Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 1054

Chapter 1054

Of course, Gainando didn't notice. He was too busy whimpering.

"Sob sob sob."

"Stop whimpering, Prince. You came because you wanted to, so why act like this now?"

Jijel scolded the Blue Dragon Tower friend from behind.

Coming because he wanted to then suddenly acting like this, this prince was far too cowardly.

"...Who came because they wanted... Sniff. Yes, I came because I wanted to."

Gainando, about to explain, closed his mouth again at Yi-Han's look telling him to be quiet.

"Since I know, stop whimpering."

"..."

Gainando thought inwardly.

Did laughing along with the skull principal deserve such severe punishment?

'...No. It was a sin...'

Thinking about it, it was indeed a very unpleasant sin. Gainando freshly reflected.

Though if there was something unfair, it was that the skull principal himself received no punishment.

"Should have brought the Principal along too."

'Is he crazy?'

Jijel looked at the muttering Gainando with shocked eyes.

What was he thinking to say such things?

"So who are you trying to catch?"

Yi-Han asked Professor Boladi.

Since they were following along, it was natural to be curious who the target was.

And...

'Need to check if they're related to the evil god order too.'

Though the professor didn't seem to have noticed yet, there were no absolutes in the world.

He needed to continue monitoring secretly and subtly.

"A mage."

"!"

Yi-Han and Jijel exchanged startled gazes.

Then spoke simultaneously.

"Must be from Einroguard."

"No."

"..."

"..."

Yi-Han and Jijel exchanged gazes saying 'I was fooled because of you!' Gainando, still not grasping the situation, asked in confusion.

"He only said mage, why did you say they're from Einroguard?"

"...Good question."

"Don't ask, Prince."

"???"

While Gainando blinked, Professor Boladi explained about the wanted criminal with a bounty.

Toman, a dwarf mage, showed the typical path of non-magic school mages in the empire.

Living as an adventurer, obtaining magic from a randomly found relic, getting drunk on that magic's power and trying various things, gradually becoming more corrupt...

'Hmm. Doesn't seem very different from Einroguard mages?'

Yi-Han thought secretly to himself.

Imperial magic school mages often said 'Self-taught mages without education are dangerous', but in fact they didn't seem less dangerous even with education.

Rather, thanks to education they seemed to cause incidents more systematically dangerously.

In fact, this Toman wasn't even called a magic criminal. Such mages were just treated as common criminals in the empire.

"But among various wanted criminals, is there a reason you specifically chose this mage?"

Yi-Han subtly asked.

While glancing at the wanted poster. He wondered if there might be records of evil god worship.

'This seems too ordinary for one Professor chose?'

The bounty wasn't even dozens of gold coins and he wasn't particularly dangerous (his only crimes were stealing corpses from family tombs and stealing 14 horses from western ranches) yet Professor Boladi chose him.

Could there be inner workings Yi-Han hadn't noticed?

"He's currently in the capital."

"?!"

Not just Yi-Han but Jijel too was surprised.

Even for the outstanding mage Professor Boladi was, to know a wanted criminal's location?

"What's this? Do bounty hunters have such methods?"

"N-no. I've never heard of such things. Could Professor Bagrak be exchanging information with other bounty hunters?"

Jijel speculated at Yi-Han's question.

Though all sorts of bounty hunters came and went in the north, there was no one who could pinpoint locations without even looking.

"No, Moradi. That's impossible."

"Why?"

"Professor Bagrak couldn't have such a wide social network."

"..."

Jijel looked at Yi-Han wondering if he was joking.

However, the Wardanaz boy was very serious. There wasn't any hint of joking.

"I think it's divination magic."

"That's nonsense. Finding that with divination magic..."

Divination magic wasn't omnipotent.

To find someone, appropriate clues and leads were needed, and without such things the difficulty rose insanely.

What if you gathered enough clues and leads?

Then it was more convenient to just track with those. There was no need to rely on high-difficulty magic like divination.

Just look at Einroguard - didn't they use territory-scale great magic to divine suitable students?

It wasn't for nothing that the more outstanding divination mages were said to not rely on magic.

"Professor must have found a way to bypass those limitations. Isn't that right, Professor? You found him with divination magic?"

To his disciple's question full of trust, Professor Boladi answered briefly.

"No. Got information from other hunters."

"..."

"Hey."

  *

Toman, a dwarf mage and wanted criminal with a bounty, was staying at a shabby inn near the southern gate of the capital.

The southern gate was a place where wandering adventurers and mercenaries bustled about, so a wanted criminal hiding there didn't stand out much.

Knock knock knock-

"Who is it?"

"Brought your meal."

"Leave it at the door and get lost!"

Toman shouted in a gruff voice.

Though it might seem suspicious in some ways, the servant didn't particularly mind.

There were plenty of guests at this inn who responded like that.

As long as room and meal fees were paid in advance, they didn't care if guests died in a corner.

"Damn. Such stingy and miserly bastards. Sending pursuit teams just for stealing some corpses..."

Toman recited exactly what many senior dark mage criminals had said before.

Undead dark magic practice needed corpses, more precisely, high quality corpses.

The strength the corpse had in life affected the undead too.

But such corpses were naturally expensive and most were hard to get even with money. What crazy knight family would sell family corpses for gold coins?

For the advancement of dark magic, Toman had no choice but to choose.

...That is, sneaking into knight family tombs at midnight to steal corpses.

Sadly, the knight families didn't understand Toman and not satisfied with just reporting, organized independent pursuit teams.

Getting caught by imperial soldiers would be fortunate - getting caught by pursuit teams would likely end with his head cleanly cut off and corpse abandoned in the hills. Toman grumbled while pulling open the wooden window to look at the street below.

'No one looking like a knight?'

Knock knock knock-

"...Who is it?!"

Though the servant had just left his meal, Toman's nerves became very sharp when someone knocked on the door.

Toman prepared to cast spells with a staff in one hand and crossbow in the other.

If a fight broke out, he planned to cast his most evil and powerful dark magic he could currently use, <Bone Arrow Shot>.

These bones were even more deadly with his independently developed poison reagents added.

'Just try coming in, anyone.'

"Someone staying in the next room."

"...What? What do you want?"

"Let's open the door and talk a bit, Toman. It would be troublesome for you too if I reported to the empire?"

"!!!"

The dwarf mage's eyes filled with shock.

How did they know his name exactly when he hadn't done anything conspicuous since entering this inn?

'This guy...!'

The other who had seized the initiative continued speaking soothingly.

"Toman. I'm not here to report you. As a fellow imperial wanted criminal, I have a proposal."

"A proposal?"

"Yes. Open the door. Put down your weapons. If you fire even by accident, I can't guarantee your life either."

"..."

After hesitating, Toman carefully opened the door.

Surprisingly, standing there was the elderly servant who managed the inn's stables.

To think this guy who usually managed guests' mounts nervously, whose face he barely remembered, would make such threats.

Toman asked in bewilderment.

"You... you. I saw you when I entered this inn. What was your name? Weren't you a servant?"

"Names aren't important. Nor are occupations. Only true faith matters."

'Evil god worshipper!'

The word flashed through Toman's mind for a moment.

In the empire, only evil god worshippers would do such strange things.

"...What is this. Which order are you from?"

"I can't tell you that, Toman. You don't have the qualifications yet."

The old servant spoke with gleaming eyes.

"Talking about qualifications. Who said they wanted to join?"

"Is that so? Be honest, Toman. Aren't you tired of being chased? Aren't you sick of looking for reagents alone without any guild, workshop, or magic tower to protect you?"

"..."

Toman wavered slightly.

It was certainly true. A mage with fugitive status in the empire had no leisure to focus on magic.

Though evil god worshippers were creepy, thinking the other way, there was no reason not to use them.

Couldn't he just receive their help and run away at the right time?

"What are you trying to say?"

"Here, Toman. Take this."

The old servant threw a small strangely carved wooden statue. It looked more like a monster than a god, hideous and grotesque.

"Offer sacrifices to this and pray. Then you can obtain what you desire."

"Ha. I wondered what you were saying..."

Toman snorted.

Few among imperial people hadn't tried praying at temples when young.

And even fewer among such prayers saw any effect.

When every coin was precious while running away, why offer sacrifices to some evil god?

"I don't have time to waste on prayers. If that's all you have to say, get out!"

"Toman. The god I serve is called this. The Fair Regent. Do you know what this means? It means he never ignores sacrifices. Try it once. You won't regret it. And if you change your mind, come find me."

The servant said no more and quietly closed the door.

Though Toman would normally have ignored it, that clean attitude reversely shook his heart.

Such an attitude was hard to show without real confidence.

"..."

Toman searched his reagent pouch and took out a large monster liver. Then he grabbed the statue and prayed seriously.

"!!!"

For a moment Toman was startled to feel rising mana. Opening his eyes, the statue seemed to smile ominously.

Toman stared at the statue as if entranced. The statue seemed to whisper 'Bring more.'

More.

And bloodier...

Knock knock knock-

"What?!"

Toman exploded with irritation at the third knock today.

Why did they keep knocking?

"Guest! There's a fire in the kitchen furnace below!"

Normally Toman would have found this suspicious and escaped through the window first.

However, his judgment was dulled now due to the first deal with the evil god.

Toman carelessly opened the door.

"What could they be boiling to cause such a... Ugh!"

"!"

Yi-Han and his friends were as surprised as Toman.

Professor Boladi had predicted the other would escape through the window.

'What?'

Thwack!

Attacks struck Toman's head and solar plexus. Yi-Han attacked with his staff, Jijel with her sheathed sword.

The weak dwarf mage ambushed shouted not even one scream before falling forward.

"I-I was startled...!"

Yi-Han shouted in a surprised voice only after the other collapsed. Gainando thought inwardly.

'He beat him too calmly for someone startled.'

If this was startled, he wondered how he would beat someone when not startled.

"Wa... wait. Le-let's negotiate."

"Tell us if you have any hidden reagents. If you try casting magic later, a scarier and more powerful mage than us will beat you painfully."

Yi-Han ignored him and tied up Toman. When subduing mages, the basics were to first take their staff and reagents then gag them.

"Th-there are evil god worshippers! Aren't evil god worshippers more tempting prey?"

"Don't be fooled, Wardanaz. He's trying to escape the situation with tricks."

Jijel didn't believe it.

Wanted criminals would normally throw all sorts of lies when cornered.

"I know. Don't worry."

"It's true! Look at this statue! An evil god called the Fair Regent..."

"...You bastard! What cheap tricks!"

Yi-Han hurriedly subdued the other firmly in horror.

In that process he emitted pressure like exploding mana. Not just the frightened dwarf mage but Jijel and Gainando too were startled.

"Wh-what's wrong, Yi-Han? Are you angry?"

"This brazen criminal who broke imperial law is mocking people!"

"That's... not something to get so angry about...? No, nothing!"

Gainando quickly closed his mouth, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.