[EN] Episode 5 - Magic Duel 2

Zzzzz-


The enchantment on the gauntlet activated, deflecting the fireball as he strode forward.
But Romulus seemed to have anticipated this, already chaining his spells together.


“...Shock Javelin-!”
“......!”


This time, his primary elemental magic—Thunder—slammed in at tremendous speed.
Thunder magic is famously specialized among elemental spells for preemptive strikes and combat against mages. Wingester desperately rolled his body.


“Guh!”


Seeing him roll pitifully across the dirt ground, Romulus's expression broke into a satisfied smile.
Wasn't that a look that suited the brat perfectly?
Of course, regardless of his good mood, his incantation continued.


“Triple Chain…!”


While he had expected a high level of skill, Romulus had mastered the Triple Chain spell—a feat typically only possible for battle mages who had received proper training after graduation.
Gritting his teeth, Wingester began closing the distance even faster.


“...Wind Blow-!”
“Hmph?!”


With only a few steps left, the magic Romulus unleashed was a wind spell that swept away surrounding enemies with a gale.
Wingester tried to brace himself, digging his gauntlet-clad fingers into the ground, but his body was caught in the whirlwind and slammed into a tree stump behind him.


“Guh…!”
“There! Now you understand? The difference in skill between you and me!”


Regulating his breath without showing it, Romulus wore a victor's smile.
Even so, he never thought that wretched brat would force him to use his ultimate weapon, the Triple Chain.
Wingester's running speed was faster than he'd anticipated.


“Guhk...!”


Wingester, coughing from the shock, staggered to his feet. Romulus pointed his staff at the ground, urging him to submit.


“Now, if you don't want to see any more pain, kneel and say you're sorry!”


Wingester gritted his teeth.
His opponent was fighting him with everything he had.
Could he truly call this a fair fight if he didn't fight back with everything he had?


“...I have no choice.”
“Right. Now, what are you going to do...?”
“I didn't want to use this.”
“What...?”


Wingester slowly removed what he had been carrying on his back and pulled back the cloth.


“I'm warning you first.”
“Warning? You're warning me? You? Me?”
“…This is still unfinished, so the adjustments are a mess. In the worst case, you might die. Prepare your defensive magic.”
“……!”


After issuing his warning, Wingester revealed a strangely shaped metal staff.
The moment Romulus saw it and began scrutinizing it to gauge its nature,


Clank.


“...Raise your guard.”
“......?!”


Giiing-


The sound of magic power activating echoed. Barely a second later, a blunt ice chunk shot out from the staff and hurtled toward him at an insane speed.


Thwack!


“Wh-what the hell was that?!”


The ice chunk, as big as his torso, slammed mercilessly into Romulus's abdomen as he belatedly chanted a defensive spell.


“Guhh?!”


Pushed by the impact, Romulus crashed into a tree trunk and sprawled out.
Unlike Wingester, who was fundamentally trained, this must have been a huge shock to him, who had only trained as a pure mage.


“Cough…! Gah…!”


Looking down at him, unable to get up from the ground, coughing dryly and even spitting up a little blood, Wingester pulled out the second Focuser he had prepared in his sleeve and replaced it.


Unlike a typical mage's spell chain, this device was still incomplete, meaning it took several minutes to recharge after each use. Therefore, he had to replace the concentrator after firing.


Slowly advancing to a distance where he wouldn't miss, Wingester aimed the barrel at Romulus without hesitation.


“Now, tell me. Where is the berett?”
“Cough... You... That thing... What the...”
“Speak. Or this time, you die for real.”


Realizing Wingester's eyes held not a shred of mercy as he coldly declared this, Romulus's expression froze.
Those eyes, dark and deeply sunken, were unlike anything seen in children his age.
Romulus had always disliked those eyes.


“I... I haven't lost yet...! I was just... startled...!”
“...I'll shoot if you try to stand.”
“...Coward...!”
“Coward? It's meaningless at this point. A 4th-circle battle mage challenging a 2nd-circle user who can only fight with a magic tool.”
“......!”


Click.


“Last chance. Speak.”
“…….”


Finally, Romulus quietly rolled his eyes and signaled toward his gang.
Given the situation, he was abandoning his pride to force him to submit.
But Wingester didn't miss the movement.


Puff!


“?!”


The magic loaded into this focus was none other than the Fireball Romulus had used initially.
Though smaller than his, it was still a potent fireball that shot out, instantly setting Romulus's robes ablaze.


“Ugh, uwaaaaaah! Fi-fire! Fire-!”
“...I told you. You'll die.”
“A-alright! I'll talk! I'll talk, so just put out this fire...!”
“...Sorry. None of my magic tools are suitable. Why don't you ask your friends over there?”
“E-eeek...!”


Sure enough, the startled gang rushed over and chanted spells left and right to put out his fire. But in the meantime, Wingester had already switched to another focusing device.


“Huff... huff... wheeze... I, I thought I was gonna die...!”


Romulus, barely surviving the deluge of water used to extinguish the flames, staggered to his feet and glared at Wingester.


“You bastard, you really tried to kill me…!”
“I told you countless times. You're going to die.”
“This!”


Just as he raised his staff to chant again,


Click.


Seeing that dangerous magical device aimed at him once more, Romulus's hair stood on end. He stopped chanting and slowly raised both hands in surrender.


Whatever it was, that device was firing combat magic without any incantation or preparation.
If the duel continued like this, it was obvious Romulus would be killed.


“Alright, alright...! I'll talk! I'll talk, dammit!”
“......”


Of course, he had no intention of giving up so easily. Just as he tried to signal his gang again,


“…….”


Whack!
Thanks to Wingester, who sensed it like a ghost and fired another magic bullet, this time Romulus was hit in the face by a chunk of ice and tumbled to the ground.


Finally, unable to stand by and watch this situation, the gang members began pulling out their wands one after another. Wingester immediately switched to his focus wand and aimed the barrel at them.


“...Drop your wands. Or I'll burn every last one of you, robes and all.”
“You... youuu...!”
“You think you can kill us all?!”
“You crazy bastard!”


“It's one me against fourteen of you... If we fight normally, I'll lose.”
“Ha! Scared?!”
“No. I just concluded it's far more rational to simply give up on saving you.”


Facing Wingester's eyes, cold as ice, the gang hesitated, their attacks faltering.
Those eyes showed he was genuinely prepared to kill all fourteen of them.


“Th-this...!”


Click.



“...Starting with you?”
"Hic...?!


The one who had lunged forward, growling, flinched and crouched when the muzzle was aimed at him.


The hesitant ones sent four men running to support Romulus and bring him back.
They believed Romulus was the only one with a chance against this one.


“Romulus! Are you okay?!”
“Dammit…! Does this look okay to you?!”


Romulus was already in no condition to fight.
His legs were half-shaky from the successive shocks and the terror of death, and being soaked while beaten by ice chunks had given him chills.


But he couldn't show weakness in front of his gang. Gritting his teeth, he leaned on his staff and forced himself into a dignified stance.


Clank.


“...That's enough. If I can't save berett, then at the very least, sending all of you villains to God's side is my job.”


Watching Wingester calmly declare his intent to kill, Romulus realized he was truly going to die if things continued like this and began to think frantically.
He desperately wanted to escape this guy while maintaining his pride somehow.


“...I'll... I'll call it a draw! I'll free berett, so this time...!”


Giiing-


The sound of a weapon cocking echoed again, aimed at Romulus who was desperately trying to placate him.
Finally, Romulus's face went deathly pale. Crouched on the floor, he screamed in terror.


“I get it! I get it! I lost! I lost, so! Don't shoot, please!”


Thwack!


As if to mercilessly trample his plea, another fireball was fired, scorching his crouched back as it passed.


“You got lucky. If you'd ducked just a moment later, this time you really would have died.”
“……!”
“Like I said at the start, the settings are still all messed up, so I can't stop mid-shot.”


*


Finally, after Romulus had cried his eyes out, he frantically revealed the kidnapping location: the deep underground vault where Wingester had first discovered the Barrett Staff's records.


Having visited this place for cleaning and other duties over the years, Wingester easily located her.


“Ugh…!”

Finding her struggling, bound by magical restraints on her hands, feet, and mouth, Wingester immediately used a magic tool to remove all the restraints.


“Phew-! I'm alive-!”
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, yes...! I'm a bit hungry though....”
“...I'm sorry.”
“Huh?”
“...This whole thing was my fault. Sorry.”
“Ah, no! You don't need to apologize, Senpai?!”


Unable to leave her alone in her weakened state, Wingester helped her up and walked her home together.
Taking advantage of the situation, Wingester invited her to eat at his place since she was hungry.


“Th-that's…!”


Though it was a welcome offer, she hesitated for a long moment, wondering if she should accept it so readily. But then she thought about what kind of person Wingester was, and immediately nodded.


Wingester was fundamentally a kind person, but he could be incredibly straightforward and decisive—to the point of being intimidatingly firm.
When he made an offer like this, if you didn't grab it with both hands, you never knew when he might extend it again.


Wingester led her inside his house.
To his parents, he explained that a junior helping with his thesis had become completely absorbed in research and was utterly exhausted, so he wanted to treat her to dinner.


“Thank you so much!”


Her slumped posture gradually lifted as she ate, regaining her energy and vitality.
Only then did Wingester seem to relax. His previously cold, stiff expression softened, and he smiled back at her.


“The meal was delicious. Well then…!”


Wingester saw her off as she finished eating and prepared to leave. Glancing up at the now-dark night sky, he said,


“...I'll walk you home.”
“Huh?”
“Given what happened this time, just in case.”
“Ah, yes. Yes!”
“Let's go.”


Walking her home, Wingester pondered deeply.
Was it truly wise to use the Barrett Staff?
It was an artifact created by continuing his grandfather's research, which had been strictly and solemnly sealed away.


It was obvious how the kingdom's high-ranking officials would view a magic tool shaped like a gun, already a symbol of treason within the kingdom.


If he was careless and caught, Wingester himself, and even his parents, could be branded as traitors without a word of defense.


“......”
“...Sir?”
“...?”
“...Senior?”
“Ah. berett. Why?”
“It's here.”


She stood before the house door, her face slightly flushed as she looked up at him.


“Ah, right. Be careful going in.”
“…Yes.”


Wingester watched her open the door and step inside, her gaze lingering on his waving hand with a hint of regret. Shaking his head as if to shake off his worries, he turned and headed home.


Tonight, he would have to work on the Barret Staff again.

-To be continued-