[EN] Episode 4 - Magic Duel 1

A few days later, after school.
Wingester was pacing the library again when someone tapped his shoulder.


“…….”


Sighing softly, Wingester turned to see who this half-assed kid was bothering him. His eyes widened.


“Hey. First time seeing me?”
“...Romulus.”
“Oi. Since you're here, could you at least use my full name?”


Romulus Seiz.
The third son of the renowned Seiz family.
And the leader of the group of boys who bullied Wingester.


“I thought we were done talking with your gang.”
“...I don't know about those punks, but I'm not done yet.”
“......!”


Wingester's eyes turned cold as he stared at this rotten noble who had just dismissed his followers as punks in an instant.


“So that's how a noble like you treats your peers, I see.”
“So what? I'm qualitatively different from those who'll barely scrape by at Circle 6 at best. I'm the future Grand Mage the kingdom can't do without.”
“…….”
“And what about you? You're a worthless half-wit who'd be lucky to scrape by at Circle 4 if you really tried, and even then, you can only learn useless support magic like Haste.”


His fingers jabbed provocatively at Wingester's chest.


“So what?”
“...Hmph.”
“......”
“...Kneel.”


Wingester's eyes widened in disbelief.


“Kneel before me. Swear to serve under me, and I'll overlook your past misdeeds. I'll even improve your treatment.”


Romulus spoke arrogantly, chin raised as if granting a favor.


“Kuh… Ha!”
“What's so funny? I'm serious. Even a useless magician like you has some use, so I'm making an exception….”


Wingester turned back to the bookshelf without a word.
Romulus, his face twisted in anger, roughly grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn back.


Spit.


“?!”
“...Not answering questions not worth answering is my creed. Get lost. Scum.”


His eyes blazing at Wingester's firm refusal, spittle flying, he drew his wand from his sleeve.


“You bastard! You think I won't kill you?!”
“...Hmph!”


Thud!


Wingester's decisive body blow connected, sending Romulus's body crashing down with a satisfying thud.


Wingester's physique was the most finely honed among the academy's male students.
For years, he'd been forced to handle his classmates' physical labor, and to counter his own specialty—support magic—he'd trained daily, building his body.
The sheer strength emanating from that trained physique was a threat to mages in itself.


“Cough cough...! You...!”
“Want more? I haven't hit you hard enough yet.”
“......!”


Romulus staggered, half-crawling to create distance.
Wingester followed slowly, as if determined not to lose sight of him.


“D-don't come any closer...! You cowardly...!”
“What's cowardly about it? Trying to use combat magic against a half-wit like you who can't even cast defensive spells?”
“Guh...!”
“...You're a disgrace to your family, Romulus.”
“......!”


Wingester turned back without hesitation, deliberately provoking him once more.
Romulus gritted his teeth, vowing revenge, and left the area.


Soon it was time to leave school. Wingester borrowed a few books, exited the classroom, and headed for the school gate.
The stares from surrounding students were piercing, but to him, already accustomed to it, they weren't even worth a scoff.


“Wingester-!”


Waiting at the gate, berett—who had often walked home with him lately—was waving.


“…….”


As always, Wingester offered no words, merely gesturing to her that he understood before walking towards her.


“Are you researching alone again today?”


A year his junior, she had recently shown frequent interest in his research.
Wingester couldn't bring himself to reveal anything about the Barret Staff, so he'd only told her about the new mana concentrator he was preparing for his graduation thesis.


“Same as always. It still feels like chasing rainbows, so it's tough.”
“Huh. But you've got the direction figured out, right?”
“Yeah. It's just which path to take from there that's a bit...”


They parted ways at the intersection near the shop, having discussed their research.
As they'd done countless times before, they waved goodbye with familiar ease.


“Hmph. I really need to see some results today...”


Theory had progressed quite a bit, but actual verification was still too risky, so progress was painfully slow.
Even my parents said I was still too inexperienced to handle advanced magical tools like mana concentrators.


*


The next day, on the way home from school.
Berett, who usually waited at the school gate, wasn't there.
Had she just gone home today?
It was a bit unexpected, but he shrugged it off and started walking.
However, when several days passed without seeing her, a foreboding feeling flashed through Wingester's mind.


He asked around among the professors, but it was of little use.
No professor cared about her, an inferior species like Wingester.
Professor Koch did show some concern, but even he couldn't do much.


After circling the campus and returning to the school gate,


“Hey there. Half-penny. What are you wandering around looking for?”
“……!”


Romulus's gang had appeared behind him somehow.
Wingester stared at them with cold, hard eyes.


Surely not.
No matter how reckless these guys were, there were limits.


“I asked what you're looking for, half-wit.”
“...It's none of your business.”
“Well now—I wonder about that.”
“......!”


Wingester took a step forward. Romulus flinched, stepping back and pushing his classmates in front of him.


“...Don't be so prickly. Why not just hear my proposal first?”
“...What proposal?”


Wingester took the bait, and Romulus grinned, getting to the point.


“Heh. After school tomorrow. Let's have a one-on-one magic duel, mage versus mage, on Omelok Hill behind the Academy.”
“……!”
“Of course, if you win... you know? If you lose, you'll become my lowest-ranking subordinate again, just like before.”


Wingester gritted his teeth at the sight of him grinning smugly.


“What you just did is a crime, Romulus. You know that, right?”
“Uh... uh... uh... Don't even think about snitching to the professors or other adults, okay? That would just make things awkward for both of us...!”


Wingester's expression twisted.
Gritting his teeth, he spoke calmly yet forcefully.


“Fine. But since I can't use combat magic, I'll use a magic tool instead. That's okay, right?”
"Of course! I have to allow that much! If you can make it to my level, it means you have a chance! That's a fair fight between men, isn't it?“


While the boy was boasting, Wingester took a light step and instantly closed the distance, rushing to within three paces of him.


”……?!“
”…Like this, you see.“
”……!…Y-yes. Like that."
“You'll see.”
“……!”


Wingester finished speaking and immediately turned his back, heading home.
Normally, he would have reported this to Teacher Koch to resolve it, but Wingester's mind was already boiling.
He intended to thoroughly crush that arrogant, spoiled brat from the prestigious family.


As soon as he got home, he finished his meal and began working on his Barrett Staff.


It was still far from perfect, but it would be more than enough to teach that brat a lesson.
But to eliminate any chance of failure, Wingester pulled an unused knife from a drawer and modified it into a bayonet.


Click.


Wingester's eyes blazed as he watched the bayonet snap perfectly into the groove he'd carved beneath the barrel.
If the magic failed, he planned to use this to punch a hole through the bastard's gut.


To think that someone carrying the title of a noble family's scion would kidnap a female junior and use her for blackmail—Wingester genuinely believed the bastard deserved to die.


His gaze suddenly shifted to the books carefully arranged on the top shelf of his room's bookcase.
Fifty volumes lined up, their covers bearing the title “The Complete Chronicles of the Heroes of the Second Divine-Demon War.”


Wingester always believed that following the mindset and heroic deeds of the dragons depicted within those books was the correct guide for life.


“The moment you turn a blind eye to the evil before you... courage becomes arrogance, and justice becomes violence.”


Reciting his favorite passage, Wingester pressed his forehead against the Barrett Staff.


“I will... punish him...!”


*


Wingester strode unhesitatingly to the rendezvous point.
Fourteen members of his gang, including Romulus, were already gathered there.
He had deliberately brought his entire crew.


“Bringing every last one of your puny minions just to take down one guy? You really are a disgrace to your family, Romulus.”
“This...! I'm the one doing the fighting! These guys are witnesses! To make sure you don't pull any shady tricks!”


Wingester sneered at Romulus, who was ranting and raving.


“Tricky tricks? As you know, I can only fight with my magic tool. But judging by your arbitrary! standards, you'd surely insist my magic tool is a foul.”


Romulus's eyebrows twitched at the mocking tone of the word “notary.”


“What?! Do I look like some pathetic loser with no pride?!”
“If not, you wouldn't have kidnapped an unrelated female junior just to lure me out.”
“Kk...!”


Gritting his teeth and glaring at Wingester, he gestured for his gang to step back.


“Fine! In that case, I don't care what magic tools you use!”
“Hoo, where exactly does that confidence come from?”
“Well, obviously, my talent and skill! The gap between me, who maintains a top 10 ranking at the Academy, and you!”
“......”


Wingester's silence only emboldened Romulus, who drew his staff and slammed it hard into the ground, provoking him further.


“Getting scared yet? I'm already a 4th Circle! 4th Circle! How far have you even climbed?!”
“......”
“I know... You were definitely mid-2nd Circle, right?”
“……!”
“Seems like you've been pushing yourself hard, but even so, you couldn't surpass me in magic even if you tried for a hundred years. Yeah.”


Chuckling and thoroughly revved up, he began gathering mana into his staff.
After briefly fingering the Barrett Staff slung on his back, Wingester shook his head and touched the wrist section of the gauntlet fitted to his hand.


“Magic duel, commence!”


As if he'd been waiting for it, one of them declared the duel's start, and Romulus immediately began rapid incantation.
Wingester, as if it were only natural, charged forward fiercely to close the distance.


“...Fireball-!”


Romulus rapidly incanting and unleashing a fireball, not his primary element.
Wingester thrust his gauntlet-clad fist forward, meeting the fireball head-on.


-To be continued-