Episode 963

Unaware that the more evil disciple of an evil archmage was about to explode in rage from afar, Bardane laughed heartily.

“Ha ha ha!”

In reality, he wasn’t all that cheerful.

After all, some crazy criminal magician had invaded, stolen his artifact, and smashed half his mansion. How could he truly be upbeat?

However, among city nobles, dignity and pride were paramount.

Even if your mansion was destroyed, if you raged or sobbed in public, it would be like declaring, ‘I’m only this much.’

To maintain dignity and pride, one had to keep a smiling face in front of others, even if their mansion was destroyed and their artifact stolen.

As if this sort of thing was nothing.

‘…Damn that magician criminal bastard. As if stealing the artifact wasn’t enough, did you have to break my mansion too? Surely he’s a lunatic who was driven mad by studying magic. Imperial knights should be the first to hunt down and kill these types, but instead they’re spouting nonsense about a “chivalrous thief”!’

But the sting wasn’t easily soothed.

Every time Bardane saw the newly rebuilt mansion, he couldn’t help but remember the gold spent due to the incident and the repairs.

“Lord Bardane, the fountain in your garden is truly beautiful. Even after recent unfortunate events, your mansion’s charm is undiminished.”

Guests who had arrived before the banquet began flattered Bardane as they toured the mansion.

Thanks to this, Bardane’s bitterness eased a little, and he nodded as he replied.

“I summoned the best craftsmen in the Empire. Just the spirit stones set in there cost as much as the weight of my servants in gold.”

“Amazing… as expected of Lord Bardane. Such wealth is beyond my wildest dreams.”

Once the flattery started, it continued relentlessly.

“Come to think of it, there are so many fools in this city. To call a thief who covets gold a “chivalrous thief”!”

“That’s right. I don’t know what the knights are doing. They should be tracking them down and hanging them.”

“……”

Bardane didn’t respond, but the corners of his lips rose, and his expression softened.

Realizing their flattery had worked, the guests’ expressions also became smug.

None of the guests here honestly cared for or worried about Bardane.

They were only here for his wealth, connections, or famously foul temper.

A little praise and cheering him up was worth it if it meant favors in return.

“That western wing hasn’t been finished yet. I’ve called the Masons’ Guild magicians to make it even more splendid. I had planned to tear it down and rebuild anyway, so this worked out for the best. It will be the most beautiful mansion in Granden City…”

Just as someone was about to stifle a yawn at the boring self-bragging—

BANG!!!

“……”

“……”

The guests froze at the sight of a newly repaired section of the mansion blowing up with a loud blast.

Yet no guest was as shocked as Bardane.

How could his mansion, rebuilt with the wealth he had wrung out through blood and sweat, be demolished in an instant?

“W-what lunatic… what the… is this…”

A familiar, menacing magician appeared at the edge of the ruined second floor.

Bardane’s horrified voice cracked as he screamed.

“S-Stedal Nago! You lunatic! Again?! What are you doing—stop him!”

In a panic, he called for his guards, but the magician criminal struck faster.

A barrage of magic erupted.

In the storm of spells ripping everything apart, the guards suddenly understood why there was an old saying: “Never give a magician time when confronting them.”

Lightning, fire, darkness, and ice—a mighty, relentless storm struck with no delay. The guards chose to dodge rather than try to power through the spells.

“This way, sir! Move!”

“Shut up! What nonsense! This is my mansion!”

“The magician came prepared! It’s impossible to face him head-on. We have to withdraw and regroup!”

The guards’ response was textbook.

When facing a prepared magician, you keep your distance, avoid the barrage, and attack once their magic is spent.

But to Bardane, this was appalling.

For a magician to be able to cast such powerful spells required lots of prep and time—especially inside his own mansion.

If the magician had gotten this much time to prepare, that only meant the guards were neglecting their duties!

“You! If only you’d done your jobs—!”

“Withdraw with the lord!”

The guards roughly dragged Bardane back, increasing the distance.

Meanwhile, the vicious magician criminal methodically wrecked every building and structure within range.

“……”

“……”

Watching from afar after being pulled away, Bardane shook with rage as he screamed.

“He’s not stopping!! Still at it!”

“T-this is strange. Even with several means of restoring mana, there should be limits due to the burden on the body…”

The veteran guards were perplexed.

Magician’s magic was powerful and threatening, but the magician was still made of flesh and blood.

No matter how prepared, after a few barrages like this, there should be a lull.

Yet Stedal Nago mocked such logic, casting and casting with no pause.

‘Are there more magicians? Is this some kind of trick?’

“Stop him! I said, stop him!”

“B-but…”

The guards looked troubled.

In a one-on-one duel it might be different, but running into a berserk magician’s bombardment wasn’t easy.

Who would have thought such a magician criminal would strike again?

“H-he’s!”

“?”

“He’s moving!”

A short scream rang out.

The guests, who had felt safe at a distance, now broke and bolted for the front gates.

But Bardane, suppressing his terror with rage, shouted,

“If he moves, he’ll show an opening! Capture him!”

“…Understood.”

This time, the guards agreed.

No matter how frenzied a magician, there would be an opening when moving—

RUMBLE—

“……”

“……”

“I—isn’t that the spirit we assigned to the mansion?”

The guards were aghast as the water spirit they’d placed was now protecting the magician.

How on earth had he manipulated the mansion’s guardian spirit to the enemy’s side?

And it didn’t stop there. On the other side of the mansion, a giant golem charged in with other undead summons.

That was the straw that broke the guards’ resolve. They immediately followed the previous fleeing guests out the main gate.

No matter how well paid, they couldn’t bear it.

“You worthless cowards! You’ll regret—!”

Bardane stomped and roared, but the guards didn’t even look back.

In that situation, it felt like not one but a dozen magicians had premeditated this attack—it was hopeless to resist.

Seasoned as they were, the guards judged it was better to flee.

Once the guards were gone, the magician criminal could leisurely destroy the mansion at will.

Despite the magic defenses on the main building, wave after wave of magic battered the walls until cracks began to form.

“A… no! Stop! What do you want! Tell me what you want!”

Finally, Bardane’s defiance broke.

Gone was the cursing, raging man, replaced by a sniveling beggar pleading with the magician criminal.

If it could be solved with gold coin…!

“Nothing.”

“…What?”

“I told you, I want nothing.”

“……”

With a low, rough voice, Bardane was completely crushed.

A terror even greater than any before gripped his whole body.

To cause such havoc and want nothing?!

What kind of monster was this?

There is no fear greater than that of an unfathomable, unknown opponent.

“M-m—monster… a monster…!”

The magician criminal ignored Bardane and resumed demolishing the mansion.

Bardane, terrified, didn’t notice that at the back of the mansion, undead summons were tossing valuables over the wall.

-Who—who’s throwing this over?

-Who cares! Just grab whatever you can!

• * *

“Hmph.”

Alsicle sat at a table outside a red brick cafe, flipping through his copy of -Empire’s Most Anticipated Ice Magicians of the Year-. As always, he planned to read with envy and disparage his rivals’ accomplishments.

-Did you hear? Stedal Nago showed up again! At Lord Bardane’s mansion!

“Pfft!”

Alsicle sprayed his coffee a little.

‘What is that kid up to!?’

He’d sent him to do club activities, but now he was attacking a noble’s mansion. Alsicle briefly pondered if this was “club activity.”

‘Or…is it? Is THIS club activity?’

But the more he thought about it, the weirder it seemed.

If it were “club activity,” wouldn’t it have been some anonymous shady magician, not Stedal Nago’s persona…?

-Didn’t he attack before too?

-Word is, Bardane got robbed so hard last time and didn’t repent, so this time he got it even worse. I heard the mansion was totally wrecked.

-What an amazing magician! Hard to believe someone like that exists in our day and age.

-For real. Did you hear? That other guy, Uap, is now distributing all his workshop’s wealth to his dwarven subordinates.

-What? Why?

-He’s scared! Last time he was dunked upside down in the canal—who knows what’ll happen next? Hahaha!

Nearby, people heaped praise on the daring chivalrous criminal.

‘…Could Lord Gonadaltes have put him up to it…?’

No matter how much Alsicle thought, it made no sense.

Why would a decent kid like Wardanaz be raiding nobles’ mansions?

At that moment, Arian called for Alsicle.

“Lord Pengerine!”

“I—I wasn’t involved. Wardanaz did it on his own.”

Seeing Arian running toward him, Alsicle instinctively made excuses.

He was scared he’d get scolded by a senior magician for being a bad influence.

“What do you mean? There’s a group here saying they want to sponsor you, Lord Pengerine.”

“…Why!? I mean—really?”

Alsicle was about to blurt out, ‘Why?’ but caught himself and coughed.

It wasn’t the best look to react badly in front of potential sponsors.

However, Arian nodded sympathetically.

“I can understand your surprise. Your research is so brilliant people have trouble comprehending it.”

“Sniff… Thank you.”

“In fact, Lord Wardanaz reportedly mentioned your research while telling the story of the polo match.”

“…??”

Alsicle’s mind went blank at the news.

To be specific, he didn’t even understand where ‘polo match’ came into things.

“…What does the polo match have to do with my research?”

“Ah, you don’t know? It’s a long story to explain…”

“Then make it short.”

“To sum up: Lord Wardanaz rode a griffon and performed so spectacularly that you got sponsorship as well.”

“…Sorry, just give me the long version—”

Arian, as if expecting this, took a drink of tea.

Just then, another voice spoke up nearby.

-Where do you think Stedal Nago will wreck next?

-Who knows? Probably some other greedy bastard’s place. Now everyone’s scared and lying low! Ha ha ha!

-He wouldn’t destroy Bardane’s mansion a third time, would he?

“Wait. What do you mean a third time? Wasn’t it just once? Last time…”

Alsicle clenched his eyes shut at the other’s reply.

He should have just listened to the sponsorship offer and left!