Mightiest Melee Magician

The banquet continued late through the night and into the dawn.

The magicians sought greater sources of authority to grant them wings of power while the people of authority sought after talented magicians that they would pay a fortune for.

We were in an age where power was authority.

Maybe this place where everyone compared and shared their powers with others was just a natural course of interaction.

Well, I personally kicked away that pot of gold.

‘Refreshing.’

Rather than try and bargain that deal of gold, I was standing alone on the terrace enjoying the early morning wind.

Then, someone approached me.

“Ruin Ardell.”

“……Director.”

Tirion Ignit.

The last pride of the weak Radian Kingdom and also a reliable source of help.

He was probably in a similar situation to me if how he looked was anything to go by.

“I was looking for a place to cool off, but I would’ve never guessed I would find you here, Ruin.”

“Seems the banquet isn’t for you either, Director.”

“I was trying my best to enjoy it, but I couldn’t get into it while feeling like I’ve become a parrot.”

“A parrot?”

The Director answered my question jokingly.

“All the nobles asked me about you, maybe a hundred times. If I’m only repeating the same thing over and over, how different am I from a parrot?”

We both laughed at this notion.

Because the crown prince stopped them from approaching me, the nobles seemed to have tried to use the Director as a middleman.

“So, what did you say to them?”

“I said to ask you directly. I don’t have the slightest intent to interfere with your decisions.”

“Thank you.”

“I should be the one thanking you. The academy hasn’t even done much for you…… but thank you for protecting our prestige.”

“……”

I thought back to the talk I had with the Director before the Grand Festival began.

About 50 years ago,

The greatest record in the Grand Festival was set by the Director when he was a student.

Total victory in individual competitions.

Then the constant decrease in rank in later years…

I had promised to definitely revive our former rank.

And now, I had fulfilled that promise with the Director.

“The academy has done many things for me.”

“Hm?”

“Professor Hydel and Director, both of you never gave up on me when I was hopeless. Moving me to the graduating class and not expelling me, helping me behind the scenes. I knew about all of it.”

Memories may get distorted, but it's natural that they become romanticized.

If I was to look back to my academic life in the past 5 years, it was truly a nightmare.

But the academy also gave me the strength to persevere through that nightmare.

It wasn’t a place I could be particularly proud of, but it wasn’t a place I could easily abandon either.

So,

“I just did what was expected of me as the representative of the Academy.”

Until the day I graduate, I will be a part of this academy.

Hearing my speech, the Director took a deep breath of the clean morning air.

“Could I take that to mean you won’t be transferring to another school?”

“……So you knew.”

“The crown prince has a reputation for his bad habits. It wasn’t too difficult to guess.”

“Yes. He wanted me to transfer and naturalize into the Empire. He told me to graduate from the Raynac Magic Soldier Training School and become a citizen.”

“The offer should’ve been pretty hard to decline.”

“It was easy. I might regret this later, but regrets are for future me.”

“Can I ask you why you declined?”

“……”

The reason I declined…

I didn’t know that myself either.

What did I truly want?

I was still just a 16-year-old kid who hadn’t properly experienced the world.

However, I was certain of one thing.

The world of my dreams that I saw on the 41st floor of the academy through the Eye of Malleroc.

There was no crown prince and gold in that place.

It was just the beautiful view of the Ardell territory with the Throne of Terron.

In this world that I unconsciously wanted to see.

In that place, my name of ‘Ardell’ was there.

“I like my homeland. Afterall, the original reason I wanted to become a magician…… was because of my territory.”

“I too love my homeland. This Ignit Magic Academy that has been passed down from my predecessors to me, this is my home.”

“You even fight for your home.”

“That is true.”

“That is true for me too.”

My homeland that I hadn’t been able to return to ever since I was 10.

The Ardell Territory.

When I left, I made a promise to the people of my territory.

That I would become a brilliant magician and return.

However, the young boy who was thought to be full of talent despaired from the ‘Magic Evocation Disorder’.

He had never once returned in 6 years.

However, if it was the me of now that had won the Grand Festival……

“After everything finishes here, I’m thinking of visiting my territory in the holidays.”

I could return.

The vice-lord of the Ardell house could return home.

The Director also had a reminiscent expression and smiled.

“That’s good. It’s about time you first returned home.”

“Also, you know that I’m the type that likes to be free from orders.”

My life was mine alone, not anyone else’s.

Rather than conspiring with authority…

“That’s why I’ll live as I like.”

I would live a life where I was that authority.

I still had a lot of things left to do to accomplish that.

I had been victorious in the Grand Festival, and to enjoy the privilege of being a victor, I wasn’t being called to the Radian Kingdom, where my homeland lay.

“It’s tomorrow…… You’ll be taking a short journey.”

“Yes.”

I had to go to the heart of the Raynac Empire.

The capital, Ravirdyne.

A ‘short’ journey would start here.

“I’ll await the day you return to school.”

I bowed my head toward the Director, Tirion Ignit, who had always trusted in me.

“Yes. I’ll await that day too.”

* * *

* * *

The neutral country, Altein.

It had found peace and quiet for the first time since the festival began.

It had already been three days since the end of the festival.

All the tourists had already left Altein by this time.

“Then, Ruin, I’ll see you at Ravirdyne.”

Irene Prius.

Doom Prime.

Seta Malkiri.

Others too.

The students who had participated in the competition had also all left Altein.

And now, it was the Academy’s turn.

When the mana train headed toward the Radian Kingdom arrived, Jason turned and hugged me tight.

“Ruin! Have a good trip!”

“Hey, you’re crushing me.”

“Stay safe. We’ll wait for you at the school, you got it?”

“Do you think I’m going to die?”

“This big brother of yours is worried about sending a child all alone when they don’t know the ins and outs of the world. I should be there by your side teaching you this and that.”

“……Kek.”

4th in group competitions.

It was lower than my prediction, but it was definitely a miracle that no one had expected.

Through that, our team bonds had deepened.

Jason’s farewell was a little cringe, but I didn’t feel that bad about it.

No, it was good.

“Wait for me at the academy. I’ll return cooler than ever.”

“You better!”

“Ruin!”

“Kuak! Ah, you’re choking me!”

At my farewell speech, the others all ran to me, and I finished seeing everyone off like that.

My peers all got on the mana train and headed toward the Radian Kingdom over the horizon, and after some time, they were just a distant speck.

“Hu… Now I’m alone.”

“Then, we should be going too.”

“Ah, sure. But… what was your name?”

“You can just call me Stray Cat.”

“……”

A guide had been attached to me when I started going to Ravirdyne.

Name… Stray Cat.

I heard rumours that the magicians at the Magic Tower gave up their names and called each other weird nicknames, but it seemed to be true.

In any case, he was a magician in his late 20s who was an official magician of the Tower.

But, despite his age, he was a high-level magician that I couldn’t even look at with my Player’s Eye.

This meant that he was at least at the same level as the magic school professors or higher……

But this person’s main characteristic……

“But…… I’m only 16 this year. Can’t you just speak to me casually?”

“This is comfortable for me.”

“……”

He treated me with a very objective and professional attitude.

Thanks to this, I didn’t have to awkwardly think about small talk and could get on the mana train to Ravirdyne.

[The train is departing.]

Ravirdyne.

The place with the huge Magic Tower, it was like the capital of magicians.

This was my first time traveling in a foreign country, but to be going from Altein straight to the heart of the Raynac Empire……

Seems my fate for this year is full of wanderlust.

“Then, I’ll brief you on your schedule.”

Stray Cat started the brief as soon as we got on the train.

“As soon as you arrive at Ravirdyne, you’ll head straight to the Imperial Palace. However, you won’t be meeting the emperor. The crown prince has been handling these things since last year.”

“……”

The crown prince?

Chaurmetan Raynac?

That crown prince who said that, if he couldn’t have me, he’d destroy me?

The start was a little ominous.

“The crown prince will personally congratulate you on your victory. I don’t know if you heard… but the prize money for winning the Grand Festival was 10 thousand gold.”

“……What?”

10 thousand gold.

As soon as I heard this, my head started to spin with numbers.

‘W-wait. How many meals is that?’

To buy one meal, it was about 10 silver……

Since 100 silver was 1 gold, 10 thousand gold was……

I couldn’t grasp this number which I hadn’t even considered before.

Of course, for rich noble families and millionaires, this may not be that much money.

But the Ardell territory was different.

10 thousand gold.

If it was that much money, it would be more than the total yearly budget for the whole territory.

“Afterward, you will head toward the Magic Tower. From there, you’ll be ‘selected’ by an artifact worthy of being given to a next-generational magician.”

“……I’ll be selected?”

“Yes. There is a small chance that you won’t get anything at all. As I said, you will have to be ‘selected’ by an artifact.”

I couldn’t understand it.

I’m not the one selecting, but the one being selected?

Are they sentient like Kingram, the piece of living history that lives in the Academy?

There was no way of knowing.

I could just ask for the details later.

“Lastly, you’ll be assigned a mission. As you know, since students aren’t registered as official magicians, you can’t receive missions…… but the winner is an exception.”

It was a type of debut that displayed how I was more impressive and fancy than other magicians.

A signal that showed the world my emergence as a magician.

“There are five types of missions. Since their difficulties are all checked to match the level of the winner, you don’t have to worry about that. Here. You can select the mission that you like the most from the list.”

Stray Cat handed me a piece of paper.

On that paper was…

Search

Subjugation

Assassination

Discovery

Knowledge

A total of five types of missions were listed.

I started to slowly read each one.

Then,

“……Master.”

Straang, who was sitting on my shoulder this whole time, saw something and reacted.

“For your first mission, let’s do that one.”

“……?”

“Please.”

——