Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy

The danger of realm invasion phenomena was that it was difficult to predict what would happen.

From an extreme perspective, there could be an overlap or collision but nothing might happen at all...

Or countless beings from another realm could pour out.

One of the main tasks of the empire's mages was to confirm and prevent such natural phenomena in advance.

If they were lucky enough to block it in advance, they could quickly resolve the situation, but if they missed it, they didn't know how beings from another realm would encroach on reality.

In that sense, the current situation could be said to be somewhat fortunate.

After all, they found it before it exploded.

If they had more time to spare, they could have completely closed it or resolved the collision, but they didn't have that luxury...

"Let's prepare first!"

"Wa, wait. It could be wrong..."

"I learned at Einroguard that usually ominous calculations aren't wrong. Trust in your skills, everyone!"

"Mr. Wardanaz..."

The dark mages looked at Yi-Han with a slightly touched expression.

Yi-Han had to hold back his fists from flying out first at the sight of the dark mages wasting time when he was anxious to death.

'If it were Einroguard, they would have been hit on the back of the head or shin at least once.'

"Of all things, a collision. I thought it was a temporary mana pooling phenomenon."

"I'll prepare for summoning."

As it was a gathering of summoning mages, the mages tried to summon various forces to prepare for the situation.

Yi-Han was slightly startled by that sight.

"Wait. Wait. Everyone. Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Pardon?"

"Ah!"

One dark mage looked at Yi-Han with a grin.

"Are you saying you'll prepare together? Alright."

"...That's not it, there are knights here, you know."

The mages then exclaimed 'Ah' as if they realized it.

Yi-Han could imagine how much of a headache it would be for the empire's bureaucrats to manage the relationship between mages and knights.

"But wouldn't it be inconvenient to coordinate with those idiots for no reason?"

"They're not idiots, they're knights. And since it's a knight order's campsite, we should naturally inform them, shouldn't we? I'll tell them."

"But wouldn't it be inconvenient to coordinate with those mages for no reason?"

"..."

When the knights repeated exactly what the mages had said, Yi-Han was dumbfounded.

"Ah. Of course, I'm not talking about Mr. Wardanaz. Since Mr. Wardanaz is from a knight family..."

"Hey. What are you talking about?"

"Ah, oops. I mistook you because you're so close with the other students."

The knight of the Chestnut Tree Knight Order demonstrated an amazing ability to infuriate both Yi-Han and the White Tiger Tower students.

"The mages who came here are different from ordinary mages. They are people who know how to respect and honor knights. Do you know what the mages said when this situation occurred? 'It's a blessing in disguise! There are reliable knights by our side!'"

"?"

"???"

The White Tiger Tower friends looked at Yi-Han as if he were crazy, but the knights of the order were pleased with those words and slyly wiped under their noses.

"Well... it's not quite like that..."

"Wasn't it always the knights who protected the mages when enemies appeared? The shield of the weak, the shield of the empire, and also the shield of civilization..."

1 minute later.

The knights ran off with happy faces to prepare for battle individually.

And as soon as the knights disappeared, Yi-Han returned his expression to normal and muttered in a cold voice.

"What a bunch of annoying people."

"..."

"..."

"But Moradi. The Chestnut Tree Knight Order is... you know."

"?"

Jijel frowned, wondering what he was talking about. Yi-Han checked that no one was listening around and whispered.

"Their skills. Are their skills decent?"

"Ah."

Jijel immediately understood what he meant.

Indeed, if you looked at the Chestnut Tree Knight Order after seeing the practical White Wood Knight Order, you might be confused whether they were knights or nobles.

"This much should be enough. Even so, they're knights after all."

"...Don't you have any other reliable reason besides that?"

"Hey, you bastard! What do you think knights are!"

The other friends who were listening from the side flared up, but Jijel understood more than enough.

'Perhaps the current situation of unconditionally trusting them because they're knights might be strange.'

"There's one more thing. The vice-captain is here. It's Jangcliff from the Jangclin family, a renowned knight."

"...In what sense of renowned?"

"...Renowned for wielding a sword well, you bastard."

Even Jijel, who had been holding back, let out a harsh remark.

How much are you disregarding knights?

Only then did Yi-Han let out a sigh of relief.

'If he's at the level of a vice-captain, he must be a skilled knight.'

"But where is the vice-captain?"

"...He must be somewhere. Don't tell me."

"?"

When Jijel showed an anxious expression, Yi-Han called out to a passing knight with a puzzled look.

"Where is the vice-captain?"

"The vice-captain went out to visit Philonae Town for a brief greeting."

"..."

Yi-Han turned his gaze to Jijel as if demanding an explanation.

Jijel sighed deeply and said.

"He's a bit... sociable."

"Fortunately, he's not too sociable."

Fortunately, those present succeeded in repelling the incursion safely.

Monsters that looked like a mixture of amphibians and fish appeared, which even experienced adventurers, knights, and mages had never seen before, but they couldn't break through the solidly prepared encirclement.

The summons, golems, artifacts, and armaments prepared by the summoning mages flashed and spewed out firepower, and the undead summoned by the dark mages also launched fierce attacks along with eerie mana.

That wasn't all. Mages with spare capacity firmly bound the monsters' feet with other elemental magic, poison, or curse magic.

And Yi-Han was also busy using magic...

...Rather than using magic, he was busy going back and forth.

-No! Are you spraying poison fog now? Even so, the poison is a bit... Please tell them it's unnecessary!-

-...They say they are truly sorry for insulting the honor of the knights, but this is the only magic they can use now! If you don't let them use this, the dark mages have no choice but to charge with their staffs...-

-We, well... Alright.-

Blocking the mages' protests.

-Those knight bastards are too much of a hindrance! They keep getting close to the summons, making it uncomfortable to cast magic... Could you perhaps tell them to get lost?-

-The knights say they are truly sorry and have no face for disrupting the practice of the noble study of magic! But this is the limit of the techniques the knights have learned, so they ask for the mages' broad magnanimity...-

-Hmm. If you put it that way... Alright!-

And blocking the knights' protests.

Yi-Han desperately blocked each other's claims by running back and forth between the two groups.

And he could learn one thing.

'...I should never do this again!'

Even if he received an imperial post, he should never accept a position that mediates between groups!

It was exhausting enough to manage this small group together, and it was terrifying to imagine what would happen if the scale grew larger.

Absolutely, he had to find a comfortable position without such annoying tasks.

"Good work, everyone."

"But fewer came out than expected. We won't even need to use potions."

As the realm dwindled, those who participated in the battle spoke to each other with favorable evaluations.

Their hearts had softened a bit because they felt how much the other side respected them while conducting the battle.

Of course, Yi-Han, who was in between, was completely exhausted and tattered.

"Have you finished investigating?"

"Huh? Uh, yes, but..."

Gubon and the adventurers were startled by Yi-Han's utterly exhausted expression.

"Are you oka..."

"I'm perfectly fine. Then, since the mission is wrapped up, I'll be on my way."

Yi-Han quickly prepared to leave after accurately receiving the reward.

"No, why don't you stay a bit longer..."

"No. Oh. Please keep the fact that I was here a secret, everyone."

"Why do you say that?"

"No matter how humble you are, you shouldn't be too humble, it's not good!"

When not only the mages but also the knights clamored, Yi-Han got a headache.

"That... I don't want to tarnish Einroguard's name with my still incomplete skills. Please understand."

"Oh my..."

"Is that so...!"

"Then, I'll be going!"

As Yi-Han tried to leave as quickly as possible, the White Tiger Tower students whispered, not understanding.

"Wardanaz. Of course, we need to prepare to return, but the sun hasn't even set yet? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"...You stupid bastards. A realm collision phenomenon occurred, do you think people from Einroguard won't come? We need to get out quickly."

"...Horse!! Please lend me a horse!!!"

"?!"

While Yi-Han hurried back to the town, packed his belongings, and prepared to return to the spire through Amur's stable, the skull principal flew over and arrived at the campsite.

“...Why is this here?”

-Yes. It seems the knight order set up a campsite.-

“...So why did the knight order set up a campsite here instead of staying in the town?”

The Death Knight, a loyal servant of his master, answered faithfully.

-Since they are allowed entry into Einroguard, they probably did so to arrive as quickly as possible.-

“...Damn it. This is why I hate sponsors.”

The skull principal grumbled.

Come to think of it, a knight order had said they would visit and interact with the students.

Those bastards created this loophole.

“The White Tiger Tower students who weren't caught must have escaped here, right?”

-It's highly likely.-

“Anyway, the problem with knights is that they unconditionally side with fellow knight families. By the way…”

The skull principal looked around the campsite with burning eyes.

It looked to be in very good condition.

“It seems it wasn't a big deal. Since they blocked it well on their own, it just needs to be checked and locked.”

-Yes. I will do so.-

The skull principal, who had flown over after feeling the energy of a realm collision while catching the escaped students, was relieved that the situation didn't seem as urgent as he thought.

'Indeed, if it were urgent, I would have been contacted right away.'

“Open the door. The lord has arrived.”

"Oh. Mr. Gonadaltes!!"

?!

The skull principal was as startled as the surprised mages.

The mages who had participated in the festival were with the knights.

“You were here too?”

"Yes!"

“You blocked it together??”

"How did you know?"

“How did you block it together?!?”

"Is, is that so surprising?"

“It's damn surprising! You guys cooperated with the knights?? No, if you knew how to cooperate so well, why did you violate the precautions I told you so crazily during the festival?!”

"...I don't think it was to that extent..."

"Are, are you angry?"

“I'm not angry. I'm just amazed.”

The skull principal was truly amazed.

The mages here were typically the kind without any social skills, the kind who would go to knight families for investment and say, 'You probably won't understand because you're not very smart, but please invest.'

Of course, the knights weren't easy either.

To think those two groups cooperated and blocked it together.

“Was a being that could destroy the empire trying to come out?”

"No."

“It's really amazing... Truly amazing.”

The skull principal first finished confirming the situation. The mages had finished the follow-up on their own, all the beings that appeared were dealt with, and no one was particularly injured.

It was clear that they had properly coordinated and cooperated, not just cooperated in name.

The skull principal's eyes spun around and around.

“It's really amazing…”

-Master. You need to find the students too.-

“Ah. Right. Did anyone happen to see the students here?”

"Pardon?"

“It's nothing... I have an urgent message to deliver to the students. Did the students ask you to hide them? Don't worry. I also turn a blind eye to occasional deviations. I'll just deliver the urgent message and go back.”

"...I don't quite understand what you mean."

'You see?'

The skull principal's eyes flickered strangely.

Usually, everyone would have answered by now, but the atmosphere here today was oddly suspicious.

What on earth happened?