We can't do that for everything."

"B-but Professor Uregor said we should get into the habit of obtaining them ourselves..."

Professor Willow smiled gently.

"He probably said that in 1st year. But later on, he'll say you should also get into the habit of buying."

"..."

Surprisingly, Einroguard professors were also skilled at changing their words.

A professor who said in 1st year, 'Tut-tut, you're going to become a mage and buy reagents with money? Can you call yourself a mage like that?' would change their words in 3rd year to say, 'Tut-tut, you're going to become a mage and gather all reagents yourself? Can you call yourself a mage like that?'

In 1st year, when they need relatively few reagents, they cultivate habits of saving and gathering ability, but in 3rd year, when they need many reagents, they cultivate the ability to secure them by any means necessary!

"Now, do you understand? The reason you need to grasp market prices."

Professor Willow took out a small booklet and enlarged it. On the cover was written <Imperial Horticulturist Club Journal>.

"Which plants are trending where, what's happening to make prices fluctuate, who you can get good plants from... You shouldn't neglect these things and should know them in advance. If you try to learn urgently later, it'll be too late. Mages aren't kind enough to give good plants to outsiders."

"Would it be good to join the Imperial Horticulturist Club?"

"That's a good method too, but it won't be easy. The Imperial Horticulturist Club has strict membership conditions... Try to get information through other methods. Make mage friends, or have informants..."

The Imperial Horticulturist Club was an honorable club that not just anyone could join, only outstanding horticulturists who had achieved great things in the empire.

Professor Willow recommended relatively easier methods to the students rather than such difficult methods.

"Now then. Where is it sold a lot, and what's the price?"

"I-I don't know well."

"I see. Next little one?"

"I also don't..."

"How about you?"

After several failed to answer, led by Bartreck, the question came around to Yi-Han.

Yi-Han was slightly flustered but answered as it came to mind.

"Wouldn't it be selling a lot in the southern Valtane Mountains area around now? The price... about twenty gold coins?"

"Oh. Why?"

"The Walpurgis festival should be happening in the Valtane Mountains area now, and barometz fruit is popular at such festivals, isn't it? And last winter, the south wasn't that cold, so barometz would have grown a lot. Then the price probably wouldn't have risen much more than average, but..."

"You're almost correct. The price is a bit higher. Because adventurers who collected barometz are colluding to negotiate, but it would be difficult to know even that."

"I took that into account too, Professor. However, I thought the adventurer guilds in that region are in financial difficulty, so they wouldn't be able to hold out long in negotiations and would compromise."

"..."

Professor Willow opened the <Imperial Horticulturist Club Journal> to check.

Barometz fruit - Currently 25 imperial gold coins (Southern Valtane Mountains)

"An interesting prediction. But you're wro..."

Barometz fruit - Currently 20 imperial gold coins (Southern Valtane Mountains)

"Ama-amazing!"

Professor Willow exclaimed in admiration for the first time in a while.

"How did you predict this?"

"I diligently read imperial newspapers usually."

"Excellent. Well done."

"Kuk...! That Wardanaz bastard!"

Bartreck stamped his feet in frustration.

To think he had studied even such aspects in advance.

The wall of the top student in the year was truly high and high.

'That's not it though...'

As a fellow avid reader of the imperial newspaper's economy section, Yonaire felt slightly embarrassed.

It seemed Bartreck was having a strange misunderstanding.

  *

Professor Willow spent half the lecture time on education and allowed students to take care of their mandrakes for the remaining half.

No matter how much they utilized time outside lectures, they still needed opportunities to ask the professor directly.

"That's right. Wardanaz. Do you want to join too?"

"What?"

"For mandrakes to have good effects, they need very strong sunlight, right?"

To grow mandrakes, you had to constantly water them, catch pests, expose them to strong sunlight, and do many other chores.

Even after doing all that, the frightening thing about plants was that if the mandrake's mood turned sour, it could wither or die.

'A basilisk would be better.'

Yi-Han stroked the baby basilisk. The basilisk, which had been nodding off in the greenhouse air, excitedly wrapped its tail around his finger.

"Right?"

"We're going to make that sunlight."

"..."

For a moment, Yi-Han thought his friends had gone mad.

Creating sunlight with the sun's attributes was on a different level from summoning light or fire.

Not only light and fire attributes, but they would need to bring in over ten attributes symbolizing the sun to produce even a similar effect.

"Are you thinking about the graduation project now?"

"What are you talking about, Wardanaz. We're not you."

"What did you just say?"

"We heard a rumor that there's an artificial sun artifact in the principal's warehouse. If we steal that, we'll definitely get full marks for this semester's mandrake!"

"...Hmm, tell me if you steal it. I'll pay, so lend it to me too."

"Wardanaz! What's happened to you this year! You were much more spirited last year!"

Yi-Han ignored the temptation of his mischievous friends.

He didn't particularly want to visit the skull principal's warehouse when he already had many dangers and enemies.

"So like this over here..."

"Ha. This isn't pretty."

"What are you two doing?"

Yi-Han asked curiously, discovering Ratford and Bartreck whispering in front of the vegetable garden.

The two were having a conversation with very serious and careful expressions.

Bartreck hurriedly pointed at the vegetable garden and said.

"It's nothing. Right, Ratford?"

"Ah. We were trying to create patterns on the mandrake leaves."

"Hey!"

Bartreck was angry at the betrayal. Ratford didn't care either way.

"Why are you acting like this when we're just partners? It's my freedom to tell whoever I want."

"Th-this is why Black Tortoise Tower guys are...!"

"What is it? What patterns?"

"Mandrakes are valuable for their effects, but if they have rare patterns, they sell for high prices, right?"

At Ratford's explanation, Bartreck's face reddened with shame.

To be talking about making money with patterns in front of the top student of the year!

Sure enough, Wardanaz had a shocked face.

"You two... are geniuses?!"

"..."

"That's right. It was like that. Why had I forgotten? Damn. I've learned magic in vain."

Just as there are people like Yi-Han who are obsessed with efficacy, there are also people obsessed with appearance or beauty.

There were imperial collectors who would pay large sums of money depending on what patterns were drawn on mandrake leaves.

"How far have you gotten?"

"We made a potion and tried it, but only dot patterns..."

"This is common. We need to make rarer patterns! Bartreck. Is this all you've got?"

"S-sorry."

Bartreck apologized and then suddenly felt puzzled inwardly.

Why did I just apologize?

  *

"Thought from instant to moment, moment to instant."

"Very good."

Professor Garcia spoke while checking <Lesser Internal Time Extension>, a magic that extended the perceived time inside a mage.

Considering Yi-Han's year, it was an unbelievably fast learning speed.

Of course, he himself was dissatisfied...

"Kuk!"

"I told you there's no need to rush..."

"Yes. I understand. Kuk!"

"..."

Professor Garcia considered hitting him once.

"Oh right. Yi-Han. Next week is club week, so there will be quite a few outsiders coming."

"I understand."

"Yi-Han, since you belong to many clubs, you'll probably be called to many places."

"I understa... Huh. What did you just say?"

Yi-Han, who had been absorbed in magic, flinched.

Did Professor Garcia just say something chilling?