Surviving as a Mage in a Magic Academy - Chapter 963

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 963

Unaware that the evil archmage’s even more evil disciple was about to explode with rage from afar, Bardan laughed cheerfully.

“Hahaha!”

In truth, he wasn’t particularly cheerful.

How could he be cheerful when some crazy mage criminal had attacked, stolen artifacts, and half-destroyed his manor?

However, among the city’s nobles, the most important things were dignity and pride.

Even if the manor was destroyed, showing a frantic or crying appearance in front of others would be like declaring ‘this is all I amount to.’

To maintain dignity and pride, he had to keep a smiling face in front of people even when his manor was destroyed and artifacts stolen.

As if such matters were nothing significant.

‘…Damn mage criminal bastard. Not satisfied with just taking the artifacts, he had to destroy the manor too? He’s definitely a madman who became violent while learning magic. The Empire’s knights should track down and kill such people first, but they’re spouting nonsense about him being a vigilante!’

But the bitterness didn’t fade easily.

Just looking at the rebuilt manor reminded him of the amount of gold spent on repairs from that bastard’s attack, so it was only natural.

“Lord Bardan. The garden fountain is truly beautiful. Despite the recent unpleasant incident, the manor’s beauty remains unchanged.”

The guests who arrived early before the banquet began toured the manor and flattered Bardan.

Thanks to this, Bardan’s bitterness subsided slightly as he nodded and replied.

“I called the Empire’s finest craftsmen. The spirit stones embedded in there alone cost as much gold as the weight of all the servants working in the manor.”

“Indeed… You truly are Lord Bardan. Such wealth is beyond my wildest dreams.”

Once the flattery began, it continued without anyone taking the lead.

“Speaking of which, there are so many fools in this city. Calling someone who broke in coveting gold coins a vigilante!”

“Exactly. I don’t know what the knights are doing. They should immediately track him down and hang him.”

“…”

Bardan didn’t respond, but the corners of his mouth lifted slightly and his expression softened.

Realizing the flattery was working, the guests’ expressions also became pleased.

Among the guests here, none truly worried about or cared for Bardan.

They had come only because of Bardan’s connections, wealth, or his damn nasty temperament.

Giving him moderate praise and lifting his mood was profitable business.

“That western manor isn’t finished yet. I plan to call mages from the stonemason guild to build it even more splendidly. I was thinking of tearing it down and rebuilding anyway, so it worked out well. It will become the most beautiful manor in Granden City…”

Just as someone was about to secretly yawn during the boring self-praise.

Boom!!!

“…”

“…”

The guests froze at the sight of a corner of the newly rebuilt manor exploding with a thunderous sound.

However, no matter how frozen the guests were, none were as shocked as Bardan.

The manor he had rebuilt with wealth obtained through blood, sweat, and extortion was destroyed in an instant.

“Wh… what crazy bastard… what the hell… this is…”

A familiar vicious mage revealed himself at the edge of the destroyed manor’s 2nd floor.

Bardan cried out in a cracking voice, horrified.

“St… Stedal Nago! You madman, again?! What are you doing! Stop him!”

He frantically called for his guards, but the mage criminal’s attack was faster.

A barrage of magic began.

In the storm of magic that tore through everything, the guards realized anew why the old saying ‘don’t give a mage time’ existed.

As lightning, flames, darkness, ice, and other powerful destructive elements struck without the slightest delay, the guards chose evasion instead of charging through the magic.

“You must take cover!”

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

“The mage seems to have prepared deliberately! It’s impossible to face him head-on. You must retreat for now!”

The guards’ response was textbook perfect.

When facing a mage who had prepared deliberately, one had to first keep distance, avoid their firepower, then strike after the magic ended.

But from Bardan’s perspective, it was infuriating.

For a mage to cast such powerful magic as now required considerable preparation and time. And this was inside the manor building, no less.

If he had snuck in and prepared without being detected, didn’t that mean the guards had been negligent in their duties?

“You bastards! If you had done your job properly!”

“Take him and retreat!”

The guards grabbed Bardan and forcibly created distance.

Meanwhile, the vicious mage criminal steadily destroyed the buildings and structures within range.

“…”

“…”

Bardan, who had retreated and was watching, trembled and cried out as if having a seizure.

“He’s not stopping!! He’s not stopping!”

“Th, this is strange. No matter how many mana recovery methods he has, there should be limits due to physical strain?”

The experienced guards were bewildered.

A mage’s magic was a powerful and threatening means, but the mage himself was a being of flesh and blood.

No matter how deliberately prepared and cast, after a few major spells ended, there should be a lull.

However, that Stedal Nago cast spell after spell without stopping, as if mocking such laws.

‘Are there more mages? Is there some trick?’

“Stop him! Stop him, I say!”

“Th, that’s…”

The guards showed troubled expressions.

One-on-one combat might be different, but jumping into a situation where a mad mage was on a rampage wasn’t easy.

Who would have known such a mage criminal would attack again?

“He, he’s!”

“?”

“He’s moving!”

A short scream burst out.

The guests who had thoughtlessly felt safe after creating distance couldn’t endure any longer and ran toward the main gate.

However, Bardan suppressed his fear with the power of rage and shouted.

“If he’s moving, there will be openings! Catch him!”

“…Understood.”

This time the guards agreed to the command.

Even such a rampaging mage would have openings when moving…

Gurrrr-

“…”

“…”

“Isn, isn’t that the spirit placed in the manor?”

The guards were horrified to see the water spirit redeployed in the manor protecting the mage.

How had he arranged the magic that the guardian spirit sided with the enemy?

The summoned creatures didn’t end there. From the opposite side of the manor, a giant golem charged in with other undead summons.

At that moment, the guards’ last patience snapped. The guards quickly ran along the same path the guests had just fled.

No matter how much money they received, they could no longer endure.

“You damn cowardly bastards! Don’t come back! The money you received…!”

Bardan stamped his feet and shouted, but the guards didn’t look back.

In such a situation, it had to be assumed that not just one mage but about ten or so had deliberately prepared and attacked the manor.

Enduring in such circumstances was meaningless. The guards were as cold as they were experienced.

With even the guards gone, the mage criminal proceeded with his destruction work quite leisurely.

Despite the main building having magical defenses, as attacks continued relentlessly, cracks began to show in the walls.

“No… no! Stop! What do you want! What do you want, I say!”

Finally, Bardan’s spirit broke too.

Gone was his cursing and explosive anger, and Bardan pleaded desperately with the mage criminal.

If only he could resolve this with gold coins…!

“Nothing.”

“…What?”

“He says he wants nothing.”

“…”

Bardan was completely overwhelmed by the low, rough voice.

The greatest fear he had felt all day rushed through his entire body.

To cause such a commotion and want nothing in return.

What kind of person was this?

Nothing instilled fear like an incomprehensible unknown entity.

“Mon… Monster… What a monster…!”

The mage criminal ignored Bardan and focused on destroying the manor again.

The terrified Bardan didn’t notice, but behind the manor, undead summons were taking out valuable items and throwing them over the fence.

-Wh-who’s throwing these things?

-Who cares! Just hurry up and grab them!

* * *

“Hmm.”

Alsicle sat at a table set up outside the red brick cafe and opened his 【This Year’s Promising Empire Ice Mages】 magazine. Today too, he planned to be jealous of other ice mages’ achievements and find fault with them.

-Did you hear? Stedal Nago appeared again! At Lord Bardan’s manor no less!

“Pfft!”

Alsicle spat out his coffee slightly.

‘What the hell is this guy doing!?’

He had sent him off to do club activities, but he was attacking a noble’s manor. Alsicle momentarily wondered if this was club activity.

‘No way? Is this club activity?’

But no matter how much he thought about it, it was strange.

If it were club activity, it would have been anonymous suspicious mages, not Stedal Nago’s identity…

-Didn’t he attack before too?

-From what I heard, that Bardan bastard didn’t repent even after being robbed like that, so he got more aggressive. This time he completely smashed the manor to pieces.

-What an amazing mage! To think there are still such mages these days.

-Exactly. Did you hear? That Uap bastard who got robbed before is now distributing all his workshop assets to his subordinate dwarves.

-What? Why on earth?

-He got scared! Last time he was stuck upside down in the canal, so how would he know what might happen this time? Hahaha!

The people nearby greatly praised the bold vigilante.

‘…Could it be that Professor Gonadaltes ordered this…?’

Alsicle groaned in frustration as he couldn’t understand the reason no matter how much he thought about it.

Why on earth would a good kid like Wardanaz attack a noble’s manor?

Just then, Arien called out to Alsicle.

“Penguerin sir!”

“I-I didn’t participate. Wardanaz did it on his own.”

Seeing Arien running quickly from afar, Alsicle unconsciously made excuses.

As a senior mage who was with him, he was afraid of being blamed for what happened.

“What are you talking about? People who want to sponsor Penguerin sir have come to see you.”

“…Why on earth!? Oh, no. Is that really true?”

Alsicle was about to say ‘why on earth?’ but came to his senses and coughed awkwardly.

It wasn’t a good reaction to have in front of people offering sponsorship.

However, Arien nodded understandingly.

“I understand your surprise. Penguerin sir’s research has genius aspects that are difficult for people to easily understand.”

“Kheuk… Thank you.”

“Actually, Wardanaz sir mentioned Penguerin sir’s research while talking about the griffin polo match.”

“…??”

Alsicle hesitated, unable to follow what he had just heard.

Precisely, he didn’t understand starting from ‘griffin polo.’

“…What does talking about griffin polo have to do with my research?”

“Ah. You don’t know from there? It’ll be a bit long to explain.”

“Then please explain it briefly.”

“You could say Wardanaz sir rode a griffin and performed brilliantly, earning promises of sponsorship.”

“…I’m sorry. Just make it long…”

Arien moistened his throat with tea as if he had expected this.

Just then, voices were heard from nearby again.

-Where do you think Stedal Nago will smash next?

-Whoever it is, it’ll be some greedy bastard’s house. Everyone’s scared and just watching now! Hahaha!

-Surely he won’t destroy Bardan’s manor three times?

“Wait. What do you mean three times? Isn’t it once? Last time…”

At the other person’s reaction, Alsicle squeezed his eyes shut.

He should have just heard about the sponsorship first and left!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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