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Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 1028

Added 2024-11-15 12:40:08 +0000 UTC

Chapter 1028

"What? Really??? Where???"

Seeing Gainando immediately stick his head out, Siana whispered with slight admiration.

"Lord Gainando seems to help his friends so well."

To play along with such an obvious lie.

Usually even if people wanted to help, they couldn't be that shameless. Indeed, Tijiling beside her was hesitating whether to say there was a cloud or not.

However, Gainando spoke as if asking what nonsense this was.

"What are you talking about? Where's the wyvern-shaped cloud?"

"...Ah! There's a griffin-shaped rock!"

Siana changed the subject once more. Gainando believed that too and turned his gaze.

"Wow! Look there!"

"???"

When the prince pointed outside with a very surprised voice, Siana was startled.

'Huh? Was there really one?'

She had just said something random, but was there coincidentally a griffin-shaped rock outside?

However, Gainando wasn't surprised because of the griffin-shaped rock.

He was surprised because there was a corpse lying on the sloped grass of a hill.

"Isn't that a corpse???"

The Petroguard mages smiled.

Visitors from outside sometimes misunderstood the free mages of Petroguard. That corpse too was such...

"That's not a corpse? Corpses aren't that color."

"Right. Prince, how can you not recognize a corpse when you're in the dark magic school?"

"Ah, oops. Keep it secret from Yi-Han."

"...That's not a corpse but a Petroguard student."

"What? No, why is he lying on a hill like this at this time instead of being in school?"

"Haha. Shall we ask him directly? Bunarjo!"

Dalser, who took on the role of professor but adamantly claimed he wasn't one, called the student.

The student lying like a corpse on the hill opened his eyes as if annoyed at being called.

"What?"

"Come here for a moment. Our guests have something to ask."

"Don't want to."

Bunarjo closed his eyes and lay down again.

Clap clap clap clap clap-

The Einroguard students unconsciously gave a standing ovation at this sight.

"..."

"W-we're sorry. Our hands suddenly..."

At the students' excuses, Professor Garcia covered her face as if dying of embarrassment.

Dalser spoke as if not particularly surprised.

"Can't be helped. Let's go to him."

As the carriage approached, Bunarjo got up as if annoyed.

"Bunarjo. If you don't answer, it will only get more annoying."

"...Fine, I'll do it. Professor. What do you want to know?"

Then Benjamin, who had been listening beside them, sternly admonished.

"Bunarjo! Watch your words!"

"...Fine, fine! Just don't call you professor! What do you want to know!"

Yi-Han, listening to the conversation, didn't understand and asked Professor Garcia in a small voice.

"Um, why did he get angry just now?"

"Because he called him professor. Yi-Han. That title goes against Petroguard's freedom."

"..."

Isn't forcibly preventing people from calling someone professor quite unfree too?

Though Yi-Han had such thoughts, he didn't say anything.

They weren't visiting to provoke Petroguard students but to help them.

"What were you doing here?"

"Creating a work."

"????"

At that answer, the Einroguard students whispered among themselves.

Adenart asked as if not understanding.

"But I don't see any equipment, workbench, or materials..."

Creating magic items required much time, effort, and equipment.

Even the Einroguard enchantment school students couldn't escape this.

It wasn't for nothing that seniors worked in that tower despite hating Professor Verduus.

But this student was working without any of those things.

Perhaps Petroguard students had a new working method?

"Maybe he's sending his soul to another realm to work?"

"Such mad things... he's not Wardanaz."

"Hey."

While the visitors whispered, Bunarjo tapped the side of his head with his finger and spoke.

"I was looking for the most important thing."

"Materials? Reagents?"

"Required arcane magic? Design?"

"No. Artistic inspiration."

"..."

The Einroguard students reacted like barbarians who had fought for survival their whole lives hearing the word art for the first time.

"Art..."

"Ar...tistic inspiration...?"

"Uh, is that a magic name?"

"No. I think he means real art. You know, the art covered in culture class. What's expressed in the empire through music, art, poetry and such."

"R-right. ...Why is that needed for magic items?"

"Maybe he's making art works instead of magic items?"

Bunarjo looked at the barbarians from outside with disgust.

"I am making magic items. You barbaric fellows. Don't you even know what art is?"

At those words, the Einroguard students flared up.

"How dare you say that? We know what art is too!"

"We even go out to watch plays, and even compose songs! Dargard! Show them!"

When Asan was about to start singing 'Einroguard Einroguard Is So Good', Yi-Han quickly stopped him.

The moment it was sung, Einroguard's social face would shatter and Professor Garcia might have to hide her origins for a while.

Fortunately, Bunarjo who hadn't heard the song reacted somewhat differently.

"You even compose songs? That's impressive. But I don't understand why people who know that would ask such stupid questions. You should know what's most important for magic items."

"Magic... isn't it?"

Everyone nodded at Yi-Han's words. However, Bunarjo sighed deeply.

"No."

"Could it be the deadline?"

"That's what you need to care about least. The most important thing is beauty. Look at this."

Bunarjo took out a small necklace from his chest.

Inside an aquamarine stone crafted in dodecahedron form, quite complex and sophisticated magic was swirling.

'Cold control series magic?'

Yi-Han grasped the magic at a glance.

However, there was something strange. There were many unnecessary parts in the artifact.

For example, the pure gold decoration wrapping the aquamarine was just that.

The pure gold decoration in the form of an angel seemed at first to have been added to effectively increase control over cold, element amplification, or spirit resonance.

However, there was no need to make it in angel form. If it were Yi-Han, he would have wrapped it in gold, engraved minimal magic circles, then strongly packed in mana.

'Why carve it like that?'

"What do you feel?"

"I'm not... sure."

At Yi-Han's answer, Bunarjo let out a deep sigh.

"This necklace is a work that can block surrounding cold and call forth blizzards if desired."

"No. I understand that. The pure gold on the side is for increasing control over cold and resonance with nearby spirits."

"!!"

Bunarjo was startled.

He hadn't expected him to grasp not just the artifact's magic but even the role of the side decorations just by looking.

"But I don't understand why you carved it... wouldn't it be most efficient to just wrap it in gold then engrave magic circles?"

Bunarjo's expression, which had been startled, changed again at Yi-Han's question.

It was an expression as if he had heard something disgusting.

"Such an ugly method... That's not beautiful at all!"

"S-so you're saying this carving is purely for aesthetics?"

Adenart asked as if finding it hard to believe.

"It has magical effects too."

"But as Wardanaz just said, it would be much more efficient to..."

"I said that's not beautiful!"

The Einroguard students all began whispering at once.

Naturally it wasn't good content. Whispers of 'fool', 'idiot', 'dumber than Verduus' could be heard.

However, Yi-Han was slightly impressed.

'I've been steeped in Einroguard and forgotten my original intentions.'

In the past he had only worried about how to sell artifacts expensively, but at some point he had started only worrying about how to make artifacts well.

Perhaps after continuously experiencing survival threats, he had lost sight of what's important and only thought about immediate problems.

'He's right. Regardless of performance, making them prettier would sell better. I can't believe I forgot this.'

"I understand. Beauty is important too."

"Indeed. I knew you would have aesthetic sense since you have an eye for seeing. Then I'm going back. Don't disturb my contemplation."

The Petroguard student closed his eyes and lay down again.

He planned to lie like a corpse on the hill until the form of the work he wanted came to mind.

Gainando flared up at this sight.

"That lazy bastard! Wasting time like that when he should be waving his staff and hammering!"

"The prince is making sense for once. That's not the proper attitude for a mage."

"Worse than Professor Verduus!"

As the students' reactions became intense, Professor Garcia hurriedly stepped in to soothe them.

"Everyone calm down! Of course Petroguard's methods might feel a bit unique."

"It's not unique, it's wrong?"

The Einroguard students' eyes blazed with hostility.

They seemed to be saying -Such mages shouldn't exist!-

"...But if there are ten thousand mages, there are ten thousand ways of magic. That is Petroguard's school spirit so you should know how to respect it. Everyone understand?"

"..."

"Everyone understand???"

When space compressed and crumpled inside Professor Garcia's empty fist, the students quickly shouted.

"Yes!"

"We honorable Einroguard students always respect other magic schools!"

"Thank you everyone. Since Petroguard has many free artists, you shouldn't think of them like Einroguard."

"Should have suggested visiting Kalaroguard instead..."

Someone among the second year students muttered.

Though unpopular in the empire for being in the most secluded, gloomy and smelly land, that school of dark magic felt relatively best to Einroguard students.

As the carriage departed, Dalser laughed pleasantly at the shock the students had received.

"Einroguard students always show the same reaction when they visit."

"I'm curious about something - does work actually progress like that?"

Yi-Han asked curiously.

Having learned at Einroguard, Yi-Han also had trouble imagining such methods.

"Of course it's slow, and there are quite a few students who make no progress at all."

"Then isn't that troublesome for Petroguard?"

"What do you mean? It's the student's own choice."

"!"

Petroguard wasn't a place like Einroguard that metamorphosed students with intense heat and pressure.

It was a place that freely admitted those above a certain ability level and let them stay freely.

Even if students starved to death unable to create works, that was their own choice.