Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy Chapter 1058

Chapter 1058

'Strange.'

Though his disciple had a personality that enjoyed dangerous matches with strong opponents, persistently tracking an unrelated evil god order certainly felt discordant.

"It's done! Professor! Quickly go in and scold him sternly!"

"!"

Professor Boladi, who had been deep in thought, raised his head at Gainando's shout.

And showed a faintly surprised expression.

Somehow Gainando had already dug a side path down to the underground fortress.

Looking beside him, Gainando's pride and most frequently used summon, the thorn revenant, was clearing dirt with its arm transformed into a bone shovel.

Since it couldn't have originally been that form, Gainando must have transformed the undead's shape on the spot.

"You dug through well."

"What? What do you mean?"

Gainando tilted his head, not understanding Professor Boladi's words.

"This passage."

This underground fortress was by no means easy.

The thieves must have spent quite some money as the passages and hideout's defenses were quite solid and thick, but Gainando had broken through in such a short time.

It would be difficult with just transforming the undead's shape...

"Ah. I used corrosive poison. Originally it's poison I use for cleaning trash... Gasp. Please don't tell Yi-Han about this!"

Gainando who had been explaining suddenly realized and hurriedly changed his words.

When trash came out of the tower he should go far and dispose of it properly - if he got lazy and dissolved it with poison he would get his back beaten severely.

"I really do it properly usually, Professor? Professor?"

Though Gainando tried to make excuses somehow, Professor Boladi had already entered the passage.

  *

"Summoning a high-ranking spirit in such an underground fortress might not be good."

Yi-Han spoke while walking along the suddenly quiet passage.

Actually, describing the fortress passages as just 'quiet' now was an insult to the thieves.

The fortress passages were completely devastated.

Ferkuntra, summoned for a reasonable reason after a long time, swung joyful violence in all directions.

Breaking the passage mechanisms, swallowing traps, and occasionally tearing down barriers to stuff fleeing thieves into a sealed room.

Though an apocalypse made of lightning completely devastated the underground fortress they had long cultivated, the thieves could do nothing.

They couldn't even take out scrolls, potions, or magic items stockpiled for fighting mages normally. Ferkuntra didn't give time for that and collapsed the passages.

They couldn't scatter to predetermined positions to buy time or wage persistent guerrilla warfare. When Ferkuntra felt souls hiding somewhere, he imprisoned them without giving chances to emerge.

"..."

Jijel tried to concentrate without making any response.

If she mixed words with Wardanaz, her concentration would crumble instantly.

'Don't let guard down. Don't let guard down. Don't let guard down...'

Seeing traces where the spirit king had slashed like lightning, whispers rose in her heart saying 'Isn't it all over already?', but Jijel ignored those whispers.

"You... you crazy mage bastards. Why the hell did you charge in like this?"

"!"

And surprisingly, that concentration was rewarded. A thief revealed himself at the end of the passage.

His appearance was disheveled as if he had swum through a tunnel. His hair was wild and his clothes that would have been quite expensive originally were covered in mud and holes.

Only his eyes shone vividly with shock, fear, and resentment.

"Look, Wardanaz! There was a remaining thief!"

"...Moradi. That doesn't seem like something to be so happy about..."

Yi-Han was slightly bewildered.

Shouldn't it be concerning if a thief appeared after Ferkuntra had swept through?

Jijel who had been excited belatedly lowered her voice and fake coughed.

"I was just pointing out in case you let your guard down."

'Doesn't seem like it.'

"Still, we don't need to leave everything to him."

Jijel clashed her swords together raising frost.

Having gone through the trouble of charging in, leaving everything to the spirit king hurt her pride. Even while helping Wardanaz's goal, she couldn't just watch like the foolish prince.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Ibinta."

"Ibinta? ...Ibinta? Iron Cloak Ibinta?!"

Jijel was startled.

"Who is he?"

"About ten years ago... he was a notorious wanted criminal then. I thought he was surely dead."

"I was hiding like this. Without a mouse or bird knowing."

Ibinta answered while grinding his teeth. The current situation still felt like an unreal nightmare.

1 second after the ruined town's floor broke:

-Intruder! Intruder!-

-Those guys lurking earlier? Eliminate them!-

When the intruder alarm rang, Ibinta gave orders indifferently.

5 seconds after the ruined town's floor broke:

-The intruders seem stronger than expected! They seem like combat mages!-

-Block the passages and activate traps.-

Even at the report that soon came, Ibinta didn't particularly care. This wasn't a place that could be breached by one or two combat mages.

10 seconds after the ruined town's floor broke:

-All paths closed and walls opened! We'll drain their strength by trapping the newcomers!-

-Good. Let's see these newcomers' skills.-

Ibinta snickered at the report that the passages commissioned expensively from dwarves were worth their price. The trapped combat mages would have to face thieves swarming from all directions.

...15 seconds after the ruined town's floor broke:

-The fortress is collapsing!!!-

-What? What? What???-

Ibinta called his subordinates while drinking from a wine cup in the luxurious room at the bottom of the fortress, but no answer came.

Instead what came back was the crying sound of the entire fortress shaking and being torn apart.

Still not giving up, he shouted and gave orders through speaking tubes connected throughout the fortress, but only spine-chilling silence returned.

Feeling his drunkenness clear instantly, Ibinta made an immediate decision. Giving up everything he had, he cast magic imbued in his cloak then dug into the earth.

"Is that how he wasn't caught? Moradi. That cloak seems like an ancient relic. The magic is quite unique."

Yi-Han whispered.

He had wondered how he came up here without being caught by Ferkuntra, but he must have swum up through the earth with the cloak's power.

Moreover, the magic felt was a type not seen in the current empire. If given the chance, he wanted to analyze it directly.

"What are you whispering about! Ambushes won't work!"

Ibinta growled.

He guessed the two combat mages were planning an ambush.

However, with this cloak ambushes wouldn't work. Ibinta glared fiercely at the mages.

'...Better not mention that Wardanaz was analyzing magic in this situation.'

Jijel considered provoking him but gave up.

Provoking too much beyond necessary could backfire.

Moreover, the opponent was already sufficiently provoked. He was the leader of a thief gang whose fortress was destroyed in less than a minute.

"So it was because of that bastard? Kitarenanoom? I shouldn't have taken him in..."

"What?! Kitarenanoom was here?!"

This time Yi-Han was startled.

To think the magic criminal he thought had surely died together in the void monster incident was alive.

'How on earth did he save his life?'

"...You didn't come because of Kitarenanoom?"

Ibinta became slightly more confused.

He had naturally thought all this commotion was because of Kitarenanoom?

"I thought it strange seeing high-level magic outside, so it was Kitarenanoom's magic."

"Then why the hell did you come here?"

"Came to check for evil god worshippers."

"...?"

Ibinta doubted his ears.

Though there were many who had fled here after committing all sorts of crimes, there wasn't a single evil god worshipper among them.

"There are no such people here? Who are you talking about? No, which order?"

"Indeed. None? That's good then."

"..."

At the mage's answer, Ibinta gained a realization like an icy icicle piercing his spine.

So...

...They caused all this commotion just to check if there were any, without even knowing if there were?!

Ibinta's face changed through red and blue to all colors. The reason of coming for his old infamy or thief gang subjugation would have been more understandable.

"You call that an explanation?!"

"I didn't know it was such a large thief gang. When you charged at us we had no choice."

Yi-Han was confident.

Originally he had just planned to check if there were evil god worshippers while Professor Boladi looked away briefly, but it was these thieves who escalated things.

Blood flowed from Ibinta's mouth. Jijel thought he might just collapse at this rate.

"...Then answer this too. Why would I be talking with you here when I should be running away?"

Cunning flashed in the thief gang leader's voice. At that sign, Jijel flinched slightly.

'No... Surely...? It should be fine.'

From Jijel's view, Wardanaz wasn't someone who would lose to anyone in cunning.

And that prediction was immediately proven right.

Yi-Han answered without much surprise.

"Of course you were waiting for the cloak's power to return."

Having recognized the cloak's magic type from far away, how could he not know power was charging.

At that answer, Ibinta was greatly flustered.

"You knew?"

"Yes."

"...You're saying you can subdue me even when power returns? Arrogant bastard. The price for that arrogance..."

"No, not that."

No sooner had the words ended than Ferkuntra burst up through the earth beneath Ibinta.

Crackle!

As the spirit's body made of lightning dug into his body, Ibinta collapsed forward.

The mage's voice faintly reached Ibinta's ears as he fell.

"I was also calling the spirit back."

-I apologize. I got too excited and went too far.-

"No matter what, how could you go so far?"

'The spirit... was still... summoned...?'

Ibinta glanced at the combat mage with blurring vision.

Earlier he hadn't noticed due to the shock of the fortress being destroyed, but strangely the other's features looked familiar.

Why did it feel like he had seen him somewhere?

-To summarize, the problems are as follows. Food shortage due to plague and famine. Threatening force from rebels and thieves uniting. Monster armies descending from mountains due to mana rampage. Since I can only stay in this plane for two days, we'll have to solve them in order. Send letters to each family to contribute food. I'll handle the threatening force and monster armies.-

-?!!-

'I remember...!'

The incident that made Ibinta leave the <Shadow of Kangla>.

Back then, Ibinta had infiltrated the imperial camp as a spy on rebel orders taking advantage of the southern volcanic chaos.

And then he witnessed a great mage for the first time.

It was amazing how he made the usually disobedient southern families docile somehow, but what was most amazing was...

That he swept away the united rebel and thief forces and even subjugated the monster armies in just half a day.

-Distribute the remaining spoils to the families as recorded in the ledger. In cases like the Marsio and Bicale families, provide half initially and give the original amount when they show dissatisfaction. The Laren family thirsts for Lord Gonadaltes's recognition so deliver a handwritten letter of commendation from the lord. It's fake but they won't notice...-

Seeing that chilling sight of casually returning and ordering imperial officials to handle the aftermath, Ibinta had decided.

He would no longer stay in an organization that might clash with great mages!

Though the <Shadow of Kangla> adventurers babbled 'What's so great about great mages', Ibinta's spirit had been completely broken.

As the memory of frantically fleeing then arose, so did the great mage's identity.

He was clearly the eldest son and heir of a great noble family...

'The Wardanaz family...!!'

With that memory, Ibinta lost consciousness.

And muttered.

"If you're from the Wardanaz family... you should have said so earlier...!"

"??!"