Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Chapter 604

"They... the kids are kind."

-Oh!-

"What do you mean 'oh'?"

The skull principal was dumbfounded.

No matter how much he disliked the position of emperor, such a reaction to being called kind was a bit too much.

Being kind meant pitying all things in the world, and if so, he might have the qualifications to be emperor…

"And they're not particularly kind either."

The ruthless lich mercilessly trampled on the gold dragon's hope.

"I saw them stealing food from other tower students last time."

"No, that's fair competition..."

Yi-Han unknowingly defended Gainando.

"And the White Tiger Tower students also stole a lot of Gainando's food."

"I wasn't talking about Gainando."

"...What???"

At the shocking words, Yi-Han doubted his ears.

But the skull principal seemed to not want to talk any more about the students' lowly food acquisition competition and changed the subject.

"It's still far away."

-But isn't there an outstanding mage here?-

"Your Majesty..."

The skull principal was pleased with the sudden praise.

"If you think so, please give us more support funds. The 4th-year students need a pure gold golem to use as a reagent. The height should be at least 15m and the weight should be over 20 tons..."

-The dragon wasn't talking about you...-

The emperor blinked and pointed at Yi-Han.

-Since you're here, even those kids who are only kind will be able to grow more.-

"What kind of nonsense are you saying? Do you grow just by being next to an outstanding mage?"

-Why not? You also made that... Eaktus, was it? You made that child grow.-

"Are you deliberately insulting me? That guy only did what I told him not to do!"

-Be quiet. It's good if they grow.-

The emperor snorted as if he was annoyed by the skull principal constantly chattering.

-Anyway, I enjoyed our conversation today. Os. To think your disciple is close to you. In fact, in a way, this is the most surprising thing... The dragon must be getting old too. I've become able to accept it calmly.-

"..."

"...It's not to that extent."

As if signaling the end of the conversation, the emperor looked at Yi-Han with wise eyes.

-I have high expectations for you. Even if you don't make your friends grow, grow well and become a good mage.-

"Yes. I will become a good mage and serve the empire as a bureaucrat with loyalty."

Yi-Han watched for an opportunity and swiftly launched a flattery like lightning.

How many chances would he get to face the emperor like this?

He had to leave a remarkable impression at a time like this.

However, the emperor's reaction was more puzzled than impressed.

-Bureaucrat...?-

It felt strange for Os' disciple to bring up the topic of bureaucrats.

'Ah. Was it about the Mage Advisor?'

-To think you already want to share the imperial task that Os is carrying.-

Despite his teacher's eccentric personality, he was a truly remarkable disciple.

Come to think of it, it was unbelievable that such a mage was the son of Wardanaz.

It felt like just yesterday when Os came with the divine object and put the dragon into a cursed fate…

The dragon closed his eyes.

Recalling the memories made him feel anger rising rather than being immersed in sentiment.

He wanted to increase the imperial tasks that the head of the family would take on, but considering the personality of the head of the Wardanaz family, it would be a meaningless thing to do.

The emperor, who calmly suppressed his anger, said with a smile.

-I'll be waiting.-

"Yes!"

***

"Good work."

The skull principal spoke with sincerity.

It wasn't just empty words, this disciple truly played a very big role.

If he had offended the emperor, it would have been a headache all winter.

"It's all thanks to the principal's guidance and teaching. Haha."

Yi-Han answered slyly.

"You brat. No. This is entirely your merit. The power of your tongue that makes even all kinds of bothersome and picky bastards obedient."

'I think the expression is a bit like cursing.'

"Now then..."

The skull principal took out a bundle of papers from his bosom. They were crumpled bundles of papers of various sizes and colors.

Yi-Han asked, puzzled by their appearance that looked like they were picked up from some garbage dump.

"Where did you pick up such trash?"

"These are research proposals that your seniors asked me for."

"Looking again, they seem to exude an auspicious energy."

"Enough. Most of them are trash-like research anyway. Like music magic."

The skull principal quickly skimmed through the bundles of papers and grimaced again.

Even though he already knew the contents, there were truly many trash-like research proposals.

-Research on the phenomena that occur when recovery potions are taken regularly in situations without injury

-Research on how the preferred illusion magic varies according to the region of the empire

-Research on the most efficient staff-wielding motion

-Research on the races preferred as food by trolls…

"Ugh. It's still trash even after looking again. Why would mental magic be necessary? If you just swing this, everyone will vomit blood."

"..."

"Hoo. Let's go. To squeeze the bureaucrats. I hope Pengerin has made the bureaucrats sufficiently infatuated."

"Are you going to request support funds for these research projects?"

"Yeah. Even if it's trash, it's something that needs to be done."

The skull principal clicked his tongue and organized the bundles of papers.

He wanted to call the students and throw them into the punishment room, but originally, failure was also necessary for achievement.

An extraordinary mage like himself could succeed without failure, but the skull principal knew well with his brilliant mind that not all mages could be like him.

"Ah! I truly have a cursed fate. Where else would there be a grand mage as miserable as me?"

'If only he hadn't said that, he would have been much cooler.'

While Yi-Han was thinking that, the skull principal walked with big strides and opened the door.

In the luxurious room, a bureaucrat and Alcicle were sitting and talking.

"So cold magic is..."

"As expected, Mr. Pengerin. Each and every story is so interesting and educational!"

Whenever Alcicle spoke, the bureaucrats admired him with laughter.

However, in Yi-Han's view, it wasn't a particularly interesting story. Honestly, he suspected it was because of Alcicle's appearance.

"By the way, Mr. Pengerin. Aren't you hungry?"

"I'm fine."

"I'll have the chef bring some sardines."

"Are you doing this because you want to see me swallow sardines..."

"Ah, no? No, that's not it!"

The bureaucrats hurriedly denied it. Alcicle grumbled and said.

"Rather, please reconsider Einroguard. Einroguard is the best magic academy in the empire. The students are receiving the best education. The students are not hungry. The students are happy."

"Is that a phrase written by His Excellency Gonadaltes?"

No matter how cute Alcicle was, the bureaucrats came to their senses when the name of Einroguard came up.

The skull principal clicked his tongue and entered.

"How dare you slander someone."

"Eek!!"

"Your Excellency Gonadaltes!!"

The bureaucrats quickly got up and started running to the corner of the room.

"?"

Yi-Han tilted his head, not understanding why they were doing that.

The reason could be known right away.

Click!

The bureaucrats opened a secret door and fled to the next room. The skull principal sighed and twisted the space. The bureaucrats immediately returned to their original positions.

"Y-Your Excellency Gonadaltes. This is His Majesty's palace. There are also many other people around. And at the main gate, there are knights..."

"Shut up. I won't hurt you."

"Last time, you said that and then attacked..."

"How long are you going to hold on to something that happened years ago? Why are you so narrow-minded!"

The skull principal shouted, hitting the floor with his staff.

It was frustrating that these imperial bureaucrats clung to such trivial matters and made things bothersome.

'No...'

Yi-Han was dumbfounded.

Did he really attack them?

"No matter how much you attack us, we can't give you any more budget."

The bureaucrats trembled but held each other's hands tightly and spoke. The skull principal sighed.

"Can't you at least listen to the story? Here are the plans written by the young mages of the empire. Listen a bit. It might pique your interest."

"...Yes..."

The bureaucrats nodded their heads with an expression that clearly showed they didn't want to listen. If the other party wasn't the skull principal, they would have immediately issued an order to expel him.

The research proposals put forward by Einroguard students were always mostly absurd and expensive.

Even now, a huge budget was already going into Einroguard by the emperor's order, so if more budget went in here, how much of a sense of deprivation would other sound magic towers and mage guilds feel?

Perhaps blocking these proposals was the very mission of the Imperial Treasury.

"Now, listen. First, regarding ..."

"..."

The bureaucrats became serious from the start.

Just hearing it made them afraid of how they were going to conduct that research.

***

"It's not easy."

The skull principal clicked his tongue and left the room.

The bureaucrats who heard about grimaced and tried not to give in at all.

In Yi-Han's view, this definitely didn't seem easy either.

"What will you do?"

"I'll have to persuade some more bureaucrats."

"What about directly contacting the higher-ups?"

"First, I need to win over a few useful ones among the lower ones. The higher-ups are even more stubborn."

When trying to secure this kind of additional budget, he had to persuade and bring along at least a few people from below, and there was little effect in suddenly pushing it to the higher-ups.

In the first place, they were the ones who had already made up their minds not to give a budget when the skull principal spoke.

"They'll be hiding now that the rumor has spread. Let's give them some time to let their guard down."

"..."

Yi-Han looked at the skull principal at a loss for words, but the skull principal nonchalantly checked his pocket watch.

"Follow me."

"Where are we going this time?"

"The printing house."

"Ah. Are you going to print the books needed for next year?"

"You're quick-witted. Yeah. That's right."

The skull principal left the palace and went down the streets of the capital.

The printing house, which had a strong smell of ink and hot paper being printed, appeared deep in an alley.

"How have you been?"

"Your Excellency Gonadaltes! It's an honor. You came again this year!"

"Yeah. I'm glad to see you're healthy."

Yi-Han was amazed to see the dwarf printer taking off his hat and welcoming the skull principal.

Come to think of it, if he wasn't a bureaucrat, there was no reason to fear the skull principal so much.

Moreover, if it was a printing house, wouldn't the skull principal be a kind of big customer? Anyone would be happy to have such a customer come.

"Is this person your disciple?"

"That's right. Is what I mentioned prepared?"

"Yes. Of course. Hey! Prepare it!"

The dwarf printer and his employees began to compose metal types.

The magic-imbued metal types were composed in order as if they were alive and quickly took shape.

The skull principal grasped the entire content just by skimming through it once and nodded.

"Proceed."

With a clanking sound, the prepared paper began to turn into pages of a book.

The skilled printers moved the completed pages and asked the spirits on the magic circle to touch them up additionally.

Yi-Han, who was watching the scene with a proud feeling even though he hadn't prepared it himself, suddenly became curious and asked.

"By the way, what kind of grimoire is this?"

The skull principal read one of the completed books and answered.

"It's a grimoire with a fake map. To scatter throughout the empire and deceive your juniors."

"..."

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