Chapter 150: Good to Be Back
In the Penris Territory, near the Lord’s Castle, construction was in full swing. Laborers were busy hauling materials and building foundations.
However, one area of the construction site was oddly devoid of people.
“Hey, isn’t this fortress looking pretty good?” Alfoy muttered, rolling on the ground in his tattered robe.
The scattered Mages around him nodded in agreement. They, too, wore worn robes, giving off more of a laborer vibe than that of lofty Mage Tower wizards.
If someone saw Alfoy chewing on grass roots while lying there, they would think he was the laziest bum imaginable.
“I hope the Lord doesn’t come back,” Alfoy grumbled. The other Mages nodded along, chiming in, “Right? Exactly.”
Without the Lord around, it felt pretty comfortable and nice.
They had become quite skilled at construction work, but annoying tasks were still annoying.
The Mages giggled amongst themselves, hoping that this small happiness would last a while longer.
“He might have caused a ruckus back in the capital,” one suggested.
“Yeah, with that personality, he must have gotten into a spat with some high-ranking noble,” another chimed in.
“Maybe he’s already lost his head!”
“Oh, just hearing that makes me happy.”
The Mages even discussed how they would escape if the news of the Lord’s death was revealed.
They didn’t truly believe it; it was more like a wishful thought.
In this barren territory with no fun places to hang out, they had no choice but to pass the time with such talks.
“Since we’re so bored, should we play a game?”
“Should we?”
At Alfoy’s suggestion, the Mages perked up and sat upright.
These naive Mages, who had no idea about gambling, had started playing daily amongst themselves after losing a bet and befriending Claude.
One sensible Mage cautiously spoke up, “Well, the Chief Officer’s been going on about how the construction’s been delayed… shouldn’t we do something today?”
“How long have we been here for them to boss us around? I’ll handle it, no need to panic.”
Alfoy said confidently.
Though Lowell had been given authority over overall territory management, he couldn’t just treat Alfoy recklessly.
After all, Alfoy was the heir of the Mage Tower and the Branch Leader of the Mage Tower in the Penris Territory.
Alfoy was the heir to the Mage Tower and the branch leader of the Mage Tower in the Penris Territory.
No one could easily touch him except for the lord.
“What should we do today? Odd or Even?”
“Yeah, let’s just keep it simple with Odd or Even.”
“Alright, I’ll go first.”
As everyone agreed, Alfoy pulled out four coins. He shook them in both hands, then clenched his fist and extended one hand.
“Guess. Odd or Even?”
A mage pondered for a moment before speaking.
“Even.”
“Even?”
“Yes, even.”
Alfoy smirked.
“Hey, when starting with four coins, normal people choose Odd. That’s the way it is. But why would you choose Even?”
“Yes, yes. So let’s quickly check how many there are….”
“Ah, wait a second. I’m talking right now. So you’re saying you’re not changing your answer?”
“Yes, yes. I’ll stick with Even.”
“No, I’m giving you a chance to change! You little punk!”
The mage looked troubled as Alfoy scolded him.
‘Geez… here we go again. This guy can be so ridiculous sometimes.’
This was money he saved up bit by bit while occasionally helping the territory residents.
He was already a wage-less slave with no money, and losing it like this would be a problem.
‘If I lose this, I won’t even have money for drinks! I absolutely can’t lose!’
As Alfoy and the mage glared at each other, searching for a gap in the other’s defense, a mage on lookout rushed in, breathless.
“The lord is back!”
The mages froze for a moment with blank expressions, then immediately drooped their heads.
Their little happiness was over. It was time to go back to working like dogs.
Alfoy rose dramatically, a serious expression on his face.
“Let’s get to work. Move quickly, come on!”
While the mages hurriedly stood up, he slyly slipped the coins into his robe.
And then it happened.
BOOM!
“Mom! What the hell!”
Suddenly, a loud bang echoed, and flames shot up from the direction of the lord’s castle.
Startled, Alfoy muttered as he assessed the situation.
“Huh? That’s… Vanessa’s laboratory, isn’t it?”
Black smoke and flames began to consume the surroundings little by little.
*
The territory residents, who had been rejoicing, were all shocked by the sudden explosion and turned to look towards the lord’s castle.
What kind of accident could happen on such a joyful day?
Ghislaine’s face turned pale as he gauged the location of the explosion.
“Vanessa!”
The explosion had clearly occurred in the magic laboratory created next to the lord’s castle for Vanessa’s training.
“I even moved the Runestones over there!”
Ghislaine had moved the Runestones nearby to assist Vanessa, who lacked magic power, so she could use them if casting spells became difficult.
“Damn it, run!”
Ghislaine spurred his horse and began charging toward the lord’s castle.
The level of magic power felt from the explosion was alarming. It definitely meant the magic of the Runestones had been used.
If the magic from all those Runestones exploded at once, the area near the lord’s castle would be a complete disaster.
Others, flustered by the sudden situation, also ran after Ghislaine.
When they arrived at the site where the flames were soaring, chaos had already broken out around them.
There was Lika.
Vanessa’s laboratory was surrounded by various types of auxiliary buildings sticking out from the central building.
At first, the fire that started in the central building seemed to die down briefly, but then it engulfed the auxiliary buildings and grew larger again.
People were running around trying to put out the fire.
“Axe! Get the axe! Just break it!”
“Everyone else, bring water and sand!”
But the fire wouldn’t easily go out and instead spread even larger.
“Lowell!”
Ghislaine shouted as he jumped off his horse.
“My Lord!”
Lowell, who was anxiously directing the people, brightened up upon seeing him.
“What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know. There was suddenly an explosion in Vanessa’s laboratory.”
“Where’s Vanessa?”
“Ah, she seems to be inside.”
“Is anyone hurt?”
“There shouldn’t be. I made sure no one else could approach besides Vanessa.”
Ghislaine let out a sigh of relief at the fortunate news.
“Where are the Mages?”
“They should be at the construction site right now.”
“Bring everyone here! Now!”
There were no proper firefighting facilities in the territory yet. The scale of the fire had grown too large for manpower alone to handle. Using magic to control the flames was the best option at this point.
Uzi crunch!
The remains of Vanessa’s laboratory, which was now just a skeleton, started to crumble, spewing flames.
“I’ll go in and get Vanessa.”
Just as Ghislaine was about to enter the collapsing building, a woman’s voice echoed from inside, sounding very flustered.
“W-Wind Blast!”
Bam!
The debris falling below was blown away in all directions by the wind.
“Ahhhhh! Damage!”
“What the hell!”
“Why is it flying over here!”
The crowd, caught up in confusion, ducked and fell to the ground.
Ghislaine and his followers batted away the flying debris to protect the people.
After the rain of debris settled, a loud shout came again from inside the building.
“Water Strike!”
Splashhhhh!
This time, water columns began to shoot up everywhere.
Swoosh! Boom! Crash!
Spraying water was good since there was a fire, but it seemed the control over the power was off, as the water columns were way too large.
Debris that had been broken through by the giant water columns scattered once more.
Ghislaine urgently shouted.
“Block it!”
The territory residents moved back, and the mercenaries following Ghislaine scrambled to clear the debris.
“Ahhhh! What do we do!”
It seemed the person casting magic inside noticed the chaos and screamed.
“D-Dispel!”
Swooshhh.
With another shout, the water column slowly dispersed and disappeared.
The fire that had engulfed several buildings had already been extinguished, and only the debris of the collapsed structures remained damp.
Sshhh.
The water that had pooled up was rippling like waves. The sound of surviving embers being extinguished by the overflowing water could be heard in various spots.
“……”
Ghislaine and his group looked at each other, drenched from head to toe.
Like a bunch of drowned rats, no one could say a word about their appearances.
At that moment, a woman crawled out from the debris of the collapsed building.
Amidst the wreckage of the ruined building, a woman crawled out.
“Uuhhh, uhh, I’m sorry. I’ve committed a grave sin.”
The woman, a mess and crying tears and snot, was a sight to behold.
Her hair was wet and clung to her like seaweed, and her face was smeared with black soot.
The shards of runestone that were caught in her tattered clothes clinked against each other.
Ghislaine stared at the figure for a while, unable to recognize her, before exclaiming in confusion.
“…Vanessa?”
“Uuhhh, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. I made a mistake and caused everyone…uhhh.”
Even in response to Ghislaine’s question, the woman bowed her head and continued to cry.
Ghislaine, flustered, asked again.
“Is it really you, Vanessa?”
“Yes, it’s me, Vanessa. Uuhhh. I’m the one who caused this disaster. Uuhhh.”
“…Is your body okay?”
“Uuhhh, I’m fine. Really, I’m sorry. Uuhhh.”
Vanessa seemed genuinely remorseful, curled up and sobbing uncontrollably. It appeared she didn’t even realize who was speaking to her.
Well, it made sense that someone timid like Vanessa would lose her mind after causing such a massive accident.
“Calm down and tell me what’s going on. What happened?”
“Uuhhh, I failed to control my magic properly and made a mistake. I’m sorry. Uuhhh.”
“You failed to control it?”
Ghislaine cocked her head for a moment.
Though she lacked sufficient magic power, Vanessa was unparalleled in her theoretical understanding of magic.
She had successfully executed massive trap spells that even grand mages could perform.
The fact that she made such a colossal mistake was unbelievable.
“No, how on earth did you make a mistake? Stop crying and explain slowly.”
After a few sniffles, Vanessa steadied her voice and began to explain seriously.
“This is the first time I’ve attempted this magic, so I used a bit too much runestone to make it precise. I layered the magic to adjust the magical waves, then reversed the structural mechanics and spatial shapes and coordinates… mumble mumble… Finally, I succeeded in casting a 6th Circle spell….”
“….”
As expected of a mage, she rambled on with reasons that were completely unintelligible.
Still, one word caught Ghislaine’s ear.
“6th Circle?!”
Ghislaine exclaimed in surprise.
To reach the 6th Circle so soon was genuinely chilling talent.
“Hahaha! 6th Circle! You reached the 6th Circle!”
The incident of the building flying away vanished from Ghislaine’s mind. He burst into laughter, completely ignoring the people around him.
Vanessa, still sniffing and with her head down, finally realized something was off.
In her daze, while she had been answering every question, it wasn’t the voice of Chief Officer Lowell she was hearing.
‘Who am I talking to right now?’
She slowly lifted her head. Rubbing her blurry eyes and looking up again, she saw a familiar face.
“My Lord!”
Ghislaine, soaked from head to toe, was smiling brightly.
His face beamed with joy, as if he had just won the world.
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