Demon-Hunting Genius Mage

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 140

After the negotiations with Kailius,

I felt a sense of relief.

My plan to enter Sector 1 disguised as a candidate for the Royal Commander had succeeded without a hitch.

It seemed quite flawed to me, but I trusted Elbert's word that it was feasible, and as a result,

'It went smoother than I expected.'

I wasn't held back for any strange reasons, and I acquired all the hidden pieces of Sector 1.

The plan, which seemed flawed, had succeeded perfectly.

As expected, Elbert was reliable in such situations.

At the same time, I felt a renewed sense of accomplishment.

'Things are going well. Very well.'

I thought all the tragedies were pouring down on me shortly after entering this world, but

For some reason, things seemed to be going quite well lately.

I had completed my growth without any major setbacks, the silver-haired guy wasn't trying to kill me like before, and, most importantly, everything I did was yielding significant results.

If this continued, I couldn't ask for more.

'Let's keep it this way.'

Of course, I shouldn't let my guard down.

Thinking so, I began to organize my upcoming tasks in my head.

'There's no reason to stay in Sector 1 anymore.'

As I said before, my business in Sector 1 was finished.

And not just Sector 1.

If my memory served me right, there was nothing more I could gain in Asternon.

So now, I had to prepare to return to my original area... no, to leave Asternon altogether.

There was nothing more to gain here, and the [Blood Moon Prophecy] had been safely concluded.

Now, as planned, I had to go to the land of the elves, "Alfheim," and focus on leveling up.

Well, of course, I had to ask the others for their opinions.

However, before that.

'Since I'm here, I should at least use the training ground.'

It would be a shame to leave just like this.

Thinking so, I headed to the training ground inside the citadel.

I was curious to see what the training ground in Sector 1 was like, and also, I hadn't properly used the [Lich's Wand] yet.

And so I arrived at the training ground of Sector 1.

"...It's ridiculously good."

Dozens of weapons and artifacts useful for combat were displayed on one wall, and various auxiliary facilities to aid training were installed throughout.

Most of all, the scale was enormous.

It was as large as a regular school playground.

At this point, it was more like a plaza than a training ground.

Enough with the appreciation.

"Let's get started."

I went into a single training room located in the corner and stretched out my hand.

Then,

Charrrrr!

The twig that had been wrapped around my wrist like a sleeve straightened out into a single line.

It was the lich's wand.

I had just discovered that it had a function to transform its shape like this.

Since it was a weapon that couldn't be used when using light magic, it was an extremely useful feature.

The lich's wand was a weapon that didn't need to be carried separately.

Anyway.

Whoooosh!

I began to infuse mana into the lich's wand, which I naturally grasped.

It felt novel to cast magic directly while holding it after a long time.

'The key is how much the dark magic is amplified.'

I conjure a dark attribute sphere, imagining a pitch-black space with nothing in it.

Shoooooo-!

The amplification was clearly significant, as a much larger sphere than usual was created.

Following that,

'Space magic.'

I immediately connected the sphere with space magic.

Space opened like a gaping mouth in midair, centered around the sphere.

At that moment.

Sheeeeeek!

"Wh-what...!"

An immense suction force began to pull me in.

The power was amplified to the point that it tried to swallow the caster, who was somewhat immune to his own magic.

Sheeeeeee...

Before I could properly check its power, I immediately cut off the mana and closed the space in a moment of panic.

Cold sweat ran down my spine, and my heart pounded like crazy at the situation where I could have been killed.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

A red alert that my life could be in danger.

I was lost in thought for a moment and then came to a conclusion.

"...This is dangerous."

I concluded that space magic using the lich's wand was too dangerous for me to control yet.

It seemed I needed to go up another circle or so to use it properly.

I also needed to practice controlling space magic from time to time.

It was good that I could use much stronger magic with the aid of the weapon, but frankly, it was a bit bitter.

"I thought I had become much stronger."

I realized I still had a long way to go.

"...Let's try harder."

I left the training ground, determined to accelerate my growth even more.

Someday, I would control that space magic perfectly and freely.

***

After sending my companions in Sector 1 back to Sector 6,

I moved a little more busily than usual.

There were many places to stop by before going to Alfheim.

Since I wouldn't be returning to Asternon for a while, I had to inform the people who were waiting for me in advance.

For example, my light magic teacher, Ani Persson.

"Alfheim? Ah... that's a shame. You still have a lot to learn."

"I won't be back too late."

"Alright. I hope we meet again soon."

"Yes, Teacher."

Or Elbert, who seemed like he might do something strange if I disappeared suddenly.

"Ah, is that so. You've been talking about leaving for a while now, so I thought as much. Understood. I'll keep it in mind."

"Next time I come, I'll definitely overpower you with swordsmanship."

"Puh-huh... we'll see? That won't be an easy task. You haven't forgotten that I'm the Knights Commander, have you?"

"Well, after a spar, it didn't seem like much."

"...Your arrogance is reaching the sky. Next time, I'll have to show you clearly why the Knight Commander is called the King of Knights."

Or Lena, who was reorganizing the request office in Sector 6.

"What, Alfheim? Then what about requests? I'm about to reopen the request office soon."

"I won't be able to do them for a while. To be honest, I don't know when I'll be back."

"Tsk. Alright. I'll still set aside a few requests for you. Ones with long deadlines and good rewards."

"No, you don't have to go that far..."

"That's just me telling you to come back quickly. You're not thinking of making me take a loss, are you?"

"Of course not."

Or Asion Gale, who was pathologically protective of me.

But then.

"...He's not here?"

"Yes, the Dean is currently away. He's with the committee members."

As I was on my way to say goodbye to the Dean, the guard at the entrance said this.

Asion Gale was currently out.

I had an ominous feeling.

Wasn't Asion Gale the kind of person who always said that one of his duties was to protect the academy?

So, I couldn't help but feel uneasy when he abandoned his duties and went somewhere else.

The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became.

"...Where did he go?"

Could he be causing trouble?

That was a plausible story.

Asion Gale had definitely mentioned that he would settle things after the war, or something like that.

As expected.

"I heard he went to Sector 3. He said he had something he absolutely had to take care of..."

'Oh no.'

Asion Gale had headed to Sector 3.

"You really have to give it to him for his stubbornness."

It seemed Asion Gale had gone to meet Barus Garian.

***

Clop, clop.

'Quickly...'

Having paid a considerable fee to board a public carriage heading straight to Sector 3, I was anxiously biting my nails.

If I was even a little late, a major accident would likely have already happened.

However, since there was no way to increase the speed, I waited patiently, and fortunately, I arrived without being too late.

'Found him!'

Asion Gale came into view.

For some reason, he was outside the building, and as I watched, he was confronting Barus Garian outside.

I naturally scanned Barus up and down, and fortunately, he didn't seem to be particularly injured.

It seemed that a fight hadn't broken out yet.

'...Well, of course not.'

Even though Asion Gale was big and strong, he was still a mage.

There was no way he would solve this with force.

"Yuhan? Well, I don't know how you knew, but step aside for a moment. I have something to discuss with this fellow."

"What kind of talk are you going to have..."

"Don't you think you should pay the price for threatening a student of our academy and using that to drag me, the Academy's Dean, into war?"

Asion Gale's eyes, as he said this, were unwavering.

As if he wouldn't change his mind no matter what was said.

The funny thing was that the committee members behind him were further inciting Asion Gale.

"We can't just let something like this slide."

"You have to make him pay dearly, Dean."

"I concur, Vice Dean."

They nodded to each other, glaring at Barus as if they were about to throw punches.

On the other hand, Barus was.

"Why, why are you doing this? We clearly had a contract, and we've provided compensation accordingly..."

He couldn't even stand properly, intimidated by the crowd of mages.

He looked like a child who had seen something he shouldn't have and was utterly terrified.

However, the Dean didn't care and continued to corner Barus.

"So you admit that the plan was wrong, don't you? Are you really asking because you don't know? Do you really think it's right to detain someone and force them into a contract?"

Asion Gale glared at Barus with murderous intent.

Barus, intimidated, avoided his gaze.

He suddenly looked at me.

Like a kitten asking for help.

And the more he did, the harsher Asion Gale's tone became.

"I'd like to ask if the royal family is aware of this. Do they know that you've done something ridiculous?"

"Th-that, well, it's..."

"No, never mind. It's clear what's going on."

Barus lowered his head, as if he had nothing to say.

It was a complete turnaround from his initial attitude towards me.

Meanwhile, Asion Gale continued to explain how wrong his choices were, and

Thanks to that, it showed no signs of ending.

They were just exchanging sharp words all the time.

How long had it been?

"So, what do you want me to do? The contract is already over, and we will soon send the promised participation rewards to Asion Academy."

"Is that what's important now!"

"..."

I had waited a long time, but their argument showed no signs of ending.

Rather, the atmosphere was getting increasingly heated.

Continuing to wait like this seemed pointless, so I stepped between them.

"Everyone, let's do this."

It seemed I had to step in and mediate.

And coincidentally, I had just come up with a suitable way to resolve this issue.

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]