Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

Chapter 640

The tombs and ruins of the empire were not to be taken lightly. Especially the older ones were even more so.

Tombs and ruins created during the ancient kingdom era had various powerful measures prepared to stop intruders, and these measures were more than enough to tear apart unfortunate intruders who entered without much thought.

To break through such tombs, simple strength was not enough. One had to be well-versed in all kinds of knowledge, especially archaeology, and possess wisdom and courage to remain calm in unexpected situations.

At the same time, intuition and luck to run away immediately when things went wrong were also necessary.

That's why when such tombs or ruins were discovered, mages hired adventurers to send instead of entering themselves.

It wasn't because they recognized adventurers as talented individuals with the above abilities, but because they wouldn't get hurt themselves even if it failed.

Gainando unconsciously hid behind Yi-Han and asked Arsil,

"Is-is it a safe place?"

"It's fine to this extent."

Yi-Han breathed a sigh of relief.

It looked quite decent, better than he had worried.

"..."

"..."

While Nillia and Gainando looked at Yi-Han in shock, Yonaire cautiously asked,

"Yi-Han. What do you mean by 'fine'... exactly?"

"It's not too hot, nor too cold, right?"

To Yi-Han, Arsil was a kind and gentle older brother, but he was someone whose senses had become a bit numb from associating with spirits for too long.

In places where lava boiled or breath froze, the human race might be in a bit of danger.

Compared to that, this ancient tomb was relatively comfortable. Apart from the air being a bit cool, no particular danger was felt.

Gainando muttered with a tearful face,

"I shouldn't have come to play."

"What did you say, Gainando?"

"N-nothing. It's nothing."

Nillia asked as if she still didn't quite understand,

"Wardanaz. I have a question."

"Ask away, Nillia."

"This is your family's territory, right?"

"That's right. Although it's the outskirts, it's still part of the territory."

"...Shouldn't you call more people when such a tomb is discovered in a territory?"

Usually, even in a noble's territory, it was rare for tombs or ruins to be discovered there.

To begin with, the more human hands were involved, the faster tombs or ruins were discovered.

Of course, among nobles with vast and remote territories, there were still those who occasionally discovered tombs or ruins within their territory, but even they usually...

'Don't they call more people?'

Send knights or mages under the family, hire adventurers or mercenaries, or at least call the reliable experts from the nearby mountains, the Shadow Patrol...

Nillia remembered that when she was young, someone from a northern baronial family came and pleaded desperately.

A labyrinth was discovered in their territory, and monsters kept crawling up, causing their retainers to go missing.

"That's usually correct."

Yi-Han nodded readily.

"But our family's territory is so vast, with many remote areas, that this happens more often than you'd think. So we don't call people every single time."

Arsil nodded as if agreeing with his younger brother's words.

As any mage would know, bizarre events tended to occur more frequently in places with a lot of mana.

Mana pooled in one place created all sorts of changes, causing cracks with other realms, twisting the rules of reality, and bringing about myriad transformations.

For a family like the Wardanaz, who conducted some of the largest-scale magic experiments in the empire in real-time, it was impossible not to affect the surroundings.

Hearing the explanation, Yonaire spoke as if she finally understood,

"Ah, so that's why there were so few people around the mansion?"

"No. That's just because our parents find it bothersome to have people around."

"..."

Arsil made excuses saying 'actually, that was part of the purpose too', but it didn't reach his friends.

"Anyway, since this happens often in our territory, we tend to leave it alone unless it's a really big deal. If we tried to respond to each one, our knights wouldn't have any hands left."

"What exactly is the standard for a big deal?"

"Something like a golem rebellion?"

Nillia was at a loss for words and couldn't ask any more.

Seeing her friend's face answering as if it was natural, she felt a sense of helplessness, not knowing where to start the conversation.

Gainando whispered to Yonaire and Nillia,

"Stop him! Please! I don't want to go in there! Why, when this isn't even Einroguard!"

"Don't dark mages like entering tombs?"

"What nonsense! Then do all alchemists like to shut themselves in workshops and process materials?!"

'I do like that...'

Yonaire thought to herself.

However, contrary to Gainando's whispers, Yi-Han was quite enthusiastic.

Seeing a tomb in relatively decent condition made him greedy.

"Brother. How many accessories are in there? Will there be old gold or silver coins too? There are? Wow. That's great."

After hearing Arsil's explanation, Yi-Han turned around with a bright face.

"This is great, you guys. After touring the territory, we might be able to take home some extras?"

He had felt a bit sorry that his friends who came to play at the mansion kept feeling bored, but now they could not only tour the territory but also take home valuable extras.

As the host entertaining his friends, he couldn't help but be pleased.

"Yi-Yi-Han."

Gainando called Yi-Han in a feeble voice.

The moment they entered that pitch-black ancient underground tomb with its gaping maw, it seemed like he wouldn't be able to tell if this was the Wardanaz family territory or Einroguard.

"What?"

"..."

However, Gainando couldn't bring himself to say 'I don't want to go in'.

He could feel Yi-Han's excitement trying to give his friends an enjoyable experience.

How could he say 'I can't go in!' to that!

"Yo-Yonaire has something to say!"

"Th-that trash..."

Nillia muttered in shock.

When the ink earlier marked Gainando as Yonaire's enemy, she had thought 'Isn't that a bit harsh?', but now it seemed quite appropriate.

"Yonaire? Why?"

Despite his betrayal just now, Gainando sent a desperate look to his relative.

Please!

'Please stop him!'

Yonaire smiled and answered,

"Gainando says he's really looking forward to the tomb. He says this is why he learned dark magic."

"You bastard!"

Yi-Han patted Gainando's shoulder as if he found it admirable.

When Arsil asked why, Yi-Han proudly boasted about his friend.

"This friend Gainando here majors in dark magic... Oh. He's excellent. He's among the top five students taking dark magic classes."

"Aren't there fewer than five people taking dark magic clas-"

"Shh."

Yonaire covered Nillia's mouth.

Arsil praised Gainando as if he found it admirable.

Although he couldn't understand exactly what was being said, Gainando could feel he was being praised, so he nodded with a tearful face.

"Th-thank you..."

"Gainando, you've finally started to take an interest in studying magic. I'm glad."

Arsil asked curiously. Yi-Han answered seriously,

"No, brother."

"What did he say?"

"He's asking if you're my nephew."

"..."

***

Although they made such a fuss at the entrance, surprisingly, the inside of the tomb wasn't dangerous.

Not only were there no particular traps near the entrance, but above all, Arsil's abilities were cheating.

Rumble!

With each step Arsil took, new spirits appeared and managed the path.

Rock spirits repaired floors on the verge of collapse and fixed cracked ceilings, while sand and earth spirits appeared to fill in any possible cracks.

Light spirits illuminated the path so Arsil wouldn't trip and flew ahead to check for traps. If there were any traps, the spirits would rush to neutralize them.

Yi-Han and his friends watching from behind couldn't help but be shocked.

"Im-impossible...!"

Even Nillia, who was among the most excellent in spirit affinity here, was beyond imagination at what Arsil was showing now.

How could one person receive such blind love from so many different types of spirits?

"How is this possible?!"

"My brother has always been like this."

Yi-Han answered grumblingly.

This was just innate affinity that no theory or magic could explain.

Nillia, who was in shock, muttered unconsciously,

"But spirits are afraid of Wardanaz and avoid him..."

"..."

"Ah. No. S-sorry."

"I'm fine. It's the truth, so what."

"I'm really sorry...! I'm sorry!"

"I said it's fine."

"It's not really fine, is it! Just get angry!"

"I'm really fine, so why are you telling me to get angry?"

Nillia was desperate not to be put on the letter blacklist again.

"Is that really that amazing?"

"You only play with undead because you do dark magic, so you don't know. Do you know how amazing that is?"

"D-dark magic has nothing to do with it!"

Gainando, who got scolded for asking unnecessarily, retorted angrily.

He did think it looked comfortable.

To the extent that if undead were that respectful, he would have felt the worth of being a dark mage.

"Yi-Han. Yi-Han. Is something like that impossible with undead?"

"...Gainando. Are you crazy?"

"N-no... I just thought you might be able to do it, so I asked."

Of course, Gainando knew such a thing was impossible with undead.

Basically, undead were fierce and violent beings, so such detailed care was impossible.

If you ordered undead 'Check the floor, check the ceiling, and check for traps ahead as I try to break through the tomb', they might deliberately activate traps instead.

But if it was Yi-Han...

"Not everything is possible even for me, Gainando."

"But Yi-Han, undead are afraid of you. So I thought it might be possible."

"..."

Yi-Han kicked Gainando who was walking in front.

"Why?!"

"You tripped on a stone."

Knock, knock knock, knock knock-

Arsil stopped and knocked on the tomb wall. Yonaire asked curiously,

"How did you know there's a path inside here?"

"He says a spirit told him."

'This is really cheating...!'

Although he tried not to be envious, as a magic school student, he couldn't help but envy Arsil's abilities.

With that ability, even when doing alchemy, he could just call experienced and excellent spirits and listen to them.

Even when reading various ancient books, he could just call spirits who could read that language...

"This space inside is where the knights who guarded the tomb stayed, and inside are burial goods made of silver and some books... Ah. You've already taken the books, brother? What kind of books were they?"

Arsil, excited by his younger brother's interest, explained what kind of books they were.

So, long long ago, the knights to the court ladies...

"He says they were books with useless novels written in them. Let's go in."

"..."

Arsil was sulky but didn't show it and went inside.

Inside the room sat a giant rock Hekatonkheires. Seeing the monster that could subdue even a decent giant with brute force, Yi-Han's group was shocked.

"...Brother. Isn't that a Hekatonkheires? You say you didn't tell me because I didn't seem interested? ...Of course I do prefer treasures over monsters, but shouldn't you tell me what's in the room before we enter?"

While Yi-Han was grinding his teeth, Arsil shrugged and apologized, then spoke to the Hekatonkheires.

The Hekatonkheires, which had been glaring fiercely at Yi-Han's group, heard Arsil's request and turned its head away abruptly. Yi-Han told his friends,

"He says not to be too noisy and to play quietly before leaving."

"..."

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