Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

When Yonaire arrived at the workshop after receiving the message, Yi-Han was still frowning and glaring at the flask.

"It's still not done."

"Yi-Han. Let's eat lunch and then do it."

"No. There are still impurities left."

"It's fine to have that much left, so just give it."

"It needs to boil enough to be completed, not just be completed."

"The person who ordered it says it's fine, so why...!"

Yonaire was dumbfounded, but Yi-Han didn't back down and glared at the flask.

Having no way to handle it, Yonaire decided to sit next to him and watch what Yi-Han was doing.

Yi-Han shook the flask, turned it this way and that, slightly exposed it to fire, and focused with a stubborn attitude.

Seeing that, Yonaire recalled how her older sister Yoanen had evaluated Yi-Han's work last time.

She had made a fuss about how neatly and well he had done it, and was excited that he was several times better than the previous assistants.

Yoanen had said that alchemists these days were so impatient and lacked persistence that even with the same extraction, the results often turned out unsatisfactory.

If the fire was too strong, the undissolved dregs would make the liquid cloudy, and if the fire was too weak, the properties would change midway. It was rare to find an alchemist who could handle the work just right like this.

Recalling that, Yonaire's heart softened a bit, and she regretted her own attitude toward Yi-Han...

...Not really, she just got up and forcibly dragged Yi-Han out.

Yonaire had no intention of playing along with the crazy perfectionists like her sister and Yi-Han.

"Stop it. Eat and then do it."

"No! Yonaire! Just once! If I do it just once more...!"

"This is the Maykin family's workshop. Not the Wardanaz family's workshop."

Yonaire took out the workshop key stuck next to the furnace and put it in her pocket, then pushed Yi-Han's back.

"By the way, Mr. Wardanaz. I have something I'm curious about."

Not only Yoanen but also the other alchemists working in different parts of the workshop had many questions for Yi-Han.

Seeing her subordinates asking curious questions on their own, Yoanen inwardly smiled with satisfaction.

As expected of her subordinates, their work skills were not ordinary.

"Ah. I also have something I'm curious about."

"Ask anything."

"I'm currently preparing the ingredients needed for Dobruk's Sulfur Mercury Potion, but I'm stuck at the process of melting and liquefying the Silent Spirit Silver. It seems that the impurities haven't completely disappeared..."

"Ah. That can sufficiently happen. The Sulfur Mercury Potion is quite tricky. The color of the solution is a murky mud color even after melting silver, right? There's a limit with a mage's mana, so you need to change the flame. There's jade fire clay in the workshop, so try sprinkling that and changing the properties of the fire."

"Thank you. Ah. But it's not a mud color, it's silver."

The alchemist was surprised by Yi-Han's words.

"Huh? Then it's well melted?"

"There are a few grains left..."

"That much is fine."

"No, it's not. If you compromise carelessly and there's a problem with the potion, it's hard to fix."

"..."

"..."

The workshop alchemists stared intently at Yoanen.

Although they didn't say it out loud, it was a subtle reproachful gaze that said, 'Didn't Lady Maykin just ruin a young mage?'

Of course, Yoanen was not swayed by such gazes.

If she was someone who would be swayed by such gazes, she wouldn't have been able to run this workshop with madness and obsession in the first place.

'I clearly taught him not to be too obsessed with perfection and that it's okay to do it moderately, but it's because Wardanaz's personality is too perfectionistic.'

Thinking thoughts that would have made Yonaire clutch the back of her neck if she heard, Yoanen opened her mouth.

"By the way, I'm curious, about the professors fighting on the street..."

"Ah. Lady Maykin. May I ask about the magic you used earlier when making the test solution? It seemed similar to the solution rotation magic but different."

"The magic I used earlier wasn't solution rotation magic but magic that inverts it up and down..."

Yoanen, who was explaining, came to her senses and realized that the topic had gone far again before returning.

Before going back, Yi-Han grabbed another alchemist and threw a question.

"But... Gulp. About this."

"No, how can you say that while eating all the food? Yes. What are you curious about?"

After Yi-Han asked about three more questions, the dishes on the table were all emptied, and lunchtime was over.

The alchemists got up from their seats and stretched.

"Time has already passed like this..."

"Let's not take a walk today and start right away."

"Let's go. Lady Maykin. We need to finish the work we couldn't complete in the morning."

Yoanen walked after them with a slightly sulky expression.

As work piled up, Yoanen put aside the questions and focused on work as usual.

Yonaire was terrified by Yoanen's appearance of making people work obsessively like a madman.

Even at Einroguard, her friend was someone who could live without the law, right?

Yonaire flinched, worried that her friend might grab her by the collar and summon water orbs right away.

However, Yi-Han solved all the nitpicking as if he was used to it, without any complaints.

"Good work."

"Thank you."

"Ah. Now that it's time to slowly prepare to return to the academy, is there any potion you want to learn?"

The manufacturing method of potions was not something that could be easily obtained.

Of course, the manufacturing methods of basic and easy potions that were widely spread throughout the Empire could be obtained at any bookstore in the city.

Basic potions and their manufacturing methods, such as <Lesser Vitality Recovery Potion>.

However, the manufacturing method of potions that involved the individual efforts and research of alchemists, such as <Dobruk's Sulfur Mercury Potion>, could not be obtained even if gold coins were offered unless the alchemist side allowed it.

In the case of alchemists' guilds or workshops, they were even more thorough.

They considered the manufacturing method of these potions to be more important than their lives, so if they were mishandled or copied, an assassin would immediately come.

As such, it was clearly a favor for Yoanen to teach Yi-Han the manufacturing methods of various potions at the Maykin family's workshop.

Although it didn't feel like a favor...

Yoanen recommended Yi-Han to name one potion that would be useful as a student returning to Einroguard for the second semester.

Since there would be many things to do once he entered the academy, it would be quite helpful to know a useful potion in advance.

Yi-Han cautiously asked back.

"Is it really okay?"

The offer was so generous that it made him wary.

'Surely she's not planning to withhold compensation in exchange for the manufacturing methods...'

"You're Yonaire's friend, so I can give you a gift like this. And you've also done a good job to that extent."

Yoanen's words were sincere.

Compared to other assistants, Yi-Han deserved such a gift.

"Yonaire. What potion do you think would be good?"

"W-Well... Sister Yoanen is thorough with me about this too."

Even if she was a cherished younger sister, she didn't teach her all the secrets of the workshop.

Work was work, and personal matters were personal matters.

"You probably don't need a transparency potion. You have magic and artifacts for that."

"How about a thought acceleration potion?"

"That's not bad either. I'll write it down for now. A potion that can prevent tracking or interfere would be good too."

"A magic enhancement potion wouldn't be bad either."

"Should I also write down a smoke screen potion to throw at pursuers?"

"...Yi-Han. Haven't you been talking about potions for rather limited situations?"

"Is that so?"

Yi-Han was puzzled.

They seemed like potions that could be used in general...

"Can't you recommend one, sister?"

"You're leaving it to me?"

Yoanen smiled as if dumbfounded but also seemed to not dislike her younger sister's clinginess as she fell into thought.

"A mana enhancement po..."

"It's fine."

"It's okay."

"...R-Right. If not that, this would be better."

Yoanen picked up a quill and began to write down the list of ingredients and manufacturing method in a single stroke.

In an instant, neat handwriting filled the white paper.

"Here. Take it."

"What kind of potion is this?"

"You'll find out when you make it yourself. It's a potion that uses relatively easy-to-obtain ingredients, so it won't be difficult."

"Thank you. Lady Maykin."

Yi-Han received the paper and fell into thought.

'What is it? It seems like an enhancement type... It won't be mana enhancement...'

"By the way, can you tell me about the rumor of professors fighting on the street? Now that work is over, slowly..."

"Ah. Was that what you were curious about?"

It seemed like Yoanen had been trying to ask something since earlier, and it was this.

Yi-Han prepared to spill the story of the crazy professors.

"Lady Maykin! I think you need to come right now!! Cauldron No. 7 is completely boiling over!! At this rate, we'll have to throw away all the ingredients that went in!"

"...Let's see each other next time. Go!"

Yoanen quickly said goodbye and walked into the inner part of the workshop, following the alchemist.

Yi-Han somehow felt that her back was filled with anger.

"Is she perhaps angry?"

"Yeah. But Yi-Han, you don't need to worry about it. It's all her own fault."

"Eeeeuuuuggghhhh..."

Nillia let out a painful groan that seemed to be pulled from deep within her body.

Gainando asked worriedly.

"Are you okay? Why are you doing that?"

"Why did I have to rank first... Sorry. I wasn't listening because I was thinking about something else. What did you say?"

However, Gainando had already turned away after glaring at his friend with a look mixed with contempt.

'You tried to deceive me to show off!'

"Were you all studying?"

Yi-Han, who had finished work at Puyo's magic staff workshop and returned, was puzzled to see his friends rolling around in the spacious reception room.

Gainando held up a textbook to cover a magazine and said.

"Yeah."

"Why are you always on page 1?"

"..."

"I see... Eat some snacks. More importantly, what's wrong with Nillia?"

"She's being harassed for ranking first. Hmph. There are people like that."

Gainando grumbled while biting into a cream puff.

"Ah. Has there been progress on what we talked about at the mansion?"

Yi-Han spoke as if he understood.

At that time, Nillia's opinion was quite excellent, so it wouldn't be strange even if it actually proceeded, not just ending with ranking first.

"I thought so..."

"What do you mean you thought so?!"

"What's going on?"

Yonaire, who came in late, asked with her head tilted.

"Are they actually trying out the answer Nillia gave?"

"Ah. That? Yeah. It seems like they'll give it a try."

"Wow..."

"Impressive, right?"

"Impressive indeed."

Yi-Han, Yonaire, and Ratford looked at Nillia with eyes full of respect.

Of course, Nillia was so anxious that she couldn't even sleep.

"What if I fail! What do I do?!"

"The Maykin family has a lot of money, so it doesn't matter, right...?"

"That's right. A failure of that degree doesn't matter. It's okay."

"If Yonaire gets in trouble...!"

"I won't get in trouble. Even if it fails, it's the fault of the people who were chosen."

Yi-Han nodded in agreement with Yonaire's words.

"If it succeeds, shouldn't the Maykin family give something as a token of gratitude?"

"Right. I should mention it."

"...Stop it before I shoot you both."

Nillia's stomach stung at the sight of her friends assuming success even before it started.

Of course, the Maykin family wasn't rude enough to make Nillia take responsibility and proceed.

In any case, it was the Maykin family's practitioners who would directly do it after taking Nillia's opinion.

There was really no need to feel burdened, but unfortunately, the anxiety didn't go away.

'If it fails, it's because of the opinion I gave... If it fails, it's because of the opinion I gave...'

As Nillia became too anxious, Yi-Han asked Yonaire.

"If it's really the Maykin family, they would have done it well on their own... Right?"

"Yeah. Ah. There was also talk about inviting Einroguard professors."

"Oh. Nillia. Did you hear that? Even Einroguard professors..."

"Huh? Then can I skip one lecture in the second semester?"

"How could that be possible?"

Listening to the conversation between Gainando and Yonaire, Yi-Han flinched.

'Wait. Even if they prepare now, the work will start during the semester, so can they go out arbitrarily? Will the skull principal allow it?'