Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

“Please speak comfortably, Family Head.”

Alcicle offered the seat of honor while maintaining etiquette.

As a guest visiting another family’s territory who had been treated with respect, it was now his turn to say there was no need for that.

“I’ll do so, young Pengerin.”

“Please speak comfortably to me as well.”

“Thank you, young Wardanaz.”

After exchanging light greetings, they sat down.

At that moment, a knight staying in the territory knocked on the door.

“Mr. Pengerin. You said you’d help repair the ice wall today… Oh! I’m sorry!”

“No. It seems you had a prior appointment.”

The family head gestured without any particular change in expression. It meant to continue speaking.

“Well, today, Mr. Pengerin said he would cast magic because the ice wall of the Rising Rock Cape fortress had weakened. I came because it was time…”

“Ah. That’s right.”

Alcicle realized his mistake.

He had promised magic to help with the patrol at the knights’ request.

“I’m sorry, Family Head.”

“No. It’s understandable if it was a prior appointment. Rather, the Moradi family should be grateful. Make sure to escort young Pengerin well.”

“Yes!”

Alcicle bowed his head in gratitude to the family head, who had shown consideration for both sides’ dignity by not blaming the knight.

Then his eyes met Yi-Han’s.

‘Oh no!’

Yi-Han was looking at Alcicle with eyes that gazed at a traitor.

“Th-this isn’t like that!”

“What isn’t?”

“This is really a coincidence, unlike last time!”

“Ah. Yes. I’m sure it is.”

Yi-Han’s gaze towards Alcicle had already descended to the level of looking at the skull principal.

Feeling this change, Alcicle’s heart ached.

‘Sob.’

“I’ll be back. Let’s talk again.”

“Yes. Whatever.”

“I’m telling you it really wasn’t intentional…”

Alcicle left, clinging until the end.

‘Hmm.’

Yi-Han felt unnecessarily tense as he was left alone with the head of the Moradi family (actually, his junior was there, but she wasn’t much help).

Even Jicklin had an excellent talent for suffocating people when faced one-on-one, so what about the family head?

‘He seems like a cold person.’

He was an elf with such a cold impression that it seemed not a single drop of blood would come out even if pricked with a needle.

Yi-Han recalled what he had heard about the family.

One of the top knight families in the north, iron-blooded and cold-blooded, never forgetting grudges…

They had typical Moradi characteristics.

And as the head of such a family, he would be fulfilling the family’s virtues more faithfully than anyone else.

“I heard about the evil god worshipper. Young Wardanaz. I express my gratitude in the name of the family.”

“I didn’t do it alone.”

“Even so, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s impressive. I heard you’re also close with Jijel, but I’m curious how you became close when you’re from different towers. Can you tell me?” �

“Ugh.”

Yi-Han almost spat out his coffee. His junior, who was reading a book beside him, looked at him as if asking if he was okay.

He couldn’t possibly say ‘Moradi kept picking fights with me’ in front of the family head…

“We… we became close while overcoming Einroguard’s hardships together.”

The family head was silent for a moment after hearing Yi-Han’s words.

Then he asked again as if he didn’t understand.

“All Einroguard graduates must have overcome hardships together, but I hear it’s rare for those from different towers to be close to each other. What’s the difference?”

“It’s because what the seniors overcame were fake hardships, and what we overcame were real hardships.”

Yi-Han answered very brazenly.

Since he had already insisted, he intended to insist proudly.

It’s not like the family head could know the internal situation of Einroguard anyway…

‘?’

The family head hesitated for a moment, not understanding Yi-Han’s words.

It was to the extent that he wondered if he didn’t understand because he hadn’t attended Einroguard himself.

‘What’s the difference between fake hardships and real hardships?’

The family head, who had been pondering, quickly came to his senses.

This wasn’t important right now.

It was surprising that Jijel had made a friend, but that was ultimately Jijel’s business, and what the family head himself had to do was to sound out the intentions of the Wardanaz family.

“I see. Young Wardanaz. How is your family head doing these days?”

“He’s still in seclusion. He’s deeply immersed in exploring the outer realm.”

“That’s admirable. I’ve respected the head of the Wardanaz family since I was young.”

Yi-Han was slightly flustered when he said such things with a cold face.

‘Can’t he act with his expressions?’

To Yi-Han, the empire’s top expression actor, the straightforward elf family head in front of him was a somewhat unfamiliar existence.

“Then what is young Wardanaz’s goal?”

“I’m thinking of becoming an imperial bureaucrat.”

“Hmm. Is that so.”

‘As expected, he doesn’t speak easily.’

The family head wasn’t surprised or anxious at the answer given by the boy in front of him.

The head of the Moradi family was more accustomed to nobles’ conversations than knights’ conversations.

It was rare for nobles to pour out their true feelings at their first meeting.

Noble conversation was about pretending on the surface and then revealing fragments of their true feelings when they realized the other party was someone worth joining hands with later.

Why would the boy from the Wardanaz family dream of being an imperial bureaucrat when he lacked nothing?

That was clearly just a show of humility.

‘Lord Gonadaltes highly evaluated the Wardanaz family’s boy. There’s a high possibility he’s thinking of him as his successor. If so, the word bureaucrat isn’t completely wrong. It’s an extraordinary answer.’

The family head was considerably impressed by the boy’s appearance, which conveyed a subtle metaphor along with a show of humility.

It was a completely different appearance from other Wardanaz family bloodlines he had met in the past.

“That’s an admirable goal.”

“Do you think so?”

Yi-Han brightened up.

He hadn’t thought that the head of another family would encourage him.

“Of course!”

“Thank you.”

“As a bureaucrat, you’ll be traveling around the empire’s territories, so I’d like to personally introduce you to our family’s territory.”

The family head suggested showing the family’s territory, using an appropriate excuse.

If the other party had ambition, they would surely show some reaction after seeing the power of the Moradi family.

“Oh… I accept with gratitude.”

Yi-Han accepted without much thought.

Compared to someone like Lady Jicklin coming and asking to go hunting, just touring the territory was a very mild and comfortable rest.

And it was good for flattery too.

‘It seems to have inherited the cold northern climate as it is… Hmm. That’s cliché. The essence of the cold North Sea…’

‘His eyes have changed.’

Seeing the boy from the Wardanaz family who seemed deeply lost in thought, the family head became even more expectant.

***

“This is the underground ranch.”

The Moradi family, situated on a huge rock, had completed various facilities over a long time with great effort.

Among these facilities were some precious ones that were hard to find in other northern families.

One of them was the underground ranch created by digging deep into a cave.

“It’s magnificent!”

“Thank you.”

“To create a space by digging through rock like this and then use it as a ranch. No other family could match this!”

“You flatter me.”

The family head merely responded politely to Yi-Han’s praise without showing any particular interest.

The other party’s praise had no value.

What mattered was what actual promises were made.

‘How interesting.’

Yi-Han looked around after giving some perfunctory flattery.

Since a ranch generally needed an open space, it was easy to think of flat ground above ground, but to have such an underground ranch deep inside a cave.

Among the animals raised inside, there were not only ordinary livestock but also rare animals. It was indeed a facility worth boasting about.

“A lot of magic is being used too.”

“If you thought knight families don’t use magic, that’s a mistake, young Wardanaz. In fact, the Moradi family has quite a few mages too. Of course, it’s nothing compared to the Wardanaz family…”

“We have fewer. We’re not so boisterous to begin with.”

While the family head was analyzing what meaning was contained in his words just now, Yi-Han looked around at the animals in the underground ranch and the magic installed around them.

Certainly, his diligent learning over the past year had been effective, as he could tell what kind of magic was installed.

It was thanks to the rigorous training by people like the skull principal and Professor Beavle.

Yi-Han felt renewed gratitude towards them…

‘No. I’m not grateful.’

…He was about to feel grateful, but it didn’t turn out that way.

‘Heat, wind… Ah. Is this for circulating air? Is this for drawing water? This seems like purification magic, there must be animals that dislike dirt.’

The family head couldn’t help but notice Yi-Han’s behavior as he curiously examined the magic.

As expected of the Wardanaz family bloodline, he seemed very interested in magic.

“Is there anything you’re curious about?”

“Ah. I was just thinking for a moment about how it could be arranged more efficiently.”

The family head was intrigued by Yi-Han’s words.

He couldn’t tell if that confidence was justified confidence or perhaps arrogant overconfidence.

Even for an Einroguard student, it didn’t seem likely that a mage who had just become a 2nd year could fix this…

But the other party was from the Wardanaz family bloodline. He might show some extraordinary ability.

‘It doesn’t matter either way.’

The most important thing was that it didn’t matter whether he succeeded or failed.

The other party would feel goodwill towards the kindness the family head had shown.

“Then try touching it once, young Wardanaz.”

“Pardon? No. If there’s a problem…”

“Other mages of the family are not far away. Even if a problem occurs, it can be solved immediately. I think it’s more important to give experience to a young mage.”

The family head spoke without changing his expression. His impression was so cold that it seemed like it would scare someone else.

But Yi-Han had become too bold to be scared by such things now.

‘I think I can do this much sufficiently.’

“Hmm. Then I’ll try for a moment.”

He cut out the complex intertwined parts for mana maintenance and amplification in the magic circle, and by injecting mana close to overload into the remaining parts, it could be composed with a much simpler magic circle.

It was a method only possible for Yi-Han, who could cover with his own mana even after reducing the number of magic stones.

“…!”

As the work progressed and the flow of mana began to change, the family head’s expression, which had been the same all day, wavered for the first time.

The family head looked at Yi-Han with surprised eyes. As an excellent knight himself, he could intuitively feel what Yi-Han was doing.

‘To reduce mana like that!’

“I think it’s done. Is there anything wrong?”

“No. It’s excellent, young Wardanaz. I’m impressed.”

“Haha. Thank you. It seems my practice at Einroguard has paid off.”

The family head quickly calculated the number of magic stones saved by the recent work.

“Would you look at other places too? I’d like to hear your opinion.”

“But what I just did is kind of like a patch job, so it might be difficult for complex magic circles.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’d be grateful if you just looked with a light heart.”

The family head smiled for the first time today.

The cooperation with the Wardanaz family that had been in his mind quickly faded.

His mind was filled with how much of the territory could be improved with the genius of the boy in front of him.

***

“I’m back?”

Jijel, who arrived at the training ground, looked around to find where her sister was.

Jicklin was sitting in the deepest part with a worried face.

“Jijel.”

“Yes.”

“Um. Never mind.”

“…Why? You can just tell me!”

Jijel urged, wondering what kind of worry her sister had.

Most of Jicklin’s worries were useless, but occasionally there were dangerously reckless worries like ‘I want to compete with a giant examiner’.

“I’m your sister. You can trust me and tell me.”

“Hmm.”

Jicklin, who had been pondering, finally opened her mouth.

Jijel listened intently, wondering what the worry was.

“Father keeps Wardanaz with him, so I can’t show him my swordsmanship.”

“…”

Jijel regretted asking.

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