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Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 21
🕑 Added 2023-12-29 12:54:54 +0000 UTCChapter 21
There was a saying: If you see only mad people around someone, you should suspect that person might be mad too.
This was true for the magic academy as well. If all the professors seemed insane, then even those who mingled with them and appeared sane deserved scrutiny!
‘Ah, yes. Professor Garcia was close to that mad principal. Indeed, none of the professors should be trusted.’
If Professor Garcia had heard this, she would have been unjustly aggrieved.
Of course, maintaining magic until the end of the class could feel mentally harsh. It was like keeping a spinning top balanced on a fingernail. But Professor Garcia had her reasons for assigning such a task to Yi-Han.
Yi-Han's success in creating water in just three attempts was a sign of his exceptional talent, even considering his affinity with water. Moreover, his mana was so immense it overshadowed his talent. Such a raw gem needed to be polished to enhance its shine.
Believing Yi-Han was fully capable of such a task, Professor Garcia had given the directive. Unfortunately, Yi-Han did not understand the professor's true intentions.
Straining his concentration to maintain the water, Yi-Han thought to himself, ‘From now on, I'll consider all the professors here to be slightly unhinged.’
—
The rest of the <Basic Magic Understanding> class passed smoothly. Several students from the Blue Dragon successfully created <Light>, and the princess succeeded in <Fire Ignition>. Yonaire was delighted to discover her aptitude with the wind element, while Gainando almost set a staff on fire. Yi-Han, meanwhile, had to focus on maintaining the water blob for the remainder of the time.
On a Friday afternoon, when everyone longed for the weekend, Yi-Han was tending to the garden at Professor Uregor's cabin.
"Isn't this too much?"
"???"
Professor Uregor was puzzled by Yi-Han's comment. He couldn't grasp what Yi-Han found so excessive about his explanation.
"Maybe Professor Garcia Kim likes you? Isn’t that why she assigned you such a task?"
"You mean like how I'm tending the garden here?"
‘Here it goes again. The guy really complains a lot,’ Professor Uregor inwardly grumbled at Yi-Han's pointed words.
Other students would have murmured, 'That professor is so harsh, making someone from the Wardanaz family do such menial work.'
But Professor Uregor had his excuse… After all, Yi-Han had offered to help with the cabin maintenance.
-"Professor, I've come to help with the cabin."-
-"Oh, thank you."-
-"May I eat something from the cabin while working?"-
-"...Feel free. That's fine..."-
-"Then, may I take a bit with me?"-
-"No, you can't."-
-"I shouldn't have asked. Fine."-
Professor Uregor shook his head and raised his hands in surrender.
He hadn't expected such a response to his light question, along the lines of, “How was your week?”
But despite his grumbling habit, Yi-Han was indeed the most promising among the new students. Even Professor Garcia Kim was giving him special attention for that reason. And to Professor Uregor, Yi-Han's ability was indeed exceptional.
Not in magic.
‘To persistently handle such chores... The more I see, the more I realize he's a natural.’
...It was about the ability to handle menial tasks.
If Yi-Han had heard this, he would have been taken aback, but Professor Uregor was serious. To him, the most necessary skill for an alchemist was the ability to tirelessly handle such menial tasks.
Innate mana sensitivity to differentiate any reagent?
An affinity to quickly befriend any spirit?
The fine control of mana to perform delicate processes?
None of that mattered.
What a great alchemist truly needed was the ironclad patience to silently clean a mountain of flasks without fleeing. And Yi-Han had shown this ability from the first time he was seen.
Any other noble would never have stooped to manage a garden or cabin, no matter the compensation, but Yi-Han not only did these tasks diligently but also took food in return. This was indeed the mark of an alchemist's talent.
'Why do I feel a shiver down my spine?'
Digging up potatoes, Yi-Han wondered. The weather was cool, but he strangely felt goosebumps.
"Aren't you tired?"
"I'm fine," Yi-Han answered Professor Uregor's question without much thought. In reality, he wasn't particularly tired. Not just physically, but he was also quite accustomed to doing such tasks under a professor's guidance. Harvesting fresh vegetables from the garden and fetching fish from traps set in the river were honestly easy tasks for him.
"Hehe."
"??"
Confused by Professor Uregor's satisfied chuckle, Yi-Han wondered what was going on.
'Does he feel happy seeing someone else working hard? As expected of professors...'
"You have talent, Wardanaz."
"Ah. Yes."
"You're just letting it go in one ear and out the other, aren't you?"
"No, Professor."
Professor Uregor clicked his tongue in disapproval. Anyway, even if he spoke now, Yi-Han, with his grumbling nature, wouldn't pay much attention. How did such a person come from the granite-like Wardanaz family? Professor Uregor sank deep into his armchair, filled his long dwarven pipe with tobacco, and lit it.
Puffing contentedly, he opened his mouth again, "Anything else happened?"
'How bored is he?' Shaking dirt off a carrot, Yi-Han couldn't help but find it absurd.
Well, Professor Uregor was a professor after all; maybe it was natural for him to act this way. A true professor should know how to keep students busy while being bored himself.
"Any friction with students from other dormitories?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
"You're neither the first nor the last freshman here. It's easy to guess."
Professor Uregor spoke in a voice mellowed by smoking.
"Let me guess. It was with the students from the White Tiger, wasn't it?"
"Yes, that's right."
From Professor Uregor's words, Yi-Han realized that the Blue Dragon traditionally had a poor relationship with the White Tiger.
"It's inevitable. One side is from imperial noble families, and the other from knightly ones. How could there not be conflicts at such a young age?"
"Isn't it a ridiculous reason? To fight over such things. We're busy enough learning magic."
Yi-Han's words made Professor Uregor nod in agreement. Indeed, Yi-Han was right. It was a foolish act. But then again, everyone is foolish in their youth.
"Still, Wardanaz, you have a discerning eye. Yes, there's no need to quarrel over such ludicrous reasons. Better to spend that time practicing magic, isn't it?"
"Indeed."
"This year, with someone like you around, there might be fewer fights. Even if those from the White Tiger provoke you, just ignore them."
"Yes, but, I've already fought them."
"..."
Uregor set down the pipe he had been holding in his mouth and looked at Yi-Han with disbelief.
“Didn’t you say you hate having to fight needlessly for ridiculous reasons?”
"But how can I, when they are the ones starting the trouble?" Yi-Han protested as if he was unjustly accused.
Uregor nodded slowly. Indeed, there are times when one can't avoid a fight if the other side provokes first.
"These White Tiger guys must be quite rough. They usually don't start fights in the first week. What happened?"
"They picked a fight because I was attending a swordsmanship class."
"..."
Thud-
Uregor dropped the pipe he had picked up again, so astonished he was.
"Aren't they just terrible?"
"It's you who's strange...!"
Uregor couldn't believe it. Why, of all the lectures, would he choose swordsmanship? It seemed clear why the White Tiger folks had provoked him.
"You managed to escape, then. Those from the White Tiger usually learn magic late but are good at fighting."
"Yes, I had a tough time knocking down three of them."
"..."
Uregor set the pipe aside neatly. It seemed he shouldn't smoke any more today.
"You knocked them down?"
"It was tough. I was lucky."
"...You can stop working for today. I'll prepare something for you to eat."
"Oh, is that okay?"
"Of course."
Uregor decided to treat Yi-Han a bit better. After all, he might become the empire's greatest swordsman and come to assassinate him one day.
—
The vegetables growing in Uregor's cabin, nourished by the essence of nature, were plump and fresh. The professor washed potatoes, onions, and carrots, peeled them, and cut them into large pieces. He then threw butter into a pot, adding onions and garlic to sauté.
"Bring some of the meat hanging over there."
"No, that meat is for me and Yonaire."
"...Am I the only one eating?"
"Understood."
Yi-Han decided to apologize to Yonaire later and brought the hanging smoked pork.
Uregor added the meat, then poured in a generous amount of wine. The rich aroma of the wine was invigorating. Soon, potatoes, carrots, and onions followed. Uregor seasoned it with salt, saying, "This is a family stew recipe. It's all you need with some freshly baked warm white bread."
There was a reason Uregor said this with such confidence. The stew was truly delicious.
For Yi-Han, who hadn't had warm soup for days, the dwarf stew warmed his belly. The only sounds were spoons scraping against wooden bowls and the slurping of stew.
'Ah, this is really nice.'
"Tasty, isn't it?"
"Excellent."
Yi-Han, like a seasoned graduate student, responded immediately. Uregor didn't say it out loud, but his expression was clearly proud and very pleased.
"By the way, before I came to the academy, did you manage all this yourself, Professor?"
"Yes."
"And the other students before me?"
"Hmm. They all ran away, too lazy and incompetent."
"..."
For a moment, Yi-Han regretted his choice, but it was too late now.
"It must have been... quite troublesome."
"Troublesome? It's nothing if you want to become an alchemist!"
Cleaning the dust in the hut, clearing the hearth, checking the ingredients, tending to the vegetable garden, inspecting the traps set at the river and the small traps at the path's entrance – these weren't actually “nothing.”
'Listing them out like this, it does seem odd. Why did I think it wasn't that difficult?'
Yi-Han lamented his own lack of awareness regarding the extent of his labor. Working under the professor for so long had numbed his senses.
"The vegetable garden still has some space. May I try growing something?"
"Oh..."
Uregor was impressed. Unbeknownst to Yi-Han, Uregor internally admired him, thinking, 'Indeed, he’s a naturally gifted alchemist.' Unfazed by the multitude of chores, even seeking out more work – it was no ordinary talent.
"Of course, you can. What do you plan to grow?"
"Maybe cabbage and green onions?"
"Both sound good."
Uregor nodded but then hesitated.
"...You're not planning to sell them, are you?"
"Ah. How did you know? Did other students do this before me?"
"..."
'You're the first one, you rascal!'
Comments
Zbrovski
Uregor my god!! Scared of being retaliated later by Yi-Han 🤣 He is the funniest professor yet and he already killed me with his antics 😂
