Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Chapter 645

"The faces of the people in the Wardanaz family's territory must always be blooming with smiles. By the way, Mr. Wardanaz. I heard you went around with the principal during this vacation?"

"Yeah. I persuaded some juniors who didn't want to enter."

"Why on earth?!"

Gainando, who was listening from the side, was shocked.

Why on earth would he commit such an evil act?

Ignoring his friends, Yi-Han continued speaking.

"Come to think of it, were there any juniors that left an impression on you?"

"Hmm. There was a junior who had talent as a knight and was even born with superpowers..."

"Oh."

"But he disliked fighting."

"??"

His friends tilted their heads.

It's one thing for a knight to dislike fighting, but is it okay to dislike fighting at Einroguard?

"But I persuaded him well."

"Weren't there any Blue Dragon Tower students?"

"There was a junior from the Pengerin family. He seemed quite skilled."

Yonaire and Gainando showed great interest in Yi-Han's words.

If it's a junior from the Pengerin family, wouldn't they enter the Blue Dragon Tower?

Of course, due to the rules protecting new students, they wouldn't be able to meet them right away in the second year, but still, it was welcome news that an outstanding junior was entering their tower.

"What about their personality?! What's their personality like?!"

"Since they're skilled, they're probably overflowing with confidence."

"Oh no!"

Gainando let out a sigh.

The most important thing for a junior wasn't magical skill or wisdom, but personality.

A junior who is polite and knows how to respect seniors should enter!

"What about mage cards or cooking?"

"Why are you asking that..."

Nillia looked at Gainando as if he was ridiculous.

"Are you looking for a new War... a new babysitter among the juniors?"

"Weren't you about to say Wardanaz just now?"

"N-no, I wasn't."

Ratford, who had been listening to the conversation, asked curiously.

"Were there any juniors like me?"

"There was. That's good, Ratford. You'd probably get along well if you met them?"

Yi-Han thought it was a good opportunity and brought up the story of Priest Carre from the Bildochkal Order.

Ratford, who had been listening with great interest at first, gradually frowned as the story progressed.

"What a very stupid junior!"

"I-is that so?"

"They're just greedy and won't even join a guild. What do they think guilds are! Such a junior would probably act alone even if they entered the dormitory."

Ratford got angry, which was rare for him.

Even though they were both from thief backgrounds, their ways of thinking were completely opposite.

'Hmm. It's fortunate they won't meet for a year.'

Yi-Han thought to himself. Ratford looked at Yi-Han and asked,

"Mr. Wardanaz. You gave that stupid junior a stern lecture, right?"

"O-of course. I told them they shouldn't do things that way."

"You did very well! What else did you say?"

"Uh, well, that they should take care of their friends..."

While Yi-Han was lying, overwhelmed by Ratford's momentum, Eandurde next to him stared at Yi-Han.

Realizing he had left someone out, Yi-Han hurriedly shouted.

"Oh right. Here's a reliable junior from the Black Tortoise Tower!"

At Yi-Han's praise, Eandurde nodded proudly. Nillia and Ratford praised the admirable junior.

"It's good that a reliable junior like you came."

"That's right. I'm really looking forward to it."

"What's there to look forward to..."

Gainando grumbled so Eandurde couldn't hear.

He still felt like his wrist that the junior had bitten was hurting.

"By the way, Mr. Wardanaz. Aren't any more people coming?"

"Dolgyu and Priestess Siana sent letters saying they're coming, but I'm not sure when they'll arrive. Shouldn't they be here soon?"

"I'm here."

With the sound of the door opening, a penguin mixed-blood entered with a tired face.

The students who had been expecting other friends to arrive stood up and greeted Alcicle.

"Hello, Mr. Pengerin."

"Good to see you all."

Alcicle groomed his disheveled feathers and put down a basket of herbs.

Seeing this, Yonaire asked curiously.

"Are you going to make potions?"

"No. Wardanaz asked me to."

"..."

"..."

Yonaire looked at Yi-Han in shock.

Did he just use Alcicle of the Pengerin family as a herb errand boy?

He was quite a famous mage among the empire's young up-and-coming mages...

'How on earth did he ask?'

Yonaire slightly suspected that her friend might have used mental magic.

She thought he might have lured him with food, but that would only work on Gainando...

"Here are the sardines. I fried some while you were away."

"Wow! Thanks."

Alcicle casually received the plate and tossed it into his beak as he sat down.

'He lured him with food?!'

In fact, Alcicle complied with Yi-Han's request because he owed him a lot.

He had poured out so much mana so generously in the previous experiment, how could he not do this one errand?

Moreover, he didn't know how he might ask for favors in the future...

'He must really like sardines.'

"You say Arsil left?"

"Yes."

Alcicle, who heard the story from Yi-Han, tapped his beak as if finding it strange.

It was completely different from how nobles usually leave.

Normally, there should be luxurious banquets, musical performances, and various events, but Arsil had left abruptly, just like a Wardanaz family member.

"Wardanaz. I suddenly became curious, but it seems that the family head and other family members aren't very interested in social circles... How did you participate in social events when you were young?"

Of course, there were loyal guard knights, golems, and demons in the mansion, but their presence didn't mean they could participate in social events.

After all, family members had to participate together and maintain formalities to be able to join social events.

"Ah. Relatives helped out. We usually went there to do it."

"Aha. I see."

Alcicle nodded while munching on fried sardines, but inwardly tilted his head.

'Huh? Did the Wardanaz family have collateral branches?'

If they did, they should have been much more famous, so why didn't he remember hearing about them?

"By the way, Mr. Pengerin. I have a question."

Yi-Han took out the score he had received from the tomb.

He had originally planned to decode it slowly, but Arsil's words were so meaningful that he became curious.

"This is a score found in an ancient tomb behind our territory, I was wondering if you could read the characters?"

"Are ancient tombs that common behind your territory...?"

Although taken aback, Alcicle received the score.

Since Yi-Han had asked a question for once, he intended to answer to the best of his ability.

In fact, it was rare to have a chance to prove his abilities in front of this Wardanaz family boy except at times like this.

'It might be my imagination, but sometimes I feel like he sees me as a mage who lives off his looks.'

Alcicle stared intently at the score. However, he couldn't immediately recall which era the characters were from.

"Hmm. Hmmmm..."

A long, drawn-out groan.

Unable to bear it any longer, Yi-Han cautiously opened his mouth.

"It's okay if you don't know..."

"N-no! I know these characters! Just a little! Give me a little more time!"

"Ah, okay."

Alcicle stared at the parchment so intently it might have burned a hole through it.

Ratford, who was looking alongside him, casually opened his mouth.

"Aren't these characters from the Pseudo-Kingdom era?"

"Ps... Pseudo-Kingdom! That's right, characters from the Pseudo-Kingdom era! Ugh! If you had given me one more minute, no, 30 more seconds, I could have recalled it too. Really!"

Flustered by Alcicle's desperate excuse, Ratford replied,

"O-of course, I thought you would."

"I'm telling you it's not really an excuse!"

"Mr. Pengerin. Please calm down. This isn't a game of who guesses first."

"Urgh...!"

Realizing his unsightly behavior, Alcicle blushed and sat down again.

The Pseudo-Kingdom era, meaning the era of fake kingdoms, was a nightmarish period for imperial historians.

An era of fragmentation with no proper kings and many who falsely claimed to be kings.

Although there were more cases of division than unification in the continent's history, the Pseudo-Kingdom era was particularly severe in its division.

To recover his dignity, Alcicle took out a book on Pseudo-Kingdom era characters and began to read the score haltingly.

"Praising the king's sacrifice... The king blocked the misfortune that befell before the city walls... It seems to be a hymn of praise and a funeral song, but I can't read the notes or lyrics below the title. It's probably bound to you."

"!"

Just as only the contractor can read and call a spirit's name, there were magics that only specific individuals could read and recite.

When Alcicle couldn't read the notes and lyrics of the score no matter how much he tried, he noticed the magic cast on this score like the experienced mage he was.

"My brother said this song would be helpful to me, but why? I don't have any reason to go around singing hymns or funeral songs."

"It's probably because of the magic cast on the song, not the lyrics."

After hearing in detail from Yi-Han about what had happened inside the tomb, Alcicle sharply guessed Arsil's intention.

The reason Arsil recommended this nameless ancient kingdom's song to Wardanaz wasn't because of its lyrics or melody.

It was because of the power the song possessed.

"You say this song dominated the surrounding area? That's more amazing than you might think."

"!"

Mages put more effort into dominating their own domain than one might think.

Just look at mages' workshops or magic towers, how much magic is engraved in them.

In other words, it meant that dominating an area was that difficult.

To control a vast space where all kinds of forces flow irregularly with one's individual will.

But these ancient kingdom's mages succeeded in showing something similar with a song engraved in the tomb.

Although it had disappeared now and the vein of magic had been cut off, it was certainly an amazing feat.

"I had never thought of it that way."

"Me neither. To begin with, music magic wasn't even worth researching."

"The principal told me to learn command magic instead, what do you think about that?"

"...Commands aren't like levitation spells, there's no way they can be learned that easily."

Alcicle looked at Yi-Han as if he found it ridiculous.

He knew the skull principal had no conscience, but he really had no conscience.

It's one thing to say not to learn music magic, but to say learn commands...

'Was that what he meant?'

Yi-Han fell into thought.

Hearing Alcicle's explanation, he felt he understood why Arsil had told him to keep this score safe.

Arsil clearly wanted Yi-Han to learn the knack of controlling an area as a mage.

Other known methods for controlling an area were much more complex or difficult.

Compared to the difficulty of command magic, no matter how difficult this score might be, it was incomparably easier.

In contrast, this forgotten kingdom's music magic was providing Yi-Han with an ingenious shortcut that other magics couldn't offer.

"But Mr. Pengerin, aren't you interested in this magic? From what I hear, it sounds quite amazing..."

Alcicle answered indifferently.

"I'm interested, but it obviously consumes too much mana."

"Ah."

"The kingdom's people probably only performed it in tombs too. It might suit you, but it doesn't suit me."

Eandurde tilted her head and asked,

"Is it like an inferior sword?"

"No!"

"No, Eandurde. Don't say rude things."

Yi-Han covered his junior's mouth.

Although there were many magics he needed to learn now, even considering that, this magic was certainly worth trying.

What flashed through Yi-Han's mind was the unique world that the skull principal had shown him once before.

The ultimate of magic that goes beyond dominating an area to change the area into one's own rules.

Of course, perfectly mastering this music magic wouldn't allow him to use a unique world, but it might allow him to take the first step on that distant path.

"Thank you, Mr. Pengerin. I'll practice hard once. I even received a violin as a gift."

"I see. Are you going to practice now?"

Alcicle looked at Yi-Han with expectant eyes.

Even if it wasn't magic he could learn himself, mages were always curious about magic they didn't know.

"No. I'm going to gather some herbs first. The amount is insufficient to clear the mission."

"...I'll gather the herbs, so you practice the music magic."

Alcicle couldn't hold back and became serious.

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