How to Survive as a Mage Inside a Game

The road to Castle Dwayne.

I galloped steadily down the main road on horseback.

Days passed in silence, the scenery endlessly repeating itself. At some point, I found myself wondering—what the hell am I even doing?

Prrrrff.

I dismounted, letting the horse rest for a moment.

Leaning against a nearby tree, I stared absentmindedly up at the blue sky.

'...What the hell am I doing right now?'

With time, the boiling emotions cooled down, and reason settled back into my head.

Trying to go against a count-rank noble house just because I was in a ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) shitty mood?

It was insane. An emotional outburst that would only cost me risk without even any meaningful payoff.

What the hell did I even plan to do once I got to Dwayne? Assassinate the second son or something?

I realized I'd let myself get too worked up.

Maybe I’d been a little drunk on power since reaching 5-circle.

After all, now that I could take on even high-ranking knights—the so-called top-tier of noble combat strength—it seemed feasible.

But the real issue wasn’t whether it was possible. It was that there was no goddamn reason to take on that kind of risk in the first place.

'It was the same back in Kerry City.'

Sure, hitting all of Montoul’s branches wasn’t that dangerous—fine.

But using dark magic in the middle of that process? That was a clear screw-up.

Public awareness of dark magic is still low for now, sure—but it only takes one slip. Always prepare for the worst.

There are still groups out there who hunt down dark mages with religious zeal. Especially the ones tied to the Orders.

If even one of them got wind of my existence, that’d be it. I’d be branded a public enemy of the continent.

And yet I used dark magic to trace branch locations right in the middle of a city?

Was I trying to get caught?

Thinking back on it now, it was laughable.

I’d let old memories of former party members cloud my judgment.

“Haa...”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

Clearly, stress had been piling up on me lately.

Every damn step of the journey blocked, every new hassle dragging me in. It made me lose my grip on rational thinking for a moment.

"Let’s be careful from now on..."

Still, I didn’t really think anything from this latest mess would get me caught.

It was before dawn, the branches were in deserted alleys, and I never ran into anyone while hunting them down.

And all the corpses I turned into undead had been neatly disposed of, leaving no trace behind.

Even if—just if—there was a dark magic tracker in Kerry City, there was nothing exposed. How the hell would they even sense I was there?

Suddenly, my thoughts drifted back to the time I faced the chimera in Antlerstag Village.

'Come to think of it, that dark mage bastard said he was being chased by the Behass Order...'

The only thing I know about Behass is that they’re the Order most hellbent on wiping out dark magic.

They train special forces called “Judicators,” who are supposed to be on par with high-ranking knights.

Dangerous bastards.

And then it hit me—I hadn’t completely disposed of the chimera corpse I turned into an undead.

Back when I was only at 4-circle, there was no way I could fully erase a corpse that massive without leaving a trace.

Sure, I burned it to an unrecognizable crisp. But if one of those trackers chasing that other dark mage had found it...

“...Hmm.”

No way, right?

I was probably overthinking things.

Even if—in the absolute worst case—they traced from that spot, I’d used teleportation once during the journey and skipped a massive distance.

That should’ve cut the trail off right there. Unless someone pulled out some absurd 'psychic power' bullshit, there’s no way they could still be following.

Not even Aranhel pulled that off.

“Useless worries.”

I shook my head and snapped out of it, getting to my feet.

Climbed back onto the horse and started thinking again about where I was heading.

‘Should I just turn back now?’

I could hand off the jewel to House Paul and go back to minding my own business.

Even that would be more than enough duty fulfilled on my end.

Or I could just drop the damn thing on the ground and walk away.

It’s not like I asked to get swept up in all this crap anyway.

But in the end, I didn’t change direction—I kept heading toward Dwayne.

‘Well, since I’m already this far, might as well take a peek at the lord’s castle.’

Wasn’t the second son supposedly locking up all his siblings after pinning fake charges on them?

What a piece of work.

* * *

Crash!

Water and a basin slammed into the floor.

The maid flinched and staggered backward in fear.

A woman with icy blue hair, propped up against the bed, opened her mouth with a voice like frost.

“Get out.”

A knight standing to the side of the room—Geron—sighed and ushered the maid out.

Then he stepped closer to the woman.

“Lady Rudy, continuing like this will only make things worse.”

“......”

She didn’t answer. She just glared at him like she wanted to kill him.

Rudy Dwayne.

The youngest and only daughter of Count Dwayne.

She was basically a bird in a cage right now. No—worse than that.

She hadn’t been allowed to take a single step outside the room. Every move was watched by knights. This humiliating, degrading routine had continued for nearly two weeks.

What made it truly unbearable, though, was that the one behind all of it... was her own blood.

And not just that—he’d brought in filth from outside the family to do it.

Chris Dwayne.

Her little brother. The one she wanted to tear limb from limb the second she saw him.

Rudy asked with forced calm, suppressing her fury.

“What happened to big brother?”

“As I’ve said before, he’s safe in his room. I can’t say more than that.”

Lies.

Unlike her, Murs Dwayne—the eldest—was someone who had to be sacrificed in all this.

They needed to paint him as the traitor who poisoned their father, the power-hungry scum who betrayed the family.

Only then could Chris slide into the family head position with minimal resistance.

Rudy couldn’t even imagine what kind of hell her big brother was going through right now.

‘Father...’

Maybe their father had known what was coming—and tried to keep the family headship away from Chris.

But it didn’t matter now.

Everything had gone too far. It was all collapsing.

The whole thing was bleak beyond words.

She honestly wanted to bite her tongue and die.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked at the door.

Geron stepped over and opened it.

A young knight with blond hair stepped into the room.

Rudy saw who it was and ground her teeth.

‘Hayden...’

He was originally part of the 3rd Knight Division, loyal to the eldest brother’s camp.

But the moment things went south, that so-called unwavering loyalty had vanished. He and a few others betrayed their captain and sided with Chris.

Noticing Rudy’s stare, Hayden turned to her.

With a smirk, he said, “Please don’t glare at me like that, my lady. We didn’t have a choice.”

Revolting.

Rudy’s eyes burned with cold fury.

“You, of all people, should not have done this. You ungrateful beast.”

They weren’t just master and knight. They’d grown up together, practically attached at the hip since childhood.

The sense of betrayal Rudy felt toward him was beyond words.

“You’re mistaken, my lady,” Hayden said smoothly.

“I’ve never forgotten a single kindness the lord showed me. Fed me, clothed me, took in an orphan like me, taught me the sword, made me a knight.”

“Then how could you...!!”

“But the lord is dead now, isn’t he? My loyalty, once his, now follows Chris. Both of them are his children, so why do you curse me for honoring the same bloodline?”

What a load of horse shit.

He was just licking the boots of whoever held the reins now.

She could’ve spat a thousand insults, but Rudy bit her tongue.

Instead, she muttered one line, like she was spitting venom.

“My uncle won’t stay silent. By now, Sir Kans should have reached House Paul.”

Hayden sneered.

“I’m sorry, but that won’t happen, my lady. He’ll never make it there. He’s still free for now, but not for long. Isn’t that right, Sir Geron?”

Geron gave Rudy a sideways glance and nodded.

“Most likely. But why are you here? You’re not on guard duty.”

“Ah, well, about that...”

Hayden scratched his head awkwardly.

Geron poked his head outside the door.

“What the hell? Where are the outer guards? And who let you in without—”

Shhk!

A blue blade pierced through his chest, thrust clean through his heart.

The lightning-fast ambush didn’t even give Geron time to react.

“Guhk...”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

He stared at Hayden with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“Die. You filthy traitor scum.”

It was no longer that joking tone from earlier—his voice was cold as death.

Fwshhhk!

Hayden clamped his hand over Geron’s mouth and twisted the blade free.

Geron’s body collapsed to the floor.

Without even bothering to wipe the blood from his sword, Hayden rushed over to Rudy.

“My lady, now’s our chance. We have to escape.”

“You...”

Rudy’s eyes had widened in shock at the sudden turn of events—but she quickly grasped the situation.

“So you didn’t really betray us.”

“The Captain gave a heads-up to a few of us. Told us that if things went south, we should pretend to switch sides.”

As he spoke, Hayden’s eyes turned red.

Because the one who had to cut down the Captain when things fell apart... had been him.

Thanks to that, all suspicion had vanished, and he had waited, biding his time—again and again—until this exact moment.

Clang, chaaang...

The sound of blades clashing echoed from outside the room.

Hayden’s expression grew tense.

“The others are making a ruckus to buy time. It’ll just be the two of us escaping.”

“What about my big brother...!!”

“There’s no time, my lady! You must make it to House Paul, no matter what. Please!”

Without another word, Hayden swept Rudy into his arms and jumped out the window.

After landing on the ground, he ran through the garden toward a small hole in the inner wall.

“If we sneak out through here and go just a little further, the horses are—”

But then a clamor erupted behind them, and knights began to swarm in.

Hayden and Rudy’s faces darkened.

* * *

A man stood on a high hill, looking down at Castle Dwayne in the distance.

It was Karl.

“......?”

While scanning the inner keep with an expanded field-of-view spell, he spotted two people rushing out of the castle.

“What’s this now.”

A woman and a knight.

The two of them mounted a horse and sped straight toward the southern gate.

Not long after, he saw others giving chase on horseback.

[Sudden Quest has occurred.]

< Sudden Quest: Tie the Knot >

That is Rudy Dwayne, the only daughter of Count Dwayne.

Help her escape her pursuers safely. Doing so will be the most devastating outcome for the true culprit behind this incident, Chris Dwayne.

Quest Reward: 70,000 SP

Karl narrowed his eyes at the quest that popped into his head.

Then he gave a dry chuckle.

“Well, I guess this trip wasn’t totally pointless after all.”

He might not be able to strike directly at the count’s household, but this was still a satisfying enough conclusion in its own way.

Karl spurred his horse forward, chasing after the fleeing pair toward the castle gate.

* * *

Rudy and Hayden had made it through the outer walls and continued riding hard.

They’d managed to break out of the city, but pursuers had already caught up from behind.

Hayden glanced back and saw the face of the man at the head of the chase—his expression darkened even further.

‘Galleon...’

The commander of the 1st Knight Division. One of the two high-ranking knights in the family.

If they were caught, there was no chance of escape.

The gap between them began shrinking as they entered the forested area near the city.

Suddenly, one man from the pursuing group surged ahead and threw something forward.

Thwack!

A long spike.

It flew with terrifying speed, piercing the hind leg of Hayden’s horse.

Whiiiiinny!

Hayden tumbled roughly to the ground with the collapsing horse.

Rudy, who had been riding just ahead, pulled her horse to a stop.

“Hayden!”

Hayden looked at her and shouted desperately.

“Go, my lady!”

But Rudy hesitated—then turned her horse around toward him.

She jumped off and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

“I can’t just leave you here. I’d rather die with you.”

“My lady...”

And then, the pursuers arrived.

“Haha, ‘die together,’ you say? That would be quite a shame, my lady.”

A man with a long scar running from his eyes down to his mouth.

He was the one who had thrown the spike and brought Hayden down.

“You need to stay alive—for contingencies, you see. Doesn’t Count Dartmir of House Paul care for you deeply? A corpse doesn’t make for a useful hostage.”

Rudy instantly recognized him.

“Spare me the sound of your voice. You’re a parasite who crawls in the dark.”

He was Efe, the head of the external shadow group Montoul—now revealed to be involved in this affair.

With a sly grin, Efe backed away.

“Oh dear, yes. A lowly worm like me will shut up now. You noble folks go ahead and talk.”

At that moment, a middle-aged knight stepped forward, clearly displeased by Efe’s presence.

High-ranking knight Galleon.

He looked down at Rudy and Hayden in silence, then finally spoke.

“You’ve done something foolish, my lady.”

“......”

“And you, Hayden. I never expected you’d betray us again. Weren’t you the one who personally beheaded the 3rd Division Captain?”

Hayden sneered.

“Everything I did was by the Captain’s will. I never betrayed anyone in the first place.”

“...You cold bastard. But all that effort is wasted now.”

Sching!

Galleon drew his sword from his hip.

Rudy cried out desperately.

“I’ll surrender! I won’t try to escape again—just spare Hayden, please...!”

Galleon shook his head.

“Too late, my lady. You should’ve stayed quiet from the start.”

He raised his sword high.

The blade glinted sharply in the sunlight.

Its target was Hayden’s neck.

“Ah...!!”

Dragged away by another knight, Rudy shut her eyes tightly and turned her head.

Dagdak, dagdak...

The sound of hooves.

Everyone’s eyes turned toward the noise.

Someone emerged on horseback through the trees and brush.

“...Huh.”

Karl reined in his horse.

He looked down at Rudy and Hayden lying on the ground, then shifted his gaze to the pursuers who were now staring back at him.

“They’re already caught, huh.”

Galleon slowly lowered his sword and studied Karl.

“...And who are you supposed to be?”

Karl hopped off his horse.

As he walked toward them, he answered simply:

“A mage.”