Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

“I agree. Some members of the Club insist that everything in the world belongs to them, but…”

“…”

“…whether that’s true or not, this item at least belongs to us Einroguard students.”

“You’re absolutely right, Senior!”

Lee Han applauded enthusiastically at Sebius’s words.

Honestly, even if they had no rightful claim to it at all, he would still have suggested stealing it if it was an improved spatial-expansion backpack.

That was how badly they needed it.

“Shh. From here on, keep your voice down.”

Sebius abruptly stopped walking, then asked:

“Have you ever been to the fifth floor?”

“No.”

“I thought not. Most students barely have any reason to visit the fourth floor either.”

When first-years wandered through Einroguard’s main building, they usually stayed around the second floor, or occasionally the third at most.

Ironically, once they became second-years and gained direct access to the Exiles’ Village on the seventh floor where the upperclassmen gathered, the fourth through sixth floors became places students almost never visited unless they had a specific reason.

Though I used the fourth floor all the time…

Lee Han nearly said so out loud, but stopped himself.

He didn’t want Sebius thinking he was some bizarre underclassman.

“The fifth floor isn’t that different from the fourth. Strange lecture halls. Strange traps.”

“And the principal’s strange minions.”

Sebius ignored the comment as if he hadn’t heard it. Lee Han felt oddly disappointed.

“But there is one major difference. The guest lodgings are located there. Visitors without ties to a particular faculty usually stay on the fifth floor.”

Guests with connections to specific schools inside Einroguard—like the Kalarogard students—could stay in those schools’ towers instead.

But there were always outsiders who had no personal connection to any professor or staff member.

“The Valdrogard students refuse to stay in magic towers even when they have connections.”

“Why? Because they hate magic?”

“No. Because if they stay somewhere easily accessible to Einroguard students, they get attacked.”

“…”

As a fellow Einroguard student, Lee Han felt a little apologetic.

“In any case, the fifth-floor lodgings are extremely secure. Non-guests can’t even perceive the place to begin with.”

According to Sebius, the 【Visitor Accommodations】 on the fifth floor resembled a small village.

A hidden village that only qualified guests could enter.

No matter how long ordinary students wandered the fifth floor, they would never find it.

“So,” Sebius asked, “how do you think people infiltrate a place like that?”

Lee Han answered immediately and confidently.

As both a junior from the same club and the same school, he needed to prove his usefulness at times like this.

“We kidnap a guest. If we drag them along, the path should appear.”

“…That would work too. Though I was referring to a route ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) from another floor.”

There was one thing even the Skull Principal couldn’t completely control:

the chaos permeating Einroguard’s main building.

Countless spells had accumulated there over the centuries, layered together under entirely different principles. The result was impossibly unstable.

Clever Einroguard students learned to exploit that chaos.

“When space between floors temporarily overlaps and pathways open, the surrounding magic weakens as well. If you’re trying to bypass heavy security, it’s better to approach from another floor.”

“I see. Thank you.”

Lee Han immediately regretted his answer.

Instead of talking about kidnapping guests, if he had said something like We take advantage of weakened magical interference during inter-floor spatial overlap phenomena, how impressive would that have sounded?

Damn it. I should think before I speak.

Sebius pulled a map from inside his robe.

Every Einroguard student carried a personal map. Without one, getting lost was practically guaranteed.

But Sebius’s map looked unusual.

Instead of terrain, it was densely covered in timestamps.

“Those are the overlap timings?”

Sebius nodded.

He was extremely picky when choosing people for teleportation work, but even he had to admit this junior was an excellent partner.

Other than the obvious flaw of still being a second-year, Lee Han was frighteningly competent.

Too competent, honestly.

“Normally, a route would open near the pig-tower statue in thirty minutes.”

“Then why are we going this way?”

“There’s a poisonous swamp nearby right now, so getting through is difficult. The chances of the route failing to open have risen too.”

“…”

Lee Han smoothly changed the subject.

“What about this place? It says the ceiling opens in forty-seven minutes.”

“The corridor there was destroyed recently, so it’s unusable for now.”

Sebius muttered a curse under his breath.

Some completely insane bastard had smashed apart part of the sixth-floor corridor and ruined another perfectly useful route.

“…”

Lee Han wisely kept silent.

Maybe Gainando and Adenart really are dragging bad luck around with them.

He suddenly had a very ominous feeling.

“So instead we’ll enter through here once the opening appears in an hour. Before that, let me explain a few spells.”

Sebius apparently decided this was the perfect opportunity for instruction.

Since Lee Han was taking 【Advanced Illusion Magic and Spirit Theory】 as well, there was no reason not to teach him some of the spells covered in class.

“First, 【Ogonin’s Bewilderment】. Third circle. It weakens the target’s resistance and causes them to perceive illusions advantageous to the caster.”

“Ogonin’s… Bewilderment…”

Lee Han diligently took notes.

A truly skilled illusion mage could effectively manipulate another person’s perceptions entirely, but controlling intelligent beings directly was extremely difficult.

You had to fully understand the target’s thoughts and guide them precisely.

Normally, that demanded an absurd amount of effort.

It was far more efficient to weaken resistance broadly and let the target’s own mind fill in the gaps.

“Next is 【Ogonin’s Misperception】. Also third circle. This one is cast on yourself. It alters your appearance to match the surrounding environment.”

If someone cast 【Ogonin’s Misperception】 inside Einroguard’s corridors late at night, observers would probably perceive the caster as a professor.

The spell transformed the caster into whatever form looked most natural in the current situation.

“These two spells are usually paired together. Individually, both have too many weaknesses.”

“They both involve approaching the soul, don’t they?”

“…Yes. Exactly.”

Sebius was inwardly impressed.

As evidenced by the fact that these spells were taught during this semester, their true purpose went beyond mere practical effects.

The great illusion mage Ogonin had deliberately designed them as accessible methods for students learning how to approach the soul.

The spells themselves were highly effective, and practicing them naturally improved one’s ability to interact with souls.

Every time Sebius studied Ogonin’s work, he found himself admiring it again.

“One spell brushes against the enemy’s soul and disrupts its surface, while the other disturbs your own soul to create ripples… But are there no equivalent spells developed by other illusion mages?”

Lee Han asked out of simple curiosity.

Sebius responded sharply.

“Are you saying you’re dissatisfied with Master Ogonin’s spells?”

“Oh, no. I was only curious.”

“…My apologies. That was unbecoming of a senior. Sometimes there are juniors who dismiss Master Ogonin’s spells as simplistic.”

Sebius had little patience for students who ignored Ogonin’s foundational techniques and chased after more exotic spells first.

To him, it was shallow, pretentious behavior.

“I respect Master Ogonin too! Tremendously!”

Lee Han hurriedly declared, afraid his true thoughts might somehow leak out.

Sebius appeared satisfied, though he concealed it well.

“Lastly, there’s 【Ogonin’s Detection】. If you’ve already learned 【Ogonin’s Emotion Recognition】, understanding this one should be simple.”

“I have.”

“…R-right. In any case, this spell detects the waves emitted by nearby souls and senses hostility.”

Put simply, it was a spell for detecting approaching enemies before they revealed themselves.

All three spells were practical and efficient.

Especially for members of the Club.

I may really have been too biased against Ogonin.

Lee Han reflected once again.

He had felt this before, but his first encounter with Ogonin had probably distorted his judgment.

Perhaps it was because he had first met Baldororn, an illusion mage so monstrously skilled that anyone standing beside the Skull Principal would seem amateurish by comparison.

“These three spells are normally what students learn this semester. You technically passed the lecture after acquiring soul perception another way, but it would still benefit you to master them eventually. For today, I’ll cast them for you.”

“Oh.”

As Sebius continued explaining 【Ogonin’s Detection】, Lee Han hesitated.

He had already mastered 【Ogonin’s Bewilderment】 and 【Ogonin’s Misperception】.

Wasn’t he supposed to be learning this one now too?

“…Just learn Detection as well.”

“Yes… But Senior, shouldn’t you have mentioned that earlier…”

“Quiet.”

That’s excessive, even for a senior.

Lee Han grumbled inwardly.

***

Zandani of House Alzadrak, a fourth-year student from Valdrogard, spoke with a dispirited expression.

“I knew Einroguard mages were extraordinary, but I never imagined they could use magic like that.”

The Valdrogard students who had witnessed the ancient spell Black Imperial Crown returned deeply shaken.

Zandani in particular—who considered himself a serious student of magic, at least by his own standards—had taken the shock especially hard.

How could that student from House Wardanaz use such magic?

“…Don’t lose heart. Even by Einroguard standards, that spell isn’t normal. There must have been some special circumstance involved.”

Galar, the mage the Valdrogard students had hired, tried to comfort him.

That sort of consideration wasn’t typical of Galar, but this time he genuinely meant it.

A spell like Black Imperial Crown was not something even Einroguard students could casually cast.

There had to be some extraordinary method behind it. An ancient artifact, perhaps.

“You’re not lying to me? That Wardanaz brat cast it so calmly.”

“…By sixth year, students can at least maintain their composure. You can’t judge from appearances alone.”

Even as he said it, Galar felt conflicted.

Honestly, he desperately wanted to know how the spell had been cast himself.

If an artifact was involved, how did I fail to notice it?

Thanks to Galar’s reassurance and encouragement from the others, Zandani gradually recovered.

Well… if it was a sixth-year from Einroguard, maybe it was barely understandable.

“Won’t our stay at Einroguard end soon? Is it really fine for us to keep lounging around?”

“It’s fine. We finished all the sightseeing on the first day anyway. We should spend the remaining time relaxing before we leave.”

Are these idiots really mages?

Galar was dumbfounded.

When mages visited another mage’s territory, they were supposed to squeeze every possible benefit out of the opportunity.

Without that kind of obsession, they weren’t true mages at all.

Of course, expecting such desperation from Valdrogard brats was probably too much to ask, but this level of laziness was absurd.

Clink—

The Valdrogard students continued relaxing comfortably in their lodgings, sipping wine from expensive leather flasks.

One played music while the others leisurely passed time with Mage Cards.

Despite being paid to work for them, Galar suddenly wanted to hit every single one of them.

“…That backpack. I noticed it earlier—it’s quite unusual. Doesn’t look like a standard product.”

“You have a sharp eye indeed! Correct. It was originally gifted by an Einroguard mage to one of our senior’s seniors. Proof of friendship.”

“…??”

Could dragons and mice really become friends?