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Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 603
🕑 Added 2024-06-26 11:17:06 +0000 UTCChapter 603
Yi-Han exchanged a slight glance with the skull principal.
The skull principal was speaking with his eyes.
'Don't waver.'
'I understand.'
No matter how much it was in front of the emperor, Yi-Han's determination did not waver.
He continued speaking as he had previously coordinated with the skull principal.
"It's really enjoyable."
-Einroguard is not a place of enjoyment but a place that gives pain to the races to awaken their magic...-
'No. He's not a dragon for nothing!'
Yi-Han admired the wise emperor's appearance.
Even while staying in the corner of the palace, he accurately grasped the identity of Einroguard.
"No. Einroguard is the best magic school in the empire. We are receiving the best education. We are not hungry. We are happy."
-It seems like you prepared before coming with Os.-
"..."
"..."
The two, teacher and disciple, were inwardly startled.
How did he know?
The emperor spoke as if he didn't care much that the two had lied.
-You don't have to speak if you don't want to. I just asked because I was worried. Os' disciples have always met a tragic fate. They either tried to burn the continent, burn themselves, or burn Os...-
"When was that..."
The skull principal grumbled.
There had been too many mentions of the incidents caused by impatient disciples when magic education was a bit rough in the past.
-The dragon sees your talent as the most outstanding among Os' disciples. So I hope you don't burn the continent or yourself. How sad would it be for the races of the continent if such a thing happened.-
'I think he left out the skull principal?'
"Don't worry. Wardanaz is different from other disciples."
-So you had him face the King of Ghouls?-
The emperor opened his mouth wide and yawned. At the same time, he looked down at the skull principal with a nonchalant gaze.
"That wasn't my intention..."
-I guess so. Os. By coincidence... Strangely, there are many coincidences around you...-
"..."
The skull principal was terribly wronged but endured it.
In fact, there were many instances where he had intentionally disguised it as a coincidence, so excuses didn't work.
From the emperor's point of view, there would be little difference.
-He also faced the Sea Serpent by coincidence...-
"It was truly a coincidence."
-Yeah. I see.-
The emperor snorted as if he didn't want to hear any more. The skull principal's long hair fluttered up and then fell back down.
-Fortunately, I don't feel hatred or the destruction of the continent in the disciple's eyes.-
The reason the emperor called Yi-Han was because he wanted to meet him in person and see what kind of person he was.
Since he was from the Wardanaz family's bloodline and Os' disciple, it was unknown what would happen to the empire if he went berserk in the future.
Fortunately, even though he had gone through many hardships during his 1st year, there was no sign of hatred or the destruction of the continent in his eyes.
Moreover, seeing that he had even prepared in advance with Os, they seemed quite close.
Although he was still young, he was clearly a mage with a large and solid capacity.
-I'm glad you didn't completely lie to the dragon.-
"I have never told a lie in front of Your Majesty."
The emperor ignored the skull principal and spoke to Yi-Han again.
-I'm sorry for troubling you. I wanted to check for myself. Now that I know you can handle it, I won't bother you anymore. Feel free to jump into danger.-
"Thank y... But I don't like jumping into danger."
Yi-Han, who was going to let it pass, answered momentarily.
He was going to let it pass because it was in front of the emperor, but he couldn't acknowledge this at all.
-You're humble.-
"Wardanaz's weakness is his humility."
-You shouldn't have that weakness either.-
"Haha, what a joke!"
-Haha. It's not a joke.-
The emperor and the skull principal laughed at each other. Yi-Han didn't find it funny at all.
'Very unfair.'
Suddenly, the sound of a bell ringing was heard.
As the clear bell sound echoed through the emperor's cave-like vast residence, the skull principal was puzzled.
It was the sound announcing a new visitor.
"Did you have another guest today?"
-Well... Ah. The dragon's mind is a bit... I forgot about this. It was the day to additionally create the empire's successor.-
"Oh my. You must be working hard."
"...?"
Yi-Han couldn't follow their conversation.
What did it mean to additionally create the empire's successor?
"Oh. It would be good for you to see it too. It will be of great help."
"What kind of crazy talk is that?"
Yi-Han whispered in a shocked voice so that the emperor wouldn't hear.
He had no idea what it would help with.
However, the skull principal ignored it and asked the emperor.
"Your Majesty. Is it okay for Wardanaz to observe?"
-I don't mind, but won't he be surprised?-
"It's fine. He's a student of Einroguard. He'll understand if you explain it to him."
-Indeed, since he's your disciple, he must have seen more surprising things than this...-
"No. Why are you slandering me?"
While the two were talking, the door opened and a group of people entered. There were a total of 11 of them.
An orc woman from a swordsmanship guild, a mermaid from a wealthy noble family, a lamia mixed-blood woman from a ranger guild, a human woman leading three merchant groups, a rakshasa man operating a magic tower in the south, a centaur woman who was the leader of the eastern vigilante group, an angel mixed-blood woman from a temple, a wolf mixed-blood woman who was a renowned mercenary captain on the battlefield, a lizard mixed-blood man who was the top craftsman of the empire's western baking guild, a dwarf woman from the Bronze Dwarf Bank, and finally, an ogre mixed-blood woman.
'Ogre mixed-blood...?!'
Yi-Han was startled.
Although there were other rare races of the empire among the people, an ogre mixed-blood was a truly unimaginable rare race.
But Yi-Han's surprise was only just beginning.
-Is everyone here?-
The people who entered bowed their heads with the utmost formality. The emperor declared in a solemn voice.
"Conceive!"
'Imperial Decree!'
Yi-Han realized what level the emperor had just shown.
A powerful high-level magic that changes the order of the world with just a declaration!
It would require an immense level of difficulty just to summon the wind and make water gush out, but to even make others pregnant.
He was so shocked by the level of magic that he couldn't even be surprised by what was happening right now.
'No. No...!'
Yi-Han, who came to his senses belatedly, realized what was happening.
Right before his eyes, the emperor was creating imperial family members with magic!
-It's over. You may leave.-
As the emperor's words fell, the people who had entered politely bowed with the utmost courtesy and left.
The dragon exhaled with an even more tired gaze.
-I hope a decent successor is born this time. Os.-
"I'm sure it will be. Your Majesty."
-Don't tease the dragon without any expectations at all. Rather, it seems like you need to quickly explain to your disciple.-
The skull principal belatedly realized Yi-Han's shocked gaze.
He hadn't expected him to be this surprised since he was usually unfazed even if the sky collapsed and giants invaded.
"Hmm. I should have explained first?"
"...Please explain first next time if there's something like this."
***
In the continent where countless kingdoms and empires were born and perished, the founding emperor of the current empire had one special thing that set him apart from others.
It was the fact that his soul was mixed with dragon's blood.
If it had ended as just a claim, its authenticity could have been doubted, but the emperor had a divine object to prove it.
This divine object was proof that the emperor's ancestor had made a contract with a dragon, and it was also a divine object of oath that if the descendants of the ancestor asked for help someday, the dragon would help them in exchange for this object.
Fortunately, the founding emperor was able to establish the empire without using this divine object.
However, even a prosperous empire declines with the passage of time.
Plagues, rebellions, civil wars, raids…
As the empire's fate turned, a fierce war continued as if it would never end.
The imperial family members of the empire all proclaimed themselves as emperors and led their own armies.
Betrayal, assassination, bribery, surprise attacks…
By the time the civil war ended, the imperial family members of the empire had all met a tragic fate of annihilation.
Nevertheless, the war did not end. This time, some ambitious great nobles proclaimed themselves as emperors and stepped forward to succeed the throne.
As the situation unfolded like this, the heads of some meaningful and loyal great noble families put their heads together and devoted themselves to resolving the situation.
How on earth could they end this chaotic turbulent times?
Fortunately, the empire still had some luck left. One of them was a very wise and intelligent grand mage.
"..."
Yi-Han looked at the skull principal, but the skull principal continued his explanation without minding.
The wise and intelligent grand mage, together with the family heads, found the last will left by the last imperial family member and the divine object left by the founding emperor of the empire.
And by combining the two, he came up with a new interpretation.
-O great dragon. In accordance with the last will left by your descendant, we intend to use this divine object. Until a proper successor to the throne is born, please rule the empire!-
Of course, the dragon didn't like it very much.
No dragon enjoyed ruling a kingdom. What dragons enjoyed was meditation and seclusion, not domination and governance.
However, an oath was sacred.
In the end, the dragon had no choice but to accept the throne.
At that time, he thought that he could stop being the emperor once the chaos in the empire ended and a successor was born.
After all, most of the races on the continent had a strong desire for power…
They were asking now because it was chaotic, but they would soon come back!
"...This is roughly the hidden history of the empire."
The skull principal spoke in a serious manner. Behind him, the emperor glared at the skull principal.
"It's... it's really amazing."
"Yeah. It must be moving."
'I didn't say I was moved.'
"Ah. How many people dedicated themselves to stop that chaos!"
"But principal. A successor still hasn't been born? How did that happen?"
"There's no need to even ask. A successor isn't born because they're not qualified."
The dragon's judgment that the races of the continent had a lot of desire for power, so they would soon come to the empire, was a misjudgment.
The heads of the great noble families truly loved the current emperor. They didn't want new chaos to arise at all by changing the emperor.
Why bring in an uncertain successor when there was a perfect emperor?
-Insect-like bastards. Trash-like bastards who like to be subservient. Bastards born as slaves...-
Ignoring the voice coming from behind, the skull principal proceeded with a long speech.
"There's something you shouldn't misunderstand here. Those who judge the successors make judgments coldly without any self-interest. Understand?"
-Os... The dragon acknowledges. Of course, the dragon's nine children are all failures as emperors. But the ones after that are quite good, aren't they...-
"How can those guys rule the empire?"
The skull principal shook his head firmly.
It hurt his heart (actually, it didn't), but this was unavoidable.
In order to create a very outstanding successor, the emperor first created his nine children by conceiving them himself.
However, these nine children inherited the dragon's nature too strongly and were not at all suitable as emperors.
How could those who meditated and secluded themselves when bored rule the empire?
Realizing the cause of failure, the emperor sought partners from then on and diluted the dragon's blood as much as possible.
To the level where distant ancestors had a connection with dragons.
After all, what the imperial nobles wanted was the legitimacy inherited from the founding emperor, so there was no need for the dragon's blood to be strong.
"So what happened?"
Yi-Han asked without realizing it.
It was such an amazing story.
"What else would have happened? If they were useful, they would have already succeeded."
The skull principal answered coldly.
When the dragon's blood was strong, their abilities were also outstanding, but their personalities became lazy.
On the contrary, when the dragon's blood was weak, they couldn't benefit in terms of ability.
In fact, they were just noble guys born in comfortable families, so how could they become better emperors than the dragon?
Most of them were just fools with ambition.
-Come to think of it, don't you also have an imperial family member among your friends? How was it?-
The emperor asked, looking at Yi-Han.
There was a glimmer of expectation in his eyes.
"Uh, well. About that."
The skull principal shook his head with pity.
